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Diamohns are Forever	By : SailorSol Category: Sailor Moon > General Views: 22490 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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TERRENE

Three days later.

Sailor Sol stood next to Sailor Moon on the edge of the circular pool that used to be the site of the Mugen school. An outdoor aquarium had been formed around the ruins of the school. Lucinda and Mamoru had both pegged this as the site of the next attack.

A short distance away, Kishi were herding civilians away while Senshi distracted the creature until the pathway was clear. Sailor Terra normally stayed close to her satellite, but she had asked Sol to switch with her this time, saying that she had a feeling.

Finally, everyone was out of the way, and the Senshi moved aside so that Sailor Moon had a clear shot at the creature. She stepped forward and raised the scepter.

�Moon Laser Arrow Strike!�

As the normal flare began, Sailor Terra and Endymion joined hands and rushed towards the flash. Sailor Sol lost sight of them for a few moments, but then they reappeared on the other side of the flash, and they had a woman in armor locked tightly in their arms.

~*~*~*~*~

�Release me!�

The woman�s voice rang through Chiba house, accompanied by the rattle of the door she was locked behind. None of them could explain her intriguing and inexplicable command of Japanese, but all of them were speculating. Theories were as mundane as absorbing information along with energy, and as fantastic as projective telepathy.

�That will not happen,� Aster called out. �Calm down, and we�ll bring you something to eat. We�re not going to harm you, we only want to talk.�

�I will tell you nothing!�

�Not even why you�re attacking our world?� Lucinda asked, next to her.

�This is our world!� was the surprising response. �You stole it, and our power! I remember the beautiful boy with the black hair! I remember him stealing my power!�

The two cousins looked at one another in stunned silence, and then turned to look at Mamoru, who had a look on his face that mirrored theirs.

�Lemme through!� ChibiUsa wove through the standing adults, a paper plate of sandwiches in her hand, and a styrofoam cup of tea in the other hand.

�I�ll talk to her,� she said. �I�ll find out what�s goin� on.�

She walked up to the locked door and looked at Aster expectantly.

�Okay, ChibiUsa,� Aster said. She stepped forward and unlocked the door, opening it so that the young girl could enter the room.

�You told me to do this,� ChibiUsa said as she entered the room. �You said it was important.�

She disappeared into the room.

~*~*~*~*~

When ChibiUsa came to the door an hour later, she smiled brightly at everyone.

�She�s willing to talk to you,� she said. �I told her how long its been since the Silver Millennium, and she looked real surprised. She said she�d tell you what happened.�

�Okay,� Aster said. �This ought to be interesting, at the very least.�

Aster nodded to ChibiUsa, and they all waited while she turned to talk to their prisoner, and then come out, leaving the door open.

When the woman emerged, they all stared, dumbstruck.

She stood taller than any of them, nearly as tall as Kunzite. She had removed her armor, and the helmet that had obscured her features. Her blue black hair was tightly braided and fastened to her head. Her expressive eyes were cobalt blue, almond shaped, and slightly tilted up at the outside. Her sharp features coupled with her coloring made her breathtakingly beautiful. She recoiled from the light emanating from the large windows, shielding her eyes.

�Here,� Usagi said, pulling a pair of sunglasses from her pocket. �Put these on.�

Still shielding her eyes, the woman took the sunglasses and then pressed them to her eyes.

�No,� Lucinda said, taking the sunglasses from her and unfolding them. �Like this.� She turned the sunglasses around and put them on the woman�s face properly, so that the temples hooked over her pointed ears and kept them in place.

Now that her eyes were protected, the woman looked around at all of them. Her eyes came to rest last on Mamoru, who was still staring at her.

�You are not him,� she said finally. �You are older than he was, and yet more innocent. You are all more innocent than those that betrayed us.� Her eyes turned to Aster, as though drawn like a magnet.

�Not you, though,� she said. �You have been touched deeply by the darkness. You are not so innocent as the others.�

�That�s true,� Aster said. �Through no doing of my own. My foster father willingly gave himself to darkness, and then took me there.�

�You do not belong in darkness,� the woman said, reaching out to touch Aster�s hair with surprising gentleness. �You are too much a creature of light to survive in darkness.�

�We�re very interested in what happened,� Aster said. �You said something about your powers being stolen.�

�Yes,� the woman said. �I will tell you the tale.� She walked over to a chair, and then sat down and waited for them to settle themselves to listen to her. Unseen by their guest, Ami pulled out her laptop and quickly set up a program that would record the woman�s words.

�I am called Terrene,� the woman said. �I am the warrior for the third planet of this system. The little one tells me that you call that one Earth. We called it Gaia. My power, and that of my twin and partner, was drawn from the strength of the planet. My partner, Gaius, held the magical power. My power was more martial. The planet power only enhanced my fighting abilities. Gaius fought with his power.

�We came to this system from our own,� she continued. �Our sun was dying. It exploded into a gas cloud. I could tell you where to look for it. We came here, because we could tell that the sun was close to our own, and that at least one planet would support our lives. We did not know that there were other people living on that world, or we might never have gone there. We might have chosen somewhere else to go.

�When we arrived, we were hailed as deities. They gave us everything we wanted: food, drink, bedpartners, authority. We soon ruled the planet. We, and they, became too many, though. We made Solus, the solar station. We put together the system of mirrors all over, to spread the star�s warmth. We discovered that the fourth and second worlds would support life without them, but we made as many habitable as possible. Once we learned to tap into the power of one planet, tapping into the others was simplicity.

�I think we became arrogant, and complacent,� she said. �We had gone on for centuries, ruling the native people, with both races increasing. We made one planet the repository of all our knowledge. That was Chiron. You know what your spheres of influence are. Never doubt that you should be partnered. Together, you wield complete power. Separate, you can only access some of your power.

�It had long been our practice to keep the children of the native rulers in our sphere of influence during their formative years. We took them at five, and we returned them at between eighteen and twenty. They benefited by meeting their peers from other worlds, having the freedom to learn anything and everything they wanted, and they were sheltered from the inevitable conflicts that arose. Nothing too destructive, we wouldn�t allow it, but the natives would fight.

�Some of us treated our charges as equals. We gave them positions, shared our authority, and only guided their learning and their lives. Some treated them almost as pets. They indulged them, punished them, and behaved as though they had no will of their own. None of them were abused, but I realize now that we made mistakes. We forgot that they had wills and minds of their own, not just what we gave them or wanted them to have.

�The two that made the greatest errors were Solus and Hadeus. They not only treated their charges like pets, they made bedpartners out of them, whether they desired it or not. Solus, in particular, was in the habit of teaching his charges to pleasure him at an early age. Most of them never questioned his desires. The last one, though, she was more willful and more intelligent and more cunning than we ever thought possible.

�Once each solar year, we would meet on Minerva,� she went on. �We had to meet together and renew our bonds between one another. We left our charges to their own devices during this time. We never paid attention to what they did, or what they spoke of. That was our undoing.

�Solus� charge was a leader among leaders. She conspired with Selenius� charge to find out how to steal our power. They convinced the wards of Chaosian and Aphrodus that they were right, that we were not deities, and that they had the right to determine their own destiny. They convinced all of their generation of leaders that the only way to be free of us was to make themselves our equals.

�One year, when Solus� charge was in about her sixteenth year, their plans were all laid and finalized. When we all gathered on Minerva, they baited their trap and sprung it. All of them had been taught the ritual to transfer power from the current holder to the next holder. They all seduced one of their guardians, and used the ritual, in the same night.

�We didn�t know that anything was different,� Terrene continued, looking at Usagi, Aster, Haruka, and Minako in turn. �We went to our meeting the next morning. Solus looked smug. I always surmised that his female charge had been holding him off, and had finally allowed him to have her. I was right, but I did not divine the reason behind her change of heart.

�We had barely begun the meeting when the doors to the room opened, and they came in. They were in pairs, and planet symbols blazed on their foreheads. That was when we knew what was behind the seductions we had all experienced the night before.

�Solus was furious. He surged to his feet, and accused her of treachery. She told him that she was through being his pet, and that her people would breathe free after that day. One of the others, They surrounded us, and they used a containment field that we had developed to encase us. Solus and Hadeus did something, trying to escape. A dark hole opened under our feet. We fell into darkness, never to escape.

�From time to time, we could make a window to show us what was happening. We saw Minerva tear itself apart, destroying one pair of our former charges. The leaders made certain that everyone got off of the planet beforehand. We saw our former charges lead a purge of our people, driving them out of the system. We saw them put together a time of peace. We saw that civilization destroyed, and another grow in its place, but only on one world. We did not understand how that happened, or why.

�A bodiless creature came to us,� she finished. �It showed us how to make rifts between this world and the one we occupied. It showed us how to create a creature that would collect energy for us. Even the creatures you have destroyed have brought us some energy. It told us that if we collected enough energy, we could return here, and then retake everything that was stolen from us. It said that it had tried, and had been repelled, but it had learned your weaknesses. It said you cared too much. It said that you even cared for your enemies, and that you would risk your own destruction to save someone who opposed you. It told us the one we needed to fear the most was Silence.�

Usagi and Hotaru looked at one another suddenly, understanding dawning in their eyes.

�This tale is completely new to us,� Usagi said. �We lost so much when the Silver Millennium was destroyed. I can tell you about that entity, though. It�s called Pharoah Ninety, or at least that�s what we called it. It tried to use Sailor Saturn and her ability to channel energy, before she knew who she truly was. It wanted to take over, and all it caused was destruction.�

�How did it appear?� Terrene asked, looking directly at Hotaru.

�Just � darkness,� Hotaru said hesitantly. �I never saw any kind of form. It was just darkness, and swirling energy, and it seemed to warp everything it touched. Things came to life, and they were monsters. They would have hurt people if they�d ever gotten out of the dome.�

�Dome?� Terrene asked, leaning forward. �What dome?�

�A dark hemisphere that had red lights in it,� Rei answered her. �It started where they were summoning Pharoah Ninety, and then it expanded it outwards. We kept it in with a sailor box, and Sailor Moon was inside, trying to stop it. She did, but we didn�t know how until after it was all over. In the end, Sailor Saturn had to die, and Sailor Moon brought her out as a baby.�

�I remember something like that,� Terrene said softly. Her blue eyes were solemn as she gazed at Hotaru. �It is Chaos. We empowered two of our number to contain it. They transfigured into energy, and held Chaos back. They must have been destroyed when it escaped its confinement.�

�How do we stop it?� Aster asked.

�The method we used is the only one I know of,� Terrene said. �It cost us two of our friends, but they went willingly. They became as one with one another, and as one with the containment they created. They would never be alone.�

�Do we have the power to do that?� Aster asked, echoing the thoughts of everyone in the room.

�Yes,� Terrene said. �You and your partner, bearing the power of the Sun, have the power. You must find the way, though. I do not have that knowledge.�

�We�ll find it,� Aster said, looking over at Vincent. �Whatever the cost.�

�NO!� Usagi exclaimed. �You will not sacrifice yourself again, while we escape! I won�t have it! My mother could send me away before, but I bear the Ginzuishou now! You will not do that again! I need you!�

�Usa-chan,� Aster said. �You can�t just � �

�I can!� Usagi exclaimed. �You WILL not do this! We will find another way!�

�We never found one,� Terrene said solemnly.

�Moon-face has a way of finding alternatives,� Haruka spoke up. �If she says she�ll find a way, she will.�

�I wish you luck,� Terrene told them. �In the meantime, then next time my compatriots decide to attack, I will give them this new information.�

�Why would you do that?� Minako asked.

�I do not want my people used by the ancient enemy,� Terrene said. �They must be warned before this goes too far.�

�When were they going to attack next?� Aster asked, still eyeing her partner.

�There is a conjunction approaching,� Terrene said. �They are planning a two-pronged attack. One of the sites is an area with many plants, where children play.�

�A park,� Aster said softly. �Is that the one you want to be at?�

�No,� Terrene said. �The other attack will be at a building where you collect the past.�

They all looked at one another in bewilderment, until Nathan spoke up.

�Hey, what about a museum?� he asked. �That�s a collection of the past, ain�t it?�

�That�s true,� Usagi said. �ChibiUsa�s class went to the museum, just last week.�

�Then we�ll take you to the museum,� Aster said. �I�ll work out who goes where, later.�

�How did your Silver Millennium end?� Terrene asked. �Why are the other worlds not inhabited, now?�

�They can�t be,� Aster said. �Solus was destroyed, and the outer worlds are too cold without the mirrors.�

�What happened?� Terrene asked.

Aster looked around, and found everyone looking at her.

�You were the last one,� Usagi said. �You tell the story from beginning to end.�

�Okay,� Aster said. She walked over to the liquor cabinet and pulled out a bottle of brandy. She brought it back over and folded her legs so that she was sitting at Terrene�s feet.

�This was all ten thousand years ago,� Aster began. �We had been at peace for over a thousand years. The history we learned as children went back over twenty five thousand years, and spoke of wars on the planets, and wars between planets. We were trained to defend our people and lead the armies, but it had not been necessary in so long that no one truly thought it mattered anymore. There was talk of making our position more ceremonial, and not training us as much. Some of a Senshi�s training was brutal, and the Kishi�s only a bit less so.

�We were all adult, but still young. Most of us had fallen in love. Some of us were lifebonded. Some of us were in love with our lifebondeds. We were all so happy � � Aster�s voice broke and she took a deep breath and then a swallow of brandy.

�When trouble came, it came out of nowhere,� she said finally, her voice hoarse. �Endymion was Prince of Earth. Four of the satellite Kishi were his guards. They all four disappeared within one Earth day. Atlas and Janus had been relaxing on Saturn, in one of the silence caves. Hyperion was on Earth, and Oberon was en route between Uranus and Mars.

�Atlas was lifebonded to me,� Aster continued. �Janus was bonded to Sailor Terra. Oberon fell in love with Sailor Pluto, Kishi Phobos, and Sailor Ariel at the same time, and bonded to all three. Hyperion was bonded to Kishi Deimos. We were all devastated. Pluto withdrew into the mists, and refused to talk about it. Phobos, Deimos, and Ariel just wrapped themselves in one another. Terra and I were taken to the moon. Queen Serenity decided that we were in danger of becoming unstable. She used the Ginzuishou to open us to new lifebonds to replace the old. She didn�t expect what happened.

�She underestimated the power of the Ginzuishou,� Aster went on. �When she made one Senshi open to a lifebond, it affected all of the Planetary Senshi. Her own daughter lifebonded to Endymion. Kishi Sol was headed for Terra, and he ran into Jupiter first. Kishi Saturn was looking for Sailor Neptune, and he walked into the wrong room: mine. I was expecting Kishi Pluto. By the time I knew differently, it was too late. I didn�t have Charon anymore. He disappeared right after Atlas and Janus, along with his fellow Plutonian satellites, Hades and Cerberus.

�We weren�t left in doubt about the Guard for long. Something attacked Pluto and Mercury. They subverted the armies of those two planets. Solus was sabotaged, and it was pulled into the Sun. Two of Mercury�s satellites, Vulcan and Hephaestus, collided with one another, killing everyone on both spheres, including their Kishi. Mercury�s remaining satellite, Hermes, was pulled out of orbit, and slammed into the Throne City. The devastation caused by that destroyed the planet�s atmosphere and ecosystem. Also, Mercury�s rotation altered. It rotates at the same rate that it orbits the Sun. Mercury no longer knows day or night.

�Without Solus, we knew the outer worlds would die. Pluto�s fate came quicker than we thought when the orbit of Pluto and it�s satellites altered off of the ecliptic. The outer planets thought they would face the same fate. They started moving their populations to the remaining inner planets: Earth and Mars. They didn�t know we didn�t have time.

�Venus and Neptune were attacked next. Neptune suffered the same fate as Mercury. One of its satellites was used to obliterate its Throne City. Venus was simply bombed into sterility. Both Senshi and Kishi were already on the moon, consoling Mercury and Sol.

�When Earth wasn�t attacked next, a rumor started that Earth was behind it. People became hostile to the soldiers and Prince of Earth. The hostility turned to hysteria when we lost Uranus, Saturn, and Jupiter in quick succession. Chiron began transmitting data. They had been knocked into a different orbit, about fifteen degrees off of the ecliptic, and we would have no access to any of the knowledge stored on Chiron once the planet froze. There was too much data to transmit, but they sent what they could about our attackers.

�They were from a parallel dimension, where the sun was black, and all was cold and dark. It was talked about in obscure legends written in a language Chiron could barely decipher. It mentioned a ruler, Metalia, and it called it both the Dark Kingdom, and the Negaverse. It could not be destroyed, but the way between had been sealed long ago, farther back than our records went. How Metalia had breached the seal, and how she learned enough to be dangerous to us, they couldn�t tell us.�

Aster paused again for a long drink of brandy, to wipe the tears that drenched her face, and then for another drink. She had not noticed during her narrative that Vincent had moved to sit behind her and lean her back against him, or that Usagi, Haruka, and Minako were clustered around her, with the others around them. There was not one among them, even ChibiUsa, who was not in tears.

�The full scope of the situation became evident when they finally decided to attack the Moon and Earth,� Aster went on. �An army appeared on the Moon. There were soldiers from other planetary armies, monstrous youma � and Endymion�s Guard.

�They never gave a sign of knowing who we were. They were dressed in unknown uniforms, and they carried weapons of a design we�d never seen. They commanded the attacking armies. Atlas was right in front, calling himself Kunzite, and ordering the other three. I�d never felt � so betrayed � and I couldn�t � even � cry ��

Aster�s voice failed her as she broke down and sobbed, covering her eyes as she once again relived having to face someone she loved on a battlefield.

�We had the four most powerful pairs waiting,� Vincent took up the tale while he wrapped his arms tightly around her. �We were powering up for our final strikes, prayin� we wouldn�t have to us �em. Queen Serenity already sent the Inner Senshi, except Terra. She sent Endymion away with �em. We put Terra and the Inner Kishi as our first line of defense, after the armies that we had left.

�The youma just mowed through �em like they was grass,� Vincent said, tears streaming down his face. �They didn�t even slow down. Then � Terra sent the Kishi out, one at a time. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Moon. They died one at a time � but they all � died.�

�Terra went out after that,� Aster spoke up as Vincent buried his face in her hair and sobbed. �She used her powers, and made a temblor that split the surface of the moon. She used them until she couldn�t anymore. Then she attacked them with her bare hands and her feet. Oberon � Nephrite kept her busy while Hyperion � Jadeite stabbed her in the back.

�We didn�t have any choice,� Aster said, her voice cracking again. �We had to use the final strikes. We had to stop them, or at least buy more time. I think � deep down inside � we all knew we were going to die. Neptune�s Mega Tsunami only washed the bodies and blood into Terra�s crack, and filled it with water. Uranus� Ultra Tornado swept away some of the soldiers, but there were more. Saturn�s Deadly Silence chased off most of the youma, and killed most of the remaining soldiers, but they were still there. They got so close I could see their eyes. Kunzite pointed his sword at my heart. He told me to surrender. I � almost did. Almost. Instead, I used Supernova.

�I only found out about events on Earth in this life, after I moved to Tokyo. There�s an artist here who was one of the Jovian Satellites. She was a frequent courier. They managed to kill every other Satellite, but they never got Adrastea. She died on Earth, without them knowing where or who she was. She painted what she saw, but she�s never shown them to anyone but me. The remaining armies went to Earth. They destroyed every vestige of civilization that they could. The survivors had to rebuild from nothing.�

�Your oldest records were over twenty-five thousand years old,� Terrene mused. �That was ten thousand years ago. We�ve been imprisoned in darkness for nearly forty thousand years.�

TBC
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Diamohns are Forever