Finally! Here it is, in all of it's... well, I wouldn't say *glory*
exactly.... *gory* maybe....

As usual, C&C is begged for. =^_~=

Anyhoo, this fic is rated R by the Singular Council of Me for scenes of
graphic violence. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Thanks go out to the wonderful John W. Conner for prereading most of this
thing and to God-boy for letting me use his character of Chris Angel, God
of Moments in this thing.

Now, on with the show....

Three worlds in chaos.

Three universes trapped in the never-ending struggle between good and
evil.

Seven young girls with indescribable power walk the earth, the Seven Seals
that bind the world together through the boundaries of space and time.

The time of reckoning has begun, for the Overfiend has awoken from his
millennia-long sleep to possess one man - and possess eternity.

The fate of the worlds rests in one young man, a man with the blood of a
demon and the soul of an angel; the man who can sever the bonds of
Destiny.

May the Gods protect us all.

*~* Eternity's Tears *~*

Book I: Demon's Blood

Chapter 1

	Meio Setsuna drew her futon close to the shattered remains of the
window and slowly lowered herself down into a sitting position on the
cushion. Nighttime had descended over the remains of Tokyo; the waving
branches of new trees and foliage highlighted the landscape as they grew
around the broken buildings that had once composed the city. The breeze
that whipped through the makeshift curtains rippled through her glossy
hair. Fresh aromas of bright new grass and blooming flowers filled the
room with Nature's own potpourri. Japan's rebirth . . . if only it hadn't
had to come about the way it had. She felt her chest grow slightly warm as
the seed of hope reassured her that everything had turned out for the
best. The Senshi of Time let her stoic facade rest and relaxed in the
glories of the earth's renewal.
	A dagger of pain suddenly wormed its way through her heart.
Setsuna's mouth gaped open in a wordless cry of agony as images and
memories from a hellish future that should never be seared themselves into
her mind. She doubled over on her futon, clutching her chest as hot tears
began coursing down her cheeks. *No, not this . . . not this . . . ! Not .
. . not . . . .*
	"I'm afraid so, Setsuna." A pair of gentle hands touched the
woman's chest; the pain slowly began to subside into a dull, throbbing
ache.  Startled, she quickly wiped away the traces of her tears.
	"You don't have to hide your pain from me, Setsuna-chan," the
feminine voice admonished. She moved to the window; the faint moonlight
played across her features and highlighted the colors in her ornate robes.
"It's beautiful, isn't it? Tokyo, I mean. It wasn't but a month ago that
you couldn't see the stars clearly for the smog and pollution. Now the
nation is purified, a verdant paradise for man to start over in . . . ."
	"Poetic tonight, aren't we, Tsunami?"
	The Jurian goddess shrugged her shoulders, brushing aside a stray
lock of her light blue hair. "I thought the nightmare had ended with the
banishment of the Aragami back to their realm. You know the sheer strength
of the beasts yourself."
	The Senshi of Time nodded. When the demons had first appeared in
Tokyo, the Inner and Outer Senshi had immediately rushed out to attack.
All the Senshi's attacks had been ineffective; even Super Sailor Moon's
greatest attacks had failed to do more than scratch the monster's hide.
Setsuna had, had to whisk the entire group away before they were
destroyed. "It took me ages to convince them that it was not their place
to battle the Aragami. Haruka and Makoto," and she sighed and shook her
head, "they went out after the demons anyway when they strayed into the
Juuban district. They're lucky they came out alive, much less with as few
injuries as they had."
	Tsunami nodded and leaned up against the wall. "But the matsuri,
the Kushinada's matsuri, banished the Aragami back to their dimension of
slumber."
	"And replenished Nature as well, I know. It's just a shame that
this peace had to come with a young girl's self-sacrifice." She sat down
heavily on her futon and began picking at loose threads on the fabric.
	The goddess shifted uncomfortably. "Hai, it is," she said, "but
Kushinada-hime made the decision herself. Not even my cousin Susano-O knew
the path she would take." *Gomen, Setsuna-chan, but I can't tell you that
the Kushinada still lives. It is not my place nor the right time to reveal
that to you. You are not to be a player in this game yet . . . .*
	Setsuna noticed her long-time friend's discomfort and quickly
changed the subject. "I don't think you came to wax rhapsodic over the
events in Japan, Tsunami. This has to do with that pain I felt, doesn't
it? Has it begun?"
	"Hai." Tsunami lowered herself down on the edge of the futon and
rested her head in her hands. "That pain . . . the First Seal has already
been taken, Setsuna."
	"What?!? Already??? But . . . but-"
	"Gomen nasai, but I cannot tell you more. Watch over the Time Gate
well, my friend, for our enemy may try to destroy that barrier." The
Jurian goddess rose, her form beginning to fade into the shadows. "If the
Overfiend is not found and stopped before he takes the Seven Seals . . .
."
	Sailor Pluto stared at the shadows where her friend had been
staring. ". . . Then the Worlds will surely die."
	Tsunami's voice, wavering in the breeze, seemed to float through
the barriers of time and space. 
	". . . Armageddon . . . ."

*~*

	*You've come at last.*
	The iron scent of freshly spilt blood filled the chamber. A
shadow-bound figure trod the wet tatami, reveling in the squishing noise
it made under his boots. Pausing, the man knelt by a woman's dismembered
head and dipped his fingers in the blood that trickled out of her severed
jugular. He brought the crimson fingers up to his face. "Konban wa,
Hinoto-hime," the figure said, licking the blood from his fingers.
	*Kamui.*
	At the far end of the room, a waiflike figure stirred and sat up,
her voluminous kimono spread out around her. Golden hair flowed down from
ornate hairclips to frame her gentle face. Milky, sightless eyes fluttered
open to stare blankly at the darkness. The Dreaming Princess that ruled
the Japanese government cringed slightly at the odor of innocent blood
that filled her private chamber. Despite her psychic powers, she had not
heard their minds nor felt their absence until now. *You killed Sohi and
Hien!* her sad voice echoed telepathically. *Why, Kamui? Why them?*
	He ignored her, stepping over a mangled torso to the second
corpse. "You know," he said nonchalantly, picking up Hien's severed head,
"you learn a lot about other cultures in school. Take, for example, the
Inuit, the Eskimos; they have some *odd* tastes in culinary delicacies.
Whale fat and fish eyes." He flicked out a fingernail, letting it grow out
into a sharpened claw. "I wonder . . . do human eyes taste as good as fish
eyes?"
	Hinoto cried out softly as Kamui's mind invaded her dream world;
she "saw" the claw dig into the eye socket and slice through muscles and
nerves . . . saw him neatly scoop the eye out and let it dangle by the
optic nerve. Peeling away the cornea and the lens, he turned it upside
down and let the gelatinous eye fluids dribble into his mouth.
"Interesting, but a bit cold for my tastes," he said, idly tossing the
remnants of the eye at the princess. She cringed as the wet piece of flesh
struck her face and fell to the tatami.
	Kamui face remained passive, but Hinoto could feel Dark energies
surrounding the young man. Stepping over a puddle of gore, he knelt beside
her. "Do you know why I've come, First Seal? Do you have any inkling of
why I've come to this world again?" He stroked her hair with a
bloodstained hand. "Don't you remember me at all, Aitsuchi-ou, one time
Queen of the Earth?"
	She gasped with sudden recognition, her mind's voice wavering with
fear. *RAGNAROK?!? But . . . why . . . why Kamui? Why take him as your
avatar?*
	The being known as Ragnarok chuckled heartily and patted the
princess on her head. "Because, my dearest Hinoto, if I had not taken this
young man, you would have chosen him. And his powers . . . ah, his powers
are great indeed. It was a simple thing to turn him to the Dark; his mind
was already on the edge. I just had to nudge him a bit." He traced the
contour of her cheek with one claw, leaving a trail of blood as it sliced
thinly into the flesh. "It was his destiny, First Seal; *Kamui,* after
all, means 'He who hunts down the authority of God.' Give up your hopes
and surrender to me, Hinoto-hime; Armageddon has begun."
	Hinoto shook her head furiously, pushing him away. *No! No, I
won't believe it! There is still Kamui's twin star, he-*
	"Fuma?" The voice in her head had changed; she was now facing the
real Kamui, and his voice was so warped with evil that it hurt her to hear
him. "Fuma is gone. Such a tragic accident, really; he should have known
better than to go swimming while bound in chains . . . ." He grinned.
"Monou Fuma is dead."
	The princess's heart sank as the truth of his words struck her in
the heart; tears welled up in her eyes and began flowing down her cheeks.
*Then who can champion the Light? Who . . . ?*
	Ragnarok/Kamui smirked. "No one can now. This battle was over
before it began, Hinoto-hime, for I am the Overfiend, the one who will
destroy the Worlds and recreate them in My own image!" Tilting her head to
one side, he remarked, "I wonder . . . would the flavor of the eye be
better if still warm?"
	And the claw descended . . . .

*~*

	Urd glared at the sleek surface of Yggdrasil, her face twisted
into a scowl. "Obstinate piece of junk," she muttered under her breath as
she turned away from the celestial computer. 
	The Kami realm was in an uproar. Urd's younger sister Skuld had
been running herself ragged trying to keep up with the insane number of
bugs that had been popping up all over Earth and Heaven. Smoke marks from
the bug's corpses stained the celestial computer, while empty cartons of
131's Ice Cream were strewn over the entire realm. Belldandy had been
helping her for a while before being called into a meeting with Kami-sama
himself; Skuld had then promptly coerced the goddesses' brother
Christopher Angel into joining her anti-bug crusade. The rest of the gods
. . . well, they had their own crises to handle. Sighing, Urd picked up an
empty bottle of sake and glared at it before tossing it aside again.
	"Still not responding, eh?"
	The goddess looked over her shoulder to see Chris towering over
her. "I don't understand it! I've tried everything I can think of, and
Yggdrasil *still* refuses all input!"
	"Let me try something." The towering God of Moments screwed up his
concentration, and a monitor slowly melted out of the computer's surface,
followed by a glowing keyboard. He began typing; his face quickly settled
into a heavy frown as three shimmering words appeared on the screen:
	*~*IT HAS BEGUN*~*
	Urd grabbed a half-empty bottle of sake and took a long drink from
it. "That's all it will say. Nothing I've tried had gotten a different
response. I even tried the reboot preliminaries!"
	"That was a stupid thing to do, Urd. Rebooting Yggdrasil will mean
Armageddon!" he snapped.
	"It didn't work, so it doesn't matter!" She drained the bottle and
set it down on the floor. "What matters is that an insane number of bugs
are screwing *everything* up on Earth, and we can't fix the problem until
we can find out why Yggdrasil isn't responding!"
	"I think I know why." The duo turned to see a weary Belldandy
standing behind them. "Kami-sama wants to see us. Now."

	Skuld was waiting for the trio outside of God's office when they
arrived. The teenage goddess was leaning on her mallet and devouring a
bucket of Peanut Butter Fudge Ripple ice cream; she looked up at the
group, exhausted. "What's going on now, Oneechan?" she asked Belldandy.
	Before she could answer, the double doors opened, letting the
group inside. The office was spotlessly clean, with glistening walls and
plush green carpet. The gumball machine by the oak desk was empty; on top
of it was perched a thick sheaf of papers. A lone figure stood against the
far wall; all four knelt in front of Him.
	Kami-sama turned towards His children. He was in His
Judeo-Christian mode, with long, flowing grey hair and a thick beard. The
dark navy business suit He wore was rumpled; He pulled out His leather
swivel chair and sat down heavily. "Please, get up from there and sit
down," He sighed, waving towards the array of chairs in front of his desk.
	They all did as they were told, their faces caught in worry.
"What's wrong, Boss?" Chris finally ventured.
	He raised His head and stared at them; His normally cheery grey
eyes were overridden with concern. "My children, it has begun."
	Urd and Belldandy glanced at each other. "What is it? What has
begun?"
	God sighed and picked up a tiny globe off of His desk. Cradling it
in His hands, He said softly, "It has begun . . . . Armageddon."


Jess, the LilTigre =^_^=