I'm back and this is number 13! I'll be taking a break from this series to work more on my other stories but I'll soon be back with more stories of Princess Sofia and the rest of the sailor scouts and friends. In this one, Beryl returns from the grave to once again cause pain. But only Serenity can see her. Everyone else thinks she is going crazy. All but Sofia. Can Sofia save her grand mother before Beryl can take her revenge? Guess you gotta read and see. Let me know what you all think!
A GHOST FROM THE PAST
It was a warm summer's night over in Japan. Summer had come and it had been one of the hottest summers yet in Crystal Tokyo. No one really knew why it was so hot, but not to many cared. Summer was summer, nothing more and nothing less. But the news going around the city wasn't about the heat. Sofia, had just celebrated her 17th birthday. Like always, Sofia didn't think it was a big deal but everyone else did. Her birthday meant one year closer to her becoming queen. But for now, Sofia was still enjoy being just a teen agar. The other scouts and her, were in her bed room having a little sleep over. The girls were all doing Charon's hair. They would up it up, curl it, take it down, twist it, all kinds of things, but no matter what they did, Charon didn't like how it was. Finally after an hour or so, they gathered up all her hair and put it all in a high ponytail on top of her head. "Charon, I have done some hard hair in my time but yours take the cake" said Sofia taking her over to the mirror. Charon's eyes lit up as she saw her light lavender hair in the high pony tail. "Well you all did a great job. I love it!" She turned in all dictions looking at how her hair looked. "You know, I think I'll keep it like this" she said, still admiring her hair. "And so a new hair style was born" said Asteroid in a low tone as she plopped down on the bed. ""Um Asteroid…that hair style has been around for a good while now" said Calypso in as-a-mater-of-speaking kind of way. Asteroid rolled her eyes. "Whatever."
Once they got ready for bed, they settled down around in Sofia's room and started to have a little girl talk. Sofia and Calypso were on the bed, Asteroid sat in a big chair with her pillow, Hannah laid down on the floor, and Charon sat next to her hugging her pink pillow. Passing around a bole of popcorn, they told if anyone had a crush on someone. "Calypso, why don't you go first?" said Sofia turning to her. "Okay I will." She grabbed a hand full of popcorn and shoved it in her mouth as she thought. "Let me see…guys I like…well I think that guy in math class is sexy." Asteroid chucked. "Oh yeah THAT tells us a lot." Calypso thought of how she could describe him. "He's that guy that sits two seats to the left of Sofia." They all thought for a moment then realized who she meant. "Oh yeah he is sexy" said Hannah with a smile, grabbing some popcorn from the bole. "Yeah, that boys got a nice ass." The girls laughed. "Asteroid!" they all screamed, throwing popcorn at her. "What? He dose." The girls broke into laughter once more.
About a few minutes later, the scouts could breath again. "Okay, okay. Soooo Charon." Calypso slowly turned to her. "What about you? Who do you like?" Charon blushed a little. "If I tell you, will you guys promise not to throw popcorn at me?" They all nodded. Charon sighed. "Ok…I like Lin Cheng. " No sooner had spoken, she was bombarded with popcorn and girlish laughter. "Hey you guys promised!" Asteroid grinned. "Well we lied." They all laughed again at their silliness. The girls continued to act this way until it was time for them all to go to bed.
In the frozen North on top of the world, a fierce snow storm ragged through the land. The storm was not fit for neither man nor beast to be in. Yet two men tried desperately to fight the icy winds. They were losing that fight. The men looked for shelter and after awhile they found an ice cave to stay in. Upon entering one man turned to the other, saying he had a bad feeling about the cave. The man he was speaking to, who was an American, could not understand him very well. The American ignored the man and went deeper into the cave. The men entered a cavern and what they saw amazed the both of them. The entire place was totally made from ice. "This must of taken thousands of years…" said the American. The other man, who looked to be an Eskimo, looked nervously around at what he saw. His nervous eyes fell onto a form in the snow. He tugged on the American's coat, saying in his langue "Look over there." The American did, only because he pointed it out to him. The American went over to the form. He had to dig it up a bit for there was so much snow and ice around it. It was a mummified body of a woman. The snow had preserved the body well for thousands of years. Everything from her dark purple dress, to her fire red hair was still in tacked. Her face was badly burned off it seemed. The American look the body over and was surprised at the things he found. "This woman, appears to be human but…the structure of the hands and even around and insides of the mouth are like I have never seen before on a human." The caverns suddenly started to shake. Huge ice sickles fell from the top. The whole ice cave was cracking up around them. The ice walls glowed an angry red. The glowing shot out into the center of the cavern and started to take a shape. A form of a woman took shape and emerged from the light. Fire red hair and evil yellow eyes, were the first to show. Then came her form and her twisted face. Her purple dress, torn at places showing her white body. Claw like hands, moved for the first time in many years. Once fully completed, evil laughter shook the men's hearts and filled them with fear. Before the men stood the evil Queen Beryl, looking almost the same she did thousands of years before. She scanned the cavern until her eyes fell onto the two frightened men. "What year is this humans?" Her angry voice nearly put the men in their graves. Overcoming some of his fear, the American spoke just loud enough for her to hear. "The…the year 4,500." Beryl's eyes grew wide with anger. "I have been gone for 2,500 years!?" The men hid for their lives, as Beryl spoke in a growling voice. "That girl…that Princess Serenity…she killed me. I'll find her again, I'll find her and kill her and all the one's she loves! I will have my revenge!" Beryl explored out of the ice caves into the raging storm. The men waited before they came out from their hiding places. They stood dumfounded at what they had just seen. They never spoke of it again.
Sofia and the other girls still slept on as the sunlight starting to peek through the red texture of the curtains. The small light traveled over the sleeping Asteroid, who was clutching her pillow lovingly, over to Calypso, who lied sideways on the floor. Over Charon's snoring form, past Hannah's sweet looking face, to Sofia sleeping peacefully with her stuffed bunny her grand mother gave her when she was born. The light landed on her face. She started to stir, then finally awake up. The princess rubbed her eyes of the sleep and looked to the clock that read 7:40am. Sofia closed her eyes again, only to have them shot back open once more. "Ah! I'm going to be late for school!" The shouting caused the others to wake up suddenly. "What's the matter Sofia?" asked Calypso in a sleepy tone. Asteroid kept asleep, holding her pillow tight. "Not right now baby, the other guy wanted a little too…" mumbled Asteroid in her sleep. Hannah sat up a little, looking around at the others. "What time is it?" Sofia jumped out of bed landing on Asteroid as she did. "Ow, damn Sofia what the hell is the rush for?" Ignoring Asteroid she turned back to Hannah. "It's now 7:41 and were gonna be late again if we don't move now!" Hearing this, Hannah shot out of bed, almost stepping on Charon in her rush. "Damn! We can't be late again! I don't wanna have d-hall!" Hannah grabbed one of Sofia's uniforms, putting it on very quickly. The other scouts contained to sleep as Sofia and Hannah jumped around them. "You know you guys COULD help us" said Sofia trying to put on her shocks. Asteroid turned over, not even opening her eyes to speak. "Well you're the princesses and were just the scouts. We only sometimes go to school with you guys. I think today, we'll just stay here an train, sound good to you guys?" Two more sets of sleepy voices piped up "Yeah," at the same time. Hannah glared at them. "Well you guys could at lest walk us to school." She looked at the clock again and moved faster. "More like run us to school!" The scouts sighed and reluctantly got up. "Alright, alright." Calypso yawned. "We'll walk you to school."
Once the scouts were up and transformed they started out the room. Sofia and Hannah were in the most of a rush, and the sailor scouts had to run to keep up. "Well this is great," said Asteroid running along side Calypso. "If all I knew they wanted to do to us was make us run, I would have kept my ass in bed." Calypso and Charon nodded in agreement. They were almost outside the palace when Sofia stopped all of a sudden. The others looked back at her confused. "Sofia what's wrong?" asked Calypso; who was the closest to her. Sofia slowly turned to her. "I…I sensed 's not right." They all knew what that meant. "C'mon Sofia, let's get you guys to school" said Asteroid, now fully alert. "I think we should stay with them today don't you?" whispered Charon to Calypso. She nodded. "Alex is in most of her classes, but he might need help too." Charon agreed. They all then quickly rushed toward the school.
From high up in the palace, Serenity watched as her grand daughter and friends ran off toward the city. Serenity smiled as she watched them till they were out of sight. A small cackle from behind turned Serenity's smile into a serious face. Her eyes darted around the room; looking for the cause of the noise. "Who's there?" she asked; her voice clam. "Come now Serenity, you know who I am." From the shadows of the room, stepped forth Beryl with the same twisted smile. Serenity's eyes flung open wider with shock. "Ber..Beryl?.." Beryl gave a small laugh. "Yes Serenity, I have returned." Her face grew more shocked the scared. "But..but I killed you..how can you be back?" Her voice had become more of a whisper now. It seemed impossible but Beryl's eyes were filled with more anger and hate then they were before. "You little twit! I have come back from the land of the dead to seek vengeance on you and the ones you care for! I will not rest until I have brought death upon you!" With amazing speed, Beryl raced from the shadows and had Serenity by the throat. Her grip was like death slowly coming upon her. Beryl was forcing her to look at her face. "Let me see the fear in your eyes."
Serenity jolted awake from her sleep in a cold sweat. Breathing hard, she tried to focus where she was. She was alone in her and Endymion's bed room since it was now noon. She tried to steady herself as she begun to get up, but her legs were not strong enough. She fell back on the bed still very frightened of what had just happened. Serenity sat side ways in her bed, clamming her breathing down. She put a hand to her heart. She was getting older now. Much older. She was already over 3,500 years old and was starting to show a little age. Her blond yellow hair, now as silver as the moon. Her faced showed some signs of aging, yet was still very beautiful. Even with the Silver Crystal keeping her and the others alive and young, she knew it might finally be time. The crystal's powers were finally beginning to weaken. Nothing lasted forever. Serenity knew there would be a time where she and the others would die. She and the others didn't have much time left anymore. She was finally ready to pass on, as long as she was with the friends she had been with all this time. Once she had clamed down, Serenity rose from her bed. She made her way to the window to gaze out over Crystal Tokyo. Memories from long ago come back to her. Memories of long ago battles. Serenity thought back to her dream. 'Was it really a dream? Or was it…real?'
Sofia and Hannah had just made it to class as the bell rang. Alex was happy to see them make it for once. As class begun, Asteroid, Calypso, and Charon went to the back of the room where they always stood. The first class of the day was math, a class Sofia was not to good in. Sofia took notes on what the teacher was putting on the board. As she was writing, a strange feeling crept over her. It started out small so Sofia didn't think much of it. But with each passing minute, the feeling grew worse. It was a numbing pain going through her whole body. Sofia had felt this feeling before but never at school. It was getting harder for her to concentrate on the work before her. Her vision started to go blur and her head was spinning out of control. She thought she was going to be sick. Calypso was the only one who noticed this. Sofia raised her hand up so the teacher would call on her. "Yes Sofia what is it?" She put her hand slowly down. "Mrs. Hichu, may I go to the rest room please?" Mrs. Hichu saw the girl's face turning white and knew she really must be getting ill. "Yes you may Sofia." Sofia rose from her set, leaving the room quickly. Alex looked to Calypso as if saying 'Go with her.' She nodded, and head after Sofia.
Sofia rushed to the rest room and stopped at the sink. She ran some cold water, then splashed it on her face. Her breathing was a little harsh, but she soon clamed down. Sofia looked into the mirror, wondering what just happened back there. Calypso came in while she was drying her face off. "Sofia are you alright?" Sofia turned to her. "I don't know. I had that feeling again." Calypso became quite. "You mean the feeling you had this morning?" she asked, already knowing the answer. Sofia nodded. "It was much worse this time." The girls grew quite, as if thinking on what to do next. Calypso sighed heavily. "Sofia, you know you have a great gift of knowing when evil is around." Sofia looked down. She never could explain this power. None of her blood family had it, so why would she? Calypso came closer to her, with one question on her mind "How powerful is this evil?" Sofia shook her head slowly. "I don't know but I can say this," her voice grew lower, as if someone were to listen in. "it's already here.."
The day passed quickly, finally starting to cool down in the evening. Sofia and the others went on as if nothing happened. The pain she felt soon left and she could again concentrate on her work. When it was time to leave, Sofia packed up her things and left with the others. Even thought it was cooling down, it was still very hot out. Everyone took their time walking home. The sailor scouts had on their usual outfits on and were not as bothered by the heat. Sofia, Hannah and Alex on the other hand, had to wear their light but still heavy school uniforms and were not in the best of moods. As soon as they arrived at the palace, all three of them raced to their rooms to change into something more for summer. The other scouts, took their time as they walked to the training, laughing at how funny the other three looked running up the long stairs of the palace.
It was a long way from the palace entrance to Sofia's bedroom. The more Sofia ran, the hotter she became. Before she could stop though she rounded a hallway and smacked right into someone. Sofia quickly saw it was her grandmother Serenity and helped her up. "Oh grand mama I am so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going. I'm so sorry." Serenity stood up, brushing herself off. "You should be more careful Sofia. Your much to old to still be doing this." Sofia wasn't going to remind her that she used to be the same way when she was her age only much worse. Instead, she excepted the truth. "Yes grand mama, I am sorry." She was about to leave again when she saw Serenity shaking a bit. She watched in shock as her grandmother tried to control her nerves as she tried to walk away. "Grand mama, what's wrong?" she asked in alarm, rushing to her grandmother's side. "I..I'm fine Sofia..it's just the heat." Somehow, Sofia didn't find her answer believable. "Grand mama, I don't think your shaking from the heat. What is wrong?" she asked again. Serenity's mood changed suddenly. "I said it was the heat! Now leave me be Sofia." Sofia backed away from the sudden snap. Serenity realized what she did and became clam again. Her tone of voice soft and gentle once more. "I'm sorry dear..I..I'll see you at dinner." With that, Serenity turned and walked away quickly. Sofia was left standing there, wondering what had just happened. 'Maybe it IS the heat.' But it wasn't. She knew her grandmother to well. She had never snapped at her like that before. Sofia could only wonder and now worry if the evil she sensed before was what made Serenity like this.
As the evening fell, Sofia got ready for dinner. She dressed in her usually dinner gown, a silky white dress with a line of diamonds around the neck and sleeves. It looked somewhat like her normal dress, but with more jewels on and according to Sofia much warmer. Once ready, Sofia walked outside her room where Alex waited for her, also in his usual dinning clothes. "You look stunning milady" he said in an old English tone, kissing her had as well. Sofia laughed, as she gave a little curtsey. "Thank you kind sir." Both of them laughed and walked off together toward the dinning hall.
Along the way Alex and Sofia made small talk, but Alex could tell that there was more on Sofia's mind then what she was saying. "Sofia, is something wrong?" he finally asked. Sofia grew quite, not sure what to really say. "Well...this afternoon, I was running up to my room to change when I rammed into grand mother. She gave me the usual speech about how I need to watch where I'm going, but I noticed she was shaking. I asked her what was wrong and she snapped at me. It could have been the heat, but I was sure it was something else. Grand Mama never snaps at me like that." Alex listened to her words. He had an idea what this could mean though. "You don't think that the evil you sensed is at work here do you?" She said nothing and continued to walk. She was lost in her thoughts, thinking of the evil she sensed and the way Serenity acted. If this evil was connected to Serenity somehow, then Sofia was going to stop it at all costs.
From down the hall you could smell the heavenly aroma of all the food that the royal family and the sailor scouts were feasting on. Other then the sweet smells, the room was filled with chatter. It was hard to tell one voice from another, but one voice that could always be heard above others was Sailor Asteroid, telling yet another story of when she was a loner scout and all the action she got to face in her years. Hannah, who was dress in a similar dress as Sofia, pretended to snore and fall asleep as Asteroid talked. She was meet with a playful punch from the powerful scout. The others at the table laughed and smiled as the two scouts got into it once more. As funny as the scene was, Sofia kept an eye on her grand mother. Serenity seemed fine enough now. She was laughing and making jokes like she always did. You couldn't even tell anything did happen to her earlier. This confused Sofia and made her wonder more. How could she be so angry and scared hours before and be happy and cheerful now? It didn't add up. Sofia kept still a close eye on Serenity.
As dinner neared an end, Sofia was starting to think that maybe it really was the heat that made Serenity act the way she did. Since she seemed fine now, Sofia started to relax more, joining in with the talk finally. Serenity had almost forgotten about her dream. She had convinced herself that it was nothing more then that. How wrong she was. Serenity started having a strange feeling. For some reason, one part of the room was pitch black, but only Serenity could see it that way. A shadowy figure, started to come out from the darkness. Serenity gasped as the from took the shape of Beryl. The eyes came first, then the slimy smile that only pure evil had. In her panic, Serenity quickly rose from her set, knocking glasses and other table items over. Everyone's eyes suddenly turned to her. They saw her staring in fear at the other side of the room, mumbling "It's her, it's her," over and over. She grabbed onto Endymion, staring at him showing nothing but fear. "Can you see her? Can you see her?" He looked to where she was staring at, seeing nothing there like the others. "Serenity what is wrong with you?" he asked, very concerned for his wife. She looked to Beryl again, seeing her moving towards Sofia. As Beryl neared, Sofia picked up an evil spirit around her. She stayed very still to see where it was coming from. Sofia suddenly felt hands around her neck. Cold, clammy hands that burned as soon as they made contact with her skin. She could feel them getting tighter. Breath came slower, as she tried to scream but couldn't. The only thing that stopped them from closing in, were the cries from Serenity. The feeling disappeared, and Sofia took in deep breaths. Serenity called out "Did you!/ Did you see here Sofia!?" Soon after she passed out, almost falling to the ground if not for Endymion catching her. He carried her out of the room. Rini and Helios followed as the sailor scouts were to stay where they were until called for. Sofia felt around her neck. She could still feel the cold hands and burning on her skin. 'Did you see her!?' Sofia shook her head free of the frightened screams of her grand mother. 'Who was..her?'
Serenity was set into her bed to rest for awhile. The sailor scouts, Alex and Sofia came to check on her. When they all got there they saw Endymion, Rini and Helios sitting outside the room, thinking quietly to themselves. Endymion told them Serenity was sleeping now and was not to be disturbed by anyone. Everyone took a set around each other. They all wanted to know one thing and Sofia spoke first. "What is wrong with her?" Her parents and grand father reminded quite, thinking of the best way to put the answer. "Sofia," Endymion started, looking over to her. "Your grand mother..said she saw someone she couldn't have seen." The scouts glanced at one other in confusion. "Who?" Endymion sighed. "She said she saw Beryl in the dinning room..." Faces dropped in shock and disbelief as soon as the name was spoken. They weren't sure what to really say to this. "But..Beryl has been dead for 2,500 years now" said Mars, not being able to talk loud (for once) from the shock. "That is why we are worried." Endymion's voice and expression was a mixture of anger, confusion and sadness. He was angry that the memory of Beryl still hunted her to this day, sadden that this would happen to her, confused for not knowing why it was happening to her at all. "So she's seeing this Beryl bitch now? All of a sudden?" asked Asteroid, who was leaning against the wall by Hannah. Calypso shot her a look that said 'Mind you mouth in front of the royal family!' but no one cared for her colorful mouth now. "Yes," started Rini, "She also said she had a dream of Beryl earlier this morning." Sofia then realized why Serenity acted like she did 'She had a nightmare...just as I sensed something...' Hearing her thoughts, she knew this wasn't going away anytime soon. This was an evil that was here to stay if no one did a thing about it.
Serenity was troubled by her dreams. All she could see was darkness. She couldn't see, couldn't speak, couldn't move anything on her body. It was like she was frozen in mid darkness. The feeling of hands felt along her face and hair. Serenity didn't need to see to know who it was. An ear piercing laughter rang around her. The pain going through her mind was intense and felt like someone had run her through. Tears fell from her eyes that she couldn't stop out of fear. "What's the matter Serenity? Are you frightened of me? Good! I want that!" Serenity tried to speak again but still nothing came. Beryl moved around Serenity as she spoke. "Over the past 2,500 years, I have had a lot of time to think about all the different things I could do to you. All the unbearable, painful things I could do to you. You don't know what true pain and suffering is! No matter though, for you will." The voice was low and bitter cold. 2,500 years of hatred, started to burn once again inside Beryl. Yet their was joy in her voice at seeing Serenity frightened of her once more. The same look she had when all her friends had died and left her all alone. "Oh how I have waited for this day Serenity. The day that I would finally have my revenge on you. The pain that I will cause you will be so great. Not to worry though, I will make sure your family feels the same pain as you do." Serenity strained her voice to get the words to come out and be heard. Finally using all she had, broke through the grip and spoke lightly. "Do what you want to me Beryl, but leave my family alone." Her voice was no longer filled with fear but with courage. Beryl was surprised she broke free of the grip, even more surprised by her new tone of voice. She grew closer to Serenity, casting her steamy breath onto her face. "For what you have done to me, I will make sure your whole family rots in hell with me! Starting with your grand daughter. She reminds me to much like your mother, Queen Serenity and will die like her as well!" Through the darkness, two white hands rushed at her throat. The power in the grip was enough to kill Serenity in a second, but Beryl wanted this pain to last much longer. Serenity could still not move. She was powerless against the evil witch
Outside of the bedroom, the others could hear gasping sounds from inside. Endymion rushed in along with the others. The sight they saw was shocking. Serenity was gasping desperately for air. Her eyes were open but were starting to roll back into her head. "Oh my God, Serenity!" Endymion went to her side, with a look of horror on his face. The same went for the others, who had no idea what to do to help her. Mercury was checking to see if anything was in her throat but saw nothing. Everyone was panicking, trying to think quickly of what they could do to help her.
Serenity was starting to lose her fight for air. Beryl's grip was unmovable. She could feel her body starting to give up on her. Serenity wasn't as young as she used to be. The Silver Crystal's power's was finally starting to weaken. This meant that Serenity, Endymion and all the inner scouts would soon die within the next few years or so. They all knew it and accepted it. They had lived for thousands of years, they were ready to go. Even though Serenity accepted death now, she wasn't ready to yet. Not like this. Serenity stared Beryl straight in her eyes. Beryl was surprised to see no fear inside of Serenity's eyes. "I won't die by your hands Beryl! I won't die by any hands! I will die with my family and friends! Not like this, not now!" She started to feel stronger. Her whole body was a glow, piercing through the darkness to Beryl. The sudden light made Beryl let go her hold on Serenity's neck. Serenity could move more now and saw where she was at. She was nowhere but did see Beryl in pain. Some of Beryl's skin began to burn from her body, yet she did not cry out in pain. She was already dead, but the light from Serenity caused her pain. Neither one understood this. The real reason was that it wasn't the power behind the attack but the love and courage of protecting the ones Serenity loved was the real reason behind Beryl's pain. "I'll come to claim your life soon enough Serenity!" Serenity was jolted awake, right into the arms of Endymion. She was breathing hard until she saw where she was. Everyone was crowed around her, all with worried faces. "Serenity?" said Endymion, holding her tightly but also gently against him, "God Serenity what happened to you love?" Sofia noticed that there were red marks on her grand mother's neck. It looked like clawed hands had ran right into her skin. That sight froze Sofia stiff. She couldn't let this go on much longer. Soon it would be Sofia's time to face the witch.
Sofia wanted to stay with Serenity. She was worried Beryl might try to attack her again. Serenity was awake and sitting up in her bed. Sofia sat down on a chair by her bedside. She held her grand mother's hand in worry yet also comforting. "Sofia dear, I'm fine now." Sofia shook her head. "I just don't want her to hurt you anymore grand mama. She's already caused you so much pain." Serenity's eyes grew soft. She remembered when she first told Sofia of Beryl. It seemed so long ago, that she had told this little girl all about her family's past and about the evil queen who destroyed everything they had. And also how Queen Serenity, gave up her life to give them all a new chance at happiness. It seemed so long ago, yet she remembered all of it. Sofia had grown up so much these past few years. She grew wiser and more beautiful with each passing day. Her powers grew as well. Serenity was thankful for that. "You've grown up so much Sofia" she whispered gently. "You've become so brave. Much braver then I was back then." Sofia was a bit taken back by her grand mother's words. Serenity put her hand gently on Sofia's cheek. The scene on Serenity's face was nothing more then her name sake. "I don't know what we could do without you grand child." Sofia smiled at her words, even though she wasn't sure what she was really trying to say. She went to hug her grand mother dearly. Sofia always loved how her grand mother always smelled of roses and lilac. That scent never did fade in all these years. "Grandmother, I'll make sure she can't hurt you anymore." A tear ran down Serenity's cheek, causing more to fall soon after. "I don't want you to get mixed up in this Sofia." Sofia faced Serenity with eyes never looking so serious before. "She must be stopped." Serenity had never seen Sofia be as strong as she was now. She closed her arms around her in a hug once more. "Oh Sofia."
It took awhile for Serenity to get back to sleep, and about an hour before Sofia left her side. It was late and once again time for bed. Sofia made her way to her bed room. Once she changed into her light silky night gown and hit her bed she was out fast. All the drama that day, made Sofia a very sleepy princess. As she feel deeper into sleep, her normal dream of her and Alex was replaced with darkness. Sofia was in a dark cemetery; to dark to really see anything. Dark gloomy looking woods surrounded her on all sides. Sofia started to walk, making her way pass grave stones with unknown names. She had the uneasy feeling that she was being watched. She felt the eyes watching her every move. Sofia left the graveyard behind her and went deeper into the woods. Twisted branches reached out for her, tarring her silky gown, wanted to dig into her soft skin. A feeling of dread built up inside her. "Hello Serenity." Sofia turned quickly around, already knowing who she would see. Her eyes glared at Beryl, the creature that hurt so many in her time. "My name is not Serenity. I am Sofia Rose" she said very sternly, still glaring at the witch. "You still carry the 'Serenity' name. I assume you know who I am?" Sofia wished she didn't. "Yes. I know who you are. You were the cause of my family's pain and suffering." Beryl seemed amused at the comment. Remembering all the chaos she had caused in the past at the Silver Millennium. How she would love to go back to those days. "But my dear," Beryl started in a charming voice, moving a little closer to her. "If it were not for me, would all your lives be as they are now? Would you not live in this marvelous time?" Sofia paid no mind to what she was saying. Sofia knew her as a liar and nothing more. Beryl grinned. She saw the anger build up in Sofia's eyes. "You know I speak the truth Sofia Rose. I made your life better." Sofia's voice became quite, but still held it's stern and harsh tone to it. "It was not you saved us Beryl." She looked up into the eyes of the evil queen, anger ready to bust. "You destroyed us! It was my great grand mother, Queen Serenity who gave up her life so that we could have a chance to live again! Whether or not my life changed for the best or not, Queen Serenity still had to die because of you!" Anger taking over her, Sofia gathered up her powers into her hands. A ball of white light formed in her hands. Beryl didn't have a chance to move before she was knocked back into the trees by the power of Sofia. Sofia stood there with the look of anger still upon her face. She was no where near of weakening. She had grown stronger over the past few mouths. Training with her scouts finally paid off. Beryl painfully rose from the ground. Sofia was surprised to see her in so much pain, let alone starting to bleed. Beryl was already dead. How could she bleed? It was then Sofia remembered something Sailor Mercury had told her that sometimes you can get physically hurt if not die in your own dreams. Sofia would have to try and avoid getting hit.
Beryl finally stood fully up and growled her angry at Sofia. "Why you little brat! I will tare you apart for that!" Sofia backed way as Beryl came at her with amazing speed. She was fast but not fast enough. Sofia jumped out of the way as Beryl passed her and as she did Sofia brought her leg up, slamming it into Beryl's stomach hard. (AN: Not bad for a girl in her night gown ^^) Beryl surly didn't feel like a ghost. Otherwise, why didn't Sofia's leg go through her? Beryl got back up as Sofia got back into fight position. "Some ghost you are Beryl, you can't even disappear." she said smirking. (AN: Bad move) Beryl grinned slightly. "I merely did not see your attack. Let's see if you can see mine." Beryl then disappeared before Sofia's eyes. 'Damnit! Next time Sofia keep your mouth shut when you have the upper hand!'
With Beryl in her ghost form, Sofia could no longer depend on her sight to win this fight. She had to use what she learned from her training to help her now. Beryl had some what a physical body in dreams. Sofia had found this out when she kicked her. She could destroy Beryl here, if she tried hard enough to win. She wasn't fighting just for herself, she was fighting for everyone she knew. If Beryl won this, she would go after everyone, not resting till they were like her. Sofia closed her eyes, concentrating on where Beryl was. "Can you find me Sofia? Do you know where I am?" Her voice was heard on all sides of Sofia, so she could not track where Beryl was. Beryl mocked her, trying to break her concentration, but Sofia would not allow it. Finally pin pointing on Beryl's energy, Sofia released a blast of her own energy towards the trees to the right side of her. She heard a short scream as the blast hit it's target. The witch was still not in seeing form, but with all the moaning, it wasn't hard to find her again. Sofia started walking towards the noises. As she grew nearer, the noises stopped in mid air. Sofia stopped as well. Her eyes darted all around, trying to sense where Beryl was now. The whole place was as quite as death.
Beryl was toying with Sofia. She would at times say something to get Sofia's attention on that spot, then vanish again. Sofia concentrated hard, but couldn't pint point were Beryl was anymore. She was hiding not only herself, but her energy as well. Sofia was fighting blind. She tried so hard to find her energy, but failed to sense what was right in front of her. It was to late before she found out that Beryl was right in front of her. Beryl raised her clawed hand, slashing at Sofia's chest, knocking her back into a tree. Sofia slowly feel to the ground, the wounds on her chest deep and bloody. The life blood that flowed through her body perfectly before, now poured from her like water. Sofia's mind raced, her life flashing her by. She knew she was dieing. The life she had, and would never have again soon faded from her. It was hard for her to breath, yet she still stood, determined to finish the fight. Beryl was now visible to see; thinking that death for the princess was only moments away. "Well Serenity," Beryl started, with an evil grin upon her face. "Your stronger then I thought. But you still fell, just as your ground mother did back at the Silver Millennium." Sofia's mind now raced, trying to think of an idea to destroy this witch. Being a Yurei (evil spirit), the only way Beryl would stop would have her take her revenge on Serenity, but Sofia wasn't about to let an harm fall on her family. "How I will love to see the look upon your family's faces, when they find you dead in your bed, with my claw marks etched into your flesh." Air was slowly being cut from Sofia's body. If she was going to do something, now would have to be the time. Sofia would use what left of her life energy she had to defeat this beast. Gathering her strength, Sofia's body started to glow dimly. It grew brighter the more power she used. Sofia felt her soul leaving her. At the end, she lifted her head to face the now shocked Beryl. "Its time to go back to hell Beryl!" The life energy, shot from her hands into Beryl's body. The pure light of the power, ripped away at Beryl's evil spirit. All that Sofia could see now, was a flash of light, then sudden darkness.
There was nothing there in front of Sofia, nothing behind her either. She could no longer feel any pain, her body was now numb. "I'm...I dead?" she asked aloud, not expecting an answer. "No, only dreaming." In front of her suddenly appeared a whitish haze, that soon took shape of a slender woman. Her skin was as pale as the moon, dressed in a long silky gown, long silver hair tied up into two long locks. Her face was serene and peaceful, the sweetest smile ever on a human. Sofia looked on with joy as she gazed upon her great grand mother Queen Serenity once more. "Great grand mama, you're the one who saved me then?" Seeing her grand daughter happy to see her, only made Serenity's smile brighter. "Yes my dear I did. I put your soul back into your body before it was used up, and healed your wounds. But sadly, I couldn't heal it all." Sofia looked down to where the wounds were, only to see three pinkish marks crossed her chest. "Those scares will always be with you. This was not meant to go this far. You weren't meant to come this close to death..." Before Sofia could question what she said, Serenity answered for her. "Sofia, you are destined to do great things in your life time. Many people will depend on you to keep them safe. I could not let Beryl take that away from you. No one can." Sofia realized then how important she really was to all of this, and how important it was for her to go through the fight with Beryl. For now, she had the courage to face death whenever it may come again, and she knew it would. Smiling with tears in her eyes, Sofia looked up to Serenity, hugging her tightly. "Thank you grand mother...thank you..." Serenity smiled, kissing her head. With a voice as sweet as a song, and light as a whisper Serenity spoke. "It's time to wake up now Sofia...Wake up..."
Finally waking up, Sofia awoke in her room with Dianna staring down at her, who was sitting on top of her chest. "Good morning Princess Sofia" the little cat said cheerfully. Sofia sat up in her bed. It took her a minute to realize where she was. Once she did, a huge smile swept across her face as she picked up Dianna and spun her around in her arms. "Yes it is Dianna." Putting the surprised cat down, she raced out of her room towards the dinning hall where she knew everyone would be. Dianna sat there on Sofia's bed wondering why she was so happy. "Must have been SOME dream..."
On her way to the dinning hall, Sofia passed by sights she saw every day, but were different somehow. They and everything else Sofia saw was different. She didn't know what this feeling she had was, but she was filled with joy. Joy she thought from being alive when she should be dead. That gave her a new look on life. Sofia ran in the dinning hall, stopping as she saw everyone turning to her. "Sofia, why are you so late for breakfast dear?" asked her mother. She didn't move, she couldn't. She only smiled. Alex rose from his seat. "Are you alright?" he asked. Her response was her taking him suddenly into a tight huge and kissing him deeply. Alex, to surprise to kiss her back stood there shocked and feared what her parents and everyone else in the room was thinking right then. "Alright, go Sofia" Asteroid said as everyone else remind silent. Sofia finally pulled away from Alex and kneeled down beside her grand mother. "It's all over grand mama. You don't have to be afraid anymore." Serenity's face looked confused at first, then her eyes fell on the marks on her chest and gasped in alarm. "My God Sofia! What happened to you?" Sofia put a hand on the scares. "I beat her grand mama. Beryl will never bother you or anyone else again. I made sure of it." Serenity's hands went to her mouth. "What do you mean?" Her tone was barely a whisper, as she spoke. "I fought her, Beryl in a dream, but it was more then a dream. She almost killed me...she did kill me." Tears filled Sofia's eyes, but she never lost her smile. "Great grand mother Serenity saved my soul. She said it wasn't my time to go yet. She still watches over us. She's still here." Without warning, Serenity burst into tears, as she fell to the floor, taking Sofia into a tight embrace. Sofia let her cry. Serenity had missed her mother for so long. Now, she no longer had to, for she was always there, there in Sofia.
Updateed Note: I hope if you have read these you have enjoyed them. This was the last one I wrote and most likely will remain so. I had more ideas to add to this tale, but years have gone by and I have more important stories to work on now (ones I'm hopeing to publish). If you have liked these stories, feel free to let me know and maybe one day I'll write more again.
Fin