******************************************************* **A Soul Reclaimed** By Brickgirl Brickgirl@hotmail.com http://www.geocities.com/tokyo/palace/7112 Rated: PG Disclaimer: Sailor Moon and friends do not belong to me. Adonis, Thalia, and this story do. **Part 7: Ties Not Easily Broken** ******************************************************* Neo Queen Serenity sat in a small room painted in beautifully muted colors. Next to her was a bed. Her eyes focused on the bed?s occupant, a young woman with beautiful copper colored hair. "Do you really think that it could be her, Luna?" Serenity asked the cat who sat on her lap. Luna gazed at the sleeping figure before answering. "You should know better then anyone if it was her. You were closest to her." Serenity sighed. "But she died so long ago." "So did you, for that matter. We never found her body." "True. I suppose we will just have to wait until she wakes up." Luna hopped off of the Queen?s lap. "I will check back later, to see if she has woken up? Shall I have someone bring you dinner?" The Queen shook her head minutely. Luna sighed quietly and pushed her way out of the door. Artemis sat waiting for her outside of the room. "Did you tell her?" Artimis asked. Luna shook her head. "I didn?t have the heart. We have no evidence that Thalia is still under Metallia?s influence." "We don?t even know if that *is* Thalia, Luna. Beryl was killed off years ago. How could she have survived all of this time? Where was she?" Luna looked pointedly at Artimis. "It happened before. For now, I say that we trust that that is Thalia, and she has returned to her old self." "But how can we trust her? She committed unspeakable acts under Metallia?s command." "So did the King. If I remember correctly, he nearly killed Serenity. Do you question him?" Artimis was shaken. "No, not . . . not at all," he stammered. "But this is different!" Luna swatted him with a paw. "No it isn?t, you dolt. Don?t you dare say a word of this, to the Queen, the King, the Senshi, or anyone else, do you hear me?" She glared threateningly at Artimis before running off. Artimis breathed a sigh of relief as she left. "Yes, your Majesty," he muttered under his breath. __________ was Thalia?s first thought. She blinked slowly, trying to bring the room in to focus. A worried face, quite familiar, hovered above hers. Thalia gasped. How could . . . "Queen Serenity?" she gasped, her voice nothing more then a weak croak. The woman looked puzzled for a moment, then laughed gently. "No. Well, yes, in a sense. Thalia, it?s me. Princess Serenity." "Princess . . .?" Thalia struggled into a sitting position. She studied the beautiful room around her. "Where are we?" "My city. Crystal Tokyo. On Earth" "You have your own city on Earth?" Serenity smiled. "My friend, you have quite a bit of catching up to do." __________ "You were a Senshi?" Thalia said several hours later. "I still don?t believe it." Inwardly, she remembered the young girl who had foiled Beryl?s plots so often. She seemed to remember this girl being the Moon Princess, but this Sailor Moon had been very . . . clumsy. "I can?t imagine you doing something so undignified." Serenity laughed. "Usagi was quite different then Princess Serenity. She may have been silly and somewhat of a clutz, but she had the strength to come through for her friends many times. I am both Usagi and Serenity. I may be a Queen but I am willing to fight for my people, as my mother was, even if I am no longer a Senshi." "What do you mean?" "In order to create Crystal Tokyo and start this new era of peace, sacrifices had to be made. I used much energy, and no longer have the power to transform into Sailor Moon." Thalia shook her head. "Doesn?t that bother you?" "Not really. I still have most of my power through the Ginzuishou, and the results were worth it. Look around you. It?s like the Silver Millennium all over again, but this time, there are no petty power struggles and political games. There is no war between the Earth and the Moon." "But the Moon is dead." Serenity seemed unfazed by the blunt comment. She gently touched her forehead. "The Moon lives on through me, and will live on through my daughter as well. She to will be a Senshi and fight in the name of the Moon." Thalia yawned. Serenity stood. "You should get some rest. You?ve been through a lot." "Thank you. For everything. And I?m sorry I wasn?t there for you during the years." "Don?t be," Serenity said gently, her eyes glittering in the light, as though through a sheen of tears. "You did more then anyone else ever did for me. You were my sister." She left the room. Thalia leaned back, but was unable to sleep. Images spun through her head, a strange blend of her days on the Moon and her time as Beryl. Gardens and Balls mixed with carnage and corpses until she could no longer tell one from another. With a cry, she smashed her fist into the crystal wall by the bed. The pain shocked her back to herself, and she flung herself back on the bed, weeping. "Thalia?" The voice caught her by surprise. She whirled to see a small figure sitting on the floor. "Luna?" The cat padded over and leapt onto the bed. Thalia reached over, hugging her gently with one arm, wiping her tears away with her other hand. "Oh Luna, everything is such a mess!" "Do you want to talk about it?" "I can?t. I . . . I just can?t." "I already know, Thalia." Thalia stiffened. "What do you mean?" "I know about Beryl." The air seemed to go out of Thalia. She said nothing, but continued to stroke the cat with a small trembling hand. "She told me they planned it," she finally murmured. "What?" "Metallia told me that Serenity and Endymion arranged to have me killed so they could be together. I knew it wasn?t true, but she showed me them . . . together. I was so upset, and then . . ." She gestured with her hands. "I did all of those horrible things." "You didn?t . . ." "Everything is my fault!" Thalia cried suddenly. "The destruction of the Moon Kingdom, all the people who were killed, Queen Serenity . . ." She Buried her face in her hands. "Did you do those things of your own free will?" Thalia looked at Luna in shock. "Of course not!" "Then how can it be your fault?" Thalia tried to protest but Luna cut her off. "Metallia possessed incredible power. No one person alone had the strength to resist her will. She almost forced Endymion to kill Serenity with but a fraction of the energy with which she held you. There is nothing you could have done against that sort of dark power." Luna shifted her position. "Do you still have your henshin stick?" Thrown by the change of subject, Thalia fumbled for a moment. Closing her eyes, she summoned the wand. When she opened her eyes, she gasped with surprise. The henshin stick had changed. It was much more elaborate, trimmed with gold and crystals. "You have the power to help your friends again," Luna told her sternly. If you choose to sit around and feel guilty, then you let Metallia win. She may not be forcing you to do evil anymore, but she succeeded in impairing your ability to do good. Don?t let that happen Thalia. You can rise above the past and become a Senshi again. Reclaim your identity." Thalia stared at the henshin stick for a long moment. Then she stood. "Where are the training grounds?" "Just past the East Garden. Why?" Thalia laughed softly as she paused at the door. "Don?t tell me you?ve gone soft, Luna. You should have been the first to say that I?m out of practice." Luna watched her leave with a smile. "Welcome back Sailor Earth," she murmured. __________ Thalia soon found herself in a large field dotted with metal posts. Most bore scars from previous training exercises. Summoning her henshin stick, she raised it and shouted her transformation phrase. "Earth Crystal Power Makeup!" She blinked in surprise as energy swirled around her. Where had those words come from? That hadn?t been her transformation phrase. The transformation finished, Thalia looked down at her fuku. It too had changed. Her gloves had been replaced by pale blue crystal gauntlets that ended in a point over the top of her hand. The bow on her chest now extended to a small crystal breastplate. Her boots no longer laced up and ended with a crystal knee guard. "Very interesting." Thalia turned to see Luna perched on one of the posts. "It would seem that the power of your crystal evolved during the period that Sailor Earth ceased to exist. Do you still have the original crystal?" Thalia reached up and found the crystal still at the center of her bow. Pulling it free, she transformed it into a sword simply with a thought. Smiling, she set to work, ?killing? all of the posts in her way. __________ "This isn?t working Venus!" yelled Mars, dodging a huge crystalline fist. The Senshi had encountered two of the monsters while patrolling the city, and were now desperately fighting for they?re lives. This encounter was different then the last. These creatures seemed to have no qualms about killing any innocent pedestrians that got in their way, and seemed very eager to crush the senshi. "JUPITER OAK EVOLUTION!" The massive burst of energy smashed into the larger of the two monsters. As with the previous attack, it seemed to have no effect. Mercury, who had been trying to track the teleportation, gasped in shock when she saw the results of Jupiter?s attack. "Guys!" she yelled. "These creatures are absorbing the energy of our attacks! Using our powers make them stronger. We need to use physical attacks!" "We don?t HAVE any physical attacks!" Mars yelled back. Venus stared at the two monsters for a moment. "Mercury, could we hit them with enough power to overload them?" "Too dangerous," Mercury shot back. "I can?t calculate the amount of energy such a strategy would require. We might simply supply them enough energy to seal our own fate." "Great," muttered Jupiter. "I don?t think that?s a plan to try." A scream caught their attention. One of the monsters had cornered a young man who had been hiding behind the side of a building. The Senshi watched in horror as the creature stabbed him through the stomach with a sharp crystal arm. The man convulsed, then stiffened as the monster began to drain his life energy. "My god," murmured Jupiter in horror. The creature turned and hurled the corpse in their direction. The Senshi scattered. Venus rolled to her feet. Seeing a crumbling stone statue, she had an idea. "Mercury, blind them!" The area filled with mist. "Mars! Jupiter! Aim for the base of that statue!" At the two Senshi poured forth fire and electricity, Venus formed a energy chain. She looped it around the top of the statue and pulled with all of her might. With a rumble of ancient masonry, the statue slowly crumbled, then collapsed, directly on top of the two monsters. As the dust cleared, the Senshi cautiously approached the pile of rubble. With a roar, the creatures burst forth. The Senshi jumped back, though it was unnecessary. The monsters were obviously injured. One had cracks running up its side, while the other was short one arm. With a guttural moan, the creatures teleported away. Mercury noted something glistening in the rubble and walked over to investigate. Brushing aside the rocks, she found the arm that the monster had lost. She scanned it with her computer. "Hey guys, come look at this." The Senshi gathered around. On the screen of the computer was a perfect 3D replica of the crystal arm. The image turned into a framework of glowing lines. Inside could be seen the form of a human arm. "These things are actually human?" Mars asked in disbelief. Mercury snapped her computer shut. "Or were. There seems to be some sort of symbiotic relationship between the human host and the crystal exostructure. I will need to bring the sample back for further analysis." "Then do it," Venus said. She walked over to where the body of the young man lay. She leaned over and gently shut his eyes. "We need to learn how to stop these things. Before anyone else dies." __________ Thalia wandered around the gardens, still in the form of Sailor Earth. Finished reacquainting herself with her powers, she had decided to do some exploring. It was wonderful to simply walk around and enjoy the simple beauty of nature after subsiding so long in the darkness, "I still can?t believe that all of these plants were grown by magic," she said to Luna, who trailed behind her. "It?s much easier to manipulate the formation of life on Earth, since it occurs naturally here. Is something wrong?" the cat asked, realizing that Thalia had stopped suddenly. "Up there, behind that hedge. Is that . . ." "King Endymion." Thalia swallowed. In her mind, she saw Endymion writhing on a stone slab, screaming as the dark power tore his mind apart. She shook her head, trying to banish the vile images. "You are going to have to face him sometime," Luna said, guessing at the source of Thalia?s discomfort. The girl nodded and hesitantly walked forward. Endymion heard her approach and glanced up from the roses her was studying. His face broke into a smile. "Thalia! It?s so good to see you up and about. Are you feeling better?" Looking into his handsome, kind face, Thalia felt all of the old longings in her heart, both her childhood crush and Beryl?s overwhelming lust. It was all she could do to keep from breaking into tears. Would he really be so kind if he knew what she really was? Would Serenity? "I?m fine," she managed, her voice shaking. "Is something wrong?" he asked, his voice filled with concern. She could hear Beryl?s voice screaming for her to claim what was hers. She slowly baked up. "No. I . . . I have to go." She turned and fled, following the twisted paths in wild circles around the castle. When she was sure he was not following her, she collapsed and let the tears flow freely. Hearing a noise, she turned, but it was only Luna. "Oh Luna, I can?t do this!" she sobbed, throwing her arms around the small cat. "I can still feel her inside of me! I don?t want to hurt anyone again!" "Maybe Serenity can use the Ginzuishou to . . ." "No! I can?t tell her about this, Luna. She?ll hate me." "You know that?s not true." "I . . . just can?t. Not right now. And maybe not ever." Luna cuddled next to the weeping girl. She wished she could tell Thalia what to do, but, for once, she herself didn?t know. __________ Endymion back silently away from the hedge where he had been listening to Thalia and Luna?s odd conversation. He and the others had been confused as to what had actually happened to Thalia over the years she was mysteriously missing. Her garbled explanations had made little sense, but they had been content with the knowledge that a long lost friend had returned. Now, Endymion was curious. "What could be so horrible that she couldn?t tell her closest friends?" he mused as he walked back to the castle. He turned back to where he had walked from. He only hoped that she could let them help her with whatever it was before she let it tear her apart. __________ Serenity sat in a soft chair in her private drawing room. One hand was clasped on her growing belly. She smiled as she felt a small movement. "Hello Serenity." "Hello Setsuna," she replied without looking up. "What brings you here today?" "We are approaching an important event in the timeline. It will determine the fate of the future of your Kingdom." Serenity looked up at the Guardian of Time. "Don?t they always?" "I?m quite serious, Serenity. The Small Lady may be in danger." "What?" Serenity asked sharply. The destructive forces that you have recently encountered are much more dangerous then realize. They possess enough power to destroy this world, and they are crazy enough to do. And at the present time, you are in no shape for battle." "The Senshi . . . " ". . . will not be enough. You need the aid of the Senshi of Earth." "Thalia." "Yes." Setsuna kneeled beside Serenity. "She has been hurt. Badly. There are things that happened to her that she can?t bring herself to talk about. Not even to you. She thinks her past is still with her, but it is only the ghosts of the past. You need to give her the strength to fight both past evils and present. If she can?t everything is lost." Serenity was silent for a moment. "I love Thalia with all my heart, and I always have. I?ve trusted her with my life. If she needs my help, I will do all I can." Setsuna placed her hand on Serenity?s belly, smiling when she felt a kick. "She?s going to be quite special." "I know. I?ve already met her, remember." "Of course. How many mothers can claim that?" Serenity smiled at her friend. "Now whenever she?s being a real brat," she joked, "you?ll send her back to the past for me, right?" "How you curse your younger self." "Don?t talk about my daughter that way!" Setsuna chuckled, then grew serious once more. "I will do my best to protect the Small Lady, but there are limits to what I can do." "I don?t ask you for any more then that." "I know." Setsuna turned to leave. "Remember, help Thalia. Her soul is very fragile right now. She needs your love more then she knows." With that, she vanished. __________ The two crystal creatures reappeared in a cavern deep beneath the ground. They approached a intricate throne and bowed deeply. "My lord, we were repelled by the Senshi." "As expected." "Haion was badly injured," the creature continued, gesturing to his one-armed partner. "So I see." A massive crystal claw lashed out of the darkness, smashing the unwary Haion to pieces. "There. He looks much better now." "Uh . . . yes my Lord," the remaining creature said, nervously eyeing the crystal shards that now cluttered the floor. "Shall we continue our assault on the city?" "Of course. Young Serenity chooses her alliances poorly. Her mistakes must be . . . corrected. Her Senshi will not be able to stand against our might." "Yes, my Lord." The creature bowed deeply, then retreated into the surrounding darkness. He flinched nervously as dark, insane laughter followed him. He walked faster down the tunnel, but the echo still followed him. ******************************************************* ******************************************************* This part came out a bit later then I hoped, but not as late as I was afraid it would be. I still haven?t work out all of the kinks in the plot past the first half, but will as I go along. It keeps getting better as I go along, thankfully! Not much to say this time. I?ve been busy with a new semester and all. I do want to thank my friend Katie for being so supportive of my fanfic and listening to all my complaining. If you are a Tuxedo Kamen otaku, visit her page, Tuxedo Mask?s Rose Garden at http://www.geocities.com/tokyo/ginza/2679. Until next time!! ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com