Note: I have nothing to do with Sailor Moon and its characters except to be a fan who enjoys the series and the movies very much. This story is my extrapolation of the storylines as received in North America. I apologize if this story doesn't quite fit into the Japanese series.
Jedite struggled desperately against whatever spell Sailor Mars had placed on him, anxious to escape before the two planes he had set in motion crushed him between them or ran him over or collided and caught him in the resulting explosion.
And yet, a part of him was ready to let the Sailor Scouts defeat him here and now rather than face Queen Beryl with yet another failure. And she had promised that it would be his last, threatening him with eternal sleep, a fate he wouldn't even wish on Sailor Mars.
He felt a sudden release as whatever magic holding him suddenly disolved. He quickly opened a portal back to the Negaverse, his fears of facing Beryl's wrath gone. He knew the Sailor Scouts' true identities. Surely Queen Beryl wouldn't punish him, not when they could now destroy the three girls and finally conquer the earth!
He was wrong.
"Sleep! Forever!" Beryl screamed.
Jedite screamed as her magic flowed over and around him, wrapping his mind in layers of darkness so oppressive that even the promised terror of eternal sleep couldn't rouse his flagging powers and spirits to resist. Against his will his eyes closed and he began his headlong plunge into worlds of torment far beyond his imagining.
* * *
"And that's it." Darian looked around at his guests. "What do you think?"
"Gee, Darian, that's some story," Lita said. Mina nodded. The two cats said nothing.
Darian sighed. It was only supposed to be Artemis and Luna with him this afternoon. He'd followed the king's suggestion and asked them to pay him a visit, saying that there was something private and important that he wanted to talk to them about, something about the Moon Kingdom that only they and not the Sailor Scouts would know. The two cats had agreed and arrived shortly after he'd returned from running various errands.
He hadn't expected that the two girls would accompany them. It made sense that Mina might come with Artemis, but Lita was usually over at the arcade with Serena, or getting help from Amy, or sparring with Rei. As it turned out, though, Amy had--naturally--an afterschool class, Rei had things to do at the Cherry Hill temple, and Serena was stuck in detention. Again. So Lita had met up with Mina and the cats and they'd all trooped over to his apartment.
"I don't know what to say, though," Lita continued. "I mean, I've never even met Jedite. Serena's told me all about him, but this guy is from the Negaverse, after all. He can't be anywhere near as powerful as the Doom Phantom, but maybe we should leave him where he is anyway."
"But he can't do that, Lita," Mina pointed out. "Jedite was there in the future, which means that Darian had to have released him at some point in time." She frowned. "I've never met this guy either, but does anybody really deserve the kind of punishment Beryl could dish out? What is this 'eternal sleep' anyway? Luna? Artemis?"
Luna remained seated while Artemis rose to his paws and started pacing the length of Darian's coffee table. "We don't know the full details," Luna said, "only what Queen Serenity told us ages ago. And you have to remember that Queen Serenity would never do the things that Queen Beryl did."
"We know that, Luna," Lita said impatiently.
"Yes, well, the punishment of eternal sleep sentences the victim to a realm of unfathomable darkness, where the fears of the mind are made real and enhanced beyond imagining. You might think that sleeping forever wouldn't be so bad, but you wouldn't be dreaming pleasant dreams. Everything you saw would be a nightmare, and each one would be worse than the one before."
"Queen Serenity freed one man from eternal sleep," Artemis added, "but the man was completely insane." The white cat stopped his pacing and looked out the window. "He killed himself later that night."
No one spoke for a moment. "So if Darian frees Jedite," Mina said softly, "he might be completely mad?"
"It's a possibility, Mina." Artemis started pacing again.
Darian shook his head. "I don't think so. I have a feeling Jedite will be fine. He might have trouble readjusting to a Negaverse-free life, but I don't think it will drive him mad."
"How do you know that?" Lita demanded.
Darian smiled grimly. "You're forgetting that he's going to be one of my best friends," he said, "and I don't think the King of the Earth would appoint a madman as his second-in-command."
Lita winced. "Gotcha." She looked around. "Okay, so Jedite won't be insane. I still don't think Darian should free him." She held up a hand when Mina started to comment. "Luna, Artemis, what would happen if Darian didn't free him? Would it somehow completely destroy the future?"
Luna shook her head. "The only one who could answer that is Sailor Pluto, and you know how she feels about telling people about the future." She paused. "But I think that Darian will have to free Jedite, because their futures are already set."
Darian stared at her. "Excuse me?"
Artemis nodded. "Right, Luna. Darian, you have to rescue Jedite because he has to be there in the future to protect you. If he's not there, you'll get hit by the same blast that got Neo-Queen Serenity and Crystal Tokyo would fall before Rini had a chance to escape into the past. That would mean that Rubeus and the others wouldn't need to come back to this time to catch her. But Rini did come back, and Rubeus and the others came back, and we fought with them. If we try to change the future we'll be changing our pasts, which we can't do any more than Rubeus could."
Darian sank back into his chair. "My head hurts," he moaned. "This whole thing is just too confusing. And we haven't even gotten to the main problem yet."
Everyone looked at him. "Oh?" Luna asked.
Darian sighed. "I have absolutely no idea how to go about rescuing Jedite. It's completely beyond me."
"Darian, it has to be you," Luna said softly. "For starters, you're the only one who has any knowledge into the inner workings of the Negaverse."
"That's just it!" Darian exploded. "You know my memories of that time are vague. I barely remember what happened with Ann, Alan, and the Doom Tree. Everything before that is practically non-existent! I can recall a lot of the things that happened before Zoicite got me with that ice crystal, but after that everything gets blurry. I remember fighting against you all and constantly interfering with Malachite's plans." He paused, then continued in a softer voice. "I remember stalking Greg across the city and coming close to killing you, Lita."
Lita jumped, then tossed her head back. "You weren't even close," she said defiantly, but her voice wavered slightly.
Darian's lip twitched slightly, then fell back into its frown. "That's about it. I don't really remember anything else." He punched the armrests of his chair and jumped up. "If only there were some way to recover all my memories!" he said, starting to pace.
Mina suddenly perked up. "Luna! Maybe you can help!"
Everyone turned to stare at her. "What?" the black cat asked.
Mina turned to Lita. "Remember when we went for that movie audition, only the whole thing turned out to be a trap so Alan's cardian could steal our energy?"
Lita snapped her fingers. "We were watching Sailor Moon fighting with the minotaur, then Luna came out and zapped us with some sort of beam that gave us back our memories of our war against the Negaverse!" Lita turned to Darian. "Maybe Luna can do the same thing with you!"
Darian stared at her, then turned to Luna. "Well?"
Luna rose to her paws and started to pace. "I don't know," she said slowly. "It worked with Serena and the others because they were part of the Moon Kingdom. You were the prince of Earth, but you weren't really a part of the Kingdom, so I don't know if it will work or not."
"Go on," Artemis said. "What have we got to lose? It can't hurt to at least try."
Darian nodded and sat down again. "Well, Luna? Will you give it a try?"
Luna nodded and settled onto her haunches. "Of course."
"Is there anything--"
Darian's eyes widened as Luna began without warning. The world seemed to darken until all he could see was the glow of the crescent moon on Luna's forehead. It pulsed hypnotically, and suddenly he saw images before him that he wanted desperately to deny ownership to but couldn't.
He stood next to Malachite, and they both stood before Queen Beryl as she prevented a fight between them. He glared at Malachite's back, warning the Negaverse general against involving more humans in his schemes. He gazed out at a seemingly peaceful lake that hid a Negaverse-like power beneath its surface.
More memories flooded through his mind: sparring with a reluctant Malachite, learning to open and close portals to the Negaverse base, and others. Then others appeared, from times long before his first encounters with the Negaverse, memories of crying as friends left the orphanage in the company of new families. He even remembered waking up in the hospital the first time, knowing that something was missing but unable to identify it. And before that...
"It's done," a voice said softly.
Darian blinked, then stared down into Luna's face. "I'm sorry," the cat said. "Serena told me that you can't remember what happened before the car accident. I tried to reach those memories, but I couldn't."
Darian shook his head. "It's all right," he said softly. His voice wavered slightly and he drew in a shuddering breath. "I've come to terms with that. Besides, right now those memories aren't important." He stood up and turned around. "This is."
He didn't even think about it. He just did it.
The crystal appeared in the alcove near the entrance to his apartment. It was slightly larger than human-sized, with its top only a few centimeters away from the ceiling. And floating inside, with a look of unimagineable terror on his face, was none other than...
"Oh, no."
Darian whirled around, worried that something had gone wrong. Instead, Artemis was shaking his head while Luna stared at the ceiling. Darian glanced at Mina, but she was staring at Lita apprehensively. That was when he noticed the glazed, vacant look on the tall girl's face.
"What a hunk," she drawled. "He looks like my old boyfriend."
Darian clapped his hand to his forehead and turned around.
"Oh, Lita," Mina moaned from the sofa. "Not again." Darian heard the sofa creak as the girl got to her feet. "Now what?" she asked. "Is he awake yet?"
Darian studied the crystal. "He's sleeping normally right now," he said. "The nightmares Beryl condemned him to are fading even now, but he'll continue to sleep until I break him out of this crystal." He walked over to it and tapped one of its gleaming facets. "Unfortunately, I have no idea how to do that. Malachite's and Beryl's training covered the creation of crystals, not their destruction."
Mina sighed. "There has to be some way to break him out of there."
"I'm open to suggestions," Darian said.
Silence reigned for a while, broken only by the soft, sibilant padding of Artemis' paws as he paced the coffee table.
Mina suddenly jumped up. "Maybe we could use Lita's Thunderbolt and my Crescent Beam to shatter the crystal!" She grimaced when she saw Darian's suddenly horrified expression. "Well, then again, maybe we shouldn't. You probably don't want your apartment destroyed, right?"
Darian sighed with relief and nodded. "If worse comes to worse we can always ask Serena to use her tiara on it. That shouldn't be too destructive."
"It's a good thing the others aren't here," Luna said absently.
"Oh?" Lita asked. "Why?"
Luna shook her head. "I think Amy would be all right, but Serena always thought Jedite was cute. At least, when he was masquerading as a human. And Rei, well, she didn't get off on the right foot with Jedite, to say the least. His scheme at the time was giving the temple a bad reputation. Of course, she can't be too upset with him. After all, it's because of that scheme that she learned she was Sailor Mars. I think she was already powerful enough to defeat him, what with her psychic-spiritual abilities and all, but as Sailor Mars she completely destroyed Jedite's servant."
"That's it!"
Everyone turned and stared at Artemis. "What's 'it', Artemis?" Mina asked.
"There may be a way to help Darian break Jedite out of that crystal," the white cat said.
"Well, out with it!" Luna said, cuffing his shoulder.
"Darian," Artemis said, "transform into Tuxedo Mask."
Darian stared at the cat, then sighed and did what he asked. In a moment he was clad in the elegant, formal tuxedo of his alter-ego, with the cape swirling down around his legs and the top hat and mask obscuring his vision. "Okay, now what?"
"How do you feel?" Artemis asked.
"Foolish for standing here when there aren't any Negaverse agents to fight."
The cat shook his head. "That's not what I meant." He sighed. "All right, transform into Prince Darian."
"Artemis, what's this--"
"Hush, Luna," the cat snapped. "This is important." The fur on Luna's back bristled, but she held her tongue.
Darian sighed and underwent his second transformation. The tuxedo vanished, along with the mask and top hat. Instead he wore his form-fitting armor with his sword buckled at his hip. "There. Satisfied?"
"How do you feel?" Artemis asked. "I mean," he added quickly, "do you feel stronger than before?"
Darian thought about it. "I suppose," he said dubiously. "I feel more in control of myself if that's what you mean."
"That's it!" Artemis crowed. "I knew it!" He turned to Luna. "Do you remember that time before you gave Mina and the other Scouts their memories back when we had a long talk about Serena?"
Luna frowned. "What about it?"
"Remember how you said that as herself Serena's rather weak and ineffectual, but as Sailor Moon she becomes someone entirely different? And then when she becomes Princess Serenity she becomes even stronger and more in control of herself? Well, I think the same thing holds true for all the rest of the Sailor Scouts, and Darian, too."
Darian frowned. A memory surfaced in his mind and he stared at the cat. "I remember mentioning something like that to someone in the Negaverse!" he said. "I asked why they sent me out as Tuxedo Mask when I felt stronger as Prince Darian."
Artemis nodded. "You become stronger as you get closer to who you truly are. Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon have only a portion of their true power available to them. It's only when you become Prince Darian and Princess Serenity that you can go beyond that limit to touch your untapped potential."
"But what does that have to do with what's happening now?" Lita demanded impatiently.
"Darian, don't you have any ideas about how to break the crystal?" Artemis suddenly seemed less certain of himself.
Darian sighed and turned, gazing at the crystal tomb blocking the alcove. "Let me think for a moment." He closed his eyes.
It wasn't an impossible task they'd set for him. His lip curled. It wasn't impossible if you had the right tools, like a high intensity laser, or a diamond-edged blade, or a sledgehammer. What was he going to do? And it was rather important that he somehow break Jedite out of the crystal because otherwise none of them was going anywhere. He'd dropped the crystal in that spot because it was the only part of the entire apartment with enough overhead space, but now he'd effectively trapped them inside his apartment!
"Darian," a voice said.
Darian opened his eyes. Then he opened them wider as he stared at the scene before him.
He remembered it well. It was the condominium ruined by the Doom Tree's sudden, explosive rebellion against Ann and Alan. He held Sailor Moon in his arms and they were watching as the two aliens began their departure from Earth.
"Darian," the voice said again. Darian looked up and saw that Alan was gazing directly at him.
They'd shared a smile that day, the kind that only two men who'd had the same experience could share, namely that they were both with their one true loves. But Alan hadn't said anything that day. What was going on?
"Darian," Alan said, "thank you for showing me the true power of love. Thank you for teaching me that it isn't a weakness to be exploited but a strength to be cherished."
"You're welcome," Darian said hesitantly, wondering what was happening.
"You have strength as well," Alan continued, "beyond the power of your love for Serena. I've seen it. It's why you survived so long against Ann's jealous attacks. Reach out for that power, my friend, and when you've used it, do for this soul what you did for me. Teach him about the value of love and friendship." Alan smiled again, then he and Ann rose up to the sky and vanished.
Darian blinked. When he opened his eyes, the scene had changed. "Oh, no," he whispered, glancing down.
A young man with blue hair and a bandage around his head lay in his arms, mortally wounded by the Wiseman's malicious attack. "Sapphire," he whispered.
The prince from Nemesis stared up at him. That had happened, just as the scene with Alan had happened, but at the time Sapphire hadn't seen him. He'd been saying his farewell to Prisma. This time, though, he seemed to be looking directly at him.
"It's all right," the blue-haired prince said softly. "I know you tried to save me, but it was my time to die. We have a lot in common, don't we? We're both willing to sacrifice ourselves for those we love. You for Sailor Moon, me for my brother."
Darian nodded silently, watching as the light in Sapphire's eyes started to fade.
"We have more in common than that, though," Sapphire continued. "You have power in you, just as I do. But my power came from Nemesis and it's fading away even now, while yours remains strong and great. You are truly the prince of Earth."
Sapphire's eyes closed as the bandage around his head fell away, exposing a forehead unblemished by the mark of Nemesis.
"Thank you," a voice said.
Darian looked up as Prince Diamond approached. The silver-haired prince knelt beside him and gently lifted Sapphire's limp body into his arms.
"Thank you," Diamond repeated, "for trying to save my brother. You are a better man than I am, and truly the prince of Earth. I've seen your power, Prince Darian."
Darian blinked. "What?"
"It was in the future," Diamond explained. "I tried to attack you when you came to rescue Sailor Moon, but something turned my attack back against me. I know now it was the power that rests within you."
The prince rose to his feet and started to turn away, fading as he did so. "You have the power within you," he said, "you need only reach for it." Diamond and his sad burden finally vanished.
Darian clenched his fists. "I want to believe you," he said. "I want to believe you all. But what if I can't? Or worse, what if I like it too much?"
"Trust in yourself, Darian."
Darian whirled around. Suddenly, he was sitting in a booth at the coffee shop, staring across the table at Andrew. He remembered this scene. Andrew had been mooning over Rita and he'd been his friend's captive audience.
"I'm worried, Andrew," Darian said softly. "What if I become the champion of the Negaverse again? It's a possibility, isn't it?"
Andrew shook his head. "Darian, you're a good person. Do you think I'd be your best friend if you weren't? Sure, you teased Serena a lot, but you were willing to help her with Molly's problem, right? Believe in yourself, Darian. Trust in who you are."
Darian looked down at his tea. "You're right, Andrew. I guess I just needed to hear someone say that to me." He looked up. "I--"
The scene had changed again, but this time it was to someplace he couldn't remember at all. This time he stood upon a fog-shrouded plain, and coming through the fog were three figures. They all seemed to be the same height, but the one on the left seemed taller than the others while the one on the right held what looked like a scepter of some sort in his right hand.
The fog cleared. Darian gasped as the three figures suddenly became clear.
"Darian," Tuxedo Mask said, "you have the power. It is what you use to become me, and it is why Beryl fought so desperately to win us to her side."
"The power you seek," Prince Darian said, "is a reflection of yourself. It can be strong and beautiful like your soul, but it can also be a weapon or a shield, just as you can be one for the forces of good."
"Believe in yourself," the King of Earth said. "Others believe in you, so why not trust yourself? Trust what your heart tells you is right, and let it guide you to the peace you yearn for."
Darian looked away. "I want to believe you," he said softly. "I want to believe in myself, and I want to be free from this guilt I feel. But how can I? It's a part of me."
"Prince Darian."
Darian looked up.
His three incarnations were gone, as was the fog-covered plain. Instead he stood at the base of a sand dune. At its peak was a camel, and sitting on its back was a white-clad man holding a white rose to his nose. It was a person he'd been told about but never dreamed of seeing.
"The Moonlight Knight?" Darian gasped.
The man looked down at him. "All that you are, all that you have been, all that you will be, they are all one. They are you, and they are me, and we are one as well, Prince Darian of Earth. You have the power to do what must be done and the strength to endure what must follow. Set aside your lingering doubts and free this soul, no less trapped than you were, that you may both find the path to freedom from your guilt and the absolution you both yearn for."
"But how?" Darian demanded. "How do I break the crystal?"
"You need look no closer than your soul," the Moonlight Knight said, "and no father than your hand. Let your talisman of power guide you!" The Knight suddenly drew his hand back and lobbed the rose at him. Darian instinctively caught it.
"My talisman of power," he whispered, staring at the white petals. They suddenly flushed with color, deepening to a brilliant crimson. The desert vanished and he stood in his apartment once more. He cupped the rose in his hand and closed his eyes. "This is my talisman," he whispered. "And this is the way." He opened his eyes and glared at the crystal. "Enough!" he shouted.
"Darian?" Luna called. "Is something wrong?"
He ignored her. "I see you, Beryl," he hissed. "I see your shade, making me doubt myself. Trying so hard to keep me from destroying this last remnant of your works." As he glowered at the crystal, he seemed to see something dark fluttering in front of it, hiding Jedite from view. "No more," he snapped. "I will not let you hurt me any longer. And I will not let this man suffer a torture no one deserves. I know how to beat you, Beryl. I know how to break the crystal." He drew his hand back. "I am Prince Darian of Earth, and in the name of the Earth, I will punish you!"
The rose flew across the room. It passed through the strange shadow he'd seen, which disappeared without a trace. The rose plunged into the crystal, stopping only when the flower prevented the stem from driving deeper.
Cracks spread from the point of entry. They crackled across the surface of the crystal in all directions, reaching from front to back and top to bottom. There was a moment of silence, then the huge crystal collapsed, shards falling to the floor, along with an unconscious man with a face from which the signs of terror were already fading.
No one moved. "Good heavens," Luna whispered. "You did it, Darian."
Darian glanced at her, then transformed back to his usual, ordinary self. "Never mind that," he snapped. "Lita, run to the arcade and get Andrew."
"What? Why?"
"I don't know what kind of help Jedite might need, and Andrew's closer than a doctor's office or the hospital."
"Right!"
The tall girl jumped over the mess by the door and left.
Darian moved to the unconscious form on the floor and scooped him up in his arms. The other man was surprisingly light. "Mina," he said, "go into my room and turn down the bed."
The blond girl said nothing as she moved down the hallway. Darian followed, turning to prevent Jedite's head from colliding with the wall.
In his room he gently sat Jedite on the bed. He knelt down and began tugging of the man's boots. "Mina, take off his jacket, won't you?" He pulled one boot off and was starting on the other when he realized that Mina hadn't moved. "Mina?"
She was blushing. "I can't--I mean, I couldn't--"
Darian shook his head. "Mina, it's--" He broke off, his eyes widening. "Oh, no. We have to hurry! We have to clean up that mess by the door before Lita comes back with Andrew!"
He started to rise, but Mina waved him away. "We can do that. You finish up here. Come on, guys!" she ordered, gesturing at the two cats. Luna and Artemis followed her from the room.
Darian tugged off Jedite's other boot, then stood and undid the uniform tunic, slipping it off of Jedite's arms and dragging off his gloves in the process. Jedite's pants would pass a casual inspection, so there was no point in completely undressing him.
Darian shifted the other man's position and lay him on the bed, dragging the covers up to his chest. Then he sat down on the edge of the bed and studied his new houseguest.
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