Chapter Twenty-One
The Moon Prince
An evil grin appeared on her face. She figured it out. As she watched and studied the reflections of the past, present, and future in the misty waters of the pool, she discovered the secret. She watched a scene unfold of one of her Generals battling with Tuxedo Samurai. She watched his use of powers, but mostly, the mysterious Moon Kingdom symbol on his forehead gave her the answers. She was almost positive that Tuxedo Samurai was the reborn Moon Prince. It made sense. Tuxedo Mask was once the Prince of the Earth, so naturally Tuxedo Samurai must be the Moon Prince. He did bear the symbol and the healing powers.
"Alexandrite!"
The blue-haired woman stepped forward. "Yes, your Majesty?"
"I want you to attack the Sailor Scouts."
"All of them?" She gulped, remembering the new found powers of Sailor Jupiter. "I won't be able to defeat them. You'll be sending me to my death!"
Queen Beryl turned around. "Then perhaps you'll actually be useful to me for once."
Alexandrite's mouth fell open in shock, but she didn't know what to say. He closed her mouth and eyes and nodded solemnly, knowing it would lead to her death.
"He's so cute!" Serena exclaimed while holding the little boy. She held him against her body, and the little baby snuggled his head against Serena's neck.
Trista and Kanejiro glanced at each and smiled proudly. They looked back up at Serena and their son.
"I want to hold him." Mina leapt up from her chair. She took the little boy from Serena and bounced him in her arms. Everyone wanted to hold the little boy that he was passed from girl to girl. Eventually, the boy landed in Lita's lap. She held him for a few moments, but quickly stood up. "Oh, the cookies!" She passed the baby off to Eiji, who took the child into his arms and cuddled it.
"That looks a little too natural, Eiji," Hayate commented, laughing.
"Yeah, when you guys going to have your own?" Darien crossed his arms over his chest.
Lita turned around and looked at the ground, blushing madly. "Stop…" She blushed deeper. "The last thing I need is to have children right now. I'm still in high school."
"But only for a few more months." Diego grinned before taking a drink of his soda.
Eiji bounced the baby in his arms then glanced over with a grin. "Lita and I will start having children once you get started having your own kids."
Concurrently, Darien, Hayate, and Diego started coughing at the same time which made their girlfriends' laugh. Mina almost spit out her drink while Ami actually laughed out loud. Serena smiled and rolled her eyes while she rested her head against Darien's shoulder.
Eiji stood up and passed the baby off to Hotaru. "I'll help you with the cookies, Lita." They left the room.
Hotaru carried the baby around the room. She walked up to Michelle and Amara. "You want to hold the baby, Amara?" Amara wrinkled her nose then Michelle slapped her friend on the knee.
"Oh, Amara!" Michelle shook her head and took the baby into her arms. "How could you wrinkle your nose at this little cutie pie?" She wiggled her nose against the little boy's nose.
Serena held onto Darien's arm tightly. While she looked around the room, she noticed one of her friends was very quite that night. She sat in the corner alone glancing out the window. "Raye, are you alright?"
She looked away from the window to Serena. "Yes, I'm fine."
"Are you sure?" Mina asked.
Raye nodded. "I'm fine. Don't worry about it."
Eiji and Lita walked back into the room. "Cookies!" Lita exclaimed as she carried the tray into the middle of the room. Serena leapt out her seat and surrounded the table in the tearoom. The others followed behind Serena less eager to eat. While everyone was picking up a cookie, Raye stood up from her chair. "Someone's here."
Everyone fell silent and looked over at Raye. Raye walked out of the tea room and down the hallway. Everyone followed her out of the room. Kanejiro took the baby back from Michelle and held his son tightly against him.
"Trista, you go. I'll stay with the baby."
Trista nodded and followed the Sailors out of Raye's house. All the girls but Trista grabbed their Sailor pens and transformed. Darien, Hayate, Eiji, and Diego instantly transformed into their Tuxedoes and were ready for battle. They stepped out of Raye's house into the temple courtyard.
There was only one Negaverse warrior. The blue-haired General, Alexandrite, stood before them with a healed arm and two knives in her hands. It was a warm and sunny afternoon, but dark clouds started to roll in as the presence of darkness stood in the courtyard.
"What do you want?" Tuxedo Mask gripped his cane.
"Surrender the Moon Prince!" Alexandrite exclaimed. "And I might let you live!"
Tuxedo Zorro stepped forward. "There's thirteen of us, and only one of you! I think we should be demanding the terms, dear lady." He pulled out his rapier.
Alexandrite took a step back. "Give me the Moon Prince now!"
Sailor Moon came forward. "We don't have any Moon Prince. What do you want with us? Why are you attacking us?"
Alexandrite threw a knife. It flew forward and scratched Sailor Moon's arm. She grabbed her bleeding arm and collapsed to her knee. Tuxedo Mask kneeled down to aid her. Tuxedo Zorro, Knight, and Ninja stepped in front of Mask and Moon to protect them.
Alexandrite threw another knife. It flew toward Sailor Mars. The Sailor tried to dodge, but wasn't going to make it. However, the blade was caught between the fingers of a dark warrior. Everyone looked over—the mysterious Tuxedo Samurai stood before them with a knife in his hand.
"Queen Beryl demands the Moon Prince and the death of Sailor Mars! And I will give that to her!"
Sailor Mars came forward. "What do you want with me?"
"Your death!" Alexandrite lunged forward. Sailor Mars tried to dodge, but she wasn't fast enough. However, Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus were able to stop the charge. The other Sailors started throwing their attacks in too. Despite the fact that the Sailors were considerably weaker than the General, the sheer numbers of the Sailor Scouts and Tuxedo Warriors completely overwhelmed the General. She would dodge one attack just to get hit with another. Easily, the General was defeated by the teamwork of the Sailors. Sailor Jupiter, who had already tapped into her crystal powers, sent out a shockwave towards the General. Alexandrite flew back with her body shaking in convulsions. She landed on her back. After a few moments, she tried to stand up, but couldn't. Her body kept shaking. She looked at the Sailor Scouts, terrified and shaking. A small trickle of blood flowed from her lip as tears started to sting her eyes.
The Sailors and Tuxedo warriors stared at the General for a few moments. Sailor Moon stepped forward. "Are you alright?"
Alexandrite shook her head. "Don't come near me! Please!"
Sailor Moon stared to walk forward.
"Sailor Moon!" Tuxedo Mask called out.
Sailor Moon looked back towards her friends. "It's alright." She continued to walk forward, but suddenly, between Sailor Moon and General Alexandrite a dark mass appeared. Purple lightning surrounded the mass. The dark clouds covered the skies and brought a shadow upon the land.
The General stood up. "My Queen has come to save me!" She walked forward to the dark mass. Out of the mass, came the vision of the past. Sailor Moon gasped. Out of the mass came Queen Beryl, the ruler of the Negaverse.
"I thought…I thought you were dead!" Sailor Moon backed away from Beryl into the arms of Tuxedo Mask.
Queen Beryl laughed, with evil and cruelty in her voice. "You will never destroy me, Sailor Moon. I am more powerful than you could ever imagine!"
Alexandrite came up to the Queen's side in a humbled posture. "I knew you'd come to save me, my Queen." She took the hand of the Queen. "Thank you, my Queen! Thank you!"
Beryl slowly turned her eyes toward the begging subject. She pulled her hand away from Alexandrite's grasp and placed it on Alexandrite's head. She ran cold fingers through Alexandrite's hair and smiled. Tears started to run down Alexandrite's face.
"I'm sorry, my Queen. I wasn't strong enough. Please forgive me."
"Hush," Beryl said, almost tenderly. "I'll put your pretty little head out of its misery."
"Huh?" Alexandrite looked confused.
An energy blast came out of the hand Beryl had on Alexandrite's head. The blue-haired woman flew off to the side like a rag doll from taking a direct blow to the head. Her body rolled a few times then stopped, completely lifeless.
"YOU MONSTER!" Tuxedo Zorro stepped forward, pulling out his rapier. "I challenge you to a duel!"
Beryl looked over at the irate Tuxedo Warrior and grinned. "As you wish."
Tuxedo Zorro ran forward with his rapier ready to strike. He raised his arm in the air and slashed the sword downwards. Beryl held out her hand and formed a protective dark bubble around herself. Tuxedo Zorro struck the bubble with his rapier, and he flew back from the deflection of the shield. Sailor Venus quickly came forward to his aide with the Venus Love Chain, but it also was deflected. Suddenly, the Queen started hurling black balls of energy at the Sailor warriors. They tired to dodge them, but some of them were hit. First Sailor Mercury, Sailor Jupiter, Tuxedo Knight, and Tuxedo Mask were hit. Tuxedo Ninja was hit next along with Sailor Venus. Sailor Moon, Sailor Neptune, and Sailor Saturn were hit. Sailor Uranus was hit in the air while trying to start an attack, and she immediately crashed to the ground. Sailor Mars was hit in the middle of preparing her Flame Shooter while Tuxedo Zorro was hit again. However, the Queen almost missed the blade pointed towards her chest. Nearly in time, she turned to the side as the blade grazed her side and broke the protective bubble. The warrior with the katana leapt back as the defensive bubble burst into black goop all over the place. He held his katana at his side and stood up straight.
The Queen smirked as she set her eyes on the warrior who stood before her. "Very impressive, Tuxedo Samurai." Her eyes locked upon the crescent moon on his forehead.
The others recovered from the attacks and started to help each other up as Queen Beryl and Tuxedo Samurai stared each other down. They all watched on, knowing that if anyone stood a chance against Beryl, it would be Tuxedo Samurai.
The Queen glanced down to the ground with a large grin appearing on her face. Her right hand slowly slipped behind her back and a small dark energy ball formed in her palm. "You must tell me where you got your powers, Tuxedo Samurai. You really are quite a phenomenal warrior."
"I don't have time to chat! Just leave, Beryl!"
She almost laughed playfully. "You know, once upon a time ago, I knew of someone with powers like yours."
"What are you talking about?" Tuxedo Samurai asked, curiosity echoing in his voice.
"Don't listen to that crazy hag!" Sailor Jupiter hollered. "Blast her out of oblivion!"
Tuxedo Samurai stood sternly. "I don't care what you have to say, Beryl. Just leave us alone."
"But my story gets good, Tuxedo Samurai. You see, there was once a man with your sort of powers and abilities. He was the Moon's Greatest Champion in fact. He was the Prince of the Moon Kingdom."
"Yeah, well we don't have him, lady!" Sailor Venus hollered.
"But you do…" Queen Beryl uttered. She quickly pulled her hand out from behind her back. With her left hand, she took control of Tuxedo Samurai's body and lifted him high in the air. He tired to fight her powers over him, but he couldn't. She brought him closer to her until he floated just before her. She took her right hand, the hand with the dark energy, and pierced her claws into his chest.
Immediately, he screamed from the immense pain and torture. The Sailors and Tuxedo Warriors ran forward, but a new defense bubble was created, and they were all defected. His body shook as her arm reached into his soul.
"STOP IT! LEAVE HIM ALONE! LET HIM GO!" Sailor Moon screamed with tears in her eyes.
Beryl's grin grew larger as her arm kept digging through the soul of the warrior. His body shook violently as he screamed out in pain. His white mask shook off and fell to the ground. Everyone gasped.
"Kyoji?" Sailor Mars uttered, heavy tears pouring from her eyes.
The dark warrior, Tuxedo Samurai, was de-masked and revealed to be Kyoji Tsukiyama, the shrine boy of Cherry Hill Temple. Soon, Beryl pulled her hand out of Tuxedo Samurai's body. She flung him to the side like a doll. His body flew in between the Sailors and Beryl. Immediately, Sailor Mars ran over to him and stooped down in the dirt. She put her hand on his cheek. He was almost lifeless. He barely retained any consciousness, but he was able to look at her.
A faint light filled the dark shadows of the afternoon. Queen Beryl held the pure heart crystal of the boy. Grinning, she looked over at the Sailor scouts, he indeed was the Moon Prince. She studied the heart. "A dying crystal, indeed." The heart crystal was pure in light, but very dim. There were cracks in the crystal as well.
Everyone marveled at the crystal. They could feel it too. It was a very pure crystal, but the sadness and pain that radiated from the crystal was almost too much to bear. His crystal was dying because his heart was dying too.
If it were even possible, the Queen's grin grew larger. If she wanted him for her own, she would have to destroy him first. She held the crystal in her hand for a moment then squeezed it.
Kyoji screamed again. Raye picked him up into her arms and cradled his upper body. "Kyoji! KYOJI! KYOJI!" She looked over at Beryl. "STOP IT! DON'T CRUSH HIS HEART! YOU'LL KILL HIM!"
The Sailors tired to stop Beryl, but her defense shield was too strong. Beryl squeezed her hand again, and the sound of the crystal crushing and breaking brought more tears to the Sailors.
"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Sailor Moon pounded on the force field. "PLEASE LEAVE HIM ALONE!"
The Tuxedo Warriors slashed and stabbed the defense shield while the Sailors tried every attack they had. Nothing could break the shield. Laughing out loud, the Queen crushed the crystal in her hand and released the debris to the ground.
"KYOJI, HANG ON! PLEASE DON'T DIE! PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME! KYOJI, STAY WITH ME!" Sailor Mars screamed while shaking him frantically as he screamed from the pain.
He stopped screaming once the pieces hit the ground. His eyes started to grow dim. He glanced up into Sailor Mars' eyes for a brief moment. She grasped his hand tightly. Tears poured out of his dimming eyes. "I'm so sorry, Kyoji…I…" She choked on her tears.
With his last ounce of strength, his lips faintly curled into a smile. Even though they were growing dim, a spark of happiness shined in his eyes. "R…R…R…Raye, I've…I've…always…lo...loved…you." The light in his eyes left and his smile disappeared. Kyoji died.
"Kyoji?" Raye shook his body. "Kyoji?" She shook him more frantically. "KYOJI! KYOJI!" She kept shaking him, but his eyes were cold and lifeless. "KYOJI!" She stopped shaking him. Her bottom lip started to tremble. "I…I…I…" She threw herself over him and screamed as loud as she could. "KYOJI!" She looked back up to the dark skies and screamed again, sobbing and anguish pouring out from her soul.
Everyone stood helpless and miserable. Tears came to everyone's eyes as they watched Sailor Mars scream and cry over Kyoji's body. Only the sound of Raye's screaming, and the evil cackle of Queen Beryl filled the air. A few moments felt like an eternity as they stood watching this scene unfold until something happened.
A bright white light appeared in the middle of the courtyard. Beryl shielded her eyes from the light. Everyone did the same, but the light seemed to give pain to Beryl. The old Queen started screaming as the light grew brighter and brighter. Finally, after a few moments of not being able to withstand the light, she screamed and disappeared from sight. The white light grew brighter and seemed to engulf the entire yard. They all shielded their eyes and lost sight.
It felt like they lost consciousness forever, but when they opened their eyes. They stood in a completely different place. They looked around their surroundings. There were ruins everywhere, and the sky was dark and full of stars around them.
"Where are we?" Tuxedo Mask asked.
Sailor Moon kept looking around. "The Moon Kingdom."
"Where's Beryl?" Sailor Venus looked around.
Sailor Mercury walked a few feet down the stone pathway. She gazed in among the ruins. "This is all so strange."
"Like a dream." Tuxedo Mask looked around.
She sniffed and everyone turned his or her attention back to Sailor Mars. She was sitting on the ground holding the dead body in her arms. She held him close to her and ran her fingers through his arm as the warmth of his body started to leave.
"Is he…?" Sailor Moon bit her lip.
With tears, Sailor Mars nodded.
A bright light started to glow behind them. They all turned around while Sailor Mars looked up into the light. The light started to fade away and an image appeared before them. Soon, she came into view. It was Queen Serenity—ruler of the Silver Millennium. Everyone gasped at the sight of the Queen. She was mysterious and beautiful, almost angelic. Once she stopped glowing, she gracefully floated forward. There were tears in her eyes. Everyone watched silently as she floated over to Sailor Mars. She kneeled down before the body.
Sailor Mars looked up. "He's gone."
"We can resurrect him, but I will need your help."
"How?" Sailor Mars jerked her head up.
The Queen glanced over to the side. The fragments of Kyoji's heart crystal still laid on the ground. Queen Serenity stretched out her hand and the pieces floated towards her. She took them into her hands and held them out over Kyoji's body. "Sailor Mars, you must help me."
She didn't understand, but she held out her hands. She cupped the crystal pieces in her hands along with Queen Serenity, and closed her eyes. She didn't know what to say, do, or even feel at that moment. All she could think about how much she wanted him to live. She would gave given her own life to let him live again.
Everyone gasped. A small ball of white light appeared in the hands of Sailor Mars and Queen Serenity. Tears from both of the women floated from their eyes into the white light. It grew brighter and brighter until a large flash of light burst forth. The Sailors had shielded their eyes, but when they looked. There was a heart crystal in the hands of Sailor Mars and Queen Serenity.
Wide eyed, Sailor Mars looked up at Queen Serenity. "How?"
Queen Serenity smiled. "Only love can restore a heart crystal."
"Love?" Sailor Mars questioned.
They pulled their hands away and the heart crystal gently floated down into Kyoji's chest. After a few moments, the body started to breathe again and life started.
Sailor Mars watched completely stunned while everyone cheered at the breath of life. He was alive. She looked to the Queen. "Why isn't he awake?"
"He'll awake in due time." The Queen stood up. Serenity looked over all the warriors that stood before her. "There are many things you are not aware of concerning your past." She walked up to her daughter, Serena, and took her hand. "I will show you all. You must know who you are, and where you come from. You all must remember."
Each had been shown their own destiny and sent back into consciousness except Sailor Mars that is. She stood alone for many hours wandering among the ruins of the Moon Kingdom. The ancient pillars and broken stones gave her a sense of déjà vu, however, none of it was clear enough to make any sense. She wandered through the ruins trying to remember, but nothing came to mind. It all was just a blur. She stood in the middle of one room and looked around.
"This was your room."
Sailor Mars spun around. Serenity stood amidst the ruins with a gentle and calm look on her face. "There are many things I must tell you, Princess Raye."
Sailor Mars walked forward towards Serenity. Serenity reached out her hands, and Sailor Mars took them. "Come with me, child." Serenity led her out of the room. "There are many memories you have forgotten."
Sailor Mars, being as impatient as she was, opened her mouth first. "How is it that Kyoji Tsukiyama is Tuxedo Samurai?"
Serenity stopped walked and smirked. She found Raye's spunk and impatience somewhat amusing. "Kyoji is my son."
"Your son? I thought Serena was your only child."
Serenity sighed. "He was the son of my younger sister, Charity. But when she and her husband died, I adopted Kyoji as my own." She glanced up into the sky. "I loved my son very much." She looked over at Raye. "You loved my son very much too."
Sailor Mars jerked her head over. "I don't understand."
Queen Serenity looked down to the ruins for a moment. She proceeded to tell Sailor Mars the story of her past.
To be continued…