End Game and Rebirth

Mina’s Tale II – Part 13

It is always quiet before the storm or that’s what they always said. I can tell you that statement is true. Nova and I traveled in the helicopter in utter silence. He refused to say a word and I love him too much to try to break the silence. Sometimes he just needs silence to think but this was like no silence that I have experienced before in the two years that we have been together. We arrived back in Tokyo at three in the morning and Nova broke his silence and began to shout orders to Susan and Amy. He wanted all the information of every confirmed avatar sighting that took place during the last months. He believed that the latest avatar had been spotted with them, in the background, coordinating their efforts. He was a mad man, consumed by what he perceived as his failure to protect everyone. He is hard to be around when he’s in this mood. Nothing I can say or do will get him out of his depression until he accomplished what, sometimes, is the impossible even for him.

The three of them spent thirty-six straight hours in the conference room. Amy opened the door and quietly shut it behind her. I heard Nova screaming at Susan and saw the look on Amy’s face. Nova was definitely in one of his moods. I hugged Amy and she almost collapsed in my arms, “Amy, are you all right?” She sighed against my shoulder, “Well, we finally found him. He was spotted in the first tapes of the conflict with Battle. He visage is horribly to look upon with our eyes but Nova sees him with a sight that is beyond ours.” She almost fell asleep in my arms as I carried her to her bed. I pulled the covers up to her chin and gave her a kiss on her forehead, “Rest, my friend, I’ll take care of Nova now.”

Susan was coming out of the room and slowly made her way to the kitchen. She hugged me and gave me a kiss as she passed me, “Mina, you must be a saint to take him when he’s like this.” She poured herself a tall glass of milk and headed for her room. Quietly, I crossed the living room to the conference room door. I saw a small movement to my left as I approached the door. There was Chibi staring at me but afraid to call to me. I decided that Nova could wait for a few minutes so I went to my little one. “You shouldn’t be up. It’s close to six in the morning, you could get a couple hours of more sleep before you have to wake up.” She jumped in my arms and I cradled her in the crook of my neck. “Mommy, it’s just that I can see the man … no … thing that Daddy is looking to find. He’s horrible. It’s like the face of a thousand dead men merged upon one face. I just can’t sleep.” I held her closer and let my mind wander inside hers. Soon, I found that connection to Nova that she couldn’t release and I ‘disconnected’ it for her and filled her minds with thoughts of the Sailor Warriors at play on the moon. She fell asleep in five minutes and as I tucked her in, I gave her a kiss on her cheeks. I never imagined myself as a mother, a wife possibly, but never a mother. Motherhood brings great changes in your life, you have to devote yourself to a tiny soul and raise that child right. It’s a small wonder that many go wrong in life, being a mother is a tough job and I pray that I’m doing everything correctly.

My mind suddenly turned to Nova and I could see his mind. The Death Phantom’s appearance is frightening but it was his soul that scared me the most. It was black, as black as the deepest hole in space. He cared for nothing except to bring the death to all living creatures. I opened the conference room door and saw my greatest love sitting in a chair staring out over the sea. I walked to him and looked him in his eyes. Those green eyes were filled with tears. The tears of the billions that passed to the other world during the terrible period that fell upon us in the last months. I wiped them from his eyes and sat in his lap and looking straight at his face, began to cry. Such tears that fell from my face that I thought I never would stop but I soon felt my beloved’s hands on my eyes drying my tears. I laid my head against his neck, comforted by the steady pulse of his blood through his flesh. We fell asleep in each other’s arms and didn’t wake until the sun was setting in the west and the rays of the moon shone upon our faces. He greeted me with a kiss, “My love, it’s now time to take action to protect Japan.” I wiped the sleep from my eyes, “Don’t you mean the world?” Nova held my cheek in his hand, “No, Serena’s job will be to save the world. We must save Japan. Get everyone here as quick as you can.” I rushed from his side and started shouting for everyone to get in the conference room. I grabbed Chibi as she came out of her room and carried her to Nova. I could tell by the tone in his voice that we needed everyone’s power to defeat this final being.

We all gathered in the conference room, Chibi ran to her father and hugged him around the neck. Nova picked up the little girl and placed her in his lap but she squirmed out and walked to me. She held her hand out to me and I grasped it in mine. She led me over to Nova where she ‘forced’ me down on his lap and then she crawled into mine. She realized that we needed to be close in this time of trouble. The silence in the room was intense. Nova kissed me on the ear and then told us the most horrible news that I have ever heard. “We are in trouble and we can only protect our new homeland. I pray for the rest of the world but we don’t have the power to stem the oncoming attack.” I can see a tear form in the corner of Nova’s eye and it was a miracle that I saw it through my tear filled eyes. I looked at every face in the room and I saw their tears because they knew that Nova would have never told them those words unless the world as we know it was doomed.

The youngest Sailor regained her voice first, “Nova, what do you want us to do?” “Terri, you and the other Outer Sailors have to travel quickly to the four corners of Japan. The Fortress will supply enough power to connect your artifacts together to form a protective dome over the land.” Amy looked at us, “Over the land? Is the attack coming from the sky?” Nova buried his face in my hair and I heard his heavy breath in my ears, “Yes, the avatar and the Unstoppable moved the planetoid Styx through the asteroid belt causing hundreds of them to leave their orbit and are now heading to the Earth.” I felt his tears flow down my hair to the back of my neck, he was using my hair to hide his sorrow from his family but he could never hide his emotion from me; I was his wife, his soul mate and I will always know what he is feeling. No one said anything but each rose from her seat and transformed but I knew each one’s pain. We are powerful but even with all our power; we couldn’t protect everyone from the onslaught that is coming. Darien had been standing behind Serena and he looked at his wife in front of him, “Serena, you are the Moon Princess, can’t you do something?”

Serena looked pleadingly at Nova, “Isn’t there something the Silver Crystal can do to save the rest of the people? I have gave my life in the past and I’m willing to do it today to protect others.” I saw those words tear through her husband but he didn’t say a word because I knew that he would give his life to protect our people. I rose from Nova’s lap and with my little one and transformed. Every eye in the room was focused on Nova but he didn’t realize because he was deep in thought. “Maybe, just maybe” was all he said but it was enough to move Serena to Nova’s side. She held his hands in hers and I saw a soft ‘please’ escape from her lips. Nova raised her hands to her lips and softly kissed them. “We can’t save the people but we can save their spirit and those spirits can be reborn in the future when the planets are ready to accept their children but … it will cost us Sailor Moon.”

Darien rushed to Serena’s side, “No, Nova, I can’t lose her.” Serena reached up to her husband’s face and standing on her tiptoes kissed him on the lips. “No, Darien, if my life can save the spirits of over three billion then I’m willing … no … determined to meet that request.” Nova sprang from his chair, “Wait, who said anything about dying. No, I said that it would cost us Sailor Moon but what I meant is that you have to become what you were meant to be over a thousand years ago. You must become … the Neo-Queen Serenity and put all of your past behind you. You will be more powerful in some ways but only to save and protect. The Queen may never attack her enemies but rely on the Warriors to provide that service.”

Darien thought for a second and fell to one knee, “My Queen, I will protect you and be your avenging sword against your enemies.” As one, all of the Sailor Warriors, including Chibi, fell to one knee and recited the same oath. We would devote ourselves to protect our Queen because she cannot attack her enemies. I saw a small smile on Nova’s face as he held my hand helping me rise from the floor. Why would he smile at a time like this but all thoughts of that reason left my mind when he grasped the Silver Crystal around Serena’s neck and she transformed into Serenity, the Neo-Queen of Crystal Tokyo. “You can now use the Silver Crystal like your mother – to save your world for the future.”

The four Outer Sailors traveled swiftly to their appointed locations and the rest of us gathered around Serena as we watched the sky. Glistening among the stars was asteroids headed for the Earth to rain down their destruction upon the planet. When the first appeared in the western skies, we prayed that Serena had the power to save their souls. The first strikes hit in China and Russia but soon they spread north, south and then to the west. Japan was going to be last it seemed, probably by the design of the Unstoppable. He wanted to make Nova suffer through all the rain of terror and then visit it upon him. As I took his hand in mine, the sky above Japan began to shine with the radiance of a thousand jewels as the Outer Sailors threw their power to the skies. Japan would survive, for a while, at least, but what would tomorrow bring. I held my daughter close to my side and I slipped my arm around my beloved’s waist. I would stand beside him through this night giving him the support to stand tall in this battle. Darien held Serena in his arms as she appeared to almost faint when another asteroid hits its target. I pray for my friend, she has a hard task in saving the world but she’s strong and she has save the world on many occasions before this day.

As the sun rose on the east horizon, I realized that the world that I knew was gone. We survived the night with the help of the Outer Sailors. They protected Japan through the endless night but now it was over and they returned to our home … or what’s left of it. No asteroid fell up Japan’s soil but we watched in horror as newscasts from all over the earth was cut short as their points of light faded from the face of the earth. Japan still suffered because of the earthquakes that all those strikes caused by all the strikes. Cities fell to the ground and fires ran rampant over most of the land. We had suffered but we were alive … alive to rebuild the world.

Nova held me in his arms as the warm breeze from a hundred fires in the city rose quickly in the early morning. Amy and Michelle were using their powers to quell the fires but it was an immense undertaking. I looked over the ruined city and pushed closer to Nova, “At least it’s over.” Nova held me even closer, “No, my love, they are still out there somewhere.” I would have stayed in his arms forever if the words of the Unstoppable had not invaded out thoughts. Such evil power that I had never felt in my life, not even from Galaxia, and would have passed out if Nova hadn’t support me mentally. “My foe, you have stopped my plan for Japan but the world is dead.” Nova countered back, “We are a determined people and as long as one survive, we will not be conquered.” A small laugh rose from someone else that I realized was the Death Phantom, “You may have stopped the first attack but you won’t be able to stopped this attack. We’ll ride this one down until it crashes on Japan.” I didn’t understand what he was talking about until my mind’s eye saw what they were upon, a great asteroid that was heading for Japan. I heard Nova in my thoughts, “No, darling, that is the planetoid called Styx.” A body that was six miles across was heading towards the Earth and we had no defense against it. I buried my head against Nova’s chest and wept.

All the Warriors gathered for one last time but Nova wouldn’t have us lose hope. The Earth was our new home and we will defend it until we were no more. Terri said that she could release the destructive powers of the Glaive but Nova said it wasn’t enough. Darien suggested that we use the Cosmic Bane but we realized that it would probably destroy the Earth with it destructive power. It could not be used in an inhabited area because it will destroy all life within its sphere of destruction. Serena offered to use the Silver Crystal to protect the land but Nova pointed out the energy necessary would release the spirits of all those that she saved but the impact of the planetoid against the shield she could erect would push Japan into the molten core of the Earth. No, it just couldn’t work but it did get Nova thinking. He conferred with the Fortress and another voice that I realized was General Jadeite but they excluded all of us from the conversation, including Chibi and myself. Jadeite appeared in thought to Nova and not me. What did that mean? The rest of the generals appeared to me but he went straight to Nova. It hurt me that they excluded me when they spoke among themselves but I think he did it to protect the rest of us for what they decided. If I knew that they was talking about releasing a great evil to combat the Unstoppable, I would have stopped them in their tracks but they knew what they had to do.

Nova called us together on top of the building. We could see the bright light in the sky that Amy told us was Styx. It’s beautiful in the sky, a twinkling light that was sparkled in the dying light of day but an evil light. Nova wanted all the Sailor Warriors to accompany Serena to the farthest part of the land and protect her from what he had to do … no, what he had to become to save the world. He explained his plan and my heart stopped. He realized that the true power of the Silver Crystal could stop the attack but to realize that incredible power inside him, he has to release the Dark Queen. The Dark Queen can control the Cosmic Bane and throw its power to the stars without harm to anyone else. My worst fear, the Dark Queen, the one being that I feared above all others because she can take the most important thing in my life from me. I pleaded with Nova but I realized that he was right but I refused to leave him. If someone had to stop the Dark Queen, it would be me. Nova requested that Amy stayed with us but that Susan takes Chibi with the rest of them. They didn’t want to leave but Nova pointed out that Serena was now the Queen of the Silver Kingdom and the Dark Queen may decide to make war on her and the more distance that separates the two, the less likely the possibility. The other Sailors left but not before each hugged and kissed Nova, Amy and me as each passed before us.

It was midnight and Nova instructed that he was ready to start. “Amy, we need a lot of fog between ourselves and the planetoid. Spread it thick as you can get and filled the entire area between us.” Amy raised her hands; “Shabon Spray!” was her shout as a fog rose from the waters of the Earth. Nova was adding his power to hers and the thick fog blanketed the sky. “It’s time” was all he said as he released that portion of his mind that was concealed from me, that portion that held the Dark Queen in check.

I saw my beloved changed before my eyes. The Dark Queen resembled Sailor War but she was dressed all in black and her wings were black as sable. She looked to me and I pointed to the sky, “You have to save us from the Unstoppable”. Just those words set her off as she drew the Cosmic Bane from her back and raised it to the sky. The force of the energy released knocked Amy and me off our feet. We stared at the clearing sky and released Nova’s plan. We could only stare in wonder as she drew the moon out of its orbit to place itself in the path of the planetoid. Nova was using the moon and the power of the Fortress to block the attack. “Don’t worry your pretty head, dear one. The Fortress will survive but the Unstoppable will die this day.” The Dark Queen held my chin in her hand. I could feel Nova inside but I also felt the raw unbridled power that the Dark Queen commanded. Power that Nova was afraid of releasing because only one being could control that power but he didn’t know what she would do if released. I could feel that she wasn’t evil nor good, she was just power but confused. I held my hands to embrace her neck to pull me to my feet and for a second I thought that she would destroy me with a thought but she moved her arms under mine and lifted me to my feet. I don’t care what she looks like on the outside … I still can feel Nova on the inside just like I can feel part of her when Nova was Sailor War. The Dark Queen was part of Nova; a part that carried his power but he hasn’t gained the control he needs to release that part of him.

She pointed to the sky and I looked up and saw the sky clear between the moon and Styx. “No, I’m so close” was the last that we heard from the Unstoppable as his dark point of light was extinguished from out universe. The collision of the two heavenly bodies destroyed the planetoid but it also moved the moon closer to the Earth. I can see the mountains of the moon clearly from our position. “I have to make some quick adjustments to the Earth causing tides to happen again”, was the Dark Queen words as she stretched her sword over the horizons. “The moon will remain in its place in the sky both day and night. It is stationary over this building where we stand.” She held me tight against her. The Dark Queen also possessed a quality of Sailor War, she was shorter than me so the top her head was pressed against my chin and her face against my neck. “It’s not time for me to stay but encourage him to release more of me. He will need my power in the future.” I felt her lips on my neck, “Mina, please tell Serena that I mean her no harm. I am not her enemy but neither am I a friend. We co-exist in the same universe and as long as we are kept apart no harm will come to her. Please tell her one more thing … she must build her city here with her tower at this spot. Her crystal tower and city under the light of the moon.” With those last words, she changed into Sailor War and then Nova. I caught him as he fell and gently laid his head against my breasts. “Sleep, my prince, you had a rough day.” He fell into a peaceful sleep just as Amy came and held us both in her arms, “I don’t know what he did but we’ll safe now.” I didn’t hear if she said anything else because I joined Nova in slumber just after my blue haired friend held us in her comforting arms.

I don’t know when they returned but I was awoken the next morning to the smell of pancakes. I opened my eyes and spy a small black haired child staring at me. “Mom, are you awake?” I held out my arms to my baby and she crawled into my grasp. “Baby, when did you get back?” She didn’t answer right away as she snuggled close to me, “Aunt Susan brought us back last night around four am. She said it was all over and we could return home.” I held her close and kissed the top of her head, “Yes, baby, we won.” I looked to my left and saw Nova asleep on the pillow beside me. He’s fine, I can tell by his dreams. He was dreaming of Chibi and me playing in the gardens of the Fortress under a large Earth that dominated the sky above us. Wait … the Earth shouldn’t have been that large … unless … his dreams was of the future and not the past. The Earth would fill the sky above the moon now but in the past it would have been much smaller. Were these dreams of what he wanted or actual visions of the future? I may never know but I knew that he needed his sleep so I left him to his dreams.

The next morning a crowd gathered in the plaza in front of our building. They wanted someone to tell them what to do, where to go, or why did this happened. We didn’t have much of idea of what we need to say but Nova assumed the position of leader as usually. He transformed into Sailor War and extended her hand to me. We walked, with Chibi, at my side to the assembly below. The people cheered as Sailor War walked to the front of the top step. “We have survived the long night. Many didn’t follow us into the light of this new day but they will return one day. We must adapt to our situation and strive to construct a new world. To aid in that world, you will need a princess, no, a queen to lead you. May I introduce your queen, she is the Neo-Queen Serenity.” Serena, no maybe Serenity today, came from the doors of the building. As she approached Sailor War, a hush came over the crowd. She stood in splendor, a regal presence, looking every bit the queen that she need to become to lead her people but they also gasped in wonder as the building changed to form a crystal tower that reached to the heavens. I never realized it until later but this was the palace in the future, the heart of Crystal Tokyo. Nova winked at me when I looked at him, we were making history today with the birth or maybe rebirth of the Silver Kingdom. Darien approached Serena and extended his arm to her to guide her down the steps to meet her people. Nova changed back to himself and we watched Serena and Darien mingle with the crowd. “We did well. It was a long fight but we survived.” He held me at his side and Chibi in his arm as all the Sailors walked the stairs to join Serena. Nova looked at me and we went to join the others. A new day was starting, one that finds a more determined people emerge on the Earth. A people that will survive, no, they will come out stronger no matter the circumstances or how long the fight. The human race took a great step forward this day, a step closer to regain what they lost a thousand years ago.

It was a long day but we made a start. Amy was going to lead a committee on the development of the new city. It was a good start but we will have to spend years working before we will regain everything we had lost but Nova pointed out that we have centuries to accomplish our goals, we didn’t have to build everything in one day, we just need to build to last. Serena was extremely tried as she prepared for a quiet evening. Amy took a look at her but just wrote it off as the excitement of the day. Nova looked at her and smiled, “Amy, you could make a better diagnosis if Serena told you that she was sick when she woke the last five days.” Serena looked at Nova, “I have been sick in the morning but …” She didn’t finished her thought as Nova sent a small message from the newest Sailor Warrior to her mother, “Mommy, I’m here.” Darien hugged his wife but quickly released her. He kissed her and she held his hand over her womb, “Darien, Chibiusa is on her way.” All the Sailors rejoiced with Serena but I noticed that Nova went out to the balcony after he hugged and kissed his niece. I slipped my arms around him, “Is everything all right?” He sighed, “No, I miss my generals. I have to find them after we finish here. They are lost in time and space but I will bring them home.” He held me close to his chest, “But for tonight, tomorrow and maybe for a while, I have to help Serena rebuild but I also want to spend some quality time with my wife.” I looked up at his green eyes and realized that I would have him to myself for the rest of the night as he held my hand and walked me to our bedroom. I winked at Serena as we passed her on our way to the door. Maybe we can have another surprise in a few weeks.

As the Earth rebuilt from it ruins, a walking skeleton strode across the face of a dark moon surrounding Pluto. He still had the castle that the Unstoppable had built and all the equipment that he used to bring the war to the Earth. He is the Death Phantom even though all flesh was stripped from his body when Styx hit the moon. He walked in the darken halls of the castle and brought a small globe from inside his robe. The globe glowed with the spirits of those he harvested in the first attacks. Spirits that he could mold into his followers in the future, warriors that would serve his purpose in his battle against the Silver Kingdom. He held the globe close to his face, “She saved all the others but she didn’t save you. She judged you unworthy to be with her. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you and we will teach her the meaning of the Black Moon.”

So ends the second saga of Mina’s Tale. This tale brought us to the building of Crystal Tokyo and the Neo-Queen Serenity and the tale of the Black Moon’s invasion. Where was Nova during this invasion, well, Chibi and all the Outer Sailors except Susan accompanied him to find the generals. Stay tune for Mina’s Tale III, part 1, “The Return”.