*Looks about* Huh. It looks like I might actually be
getting somewhere with this monstrosity. Then again...

Sigh, Sailor Moon is not mine, nor will it ever be. However,
the storyline is slightly mine, and I'd be rather upset if
someone took it from me without asking. I've wasted good
brain cells cranking this sucker out.


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Labyrinth Square

Chapter 10

By Phoenix Cubed



Twinkle twinkle little star
High above the earth so far
May I wish upon your light
That I will live through this night?



Rubeus was on cloud nine. For the first time since landing
on the accursed planet known as Earth, things were going
his way. The Sailors were under control, the prince was out
of the way, and that screeching Zoicite was dead and gone.
The blonde general had been worse than Emerald! But now
she was with the Green Lady. The two could howl at each
other for all eternity, for all he cared. They were gone, and
that was all that mattered.

The ruby graced general smirked, remembering the deed.

Zoicite had been walking in front of him, her heels clattering
smartly in time to the beat of a false victory. Rubeus stalked
behind her, his angry demeanor evident as his called out her
name in the echoing hallway.

"Zoicite, you're not following orders."

"Yes, I am," she smirked, turning around to face him. "My
Queen's orders."

Rubeus's eyes hardened, "you double crossed us! Prince
Diamond won't stand for this, Zoicite."

"He won't know. Diamond's too busy with his nostalgia.
Queen Beryl was right to call him an idiot for what he's
doing. So I'm merely carrying on with our plans ahead of
schedule." Zoicite laughed, covering her mouth as she did.
"You didn't really think Queen Beryl was going to let
Diamond live, did you? After all, there can only be one
royal line."

Rubeus's lip curled in a disgusted sneer, "you really think
that your Snake Queen could pull it off? I doubt it-especially
with the loss of her last general. As incompetent as you might
be."

Zoicite's eyes narrowed, "you wouldn't dare."

"Try me."

"So be it," she shouted, "Zoi!"

Violent energy came hurling at Rubeus. Pink cherry petals
snapped in his face and cut deep rivulets in his skin.
Rubeus threw his arm up and pushed his hand outwards,
shielding his face from the surprise blast. He gritted his
teeth and glared at his attacker.

"Is that the best you've got? Ha!" Rubeus cupped his hands
together and felt his own particular brand of energy surge
into prickly spheres. With a wicked grin he threw them out
and watched with satisfaction as they blew around Zoicite,
catching her off balance and sending her flying backwards.

"Oomph!" Zoicite hit a vined wall hard. She winced as she
slid to the floor, feeling her ribs scream in protest. The
general looked up and scowled at Rubeus, "I'm not finished
with you yet."

"Well that's just too bad," Rubeus's voice sang with triumph.
"Because I am definitely through with you!"

"No!" Zoicite screamed in frustration, gathering her energy
in desperation, she formed her will into a slender ice spear
and threw it with all her might.

Another round of deadly energy spheres hurled through the
air, one hit Zoicite's final retaliation and cracked it, sending
shards of ice through out the hallway, while the remaining
energy continued forward. Zoicite screamed one last time
as the spheres struck her body. The connecting blast was
explosive and Rubeus had to shield his eyes from the shock
wave. Spicy waves of cold nega-energy swirled around him,
mixed with the sweet sent of dying cherry blossoms.

The darkness faded back into his vision. Rubbing his eyes,
Rubeus glanced around the now disturbed Labyrinth corridor.
He smirked.

Empty as a merchant's soul. If Rubeus had been a cat, he
would have purred.

"Rower."

Speaking of cats.

Rubeus looked down from his high station to the present.
Three of the Sailor Scouts walked silently behind him,
surrounded on all sides. However, Sailor Moon was in front
of him, accompanied by the Amazon scout and the black
Mau. The feline creature was glaring at him with her
cinnamon eyes, most likely cursing him in her mind for what
he had forced her charges into.

The corners of his lips twitched higher. It wasn't his fault
that Sailor Moon was such a gullible twit.

But it certainly was helpful.

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Queen Beryl, Deviant Jewel of the Negaverse, Light of the
Underworld, and Self-Proclaimed Goddess, had an
undeniable urge to destroy something.

This came from, she decided amiably, her general's sudden
departure from her realm, and the queen's own lack of
participation in that event. Damn that Diamond, anyway. He
knew that Rubeus didn't get along with Zoicite, but had
cajoled her into pairing them together anyway. Beryl knew
that Zoicite was an irrepressible fiend who was far too
ambitious for her own good, and that she seemed to have a
finely groomed talent for getting under someone's skin.
Ignoring these facts, however, she was the queen's general.
And if anyone had the pleasure of carrying out Zoicite's demise,
it should have been her.

Drumming her long painted nails irritably against the stone
arm of her throne, Queen Beryl contemplated her situation.
Because of an unfortunate series of events, Queen Beryl
found herself to be on short supply of generals. Though at
least indirectly responsible for each of their ended career
paths, she put firm support in the idea that their demises
were their own faults. If they hadn't shown such *blatant*
stupidity, they might still be alive.

Might.

Beryl sighed in disgust. This was not solving her problems.
Diamond was fast coming up with reasons not to need her
support. To stay in the game, the queen had to either find
a reason to stay in his needed graces, or pull a strong ace out
of the proverbial sleeve.

"Curse that white prince!" She screeched, eyes blazing
in fury. She sat in dark contemplation for a time, coming
up with lurid and fanciful methods of extracting the life from
Diamond as slow and as agonizing as possible. After a
particularly gruesome image of the man stretched out on a
rack of ice while her nails sanded him of his skin, layer by
layer, she chuckled low and reined in her anger. Extending
her gray skinned fingers, she beckoned to her crystal ball.
"Come to me, my greatest lovely," she crooned.

Doing as it was bidden, the clear sphere mounted on a
clawed gnarled staff glided from the darkness before coming
to rest at a comfortable distance from her postured torso.
Flexing her skeletal fingers, she danced them over the ball,
creating a metallic atmosphere that soon surrounded her
and brought Beryl into a farseeing trance.

Queen Beryl needed answers, and this was the best way
she knew to get them. Releasing her mind from her body,
she felt into deep concentration.

Beryl was falling far behind in the race for conquest. But
Diamond had inadvertently given her a chance to catch up.
Not three hours ago he had vanished, with only Sapphire,
his arrogant, technologically engrossed brother, knowing
where he had spirited off to. The queen, however, was not
the fool that the family of the white prince thought her to
be. Her memories were beginning to come back at a furious
pace, quickening with every meditation. What had once only
been glimpses or sensations of past events became full-blown
images of her history. And others' as well.

Dark lips drew upwards in a smile of triumph. This would be
her ace.

Beryl could now clearly remember the rumors that had flown
about her kingdom before the fall of the Silver Millennium.
The Lunar court had finally narrowed the princess's choices
down to two inevitable suitors. One came from a moon very
much like their own, the other from their sister planet, Earth.
Beryl knew that the pompous aristocrats of the Moon
Kingdom considered neither worthy of the royal hand--but it
was the Queen's ultimate decision, and she would deny her
daughter nothing.

And then had come a most curious tale from the craters of
the Terran satellite. Two months before her planned date of
attack, Beryl knew that rumors of her coming deed were
flying thick. To her delight, the times were proving to be
stressful on all interplanetary relationships. But none more
so than those of the earth, the moon, and the nameless
planet that Diamond heralded from.

The Princess Serenity had been close to choosing, and
Diamond had been confident that he would be the ultimate
choice. But he had also known of Beryl's imminent arrival.
Desperate to save his infatuation, he left the moon for a time
and sought out one of the more odious characters that slunk
about the galaxy. Striking an unknown deal with the
creature known only as "The Wise Man," Diamond had
returned confident, strong, and ready to take his place by
Serenity's side.

However, he had not counted on one factor: the Prince
Endymion. Though he had certainly not taken advantage of
his rival's absence, he hadn't let it slip by, either. The simple
affection that had shone in the princess's eyes while looking
at Endymion had turned into something deeper, more
profound. And the Earth prince, who had at one time only
chased the political implications, now glittered brightly with
the aura one could only achieve with the realization of first
love.

Furious that his position had been usurped, Diamond
challenged Endymion to a duel. As was traditional on the
moon, the two suitors would run the legendary Labyrinth.
The first to the Center Square would claim the prize that
awaited them. Princess Serenity.

Queen Serenity herself oversaw and judged the duel. Hiding
herself high overhead, she watched the two as they ran the
twisted corridors of the maze. On the moon the Labyrinth
was constructed of hardy bushes and trees, laced tightly
together by thick vines. It was the Old Queen's most prized
possession-save her daughter-and she knew every leaf
and crevice within its confines, as well as everyone who ran
it.

The Old Queen had known as soon as Diamond stepped
into the maze that he was using unorthodox means to
navigate the maze in hopes of winning. But she stood by
silently, watching in amazement as Endymion trotted
unerringly through the twisted paths, closing fast the
distance between himself and his would be love.

Inevitably, the suitors came out at the same time and ran
to the Center Square. It seemed neck and neck, and the two
reached the princess at the same time, each grabbing an
arm in hopes of victory. Frightened, however, the flighty girl
had cried out. Endymion, thinking he had hurt her, let go
immediately, relinquishing his right to win. Diamond, seemingly
triumphant at last, crowed to the sky and gripped the princess
harder, oblivious to the pain he was causing. The Earth prince,
however, was acutely aware of what was happening, and moved in
to stop the other man.

What would have been a simple matter of protest quickly
turned ugly. Diamond misinterpreted Endymion's action,
threw the princess aside, and struck out at the other man,
breaking the greatest taboo known to the moon: thou shall
not take violence onto another.

Immediately Queen Serenity had fallen upon the duelists,
incurring her wrath. She declared the contest void and
turned to Diamond in anger. With dreadful finality, she
judged him guilty and banished him from the peace of the
Silver Millennium; throwing him, his court, and his planet far
from anyone's reach. But because Endymion had not struck
back, the Old Queen healed his wound and gave him her
blessing.

The memory ended there, leaving Beryl in devious thought.

Now Diamond no longer held the advantage that he once
claimed. Beryl knew where the prince had gone, with whom,
and could easily guess why. What surprised her was how
she could have been so easily tricked to over look the facts.
So Sailor Moon was also Princess Serenity. Which could
only mean that her dear caped crusader was the Earth
prince Endymion in disguise.

Endymion. Unbidden, the image of the magnificent prince
swirled about the sphere. Beryl's eyes softened as she
gazed upon his face. Even after all these years of brooding
hatred, the site of his deep, aqua eyes and unruly raven
hair put senses ablaze. What she would not give to have
him at her side. It plagued her to see him whittling his life
away with that blonde twit. Beryl could give him so much
more. That is, if Diamond didn't mean to really finish what
he had started a thousand years ago. Gifts were a moot
ideal to a dead man.

But Diamond wouldn't. He was trying too hard to become
the gentleman he had once been regarded as. And if he had
recommenced the duel, then he wouldn't be foolish enough
to make the same mistake twice. He would carry out his
doomed ideal as long as possible, and meanwhile, Beryl
would pick up where he had dropped her and do whatever
she wished.

Which brought her back to her original problem. She had
run out of competent minions, leaving her no choice but to
carry the work out herself. That, she decided, would not be
much of a problem. There was only one real task that
remained before she could claim domination: the retrieval of
Imperium Silver Crystal.

Pushing herself deeper into contemplation, Beryl searched
her mind for answers. Where could that blasted Serenity
have hidden it? Obviously, the princess neither had it nor
knew where it was. Those annoying Scouts that guarded
the princess would be of no use to her. And if Endymion
knew, she would never find out. It would be foolish to
distract either of princes as they raced towards their
unnamed prize in the center of the Laby--

That was it! Queen Beryl fell from her meditations and leapt
to her feet. She threw her head back in triumph and shrieked
to the darkness.

"I have you now, Serenity!" She laughed with malicious
glee. "And soon, I'll have it all!"

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Darien slid to a stop in front of a three-way fork. Hands
gripping the cloth over his knees tightly, he stooped to catch
his breath. Sweat took this opportunity to trace the curves of
his temple and fall down the arc of his jaw and onto the floor.
A second rivulet trickled down the bridge between his eyes
to run down and drop from his nose. Between deep lungfuls
of air, Darien took note of how his clothes managed to stick
in the most irritatingly way possible beneath his armor. And
how the sword strapped to his side seemed bent on creating
a chink in his thigh plate. He had forgotten how
uncomfortable armor and dress could be.

Straightening up, Darien forced himself to stretch out sore
and protesting muscles. Acid build up could come back to
haunt a person at bad times if he or she weren't careful.
And right now, Darien *definitely* needed to be careful.
The maze had never been a treat to run, but with the fate of
his princess hanging precariously overhead, coupled by the
natural wariness that came in dealing with two timing villains,
the action of running it was nearly unbearable. There was
so much pressure, so very much riding on his aching
shoulders. That, and it had been a lifetime since he had last
navigated the strange corridors of the Labyrinth. Literally.
How did anyone expect him to remember all the twists and
turns? Not to mention the various surprises that had
suddenly grown between the vine-strewn maze. From the
moving doorway to the unstable grating, it was really
becoming all too much for the newly revived prince to bear.
Why *ever* was he trying to kill himself for?

Soft images of golden hair flowing about the blue-eyed face
of an angel danced before his eyes. Memories of the
delicate princess he had known so long ago flitted next to
the ghostly dreams of an unknown girl in dire need. But
coasting right along with those was the face of Serena.
Cute, klutzy Meatball Head. From her adorable pout when
things weren't going as planned, to the squeal of triumph
and the sparkle in her eyes when she played her video
games, to the sprightly wink and warm smile she gave to
everyone who gave her reason. And also Sailor Moon; the
brave, bumbling warrior that fought against all odds, demanding
love and justice.

So much in one tiny, indestructible package, how could he
not love her? And he would tell her that, too, just as soon as
he got to the center of the maze. As soon as this was all
over, he would sweep her off her feet, cuddle her to his
chest, and never let her go.

With that firm resolve in mind, Darien gathered his energy
and threw it into his feet, charging from a solid stop to a dead
sprint faster than a cat could blink. Darien sped down the far
fork, sending prayers to every deity he could think of that, hoping
he would make it out to carry through with his resolve.


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^.^ phoenix_cubed@hotmail.com