Ugh ok. So I found an old unfinished drawing from last year and it vaguely inspired me to write a thing; I’m not super happy with it but it was nagging at my brain and I’ve re-written shitload of it and if I don’t leave it alone now I’ll be nitpicking it into my grave. It’s kinda dark, vaguely gory, no happy ending for anyone. Gonna put it under at cut.
i just want everyone to know that Minako Aino is a powerful and ruthless entity and we should be terrified of her, “all shall love me and despair”-style
Listen, PGSM Minako is willing to use her idol influence to convince dying children that rei is an up-and-coming popstar just because she’s a petty ass. I don’t even want to think of what she would do if she decided to enslave the entire human race because you know she could ABSOLUTELY do that
The Queen is wise. The Queen is kind. The Queen is powerful.
No one
questions
the Queen’s wisdom, and yet the Moon’s relations with Earth continue to deteriorate. No one
questions
the Queen’s kindness, and yet the Four Senshi of the Guardian Planets are not permitted to grow attached to the one they are sworn to. No one
questions
the Queen’s power, and yet her daughter could use the Silver Crystal just as well.
The Queen is not the one who holds their hearts and loyalties, and yet the Queen is the one they obey.
Without a doubt, the Queen is shrewd, as she has made it so the four of them can only fulfill their oaths to the Princess by serving the Queen. Without a doubt, the Queen loves her child, but that love extends to little else. Without a doubt, Venus could not attack the Queen and emerge victorious.
At least not alone.
Venus never voices any of these treasonous thoughts; she swallows her pride and serves the Queen. Over time, she notices the defiance in the way Mars refuses to look down and Jupiter clenches her fists and Mercury grits her teeth. Venus hands Mars a cutlery knife instead of chopsticks and apologizes hastily, maintaining eye contact the whole time. Within days, the Princess is carrying a concealed tanto on her person at all times. Venus suggests the Princess would likely love to learn ice skating, and watches Jupiter’s eyes light up with more than joy. Within weeks, the Princess endures longer bouts of snowball fights the five of them have in the quiet of the night in an abandoned hall, thanks to the one with power over water. Venus asks Mercury about the Princess’ history classes, and the reply assures her that Mercury understood exactly what was being said and what wasn’t. Within months, the Princess starts asking questions.
The royal line of the Silver Millennium is long-lived, not immortal. Sooner or later, they will have a new Queen. If her mother will not make sure she is adequately prepared, her Senshi will.
But then, the Princess’ step loses its spring and her smile becomes a rare occurence and she takes to sitting alone in the evening and late into the night, watching the sky. At the same time, the unrest on Earth escalates, further than any of them had ever seen.
Venus knows one lovestruck when she sees them. She watches the Princess carefully, and learns there is no one on the Moon the heiress seeks the company (or mere sight) of more often than she had always done. Venus easily seduces one of the soldiers serving directly under their Prince’s Shitennou to gain a source of information. There are murmurs of discontent, accusing Endymion of loving the night sky too fondly to look to his own people, even claiming that he should not be the Prince. There are whispers of a sorceress who has harnessed all power of the Sun and the shadows cast by its light, and who has vowed to liberate the Earth of the Silver Millennium’s influence.
One night, Venus enters the Princess’ chambers uninvited, and finds her stargazing again. Except that stars are not what young Serenity is looking at. With patience and love and understanding, Venus coaxes out a confession that the Princess had fallen for Endymion. She wipes her sovereign’s tears away and kisses her forehead and strokes her hair. Venus looks up at the planet in the sky, and holds Serenity close so she doesn’t have to see the steely glint in the Senshi’s eyes.
Once the Princess is consoled a little and soundly asleep, Venus proceeds to drag Mars out of bed and demands a divination. When she is given a name, a description, and a place, she offers her thanks and leaves.
The next sunrise on Earth is greeted by Venus bleeding the red-haired sorceress out over an altar to the youma-spawning abomination. A dark shadow appears, and a reverbating voice sounds:
IT IS FUTILE TO CHALLENGE ME, SENSHI.
“I don’t want to challenge you, I want you attention,” Venus replies dryly. “Your champion lies dead at my feet, which proves I’m stronger than she was. I’m also smarter than Beryl, and subtler than she would ever know it’s possible to be. If you want an upgrade, I’m standing right here.”
YOU WISH TO TAKE HER PLACE?
“I need power, and you need a servant,” Venus tells the shifting shadow. “It’s a win-win.”
She rethinks her choice of words immediately as a torrent of tainted energy crashes into her, flooding and twisting and remaking her insides to its liking. When Venus can breathe again, she tests her new powers for a moment, then sits to concentrate and mask the dark energy with that of her guardian planet. And then she returns to the Moon.
The Queen doesn’t even notice. Of course she doesn’t. It’s been too long since she’s been able to see past her child.
Venus manages to steal another heart-to-heart talk with the Princess. The situation on Earth is putting Endymion in danger, and Serenity fears for his life. Venus offers a smile and words of encouragement, and follows the Princess the next time she goes to see him. When the lovers bid each other farewell, Venus follows the Prince, and drops the shadow veil she had taught herself to weave.
Endymion’s hand falls to the hilt of his sword immediately. “Show yourself!”
“I am showing myself. It’s not my fault you’re too moonstruck to see me,” Venus says testily. “I don’t much care for you, Prince, but she does, and I will see you two married if it’s the last thing I ever do. Kindly work with me, here.”
It does not take much more to convice the Prince to cooperate. He turns his mind back to his people and to the matters tearing his court into two opposing factions; slowly but steadily, the situation stabilizes a little. Serenity bemoans the fewer opportunities to see him, but with quiet yet firm support from her four Senshi, she preserves.
So far, Venus needed Metallia’s champion out of the way to eliminate a threat to her plan. Now she needs to actively use the tainted energy she’s been infused with, instead of merely grappling with it for control every day. But if she is to make it all work, she needs an ally, and the youma spawned with Metallia’s power are too unreliable.
Mars will sense something is wrong. Mercury will reach the same conclusion. The only one who will take her words at face value is Jupiter.
Venus takes a deep breath, trying not to think about what she’s going to do, and asks Jupiter for help with scouting out a suspicious crater in Mare Crisium. The taller Senshi agrees immediately, and they set out. Once there, Venus springs the previously prepared trap, making it seem like she’s in danger; Jupiter leaps to her aid without thinking, and is promptly thrown to her knees as an avalanche of Metallia’s energy pours over her. Against all odds, Jupiter manages to raise her head and extend one hand to Venus–who stands unmoving, watching, waiting. The pain on Jupiter’s face shifts into fear, shock, betrayal, and she lets out a single roar that is half agony, half defiance, before collapsing like a marionette with severed strings.
Venus works Metallia’s will to remake the strings, and when the echoes of Jupiter’s subsequent screams fade, she speaks a single word. “Rise.”
That prompts a moan from the broken form at her feet. Jupiter’s fingers scrabble at the dirt and she shakily pushes herself up, her movements jerky and uneven, as if she was fighing against every last one of them. When Venus can see her face again, it’s streaked with tears, and her eyes hold nothing but horror. Jupiter is now a prisoner in her own mind, watching her body moving and her powers at work without any input on her part.
“I’m sorry,” Venus says quietly. “But none of you would have agreed to do this with me, and I can’t do it alone. Please go ahead and hate me after it’s over.”
She is sorry, to be sure. But not sorry enough not to do it anyway.
The two of them leave the Moon and focus on crafting youma with Metallia’s energy for a while. Then they send the youma against the Golden Kingdom, forcing Endymion to act. The Prince’s decisive actions against the attacks help him strengthen his position as the heir to the Earth’s throne, and to undermine the voices demanding a better ruler.
After all, what unites fractured clans better than a common enemy and a common leader?
Then it’s time for an infestation of monsters on the Moon, too. Mercury and Mars attempt to cleanse it. Venus knows how the two of them fight, however, and sends a wave after wave of monsters, until the two Senshi are exhausted and forced to retreat.
That succeeds in drawing the Queen out.
What she finds is a small tower built of scrawny monsters gripping one another’s bodies so tightly, no light falls through the living and breathing walls. Inside, she meets Jupiter, fuku black and eyes empty.
The Queen’s eyes narrow. “I had never expected you to waver.”
Jupiter offers no response, simply falls on the offensive. The Queen lifts the Silver Crystal–which is promptly backhanded from her fingers as Venus attacks from behind, twisting and immobilizing the Queen’s wrists as Jupiter’s hands find the Queen’s neck and squeeze.
Jupiter is brawny and strong, tall and broad-shouldered. It’s easy to see Jupiter as a threat. Next to the pillar of power that is Jupiter, it’s easy to overlook a flirty blonde.
Venus leaves the Silver Crystal where it fell and raises one hand, dispelling the monsters all around them in a flash of light. Then she grabs Jupiter’s wrist and pulls her along as she walks away from the lotus-shaped jewel, struggling against Metallia’s will with every step.
One day, the sunspot creature will perhaps swallow the Silver Crystal. But not today.
The Queen will be remembered as having died for her people, as her foremothers before her. The Princess will be crowned as her mother’s successor, and inherit the throne as she was always meant to.
Venus retreats to Earth, where she intensifies the monster attacks. The young Queen extends an offer of alliance to Prince Endymion, who accepts. Serenity, Mercury, and Mars fight alongside the nobility of the Golden Kingdom, earning their respect and often friendship. And if they do not, Venus simply sends more monsters against the unswayed clans, wiping them out or reducing them to a non-issue.
And when the newly wed royal pair, two Senshi, and four Shitennou gather to battle Metallia herself, Venus is there to offer them a way in.
All she remembers of the final battle is drawing on Metallia as much as possible. Venus may be a corrupted shadow of her former self, but that only means she has a link to Metallia, and so she utilizes that link to its full extent. The sunspot monstrosity’s mind becomes muddled, its aim wavers, its focus shatters. In retaliation, Metallia pours scorching pain down Venus’ bones and sets her blood on fire with a mindless need to obey. But Venus is a Senshi, and has been sworn to obey her Princess long before selling her soul. She breathes through the torrent of pain and pours confusion in return, hoping that it will create an opening for her sovereign to exploit.
The next thing she knows, Serenity is kneeling next to her, one hand under Venus’ head and the other slowly moving the Silver Crystal over the Senshi’s body, endlessly repeating pleas for her to hang on and promises that everything will be all right.
“Don’t blame Jupiter,” Venus murmurs on her first free breath. “I made her do it. All of it.”
In the end, she survives–if barely. Serenity is stronger than Venus could have ever dreamed and married to the man she loves; the Silver Millennium is led by a more competent leader and at peace with the Golden Kingdom of Earth, the alliance cemented with a marriage that will likely last forever.
So even if she has to spend decades recovering, even if Jupiter will not look her in the eye for another thousand years, it’s a small price to pay.
OH MY GOD HOW DARE YOU MY FEELINGS
jesus, this is beautiful. I expected bitter Venus getting swept up by metallia but I WAS A FOOL because gd of COURSE she would seek out metallia. Only v would find the biggest threat to the kingdom and turn it into an advantage.
But the best thing is that she doesn’t seek out metallia for the kingdom at all. These girls all love their princess so much and if venus can find a way to use this evil demonic power to make serenity happy then you bet your ass she’s gonna do it, with no cost other than her own suffering–and i guess jupiter’s too.
SPEAKING OF, it is the most venus thing ever how she evaluates each of her soldiers to figure out who is the best to corrupt here, and settling on precious, trusting jupiter. And it’s all okay because “you can hate me after” OH MY GOD MY HEART DON’T RUIN YOUR FRIENDSHIPS LIKE THIS WHY. Like, after all of this, how long is it going to take before Jupiter listens to orders again? Venus’s plan completely worked but i somehow don’t think jupes cares about that.
But GOD venus having the strength to walk away from the ginzuisho, just wreck me, she WOULD because she’s not doing this for her own power or her own gain ALL OF THIS IS FOR SERENITY AND SERENITY ALONE AND EVERYTHING HURTS.
AND AFTER ALL OF THIS SERENITY STILL SAVES HER BECAUSE HOW COULD SHE NOT
UUUUUUUGH
Anyways i guess we can conclude that the entire plot of sailor moon never actually happened because venus is too good at her job.
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