💫 Drops of Starlight 💫
By Strawberry Moon Rose
🍓🌙🌹
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Chapter 50: There's Room to Grow
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As Usagi and Fighter landed amidst the chaos, the battlefield erupted with immediate threats. A nearby monster pivoted its attention toward them. It charged, but Venus's Crescent Beam stopped it in its tracks. Usagi kicked the fiend, Sailor Moon style, sending it stumbling backward.
"Sparkling Wide Pressure!" Jupiter sealed its fate.
Xenon rained down another torrent of bombs. Fighter yanked Usagi out of the way at the last minute, their hearts hammering wildly at the close call. Everyone had seen what the bombs had done to Venus's arm.
Xenon attempted to attack again when a red rose whizzed by, slicing her hand. She yelped, clasping the scratch and glaring at Tuxedo Mask. A perfect distraction.
"Why you...!" Xenon's temper flared. "Neon Chakra Strike!" One of Sailor Neon's attacks rolled toward the masked man in the form of a green wave.
Jupiter shoved him out of the way while Uranus launched her World Shaking straight for Xenon, who raised a palm and absorbed the golden sphere effortlessly. Her wild hair brightened.
Uranus growled under her breath, "How are we supposed to attack her then?"
"Focus on the monsters," Neptune strategized, standing back-to-back with her partner. "Then we'll target the crystals in the rock."
"I like the way you think."
The others noticed Fighter and Usagi's presence on the battlefield and unanimously gave them cover. Healer and Venus scaled down the ledge, joining the others.
"Watch out!" Luna cried after them, pointing a paw. A monster was poised to strike Healer! Reacting swiftly, the cat sprung off the ledge, claws extended. She landed atop the beast's head, clinging and swiping its menacing face.
"Luna!" Artemis bellowed, rushing down to aid her.
"Venus! Love and Beauty Shock!"
The fiend crumbled, and Luna landed safely on the ground where it once stood. Healer shot her a grateful look as Artemis swept to his companion's side.
Meanwhile, Fighter crept forward with her sword, each step getting closer to Xenon with Usagi right on her heels.
Suddenly, a monster charged at them from behind. Usagi spun, shoving it into the cave wall with her bare hands. It howled, shook its head, and charged again, only to meet its fatal end with Neptune's Submarine Reflection.
While the team fought off the army of fiends, Mars took to the far corner, sending arrows flying at the crystal power sources. Xenon took note of this.
"Vapor Release!" Violet lightning bolts engulfed Mars. She cried out in anguish, falling to her knees.
"Mars!" Mercury rushed to her side.
"I'm fine," Mars insisted, legs trembling like a baby deer as she stood. She drew another arrow and pointed it straight at Xenon.
"Don't fire," Mercury told her. "You'll only fuel her power."
Mars clenched her jaw. It was so damn tempting. Xenon held her gaze, tauntingly, as if hoping Mars would shoot. Her childish demeanor was irksomely grating on her nerves.
While Mars engaged Xenon, Fighter and Usagi crept along the perimeter. Despite their cautious movements, Mars sensed their presence, refraining from direct eye contact, fearing it would alert Xenon. Surely Xenon had seen them a moment ago, but she seemed unconcerned. Their objective was clear: to keep Xenon occupied for just a while longer.
Sailor Keika must have been thinking the same thing. The Queen made her way front and center.
"I do not want to do this, but I will if I must, Moli," she said, calling Xenon by her civilian name. As she spoke, gold sparkled before her and a sun-crowned tier appeared. Keika grasped the rod that stood near her height. It was adorned with the same silver and diamonds as the crown atop her head.
"I wasn't expecting to ever have to fight you," Xenon said, "but you're in my way." She pooled her energy, collecting a potent sphere of power between her palms.
Keika pursed her cherry lips. Usagi and Fighter had nearly reached Xenon. "Very well, then," Keika said, sounding rueful. She raised her royal tier, a dazzling orange hue blossoming.
"Solar Beam Diffusion!" Keika swung her weapon. Simultaneously, Fighter charged forward with her sword.
"Vapor Release!" Xenon discharged her own attack. It collided with Keika's - two massive spheres of energy merging before canceling each other out and kicking up a gust of wind that tousled everyone's hair and uniforms.
Xenon spun fast, anticipating Fighter's attack. But the Starlight had vanished! By the time Xenon whirled in the other direction, Fighter was coming at her again. Xenon caught the sword, the blade between her hands. They trembled under Fighter's weapon.
"Nice try," Xenon said with the trace of a smirk.
"Who said I was aiming for you?" Fighter let go of her weapon, leaving it suspended in Xenon's grip. In that split second before Xenon could drop the sword, Fighter lunged, taking her down like a middle linebacker. They tumbled to the ground, a jumble of thrashing limbs - Fighter's hands on her waist, Xenon grasping a fistful of her ponytail.
Xenon growled and sent the Starlight flying with an electrical shove of the hand.
"Fighter!" Usagi cried, horrified.
With an abrupt and brutal landing, Fighter skidded against the ground, the momentum bringing her to a jarring stop before she quickly rebounded to her feet.
"You little..." Xenon's hands frantically patted the empty pockets of her skirt.
"Bun Head!" Fighter called, winding back her arm. She launched the locket in a wide arc. The golden blur sailed toward its rightful owner.
Usagi focused on nothing else but the brooch streaking toward her. A rush of determination guided her movements. Jogging, Usagi prayed she wouldn't trip, hoping those softball lessons had done some good after all. And then it met her hand, its smooth metal cradled in her palm. By some miracle, she had caught it.
Usagi held it high. "Moon Eternal..."
"No!" Xenon wailed.
"Make-UP!"
The cave flooded with lunar power. Usagi's clothes washed away, leaving her silhouette encased in a glittering sheath of magic as her sailor guardian uniform materialized. In an instant, she stood transformed - the pretty guardian of love and justice with her white boots, layered yellow skirt, puffy pink sleeves, star and moon earrings, and angelic wings.
"It ends here, Xenon," Eternal Sailor Moon proclaimed. Her pearly new tier came to her grasp. The stolen energy surged back to her.
Xenon's nostrils flared. She scanned the cave, eyes flitting fast over every guardian in calculation. She exuded the energy of a caged animal.
Sailor Moon's expression softened. She took a small step toward Xenon. "Please," she said. "Let me help you. It will be alright."
"You've got to be kidding me," Xenon spat.
Fighter came to Sailor Moon's side. Healer, Maker, and Keika echoed them.
"Release the starseeds, Xenon," Keika coaxed. "Our planet needs the others. Kinmoku needs you as well."
"Is that what this is? Some pathetic attempt to make me surrender, just like that? Have you forgotten how long I've planned this?"
"It's not too late," Sailor Moon told her. "It's never too late to do the right thing."
"I've come too far to turn back now."
"Continuing to do this won't change a thing," Fighter said.
Xenon glared at the Starlights. "Butterfly Spell!" Insect-shaped blasts swept through the cavern. Guardians scattered, some managing to dodge the onslaught, while a few cried out in distress, unable to escape the painful welts.
"Xenon..." Sailor Moon held her gaze, undeterred. "I know this isn't who you are. All those years spent alone...it must have been so difficult. I understand what it feels like to be so isolated. To think that no one cares anymore."
"All your friends disappeared because you were a failure, Sailor Moon. Because you weren't worthy of your destiny anymore!"
"I used to think that too, but I was wrong. They hadn't disappeared. I always had people there for me, even if they were out of sight. We still have each other." Sailor Moon looked at Fighter, and then at all her friends. A small smile graced her lips.
"Good for you, Sailor Moon, it must be nice to be surrounded by so many people who love you. But I don't have anyone, in case you forgot. Not anymore."
"You'll always be my guardian, Xenon," Keika said.
"And the others," Maker added. "You have them."
"Krypton, Argon, and Neon," said Healer. "And the King."
"You're all delusional. As if they'd forgive me for what I've done!"
"I think they will," Keika said softly. "They are sure to understand if you set them free."
"And you have us," Fighter said. "And the Sailor Starlights back home that you haven't met yet."
"And all of us here on Earth," Sailor Moon said. "So please, open up your heart..." Her tier began to radiate light from the star and moon centerpiece. It was a soft and strong power, a white-gold magic that everyone in the cave felt at once. It was like the sun peaking out from behind the depression of clouds, warmth soaking into every muscle of their worn bodies.
"I don't want any of you," Xenon growled. "Give it up already."
"I don't give up so easily," said Sailor Moon. "And I'm not giving up on you, Xenon. I know you're a good sailor guardian. You just made some bad choices. Allow me to cleanse the hatred from your heart and all the resentment that built up in those years of loneliness."
"Don't you come any closer!" Xenon yelled, stepping back. She spun a sphere of cackling energy between her hands. She held it out in warning at the moon princess.
"If we put our powers together, I know we can make things right-"
Xenon heaved the energy ball. Sailor Moon shivered under the scorching electricity, the nerve-singing pain. She clung tight to her tier.
"Melting Rarity!" Xenon wielded one of Krypton's attacks, sending a cluster of invisible flames across the team.
"Don't...be afraid," Venus managed through the burning sensation.
"You can...atone for your sins," Tuxedo Mask said.
"Believe in our Princess," Neptune implored.
"But you have to be brave," Uranus said through a clenched jaw.
"Have faith," said Mercury.
"No!" Xenon protested. Her features twisted, unsteady and unpredictable. "I can't! I can't take back the things I've done! I don't want to!"
"You can," Sailor Moon said. "I believe in you. Now it's time to believe in yourself."
Suddenly, a hazy celestial glow appeared in the air before Xenon. Her brown eyes widened, a chill slipping down her spine. This wasn't Sailor Moon's doing, it couldn't be. This light, it was too otherworldly.
Everyone stared, mystified. The odd light began to fade, revealing a silhouette taking the form of a man clad in a grey uniform.
His presence seemed ethereal. Despite being translucent as a ghost, his skin was tan, and his shoulder-length hair jet-black. Almond-shaped eyes looked upon Sailor Xenon with mixed emotion.
"R...Ruanyu?" Xenon's hands flew to her mouth. "It...can't be..."
"Xenon..." he said with a melancholic smile. "It's been a while."
"Is it...really you?" Her voice wobbled.
"Yes."
Her heart ached to believe it. His voice resonated with familiarity that tugged at her memories. Ruanyu's features were exactly as she remembered, right down to the way he tilted his head when he talked. But it was impossible.
"I... I don't understand," Xenon managed. "You're here! How? I've tried to reach you all these years, but I never could! It was like you disappeared! Like you moved on without me!"
"I tried, my love, but I could never get through, until now. I believe your hatred blinded you from seeing so much, including me."
"What...do you mean?"
Ruanyu's spirit gestured around at the gathered sailor guardians. "Xenon," he said, voice taught. "You can't blame them anymore. Please, I don't want this. I never wanted this."
Tears welled. She shook her head vehemently. "No... It's their fault that you're gone! I'm doing this because of them! I'm doing this for you!"
Ruanyu floated closer, placing his hands on her shoulders. "It's time to let go. This isn't who we are. These sailor guardians of planet Earth, they're good people. They never did us unjust. Neither did the Starlights, your teammates, Sailor Keika, or Sailor Kakyuu."
"How...can you say that? They're the reason we're not together, Ruanyu! The reason you died! They're to blame!"
"The Starlights were protecting their Princess. That is their duty. We should have been upfront about ourselves right from the start. We were the ones who faltered, my love. It's our price to pay."
His words struck harder than any attack all twelve guardians could have governed. Xenon sobbed into her hands. "This wasn't supposed to happen... None of this was supposed to happen..."
"I know... I'm not pleased either, of course." Ruanyu wrapped his arms around her. "But what's done is done. I'm no longer of this world, but you are. Make it right. Please allow Sailor Moon to help you. Release the others' sailor crystals. Go home and begin again. I'll be waiting for you on the other side, always. We'll be together someday."
"You don't know that. There's no way you can know that."
"I mean it, Xenon. We'll see each other again."
"You...promise?"
Ruanyu pulled back and looked at her lovingly. He cupped her face, unable to dry her tears without a physical form. "You have my word." Then the man turned to Sailor Moon. It was written all over his face: Help her.
Sailor Moon nodded and raised her glowing tier. This was her chance. At her bosom, the silver crystal materialized in its diamond-shaped form, casting a spectral sheen across the chamber.
"Everyone!" Fighter commanded. "Lend your strength to Sailor Moon!"
The guardians formed a large circle of linked hands around the moon goddess and the fallen Kinmokian guardian.
While Sailor Moon poured her focus into her tier, Ruanyu's ghost pulled Xenon into an intimate hug. His lips were moving as he stroked her face, murmuring words meant only for them. Then he kissed her softly on the mouth and began to fade, leaving Xenon standing alone, crying into her hands, tears flowing unchecked.
After a moment, Xenon looked up and their eyes met. Sailor Moon's heart nearly broke in half at her deflated expression. Underneath everything, she was just a girl with a shattered heart. Lost and alone, but it didn't have to be that way anymore. Sailor Moon pledged hope by giving her a reassuring nod. She closed her eyes as an act of trust.
This is what I'm meant to do, Sailor Moon realized. She could feel her duty running deep in her bones, encompassing every fiber of her essence. This is who I am, who I'll always be. No matter how the future changes, this can't ever be taken from me. Queen or Princess or ordinary girl, I'm Sailor Moon, the guardian of love and justice.
I know I can save her. I know I can.
As the team encircled them, she sensed their unified strength.
"Fighter Star Power!" Fighter shouted, sending off her energy. Healer and Maker were on her sides, following suit and squeezing her hands tight. Everyone shouted their respective phrases, a symphony of support that surged to Eternal Sailor Moon.
"Keika Star Power!"
"Maker Star Power!"
"Healer Star Power!"
"Venus Crystal Power!"
"Mercury Crystal Power!"
"Mars Crystal Power!"
"Jupiter Crystal Power!"
"Uranus Crystal Power!"
"Neptune Crystal Power!"
Tuxedo Mask stood, a hand clasped with Neptune and the other held by Sailor Keika. He marveled at the vigor pulsating from Kakyuu's mother. Tuxedo Mask then realized what he felt was actually the Sailor Starlights' energy on the other side of her, flowing through Keika. There was no mistaking the incredible solar power, but this felt like something more he couldn't quite identify.
"Do you feel it?" Sailor Moon said. "Do you feel everyone's hearts? This powerful energy they've brought for you... Please accept it."
Xenon only shook her head into her hands. She was resisting, but Sailor Moon sensed they were getting through to her. She pushed on, concentrating on transferring every ounce of power she possessed into the desire to heal her - to cleanse her. When it felt like she had no more to give, Sailor Moon pushed further anyway, transcending dangerous limits. More, more, more.
"Please, Xenon..." she whispered.
The silver crystal blossomed into its lotus flower form, rotating slightly and glittering the surroundings in its unfathomable, majestic power. The once earthy brown walls became translucent, breathing with the swirling colors of nebulas, like windows to the cosmos. Beneath their feet, the ground transformed, as if they were standing on glass in outer space.
With an explosive burst, every pocket and vein of Xenon's crystalline sources erupted open, freeing the stolen energy she had collected as Nephrite. Xenon's glowing hair dimmed to a subdued violet and succumbed to the law of gravity, cascading around her shoulders in a newfound serenity.
Xenon looked over her hands with tired, defeated eyes. "This light..." she murmured, mesmerized by the silver crystal. She would never admit how sublime it felt, how it seemed to wash away her harsh feelings, calming the roaring sea of revenge to a tranquil lake. Why had she been so determined to harm this golden-haired angel with the resplendent shine in the first place? The answer slipped away like mist dissipating in morning light. For a moment, she wasn't certain of anything.
"Come on..." Sailor Moon went to her, close enough to touch. "Let's start over. Everyone deserves a second chance." Using both hands to cradle the silver crystal, she carefully raised it high above her head. Its shine grew brighter and brighter. This was it. This moment. All or nothing.
Words formed on her lips instinctively. "Enchanting Moon! Cosmic Star...POWER!"
Incandescent colors erupted forth from the legendary silver crystal. Hues of pink, pale blue, lime green, and magenta intermingled. If it weren't for the euphoric sensation, Sailor Moon would have panicked at the silver crystal's strange reaction. Its magic kissed her body, leaving parts of her buzzing.
Behind her, she heard Fighter's voice, "What's this?"
"Impossible!" cried Healer.
"Our uniforms-" said Maker.
Sailor Moon smiled a little but didn't look back. There would be time for that later.
Before her floated Xenon, sparkling in this kaleidoscopic light. Her black and grey uniform had vanished, her naked body encased in a shimmering second skin. Her features were infused with a relaxing note, making her appear more gentler than ever.
Sailor Moon came closer to Xenon. Pure white light poured from her heart, from her soul, into the silver crystal. This stone, an embodiment of her own starseed, an embodiment of her goodness, and her love, shined with an unprecedented intensity.
Her chest tightening, heart hammering, mind racing, skin tingling, vision blurring, the power intensified - a crescendo building, peaking. Sailor Moon closed her eyes.
Then all was quiet.