Over the horizon, the sun began to make its way down below to the other side of Earth, lighting up whatever land that should see dawn. On this side of Earth, there will be no sun and for a temporary moment, Earth will be nestled in darkness.
He looked to the sky and saw the moon, a perfect sphere, its crevaces and valleys giving it the appearance that there was a rabbit on it. In some countries, they saw a girl reading or a man's face.
The sight was calm and peaceful, but he was not.
His fingers twiddled nervously around the narrow stem of his cigarette, and before it was all finished, he had thrown the cigarette out of the window. Then he dug in his pockets and pulled out a packet of cigarettes, from whence he plucked another cigarette, lighted it, took a few puffs, then threw it out the window. This ritual went on for several times.
The radio hummed and whirred for awhile, and the newscaster's voice could hardly be heard. Nevertheless, he could make out what she said:
"Four more members of the Black Moon Alliance have been caught by the Serenity Soldiers. It is believed that one of them is the Rebel Leader of the Northern Zone, which means that this is yet another breakthrough for the side of the individual known as Neo Queen Serenity and her fellow maverick husband, Neo King Endymion. The capture of the Rebel Leader means that all the influential leaders of the Black Moon Alliance have been permanently destroyed, thus ensuring that the Black Moon has been defeated. Members of the Black Moon are advised to surrender themselves to the Sailor Senshi. Purification will be assured. Those who refuse to give in will have to face the same fate as their leaders and be sent to Nemesis..."
Had it been any other day, he would have walked over to the radio, slammed it with his fists, and shout at the top of his voice: "Who does she think she is?", but not today. He had heard it over and over again. He was tired of it. He expected defeat.
He joined the Black Moon because, like many others, he did not like the idea of being purified and the entire human race under the government of a monarchy called Crystal Tokyo. Lately there have been many wars and bloodshed, and people have begun to lose faith in their own humanity as more unspeakable crimes against humans were commited among themselves. Then this blonde girl - Neo Queen Serenity, she called herself- stepped up.
What ensued was a huge split of humanity like never before. Many, tired of the violence, opted Neo Queen Serenity. Others refused to bow before her and wanted to be free - independent. He chose the latter. He lost.
If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Heck, it would mean that he would quit smoking if he was purified. That would be a good thing.
"Papa."
"Yes, son?"
"Shall I turn off the radio?"
"No."
His son was a young boy, about the age of ten or so. He was rather tall for his age and he carried himself in a cool manner. However, the most noticeable thing about him was his hair - a smooth silvery mop that hang on his head.
His father threw another cigarette down. "Who does she think she is?" he laughed bitterly.
"Who?"
"That blonde woman - that Neo Queen Serenity. Purification. Bah. Guess I'll have to go through it as well."
"She's just doing what she believes is the right thing. She believes that as long as there is a single streak of evil and cruelty in human beings, therein lies the possibility of evil being repeated over and over again. Purification is the simple way of ensuring that human beings will not do evil - there will be no more crime, no more bloodshed, no more savagery, no more war."
He laughed, bitterly, again. "Joining her son?"
"Papa..."
"Hmmh?"
"Are you?"
"I'll be going through purification. Maybe it's a good idea after all. I'm tired of fighting for my sense of individuality."
"You don't lose individuality by being purified."
"I thought you weren't siding her."
"I'm not," replied the boy,"I'm only seeing the reality of the situation."
There was an uncomfortable silence between them.
"If you're going to be purified Papa, count me out." The words of his son showed that he too, did not want to be purified for fear of losing one's individuality, but that would contradict what he just said.
"She can't get away by just purifying people," mumbled his father.
"Yes she can, she just did. In return, she has the world at her mercy."
"She isn't a goddess."
"Of course she isn't," said the boy. "And that's precisely where I'll hit her. She's only human. She's doing this because she is human - a poor little human looking at the world with tears in her eyes and knowing that she has the power to change it. But she's fallible. Very, very, fallible. And very, very, powerfully influential.
"I want that power Papa."
The man turned to his son and saw something in his eyes that frightened him. Where did he see those eyes before? Why yes, he remember when and where he saw it - when once he looked into the cold cruel eyes of a man who tried to murder him for his small amount of money that he had. It was a small amount of money, but it was still more than his assailant had, and his assailant longed, coveted, craved it.
He turned away, repulsed.
"Well," said his son, breaking his thoughts. "We'll be lucky if we meet again. So long Papa, I'm going to Nemesis."
He heard the tiny footsteps of his son go out the door. "Son, wait..." he turned.
But when he did so, Dimando was already gone.
Wait. a. minute.
This story doesn't fit in the manga - or anime - timeline either, doesn't it? Well, it was inspiration, it hit my head, and I just wrote it down. It doesn't fit into either timeline, but let's just call it artistic license ^^;;;
Katharin A.R. Chung
http://redrival.com/karc