From Then, To Now, Til Later
Chapter 7: The End of the Silver Millennium: The Battle Begins
By: AutumnHime
Serenity strolled alongside Prince Endymion as the couple moved towards the gate. They looked striking standing next to another, silver against black, light against dark, good against evil. Yet, even the people who watched them walk towards an empty part of town noted the wrongness of their being together. Serenity would be a good and kind ruler to the kingdom, much like her mother before the expulsion of the princes. Endymion had a cruel twist to his perfectly sculpted lips, and the rumors of what he had done did not paint a pretty picture for the future of the Moon Kingdom.
"Hurry up, bitch!" Endymion snarled out of the corner of his mouth, perfectly manicured nails biting into her flesh as he propelled her forward. When Serenity stubbed her foot on a rock, simultaneously tripping due to the overlong dress and inappropriate shoes, Endymion merely yanked her arm harder. "Do they not teach grace and balance in the Moon Kingdom," He mocked.
Serenity's heart, cracked at that single instance when cobalt met sapphire, iced over once more in misery. Her shame and her anger, her disappointment and her betrayal, her anguish and her love all vanished back into a molten core in the center of the frozen mass that was her heart. She sank back into the blessed darkness of no emotions.
"MOVE!" Endymion commanded, shoving her to get going.
They finally reached their destination. Serenity looked around in confusion. A huge black marble gate covered in the kind of crystal that the Silver Imperium Crystal could create stood in the center of an otherwise desolate area. Endymion and she were the only two things moving for an entire two block radius.
"Wha...What am I doing here, Endymion?" Serenity asked, hesitantly. The space near the gate felt dark and evil...malevolent. Serenity backed away slowly, as if not trying to awaken whatever danger lay sleeping in the gate.
"Come on, Princess Sereni-slut, don't you want to see what happens when you touch it?" Endymion jeered, navy orbs glinting.
Serenity shook her head as she took another step back, keeping her eyes trained upon Endymion, and found herself trapped by a steel covered arm.
"That's too bad, princess, because you are going to." Endymion crowed. He threw Serenity forward, causing her to crash with concentrated momentum into the crystalline covering on the black gate. Bell tones rang out the minute one of Serenity's pale hands brushed against the forbidding structure. Light radiated outward, and with a soundless blast, the covering disappeared.
Endymion grabbed the Princess again. "How does it feel to be the catalyst of the downfall of your kingdom, Serenity?" He asked as forced her back to the castle, for all appearances leaving the gate alone.
"What...what do you mean?" She asked, throat dry enough to cause her to choke.
Endymion threw back his shoulders and laughed; the sound howling throughout the still air.
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Silvery hair spread fan-like across blood colored sheets. Hundreds of black candles burned; their green flames chilling and cruel. Beryl lay on the center of the massive bed in the Queen's suite. The preparations were complete. In one hour exactly, the invasion of the Moon Kingdom would occur, and she wanted to be in her own body leading her demonic horde. Life is good, Beryl thought. "And it will be better once our invasion starts, precisely one hour from now," she sighed in delight, smugly contemplating what her victory would do to the proud queen whose body she inhabited. The Queen of the Moon Kingdom wouldn't awaken for a good five hours after the battle had begun, too late to do anything about it.
She smiled, crimson painted lips stretching taut, closed white lids over violet orbs, and began to chant softly.
Unbeknownst to her, two shadows moved among the thousands cast by the green flamed candles. They nudged the ones that spelled out in magic the five hours before Serenity woke up to the shortest period of time the could get it...one-hundred and fifty minutes. Hopefully that wouldn't be too late to do something about the invasion. The shadows looked at one another, red eyes meeting blue, and the yin and yang cats raced out of the room, as the black light that was Beryl speared upward from Queen Selenity's body.
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"We need to get the Sailor Scouts and the Princess ready for the coming invasion, Luna!" Artemis hissed as the raced down an empty corridor. By the time that Heero had found them yesterday, it was too late to do anything besides those actions already planned by Heero, his fellow princes, and their betrotheds.
But Heero hadn't known about this. If he had, he would never have left, not when so much was at risk.
"Aye-huh knuh-owe, Art-mis!" The black cat advisor to the Queens of the Moon Kingdom huffed as what seemed like miles of the palace corridor sped by under their paws. "Hee-ee-ro a-and the-eh uh-huh-thers wa-hon't bah-be ba-hack until abo-hout the-eh ti-hime the-huh Qu-heen wakes up!"
The cats stopped short at the scream.
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Serenity stared down in horror at the book that lay open in front of her. A history of the Moon Kingdom written about fifty years ago declared that the scary gate that Endymion had knocked her against earlier that day was, "A portal to the NegaVerse, sealed fifty years ago by Her Majesty Selena with the Silver Imperium Crystal after the Demon Wars." It later declared that to open the gate, "One of royal blood, pure in mind and body, with the ability to wield the Silver Crystal, only needs to touch the crystal sheathed blackness and the way to the NegaVerse shall be open again."
WHAT HAVE I DONE! Her golden hair flew backward, blue eyes glinting with unshed silver, as Serenity screamed. A wind gathered about the Princess of the Moon, and dark energy began to coalesce about her slender form. It vanished abruptly as a slight weight landed on her shoulder and a claw-sheathed paw slapped her.
"STOP THAT, HIGHNESS!" Luna shouted, stern red eyes gazing into shocked azure ones. "THIS IS NO TIME TO THROW A TANTRUM!"
Serenity began to weep silently, pity for herself, her friends, her love, and her brother overwhelming her. She received another slap across the face for that. Serenity once more stared shocked into Luna's face, her golden hair disheveled by the sudden movements.
"Listen to me, Serenity Magdalena de La'Luna. You have a choice. You can stand here feeling sorry for yourself, weeping about the fact that perhaps you shouldn't have alienated everyone who loves you, and the fact that it appears that you've betrayed their trust, or you can do something about it. I do not know about you, but personally I would rather fight back. Call your Senshi together, Serenity...and remember that there is always hope. The NegaVerse has not won this war yet!"
Serenity could barely process what Luna said. It finally got through her thick skull. Her friends and family were at risk because of her. It would be up to her to help fix the problem. And she would do it!
She inhaled deeply, her feelings about facing those she had closed off in her eyes, and her fears about what she would see obvious in return. She let that breath out again, and took another one, closing her eyes in concentration. The Crescent Moon marking common to the royal line of the Moon Kingdom glowed on her forehead as Serenity shouted two words: "SENSHI, GATHER!"
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The reunion had been painful and teary, but she and her loyal friends had gotten through it.
They had finished their preparations for the upcoming battle. Luna and Artemis had been assigned to guard the sleeping queen Selenity until she awoke. Her Senshi were each taking a part of the palace to direct the defense. Venus had positioned herself in the gardens below Serenity's own station. Mars was to defend the courtyard, entry hall, and teleportation devices in case emergency evacuation proved necessary. Jupiter declared the rest of the inner palace hers except Serenity's territory of the Great Hall and the Grand Ballroom. Mercury had taken the water driven defense by the baths and the harbors. The remaining nobility within the palace had gathered behind their future ruler and prepared to go to war. Serenity herself was just putting the finishing touches on her braided coronet.
The only regret she truly had was that Endymion was nowhere to be found. He had vanished, seemingly without a trace.
Behind her, a cough meant to get her attention made Serenity look in her mirror. The four Planetary Princesses stood behind her.
"Serenity..." Sailor Mars began. "We have a chance if we can hold out for an hour. When we teleported the Princes away..." she looked at Venus to continue.
"We didn't take them off of the moon, Sere-chan. We decided that if Heero couldn't do what he was trying to, we didn't want to take the chance that they would be too far to help us if need be. We teleported them to the other side, though..."
"So it might take them a little while longer to get here. Especially since they will not use their powers until they realize a battle is going on for fear of detection." Mercury finished.
Eyes closed, Serenity deepened her breathing as her hands clenched the chair in front of her. That was something else she had to come to grips with. Heero had never abandoned her. He loved her, forever and always, according to Venus. But if they survived this battle, how would he ever forgive her?
She walked out of the door in silence, her four guards falling in behind her. The clock began to peal, silently at first, then louder. Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve.
The floor shook, and the palace foundation beneath their feet groaned in protest to the evil energy that had already begun to poison their planet.
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Heavy black gates swung open, and at the front of the descending crowd, a tall woman with a cruelly thin and angular body rode in a black chariot. Her hair flamed out behind her and her crimson mouth was twisted into a parody of a grin.
The invasion of the Moon Kingdom had begun.
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I actually meant to finish this arc this chapter, but I decided not to. And you should be very proud, I'm being quite the industrious little writer...I finished this chapter in one night...two hours!!! YEAH!
The next chapter I should have out for a story will probably be in IFTC, seeing as how I haven't updated that the longest.
NEWAYZ, Hoped you enjoyed, and if you can't stand the suspense....TOO BAD!!!! MWAHAHAHAHAH I'M EVIL!
AutumnHime
