Chapter 4
Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon, just the plot.
This time, she felt far more aware of herself. Unlike last time, Berra felt more tangible. The fact that she could see and feel her body was a change in itself. It almost felt as if she had woken up from a dream. Or a nightmare.
She shivered as she tried to make herself move forward. It was a pretty useless action, especially since all was black. No light to be seen, or any heat to be felt. Berra sighed. That odd scene she had witnessed beforehand had shaken her. Being trapped in this place only made things worse.
"I thought you would have remembered."
And there was that voice again. But at least it was speaking a language she could understand this time.
"Who's there?" She shouted, unsure of where to direct her voice in the void of black. "Why are you doing this? What just happened?"
"Dear Beryl, I mean you no harm." Somehow, whoever it was speaking to her sounded like they meant it. "But you must remember if we are to continue our mission. I had to show you that. You don't appear to remember me, Beryl."
"Do I know you?" Berra said hesitantly. "And who is Beryl? I…I'm Berra. Was Beryl that person l I saw lurking around after that guy?"
"That was you, Beryl."
"Me?"
"From your first life."
Berra, or Beryl stood silent, unsure of what to make of the situation. This wasn't easy information to digest. Berra had never stalked anyone before, much less a prince.
"…I'm a reincarnation. Of this woman…"
It felt too surreal. Even if that was her in that memory, Berra could barely make sense of what happened. An awkward silence emerged before the voice broke it.
"I see that you need more of your former memories back. Those days of your heartbreak was clearly not enough to bring everything back."
A ray of light from above broke through the darkness. Berra's eyes darted upwards as the shadows dissolved away once again.
'Huh? But I don't even know who you are and what you want…'
"It's unfortunate for us, isn't it?" The voice said with a genuinely disappointed sigh. "To have forgotten everything. You can thank that blasted Moon Queen for this predicament…"
- - - - - - -
This time, she seemed to be as far away as she could be from that city and the memory of that day. Leafy green trees surrounded her and scattered underfoot were pale snowdrop-like flowers where they could witnessed the sun's departure into the night. The chill in the air was made worse by a persistent breeze from the North.
To her, it felt like it had been a few weeks since her last episode in whatever this place was. Muddy recollections of her moping sadness came and went around in her head.
"It's not fair." She whispered, her small voice echoing in the woods. Time wasn't helping to heal those wounds, "Why couldn't I get the chance to tell him? To get to know him. Why her?"
The moon shone faintly in the dimming sky. Beryl fought to urge to yell obscenities in its direction.
"What can I do?" She muttered, unable to keep her eyes off the waxing pale light. "Why would he love someone from the Silver Millennium?" Had she been able to find fault with Endymion, she would have wondered if there was something wrong with him. But then again, everyone knew that the citizens of that empire were strange beings, who often had unnatural powers.
"She must be controlling him. It would make sense that the daughter of Queen Serenity would have the powers to forcibly make him love her. Of course …" Beryl murmured, as her eyes caught the glimpse of a distant light in the night sky, somehow brighter than the moon. She tore her eyes away from the sky.
"Someone has to save him…"
She woke up to an almighty crash.
Beryl hadn't even noticed that she had dropped off. One second she was gazing into the fire, eyes growing heavy and now…
Her heart was beating so fast that she could have sworn that it nearly hurt. Leaping onto her feet, Beryl stared at the beams of light in the sky, racing down to the ground. Too many to count, it seemed as if all the stars in space had been flung onto the Planet Earth.
"It's just a star storm…" muttered Beryl to herself as she looked all around her surroundings. It would just be her luck to be out in this.
"You're going to be fine. Just move to a safe place-"
The young woman paused, looking at her supplies, and cauldron. She sighed anxiously.
"-and you'll be fine, and your things won't get stolen by some opportunistic kid as stupid as you are for being out here."
Looking upwards again before she led herself off to safety, a large ball of light, dwarfing every other shooting star around, nearly blinded Beryl's eyes. She staggered backwards, shielding her eyes from the overwhelming glare. It was difficult to tell how close it was. But Beryl was certain that it was heading in her direction…
Before Beryl knew it, the large meteor object crash-landed onto the earth within seconds, knocking the stunned Beryl off her feet. She found her body winded by the impact, leaving her to gasp for breath. She turned around while she tried to asses any damage to herself. Apart from a few fresh bruises, Beryl was all right. But she wasn't so concerned about that, once she took in the sight of the meteor.
It wasn't quite a meteor, Beryl realised now she had a better view of it. Simply put, it looked like a dense mass of energy. From far off, it was easy enough to mistake it for a large chunk of some asteroid. Beryl was surprised to see that its two eyes rested squarely on her. It took some effort to not stare back at this space creature.
"Ah, a successful arrival." Its voice boomed suddenly, just as the dust was settling from the impact. Beryl found herself holding her breath when the thing addressed her. "Earthling, you have been honoured with my presence. I am Queen Metalia."
She didn't really look like any sort of Queen that Beryl could ever imagine. But she wisely didn't say that to her.
"I have come from the centre of this galaxy to aid the people of Earth."
"…From what?" Croaked out Beryl. Was Metalia from Venus, or Mercury? They weren't quite the centre of the galaxy, but close enough…
"From the most deplorable forces in this part of the galaxy; the Silver Millennium."
'The Silver Millennium?' She felt a strange glee at that piece of information.
"You're against the Moon Kingdom?" Beryl rose up onto her feet, still wary of this Queen Metalia. "But why? And why come here?"
"Those of the planet of Earth are the only people who are rightfully wary of the Moon Kingdom and her allies." She replied, "On my home world, I can do nothing to stop the will of Queen Serenity and her vile Silver Crystal, from which her power comes from. Only by coming closer to the Moon, on Earth, do I have some hope of destroying that foul Queen's empire."
Metalia let her words sink in. Beryl found herself locking eyes with her.
"And you, child of Earth. By what name are you known by?"
"Beryl, Your Grace. Just Beryl."
"Tell me, Beryl. Surely, you and your people are aware of the vile deeds of those of the Moon Kingdom?"
The words came rushing out aloud before she realised it.
"The Princess of the Moon Kingdom has bewitched our Crown Prince, Endymion." Beryl burst out, startling herself. "H…He believes that he loves her, but that girl must have twisted his mind to think only of her. I saw them once. But… he knows better. He couldn't really be in love with her. "
"Is that so?" Queen Metalia's voice held a note of disapproval. But it seemed that she wasn't too surprised by that revelation. "What other acts have they committed against the Earth?"
"Well…" It didn't take Beryl long to recall the past crimes the Moon Kingdom and the rest of the Silver Millennium had committed against the Earth, "I heard that a few years ago that when their 'diplomatic' emissaries came to persuade our King to join their Silver Millennium Alliance, a contagious plague broke out in some of the poor Northern regions when they were refused."
"Really?"
"Many, including myself, thought it was strange that such an infectious disease would rise up from nowhere after those Lunar Emissaries returned to their planet." Explained Beryl, "It could hardly be a co-incidence, surely?"
"I wouldn't second guess their ability to create chaos, my dear Beryl." Replied Queen Metalia sadly, "It's no secret that they're half mad."
"As well as that, it is rumoured that their Sailor Guardians who protect their Princess have tried to seduce the Prince's trusted guards." Continued Beryl eagerly, "Of course, that the distinguished Kings of Heaven won't stop the Prince's supposed relationship with that Princess is worrying."
She went on for a while. This Queen Metalia was keen to hear anything that concerned the Silver Millennium's activities with the Earth. Throughout their conversation, Beryl thought to ask the Queen what the Lunars had done to her home world. Yet as much as she wished to know, Beryl felt that may have been a bit intrusive. As far as she knew, Metalia could have seen her planet's peoples and riches be torn asunder by Queen Serenity.
'I wouldn't want to relive that if I were her.' She thought, 'But revenge would be at the top of my list.'
By the time Beryl had exhausted her mind of all the things she had to say about the Silver Millennium, the Queen seemed pleased.
'I must thank you, Beryl." Smiled Metalia. It appeared as if she was smiling anyway, she didn't really have a distinguishable face. "I had no knowledge if the people of Earth were aware of what cruel, callous deeds the Moon Kingdom and their allies have committed. I am glad that some people aren't blind to your neighbour."
Not everyone cared about what the Moon kingdom got up to. And Beryl knew that there were people who admired the success and wealth of those of the Moon. But she wasn't going to relay that information to Queen Metalia.
"What are you going to do?" Beryl should have gone home back by now. Then again, she wasn't looking forward to her family's reaction to being out all day and night. She could wait.
"Hmmm? That is a very good question." Metalia turned around and took in the sight of the area around them. The night still reigned but the dawn was beginning to take hold. She could make out the outline of evergreen trees to the east. The silver Moon could barely been seen, leaving the early morning sky.
"You know as well as I do that someone must stop the Moon Kingdom. If she has her way, Queen Serenity would have everyone bow and scrape to her, while she robs them of their wealth." Metalia sighed, "Earth has held out well so far. But the news of Princess Serenity's seduction of your poor Prince Endymion has me quite concerned."
Beryl nodded, trying to push away the image of the pair in the palace gardens from her head.
"It's clear what must be done." Metalia looked directly at Beryl once more.
"Will you join me? The people of Earth must work together to destroy this threat. Join me and you may very well rule over this planet."
Beryl's heart nearly stopped. Before she realised it, Beryl found herself on her knees in front of Queen Metalia.
"My Queen, of course."
Metalia appeared somewhat amused by this human's instant loyalty.
"Do you swear to follow me and obey my every word? No matter what?"
"I do."
As soon as the words had been said, Metalia raised her left arm above Beryl's head. An abrupt wave of heat engulfed the human woman. As it spread from head to toe, Beryl's ears picked up on her new mistress's voice whispering some strange incantation.
Before she even knew it, Metalia's hand relaxed and withdrew back to her side. At that point, the brief sensation stopped. Beryl rose to her feet once more.
Her lungs felts like she was breathing fire. Not in the way that one feel like when they've finished a long sprint, but it was as if this power was threatening to overflow out of her body. It wasn't reassuring, but Beryl found that she didn't dislike the feeling.
Metalia took a step back to survey her new minion. She regarded her new follower with a triumphant smile. Beryl's eyes met with her new Queens and smiled back.
A/N
Thanks for reading this chapter guys, hope ye all enjoyed it. A special thank you to Vchanny whose reviews I've really appreciated! The next update might be a while, since I'm finishing off something else and I've only a small bit done for the next chapter.
