I give up! Despite my best intentions, I can never seem to update as often as I'd like! I hope you can forgive me my tardiness and hope you keep reading! Two months - yeesh.
Maid for You - Chapter 21
For three days guests continued to arrive in a steady stream as the day of the wedding grew closer. Serena had found good friends in Queen Serenity's scouts, for which Endymion was grateful. She would need such friends when she became a princess. He however, felt exhausted. His own friends, the four generals, had been busy with palace security had he had spoken to none of them in the past few days. His days where a whirl of political discussions and polite conversation. He'd seen depressingly little of Serena and even when they were together, they were too tired to talk much. He knew Serena felt the same; she'd mumbled it in his ear last night as she'd fallen asleep.
"Don't worry." He'd whispered as he fought his own fatigue. "We'll be married soon then they'll all go home and we can have a nice long honeymoon." She had kissed him softly in approval before succumbing to sleep.
Still, it seemed right now as if that day would never come. Yet more guests had arrived that morning and Endymion was beginning to wonder if his parents had taken the easy way out and simply invited the entire planet. At least Serena was with him today; he wrapped a loving arm around her waist as she sighed deeply. "I know love," He said with feeling, "I know."
She smiled and leaned into his embrace, thankful for his presence. Her gaze strayed from the milling crowds around them and into the clear blue sky. The blue was unbroken except for a small black cloud in the distance. "That's odd." She murmured. "It wasn't supposed to rain today." She frowned. It was moving rather quickly for a rain cloud too. "Endymion?" She asked, catching his attention. "What's that?" She enquired, pointing to the black form.
Endymion looked to where Serena was indicating and saw the rapidly moving black form. "Oh Gods." He whispered. He wasn't sure exactly what it was, but it was evil, of that he had no doubt. It was also moving at an increasing speed and would be over them in minutes. He wasted no time. "Father!" He cried, breaking into a run and dragging Serena along with him. They ran across the grounds, to where his parents were talking to Queen Serenity.
One look at his son's face told Sol that something was seriously wrong. "What is it?" He asked sharply.
"I'm not sure." Endymion replied. "Look." He pointed to the dark cloud that was now very close. All three royals looked to where he indicated.
Serenity's face went white. Ice-cold fear ran through her and she gasped.
"No." Sol and Gaia stared at her.
"Serenity, you know what this is?" Gaia asked urgently. The moon queen nodded numbly. Her mind was replaying the last time she'd seen the evil cloud - the day her daughter had died.
"SERENITY!" Gaia roughly shook the other woman. They didn't have time to be delicate. Serenity blinked and stared at Gaia, horror written plainly on her face. "Serenity, what is it?" The Earth-Queen demanded. Serenity took a long, shuddering breath.
"The Negaverse." Serenity whispered. "They're back." She turned haunted eyes on Gaia. "How can they be back? I destroyed them! The Silver Crystal destroyed them!" Tears ran unchecked down her face. Had her daughter's death been in vain? "Oh God, Serenity." She sobbed.
Before they could take any further action, the cloud expanded and covered the sky as far as the eye could see. Bolts of dark lightning were shot down at the earth. All around them people screamed and flung themselves to the ground.
Endymion looked at the scene of destruction around him. His arm was wrapped tightly around her shoulders, but she was still trembling violently.
"Hush." He soothed, though he felt far from calm himself.
Ringing transformation cries caused him to turn. Before him, the four princesses morphed into the Sailor Scouts. "Good." He thought, slightly relieved. "We are going to need powers such as theirs." Still, he was worried. If the Silver Crystal had failed, what could truly defeat the Negaverse?
A bolt of dark energy came crashing down only meters from where they stood, jolting him out of his thoughts. Shoving Serena behind him, he drew his sword and prepared to fight.
Above them, the cloud parted slightly, but no sky was seen. Instead, hundreds upon hundreds of Nega-troops poured from the gap. Then a hollow voice spoke from the cloud, sending fear running through all those present.
"You thought you had defeated us, Moon Queen. You were a fool! The Negaverse would never send all its troops on one attack! Now we are stronger than ever, this Solar System will be ours!" At that moment, the dark forces began to swarm around them, cutting off all means of escape. Endymion narrowed his eyes and steeled himself for the battle. He saw his father doing the same, his own sword grasped tightly in his hand. A crackle of energy was the only sign that the Sailor Scouts were also prepared to fight.
There was a moment of total silence and then the dark forces attacked. Endymion's sword was a silver blur as fought off as many as he could, desperately trying to protect Serena. It seemed hopeless though, for every soldier that fell, ten more seemed to take its place!
Sweat poured down the Prince's face. He was tiring now; he knew the others could not be doing much better. Even the scout's attack cries seemed to be getting weaker. A trooper pushed him and he almost fell. Taking advantage of the distance, he hurled a rose into the trooper's chest, destroying it.
"Not enough!" He thought desperately. The roses were useful, but hopelessly inadequate in a situation such as this. He raised his sword as four troopers came at him at once. He fought as hard as he could, but a terrified shriek from Serena distracted him and his sword was knocked from his hand. Spinning, he saw several soldiers advancing on them from behind, the closest ones terrifyingly near to Serena. With no weapon he vowed to protect her with his life, but even as he made that promise, a strange new power grew within him. It burned in his hands and he raised them. A moment later, words surfaced to go with the power and he let it loose.
"EARTH SMOKING BOMBER!" The powerful attack shot from his hands and obliterated the surrounding troopers. A slow satisfied smile graced his lips. "Better." But still, it was not enough. They were hopelessly outnumbered.
Queen Serenity looked around her at the carnage and chaos. She closed her eyes, trusting her scouts to protect her. Reaching deep inside herself, she pulled out the Silver Crystal. Calming herself, she began to call upon its power.
"NOT THIS TIME." The voice boomed overhead. Before Serenity could react, dark energy came flashing down and covered the crystal. The Moon Queen cried out in horror as the crystal absorbed the dark energy, rendering it powerless. Eventually she knew, the natural light of the crystal would expel the darkness and gain power again, though that could take as much as a month. But they needed the power now. Without it, they could all be doomed.
Terrified screams made her look up to the dark cloud. She couldn't help her own cry of fear as she saw nega-bombs raining down, the very things that had taken her daughter from her years ago. She stood, paralysed by fear as the destruction reigned down around her, her scouts too far away to help. Gaia, seeing her friend's predicament leapt forward and dragged her out of the way of a falling bomb.
"Serenity, you must control yourself!" She cried. "You need to..." Her words died in her throat as she saw a nega-bomb hurtling directly towards where her son stood.
"Endymion! Look out!" She screamed.
Serenity watched in horror as history repeated itself. The bomb was heading straight for the Prince and she was too far away to do anything. Was Queen Gaia going to lose her son in the same way she'd lost her daughter?
But they were not the only ones who had seen the prince's plight. Seeing Endymion in mortal danger, Serena leapt forward and wrapped her arms around Endymion's waist. She pushed him forward, but there was still not enough time.
Serena closed her eyes, determined that if she were to die, it would be at Endymion's side. That thought sent a strange feeling of power coursing through her. Suddenly, she knew that she could save them both. She took a deep breath and concentrated. White light wrapped itself around them, causing everything nearby to stop. Even Endymion was frozen.
On Serena's forehead, a crescent moon glowed brightly.
Serenity stared in utter shock at the sight before her eyes. Her heart and mind warred for supremacy. What could this mean?
Before she could come to any conclusions, the light surrounding Serena and Endymion intensified to an almost blinding level. With a great flash, the light vanished - taking Serena and Endymion with it.
Gaia screamed for her son. Serenity didn't move, trying to sort through her thoughts and emotions. She had clearly seen the crescent moon on Serena's forehead. Only members of the Lunarian Royal family bore that mark. But she was the last of that line. Her daughter had been her only heir and her daughter was dead. At least, that was what she had believed for the past fifteen years. Now she found herself doubting that. Serena - even the name was similar. She had blue eyes and golden hair, just like her daughter. She had the crescent moon that marked her as a member of Lunarian royalty and she had unexplained powers. That power. Was it possible that by some miracle, that power had protected her all those years ago? The Moon Queen didn't know what to think.
As she stared at the spot where the couple had been, something caught her eye. Ignoring the bombs and attacks all around her, she walked forward to retrieve the item.
"What are you doing?!" Screamed Gaia, but Serenity did not hear. She was mesmerized by the object she now held. If there had been any doubts as to Serena's true identity, this erased them. The Star Locket was one of a kind, made especially for her daughter's first birthday. She had been wearing it the day she died.
Tears welled in her eyes. It was all so much. She wondered where she was now, where the power had taken her this time.
So distracted was she, that she didn't even register Sol grabbing her arm and pulling her away to the relative safety of a small alcove in a wall.
A sharp slap to her face brought her back to reality. She blinked at the Earth King, his hand still raised.
Damn it Serenity, we don't have time for this!" He said, frustrated. "What is going on?" Serenity gave the King an odd look.
"She's alive." She whispered. "All this time, she's been alive."
"Who is alive?" Growled Sol, his temper fraying.
"My daughter. I did not realise it before - but Serena is my daughter." Serenity said. Gaia was stunned.
"Your daughter? I do not understand, I thought your daughter was dead! Where are they now anyway? Where is my son?!" Fear was making Gaia babble. She was terrified for the safety of her son.
"Enough!" Sol's raised voice cut through the noise in the mind's of the two queens. They both raised their eyes to look at the King. "We can't discuss this now." He said. "First we have to find a way to beat this evil."
"But how?" Cried Serenity. "I know nothing other than the Silver Crystal and that is currently useless! What else could work?" Sol took a deep breath.
"I do not know."
END CHAPTER 21
Yay at last! So, was it worth it? *grins*
Maid for You - Chapter 21
For three days guests continued to arrive in a steady stream as the day of the wedding grew closer. Serena had found good friends in Queen Serenity's scouts, for which Endymion was grateful. She would need such friends when she became a princess. He however, felt exhausted. His own friends, the four generals, had been busy with palace security had he had spoken to none of them in the past few days. His days where a whirl of political discussions and polite conversation. He'd seen depressingly little of Serena and even when they were together, they were too tired to talk much. He knew Serena felt the same; she'd mumbled it in his ear last night as she'd fallen asleep.
"Don't worry." He'd whispered as he fought his own fatigue. "We'll be married soon then they'll all go home and we can have a nice long honeymoon." She had kissed him softly in approval before succumbing to sleep.
Still, it seemed right now as if that day would never come. Yet more guests had arrived that morning and Endymion was beginning to wonder if his parents had taken the easy way out and simply invited the entire planet. At least Serena was with him today; he wrapped a loving arm around her waist as she sighed deeply. "I know love," He said with feeling, "I know."
She smiled and leaned into his embrace, thankful for his presence. Her gaze strayed from the milling crowds around them and into the clear blue sky. The blue was unbroken except for a small black cloud in the distance. "That's odd." She murmured. "It wasn't supposed to rain today." She frowned. It was moving rather quickly for a rain cloud too. "Endymion?" She asked, catching his attention. "What's that?" She enquired, pointing to the black form.
Endymion looked to where Serena was indicating and saw the rapidly moving black form. "Oh Gods." He whispered. He wasn't sure exactly what it was, but it was evil, of that he had no doubt. It was also moving at an increasing speed and would be over them in minutes. He wasted no time. "Father!" He cried, breaking into a run and dragging Serena along with him. They ran across the grounds, to where his parents were talking to Queen Serenity.
One look at his son's face told Sol that something was seriously wrong. "What is it?" He asked sharply.
"I'm not sure." Endymion replied. "Look." He pointed to the dark cloud that was now very close. All three royals looked to where he indicated.
Serenity's face went white. Ice-cold fear ran through her and she gasped.
"No." Sol and Gaia stared at her.
"Serenity, you know what this is?" Gaia asked urgently. The moon queen nodded numbly. Her mind was replaying the last time she'd seen the evil cloud - the day her daughter had died.
"SERENITY!" Gaia roughly shook the other woman. They didn't have time to be delicate. Serenity blinked and stared at Gaia, horror written plainly on her face. "Serenity, what is it?" The Earth-Queen demanded. Serenity took a long, shuddering breath.
"The Negaverse." Serenity whispered. "They're back." She turned haunted eyes on Gaia. "How can they be back? I destroyed them! The Silver Crystal destroyed them!" Tears ran unchecked down her face. Had her daughter's death been in vain? "Oh God, Serenity." She sobbed.
Before they could take any further action, the cloud expanded and covered the sky as far as the eye could see. Bolts of dark lightning were shot down at the earth. All around them people screamed and flung themselves to the ground.
Endymion looked at the scene of destruction around him. His arm was wrapped tightly around her shoulders, but she was still trembling violently.
"Hush." He soothed, though he felt far from calm himself.
Ringing transformation cries caused him to turn. Before him, the four princesses morphed into the Sailor Scouts. "Good." He thought, slightly relieved. "We are going to need powers such as theirs." Still, he was worried. If the Silver Crystal had failed, what could truly defeat the Negaverse?
A bolt of dark energy came crashing down only meters from where they stood, jolting him out of his thoughts. Shoving Serena behind him, he drew his sword and prepared to fight.
Above them, the cloud parted slightly, but no sky was seen. Instead, hundreds upon hundreds of Nega-troops poured from the gap. Then a hollow voice spoke from the cloud, sending fear running through all those present.
"You thought you had defeated us, Moon Queen. You were a fool! The Negaverse would never send all its troops on one attack! Now we are stronger than ever, this Solar System will be ours!" At that moment, the dark forces began to swarm around them, cutting off all means of escape. Endymion narrowed his eyes and steeled himself for the battle. He saw his father doing the same, his own sword grasped tightly in his hand. A crackle of energy was the only sign that the Sailor Scouts were also prepared to fight.
There was a moment of total silence and then the dark forces attacked. Endymion's sword was a silver blur as fought off as many as he could, desperately trying to protect Serena. It seemed hopeless though, for every soldier that fell, ten more seemed to take its place!
Sweat poured down the Prince's face. He was tiring now; he knew the others could not be doing much better. Even the scout's attack cries seemed to be getting weaker. A trooper pushed him and he almost fell. Taking advantage of the distance, he hurled a rose into the trooper's chest, destroying it.
"Not enough!" He thought desperately. The roses were useful, but hopelessly inadequate in a situation such as this. He raised his sword as four troopers came at him at once. He fought as hard as he could, but a terrified shriek from Serena distracted him and his sword was knocked from his hand. Spinning, he saw several soldiers advancing on them from behind, the closest ones terrifyingly near to Serena. With no weapon he vowed to protect her with his life, but even as he made that promise, a strange new power grew within him. It burned in his hands and he raised them. A moment later, words surfaced to go with the power and he let it loose.
"EARTH SMOKING BOMBER!" The powerful attack shot from his hands and obliterated the surrounding troopers. A slow satisfied smile graced his lips. "Better." But still, it was not enough. They were hopelessly outnumbered.
Queen Serenity looked around her at the carnage and chaos. She closed her eyes, trusting her scouts to protect her. Reaching deep inside herself, she pulled out the Silver Crystal. Calming herself, she began to call upon its power.
"NOT THIS TIME." The voice boomed overhead. Before Serenity could react, dark energy came flashing down and covered the crystal. The Moon Queen cried out in horror as the crystal absorbed the dark energy, rendering it powerless. Eventually she knew, the natural light of the crystal would expel the darkness and gain power again, though that could take as much as a month. But they needed the power now. Without it, they could all be doomed.
Terrified screams made her look up to the dark cloud. She couldn't help her own cry of fear as she saw nega-bombs raining down, the very things that had taken her daughter from her years ago. She stood, paralysed by fear as the destruction reigned down around her, her scouts too far away to help. Gaia, seeing her friend's predicament leapt forward and dragged her out of the way of a falling bomb.
"Serenity, you must control yourself!" She cried. "You need to..." Her words died in her throat as she saw a nega-bomb hurtling directly towards where her son stood.
"Endymion! Look out!" She screamed.
Serenity watched in horror as history repeated itself. The bomb was heading straight for the Prince and she was too far away to do anything. Was Queen Gaia going to lose her son in the same way she'd lost her daughter?
But they were not the only ones who had seen the prince's plight. Seeing Endymion in mortal danger, Serena leapt forward and wrapped her arms around Endymion's waist. She pushed him forward, but there was still not enough time.
Serena closed her eyes, determined that if she were to die, it would be at Endymion's side. That thought sent a strange feeling of power coursing through her. Suddenly, she knew that she could save them both. She took a deep breath and concentrated. White light wrapped itself around them, causing everything nearby to stop. Even Endymion was frozen.
On Serena's forehead, a crescent moon glowed brightly.
Serenity stared in utter shock at the sight before her eyes. Her heart and mind warred for supremacy. What could this mean?
Before she could come to any conclusions, the light surrounding Serena and Endymion intensified to an almost blinding level. With a great flash, the light vanished - taking Serena and Endymion with it.
Gaia screamed for her son. Serenity didn't move, trying to sort through her thoughts and emotions. She had clearly seen the crescent moon on Serena's forehead. Only members of the Lunarian Royal family bore that mark. But she was the last of that line. Her daughter had been her only heir and her daughter was dead. At least, that was what she had believed for the past fifteen years. Now she found herself doubting that. Serena - even the name was similar. She had blue eyes and golden hair, just like her daughter. She had the crescent moon that marked her as a member of Lunarian royalty and she had unexplained powers. That power. Was it possible that by some miracle, that power had protected her all those years ago? The Moon Queen didn't know what to think.
As she stared at the spot where the couple had been, something caught her eye. Ignoring the bombs and attacks all around her, she walked forward to retrieve the item.
"What are you doing?!" Screamed Gaia, but Serenity did not hear. She was mesmerized by the object she now held. If there had been any doubts as to Serena's true identity, this erased them. The Star Locket was one of a kind, made especially for her daughter's first birthday. She had been wearing it the day she died.
Tears welled in her eyes. It was all so much. She wondered where she was now, where the power had taken her this time.
So distracted was she, that she didn't even register Sol grabbing her arm and pulling her away to the relative safety of a small alcove in a wall.
A sharp slap to her face brought her back to reality. She blinked at the Earth King, his hand still raised.
Damn it Serenity, we don't have time for this!" He said, frustrated. "What is going on?" Serenity gave the King an odd look.
"She's alive." She whispered. "All this time, she's been alive."
"Who is alive?" Growled Sol, his temper fraying.
"My daughter. I did not realise it before - but Serena is my daughter." Serenity said. Gaia was stunned.
"Your daughter? I do not understand, I thought your daughter was dead! Where are they now anyway? Where is my son?!" Fear was making Gaia babble. She was terrified for the safety of her son.
"Enough!" Sol's raised voice cut through the noise in the mind's of the two queens. They both raised their eyes to look at the King. "We can't discuss this now." He said. "First we have to find a way to beat this evil."
"But how?" Cried Serenity. "I know nothing other than the Silver Crystal and that is currently useless! What else could work?" Sol took a deep breath.
"I do not know."
END CHAPTER 21
Yay at last! So, was it worth it? *grins*