Powers of Love Part II Torture Chamber
The dark Obsidian Knights lunged at Sere with sharpened spears fashioned by the same stone as that of the Dark Crystal. But these dissolved on contact with the princess and did no damage. However, the obsidian soldiers exploded into a cloud of dust.
“No, you won’t deny me this ultimate revenge! I have waited much too long to exact my punishment on this little wench who had invariably survived my attempts to claim her as my new home, my foothold in flesh and blood, damn you! I will not be denied again!” she screamed in frustration as she formed a jet-black orb of dark light and hurled it at Serenity.
~*~
She slept, falling into the wonderful living memories and assumed these once again. Pouring into the petite frame of the princess, sentience granted her once again. Serenity was dancing, acutely aware of the crystal shoes clicking upon the solid floor of the royal ballroom within the Moon Palace during the Silver Millennium. Beneath her feet, she could feel the contact with the smooth marble surface; all the while Endymion was keeping pace with her steps.
Whirling around the other dancers, it was pure magic. She could see the walls shining so bright it dazzled her vision, the candlelight so golden, highlighting the silver, gold and crystal within the domed chamber. She remembered, remembered it all, the love of the prince. She loved him. Endymion, his youthful smile, warm hands, the fragrance of the rose, the words chosen to steal her heart most certainly rehearsed many times in his mind. She could hear his thoughts. She found this breathtaking.
Caught up in the magic of it all, overwhelmed as she was by the love and anticipation. She was enraptured.
~*~
She stood on the veranda, looking up at the glittering blue planet. So pretty she thought. But right here, right now, the focus of all her heart’s most valuable of prizes was her betrothed who was sniffing her hair and by doing so caused the goosebumps to ripple all over her body, making her tingle with sensations not befitting a young lady. But she didn’t care. She wanted him so badly.
Fall of the Silver Millennium
Metallia’s hideous visage descended upon the Lunarian skyline. The Medusa-like sneer, the wicked intent, and the hate and jealousy were palpable. And then Serenity knew the truth, the glittering truth of this bitter entity’s manic obsession with the Terran System. Jealousy, pure and simple. Metallia was jealous of she who had long ago stolen the Terran King of ages past from her. He was king and she, her rival, the beautiful Myola, queen.
Sulean Kingdom 25000 BCE
Metallia was the misshapen refugee of a long lost war between a race calling itself the Incarnadine and the Amandus idolum. When Chaos conceived her, she had been an undifferentiated thought form. Dormant, but living within a beautiful dark haired girl by the name of Rainelle. She had found a dark cave, and living within its dank confines was a hive of dark matter wasps. These kept by a Dark mage by the name of Morok as his deadly attendants. He was seeking a foothold within the outer rim of the galaxy. This small enclave was usually locked down by powerful magic. But something had opened the way to the frightened and curious girl.
She stood within the cavern, the air cold, her breath frozen and forming a mist about her pretty face.
Blood, young blood. The scent, her scent, had excited the winged queen. Stirring from her dark matter hearth, she rose. The black flames flared to life. The creature, jet and emerald shone with a crystalline luster. It flew about the chamber. The girl, terrified, screamed, dropped the candle and fled. But as she entered the light of the daystar, the black glittering wings droned and the thing fell upon her. The stinger had first pierced her shoulder, the pain searing, and blood swelling upon her dress and flowing over her skin. She cried out in pain and fear. Then the melanic thin spike punctured her heart. She fell to the ground.
She was found and brought back by distressed Shitennou cadets on a cross-country training run and taken to the palace. She slept for well over a month, watched by the healing Senshi, Danna-Suishuei. But nothing the shamaness tried roused the beautiful princess. That was, until a strange man calling himself Thanatos of Kirii, entered the palace clinic. He assured them all he would revive the child, the adolescent girl looked as if asleep. But as he transformed into a dark matter entity, he slipped his hands into her chest. He removed her Star Seed and implanted her with the thought form that had become a festering malignancy within the girl’s chest and Thanatos vanished.
~*~
The female wraith living within the girl became an evil monarch. Destroying those she had once loved, but for her younger sister, Margay whom slew her on the battlefield. But instead of a new era of peace, Metallia, with the powers of a Kami, had unleashed her full fury on the people of this world.
She, having outgrown her mortal existence could assume any form at will. So, when they killed her, she became far more formidable and dangerous. She destroyed the planet with earthquakes, storms, and other mass acts of natural force, these taken to levels of unprecedented ferocity.
She had sought the love of the Kami, Odin, a weaver and enigma dwelling on the world known as Terra. Metallia projected herself into the palace. She could go wherever she wanted. She did this in order to spend time alone with Odin in her futile attempts to seduce him despite the fact he was bonded to Myola. He held no interest in Metallia. No matter how hard she tried to seduce him, he would turn away from her advances. despite being, the most beautiful woman on the planet and perhaps beyond, he rejected her for another. His rejection led to her plan for revenge, as she knew the relationship was taboo between himself and Myola.
She had informed Sule of the indiscretion and the Sulean Goddess-Queen had cursed Odin and banished Myola for a time. But Sule had soon forgiven her daughter. But Odin, on the other hand, was the one punished by not having access to his lover and transformed into a strange phantom.
Myola, furious over the pain she had suffered because of Metallia had exiled her shriveling essence into deep space. Metallia was desperate to survive and regenerate. In order to restore herself, she had eventually attached herself to the star that granted life to the planets it presided over. She needed to draw power from the star abandoned by Sule. Metallia penetrated the coronasphere and took root between the outer and inner solar core. Within this unlikely haven , she dwelt, feeding upon the solar consciousness of the yellow sun, as would an embryo within its mother’s womb. But she, the shadow of resentment was in truth a celestial malignancy, a parasite. Metallia, in affect had infected the life pulse of the Terran Kingdom before the age of Selene, the entity only emerging upon the advent of the Silver Millennium from her fiery cradle. But the damage was done long before that point and this made it possible for Zero and his alliance to curse the Sulean/Terran System. She waited for her opportunity to arrive. She sought to punish those descendants of the Solar Queen and her Terran lover. But when she emerged, they had long gone.
~*~
Then much later had come others like Wiseman seeking to inherit a legacy of malevolence that led back to Lord Chaos himself. A female carrier would serve to achieve this, but Beryl failed to deliver heirs to the disembodied dark mother, Metallia.
Chaos created the Doom Phantom. Impotent without the power of the Dark Crystal and child of the Ginzuishou to feed off, the Doom Phantom conceived the plan of using the princess of the White Moon to grant him his first daughter. She, not born of a dark undifferentiated force, but from the darker mind of a Senshi crown princess. She, known as Small Lady. His plan had failed yet again. But in one last attempt to establish his line, he found the memory of Serenity, the Obaa-san of the child whom sacrificed herself to save those she loved. Serenity of the Moon Kingdom had guaranteed her lineage in the face of death and obliteration. But after the Doom Phantom was destroyed, Black Lady was born. She had not vanished never to be seen again, but dwelt in subspace unbeknownst to the Senshi.
The Crystal Nexus
Crystal Tide
She looked outside the window as she sat in the booth. Pan was still eating as the crystal clusters once again, in a rewind motion, punctured the pavement.
“Here we go again, Pan!” she muttered, looking down at her folded hands.
The light shot off the facetted clumps of gemstone and this time, they began to give off a melodic hum. The ground shook and the crystals cracked, then shattered. Figures like celestial waterspouts poured into the Nexus.
“Who, or what are they?” she breathed, giving Pan an imploring look.
“The Daughters of Orion. I think it is time you met them.”
He stood up, bowed to Unazuki and Motoki who stared at the gleaming Senshi that were so dazzling it made their eyes squint.
“I think it would be most interesting to meet them,” she heard herself saying as she finished her drink having demolished a delicious burger and followed Pan outside the game parlor.
Before she had realized it: Tuxedo Kamen, Sailors: Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Uranus, Neptune and the enigmatic Pluto stood in a broad arc in their winged Affinity forms. They were staring in disbelief at the impressive Celestial Senshi, power wands at the ready just in case they posed a threat to the people of Tokyo.
~Obviously, they aren’t aware this is the Crystal Nexus, or are they? Are they even real; is any of this? But Pan tells me all this is real. Perhaps it is. Who am I to argue with a Kami?~
“Serenity, I am Sailor Maia, eldest of the seven Pleiades. We are the daughters of Orion.”
“I thought Orion was a rogue, a lovable rogue. But those ancient tales-“
“Folklore, nothing more. Your people have selective memories and are forever identifying us with their local heroes and villains. But allow me to introduce you all, including your Senshi friends,” she said, brushing back her lavender locks.
“Okay,” Serenity said, as the Terran Senshi looked on, realizing whom she was and gasped en masse.
“This is Electra, and Jupiter, you have much in common with my sister. She is mistress of celestial thunderbolts. Your scientists would term these protofazic emissions,” she chuckled as Jupiter stepped up and offered the Senshi/Shitennou salute and the Goddess Senshi returned the gesture.
“I am honored to meet you, Jupiter, perhaps we can share tricks and strategies on the battlefield?”
“Yeah, that would be awesome!”
“Now, Sere, I would like you to meet Taygeta. She is a most formidable warrior.”
Taygeta bowed and offered -- as had Electra -- the salute, “I am happy to make your acquaintance, Queen Serenity!”
“I am Alcyone, I am honored to meet you all!”
“Also a pleasure, ladies. I am Celaeno!” she said, her scepter flaring with prismatic light.
Motoki was shielding his eyes as Unazuki clung to her brother’s arm, scared and yet, held captive by her curiosity.
“Mars, I think you and I can compare notes on Celestial Fire. I am Asterope!”
Maia spoke again, “I would like to introduce you to our little sister, much like yourself, Unazuki. She loves telling jokes and entertaining her friends. I think you’ll become good friends. Come, don’t be afraid, and Motoki-san, you too!” Maia smiled, her loving energy calming them and the people gathering in large numbers on the street. ”Merope, don’t be shy,” Maia smiled.
“I admit I am the youngest, and a little of a practical joker, but I am a great warrior!”
“P-pleased to meet you, Merope,” Unazuki said, as the shimmering light green crystal girl embraced her. Unazuki suddenly felt relaxed by the energy washing over her.
“Now, now that we’re all acquainted, Sere, you have one last task to perform before you are free and only you can do this!” Maia told her, touching Serenity’s forehead.
Turning Night Into Day
She was climbing a tree, small hands gripping the trunk. She remembered this tree from her girlhood. She had climbed into Usagi’s bedroom through the open window.
~*~
Luna sat on the bed and looked up as she climbed into the room. Giving herself a little time for her eyes to adjust, she sighed and smiled at the ruby-eyed Mauan.
“Luna?” she whispered.
“Serenity, I see you’ve come to see Usagi?”
“Yes, I need to find something, but I don’t know what or where to look. Maybe she can help me!”
“You know young lady, all this time you’ve never learned to look inside yourself, to the depth of love that is yours if only you would embrace it child,” Luna said, purring and jumping onto the floor. “Follow me.”
Serenity did as she was asked. She smiled and followed the little black cat downstairs and into the kitchen where Usagi sat, in her school uniform, she was eight years old. The odangos dancing as she sat there listening to music on her crystal pod player, eyes closed in sheer delight.
“Usagi?” she ventured, sideling up to the other girl. Serenity was a little girl again, but her reflection gave off the image of a girl without odangos, without anything but a simple white dress with bunny motifs and her pink tresses swirling about her hips. She liked what she saw.
“Love yourself, Sere. Give yourself a hug and then I want one, okay?” the voice of Usagi instructed, her eyes still closed and body swaying upon the stool to some popular tune.
“W-why sure!”
As Serenity wrapped her arms around herself, she felt a surge of love and warmth like nothing she’d ever known before bursting forth from within her heart. It was all too much to bear, such was the sweetness and longing she felt in that moment. She wept and the first thing she did was hug Usagi and the little girl hugged her back, tears now streaming down both their faces.
“Isn’t there somebody else you need to love?”
“Yeah, my little girl!”
~*~
Serenity found herself back in Crystal Tokyo and holding Serenity Dawn. She was kissing the baby’s face, “Oh little one, my precious, I want so to love you. I want to make up for all the separation and all the pain and all I denied you!”
Then she was standing in Azabu Park, it was different in Crystal Tokyo to how it had once been in the 21st century. She was laying out a picnic blanket. Serenity Dawn was giggling and they were playing Rock Paper Scissors and having a great time.
“Mommy, please love me! Mommy, please love yourself and love me the same. Let it go mommy, you don’t have to suffer any more!” the little girl flung her arms around her neck and as the hot skin of their cheeks and the wetness of salty tears poured forth, the millstone of loss, emptiness and despair was gone. She was free.
“Oh I love you and I do feel so much love inside. I am beautiful and so are you, my little darling. Oh how I love you!”
Suddenly, she understood and all was clear to her as the Pleiades stood around her, hugging her and behind them, her parents, King Endymion and Neo-Queen Serenity stood smiling.
“Mommy, daddy?”
“Yes sweetheart, its us, and you’ve come home, to yourself my beautiful girl!” Usagi said, stepping forward to embrace her daughter, her body now aglow with the power of the Ginzuishou.
“You are ready to face Black Lady now,” her father said, kissing her forehead.
“Yes, I am. Let’s do this!”
Crunch Time
Black Lady was pacing the bridge of her mother ship. She had come to a decision.
“Earth, what a stupid planet. I never really liked it. Now, as I can’t hurt you, I shall destroy them!”
Serenity lay there, half-dazed, but alive and she knew what Black Lady was planning. But she too had a plan.
~*~
The Black Star, implacable, like an all-powerful juggernaut was pounded by everything the Crystal alliance could throw at it. Yet nothing could get through. Like an irresistible force, the blazing firepower hammering the obsidian wonder lit up the Black Star like a supernova visible as far as Alpha and Proxima Centauri. The vessel, with calm deliberation, past the outer kingdoms of Pluto, Neptune, Uranus, and Jupiter and was met by the Martian fleet.
Queen Mars, flanked by Deimos and Phobos, in their winged humanoid forms, stood by there charge and friend. The girl’s raven-black wings shielding their queen, a gesture that came to them without conscious thought as they stood upon the battle bridge.
“I just hope those guys are all right, “ Mars said in a soft voice, “I admire Mayer, Cassie and the guys. They’re going to need all the luck in the universe. I only hope their cloaking shields aren’t detected.”
“Rei, she’ll be fine,” Deimos, told her.
It was only a year since her ravens gained the ability to shape shift. Rei had been surprised. But she put it down to the fact they had matured to the point they were able to transform into two beautiful young winged Senshi.
Rei smiled and gave the command to begin the assault, “Okay, we’re going in!” she shouted and the claxon sounded a deafening din.
The Martian armada met the enemy head on. thousands of small Shadow Fighters engaging their forces. But the Black Star never wavered, never veered off its course for Earth. They threw everything possible at it, but it kept going without so much as a scratch.
Mars cussed under her breath, “I thought we’d at least slow them down some, but I guess not. I tried. I can do no more, the rest, guys, is up to you…” she said more to herself than to those around her. She addressed her generals, “You guys got any suggestions?”
“I’m afraid not, Lady,” Pyrexia, her captain of the guard replied. She was disappointed her Shitennou had no answer to give their queen.
She sighed and gripped the hands of her winged guardians. "I guess it’s up to the Kamis now," she said, her tone laced with anxiety.
~*~
“Cassandra, your technology is most impressive. I think we can help with taking the ship,” Maia said, her body lighting up the cabin of the Pirate Cat Fighter.
“We’re about to dock. The Shadow Guard is immobilized. I have Celaeno and the others with Venus already boarding the Black Star and all is well!” Paris assured her from his communicator. “Plus mom and the others are also aboard.”
“Great news! We’ll be right behind you, good luck!” Mayer said, and Janus waved and smiled as Paris explained something to Taygeta. They were ready to teleport aboard the massive warship. Kantaro and Kumiko were leading Merope, Asterope, and her remaining sisters inside the launching bay of the Black Star.
~*~
The planet sized craft entered geosynchronous orbit over Crystal Tokyo. Scimitar forces fell upon it like swarms of enraged bees. The plasma pulses, photonic streams of concentrated particles, and bursts of what looked like multi-colored lightning struck the massive mother ship, but with little or no effect.
“Kunzite, what the hell can we do, nothing is going to stop her!” Lanoko protested, the young cadet on his first assignment.
“Keep your cool Shitennou! Serenity Dawn knows what she is doing and we’re cloaked.”
“Sorry my lord, I-“
“Spare it kid,” Pan said, appearing on the bridge surprising them all, the Scimitar Shitennou razing their swords.
“Stand down. He is an ancient one, a Kami-sama?” he arched his brows in question.
“You could say that. Now, Sere is ready. She will be with you directly.”
“Very good. We’re in position.”
The doors opened and Serenity Dawn, her body throwing off silvery-blue light, appeared, flanked by two of her Faery-Senshi. She cut a most impressive figure as she met with her leadership team.
“I am ready, Pan, wish me luck you guys,” she smiled at the stoic Kunzite who broke into a smile as Venus squeezed Kunzite’s hand.
“As Obaa-san would say, let’s kick some evil butt!” Sere said, tossing her pink mane over slender shoulders leaving the slight hint of apple blossom in her wake bringing a smile to the men on the bridge.
~*~
Soon the Pirate Cats, Sere’s Faery-Senshi and the Pleiades had worked their way through the ship’s key stations. They were systematically taking control of vital systems and working hard to disengage the shields. Having finally achieved this, they moved towards the huge battle bridge to rescue Serenity, her daughter leading the way.
~*~
Kantaro and Kumiko smiled as they approached the guarded entrance to the battle bridge. Assuming his panther form, Kantaro lowered himself and Serenity Dawn climbed upon his back. The seven sisters stood in a semi-circle confronted by thousands of Shadow Warriors.
Raising their crystal wands, the Pleiades shouted in unison, “Enchantment Ring of Stars Beam Smash!”
~*~
“How the hell did you get in here!” Black Lady demanded from her position on the command platform high above the Senshi and Shitennou below as crystal blades flashed, clinked and clattered as the luminous Pleiades and the Faery-Senshi mowed down the Shadow Warriors and youma soldiers with the help of the Pirate Cats, the Senshi and Shitennou of Earth and the Lords of the Scimitar.
“Cassandra Wind Song Chime!”
“Temporal Shock!”
“Affinity Storm Surge!” Uranus cried.
Kantaro leapt onto the platform behind Black Lady unseen, “We’re with you Sere, may the Kamis bless your heart!” he said in that deep throaty rumble she knew and loved so well.
“I will my dear friend. Now you take care, Miranda, Kumiko and I want to drink Orpheusean ale with you this night!”
“You’ve got a date!” and he was gone.
“Affinity Tectonic Quake!”
“Venus Affinity Love Cord!”
“Affinity Death Warp!”
“Astrild Banishing Wave!”
~*~
The Celestial Goddesses known as the Pleiades raised their shimmering swords and stood in a ring, and as all seven tips of their blinding weapons touched, a prismatic flash had cleared the chamber of Shadow Warriors and Youma foot soldiers.
Balling her fists, Black Lady demanded, “Who are you and how did you get past my elite Warriors!” She grinned, and considered the luminous assembly and spoke again. “I know you are light bearers of one sort or other. But I think you’ll find that here, I have the home ground advantage!”
“I think not, Black Lady!” Maia shouted back.
“My Crystal Knights, kill them all!”
“You have no idea, do you, Black Lady who you’re dealing with?” a new voice distracted the furious Dark Monarch.
“You’re that damned brat I wanted to destroy! Oh, you’ve got a nerve sweetheart, entering the fire pit. Come to rescue mommy have you? She, who has for years, hated you, deserted you, treated you as if you were a disease. You wish to save her. ‘Oh, I can’t bear to put her through the pain!’ ‘Oh, I cannot have her in my sight!’ Now, is that the words of a loving mother?”
“Save it, Black Lady. Your taunts won’t affect me in the slightest, so you may as well quit!”
But she pressed on, her rage and fear growing with equal measure, “I killed them, your weak and ineffectual grandparents, your pathetic father! Oh, my faithful blobs, behold!”
The assembly of slimy black creatures poured out of the orifices of the chamber like a black oily substance. The heaving bulks of these melanic globules massed on the periphery threatening to strike at a moment’s notice.
“Take care of her friends, my children!” she cried, but the blobs kept away from the Pleiades. Black Lady frowned, “Very well then. Attack Serenity now!”
Serenity Dawn smiled with sadness at the desperate girl. Black Lady’s body was enveloped in a halo of dark light. Sere conceded that in her own warped way, Black Lady did look attractive. Despite her flowing hair of cerise, pouring over her scantily clad form, her generous cleavage, her womanly curves, Sere knew that beneath the risqué visage, there lay a frightened, angry and hurt little girl.
Behind Black Lady stood her mother, Serenity. Free of all encumbrances . The obsidian heart, now a shimmering amethyst one. Serenity Dawn stepped aside as her mother faced her darker counterpart.
“Black Lady!” Serenity, as the Ginzuishou Lady cried out, stepping towards the wide-eyed figure trembling before her. Despite all the power, the mighty warship, the vast armies, she was unable to stand against the power of love and she knew it.
She began to whimper, “Come no closer!”
“Come to me! Don’t be afraid!” Serenity entreated, extending her arms towards the trembling young woman.
“What is this? You want me to embrace you, to love… what!” Black Lady was incredulous. She could only stare. But something was wrong, the fear was receding, ”What have you done to me!” She shrank back and raised her lignite staff.
“You can’t hurt me, you are me. Your darkness is loneliness, self-loathing, bitterness and grief. You are me, Black Lady, the part of me I could never accept, until now!”
“Take her!” she screamed at the blobs.
Then Neo-Queen Serenity, King Endymion and Helios appeared behind her. Serenity, as Ginzuishou Lady, shot them a brief smile over her shoulder, her heart leaping in her chest with love and renewed power. She turned to face Black Lady once more. “No, they can’t hurt me, but they can cleanse your heart and your Star Seed. Forgive yourself. Let it go!”
“But I’m afraid!”
“I have enough love for the both of us, now come to me!” Serenity stepped forward.
The blobs had transformed into beautiful sparkling spheres of light and these swirled around Black Lady and she reached up and let one of these touch her and suddenly she was naked, and the stars clothed her in a silver fuku and the evil was gone. “Sere, hug me!”
And the two figures embraced and as the light burst forth, the slumbering power of the deepest part of the Ginzuishou flared to life and Black Lady was gone.
“It is over!”
~*~
Vague and nebulous is the beginning of all things, but not their end, and I fain would have you remember me as a beginning.
Life, and all that lives, is conceived in the mist and not in the crystal. And who knows but a crystal is mist in decay?
This would I have you remember in remembering me: That which seems most feeble and bewildered in you is the strongest and most determined.
Is it not your breath that has erected and hardened the structure of your bones? And is it not a dream which none of you remember having dreamt that built your city and fashioned all there is in it?
Could you but see the tides of that breath you would cease to see all else, and if you could hear the whispering of the dream you would hear no other sound. But you do not see, nor do you hear, and it is well.
The veil that clouds your eyes shall be lifted by the hands that wove it, and the clay that fills your ears shall be pierced by those fingers that kneaded it.
And you shall see and you shall hear. Yet you shall not deplore having known blindness, nor regret having been deaf. For in that day you shall know the hidden purposes in all things, and you shall bless darkness as you would bless light.
The stream has reached the sea, and once more, the great mother holds her son against her breast. Fare you well, people of Orphalese. This day has ended.
It is closing upon us even as the water lily upon its own tomorrow. What was given us here we shall keep, and if it suffices not, then again must we come together and together stretch our hands unto the giver. Forget not that I shall come back to you. A little while, and my longing shall gather dust and foam for another body. A little while, a moment of rest upon the wind, and another woman shall bear me. Farewell to you and the youth I have spent with you.
It was but yesterday we met in a dream. You have sung to me in my aloneness, and I of your longings have built a tower in the sky. But now our sleep has fled and our dream is over, and it is no longer dawn.
And if our hands should meet in another dream, we shall build another tower in the sky.
The Prophet by Khalil Gibran
End
