Tapestries
By Jeffrey Vasquez
A Wheel of Time, Sailor Moon Crossover
******
Discalimer:
All characters belong to their respective creators and lawful
affiliates. I don't own them, I don't claim to own them, but I wish that I
did.
******
Author's notes:
This is just a teaser for an idea that I had after reading Differing
Powers. And after conversing with Mr. Louis-Philippe Giroux, I hope that
I haven't stolen any thunder. He did write a fic with this crossover,
called "The Dragon and the Moon", so be sure to check it out if you're
interested. Some of you will sigh, and say: "Not another one!"
And in the Spirit of Discovery, I must say: "Why the Hell not?"
I hope that you enjoy. Let me know if I should continue it.
On second thought. Don't. I'm going to write it anyway. At least
until it bores me to death. ^_^
*****
Tokyo
The battle was going terribly, as Setsuna's future self had hinted it
would. There was very little that they could do against the creature that
Chaos had loosed, without unleashing Saturn. And that was an option that
both Setsuna and Usagi were loath to do.
Uranus screamed as the dark, green energy lanced through her
body, from the mountainous demon's fingers. It gave a devilish laugh that
caused Neptune to howl at her lover's attacker in divine anger.
"DEEP SUBMERGE!" All the green haired woman's power backed the
attack, drowning the monstrosity in the life-giving waters of the sea. It
was washed back into a hole in the street that led down into the subway
tunnels below Tokyo.
Michiru wasted no time in running to Haruka's side. The woman's
fuku was black around the edges, but for the most part intact. Sadly, the
mannish woman's exposed skin had suffered a great deal; burns already
began to blister badly on her arms and legs.
Setsuna shook her head, knowing that the Chaos-spawn was still
alive. She beckoned to Saturn looking gravely at the spot where the thing
had disappeared. An eerie silence rested upon the street for a time,
causing the Senshi of Pluto to become ruffled and the rest of her
companions to become agitated.
They scanned the street to the left and right, waiting for it to
resurface; with the dim hope that Neptune's assault had finished it. The
beast chose that moment to dash what little hope that notion brought, by
breaking through the ground beneath Hotaru and sucking her under the
street with it. Sailor Pluto launched herself away from the hole, to land
near Sailor Moon.
It cried out once; a horrid sound that would haunt Setsuna for a
hundred years to come. And then the silence fell again. Sailor Moon
wearily made her way over to the Senshi of Time and leaned heavily
against the woman for support.
"Do you think it's dead? Did Saturn finish it?" There was a hope in the
young woman's sky blue eyes that Setsuna was reluctant to abuse. But she
had to be honest.
"When Saturn emerges, we will know for sure." She steadied her future
queen and smiled hopefully in return. "Until then be ready for anything."
Moon nodded and readied her attack. More silence draped itself over the
area, and most of the women still standing held their breath in
anticipation.
A white gloved hand pushed through the largest hole in the street
and began to pull herself up onto the thoroughfare. Saturn had all but
made it out, when a meaty grey hand wrapped itself around her right calf
and drug her back into the subway tunnels below. There was a painful
outcry and the Senshi of Saturn flew from the opening like a bullet. She
arced high into the air and hung for an instant before plummeting to the
earth again. When her body hit the pavement between Mars and Venus,
the black top cracked horribly. Both of the Senshi watched in horror as
Hotaru's body refused to move.
"SATURN!" Sailor Mars cried out, willing a flaming bow and arrow to
life. She took aim on the crater, and when the thing pushed its ugly, goat-
ead above the pavement, the arrow was loosed. Her battle cry sounded in
her mind, and through whispering lips.
The other Senshi had the same idea apparently and let loose a
combination of attacks that tore the street to ribbons, sending a cloud of
dust and debris high into the air. Tuxedo Kamen appeared at Sailor Moon's
side even as the other Senshi began to quickly regroup. Mars and Venus
sighed in relief when they found that Saturn was still breathing; and with
great care moved her over to lay near Sailor Moon. The dust settled and
the debris clattered noisily to the firmament, and for a third time during
the
battle, there was silence.
The earth began to rock to and fro, shattering windows, and tossing
empty cars back and forth like they were toys. The Warriors for love and
Justice were knocked to the ground as the thing burst free from the
confines of the Earth to hover above them like some tattered, grotesque,
Angel of death. Skin hung limply from savaged wounds, while the stink of
burned flesh hung on the hot summer breeze.
It roared its defiance down to them, mocking their puny efforts to
destroy it.
"I'm ending this." Sailor Moon said angrily, tears of frustration ran down
her cheeks as she looked at her bruised and battered comrades. The
Ginzishou flared to life drawing the monster's attention to Sailor Moon and
Tuxedo Kamen. It watched in horror as the man and woman changed.
The tuxedo became armor, the fuku a dress of the purest white; the cane a
gleaming, deadly sword and the scepter a majestic staff of Serenity's
office.
Setsuna and the rest of the gathered Senshi looked on in shock as
the two changed. They had never done this together before! Luna and
Artemis ran to the group and stared at Serenity and Endymion in wonder.
"I'm tired of fighting." Serenity's voice was tired, and filled with
depression. "I'm sick of the sacrifices that must be made to keep this
place safe from the likes of you. I will have no more of your kind here!
DO YOU HEAR ME? NO MORE!" Power gathered and focused in the
Ginzishou and Pluto's eyes widened in disbelief.
**She can't do this yet!** Her mind cried out. **We're not ready!** She
looked to the other Senshi, terror painted plainly across her dark features.
There was little time.
"Take hands!" She screamed at the other Senshi. They hesitated an instant
longer than Pluto thought was healthy, and learned that the normally
unflappable Guardian of Time had a temper. "DO IT!"
Mercury and Venus scooped up Luna and Artemis, while Mars and
Pluto hoisted Saturn up between them. Endymion took hold of both
Serenity's and Neptune's hands as Michiru did her best to support Her
lover's burnt body. Jupiter closed the line, standing between Mars and
Uranus.
The goat-headed creature looked down in fear as the line of heros
glowed with all the colors of the rainbow. Serenity blazed with silver
fire, while Endymion's body was ringed in gold. Serenity looked into
the depths of the monster's tiny soul and shook her head in disgust.
"There shall be no more of your taint on this world, Chaos. I'm sealing
you away." Serenity's voice was little more than a whisper. "Let the Earth
sleep and dream for a time, free of your blight."
The power increased to what Pluto considered godly levels. If the
girl didn't release them soon, she was going to fry them all where they
stood!
"For the love of all that's holy, Serenity, end this madness!" Setsuna's
plea acted like a catalyst and the energies that the Crystal Queen had
harnessed lanced forth toward the monster. The white column of molten
fire tore through the creature with a deafening clap of thunder that rocked
the city.
The fire arced into the heavens and then wrapped the earth in a
blanket of crystal. The Senshi were blown back, as the blast's report
sounded, crashing into the unforgiving surface of a building's concrete
wall.
Pluto looked up groggily at Serenity's pulsating body and
marveled. She had done it. She had cleansed the earth of evil. . . well
almost. Men and women still had their agency, and it would take time for
them to settle their differences. But all the outside evil had been lock
out.
Serenity looked at Setsuna sadly and shook her head. "No Pluto.
You are wrong." The Senshi of Time looked at her quizzically.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean that I have cleansed the world of evil." Pluto looked at Serenity
in awe.
"H. . .ho . . how. . ." Pluto looked like some exotic fish, as her mouth
opened and closed in shock. How had the girl read her mind!
"But how can that be?" Mars cut in as she raised her self painfully from
the side walk." I still feel a taint." She looked at her queen in
confusion.
Serenity smiled and nodded her head. "You're right Rei." She
motioned to those gathered around her, still clutching each other's hands.
"What you feel, is us. It is our taint." She smiled sadly. "But I am going
to fix that now too." The crystal flared to life once more, and deep
beneath them, buried in the earth's warm embrace, a column with strange
symbols flared to life.
And the Senshi dissolved from the face of the earth, along with
their queen.
********
For Pluto, the whole universe seemed to up end itself and her body
lurched. Billions of lives passed through her, both comfortingly mundane
and terribly fantastic.
It was too much for even the Guardian of Time to bare; and she
thought that she was going to go mad with the deluge of memories and
sensations.
She screamed.
She wept.
She laughed madly into the chaotic jumble that battered her until
unconsciousness finally took her. But before she slipped into that warm
numbness, a thousand fires lit upon her synapses. It felt like she was
dying, but at the same time very much alive.
There was a flash of light, and then nothing.
*******
Rei and Makoto screamed as the images and experiences of a
thousand lifetimes seared themselves on their souls. Dreams and
nightmares became reality, and then their world began to burn. Pain shot
up and down their nerves leaving them weak and trembling.
The air opened up beneath them and Makoto fell through the hole
like a stone, followed closely by Rei and then an insensate Hotaru. Makoto
grunted as Rei and Hotaru buried her in a small mountain of flesh, driving
the air from her lungs.
Both conscious Senshi lay on the wooden floor of a warmly lit
room panting terribly and looking at the rafters of what must have been a
cabin or something.
"Geez Rei," Makoto complained breathlessly, ". . .have you and Usagi been
hitting the pastries again?" Rei elbowed her team mate in the head for her
attempt at levity.
Hotaru chose that moment to moan in pain. The poor girl looked
like one large bruise from the pounding that the creature had given her. Rei
rolled off of Makoto and quickly checked Hotaru's wounds. To her relief
she found that the girl had miraculously come through her ordeal with only
minor injuries as far as Rei could tell. Ugly ones to be sure, that looked
worse than they really were.
A board chose that moment to creak, and both Mars and Jupiter lit
up like festival fireworks. Lightning coursed up and down Jupiter's arms
from her clenched fists. Fires limned Mars' black hair and a mighty bow of
flames, complete with a burning arrow, were pointed at the noise. Both
Senshi had yet to rise from their knees, but there wasn't really any need.
The tall, red-haired, young man they found staring back at them
with bulging eyes, stood frozen near a large, oak table. Another man, his
father Makoto assumed, stood across the table from the boy with a
beautiful sword held in his hands. Both girls knew an expert when they
saw one, and Rei could tell that the man was ready to use it.
The boy just stood there and oogled for all he was worth.
**Great. Just what we need right now! A pervert and his samurai
father!** Rei thought darkly. She shook her head and was about to end
the impasse when her stomach bottomed out and a vile stench filled her
nose, making her want to vomit.
She turned to the door, the swordsman mimicking her, just as the
door was blown off its hinges. Jupiter cried out but Rei didn't register
the words. All that she could think of was the creature that they had just
battled. Nine feet tall, the body of a man and the head of a goat; the
thing had hurt Hotaru and had taken their best shots, only to come back
for more.
Rei's flaming arrow turned white, and her eyes glowed with power.
She didn't hesitate any longer than the blink of her dark eyes, before
letting the shaft fly. It's flight was joined by a large Dragon made of
lightning, and the two strikes tore through the creature, and several others
behind it like they were paper dolls.
"Run lad! Get to the woods!" The man bellowed at the boy, pushing him
toward the back door.
"But father!" He protested.
"No 'buts' Rand! Do as you're told!" He shoved the young man roughly,
and turned back to the battle. "We'll follow as soon as we're able. Now
get!"
The boy disappeared from sight, which Rei was glad for. He was
cute, but would get underfoot if he stayed. And from the way the hole in
the wall was filling up, both Senshi knew that this was going to be a rough
night.
*******
Ami and Minako screamed as the air opened beneath them and
unceremoniously deposited them into the lap of a rather large, and
dangerous looking man. Luna and Artemis tumbled after them, falling over
the girl's faces.
*******
For most men, it was a dream come true, to have to scantily clad
girls fall into your lap. For A'Lan Mandragoran, it was a distraction that
he didn't need at the moment. Especially when he could feel the Dark
Ones moving toward the town. He stood and dumped the two and their
cats in a tangle of arms and legs onto the floor, without so much as a
grunt.
The door banged open, and a short, statuesque woman looked in at
the scene with a twitching eyebrow. She looked at the girls and her eyes
swelled in disbelief. Not so much at their state of undress, but at the
power levels that they were radiating.
Moiraine looked to Lan, the inquiry plain on her face. He shrugged
once, and threw a shimmering cloak over his shoulders. "The fell on me. I
don't know any more than that." He didn't waste time for further
questioning, but moved through the door and down the hall.
Ami smiled up at the woman with the ageless face, and nodded
politely. The style of her dress, along with the rather archaic
surroundings, gave Ami an odd feeling. Everything felt off to her, but
somehow familiar, and she knew that they were no longer on their Earth
anymore. "Hello. Could you possibly tell us where we are?"
Moiraine shook herself from her daze and raised her eyebrow at the
girls. "Come with me." The icy edge on her voice brooked no argument,
as she turned her back to the two.
Luna poked her head out from beneath Minako's arms, wearing a
scowl. "Well, I never!"
The Senshi of Mercury looked at her partner and shrugged. "When
in Rome. . . ." Venus nodded her head and followed after her team mate as
she pursued the woman in the blue dress. An odd tingling settled at the
base of Minako's spine, and she feel something moving toward them.
Something very unfriendly.
*******
Endymion cried out as he felt Serenity's hand torn from his own.
Frustration mingled with fear as the air rent beneath him with a blinding
white light. He landed heavily in a haystack, and rolled, coming to land in
a rather large trough of water. He struck his head rather soundly and was
left staring up into the night sky. Stars stared down on him as he sat in
the cold water, and then blurred terribly. The stars seemed to fall from
the
heavens, and all that was left was the blackness of the void.
*******
Master Fitch had no doubt wanted to go to bed right away, but
something told him that he was needed in the stalls. When Min joined him
halfway there, he knew that something important was up.
"Couldn't sleep either, I gather?" He asked gently. The girl was a friend of
Mistress Alys, which in and of itself gave the portly Inn Keeper the
jitters.
But, she was polite enough, despite the fact that she dressed more like a
boy than was proper.
Min shook her head and played with one of her knives
unconsciously. Nights like this were meant to be spent indoors with a
roaring fire, a mug of mulled wine, and a nice thick book. But she still
felt herself walking towards the stables any way.
The Inn Keeper opened the door and entered first, lighting one of
the lanterns that hung near the door. Min followed closely on his heels and
went directly to one of the horses and began petting them. Master Fitch
smiled at the girl's love for the animals, and moved to gather a bag of oats
near the watering trough.
"Light!" His voice was constricted with fear, and no little amount of
trepidation, bringing Min running to his side.
Her low, appreciative whistle pierced the darkness, while her eyes
roamed the supple musculature that lay just beneath the taught black
sweater that the man wore. Blood and Ashes! He was beautiful!
But then his aura flared to life, blinding her with its radiance.
Three crowns: one made of stone, one of twined roses, and the last
of chiseled diamond. A sword of flames crossed by a sword of glass. A
rabbit in the moon, clutching a leaf and a spear in its mouth. A mask, and
a pool of light topped by black oil.
There were more, but they flashed too fast for her to catalogue. It
was like watching a million colors flashing before her eyes, and she was
forced to close her eyes to shut them all out. She grimaced, but knelt by
the man's side when the images began to slow.
A funeral for a sleeping man. The rabbit, a woman sculpted from a
man-sized sapphire, and a woman of many faces fighting for his heart and
each winning a piece from him. Master Fitch held on a gallows freed by a
hand of earth that was somehow connected to this man.
"This man is important Master Fitch." She whispered. "We need to take
care of him." She looked up at the Inn keeper with such unwavering
certainty that sent chills down his massive frame.
"See here now, Min. . ." He blustered. This whole episode was giving him
the shivers and he was set to do all in his power to send the strangely
garbed vagrant packing.
"Master Fitch." Min's voice cut through his protests sharply. "This man
will save your life one day.
Fitch may have been many things, but stupid was not among the
list. He had heard that tone of voice before, and each and every time it
had been accompanied by an event that this young woman, had spoken of.
He grumbled once before bending down and fishing the statuesque
man from the cold water. And with Min's help took him back to the Stage
and Lion Inn.
*******
Rei and Makoto followed Rand, and a staggering Hotaru who
seemed to be aging as she walked. It was odd for Rei, but she could
almost swear that the young girl had grown three inches in the last hour.
She shook her head again, shrugging the thoughts aside as
foolishness. She looked down to Rand's father as the man lay out on the
litter, and grimaced. The fever had risen sharply in the last few minutes,
and she was worried that they were going to loose him. If only he hadn't
gotten himself cut by that black man's blade, he wouldn't have been laid
out as he was.
And if she hadn't been fool enough to let her guard down, he
wouldn't have felt the need to save her. Thankfully, Hotaru had been able
to tend to the wound soon after she woke. But all three Senshi knew that
she wasn't at her best at the moment, and the poison in Tam's system was
very potent.
Makoto hissed, urgently holding up her hand, causing everyone to
stop in their tracks and hold their breath. At first there were no sounds,
and then the smell hit Rei's nostrils.
Smoke, and lots of it.
Rand flinched and looked wildly back at Rei and Makoto. The
village was under attack.
********
End Chapter One