Queen Serenity gazed with horror at her surroundings.  The pallid stone of her palace and the surrounding buildings had crumbled, great turrets toppled over onto the ground, pillars were merely pieces of debris.  Her gardens, said to be one a wonder that exceeded anything on the earth were buried beneath towering flames of gold and crimson.

            Through it all the very center of the Moon Castle had survived so far.  Its clear, white surface remained silhouetted against the blackened sky.  It's insides had been pillaged, the priceless works of art destroyed or gone, leaving it hollow and gutted.  It was nothing but the empty exoskeleton of a once glorious place, but still it seemed to cry out in defiance against this evil.

            Queen Serenity's sapphire eyes scanned the area, searching desperately for her people.  She found them, but not as she had expected, not as they had once been.  The bodies of virtually everyone she had ever known lay strewn across the ruins.  Some still had tears flowing from their soulless eyes, others still clutched weapons, their faces contorted forever with fierce determination and rage.

            Four girls rushed out of the remnants of the castle.  Serenity stifled a gasp of horror as she saw who it was.  Their brightly colored fukus were unmistakable.  The children of the planets, the sailor senshi, had entered the futile battle.

            Serenity opened her lips to warn them, to beg them to flee and save themselves but the words would not emerge.  She could not seem to stop them.  A feeling of helplessness engulfed her as she watched them take their familiar fighting stances and prepare to attack. 

            *They are so young,* she reflected bitterly.  They were still only entering their teenage years, and already encountering the difficulties that came with their age.  Several had begun to worry about love and deeper relationships.  Wisdom had yet to come to them, but they were surprisingly mature and caring for people so young.  Each one could sense the others moods with an ability that bordered on telepathy and would try to help the other as much as they could.

            She looked at them again, realizing that tears were gathering in her eyes.  They had barely begun to live.  How little time they had had to dream, to hope and to love.  They had been forced to grow up to early, duty stealing their childhood.  How could their lives be taken away now? 

            They each summoned their magic, bending the very elements of the earth to their will.  *It isn't fair!* the queen thought.  *They haven't even begun to live!  They never had the opportunity for happiness, they always were sacrificing it for this kingdom, for me, for my child.  They almost like sisters to my dear Serenity.  Poor children who never really were children, who will never be…*

            It all happened far two quickly.  The dark cloud looming over the castle seemed to growl, slit like eyes filled with menace as the energies of the senshi bounced off it harmlessly.  With barely any effort at all it struck.  Seconds later, the senshi floated lifelessly in the air.  The queen felt despair seep into her mind as she looked at them, at wind caressing their cheeks and tossing their hair as their fell slowly to the ground, at their expressions of anguish and unborn tears at on their eyelashes.

            Through the chaos and battle a single person rose up, floating upward on the air.  She could have almost been beautiful.  Her tight, violet dress clung to her skin proving that.  Her think, scarlet hair coiled upward like multitude of vipers and shining with the light of the flames. 

            But her face was twisted into such a dark expression of loathing that she resembled a monster more closely than the woman she must have been once.  Her narrowed, yellow eyes swept over the carnage and destruction that was her work and her lips curved into a gleeful smile.  For a moment, the queen thought that this woman—who had come to be known as Queen Beryl—was talking to her.  Then she saw who the other queens real victim was and her heart sank.

            Standing on a balcony that was still devoid of wreckage was her only child, Princess Serenity.  Her blue eyes which were always filled with joy and innocence were widened with terror now.  Her normally pale skin was now utterly devoid of color, the blood drained from her face.  She seemed so small and fragile compared to the demon facing her.  While the senshi had grown up too quickly, Serenity had remained a child, innocent, naïve and pure for all eternity.

            *Serenity,* the moon queen mourned.  *Always a little girl in your nature and in our hearts, becoming a young woman capable of a love deeper than we can imagine.  Dear Serenity…How long has it been since I told you I loved you?  How long since I held you and told you that everything would be alright and that I would never leave you?  How long has it been since you grew up?

            I feel like we have been growing apart for a while now, my child.  You used to tell me everything, your eyes glowing with excitement when you were happy and brimming with tears…You would run to me, ask my advice or just talk to me about life in general.  But lately, I've become so busy.  I feel like I am never home for you, and when I am here, you are quieter, more reserved.  Ever since you fell in love with that man, you have been hiding things from me, telling lies and keeping secrets.*

            Queen Serenity watched the horrible scene play itself out before her, unable to tear her eyes from it.  The Earth Prince, Endymion stood before her daughter, an expression of fierce devotion and anger on his face.  *Yes, he is the one.  He must be the one you love.  I can understand your choice, Serenity.  He is a charming man, full of grace and tact that he doesn't know that he possesses.  He is attractive too, of course.  But how could you betray what we hold sacred in our kingdom for childish adoration?  Don't you know that a love between you can never be?*

            She watched, frozen like one of the statues that had filled the halls of the castle, as Beryl's face twisted with unconcealed fury.  A cyclone raced towards the prince.  He refused to move though, attempting to protect her daughter with his life.  The winds picked him up, tossing him around like a toy.  Tears formed in the princess's eyes, streaming down her cheeks.  Queen Serenity opened her mouth to cry out, but again remained mute, rooted to the ground in stunned, involuntary silence.  The feeling of helplessness engulfed her as her child jumped from the balcony towards her beloveds arms and certain death.

            *No…* Serenity realized suddenly.  *It wasn't just admiration or your curiosity.  You did love him, just as he loved you.  How could I have not understood?  Is this why you didn't trust me as much?  Oh, forgive me!  Forgive me for not accepting you!  Forgive me for not believing you when you insisted that the bond you shared was genuine…*

            For several seconds she seemed to defy gravity, the white folds of her dress whipping around her making her seem almost ethereal.  A small smile crossed the princess's face as she reached out one hand longingly.  The prince stretched out his hand, struggling to touch her one last time.  Their fingers met briefly, barely brushing each other before Beryl saw.  The flame-haired woman, overcome with jealousy sent a single burst of raw energy at them.  Screams echoed on the moon's surface, then were silenced.  When the queen's eyes had recovered from the flash, she saw the most terrible sight her eyes had ever beheld. 

            Her daughter, her beloved child whom she cherished above all else, was dead.  Tear drops still trickled from her eternally closed eyes as she drifted through the air.  At that moment, all of the grief and agony that the queen had been unable to vocalized came pouring from her lips.

            "Serenity!  Serenity!" she howled over and over, as though her cries could wake the princess, bring her back somehow.  "NO!  It can't be!  Serenity!"  Her shrieks resounded in now eerily silent air, hopelessly denying what she knew to be true.  Suddenly lacking the energy to stand, she sank to her knees, her tears now flowing freely.

            The stricken moon queen heard a sound that she had not expected, even from her enemies.  Malicious, triumphant laughter was ringing in her ears.  She lifted her head to see Beryl, standing victorious over their corpses, looking more like a monster than ever.

            For the first time in her life, the moon queen truly understood what hate was.  Not anger or jealousy, but pure hatred, the desire to kill and kill until there was nothing left for her to kill, to wreak her emotions on her enemies, to make them suffer for what they had done.  For the first time, she truly wished to utterly destroy that creature known as Beryl and the demon that filled their sky, Metallia.

            Before she could attempt to avenge the deaths of the slain, she looked to her daughter, so beautiful as to almost be surreal, even though her soul was gone.  Death would not bring back what was lost, it would only make the tragedy continue.  What was important now was to ensure that this would not happen again.

            *Yes, it isn't fair that you should lose your dreams and love so early.  It isn't fair, my child, that you and the one you cared for so deeply were born onto two different worlds.  So, I will unwrite this tragedy.  I have nothing to lose now, do I?  I have no reason to live other than for all of you…

            I will send you to the future, to a better time and place where you can have your lost childhoods.  I will let you be reborn together with your prince, and then at last, you will find happiness…But please, think of me someday.  I do not wish you to remember your hardships here, but perhaps you could remember me, if only for an instant, a fraction of a moment…*

            With that final thought, Queen Serenity drew herself up to her full height.  No longer did she sag with weariness and grief.  She understood what she had to do now, what her final act would be.  She no longer feared death, for it had already come to her.  What mattered was the future, one she wished to protect.

            A look of confusion crossed Beryl's face as she saw Serenity standing there, silvery hair cascading down her narrow shoulders.  It was not the broken, suffering queen she had imagined, but a person who radiated strength and grim confidence, strength Beryl had always envied, strength she could never have.

            Serenity lifted her staff above her head and recited the words that would send her into death, but bring the children into life.  There was a blinding flash of light, then silence.  Complete silence.