Author's Note
I don't OWN Sailor Moon…. Yet the story concept is mine…. Please don't take it without my consent…. PLEASE……….
Today is a little rough because my wallet has gone missing, and I apparently can't trust anyone within a fifty-foot radius of me… it's been a rough day. Anyhow, I managed to somehow get Internet on my computer so I'm taking advantage of it while I can to avoid scribing the whole thing.
Well, there's a new definition of royally pissed off coming…hehe…have fun!
Serena or Catarina?
Chapter 8: Silver Imperium Crystal
"We'll just have to kill all three of you, now won't we? That will make up for the rude comment," Terrance said angrily, not partial to being called a bastard.
"Oh great Sailor Moon, you pissed him off. That was perfect," Sailor Jupiter said, sighing. "Now what do we do?"
Sailor Moon/Catarina hopelessly smiled and sweat dropped.
"Guess my emotions got the better of me," she admitted sheepishly. They watched him point his sword at them, and laugh.
"You think you can win against me? I am an elite member of the Royal Guard, and unbeknownst to the population and known only to the princess, I am Imperia Knight."
"WHAT?" the three asked, looking at one another.
"You're getting really good at pretending to be Serena you know," Sailor Mercury whispered.
"You all said she was klutzy and whiny yet totally reliable, didn't you? Just trying to go with what you've told me," Sailor Moon/Catarina replied. "So seriously, what do we do?"
"Well, if he says he's a Sailor Knight, let's test him on it," Sailor Jupiter said with a smile. The two stared at her as she started an interrogation. "First question: Can you identify the Sailor Scout you protect?"
"Sailor Imperia," Terrance said angrily.
"I meant her name."
"Princess Catarina," Terrance said, as the group gasped and looked at one another. "What?"
"A true Knight would never reveal the identity of the Sailor Scout he guards, especially to those he has labeled as his enemy," Sailor Mercury replied. "You're a phony!"
"So you tricked me? Well, it is of no matter. The princess does not know that and she never will. In fact, she will only hear that her beloved Endymion has died regardless of this battle's outcome. So you will never win."
"There has to be a way to track him," Sailor Jupiter said to Sailor Mercury, who jumped.
"My gift!" she exclaimed, as the two huddled behind Sailor Moon/Catarina, who was thoroughly confused.
"Distract him," Sailor Jupiter explained, as Sailor Moon/Catarina sighed.
"I am asking for an early death, aren't I?" Sailor Moon/Catarina asked to the sky. She faced Terrance, whose sword was drawn and ready. In a violent swing, he nearly missed Sailor Moon/Catarina's long locks. She smiled.
"They better be quick," she thought, as another swing came her way. This time, she used the scepter to block as she skidded a few feet before stopping. This came as a surprise to Terrance, who made a vertical swing that she "fell forward" in order to dodge. She dodged a few more pointless swings by somersaulting into the nearby wall of the stairwell, and looked to see his charge. A little dizzy, she barely dodged the strike, which got his sword stuck in the wall. Suddenly realizing this could have been the last moment of her life, she scrambled back from him, as he tried to pull the sword out…
"So you knew that she was a missing Sailor Scout?" Serena demanded, as the knight shamefully nodded. "And you never went to her rescue?"
"Believe me Princess Serenity. If I could have, I would have walked the galaxies for the rest of eternity to bring her back, but the price was too high."
"What are you talking about?"
"Remember that Guard who helped you through the night? It wasn't the first time he had done so," Imperia Knight said, detransforming to reveal himself to be Guard Thomas!
"What do you mean?" Serena asked now, seeing as it would probably be hours since there was still a fight going on outside the tunnels.
"You are not the first girl they have brought back and claimed to be the Royal Heiress. There have been thousands of others since her disappearance."
"What's happened to all of them?"
"They are dead."
Serena's eyes widened, in a state of shock and confusion as the guard looked down at the ground.
"Please," he said. "Don't judge me yet. I could have let these girls all die painfully in that first night or two here. They were all under the care of Aspera, and all of them were royalty of their own worlds. Do you see where this is going?"
"They didn't grab me because they thought I was Catarina," Serena whispered, abhorred. "They wanted me dead?"
"We are one of three planets who are all geared towards universal domination. For ages, the Sailor Soldiers here have been keepers of the peace and true defenders of the universe by keeping the universe safe from their own people. It was in the Silver Millennium that all three Sailor Scouts were changed forever. The other two, Sailors Sandstonia and Nebula, have become vengeful and cruel, and the only ones interested in finding Sailor Imperia for their own gain. We Knights have been forced to behind the scenes, and I more than the other two."
"How's so?"
"I am being—blackmailed."
"WHAT?" Serena asked.
"The man behind this change in our society, and your own, was one you've met recently. I cannot tell you much more, but he is threatening to reveal my acts of protection to each foreigner and have me killed if I do not keep my mouth shut. He is a dangerous man Princess Serenity. You were just in blowing him off and sending him to Earth. The longer Terrance is away the safer you are."
"Oh my god. There has to be a way to get in contact with the girls—with Luna even. Please tell me that there is!"
"Unfortunately, we have little concern for the outside worlds, and they have long since destroyed that watch which you wore."
"Great," Serena said hopelessly, sitting down on the ice. "I'm going to die on this planet and Darien is going to be killed. Wonderful!"
"He can't win that battle immediately," Thomas replied, smiling some. "It is stated in our rulebooks that the only way to be the victor is to return with the head of the man you have slain. In other words, he has to manage to get past your friends, kill him, and somehow have time to get his head, and then return here in one piece. Whether he remembers or not is still up in the air. It's too painstaking of a process, even for him."
"How did the other girls—how were they caught?" Serena asked, beginning to feel sick.
"By making very simple errors. I informed them all of the same thing I am telling you. They started to pretend to be Catarina. One even dared to sleep one night without my assistance, and another almost married Terrance, and tried to escape. The girls all made the same mistake however—they pretended to be someone they weren't, even after I had warned them of the dangers. So as long as you stay true to your story—well, that's how long you'll live," Thomas explained.
"Have demons come before?"
"Always to claim the girls we have stolen, in order to ransom their people," Thomas said. "This is the first time they didn't seem to be after the princess in question. The Queen might really start to believe that you're her daughter."
"The Silver Imperium Crystal is very powerful. I'm not all that surprised," Serena replied. She held the brooch in her hand. "And she wanted me to leave it on the desk like some useless trinket."
"Aspera made you take that off?" Thomas asked, curious now.
"Yes, why?"
"Are you sure that is yours?" Thomas asked again, as Serena looked long and hard at the brooch, and gasped at Aspera's previous statement.
"It looks like any other Imperial Quartz to me Your Majesty."
"Someone switched out my crystal!" she gasped. "What does it look like to you?"
"Imperial Quartz," Thomas replied sadly. "I thought it was strange that you were threatening them with it. What did you say it was originally? The Silver Imperium Crystal?"
"We have to find that crystal!" Serena exclaimed, panicked now. "It could destroy the universe if it fell into the wrong hands."
Thomas' dulled expression suddenly filled with fear.
"WHAT?" he screamed. "You mean to tell me you have that powerful of a rock attached to your CHEST?"
"It's my power source, kinda," Serena said, looking around. "Where would they take that crystal? Tell me!"
"I don't know," Thomas said, now looking around himself. "Only Aspera or Terrance would know, and I highly doubt either of them will tell me anything."
"I have to tell the girls. I have to warn them," Serena said, feeling slightly faint.
"Princess?" Thomas asked, noticing she was a tad pale. Without another word spoken, Serena collapsed into his arms. "PRINCESS!"
Silence prevailed…