Cyber Moon: Genesis.

Episode 10: A Birthday At Silver Millenium's End.

By Razor Knight

Last update: November 28, 2005

"But I don't want to see him again," The fifteen years old princess said with a dramatic sigh.

Her mother smiled. "Eris, King Halcyon told me he's grown into a charming young man."

The princess snorted. Charming? Prince Endymion, the brat that had tried to set her hair aflame when they were kids? That'd be quite impossible.

Princess Serenity, also known as Eris, was waiting for the doors of the massive spaceship to open, along with her parents. "Their royal ship is amazing," King Eridon commented.

The Queen nodded. "Not as big as our Moonstar, but close."

Eris pouted. "Should we knock?"

As she said that, the circular door on the Gea opened, and three persons walked out of the ship. Two of them, the princess knew. The tall, willowy and wise-looking man was King Halcyon, the king of Camelot. To his right was a girl she'd never seen before. Almost as tall as Halcyon, with long black hair and black eyes, and looked strong enough to take on an army. Eris guessed this was Karen, Endymion's daughter and also the newest Sailor Earth. Walking by Halcyon's left side was...

It couldn't be. The tall, handsome young man with short black hair and black eyes couldn't be Endymion. The Princess couldn't believe her eyes.

'So he's handsome, but what about his personality?' her mind pondered.

"Welcome, King Halcyon," Eridon said.

"Serenity, Eridon, it's been a long time since our last visit," Halcyon said, then looked at the princess. "I see your daughter has grown into quite a beautiful young woman."

Eris' cheeks took on a pink hue, which deepened into almost red as she noticed the prince was staring at her.

"This is my daughter, Karen," Halcyon continued, "and you've already met Endymion years ago."

Karen respectfully bowed at them, and Endymion followed suit. However, the prince took Eris' hand with his and kissed it's back. "It's nice to see you again, Princess."

The Princess smiled and nodded. "Been a while, Endymion."

'It's been almost one month since last time I saw him,' Eris thought as her mind returned to the present. Today was her eighteenth birthday, and the day she'd become a Sailor Senshi. She hoped Endymion could attend to the party, but she was also aware of the danger the Earth was in right now.

There was something strange about her parents, too. It's like they knew something very bad was going to happen, but they wouldn't tell her about it when she asked. 'I'm not a little girl anymore, they should tell me if something's wrong.' Eris thought with a frown. Specially since she was about to become the next Senshi leader.

"Princess Serenity, the Queen wants to speak with you."

Eris looked down at the creature that had just walked into her room. Luna, one of the Mooncats, the guardians of the Senshi. The first Mooncats didn't appear until the rule of the seventh Serenity, when a war against an evil, unnamed race had required more than the Senshi to control. The first Mooncat, Selene, had been imbued with the powers of the Moon and had helped the Senshi win that war. A few more Mooncats had been 'created' using the same methods afterwards. Luna herself was a descendant of that first Mooncat, Selene.

Eris frowned. "Mother? What does she want?"

"I don't know," Luna said as she headed for the door. "Lady Pluto's with her right now, I think this may have something to do with Beryl. "

'Moment is here? That can only mean things are about to get really complicated.' With a sigh, Princess Serenity walked out of her room, following Luna's lead.

"My Queen, we're ready for our final strike."

Beryl looked at Jadeite, formerly known as Prince Jakken of Ragnarok. Tall, with short blonde hair and blue eyes, he had a black aura around him. There were several other Generals now, along with her first and strongest, Kunzite. The strongest ones were the white-haired ex-prince Kunzite, the brown-haired, androgynus Zoicite, the tall and gloomy Nephrite, whose past human self was rumored to be in love with Princess Nadia from Nemesis. Along with Jadeite, they were Beryl's both left and right hands.

Then, there were other, weaker Generals. Luminite, the lady of white hair and pale skin, who looked almost like a walking, living ivory statue. Cardite, the grey-haired summoner who lacked strenght in combat but could summon creatures to fight for her. Dexite, an ex-High Wizard, his looks and posture made him look like a brown haired walking corpse. And the last one...

The last one, Aurite. The woman of golden hair, eyes and skin. Born in the Sun capital Hades, she had studied both magic and meelee, rapidly becoming Camelot's head General. She was the reason Beryl's troops were now standing a few miles away from Camelot itself. She was also, by Metallia's words, a wild card.

In the short time she'd been under Beryl's orders, her powers had grown from being as weak as those of a normal youma, to rivaling Kunzite's and Jadeite's own power. Beryl wasn't certain of her loyalties, but if Aurite became too powerful to control, Metallia would surely get rid of her in a blink.

The dark Queen looked around as she floated over the masses of youma. Youma. That's what Metallia called her creatures, demons born from the darkest emotions and the darkest magics. Creatures that could either fuse with humans, becoming a new, stronger entity, or just act on their own account.

"Queen Beryl, should we turn Camelot's forces to our side?"

Beryl shook her head slowly. "No need. I want to see how well our forces fare against the Earth's strongest army. If we can run over Camelot today, we'll conquer the Moon in no time."

She laughed. It'd be too easy, too. Despite being a few miles away from the fortified city, they hadn't been spotted yet. Metallia's power could render any means of magical or technological scanning useless, and she could even hide the thousands of youma from human eyes.

Taking over Camelot would be a child's play. Just like all the other Kingdoms she already controlled.

"Father, I need to go there."

One of the King's advisors, a small, bald man frowned. "You can't abandon the Kingdom in a time like this, Prince, it'd be..."

King Halcyon stopped his advisor with a wave of his hand. "You may be right, Zaren, but Endymion might get help for the incoming battle. "

Endymion nodded. "I know the Senshi, the High Mages and the Demon Hunters haven't answered yet to our request for help, but if I could go and speak to Serenity personally..."

"The Queen or the Princess?" Zaren asked idly.

"Silence, Zaren." Halcyon ordered. "Son, you may go. If you're needed back here, I'll let you know."

Endymion nodded. "Thanks, father."

Halcyon looked at Zaren as the Prince left the room. "I know one of his reasons to go to the Moon is the Princess' birthday, but I also know his loyalty to his country comes before his romance with her. "

Zaren nodded "I know, too. I just hope his journey isn't in vain."

When Eris left the throne room, her face was a few tones away from snow white. What her mother and Pluto had told her...

"There's really nothing we can do. If we help the Earth tonight, we'll leave the Moon unprotected. If we wait for Beryl's attack here, we won't win, but we can get something closer to a 'draw. '"

Pluto's words weren't the cheeriest ones, but given the situation... It wasn't good that she now knew what could happen in a few hours... No, what would happen, Pluto's predictions weren't known for failing. They would all die tonight. All her friends and her fellow Senshi.

Fellow Senshi... Eris looked at the small crystal she was holding in her left hand. She knew what it represented, and why her mother's had given her the crystal now and not after her birthday party was over.

She wouldn't just stand there and watch the others fight. She could now fight along with them. But...

Why fight, when they already knew what the outcome would be?

Eris' mind knew the answer to that question. Because they were going to make Beryl regret ever fighting the Senshi, victorious or not.

Orion frowned as he inspected the quite large army they'd gathered. The Demon Hunters were there in full, along with the High Wizards. And floating up in the sky, a fleet consisting of Thanatos' strongest battleships and the Moon's own battleships was waiting.

Waiting. Orion hated that. He would rather just have things happen now than just wait for Beryl to show her ugly face. Too bad there was nothing he could do to rush things, as well as nothing he could do to stop the onslaught predicted by Pluto.

'But even if I die tonight, I'll be sure to take a lot of those monsters down with me.'

Halcyon frowned as he looked at the figures now kneeling before him. "What are you doing here?"

Sailor Nemesis smiled. "King Halcyon, we're here to help you defend your Kingdom."

"Is this Serenity's doing?"

"Serenity doesn't know," Neptune said. "We're loyal to her, but we can't just sit around in the Moon Kingdom and watch the Earth fall. We'll make whatever we can to stop Beryl here and now."

A/N: Those who know good science fiction will know where that title came from. :P

Sorry for the quite stalling (and short) chapter, but I don't want to make this fic last for only 12 episodes... I am well aware of my complete lack of romance writing skills. That's why I'm not trying to make a 5-episodes long fluff spree centering in Serenity and Endymion.

And another note: The bit on the princess having a different name than "Serenity" is an idea of mine regarding the whole Princess/Queen Serenity issue. I see "Serenity" as a royal title, since it'd be a damn good coincidence that all Serenities were named the same (and boring, too.) So Usagi's past form, in this fic, is Eris, Princess Serenity of the Moon.

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon is a creation of Naoko Takeuchi, and I thank her for creating such wonderful universe.