Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Crystal Dreams ❯ Chapter 3

Authors Notes: It's nice to see that people are enjoying my fanfic...or at least checking it out. However, I would appreciate it if those people would give me some note on how well or how badly I'm doing...I need to know!:D Send me an email, or a review, I don't care. Just give me your thoughts. Oh, one more thing; this story is already done, so updates will be sporadic, but sooner than most other updates.;)

Chapter Three

A lone figure walked slowly into Neo-Queen Serenity's audience chamber, though it was that in name only now. He quickly and smoothly strode up to the throne, and kneeled before it, just barely managing to hide his true feelings. He consoled himself to be patient, that there would be time enough for that later.

"Arise, Sephiroth, you may speak."

Sephiroth slowly came to his feet, showing all the proper respect for a madman (or in this case, madwoman) on the throne. Without lifting his head, he began his report.

"Your majesty, I've just received word that the last Guardian, Guardian Jupiter, has escaped our cordon. The last report puts her and an accomplice heading out of the city toward the former Atlantic Ocean."

Serenity slammed a fist down on her throne, her face hardening in anger. "You failed me, Sephiroth. You promised that they would be unable to get out of the city, and yet, they have."

Sephiroth risked a nonchalant shrug. "Well, I did the best I could, and it was your 'special' troops that went after them, in any case. By the time I arrived on the scene, they were long gone. However, I have taken the liberty of organizing an aerial search of the surrounding regions. Sooner or later, they'll have to take shelter, and when they do, my troops will take them."

Serenity waved her hand, apparently unconcerned with the details. "Just bring me results, Sephiroth…or I'll have my warriors deal with you after they find our fugitives. And make sure that Jupiter is alive…not necessarily undamaged, but alive. As to her accomplice, I want him alive too…but I'll understand if that's not possible."

Sephiroth's only reaction to that was a twitch in his eyebrow. He bowed deeply. "They will be found, my Queen." With that, he quickly excused himself from the room, and leaned against the door, sweating visibly.

Things were going too fast. He had hoped for another week, maybe two, before Serenity started searching and rounding up the Guardians, but time had just run out. With all but one of them captured, Sephiroth's only recourse was...

No. Time enough to think about that later. In the meantime, he had to keep up appearances as a loyal general of Crystal Tokyo. Shaking his head, he began the slow walk to his office, when an aide came up beside him and saluted smartly.

Sighing, Sephiroth turned and arched an eyebrow.

"General, we, ah…seem to be having a problem with the 'special prisoners'. One of them is getting really sick, and even though some of us thought that the Queen should know, I managed to hold them off until we heard what you had to say…"

Sephiroth showed no visible reaction, but his thoughts were in turmoil. One of the Guardians, sick? Who could it…?

The answer occurred to him even as he thought it. Saturn. Saturn had always had exceptionally poor health, and in the damp air of the lower dungeon, her illness must really be giving her grief.

Sephiroth turned and began walking to his office as he snapped off directions to his aide. "See that you stabilize her as best you can. Get the medics in there, and make sure that the others understand that we're trying to help them. I'll be along in five minutes."

The lieutenant nodded and briskly walked away. Sephiroth entered his office briefly, long enough to grab his Masamune sword, and headed for the dungeons. Five minutes later, he glanced around, and demanded, "Where are the medics?"

His aide stepped and stammered, "Th...they stated that Serenity gave them specific orders to not give any medical attention to the prisoners. She said if they died, then they died."

The general cursed viciously, then let out a short breath. "All right. I'll take care of things. See that I'm not disturbed, and if I'm not out in ten minutes, then check in on me. Understood, lieutenant?"

The aide saluted crisply, replying, "Sir, yes, SIR!"

"Dismissed."

As soon as the officer left, Sephiroth entered the Guardians' cell, and identified Saturn almost immediately, as his normally expressionless face filled with guilt. She was pale, much paler than Sephiroth had ever seen her, and was breathing in short, rasping gasps. It wasn't until he looked at her eyes, however, that his blood ran cold.

He'd talked briefly to the Guardians before they had been cast out of the Crystal Palace, and had heard from them how Saturn constantly walked the line between light and darkness, and how if the darkness were to overtake her, she would lose control of her powers and quite simply destroy the world. It was that precise look that he was seeing in her eyes now. Sephiroth never did fully understand how he knew at that point, he simply 'knew'.

Quickly, he knelt beside her, and began quickly checking vital signs. A deliberate cough from one of the Guardians went ignored, and he continued his cursory examination. Once done, he knew that there was only one thing to do, though it would leave him feeling like hell the next morning.

Taking a deep breath, Sephiroth opened his mind, and used his limited telepathic abilities to examine the scope of damage to Saturn's body. He was shocked, upon 'waking up' to discover that it was not as serious as he first thought. The battle was mainly being fought in the brain area, and as an experienced general, Sephiroth knew that this was the only place the darkness needed to win.

Stretching out even further, Sephiroth felt the ongoing clash between Saturn's good mind and the darkness. One look told him the sad story: the darkness far outweighed the light that she had left. Sephiroth frowned mentally for a moment, deciding how to take care of this development. Should he try to attack the darkness from behind, hoping to split its attention? Sephiroth rejected that thought almost immediately. While it might work, the odds were against it, and if Saturn went under while he was linked to her, then he was history too.

The next thought that came to his mind, he mulled over for a brief moment. Unable to come up with a better solution, Sephiroth gently touched the light in Saturn's mind. Not knowing what to do, the light retreated a bit, which gave the darkness a greater advantage. Sephiroth cursed. Reaching out gently, he called to the light, saying, "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm here to help. Let me help you, Saturn."

The light shrank back from his attempts to help it, while the darkness, perhaps sensing the changing tides, stretched out a curious tendril to Sephiroth. Luckily, the warrior saw it coming, and violently batted it aside. Almost immediately, he wondered if that was the right thing to do.

Roaring with a mental shockwave, the darkness came at Sephiroth full bore, pain and rage in its attacks. Sephiroth's strength had come as a surprise at first, but now that it knew what to prepare for, he couldn't do much more than stagger it. Desperately, Sephiroth tried to reach out for Saturn's light side again…and was surprised to note that it was merging with him, reinforcing his weakening mental shields, and adding more strength to his attacks. He was shocked for another reason as well…he knew all of Saturn's thoughts, and she his. Shaking off the amazement, even as thoughts from her past combined with his past, Sephiroth returned to the task of helping to regain control of Saturn's body. However, their combined power was only enough to keep the darkness from gaining more ground; Sephiroth could sense that Saturn's light half was holding back it's true power, almost as if it was afraid. Sephiroth encouraged it, bringing more and more of its strength.

'You can do it, Saturn. Release the power you have within you. Do it for your friends, for me...'

That did it. The light released a great flood of power that battered the darkness back with a strength that Sephiroth had never seen before. He guided it along, utilizing his expertise as a general to root out where it had hidden, and to counter all of its attempts to regain the offensive. Finally, after what seemed like a few minutes, the light engulfed the darkness, swallowing it whole, and released a mental explosion of energy…

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Sephiroth broke the link, gasping and sweating as he collapsed. He felt, rather than saw, his troops swarming over him and the guardians asking questions. He could feel sleep attempting to drag him under, but he had to ask something very important first.

Reaching out, he grabbed an arm, one that had no armor on it, and therefore must have belonged to a Guardian. Sephiroth managed to rasp out one word: "Saturn?"

The Guardian said softly, "You…you did it…"

That was all Sephiroth needed before he fell into a dreamless sleep.

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Approximately 100 kilometers out from the city, Serin felt the engine start sputtering. Frowning, he listened closely, just in time to hear it sputter again, race, then die. The motorcycle then coasted along for another couple of meters before it came to a stop.

Serin cursed silently, and hopped off to check the gas tank. One look inside confirmed his worst fears: empty.

Makoto peered over his shoulder. "Out of gas, I take it?"

Serin smirked sheepishly. "Whatdya think this thing is, a camel?" He chuckled slightly, then pulled off some supplies from a pouch on the side. "I know of a place not too far from here where we can get some help finding out where a Paladin warrior might be. We'll also be able to get some transportation. I thought I had enough gas to cover the distance, but…"

Makoto shrugged. "It's not your fault." A vaguely sad tone came into her voice. "It's not like we have any highways or roads anymore…"

Serin stopped unloading and turned to look at her. He usually saw the Guardians as upstanding, tough-as-nails super heroines who never let anything get to them. This was definitely a side of them (or at least Jupiter) that he never expected to see.

Standing and walking over to her, he put one hand on her shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze. She gasped slightly in surprise, and looked at him. "You don't need to worry, Makoto-san. We'll get to the bottom of this…I know we will. Whatever or whoever is doing all of this to Crystal Tokyo and your friends will pay."

Makoto sniffed slightly, cursing herself for showing her weakness. "And if it's Serenity?"

Serin shook his head. "I…don't know how I do…but I know that Serenity's not behind this…not at the root, at least."

"So what are you saying? That she's being controlled somehow?" Makoto asked in confusion.

Shaking his head, he answered, "I really don't know, Makoto-san…I just know that it's not her."

Makoto smiled wanly at that, and gave him a hug. "Thanks, Serin. That really means a lot to me." She stepped back after a moment, and transformed to prepare for the threats out in the wastelands. Serin, for one, was grateful for this diversion, as he was blushing fiercely. Once she was ready and had a pack full of supplies, they took off.

Serin quickly found out that Jupiter/Makoto was great company. She had a clever wit, laughed politely at his jokes, and he picked up more than a few signals that indicated she felt the same way about him. And that wasn't to mention her abilities in combat. Approximately an hour after leaving their transportation behind, they were attacked by several mud golems, which caught Serin by surprise. Jupiter, however, reacted quickly, zapping two with a Sparkling Wide Pressure attack, leaving the last two for Serin to deal with. After the battle, he eyed her with a new respect.

'I wouldn't want to argue with her during our marriage.' Blinking, he shook his head briefly, wondering how in the world he came up with THAT thought. Still, though he didn't dwell too long on the thought of them…together, he couldn't shake this feeling that he knew her better than he thought he did…almost as if it was a feeling of deja vu...

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Sephiroth slowly swam back to consciousness, his head dully throbbing in a rhythmic pattern. He groaned softly as his surroundings (at least, the ceiling) came into focus, knowing that he had used his telepathic powers not too long ago.

'But when, I…' Suddenly, the events of the last twelve hours came back in a rush, and he sat upright…

Big mistake! BIG MISTAKE!!!

His head was instantly assaulted by a sledgehammer, which threatened to cave his skull in at a moment's notice. Gritting his teeth, he slowly swung his feet out of bed, pleased to note that he was still in his uniform, and cautiously stood up.

Satisfied that the pounding wouldn't get any worse, and assured that he could stand and walk without falling flat on his face, he strode to the door, grabbed Masamune, which was leaning against the wall nearby, and stepped out into the hall. He walked straight to the dungeon, as he was anxious to see how Saturn and the others were faring. After giving the guard his best icy glare (seeing as how he was one of Serenity's 'specials'), he entered their cell.

He instantly felt the tension in the room, and took in everybody's position, hoping that they would not attack him without at least hearing what he had to say. But as soon as they realized who it was, everyone relaxed…though only slightly. He nodded briefly to everyone, keeping silent for now, and glanced at the group, hoping to spot Saturn. Failing to find her, he raised his eyebrows.

The tall, blonde, masculine Senshi (Uranus, he recalled) stepped in front of him, and frowned slightly…not enough to show that she thought of him as an enemy, but rather to show that she still didn't trust him. She tilted her head and asked bluntly, "What do you want?"

Sephiroth smirked slightly, which unnerved Uranus a bit, before replying, "Why, I'm interested in checking up on my patient. Is that so wrong?"

Mars stepped up beside her, and also gave him a frown. "Look, Sephiroth, you may have helped Saturn out with conquering the darkness inside of her, but that doesn't mean you're welcome to come and chat with her anytime you please." She folded her arms over her chest, somehow able to appear menacing even in gray prison clothes.

Sephiroth gave her an amused smile. "What a delightfully suspicious mind you have there, Guardian Mars. Here I am, a person who extended a helping hand when you needed it, and you refuse me entry even though I merely wish to see how she is?" He chuckled, thoroughly interested in the by-play.

Mars glared at him, until a voice came from behind her, gently pushing her out of the way. "I'm fine, Sephiroth, really."

Sephiroth watched as a young woman, several years behind the others, stepped out in front, despite the protests of her friends. He walked up to her, and clinically peered into her eyes, pleased to note that the darkness had indeed been driven from her. He nodded, then smiled at her.

"I'm glad that you're all right, Saturn. You had me very worried."

She gave him a knowing smile, and winked. "I kinda figured that."

Sephiroth blushed. 'So much for hoping she didn't catch that.'

Looking back up at the others, he stated, "Alright, as I doubt that Serenity has been feeding you regular newscasts, I think it only fair to update you on what's going on with your comrade. You might know by now that she escaped from the city last night." He paused as a series of sighs of relief sounded. Smiling, he continued, "You may not know, however, that it was with the help of a former military commander that she was able to escape at all."

This brought the expected response, though it generally ranged from, "Who is it?" to "What is she, NUTS?" Seph waited for the shouting to die down before he continued, "To answer one of your questions, his name is Serin," and he noted out of the corner of his eye that Luna abruptly stiffened at the mention of his name. Continuing, he added, "Though I was hoping for a delayed reaction, Serenity has given me permission to conduct an air search. However," and he made sure that no one was about to butt in with a comment, "I have an idea where he's heading, and I will make sure that I personally search along that vector."

A pause followed, which ended with Saturn piping up, "What will you do when you find them?"

Seph smirked, then told them. The reaction was delayed, but the general consensus was that he was a spy trying to stop their last hope…save for Saturn, who knew the truth. She looked at him with a penetrating gaze that he returned, and smiled. Cutting in on the arguments, she spoke up, "Look, everyone, I know and understand your reservations, but…he's not lying."

Neptune glanced back and forth between Sephiroth and Saturn, and asked cautiously, "Saturn, are you…?"

Saturn shook her head. "No, I just know that he's telling the truth. He wants to make things right again."

The others coolly regarded him for a moment, which he endured briefly before Saturn spoke up again. "I'm serious, he's telling us the truth, guys."

Luna, who had been trapped in a cage this whole time with Artemis, spoke up for t

"Did I hear him right, Artemis?"

Artemis nodded slowly, his features extremely thoughtful. "I never would have believed that he had survived…if only Serenity hadn't changed, she might have been overjoyed at the news..."

Luna cautioned, "Now, just a minute, Artemis, it might not be him…"

"But what if it is, Luna? This could be the answer to our prayers. If anyone has a chance against Serenity, he will."

Luna cocked her head slightly, as she raised a feline eyebrow. "What about the Paladin, then?"

Artemis shook his head furiously. "That's just it, Luna: Serin most likely IS the Paladin!"

Abruptly, both advisors noticed that there was complete silence in the cell, and when they turned to look, every one of their charges were staring at them with varying degrees of amazement. Venus was the first to recover.

"Check me on this, Artemis: you said that the Paladin's location was not written down, right?" she queried.

Artemis had the good sense to look sheepish at that. "Actually, I never said anything about where he would be found. We were rudely interrupted before I could get to that point."

The girls nodded thoughtfully in tandem at that, then Mars spoke up: "So why are they escaping? If Serin is the Paladin, why doesn't he just face Serenity now?"

The others echoed her thoughts, until Artemis cleared his throat as a signal for them to stop so he could speak. When they had quieted down, he stated, "It could be for the same reason you didn't just stand up and fight the Negaverse from the word 'go'…you didn't know that you were the Senshi of the Moon Kingdom. By the same token, Serin might not know that he's the Paladin of legend."

Everyone remained silent for a moment, when Uranus piped up, half-jokingly, "So what does he need, a henshin stick, or something?"

The others enjoyed a good chuckle over that before Artemis got back to the point. "Actually, it's 'or something'. But…" he lowered his head, "I don't know what that something is…"

Everyone was left with their thoughts on that, unaware that Sephiroth had not gone far, and was listening intently on their conversation from around the corner. His eyebrows rose in amazement, he covered his shock as best he could, and hurriedly walked out, careful to stay silent as he left. But unknown to him and the Scouts, a miniature cam-bug had recorded the entire conversation, and was even now playing it for Serenity. She calmly stroked her chin with one fingernail, idly pondering this new development.

There was really only one thing to do, of course. Raising her hand to a stretch of ground, she whispered, "Milon, stand before me."

Seconds later, a robed and hooded figure stood in front of her. His voice was booming and arrogant as he stated simply, "Milon, the Fiend of Earth, at your command, my queen."

"Milon, I want you to follow Sephiroth as he conducts his aerial search tomorrow. You are to tail him without being seen. When he finds Serin, try to find a way to get him alone…and then kill him. Do you understand?"

Milon nodded, then posed a question. "Your majesty, is this Serin the next…?"

Serenity nodded, and had she been able to see the fiend's face, she would have seen great anticipation and joy in his countenance. "I hear and obey with pleasure, Neo-Queen Serenity. With much pleasure indeed…"