fast updates...well good while they last I suppose. I want to crank these chapters out while I still have the muse to do them which is kind of rare sometimes. This chapter ends on a cliffy unfortunately, nothing I can really do about it and hopefully I can get the next chapter done by tomorrow or sunday 3 thanks to those who favorited and followed my story, again, feedback would also be awesome as I really want to know what you guys think of my story so far. Thankyou for reading!

Wilted Roses: The fall of Nemesis

All usagi could hear were the sound of bells. Not like the cathedral bells she often heard from the city surrounding the castle, but a tingle of chimes that soothed her, almost calming her in her dreams. It wasn't uncommon for Usagi to hear bells in her dreams, though she never quite understood why they seemed to sooth her so quickly, or why she heard them in the first place. She knew she was dreaming the moment she started hearing the bells, drowning out the sound of her best friend as she was enveloped in darkness. Then she saw a bright light and the world changed before her in a flurry of color.

Usagi couldn't believe her eyes as she looked upon a world of beauty she had never seen before. Before her was a crystalline forest and meadow of white flowers, as well as the many bushes of a flower she had yet to see alive in real life, the rose.

Usagi had heard of roses and the white rose was a common 'fake' flower produced by the citizens of Nemesis to decorate for celebrations and other events. But these didn't look like the paper like fabric commonly made into the fake flowers, they looked more like...velvet. And the colors varied into many shades of reds, whites, and caramels that colored the crystalline landscape in a array of the beautiful colors.

Usagi stepped forward hesitantly, looking down at herself noticing that even in her dream she was wearing the dress she had wore to the party earlier that night. Her bare feet rippled silently into the shallow water she was standing in, but surprisingly to Usagi, she couldn't even feel the water. As if it were nothing but air. She looked up again smiling brightly and made her way quickly and silently to the rose bushes, slightly holding her breath as the flowers came closer into her line of sight.

For being that Usagi had never seen a real rose in real life, she was surprised at how real, and how alive these roses seemed to be in this dream world. She hovered her hand gently caressing the petals of a deep red rose, soft and velvet to the touch and brimming with an energy she had never felt before. An energy rarely found on Nemesis's barren land, such a energy that at this point, she could only assume was the energy of life. Usagi laughed in fascination, her hand hovering over the delicate and soft flowers gently, afraid that if she felt them too firmly, the flowers would break. Usagi's gaze fell upon a soft pink rose and she paused, the life energy seeping from the flower seemingly gaining the princess's attention more so than the others in the dreamworld. Usagi reached for the soft pink rose hesitantly, all of the sudden feeling unease deep in her gut. The moment her fingers brushed the delicate petals, a strong wind gusted through the meadow, forcing usagi to draw back and shut her eyes from the unexpected contact.

After a few seconds she hesitantly opened her eyes, and almost immediately gasped in shock. The roses before her were black. Wilted and dead. The petals had become papery much like the fakes back home but now, they were secreting a smell that wasn't uncommon to Usagi in the world she lived in, Death. The princess backed away trembling at the turn of events and froze, feeling a presence behind her. Feeling a warm breath next to her ear, Usagi contemplated shouting for help, but knew that it was just a dream , dreams couldn't hurt anyone after all...could they? She felt claw like hands reach around her, the warm breath turning icy cold as she felt goosebumps down her skin at the contact. She opened her mouth in a silent scream and tensed up, trying to will herself into waking up from the paradise turned nightmare but found she couldn't, the entity holding her consciousness down with ball and chain. Feeling the claws reach up towards her facial area, Usagi felt tears rimming her eyes in fear, and that's when the golden light appeared.

The light enveloped the area suddenly, the young princess relaxing as she felt the entity behind her screeching at the contact of the glow. The entity immediately broke away from her hissing and fading away almost into nothingness. It was then usagi felt another presence, but warmer and much more trusting. She looked to the bright light squinting at the harshness of the glow. The gold glow had dimmed enough to not imitate the sun like it did earlier, to vanquish the evil presence, but it was still bright enough to conceal the shape of a being. Usagi squinted trying to see through the glow but felt her eyes well up in tears from the brightness. She sighed and smiled, resorting to closing her red eyes, giving them a rest.

"Thankyou"

Usagi felt a pull to the waking world as the words fell from her mouth, not really know who or what she was thanking in that situation. The girl could have sworn she saw the head of a horse's head nodding to her through the golden glow but as she found herself waking in her bed in the dark of her room, the dreamworld faded from both her eyes, and her memory.

Usagi jerked in her bed at the sound of an explosion.

Having woken up only minutes before, she simply lye in her bed wide awake with her thoughts racing of the event the previous day before. Her hair had fallen from her bun, tangled in the sheets in pink waves and like before, she was wearing the dress she had worn earlier in the evening. Her bare feet felt cold, as if she were wading a puddle of water but they felt dry, and she knew they were covered last night since taking off her heels. She felt like she had dreamt of something important, feeling goosebumps up and down her arms from an non existent chill being that the girl was covered in a thick wool blanket, most likely placed on her by Diana earlier that night. Only minutes into her pondering however, she was jerked into reality by an explosion, the castle walls shaking a little from the close impact. She jumped from her bed in shock rushing to the small open window now noticing the sky lit up in a red glow, the early morning sky covered in a thick smog, and ashes falling from the smog like a dark, sooty snow. The princess looked down in fear, trying to see over the walls of the obvious fires erupting in the royal city but found that the scene was blocked from view from towering flames, surrounding the castle where she lived. The screaming coming from the outside and shouted attacks petrified her in confusion and shock, confused on what exactly was going on outside. She barely heard the frantic thumping of footsteps outside her chambers or her door being slammed open with a force, revealing the panicked face of her brother, Saphir.

He flung himself across the room grabbing a large bag from under her bed and began shoving random items of clothing into the spaces, the normally composed prince was sweating beads and his face was much much more paler than normal, now almost taking the complection of a bleached skeleton. Usagi turned to him, her own face petrified with fear and confusion.

"Big brother whats going on?"

He didn't answer at first and the pink haired princess began to panic slightly, rushing to her brothers side who was now emptying her wardrobe of a few dresses and a coat, which he threw to the princess in haste, Usagi barely catching the coat in surprise. "Usagi we need to go now, Rubeus and Esmeraulde have already left for the warp pad. Its just us left.."

"Warp Pad?"

The princess questioned the prince with her eyes, wide in fear of the dire situation and getting a little irritated at being left in the dark. "Big brother whats going on down there, why do we need to leave.." Saphir continued to ignore her, zipping up the bag and shoving it into usagi's arms.

"Saphir. What the hell is going on?!"

"Come on sister I'll explain later, we need to go NOW"

" Brother!"

"PRINCESS USAGI I WILL NOT ASK AGAIN"

The princess flinched at her brother's tone of voice, the urgency sending deep shivers down her spine. In all the years she had been alive, this was the voice she had heard him use only a handful of times with Rubeus, but this was the first time he ever used it with her.

Saphir's eyes widened slightly, seeing the pink haired princess's eyes widen and water in fear and shock at the sudden outburst. He felt a twinge of guilt deep in gut residing next to fear he had at this moment. He hadn't meant to yell at her like that, but being terrified it just came out unintentionally. He found himself taking her coat gently and wrapping it around her smaller body, crouching a little to get on her eye level. "I'm so sorry sister… I promise I will explain soon. But we're not safe in the castle. Or even on namesis. We need to go to the warp pad, now, before its too late."

Usagi nodded, clutching her coat and bag closer to her as her brother tossed her a pair of black ballet slippers and she slid them on quickly. She felt her arm being taken by her elder brother and him pushing her out of her chambers into the hallways, the shouts of fighting soldiers and the light of energy attacks lighting up the hallways. She trembled hearing the screams of pain coming from all points of the outside world, as well as within the castle walls. Deep down, she knew those screams weren't just the soldiers, but the dying screams of the innocent staff and their families that lived here as well.

She rushed down the hallways and corridors nearly tripping down the staircase, only being saved by the grip of Saphir's hand leading her by the arm. She hardly felt the bruising probably appearing from his death grip, the blood pounding in her ears growing louder as the screams became almost muffled. Finally at the bottom floor, her brother kicked open the doors to the now deserted ballroom and began to lead her across in a sprint to the servants quarters. Usagi's eyes glanced to the doors and widened in fear, a thought crossing her mind.

"Diana….where's Diana?"

Saphir kicking down the doors to the servants quarters, Usagi scanned the room the best she could while being led by the fearful prince, the rooms were deserted, her own fears only escalating, realizing that Diana was still somewhere out there in the midst of the carnage.

"Saphir we have to go back, Diana's still out there!"

"Usagi No!" Usagi struggled against the grip of her brother, finding herself sobbing harder in fear and anger at the situation.

"Saphir lET ME GO"

"No Usagi!" Saphir used most of his strength to yank the struggling girl farther into the chambers. Usagi was now bawling, becoming nearly difficult for Saphir to handle alone. If it weren't for the immense amount of adrenaline pumping through his veins, handling her would her immensely difficult. However, just as the thought crossed his mind, the pink princess broke away from his grip. Dropping her coat and bag on the ground and running at top speed across the chambers and flinging herself back into danger.

Saphir cursed loudly and sped back to other direction shouting after the princess frantically. Rushing back through the halls and across the ballroom where the sounds of the battle were still evident. Under other circumstances he would have never expected Usagi of all his siblings to be so reckless in a dire situation such as this one. The battle started near the end of the coronation ball, nobody expected this invasion, especially the young royals who never even knew, until that moment, of little of the outside universe they truly knew. Not even his older brother, Demande, saw any of this coming even having been crowned as king the night before. He had a sneaking suspicion Wiseman knew somehow, and failed to inform them of the not so peaceful war now taking place on their soil, but all those thought had to be put to the side. All that mattered was that his family were safe, and the only one in immediate endangerment of being killed, was his own baby sister. The prince growled at her recklessness, and pray to whatever god that was watching them from afar, that it didn't ensure her death.

A close range explosion shook the castle as he ran down the corridor towards the fighting, he stumbled into the wall, holding himself up as he felt something pull in his leg from the impact. Cringing in pain, he held himself against the wall and yelled in frustration.

"USAGI!"

It was then a high pitched wail filled the corridor, standing out from all the others as Saphir immediately recognized the decimals of his terrified sister. Feeling the adrenaline starting to rush through his veins once again, he stumbled away from the wall hissing from the pain in his left leg making his way down the deserted corridors towards the sound of his sister's shouting.

Usagi ran past abandoned hallways and the rubble caused by the multiple explosions of power on the castle grounds. Her throat was raw from screaming but the only thought in mind was the girl she couldn't...wont….refused to abandon. She ran past lumps and shapes she refused to second glance, out of fear they were as she thought they were. Bodies.

The scent of death filled the corridors and the screaming was still occurring towards the castle throne room, so in a haste, she made her way towards the fighting.

A death sentence? probably.

Would her brother kill her himself from throwing herself into danger like this? most likely.

Worth it for Diana? Most definitely.

Upon entering the grand room, the first thing she noticed that the invaders were all in strange attire she had never seen before. The uniforms these soldiers wore put Esmerauld's scantily clad dresses to shame. And the fact that all the soldiers seemed to be female. These girls, all seemingly in their teens, were fighting her kingdoms toughest, battle trained men, and the Nemesis royal guard was losing. Only a few seconds after being caught off guard of the intruder's 'choice of appearance in strength', was enough for a soldier to come behind the princess and for usagi to be jerk to the ground from a wave of foreign energy.

Usagi gasped in pain and fearfully found herself looking into the eyes of a small soldier with cold grey eyes looking down to her.

"Whats the rush honey? Need to be somewhere?"

Usagi screamed.

I'm cruel. I wanted to keep writing but decided to leave it off here.. plus its really late and I need to work tomorrow : )