WARNING:  This story includes some graphic content, viewer discretion
is advised.


	Somewhere, in the abysm of time and space there is a room.  Hardly
what we, as mortals of Earth would call a room, but it is a room none
the less.  Now within that room there are several people, once again,
they are hardly what we would consider living human beings, but they
are people.  Within this room of time and space, these people are
being taught by one of the greatest masters of time and space.

	Now as far as we would know, these people have always known the
things the teacher teaches, and just the same they have never heard
of them before.  The teacher stands in front of all the students. 
The teacher has long, flowing green hair, nice round eyes, and stands
no less than six feet next to the scepter she holds in her hand.

	In her hand is a galaxy, or the time space equivalent thereof.  She
holds it out to the class and begins her lecture.  The lecture never
does start, and it continues for eternity, but only takes a second to
deliver.  That's the trouble when operating out of time space, there
are no definite answers.

	"Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations.  It is a simple way of
saying that in any given reality, anything that can happen, will
happen, and in fact does happen, in an alternate universe.  This one
statement allows the reality that we exist in to continuously expand
within an ever-growing boundary.

	"At any given point, we are surrounded by billions of subspace
universes, that should all be similar if not closely identical to
your starting universe.  This starting universe is often called
Universe Prime, as it IS a starting and a reference point for other
universes."

	The teacher would sigh now, her old years wearing on her delicate
body.  "However, also following the I D I C rule, there is one
exception to this statement.  MY universe prime, the Universe with
the Silver Millenium, Crystal Tokyo, and the Neo-Queen Serenity all
in one place, is the rarest universe in out reality.

	"Now, while even the highly rare universe have at least a few
thousand alternate universes adjacent to them, but my universe prime
as only one.  Can you imagine that in all of reality, My universe
prime has but one alternate universe to it that is even close in
similarity to it.  The chances are mathematically impossible, yet
they DO happen, because of I D I C."

	At this point, one of the students catches the teachers attention
and asks, "Pluto, what was different in the alternate universe?" 
It's an irrelevant question, but she feels it's important just the
same.

	"Well," she began, but realized that was having trouble remembering
it all.  "It was a lot like prime, but different a major way, all the
roles were reversed..."

				A Twisted Plot Production

				   In Association with
				    Tempest Creations

			       A DIFFERENT PAIR OF EYES

				   By Adam Chris Leigh

				  Based on "Sailor Moon"
				    By Naoko Takeuchi

	At night, the Moon Palace was often quiet, sometimes too quiet for
people looking for answers.  This night, one man was looking for
answers, and the quietness of the Palace was unnerving for him.
Quietly as possible, he moved to the east wing and stepped out onto
the Royal Balcony.

	The balcony is a half circle, about thirty feet in diameter, that
sticks out the rear of the Moon Palace.  Below the balcony, the
serene gardens stretched out for miles, brilliant hues of green,
yellow, orange, all twinkling in the earth light.  A pair of tiny
lightning bugs flew across the gardens, flashing their lights in
patterns that would never be understood by man.  It was the lightning
bug's little secret, and it was quite content in keeping it.

	Off to the side of the balcony was a marble fountain with a constant
flow of crystal clear water trickling down from it.  Each drop,
making a slight patter as it would hit the surface of the water and
become consumed by the whole.  That constant pattering was soothing
to the man standing on the balcony.  He reveled in the beat and
walked to the edge of the balcony and leaned on the railing.

	The stars gleamed in the sky, shining their light brightly on the
palace, although they were very small compared to the light
reflecting off the earth.  The stars were beautiful, the man had seen
the stars once on earth, but for some reason they weren't quite as
lovely as when he was standing on the balcony looking up at them. 
People had told him that it was the atmosphere of earth, the dense
tri-oxygen ozone stopped most of the light of the stars from shining
through.  On the moon though, the atmosphere was much thinner, and
more of the light would shine through.

	It was a viable explanation, but the man knew that wasn't the whole
of it.  The stars just didn't shine for him, they talked to him, and
he would talk back.  The stars were sending so much more than just
their light, and the man could see it.  But on earth, the stars just
seemed not to look in that direction.  As if the stars had only meant
to shine on the moon, and anything else they shined at was by
accident.

	The man looked up at the stars, raising his hand and weaving it
between the different constellations.  Orion, Sagittarius, Gemini,
they all were shining their light bright onto the moon, but today
they weren't sending anything else.  The stars had stopped speaking
to the man, their messages no longer being sent, his friends had
become mute.  Without the stars to guide him, he felt very alone,
very secluded.  It was uncomfortable to him.

	While the man leaned on the balcony and stared off into the sky, the
door to the balcony opened slowly and soundlessly.  A woman in a
off-white dress walked onto the balcony and stood behind the man. 
She looked up at where he was staring, up into the stars.

	"Constellation Taurus?" she softly spoke to the man.  He tensed up
suddenly but slowly relaxed as he turned to face the voice.  The
woman was smiling softly, her long hair flowing behind her and onto
the dress.  Her face was like a hawk, always watching from above, and
with a mean look always.  Only those who knew her well knew that she
was a kind person.

	The man stiffly bowed at the waist towards the woman, who curtsied
back.  "Yes, my Queen, and Good Evening."

	"Please," protested the woman, as she walked over to the man's side.
 "Nephrite, you don't have to call me Queen.  I have a name, and I
would prefer it if my closest friends used it."

	"As you wish, Beryl," Nephrite replied then slowly turned back to
look at the stars.  He sighed in frustration.

	"The stars still won't talk to you?" Beryl asked of her friend.

	"No, it's been this way for a while.  Its like the stars are scared
to speak, they continue to shine like nothing is wrong, but something
must be gravely wrong for them to stop speaking."  He turned to face
Beryl.  "Only one in a billion of us can even hear what they say, and
even fewer achieve the skill I have in listening to them.  Why would
they stop talking?"

	"I'm sure the stars have their reasons.  You shouldn't blame
yourself for not being able to hear them when you say they aren't
even talking." She looked Nephrite in the eyes.  "When was the last
time you have slept because of this?"

	He looked away from Beryl and hesitated.  "I," he began. "I really
don't know, it can't be more than �" he stopped again.  "Its probably
been a week."

	Beryl frowned.  "Why do you continue to torture yourself?  What can
be so important that you'd destroy yourself to hear it?"

	"I, I don't know," Nephrite admitted.  "Something is wrong or else
they wouldn't have stopped talking, and if they only get to talk for
an instant I need to hear what they have to say.  What if they have
to warn us about something, of an attack or raid, what if disaster is
upon us?"

	"What if someone is to die?" Beryl softly spoke.  "Is that what you
were thinking?  Thinking of _her_?"

	Nephrite looked to the ground for a moment, then back up to the
stars.  "They were trying to tell me you know.  The message was there
the whole time and I didn't see it, not until she was already dead."

	Beryl put her hand on Nephrite's shoulder.  "Persius' death was not
your fault.  Even if you had known you wouldn't have been able to do
anything."  She pulled Nephrite's head down until it was a centimeter
from her face and whispered.  "Not even the stars can prevent fate."

	And they kissed.



	At any given point in time, the Queen had three Generals within
spitting distance of her.  It had been a rule she made early in her
supremacy, she was too important of a person to ever be left alone. 
While the General that was closest to her was Nephrite, she had
befriended a few of the other General's as well.  Kunzite and Zoicite
were close to the Queen, almost as close as they were to each other.

	If Beryl had to choose another that she would call a friend it would
be Jadeite, however her general distaste for his, quote
'thoroughness' had kept them a bit farther apart than the rest of her
friends.  While she may disagree with a few of the Generals, she
trusted them all with her life, for she knew that they held it
closely in their hands.

	While the Queen and Nephrite talked on the balcony, Kunzite,
Zoicite, and a younger Quartzite were standing outside of the balcony
door.  While all of the Generals acted professionally while on duty,
the three outside of the door seemed quite casual.

	Zoicite yawned loudly and softly whispered to Kunzite, "Don't they
ever sleep?"  Kunzite smoothly turned his head towards Zoicite and
let the hint of a smile cross his face.

	"Would you rather they got some sleep together?" he replied.

	"Are you kidding?" he almost shouted.  "The Queen of Formality and
the Ice Prince together?  They'd probably sleep on separate sides of
the Palace if it would better hide their emotions."

	Kunzite shook his head and turned to face the wall again.  "It
doesn't matter, Nephrite hasn't slept in a week anyway."  He closed
his eyes leaned against the wall.  "I would know, his accursed pacing
up and down the palace would keep anyone up."

	Zoicite hummed in question.  "Really?" he asked.  "I wonder how I've
missed it.  Of course, it's easy to miss anything if you're not
looking for it."

	Kunzite just grinned in response, his stiff face almost stifling a
laugh.  "Well," he said between breaths.  "You make enough noise at
night yourself.  I'm surprised they don't hear you on earth."

	Zoicite turned a shade of red, feeling his whole face flustered.  "I
learned from the best, sweetie," he quickly responded in a sultry
tone of voice.  That time it was Kunzite that turned red.  Zoicite
outwardly laughed at him as he began to match the pink walls he was
leaning against.

	When the doors to the balcony suddenly opened, the three generals
quickly regained their professional posture and stood stiff at each
side of the door.  Nephrite was first to strut out of the doorway, he
walked a little bit down the hall before stopping to stand beside
Quartzite.  Soon afterwards, Beryl flowed out of the room, her gown
spreading out to look like a giant white cloak behind her.

	Beryl continued down the hallway as the Generals moved to walk
behind her.  As they moved down the long hallway she looked over her
shoulder at Kunzite.  He responded to her stare as a prompting and
began to talk, "the Senate has asked that you sponsor some community
event.  They wish to inspire more benevolent thoughts in light of the
current uprising on earth."

	Beryl turned forward again and continued walking.  "The senate asks
more and more of me each year," she calmly said.  As she walked she
furrowed her eyebrows, "What sort of event do they recommend?"

	"They made no recommendation verbally," Kunzite responded.

	Beryl sighed and shook her head.  "That could be expected.  Those
bureaucrats want all the power but they never want to make decisions
for themselves.  I should just abolish any public representation and
do things myself."

	Kunzite and Zoicite slowed down behind Beryl, they glanced at each
other in worry then quickly caught up to her.  Zoicite moved to walk
next to Beryl, "You don't really mean that do you?" he asked.

	"Hmm?" Beryl replied then quickly grinned at Zoicite.  "Oh, no, of
course not.  There's never any peace in supremacy, only blind
following.  No, I'll leave things like that to Serenity and her band
of megalomaniacs."  She turned to Nephrite as she walked.  "Which
reminds me."

	Nephrite looked puzzled at first, his eyebrows raising in question,
then they rested and he realized what she was expecting from him. 
"The latest RECON on Serenity's forces put them at a possible 1 to 3
chance of winning a direct assault, based on manpower and speed." 
Nephrite yawned suddenly then continued, "But we can hardly expect
them to perform such an act under those odds.  Remember, crazy, not
stupid.  I think they'd wait for a time when out guard is down and
the odds are more in their favor."

	Beryl slowed her walking, then finally stopped.  "A distraction,"
she repeated.  "Like a community event?"

	Nephrite slowly nodded.  "We DO send thirty-two percent of our
normal ready forces from active to standby during events.  And the
public access to the palace would make infiltration a greater chance.
 In short, this would be the worst time to have such an event."

	"Unfortunately," Beryl countered.  "Even if we win the war, we will
have lost if our people rebel against us when it's over.  Right now,
the people are with us because they agree with our ideals, but if
they start coming to our side merely for protection, when the war is
over we'll have an uprising."

	Beryl turned around to face Kunzite and Zoicite, "You two," she
demanded.  "Inform the senate that we'll be having a Royal Ball in
two weeks," she looked at each of the generals before here. 
"EVERYONE is invited."  She stared into their eyes for a moment
before she turned on her foot and walked down the hallway.



	Jadeite was sleeping when he heard the alarm.  His first instinct
was to grab the pike he kept under his bed and prepare for combat,
but as soon as he was awake enough to do such an act he realized that
it wasn't an attack.  He quickly jumped out of bed and rushed across
the room to a small niche in his closet where he kept his
transmitter.  With a swipe of his hand he opened the communication
channel.

	A small holographic image emerged from the top of the transmitter
that was heavily shaded green but some other colors emerged.  The
image was of a woman, very elegant looking, with long hair tied up in
two buns at the sides of her head.  She was wearing a dark dress
that's color couldn't be determined from the green holographic image.

	"I want to meet with the Queen," the woman quickly said.  Jadeite
pondered the thought for a moment.

	"Impossible, Serenity," Jadeite responded.  "The Queen doesn't meet
with anyone who doesn't proceed through the normal diplomatic
channels."

	"I don't want to have a diplomatic discussion, I just need to see
her," Serenity said.

	"Do you know how dangerous it will be for BOTH of us to sneak you
into the Palace so you can 'chat'?" Jadeite said nervously.

	"You've done far worse for your Queen, just do this for me.  Listen,
I promise not to kill anyone, I just want to talk.  No ulterior
motives."

	"I've heard that before," Jadeite sneered.

	"From me?" She questioned.

	Jadeite stopped for a second and looked around.  "No," he finally
admitted.

	"Fifteen minutes at the most, and I'll provide my own way out," she
bargained.

	Jadeite turned stiff as he thought about her offer.  "Alright," he
started. "But no one else, just you; and you have to promise to leak
more information about your current status.  _Truthful_ information
this time."

	Serenity grinned evilly, "Any embellishing my people do is out of my
control. I want in, 56 hours from�" she looked away at some unseen
clock. "Now.  I'll meet you in the usual spot."

	Jadeite sighed in defeat. "Okay � you know, I only do this because I
disagreed with the elder consul.  Don't push this too far, I'm still
promised to protect the Queen."

	"Just talk, remember."

	"Yeah ... talk," he said sarcastically.  Serenity's image winked as
it faded away into the transmitter.  Jadeite stared at the
transmitter for a few seconds afterwards, wondering what he had put
in motion this time.  After a few moments he moved away from the
niche and pulled out his Generals garb and headed off for the bathes.



	The morning hearings were short, most of the talk was about the
announcement of the Royal Ball two days ago.  Beryl could only be so
happy that her work was cut down, and that most of the public had
been too preoccupied to worry about the oncoming war.  Kunzite
slammed his gavel to mark the end of the morning's session, as soon
as he did Beryl swiftly moved out of the hall.

	Kunzite quickly caught up with her as she paced down the hallway to
the Throne Room.  She slowed down a bit when her got beside her, but
she continued walking.  "Is there something wrong?" Kunzite asked
her.

	Beryl didn't turn to face him, but sped up a bit.  "I'm just a
little worried about this Ball, and the fact that we haven't even
heard from Serenity and her followers for a week.  Things seem � too
normal."

	Kunzite nearly laughed out loud, but he stifled it to a low chuckle.
 "And this is a bad thing?" he said.

	"Very much so," she said solemnly.  "I don't trust the information
that's been coming in.  It seems too convenient, and the fact that
there hasn't been any face to face contact is very worrying."  She
turned around a corner in the hallway, continuing to walk towards the
Throne Room. Kunzite nearly missed it and had to quickly run back and
up to Beryl.

	"You can't worry yourself about everything that happens or doesn't,"
Kunzite said between breaths.  Beryl pushed out a breath of air in
annoyance.  Kunzite shook his head.  "Then what would you have us do?
Infiltrate their base and destroy them all?"

	Beryl stopped in her tracks and turned her head to Kunzite.  He
looked back at her with a raised eyebrow.  "You must accept what you
cannot change," Kunzite explained.  "If we go storming in there, not
to say we can being that we don't know where they are, but if we go
in there it would be against everything you believe in as Queen.  And
we could loose, even the ere of surprise can't compensate for a lack
of a plan."

	Beryl started walking again, a bit slower as she approached the door
the Throne Room.  She lowered her head, "There must be a better way,"
she said softly.

	The two approached the Throne Room and Beryl pushed open the two big
doors that guarded the entrance.  Inside was a circular room with
large tapestries on the walls, marble pillars in circular formations
around the room, and a modest looking throne sitting in the center. 
As Beryl moved into the room she noticed that someone was sitting on
the throne.

	A woman, of about average height, long blond hair in two buns on the
sides of her head, and dressed in a lavender dress.  When Beryl
walked in she stood up next to the throne.  Beryl stopped and stared,
without moving she spoke.  "Kunzite, wait outside."

	Kunzite, who had been closing the doors, turned to ask why when he
saw Serenity standing by the throne.  Immediately he drew a long
sword he was wearing on his belt and stood in attack posture.

	Beryl raised her voice, "I said, Wait Outside."

	He paused for a second, "But Queen�" he started.

	"Now!" she ordered.  Kunzite reluctantly returned his sword to its
scabbard, bowed, and backed out of the room, keeping his eye on
Serenity the entire time.

	When Kunzite was out of the room, Beryl moved down the red carpet
that led from the door to the throne.  As she walked, Serenity
stepped down from the slight riser that the Throne was sitting on. 
Beryl stopped when she was a few feet away from Serenity.

	Beryl briefly glanced over Serenity.  "You look good today, much
more appealing than that greenish brown you normally wear."

	Serenity nodded then started walking around Beryl.  "Thank you, and
might I add that you look splendid.  Not at all different than
myself."  Beryl followed Serenity with her eyes, but never moved her
head.  "We're not much different, you and I," Serenity continued. 
"Ironic how you would become the symbol for good and I for evil.  I
guess you really can't judge a book by the cover."

	"There's nothing Ironic about it," Beryl responded.  "You wanted
supremacy and I wanted diplomacy.  The elder consul agreed with me
and not with you."

	"Diplomacy?" Serenity scoffed.  "Is that what you call your
government.  You have a more twisted mind than myself."

	"What do you mean?" Beryl asked.

	"Just look at yourself.  You call yourself a Queen yet you say you
run a diplomatic operation here.  You are supreme in all decisions,
therefore you run a supremacy.  We are merely shades of the same
color."

	"Is there a reason you came here?"  Beryl said, annoyed.

	"Don't get pushy with me, my sister.  I'm here for the same reason
my forces continue to attack you.  I want you to stand down from
Queen and pass it to me."

	"And you think if you were to come here, I would do it for you?  And
why do you call me sister?"

	"Oh come now, has it been so long ago that we were sisters?  Or has
being Queen interfered with your memory of times before?"

	"You have an odd sense of time, that was nearly six hundred years
ago, and we were never real sisters."

	"We were so close we called each other sisters, people used to think
we were inseparable.  I think this very conflict proves that we are
tied together, forever.  It's the very reason I'm here now, the
reason why I'm trying to see a solution to this without violence."

	"The only solution is that you give up this crazy crusade to take
over and seek a hobby like sewing."  Beryl turned to Serenity.  "You
can't win this, it will only mean the destruction of both of us." 
She moved closer.  "Come on, you said it yourself. We're not that
different, forget this rivalry, I never looked down at you for not
being chosen.  Come back and be my friend again, we could do so much
more for the Universe if we would work together instead of this
pointless fight."

	Serenity leaned forward and whispered in Beryl's ear.  "The only
pointless fight is one you can't win."  With that, Serenity turned
and walked out the back door to the Throne Room, leaving Beryl to
watch her.