EXTREMELY IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE: many people don't know of the origin of
the world in LotR terms, mainly because it's not something mentioned in the
trilogy. To help you understand this story a bit more, I've decided to
give you a short summary of the beginning of the world.
Eru/ Illúvatar (god) created the Ainur (basically, other gods and goddesses that are below him). He taught the Ainur music and shared with them his dream for the creation of the world (vision of Illúvatar). With the Ainur, they played the Music of the Ainur which created the world. Some of the Ainur, descended into the new world (Arda) and guided the children of Illúvatar which were elves and men.
Also, Ainur are grouped and one of these groupings are Maiar. They are the weakest of the Ainur. Fallen Maiar are Balrogs. Maiar that came to Middle Earth after the beginning of the Third Age are referred to as "Istari" which is what Gandalf is.
One last note, Middle Earth is not Arda, it is IN Arda. Arda is the entire world. Middle Earth is a region of Arda.
*
Disclaimer: I do not own BSSM or LotR
***
**
*
Chapter 1: Awakening
A lady stood encased in crystal. Her eyes were closed, her head bowed forward, and her hands clasped in front of her, as if in prayer. The crystal itself sat atop the center of a temple. Above the crystal, in the high, white marble ceiling, was a colossal hole that allowed sunlight to stream through and strike the crystal. The light was reflected and refracted by the crystal's jagged form and lit up the entire temple. Every lunar month, the moon would be positioned to fully receive the sun's light and during the duration of that time, also known as a full moon, the temple would glow eerily, giving it an ethereal quality.
It was during such a full moon that silver-blue eyes opened slowly and fingers flexed for the first time in countless millennia...
*
The muffled sounds of heels clicking on a marble hallway were heard. It was as if the air was hesitant to awaken and disturb the peace that had settled in around the castle; almost unsure if there really was something causing noise.
Neo-Queen Serenity walked slowly down the corridors of the Moon Palace, taking in the feeling of her old home. She wandered aimlessly until she reached the Tower of Prayer. With a sad smile, she gently placed her hands on the crystal. She looked into it longingly before pressing her cheek to the smooth surface and taking comfort from the coolness that emanated from it. Her eyelids fluttered closed and with a resigned sigh, she slid down to her knees as tears left a burning trail on her face.
*
Neo-Queen Serenity woke up hours later on the hard floor. Instead of picking herself off the cold ground, the former queen of Crystal Tokyo lay there, a broken woman. No more tears fell from her eyes; there were none left to cry. No more sweat matted her hair; there was nothing left to fear. No more sobs raked her body; she had lost every reason to feel. Unfortunately, the pain still gripped her heart.
'Why? What had happened? How did it all go so wrong?' The questions were repeated in the defeated woman's mind.
How indeed. Hadn't they seen the future? Wasn't she supposed to rule with her Endymion for thousands of years? Weren't they supposed to give birth to a little, pink-haired, time-traveling spore who would grow to be 902 years old before actually growing up? Weren't her senshi supposed to be there? Wasn't she supposed to create a long-lasting Utopia?
No, she hadn't been meant to. She had thought Destiny had finally given her a chance at happiness, but she had found that the future she saw as a teenage, youma-fighting heroine, wasn't her destiny at all. When her future daughter traveled to the past, she caused a paradox. The time stream split. Tsukino Usagi would never get her chance at a fairy-tale ending. At least, not one that would last very long.
Oh, the metoer came, and Usagi was forced to encase the earth in crystal. She and the rest of the world slept until it came time for her to take her place as Queen of the Earth. She had married her Endymion, with all her senshi as bridesmaids, and they had set up the capital of their utopia and named it "Crystal Tokyo". She had gained a bit of grace and wisdom. She wasn't the perfect ruler she had met in the far future, but she wasn't the old Usagi who would have caused the downfall of all mankind with her naivety and tactlessness. Soon she gave birth to a pink-haired bundle of joy and named her Chiba Usagi, but it all went downhill from there.
Wiseman had his little uprising. He and his insurgents protested that a utopian society would bring about the end of the world. I followed what I had been told the future Neo-Queen did when faced with this ordeal. I used the crystal to defeat Wiseman and banish him. Unfortunately, I didn't count on a tiny other factor. A tiny, black, crystal factor.
Yes, that's right ladies and gentlemen, the Wiseman of my time possessed the Dark Crystal. How? I suppose when the future Wiseman followed Chibi- Usa to my time, he passed it on to his past self. How convenient.
Well, without the knowledge that this Wiseman possessed the Dark Crystal, and without the help of a second Ginzuishou, we lost. Not completely! I mean, I wouldn't exactly be here if Wiseman had truly won. No, my death would be too much to hope for. I had foolishly and pretentiously tried to use the Ginzuishou to blast him and get rid of him. Kill him. Make sure that I ended it, then and there, so that my precious daughter wouldn't have to go back in time. Also, so my past self could spend more time alone with her Mamo-chan. Selfish, I know.
The blast exploded and a cloud of dust flew into the air. I arrogantly assumed that I had defeated Wiseman and proceeded to smile and accept congratulations.
It was then that disaster struck. I remember a dark beam of light coming at me and hearing my darling daughter cry out "Mama!" before I fell to the ground. And when I broke out of my daze, I was cradling the body of my daughter in my arms. The cold, lifeless body of my adoring daughter.
I was shocked. This was not supposed to happen. Chibi-Usa was not supposed to die. What was going on? Setsuna had not said anything about this! She would come back, she had to! She was in the future, she had lived to be over 902 years old!
In my blind panic, I failed to realize that the senshi needed my help. Endymion needed my help. I didn't see that they had used up almost all of their energy. They had transferred it all to Hotaru, and as Sailor Saturn brought down her glaive, they all fell to the ground. All of them. Even Pluto, Ms. Eternal Guardian of Time.
They managed to defeat Wiseman and save their princess, but what good did it do? All their princess wanted was her friends and family. All their princess wanted was to die so she didn't have to be alone, but no. Fate and destiny wouldn't allow it.
She was so stupid; she should have just plunged Endymion's sword into her heart and have been done with it. Unfortunately, she was still arrogant. She had to go out with a bang. She had to ask the Ginzuishou to take her life.
She should have realized that every time she used the Ginzuishou, destiny played her part. She should have known that it was the Ginzuishou that focused her heart's love into energy, but fate that granted her wish, and fate did not want her to die...yet.
So, fate had taken all that energy. She had taken her love and spread it to the people of Crystal Tokyo. Somehow, Usagi knew. She just knew that her people were immortal. Not in the sense that they would forever be reborn like her. Nor would they live despite all circumstances. They could be killed like all mortals, but they would never age beyond a certain point. Once killed, they would forever rest.
Fate also did something unthinkable. She strengthened the bond between the immortals and nature and the heavens. Now why would fate go and do a thing like that?
And even after all those gifts, there was more energy. After all, it wasn't true immortality that fate gave to those people, nor was it very difficult to strengthen a bond, especially one that had existed throughout time and was merely forgotten about.
With the remaining energy, fate opened a door of sorts. It was a magnificent door made of light and music, and through the door came the Ainur.
Usagi knew very little about the Ainur, but they seemed to be good so she did not protests.
Finally, Fate had decided to lock her away in crystal. It decided to place her back into her little Moon Palace and keep her there, sleeping but aware. A last-resort should anything happen to the earth.
Hence, former Neo-Queen Serenity slept, and as she slept, she watched the development of her little planet. She watched the immortal ones connect more and more to nature. She watched them discover their bond with her and the moon and she watched as this bond made them good and fair, and just and kind, and with such qualities, came wisdom, grace, and beauty. They called themselves "elves".
Then, she watched as the Ainur guided the elves and other beings of the world. There were many divisions between the Ainur. The weakest of the Ainur were the ones who interested her for they were the ones who were most involved in the lives of the people. Their bond with her was not as strong as the Ainur and therefore, some were subject to evil. Those that remained on the side of the light called themselves "Maiar". (that's what Gandalf is.)
Those outside her sphere of influence, outside Crystal Tokyo, stayed mortal. Strangely enough, they were not astronomically more susceptible to evil than the Maiar. Although they had not the strong connection with the heavens, they also did not have the strong connection with magic. The stars did not protect against corruption and the taste of magic did not provide more corruption. These mortals kept their name of "men".
Many other races developed. Dwarves from her time were frowned upon by men and came together in colonies to live underground. There, they developed a love for mining and precious metals. Their industrial behavior also gave them an indifferent attitude towards nature.
A dwarf and an elf eventually fell in love and gave rise to hobbits. Pleasant little creatures that lived underground like the dwarves, but reveled in nature like the elves.
Men and elves were too alike to give rise to a different species when they coupled. However, those with Elvish blood had immortality, or if they had very little Elvish blood, long lifelines.
Elephants grew bigger and became elefants. Helios sired horses that became the maeras. Elves were tortured into becoming orcs. Renegade youmas became all sorts of horrendous beasts such as goblins and trolls. Most fearsome of all, were the balrogs who were really fallen Maiar.
She had watched all these races grow. She had watched them fight. She had watched them hate, but she had also watched them love and she in turn came to love the beings of middle earth. She slept in her crystal prison, a silent watcher of the wonderful world.
She watched as the elves learned of their origins, and this surprised her. They thought that "Eru" or God had created the Ainur, the Holy Ones. The Ainur, in turn, were trained by Eru in the arts of music. Eru shared with the Ainur, his dream of Arda, and together, they played the Music of Ainur and created the Vision of Illúvatar, the world.
In the beginning, she attributed this to the need for a higher purpose. Why would the peoples of Middle Earth not admit that they were the by- product of a dead world? In time, the answer came to her. She finally thought back to her final moments as a free woman. While she had tried to kill herself with the power of the Ginzuishou, she remembered hearing the most beautiful music every created. It was a song so powerful and rich, so strong and precise, that it had the power to create. That was when she realized the truth.
It was her world that had never meant to truly exist, not Arda. Her world was the time for the Ainur to practice their music. The place for the Ainur to experiment with creation so as to make Arda perfect. The place for Eru to teach the art of music to the Ainur. It was her final death wish that released the power of the Ginzuishou, the last voice of their song, and lead to the destruction of her world, and the creation of theirs.
The realization saddened her. The world that had meant everything to her, was merely a rough draft, a piece of scrap paper, to the gods. A forgotten sketch made before a masterpiece.
At the same time, she was elated. She had been part of the song that had created the work of art called Arda. She had given life. She was no longer, a part of a dead world. She was involved in the life of a new one.
The new revelation excited her. She would take her place in Arda. Though she was imprisoned, she would act as a guardian for the new world. She couldn't do much, but little was better than nothing, so Neo-Queen Serenity occupied herself with small accidents, for that was all she could accomplish in her crystal prison.
Her small interferences ranged from a cool breeze to soothe those fighting for the side of the light, to instant hallucinations that diverted the enemy's attention from a scout. She played this small part as Melkor ravaged the world. She wept, but knew that there was little she could do, especially in comparison with the Ainur who could surely aid better than she. Therefore, while the Ainur concerned themselves with winning wars and saving the people, Tsukino Usagi concerned herself with saving persons; single lives that should not die.
After Melkor was sealed in the void, the Ainur also left the sphere of Middle Earth. They left to dwell in Valinor and Usagi, as well as the Maiar, remained to guard the world. However, Usagi felt that she was not needed and spent most of her time looking in on the lives of men, elves, and hobbits. She was too late, and too weak, to stop the spread of Sauron.
A last alliance between men and elves was forged and the great army marched to Mordor. At the Siege of Barad-dûr, it almost seemed that the war may be won for the side of the light, but Sauron descended from his dark throne, bearing the One Ring. Sauron met with Elendil and killed the King. Isildur, knelt by his father's side as he breathed his last breath. With a cry of sorrow, Isildur took up his father's broken sword and blindly slashed at Sauron.
Neo-Queen Serenity seized her chance and guided the blade. As Sauron stretched out his hand to take hold of Isildur, the blade cut his fingers off and severed the ring from Sauron's hand.
Thus ended the Second Age and Usagi went back to helping children discover rare flowers and adults earn enough money for food, at least until the next threat.
That threat came about 3000 years into the Third Age. The One Ring had been found, once again and Saruman had turned to the dark. Such a tip in the scales of good and evil was enough to awaken the former queen and she had been released from her crystal cage.
*
With a sigh, Usagi picked herself off the ground and resumed a kneeling position in front of the Tower of Prayer, her palms on the cool surface once again. Being half-asleep in crystal for thousands of years had numbed her to the pain of losing her friends and family. Coming out of that sleep had been a shock on her emotions. Now that she had been able to release her anguish, Usagi's mind delved into the matter at hand. She would do all she could to protect this new world...her new world.
Usagi searched all of Middle Earth for enough positive energy and found it in Imladris. Upon further inspection, she realized that this energy came from the greatest gathering of warriors of the light this age had ever seen. She also found that they had the One Ring with them. She was elated. Not only did these warriors provide enough positive energy to help free her from the moon, they were near the One Ring. She would not have to find it. As soon as she was brought to Imladris, she could destroy it.
Instantly, Usagi began to collect their pure energy. As soon as she had enough gathered, she started to transport herself. Unfortunately, something that she had never predicted, occurred.
With the loss of positive energy, came the warriors' susceptibility to the darkness of the One Ring. The One Ring took this opportunity and exerted its evil influence over the warriors. It created spite between them and they started to argue. Because of this sudden evil energy, Usagi was pushed back to her palace of the moon.
The argument ended, but it was too late. The damage had been done. Although the bickering was gone, there was still unresolved hate and malice between the warriors. Usagi would never be able to descend to Middle Earth. Nothing short of a great city's happiness would be able to replace the positive energy she had lost with the warriors!
Usagi watched as the council came to an end and the Fellowship of the Ring was proclaimed. Great, now the best warriors of the gathering had been selected to go off on their own and try to destroy the ring. Now, even if they managed to settle their differences, they would be split. Neither party would have enough positive energy. With a sigh, Usagi sat herself down on the floor, Indian-style. She placed her hands back on the crystal and her eyes suddenly went blank. She gave a mischievous smile.
'Well, if I can't do it the easy way, I might as well guide this "Fellowship" and do it the hard way.' Usagi thought to herself.
She wasn't free of the Moon Palace, so she didn't have all her power yet, but at least she wasn't stuck inside that blasted crystal.
***
**
*
The council had ended and Gandalf decided to take a walk in the gardens to try to soothe his spirit and worry. He saw a beautiful white rose and bent down to smell it. As he did, his eyebrows suddenly knitted together and his forehead creased.
Where was she? The moon queen was supposed to be freed from her crystal prison to help them on their quest and she had still not shown up. Perhaps her anger at being held captive had not quelled and she had decided to abandon them?
Suddenly, a cool breeze caressed his aged skin and gave him comfort. His spirit did not feel so weary and his heart rose from its position in his stomach.
'Perhaps we are not so alone after all.' He thought to himself with a wise smile.
Eru/ Illúvatar (god) created the Ainur (basically, other gods and goddesses that are below him). He taught the Ainur music and shared with them his dream for the creation of the world (vision of Illúvatar). With the Ainur, they played the Music of the Ainur which created the world. Some of the Ainur, descended into the new world (Arda) and guided the children of Illúvatar which were elves and men.
Also, Ainur are grouped and one of these groupings are Maiar. They are the weakest of the Ainur. Fallen Maiar are Balrogs. Maiar that came to Middle Earth after the beginning of the Third Age are referred to as "Istari" which is what Gandalf is.
One last note, Middle Earth is not Arda, it is IN Arda. Arda is the entire world. Middle Earth is a region of Arda.
*
Disclaimer: I do not own BSSM or LotR
***
**
*
Chapter 1: Awakening
A lady stood encased in crystal. Her eyes were closed, her head bowed forward, and her hands clasped in front of her, as if in prayer. The crystal itself sat atop the center of a temple. Above the crystal, in the high, white marble ceiling, was a colossal hole that allowed sunlight to stream through and strike the crystal. The light was reflected and refracted by the crystal's jagged form and lit up the entire temple. Every lunar month, the moon would be positioned to fully receive the sun's light and during the duration of that time, also known as a full moon, the temple would glow eerily, giving it an ethereal quality.
It was during such a full moon that silver-blue eyes opened slowly and fingers flexed for the first time in countless millennia...
*
The muffled sounds of heels clicking on a marble hallway were heard. It was as if the air was hesitant to awaken and disturb the peace that had settled in around the castle; almost unsure if there really was something causing noise.
Neo-Queen Serenity walked slowly down the corridors of the Moon Palace, taking in the feeling of her old home. She wandered aimlessly until she reached the Tower of Prayer. With a sad smile, she gently placed her hands on the crystal. She looked into it longingly before pressing her cheek to the smooth surface and taking comfort from the coolness that emanated from it. Her eyelids fluttered closed and with a resigned sigh, she slid down to her knees as tears left a burning trail on her face.
*
Neo-Queen Serenity woke up hours later on the hard floor. Instead of picking herself off the cold ground, the former queen of Crystal Tokyo lay there, a broken woman. No more tears fell from her eyes; there were none left to cry. No more sweat matted her hair; there was nothing left to fear. No more sobs raked her body; she had lost every reason to feel. Unfortunately, the pain still gripped her heart.
'Why? What had happened? How did it all go so wrong?' The questions were repeated in the defeated woman's mind.
How indeed. Hadn't they seen the future? Wasn't she supposed to rule with her Endymion for thousands of years? Weren't they supposed to give birth to a little, pink-haired, time-traveling spore who would grow to be 902 years old before actually growing up? Weren't her senshi supposed to be there? Wasn't she supposed to create a long-lasting Utopia?
No, she hadn't been meant to. She had thought Destiny had finally given her a chance at happiness, but she had found that the future she saw as a teenage, youma-fighting heroine, wasn't her destiny at all. When her future daughter traveled to the past, she caused a paradox. The time stream split. Tsukino Usagi would never get her chance at a fairy-tale ending. At least, not one that would last very long.
Oh, the metoer came, and Usagi was forced to encase the earth in crystal. She and the rest of the world slept until it came time for her to take her place as Queen of the Earth. She had married her Endymion, with all her senshi as bridesmaids, and they had set up the capital of their utopia and named it "Crystal Tokyo". She had gained a bit of grace and wisdom. She wasn't the perfect ruler she had met in the far future, but she wasn't the old Usagi who would have caused the downfall of all mankind with her naivety and tactlessness. Soon she gave birth to a pink-haired bundle of joy and named her Chiba Usagi, but it all went downhill from there.
Wiseman had his little uprising. He and his insurgents protested that a utopian society would bring about the end of the world. I followed what I had been told the future Neo-Queen did when faced with this ordeal. I used the crystal to defeat Wiseman and banish him. Unfortunately, I didn't count on a tiny other factor. A tiny, black, crystal factor.
Yes, that's right ladies and gentlemen, the Wiseman of my time possessed the Dark Crystal. How? I suppose when the future Wiseman followed Chibi- Usa to my time, he passed it on to his past self. How convenient.
Well, without the knowledge that this Wiseman possessed the Dark Crystal, and without the help of a second Ginzuishou, we lost. Not completely! I mean, I wouldn't exactly be here if Wiseman had truly won. No, my death would be too much to hope for. I had foolishly and pretentiously tried to use the Ginzuishou to blast him and get rid of him. Kill him. Make sure that I ended it, then and there, so that my precious daughter wouldn't have to go back in time. Also, so my past self could spend more time alone with her Mamo-chan. Selfish, I know.
The blast exploded and a cloud of dust flew into the air. I arrogantly assumed that I had defeated Wiseman and proceeded to smile and accept congratulations.
It was then that disaster struck. I remember a dark beam of light coming at me and hearing my darling daughter cry out "Mama!" before I fell to the ground. And when I broke out of my daze, I was cradling the body of my daughter in my arms. The cold, lifeless body of my adoring daughter.
I was shocked. This was not supposed to happen. Chibi-Usa was not supposed to die. What was going on? Setsuna had not said anything about this! She would come back, she had to! She was in the future, she had lived to be over 902 years old!
In my blind panic, I failed to realize that the senshi needed my help. Endymion needed my help. I didn't see that they had used up almost all of their energy. They had transferred it all to Hotaru, and as Sailor Saturn brought down her glaive, they all fell to the ground. All of them. Even Pluto, Ms. Eternal Guardian of Time.
They managed to defeat Wiseman and save their princess, but what good did it do? All their princess wanted was her friends and family. All their princess wanted was to die so she didn't have to be alone, but no. Fate and destiny wouldn't allow it.
She was so stupid; she should have just plunged Endymion's sword into her heart and have been done with it. Unfortunately, she was still arrogant. She had to go out with a bang. She had to ask the Ginzuishou to take her life.
She should have realized that every time she used the Ginzuishou, destiny played her part. She should have known that it was the Ginzuishou that focused her heart's love into energy, but fate that granted her wish, and fate did not want her to die...yet.
So, fate had taken all that energy. She had taken her love and spread it to the people of Crystal Tokyo. Somehow, Usagi knew. She just knew that her people were immortal. Not in the sense that they would forever be reborn like her. Nor would they live despite all circumstances. They could be killed like all mortals, but they would never age beyond a certain point. Once killed, they would forever rest.
Fate also did something unthinkable. She strengthened the bond between the immortals and nature and the heavens. Now why would fate go and do a thing like that?
And even after all those gifts, there was more energy. After all, it wasn't true immortality that fate gave to those people, nor was it very difficult to strengthen a bond, especially one that had existed throughout time and was merely forgotten about.
With the remaining energy, fate opened a door of sorts. It was a magnificent door made of light and music, and through the door came the Ainur.
Usagi knew very little about the Ainur, but they seemed to be good so she did not protests.
Finally, Fate had decided to lock her away in crystal. It decided to place her back into her little Moon Palace and keep her there, sleeping but aware. A last-resort should anything happen to the earth.
Hence, former Neo-Queen Serenity slept, and as she slept, she watched the development of her little planet. She watched the immortal ones connect more and more to nature. She watched them discover their bond with her and the moon and she watched as this bond made them good and fair, and just and kind, and with such qualities, came wisdom, grace, and beauty. They called themselves "elves".
Then, she watched as the Ainur guided the elves and other beings of the world. There were many divisions between the Ainur. The weakest of the Ainur were the ones who interested her for they were the ones who were most involved in the lives of the people. Their bond with her was not as strong as the Ainur and therefore, some were subject to evil. Those that remained on the side of the light called themselves "Maiar". (that's what Gandalf is.)
Those outside her sphere of influence, outside Crystal Tokyo, stayed mortal. Strangely enough, they were not astronomically more susceptible to evil than the Maiar. Although they had not the strong connection with the heavens, they also did not have the strong connection with magic. The stars did not protect against corruption and the taste of magic did not provide more corruption. These mortals kept their name of "men".
Many other races developed. Dwarves from her time were frowned upon by men and came together in colonies to live underground. There, they developed a love for mining and precious metals. Their industrial behavior also gave them an indifferent attitude towards nature.
A dwarf and an elf eventually fell in love and gave rise to hobbits. Pleasant little creatures that lived underground like the dwarves, but reveled in nature like the elves.
Men and elves were too alike to give rise to a different species when they coupled. However, those with Elvish blood had immortality, or if they had very little Elvish blood, long lifelines.
Elephants grew bigger and became elefants. Helios sired horses that became the maeras. Elves were tortured into becoming orcs. Renegade youmas became all sorts of horrendous beasts such as goblins and trolls. Most fearsome of all, were the balrogs who were really fallen Maiar.
She had watched all these races grow. She had watched them fight. She had watched them hate, but she had also watched them love and she in turn came to love the beings of middle earth. She slept in her crystal prison, a silent watcher of the wonderful world.
She watched as the elves learned of their origins, and this surprised her. They thought that "Eru" or God had created the Ainur, the Holy Ones. The Ainur, in turn, were trained by Eru in the arts of music. Eru shared with the Ainur, his dream of Arda, and together, they played the Music of Ainur and created the Vision of Illúvatar, the world.
In the beginning, she attributed this to the need for a higher purpose. Why would the peoples of Middle Earth not admit that they were the by- product of a dead world? In time, the answer came to her. She finally thought back to her final moments as a free woman. While she had tried to kill herself with the power of the Ginzuishou, she remembered hearing the most beautiful music every created. It was a song so powerful and rich, so strong and precise, that it had the power to create. That was when she realized the truth.
It was her world that had never meant to truly exist, not Arda. Her world was the time for the Ainur to practice their music. The place for the Ainur to experiment with creation so as to make Arda perfect. The place for Eru to teach the art of music to the Ainur. It was her final death wish that released the power of the Ginzuishou, the last voice of their song, and lead to the destruction of her world, and the creation of theirs.
The realization saddened her. The world that had meant everything to her, was merely a rough draft, a piece of scrap paper, to the gods. A forgotten sketch made before a masterpiece.
At the same time, she was elated. She had been part of the song that had created the work of art called Arda. She had given life. She was no longer, a part of a dead world. She was involved in the life of a new one.
The new revelation excited her. She would take her place in Arda. Though she was imprisoned, she would act as a guardian for the new world. She couldn't do much, but little was better than nothing, so Neo-Queen Serenity occupied herself with small accidents, for that was all she could accomplish in her crystal prison.
Her small interferences ranged from a cool breeze to soothe those fighting for the side of the light, to instant hallucinations that diverted the enemy's attention from a scout. She played this small part as Melkor ravaged the world. She wept, but knew that there was little she could do, especially in comparison with the Ainur who could surely aid better than she. Therefore, while the Ainur concerned themselves with winning wars and saving the people, Tsukino Usagi concerned herself with saving persons; single lives that should not die.
After Melkor was sealed in the void, the Ainur also left the sphere of Middle Earth. They left to dwell in Valinor and Usagi, as well as the Maiar, remained to guard the world. However, Usagi felt that she was not needed and spent most of her time looking in on the lives of men, elves, and hobbits. She was too late, and too weak, to stop the spread of Sauron.
A last alliance between men and elves was forged and the great army marched to Mordor. At the Siege of Barad-dûr, it almost seemed that the war may be won for the side of the light, but Sauron descended from his dark throne, bearing the One Ring. Sauron met with Elendil and killed the King. Isildur, knelt by his father's side as he breathed his last breath. With a cry of sorrow, Isildur took up his father's broken sword and blindly slashed at Sauron.
Neo-Queen Serenity seized her chance and guided the blade. As Sauron stretched out his hand to take hold of Isildur, the blade cut his fingers off and severed the ring from Sauron's hand.
Thus ended the Second Age and Usagi went back to helping children discover rare flowers and adults earn enough money for food, at least until the next threat.
That threat came about 3000 years into the Third Age. The One Ring had been found, once again and Saruman had turned to the dark. Such a tip in the scales of good and evil was enough to awaken the former queen and she had been released from her crystal cage.
*
With a sigh, Usagi picked herself off the ground and resumed a kneeling position in front of the Tower of Prayer, her palms on the cool surface once again. Being half-asleep in crystal for thousands of years had numbed her to the pain of losing her friends and family. Coming out of that sleep had been a shock on her emotions. Now that she had been able to release her anguish, Usagi's mind delved into the matter at hand. She would do all she could to protect this new world...her new world.
Usagi searched all of Middle Earth for enough positive energy and found it in Imladris. Upon further inspection, she realized that this energy came from the greatest gathering of warriors of the light this age had ever seen. She also found that they had the One Ring with them. She was elated. Not only did these warriors provide enough positive energy to help free her from the moon, they were near the One Ring. She would not have to find it. As soon as she was brought to Imladris, she could destroy it.
Instantly, Usagi began to collect their pure energy. As soon as she had enough gathered, she started to transport herself. Unfortunately, something that she had never predicted, occurred.
With the loss of positive energy, came the warriors' susceptibility to the darkness of the One Ring. The One Ring took this opportunity and exerted its evil influence over the warriors. It created spite between them and they started to argue. Because of this sudden evil energy, Usagi was pushed back to her palace of the moon.
The argument ended, but it was too late. The damage had been done. Although the bickering was gone, there was still unresolved hate and malice between the warriors. Usagi would never be able to descend to Middle Earth. Nothing short of a great city's happiness would be able to replace the positive energy she had lost with the warriors!
Usagi watched as the council came to an end and the Fellowship of the Ring was proclaimed. Great, now the best warriors of the gathering had been selected to go off on their own and try to destroy the ring. Now, even if they managed to settle their differences, they would be split. Neither party would have enough positive energy. With a sigh, Usagi sat herself down on the floor, Indian-style. She placed her hands back on the crystal and her eyes suddenly went blank. She gave a mischievous smile.
'Well, if I can't do it the easy way, I might as well guide this "Fellowship" and do it the hard way.' Usagi thought to herself.
She wasn't free of the Moon Palace, so she didn't have all her power yet, but at least she wasn't stuck inside that blasted crystal.
***
**
*
The council had ended and Gandalf decided to take a walk in the gardens to try to soothe his spirit and worry. He saw a beautiful white rose and bent down to smell it. As he did, his eyebrows suddenly knitted together and his forehead creased.
Where was she? The moon queen was supposed to be freed from her crystal prison to help them on their quest and she had still not shown up. Perhaps her anger at being held captive had not quelled and she had decided to abandon them?
Suddenly, a cool breeze caressed his aged skin and gave him comfort. His spirit did not feel so weary and his heart rose from its position in his stomach.
'Perhaps we are not so alone after all.' He thought to himself with a wise smile.