The Attack

The Sandmen moved through the streets at a rapid pace putting all the citizens to sleep as Prince Diamond and the Lady Beryl rode towards the palace, their combined soldiers following close behind.

"What now?" asked price Diamond

"Most the Lunarian soldiers are busy guarding the eastern gate which means that only a small contingency remains guarding the castle walls," said Beryl

"They should be no problem," said the prince

"No, the problem will be the remaining guardians" said Beryl "Of which only Jupiter, Mars, Saturn and Pluto will pose a great threat"

"Do not worry about them, they may be powerful but even they are no match for my sandmen they will put them to sleep and then the castle will be ours" said the prince smiling.

The Castle Gates…

Standing outside the castle gates stood the rest of the Lunarian soldiers, Venus stood at the forefront looking through the spyglass at the approaching soldiers "They're here!" she yelled at the soldiers who stood ram rod and at the ready with their hands on their swords and shields placed in front of them. Venus turned to Mercury who was suddenly standing right beside her "Are we sure this is going to work?" asked Venus

"No" said Mercury "But this is all we have"

"What about the eastern gates?" asked Venus

"Pluto is on her way there now" said Mercury

"Get ready for the fight of our lives" said Venus

"I am, are you?" said Mercury

"Always" said Venus smiling "Soldiers at the ready!" she yelled and she heard the unanimous grunts of affirmation coming from behind her followed by the sound of swords being unsheathed. "By the power of the MOON!" she yelled yet gain and suddenly there it was, the sound of swords banging on shields and the yells from the other soldiers as she urged them to charge at the oncoming onslaught.

Inside the Ballroom…

Dozens of soldiers charged into the street crossing the gates when a sudden fog besieged them, the Queen could hear their cries as the sounds of swords wrung out through the air. The panicked guest all started to run through the castle halls as more soldiers converged into the grand ballroom "Get them to safety!" the Queen ordered to the soldiers as they flooded the room ushering the guest out and down into the forbidden hallway.

As the soldiers led the rest of the guest down the corridor they were stopped by a giant figure with the body of a man and the head of a bull with large horns "MINOTAUR!" one of the soldiers screamed as the guest all shrieked in horror "RUN!" yelled another when the Minotaur started to charge and the crowd all ran. There was a young girl holding her mother's hands as they started to run, the Minotaur charged at a man and impaled him with his horns his blood sprayed all over the little girl as she tripped and fell, as her mother tried to reach her the crowd of panicking guest pushed her further and further away.

As the child cried for her mother calling out her name, the Minotaur changed its course and went right for her, when the child's mother saw what was about to happen she pushed through the crowd even harder trying to reach her daughter before the foul creature could but it was too late. The mother screamed in agony for her lost daughter and dropped to her knees crying, her hands in her face when suddenly, she heard the tiny voice calling out to her.

"Mama!" said the voice. The mother looked up and saw that the Minotaur was laying in the ground shaking its head and her daughter was in the princess's arms safe and sound. Princess Serena ran to the woman and handed her the little girl "You need to run get yourself and your daughter to safety" when Serena looked back the Minotaur was standing at its full height "Run now!" said the princess and the mother took her child and thanked her highness for her kindness and took off.

Serena turned and faced her opponent once more the Minotaur was poised and ready to charge once more, Serena stood her ground and unsheathed her sword ready to strike at a moment's notice when suddenly the was a blood splatter and the minotaur fell to its knees Serena stared at the sword blade protruding from its chest in confusion and when the creature fell forward she saw Darien standing there. She smiled in his direction and she ran into his arms. They stood there for a moment in their embrace when Darien pulled away from her "They've broken through the gates, they're in the palace" said Darien

"Yeah, I saw that, he was blocking the entrance into the forbidden hall. How did they know Darien?" asked Serena in confusion.

"Maybe Diamond" said the prince "We need to get these people to the door to the bastion once they are through they will be safe"

"Wait how did you know about the door?" asked Serena

"Guardians" was his simple answer "come on we need to get these people through now"

They walked down the hall Serena gave the order for the soldiers to lead as many people as they could to the door of the bastion, she told them to be vigilant of anymore obstacles that may be in the way as they made their way to the grand ballroom. "Mother!" Serena called out but she wasn't there.

"Where is she?" Serena asked the prince who was looking out the window "I don't know but they are in the castle gardens, stay here I'll go take care of this so we can sneak out" he said.

"Like hell your leaving me alone, I'm not some damsel who needs saving I can take care of myself" said the princess with a stubborn look on her face. Prince Darien smiled "ever the daredevil" he said and she returned his smile when suddenly, the double doors burst open and in swept the sandmen.

"Sandmen!" said Serena looking shocked

"Run!" said Darien and they both took off through the balcony doors.

The Eastern Gates…

The sounds of metal on metal rang through to night air and the screams of the soldiers from both side pierced the night. Uranus charged at one of the black clad soldiers from her warhorse, blood soaked the earth as she impaled the dark figure and took off its head. She heard a cry from above and saw a flaming bird fly above their heads scorching the earth and setting the enemy on fire leaving nothing but ash in its wake. The Bird landed on a rock and transformed itself into a dark looming figure wearing a phoenix helmet and welding a bow. Mars held the bow tightly in her hands and drew back the string letting three fly and impaling three of their enemies as a familiar face ran up to her.

"What's happened?" asked Uranus

"It was a trap and one I should have foreseen" said Mars letting another arrow fly into the chest of an approaching enemy setting him on fire. "They drew you out to the east as a diversion the streets are filled with sandmen and they are putting the kingdom to sleep half of the soldier have already been affected"

Uranus looked up behind her she could see the lightning from afar Jupiter was doing everything she could to hold them off, she stayed aloft away from the sandmen's reach Venus and Mercury led the rest of the soldiers on the ground Venus used her whip to take out a good chunk of the enemy soldier's out of play while Mercury used her power of illusion to lead them astray. There was an eerie fog that settled over the streets and from that fog rose multiple versions of Mercury. They enemy quickly tried to dispatch the guardian only to be met with her likeness which quickly destroyed them on the spot.

Jupiter discharged a bolt of lightning and took out a sandman by mistake discovering their weakness. She struck again destroying another one as it was about to strike down Mercury. She turned around looking at the pile of ash at her back and looked up at Jupiter giving her a nod of thanks before taking off again.

"Lightning!" said Mercury approaching Venus "it destroys them, lightning destroys the sandmen"

"Good!" said Venus "It's about time we had some good news let the others know" she commanded.

Mercury took off at a run dispatching anyone who approached her, once she was clear she summoned Pluto to her side. "I guess one good thing about being the guardian of time is that you can be everywhere at once" said Mercury by way of greeting.

"Status report" said Pluto

"Half of our men are in a deep sleep thanks to the sandmen" said Mercury "but luckily we discovered their weakness, lightning turns them right to ash"

Back in the woods…

Mars and Uranus looked on as the attack on the streets of Lunaris raged on.

"We were tricked!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, she gestured for Mars to go. Mars transformed herself into a giant flaming Phoenix and flew off into the distance back towards the kingdom. Uranus turned her attention back into the battle field "Soldiers!" her booming voice echoed through the barracks.

"Brace yourselves!" she screamed at them. Some of the soldiers looked on knowing what their General had planned, Uranus lifted her fist in the air and screamed, a glowing white light emanated from her fist and before anyone knew it she'd slammed her fist into the ground causing the earth to split and fire to erupt from below.

The Lunarian soldiers did their best to take cover but some we're lost to the volcanic flames. Standing on a rock Uranus got an idea she looked on to the mountain deep in the woods.

"Damn!" she cursed herself for sending Mars back to the city. She placed her thumb and forefinger to her lips and let out a loud whistle she looked on as many of the soldiers were throwing their enemies into the chasm.

"Retreat! back to the city!" she screamed and climbed on her warhorse as it rode by. The earth was still shacking with the force of her attack, as she rode by repeating her words of retreat as she passed the soldiers. She saw that they were slowly retreating trying to fend off their enemies and avoiding falling into the fiery pits below. Uranus extended her hand in front of her as she rode, she stayed her course as the path in front of her shifted allowing her to avoid falling into the fire. Once clear from the path of destruction she waited and saw that many of her men had made it clear off the battlefield. She waited for the last of the men to steer clear and dismounted her horse she smiled and looked on as the enemy charged chasing them, she raised her fist to the air again and waited this time her soldiers looked on in amazement as she let out one final cry and slammed her fist into the ground causing another devastating earthquake that split the ground in half this time the chasm grew horizontally separating the opposing forces and for a moment giving them some respite.

Uranus looked across at their enemy a large Minotaur stared back at her with fiery eyes as if telling her this fight wasn't over. She merely climbed back on her warhorse and rode back to the city followed by her remaining soldiers. Uranus regretted leaving those brave men behind but she marched forward taking the remaining hundreds back to fight in the city streets.

Back in the Palace…

Queen Serenity held her own in the garden the white dress stained red with the blood of her fallen opponents. They came in waves unstoppable and fierce but she was fierce too she took them on two at the time each opponent more challenging than the last but she wasn't afraid that is until she heard the sound of her daughter's voice screaming "Sandmen!" she looked on as the sandmen glided into the palace gardens one by one the remaining soldiers fell under their spell.

"Retreat!" the Queen yelled

"Back into the palace quick" she yelled

"Diamond!" she called out his name as curse. Why would he be in league with the Lady Beryl? It was a question that plagued her mind since Mars broke through his hypnotic trance. What does he get out of it? Another question. She had just run into the palace and there the answer hit her in the form of her daughter. Queen Serenity saw that her daughter was fighting another wave of dark knights that had made their way inside along with the Solarian Prince. Her dress was dirty and blood stained just as hers had been, luckily, she seemed unharmed The Queen stared at her daughter she was back to back with the prince and suddenly it dawned on her why all of this was happening.

"Metaria" she whispered her name

Her thoughts were cut short when a dark knight came at her. Queen Serenity raised her sword in front of her, she'd quickly dispatched her foe and ran to her daughter's side.

"Serena!" called out the Queen

"Mother!" Serena called running to her mother's arms

"Serena, you need to get to the bastion you need to get out of here!" said the Queen

"No, we're not giving up!" the battle raged on "Serena my darling you need to leave now this is all about you"

"What?!" exclaimed the princess

"I don't have time to explain sweetheart, but you need to go now!"

"I'm not leaving you!" said the princess as the clanging sounds of swords rung through the air.

"Darien!" called the Queen

Darien was fighting a dark knight when the Queen called out his name he quickly dispatched his opponent and ran to the Queens side.

"Yes, your Majesty?" said Darien out of breath, he was panting he raised his hand and wiped his sweat stained brow with the back of his hand another dark knight was coming for them when Serena swiped and cut a gnash in his throat. The knight clutched his wound and fell to the floor, Serena turned she saw that her mother had pulled the prince to the far of corner of the room. She was whispering something to him Serena was too far to hear what they were saying but she saw as the prince nodded in acknowledgement. Suddenly they both looked up at her and the prince made his way back to her. He grabbed her arm.

"We need to go" he whispered in her ear and took her out of the room and down the corridor. Serena tried to wriggle free from the prince's grasp but he held firm "Darien! let go of me! LET GO!" screamed the princess.

"We don't have time for this" said the prince as he walked her down the corridor

"Darien!" screamed Serena "Please we can't leave everyone like this you need to let me go!" she pleaded.

Serena pleaded with him some more but it was no use Prince Darien was determined to get her to safety no matter the cost, he dragged her down the familiar hallway Serena immediately knew where he was taking her.

"The Door to the Bastion" she whispered to him "Your taking me to the door to the bastion" the prince nodded in affirmation "Darien what did my mother tell you? What did she say" asked the princess.

In that moment Darien stopped, he looked around making sure they were alone. "Darien, what is going on?" asked the princess one more time

"Serena, we need to get you out of here someplace safe" said the prince.

"Why?" asked the princess again "What is going on?" she asked one more time.

"Serena, this is all my fault if I had just done what I was supposed to do none of this would have happened" he told her "Serena they are after you"

"Me?" she said quizzically "Why me? I thought this was Metaria's doing"

"Metaria wasn't working alone, it's Beryl she's working with Metaria somehow" he said as he continued walking Serena not far behind him.

"To bring down the Moon Kingdom?" she asked

"No" said the prince walking faster Serena had to run at pace to keep up with him

"Then what? What aren't you telling me?" she asked

"Beryl wants you" said the prince

"What? Why? Because of us?" she asked

"Yes" he said, "She's jealous of us, of our connection" he told her

"She wants to kill me" she said not looking the prince in the eyes, when she suddenly looked up at him "And Diamond? How does he fit into all this?" she asked.

"I don't know" admitted the prince "But obviously, he made a deal with Beryl and whatever he's getting out of it, it's worth betraying the night children"

"This is all about me" said the princess

"I know, don't worry well get through this" said the prince

"That's not what I mean" she said

"Then what?" he asked

"Diamond he's always had a bit of a thing for me" she told him

"A thing?" he said confused

"Yeah, but I didn't feel the same way he did" she told him. They made it to a long corridor the columns at each side of them were crumbling there were dead bodies all over the floor and that's when they heard it. Prince Darien drew his sword from its sheath, Serena did the same they stood back to back Darien looked to the darkness and saw him "Father?!" he called out at the sight of King Hyperion, but there was something wrong the king looked changed his eyes were cold and distant and there was an unearthly smile plastered on his face.

In the City Streets…

Uranus rode into town square on her horse charging at the oncoming dark knights. Jupiter was still afloat in the clouds letting out bolts of lightning at the sandmen but they just continued through the streets putting the soldiers to sleep. Venus and Mercury ran through the streets trying to get the sleeping citizen's out of harm's way but it was hard there were dark knights at every corner "We're are vastly outnumbered" said Venus.

"I know" said Mercury "our chances of coming out of this are..." she calculated the odds "You know what, never mind" she told her friend

"What is it?" asked Venus

"Not good" she yelled at Venus. When she turned around she saw that Mercury was currently battling a dark knight. Venus drew her Dao sword to help he friend when she was tackled to the ground by another dark knight. When she landed on the ground she lost her grip on her other sword the dark knight looming over her, Venus saw that Mercury was doing fine in holding her own. Venus smiled and got to her feet she looked to her left and then to her right her swords laying on the floor just behind the looming figure, Luckily, she still had her gauntlets her right gauntlet started to glow suddenly the coil around her wrist untangled while she let it fly.

Venus' whip wrapped around the dark knight emanating a bright orange glow the knight screamed in agony from the feel of the burning whip and then suddenly he was gone reduced to nothing but ash.

"Mercury!" she called out

"She's a little busy, having a little reunion with an old friend" said a familiar voice

"Malachite" said Venus

"Mina" the use of her real name was startling she was so used to being addressed as Venus she had forgotten what it was like to be Mina daughter of a farmer, Mina her mother's daughter, she was only fourteen when she was chosen to take on the mantle of guardian, but she had never forgotten her childhood best friend Malachite son of a Solarian soldier under the king. Malachite the boy she loved but this man in front of her he wasn't her Malachite his eyes were cold as was his smile.

Mercury had tried to reach Venus when she saw him Zoisite standing on the roof of a nearby building looking down at her. Mercury looked back at Venus seeing that she had used her whip to destroy her opponent, she turned back to the roof top only Zoisite was gone. Mercury made her way to the roof but he wasn't there, she was about to turn and leave when suddenly Zoisite ambushed her from behind and tackled her to the ground "Zoisite!" she screamed but he didn't listen he held his sword to her neck cutting a small line to her throat, he was going to do it she thought he was going to kill her when suddenly she turned to smoke beneath him and disappeared. Zoisite lifted his head in confusion when he felt a sharp pain to his back, he stood to his full height and looked behind him over his shoulder and there sure enough stood Mercury holding her chakrams ready to strike at a moment's notice.

Mars stood on her perch above the city with her bow at the ready, she let off four arrows consecutively which landed on the chest of three enemy knights and one rather large Minotaur. She didn't hear him when he came out from behind her but she knew he was there she took aim and landed arrow right by his feet "Next one goes through your chest, Jadeite" she told him as he stepped right out of the shadows and faced her.

"I should have known I couldn't sneak up on you" he told her as he smiled, she drew her bow back as another fire arrow appeared from thin air.

"You can't do it, can you?" he mocked her but she didn't falter they stood there staring into each other's eyes, daring the other to strike first.

The Sandmen where fewer in numbers now, demolished by the lightning strike that Jupiter conjured from the stormy sky, the rest of the sandmen fled at the sight of her. She touched down into the ground and joined the battle punching a hole into an opponent's chest when his back was turned and ripping out his still beating heart. She dropped it to the ground at the sound of clapping "So ruthless" said a voice in the darkness "I always liked that about you" said the voice.

"Nephrite" she said

"In the flesh" he said and that was all he managed to say before Jupiter pounced on him sending him backwards to the ground and laying her boot on his chest.

"I'd stay down if I were you" she told him he laughed at that "Nice to see you too Jupiter" he said before he grabbed her calf and knocked her to the ground.

"Come on let's not fight" said Nephrite

"No, let's" said Jupiter sending a bolt of lightning to his chest, it wasn't enough to kill him but it was enough to knocked him away from her and back down to the ground laughing and that only served to make her angrier than ever. She pounced on him wings spreading mid-jump and grabbed a hold of him lifting him up in the air and up towards the sky. And that's when she saw them, there was an entire army of sandmen hidden in the clouds waiting for her. Nephrite's continued laughter resonated in her ears "it was a trap!" she thought to herself but before she could strike she felt it the sudden onslaught of tiredness her eye lids were starting to get droopy and she felt like she was falling deeper and deeper until there was nothing but darkness. Nephrite gave one last chuckle while holding an unconscious Jupiter in his arms descending back down to the earth. He heard clapping, it was prince Diamond on his horse "I thought you were storming the castle gates" Nephrite still holding Jupiter in his arms.

"I didn't think you'd do it, to be honest" said the prince

"What's it to you?" asked Nephrite "What are you even doing here?"

"Admiring your handy work" said the prince "besides I thought you could use the backup"

"As you can see I'm doing just fine" said Nephrite looking down at Jupiter's sleeping form and for a moment, a single fleeting moment regret flashed in his eyes.

"What are you going to do with her?" asked prince Diamond, but before he could answer Diamond and Nephrite looked up to the sky at the sound of a loud roar. Nephrite spotted them first "Dragons" he whispered to himself and suddenly there was a mix of rain and ash heading their way.

"Damn it!" said the prince and Nephrite saw that he was riding away from them "One down" called the prince from his shoulder. Nephrite put Jupiter's down on the hay of a nearby farm and took off not bothering to look back.

On the Lunarian roof tops that same moment…

"Stop this NOW!" screamed Mercury "why are you doing this? ZOISITE!" called out Mercury but it was no use she couldn't reach him he just kept on attacking like a mindless drone. Mercury blocked every attack with her chakrams she had just gotten the upper hand on him when she saw it Jupiter was laying limp in Nephrite's arms descending back down towards the earth. In that moment of distraction Zoisite struck cutting a gnash on Mercury's arm. She cried out on pain and dropped one of her chakrams holding her bloody arm, she looked at Zoisite and in that moment, she knew he was lost to her so she picked up her fallen chakram and turned to smoke and vanished leaving him with an angry scowl on his face.

The unearthly fog moved through the city streets at a rapid pace and there sure enough in the middle of the square was Uranus on her warhorse battling a small contingency of soldiers when suddenly, a large wave swept through the square engulfing the enemy soldiers and dragging them back down towards the sea. Uranus looked back out towards the direction of the seas and gave a nod of thanks to the guardian of the deep, "Uranus!" called out Mercury reappearing from behind her General as the smoke dissipated.

"Report!" called Uranus as she dismounted her horse took hold of the reins and walked towards the middle to meet her fellow guardian "What happened to you?" asked Uranus nodding to her cut arms.

"The Shitennou have started their attack, Zoisite he lured me to a rooftop where we fought, and I saw Jupiter unconscious in Nephrite's arms, the same for Venus I saw her battling Malachite, we have to assume that Mars is in the same predicament with Jadeite as we speak"

"Where was the last place you saw Jupiter?" asked Uranus

"Four blocks down and to the left near the miller's farm" said Mercury

"Come on let's go get our friends" said Uranus mounting her horse and extending a hand to Mercury helping her get behind her. The rode off down the block when they encountered a Minotaur. Uranus noted that it was the same one from the battle field it had the same fiery eyes and smoke coming out of its nostrils it charged at them just as Uranus did the same.