Disclaimer: I do not own anyone from CardCaptor Sakura. They are all owned by the ladies of CLAMP who are much more talented than I.(smile) I also do not own anyone from Sailor Moon. They are all owned by Takeuchi Naoko whose vision will live eternally.(smile) (Much to Elflina's dismay...) All other characters are my own. Feel free to steal them.

I do not hold chapters ransom for reviews, but I sure enjoy compliments, constructive criticism, and grammatical corrections. So if you feel like it, please press that little review button, and let me know what you think. - Raya

Moonlit Sakura
Chapter 6 – Lunar Eclipse

Wearing a flowing, knee-length, pink casual dress, the queen of Crystal Tokyo walked through Prince Aziz's art gallery and tried to shake off the sense of impending danger. "Come on, Serenity," she said softly to herself as she stopped in front of a picture of the great pyramids at Giza. "You're just psyching yourself out. That tour of the museum spooked you." She shivered as she remembered the idols, mummies, and other burial items they had seen. The aura of death, sadness, and hope which some of the items had exuded had almost overwhelmed her.

For a moment, she wished Endymion were there to reassure her. Then, she shook her head impatiently at herself. If anyone deserved a night out on the town with the guys, he certainly did. It sometimes surprised her that he didn't do it more often since he had to spend so much time surrounded by women.

She turned away from the reminder of the museum, and continued to walk down the hall. As she turned the corner, she gasped in surprise then smiled. She quickly entered the new hall and looked closely at the paintings that decorated the walls. Her smile grew wider as she found Michiru's stamp on each of them. Thoughts of danger, death, and museums were forgotten as she lost herself in a world of oceans, waves, dolphins, whales, and other sea creatures.

And thus, she was off her guard when someone else joined her in the hallway.

Endymion studied the two opponents critically as the crowd around him yelled and shouted. The taller man, dressed in gold trunks, seemed to be the most popular. He grinned as he casually tossed his long, wavy auburn hair over his shoulder and raised a gloved hand. The crowd cheered more loudly at this acknowledgement of their support. His smaller, slighter opponent just smiled wryly and shook out the muscles in his arms and shoulders.

"Get him, Red Battler!" Prince Mushaf yelled beside him. When he caught Endymion looking at him with a raised eyebrow, he flushed a little, and then grinned. "Red Battler is the best boxer in the world," he informed his visitor. "He's won his last four bouts by a wide margin, and he KO'd Hercules in January."

Endymion looked suitably impressed. "The reigning middle weight champion?" he asked as he turned to look at the two opponents again.

The prince nodded, and let out another cheer as Red Battler's coach gathered his long hair into a ponytail for him. "Yeah, middle weight champion and an Olympic silver medalist. Red Battler had him down in four."

"Really," the king said as he focused his attention on the smaller one who was dressed in black trunks with a silver stripe. The man's dark hair was short and neat, and his bright brown eyes betrayed the excitement his controlled movements didn't show. "And his opponent?"

"Quicksilver?" Prince Mushaf shrugged. "He's a newcomer. He's done pretty well, winning more than he loses, but he's no match for Red Battler."

Prince Aziz fought back a chuckle as Endymion turned to his son once more. The challenging look on his friend's face brought back some good memories, and he felt a moment of pity for his heir. 'Hopefully, he'll keep the bet reasonable,' he thought to himself. 'I'd hate to loose half my kingdom, even if it would be to the king of the world.'

"Care to bet on that?" Endymion asked the young man with a smile. Prince Mushaf looked at him in surprise, and then smiled suavely.

"It would be bad taste to take money from a guest," he replied smoothly.

"Oh, I'm sure your father would forgive you," Endymion challenged. "Say, ten thousand yen that Quicksilver wins by five or more in eight."

Prince Mushaf choked. "No way. Red Battler will have him on the ropes in five at the most."

"Oh?" the king asked. "Aziz?"

"I'm out of this," the ruler of the Middle East replied with a chuckle as he shook his head. "Mushaf may accept your bet if he wishes."

"I'll take him on it, if Mushaf won't," one of the prince's friends called. By the time the fight was announced, Endymion had five takers for his bet. He settled into his seat confidently as the bell rang and the fight began. By the end of the first round, though, he was caught up in the spirit of the crowd and had risen to cheer his man on.

Super Sailor Mars felt her shoulders tighten as the sense of danger tripled in strength. Quickly, she keyed her communicator. "Venus, Mercury, Jupiter. Something is about to happen. Find Serenity! Mercury, scan the grounds. There's something here, but I can't find it," she finished angrily.

"Right." The chorus of voices from her communicator didn't ask any further questions. She spun around and headed back towards the palace as fast as she could run.

Sakura stared dreamily at the long crystal hallway that had been haunting her dreams. Something was different. It seemed a little more real. More solid, if that was possible for the fragile, transparent crystal. She looked down at herself, and saw that she was in the same, pale pink dress as always.

She looked up and down the hall indecisively. It didn't matter which way she went the end result was always the same. Finally, she decided to go to the right towards the mirror.

Serenity was staring wide-eyed at a picture of a gigantic tsunami approaching Tokyo when she felt someone touch her on the shoulder. With a screech of surprise, she jumped and spun around. With a hand over her racing heart, she stared at the man who had startled her.

He gave her a cold smile. "I'm so sorry," he said in a tone reeking with fake regret. "Did I startle you?"

"I… It's all right," she replied, edging further away from him. Her heart was racing, and her sense of danger had finally kicked back in.

He smiled again triumphantly as he saw her back away nervously. Seeing that, she stopped, dropped her hand back to her side, and raised her head proudly. "Who are you?" she asked quietly, trying to buy some time.

"Me? I am just a servant," he said softly. His cold voice and icy black eyes continued to send shivers up her spine.

"Do you have a name?" she asked, trying to sound normal. "I don't remember seeing you around here before. Which department are you in?"

He chuckled as he pulled out his wand. "Yes, I have a name. It is King Necro. I serve in the Court of Darkness. A… jack of all trades, if you will. And today, I am serving in the department of waste disposal."

The white-haired queen blinked at his last strange comment. "Waste disposal?" she repeated in surprise.

"Yes. Elimination of the trash blocking our path," he replied coldly as he raised his wand. To her surprise, the queen found that she could not move. Her eyes widened with panic as he began to chant and wave the wand. A sickly looking orange light followed the tip as he traced runes in the air in front of her.

"Serenity-san!" Super Sailor Venus yelled as she turned the far corner and saw the couple. "Serenity!" Super Sailor Mars called from a window on the other side of the hall. "Serenity-san, get out of the way!" Super Sailor Jupiter called as she and Super Sailor Mercury paused at the corner the queen had recently turned.

Serenity struggled, but she couldn't move. "I can't!" she cried out anxiously.

Bessa stirred restlessly in her sleep. In her dream, she watched as a man with a slimy, evil looking aura approached her queen. She tried to move, to cry out, but she seemed to be rooted in place. She broke into a sweat as she fought against the paralysis, afraid of what was going to happen.

Pallas looked down into the garden and chewed on her lower lip. She watched as Lady and Hotaru spoke, and the unease that had woken her up and driven her into walking the hallways grew. Something was going to happen. Something bad. Something…

She stiffened in surprise as a vision flashed in front of her. Pale and trembling, she keyed her communicator on all-call. "The Queen is under attack! The Queen is under attack!"

Bessa jerked awake and sat up as Pallas's voice came over the communicator on her nightstand. She looked around her room and gave a groggy sigh of relief as she realized it was just a bad dream.

Down in the garden, Lady and Hotaru heard Pallas's frightened voice call the alarm across Hotaru's communicator. Lady turned back to Hotaru, and they stared at each other with wide eyes. Suddenly, Lady snapped into action.

She reached out and grabbed Hotaru's arm, and keyed the communicator. "Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Saturn. You stay here and guard the city. Pallas, Vesta, Juno, Ceres, meet me in the main hall!"

"ChibiUsa-chan…" Hotaru started to protest then stopped at the look in her princess' eyes.

"It is my duty to protect her," Lady said with quiet determination. "And it is their job to protect me. I need you guys to stay here in case it's a trap."

Slowly, Hotaru nodded her acceptance. "Be careful," she said softly as Lady turned to race indoors.

Bessa jerked again as Lady's voice came over the communicator. She paled as she realized it had not been a dream but a vision. Quickly, she threw off her blankets and stumbled out of bed, reaching for her transformation pen.

At the end of eight rounds, Endymion silently accepted the money from his stunned companions while Prince Aziz politely looked the other way. Suddenly, Endymion stiffened and stood up. Aziz looked up at him in surprise. The look on his friend's face brought him immediately to his feet. Quickly, the two men exited the club while the remainder of their group looked after them in confusion.

King Necro laughed as Serenity continued to struggle against his spell. He laughed louder, when he heard Super Sailor Mars call out her attack. "Mars Flame Sniper!" Her flaming arrow flowed around his shield and burned itself out. The attacks of the other senshi met a similar fate.

Sakura heard the voices. The woman calling in surprise. The man answering her. Other women shouting in anger. The man laughing. The first woman screaming in pain and fear. The other women getting louder and angrier. They sounded louder. Closer. She could almost understand what they were saying this time. She covered her ears, and stepped back, dreading what was coming next.

King Necro finished his spell of banishment, and Serenity felt her body begin to rip apart. She screamed in pain and fear.

With a flash of light, Super Sailor Moon and her team appeared in the hall. The pink-haired champion of love and justice watched in horror as her mother began to disappear in front of her eyes.

King Endymion also teleported into the hall. "Serenity!" he yelled, and rushed towards his wife. He cursed in frustration and pain as he bounced off of King Necro's shield. He threw himself at it again, and tried to beat his way through to his wife, screaming her name.

The remainder of the senshi threw attack after attack at King Necro, trying every combination they could think of to break through the shield.

Super Sailor Moon watched in shocked horror as Serenity finally faded from sight, leaving only one last pain-filled scream echoing through the hallway. She stared at the spot in disbelief for another moment, and then turned her tearful face towards her enemy. "GIVE HER BACK!" she screamed. She pulled out her Moon Rod and spun it through its power-up pattern. "Moon Spiral Heart ATTACK!"

King Necro's eyes widened in disbelief as he felt his shield go down. He teleported out of the hall just in the nick of time.

As Sakura had been expecting, there was a bright flash of light. As she blinked the spots out of her eyes, she saw the Dark Card floating in front of her. Only, there was something wrong with the card. As always, the wrongness scared her. As she reached out hesitantly to take it and look at it closer, she heard the voice scream out the anguished command. "GIVE IT BACK!"

Sakura looked at the Dark Card, and trembled with shock and disbelief. The picture had changed. Instead of Dark, Light graced the front of the card, surrounded by Dark's symbols. And Light was crying.

She woke with a start, and lay trembling in her bed. It had happened. She was sure of it. This time, the Card really had changed.

Slowly, she forced herself out of bed and went over to her desk. She looked down at Kero who was sleeping quietly for a change beside the bowl of water. The star candle sputtered and went out as she looked at it. It had finished burning itself out.

Slowly, she reached out and opened the Sakura Book. With a trembling hand, she pulled out the Cards and leafed through them. She paled in shock and disbelief as she realized that the Light Card was missing completely. And when she reached the Dark Card, she dropped the rest of them onto the desk.

The scattering Cards woke Kero from his sleep. Crying out in pain and protest, he scolded Windy and Earthy who had hit him on the head. Then, he woke up enough to be surprised. Slowly, he turned to look at Sakura, who was trembling in fear and disbelief.

"Sakura! What is it? What happened?" He flew up to her shoulder, and then looked down at the card in her hand. His eyes widened in disbelief as he saw Light on the front of the Dark Card, and felt the significant increase in the Card's power level. "They've merged?" he asked in fear and awe.

(A/N: The word that Super Sailor Moon screams and that Sakura hears is "Kaeshite!" which means "give back" or "return". Sakura, not knowing what Lady is referring to, interprets it as "Give IT back", when she is actually saying, "Give HER back". Isn't Japanese wonderful? (smile))