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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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ATLAS � THE NORTH

Atlas dissipated two transparent images when the observation port in his cell door opened.

�There you are,� Beryl said. �I have an offer for you, Atlas. An offer that I believe you will find persuasive.�

�What are you offering, Beryl?� he asked tiredly.

�I will let you out of this cell,� she said. �I will retrieve Janus and Sailor Sol for you, and guarantee they will never leave you. All you have to do for this is to swear fealty to me and go back to doing what you did for ten thousand years.�

Atlas thought carefully about the offer. It would enable him to directly communicate with the two remaining copies of the Guard, and see if they were as different as they seemed to be. He hoped to be able to get them all out of the Dark Kingdom.

In the meantime, there was Takara. That man deserved an eternity of torment for what he had done, first to Sailor Sol and Sailor Terra, and then Kishi Deimos and that beautiful, gentle healer that Metalia claimed as her son. Takara especially deserved to live in fear of what Kunzite was going to do to him.

That made up his mind for him. He rose to his feet and bowed to Beryl, right fist to left shoulder.

�I accept your terms,� he said.

The cell door opened, revealing Beryl and a hibernation chamber.

�I will restore your powers,� she said. �Get into the chamber.�

�As you command,� Atlas said. He had no reason to tell Beryl that he still had his powers. He drew himself up to his full height and strode out of the cell as though he were a hero on his way to an accolade. The hibernation chamber opened as he approached it, and he climbed into it. He relaxed into it with a sigh and closed his eyes.

***** *****

Impeccably dressed in a crisp uniform, cape snapping behind him, Atlas strode into Beryl�s throne room and bowed at the waist. His hair swept the floor behind him, almost like a cape itself.

�My apologies for my absence, Great Queen,� he said. �I was indisposed. I would like to beg your indulgence for a few moments alone with Takara.�

�Granted,� Beryl said. �You have ten minutes, and then I expect both of you back before me.�

Atlas grabbed Takara by the front of his uniform, yanked the switch of hair from his belt, and dragged the man bodily from the throne room.

As soon as the doors closed behind them, Takara started screaming in agony. Lodite and Alexandrite jumped in their places, their eyes wide. Nephrite and Jadeite both turned towards the closed portals with raised eyebrows, and then looked at one another, but they said nothing. Beryl leaned back on her stolen throne and smiled.

When they returned, precisely ten minutes later, Atlas was still impeccable, with not a hair out of place, and not short of breath.

Takara, on the other hand, was pale, his uniform and hair were soaked in sweat, and he was trembling violently.

Atlas released Takara near Lodite and Alexandrite, and looked down at him with disdain.

�The next time you think to get above yourself, remember this,� he growled. �If you attempt anything like that again, I will not be so lenient.�

He turned and went to stand between Nephrite and Jadeite, and bowed to Beryl.

�Thank you for your indulgence, Great Queen,� he said. �What are your orders?�

�We need to retrieve five now, not two,� Beryl said. �Soladite and Tanzanite will be the most difficult, I believe. Kunzite, you will retrieve Zoisite personally, and he will be punished for his impertinence. After that, you will see to it that he remembers his place. Takara, you will stay away from all of those we must retrieve. If you see them, you will report to the Shitennou. Jadeite will be responsible for retrieving Quartzite, and Nephrite will retrieve Hematite.�

�Yes, Queen Beryl,� Takara said shakily. Jadeite could see that he was not the least bit chastened by Kunzite�s punishment.

�You are also responsible for collecting energy,� Beryl continued. �If we are to one day defeat the Senshi permanently, then we need all of the energy we can gather. For now, you are dismissed.�

Atlas went to the quarters that were allotted to him. Some of his youma, never knowing the difference between him and his copy, had cleaned the rooms and straightened or repaired what they could. He looked with regret at the enormous bed, and its black silk sheets. He remembered how Janus, as Zoisite, had looked lying on that bed, and he remembered, seeing through his copy�s eyes, how Sol had looked against black silk. Perhaps soon, he would be able to see for himself.

***** *****

Kunzite watched with trepidation while Aster faced Makoto on padded mats. Both women were wearing exercise clothing, and they both had their hair not only bound back, but braided to keep it out of their way.

They circled one another for a few moments, and then Makoto moved forward, aiming a kick at Aster�s head.

Kunzite stifled an exclamation while Aster dodged the kick, grabbed Makoto�s ankle, and pushed. Her offensive caught the other Senshi off guard, and Makoto tumbled to the ground, and rolled off the mats.

Kunzite stifled another cry as Washino approached Aster from behind, a training blade in his hand. He made no sound as he crept up behind her, but just before he was in range, she dropped to the ground and spun around, catching both of his ankles with her leg and landing him on his side.

�Nice try, Kage,� she said as she climbed to her feet again. �It might have worked before, but not now.�

�That is good to know,� he said, rising to his feet. �You know that Takara will not give up. He is determined to possess you.�

�Let him be determined,� Aster said. �I�m not going anywhere alone, and no youma will approach me. Takara would have to capture me himself, and I don�t think he has the courage to try it.�

�Never underestimate him,� Kunzite said, rising from his seat. �He is a desperate man, and he sees control of you as the only way to ultimate power. He does not understand the way power flows in the Dark Kingdom.�

�He doesn�t want to accept it,� Aster corrected. �He understands it well enough. That�s why he needs me. He thinks he can control me, and I can control the power. The only other option he has is my sister, and I�d take him apart if he tried that.�

�Besides,� Kunzite pointed out. �In the Dark Kingdom, you became more pliant, and your sister more aggressive. He would not wish his pawn to be out of his control.�

�He has no control over me,� Aster said. �You know that my passion rose only for you and the other Shitennou, there. Takara doesn�t have enough power to interest me, now.�

�We never did decide what we�re going to call the Ice King, here,� Makoto said. �We can�t call him Yukio,�

�No,� Aster said. �There must be something similar, though.�

�He�s different from Atlas,� Minako mused from the sidelines. �The two of them are similar, but not identical.�

�How about Hyoko?� Makoto asked. �Hail is made of ice, but it is different from ice.�

�Perfect,� Aster said, smiling at Kunzite. �How does that sound to you?�

�One name is as good as another,� he said. �I find the symbolism compelling.�

�I like it,� Minako said. �It shows the connection between the two of them, without making their identities dependent on one another.�

�Then Hyoko it is,� Aster said. �Tomorrow, we�ll go down to the Records Tent and register you. With the computers and the Hall of Records being destroyed in the disaster, we can tell them anything we want.�

�It�s a good thing we�re honest,� Minako said. �Can I go with you?�

�Sure, Mina-chan,� Aster said. �I understand.�

***** *****

Atlas leaned back in his chair and looked at the youma before him with satisfaction. He had found Sol�s notes when she was Soladite and had extrapolated on them, creating a gargantuan sunflower whose seeds were collection crystals.

He had created a youma, supposedly the farmer who had grown the enormous plant. The youma would protect the collection device with its life, if necessary. If the collector was damaged more than twenty-five percent, it would automatically return to the Dark Kingdom. He did not want the others deprived because of his need to leave.

Curious, he created a mirror and put power into it, wishing to see Sol. He had not seen her in the flesh since she was nine. Now, he wanted to see if she was as breathtaking an adult as his copy had seen.

The mirror fogged, and then gradually cleared to show a bed made of several futon cushions. People lay on the futon in groups of two, three, and even four.

One triad caught his attention, and for a moment he thought that he was seeing things. It appeared at first glance that Zoisite had duplicated himself so that there were three of them. On closer examination, he realized that one was Zoisite, with a green-tinged burn scar on the part of his back that was visible. One of the others, with a scar on one cheek, was Taro, who had spent ten thousand years as Zoisite. The third was a mystery, but he was confident that he would figure it out soon.

Near the three Zoisites, another group solved the mystery for him. It appeared that there were two of him, lying on either side of Sailor Sol, silver hair and pale skin on either side of her sun-touched golden beauty. One was his copy, Kunzite, identifiable by the dark olive scabs that he still bore from Takara�s assault. The other, Atlas realized after a moment, had to be his body double, Kishi Icarus. That meant that the other Zoisite was Kishi Kraken, Janus� body double.

Interestingly, there was another couple in close proximity. Kishi Pluto lay crosswise with his head near Sol�s. Next to him, surprisingly, was Sailor Uranus, securely wrapped in one arm. One of her hands was on her abdomen, which bore the distinctive bump of pregnancy.

Kishi Pluto�s closeness to Sol was not surprising. His companionship with Sailor Uranus was. Sailor Neptune was lying next to Uranus, one hand on her partner�s waist. Behind her, also surprisingly, lay Kishi Saturn, one arm possessively around Neptune, and the other under her head, his hand cupping Uranus� head.

Atlas let the image go, closing his eyes against the ache in his heart. He missed Sol and Taro like parts of himself, but he had work to do.

***** *****

Nephrite strolled slowly down the ruins of a residential street in Tokyo. Much of the rubble in the area had been wood, and had been cleared away for cooking and heating fires.

A hastily erected fence surrounded one of several tent cities that housed refugees. A sign on the fence stated that only minors from twelve to twenty were housed there.

He continued along the fence, thinking hard about his last sojourn to Tokyo, and the face that haunted him, even several years later.

He was peripherally aware of adolescent voices on the other side of the fence. Male voices were raised in encouragement, and a female voice raised in fear.

He was brought out of his reverie by the sound of his name.

�Nephrite, help me!�

He spun on one heel and saw a girl running towards him, her shirt torn off of one shoulder, and several boys in pursuit.

He took only a moment to take in her wide blue eyes and her red hair before he vaulted over the fence and between Naru and her pursuers.

His hair swept out as if borne on a wind, although the day was calm. He flared his aura into the visible spectrum, making it a glowing purple nimbus around his entire body.

The boys chasing Naru stopped short, their eyes wide with fear.

�Yes,� he growled, raising a hand with a glowing ball of power in it. �You would do well to fear me. Run before I squash you all like insects.�

The boys turned as one group and went back the way they had come.

Nephrite reabsorbed the power and dimmed his aura as he spun around to pull Naru into his arms.

�Nephrite, I thought I�d never see you again!� she cried, burying her face in his chest. �Please take me away from here! I�ll learn to take care of myself, I won�t be a bother, I promise!�

�You would never be a bother, Naru,� Nephrite said. �I promise you, no one will ever harm you again.� He tightened his arms around her and teleported the two of them to his once-hidden house outside of Tokyo.

***** *****

Jadeite wandered around a small street festival, remembering festivals that he had taken Yoshi to. He missed his younger lover terribly, and coming to this festival was the worst in a series of bad ideas. His only consolation was that he would be bringing a great deal of energy back to Beryl, and keep her away from what was left of the Shitennou for a while.

As he turned a corner, he was snatched into a darker space between two booths. He started to bring up a ball of power to repel his attacker when a pair of strong, familiar lips sealed themselves to his, and he was enveloped in the familiar scent of frankincense and sandalwood.

He wrapped his arms around Yoshi and pulled the younger man up against him as he took control of the kiss.

When they separated, they were breathing like they had run a long distance. Yoshi looked up at Jadeite with lust filled eyes, and said three words.

�Stay with me.�

Jadeite looked down at him, thinking down on the long nights alone in his bed. Amethyst had come to him for a short while, but then she had stopped. The last few times Jadeite had seen her, she had been following Takara around like a whipped puppy.

He never thought twice about it.

�Forever,� he said. �I never want to be parted from you again.�

�That�s good,� a familiar male voice made them both turn. Toshio was standing five feet away, with his arm around Elsa.

�I would not have liked helping the others restrain you when you tried to leave,� Toshio explained. �Yoshi calls for you in his sleep.�

�He will not need to, now,� Jadeite said, tightening his arms around Yoshi. �I will not leave him.�

�Good,� Elsa said, smiling. �We�ll let the others know when we all meet for lunch.�

�I�ll make sure he�s there,� Yoshi said. He smiled at both of them, and turned back to Jadeite.

�What should we do until then?�

~*~*~*~

Aster stared at the enormous sunflower and the �farmer� next to it, her mouth open in surprise. Someone had taken her design for an energy collector and had perfected it. She was waiting to find out if Hyoko and Aisuru had located the source of Dark Kingdom energies they had all sensed earlier.

She circled the youma and the collector, trying to figure out who had created it. The complexity was beyond any of the junior generals, and even beyond Galaxite. Takara never would have bothered with something so subtle. Everything pointed to one of the Shitennou. Since Hyoko and Aisuru had been on Earth, that left Nephrite and Jadeite. She rubbed her very large belly thoughtfully, wondering which of them it was.

She had just passed a walkway that opened into the open space where the sunflower was on display when someone grabbed her and she felt her feet leave the ground.

�I never thought you were dead,� Takara�s voice hissed in her ear. �Now you�re mine.�

The hated and feared voice froze her in place and despite her reassurances to the others, her mind refused to work. The voice itself brought back nightmarish memories from her childhood. He had beaten her and her siblings at a whim, destroyed anything he could that she cherished, and used both her and Lucinda in ways that most men would never even consider.

Now, that same voice was threatening to take her into the darkness, and never let her see the sun again.

She looked down to see the ground at least forty feet below them.

�I have it all worked out with Galaxite,� he whispered in her ear, enjoying the trembling in her body.

�We�re going to share you,� he said. �You�re not going to be a general, you�re going to be a concubine. First, though, we have to get rid of that spawn you�re carrying.�

Before she could react to the threat, she felt a blow to her head that rendered her unconscious.

She never felt it when Takara let her go, laughing while she fell towards the ground.

Two things happened that Takara never could have anticipated.

First, he was hit from two directions with a combination of planetary and Dark Kingdom power. He looked in one direction to see Kunzite floating in the air with one hand around Sailor Uranus� waist and the other drawn back, holding an energy boomerang. In the other direction was Zoisite, holding onto Sailor Jupiter, her lighting rod showing above her tiara. Zoisite�s other hand glowed with fiery power.

The second was a blur of white and gray streaking across the sky to catch Aster�s falling body and bear her gently to the ground.

Atlas landed gently and laid Aster on the ground as though she were made of spun glass.

�Hoshi,� he murmured, patting her cheek gently. �Hoshi, wake up. Please, wake up. Hoshi, it�s Yukio.�

Stimulated by the pats on her face and the voice, Aster clawed her way to consciousness. She raised one hand to the back of her head, wincing as she encountered the contusion that Takara had left behind.

�That hurt,� she groaned. �I�m going to tear him apart.�

�You will most likely have to talk to my copy about that,� Atlas said, smiling slightly.

His words made Aster look up abruptly, and her eyes met his.

�Yukio,� she whispered. �It IS you, this time.�

�Yes,� he whispered, pulling her into his arms to embrace her tightly.

�Take me up to Takara,� Aster said. �He has to find out that he can�t get away with this again.�

�Perhaps it should be Sailor Sol and Atlas,� he said, releasing her. He lifted her to her feet and reached for his belt buckle.

Aster remembered it from the Silver Millennium, and from her childhood. She reached out and brushed her fingertips across the cold metal. It was square, of silvered metal, appearing to have two katanas embossed on it, with their hilts protruding from the top corners of the buckle.

�You�re right,� she said. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her henshin wand.

He transformed as he pulled the tiny katanas from their holders. They lengthened in his hands into two deadly four-foot lengths of tempered and edged steel. His armor formed around him as the swords formed.

He sheathed the katanas and gazed in awe as the solar rays dissipated from around Aster and revealed Sailor Sol.

He held out his arms and smiled as she came to him without hesitation. He lowered his head as she raised hers, so that their eyes met in their empowered forms for the first time in ten thousand years.

The final piece of the puzzle snapped into place, and Sol suddenly knew planet power of a magnitude that nearly frightened her.

�Time to teach Takara a lesson in pain,� she said. �Take me to him, Atlas. Let�s show him that he truly does not understand the power of love.�

~*~*~*~

Caught between Kunzite and Zoisite, unable to teleport, Takara thought his situation could get no worse. He was alternately buffeted by Uranus� planet power coupled with Kunzite�s energy attacks, and Jupiter�s lightning accompanied by Zoisite�s fire or ice shards.

The attacks stopped abruptly, and Takara opened his eyes to behold something that actually terrified him for the first time in his life.

A man who appeared to be Kunzite, attired in the armor of a Satellite Kishi, hovered in front of him, with Sailor Sol hovering in front of him.

�Hello, gifu-san,� she said. �Perhaps knowing that you are not my sire will show you how completely defeated you truly are. Even as you wove your spells, my mother defied you and lied to you. I am no more your child than Lucinda is your niece. Your sons are safe from your manipulations. You have lost everything you sought to control. Go back to your usurper Queen and tell her that she has no chance of recapturing either of us.�

�You will be mine,� he growled, covering his fears.

�Never,� Atlas said, wrapping his arms around her waist. �Should you chance to touch her ever again, my double and I will see to it that the pain you felt outside the Throne Room is but a pale shadow of what you will experience.�

�Leave now, Takara,� Sailor Sol said. �Uranus and Jupiter hold their attacks only by my orders. I told them to wait for three minutes. You have now used two of them.�

Never one to waste an opportunity to escape, Takara teleported away. He had to tell Beryl that Kunzite had betrayed her, despite his agreement. Nephrite had disappeared days ago. Jadeite had not been heard from since teleporting to Earth that morning. If Jadeite had left the Dark Kingdom permanently, all that was left was himself, Lodite, Alexandrite, Galaxite and Amethyst. Amethyst was nearly useless as a general since he and Galaxite had used an enslavement ritual on her.

Atlas gently lowered the two of them to the ground after Takara disappeared. He deliberately placed them in a hidden area between the backs of several tents. He buried his face in Sol�s hair, reveling in her warmth.

Sol turned around in his arms so that the two of them were gazing into one another�s eyes again.

�I was afraid I would never see you again,� she said. �I believed that you were in the future, but I had no idea when you came back to us.�

�Beryl had no choice,� he said, smiling softly. He reached up and wrapped his fingers in her red-gold curls, gently pulling on them.

�She knew that she could not control Takara,� he said. �She needed him to be afraid of something.�

�Well, she�s lost Jadeite,� Sol said. �Hyperion reported that Jadeite reunited with Deimos earlier today. I suppose that only leaves Nephrite.�

�Nephrite disappeared a few days ago,� Atlas told her. �He was sent here to find a place for an attack, and he never returned.�

�I hope he didn�t get surprised by a Chaos monster,� Sol said. �Those creatures are nasty.�

�Nephrite would be more than equal to one of those misfits,� Atlas said. �It must have been something else.�

�We should take you to Endymion,� Sol said. �He and Venus have been waiting a long time.�

�What about you, saiai?� he asked, tightening his arms. �Have you been waiting for me, or is my copy enough for you?�

�He is not you, aisuru,� she said. �I Bonded to him, too, but he is not Atlas. Is it too much to think that I could love both of you?�

�No,� he said. �How will you love all of us, though?�

�I managed before,� she said, smiling up at him. �I will manage again. Change back, now, love, and we�ll make you fit in better.�

He released her, pulled out his katanas, and laid them on the ground. A moment later, Yukio picked them up and put them back in the belt buckle.

Aster studied him for a moment and then wove power over his uniform. When the power faded, he was dressed in traditional Japanese clothing, including hakama. His belt buckle was hidden under the sash, and camouflaged by a fan tucked into it. His long hair was tied up in a topknot, and the rest of the length fell down below his hips.

Aster took his hand and led him out between two of the tents, smiling at the merchant who looked at them in confusion.

She looked around for a few moments, and then reached for the communicator at her throat.

�Endymion, this is Sol,� she said. �I have Atlas with me. Where are you?�

�Congratulating Kunzite and Zoisite,� he said. �Terra and Uranus decided they had to have smoothies.�

�That sounds good, I�m starving,� Aster said. �We�ll be right there.�

She led Yukio through the throngs of people gathered at different booths and displays, from goldfish catching to mantis fighting. They passed merchants selling everything from festival souvenirs to gold and silver jewelry and pearls. Yukio tried to stop several times, but she pulled him onward.

�You can shop after you see the others,� she said. �I swear, you�re worse than Usagi. At least she knows when NOT to shop.�

�I have many lifetimes to make up for, aisuru,� he said. �I used to buy you gifts when you were a child. Do you expect me to stop now?�

�No,� she said. �You need to see the others first. Taro�s going to be upset that you wanted to shop before you saw him.�

�Taro?� Yukio asked, his expression suddenly wistful. �I haven�t seen him since � �

�I know,� she said. �Come on.�

They were at the entrance to the food court when Aster yelped and put a hand to her belly.

�We have a problem,� she said, breathing heavily. �I need some help, Yukio. I had better not walk much more, for now.�

�Then you will not,� he said. He picked her up and carried her in his arms. �Where do we go?�

�You see the booth with the cup and pieces of fruit on the roof?� she asked. �That�s were they are. I�m still hungry, but I�d better not eat anything.�

�Why is that?� he asked.

�I think I just went into labor.�

TBC
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Diamohns are Forever