The days leading up to the Royal Ball were both quick and filled
anxiousness.  The people were anticipating the Ball, and everything
that is going to happen there.  But Queen Beryl and her Generals
spent the two weeks anticipating an attack by Serenity at any time. 

	When the defensive forces heard that they wouldn't be able to leave
during the Ball the last thing they were was pleased.  Fortunately,
most of them were posted near or even at the Ball so a few of them
were assured that they wouldn't miss much.  The rest of the forces
though, Beryl had to trust they would amuse themselves and stay at
their posts.

	Nephrite walked around the busy halls of the Palace a few hours
before the beginning of the Ball.  He wore his dress uniform, similar
to the gray one he normally wore but with several decorations on his
shoulders and chest.  A pair of Emerald broaches on his shoulders, a
golden David's Star and a silver crescent moon hung on the left of
his chest, and a gold trim was added to the uniform.

	His boots clicked on the floor as he walked down the hallways.  He
tugged at his collar and straightened his shirt, attempting to find
some comfort in the stuffy uniform.  He stopped as he passed one of
the rooms of the Generals.  He peeked in and saw Kunzite struggling
to attach his long white cape to his shoulders.

	Nephrite walked into the room and stood behind Kunzite.  Kunzite
looked in the mirror in front of him and saw Nephrite behind him.  He
continued to try to attach his cape.

	"Again with the cape, huh?" Nephrite asked.

	"When you stop trying to look your best, is when you begin to look
your worst," Kunzite recited.  Nephrite just grinned.

	"So when did you stop trying?" he chuckled.

	Kunzite looked unimpressed.  Nephrite heard the loud click of heels
hitting the floor behind him, he turned to see Zoicite walk in, with
blue cape no less.  Nephrite continued to grin and hit himself in the
head.  "Not you too," he said.

	Zoicite smiled and walked over to Kunzite to help him with his cape.
 "I've found wearing a cape gives an extra ere of dignity," Zoicite
responded.  With a soft click, Zoicite got the clasp to close on
Kunzite's cape and he spun around, allowing the cape to billow behind
him.

	"You should wear a cape, Neph," Zoicite said.  "Something in the
greens would look good on you."

	"That's alright," Nephrite responded.  "I'm fine as I am.  Just
don't go talking Jadeite into wearing a cape, he might actually do
it."

	Zoicite chuckled, and then Kunzite suddenly tensed up.  He frowned,
"Has any of you seen Jadeite these last few days?"

	Nephrite stopped smiling and looked worried.  "No, I don't think I
have. Have you, Zoicite?"  Zoicite shook his head.  Nephrite looked
worriedly between Zoicite and Kunzite.  "You don't think..."

	"Hey," Zoicite interrupted.  "I think we should find him before we
make any accusations. "

	Nephrite stared off blindly between Zoicite and Kunzite, after a
moment he blinked a few times then looked to Kunzite.  "You head to
the East wing, I'll take the West, Zoicite, check outside around the
palace."  Nephrite turned to leave, "And lets try to make this
quiet," he amended.

	The three stormed out of the room and separated, Kunzite and Zoicite
with their eloquent looking capes and Nephrite with his decorations. 
Nephrite and Kunzite searched the building from foundation to roof,
and an hour and a half later, not having heard from Zoicite, they
went out together to look for him.

	The two slowly paced around the Palace, through the gardens and
fields, and the courtyards and plantations.  They had searched every
square inch of the Palace grounds before they headed out towards the
nearest spaceport.  While transporting their using their magic would
be easy, the two decided that if they walked they could spot trouble
in advance instead of teleporting head long into it.

	The two paced down a cobblestone path leading from the palace
towards the spaceport.  Nephrite looked up at the Earth as he walked,
"We're gonna be late for the Ball," he said.

	Kunzite was darting his head back and forth, eagerly awaiting any
attempt to attack him.  "Maybe you should go back," he responded.  "I
can keep looking for Zoicite and Jadeite.  I'm sure they're just
goofing off somewhere."

	"If its all the same," Nephrite said.  "I'd rather we stayed in
pairs, just in case."

	Kunzite turned and raised an eyebrow; he was about to say something
when his whole world went dark.  Nephrite quickly jumped back when he
saw that a person was holding the log that slammed Kunzite in the
head.  He crouched low and created a barrier around himself using his
magic.

	He quickly looked around as four girls, not much older than 18
strolled out from the surrounding trees.  The one holding the log has
a short skirt of red and a red bow on the breast of her sailor's
outfit, she had long black hair and a face like a raven.  Behind
Nephrite was a woman with long blond hair, a yellow skirt and bow,
and was grinning deeply.  To the left of the blond was a brown hared
girl with a ponytail and green highlights, she continuously pounded
her fist into her hand.  To the right of the blond was a shorter
woman with bluish hair and blue highlights in her outfit, she was
wearing a visor.

	Nephrite would know them anywhere, in any costume, they were the
ones he had sworn to protect the Queen from, the Sailor Senshi. 
Sailors Mars, Venus, Jupiter, and Mercury, all here around him.

	He was dead.

	Mars stepped a little bit closer and spoke, when she did there was
the faintest echo in her voice.  "Our Queen doesn't want your
meddling while she attacks the Palace, so we've been send to � detain
you."  Nephrite looked around slowly, contemplating all his options. 
"There is no escape, unlike your counterpart here, you can't fly,
neither can you hope to charge through us like a band of your feeble
soldiers.  If you give up quietly, I'll promise not to kill you.

	"Fat chance," Nephrite sneered.  "You'd kill me anyway."

	Mars walked closer, until the electric field that surrounded
Nephrite crackled an inch from her face.  "You know what?" she stated
rather than asked.  "You're absolutely right."

	Nephrite took this chance to make his move.  He quickly reversed his
barrier, causing it to quickly wrap around Mars and seal her inside
like it sealed him.  As the other Senshi began to fire off their
attacks, he leaped backwards as high and far as he could, causing
their attacks to converge on Mars instead of him.

	When the smoke cleared and the Senshi realized they had hit Mars
instead of Nephrite, they quickly spun around to see Nephrite
standing behind them all on the road to the Palace.  He furrowed his
eyebrows and yelled back, "We've been fighting for ten years now, you
should know you can't get me that easy."  He bowed to the Senshi
before teleporting in a sparkle of electricity. 



	When Nephrite finally returned to the Palace, the Ball had already
started and many guests had already arrived.  Nephrite had to stop
himself from strolling in through the main gates, the dirt and soot
on his uniform would have, to say the least, attracted attention.  He
managed to sneak into the Palace through the back gates without
anyone seeing him.  It was more of a surprise to be able to do so as
of late with most people pawing at the doors trying to catch a
glimpse of the Queen.  Of course, with this open Ball going on, there
would be no need to, but there is always one person who wants to
attract attention.

	He found Beryl on his way in; she was dressed in her nicest gown, a
lavender dress with a golden trim to match her Generals.  She had
been pacing back and forth in the hallway leading from the back gates
to the main Hall until Nephrite showed up.  She rushed over to him
when she saw him, wrapped her arms around chest.

	"What happened to you all?" she quickly asked after she let go of
Nephrite.  "My top Generals were missing and I couldn't go out there
without escort."

	Nephrite just looked at Beryl with worry, and then he placed his arm
on her shoulder and ushered her down the hallway.  He wouldn't look
into her eyes as he talked.  "There's trouble," he said.  "The Senshi
have been rounding up all the Generals they could get their hands on.
 I was with Kunzite when they took him, Zoicite never came back, and
Jadeite�" he trailed off.  "Well, we guess he was taken as well."

	"Rounding up?" Beryl stopped in her tracks.  "You don't think she's
going to attack me?"

	"That's exactly what she is going to do, Mars said so when she came
for Kunzite."  Nephrite continued walked, Beryl paused for a moment
then caught up to him.

	"Where are you going?" Beryl demanded.

	"I'm going to get rid of these people, talk to the Royal Guard, I
think I might send out for the local Militia�"

	"Wait a minute," Beryl interrupted.  "You can't send these people
home, we held this Ball in spite of Serenity's threats; and if it'll
look horrible if we rush everyone out on some false alarm.  The elder
consul would have a fit, and the people�"

	Nephrite put both his hands on Beryl's shoulders, sufficiently
keeping her quiet.  For the first time since arriving at the Palace
Nephrite looked into Beryl's eyes, he was frowning, his eyes showing
pure inner pain.  He whispered to her, so that only she could hear
him.  "She's not going to hold back anymore.  This has gone too far,
no more false alarms.  Its happening."

	Beryl looked down at the ground, her beautiful refection shining
from the sparkling clear floor.  She mouthed the word more than she
said it, "War."  The ground seemed to shiver as she said it causing
her reflection to scatter.  She looked back up to Nephrite, "Are we
prepared for this?"

	Nephrite burrowed his eyebrows and retracted his hands from Beryl's
shoulders.  "If we move now, we can get most of the Lunarian army
ready, and if the people are out of the way of the fire, we can cut
casualties down to a minimum."

	Nephrite turned to head down the hallway, but Beryl grabbed his arm
before he could leave.  "You didn't answer me," she coldly said.

	Nephrite hesitated, and while he answered her, he could feel a lump
building up in his throat.  "Most of the Lunarian army left anyway,
and Serenity's army gets bigger everyday.  Serenity guards Earth like
some prize, and our nearest ally planet is Venus."

	Beryl nodded slowly, "Which is currently on the other side of the
sun."

	"Yes," he strained.  "If maybe you hadn't given up on those Marian
peace talks maybe�" he trailed off before Beryl could rebut.

	"Oh don't start that with me.  I've heard enough already."  Beryl
sighed in defeat, she looked around at all the stone cold faces of
Generals walking the halls.  "Can we win?"

	Nephrite swallowed, "No."

	Beryl froze, she knew it was true, but as a Queen she couldn't
accept it.  "Go, prepare our forces, she won't take us without a
fight."  Nephrite nodded, but didn't get more than twenty paces away
from the Queen when the first attack started.



	Quartzite had been assigned to watch the doors for guests when
Jadeite didn't return.  He was the first to see the attack coming
from the sky, and the first to call out the alarm as the initial
strikes hit the palace and the surrounding grounds.

	The guests scattered just as much as the stone facing on the Palace
walls.   People running left and right, futilely trying to escape the
burning debris of stone and mortar.  Quartzite managed to push down a
bunch of guests before one of the shots singed over the tops of their
heads.

	The once beautiful stonework of the Palace was beginning to crumble
under the onslaught.  Quartzite managed to stand up just in time to
see Jadeite rushing up to the gates.  He looked visually battered,
seared and cut across most of his uniform.  Quartzite ran over to
Jadeite just as he got inside the gates.

	"Jadeite," he yelled to him over the sheer sound of the crumbling
buildings and bolts of energy.  "It's an attack!"

	"No shit, Quartzite, I can see that!" Jadeite responded.  "Where is
the Queen and Nephrite?"

	"I don't know where Nephrite is," Quartzite yelled just as a burning
piece of stone hit the ground next to him.  "I think the Queen is in
the Palace, in the Great Hall."

	Jadeite and Quartzite shielded themselves when one of the chunks of
stone shattered, sending pieces flying in all directions.  "What are
we going to do?"  Quartzite yelled.

	Jadeite looked back into the forest while he spoke.  "You sir,
aren't going to do anything.  I on the other hand am going to capture
the Queen."

	Quartzite's puzzled face was replaced with fear when Jadeite turned
around with his fire sword emanating from his hand.  Before Quartzite
could do anything, Jadeite jabbed the length of the sword into
Quartzite's gut, twisting it as it purged deeper into his body.  The
ends sizzled as the fire seared and cauterized the hole he was
putting into Quartzite's body.

	Jadeite kicked Quartzite's burning body so it landed face first into
the dirt.  As he turned back towards the forest, Queen Serenity
emerged with her band of five Senshi behind her, her own daughter
standing right next to her.  Jadeite looked back at disgust at the
body at his feet.

	"I didn't want to do that," he admitted.  "I'm supposed to protect
the Queen and her court, up until the time as a new Queen takes
over."

	Serenity laughed, "You're too soft, Jadeite.  Consider this my
initiation ceremony, I'm already a Queen!"

	Jadeite sneered at her, "I told you, minimum causalities, you're not
only burning the guests, your burning the Palace!"

	"And I told you," Serenity responded.  "We do things my way no
matter what, besides, I never liked the look of that Palace anyway." 
She turned around to face the Senshi.  "Fan out, the Queen is in the
Palace, find her."  Serenity glanced back at Jadeite, "but don't kill
her."



	Nephrite pushed a large chunk of stone off of his body, it was part
of a marble pillar that had crashed down nearby.  As he moved the
stone, he became aware of his mangled leg.  It was black and blue and
bleeding, even through the tatters of his uniform still left on his
leg.  He pushed the stone off to the side and tried his best to stand
up, ultimately relying on a piece of nearby stone standing on end as
a crutch.

	When he finally got erect, he looked around for Beryl.  The wreckage
was horrible, stone, glass, bodies, lying all over.  Nearby he saw
one of his Generals under a large stone spike, piercing through his
lower abdomen.  If it wasn't the gruesome sight that bothered him, it
was that the General couldn't have been more than twenty-five years
old.  Was probably on his way from guarding the lesser stones to his
living quarters when he was hit.  It was such carnage, such a waste
of life.

	Nephrite slowly moved himself in the general direction of where he
saw Beryl last.  The pain in his leg was unbearable, every time he
moved it, more blood would come shooting out of his veins.  His leg
was a dripping green mass when he finally found Beryl lying
unconscious under a layer of shattered glass.

	He slowly brushed off the glass and tried to pick her up when his
leg gave way and he fell hard against the ground beside her.  He was
breathing deeply, completely exhausted from moving that little bit. 
He quickly ripped off his jacket and tied up his leg to try to stop
the bleeding.  Then he pulled out his sword and used it to steady
himself as he picked up Beryl and tried to drag her out of the
Palace.

	He was halfway down the hallway when he heard the sound of boots
clicking against the stone floor.  They were steady and sharp, like a
woman's high heels.  Nephrite quickly pulled Beryl into the nearest
room and shut the door.  They were inside one of the chapels that the
Palace kept up.  Catering to cultures from the nine different planets
and their moons meant that the Palace had to have a number of
religious areas.

	This particular chapel was for a unique religion of Earth, the
belief that a god created all things and that this being had sent
down a vessel in the form of a life giving man named Jesus.  The
chapel had a few rows of chairs called pews, and a ceremonial altar
whence lied a cross with a crucified man on it.  Otherwise the room
was a plain white with a red carpet coming up the middle of the two
rows of pews leading up to the altar.

	This was actually one of the more richer religions in the Solar
system, while it didn't spread to the other planets, mainly because
of its severe anthropormophic outlook, it still was much better in
character and plot than the savage religions of, say, Mars.  In fact,
all of the religions of Earth were a bit more thought out that most.

	Nephrite pulled Beryl up the aisle and laid her down on one of the
pews.  He ducked down next to her, and watched the doors.  He was
slightly awed about how the one stained glass window in this room had
managed not to get shattered, but at the moment it was not a concern
of his.

	He listened closely as the group of heels slowly moved up the
hallway, he figured they were casually checking every room since they
seemed to move rather quickly.  Nephrite was hiding behind the pew,
using the reflection on the polished brass cross that was on the
altar to see the door.  When the door flung open, he could see the
vague figure of a long hared Senshi, but the brass distorted the
color, so it could either have been Venus or Mars.

	The figure glanced around, moving to one side of the aisle to the
other, but never actually moving up the aisle.  After a minute of
glances, she sighed and walked back out of the door, her heels making
that loud click all the way.  He would have taken the Senshi, he
would have electrified her body until it sizzled from the torment. 
He wanted nothing more than to get revenge for the damage they did to
the Palace and they death they caused by it.

	But if he was going to get revenge, he wanted it on Serenity.  Today
would not be a day for revenge, they would have to escape to plan for
another day.  As he watched for more Senshi, Beryl stirred awake,
shaking her head as she tried to get a grasp on where she was. 
Nephrite immediately bent over to her and hushed in her face.

	She blinked a few times as she looked around, she tried to sit up a
few times, but Nephrite stopped her.  She finally turned to him,
"What are we doing?" she whispered.

	"The Senshi are searching for us," he responded in an equally low
whisper.  He kept glancing at the brass cross, looking for the
Senshi.  "Beryl, this isn't a takeover, this is a slaughter.  I'm
sure they won't hesitate to kill us on site, we have to get out of
here if we hope to live."

	Beryl's eyes wavered, they looked like she was about to cry out in
pain but was suddenly hushed.  Nephrite wasn't sure what she was
going to do until she silently nodded and slid off the pew and onto
the ground.  She crouched down beside Nephrite and silently peeked
over the pew.

	The chapel was still empty, the door was open now, but no one stood
in the doorway.  Beryl sighed quietly and sunk beneath the pew.  She
looked down at herself for a moment before tearing off the ends of
her gown and removing her boots.  Using one of the tattered ends of
her gown, she tied her long hair behind her.  When she was done, she
looked to an astonished Nephrite.

	"This gown will only slow us down," Beryl whispered.  "Now," she
said as she glanced around the room, then pointed at the large
stained glass window.  "I think that window leads to the east plain."
 She paused for a second then looked to Nephrite, "Think we can make
a run for it?"

	 Before he could answer, a loud click of a boot rang through
Nephrite's ear.  He quickly pushed Beryl off towards the altar as he
heard the firing of Sailor Mars' attack.  The pew quickly burst into
flames, casting an eerie yellow hue on the chapel.  Nephrite looked
to the doorway to see the five Senshi standing there, dressed in
their multicolored sailor fukus.  Mars was grinning evilly.

	"Well, if it isn't the two idealists," Mars cackled.  "Do we want
them saut�ed or flamb�?"

	"I prefer char-broiled," said Sailor Jupiter, her lightning rod
crackling above her tiara.

	"The Queen wanted you two alive," said Sailor Mercury, her eyes
colder than the ice sword she had in her hand.  "But I am sure she
would not mind a little 'accident'."  Her brow raised when she said
the last word.

	"If you'll allow me the honor," interrupted Sailor Moon as she
walked up the aisle slowly.  "I can never get enough of that green
shit you bleed, Nephrite."

	Beryl took this current display of egotism as a chance to escape. 
She lunged at the brass cross and swung it through the stained glass
window.  Shards of multicolored light flashed through the room, the
pieces of glass scattering across the floor.  Nephrite shielded his
eyes but Beryl grabbed his arm and pulled him through the broken
window.

	She instantly regretted it when she got through the window. 
Standing there, in full regalia, was Jadeite, holding his flaming
sword in his right hand.  As soon as Beryl looked up at him, he
lowered his sword to point at Beryl.  She gasped at first, then her
look turned stone cold.

	"Jadeite!"  Beryl yelled.  "How dare you point your sword at me?  Do
traitors run in your family?"

	Jadeite's eye widened as he looked at Beryl, he retracted his sword
and held it in a fighting stance.  Behind Beryl, Nephrite held his
electric sword, ready to defend himself and Beryl from Jadeite.

	"Bah!  I have no family to run in, and any lie you make up now won't
effect me," Jadeite sneered.

	"But you do have a family you traitorous dog," Beryl yelled back. 
"Your father killed the Royal King of the Moon.  But you wouldn't
remember that would you? We erased your memories when you joined the
Generals."

	"Nonsense, I have full memory of my past," said Jadeite.  "And this
meaningless talk bores me!"  He swung his sword down at Beryl just
after Nephrite raised his sword to block it.  The swords clashed in a
flash of light, Beryl stood there, frozen, looking at Jadeite.

	"Your past is mere lies!" she continued.  "Created by the finest
engineers in the Lunarian Kingdom.  You were nothing but scum left by
the Palace Gates when your father went Kamikaze on the King.  You
should be kneeling at my feet!"

	"Lies! Get ready to die!"  Jadeite raised his sword and swung it
again, clashing it hard against Nephrite sword.  He swung around
again, and again, blow after blow at Nephrite.  With each hit,
Nephrite could feel himself getting weaker, and the pain in his leg
growing stronger.

	Just as he was ready to give up, a second clang rang out as
Jadeite's sword was blocked by something else.  Jadeite opened his
stress filled eyes to see Zoicite's ice blade blocking his sword.

	Zoicite stood on the other side of Beryl with his ice sword pointed
at Jadeite, blocking his current blow.  Nephrite let out a sigh
before collapsing to the floor to catch his breath.

	"Zoicite," Nephrite sputtered.  "You're alive, you're here!"

	Zoicite turned to him and looked him squarely in the face.  His face
was battered, bruised from some prolonged combat, stained with blood,
and his eyes showed no emotion.  "They killed Kunzite," he said
flatly, then turned his head to Jadeite.  "So I will kill them."

	Zoicite swung his blade at Jadeite with a fury like no other.  As
each swing hit, he was winding up for another one.  Jadeite had to
spend all his energy defending and was unable to see the stone behind
him as he backed up.  He fell over the stone and lied with his back
to the ground and his hands up.

	"What are you going to do, kill me?" Jadeite yelled, secretly
pulling out a dagger from his wrist cuff.  Zoicite merely nodded as
he rose his sword up high and swung down, just as Jadeite raised his
arm with the dagger.

	Ironically, Jadeite was already dead when his limp arm completed the
last impulse his mind sent to it, jabbing the dagger into Zoicite's
gut.  Neither felt pain for very long.



	When the spectacle was over, Serenity emerged from the trees next to
Jadeite's and Zoicite's dead bodies.  Beryl looked up at Serenity in
disgust, Nephrite quickly pulled his sword and swung at Serenity. 
She flicked her wrist in response, sending some energy pulse at
Nephrite, causing him to fly back.

	As he tried to get back up again, the Senshi emerged from the
flaming window and held him down.  Serenity turned back to Beryl, who
still stood there with an iron face.  "I trust you're uninjured,
sister," Serenity calmly said.

	"I am not your sister," was her only response.  Serenity looked down
at Jadeite's and Zoicite's bodies.  She swayed her head in shame.

	"You made him an easy target to control," Serenity said.  "Erasing
his mind like that.  His mind was so feeble, mind control was a
simple task.  It's a shame he didn't live to see the disaster I made
him cause.  It's always interesting how a person responds to such an
event."

	"Have you no heart?" Beryl interrupted.

	"I did once, but you'd be surprised how useless it is when it comes
to war.  You can't have a heart for those you send to die," Serenity
grinned.  "Don't you know that?"

	"Hah," Beryl chuckled.  "Being a Queen means compromise, sometimes I
act on my heart, and others I have to ignore it.  It's the good of
the people above all," she looked to Nephrite for a second.  "Even
those in my heart."

	Serenity tilted her head, then looked at Nephrite who had been
struggling against the Senshi's hold on him.  "Of course, the dapper
General," she suddenly said, moving towards Nephrite.  When she
reached him, the Senshi lifted him off the ground to stand.  "Its sad
to see all the people you know die, isn't it?  I don't suppose Zoey
here had enough time to tell you how we killed Kunzite did he?  We
hung him above a cage of wild boars and cut his legs open."

	Serenity shook her head, "Those things can smell blood a mile away. 
It's a shame they don't have very sharp teeth, they probably had to
gnaw on his body for a while."

	Nephrite shut his eyes tight, trying to block out the thought of
Kunzite being slowly devoured.  His fists clenched as he tried to
swing his fist around at Serenity, only to have his hand stopped at
the last moment by Sailor Venus.  He thrashed to get out of the hold
of the Senshi.  "You � you SAVAGE!" Nephrite screamed, tears
streaming from his eyes.  "Fight me! Come here and fight me fairly! 
You COWARD!"

	Serenity blinked, "I'm afraid you won't get the chance to fight me,"
she said.  She reached down into the folds of her gown and suddenly
produced a long sword in its scabbard.  She turned to Sailor Moon, 
"Do you wish to do the honors?" she asked.

	Sailor Moon snatched the sword from Serenity and quickly unsheathed
it.  "It would be a pleasure," she responded.  Before Nephrite could
even voice protest, Sailor Moon shoved the sword into his gut up to
the hilt.  The only thing that came from his mouth was a tiny thread
of green blood.

	She leaned forward to Nephrite's ear and whispered, "Such a quick
death, you don't deserve."  She yanked the sword back out of his
body, and kicked him to the ground.  He landed on his back with a
thud, causing him to hack up a gratuitous amount of blood.  His eyes
were locked, staring straight up into the sky, a sky filled with
stars.

	Stars that began to talk to him.

	So he listened.




	Something snapped inside Beryl when she saw Nephrite's body hit the
floor, with the slow trickle of blood down his side.  In Nephrite's
face, she saw her own, her own body laying in the dirt, staring at
the sky.  For the first time, she wished she were dead.

	 Serenity turned away from the body to look at Beryl.  "So much for
the dapper General," she said with a smile.

	"You," Beryl started.  "You're insane."

	"Insanity is just somebody with a different point of view.  What
makes yours any better than mine?"

	Beryl simply looked at Serenity.  She looked at a person she loved
as a child, someone who was her best friend, someone she thought of
as a sister.  Then she looked at a person who was her competition to
the throne, someone who had become a threat to the Kingdom, someone
who had murdered the person she loved.

	What was left anymore?  She couldn't let it end this way, she
couldn't let the galaxy be destroyed by this madwoman.  She had to be
stopped, no matter what the cost.

	"Well?" Serenity asked.  "Can't think of a reason, huh?  Just the
same, I'd like to keep you around, so you can witness my ascension to
Queen, no, Ruler!"  Serenity chuckled slightly.

	While she laughed, Beryl concentrated her power, a magical ability
she had long since used.  Channeling her power into her hands, she
suddenly ran herself into Serenity and used her force to send her
flying into the Senshi.  The momentum carried them through the wall
and they landed in a twisted pile of limbs.

	Beryl looked for a second before running off into the Palace.  She
only hoped that her little push would keep them busy long enough for
her to get where she wanted to go.  She dashed down the halls, going
as fast as her feet could carry her, over to a door and up a
staircase into one of the upper floors.

	When she emerged from the staircase, she was standing in a large
command center, filled with computers and other information devices. 
When she entered, all the machines turned on and began to display
information.  She ran over to a small circular platform where all the
machines connected together.  Her hands brushed over the surfaces as
they activated themselves by her presence.

	Several times she had simulated the use of this room, but never
before had she intended on proceeded.  Her hands knew the controls by
heart and they flew from console to console like an expert.

	The information displayed on the holographic windows showed detailed
information on how the Dark Crystal would be deployed from the top of
the Palace and activated.  Once activated, it would amass as much
energy as possible by draining it from surrounding life forms, before
trapping them inside of the crystal.  The crystal would then be
shattered, and the pieces would be shot off to each of the habitable
planets in the Sol System.

	A total annulment of the people of the Moon.

	It seemed like such a drastic measure at the time it was made. 
Beryl though Nephrite was insane to start such a project.  But he
insisted that the stars told him to.  Now, she was glad she listened,
but she had no idea that it would have to be used on Serenity.

	After she activated the last subroutine, she crouched down on the
circular platform and waited for eternity to grab her.  The tower
shook as the outer flaps opened to release the Dark Crystal, the
displays wavered as their emitters began to shake.

	Suddenly, a loud crash was heard and the shaking grew worse.  Beryl
stood up to look at the status console.  Sure enough, Serenity was
taking pod shots at the tower, trying to stop whatever was happening.
 The shots hadn't damaged anything yet, but if they continued they
were bound to hit something important.

	One of the displays switched to a diagram to show how all the
systems were emerging from the tower.  She watched as the flaps
stopped moving and the capsule that held the Dark Crystal rose up,
about to open.

	Just as Beryl was about to sigh in relief, the tower shook
violently.  Beryl was knocked to the ground and some of the wall
blocks fell down on the machines.  She struggled to pull herself up
amidst all the wreckage.  When she stood up she noticed a red light
by the status display.  As she neared it, she saw that Serenity had
successfully hit something.

	Most of the display was in some sort of technical jargon that she
couldn't understand, but she recognized the system as the dispersal
gun.  The device that was supposed to send all the crystal fragments
to the habitable planets.  From what she could gather, the auto
aiming was fried and the gun was set on manual now.

	As she tried to remember what to do, the capsule opened and the Dark
Crystal rose up into the sky.  As soon as it got to full assertion,
it began to absorb the peoples energy, including her own.  The sudden
strain on her caused her legs to give way, toppling her against the
machine.

	She felt her very essence, the fiber of her soul separate itself
from her body.  It was a feeling like no other, but she had no time,
she had to correct the error or innocent people might never get to be
reborn.

	She reached up and grabbed the top of the machine's console, she
activated the manual aiming device and looked at the screen to see
where it was aimed now.  She didn't have time to program in all the
locations of the habitable planets, and she wouldn't be around to aim
it afterwards.  She had to choose one planet.

	She felt herself slipping, her eyes were beginning to get dark
around the edges.  She strained to look at the display, on it was
empty space.  She slammed the rotation button, causing the gun to
change direction.  It slowly panned left as her vision got darker,
she felt her body grow limp and it was harder and harder to keep
herself on the console.

	Eventually she slipped down to the ground, below the console.  She
let out a breath, and tried to blink away the darkness.  She had one
last chance, she had to aim the machine now.  She found energy in her
arm to lift her to the console.  Just as her eyes cleared the edge of
the console, her eyes fixated on the display.  The turning display
showed the big blue mass of a planet that was Earth.  The sights of
the gun were crossing the planets surface.

	Earth was habitable, it was a nice mix of land and sea, it had the
best chance of surviving.  Maybe, just maybe she could find a new
life there, a new beginning with her Generals.  Using the last of her
will power, she slid her hand over the "Lock On" button, causing the
gun to stop moving and fix itself on the big planet.

	With the last of her strength gone, she slid back down the console,
slamming her chin against the edge as she fell.  She slumped on the
ground, her eyes slowly closing on her, loosing all feeling in her
body.  The last thing she saw before her eyes closed for the very
last time, was the display on an opposite console signaling the
readiness of the flash packs buried under the Palace.




	In the end, the Crystal shattered into Seven Different parts.  Each
shard of the Crystal landed on Earth in the exact place the gun was
locked onto: Japan.  While that may seem like a pretty general
location, for all seven to land there from the moon is pretty
precise.  Each shard became embedded into a person, and those people,
led normal lives for over a thousand years, before the reactivation
of Beryl and her General's caused the Crystal Shards to react, and
give their hosts new found powers.

	Beryl did fight Serenity again, in the end of the twentieth century
of Earth's dominant culture.  Despite the overbearing odds and the
magnificent power that Serenity discovered when she encountered the
subspace being named Metillia, Beryl won that battle, at the cost of
hers and her 4 closest Generals' lives.

	The Dark Crystal resurrected Beryl and her 4 Generals after that
battle, and allowed them to have normal lives, unknowing of their
alien heritage.  That is, until late in the twenty second century,
when Serenity's Daughter, Neo-Queen Serenity, returned to pick up
where her mother left off.  Once again, Beryl and her four Generals
defeated her, but at the cost of the surface of the Earth.

	Using the Dark Crystal, Beryl caused the population of the Earth to
go into Cryogenic Stasis until such time as the surface had healed
and the people could re-colonize.  Under Beryl's guidance, they
created Crystal Tokyo where the old Tokyo once stood.  This Kingdom,
which bared resemblance to the Moon Kingdom of old, was based on the
old Greek idea of Timocracy, and lived in peace under the careful eye
of Beryl for over eleven hundred years, until her death.

	Since Beryl died without an heir, the people were forced to rule
themselves, continuing with Timocracy, and did so successfully for
many years afterwards.

	Jadeite never regained his memories of the Moon Kingdom, having
nothing of value to remember.  He became the Royal Advisor after
Kunzite reigned to 'pursue other things', and never married.

	Zoicite continued his relationship with Kunzite right where they
left off on the Moon.  He became Defense Advisor for the Royal Army
before leaving to live on Venus.  While legal documents never showed
such act, Zoicite was considered 'Married' to Kunzite by the end of
the twenty-first century.

	Kunzite became Royal Advisor to the day to day legal issues of
Crystal Tokyo, before he left with Zoicite to live on Venus.  He died
eighteen years before Beryl.

	Nephrite never stopped loving Beryl, even through all the hardships
their battles with Serenity gave them.  They were married on July 16,
2000, a full seven years after they were resurrected for the second
time.  Nephrite died in a secret battle Crystal Tokyo had with a
private group known as the Dark Moon Family.  Beryl visited his grave
every other day afterwards and left him six carnations each time.
During his time on Earth, the Stars remained silent for him, he never
spoke to the stars or heard their song again.  He still tried to talk
to them, every day. He and Beryl never had a child.





Authors Notes:
	If this isn't a story, I don't know what is.  This project has
consumed all my free time for over three weeks.  NO, I DON'T WRITE
THAT SLOW, but proof reading and brainstorming took a lot of time. 
This idea was originally conceived sometime in October and was,
believe it or not, inspired by the roses that Tuxedo Mask threw when
he was under Queen Beryl's control in the latter half of the first
season of Sailor Moon.  You know, the ones that changed from red to
black every now and then depending on what mood he was in.

	I have to thank a few people, especially Megane 6.7 who encouraged
me along during the last few parts of the story.  Otherwise I
wouldn't have continued as I did, so, "Thanks for the Encouragement,
Meg!"

	And now, without further ado�

	 "Sailor Moon" is copyright � 1992 by Naoko Takeuchi.  While this
story holds some elements which are under copyright, the plot,
character interaction, and setting are all Copyright � 1997 Adam
Leigh. All rights reserved.