Celestial Moon by: drama81 Chapter Seven "Zoicite present yourself!" Beryl yelled from her throne. A man with long, blonde hair, pulled into a high pony tail, appeared in a flurry of sakura petals. He immediately bowed down before his queen. "Yes my queen?" he asked. "Nephrite has failed. Now is your chance to prove yourself to Metallia and myself," Beryl said. "It is my pleasure. I shall capture the Ginzuishou for you," Zoicite said. "Excellent, now go," Beryl commanded. Zoicite stood and disappeared in the same flurry of petals as he had entered. Endymion walked out from behind Beryl's throne. "He will fail. He always fails. I'm surprised he made it so far up the command ladder. Tell me something Beryl, how did he get so high up?" Endymion asked. "That is none of your business Endymion," Beryl hissed. "So I'll take the rumors of him sleeping with you true. He always did sleep with any whore who would spread their legs," Endymion said, smiling. "You will hold your tongue Endymion. Since you seem so sure of him failing, then you go and spy on him. If he does, destroy him. He will serve as an example to any others wishing to serve Metallia. Failure will not be tolerated," Beryl sneered. "As you wish Beryl," Endymion said before fading away. 'Zoicite will pay for betraying my trust. He will pay for his lies. Whether he succeeds or not, he will not live past today,' Beryl thought. ~~~~~~~~~~ Usagi landed in front of Makoto's house and let her transformation fade. She knocked on the door and waited while someone came to answer the door. She smiled as she saw Makoto when the door opened. "Makoto-san, it's nice to see you again," she said. "Usagi-san. I'm glad you came. Please come in," Makoto said. "Oh and please call me Mako-chan. All my friends do, and you seem to be someone I'd be friends with." "Alright, but only if you will call me Usagi-chan. I insist that everyone call me that. Now why did you ask me to come?" Usagi asked. "She asked you, because I asked her to," Luna said as she came in. "You wish to find the Ginzuishou, right?" "Hai. With that crystal I should be able to defeat the Dark Kingdom once and for all," Usagi replied. "I believe you. I am going to let you borrow the crystal," Luna began. "You have it! Why didn't you tell me sooner? Please, give it to me," Usagi interrupted. "Just one moment. As I was saying before I was interrupted, I am going to let you borrow it. There is one condition, though. You must return to stone as soon as your mission is complete. This stone is to go to the High Princess Serenity when she is found and comes of age," Luna said. "Of course. That will not be a problem. If you wish, you may send one of your senshi to come with me. As soon as I seal the Dark Kingdom away, I shall return the stone to them," Usagi said. "That is most gracious of you. However, I think I should send all of the senshi with you. The Dark Kingdom is no one to mess with. The moment they sense you coming, they will have their entire army after you. Whether you want to believe it or not, you will need everyone you can get to help you. Sending the senshi is the least I can do," Luna explained. "That is fine with me, when shall we leave?" Usagi asked. "As soon as you possibly can. The Dark Kingdom grows in strength every day. To let it continue to do so would not be wise. I'll call all of the senshi as soon as you are ready," Luna replied. "We shall do it tomorrow. I've already had to battle with Nephrite today. Endymion came and killed him just after I had healed him of the dark energies," Usagi said, a trace of sadness in her voice. "That's one less general for us to worry about. I believe that leaves Zoicite and Kunzite for us to deal with. Endymion as well if he decides to fight," Luna said. "It's things like that that have made the senshi prejudice against the generals. Why Queen Serenity chose you to guard the Ginzuishou I'll never know," Usagi started. "Luna, you need to learn to forgive the generals. They have been robbed of their lives. The Dark Kingdom brain washed them to serve under Beryl. There are three mages in the Dark Kingdom you should save your hate for, Endymion, Beryl, and Neherenia. I'm not entirely convinced that Endymion joined willingly, though." "So that's where she went. We always wondered about Neherenia. She was always thought of as the black sheep, so when she disappeared, we just assumed the worst and moved on," Luna said. "Didn't you hear a word that I just said?" Usagi asked. "I told you that the generals are not evil by choice, they were brain washed!" "Usagi-san, I heard you. I don't care, though. The facts are that two of the generals are dead and that two are still alive and trying to oppose us. Until they are neutralized, they are still enemies. Now if you can provide proof that they are on our side, then I'll tell the senshi to back off of them. As for Serenity-sama giving me the Ginzuishou, that was because I was her top advisor. I never could use the thing, though," Luna said. "That's because only a pure soul can use the crystal. Luna you may serve the side of good, but you are full of hate and anger. It's a wonder that you made it as far as you did in the Lunar Court," Usagi stated. "Why you! Get out, now! You are on your own. The crystal shall stay with me. Now leave before I call Sailor Uranus. She would just love to get a hold of you," Luna shouted. Usagi sank as Luna denied her the crystal. "Fine, but don't come crying to me if you lose the trust of the senshi," Usagi said as she left. Luna started to go after her to ask what she meant, but turned to see Makoto standing in the doorway. "Ah, Mako-chan, did you hear us?" she asked nervously. "How could I not? You shouted at Usagi-chan most of the time she was here. Luna, you may have been the one to raise me, but you are no longer my okaa-san. I'm out of here as soon as I pack my stuff. Oh and I'll be telling the other senshi about your attitude too. You always have told us to work as a team, but if we can't trust you, then how can we let you be on the team?" Makoto said. "I don't know what to tell you. It seems that you've already made up your mind Makoto. I wish you well in the future, and hope that you will forgive me someday. Until then, I shall wait for you to come home," Luna said as she walked out of the room. As soon as she was away from Makoto she slid down the wall and began to cry. ~~~~~~~~~~ Zoicite appeared above Luna's house as Usagi ran away from it. "There's a lot of energy here. If I collect some then it will be an excellent bonus for Beryl-sama. Perhaps I can even persuade her into her room again for another night of fun," he said, a small giggle escaping his lips. He teleported right in front of Usagi and held out his hand. "Hello, I've come for a contribution to the Dark Kingdom. You energy is greatly appreciated, and there is no saying no to this," he said as he began to rip her energy away. Usagi muffled a scream as she felt her energy leaving her body. She thought quickly and raised her leg up to knee the general in his groin. He instantly dropped her as pain shot throughout his body. As soon as Usagi hit the ground she swept her leg out and took his feet out from under him. He hit the ground with a dull thud. Usagi jumped up and looked at the general. "You just made a big mistake. CELESTIAL MAKE UP!" she shouted. Her body instantly bursted into white light. If one could have seen inside the cocoon of power around Usagi's body they would have been mesmerized. Her wings appeared around her body, then she spread them out and showed her form. Ribbons of silver light danced around her body, slowly drawing in closer and closer. They soon hugged against her body, then formed into her fuku and gloves. More ribbons flew up and connected to her at her waist and formed into her skirt. Bows exploded in silver light from her chest and back. A golden crescent moon shone on her forehead, but was quickly covered by her tiara. The light faded away as she struck a pose. Sailor Celestia looked at Zoicite again. He began to recover from her quick attack as Usagi. "So you've revealed yourself to me, princess," he muttered. "I don't know what you're talking about, but I'm not a princess. I am the divine warrior chosen to defeat the Dark Kingdom and save this planet from your hate. I am Sailor Celestia and you are hereby punished," she said, pointing at Zoicite. "Fine with me, but you won't win. The Dark Kingdom shall always prevail," Zoicite said as he stood up. The two took up fighting stances and began to circle around each other. After a moment Zoicite became impatient and moved in to try and take down Celestia. Celestia grabbed his arm and thrusted her own into it. A snap was heard and Zoicite pulled his arm free. He backed off and looked at her with horror written across his face. He had never seen a senshi fight like she had just done. Sure they fought valiantly, but they didn't try to cripple their opponent. Celestia took the moment and ran towards Zoicite. Just before she reached him she jumped up and began to flip backwards. With her momentum she easily traveled the rest of the way to him. She kicked him with both feet and continued flipping and then connected with both her fists. She flapped her wings once and landed gracefully on her feet. "Still feel like I won't win?" she asked. "Hai, I do. FROZEN HATRED!" he cried out, sending a blizzard of ice shards at Celestia. Celestia gasped as the attack headed towards her. She closed her eyes, knowing that she would be hit no matter what she did. Just before the attack hit her she heard a cry. "Jupiter Coconut Cyclone!" Jupiter's attack destroyed most of Zoicites, but a few shards escaped destruction and found their way to Celestia's left leg. She cried out as the needle sharp ice imbedded itself into her tender flesh. Zoicite frowned at Jupiter, then let a cocky grin grow on his face as Celestia cried out in pain. "The Dark Kingdom cannot be stopped. We may be set back, but never stopped," he said. Jupiter jumped down to Celestia and helped her up. She looked up at Zoicite with a determination she used rarely. "We'll see you, bakayaro!" she spat out. Celestia put her hand on Jupiter and smiled at her. "It's alright Jupiter. We will win," she said soothingly. Jupiter couldn't help but smile at the newest senshi's attitude. Of course she had yet to be proven wrong. Jupiter nodded and then turned her attention back to Zoicite. Celestia removed herself from Jupiter's arms and looked towards Zoicite. "Jupiter, hit him with your hardest attack, then leave him to me," she ordered. Jupiter grinned at the general. "JUPITER OAK EVOLUTION!" she screamed, releasing her top level attack. The electrically charged oak leaves flew towards Zoicite at very high speed, giving him no chance to escape. The electricity coursed through his body, sending it into convulsions. After a few moments the attack subsided and left the general on the ground, smoke pouring off his body. Celestia called forth her staff and took to the air. "Zoicite, you are perhaps the most bitter general we have seen yet, but even in you there is light. I shall bring that side of you back! CELESTIAL SEPERATION!" she yelled, sending the divine rays of healing power at him. As the beam washed over him, he felt like he was being split in two. He tried his hardest to cry out in pain, but his voice would not come to him. Half his vision turned dark for a fraction of a second then disappeared and with it went the pain. He felt his arm set and heal completely and all the burns on his body heal. To Jupiter and Celestia they saw Zoicite rise in the air then a black form fly from his body and disintegrate. He was lowered back to the ground then the light that held him up disappeared. His shoulder cuffs fell to the ground and vanished in a puff of black smoke. Tears shone in his eyes as he tried to find the words to express his gratitude. Before he could say anything a large blast of energy flew out and destroyed his body, leaving only a piece of his namesake. It flew up and into the waiting hand of Endymion. "Thanks senshi you made my job easier," he said before trying to disappear. Celestia took to the sky as she saw the piece of rock fly upwards. She stopped Endymion before he could vanish back to the Dark Kingdom. "Why do you kill your generals? They were your protectors in the past. Why can't you let them live out their lives in peace?" she demanded. "Simple, they betrayed me when they chose to serve Beryl. Now they betray me again by betraying Metallia. The punishment is death always," he said as he drew closer to her. Before Celestia could react Endymion grabbed her and kissed her. "You know you really are quite attractive. Too bad I have to kill you later," he said before disappearing. Celestia blushed a deep red as she landed. Jupiter walked up to her and smiled. "We may have lost Zoicite, but that looked like some kiss," she said. Celestia's color deepened at Jupiter's remark. She took off without saying anything and flew to her apartment. Inside she detransformed and sat down on her couch. "That kiss...it can't be...I cannot fall in love with him, but it felt so right. No, why me?" she asked as she dropped her head into her lap and began to cry. ~~~~~~~~~~ That's it for this chapter. Yeah I know it's a sad ending, but it fit in so well. Also, sorry it took me so long to get this done. I had all sorts of problems, but the main one was writer's block. Until next time, ja.