AN: Posting a whole hour early (it's 11.18pm here, folks!) because I'm too pysched to wait to hear what you all think. Some people have been quite on the mark about certain aspects of the story, and it makes me grin. Here I include my standard disclaimer and of course my thanks to Kaitlyn Fall for betaing! I'm tired, so I'm off to bed. End AN.
It was a tense wait as Serenity, Serena, the Scouts and Darien waited for Endymion to come back. It had been ages since Aria had come and alerted him to see the Queen. They'd had a quiet dinner, and the moment Endymion had left, they'd all rushed to the drawing room to wait for him. No one spoke, and the only sound was the crackle of the fire and the bustle of the palace outside the heavy set doors.
After quite a long time, Endymion returned, looking slightly shaken, and very grim.
"Well?" Serenity demanded, half rising when she saw him enter. Everyone looked up at her outburst and realised he was back. "What did Mother have to say to you?"
Endymion's eyes searched her face, memorising her features. He couldn't say it to her. Not her. Instead, he turned to Darien and answered her question.
"Planet Earth has been taken over."
Nobody moved as Endymion's statement sunk in.
"WHAT?" Darien finally yelled, breaking the silence. Endymion nodded slowly, closing his eyes in pain.
"An unseen force just suddenly attacked, and they weren't prepared for it. They couldn't mobilise troops or get the planetary defences up or anything. They had no warning. It was powerful. And there's no one left. No bodies, no messages, not a trace. It's a barren land."
Tears prickled at the back of Serena's eyes, and she covered her mouth with her hand. Earth. Her planet Earth. She'd lived on it for sixteen years – in one lifetime at least. Her home had just been invaded and there was nothing she could do about it. What did this mean? Would they never return home now?
Serena felt Darien's warm hand on her shoulder, but it did little to sooth her. She exhaled shakily.
"What does that mean for us?" Sailor Jupiter asked, standing. "The Moon is surely the next target; we can't just leave the planet unguarded. And to destroy the Moon, they'd have to get..."
"The crystal," Sailor Mars finished, nodding and standing up also. "We're all in danger.
xXxXx
The palace was now on a full-scale lock down. Guards were posted at every exit, every nook and cranny, every possible entry.
It had been three days since Serena and Darien had seen the Generals, and everyone was walking around nervously. It was like all the peace and wellbeing from the land had been sucked up in a vacuum, leaving nothing but restlessness and fear behind.
The girls were gathered in Sailor Venus' room, sewing jewels and gems into the bodices of all Serena and Serenity's dresses. Serena pricked herself with the needle for the third time and decided to call it quits. Dropping her needle and emerald, she asked.
"Remind me of why we're doing this again? Why couldn't we just have one each?"
Sailor Mercury removed a needle from her mouth and grabbed another diamond, sighing. "You need to be prepared in case you have to escape. The jewels will serve for monetary purposes, in case you're unable to reveal your identities if the Monarchy is overthrown."
"And if you both wore the same gowns over and over," Sailor Jupiter added, scrunching up her nose, "I don't think it would be pleasant. Not to mention suspicious."
"Well this is annoying and hard and stupid and boring and painful and I hate it." Serena folded her arms.
"Well we're stuck in the middle of a goddam war, so it doesn't look like you've got another choice. There's nowhere to go!" Sailor Mars snapped. Since Jadeite hadn't come back yet, the Scout of Mars had been incredibly feisty of late. Serena decided not to push it.
Clamping her mouth shut, she picked up her emerald again, pushing it into the bodice of the dress on her lap until it was hidden in the folds of fabric.
Serenity watched in despair as her guards broke out in an argument, snapping and barking at each other. Leaning across, she placed her hand on Serena's.
"At least we have our guards. We don't even know what's happened to the Generals."
xXxXx
Darien grabbed a towel and wiped the sweat off his face. Another exhausting training session with Endymion. He felt as though his body had been pushed to the limit; but with the things going on right now, he really needed the distraction.
Of course, when he fought, his mind was completely focused on Serena. If the palace came under attack, what would happen to her? Sure, he'd defend her until his last breath, but what if he couldn't get to her on time? What if she was taken away from him again, never to open those beautiful blue eyes once more? He couldn't bear the thought of her being hurt. Not after last time.
His grip on the towel tightened and he began twisting it ferociously between his hands. He looked across at Endymion, who stood by the window, his back to him. Obviously the situation was a hundred times worse for him, losing his friends and finding out his planet was under siege. Darien gritted his teeth and stalked out of the room.
Things just really sucked at the moment.
xXxXx
Sailor Mercury walked out of the room with her head held high. The Scouts had just had a very heated fight, and were no longer on speaking terms. With all the high-strung nerves, and tension thick in the palace, she couldn't believe they couldn't get their act together. When she slammed the door, the echo was amplified around the hall, and she saw Aria, who was by the maid's cupboard, jump in fright. But she was too angry to care.
Reaching her bedroom door, she twisted the knob, freezing it into place and frosting it over with ice as she stepped inside. No locksmith would be able to get through that. Sailor Mercury called for a thick fog to envelop her, trying to relax by immersing herself in her own element. Once she could no longer see anything, she did something she hadn't done in a long time.
With a wave of her hand, she destransformed into Princess Amy of Mercury. Her human form. Stumbling to the bed, she lay across it and began crying. Where was Zoisite? Was he safe? Was he hurt? Was he... dead?
She wanted everything to be okay. She wanted to protect her princess. She wanted to be there for her friends. But right now, she needed to be Amy and have her time.
xXxXx
The tall Amazon from Jupiter dashed into the thick forest, obscuring herself from the world as she raced through the thicket of trees. She didn't know how long she'd run for, but by the time she stopped, she was out of breath – something unusual for her – and on her knees. She collapsed to the ground, her fingers crawling through the tall blades of grass to feel the life beneath her.
Life.
Did Nephrite still have his? Would she still have hers a year from today? Would her friends be able to hold onto theirs? Or would things crumble, a disastrous end to a peaceful age?
She took deep, rhythmic breaths, feeling the energy from the life around her to recharge. If the powerful planet Earth had already been conquered, the Moon would surely have an intense battle ahead.
xXxXx
Meanwhile, on the other side of the forest, Sailor Venus was taking out her frustrations on a poor tree. She whipped her chain repeatedly against the body, feeling her angry radiate off her with every hit. She gnashed her teeth and gripped the chain tighter; slashing through the bark like it was nothing more than paper.
Pretty soon however, the tree had had enough, and could stand no longer. With a loud, echoing boom, it fell to its side and crashed to the forest floor. Sailor Venus stood panting heavily as she held her chain in her hands, staring down at the bark.
Drawing in ragged breaths, she turned to another tree, glad to see it was much, much thicker. With her lips pressed in a tight line, she drew back her arm, ready to release more of her endless frustration. She had plenty of trees to go through, and she had plenty of rage.
xXxXx
Sailor Mars slumped down by the Lake of Serenity. She was tired. She was angry. She was sad. She was...
She twirled her finger lazily in the air, watching in disinterest as a leaf nearby curled in on itself as it suddenly set alight. She called back the fire just as it jumped to another leaf. She wouldn't repeat the mistake from last summer.
She gazed out over the body of water, wondering where Jadeite was and what he was doing at that very moment. She missed his stupid jokes. She missed his stupid laugh. She missed his stupid grin. She missed his stupid nicknames for her when no one else was around.
But most of all, she just missed him.
She shivered as if a non-existent breeze had just travelled past. But it wasn't the wind that got the raven-haired girl shivering, because as a Martian, her body was already set at an impossibly high temperature. No, it was the inner conflict. To worry about the man you love, or to protect to your princess with everything you have?
xXxXx
"Luna, Artemis."
The two feline palace advisors looked up at the Queen's soft words. She sat in her throne, holding the silver crystal, turning it over and over in her hands.
"Yes?" they both asked.
"What do I do? The Earth has already been taken over, and we're going to be next. How can I protect Serenity? How can I save my people?"
She sighed as she twirled the shining, silver orb in her fingers. She frowned as an idea came to her.
Uh oh, Luna thought. "My Queen, what are you thinking?"
It was a few moments before Selene replied. Finally, she answered,
"I can save my people. And I can protect Serenity. I know she must live through this battle; we've met her future self. Endymion too. But what about the Scouts? What about the Generals?"
"You know they will protect Serenity and Serena, Endymion and Darien with their lives," Artemis said.
"But where are they?" Selene asked, raising her voice slightly as a bubble of hysteria made its way up her throat. She calmed herself slightly by taking a breath. "No, I need to prepare."
Luna took a step forward. "What do you mean?"
The silver haired queen closed her eyes, her body stilling as she concentrated, hands clutching the silver crystal tightly. Luna and Artemis watched on as seconds turned into minutes, and the birthmark on the woman's forehead began to glow.
Brighter and brighter it glowed until the light suddenly dimmed, retracting in on itself.
Queen Selene opened her bright blue eyes, smiling gently; relieved. She held one hand out, palm facing up as an object began to materialise midair. The transparency began to thicken until the object turned solid and fell into Selene's waiting hand.
She held it up.
"Is that a wand?" Artemis asked, puzzled. Selene nodded slowly.
"It's going to save our people when the time comes. But I used a lot of the crystal's energy, as well as my own to create it, so we best hope we aren't attacked in the next day or two."
"What is it going to do? How will it save everyone?" Luna asked, eyeing the pink stick warily. "I mean no disrespect, but - "
Selene laughed gently. "It's okay, Luna. I know it may not look like much now. But it will do something powerful when the time comes. Until then –" She held up the wand in her right hand and the silver crystal in her left. The crystal levitated out of her loose grip and hovered in the air for a few seconds, before flying to its new home and settling itself on top of the wand, right in the middle of the gold crescent moon.
She twisted her wrist and the moon wand was gone.
"Now," she said in a different tone to the advisors. "If we're going to fight this demon, we're going to need some help."
"The Outers?" Luna asked, glancing at Artemis.
Selene nodded. "I want Uranus and Neptune to check on Pluto whilst they're on their way. When was the last time any of us actually saw her?"
The two felines nodded as they realised this.
"I'll get on that," Luna informed them. Queen Selene leaned forward in her seat, resting her chin on her fist.
"But I can't let things go on like this, no. The Scouts are fighting, Serenity and Serena are already preparing their escapes, Endymion and Darien are training so hard, I fear for their health... If a war really is on the horizon, then I propose we have one last party before the storm. Many of us won't be here the next time the Moon Kingdom celebrates."
"You want to hold a ball?" Artemis asked incredulously, before remembering his place and snapping his mouth shut.
Selene gave him a small smile. "Do you have any other ideas on how to lift the mood in the palace? It's become a castle of fear and insecurities. Don't you want our Kingdom to enjoy themselves at least one last time before we go to war?"
Artemis dropped his head, humbled. "I do."
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xo
Carmen