Well, faced with an inability to get started on the fourth chapter of
Fallen, I turn to continuing my revisions of Shades of Gray, my overlong
Sailor Moon epic of questionable worth.
The previous revised chapters are not yet archived anywhere, but are
available on request. All comments are quite welcome.
Aaron Nowack
"Never let reality get in the way of a good hypothesis."
http://www.geocities.com/anowack/ (for now)
Shades of Gray
A Sailor Moon Fanfic
By: Aaron Nowack
Chapter 5: Coming of Age
"In short, the habits we form from childhood make no small
difference, but rather they make all the difference."
-Aristotle
***********************************************************************
Disclaimer: Sailor Moon is owned by Naoko Takeuchi, whose creative
talents far exceed my most humble own. Distribution and other rights to
Sailor Moon belong to lots of different companies that I do not own. I
make or imply no claim to ownership of Sailor Moon or its characters.
However, the text of this fanfic and all original characters presented
within are mine, and should not be used without permission. Thank you.
***********************************************************************
Night had fallen over the city of Tokyo. A few stars sparkled
in the distant sky, but most were drowned out by the constant light
pollution. Tall skyscrapers crowded the sky, the lights from the
windows replacing the vanished starlight. Most good citizens were
already in bed, sleeping away their sorrows and worries. Both the
Hikawa Shrine and the apartment of one Fuarku Ikawa had long ago
quieted, and those who had been meeting within those two locations were
now sleeping in their respective homes.
However, a city the size of Tokyo never sleeps. Throughout the
city, there were those who were awake. For many of Tokyo's less
reputable areas, the day was just beginning. More wholesome elements of
the city were still at work, as well. Police were still inspecting the
ruined park, searching for some clue, even the smallest hint, that would
allow them to defend their city from the monsters that attacked it...
and from those that claimed to protect it. They would find nothing.
In a large house, almost a mansion, owned by one Tomoe Soiuchi,
two others did not sleep. One of those was Professor Tomoe's daughter,
Hotaru. The twelve year old girl lay in her bed, surrounded by the
almost oppressive darkness, and stared silently at the ceiling. This
would not have been too odd, except that Hotaru had been only six years
old when she had went to bed. She had been a baby the week before, and
a week before that she had been almost thirteen.
Slowly, a softly-glowing ethereal figure materialized before the
young girl. The purple light cast eerie shadows over the room. The
figure appeared similar to her, though perhaps a few years older. She
recognized the figure, a person she both loved and hated. Hotaru
glanced at the deep purple skirt, the blood red bows, and the white body
suit. It was Sailor Saturn. It was herself.
Images and memories came pouring back, however hard she tried to
force them down. She stood before Sailor Moon, blocking the Moon
Princess's path into the swirling chaos behind her. There was no
emotion, only duty. She extended her arm, and the Silence Glaive
appeared in her hands, a menacing tool made for a menacing purpose.
Sailor Moon leapt forward, trying to stop her from sacrificing herself.
A fruitless, though heartfelt, gesture. The Moon Princess was forced to
halt as Saturn leveled the Glaive at her. "Goodbye." Saturn leapt
backwards, into the vortex. Into the Silence. Into her domain. And
then-
Hotaru returned to the present, and watched as the figure before
her held out the Glaive, offering the power to her. For a long moment,
the girl stared at the weapon, watching the purple light play on its
silvery surface. Images flashed on the polearm, images of times long
past, of times yet to come. "No," Hotaru finally whispered. "I don't
want it."
The figure of Sailor Saturn disappeared and for a moment Hotaru
dared to hope that this was the end. But then Sailor Saturn was
replaced by a woman, around twenty years of age. Mistress 9. The
Messiah of Silence. Once again, herself. More memories came, forcing
their way into her head. Rejecting her father. Nearly killing Uranus
and Neptune. Tricking Sailor Moon into giving up the Holy Grail.
"No," Hotaru moaned as Mistress 9 summoned the Glaive and
offered it as well. She would not have thought it possible, but the
Glaive looked even more menacing than before. The light became darker,
and it was images of destruction that played off of the blade. The
Silence. "Please," Hotaru moaned, "no... don't." The figure vanished
like its predecessor, and Hotaru slept.
Not far away, exhausted by the hard work of moving into his new
room here at the Tomoes' house, Inusha Tamori also fell asleep, and
dreamed of ages long past.
***********************************************************************
At the Gates of Time, Pluto felt the power stirring. The time
stream seemed to tremble, teetering between far too many paths to count.
Part of her rejoiced, while another part trembled. Sailor Saturn would
be needed, it was another step on the route to Crystal Tokyo. However,
it was a dangerous step. There was far too much at stake now, for her
to feel comfortable with what havoc Sailor Saturn's reappearance might
cause.
Sailor Pluto hated dealing with mights. She was used to
absolute certainties, but events were anything but certain now. She had
known the day would come when her future self would no longer be able to
aid her, the day she became directly involved in the events that had to
occur. That didn't mean she had to like it.
She was not blind - even without her future self's direction she
could read the timestream. Yet, the timestream was a fluid thing, and
the more important the events approaching the more fluid it became.
Without a clear vision of the path ahead, it was hard to tell which of
the billions upon billions of possibilities each day brought could aid
or hinder the world's progress along that path, even without what she
could already see coming. All too soon, Chronus's power would cloud her
vision, and she might very well be blinded in all that mattered.
Pluto stared silently at the distant sun, and prayed.
***********************************************************************
Jadeite looked up at the sky. Not in prayer or hope, but merely
to observe. For once, the dark clouds that almost constantly covered
the firmament over the central regions of the Dark Kingdom had lifted,
revealing the blood-red sky. It was an appropriate color, and was the
reason that ancient youma legends referred to the sky as Metallia's Eye.
No sun cast down its rays; instead the entire heavens seemed to glow.
The eerie light illuminated the landscape, making it appear as though it
was bleeding from some terrible wound. Throughout the plain below the
massive, dark castle, the few plants lifted their leaves, hoping to
catch as much of the light as possible. Jadeite was on the battlements
of his palace, staring towards the north, towards the Mountains of
Desolation.
Magically enhancing his eyesight, Jadeite studied the
countryside. The only signs of habitation were the small keeps dotting
the landscape. No cities existed in the Dark Kingdom. He could make
out the estates of the three dozen or so Overlords that had sworn fealty
to him, all up in arms as the Overlords prepared to war among themselves
to increase their chances of being named General. Idiots, all of them!
Particularly Nyxan and Ishamanar, the two main leaders. He had hoped
his proclamation would stir them to action against the Senshi, not each
other!
Jadeite's gaze turned further north, to the Mountains
themselves. They hung on the horizon like an immense row of teeth,
casting vast shadows across the northern portion of Jadeite's small
domain. The Mountains had revoked their offer of fealty after Malvaar's
death. Rumor had it that Mordrangar, the Dragon of the North, had
overthrown Kizzar, previous ruler of the Mountains, proclaimed himself
King, and was raising an army to take on Jadeite's forces.
Damn it! At the height of her power, Beryl had commanded the
loyalty of literally billions of youma and all the hundreds of
Overlords. The four Dragons had bowed to her will, and to that of her
Generals, and governed four immense provinces in their name. Jadeite,
the sole survivor of those five people, commanded a bare handful of
Overlords, and not one Dragon had taken the oath of fealty to him.
But... he did control the portal. That was his only strength.
Jadeite tried to think of what he could do. If Mordrangar did
stir against him, he could definitely use one of the other Dragons. The
loyalty of a Dragon, or even an alliance with one, could bring in
millions of troops, or it would if the Dragon had maintained control of
his domain. Not likely. After all, even Mordrangar's domain was a
fraction of its former size, with no territory outside the Mountains
themselves answering to his call.
So, scratch that idea. Besides, which Dragon would support him?
Loriel, the Dragon of the East, had eaten the messengers he had sent
when he claimed the throne. The Dragon of the West, Kyrien, had
vanished, likely slain in the chaos after Beryl's death. The Dragon of
the South... Jadeite would never ask Scalae for help. Not after he had
been betrayed by her.
***********************************************************************
For the first time in millennia, all nine Senshi were gathered
in one place. A momentous event, bringing Crystal Tokyo one step
nearer. That location was the Tomoe house, which was left vacant except
for the nine Senshi. Professor Tomoe and Tamori had left earlier that
morning to acquire more testing equipment to use on the Death Buster
technology they were studying. For a long moment, the Senshi stared at
each other, not speaking. The morning light shone on their faces,
highlighting them with its golden aura. Dew sparkled on a nearby tree,
the reflected light flashing brightly.
It was Setsuna who broke the silence. Her face and voice were
calm, showing no emotion. "And so the circle is complete. The last
Awakening has occurred." Well, not truly. But the last Awakening of a
Senshi, undoubtedly. Pluto knew the other two had not been sent to the
future. They had died five years too early for that.
Hotaru flinched. She was not yet truly Awake, either. And for
that, she was grateful. She looked around the circle, observing each
face, and noticed who was missing. "Where's... where's Chibi-Usa?" she
asked quietly.
Usagi blinked. "She's gone back to the future, of course."
Hotaru's face showed incomprehension. "The future?" It took a
few minutes for the Senshi to explain the truth about the time-traveling
Princess. In shock, Hotaru didn't listen as the Senshi began to discuss
holding a party to celebrate her Awakening. As if the Awakening of the
Senshi of Silence was anything to celebrate.
Makoto had already volunteered to cook, and was discussing the
food supplies of the Tomoe kitchen with Haruka and Michiru. The other
Inner Senshi were reminiscing about the parties they had held after each
of them had joined up with the others. Setsuna was standing back from
the other Senshi, but a small smile had appeared on her face.
All of this was directly opposite to how Hotaru felt. Did none
of them understand? She was Sailor Saturn, the dark Senshi. She was
being forced to remember events that no person should ever have to
experience. She remembered Mistress 9. She remembered Master Pharaoh
90. None of the others had even seen that creature of evil. She had to
confront it on her own, and now she remembered the pain. The terror as
Pharaoh 90 had ripped through her mind, violating every part of her,
even parts that Mistress 9 had never touched. She remembered starting
to destroy the world, only to be pulled back at the last moment, forced
to live with the knowledge of what she had almost done.
With a muffled sob, Hotaru raced upstairs, to the dubious safety
and comfort of her room. The Senshi stared after her in shock for a
moment. Then Usagi ran after the young girl.
***********************************************************************
The domain of Overlord Nyxan, was in uproar. Over three hundred
youma were already gathered in preparation for war, and many times that
number would soon be arriving. After Jadeite's proclamation, most of
the Overlords who had sworn fealty, and some who hadn't, had thrown
their support behind either Nyxan or the other prominent candidate...
Ishamanar. Both Overlords had returned to their estates, calling up
their vassals and allies. In a matter of days, Jadeite's domain would
be torn apart by war.
Nyxan's current plans called for a strike from Valgoden into the
neighboring wastelands, already infiltrated by forces loyal to
Ishamanar, once his own full forces had been gathered. From there, they
were to march west, carving a bloody path through several more
territories aligned with Ishamanar, until they reached Ishamanar's own
domain.
Nyxan was currently consulting with that Overlord on their plans
for the upcoming war over a highly cloaked magical connection. It
wouldn't do for the pawns to know that the war was a sham - or Jadeite,
for that matter. "So, the ultimate question, is, of course, which of us
should win?" he commented.
"It may not be," Ishamanar replied. "It seems as though
Mordrangar is stirring himself."
"Mordrangar!" Nyxan exclaimed. "Are you sure?"
"Fairly," Ishamanar said, frowning. "I think we can agree that
Mordrangar sitting on the throne would be a bad thing."
"Yes," Nyxan muttered. "But what can we do?"
"Perhaps lay the ground work for a quick end to this little war
we have started? We could continue as planned until the Dragon invades,
then agree to cease our fighting if Jadeite grants us both the title of
General," Ishamanar suggested.
"That sounds like a decent plan, but what about our... long term
goals?" asked Nyxan. "Once Mordrangar is defeated, Jadeite's position
will be stronger than ever."
"All we need is energy and a Diamond, and we will succeed. We're
already collecting the energy, and it is only a matter of time before we
find a Diamond. Then, it won't matter how strong Jadeite's position is.
Our Great Leader will finally be free." Ishamanar's voice was
confident.
"True." Nyxan laughed. "True."
***********************************************************************
In the shopping district of Juuban, the three Champions were
walking down a street, slowly eating ice cream cones and observing the
activity. Fuarku Ikawa's eyes glanced towards a cosmetics stand,
briefly noting the playful bickering of the four proprietors. The sun
shone brightly, mirroring the mood of the Champions.
For, after all, were not matters looking well for them? Over
the past few days, their numbers had tripled, and several victories had
been won over the youma. Their conflict with the Senshi could not claim
any victories, but it could not truly claim defeat, either. Not only
that, but it seemed it would not be long before another of their number
returned to them.
"It should only be a few more moments," Urawa Meno said, looking
up from his computer. "I'll have the source of Chronus's energy tracked
down, and we see about Awakening him."
"Hmm... I can't wait to see Genitas again," commented Furuhata
Unazuki as she watched the morning traffic. The bright sunlight made
her wince as her face turned towards the east momentarily.
Ikawa began to finish his ice cream. "And we could definitely
use him. Who knows what Pluto's been up to?" He shuddered as he
thought of what the Senshi of Time could do if she was unchecked.
"I definitely don't want to think about that. For all we know,
she could be spying on us right now," Unazuki replied. She yawned.
Meno's gaze left his computer once more. "You okay, Unazuki?"
he asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Unazuki responded. "I'm just a bit tired."
Meno grunted, and returned his attention to his device. "This
way," he said, pointing.
Ikawa's gaze left the cosmetics stand, which he been studying
once again. Something was... odd about the four women working there.
They seemed... out of place, somehow. Could they be youma, running an
energy draining operation? No, Meno's computer surely would have
detected that. And it wasn't an evil feeling he was getting... just a
strange one.
Unazuki smirked as she watched the de facto leader of their
little band. "Are you looking at other women again? You know I don't
like that," she said, a teasing tone in her voice. She recalled a
recent incident in her place of employment. She also vaguely remembered
one incarnation where she and Ares had had a relationship.
Ikawa laughed. "You know I only have eyes for you," he said in
response, still chuckling. Just like Azala, to remember that little...
scene in the Crown a while back.
Not far away, a man with long, shaggy brown hair frowned as he
pushed his bangs back from his eyes.
***********************************************************************
Kizzar's rapidly dissolving corpse lay on the floor of what had
once been his throne room. He had refused to step aside before the one
who now approached the recently vacated throne. This being had the
appearance of a human male, clad in simple brown robes. He was solidly
built, and moved with a steady gait. He ignored the crowd of youma at
his back, not fearing anything they might try. The only thing at all
unusual about his appearance was his eyes, which were brown. Entirely
brown, with no whites or pupils.
The man turned, and seated himself on the throne. He looked
almost ludicrous, his human frame on the seat made for Kizzar's gigantic
bulk. However, though the man spoke no words and made no gestures the
throne wavered and resized itself to fit him. Then, the man turned his
attention to the crowd of youma.
This crowd was different in many ways from the crowd that stood
in Jadeite's throne room, to the south. While Jadeite's attendants were
widely varied in all things, the youma here shared a certain unity of
form. Most had minotaur-like traits, and all shared a feeling of
solidity. All were youma affiliated with the Element of Earth. While
the scholars of the Silver Millenium may have disagreed, assigning some
to more esoteric elements such as Life or Thunder, those scholars were
all long dead. Youma cared nothing for the more exact system the Moon
Kingdom had used when it fell, preferring to use the older system.
Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. The Four Guardians of Terra, the Four
Generals of the Dark Kingdom, and the Four Dragons all followed that
system.
While Jadeite's youma were often found gathered into many
groups, plotting amongst themselves, this group was united, standing
silently as one. Those who had opposed the coup were already piles of
ash or fled into the uncontrolled Northlands or south to join Jadeite.
Traitors and cowards, all of them.
The man's unblinking, eerie gaze took in all this and more as it
swept the room. Then the man's eyes settled on one corner of the room,
and all present could feel the solid stone in that corner waver. Known
only to the man, the rock was flexing, crushing a monitoring device,
perhaps placed by Jadeite.
Finally, the man spoke. "I claim this throne. I claim it, by
my right as Dragon of the North. I, Mordrangar, Dragon of Earth, claim
this throne. I trust none contest this claim?" The man spoke the
ritual words calmly, no emotion in his voice.
As one, the gathered youma knelt before the throne. They then
spoke, also as one. "We, the Overlords of the Mountains of Desolation,
offer no challenge to your claim. The throne of the Mountains is yours.
May your reign be long, and may your enemies fall." The words were
ritual, though originally they had referred to the Dark Kingdom, rather
than the Mountains. Now, there were two kingdoms in the place called
the Dark Kingdom.
***********************************************************************
Usagi opened the door a crack, not making any sound. She
carefully slipped into the room, silently shutting the door behind her.
She almost gasped as she observed her new surroundings. She had
forgotten how foreboding Hotaru's room was. The room was almost
completely dark, with all the windows covered. The only sources of
light were the dozens of lamps scattered about the chamber. The spots
of purple light floated in the darkness like malignant stars.
Hotaru herself was laying face down on her bed. She was
shuddering with silent sobs. Usagi paused for a moment wondering
whether or not to disturb her. Suddenly, Hotaru sat up, still facing
away from Usagi. "You can come over. I know you're there, Seren...
Usagi," the younger girl said.
Usagi quietly crossed over to the bed, slightly unnerved by
Hotaru's near use of her... other name. She sat down beside Hotaru, and
paused a moment before speaking. "Hotaru... what's wrong?"
If Usagi had been expecting any response, a bitter laugh was not
it. For a long moment, Hotaru doubled over, shaking with laughter.
Finally, she replied. "You, of all people, should know. I remember,
Usagi."
Usagi heart skipped a beat. She had been hoping that Hotaru had
forgotten some of her more unpleasant memories. "Remember what?" she
asked, cautiously, while reaching forward to comfort the other girl.
Hotaru whipped around to face Usagi. Her countenance violently
changed, became twisted into a mask of hate. "Get away from me, you
pathetic beast," she nearly screamed as she slapped away Usagi's hand.
Usagi shrank back. "Mistress 9," she whispered, a note of fear
in her voice.
Hotaru's face calmed. "Exactly," she said, "I remember
everything I... she did. I remember that I nearly destroyed the world."
Usagi thought back to the battle against Pharaoh 90. She
remembered hurling forward into the vortex of dark energy, only to stare
helplessly at the swirling tower of energy that had to be the conflict
between Sailor Saturn and Pharaoh 90. She remembered the words that had
drifted on the air currents, words that had filled her with dread.
"Death... Reborn... Revo..."
"But you didn't, Hotaru," Usagi said. After all, the world was
still there. They were all still alive.
Hotaru grimly smiled. "Only because someone pulled me back.
Pulled me back when it would have been kinder to have died."
Usagi clenched her fist. "Don't say that. Don't ever say that.
Your life has meaning, Hotaru. You can't blame yourself for what
Mistress 9 did. You can't blame yourself for what you might have done.
We don't. I don't. We're still your friends, Hotaru," she said.
Hotaru's eyes began to waver, but snapped back into a stone cold
gaze as the door to her room was flung open. It was Minako.
"Usagi. We have to go. Pluto says something's happening at the
shopping district. The others are already on their way."
Usagi rose, then turned. "Are you coming, Hotaru?" she asked.
Hotaru stared at Usagi for a long moment before finally
replying. "No."
*******************************************************************
Inusha Tamori strode down the street, a wide grin on his face.
He hadn't planned to have the morning free, but the store where he and
Professor Tomoe had planned to purchase some lab equipment hadn't had
what they needed in stock, so the two had gone their separate ways.
Tamori rubbed his eyes. It felt like he hadn't had a wink of sleep last
night.
Suddenly, it seemed as though the world had gone crazy.
Everything was leaving a trail behind it, and his very perception seemed
to change. Tamori nearly stumbled, and his vision returned to normal.
This was the third such attack he had experienced, and Tamori was
beginning to wonder whether it was a side effect of the work he had been
doing. He would have to ask Professor Tomoe.
A poster in a store window caught his eye. It was an
advertisement for the upcoming "Super Sailor Fighter II" console game. A
rather cartoonish image of the Sailor Senshi was the centerpiece, and
Tamori found himself clenching his fist. Why did he feel anger at the
sight of that poster? Why did he feel so... different than a few weeks
ago?
Tamori was distracted from his musings as he noticed Ikawa and
two other people walk up to him. The other man he recognized from
school, Urawa Meno. The girl looked familiar but he couldn't place her.
"Hello, Ikawa. What's going on?" he said. Tamori noticed that Ikawa's
face was oddly serious.
"We have something to show you," Ikawa replied. "Could you come
with us for a moment?"
"Umm... sure thing, Ikawa." Tamori began to feel a little
nervous as the three lead him into a small alley, hidden from outside
view. "Err... what did you want to show me?"
A look that was half sad, half joyous appeared on Ikawa's face.
"This," he said simply, and a massive sword appeared from nowhere into
his hands. Tamori barely noticed Meno and the girl summon their own
blades.
"It can't be..." he whispered. "Ikawa?" A small part of Tamori
was supplying a different name.
"Mercury Sword Power!" Tamori began to back away as Meno became
Hermes.
"Venus Sword Power!" Aphrodite appeared as Tamori halted in
fear.
"Mars Sword Power!" Something inside Tamori seemed to snap as
he watched one of his closest friend become Ares.
Everything suddenly made sense. For the first time in over a
week, Tamori felt right. Half forgotten things were remembered. Shadowy
images were suddenly made clear. Death and rebirth. Pain and pleasure.
Darkness and light. Eight thousand years of existence. Magic.
"Janus. Azala. Deinas," Tamori said, looking at the people
before him with new eyes. "I..." Tamori broke off as he felt something.
Danger. Approaching swiftly. With a practiced motion, a thin longsword
appeared in his hands. "Saturn Sword Power!" Deep purple armor formed
around him, with the sigil of Saturn displayed in dark crimson on the
breastplate. For the first time in ten thousand years, Chronus had
transformed.
***********************************************************************
Sailor Pluto cursed under her breath as she and the other Senshi
continued to run towards the shopping district. She could already feel
the time stream reacting to Chronus's influence. Events were already
subtly starting to change. Pointing the way to her sisters, the Senshi
were soon standing over an alley, looking down on the four Champions.
"Damn, another one," whispered Sailor Uranus as she and the
other Outer Senshi began their attacks. The other three paused for a
moment before joining in. However, Uranus's whispered curse was all the
warning the Champions needed.
Faster than should have been possible, Chronus leapt up,
reacting to the Senshi's attacks before they were cast. He appeared
behind Sailor Jupiter, slicing out with his blade. The Senshi barely
managed to dodge the blow.
Meanwhile, the other Champions had dodged the barrage and leapt
up to the roof and joined the melee. Within moments, the Senshi were
thrown into confusion as the Champions swept through their ranks,
striking out with their weapons at every opportunity.
"Shabon... Spray!" Mercury cast her spell, giving the Senshi
time to regroup as Sailor Moon and Venus arrived on the scene. When the
fog faded, the two groups were facing each other across the rooftop.
Sailor Moon surveyed the scene. "Another Champion?" she asked,
her voice weary.
Chronus smiled. "That's right. I am Chronus, Champion of
Saturn and Guardian of Time." A number of eyes flicked towards Pluto,
and a moment later Chronus's did as well. "I would have words with you,
Senshi Pluto."
Pluto's staff did not leave it's ready position. "And what
would those words be, Champion?"
"Surely you know? I have been awake mere moments, and I can
feel the damage to the timestream already. This much damage could only
be caused by time travel, or worse things. What caused this, Pluto?"
He paused. "Surely none of my blood would abandon their oaths to such
an extent that they would allow this? Would they?"
Pluto frowned, and made her reply. "Dead Scream." Chronus leapt
out of the way, his form blurring, and shot forward towards the Senshi,
swiftly followed by the other Champions.
"Burning Mandala!" Sailor Mars's attack slammed into Hermes,
causing him to drop to the ground with a grunt. However, Aphrodite
raced forward, slashing Mars with her sword, causing the Senshi of Flame
to cry out in pain.
Nearby, Ares and Sailor Uranus faced off. A smirk on his face,
Ares asked, "I wonder if you've gotten any better at sword fighting
since I fought you in the Palace of Light."
Sailor Uranus matched his grin. "Try me." With a recently
mastered move, Uranus drew forth her Talisman and unsheathed it. Holding
the blade of light in a defensive position, she fell into a ready
stance. A moment later, Ares charged.
A few feet away, Chronus and Sailor Pluto were engaged in a
swirling melee. The moves were impossible to follow, blade and staff
moving faster than the human eye could observe. With a mighty clang the
weapons met, then separated and clashed again, all in less than a
second.
Hermes rose from the ground and called out, "Ice Storm!" The
razor sharp shards of ice flew around the rooftop as Hermes leapt into
melee. Aphrodite spun around, knocking the Spiral Moon Heart Rod out of
Sailor Moon's hands with her sword. Sailor Jupiter flung a Sparkling
Wide Pressure at the Champion of Venus, but she easily dodged the ball
of lightning.
Down on the ground below the battle, a crowd was gathering to
observe the fray. People were fleeing the store the battle was
occurring over, fearing that the roof might collapse. Nobody noticed
one man fall over, clutching his head.
The swirling sword fight between Sailor Uranus and Ares was well
under way. Each time Uranus tried an assault, Ares's broadsword slid
into position to deflect the attack. Occasionally, Ares's blade would
dart forward, though Uranus had managed to block all of his attacks so
far.
Suddenly, Ares stepped up the pace. Now Uranus had to
concentrate wholly on defense and not attempt any offensive moves. As
well, Ares's blows were beginning to occasionally break through her
defenses. Uranus began to realize that she was extremely outmatched.
One blow nearly split her in two, but at the last moment she managed to
roll under the strike.
Not far away, Pluto and Chronus were continuing their own duel.
So far they had been evenly matched, each strike perfectly blocked. But
then, Chronus overextended himself on an attack, and Pluto darted in to
strike. She felt her staff make contact as Chronus blurred. Faster
then the eye could see, he leapt over the Senshi of Time. As Pluto
began to spin around, he struck out, landing a solid blow. Both
injured, the two paused for a moment before leaping into action once
more.
Uranus narrowly dodged another strike, then risked an attack of
her own. Ares easily deflected her blow and pressed his own attack, a
sneer on his face. She was going to have to do something, or she'd
lose. Suddenly, something clicked inside her head, and she moved her
blade into an unfamiliar position. "Space Sword Blaster!"
The unexpected blast hurled Ares back, sending him tumbling to
the ground and causing his sword to go flying off the roof. Panting for
a moment, Uranus stepped forward and prepared to deal the finishing
blow.
***********************************************************************
Author's Random Revised Ramblings
1) As I stated in the original notes for this chapter, gotta love those
cliffhangers!
2) Previous chapters of these revisions are not yet archived anywhere,
but are available on request. The original version of this fic can be
found at the RAAC archives or:
http://www.fanfiction.net/~aaronnowack
3) All comments of any sort are, of course, extremely welcome.
4) This chapter was the first to be preread by the talented Angus
MacSpon, and it shows. Not coincidentally, the changes to this one are
rather minor, consisting mainly of a few rewordings and a rewrite of the
dialogue between Chronus and Pluto.
5) In the original notes to this chapter, I took the opportunity to
expand on the various elemental systems used in this fic, so I might as
well do so this time around. The famous four-element system is used as
an ancient one dating to the dawn of the Silver Millenium's recorded
history, and was archaic when the Silver Millenium fell, having been
replaced with a ten-element system (the elements being Ice, Light, Life,
Fire, Earth, Thunder, Time, Water, Air, and Death).
6) _Now_ I plan to take a break from revisions to work on Fallen Chapter
4. Honest.
Released: January 23, 2001
Revised: September 04, 2003
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