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Gaea
Techi paused outside of the Throne Room and placed a shaking hand on the handle. He stood there for several moments, just staring at the wood, until he felt a hand on his arm. Glancing up into the face of a man, that he had learned the day before was his uncle, he felt a tear slide down his cheek.
Pho, son of Mars and Jupiter, pushed the handle down and led the younger man into the room. He saw the Goddesses, a few of the older children and the three adults from another dimension, all leaning over several maps and diagrams. He smiled sadly when Imari looked up at him. "Techi has something he needs to tell you all."
The group stopped working on their various plans as the green-haired man stepped closer to the table. "G-Grandmother C-Cronos ... is dead."
Imari glanced at her companions, then walked over to the green-haired man, pulling him into a hug. "I'm sorry. I thought we got her back here in time."
Techi felt tears escape his eyes as he returned the hug. "You did, but she ... Ryu told me that she ... was tired of fighting. She didn't want to-to hurt anyone else. She ... she turned off the power."
Pandora watched the young man for several moments. She did not need her granddaughter's help, this time, to know that he was telling the truth. Standing, she glanced at each of the others in turn before finally settling her gaze on Lysithea. "Trans, contact Helios. I want Cronos sealed into the ruins. I do not want our children to have to fear another like her. I ... I do not want Elara's children to have to fear becoming her."
Lysithea nodded and stood, just as the doors to the Throne Room burst open again. Two teenagers came running into the room and nearly tackled a very startled Seiya.
It took Seiya a moment to recognize the brunette and blonde that were clinging on to her. "Miyo? Shi? What ..." She hugged the two girls, then looked to the green-haired man.
Techi smiled a little. "It would appear that when grandmother died, the ... the spell was broken."
Elysion
"So ... you have no way of contacting the palace? I guess that explains why we never heard from you," Rosalind replied. She frowned slightly at the crystal dias, then looked to the man beside her. "We didn't know she had a child."
Helios nodded. "She didn't want you to know. She really did fear that if people knew she had had a child, that her kingdom would fall and you would all be killed." He smiled at the pink crystal. "After Usha was born, she was ... so very weak. She asked Puu to seal her into that crystal until she was needed again, but ... she is still so very weak. She can't even keep her eyes open for more than a few minutes."
Watching the golden-haired woman in the crystal, Elara frowned. "But why did she fight Metallia when she was pregnant? She was putting herself in grave danger."
"She didn't fight Metallia. She was gone from the Moon a full day before that attack occured. It was why Metallia was able to attack." Helios looked between the two goddesses, his smile having faded to a frown. "You saw her fight Metallia?"
Rosalind sighed as the brunette nodded. "No, you didn't. You saw Pandora, dressed as the Queen."
Elara spun to face her friend. "What?! Pandora ... but, she couldn't ..." The brunette slumped against the wall as realization dawned on her. "She couldn't use the crystal, so she ... we thought the Queen fell in battle ... and we ..."
"And we gathered our full powers ... and some we never should have had ... and destroyed Metallia." Rosalind glanced toward a dark purple crystal at the other end of the large room, a sad smile on her face. "And the ones that knew were the ones who lost control of those powers."
Elara followed her gaze and gasped. "Dione knew? But ... she must have healed Pandora ... so that they could both join the fight." The brunette walked over to the dark crystal and gently placed a hand on it. It was their custom to bury their fallen friends on the planet of their birth, thus allowing their powers to pass on to the next warrior, but Kiviuq's powers had robbed her of her sanity, turning her into a monster similar to the one she had had to gain so much power to defeat. When she died, they realized that they had no choice but to bind her powers. A frown crossed her face as she looked around the cavern, then back to Helios. "Helios, you said the Queen had left the Moon a full day before the attack, but ... aren't we on the Moon now?"
Helios nodded, his small smile returning. "We did leave the Moon, after Usha was born. Serenity wouldn't go until then. She wanted her daughter to be born on the Moon. But she was so weak, I knew we couldn't stay there. It would only be a matter of time before someone figured it out and attacked her, so I took them both to Gaea." His smile faded again as he turned his attention to the floor. "Then Metallia attacked. Puu followed us after the first battle ... told us that the only chance to save the others was for the Queen to return to the Moon. Even bound in crystal, her powers would be enough to save the Kingdom. So to keep the others from knowing, I created Elysion, in the heart of the Moon. We placed the crystal here. It was only after Dione was brought here that we realized we couldn't leave."
He sighed, sliding down the wall to sit on the floor. "That was fine with me. All I have ever wanted was to be by her side. If that meant an eternity here ... then so be it. But I didn't want Usha to have to live here any longer, surrounded by ghosts. When a portal appeared ... I pushed her into it. I thought ... anywhere was better than here." He glanced up as a figure knelt in front of him and smiled at his daughter.
Usha watched her father for a long moment before turning to Rosalind. "The portal opened into the Dark Kingdom, the demon world. There were humans there, and other immortals. I befriended them, grew close to one," she replied, glancing over toward Hecate. "The demons ignored us for the most part. We were our own little world. Then Beryl came. She was the child of two of the humans. Born a few years after we were trapped. She had such ... power. It was truly terrifying. There was no choice but to follow her, especially when she started turning the demons against us."
The daughter of Queen Serenity sighed as she helped her father back to his feet. "She used her own powers to try and find a way back to Gaea. That's all she ever wanted ... was to leave the Dark Kingdom. But the way she did it ..." Usha closed her eyes for a moment as she tried to block out the memories. "We couldn't stand it anymore. We rebelled against her, but ... it was useless. By now, there were ... half-breeds. Enough for an army, she didn't need us anymore. She sealed the immortals and banished the humans that she didn't kill. I pleaded with her to let them come here. To let me bring my children here."
"Children? There's another child?"
"There was. A son, but I don't know what happened to him. At the last moment, he was pulled from us, back into the Dark Kingdom." Usha let a small smile cross her face as she turned back to Rosalind. "I ... I can only hope that Nera was able to protect him."
Elara frowned, turning back toward the others. "Why weren't you sealed with them?"
Usha shook her head. "I don't know. Not really. I think it is because ... because mother's powers are bound. I think that mine are as well."
"That makes sense. I don't know about your son, but ... we found Nera," Elara walked back over to the group and stood beside Usha. "She was with a group of people that were found encased in crystals. They said they were from the Dark Kingdom."
Rosalind saw both joy and sadness cross Usha's face and turned to watch her own daughter talking with Devii and Hecate. "Was Sora with them? She won't tell me how she managed to get into that clearing with Cronos."
Elara glanced toward the group of younger warriors. "No, she wasn't. There was just Larissa, Nera, Hythos, Sefin and some man I had never seen."
"Sefin is alive?"
Usha saw the flash of emotions on the older blonde's face and smiled a little sadly. "The other man, if I remember correctly, is Rein, son of Triton. He was born shortly after she arrived."
Yaten watched her friend for a long moment before moving to stand beside her. They had learned shortly after arriving in Elysion that Helios' powers only worked one way. He could bring people to Elysion, but he could not send them back. That was why the others thought of Elysion as only a graveyard. No one ever returned. And there was no way of reaching the people on the planet below because of the wards that surrounded the ruins of the palace on the moon's surface above.
"Is she anything like the Serenity you remember?"
Haruka jumped slightly at the other woman's voice and turned to face her. "Yes ... and no. Even now, my memories of that life aren't complete. There are things that, no matter how hard I try, I can't remember. She looks similar to our Serenity-sama, but the hair I know is different. Our Serenity-sama has ... had silver-white hair. That's why Sailor Moon's goes white when she's in her 'Neo Queen' form." She placed a hand on the pink crystal in front of her and smiled a little at the sad brown eyes that opened to look up at her. "Will we ever get home?"
Yaten shrugged, leaning over to put her head on the blonde's shoulder. "I don't know, old friend, but I'm sure the others are trying to find a way to-"
Everyone in the room jumped as the sound of glass breaking echoed off the golden stone walls. As the others looked to see what had happened, Haruka gasped and stepped back from the pink crystal. She was clutching the hand that had been placed on the crystal and nearly tripped on the steps of the dias as she backed away.
"'Ruka-chan, what's-" Yaten gasped when she saw blood start dripping down the other woman's arm. She grabbed her friend's wrist and pulled the hand down to where she could see it. "How did you cut yourself?"
Usha turned toward the dias and gasped. The pink crystal had cracked, right where the blonde's hand had been placed. There was blood on the crystal and the crack was growing. "F-Father!"
Helios jumped to his feet and ran over to the crystal. He placed his hands on the base of the crystal, trying to stop the crack from growing. "I-I can't stop it. The ... the crystal is breaking." He stepped back and watched as the crack slowly grew, splitting the crystal into two halves.
Yaten finally got Haruka's hand to where she could see the cut and pulled a long sliver of pink crystal from the wound. Almost as soon as she did, the wound started healing. "What the ..." She glanced up at the blonde and saw the same shock on the other woman's face. It was as if Hotaru were standing there with them, healing the wound.
Elara glanced toward the other end of the chamber and gasped. "Hers isn't the only one."
Rosalind heard the desperation in her friend's voice and turned to look. A similar crack had appeared in the dark purple crystal and Kiviuq's power was leaking into the chamber. "Kisama!" She transformed into Uranus, sword at the ready.
"Rosalind, stop!"
The blonde spun back at the voice, dropping her sword and falling to one knee almost at the same time. "Serenity ..."
Queen Serenity was sitting on the dias, the remains of the pink crystal coffin turning to dust around her. She moved to stand and smiled as both Usha and Helios ran to her side. She pulled them both into a hug, then smiled at the others. Letting go of her lover and daughter, she walked over to Haruka. Taking the blonde's newly healed hand in her own, she looked closely at it, then glanced to the dark crystal behind the other woman. "Thank you, Dione."
A ghostly figure of a warrior in purple bowed to the Queen, then faded. The dark purple crystal resealed, the symbol for Kiviuq burned into it's surface. Elara felt the need to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming. "What ... what just happened?"
Serenity turned to the brunette, her smile turning sad. "What Helios told you is true. I asked Puu to seal me away, until my powers returned, but ... but the spell she used, was wrong. She sealed my powers into the crystals themselves. I could not gather enough of it to break the bond she had placed on the crystal." She looked down at the blonde's hand she was still holding. "For me to be freed ... it means that she is gone. Elara ... Puu is dead."
Elara allowed a small smile to cross her face. "She never could get those spells right. She was always screwing them up." She turned to face Helios and saw the white-haired man watching her. "Bind her here, like you did with Dione. Don't let ... don't let her insanity spread to my children, please."
Helios nodded as a dark green crystal seemed to grow from the walls beside the purple one. There was a flash of light, then the symbol for Cronos appeared on the surface. Moments later, Yaten's communicator started beeping at the same time a crystal on the wall started flashing. Helios smiled a little. "It would seem Pandora had the same idea." He walked over to Elara and hugged her. "You need never fear your daughter's power growing that strong again. There will never be another Cronos."
???
Ymede continued to watch the building below as the snow piled up, blocking the doors. There was a certain satisfaction in knowing that her promise to her mother had at last been fulfilled. Earth was sealed off from Gaea. She would be able to secure the warriors she needed to restore the Moon Kingdom, including one in whose veins flowed the blood of Serenity. "It would seem that they have not yet realized your deception, sister."
Gesre nodded, idly polishing one of the four blades of her staff. "So it would seem. Looks as if the time has come to ..." She staggered for a moment as the staff vanished. Her clothes changed back to normal and for a moment, the green-haired woman became disoriented.
"The time has come to, what, sister?" Ymede turned to the other woman and saw her stagger. The brunette ran to her sister, catching her before she could fall over the edge of the building. As she watched the other woman lose consciousness, she immediately knew what had happened. Cronos' power had been bound forever in the ruins on the Moon.
Without the power of the green-haired warrior, the pocket reality began to destabilize. The universe they had used to create this reality was unstable. It had collapsed into itself centuries before and was just beginning the cycle of creation again when the two sisters had found the portal. The universe itself had not been ready for a planet to be created. There wasn't even a sun to heat it, just eternal cold. Without the reality-warping powers of her sister, Ymede felt the bitter cold for the first time. She knew she had to do something, fast. If they remained here, they would surely die.
Glancing once more to the building across the street, the brunette knew she had no choice. There was only one way out of this world. And it was a power that she did not have. She would have to make a deal with the Senshi of Earth. Tell them where they could find the portal ... and hope they allowed her and her sister to leave as well.
