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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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CHRYSANTHEMUM FESTIVAL

Aster reluctantly left the car, leaving behind Setsuna and Takagi, knowing that their satellites would not allow any harm to come to them. She needed to find a way to contact Kunzite and let him know what Nephrite had done.

She wandered down a less populated avenue on the edge of the festival, lost in thought. She looked up abruptly when she collided with someone larger than her who put steadying arms around her.

She looked up, into familiar and beloved ice colored eyes.

�Kunzitosama!� she murmured. She wrapped her arms around him and pressed into him, happy to see him. He put one arm around her while he removed the paper chrysanthemum she was wearing in her hair. He replaced it with another one, which bore no link to one of the youma hiding at the festival.

�I am not here on pleasure, Hoshiko,� he said softly while he stroked her back.

She pulled away a bit and looked up at him again.

�Business?� she asked softly. He nodded solemnly.

�I can�t fight you,� she whispered. �What am I going to do?�

�The Shitennou are not actively participating,� he said softly. �We are acting as advisors and guardians for junior generals. Nephrite will be watching Quartzite, Jadeite will be shepherding Lodite and Alexandrite, Takara will be guarding Amethyst, and Zoisite and I will be with Hematite.�

�You know those names mean nothing to me,� she said, smiling slightly. �Now, if you told me what the youma looked like � �

�That I cannot do,� he said. �Our job is to get our charges away unharmed, preferably with their youma. We are not supposed to fight you, but we are not going to just sit back and watch, either.�

�Takara will,� she said, frowning. �He�ll save his own skin.�

�The Queen will not like that,� he said. �If Takara fails, she will reprimand him seriously.�

�Just a hint on that one, then,� Aster said. �I would so like to get Takara in trouble.�

�Look for trees that do not belong,� he said after a moment.

�While I have you here,� Aster said. �Nephrite is not acting normal. He tried to assault a friend of mine.�

�One of the Senshi?� Kunzite asked. �Nephrite has always been ambitious. If she carries a great deal of power, he may have thought that he could subjugate her without destroying her ability to wield that power.�

�Just let him know that I don�t appreciate it,� she said, narrowing her eyes. �Tell him that he�s lowering himself to Takara�s level.�

�That should get through to him,� Kunzite admitted. �I have to go.�

�Okay,� Aster said. �Bring a collection crystal with you. Make sure the other Shitennou have them as well. I�ll work out with some of the others to get you some power without the youma.�

�Your wish is my command,� he said, bowing to her.

�If that were so,� she said. �You�d be living here, instead of returning to the Dark Kingdom. Besides, you know I would never ask you to leave Zoisite.�

He took her hand and kissed it. As soon as his lips touched her skin, he disappeared.

As soon as he was gone, Aster reached up and pressed the communicator at her throat.

�This is Sol,� she said. �Be prepared for an attack. The Shitennou are guarding junior generals. Tell me if you see trees that don�t belong where they are, or if you spot any of the Shitennou or Takara. Ladies, is you see one of the Shitennou, they will have collection crystals on them. The more energy we give them, the less they need to steal from innocent people. If anyone sees Nephrite, hit him with everything you�ve got.�

�This is Venus,� Minako�s voice seemed to echo in her ear. �About Nephrite: why?�

�It�s personal,� Aster replied. �He�s been a bad boy.�

�This is Venus,� Martin�s voice joined the conversation. �I don�t know about trees that don�t belong, but there�s a couple of maple trees that haven�t turned. They�ve all got bright green leaves.�

�Where are you?� Aster demanded.

�Near the bonsai displays,� he said, chuckling. �Where else would I be?�

�Everyone keep your eyes open,� Aster said. �I�m headed for the bonsai display.�

�Any particular reason?� Takagi�s voice in her ear was more like a caress.

�Kunzite says that Takara is guarding that general,� Aster replied. �Takara won�t have a collection crystal on him. If I hit him, I�ll hurt him something awful.�

�I�m heading there, too,� Michie�s voice unexpectedly joined in. �I want him to see me. I want him to know how much of a failure he is.�

�No, Phobos,� Aster said. �Your place is to find Sailor Pluto and stay with her. I believe you�ll find someone you remember fondly.�

�Pluto?� Michie asked. �What do I want with the ice queen?�

�I�m going to wash out your mouth with soap, young man,� Aster said sternly. �It�s not Pluto, specifically, but the only man to melt the ice.�

�Oberon?� Michie�s voice took on a note of eagerness. �Where are they?�

�They were by my car,� Aster replied. �I imagine you�ll find them.�

Without warning, screams erupted from several directions. One of the screams was particularly shrill, and accompanied by outcries in voices that Aster knew: Usagi and Mamoru.

She kicked off the geta she wore on her feet, picked them up, and then hiked up her kimono and ran in the direction of the noise.

She came out of a row of booths to the rock garden that was part of the park. What everyone had taken to be a new sculpture had revealed itself to be two creatures roughly the shape of a man, with crystalline protrusions that were already beginning to glow slightly with the energy they were collecting from the panicked people that were running from them.

Aster pulled out her henshin wand and transformed on the edge of the booths. Sailor Sol rushed forward, converging with five other Senshi to head off the youma. Their Kishi and satellites had their hands full, making certain that all of the civilians got out of harm�s way.

Sol could see Jadeite and two other individuals, all dressed in similar uniforms, but the other two had no colored piping on theirs. Jadeite�s hair was longer than she remembered, curling and cascading down past his shoulders in a way that reminded her of Nephrite�s hair.

�Mars!� Sol called out. �You get the one on the left side! Jupiter, you get the one on the right! Uranus, we get Jadeite! The rest of you, get rid of those youma!�

Sailor Uranus came to her side, and the two of them joined hands. As one, they raised their joined hands and faced Jadeite straight on.

�Solar Cyclone Blast!�

A whirlwind of light launched from their joined hands, heading straight for the blonde man hovering six feet above the ground.

Jadeite recoiled briefly at the new attack, but then he reached into his jacket and pulled out a large crystal, wider in the middle than at the ends, and both ends pointed. He held the crystal out in front of him, and shielded his eyes from the light approaching him.

When the whirlwind reached him, instead of whirling him in the air and throwing him away, it seemed to be sucked into the crystal. Where a potent attack of planet power had been, there was a glowing crystal, in the hands of the enemy.

Jadeite looked at the crystal in triumph, and a little bit of surprise. He bowed mockingly to the two gobsmacked Senshi, and then turned his attention to his charges.

The male of the two was slapping at his uniform, putting out small smoking spots from Sailor Mars� attack. His female companion�s hair was standing out with static, and she had blackened spots on her uniform from Sailor Jupiter�s lightnings. She was staring at their youma, now reduced to a pile of inert rocks by the attacks of Sailor Neptune and Sailor Mercury.

Sailor Moon�s voice in her ear made Sol beckon to the other five and run in the direction of the bonsai display.

Sailor Terra�s voice requested help, and Sol stopped and turned towards Uranus.

�Uranus, you, Mercury, and Neptune go help Terra,� she said. �If we need more than us, and Sailor Moon, we�ll let you know. If Nephrite�s there give him an extra hit for me.�

�Right,� Uranus said. She beckoned to Neptune and Mercury and the three of them ran in the direction of Terra�s reported location, followed by their Kishi. Sol, Mars, and Jupiter started off again in the direction of Sailor Moon and Sailor Venus.

When they came to the bonsai display and saw the green-leafed monster that looked like the unholy joining of two maple trees, Sol started looking around. She gestured for Mars and Jupiter to help with the youma, and she turned her attention to Takara, floating about ten feet off the ground.

�Sol,� she called out to her partner, gesturing at Takara. �Give me a boost!�

He nodded, clipped his mace to his belt, and made a stirrup of his two gauntleted hands.

Sol ran towards him, and stepped up into his clasped hands. He lifted her, giving her a lift over his head, almost to the same level as Takara and his charge.

At the peak of her augmented jump, Sailor Sol let loose.

�Solar Flare Burst!�

The arc of superheated air hit Takara�s charge, a delicate looking thing with greenish skin, just moments before it hit him. He turned at her cry of pain in time to catch the attack full in the front. It burned and blistered his exposed skin, singed and burned his hair and left his uniform smoking.

His companion, on the other hand, screamed in agony as her skin actually browned under the attack and her hair caught on fire. She turned supplicating eyes to the sky and abruptly disappeared, along with the youma that Mars and Jupiter were badly damaging.

Sailor Sol landed on both feet, and looked around. Sailor Moon was picking leaves out of her hair, and Sailor Venus was picking a particularly large splinter out of her partner�s arm, between two of the pieces of his armor.

They all turned when a flurry of footsteps heralded approaching people. They relaxed when they saw that it was the rest of the Senshi and Kishi.

�There�s two more of the Shitennou unaccounted for,� Terra said. �Sailor Uranus and I got Nephrite good. He was busy catching Sailor Saturn�s attack. He got that one, so his crystal is full, but Uranus and I got him good for what happened earlier.�

�Good,� Sol said. �I hope Kunzite gives him a few pieces of my mind, too.�

�We need to find him,� Terra pointed out.

Sol sighed, and closed her eyes. She sensed about for Dark Kingdom energies, and raised her hand to point in the direction where she sensed them.

�That way,� she said softly. �Kunzite and Zoisite, and someone I don�t know. There�s a youma there, as well, but it�s a passive one.�

~*~*~*~

Sailor Sol burst through the bushes and onto a scene that could be taken from one of her nightmares.

All around a central platform were the prone bodies of dozens and dozens of people. Standing in their midst was a bizarre parody of a chrysanthemum plant, its bare roots serving as legs, and its many blooms glowing as it siphoned the life energy of its victims. Above it hovered three men. She readily identified two as Kunzite and Zoisite. She was surprised to see that their hair had grown in a fashion similar to the Senshi. Zoisite�s hair was held back in several places, down to his ankles. Kunzite�s hair simply spread out in a fan that reached to just below his feet.

The third man was younger, and his platinum topknot tied on his head reached his waist. Two locks of hair framed his face, both as black as a raven�s wing.

Sol raised her hands above her head, intending to use a Solar Flare Burst to turn the youma into ashes. She had been part of two running battles so far, and in each case, their enemy had gotten away.

In the last battle, however, Sol had managed to damage both adversaries severely, which pleased her no end, since one of them had been Takara.

Before she could finish her attack, Kunzite swooped down in front of her and two powerful hands closed on her wrists, pinning them and effectively rendering her incapable of attacking.

"No you don't," a deep, resonant voice growled at her. She raised her eyes from the youma to the man holding her still.

Their eyes met for a moment, and she pulled herself away from him and looked over at Sailor Terra. The other Senshi nodded slightly and the two of them powered up, and then aimed their attacks diagonally.

�Star Solar Beam!� Sailor Sol�s attack flashed towards Zoisite, who calmly pulled out a collection crystal and put it in the path of the attack.

Just like Jadeite�s crystal before, the crystal sucked up the attack and glowed brightly in Zoisite�s hand.

�Terra Earthquake Crack!� Sailor Terra�s attack rumbled towards Kunzite, standing on the ground a few feet from Sailor Sol.

Sol jumped back away from the attack, and Kunzite threw down a crystal to intercept the attack and absorb the energy.

Kunzite backed up and rose in the air until he reached the place he had been before, and summoned the glowing crystal to his hand. He waited until the man he had referred to as Hematite joined him. Hematite seemed too enraptured by the success of his youma to pay any attention to the drama unfolding before him. As soon as the three of them were in place, they disappeared, as did the youma.

Sailor Sol stared at the place Kunzite disappeared from, wondering if she would ever speak to him again.

"Hey, Sun-face," Uranus' velvety voice drew her out of her introspection. "There's people to help."

Sol nodded and allowed them to help her to her feet while she looked around. Only then did she notice that the platform bore the company logo of the Planetary Energy Corporation. On the platform was a pile of grey and black silk, with a mop of red hair and a sleek black queue attached to one end.

"Sean!" Sol cried, lunging forward. She looked around quickly, saw no conscious civilians, and tore off her tiara.

In civilian guise, Aster jumped over one prone form after another, finally arriving at the platform. She pulled herself up the edge as if scaling a wall, and gently pulled the grey-clad form away from the other one beneath it. Michiru, Haruka, and Vincent arrived behind her. Michiru reached out and rolled Sean over, murmuring his name over and over.

Aster rolled the unconscious form of Sean's bodyguard, Ishihara Washino, Kishi Charon, onto his back, and hastily searched for a pulse. She found one, a bit fainter than normal, but steady. She began patting his cheek with her cold hands, trying to bring him around.

"Come on, Kage," she murmured. Behind her, she could hear Michiru using similar techniques to rouse her husband, with somewhat better success.

Finally, the man under her hands stirred on his own, then moaned softly.

"Sean?" he called softly while he swam up from senselessness. Aster helped him struggle into a sitting position, then restrained him from rising to his feet.

"Don't do that, Kage," she warned. "You'll fall."

"Mr. O'Connell," he said, reverting to the more formal address he used. "Is he alright?"

"He's fine, Kage," she said. "Michiru's with him, and he's more conscious than you."

"Those men," he said, still struggling against her restraining hands. "I didn�t know one of them."

"They got away, Kage," Aster said, assisting him into a chair. "But they didn't get you or Sean. That's the important part."

"How many people did they kill?" he asked, sagging in the chair. Someone handed Aster a bottle of sports drink, and she opened it and put it in his hand.

"I don't know," she said. "Drink this, it will help."

He obediently put the bottle to his lips and drank several swallows before he pulled it away in disgust.

"What is this?" he demanded, then noticed that Sean was getting the same treatment from Michiru, with Haruka standing over them, as if to ensure he drank it.

"When you lose power, you lose electrolytes," Aster said. "Just like if you exert yourself. This helps replace them."

"It tastes terrible," Ishihara said, grimacing. "Is there something that tastes better?"

"Not really," Aster said. "I'll send someone for juice and tea, but you finish that first." She watched while he finished the drink quickly, then he pulled a piece of cherry candy out of one of his kimono sleeves and put it into his mouth, making faces until the taste was gone.

"We should go," Aster said. "You make sure Sean doesn't overdo, and you don't overdo either. You won't be able to protect him if you overextend yourself."

"Very well," he said, sagging in the chair. "I'll do as you say."

"Now you have the idea," Aster said cheerfully, smiling to show it was a joke. He smiled back and watched as the three women took their leave and disappeared among the crowds that were now congregating.

~*~*~*~

By the end of the day, when the warriors all gathered for their banquet, the damage had been assessed, and the numbers struck them all: nearly a dozen people dead, including a few tourists, and almost five times that number taken to the hospital suffering from everything from exhaustion to severe shock. Two of the dead had died of heart attacks triggered by the energy drain.

Sean arrived, still pale and weak, but with a huge smile. He was accompanied by his sister Dierdre, her partner Celia, and Washino. The three of them had identical expressions of happy befuddlement. Aster figured that they had Bonded just before joining them.

Aster turned to where Oberon, now in his civilian guise again, sat with Setsuna and Michie. Both of them were nearly glowing with happiness, and he had a grin on his face that could not get any wider.

Soft voices drew Aster�s attention to where Haruka was, and she watched a young woman with dark skin and gold-streaked red hair talk to her softly. Haruka drew the young woman down and kissed her forehead, leaving behind a planet mark that glowed softly.

Aster smiled to herself. Recovering Hyperion was now assured. The one person Hyperion had loved as much as Kishi Deimos was Sailor Titania.

TBC
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Diamohns are Forever