Return of The Lost Sailor Scout
A/N: This is only a preview for a story I'll work on sometime in the future. If I get enough reviews or alerts from anyone interested enough, I'll turn this into a real story at some point.
She watched from afar, high in the darkened sky as the Moon Kingdom was destroyed, torn asunder by Queen Beryl's forces. Her eyes followed the movements of her fellow Sailor Scouts as they fought and fell, one by one. She showed no remorse nor regret for holding back her aid. She watched as Mars fell first, followed by Jupiter and then Venus. Mercury was the only one still standing and she too soon fell victim to the NegaForce.
Somewhere deep inside her psyche, she knew she should go in and lend her powers of ice and stone. Her only difference to the scouts was her black skirt and full-moon accessories that her mother had given her. But she remembered all too well the rejection by both the scouts and on a somewhat milder scale, Princess Serena. She was an outcast of the Universe, her home planet's orbit so far off course that she was rarely seen by any of the Moon Kingdom or the planets inside the Asteroid Belt.
She was Sailor Sedna, the Lost Scout as she had come to be called, even by her own people. She was the polar opposite of Princess Serena, forced to wear a similar hairstyle in her long black hair. Her mother, a direct relative of Queen Serenity had been banished years before for treason, forcing her only daughter, aptly named Selena, to become rivals with Princess Serena.
But Sedna had been chased back into the nothingness of space, to her planet and it's ridiculous egg-shaped orbit that only allowed her access to the Moon Kingdom every ten-thousand years. She was forbidden entry into the Moon Kingdom.
And now, she couldn't be happier about it.
She grinned when the magical barrier surrounding the moon, protecting it from the vacuum of space lifted, taking the lifeless bodies of her cousin and that annoying prince into the void. Knowing this would be her final chance to get her vengeance against her aunt for rejecting her, she allowed herself to drift ever closer to the moon until finally, she touched down on its surface.
The kingdom was in shambles, the subjects dead or dying bodies strewn about before her. Some of them recognized her and began to cry. Others begged for her help. She wanted to finish what Queen Beryl had failed at here. But her real business lay with Queen Serenity.
She found her aunt and those two cats in the very center of the ruined palace. Shouldering her weapon, an ebony bow with obsidian arrows, she approached her aunt, glaring down at her as she lay gasping her final breaths.
"As the great saying goes, dear aunt, what goes around, comes around." she sneered, unsheathing an arrow and cocking her bow, aiming for the queen's heart. The cats hissed at her and yelled threats to stay away. She ignored them.
Serenity turned her gaze on Sedna. She smiled faintly.
"It's good to see you, Selena." she whispered hoarsely. Sedna snorted.
"Don't call me Selena. It's Sedna." she snapped. "And you'd be best shutting your mouth before I shut it for you."
Serenity sighed, leaning against one of the once magnificent pillars now lying crumbling on the ground. The air around them was starting to leak through the holes of the decaying atmosphere. Soon it would be impossible for any human to live in this desolate place.
"I understand your hatred for your name, Selena." Serenity mumbled. "As you can see, you are justified in taking my life for the life I in turn bestowed on you by banishing my sister."
"You don't understand! How could you? The Moon Kingdom was the happiest place in the universe! You don't understand anything!" Sedna screamed. She was shocked when she saw tears forming in her aunt's eyes.
"You're right, I don't understand. But there isn't much time left. Queen Beryl has destroyed us and will move on to the other planets before too long. You must finish your business here and return to defend your home."
"What's the point? Sedna is nothing but a wasteland of ice and snow and rock. I can count on my fingers how many of us still survive in our little 'kingdom'. No warmth, no light, barely any food. Our planet is at war with itself and you want me to defend it? You're senile, old woman."
Serenity smiled.
"Selena, you must understand that I did what had to be done to protect my daughter. I had no reason to believe that my sister would bestow her grudging hatred for me unto you. Had I known, I would have reconsidered her punishment."
Selena aimed her bow again. "It's too late, old woman. The damage has been done. Thanks to Serena, I was never allowed to set foot on the Moon until now. Now that the Moon Kingdom has been destroyed and the Silver Millennium vanquished."
Serenity shifted position so that the arrow was aimed directly for her heart. She stared straight into Selena's cold black eyes and smiled softly.
"Please, take careful aim, Selena. If ending my waning life will calm your fury, then I wholeheartedly support your decision."
"Queen, Serenity, no!" the black cat, Luna shrieked.
"Stop it, Sedna!" the white cat, Artemis yelled at her. "Queen Serenity has done nothing to you!"
"Shut it, you white fuzzball. If she's that eager to throw away her life, why stop her?"
She pulled the arrow back on the string. She closed one eye and aimed carefully, just like she was told. But as she looked into her aunt's eyes, preparing to let fly the deadly arrow, the face of her bitter, angry mother appeared in her mind, identical to Serenity save for the black hair and violet eyes. Selena hesitated and fired the arrow.
It struck the cold rock beside Serenity. The queen tilted her head in puzzlement as Selena bowed her head.
"I can't." she muttered. "I see my mother in you. You aren't the one to blame."
"Selena," Serenity said softly. Selena's eyes blazed.
"It's your daughter!" she shouted. "She forbade me join the scouts in her court because of my mother. It isn't you, it's Serena!"
She hurled her bow to the ground and clenched her fists.
"It's Serena." she growled. Serenity sighed.
"You are truly miserable here, are you not?" she asked cautiously.
"Yes." Selena gritted out. Serenity held up her Crescent Wand, the Silver Crystal still attached and glowing faintly. Using the last of her strength, Serenity struggled to her feet and stumbled toward Selena, who watched her coldly.
"Close your eyes." she instructed.
"Why?" Selena snapped.
"Please, just do as you're told." Serenity said gently. Selena grudgingly obeyed. Serenity raised the wand to her niece's forehead and the Silver Crystal's light radiated forth. As Luna and Artemis watched, Selena gave a sigh like escaping wind and crumpled to the ground. As she fell, a tiny orb of light escaped from her body and slowly began to ascend into the void toward the planet Earth. Serenity sighed and collapsed back to the ground, the wand sliding from her limp hand.
"There, Selena. I felt this to be the best option. Your life here is fraught with sadness and despair. May you find a better, more peaceful existence in the future. And may you finally be at peace with Serena and live your dreams with her and the other scouts."
She closed her eyes. Luna approached cautiously as the queen's breathing grew ever more faint.
"Queen Serenity, was sending Selena to Earth with Serena and the others really a wise choice?"
Serenity smiled softly as her life began to slip away. Luna and Artemis would soon join the others.
"I truly hope, for her sake that it is, Luna." she whispered.
A/N: This is only a preview. If there's any of you who want this to become a story, please either put it on alert or drop me a review with your opinion. If ten or more people agree that this should become an actual fanfiction, I will find the time to start writing it out. If not, then this will always stay a oneshot and Selena's fate will be left to your imaginations.