Disclaimer: Sailor Moon doesn't belong to me, but the Imperial Senshi do. As does the concept of Terra Chiba (not necessarily the original idea, as you will soon find out, but nonetheless...)
Comments/Questions: if you have anything to say to me, feel free to e-mail me at skratchkat@warp.nfld.net.
Rated: PG
=================================== Sailor Moon: Alternate Universe Dark Side of the Moon Prologue: Sins of the Fathers * Imperial Millennium * There was nothing left. The great Lunar Empire had been decimated with the speed of thought. Nothing remained. Prince Consort Xaron slumped in his throne in the empty Audience Hall, his face in his hands. The citizens had fled the palace, the city, and quite possibly the Moon itself. His own wife, Queen Verraine and their small daughter Serenity were safe in the Royal Family's vacation home on the other side of the planet. He hoped so, anyway. Xaron smiled softly as he recalled his daughter's sweet smile, a smile he would in all likelihood never see again. The wild, untameable blonde hair that came from her mother, the sparkling blue eyes that were his contribution, and the mischeviousness that were none but her own's, Serenity was a treasure. "Serenity," Xaron moaned brokenly. "My daughter. I will never see you grow or fall in love." The silence of the fallen Empire was broken only by the sound of the Prince Consort's weeping. From far below, in the lower corridors of the palace, there cam the sound of many running feet. Xaron's head jerked up. "No," he whispered in disbelief. "They cannot be here already! If they gain access to the throne room..." He straightened determinedly. There was no time for grief now. Purposefully, he rose and strode toe the far wall where a tapestry woven by one of his Venusian ancestors hung. He slapped his palm in an almost-invisible groove beneath the tapestry, ignoring the sting of pain that travelled up his arm, and spoke tersely: "Open." With a screech of protesting, long unused gears, a portion of the wall slid aside along invisible tracks, revealling a small black chasm. Xaron reached inside the gaping hole and gently withdrew a round, hard object, a dark gemstone two inches in diameter. As Xaron held it to the light, the darkness was revealled to be black haze deep in the heart of the jewel. The Shadow Star. The gemstone hadn't been touched in centuries. Most of the Moon's citizens had forgotten it had ever existed, and it had quietly slipped into memory and faded into legend. Only the Royal Family knew of it's continued existence, and knew what the stone was capable of. And the price it demanded. The footsteps were getting louder, but Xaron ignored the distraction. He gazed at the Shadow Star with a mixture of uncertainty and an odd attraction. It was not just the jewel, but the object that would guarantee his sweet daughter and beloved wife their lives. Not to mention the countless others who were still on the Moon, protecting their regents. He saw their salvation, and his own destruction. He felt a strange sadness creep over him. He was young by most standards, and he wanted, if it were at all possible, to return to his family. If he used the jewel, escape would be impossible, death inavoidable. Such was the price the jewel extracted for its use. Suddenly the Shadow Star was burning hot, searing his flesh. Xaron almost dropped it, but his mind cleared of all doubts and futile, selfish wishes. Immediately, he understood. If there was a crack in his resolve, if his determination was weakened even the slightest bit, then everyone would die. Including his family. Deliberately, the prince closed his hand around the gem, allowing the heat to course in his blood. "Burn away my doubts," he whispered to the Star. "I do this for Verraine and Serenity, and my people. If it will spare them, I will die willingly." The footsteps were right outside the entrance to the Hall now, there came the sound something smashing heavily against the heavy doors. Xaron started, and his fingers snapped tighter around the stone. No time. He plunged his hand into the dark hole again, and withdrew the Moon Eclipse Wand, a scepter that, like the Shadow Star, had faded into myth. Hurriedly, he placed the Shadow Star atop the wand. As the ancient crystal settled into place, it sparkled and flashed with an inner light. The dark mist inside the gem seethed and shifted. It was alive once again. Xaron felt the connection with the stone the moment it join with the wand, and he felt its thirst for the blood of those that attacked the Royal Family. He quelled its eagerness for battle with a gentle admonition. "We'll try reason first," he said absently, sitting back down in his throne, the wand clasped in the hand that rested on his lap. The Shadow Star pulsed grudgingly. Suddenly, the doors burst under the assault, and _they_ were in the Hall. They circled around him, their misshapen faces and bulbous eyes reflecting their eagerness for blood -- _his_ blood. The tip of the Eclipse Wand came up warningly. "Stay back, monsters," he whispered. "Come no farther." A being who was not as obscenely grotesque as his fellowship took a small pace forward. "Monsters?" he laughed bitterly, indicating the horns sprouting from his forehead. "You make us what we are, and then when you're not satisfied with your creation, you shun us and call us monsters?" Tears were running down Xaron's face as the thing confronted him. "Stay back, Mikhal," he warned, and the Wand rose higher. "I'm touched," Mikhal said sarcastically. "You remember me. Well, what do you think of me now?" He raised his arms and turned, revealling the dragon wings growing from his shoulderblades, and the tail from his lower spine. "The Council seemed afraid of it. Or maybe that was because I swore I would hunt down and kill every last one of them." Xaron's head bowed in shame, even as the Wand continued to gain altitude. "This wasn't supposed to happen, Mikhal." "Really?" Mikhal barked a short, disbelieving laugh, and turned to his kin. "Did you hear that? This wasn't meant to happen!" There were irate growls, and catcalls of insane hatred from the troupe of monsters that faced Xaron. Mikhal turned back. "Well, it happened," he snarled, pacing slowly forward. "And it _is_ happening." "Forgive me, my son." "No," Mikhal returned harshly. "I had a normal life, and you took that, made me into this misshapen freak. _Forgive you?_ No, I _damn_ you eternally." "Then forgive me for what I am about to do." His cheeks wet with tears and there was a finality in his voice. He let his strength and his life-force flow into the Wand and the Star. "Moon....Shadow....BARRICADE!" The answering flash of released power drove Xaron to his knees. "You see, Mikhal," he grated from between gritted teeth, sweat beading his face as he bore the Wand up. "We are both monsters, you are right. The difference that lies between us, however, is that I am willing to rectify what mistakes I have made. My people are forever safe from you and your kind. You, and I, and all that are left here are sealed away on the dark side of the moon." The smirk on Mikhal's face died as the full context of Xaron's words hit him. "No," he snarled, but the confidence was diminished. "You wouldn't dare..." "It is too late," Xaron forced out. The sweat was freely running down his face, mingling with the blood leaking from his nose and mouth. "It is done," he gasped, and the Wand fell from his nerveless fingers to clatter onto the floor. He fell to his elbows. "The shadow barricade is in place, and the bright side of the moon is forever beyond your reach." Mikhal's lips twisted, and he approached the fallen price. "Easily undone," he smirked, bending down for the Eclipse Wand. "All I need is the Shadow Star, and..." Black fire erupted from the stone as Mikhal's hand touched the scepter, and he jumped back with a howl of pain. Xaron, weak as he was, couldn't resist a final shot. "It seems," he said bemusedly, "that the Shadow Star doesn't like you, Mikhal." "It is no matter," Mikhal told the Prince Consort, smile firmly back into place. "We will get out sooner of later. One of the Royal Family or another will pay for your crimes. I invoke the blood feud." The smile widened into a grin as Xaron gasped in horror. "Once we get out, there will be no stopping us. Verraine and Serenity will pay, or Serenity's descendants. It matters not. Heed my words, fool." "Never!" spat Xaron, trying heroically to rise. "That's where you're wrong, old man," Mikhal countered. "With the Shadow Star on this side of the Moon, the barricade will eventually fail, and we will escape to wreak our vengeance on the people of Luna." Xaron collapsed, completely flat at last, his strength gone. "One final thing, Mikhal," he whispered, his eyes closing. While Mikhal had been speaking, he had been transferring the last vestiges of his life energy to teh Star. "I have a final gift I go now to deliver to those on the bright side." "And that is..?" In answer, the Shadow Star rose into the air, its connection with the Wand dragging it along. Xaron smiled even as his eyes glazed over. "Moon...star....vanish..." he gasped. There was a silent flash, and the gem and scepter was gone. Mikhal stiffened for a moment. "Where did it go?" he hissed, crossing the floor with apprehentious paces to where Xaron lay dying. "Where did it go?" Xaron smiled again, weakly. The lifeforce was fading from his eyes, but he couldn't resist twisting the dagger in deeper. "Far...from your...clutches," he exhaled. "To...Verraine and...Serenity...and as for you...I'll see you in...the Pit..." His head slumped forward, his passing marked by the impotent, furious howl of Mikhal of the Grhalites. * * On the bright side of the Moon, Verraine paced restlessly. Her small daughter, Serenity, watched her. "Mama..." she said softly, hesitantly. "Where's Papa? Why didn't he come with us?" Verraine knelt before the child, enfolding her in a warm embrace. "Your father stayed behind to make sure the...the Grhalites couldn't reach us," she explained gently. "He...he won't be coming back." She knew this for a fact. At the same time she had reached the vacation palace on the Earth-side of the Moon, she, so in tune with the energies that flowed around Luna, had felt the barricade go up, and she had moments ago felt the passing of her husband. _Be strong for Serenity,_ she told herself, trying to hold back the tears as she comforted her weeping daughter. Suddenly, a freezing wind blew through the room, silk drapery floating on the current. Serenity shivered, more from tears than cold. Verraine kissed her daughter on the crescent mark on her forehead, then rose to close the window. As she neared the window, she saw a figure standing in the Gardens. She stared at him curiously; he seemed to sense her eyes, and turned. Verraine gasped. It was Xaron. He beckoned to her, and she leapt unhesitatingly out of the fifth-story window. As she hit the ground, her warrior training took over, and she rolled back to her feet. Scooping up her skirts, she dashed for the Gardens. He was waiting for her beneath the Lunar Peace Tree, the same spot where he had proposed to her long ago. "My Verraine," he whispered, his weary, pain-filled voice carrying though the air. As she neared, Verraine bit back a gasp. Even though she had been expecting it, she was unprepared for the transparency of her husband. "Yes," he said softly. "I am dead. My beloved Verraine. But, you see, I had to sacrifice myself so that you, our daughter and our people can live. It was the only way." She shook her head, lips silently forming Xaron's name. "I used the Shadow Star, beloved. I sealed the Lunar Empire from the rest of the Moon." Tears trickled slowly down Verraine's face. "Oh, Xaron," she moaned brokenly, and she covered her face with violently trembling hands. Xaron smiled tentatively. "I have something for you, my love," he whispered, spreading his hands apart. Verraine raised her face as a glow suffused in the lunar evening. Xaron stood, the Moon Eclipse Wand rotating in midair before him between his palms. The light was emanating from the smoky crystal atop the Wand. After centuries, the Shadow Star had been used, and it fairly seethed with power. Verraine reached out with a hesitant hand, touching the smooth handle of teh Moon Eclipse Wand. Xaron watched with a soft, sad smile. He faded slowly, bidding farewell one final time before leaving his beloved wife for the last time. Verraine didn't take her eyes from the talisman that had both saved and damned her. "I'll avenge you, beloved," she swore softly to the warm silence around her. "I swear it. In the name of the Moon..." * * ...to be continued