And you thought the story was over. For shame...
Sailor Moon/Gen13
Silver Twilight
In a far away time and place, Earth’s greatest adventure is about to
begin…
There are fireworks and parties every night. In some other time,
in some other place, that might be considered frivolous. But not here.
Here in the Moon Kingdom it’s just a way of expressing the joy we have
from living in such a perfect world.
The universe is at peace and the planets of our solar system are in
harmony. Art and poetry abound, children smile, and lovers steal kisses
under the starlight. And lucky me, I’m in the center of in it all here
in the Royal Palace of the Moon.
My name is Sir Robert of Phobos, but everyone calls me Bobby. I’m
one of the Royal Guardsmen of Princess Mars. I admit, this isn’t
exactly the life I saw for myself. I wanted to be a musician. But my
father, Lord Lynch of Phobos, pushed me into this. Dad spent several
years as a Guardsman and wanted me to follow in his footsteps. He gave
me this big speech about how I had to do my duty to my princess and the
rest of the Moon Kingdom.
I wasn’t too thrilled with the idea of being a Guardsman, but at
the time I was willing to jump at anything that would get me out of
dad's castle back on Phobos. You know how it can be with parents.
Besides, I could practice my music in my off hours.
After I completed my Guardsman training, I was assigned to Princess
Mars’s Honor Guard. I’m pretty sure my dad pulled some strings to land
me such a high-profile assignment. I wasn’t really sure what Princess
Mars would be like. I’d only met her briefly at a few royal functions.
She seemed nice enough then but I’d heard she was privately a bit, well,
bossy.
When I entered the princess’s service I expected to be treated like
a servant, since that’s what I and the rest of the Guardsmen were. But
Princess Mars never made us feel that way. She treated us as equals and
it took me a while to figure out why.
I was a member of Princess Mars’s court, and therefore, bound to
serve her. But Princess Mars was a member of the court of Princess
Serenity of the Moon. She, Princess Jupiter, Princess Venus, Princess
Uranus, and princesses of all the other planets also served Princess
Serenity.
For some reason the other Guardsmen were never very comfortable
with the kindness Princess Mars showed us. We’d been trained to be
servants and they couldn’t seem to get past that. But as the weeks
passed, I came to call Princess Mars a friend. Sometimes we would stand
on the balcony of her castle, gazing out at the great canals that
crossed the surface of our world, and we’d just talk. Not as a princess
to her servant, but simply as one person to another.
I told her of my dream of being a musician, and how I missed all
the hours I used to spend practicing. One day, out of the blue, she
asked my to play for her. I was reluctant, but she was my princess and
I was honor bound to obey her.
I got my guitar, sent a prayer to whatever gods might be listening,
and then began to play. Thinking back on it, I can’t even remember what
the song was. Something about “winning love by daylight” is all I can
recall. In fact, I’m rather glad I don’t remember more. I have the
feeling it wasn’t one of my more inspired works.
I remember how much I was sweating as the last chord faded. Had I
just made a fool of myself in front of my princess? When Princess Mars
burst into applause you could have knocked me over with a feather. I
think she was just being kind. As it turned out, I was due for another
surprise.
It was then that Princess Mars told me of her dream to be a singer and
songwriter. Eventually, I was able to prod her into letting me hear her
sing. I’m not kidding when I say she has one of the most amazing voices
I’ve ever heard.
Not long after that we began to write songs together. It wasn’t easy
for either of us, but Princess Mars seemed to have a real knack for it.
I recall those late nights in the palace music room, going over chords,
trying out riffs, coming up with lyrics, then tossing the whole mess out
and starting over again. Those were some of the best days of my life.
Then the message came. Princess Mars and her court had been called
to the Moon. Looking back, I was angry and a little afraid. I was
happy on Mars. I’d come to call Princess Mars one of my closet friends,
and I feared that the duties she would take upon her official induction
as a member of Princess Serenity’s court might bring an end to that.
But that was months ago, and my fears haven’t come to fruition.
True, Princess Mars and I don’t spend as much time together as we used
to, but she’s never stopped treating me as a friend. Besides, I’ve made
some new friends here at the Royal Palace.
“Bobby! Hey, Bobby!”
I turn to see my friend Eddie running up to me. Eddie is Princess
Serenity’s royal page. But the title court jester would be more
appropriate. He’s always trying to come up with some new way to make
the princess laugh. He actually succeeds most of the time. Some of the
stuffier members of the Palace staff really hate Eddie’s antics, but he
makes Princess Serenity happy so they don’t say anything.
“Hey, Eddie. Where’s the fire?”
“The fire is that you’re late,” my friend responds. “Now come on.
If we don’t hurry the girls will polish off dinner before we get any.”
“I’ve seen the way Roxy can pack away that pie,” I chuckle. “Come
on, if we hustle maybe we can con the girls into giving us some table
scraps.” With that, we head for one of the palace’s many courtyards.
The courtyard, normally wide open, is currently filled with
hundreds of tables. Everywhere people are laughing, talking, eating,
and generally having a good time.
“It sure is crowded,” Eddie remarks as we enter.
“What did you expect? Tonight is the night of the big eclipse.
People have come from all over the system to see it.”
“Hey, there are the girls. Looks like they saved us some food after
all,” says Eddie.
As we head over to the girls’ table, I think about the friendship
the five of us have forged in the past few months. I still find it funny
how five people, each from a different world, each so different in
personality, could be drawn together so closely.
Caitlin is the tallest of our little group. She serves as the royal
tutor to Princess Mercury. Not that the princess needs a tutor. The
truth is, there’s been quite of few debates in the halls of palaces of
Mercury as to which of them is smarter.
Frankly, I think Caitlin was given her job so Princess Mercury could
have someone close to her own level to talk to. The princess and her
tutor are closer to each other than Princess Mars and I are. Caitlin
once told me that Princess Mercury had called her the big sister she
never had.
Next is Roxanne, or Roxy as she prefers, royal seamstress to
Princess Venus. It’s due in no small part to Roxy’s efforts that
Princess Venus is often called one of the most beautifully dressed
people in the entire Moon Kingdom. I admit, I don’t know a lot about
fashion, but some of the gowns I’m seen Princess Venus wear are truly
stunning.
Roxy’s face always lights up when she starts talking about those
clothes. She loves to talk about how she and Princess Venus design and
make them together. For some reason I always smile when I think of the
two of them together, smiling, gossiping, and laughing as they work on
the next gown. One of the royal princesses using a common needle and
thread to make her own clothes, can you imagine that?
Lastly there’s Sarah, royal soothsayer to Princess Jupiter.
Princess Jupiter’s fondness for charms, palm readings, and other such
things is known across the Moon Kingdom. It’s no wonder that Sarah, the
latest in a long line of mystics, ended up being inducted into the Royal
Court of Jupiter, her homeworld.
Sarah is the one Princess Jupiter tells all her secrets to. Not
that I know any of those secrets. Sarah would never betray her princess
like that. Although, she did once let it slip that Princess Jupiter
enjoys cooking.
The irony of our friendship isn’t lost on me. We all count our
princesses among our closest friends. Now that our princesses have
joined the court of Princess Serenity, we can’t be as close to them as
we once were. But the Princesses and Princess Serenity have become
friends in the last few months, and in turn, so have we. It’s only
appropriate that if the princess are friends, that their servants should
be as well.
“Hey, guys, about time you got here,” chides Roxy as we sit down.
“You almost missed the big show.”
“Sorry, but it took me forever to find Bobby,” apologizes Eddie as
he bites into an apple.
“Oh, that’s right. You had to be at the Royal Ball with Princess
Mars. What are you doing here?” asks Sarah.
“One of the other guys owed me a favor, so I had him take over the
rest of my shift,” I say. “Speaking of the ball, Caitlin, I saw your
dad, Sir Alex, there.”
“What was he up to?” Cat inquires.
“Belive it or not, talking with my dad. Those two really seemed to
be hitting it off.”
“Did you get the chance to talk to your dad?” quizzes Sarah.
“Just for a second,” I reply. “He told me that he was really proud
of how I was handling my duties as a Guardsman.”
“Heads up, people. The show is starting,” interrupts Eddie.
It begins slowly. The shadow of the Moon starts to creep over the
blue and green jewel that is the planet Earth. In turn, a shadow begins
to fall over the Moon. Then, in an instant, our world is dark.
The crowd roars, lovers kiss and fireworks blaze.
“I think the eclipse is almost over,” informs Caitlin after several
seconds. “We should be able to see the Earth again soon.”
But the several moments Caitlin promised come and go, and the sky
remains black. “What’s going on?” asks Eddie. All around us I can hear
people asking the same thing.
That’s when Roxy screams. “Oh my god! Look at the sky!”
I look and what I see horrifies me. An evil, inhuman face is
beginning to form. The face is huge, miles across, and its eyes and
mouth are blood red. But worst of all, the face is grinning at us.
Then the ground begins to shake. I hear people screaming, running
and crying. I whirl around in time to see a wall collapse on some
fleeing party guests.
“Eddie, get the girls to some place safe!” I order. “I’m going to
try and find out what’s going on.”
The ground continues to rumble as I dash across the courtyard to the
main palace. Suddenly a wave of explosions fills the air. I dive under
a table as the deafening sound overwhelms my ears.
After what seems like an eternity, the explosions end. I crawl from
under the table in time to almost have my head taken off by some falling
debris. I look and what I see is terrible. There is smoke and flames
everywhere, towers that had stood strong and proud for centuries have
collapsed, and everywhere people are screaming. “I have to find the
princess,” I say to myself as I resume my dash towards the palace.
Things are a bit calmer inside. Guardsmen from all over the Moon
Kingdom are there, evacuating the ball’s guests and palace staff to
safety. If there is such a thing as safety in this nightmare.
“What’s going on?” I call to a Guardsman who wears the seal of the
Kingdom of Saturn.
“It’s the Negaverse!” he shouts. “The Negaverse is invading the
whole system! We’ve already suffered heavy loses!”
The Negaverse, I should have known. For months there have been
rumors that beings from another dimension called the Negaverse have been
trying to enter our universe. From what I’ve heard, the Negaverse is
ruled by a woman called Queen Beryl and her four Generals, Jedite,
Nephlite, Zoisite, and Malachite.
Apparently, Queen Serenity has been trying to negotiate some form of
peace treaty with Queen Beryl who, according to the stories, seems quite
hostile. Just our luck that the stories would have to be true.
“What can I do to help?” I ask.
“Prince Darien of Earth is leading a counterattack near the west
wing of the place,” replies the man from Saturn. “He needs all the help
he can get.”
I give my fellow Guardsman a quick nod of thanks as I rush to the
battlefront. The west end of the palace is a long way from here, but I
know a shortcut.
As I rocket down the side passage, my mind again turns to Princess
Mars. As much as I want to look for her, I must rally to the defense of
the Moon first. I’ll just have to pray that the other Guardsmen have
gotten her to safety. If not, she has potent magical powers just like
the other princesses. Those should keep her safe. I hope.
I exit a corridor, entering what was a small plaza -- now a scene a
scene of horror. Two dozen Guardsmen, most wearing the seal of Neptune,
lay slaughtered on the ground. Nine, what I can only call monsters,
stand amidst the carnage covered in blood. At the center of this
massacre is a woman in a gray uniform, holding a sword and a golden
shield. I recognize her from the descriptions I’ve heard. She must be
Zoisite, one of Queen Beryl’s Generals.
The vast majority of the people of the Moon Kingdom knew nothing or
little of the threat the Negaverse posed. But my closeness to Princess
Mars allowed me to learn a great many things the common man is unaware
of. Queen Serenity didn’t want to worry them while she still thought
there was a chance for peace. It looks as if the entire system is going
to pay the price for her mistakes.
I’m yanked from my thoughts as one of the monsters spots me and
gives out an ear-splitting shriek.
“Well, well, well, what have we here?” coos Zoisite as she sees me.
“Another lamb for the slaughter? Tell me your name, little lamb.”
I’m terrified, but I can’t give into the fear. I swore an oath to
protect my princess and the Moon Kingdom. For them I must be brave. I
may die, but I’m going to take as many of these bastards as I can down
with me.
“I am Sir Robert of Phobos and Guardsman to her highness Princess
Mars!” I shout as I draw my sword from its scabbard. “In the name of
Mars, I shall punish you for your evil!”
Did I really just say that?! Some of Eddie’s dumb sense of humor
must be rubbing off on me.
“That has got to be the silliest speech I’ve ever heard,” mocks
Zoisite as she gives off a hideous laugh. Then the monsters begin to
move in on me.
“No!” snaps the General. “This one is mine.” She pitches aside the
shield and marches toward me with a confident smirk on her face. “All
right, little lamb, let’s see what you’re made of.”
Zoisite gives her sword a playful twirl as she moves into a
fighter’s stance. From the grace of her movements, I can tell that she
knows the art of the duel well. But my father began teaching me the way
of the blade as soon as I could walk. I hope I learned enough to survive
this.
Zoisite opens with a lunge which I parry, spinning to the left as I
do so. She twists around and our swords clash.
“Well, little lamb, it looks like you might have some teeth after
all,” she sneers. “This could be fun.”
I respond with a slash, she with a parry. So it goes. Lunge, parry,
slice, cut, high, low, entries found, entries blocked, the sound of air
being sliced, metal clashing, grunts of exertion and pain.
Suddenly, Zoisite leaps into the air, does a backflip, and comes to
a landing several feet away. “Very good, little lamb. I’d love to stay
and finish this delightful duel to the death, your death, but I have a
kingdom to help conquer. Zoi!”
As she shouts, she thrusts her arm in my direction and I feel a
massive wave of force collide with my body. I find myself hurtling back,
impacting on a wall and crashing to the ground.
The pain is awful, burning through my consciousness like one of
Princess Mars’ fire arrows. It's getting dark, I realize dimly.
Gotta…fight it. I…can’t bla…blackout now.
White-hot pain sears my abdomen! It feels like my insides are on
fire!
I managed to open my eyes in time to see Zoisite finish pulling her
sword out of my body. She’s smiling. Blood. Blood on the sword. My
blood? It’s red like Princess Mars’s favorite dress. Sure is a lot of
it…
“I almost pity you, little lamb,” says Zoisite. “You’ll not live to
see the glorious dark kingdom the Negaverse shall build upon the ruins
of Queen Serenity’s realm. But, as the saying goes, life’s a bitch and
so am I!”
My sight is gone again but I feel the impact of her boot on the side of
my head. My head explodes again and I crumple to the ground.
“Like the saying? I came up with it myself,” gloats the General.
Though my ears are still ringing, I can hear Zoisite give off a final
laugh as she and her monsters depart.
So this is it. This is my death. Not quite what I had hoped for. My
friends, the princesses, they need me. I can’t die now. I try to move
but nothing happens. I start to feel a cold blackness creeping in.
They say that when you die your life flashes before your eyes. If
what I’m feeling now is anything to go by, it’s not true. All I see is
black. But I hear music. A song Princess Mars and I wrote together. It
was one of her favorites. If I strain I can just hear the words…
“Call my name and I'll be there
There's nothing like the laughter that we share
Whenever you need someone
Or a shoulder to lean on
Call my name and I'll be there”
I’m sorry, princess, Eddie, Sarah, all of you. I don’t think I’m
going to be there for you anymore…
~*~*~*~*~
“Bobby! Wake up, Bobby! Come on, wake up!”
What? I feel pain burning in my stomach. I manage to open my eyes
but it’s all blurry. After a moment, my eyes focus and I see someone
looking down at me.
“Sarah?”
“Oh, Bobby, I thought we’d lost you,” she says, tears streaming down
her face.
“You’re not…the only one,” I rasp. I glance past Sarah and see the
others standing a few feet away, looking battered and bruised. Eddie has
his left arm in an improvised sling, Roxy is sporting a nasty gash
across her forehead and Caitlin has a severe-looking cut on her right
leg.
“What happened?” I ask.
“It’s the Negaverse!” shouts Roxy, her eyes filled with tears and
hate. “Queen Beryl has won! The whole Moon Kingdom has been destroyed!”
No! It can’t be. It just can’t be. “The princesses. I…must find
the..Princess Mars,” I murmur. I struggle to get up but the pain jolts
me like a lighting bolt. Only Sarah’s quick reflexes save me from
falling.
“I don’t know how to say this, Bobby,” begins Caitlin, her voice
strangely hollow, “but the princesses are dead. All of them.”
“No!” I protest. I failed! I can’t have failed!
“It’s true,” proclaims Caitlin as her eyes to begin to water. “A
group of Beryl’s monsters called the Seven Shadows killed them. Princess
Serenity and Prince Darien are dead too.”
“I think we’re some of the last people still alive on the Moon,”
says Eddie. “We have to get you out of here. Once we’re someplace safe,
we can figure out how to avenge the princesses and everyone else the
Negaverse has killed.”
I start to reply but my body is rocked by another spasm of pain. My
eyes are starting to lose focus and I can feel the blackness creeping
upon me again.
“Guys, you…have to leave me,” insist. “I’m… don…done for. Save
yourselves. Ju…Just promise me you won’t let the Negaverse win without a
fight.”
“Save the self-sacrificing speeches for later,” snorts Roxy. “We’re
not leaving you behind.”
“It’s the five of us together, no matter what,” says Caitlin.
“Right on!” agrees Eddie.
I’m about to reply when it happens. A blinding white light appears
on the horizon and begins to blaze a trail our way.
“What the hell is that?!” shrieks Sarah.
“It’s the Negaverse! They’re destroying the whole Moon!” hollers
Eddie.
In the last few seconds before the light reaches us, I see Caitlin
hurl herself in front of us in a futile gesture of protection, Roxy and
Eddie grab each other in a panicky embrace and Sarah gives my hand a
hard squeeze. Looks like it’s really over this time and I failed to
protect the people I care about.
Then the light takes us.
~*~*~*~*~
Consciousness returns to me. I'm still alive? This is becoming a
habit. I open my eyes to a world of pink. Everywhere pink light shines
brightly. What's going on? Where are my friends?
"You mustn't fight this, Bobby," says someone.
"Who's there?!" I call. There's flash of white light, and suddenly a
tall woman with light pink hair is standing before me. I know her
instantly.
"Queen Serenity?!!" I gasp.
"Please, Bobby, don't fight this," says the Queen. "It's the only
way."
"Don't fight what? Please, my queen, tell me what's happening. What
happened
to my friends?"
Silently Queen Serenity places her hands over my eyes. When she
removes them the overwhelming pink light is gone. "You can see now,
Bobby. Behold the last moments of the Silver Millennium."
The first thing I notice is that the Queen and I are floating.
Bubbles every color of the rainbow are floating all around us. Inside
are people, faces I recognize. Princess Mars, Sarah, Prince Darien,
Eddie, Sir Alex, Princess Saturn, some of my fellow Guardsmen and even
my father.
"My Queen, what's going on?" I ask.
"This is the end of our world, Bobby," she replies. "I have used the
power of the Silver Imperium Crystal to banish Queen Beryl and her
forces back to the Negaverse and seal them there. Hopefully forever."
"But the crystal is powered by your own life-force, my Queen," I
say. "To do such a thing--"
"It had to be done," interrupts Serenity. "It was my mistakes that
allowed Beryl to destroy the Moon Kingdom. It is only fitting that I
give my life as restitution.
"Look around you, Bobby. I have gathered you, your friends, the
Princesses, as many of the children of the moon as I can, so that
something of our civilization will endure. You shall all be sent to the
future, to be reborn on Earth, to lives of peace free of the evil of the
Negaverse. I hope."
"But what if the Negaverse does return?" I ask.
"Don't fear, champions will arise to battle Queen Beryl and her
forces should they ever escape the Negaverse," assures Serenity. "Now
that you know your friends are safe, you must stop fighting this."
"Fighting what?"
"Turn around," orders the Queen.
I do so only to be filled with shock. Inside a yellow bubble I see
myself, lying still and unmoving. “Moons of Mars!” I gasp.
“That’s your mortal shell,” explains Serenity. “That is what is
anchoring you to this plane. You must stop fighting, Bobby. You must let
go.”
I turn to the Queen for guidance. “I don’t understand.”
“What were you thinking about just before the light took you?”
“My friends and the princesses,” I reply. “I was thinking about how
I let them down.”
“Exactly,” says Serenity. “The power of the crystal separated your
spirit from your body so that it could be sent to the future. But part
of you felt that you had let down the ones you loved. So your spirit
clings to your flesh and blood body. You must stop fighting, Bobby. Let
the power of the crystal do its work. If you continue to cling to this
plane you will truly and forever die.”
“But I let Princess Mars and the other Princesses die! I let my
friends get hurt! I wasn’t able to defeat Zoisite! I failed in my duty
as a Guardsman! Maybe I des--”
“No!” snaps the Queen. “Bobby, you fought as bravely and as hard
anyone. While you lay dying, your thoughts were not of pity for
yourself, but of concern for your friends. There is no finer example
anyone, Guardsmen, Princess, commoner or Queen could set.
“You have done your duty with honor and distinction, Sir Robert of
Phobos. Now your duty is over. Now you must leave this life behind.
Simply touch the bubble and your spirit will be on its way to a new
existence.”
I step toward to yellow bubble and reach out for it. Then I hesitate.
“But what of my friends and the princesses? Will I ever see them again?”
“Love, friendship and loyalty are powerful forces that can bind
souls together. Even across lifetimes,” smiles Serenity. “If your love
for the princesses and your friends is as strong as I believe it is,
destiny will draw you together again.”
Those words are good enough for me. I touch the bubble and the world
turns pink again. I feel myself getting tired. I begin to let go…
From somewhere far away I hear Queen Serenity whisper to me,
“Goodbye, Bobby. Never forget the power of friendship.”
I won’t, my Queen. Eddie, Caitlin, Roxy, Sarah, princesses, I won’t
forget you. Somehow, in this new life, I’ll find you. We’ll all be
together again. I promise…
The End