Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon.
Chapter Nine
Endymion sheathed his own sword. I just got her back, I will not lose her again. He took a few steps forward, hoping not to be heard. He wanted to know where they were going, where they were taking her. Certainly no where on Earth, where their enemy resided. I would have known about that. Helios would have warned me about a moon invasion. He froze in his thinking and movement. An idea popped in his head. He looked to the sky, where the moon was just appearing over the horizon.
There is only one place they would take her. He sprinted off, avoiding the colorful cloth tents and bright paper lanterns that litter his path. The girls watched as the recently awakened prince began to disappear.
"We better follow him. He may know where they're taking Serenity."
"But what if he is going to his 'palace' for reinforcements?" Venus questioned.
"We'll just have to take that chance," Mars interjected before she dashed after the caped man. She was determined to get Usagi back safe and sound.
The friction of Serenity's struggle began to wear away the stone base. The leather bands wound around her wrists refused to lack. Sighing, she relaxed in defeat. She lifted her head, coming face to face with her host.
"Wake up, Usagi. You need to wake up."
The girl encased in glass remained silent. Serenity watched her chest bulge out as air entered her lungs, then flatten as the trapped air escaped. The same as it had done for the last fifteen minutes.
"Please Usagi, I need you to tell me where the crystal is. I need you to tell me so I can save the world."
Serenity paused; her own words had reached her ears. They marked failure, inferiority, on her part. She should have the crystal in her possession, yet it was nowhere. She pictured her mother, and the frown which occupied her face.
"Look at me," the princess spoke, forgetting of Usagi's comatose state, "I am supposed to be the princess of the Moon, the next ruler of the Moon Kingdom and I can't even find the silver crystal."
The shame gave way to sorrow.
"Yet the Moon Kingdom is gone, Mother is gone. So I should be gone."
Anger and confusion replaced despair.
"I shouldn't even be here. As Ami said, I am just a shadow of you."
Her own words played again in her head. The anger in her heart subsided as her contemplated on those words. Just a shadow of you, just a shadow…
"A shadow… shadows are flat, and can only caused by light. If I am a shadow, then why am a solid figure?"
A glimmer of hope flickered in her eye. Slouching deep within her prison chair, Serenity placed her hands, cuffed, above her bosom. Each eyelid slipped over each eye. She searched within her heart; now she knew what to look for.
The thumping of her heart intensified as heat gathered in her chest. She felt herself becoming lighter with each passing moment.
The Silver Imperium Crystal materialize in the middle of her hands, floating gently. Serenity's physical body faded, causing the bands to limp over the arms of the throne. She stood gracefully, smiling calmly to her host.
"You need to save the earth Usagi, I will support you. With the silver crystal, we will stop Reina's ploy."
Using the crystal, the transparent princess stepped through the glass combining once again with the girl from the present. Before she went back to sleep, the princess made on final request.
"Just promise me you won't destroy her."
