Chapter Eight: Visions of the Past
The scene shifted to another part of the huge Royal Gardens of Earth. The colored leaves of autumn were falling on three girls sitting under a huge oak tree. The three looked to be in their mid-teens.
"Hey!" Mina shouted, "That's me!"
"That is the Princess Mina of Venus, Princess Cassandra of Athena, and Guardian Zoicite of Earth," Percy confirmed.
"Let's hear what I'm saying! This is so cool!" Mina yelled out, even louder than before.
"Tone it down Mina!" Artemis shouted.
Cassie unfroze the scene out of a need to save her hearing.
"I can't believe that Endymion acted like such a jackass last night!" Princess Mina was saying as she smoothed out a wrinkle in her orange skirt.
"You don't know him like we do, huh Zoy?" Princess Cassandra responded dryly. Her gray skirts rustled softly as she turned to her long time friend.
"That is too true," Zoicite leaned back against the tree, totally unconcerned with keeping her green trimmed gray uniform clean. "But he was even a bigger jerk than usual. I can't believe that he called Princess Serenity Meatball-head."
"That was a bit much, even for Endy," Cassandra agreed.
"Well, Serenity did respond by calling him an 'uncultured slug.'" Princess Mina said.
"The two of them are usually better behaved than that. Well, at least they are at public functions." Cassandra gave up trying to preserve her dress and lay down on the grass.
"I wonder…" Mina drawled.
"You wonder what, Mina?" asked Zoicite.
"I wonder if there is something between those two."
"You what?!" the other two girls sat up and stared at the orange clad princess.
"There might not be anything now, but there is a definite possibility." Mina continued dreamily.
"Possibility for what?" Zoicite demanded.
"That would be great!" Cassandra's eyes began to gleam as she caught Mina's drift.
"Would someone please explain what you are talking to so that a lowly solider can understand?" Zoicite asked sarcastically.
"I think those two are definitely couple material!" Mina declared authoritatively.
"Those two! They can't even talk to each other without getting into a fight. At the rate they are going, they'll bring down the Silver Millennium all by themselves!" Zoicite looked back and forth between the princesses with a horrified look on her face.
"That's even more reason for the two of them to get together!" Cassandra said.
"I shouldn't be listening to this! I'm supposed to protect the Prince!"
"Come on Zoicite! You will be protecting him. Wouldn't it be better for Endy to fall for the Princess of the Moon than for that grasping upstart Beryl?" Mina smiled sweetly.
Cassandra leaned over to her best friend, "Besides, don't you owe him for setting you up with Lord Calamite the Toadly?"
"You're right of course. I must protect the Prince from Beryl!"
Princess Mina jumped to her feet, thrust one fist into the air and shouted, "Come on girls! Romance is in the air! This looks like a job for the Goddess of Love!"
Cassandra jumped up and assumed a similar pose, "And the Goddess of Wisdom!"
Zoicite sighed and followed suit, "And the Lady Guardian of Endymion!"
Jadeite and Nephrite had been riding near by when they heard the three girls yell out. They exchanged knowing looks. "Ride, Neph. Ride like the wind!" They galloped off as hard as they could, unwilling to get involved in what ever those three were planning.
The scene froze again.
"We set Endymion and Serenity up?" Zoë asked, her amazement evident in her voice.
"Well, they probably would have gotten together anyway; they are soulmates after all. But, we did give them a little push," Cassie agreed. "Let's go further forward, shall we?"
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The scene shifted to just outside a huge grove of rose trees. Jadeite was talking to a familiar-looking pair of men. One was dressed in gray surcoat and the other in an orange surcoat, over light armor. Their horses were standing nearby with a third man in blue. They all appeared to be in their early twenties. The scene unfroze.
"So Jed," the gray clad knight asked, "Have you seen our ladies anywhere?"
"No, but…" Jadeite trailed off as Malachite and Nephrite came out of the maze, each carrying a girl over his shoulder. Zoicite trailed behind the two men.
"Have you misplaced something, good sirs?" asked Malachite. He and Nephrite unceremoniously dumped their burdens on the ground. It was Princess Cassandra and Princess Mina; each clad in dark colored hose and tunics.
"Cassandra! Mina! What were you doing in there?" the blue clad knight asked, aghast.
Mina rubbed her bruised back side. "You didn't have to drop us so hard!" She glared at Nephrite. The orange clad knight pulled her to her feet.
"We were just waiting for Endy to get the lead out and finally ask Sere to marry him." Cassandra said, unrepentant.
"It's not very nice to spy Cass. Would you have liked it if someone was watching when I proposed?" the gray knight looked disapprovingly down as the girl still sitting on the ground. She held out her hands and he hauled her to her feet and into his arms.
"Frankly Lover, I didn't care. The whole Silver Army could have been watching and I doubt that I would have noticed." Cassandra gave her knight a brief kiss.
"You might not of cared but I certainly would have!"
"Chicken?" the girl cocked one eyebrow at him.
"No, I just wouldn't want to have corrupted all of those young minds when they saw what we did afterwards," he leered suggestively at Cassandra. She punched him lightly in the chest.
"Fresh!" "Would you like a demonstration of how 'fresh' I am?"
"Oh stop it you two, before you melt Ice Boy over there!" Jadeite broken, pointing toward the blue knight.
"That's Sir Ice Boy to you!" the blue knight grinned back.
Two more knights galloped up, one in red and one in green. "You guys seen Raye or Lita anywhere?" the red knight asked as he slid to a halt.
The four Guardians looked at one another.
"Princesses Lita and Raye are missing too?" Malachite asked. The two new knights nodded.
"So is Amy," added the blue knight.
"Oh no!" Zoicite said. The four Royal Guards started back into the grove when the sound of a breaking bough was heard. A loud thud and an even louder scream followed it soon after.
"RAYE!!!"
Three dark-clad girls ran out of the grove at full speed, followed by a foaming Princess Serenity waving a broken limb like a sword. "When I get my hands on you, you'll regret the day you were born!" None of them even slowed down as they passed the group of knights.
Endymion came out of the grove much slower than the females had. He looked at his Guard in disgust. "Some guardians you are!"
"Hey, we caught two of them!" Jadeite protested.
Zoicite whispered in Malachite's ear, "We? I don't recall him catching anyone." Malachite just shrugged before putting an arm around her. She leaned her head onto his shoulder.
"You caught two?" Endymion looked around and noticed how Cassandra and Mina were dressed. "Cassie?!"
"Oh, um hi Endy!" Cassandra began backing up from her cousin. She grabbed Mina's arm and pulled her toward the horses. The guilty girls turned and vaulted up on their knights' horses. "See you later Endy!" They spurred their mounts into a dead run away from the enraged Prince.
"Should we go after them Endymion?" asked the blue clad knight.
"Never mind Ice Boy."
"Why does everyone call me that? Am I just made to suffer?" Ice Boy asked the clouds above him.
Endymion just shook his head.
"Well?" asked Jadeite.
"Well what?" Endymion looked at his guardsman.
"He means: Did you ask her and what did she say?" interpreted Nephrite.
"Oh." Endymion turned brick red. "She said yes, just before those three fell out of the tree." In the distance Serenity could be seen still chasing her friends with a large stick in hand.
"Congratulations!" the gray knight cheered.
"Yeah, welcome to the club!" the orange knight added.
"Now we just need to set up Jadeite here with someone and we can all be happily hitched together," Malachite said as he gave the blonde-haired Guardian a hit on the shoulder.
"Not me! I'm too happy being single and fancy free!"
"That's what Nephrite said before Mina set him up with Sere's major-domo," Zoicite smirked, "Maybe she can do the same for you. Would you like me to ask her?"
"Don't you dare!" Jadeite was horror-stricken. "All I need is the Goddess of Love on my case!" Everyone laughed at him.
Yet again the scene froze.
"We all looked so happy," Lita said quietly.
"You were," Percy said equally softly.
"What did Jadeite mean by that?!" Mina demanded.
The following silence was deafening.
"Who were those guys? The ones wearing ours colors?" Amy asked, subdued.
"I don't know," the stark grief in Cassie's voice sent shivers of sympathetic pain down everyone else's spine. "I can't even remember his name, any of their names."
For an endless moment brooding silence hung over them all.
Serena cleared her voice. "You said that we all knew Beryl. What happened that she was able to do what she did?"
"Beryl lusted after Endymion. She had for years, but no one took her seriously. She was quite a bit older than we were. She didn't take the announcement of Endymion and Serenity's engagement well. She burst into the Royal Audience Chamber at the Earth Palace and screamed threats at the king and queen. She was locked into a tower as punishment, but she managed to escape. It was common knowledge that she had fled back to her home pocket-kingdom in the northern regions of Earth. Nobody thought anything much about her during the year between the announcement and Princess Serenity's twenty-first birthday. Then just before the celebration at which Serenity was to receive her mother's blessing and official permission to marry Endymion, the barriers dividing the Negaverse from this universe began to fail and the attacks began.
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The scene shifted to a council room in the Moon Kingdom Palace. Queen Serenity was sitting on her throne on a dais. Princess Serenity was seated on a smaller throne on a lower step. A young auburn-haired woman stood at her shoulder, clutching a staff of office in white-knuckled hands. Luna and Artemis lay on the lowest step of the dais. In a great circle, there were chairs for each of the Planets of the Silver Millennium Alliance. The Inner Guard was already seated, talking quietly among themselves. Behind each of the princesses, a knight stood at attention, the same knights as in the previous vision. The gray knight stood by the seat bearing the symbol of Athena, nervously running his hand back and forth over the arm of the chair. Perseus lay at the foot of the chair. The places for the Outer Guard were empty, for their owners were presently on their own planets and could not reach the Moon in time for the council session.
The doors to the chamber swung open and the chamberlain announced, "Princess Cassandra of Athena and Prince Endymion of Earth." The cousins approached the throne and bowed respectfully. The Queen nodded in return and Princess Serenity gave her fiancee a ghost of a smile.
"Do you bring us news?" the queen asked.
"Well, Your Majesty…" Endymion began, while rubbing a hand through his disheveled black hair.
"May I answer Your Majesty? Endymion has been up for almost sixty hours now and as you can see, he isn't his normal chipper self," Princess Cassandra interrupted quietly.
"Of course, Cassandra. Endymion please take a seat before you collapse," the Queen ordered. Endymion gratefully sank into the Earth chair, the one nearest to Princess Serenity.
Cassandra moved toward the section of seats reserved for the absent Outer Guard so that none of the assembled people would be behind her. She bowed her head for a moment and clasped her hands in the silver fabric of her formal gown. She took her deep breath and swept her eyes across room. The look in those clear, gray eyes sent every heart plummeting.
"Your Majesty, Princess Serenity, My Lords and Ladies, I have received the latest news from the Athenian Information Bureau." She paused and took another deep breath. "It's not good. The attack on Earth was from the Negaverse. The enemy is led by an entity called the Negaforce."
The room exploded into a furor. The denials rebounded around the chamber in a maelstrom. Cassandra just stood patiently. The young woman beside Princess Serenity pounded her staff against the floor until a semblance of order returned.
Princess Amy stood up with a nod to the Queen. "The Negaforce is just a legend. Even if it was real, it can not exist in this universe."
Cassandra shook her head. "I wish that was true Amy. The Negaforce is all too real, and unfortunately there is a way for it to exist on this plane: it needs an avatar, a willing avatar."
"Who would be stupid enough to allow themselves to be possessed by an evil entity from another dimension?" Princess Raye of Mars asked.
Cassandra smiled wanly. "One who is insane enough to simply not care."
"Do you know who it is?" asked the red-clad knight, his brown eyes narrowing as plans of action flitted through his mind.
"Yes." The sorrow and self-recrimination in her voice was almost unbearable. "A threat that was thought to be so minimal that she wasn't even watched closely, even after she declared that she would have Endymion or no one would: the Princess of the Northern Kingdom of Earth, who now styles herself Queen of the Dark Kingdom."
"Beryl…" Princess Serenity breathed. A dead silence filled the chamber for several heartbeats as the occupants tried to come to terms with the shock.
"But," a tiny voice broke the silence, "Endymion's Guard went to the Northern Kingdom to aid Beryl…" The white faced girl leaned on her staff of office. "Nephrite…?"
Cassandra lowered her head for a moment and when she raised it again, tears were streaming down her face. "We can't find any sign of the Guard. I… They're gone."
The sound of the staff hitting the marble floor was deafening in the silence. Princess Serenity gathered the sobbing girl into her arms. Endymion rose from his seat and walked over to his love to offer his support. The rest of those gathered shoved grief to the backs of their minds in order to face the dilemma ahead.
Queen Serenity, her face set like stone, looked again at the silver clad Princess standing in the middle of the Council Chamber. "Cassandra, do the Great Archives on Athena contain anything that might help us?"
"Yes, Majesty. My mother has ordered that all scholars begin researching the Negaforce, but she sends warning that there might not be time. She respectively recommends that…" Cassandra trailed off, her face suddenly slack with shock. Every head in the room snapped toward her.
"Cassie!" cried the Athenian knight as he hurled himself toward his princess, but it was too late. With an ear-shattering scream, silver and burgundy power engulfed her in a raging inferno. Eyes had to be hidden from the blinding light as the Princess of the Planet of Memory and Music howled like a demon amidst planetary power gone mad. The knight hit her at a dead run, knocking her out of the silver fire, which sputtered and died once contact with Cassandra was broken. He held her as every muscle in her body contracted so tightly in a rictus that he was afraid that it would break her back.
Princess Mercury ran towards her stricken friend and slid across the last few feet to them on her knees, her computer already out. "Someone go get the healers! She'll die in a few minutes if we can't stop the contractions."
"On it!" Artemis yelled over his shoulder as he and Luna raced for help. Perseus stayed by his charge with an expression of helpless terror on his face.
As suddenly as it had begun, it was over. Cassandra went completely limp in her knight's arms. He held his breath as he checked for a pulse. "She's still alive," he gasped. "What happened?" He looked up at the rest of the courtiers huddled around them.
"Great God in heaven…" Amy whispered.
"What is it Mercury?" demanded Queen Serenity as she came down from her throne.
The blue haired girl just stared at her computer screen, unable to meet the eyes of her Queen. "Athena has been destroyed. There is nothing left of the planet but a bunch of rocks."
*******
The image faded away and the reborn members of the Silver Alliance began to breath again.
"That was the beginning of the end." Cassie said softly. "With the destruction of Athena, the solar system was cut in half. The outer lying planets' people could not get to the Moon because of the lingering backlash from the explosion. The ripples in Time and Space trapped Sailor Pluto at the Gates of Time. And all of the scholars, with the knowledge and the resources to come up with an effective counter for the negative power Beryl was wielding were dead.
On top of that, Beryl had not killed Endymion's Guard as we assumed; she had done much, much worse. She infused them with massive amounts of nega-energy, turning them into her Generals. Generals with intimate knowledge of the defenses of both the Earth and the Moon Kingdom. She used that knowledge with great… zest.
The details of the preliminary defense are very fuzzy to me. All I really know is that a group of volunteers was sent to Earth in an attempt to slow Beryl in hopes that someone could come up with a way to defeat her. I was comatose for most of that time.
I don't remember much until the day of the final battle on the Moon. The Earth had already fallen. Only Endymion had made it back to the Moon, the rest of the volunteers had fallen."
The silence echoed with lingering hints of power. All there were shaken to the core already, but Cassandra was not in any mood to be gentle. She was determined to finish the story, once and for all. Another scene swam into focus in the minds of the watchers.
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It was the ball at the Moon Palace just before Beryl attacked. It was a familiar scene to them all. Each of the reincarnated members of the Silver Millennium remembered their own deaths far too well. The Scouts also knew the part of the Fall that Queen Serenity had shown them when they had visited the Moon just before their final battle with Beryl and the Negaforce at D-point. But this would be the first time that they would witness the whole of the horrendous battle that ended their former lives.
***************
The festivities had a frantic edge to them, as if everyone was determined to act as if nothing was wrong even if it was blatantly obvious that their quiet world was crumbling around them.
Perseus came bounding up to where Lita, Amy, Mina, and Raye were leaning on the rail of the wide balcony over looking the dance floor. They were dressed in their finery, but their faces were set in hard lines.
"Hello Percy," Raye stooped to pick up the aging cat. He had always been a favorite of hers, much more so than bossy Luna and lazy Artemis. She held him so that he could see Prince and Princess dancing below them.
"What's the news?" Mina asked quietly, the cheerful girl totally subsumed by the grim warrior within.
Perseus sighed. "The Outer Guard, minus Pluto, will be here in a few hours. They were finally able to make it through the remains of Athena sometime last night."
"That's good news. With most of the Sailor Scouts here, we'll be able to put up a fight," Lita pounded her fist against the rail in emphasis. They watched Serenity and Endymion finish their dance and go out onto the balcony over looking the fountains.
"How is Cassandra?" Amy asked.
"She's better, but she is still very weak." Percy replied. He reached out and snagged Mina's sleeve with his claws. "Please try to keep her out of the fighting as much as possible. We could still loose her if she over does it."
Mina patted him on the head and gently disengaged his claws. "We'll try, but I can't promise anything." The cat nodded.
Luna and Artemis came running through the ballroom. "We're under attack!" "Everyone get to the battlements!"
Raye set Percy down and he ran to help spread the warning.
"Looks like we won't get to wait for the Outer Guard after all. Transform everyone!" Mina commanded. "Venus Power!"
"Mercury Power!"
"Mars Power!"
"Jupiter Power!"
After they had all transformed, Venus said, "You know your assignments?" Nods all around. "Then let's go Scouts!" The four young warriors ran off to battle.
The scene flashed to just outside the Moon Palace walls. Beryl floated above her army, laughing madly. "Queen Serenity! Where is your precious daughter and her beloved Endymion?" she called. "I've brought some old friends that I'm sure they would love to get reacquainted with! My Generals!" Beryl swung her staff to point to the front of her army.
Venus and Jupiter, who were helping guard the main gates, looked at each other in dismay.
"She has Endymion's Guard!" Venus said as her heart sank to her knees. "They know the defenses as well as we do!"
"We're screwed," Jupiter growled, "but let's take those traitors with us!" Venus nodded in agreement.
The army attacked, led by the Generals. Venus, Jupiter and their soldiers fell youma after youma, but the hoard moved onward, pressing against the gates until they burst under the sheer weight of bodies. Jupiter was pulled down by a mass of writhing youma. She called down her lightening in one final massive strike that blew a huge whole in the attacking army.
"Jupiter!" Venus screamed as she raced to where her friend had fallen. She ran right into Jadeite, who thrust his sword through her abdomen. The General blinked and recognition poured into his face as he cradled her dying body. "Venus, I'm…" he began, but Venus was too far-gone to hear. She raised her hand to place her finger in the center of his chest. "Venus Crescent Beam Smash!" She blew his heart out before her own stopped.
The three remaining Generals spared their fallen comrade barely a glance before moving into the Palace. "Split up," Malachite ordered. "Find the Moon Queen and report her location to Her Majesty, Queen Beryl." The other two simply nodded and took different passageways. The following youma ran mindlessly through the Palace, killing all that they met.
Nephrite went down the passage the led to the throne room. The passage was deserted, but the door to the throne room itself was being guarded by Princess Serenity's auburn-haired major-domo. She held her staff of office at ready. Nephrite brought his pike down so that the blade was pointed at her throat. "Let me pass girl."
Tears ran from the girl's bleak eyes. "No, Nephrite. I cannot let you by."
"I don't want to hurt you girl. Get out of the way!"
"No." The girl made no move to defend herself as Nephrite moved closer. He put the blade of his pike within inches of her pale face. She simply watched; the only movement she made was the slow trickle of her tears.
"Why won't you move?" he whispered.
"Because I made a vow to serve and protect my Princess, even with my life." The girl leaned her staff against the door behind her and pushed the pike away from her far enough that she had an unobstructed view of Nephrite's face. "You made a vow to me once, Nephrite. Do you remember?"
"No," he whispered, anguish pushing aside the cold fire Beryl had set in his heart.
"I think you do, my love."
Nephrite dropped his pike and buried his face in his hands, "What am I doing?" he groaned. The girl gathered him into her arms. They clung to each other as their world burned to ash around them until a band of roving youma came upon them and tore them to shreds.
*******
Zoicite had chosen the passage that led toward the private quarters of the nobility. She ran into Sailor Mars as she made her way toward the Queen's suite. The two held a running battle, with Zoicite sending youma after youma at the Scout while keeping herself mostly out of harm's way. Mars was quickly becoming exhausted as she was forced further and further back. She finally toasted the last youma that Zoicite had with her.
"Now you'll have to face me yourself, witch!" Mars glared at the General, trying to hide her exhaustion.
"Gladly," Zoicite pulled out her crystal sword.
"No," Sailor Athena stepped out of a side passage; "This is my fight." She was unsteady, but she was on her feet and the slender bladed sword in her hand was already stained with green blood. "Go find the Queen, Mars. Endy and Sere are near her."
"But Athena!" Mars protested as the gray Scout stepped between her and Zoicite.
"Go!" Athena commanded, her eyes never leaving the General. "Protect them for me. I'll stop Zoicite." The raven-haired Scout hesitated for a split second, then ran up the passageway, her duty forcing her to leave a friend behind. A friend that she knew in her heart would die.
"Do you really think that you can stop me Athena? Your planet is rubble and you are barely able to stand!" Zoicite sneered. Athena simply moved her sword into an enguarde position and waited. She didn't have to wait for long.
They fought furiously for several minutes, but Athena was weakening quickly and she knew that she could not hold the almost unscathed Zoicite for long. She finally allowed Zoicite to find an opening in her guard. Zoicite's sword bit deeply into her side. But before the General could pull her crystal blade free, Athena drove her own sword to the hilt into her friend's chest. The two girls fell to the floor, side by side.
"Cass, what have I done?" Zoicite whispered through the blood trickling out of her mouth. "Forgive…"
"'S alright," Athena slurred, "We're still best friends, forever…" She reached her gloved hand out to Zoicite. "Pinkie swear?"
"Pinkie swear." Zoicite managed to link her little finger around her friend's as she slipped away.
"…forgive you," Athena whispered before her gray eyes turned black with death. The two friends lay undisturbed in a spreading pool of green and red blood as the battle raged around them through the Moon Palace.
Perseus found them as he made his way toward the Queen. Tears ran down his cheeks as he closed his charge's eyes with a velvet paw. He gave her a last loving kiss on her pale cheek before walking away, leaving a trail of bloody footprints in his wake.
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In the skies above the Palace, Beryl was growing impatient. "Those fools are taking too long! Send forth the Seven Shadows!" A wizen man beside her bowed and did as his Queen ordered. The Seven Shadows began to hunt through the Palace.
"Now, things will go quicker!" Beryl declared. She looked up as a needle-nosed spacecraft shrieked through the sky toward the Moon Palace, the symbol of Uranus plain to see on the fuselage. "It seems that I'll get to deal personally with some of those miserable Scouts myself." She laughed madly as she shot a huge burst of Nega-power at the incoming ship.
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Uranus sworn ferociously as she sent her prized ship into evasive maneuvers, but it was too late. She almost dodged the first bolt, but it clipped her engine. The ship went into a slow ballistic plummet toward the lunar surface. Uranus knew that she could not avoid the next blast. She reached a hand out to Neptune. The turquoise-haired girl brought her lover's hand up to her lips. Saturn wrapped one arm around Neptune and the other around Uranus. "I'm sorry…" Uranus whispered. Her last thought was of bitter failure as her prized ship turned into a ball of expanding gases along with her lover, her young friend and herself.
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Sailor Mercury had gathered the tattered remnants of several squads of Silver Army regulars in a defensible part of Palace grounds. She kept the area shrouded with her fog and used her visor and computer to help direct the soldiers in attacking any enemy foolish enough to come into reach. Her computer registered the destruction of the Outer Guard's ship and her heart ached with the knowledge that they were dead. She was worried about the remaining Scouts and Princess Serenity, but was unable to leave to go find them.
The fog was dissipating again. She prepared to launch another Mercury Bubbles Blast as two huge youma lumbered out of the straggling wisps of fog. Something about one of them caught her eye. She fired her attack and the visibility dropped. She moved closer to the one that had caught her attention. Her heart froze in her chest as she recognized his eyes. "Greg…" she breathed, it was a mistake for she was heard. The youma turned to attack her, but hesitated for an instant. Its companion didn't. The giant cat-creature swung a massive paw and its razor sharp claws shredded Mercury's uniform and the body underneath. The youma fell to its knees by the dead Scout. He picked her body up and held it, rocking back and forth slowly. The cat-creature moved on to attack the nearby soldiers and was soon joined by five other creatures. Together, the six other Shadows finished off the pitiful remains of the Silver Army.
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Mars had finally reached where she could see Queen Serenity, Princess Serenity, and Prince Endymion. She breathed a sigh of relief at seeing them still alive. The Fire Scout began to pick her way across the rubble-strewn grounds to the balcony where the Royalty was gathered. The click of a boot heel on stone caused her to spin around. Malachite was standing behind and to the left of her. He did not see her.
"My Queen," he called, "The Moon Queen, her daughter and Endymion are on a balcony over looking the Court of Fountains."
"Finally Malachite you have done something right!" Beryl's disembodied voice answered.
Mars sprang at the General, her teeth bared in a snarl. "Traitor!" she screamed. Malachite caught her body on the flat of his blade and flung her away. Mars bounced off a half-fallen pillar and landed in a pile of broken stone. Her head hung from her shoulders at an impossible angle. Her neck was broken.
Malachite stared at her rag doll body as her last word echoed and re-echoed through his mind. "I am not a traitor, Sailor Mars. I serve Beryl faithfully." 'What of Endymion?' a soft voice asked. 'He is your true liege, not the witch who has corrupted you.' "Mars?" he whispered, "But you are dead!" 'Yes, that is why you must take my place. Guard Endymion. Guard the Princess. Guard Serenity.' "But…" Malachite protested as looked wildly around the ruined grounds. 'Face the truth Malachite!' Mars's spirit demanded. Malachite screamed as the veil Beryl had placed across his mind was shredded. He spun toward his Prince and charged, determined to get there in time to protect him from Beryl. He would be too late.
*******************
Endymion had rejected Beryl's proposition. She snatched him from the balcony and Princess Serenity had cast herself after him. The mad queen killed them both in a fit of pique.
Queen Serenity, determined that her kingdom would not end in such tragedy, placed the Imperium Silver Crystal on the Moon Wand and cried "Cosmic Moon Power!" She trapped the Negaversians in the Crystal and used the last of her strength to send Princess Serenity and her Court to the future, where she hoped that they could live in peace and happiness. Queen Serenity knew that the seals on the Negaverse would fail eventually, so she put Artemis, Luna, and Perseus into cold sleep capsules and sent them along with everything that they would need to reawaken the Sailor Scouts, if the need for them ever arose again.
The dust settled over the bleak, empty ruins of a once mighty kingdom, as Queen Serenity died alone.
******************
Late afternoon sunshine streamed through the windows of the Whitmore living room. The eight young people and three cats stirred slowly.
"That was intense," Lita said softly as she sat back down on the couch. After a second, Mina and Amy sank down beside her.
Darien stared across the wide room at his once-cousin. She still wore the silver gown and her eyes still glowed with a burgundy light. "Cassie, was all of that real?"
"Yes," she sighed as she let go of the remnants of her power. The gown faded back into her yellow sundress. "Athena power can only show the true past, no embellishments on mine or anyone else's part."
The young man rubbed the back of his head. "Then I guess I owe you an apology Zoicite."
Zoë lifted her head from Raye's shoulder. "No, Your Highness, you had a right to be wary of me."
"No, I should have known that Cass would never have a Nega-villian in her house. I was just too pig-headed to see past, well, the past." He reached out a hand to her and pulled her to her feet.
Zoë broke into a huge, if wavering, grin, "As you say, Your Highness!"
Darien blushed, "You can drop the 'Your Highness' bit. I'm not a prince now. Darien will do just fine."
"Okay, Darien. By the way, my name is Zoë, not Zoicite!"
"Yay!" Serena shouted, "I love it when old enemies become new friends! Hey! Is that cheese cake?"
"Meatball Head strikes again! Can you go two minutes without feeding that mouth of yours Serena?" Raye sniped.
"You're so mean Raye!" Serena wailed as she headed toward the snacks on the coffee table, dragging Darien behind her.
Cassie crossed over to her best friend. She was pale and shaky, but otherwise unharmed by the extended use of Athena Power.
"What have I got myself into?" Zoë asked as she watched a typical Scout get-together starting up.
"You'll get used to it."
Next time on Sailor Moon: Serenity's Court
Cassandra has gotten little sleep this weekend. How will a grumpy, sleep deprived Cassie deal with irritated teachers, annoying cheerleaders, and Negaverse attacks? Find out in: Long Held Secrets Revealed.
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