Sailor Moon: Crystal Eclipse 53

53. Star's resolve

The others were on their way. Merkkur was certain of this. Kunzite was barring the entrance to the palace with his own body and power. She wasn't certain how long he'd last, but she wasn't certain how long she would either. This was the final battle. It had to be. It was like fighting Pifite, but this time, it didn't feel so futile. Merkkur wasn't sure she could defeat Apocatastasis, but at least she could match her and keep her busy.

Star wasn't sure what to do with this situation. She wasn't prepared for this. Her only experience was just the leftovers from the Shadow Galaxy. She had first considered Apocatastasis to be like the other rogues, easy to beat and easy to look heroic against. But this one was different. She seemed to be a latecomer, but Star just couldn't figure her out, reasoning the rogue to simply be so completely out of her mind there was no means to return.

Cometius had turned for the worse. After the shadow had attempted to taint her sailor crystal, Cometius had collapsed, gasping for air. She currently laid unconscious on the walkway, barely breathing. She didn't have long, and the battle didn't have a foreseeable end.

But what to do with the situation? She wasn't experienced enough to keep up with Merkkur and Apocatastasis. She was honestly surprised at how fiercely Merkkur could fight. She couldn't generate a barrier like Kunzite. She had no shadow to keep up with Nephrite. But there was one thing she could do.

She stood firmly in front of Kunzite, her weight on her toes as if prepared to pounce.

"What do you think you're doing?" Kunzite asked flatly.

"All my friends're dead now," she replied, watching the battle between Apocatastasis and Merkkur cautiously. "Cometius collapsed. S's been eaten. The Era of Peace is rapidly unravellin' before us. The only ones to fix this're the king an' queen, right? Since you're protectin' them, I'll protect you, Kun-han."

He couldn't argue with her logic. Though he wasn't certain she could hold her own against the shadow or the rogue, he wasn't going to argue against having some help in the situation. Half the guardians were either dead or consumed, the rest fighting for their lives. The rogues had already cracked the barrier. They were close to undoing everything he'd come to hold dear. Unlike the others, Kunzite hadn't put it to words, but Star seemed to have a mutual, silent understanding that this era had to be protected with their lives. She was an Eclipse at heart, one with a strong sense of duty and determination.

She wasn't too different from himself.

Star nearly jumped out of her strappy sandals as Nephrite's shadow double came barrelling out of the sky. The rogue shadow still floated above, as the two had taken to the sky for an aerial battle. Nephrite hadn't shown any abilities to float, only Kunzite, but Nephrite could manipulate his shadow to do whatever he pleased. His abilities had only evolved since reawakening. But it seemed even the evolved form couldn't defeat the rogue's shadow.

"S... stronger than that witch," Nephrite's shadow murmured before dissipating into darkness and fading away.

"Nephrite!" Star shouted, pawing for the ground.

"It's just his shadow," Kunzite shook his head. "He didn't feel a thing from that."

Star heaved a sigh of relief. One less dead body on the ground. "But what did he mean by alla that?"

"The witch which once controlled us," Kunzite replied. "If this shadow is stronger than that witch Metallia, then this fight'll be harder than we thought." He didn't have particularly high hopes in the first place. He was standing among the bodies of several of his comrades, most burnt to almost an unrecognizable form. The smell was terrible but the sight was even worse.

The rogue's shadow landed softly on the ground, snickering to himself. That other shadow had given him quite the fight, but playtime was over now. He knelt down, wrapping his fingers around the time staff. The key was finally going to be his.

"Silver flare!"

The silver fire shot past his face, singing the ends of his bangs. Gritting his teeth in frustration, he shifted and turned to see that Star had been the source of the attack. "The last of the A*. You fools haven't been as strong as your legend proclaims."

Star bared her teeth. She wanted to beat him into the ground. "I'm gonna stop ya from takin' that key, yeah!"

"Oh?" the shadow questioned coyly. "I'd like to see you try."

She felt her blood boil. Never before had she felt so insulted. She remembered the past and their task to protect the heart of the galaxy. They were left there in the dark, blind to the battles with the Shadow Galaxy and the Dark Kingdom, and returned to the Galaxy Cauldron when the original Queen Serenity sent everyone into the future. They'd all been reborn with a new task of protecting the earth and the path to the galactic core. But right now she was the last of the three standing. She had to do something.

Outstretching her arms, she crossed them at the wrist. It was time to prove her worth or at least attempt to. She twisted her hands around one another then whipped them apart in a circular motion, creating a large silver object between her hands. "Silver meteor!" she commanded, her words bathing the creation in silver flames. Pressing her hands together as if clapping, the meteor rocketed forth towards the shadow, who simply leapt out of the pathway.

It was the strongest attack she could muster, but the shadow was much quicker than she, capable of avoiding a strong attack. She'd simply force him away from the palace entrance. She cast another silver meteor and another, attempting to force him back. He dodged each one but on the last cast, he seemingly disappeared.

Star paused, digging her heels into the grass as she searched for him. She could feel her weariness kicking in. Her attacks hadn't sapped her power. No, there was more to her, more she had to protect. It was part of her duty as an A*, something she knew from the start. The three A*s weren't just the guardians who protected the Core. They were its barrier. Their lives were connected to the core.

Just as Serenity had erected a magical barrier around the palace, the A* had erected one around the Galaxy Cauldron since their powers awoke. The battle between Sailor Moon and Chaos in the cauldron had reawoken them, forcing them to form a protective barrier around it. There was no way in, but the shadow had found a loophole. There were few magics that could circumvent the barrier. Serenity's power allowed her to cross within and without as she pleased. Yet there existed another, the power to transcend space and time. But its guardian, Sailor Pluto, now lay on the ground as a husk of her former self. Was everything lost now?

The shadow reappeared in front of Star, in between her hands as she prepared another meteor. "With you, the barrier will crumble and all will be lost." He grabbed her by the throat, cursing the small size of this host's hands. He had to use both to get a proper grip. "You're so willing to throw it all away, but why? Why not reset everything so you can live without this burden?"

"N-never!" she struggled against him, pushing a heeled sandal into his stomach.

"If you're so willing to sacrifice yourself," the shadow hissed threateningly, "then allow me to be the one to sacrifice you to the ultimate plan."