This fanfic is mine, but I make no claims on the character, etc. so whoever owns the rights to them (DiC, Bandai, etc.) don't come after me. To anyone who reads this, here is a warning. This is dark. Also, I use the dub names for the Inner Senshi, the Japanese names for the Outer Senshi. The Senshi are not minors in this story, a fact which is important. It is a first person account of the final battle from Jupiter's point of view and...(well, I don't want to give away the plot. Comments, Flames, and virtual chocolate chip cookies to: Eggl1@ix.netcom.com (actually forget sending the flames!) : ) Enjoy! Sailor Jonna Rating: PG-13 GRANT ME THE SERENITY All hell has broken loose. The din of the battle is incredible. Smoke is obscuring my vision. All around I can hear the screaming. I think it is the sound of all the souls in hell. Only we, who have fought the battle, will know what happens here. And I doubt we shall survive to tell the tale. Perhaps we became over-confident. We had defeated so many enemies. Maybe we underestimated him. I know that I never expected to encounter a power like Charon. This fight was not flaring lights and pretty speeches. It was, rather, blood and mud and life and death. Evil incarnate stood as our opposition. I don't know where Charon came from. He never said. Raye's fire only warned us that he was evil beyond comprehension. Wherever he came from, he had only one goal. The destruction of our very universe. Stronger than any opponent we had ever faced, I now fear him as I have never feared another. The battle has begun. Serena has deployed us along a large ridge to face our enemy. The Outer Senshi: Pluto, Uranus, Saturn, and Neptune stand in front. Each screams her attack, but every time they take out a foe, two more are there to take the place of the first. The evil, concentrated in one place, is overwhelming. And then it finally happens, the inevitable. A dark figure hurls a blade at Sailor Neptune. It buries itself in her breast and she drops to the ground. It is so sudden she doesn't have time to utter a cry. Good-bye, Michiru. Sailor Uranus is watching as her partner falls. I can see her eyes. She has completely lost her senses. With murder in her eyes, she launches herself at the enemy. Her world-shaking attack destroys a number of Charon's dark troops, including the one who killed Michiru, but it comes at a high price. Uranus, wanting to kill him with her own hands, dies in the backlash of her own attack. The concussion nearly knocks me to my knees. Good-bye, Haruka. Something has happened to Sailor Saturn. I don't know what. She is a tiny figure dead on the field of battle. Almost mockingly, a few tendrils of her hair are ruffled by the gales which rip the field. Good-bye, Hotaru. One by one we are being destroyed...Mars...Venus... Mercury. Good-bye my friends. Charon is laughing about how he will destroy the Moon Princess and thus our universe. Over the howling battle, I can hear one voice. I search for it. It comes from a figure dressed in a black sailor fuku. She is propping herself up with her staff, the Key of Time. I think she fears the worst, that Serena will never have her future. Pluto is screaming. It is hard to make out what she is yelling as she is gargling in her own blood. Yes! I can hear it! Before collapsing to the ground she screams one final time. "This can't be happening! Serena has to have a future! Nooooooo!" These words are the last she will ever utter, I think. Silly Setsuna. I can't remember how often she has said that the future is not set until it arrives. As keeper of the gates of time she should know better. And now only I, Sailor Jupiter, am left to protect my Princess. The blow catches me almost by surprise. I can feel it slamming into my chest, slamming me to the ground. It is ripping through soft tissues. I am bleeding, but only a small trickle. Surprising, that there is so little blood, for I know I have massive injuries. I make an inventory. Broken ribs surely. Punctured lung, likely. I choose not to question my condition further. I lay on the ground, straining for breath. Charon is laughing. He thinks that I am dead and has already forgotten me. Serena is now our only hope. Charon has now turned his entire attention on Sailor Moon, having withdrawn his forces. He says that he wants for himself the pleasure of destroying the last remnant of Silver Millennium royalty. Sailor Moon is weeping as she looks at us. She believes that we are all dead. I want to comfort her. I always hid my secret guilt away. How could I explain to her that it may have been my fault that the Moon Kingdom was destroyed? A long time ago, we all underwent a trance in which we regained many of our memories from the time of the Moon Kingdom. I learned so much that day, that I had forgotten: my engagement to Nephrite, his gift of my earrings made from rose jade, and our final parting. The earrings were a remembrance gift. He told me that he loved me, promised to return for our wedding as soon as possible, and went to confront Beryl. Little did I know what would become of him. Beryl somehow twisted Prince Darien's generals. She turned my beloved into a force of darkness. But I did not know that. I knew that there was danger. As Captain of the Guard, I knew all about the rumors of invasion. Yet when Nephrite returned, I opened the doors wide to him, little knowing that I was inviting the enemy within. Maybe they would have gained entrance anyway. I will never know. I died that day, protecting my sovereign from an enemy that I may have aided. And my final words were to him. "Nephrite! WHHHHYYYYY?!?!" I screamed as he cut me down, his face impassive as stone. Why, indeed. I watched as Serena underwent her trance so long ago. I saw her face as she relived the destruction of her realm and the death of her beloved. In this life, I have since taken my duty toward Serena more seriously than any of the others have. It is my attempt to make up for failing to do so ages ago. And now I have failed once more. Charon has used his power to generate a lance of black ice. It is flying toward her throat. Run, Serena!!! NO! Tuxedo Mask. Darien. He has thrown himself in front of Sailor Moon, taking unto himself the spear meant to kill her, protecting her as always. He is her husband, lover, and now he lies dying. The russet stain spills from his chest and stains the pristine whiteness of his tuxedo shirt. Serena, hands covered in his blood, is holding him and begging him not to leave her. He would not want to, but none of us are getting our wishes this day. This outrage is almost unbearable. In the light of battle I can see their wedding bands catch the light. Darien is Serena's life. On the day of their wedding, they vowed to love each other for eternity. 'Til death do us part' was not part of their understanding. Now Charon has destroyed this too. This monster, Charon. He is so powerful. Almost godlike, he has no fear of Sailor Moon...Serena. Between his hands, I can see that he has generated an orb of black energy. Almost in slow motion, it is released. In the stygian blackness I cry out. She is my dearest friend and there is nothing I can do. She will die. I know that it will happen, and I can do nothing to prevent it. NO! Not Serena! Serena is lying crumpled on the ground. Serena, not Sailor Moon, not Princess Serena. Little Serena Tsukino who only ever wanted to be a "normal" girl. And I know, as light returns, that she is dead. The light of life has drained away from her body. Only the shell of what Serena was remains. The Imperium Silver Crystal is still sitting in her right hand, the left having fallen limply aside. She is slumped over the body of Tuxedo Mask. Luna, her mentor and guardian, has thrown her body on top of Serena's, weeping. It is the first time she has actually seen Serena die. I want to run to Serena...make her breath. But I cannot. All I can do is avenge her death. The tears are beginning to blur my vision. How can it end this way? Serena deserves better. Charon is going to pay for this! He has no comprehension of the destruction he has wrought. Without Serena there will be no Crystal Tokyo, no Reeny, no future for the Earth. Charon does not know the scope of the destruction he has created...nor does he care. I care! When I was a child and my parents were killed in the plane crash, someone whom I no longer remember told me something I will never forget. It was a prayer. The words are pounding through my mind. Grant me the serenity to accept the things that I cannot change, the strength to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. I can never accept this destruction of everything and everyone I hold dear. What can I change? On behalf of Jupiter, I WILL PUNISH YOU! I can feel the power building. I can feel it surge through my veins like fire. The power is stronger than any I have ever known. In this moment I am no longer Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Senshi. I am simply Jupiter. I am one with my...guardian? I know that I cannot kill Charon, however much he deserves it, however much I want to. I am not strong enough. And I know I will die. All I can do is take some of his followers with me. "JUPITER..." The antenna on my tiara extends skyward while the current builds. "SUPREME..." The lightening is crackling between my hands. I can see my bones in X-ray. "LIGHTNING..." I can feel the bolts searing my hands. It is excruciating...but no pain is too great. "STORM..." I utter a soft prayer and the storm breaks I am stunned. The electricity is flying from the tips of my fingers. Some part of me can still focus on the outside world. I can see the bolts grow and twine in kaleidoscopic color. The lightning spreads like a web to encompass the area. It is beautiful...and deadly. I never wanted to kill anyone. The role of judge, jury, and executioner was thrust upon me against my will. I wore the mantle uneasily for so many years. Always felt the twinges of conscience. Although they were my enemy, I never wanted to kill anyone. The Cardians were nice in that way. There is no guilt in sending a magical construct back to the limbo of all magic. This is different. I should be scared that I want everyone connected with this abomination killed. I am not. This is justice. So sayeth the judge, jury and executioner. The lightning storm I have unleashed is doing its work. I can smell the acrid stench of burning flesh and fear. Charon's forces are being electrocuted by my storm. I can feel the strain of sustaining my storm draining my reserves away. I am sliding into unconsciousness... NO! I must sustain this! My power is ebbing, but it is sufficient. The last of Charon's warriors have been annihilated. At least, he cannot gloat to his minions about his victory. "YOUUU!" Charon has realized the extent of his losses...and he knows that I am to blame. He is furious. He is yelling that he will destroy me, that I have thrown my life away. I cannot defend myself. I am hanging onto consciousness by a thread. I manage a smile. He will remember Jupiter. I will give Charon no satisfaction. Even were I able to, I would never beg for my life. He is still screaming about how painful my demise will be. Let him rant. He does not know that I could feel no worse pain than watching Serena die. Serena. My final thoughts will be of her. I am sorry, my Princess. I failed you. My eyes slide to the corporeal husk of my monarch...and my friend. She was truly the finest of us. Innocent beyond imagining. She never lost her faith in the universe, despite the beings we encountered and the evil we saw. She was willing to trust in the goodness of others, always. I remember when we were in junior high. I had just transferred in. I had been in fights at my old school. At the new school, the students avoided me. Although I would never have admitted it, that hurt terribly. I wanted a friend more than anything. Serena was my friend. Despite all the rumors, she became my friend. She never passed judgment upon me. I asked her once if she wasn't afraid of me. She didn't understand what I meant. She could not comprehend not giving me her friendship. On that day the very real confusion on her face warmed a heart that I had thought encased in stone. Serena had died for me before. I hope you know, Serena, that I would die for you. As I sink further toward death, I am pulled back from the brink. Something has begun which I strain to see. It is now that I can see it. The Silver Crystal is sparking with an inner fire. It is glowing, forcing back the darkness. Bands of energy, not unlike my energy, are arcing around the crystal. They are radiating from it to form a glowing spiral helix around Serena's corpse, which is being lifted from the ground. It is buoyed up by a thousand invisible hands and the light is so bright. The helix is gone. It has coalesced into a column of radiant light which surrounds Serena's body. Scarlet...Green...Blue...Violet. The prismatic shades are dazzling my eyes, yet I cannot pull my gaze from the sight. Within the curtain of light Serena's body is slowly turning...turning...turning. The Crystal shatters. And then comes the flash, brighter than all the stars in the heavens. I don't know how or exactly when it happened. A winged figure stands before me. I want to call to it. Serena, I mentally scream. The figure turns. It is not Serena. Serenity. She is achingly, indescribably beautiful. Her hair is gold and diamonds and topazes entwined. Her skin gleams like alabaster lit from within by an incandescent and pure light. On her forehead, she bears the shining mark of heritage, the crescent moon. She looks just like Serena, but I know that my friend died that our savior might be born. She looks like my childhood concept of an angel...and it is right! I can hear the angels singing in her voice. In that moment I know that she IS serenity. Serenity. Earth goddess. Peace and purity radiate from her, a tangible force. She walks in grace. An angel should not have to see the destruction that abounds on this field of battle. Serenity, ethereal and unearthly, is staring at the bodies of her loved ones who are dead on the field. A single tear hangs for long moments in one of her sapphire eyes, before falling. Before my astounded gaze, I watch it shimmer and coalesce into a new Silver Crystal. The cycle was not ended. It has just begun. Charon has been staring dumbfounded at the transformation, but now begins hurling abuse at Serenity. He has begun to perceive that he may be in trouble. Serenity calmly extends a hand toward Charon. I can hear nothing but the pounding of the blood through my veins. A brilliant orb of energy flares in Serenity's palm and then I perceive nothing more. Oblivion. There is light filtering through my closed eyelids. My head hurts dully, yet I must see my surroundings. Where am I? How did I get here? I knew that I was dying, so why am I not dead? "We thought you would never come back to us." I am in a hospital bed. Soft afternoon light slants though the blinds. And I think I am in the finest dream of my life, but I know I'm not dreaming. Seated around my bed are my friends. Raye, Mina, Amy, Haruka, Michiru, Hotaru, Setsuna. Amy and Mina are holding Luna and Artemis on their laps. They are all alive and smiling at me. How can this be? I have to know. "What...? How...?" I cannot form the sentences that I need to form. And then I hear it. It is the voice I heard just before...oblivion. Serenity. She is beautiful as she smiles at me, and I am elated to see Darien..no, Endymion loosely holding her around the waist. She is continuing to talk, saying something about using the new Silver crystal to defeat Charon and heal everyone, but I am not paying much attention. I am just grateful to hear her speak, greatful that she lives, that we all live. It's funny. My prayer was answered in a way I could never have imagined. I was granted the finest gift I could ever hope for. Serenity.