Hello minna-san! This is kasadi, writing her first story ever! Woohoo! throws confetti Okay then! Well, I've had this story idea floating around in my head for a while now, and I finally figured, what the heck? I might as well post it! Well, I hope you enjoy it! Please, keep in mind that this is my first fan fiction, so it's not going to be perfect! Please don't flame me!

Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Sailor Moon, okay? I know, I know. You're probably feeling emotionally distraught now. I still haven't quite gotten over the shock and disappointment. sniffs

Key

"Speaking"

'Thoughts'

Prolouge

"Sincerity!" Serenity, the eldest princess of the Moon called the name of her younger sister. The fifteen year old princess sighed, frowning slightly as she stood in the gardens of the Moon Kingdom, looking for the missing princess.

"Sincerity! Come on! I'm tired of this game!" Serenity stomped her foot with aggravation, putting her hands on her hips. Her childish nature was beginning to show again. (I have only seen the dubbed version of Sailor Moon. From what I can recall, Princess Serenity was pretty mature.) When there was no response, she threw her hands up in the air.

"Fine! I'll just go tell Mama that you refuse to come and see her!" Serenity turned, chin tilted upwards. She marched back to the palace in a huff, arms crossed. She soon heard footsteps other than her own and grinned, much like a Cheshire cat would. The two sisters walked through the marble halls of the palace, taking a course toward the throne room. In a matter of minutes, they were standing before the large doors. Serenity knocked on the hard surface of the doors before entering, Sincerity trailing not too far behind her.

Queen Serenity rose from her throne gracefully, smiling in a way that suited her name. She walked down the small flight of steps that led to the platform on which three thrones sat upon to meet her daughters. The two princesses stopped before their mother, curtsying respectfully before straightening. This time, they faced her as just her children.

"My daughters, I thank you for coming to see me," Queen Serenity said, smiling gently at them. Princess Serenity and Sincerity smiled back. Queen Serenity held her arms out, and Sincerity ran into them. The Queen lifted her youngest daughter up, holding her close.

Queen Serenity and Princess Serenity looked very much alike. Both had gentle sky blue eyes that looked upon everyone with kindness and mercy. Both had their hair tied in the same style, two buns that sat atop their heads with long locks of hair flowing out of them. The only difference between their hair was the color. The elder Serenity's hair was silver, and the younger Serenity's was golden blonde. Both wore dresses of white, the Queen's sleeveless and body-hugging, the Princess's flowing, with small puffy white sleeves.

Sincerity looked nothing like her mother or her sister. Her eyes were not sky blue, but were a stunning shade of emerald. Her hair was chestnut brown, and only reached to around the middle of her back in length. It was not tied up into the traditional style of the Royal Moon family, but was instead left down for the most part, with two tiny white ribbons adorning her head, one on each side. (Think of Tohru's hairstyle, from Fruits Basket. Except the ribbons are white.) Her dress wasn't white. It was gray, plain, and had long, flowing sleeves.

Queen Serenity gently lowered her six year old daughter to the ground, then turned and embraced her eldest daughter and heir. When she pulled back, she turned her eyes away from her daughters. She crossed the room toward one of the many huge windows in the throne room, beckoning the princesses to follow her. The girls obeyed, and the three remaining members of the Royal Moon family stopped before the window, staring out at the inky black, star speckled sky. For a moment, silence hovered over them.

"My dear daughters, the night of the ball to celebrate Serenity's sixteenth birthday draws closer, as you both know. Sincerity, I am afraid that you will have to stay upstairs, in your room, preferably. However, I know for a fact that Hotaru will be coming, so she will keep you company for the most part." The mother looked down at her youngest daughter with a smile, a smile that was returned by Sincerity. She turned her gaze to Serenity.

"I am afraid that security will not be taken lightly, as Queen Beryl has threatened to attack sometime soon. Therefore, all of the Senshi will be at your ball. You both must take greater caution from now on. I do not want either of you to leave the palace, unless you'd like to take a stroll through the garden, or something of that sort. You both are not to leave the palace grounds for any reason whatsoever. That is all. You may go." Both girls nodded, bowed, and left the room. The Queen turned her gaze to the window once more.

"I pray that those precautions will prove to be unnecessary," she said softly to herself. She heaved a soft sigh, knowing deep inside that the end of the Silver Millennium was drawing closer. Soon, peace would come to an end, and she would no longer have control over the lives of her daughters.

Night of the Ball

Sincerity sat quietly on her bed in her room, staring down at the floor. She could hear the sounds of the ball going on downstairs in the ballroom. Hotaru had still not come up, but the child knew her friend would come as soon as she could. She stood up and walked to the window, sitting on the window seat. Staring down below at the many guests still arriving, she sighed wistfully. How she wished she could be down there, celebrating Serenity's sixteenth birthday! It was not meant to be, however. Turning her gaze to the horizon, she tilted her head slightly in confusion. She squinted, looking out at the dark sky.

'The stars… They stopped shining there…' Sincerity shook her head, letting out a soft but nervous laugh.

"I'm being silly! Stars don't just burn out in big groups like that! My eyes must be playing tricks on me," she said to herself, trying to convince herself that her words were true. Before she could look toward the horizon again, a creak caught her attention. She turned her head in the direction of the noise.

Her gaze settled on the top drawer of her bedside table, which was cracked open. A black glow came from its contents. Confused, Sincerity got to her feet and slowly crossed the floor to her bedside table. The black glow shone through the small opening, playing across her face. She reached out and opened it, slowly and with hesitation. Inside the door lay a crystal that looked exactly like her mother's Silver Imperial Crystal, except it was black.

Her emerald green eyes widened with curiosity. She reached out and picked the crystal up. Opening her hand, she stared down at the black crystal now lying in her cupped hand. The black glow brightened, spreading across her body. She gasped, and closed her hand around the crystal. She brought her closed hand to her chest, clasping her other hand around it. Her eyes slowly closed, her body still glowing black. Faintly, she heard the explosions and screams for a few brief seconds. Then, everything faded away into darkness.

At the Ball

The guests were screaming, running around in a panic. Serenity and the disguised Endymion abruptly stopped dancing. Serenity's gaze immediately snapped towards the large marble staircase that led to the main hall outside of the ballroom, only to find Sailor Pluto, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune running up it. Knowing Sincerity would be taken care of, she turned her attention back to Endymion, only to find him making his way out one of the side exits. She ran after him. The explosions grew louder, and she felt the ground shake. She lost her balance and fell, but got back up again almost instantly. She was about to continue running, but stopped dead in her tracks.

Bodies littered the ground. Panicked people ran about in a frenzy, sometimes trampling over them in their quest to escape with their lives. Her eyes filled with horror and shock, Serenity stood there, frozen in place. Her heartbeat was so loud she was sure everyone could hear it, despite the explosions and screams of panic, pain, and anguish. However, she was snapped out of her trance when a hand grabbed her arm, and she suddenly became aware of Sailor Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Mercury, her guardians and best friends. She couldn't hear what they were saying. Endymion came to her mind. She frantically searched for him with wide eyes. Spotting him in the distance, she let out a scream, then surprisingly broke free of Venus's firm grip on her arm and ran toward her love, calling his name.

With Sailor Saturn, Pluto, Uranus, Neptune, and Princess Sincerity

Sailor Saturn was the first to burst into Sincerity's room, her eyes wide with fear for the safety of her friend. Pluto, Neptune, and Uranus were right behind her. They immediately found the little princess.

"PRINCESS SINCERITY!" they cried in unison, eyes wide with shock and horror at the sight before them.

The youngest princess of the Moon stood by her bedside table, eyes closed. Her hands were cupped open and before her chest. In between her hands floated a glowing black crystal. Sincerity's body was glowing the same color as the crystal. Uranus was the first to recover from the shock. She rushed forward, only to be brutally tossed back and into the wall by a strong wave of energy.

"URANUS!" the other three Senshi shouted, looking at their fallen companion with wide eyes. One by one they tried to get to the princess, and one by one they were tossed back and into the wall. In a matter of seconds, they all lay beside each other, dead. Sincerity never heard their cries. The glow of the black crystal grew brighter.

A sudden white light filled the room, the source coming from the doorway where Queen Serenity stood, Moon Wand in her hands. The glowing of the black crystal immediately stopped. Sincerity fell to the ground, a locket which held the crystal now attached to the fabric of her dress over her chest. Queen Serenity briskly crossed the room, and she picked her youngest daughter up. She cast a mournful glance at the four fallen Senshi, and then briskly exited the room. It was time for this to end.

Later

It was over. The battle was won, but at a high price. Queen Serenity's sky blue eyes filled with tears, the Moon Wand clutched tightly in her hands. She had to give all of them a second chance. She looked over to her right to see the sleeping form of Sincerity. At least she hadn't been killed… Yet.

"Your Majesty, you mustn't do this! To send all of them to Earth to be reborn will take the last of your strength! It will kill you!" the black cat with a golden crescent moon on her forehead cried. The white cat standing beside her, who also had a golden crescent moon on his forehead, nodded in agreement.

"I must do this, Luna, Artemis. They all deserve a second chance," Queen Serenity murmured softly, lying on one of the fallen pillars of her palace. Ignoring the pleas of her advisors, she used the last of her strength to send everyone to Earth to be reborn. As she lay there, now all alone amidst the ruins of her kingdom, she thought back on her life, of all that had happened to her, as well as the lives of her daughters. She died with tears in her eyes, wishing that the future lives of her daughters would be well and filled with peace, that they could somehow find a way to avoid the not so kind events that fate had in store for them.

But as we well know, her dying wish was not granted.

Author's Note

Well, there you have it! The prologue of Sincere Darkness! Please keep in mind that I haven't seen Sailor Moon in years, so I probably didn't get every detail just right. I'd appreciate if you'd press that little button down there and leave me a review. It doesn't have to be long. Just tell if you thought it was good, bad, whatever. I'd like to know if I'm going to write this story for people who actually like it. I'll try to update as soon as I can, which should be quite soon, as it is currently Christmas break! I hope you all have a Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukkah, Kwanza, whatever you celebrate! See you next time!