Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon.
Chapter Fifteen
Seleine P.O.V.
It was pitch black again, but it was peaceful. There wasn't anything for me to worry about anymore. I was just me. The silence was perfect. It was relaxing. It's been a long time since I've felt at peace.
I heard the sound of laughter. I knew that laugh. I blinked my eyes several times. Finally, my vision was clear. I was back on the Moon Kingdom. I could smell the moonflowers. They were the most beautiful flowers I had ever seen. I've been to nearly every realm, so I knew flowers.
"So, tell me about your date," I asked.
A giggle erupted from my little sister's mouth. Her golden hair was pulled into her two high pigtails. She had a slight wave to them. She wanted to look extra special for her date. She smelled like roses, her favorite scent.
I remember this moment clearly. This was after Serenity and Endymion's third date. She went to the Earth many times to meet him. We were in our personal garden talking about their most recent date.
"So, you're telling me he's a good kisser?" I asked with a devilish grin.
She gasps. "You would know! You were engaged to him before we found out that you were the queen of darkness."
I feign an injured gasp and clutch my heart. "How dare you hurt your dear sister's feeling? I am deeply wounded." Serenity laughs and pushes my shoulder. I push her shoulder back.
"Serenity!"
We turn our heads to see our mother walking down the garden's steps. Serenity and I rolled our eyes.
"You're late for your meetings young lady," our mother says. She's talking to Serenity but is looking at me. She looks as endearing as ever. She fixes her dress and crown as she approaches us.
"Why isn't Seleine attending these meetings Mother? After all, she is a Moon Princess and the leader of my Royal Guard," Serenity says. She challenges our mother's temper rather frequently these days. Of course, it's my fault. I'm a bad influence on the sweet princess.
"Seleine has other training to attend to," she says with an impatient smile. "Come." She turns on her heel and walks back to the steps. Serenity lightly touches my hand and gives me a sympathetic look before she goes and chases after our mother.
I take a deep breath and lean back in my chair. I close my eyes and breathe in the moon kingdom's air. The climate has always been strange on the moon. It's the kind of weather when you have during a summer rain. It's not cold, but it's not hot either. I open my eyes and look up at the clouds. I can see the Earth. That big planet is always blocking my view of other galaxies.
This was before I nearly killed Serenity. Before Beryl came to me and claimed me as her own. This was the time that I only had to worry about my mother catching my lover leaving my bedchamber. I wish I could stay in this moment forever. Sadly, that's just not meant to be.
My vision suddenly begins to fade. "No! I'm not ready to go back yet!" I plead. "No!"
I wake up in a familiar room with nine women standing before me.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Ishtar seethed.
"We did not want you to tell Serenity everything and now look at what you have done. This is a complete disaster. You've doomed them all!" Marici screeched. She threw her hands in the air and attempted to intimidate me by storming up to me.
"She only did what she thought was right," Metzi came to my defense.
"Now the fate of the moon is out of our hands," Thanatos said.
"It's been out of your hands. None of you know what is to come!" I yelled.
"And now you've taken the one thing we could control away from us," Kaminari boomed.
"That was never your card! You could never control that. You could lie to us all you wanted but that wouldn't have changed a damn thing," I seethed.
They all grew quiet. They looked to Amaterasu.
"Frauds. You're all frauds!" I screamed. Every one of them snapped their heads back to me. "They had an incredulous look in their eyes. "You look to Amaterasu when you have all ruled. But the truth is, none of you know a damn thing that is useful."
"How dare you speak to them like that?" I heard a familiar voice say. I dreaded and longed to hear that voice all at the same time. I turned my head to see a woman come forth through the shadows.
"You were supposed to protect us. You were supposed to give us council when we needed it," I said in a low voice. "Not lie to us."
"They did what they did to protect the senshi. They lied for the greater good," my mother said. She looked the exact same as she did on that fateful day.
"And look at where that protection has gotten us. It doomed us," I countered.
"They did not doom them. You doomed them!" she screamed with anger in her eyes.
"No! You don't get to talk to me like that anymore! I took every insult you had for me and when you died I knew you couldn't do that to me anymore. You are all to blame. You kept the past a secret from Serenity and now it's tearing her apart!" I screamed. Tears started crowding the back of my eyes. I could feel them threatening to pour down my face. My whole body was shaking.
"How dare you throw trust and secrets in my face! You kept your identity from me!" My mother yelled.
"I was a child! I didn't even know!"
"And you don't get to blubber about being protected. You killed them all! Except for your precious Haruka!" My mother was about to die for the second time.
"Your one to talk! You should have protected me!" I choked. My heart was hurting. I've wanted to say these words to her for so long. Now I had the chance, but it was killing me. All that pain I felt over the years was flooding back. "I was your daughter. All I ever wanted was for you to love me like you loved Serenity. Was that too much to ask for?" I sobbed. I was completely out of breath. My whole body was screaming at me.
She stared at me with dead eyes. I saw no humanity in her. "You were born evil. How could I ever love something that was meant to destroy?"
I screamed and shot my hand out. A power came out that I had never encountered before. It flew everyone in the room back.
I then heard a chuckle.
"So much power," a voice said.
"Yes. A power that has yet to be claimed at that," another voice said.
The queens stood back up. Their eyes were wide. It dawned on me who was talking. It was the dark queens. They've finally shown themselves. They finally came out of the shadows. To my dismay, there were only two.
"Allow us to introduce ourselves," a blonde with chopped off hair said. Her eyes were completely black. There was no color to them at all. She wore a black dress with cut-outs on both sides and high slits. She wore no shoes. She had a slender body with curves in all the right places.
"I'm Hekate," she said.
"And I'm Nyx," the other said. This one had long black hair and her eyes were also black, but she had white pupils. She looked a lot like Hekate, but she had legs that went up to her neck.
"What are you doing here?" Amaterasu interrogated.
Nyx looked up at Amaterasu. "It's simple really. We want to rule," she said. Hekate giggled beside her.
"Hello, mother, daughter," Hekate greeted with an evil grin.
Marici and Ishtar clutched each other in fear.
"You're not welcome here," Thanatos said.
"How dare you talk to your mother in such a tone!" Nyx shouted. "Plus, we're not here for you. We're here for the dark little princess." They both turned and looked at me.
"You're misunderstood, just like we were. We want to teach you how to use your power. After all, you are one of us," Hekate purred.
"Misunderstood? You're kidding right?" I snapped.
Metzi came up to me and pulled me back with her. The past moon queens flanked Metzi. I couldn't believe it, they were protecting me.
Nyx grinned. "Think about it."
I woke up with a jolt. I looked around me to gather my bearings. I was lying in a very soft bed. It looks like I'm at the temple. I sat up and felt a pain in my ribs. Only then did I notice that I wasn't alone.
"Kunzite, that's creepy," I said.
He cracked a grin. He was sitting in a chair in the corner. My guess is that he's been here watching me the whole time. There were bags under his eyes.
"How long have I been out?" I asked rubbing my head.
"A couple of days," he said. I looked up at him and expected a full report. "Nothing's happened. They've waited till you were awake to cause you more grief."
I sighed in relief and fell back into the pillow. I looked up at the ceiling and wondered if it ever leaked. Just then I started hearing grunting. I looked over at Kunzite and quirked an eyebrow.
"Help me up," I said. He took my arm and walked me to the window. I looked outside and saw the Senshi training if you could call it that.
"They're inadequate for war," I stated.
"Yes, yes they are. But with some training with you and the shittenou it shouldn't take long for them to be adequate," he replied.
We looked at them for a moment longer. I wish they could stay this innocent forever. But that would be too easy.
I turned to Kunzite. "You, Setsuna, and I need to talk, but first, I have to take care of something," I said.
We walked outside and stood on the steps waiting. When they noticed I was outside, they turned their heads toward me.
"War is coming and none of you are ready. The Moon Queens of the past don't want you to know about the dark queens, but I think it's foolish not to tell you the truth. They are coming for us. As of today, we are at war with our past. This isn't any war. This is the fucking apocalypse," I said.
"Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Venus," I said. They all stepped forward. I held out my hand and called for the dagger. "I'm sorry, but this must be done. It's just a precaution, but it's one I have to take."
They nodded their heads. I looked at Sailor Moon and she was already crying. The Inners looked at their princess and allowed themselves to cry. The Outers, Starlights, and Shittenou watched with dread. None of us wanted this to happen.
"Do you have to do this?" Healer asked me.
I nodded my head. Venus stepped forward. "I'm ready," she said. I gently pushed the dagger into her heart. She gasped, and tears started pouring out of her eyes. The rest of them handled it the same way. They really handled it like champs.
When I was finished, they all went to Sailor Moon. They looked down at the ground but showed their allegiance just the same. I turned around and walked back up the steps. I wiped my eyes and forced the tears to go back into hiding. When I was confident I wasn't going to cry, I turned back to them.
"Tomorrow we start training. It will be intense and brutal. Get some rest, we start bright and early," I finished.
"Sets," I said grabbing her arm. "We need to talk."
