End of the Millennium
A Xian Shade Production

Author's Notes: The political meeting of the planets! Finally, the
truth behind why Saturn was not allowed in the alliance of the Silver
Millennium! This is the first 'long' chapter. Go to the bathroom
before reading, grab a snack or drink, whatever you need. This one
could take a while.

Disclaimer: I do not own any aspects of Sailor Moon or Phantasy Star.
If I did, this would be an anime, or manga, or both. Thanatos, Ares,
Chronos, Aljus, King Marcus, and the worthless one are © Xian Shade
and may not be used without my permission. People failing to follow
this rule have broken Xian's Law #849, paragraph 3, line 2: Don't fuck
with my shit.


The Path of Finding Destiny, Chapter 6:

"Your majesties, please forgive the interruption..." the guard said,
his voice a touch shaken from his encounter.

"What is it?" the queen of Earth's moon asked.

"My queen, th-there is a representative of Saturn requesting to speak
upon the planet's behalf."

"How in the world did this representative get past our defenses?!"

"I know not, my queen... but he seems very ghostly.  He floated up to
us with his request!"

Ares slapped his forehead, realizing what was going on. Thankfully,
the sound went unnoticed.

"...Very well.  Let him enter."

The guard gulped and opened the door, and the floating form of
Thanatos glided foreward, coming to bow before the head of the royal
court, his tattered cape curling in front as his blackened arm swept
over his chest.

"Perhaps you are unaware, sir... or madam... "

"Sir." his voice held a doubled-over tone when in physical form, which
seemed to disturb some in the room.

"Yes, sir... are you unaware that we are not considering alliance with
the planet of silence?"

"I am aware, milady.  I am hoping to change that."

"I fail to see how.  You have violated a very specific rule, that no
one from Saturn may set foot upon any of the other worlds."

"As specific as that rule is, it does not apply to me. Firstly, I was
not created upon Saturn, though I have been there. Secondly, as you
can see, I have not set 'foot' upon your world." he gestured below,
showing the obvious: no legs hung from the tattered cloak.

"You know what the rule means!"

"Yes, and I have followed it to the T. You yourself said the rule was
very specific." he chuckled internally at his own cleverness. The room
actually darkened from the anger Queen Serentiy radiated, but Thanatos
remained unmoved. Amilia simply watched the scene, not understanding
what he was up to. Ares and Chronos held a similar look of confusion,
though Ares' was also tinged with amusement. "Your anger is
understandable. I'm used to the hatred and fear of the universe. After
all, nobody is ever happy to meet me. Since I have not already, I bid
you greeting. My name is Thanatos. I am the physical manifestation of
Silence, Destruction, and Death."

Anger gave way to dread, and Thanatos could feel the fear permeating
the air, the darkness of Serenity's feelings dispersing and replacing
with the cold chill of fear not only from the queen, but from
virtually everyone in the room.

"I despise using fear to make myself heard, but you were too blinded
by anger to hear my request."

"I will not work with the evil likes of your kind!"

"No? You already work with two others of my kind.  In fact, they are
in this very room! Do you consider the court of Pluto to be evil,
milady?"

"Never! The court of Pluto has kept only the best interests of our
world in mind, protecting my daughter, even! Chronos himself is the
representative of both Earth and Pluto! They defend the outermost regions!"

"I see. And what of the court of Mars? Do they stand as evil to you?"

"Their methods are a tad crude and violent... no offense, Reianna."
The queen spoke to the princess of Mars, who simply nodded in
affirmation. "...But they guard our entire system from invasion and
end wars amongst the worlds! They are in no way evil!"

"Truly? Did you know that the courts of Pluto and Mars are ruled by a
higher power?"

"You speak dangerously, Thanatos. I am the ruling power of this solar
system."

"Indeed, your power is great." Thanatos admitted, with no mockery in
his tone. "But you do not hold supreme power." his eyes glowed a
luminous Jade, and he spoke in his native tongue. ~"Ares, make
yourself known. We've remained hidden long enough."~

Ares shifted into their physical plane, a bulking red armored warrior
with a sword sheathed at his side. The others in the room shifted away
from him, except for Reianna, whose smaller arm wrapped around the
tree-trunk that he called an arm. ~"You're being foolish, Thanatos."~

~"Am I? Chronos walks about freely. He's better at maintaining this
alliance than even you are. I'd call you a coward myself if you didn't
already understand the reason behind hiding."~ he looked back up to
the queen, speaking their language once more. "Milady, meet Ares,
overlord of Mars and master of war. I believe you've already met
Chronos, overlord of Pluto, and master of Time."

Queen Serenity stared dumbfounded at Chronos, who held himself tall in
the presence of the queen. "My queen," Chronos began. "We three have
chosen to be guardians of this system. We have encouraged and promoted
the hierarchy of these planets for many years, having come from afar.
We have protected this system from invading evil many times, the
invasion usually getting no closer than Pluto. While the people of
these planets are thanked for their efforts in doing so, they would
most certainly fail without us."

"So you deem yourselves puppet masters, using the people of these
worlds?"

"Far from it." Ares stated. "Had Thanatos governed his world like he
was supposed to, you would not be so against the planet of Saturn. I'm
assuming he's here to correct that mistake. We are absolutely
necessary, otherwise this solar system would fall into chaos. If we
ceased to exist altogether, the universe might collapse upon itself."

"It is unnerving to learn there are others with more control than
yourself, I know." Thanatos explained. "...but you must understand,
only our best intentions were in mind. You prosper because we enforce
it."

"Then explain Earth." the statement was so blunt that it shocked
everyone present, especially the king and queen of Earth itself.

"Now see here, Lunarian!"

"SILENCE!" Thanatos whirled about to face the Earth king, pointing a
gloved finger at him.  "Do not tempt me to make the same mistake I
made on Saturn!"

The king sat once more, shaken, and Thanatos turned back to Queen
Serenity, his voice calming. "Earth is governed by beings that are
exempt of the normally pre-existing power dominance. You and your kind
are creatures of light, creations of our father. The creatures of
darkness are creations of our mother. We three are neutrals, serving
neither side over the other, though since we reside in this system
that is primarily light, we resist the darkness. The people of Earth
can be swayed by either side, but never totally and altogether. It is
part of their chaotic nature. They shall never be singular in their
choice, because they were given that very ability to choose. While
that power of choice does not allow them to be ruled easily, their
concept was conceived before the great war."

"Great war?"

"Of course.  Certainly you must be familiar with it."

"Enlighten us.  We've seen no real 'war' since before our people
descended from distant stars."

"Certainly.  Ares, please, do the honors."

Ares stepped forward and Thanatos fell back from the standing room for
the speakers. "As master of war, I am privelidged to tell you the
genesis of the universe, as it leads to the greatest war known." he
gestured his arms wide as though describing the land of his youth,
when the room darkened and everything around became a swirl of color.

"Long ago, when there was nothing but the chaos, a bit of that chaos
came into order, grew, evolved, and matured into a powerful spiritual
entity." A section of the bending-rainbow came apart and appeared
slightly different, moving against the currents of movement.

"This entity searched the chaos over and over for more of its kind,
but none were ever found. But in its search, as it grew, it discovered
it held the knowledge of creation, as if it were instinct. So it began
creating the universe from the chaos: Stars, planetoids, the vaccum of
space, even gravity. There were many trial and error problems, which
explains a small amount of the universe's uninhabitable planets." the
coloration began forming into solid shapes and colors, and before long
virtually all of the massive color distortion was gone, replaced by
the blackness of space and its stars.

"Eventually, the universe as you know it was completed, and the being
tried to create a creature similar to itself, since it was lonely.
Unfortunately, it found that it could not, since there was simply not
enough chaos energy left. Being so very lonely, the entity split
itself in two, and each half became a separate entity: The Great
Light, and the Profound Darkness." He gestured to the color-shapen
sphere that represented the entity, and the one sphere split into two,
a bright blue and white ball of light, and a dark purple and red ball
of dark.

"These two, while indifferent to each other, learned that they had the
ability to create smaller and less powerful beings that were much like
themselves by using their own energies, which would regenerate.
Populating the planets, they both eventually came upon the planet
Earth, and began arguing over who should populate it with their kind.
But instead of an agreement of one relenting to the other, or that
they would both populate the planet with their kind, their energies
made a balanced mix of beings:  Earthlings."

Ares cleared his throat and continued. "When the two learned of their
ability to make a species totally independent of their creators, they
generated the first 'love'. This powerful union, combined with the
last of the
raw chaos energy of the universe, created four children: myself,
Chronos, Thanatos, and Noah." he said, indicating the other two, and
looking back to the queen while saying their fourth brother's name.
"We four governed the four universal constants: War, Time, Death, and
Fate, respectively."

"I'm not entirely sure what happened to cause it," He continued. "But
another argument sprouted between the Great Light and the Profound
Darkness many millennia after that. This time coming to blows. Their
creations followed suit, and continued to battle, long after the fight
was over. The continuous battle of light and darkness is the great war
we speak of.  The creatures of darkness are your invaders, Queen
Serenity."

"I see... who was the victor?"

"There was no victor.  While the Profound Darkness was defeated, the
Great Light could not bring himself to destroy her, because he still
loved her. Instead, he imprisoned her, and then self-terminated,
scattering his crystalline form throughout the universe. Each of those
crystals were born to creatures of power. Every member of royalty here
possesses one, if not internally, then physically." Ares finished,
looking at the queen knowingly. Her eyes widened in understanding, and
she pulled forth the round, 'silver' crystal.

"So this crystal... this is a piece of... of our creator? Of God?"

"Of our father, yes." Ares agreed, correcting her. "I suggest keeping
that piece hidden away. In the wrong hands, it could be very
dangerous. It's not easy to take the crystals within a person, but a
free-standing crystal can be threatening to any mortal. The crystals
within a person's body represent those who would strive the most for
peace, and will give each of you an edge over your enemies in skill
and power.  That is why I have been training Reianna, here. She may be
a formidable leader and warrior on Mars one day, and obviously a
proper defense for your own daughter when the time comes."

The queen tucked the crystal away once more, and tapped her chin
thoughtfully. "I suppose there's no way to test if you are who you say
you are."

"No safe way, my queen. As I stated, if one of us were not to do our
job, eventually everyone in the universe would destroy each other, or
life would simply cease to exist. We are bringers of order, for
without us, the universe would return to chaos, and there is no entity
to re-create the universe once that happens."

"So, if you are death itself, and you serve to protect this system,
why do I still feel fear of Saturn?"

"The only reason you have to fear Saturn is if we did NOT protect this
system. Mortals are not meant to wield the bulk of our power without
us training them... but my own especially." Thanatos explained. "If,
by any chance, that an enemy gets beyond us, and they manage to cause
complete chaos, the princess of Saturn's power would awaken. As long
as I am here, I can stop her from activating her power... but if she
lays down the blade of her weapon, the glaive of silence, then all
hope is lost for the planet she resides upon. A terrible power is
unleashed that wipes all life clear from a planet, from terrans to
plants. That is why you subconsciously fear the silent planet. I
cannot train her in my abilities... in fact, my gift was not truly
bestowed upon her, but rather stolen by her. She despises me and all I
stand for, and for that very reason, she will not accept my training.
But then, even if I could..." Thanatos paused.

"If you could?"

"She would die upon the release of her power. Power enough to
exterminate all life on a planet, including her own. A last resort
power, if ever there was one. The people of Saturn are not bad people,
they are simply rejected because of what I represent."

The queen of the moon sat, focused upon her thoughts, staring at
Thanatos above folded hands. "What does Saturn offer the Silver
Millennium?"

Thanatos gaped. Was she considering it?  He hadn't thought out his
proposal this far, thinking it would wait until another time. Perhaps
it was because she believed that Saturn had little to offer, and if
that were the case, this kingdom's queen was very intelligent... but
he could certainly tell her otherwise. "Well, with the princess of
Saturn on your side, she is much less likely to activate her power
against you, and if you so choose to conquer a world and resettle upon
it, she would be most useful as a trump card to empty the planet of
inhabitants. I know your kind are not conquerers... but it's something
to think about."

"You have yet to draw my attention.  Go on."

He was losing her! "Also, like Mercury, this planet has a wide variety
of technology at its disposal, as well as healing magics. You've not
been there in the last few years to know this, I imagine." Thanatos
eyed the queen. Apparently something was going on that they didn't
want it, no matter what. He could almost see it in her eyes. "The king
of Saturn was quite an inventive man himself, before he grew ill.
Until their princess matures, they are without commanding royalty. I'd
say now would be a perfect time to offer protection to a world that
holds little in the way of leadership."

"You make very valid points, Thanatos." she stated flatly. He already
knew her answer by her tone. He was wasting his time. He'd have to
find another way. "But my decision stands firm. We cannot allow such a
dangerous world to be allied with the Silver Millennium. Mercury's
technology is enough for the alliance, and the threat of Saturn is
still too great. I will reconsider when their princess comes of age,
that I might speak with her directly. You may be a representative, but
many things can change in the progress of time. Furthermore, I must
ask you a question."

"Please, go ahead." Thanatos said, not liking this one bit. She dared
to waste his time, yet ask something of him?

"As protectors of this solar system, you have followed the rules of
the Silver Millennium, as though you were under its rule as well,
correct?"

"Indeed so, Queen Serenity."

"Then as members of the alliance, I decree that you shall not visit
any of our worlds again, unless in dire emergency. You may remain on
your respective planets only."

Thanatos grit his teeth unconsciously. 'How dare she! Treating us with
the same disdain as the people of Saturn!' He was tempted to not be so
friendly, but the look on Ami's face gave him an idea. Time to play a
little deception of his own.

"You cannot decree the will of Gods!" Ares stood, pounding his fist
into the platform in front of him, which splintered from the action.
Had Ares spoken a moment sooner, Thanatos might have agreed, but
instead he held his hand out to silence him. He had a plan.

"Ares is quite correct, Milady. But I'm willing to be fair. I have no
problem staying on the planet I have resided upon. Chronos, have you
any problem with remaining where you are?"

"None, Thanatos... aside from times in which I must exercise my
position in Elysion." Chronos said, folding his hands inside his white
robe's long sleeves.

"And you, Ares?"

"I spearpoint Mars' war legion! I cannot be kept in place to wait
until my troops return for each order!"

"Well then, only Ares has a problem, and Chronos seems all right as
long as he can get his work done. May we be allowed to leave if it
includes our duty as warlord, representative, or priestan?"

"I agree to those terms."

"Then do you also agree that if any of our tasks are required on other
planets, that we are permitted to visit them?"

"It seems only fair."

"Then I agree to those conditions." Thanatos spoke, looking to
Chronos.

"I do as well." Chronos answered, bowing for the queen.

"Hmph.  Fine." was all Ares could say.  He wasn't happy about being
kept in one place, but at least his work would get done.

Thanatos looked back to the princess of Mercury, who was writing down
everything said. He smiled; Her plans were indeed clever. This would
have taken much longer without her ingenuity. "Then we all agree, and
leave for the planets we reside upon. Hopefully, if we are permitted
to see each other again, such hostility can be avoided. Farewell." and
Thanatos shifted out of their reality, the others following suit.

------------------------------------------------------------------

What could Thanatos be up to? Shouldn't he have discussed this with
his brothers beforehand? Trusting the creatures they protect with the
genesis of the cosmos? Did he expect a different reaction? Next
chapter will be a bit shorter, but I'm sure it's welcome after this
long one. Later!