It happened in that last great battle for the Moon Kingdom. Truly, it was before, but we arrived in time to see the fall of the Silver Millenium. We were guardians; we had to protect our charges. It was for that reason we went straight from our training place on Ananke, the moon of Jupiter, to Earth. We had to end the attack before it could begin. We knew they were strong. We knew that causalities might happen, but we underestimated them. By them, I mean both the enemy and our loses.
It was intense, our first real battle. We were overconfident and unprepared. Our only real experience was a few skirmishes with a group of rouges from the Andromeda galaxy. We never really knew what we were doing. It started off well enough, though. We made it straight to the entrance of the Dark Kingdom without breaking a sweat. Then again, their location in the Earth's frozen desert made it nearly impossible to sweat.
There we were, nine sixteen-year-olds, facing down an enemy thousands strong. True, we had unnatural powers, but so did they. After defeating a few minor beings, we got inside. There was a long bridge that faded into the darkness. We couldn't see the end, but we knew that it was where we had to go. Of course, Dark Kingdom monsters awaited us in a long line across it. We began to fight.
At the other end there was a large, dark, empty chamber. I was the third to reach it. Hercules was fighting off to one side, and Andromeda was shielding her from the creature's attacks. With nothing to fight for the moment, I watched for the others to come across the bridge, never considering the toll they would pay to cross. I helped Delphinus up the slight step; she squeezed my hand in reassurance before letting go. Hydra, leaning on Lynx, and Vela appeared shortly. I held my breath, hoping for Ara and Phoenix to appear. I tried to ignore the blood decorating Ara's body as I pulled them into the chamber. The bridge collapsed; so much for leaving that way.
As soon as Hercules defeated the monster, Ara's dear brother appeared. He challenged her, but she was in no shape to fight him. I drew my sword and stepped between them. I had never been the best swordsman, but neither was Jedite. Much to his chagrin, I landed the first hit, slicing his left shoulder. He began attacking more furiously than ever.
I managed to keep Jedite at bay through the entire battle. The only problem was that it limited my view of everyone else. I noticed them every now and then. I saw enough to know that Vela fought Nephlite blow for blow. I got a few glances of Hercules beating Zoicite rather badly. I remember how Jedite nearly got the sword out of my grip when I realized that Phoenix was using some sort of magic to immobilize Kunzite. I even managed to see Delphinus, Ara, Andromeda, Lynx, and Hydra fighting the shadowy beings that continually materialized in the room. The things never once attacked the four of us fighting the generals; there was some sort of field keeping them away.
I was proud of myself for awhile. I managed to give Jedite several nasty cuts, and he had yet to hit me. Then I saw Vela fall. I shouted something unintelligible, and Jedite made a pretty slice across my stomach. I focused on my own fight, trying to block the emotion that would surely hit. I nearly ran straight into a wall, when Jedite disappeared mid-sword stroke. A quick glance around the room showed that the other three were gone, as well as many of the monsters, but more remained. I quickly threw myself into the clash.
I don't know how many I had slain before Hercules drew her sword against me. She had always had a semi bleak personality, but I never considered that the Dark Kingdom would turn one of our own against us. It was a complete shock to me; my jaw would have hit the floor, had Hercules not fallen so quickly. I would never have been able to bring myself to defeat her. Luckily for me, Hydra could do what I could not. Her sword slid out of Hercules' body as it fell to the floor. Her hardened eyes flicked over the corpse once before she pulled me with her towards the last remaining group of monsters.
Andromeda gestured to us. As we had learned while training on Ananke, we formed a ring around the enemy. I tried to pretend that there was no gap on either side of me. At Andromeda's next motion, we attacked as one, turning the monsters into nothing more than dust. With the room empty again, the casualties were visible. Hercules lay across the room, and I could understand why Hydra had killed her so easily. It was Hercules' sword that had created the gaping sword wounds in Lynx's body; any one of them would have killed her. Delphinus' body was pinned to a wall with a spike through her belly, and her head lay at her feet, hair pooled neatly around it. Vela was no where in sight, and I forced myself not to think of the horrible things that could have befallen her. I have had plenty of time to consider the possibilities since.
Without a word, the five of us formed a circle and transported ourselves to the Moon Kingdom. We witnessed its final destruction. Every corpse we saw littering the rooms, halls, and gardens of the Moon Palace was another blow to our shredded morale. Somehow we managed to move past the broken, gory bodies of Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter that were draped across the stairs, like bizarre, discarded dolls. Even the sight of Neptune and Uranus dead in each others arms and Saturn's dismembered remains did not stop us. We sought out our queen.
Queen Serenity represented her name well in her last moments. We found her amongst rubble, contemplating her wand. It was brightly illuminated, but the light was slowly fading. She looked up at us and smiled glumly. "I am sorry my children. For some reason you were not sent with the others." She gestured towards multi-colored orbs in the sky. "They will be reborn in a peaceful future on Earth, as you should have been. I so wish I could send you, but my power is fading, as is my time." She held the wand out toward us. "Luna will be reborn. Please give her this for my daughter. Please protect Serenity when the Dark Kingdom reawakens. I am sorry for what I have put you through that I cannot erase." I kissed the tear that ran down her cheek before taking the wand, which had entirely lost all light. I can still recall the sad gaze she cast on us just before she died. That was the end of all that we had known, the end of the Silver Millennium and our lives. With nothing else to do, we picked up Serenity's body and took her with us to gather our friends from their resting place in the Dark Kingdom. We buried them all in the inter-dimensional space that Delphinus was sworn to guard.
Their graves still look beautiful. Being in a timeless place can have that effect. Our Queen's grave is covered by the same lilies. Hercules is next to the tree that she loved to climb. We put Vela in the brightest place we could find and set candles around the marker; they are still burning. Lynx's grave sports various types of flowers and several pretty trinkets that Hydra collected; we have added a few in her absence. We buried her next to Lynx, as she would have wanted. She kept going for us, but she was always slightly careless in battles after she lost Lynx. It was a calculated carelessness; it left room for a fatal mistake, but didn't cause them. She fell two hundred and forty-one years after the great battle in a small fight with a creature trying to invade another dimension. It was a less than glorious death for an amazing heroine.
The way I explain it, death almost seems poetic, does it not? I have had a millennia to relive my story, consider every detail, think of a million things we could have done differently. I understand death better than any mortal or immortal, and possibly better than those who have died. I know death. I see death. I cause death. I live death. Every single day that I spend in existence, I realize that I am dead. I am a walking, breathing, speaking corpse. I existed to protect and failed. I loved and lost. I lived and now live dead. Life is my hell; death is my unattainable heaven. I cannot die because I would no longer be able to carry out Queen Serenity wishes or to protect my charges, and they have been reborn. Thus, my life continues on in its dead way. It isn't so bad being the living dead, as long as there is company, which there is. Sailor Ara, Sailor Andromeda, Sailor Phoenix, and I are dead, but we will go on until our duty is fulfilled. There ends my story. I may be Sailor Pegasus, a guardian of the Sailor Senshi, a warrior for the side of light, but I am also death.