Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction ❯ The Whys of What Ifs ❯ Ch.1 Dark Dreams-A High Stakes Game ( Chapter 1 )

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The Whys of What Ifs

Chapter 1: Dark Dreams - A High Stakes Game

The void hung, a wave of nothing, upon the fabric of Hotaru's dreamspace. Hotaru, as a Soldier of Silence, has access to a myriad of powerful enchantments associated with this void that she uses to protect her princess. She often visited this place to determine the pathways of the present into the future.

The void was different today. Instead of an unchanging infinite arena of darkness, this time the darkness was broken. Such a thing could only mean the pathways of present into future were on a course towards change. Unnatural change.

Three men stood in a triangle, facing away from each other. The men were identical, with long silver hair and blazing emerald eyes, except for attire and attitudes. The first was garbed in a robe of white cotton lined with gold, holding a white orb out with his visage contorted in an odd combination of anguish, self-loathing, and a calm that could only have come from death's final touch. The second was dressed in a black silk robe intricately embroidered with silver imprints of angel wings, holding a black orb out like a knife for a prone victim with his mien twisted in insane ecstasy. The third was dressed almost modernly, in a black t-shirt and black jeans, complete with black trench coat. The third held his sword, a gleaming arced katana of extraordinary length, vertically even, evenly dividing his composed face in two.

'Well, let's see what this means. I've got three figures. The first I'll call the Martyr. The second is the Murderer. The third is the Warrior. The obvious questions are: What does each image mean and why are they standing in a triangle, facing away from each other?'

As if summons by her thoughts, a voice broke the silence with its mindspeak.

'A darksight to raise great questions and terrible fears.' the mindvoice, a mild one with more than an edge of raspiness in it, spoke from directly from behind Hotaru in a tone that conveyed nothing, not even the fear or concern that it's words implied.

With a small cry of startlement, Hotaru spun around, materializing her Silence Glaive from the surrounding darkness as she did so. She completed her turn, her Glaive extended directly forward in ready position. And saw nothing. Hotaru, with her trained void senses, could see no indication that anyone was actually there.

'Please allow me to extend my apologies to you, Lady Saturn. I had no intention of startling you, but I felt that there are things that the Sailor Senshi must know for the preservation of the Earth.' The voice was actually apologetic, and slightly tinged with amusement, although the concern for the other matter was missing. Hotaru flustered slightly, and then regained her composure.

Hotaru was now composed, on her guard. After all, who was this guy that could hide in a void that was Hotaru's element? Only someone who had enough dark power to destroy the world several times over could remain veiled to Hotaru's senses in this void. However, her natural curiosity and concern for Princess Serenity won through and so the first two questions were rather blunt.

'Who are you? And what do you mean? What do we need to know to preserve the Earth?'

Amazingly, the voice sighed and took a tone of regret for what had to be done and the wisdom gained from a softened bitterness. 'During the course of my life, and my death, I have acquired many names. Nightblade, Eboncrusher, and Daemonblight were a few names I received… but there was only name that fit me. After I died, I realized the truth of my life, and from that, I draw my true name. The voice hesitated, as though the next sentence would bring him great pain.

Hotaru had no such restrictions. 'What is your true name? And what does that have to do with preserving the Earth?'

The atmosphere of the void tightened, as though the voice was saddened by the request. Hotaru almost drew back, shamed by an invasion of privacy she could not conceive to an entity she did not know. Then Hotaru's sense of duty reasserted itself. Why is this guy hiding his true name? In reality, would the Time Senshi, Setsuna, or the pair of Lunar advisors, Luna and Artemis, recognize him as an ancient enemy? And the names he had been given, Nightblade, Eboncrusher, Daemonblight, were ominous. What crimes had he committed to be considered an equal blight as a Daemon, one of the great demon lords of Hell?

The silence lasted a moment longer before the voice replied. 'To know a person's true name is a matter of great importance. It is a matter of awesome trust to give a person your true name, for an excellent reason. A true name is a shield for the soul. When an enemy of sufficient strength holds it, blows that should scrape off the surface sink into heart.'

'You are not yet strong enough to hold a name to your heart as a shield for the world. For this reason, to give you my true name would prove your eventual eternal death, a thing I would much lament, Lady Saturn. My enemies are terrible wielders of dark sorcery. To gain my true name and, thus, my death, they would rive your body and soul until it would be as if they never existed, your effect on time and space, forever and always, erased far beyond the ability of the Silver Imperium Crystal to restore you.'

'For this reason, I cannot grant you my true name. For my foes are the foes of the Earth.'

As Hotaru listened, a feeling of dread settled into her stomach. What situation had crept upon the Sailor Senshi, to be faced with enemies of such power, if the voice was to be believed, and believable it sounded? For it did. The concern that was missing when referring to the three figures appeared with an unruly vehemence when referring to his ominous foes.

Five years previously, the Senshi had faced their worst threat to date: a Senshi named Galaxia corrupted by the power of the demon Chaos. Before Galaxia was cleansed of Chaos's control by Pure Angel Serenity and Chaos resealed in the Galaxy Cauldron, the Senshi had been decimated, their bodies destroyed, their spirits reduced into the source, their starseeds. But Galaxia could not destroy their starseeds. The idea of facing an enemy that could dwarf Galaxia sent shivers of terror down Hotaru's spine.

Hotaru's thoughts were interrupted when the voice resumed speaking.

'For the purposes here, though, you must have something to refer to me other than the mysterious, ominous voice in the dark void, if nothing else, to convey my words to the Moon Princess. For that purpose, you may call me Phobideum, or, if you like, Bid.'

Phobideum? Hotaru's language lessons had never been extensive, but that name tugged at her memory with some hidden significance. And Bid? What was that? A nickname? Or did it have another meaning?

'Now that that lovely conversation is over, we must get down to business. We must discuss the viewing and its importance to the Earth.'

'And what is that?' Hotaru asked, her tone implying a mixture of urgency and caution.

'The three figures are known as the Trinity of the One-Winged Angel. They are essentially the same man, but each comes from a different period in time. The one wielding the katana comes from the distant past, when the One-Winged Angel was regarded as a warrior and general without equal; the most respected and admired man in the history of the Planet. The insane one come from the not-so-distant past, when views of identity, issues of self, and deceit drove him to commit hideous crimes against the Planet. The one who wears white was and is a possibility for the future of the Planet.'

'A possibility? What do you mean?' as Phobideum responded, the fear in Hotaru's throat grew thick.

'The white wearer is a possible evolution of the insane one. When the insane one was in the depths of his madness, he summoned a gigantic planetoid known as Meteor to harm the Planet. He planned to use the Meteor to create a wound in the Planet so great that it would threaten the very life of the Planet. When the Planet gathered the spiritual energy to repair the wound, the insane one planned to steal that energy, transforming himself into a dark and all-powerful god.'

'Following the true course of time, the insane one was defeated in battle, by a man made in his own image, a man that would become known as Savior, before it was too late for the Planet. Thanks to that man and his companions, the Planet was saved.'

'But time is a queer thing and space has limits not set by what can be perceived by mortal eyes. All possibilities unfold, if only controlled within that own dimension. In one dimension, a horrible possibility came to life. The man failed to stop the insane one. He and his companions fell into death, and with them, the Planet.'

'The insane one's goal was accomplished. He had become a God. But in his delusions, he ignored the words of Savior and, in doing so, damned himself forever. For when the Meteor slammed into the Planet, all life, save for the God himself, perished. The air itself turned deadly, the little atmosphere left to the planet was unable to retain the natural warmth and vitality required to support life destroyed by the summoned planetoid. The Planet had died, had become simply a worthless collection of space debris that men termed a planet.'

'The insane one had accomplished the Demon Queen's command.'

'The Demon Queen?' Hotaru replied, eyes narrowing. The Senshi had fought demons many times before and were well versed in that type of battle.

'To the Demon Queen, Jenova, the Planet had been a prison. Eons before, she had crashed into the northern part of the North Continent. Her coming rocked the world. When she recovered from the impact, she turned her attention on the inhabitants of the Planet. To protect the humans of that world, the mightiest race on the Planet, the Cetra, sealed Jenova deep within the ground. But that victory came at a terrible price: the majority of the Cetran race was either killed or transformed into hideous monsters by the Demon Queen's wrath. As a result, the Cetra went into decline and humans gained control of the Planet.'

'In time, Jenova was unsealed by the unknowing humans of the Planet. One with ill intent, a scientist named Hojo, decided that by implanting Jenova cells into ordinary humans, he would create super-powerful soldiers. Or, more to the point, unstoppable killing machines dedicated to his word. To this purpose he married a woman named Lucrecia, and the child of that woman became the first.'

'Lucrecia died shortly after her child's birth. Hojo experimented on that child to create his first unstoppable killing machine. He twisted and tortured the child to that purpose. He deliberately lied to the child, telling him that his mother's name was Jenova. Time passed and the child grew into a warrior that made the very earth beneath his boots humble. But the cracks remained. The perfect human weapon wasn't perfect. And so, in an unguarded moment, Jenova struck, crippling the One Winged Angel's mind, infesting it with her presence. This created a chain of events that would end in the death of the last Cetra, the summoning of Meteor, and, in one hellish reality, the destruction of the Planet.'

'For the safety of the Earth, and indeed, for the safety of all worlds, I, Phobideum, charge you with this task.'

' The Triad is about to arrive on Earth. Beware their powers and trust your instincts and your head. The general is untouched, but he can still be turned to darkness and the seeds of evil are buried deep. You must have his assistance for your victory. The insane one is beyond redemption, his mind and body are completely corrupted by Jenova. Do not attempt to heal him in any way, lest you fail. The god is no longer allied with Jenova, but he has his own reasons. He will not help you when you want him to and not for the reasons you think. What he thinks will aid you most will bring the Earth closer to death than anything else.'

'In the end, your enemy will be one who is bringing the Triad to Earth. Be careful, it is a dangerous game it plays, weaving traps that are difficult to see and more difficult to escape, and for high stakes. But the battle against it is a shifting kaleidoscope of powers. Even light cannot escape a black hole and it was darkness that gave a dawn to light. Men must battle their own demons and what does not kill them makes them stronger. Do not forget this.' Phobideum paused, as though he was about to say something else. Abruptly the void simmered slightly in front of her in the general form of a tall, slender figure.

'What?' Hotaru was overwhelmed and confused. Her vision was swimming; she abruptly realized that she was on the edge of fainting. What is he doing? Is he trying to prevent me from seeing what he looks like?

'Your time grows short in this place. Dawn approaches in your world. One last warning I have for your comrade, Lady Mars, before you awake: do not attempt to directly view this evil using the Sacred Flame. It knows fire and can surpass her.'

The last words Hotaru heard before darkness flooded in and was replaced by the light of the sun were: 'Good luck.'

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