Sailor Moon Chpt 8

Dead silence echoes throughout the room as Artemis's words sink in. The two moon monarchs look at each other wondering just who is watching over King Darien if Raye, Princess of Mars is truly dead. That leads to speculation as to who her consort is. Sighing with a deep unease, Selune summons Uranus, Pluto and Neptune.

The three warriors respond within record time, exclaiming their joy at seeing the two cats. When they hear Artemis's story, they look at one another then at the others in the room.

Uranus starts pacing as she wonders just what has happened to her beloved princess. Pluto picks up Artemis and has him tell them in detail what had happened.

"We had just finished inspecting the planet Saturn, since the princess is currently in sleep mode. We were getting ready to return in the planet's teleporter when the castle alarms went off.

"All the guards were dispatched to ward off the intruders. This was a ruse and we watched in horror as all the Saturnians were slaughtered. The teleporter activated behind us; Sailor Mars and Guardian Zander stepped through.

"Even her celestial fire couldn't help her. She was outnumbered 15 to one at any given time, and they just kept coming. Eventually they overpowered her, and beat her until there was nothing left. As for Zander, he too put up a fight. The last act of desecration committed upon the bodies was when they were drawn and quartered."

Both cats shake their heads in an effort to get the final screams out of their memories. Serenity stares at the two felines, wondering now how to save the man she considers her son. If two imposters have managed to infiltrate the king's domain, how many others are there? What, if anything does this have to do with Serena's kidnapping?

###

Back on Earth, Darien is once again attempting to catch a nap. He's leaned back in his chair, the only place that is comfortable enough for him to get any rest these days, due to the wings on his back and claws on his feet.

Ned takes Lita and Bunny back to their quarters. For some reason, he's edgy today and wants to know that his family is safe.

Kaleb and Mina are on edge too. The older couple has noticed that for some reason Raye is now in the same quarters as Zander and Amy is lodging with Jason. Age old instincts are taking over and they silently watch the other two couples for signs of distress.

Amy sighs as she sits on the bed, waiting further instructions. Jason kneels in front of her, silently asking her if she's feeling okay. She nods knowing that the man is not her enemy and wondering just when Zander and Raye had turned on them.

Jason rubs her hands knowing the fear that is coursing through her body. He's not sure when exactly his wife and Amy's husband had become the evil souls that they are now, but he's glad that he's not alone in the silent fight for survival.

He stands up and sits beside her on the bed as they wait for their next set of instructions. Neither notices that they are still holding hands.

###

Raye looks at her newest lover and acquisition. Zander has been easy to manipulate and fool into thinking that he's the only man in her life now. Amy and Jason are just tools in her game to get that which she wants most…King Darien.

###

Uranus looks at Neptune, both warriors now worried about the king. They stand up and pay their respects to Selune and Serenity then head to the rooms that they share when they visit the moon. They know that Pluto will join them as soon as she's able to.

Uranus paces as they wait for the Princess of Time and Space. With this newest development, Pluto has received permission to open the gates of time and view what has transpired in the last five years regarding the guardians of King Darien.

Pluto enters the room and with her, a young woman. The younger woman has black hair with purple highlights and is carrying the weapon of destruction…the silence glaive.

Uranus pales as she sees the weapon in Saturn's hands. Beside her, Neptune inhales sharply and they both turn to Pluto for an explanation.

"Beryl escaped the crystal and has taken on the guise of Raye, former princess of Mars. We suspect that she is the one behind all the attacks. Not just the one on Darien, but also the one on Serena and the planet Saturn."

The younger woman nods in sorrow; she'd been saved due to being hidden while she slept, otherwise they'd have killed her too.

"The attack was meant to kill you. So that you wouldn't be able to carryout the death sentence once the Lunarians realized that Beryl escaped her imprisonment and is alive." Uranus is pounding her left fist into her other hand as she thinks out loud.

"How could she have escaped the crystals powers?" Neptune's question is met with silence then a quiet voice from the doorway replies.

"There was a lunar eclipse two years ago; it weakens our powers. We went to earth to make sure that Darien could survive during that time as it took place at night and lasted several hours. The spell that he's under is extremely powerful and we wanted to make sure that the eclipse wouldn't weaken the counter-spell that we have on him."

Serenity is standing there, sorrow in her blue eyes as she looks at the young women standing before her.

"Forgive me, Saturn. Your people are no more due to my mistake."

"No Your Highness, my people are dead due to the evil that is currently threatening King Darien. If we want to save him and the ones closest to him, we need to put our sorrow away and plan our attack."

Neptune looks at the others and says, "Uranus and I have an open invitation to the kingdom and we are in the middle of negotiations. We can go and get a feel for what is going on, see if we can alert some of the others without raising suspicions."

Serenity nods her approval and the two warriors leave, this time with a set mission in mind: to find out who in King Darien's court can be trusted and who is the ultimate enemy.

Luna steps closer to Selune, one last sad item to deliver to her sovereign ruler. Raye's planet pen, the one that gave her the powers of Sailor Mars, is gently rolled to lie for the last time at Selune's feet.

A/N: Sorry for the delay and the mix-up earlier. Hope to have the next chapter up by next weekend. Thanks to everyone who has been reading and reviewing.