Things are about to change permanently for the Moon Kingdom and many of the known sentients in it, but nobody knows just how for sure, not even Queen Serenity, as this chapter opens. And when it will, either, for that matter. Tragic events will force Queen Serenity back to Moon City, and she may not be able to leave Moon City for a while, once word of them reaches her well enough in this chapter.

As for those on Earth right now, they have absolutely no real idea what is about to happen very close to them, and to who, and all. Their life experiences to this point have generally not been ones that have adequately prepared them for what is about to happen for many of them, most likely, in their respective lives. They have never really known fear and danger and all as they will soon begin to know them, among other things, if that is sufficiently true for any or all of them. So when they learn about certain tragic events that happen elsewhere in the Sol system, they'll probably be quite devastated, to put it rather mildly, at least, at that.

With no further ado, then, I'll close this here. TUS out.

Main Dining Hall In The Imperial Palace

Moon City, Moon Kingdom, Moon

June 21, 987

The following morning, Sachiko, Questa, Placida, and Tiffany woke up by about seven or so local time. And they were in the Imperial Palace's main dining hall by eight in the morning, local time. When they got there, Queen Serenity was still alone in it, and eating her breakfast. Tiffany was the first of the girls to see her doing so.

She soon said, as soon as she was sufficiently close to Queen Serenity to do so in a quiet enough voice, "Hello, Queen Serenity. I wonder how you're feeling today."

"I'm fine, I suppose. I do miss Serena and several other people, of course, however, Tiffany."

The four girls began getting themselves some breakfasts. As they were making up their breakfasts, Tiffany soon asked, "Are you likely going to be able to try to train with us today?"

"I suppose that I could somehow make time for you four today, at least, Tiffany. I know you were all hoping that you could do it yesterday, but it just wasn't possible."

Sachiko said, "Maybe not. But I still wish we could have trained yesterday, Queen Serenity."

"As I'm sure that Questa and Placida do too, Sachiko. I don't expect to have as many things to deal with in terms of the government today as I did yesterday. So I might be able to train with you later on today. Maybe around midday local time, if nothing and nobody else makes it sufficiently impossible for me to do so here well enough, I might be able to do so, Sachiko Mikono."

"As you wish, Queen Serenity. Do you want us in one of the gardens before or after we transform to each of our respective Sailor Scout states of being?" All four of the girls finished making their breakfasts, no more than a few moments later. They then began bringing them all over to Queen Serenity's table, so that they could all then consume them all as needed, of course.

"No, girls. I want you four to get Junior Sailors Surveyor and Crystal. And I want you to teleport over to the Crystal Palace, in each of your respective Sailor Scout states of being, Sachiko. The Junior Sailor Surveyor that I want you to get is the one from the Moon, and not any of the other Surveyors that we currently have as Junior Sailor Scouts. Tell them both that you six will need to meet me at the Crystal Palace by midday local time. You're all to meet me in the Sailor Scout Garden there by then, unless I say otherwise soon enough beforehand."

Questa asked, "Then what should we do before we try to find them, once we get done here, Queen Serenity?"

The four girls began consuming their respective breakfasts just as Questa asked that question of Queen Serenity. Serenity thought for a moment, and then said, "Between the time that you get done here and the time that you have to start trying to find them, you can do whatever you so choose. But if you're not in the Sailor Scout Garden by the time that I am, if I can go there as well, I won't be very happy at all, of course, Questa. So please be there by the time that I am, if I can be, girls."

The five of them conversed for at least a little while longer while they all had their respective breakfasts. And as they did so, they also discussed things and people of at least some importance to any or all of them in their respective lives, as a matter of fact.

Eventually, Luna and Artemis found Queen Serenity there, and they briefly conversed with her as well, just as she was attending to her dirty dishes and things. The two cats and Queen Serenity conversed very quietly with each other in such a manner that the girls couldn't possibly hear what they were saying. For they were too far away to hear what was being said at the current time by the two cats and their Queen. After about five or so minutes of this, at most, then, Luna and Artemis left Serenity again just as quickly and as quietly as they'd earlier come to her.

Queen Serenity soon rejoined the young girls again, and she said, "I have other things that I must attend to right now. But I still hope to be able to meet you all in the Crystal Palace's Sailor Scout Garden by midday local time here. Please be there by then, so I don't have to go looking for you all, girls."

"Understood, Queen Serenity," said Placida, not more than a few seconds later, in any case at all. Queen Serenity left the main dining hall no more than a minute or two afterward. That left all four of the girls alone in the dining hall, of course.

Sachiko then asked, "Who wants to collect Moon Surveyor, and who wants to collect Crystal?"

Tiffany said, "I'll find Crystal."

Questa said, "I'll find Moon Surveyor."

"All right. Meet me in the Hebron Garden in your respective Sailor Scout states of being by 10:30 am local time, everyone. That way, we can be as sure as we possibly can be here we have all our necessary things before we have to go over to the Crystal Palace to meet the Queen again by midday local time, girls."

"Understood, Sachiko," said all of them, in turn, when the need arose for them all to do so here. Then the four of them soon split up to do whatever they either wanted or needed to do in the meantime.

Some time later, then, six Junior Sailor Scouts assembled in the Imperial Palace's Hebron Garden. And they were the Junior Sailors Rising Sun, Surveyor, Spyglass, Tranquility, Crystal, and Millennium. This particular Surveyor was a Junior Sailor Scout from the Moon. Her skin had a bit of a light purplish look to it, at least for the most part, if not entirely. As for Crystal, her skin was a few shades darker than the rest of her current companions, and it was more of a bronze color than the skins of her current companions were. Her skin was rather tanned, in fact, when it was compared to everyone else's skin here.

Surveyor was wearing a Sailor Scout uniform that was largely purple, gold, and sky blue in color. Her uniform's largely checkerboard-patterned neckerchief was mainly gold in color. Except where several purple-trimmed sky blue magnifying glasses were located on it, or wherever it had some sky blue trim on or near its edges. Her uniform's blouse was mainly purple with gold piping or lace trim. While her uniform's skirt was mostly gold with either some purple or sky blue piping or lace trim. On her blouse's shoulders, and outside the nearest edges of her neckerchief, there were two pins that looked like miniature magnifying glasses, as well, with one pin on each shoulder here. Her boots were mainly sky blue in color, except where there were gold-trimmed purple thunderbolts on them, or where there were purple-trimmed gold soles on them. As she joined her fellow Junior Sailor Scouts in the Hebron Garden, she was also wearing a belt from which hung several pouches of various sizes. Inside many, if not all, of these pouches, there were various martial arts weapons of various kinds, if nothing else as well in them at all.

As for Junior Sailor Crystal, her uniform's predominant colors were white, medium brown, pink, and pine green. Her blouse was mainly white, except where there was medium brown piping on it. The neckerchief that she now wore above her locket and her blouse was primarily pine green in color, except where there was some pink trim along each of its edges. Her uniform's skirt was mostly a medium brown in color, except where there was actually some pine green piping or trim on or near its edges. And unlike the various skirts of the rest of her current companions, her skirt was not pleated, whenever it didn't absolutely have to be, if she didn't want or need it to be pleated at all. Her boots were mostly pink with pine green trim, except where they had medium brown soles, or where they were covered by various sequins of various colors. Including, of course, white or colors like white, for all the obvious reasons.

Rising Sun soon accounted for all her current companions, and their things. Then she said, "Everyone, prepare for teleportation to the Crystal Palace, in very short order." After she said that, everyone put all their things in a pile, if they'd not already done so. Then they formed a circle by joining their hands together as needed.

No more than a few moments later, the Hebron Garden was empty again, after they'd left it behind again through teleportation. They were all light for not more than a minute or so, before they all again appeared in the Crystal Palace's Sailor Scout Garden. It was just before 10:40 am, local time, when they then were all once again completely solid in that specific Crystal Palace garden. They'd all materialized near the exact same pillar that Queen Serenity had accessed the same day that she'd made Serena and several members of her crowd at least temporary, if not permanent, Sailor Scouts in each of their respective lives. They then awaited Queen Serenity's arrival there, of course, as they'd been told to do earlier by her, for all the obvious reasons.

They waited about an hour or so in relative silence for her to meet them there. They were eventually joined there by Sentinel Serenity, who showed up there by no later than local midday. They briefly greeted her upon her arrival. She told them to pick up their things again, if they hadn't already done so by the time she'd joined them.

They did so, and after they did so well enough to suit her enough, she said, "We're all going to go to Crescent for a while, Scouts. We'll all be training there for the rest of the day and/or night, in very short order. But first, you'll all need to follow me underground."

When they didn't quite understand what she meant, she soon accessed the panel underneath the necessary pillar's top, and input the necessary code or codes through it as needed. That then almost immediately allowed them to access the tunnel leading to the required cavern under the Crystal Palace's main grounds, of course. She led them all to that cavern. Then, not too much later, that very same cavern was once again empty, for all the obvious reasons.

Everyone then materialized in the Double Earth Palace's South Garden. And they were met there by several Monitors who were also Sailor Scouts. Those several Monitors/Scouts, of course, were Amilaram, Sierra, Paquasim, Onziza, Firehawk, Enisangob, Sacala, and Ocabirama, quite naturally.

Amilaram and her seven fellow Monitors/Scouts were all there because they'd decided to visit a few of their friends there for a while, at least. Queen Serenity was quite surprised, in fact, to see all of them there again. This was for the simple reason that she'd thought that they'd actually be at their own Imperial Palace elsewhere in the Crescent area of the Moon.

Amilaram was the leader of the Monitors who were also Scouts. And the Imperial Palace that they'd come from earlier that same day wasn't actually of Moon origin. This was because it'd actually come from the part of Terra that'd later become rather well-known as "Peru," in fact, during a very fierce war that the Negaversers had recently enough just forced upon their people and the Moon Kingdom's people.

Amilaram soon asked, "Sentinel Serenity, who are these six Scouts, if I may ask you this here?"

"Amilaram, these Scouts are going to be training here at least for a while today, if not also tomorrow. Meaning on the grounds of this palace, in fact. These are other Junior Sailor Scouts besides the ones that you already know of, as well. Specifically, these particular Sailor Scouts are currently substituting for Junior Sailor Moon and other members of her crowd while they're otherwise occupied elsewhere in the solar system for us all. Where the ones you're all familiar with now are, I'll tell you, if and when I get a chance, before I have to return to Moon City again. But right now, I won't, for all the obvious reasons here." Sentinel Serenity soon introduced all of the other Scouts that she'd just come to Crescent with to the Peruvian Monitors/Scouts, just as soon as she could then do that here, quite naturally.

"Fine, Sentinel Serenity. We'll hold you to that promise, then, if at all possible, if we can, of course," Amilaram said to Queen Serenity just as soon as she could then do that here, of course.

"Fair enough, I suppose. Now I think that we should get these other Scouts settled down here enough for at least a little while, if at all possible, Amilaram."

The fifteen Scouts then parted for a little while, once they were all able to go to each of their respective chambers elsewhere in the Double Earth Palace of Crescent on the Moon. For every single one of them had earlier been assigned to various chambers in it at various times in each of their lives. Even the ones who were actually from Terra, and not just from any or all of the inhabited places of the Moon Kingdom, had been assigned to chambers there, as a matter of fact.

Two hours later, then, all fifteen of them returned to that garden of the Double Earth Palace, including Sentinel Serenity. Sentinel Serenity chose two teams of Scouts to train with each other for a while, after a bit more time had passed there. She soon afterward had Ocabirama join up with Rising Sun and the rest of the Moon-born Scouts now present, not counting Serenity, of course. That was so both teams could have the same number of Scouts on them, just in case she'd not be able to be with them enough in the near future.

Sentinel Serenity soon had them all training with each other in the South Garden of the Double Earth Palace, under her supervision, whenever possible. And she even trained a bit with them as well, whenever she could then do so, as a matter of fact.

But eventually, her responsibilities as Queen of the Moon Kingdom quite naturally forced her to leave for Moon City all by herself again. Rising Sun, for one, wasn't very happy about that, of course, once she learned that well enough. But she and the rest of the Sailor Scouts who were now here still dealt with it to the best of their respective abilities to do just that somehow, once Sentinel Serenity told them everything that they then needed to know at the current time.

Sentinel Serenity left for Moon City again by no later than about 6:20 pm local time. And she left for that place all by herself again, for all the obvious reasons. It seemed that some reports had come in for her from at least one of the various space stations that was now still orbiting the Moon, if not more than one of them. Reports that she'd then need to attend to back in Moon City as soon as possible, in fact.

It seemed that the Negaverse had been able to capture or destroy various merchant ships that were periodically traveling between the various inhabited worlds of the Moon Kingdom. Including at least one that was heading towards the outer planets of the solar system, if not more than one, as a matter of fact. Even with at least some escort by various Moon Kingdom warships, several merchant ships were either captured or destroyed by beings or spaceships from anywhere at all in the Negaverse, as well.

And Sentinel Serenity was quite naturally rather upset, of course, once she learned of the Negaverse's most recent activities anywhere else at all in the Moon Kingdom's current territory. She didn't know how she'd handle the matter of the convoys' troubles yet. And she didn't yet know if she'd somehow actually be able to come up with a suitable enough plan to slow or stop the loss of any more of the Moon Kingdom's various merchant ships, for all the obvious reasons, for as long as she could possibly do just that somehow, if at all.

The fourteen young girls weren't happy that Sentinel Serenity had to return without them to Moon City under the current conditions, quite naturally. But they still realized that sometimes things happened in life that nobody in their lives actually wanted to happen in them. Things like the loss of various people or things in them, for example.

After Serenity left, the girls eventually powered down again for at least a little while, if not a long while. And they all soon did whatever else came to their minds while they were still on the grounds of Crescent's Double Earth Palace anywhere at all on the Moon.

Sachiko, for instance, went to her chambers elsewhere on the palace's grounds. And she soon began working on a new pot, once she found some suitable enough clay in an alcove elsewhere in her chambers there. She set up a potter's wheel, and anything else that she'd need to set up, before she began work on that new pot, of course. She spent most of the next few hours after she returned to her chambers again working on it as much as she could, but not all of that time working on it, quite naturally, in fact. She only stopped working on it once she got either too hungry or too tired, if not both, for her to do so well enough, as well. And when she did either or both of those things here, she then cleaned up everything that she had to as quickly and as efficiently as possible, before she did either or both of those things here.

By 11:30 pm local time, then, she was already ready for bed, and beginning to get in her bed, for the rest of the night. And she was rather soundly sleeping again just before local midnight actually came to pass in the Crescent area of the Moon, in fact.

All her fellow Scouts who were also on the grounds of the Double Earth Palace in Crescent on the Moon had already been in their respective beds, and quite soundly asleep, for at least forty or so minutes before she'd finally gotten to sleep herself, if not even longer than that. No matter who they were, they were all quite soundly asleep by the time that she'd finally been able to fall asleep herself, in actual reality.

There's another chapter down, folks. We will be cutting back to Earth in the next chapter. Several sentients' lives are about to change forever, and not necessarily for the better. Will they be able to cope with what's coming up for them or not? Who will suffer great loss in the next chapter or next few chapters, and who won't? You'll all find out very soon, and I wonder what you're going to think when you find out who does, and all, of course.

Life as many currently know it in this story and its related series is about to change, and it will NEVER be the same again, for sure. How will it change, and what will happen because of the unwanted changes in many lives due to certain tragic events and all? Keep reading, and you should find out very soon, I'm quite sure, everyone.

Until the next chapter, then, please do feel quite free to try and figure out who's going to suffer great loss in this story starting with the next chapter's text, if and when you might like, folks. I will post again later for this story, after I get some more reviews to previously-posted chapters for volumes in this series. I have any number of other uncompleted projects to work on in the meantime, it seems, including some of my original fiction. And I won't say exactly when it is, but my next birthday is coming up very soon, and I really want to get at least some more work done for various other writing projects of mine by then, if I can, for sure. I would like to see at least ten to twenty decently-usable and decently-constructive reviews for any of the other volumes in this series, in total, if not more than ten to twenty for various chapters related to those other volumes. Or even for this story here, come to think of it. TUS out.