Darkness.
Silence.
A bright light.
White,
Blinding,
Pure.
The Darkness shifted, the light vanished.
The shuffling of fabric,
The folding of wings,
The rising of a beating heart.
Dark blue eyes flashed in the Darkness, blinking blindly. "
What is this.." The words left but never came back, disappearing into the black void. "Where is everything?"
Concern,
Fright,
Thunder. . .
The Darkness shifted again, sending shockwaves through the area, wherever it was.
Suddenly a glass floor spun up from nowhere beneath the white clothed feet, the weight of gravity a sudden strain. . . .Silence once again.
Soft clicks against the glass echoed, as blue eyes spun around, observing absolutely nothing.
Small breaths escaped pale lips, fingers tightening around a crystal staff.
'Welcome back, Sailor.' Like a frost in the night, a voice whispered in a wind that wasn't there.
"Who are you?"
'You know who I am.'
A slight pause. . .
"What have you done?"
'It's not what I have done, but what you have let me do. Because of your cowardliness the universe has been destroyed, and it can never be brought back, not even by you, the mighty Sailor Cosmos.'
Guilt,
denial.
Fear.
"No, this isn't possible! I'll go back, before you destroyed everything, and stop you!"
'I won't let you leave.'
She bowed her head, defeated, letting her staff fall imply to her side. Crystal tears formed, and fell.
Falling.
Freezing.
Shattering upon the glass.
"How could you do this? Destroy everything? Was my world just too insignificant for you? Tell me why evil is evil!"
'I exist because I must. Without darkness, what is the point of light?'
"But now no one is left to fight! You've won, but you've lost as well. Without good, what reason does evil have to exist?"
Confusion,
uncertainty.
'I don't know.'
A pause.
"There's always been an even balance of good and evil, but due to my cowardness, everything is..gone."
'Everything.'
"Besides you and I."
'And this.' The Darkness shifted once more, and a cold, dark object formed before her.
Eyes widened,
heart flaring.
"The Cauldron...it still exists?"
'The Cauldron can never be destroyed, it can just be empty. Look.'
She did as she was commanded, floating above the surface and looking into the dark abyss that was just like everywhere else. "No stars.."
'No life. Nothing can ever be reborn, there are no more star seeds, I've destroyed them all. And of course, I do not have one, and neither do you, since you gave it up to gain your ultimate power.'
"We'll never die-"
'Yes, and keep fighting each other for all eternity. That, I do believe, must be the reason for my existence. To make yours a living hell. Have I succeeded so far?'
A cold, menacing laugh shook the floor, and she bowed her head down once again, her hope broken.
She looked down into her reflection to see her ageless face, which was filled with so many memories and worries, pains and guilts. Sailor Cosmos was perfection, but perfection always came with a high price.
She was star seedless, impure.
That's what made Eternal Sailormoon stronger than she, her pure heart, her pure star seed.
"If only..." She looked to her star, which had replaced her ever familiar crescent moon when she evolved. It was brilliant, shining even in complete and utter Darkness.
Blue eyes widened with realization, hope returning from the far, dark corners.
Trembling finger tips alighted onto the star, a shock traveling through her.
The Darkness shifted, sensing something other than complete hopelessness.
"You're wrong."
Determined blue eyes lifted up, the Darkness retreating.
'How so?'
"There is one star seed left."
Her star glowed faintly, pulsing with the beat of her heart. "It never left me, it's been with me the entire time. And now, it's time to make things right."
She floated up to the Cauldron, touching her winged feet onto the brim.
'You can't bring the old universe back, it's forever gone. Your loved ones shall remain oblivious!'
"I know, but I can start everything again, build a new universe, a pure one."
She grasped the staff to her chest, closing her eyes momentarily. She could feel the Darkness around her swirling in confusion, and smiled at this. She opened the locket at her breast, and eight colored crystals floated before her.
They shot into her staff, mixing with the Silver Imperial Crystal, which rested magnificently on top. It flared up in power, acting as a prism, and shot colored lights into the Darkness.
'You will fail! Just like you always have. You're too weak!'
"No, you cannot fool me any more, Chaos. I will rebirth the universe!" '
But you will never destroy me!'
"No, but you will never destroy good either. There will always be someone to fight you, to defeat you. And I will finally rest, knowing that the battle will never end, but will always be won."
'But you'll die!'
"I've been dead for the past three thousand years. But finally I'll be with the ones I love and truly be at peace, in a place were you cannot reach me, finally."
She turned the staff upside down, holding it above her head, and rested the Silver Imperial Crystal upon her star.
The Darkness watched in cowering fright as she was surrounded by a glowing white light, which flickered like flames, pulsing with power unimaginable.
The flames grew brighter,
Brighter.
A sudden explosion of power,
the Darkness screeching and fleeing away.
Eyes opened, but they weren't the same.
They were hollow, unfeeling, but still alive.
She turned her staff back around, holding it above her head once more, the crystal shinning like a beacon in the Darkness.
'No! You cannot do this! It's impossible!'
"And I used to think the same thing."
With one mighty movement, the staff came down into the Cauldron and all at once,
The Darkness shattered.
Time froze. . .
The inside of the Cauldron exploded, sending trillions upon trillions of stars up into the shattered Darkness.
A terrible, painful roar.
A quiet, wistful smile.
"I'm coming..."
White light,
golden light,
pure light.
She felt like she was floating. . .
Light,
free. . .
"Welcome to heaven.
. . .Usako."
