Though dawn was fast approaching, the secluded shack nevertheless stood shrouded in darkness. The woman within hardly notices. But the demon without notices her all too well… Manga canon. Written for the 30th Anniversary of Queen Beryl.

Rated: T - Tragedy/Supernatural - Words: 1,574 - Queen Beryl, Metalia/Negaforce, Princess Serenity, Prince Endymion

A/N: I'd like to thank Mina Martin for beta reading this story for me. You can find her on Ao3 as mina_martin

/users/mina_martin/

This fic is a gift for usernamesarefornurdes

During a full or new Moon, it was tradition for the people of Earth to take a moment in appreciation of their lunarian stewards. Traditions varied across the planet, some more prevalent in certain regions than others. Westerners tended to simply fire off a quick salute. Those of the cold North lit silver candles at sunset. The people of the South drew crescent Moon 'smiles' in the air above their hearts. However, come midnight, the most appreciative and dedicated citizens of the East always trained their eyes up at the night sky and knelt in humble deference.

On this new Moon night, the shack's sole occupant had observed none of these practices; nor was it the first time she had failed to do so.

Instead, her attention was trained upon the cold stone cauldron before her. One by one, she dimly fed ingredients into the bubbling concoction: ground Valerian root, hawthorne collected by a widow in the first year of mourning, and just a dash of powdered malachite. She stirred sunwise with a rod of pure copper thirteen times, then again in the opposite direction.

After repeating this process four times she removed the rod and leant over the lip of the cauldron, she became mesmerized by the swirling liquid; but only for a moment.

The brew was intended to keep her mind from distraction during the day and free from dreams at night. No doubt due to the 'distraction' Beryl sought to banish, the liquid was not the deep, soothing rosewood hue it ought to be. Instead, the cauldron now contained a round pool of shimmering silver.

Beryl froze. Tiny pangs of pain started up in her chest. The pangs gave way to larger, rhythmic throbs. Finally, as her bottom lip began to tremble, Beryl's entire being was consumed by a seering, ceaseless ache. With a savage wail, she tipped the cauldron over, the silver substance spreading across the floor. With splashing footsteps, Beryl flung herself out the door of her shack. The cold night air bit at her exposed arms, but she was incapable of caring, burying her tear stained face into her hands.

"I-i-it's n-n-not f-f-fa-air-r-r," she sobbed.

Through a pained whisper, four words welled up from the depths of her shattered soul.

"It should be me!"

Not for the first time, Beryl watched her Prince from behind the pillar, praying that despite the darkness of night, he might see her. Might smile at her. Might beckon her over that to embrace her close to him. Close enough that she might gaze upon warm sapphire eyes that would be filled with love.

But he didn't see her. He never saw her. And now she knew why.

"... we shouldn't meet like this anymore."

Time seemed to slow down around her, as if she were falling.

"Why?"

"Intimacy between the Moon people and the Earth people is forbidden… It's God's law."

Like a tiny candle, the smallest, faintest glimmer of hope flickered within her.

"We mustn't fall in love."

The words fanned her 'candle', inflaming her dim hope.

"But…"

Her flame stilled, frozen at the simple, horrible word… and the sight of their fingers intertwining.

"…It's too late."

As their lips finally met, Beryl's tiny glimmer of light died.

"...It should be me… instead of her!"

Inhaling a sob, Beryl lifted her head from her hands, glowering at the sky where the Moon might have hung. It was at that moment, as the first feeble vestiges of the dawn began to creep above the horizon, that she saw it.

A thousand bright, burning cuts upon the black skin of the sky.

"... It still could be…"

Beryl whipped around, averting her gaze from the meteor shower. "Who said that?"

She saw no one.

"Who's there?"

Silence.

Turning back the other way, she realized the meteors had disappeared. But, somehow, so had the dawn. In fact, it was a lot darker than it had been even at midnight. Darker than she had ever seen things. She could still make out the immediate surrounding area. The trees, the earthy ground, her shack, but something was… off.

Everything had slowed to a crawl, the tree branches practically still. And she could not smell anything either, not the earth beneath her nor the stench of the spoiled potion wafting from her shack. Even the wind's cold bite seemed to have vanished. Her clothes were still there but, as she stood rooted upon the spot, she realized she could no longer feel where the fabric ended and her skin began. The only physical sensation left to her was the damp tears upon her cheeks.

She didn't understand. None of this made sense. The only thing she could think of was that this must somehow be connected to the meteor shower. But how could they have… unless… unless one of them…

"Am I dead," she whispered. As if in response to her words, the unnatural blackness seemed to grow thicker, encroaching upon her. Dimly, she thought that she should be afraid, horrified, but… she just didn't care anymore. If this was oblivion, then she welco-

"Metalia."

Her breath caught.

"W-what?"

"... You asked a question… I answered…"

Slowly, carefully, her feet practically rooted in place, Beryl rotated around. She narrowed her eyes, but even through the thick blackness, she was sure no one was there.

"Where… where are you?"

"... Here…"

The whisper was like a cold draft through a graveyard. It seemed to be coming from everywhere at once. Staying still as a statue, Beryl's eyes scanned left, right, then, her head barely moving, she gazed skywards. Two gigantic blank diamonds, their edges almost jagged, gazed back at her.

"What are you?" Beryl said. Or tried to. All that escaped her throat was a tiny croak.

Despite her silence, the entity seemed to anticipate her question. "... I am a… friend… A friend drawn here. Drawn to you. To your beautiful darkness."

This time, Beryl succeeded in speaking aloud. "M-my… beautiful 'darkness'?"

"Yes. Darkness is beautiful, don't you think? I hail from the Sun itself, none know the way of the light better than I. The light is tumultuous, capricious, artless, boastful and so very, very fickle. The light does not touch all, and those it does do not all shine as brightly as one another. But darkness…" Metalia made a noise like a satisfied sigh. "Darkness is tranquil. Darkness is reliable. Subtle. Humble. But above all else, darkness is fair."

For the first time in over a day, Beryl felt something other than confusion, other than disbelief, other than pain, stir within her.

"All know darkness and within its embrace all are equal, regardless of race, creed or class. Only those with true courage and cunning can prosper. Only the worthy…. And I sense much worthiness within you."

Beryl let out a small, soft, rattling breath.

"Swear your fealty to me as your Supreme Ruler, as your Queen, and then…"

The entity fell silent. Beryl began to quiver, the seconds feeling like eons.

"... And then…?"

The creature had no face to speak of, save its inhuman eyes. Nevertheless, Beryl somehow felt the darkness smile.

"You will gain enormous power. You will invade the Moon. You will take for yourself the infinite power of the Mystical Silver Crystal. And then this planet-this universe-will be yours!"

Metalia's promise resounded around Beryl, echoed within her very soul. The promise beckoned to her. It embraced her. It clasped her hand. It gazed into her with eyes that were not blank nor jagged, but rounder, softer… and sapphire blue.

Within the beautiful, benevolent, moonless darkness… the promise kissed her.

And so, in humble deference, Beryl knelt.

A/N: I swear to God, somehow, someway, Queen Beryl must actually exist because this and my anime Beryl fic took me down a rabbit hole let me tell you.

Like I went DEEP into researching her character and trying to untangle who she is in both versions and asked a lot of people. At one point this fic was going to be something WAY bigger that even involved me reframing Beryl as a kind of dark reflection of Usagi and creating a whole backstory for her, her mother, Endymion's Dad, etc. I spent like a day ruminating on that before realizing it'd be WAY too big, take way too long and ultimately just kind of got away from what I was trying to build to.

So I scrapped that stuff (though maybe one day I will turn it into a multi chapter fic) and decided instead to cut to the heart of Beryl, or should I say heartbreak. Hope you all enjoyed it.

Also just to let you know I am involved in a discord called 'Moonlight Legends' which is dedicated to sharing all sorts of Sailor Moon fanworks, including other fanfics. If you would like to join so you can share your own work, get help with your current projects or just connect to other fan creators shoot me a PM and I'll send you an invite. All are welcome!