Slowly a light shines upon two figures on an empty stage. One was a tall brunette girl with green eyes and a round face. The other was a blonde trapped in a straight jacket with duck tape over her mouth. Angrily 'the blond' throws herself against the wall, trying to tear the tape from her lips. The brunette however ignored all her actions and continued with the disclaimer. "We, Dust to Dust, do not own Sailor Moon or Tamora Pierce's characters." Finally forcing the duct tape from her lips the blond charges into the brunette, knocking her off the stage.

"Yes we do!!! There are OURS!! OURS!! Our precious, our beautiful precious. And we will sue all you other for using THEM ON TV!!!!" the brunette signals with her hands for the 'nice men in the white coats' to drag her partner away. Smiling she continues:

 "Excuse me for my partners interruptions, she has gone temporarily insane." Rolling her eyes she tries not to laugh. "But I assure you she will be back in action to continue this story by, me, Merelena04 and Weird Light, the insane blonde girl you just saw. Anyway, if you enjoyed the story then please LET US KNOW!!! #clears throat# if you wish to flame us then do so with useful advice or you may find yourself a tad bit sunburned from when I send you to Hades!! HAHA, just joking."

The blonde woman pokes her head from behind the curtain and holds up a sign where the brunette can't see it saying. 'No she's not'.

You can start reading now
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            Turning Gray

By Dust to Dust

Everything is dark… so dark where did it all go. Where am I? Where is my body? Where is Chaos? Did I beat him? I remember fighting him. Is this space, where is the Earth? I don't even see stars anymore. I remember the others. They where here with me only moments ago.…Where are they?

Someone's shaking me. I can feel heat upon my skin and light within my eyes. I don't want to wake up. Leave me alone. I don't want to wake up. I don't want to know what happened.

"Serena, I'm scared." A voice, someone's there. As I opened my eyes the heat and light did not desist but was pushed to the back of my mind as my sight focused on a familiar face above me. Hotaru, A voice within my head supplied, your friend and companion. My hand reached out to her cheek, it was cold and clammy. Why was my Little Firefly crying?

Hotaru shook her head at seeing the question within my eyes and looked towards the direction of my discomfort. A force of fire and light surrounded us, trapping us. It felt strange and comforting, as if we saw a Utopia dance before our eyes. Perfect, yet unattainable.

 Words pounded into us with the force of a thousand flames. Dark and Light, the two survivors, you have failed your duty. Hotaru grabbed my hand voicing her question in return.

 "Who are you? We completed our duty, Chaos is no more."

The words with the brilliance of a million sun's responded. Your duty was not to destroy the darkness but to preserve the balance. Surprised I voiced my own question.

" What balance?"

 Together the Forces explained the truth. The foundations of the universe are in a balance of black and white, good and evil. Your world was built on this, and you where given the responsibility of maintaining this balance. You failed your greatest test, destroying the only chance for the Universe to be saved.

The light continued the story patiently as if talking to a young child. From the Beginning, there where two who upheld the balance. When Queen Serenity cast out Hectate, the dark side of the moon, the balance was disrupted. Sending unrest and violence like a wave throughout the universe. Forcing dark and light to fight for centuries on end.

Again the two forces spoke together as one. You two where created to reestablish the unity and balance of the universe. Dark and Light together on the same side. But, when the crucial moment came the chance was lost. There was a balance in the two of you but no unity. It is because of you everything you ever knew is gone. Frightened I gripped Hotaru's white hand tighter, and asked the question on my mind.

"Where is everyone?"

They fulfilled their duty to the universe. You two are the reason we must start again and that is why you are here, you must pay your debt for the
failure to fulfill your responsibility. The fire blazed, burning my skin as
we were sentenced. You will help us and when your sin is all but paid for
your souls will be allowed to rest, if you wish it so.

Our bodies melted away and with unseen eyes we saw a new earth birthed from the ashes of the old. Centuries went by within a second and we saw the people where confused, lost and unprotected. I felt Hotaru's being whisper to mine. "There must be something we can do. Some way to protect them." Words spilled from my forgotten soul.

 "No, but we can help them to protect themselves. Trust me old friend, let us complete our duty." That was the day we gave up our souls to this new young world of magic and mayhem, filled with creatures of immortality and mortality. We gave them the lessons it had taken too long for us to learn. In memory of our trials and tribulations we gave them the test for their warriors to protect them when we could not, and unify their people.

Centuries more, we watched as our gift mature into a centerpiece of multiple civilizations. Watching their wars and unions, our hearts went out to them. With every fiber of what was left our being we wished to be with them. And one day, the forces came to us again and our desire was fulfilled.

Frightened, our subconscious held each other and the last thing we heard before we fell into an endless void was, Welcome to Tortall. Do your duty well. So mote it be.