The Crystal Winter

Author: Adins

Rated: PG13

Chapter 4

"What …" Serenity's voice was cold and still, "What happened to them?"

Within the Crystal Palace her guards, servants and maids lay comatose throughout the halls. They stood in the grand crystal ballroom to find the world ambassadors in the same state, all face-down on the ground motionless as though dead. Sailor Moon stumbled to one of the many luxurious chairs that lined the Palace hallways and dropped into it, defeated.

Sailor Mercury quickly scanned the scene, "They're alive, I think," he fingers raced across the nearby computer console embedded in the crystal walls, "It looks like some form of suspended animation."

"Did Diamond cast a spell on them or something?" asked Sailor Jupiter, nervously pacing and keeping a watchful eye on every possible entry point.

Mercury nodded, "It looks that way," her fingers tapped on the screen again, "Oh no ..."

"What?"

"This spell, it's ..." Mercury's voice cracked, "I can't contact any of our embassies, none of our allies. It's as if the entire planet ..." her voice trailed off and she quickly shook the shock from her brow, "I'll need blood samples, possibly a field scan before I can start working on a counter spell."

"We can't worry about that now," announced Endymion surprising all present, "We've got to secure the Palace."

He motioned to a video screen that switched to an exterior view of the Palace. The camera had been blasted from its perch in the initial bombardment but from where it lay on the ground it was pointing up at the darkened sky where seemingly hundreds of the crystal-shaped vessels now hovered above the city.

"I didn't want this," Serenity suddenly spoke up, standing from her chair and clutching the golden locket on her chest, "I never meant for this to happen ..."

Endymion walked to her but she began to shrink away, clutching the locket harder.

"Sere, please," he consoled, "No one could have seen this coming."

"No!" she shouted in defiance, backing away from him, "Don't come near me, Endy. All I bring is death and destruction wherever I go. I should've known, I should've listened! Being Sailor Moon again, hah! Look what that got me!"

"This is nonsense, Usako!" shouted Endymion, his impatience and uncertainty growing, "You didn't cause this. You had nothing to do with the attack."

"I saw his eyes, Endy!" she cried at him as she clutched one of the nearby columns, "He knows me. He came here for me. For Sailor Moon. I'm the symbol of everything the Petrans hate. To them, I took away their freedom. I made them what they are and I was selfish enough to want to go back."

Endymion shook his head, "You freed them, my love. You freed us all. The Petrans are religious zealots, not evil creatures. In time they will see all the good that we have done and share in the peace we've brought to the world," Serenity began to cry, "But right now we have to defend ourselves or everything that we, that you have worked for will be lost."

He stepped before her and stretched out his arms. Immediately his wife latched around his waist and began uncontrollably sobbing. The magic that held her senshi powers in place was lost and Sailor Moon's uniform blazed out of existence in a fury of luminous ribbons. It was replaced by Serenity's familiar white and gold gown. Before the couple could begin to reconcile there was an earth shattering crash that send all present to the ground followed by a massive explosion that ripped away part of the Palace and shook the hall they were standing in with such force that it felt it could collapse at any moment.

The senshi and their leaders picked themselves off the ground and Serenity suddenly exclaimed, "Oh my god!"

"What's wrong, my queen?" asked a worried Venus.

She didn't directly answer but turned to an adjacent hallway and began running shouting the name "Rini" at the top of her lungs. Her husband moved to follow as she disappeared into the darkness.

"Serenity!"

Before he could make it two steps into the hallway another explosion ripped the wall out beside him and sent the king hurtling into the opposite crystal wall. Shards of razor glass and quartz pierced his face and shredded the black tuxedo he was still wearing from his previous transformation. The senshi gasped in alarm and rushed to his side.

Mars knelt at his side and helped him into a sitting position, "Endymion! Majesty are you alright?"

"Don't worry about me!" He shrugged her hand off, "Serenity! Help her, NOW!"

Mars staggered to her feet uncertainly and nodded to the other three Senshi. They ran as fast as they could carry themselves down the hallway Serenity had taken leaving Endymion to stand alone in the demolished foyer.

Diamond and Emerald appeared walking through the settling dust. Diamond narrowed his eyes at Endymion and Emerald immediately placed herself between the two men baring her teeth in fury. The wounded king pulled himself straight from his half kneeling position on the ground and clutched his fists.

"A noble gesture, to be sure," Emerald taunted, "Surely you don't mean to defend this Crystal Palace yourself against our entire armada?"

"If that's what it comes to," Endymion answered swiftly.

Diamond glanced down a ruined hallway, "Emerald, keep the king company."

"Of course, Prince," she said with a bow.

Diamond turned and began walking down the same hallway that Serenity and the Senshi had taken. Without hesitation Endymion launched a rose toward the Prince. He turned in time and his mystical third eye burned to life in his forehead again, blasting the rose off trajectory with a powerful spike of energy. Diamond snickered and snapped his fingers causing the arches supporting the entrance to the hallway to collapse behind him and cut off access.

"Don't worry king," Emerald smiled, "Prince Diamond left you in good hands."

"I'm sure."

Endymion reached into the folds of his shredded cape and produced a pristine new mask which he twirled around one finger and placed over his face. The tattered tuxedo blazed out of existence and was replaced by the king's lavender suit. He clutched the end of his scepter and drew out the thin, concealed rapier leveling it at Emerald.

The witch responded with a chuckle and reached to her second earring. Taking it off the accessory immediately extended into a green, glassy sword which she twirled behind her back and caught in her right hand with a flourish. The two combatants stared each other down and leapt toward each other.

***

Serenity stood in the lavishly decorated chamber where the Silver Crystal was kept, the place where her maternal instincts had told her that her daughter had last been. Looking feverishly around the room she saw nothing but the lavender velvet curtains and an empty stone pedestal where the mystical Silver Crystal should have sat. It its place was an empty patch of air.

"Oh no, Rini," she said with tears in her eyes, "Where are you?"

"A pity the mystical Silver Crystal is missing," an icy voice behind her said, "If I set it into a golden band it would've made a perfect engagement ring."

Serenity spun quickly and was caught around the waist by Prince Diamond's powerful arm. He caught her right arm in the embrace and his free hand was used to halt her left fist which was intent on delivering a blow to his chin. He leaned himself closer to the trembling woman, smiling perversely and taking in her scent through his flaring nostrils.

"Indescribably beautiful," he cooed and regarded her through narrow eye slits.

"Prince Diamond!" she gasped, not knowing what else to say.

"You say my name," he smiled, basking in the sound, "So many times I've imagined it on your lips whether cried in the fiery throes of passion or whispered in the subtle secrets of the night."

"What do you want?" she asked; the room around her seeming to melt away by the force of the Prince's penetrating gaze.

"I've been told I'm a very direct man, yet it seems my gestures escape you," he said with a sly smile and tightened his embrace, lifting Serenity off the ground such that their faces were set only inches apart, "I want you."

The third eye on Diamond's forehead flashed into existence again, pulsating with a hypnotically eerie glow, "I've wanted you from the moment I saw you."

Serenity began to feel weak in Diamond's arms. Her world tightened around her and a great pressure filled her temples threatening to overtake her consciousness. The sound of the Prince's voice filled her thoughts and for a time it felt that everything else in the world was burned away. She lapsed into a world with the Prince where they were together, ruling the planet side by side. Their children ran across the palace grounds and a curious black moon hovered overhead that the Prince called "Nemesis."

Suddenly the vision which was not at all unappealing was shattered by an anguished cry in Serenity's mind. She saw the face of Endymion twisted in a cry of pain. Emerald was standing above him with a bloody sword in her hand smiling triumphantly. She swung the blade again; intent on delivering a fatal blow when Serenity's thoughts shifted to her daughter.

The young girl was besieged somewhere in the Palace by Diamond's minions. She was alone and frightened hiding in one of the recessed walls of the castle crying into the magical toy that she called the Luna-P. The mournful wailing cut into Serenity's heart and her thoughts abruptly merged back into a pattern breaking the hypnosis.

"RINI!" she cried at the top of her lungs.

The force of her emotional outburst released her inborn Senshi powers in a colossal wave of energy that broke Diamond's hold on her, both physically and mentally. The Prince was flung backward into one of the many curtained walls of the chamber dazed and weakened. Serenity dropped back to the floor and landed on one knee, clutching her aching head and moaning the name of her daughter.

"Impossible!" Diamond shrieked and made for her again.

In mid stride he was halted by a curious golden chain around his ankles which dropped him to the floor. The Prince cursed vengefully and shredded the bonds with a thought, turning to the doorway of the chamber and seeing the four Sailor Senshi glaring at him in outright hatred. He stood again staring his combatants down and formed a razor-edged crystal in his left hand and leveled it directly under Serenity's chin.

"If I can't have her then no one will!" he shouted, running behind the queen and cocking her head back to expose her thin neck.

"Serenity!" the four senshi shouted in unison.

"Why?" Serenity gasped from beneath the blade, now openly weeping.

The tears in her eyes touched Diamond's heart, searing through a black web of corruption that the Prince could scarcely feel in his own soul. She cried, not for her country, her king, or court, but she cried for him. The moment was lost in a tremendous explosion which ripped away the roof of the crystal chamber. Diamond stumbled backwards and Serenity took to her feet as fast as she could.

"We've got to find Rini!" she shouted to the Senshi.

Diamond stood up again using his sword to prop himself. Above he saw the armada of ships circling the palace and bombarding the countryside with gunfire. Immediately assaulting his vision however was a rapidly approaching storm of dark energy that seemed trained on the room he was standing in.

"What?" he asked aloud, "Wiseman! What are you doing?"

If there was an answer given none but the prince heard it. The torrent of dark energy cascaded into the room churning into a humungous bolt that streaked straight towards Serenity.

"NO, WISEMAN!" Diamond shouted at the sky, "NOT THIS ONE!"

"Protect her!" Venus screamed, "Venus power!"

"Mars Power!"

"Mercury Power!"

"Jupiter Power!"

The prismatic energy of the Senshi swirled around the dark, black and purple column of evil and encircled Serenity. Immediately a glittering quartz crystal grew around the Queen protecting her from the wicked spell. The crystal grew in size and strength until it nearly filled the room. Diamond jumped into the air in levitation and glared down vengefully. The energy of the Senshi pushed the Prince back out into the night sky.

He pulled back his left arm and summoned a bolt of energy which he pitched towards the Senshi. Their power proved monumentally stronger and the energy ricocheted back impacting on Diamond's arms which he crossed as a protective measure. Seared, singed, and powerless the Prince looked up to the ship hovering closest to him and teleported inside.

***

"Such an embarrassing way to go," Emerald assaulted with a wry smile, "So powerless, impoverished, and alone you are."

Endymion crawled backward weakly. He held the rapier in front of him in a defensive position but he knew another brutal assault from Emerald would do him in. His free hand clutched a stabbing wound in his abdomen and he could taste the horrid metallic taste of blood in the back of his throat.

"God save the king," Emerald remarked and jabbed with her sword.

An explosion knocked the green tressed woman off balance and backward. Endymion took the opportunity to leap forward and bring the blade of his rapier to her throat. Unfortunately his opponent anticipated the move and met him in mid leap with her heel which thrust him back onto the crystal floor. She snickered and took to her feet again, flourishing her saber in a mocking gesture.

Suddenly the ruined hall was filled with an intense prismatic light that formed a wall encircling most of the Crystal Palace. The wall was just over ten meters from where the two were engaged in their melee. Transfixed by the power of this new presence Emerald didn't notice Endymion stagger to his feet and charge for the bright, pulsating field.

"No you don't!" she shouted and flung her saber.

The spiraling steel struck Endymion's right calf and pierced it completely through to the other side. The king howled in pain and dropped to his knees a mere five feet from the safety of the shield. The force of the blow knocked the mask from his face again and his dark eyes watched Emerald slowly stalk towards him.

"So close yet so far," she abused him again.

The ginger witch picked up a shattered piece of a crystal column and tested the shard for a suitable edge to slice the king's throat. She neared him again keeping her eyes fixed on the man all the while. With lightning precision belying his grievous injuries Endymion held out a rose in his left hand and flung it towards Emerald, missing her by a good three feet.

"Pathetic," she spat and twirled her makeshift blade.

There was a horrible groaning crash behind her and Emerald spun around to see a massive crystal column toppling towards her. Looking past she saw the rose Endymion had thrown struck into the weakest part of the already weakened pillar which had caused it to fall. Emerald shrieked and leapt backwards allowing the column to smash to the ground with horrible force and cut her off from the injured king. Smiling in victory Endymion weakly pulled himself through the white-hot light of the Senshi's force field.

As he quickly sought out the closest computer panel with which to invoke the Crystal Palace defense systems he could hear Emerald's unrepeatable line of expletives as she teleported away. With a final stroke on the keypad the king activated an emergency life support system for his ailing body and collapsed on the cold crystal floor.

***

High above Crystal Tokyo Diamond watched the star-bright lights of the Senshi's powers envelope the entire Palace proper. His armada reacted with return fire but the barrier proved impenetrable and many of his ships caught within the perimeter of the Senshi's powers were destroyed instantly. He cursed and turned away from the window reclaiming his throne in the center of the ship.

"Prince," Rubeus said with a bow, "There has been a temporal disturbance in the vicinity of the Palace. I think someone may have activated an old passage through Crystal Tokyo's time space."

"So? What about it?" Diamond asked, barely listening.

"We detected the power of the Silver Crystal," Rubeus explained and the Wiseman appeared next to him, "The Queen's child seems to be carrying it with her to some point in the 20th century."

"Prince, if the Silver Crystal were to fall into the proper hands it could be used to rectify this unfortunate turn of events," the Wiseman elaborated pointing outside the ship to the power the Senshi were casting.

"You want to go back in time?" Diamond asked incredulously.

"It would be a great taxation on the Dark Crystal's energy but it would be well worth the risk," the shrouded figure continued, "The world of the 20th century is weak and would fall easily to our superior technology. Retrieve the Silver Crystal in the past; conquer the world of the future."

"I've volunteered my ship to undertake this mission, Prince," Rubeus said with a bow, "It would be a great honor."

The prince appeared to ponder the idea for a moment and then turned to the Wiseman, "Why did you attack Queen Serenity with your sleep spell, Wiseman? She was the reason I attacked the palace in the first place!"

"A ... regrettable turn of events, indeed," the Wiseman said and his golden eyes flared from under his hood bathing the room in a hypnotic glow which seemed to placate both Diamond and Rubeus, "For now, we should focus our energy on greater tasks such as retrieving the Silver Crystal from her insolent child."

The hypnosis successful Diamond replied, "Yes, you're right Wiseman," he turned to Rubeus and placed a hand on his shoulder, "You will fulfill this mission, Rubeus, for the family and for Nemeis."

The crimson-haired man returned the gesture, "I won't let you down, Prince."

Rubeus turned and departed leaving Diamond to recline heavily in his throne. The Wiseman drifted out of physical form with a lingering chuckle left on the air.

***

Usagi and Mamoru finally managed to shed themselves of the omnipresent Senshi and were enjoying a quiet day together in their favorite park. As the two destined lovers stood atop an arched bridge they pulled closer and playfully kissed as young lovers so often do. The idyllic scene was suddenly interrupted by the appearance of a dark cloud above them and curiously a small child seemed to fall into their laps out of thin air: a child who bore a striking resemblance to Usagi, a child with pink hair tied in two very familiar odangos, a child who demanded the Silver Crystal.

A child who called herself "Rini."

NOTES:

--I always like tying up loose ends which is why I wrote this story. It's from here that we can get a look at the circumstances that led to Serenity being shielded in her quartz shell, the injury Endymion sustained that forced him to take on his holographic form, and all that fun stuff.

--Emerald being the one to deal Endymion his near-fatal wound is a parallell to when Tuxedo Mask pierced the crown of the Emerald-dragon when she was corrupted by the Wiseman.