Chapter Seven “Mama where are we going?” Serenity asked, almost having to run to keep up with the Queen’s brisk pace. “To the palace scanning rooms. I want to show you girls something.” She said tersely, turning a corner and stopping in front of a large, arched doorway. Placing her palm on a panel next to the door, she uttered something none of them could hear, and the door slowly slid open. “Come, this way,” she said, and took off again into the darkness beyond the door. The princess linked arms nervously and entered the darkness, unsure of where they were being led. Suddenly a light was turned on ahead, and they could see the silhouette of the queen in a brightly lit doorway. “Do hurry girls, there is no time to dawdle. This is serious.” The girls obeyed and hurried through the door into the room beyond, and jumped slightly as the door slid shut with a bang behind them. When they turned back to look at the room, they saw Faith and Hope leaning over what looked like some sort of computer screen, the queen standing next to them with an expectant look on her face. “Over here girls. You should see this.” She said, her voice tense. The five girls crowded around the screen, looking over the two sisters’ shoulders. “A radar screen?” Ami said, looking at the two sisters. “Sort of. This device monitors the activity of dark energy in our galaxy. Since the rebels were brought under control, the balance has been under control as well, the good energy in the galaxy at a level which was more than enough to keep everyone safe. But look here….” Hope said, pointing at a certain spot on the screen. Beneath her finger was a rather small dot of bright red, which seemed to be growing slightly. “What is that?” Minako asked softly. Just then Rei cried out, and everyone looked over at her. She stood back a few paces, holding her head in her hands, her eyes wide, sweat dripping down her face. “The darkness……is coming……..Queen Serenity we have to stop it!” she exclaimed, turning horrified eyes to the Queen. She walked over to her, reaching out a shaking hand to touch her arm. “When….when Hope touched the screen…..I got a terrifying vision…….of a burning palace……and people, thousands of people screaming in agony……oh my Queen what is that?” Queen Serenity turned solemn eyes to the screen, gently brushing Rei’s hair back behind her ears. “That, my dear princesses, is the rebel planet that supposedly surrendered to us. It has become saturated with dark energy, and the darkness is spreading. Your intuition was correct, Princess Ami,” she said, looking at the Mercurian princess. “The surrender was too easily gained. They must have been lying to us, and have been building their fighting power all this time.” Ami looked at the Queen, then back at the screen thoughtfully. “But……. that doesn’t make sense…..” she said. “Hope, you said that the balance of good and evil had stabilized immediately after the surrender, didn’t you?” Hope nodded. “Well that couldn’t have happened if they were building up their power. If anything the balance would have been upset further, but it certainly wouldn’t have stabilized. Something else must have happened, someone or something has taken over that planet. But what could it be?” she wondered. The other girl looked at each other, then to the Queen. She nodded, knowing their thoughts. “Yes, I am afraid I know who that someone is. It must be Queen Metallia.” Ami looked at her in confusion. “Who is Queen Metallia?” she asked. The Queen sighed. “She was my ally once. She was the Queen of the Moon in a neighboring galaxy, long before any of you were born.” She said, looking at the princesses. “But she wanted things for this universe that would have caused more trouble than good. She let her power corrupt what was once a good heart, and soon led a revolt against me and our galaxy for opposing her. Those rebels at the edge of the galaxy were probably the last remnants of her campaign. Your parents aided me in driving her forces back and in setting up a shield that would keep her out of our galaxy forever, and we cut off all ties with her. But she must have found a way to break through the shield, and take over a planet that was still susceptible to her dark energy.” She looked at the radar screen, where the dot which had been only the size of the head of a pin had grown to nearly three times that size. “Now she is stronger and is spreading back into our galaxy. This could be big trouble.” Suddenly Minako cried out. “Wait! If she has taken over the rebel planet, then…….” She stopped, afraid to say what she was thinking. The Queen walked over to her, placing a concerned hand on her shoulder. “What is it?” she asked softly. Minako looked up at her with tears in her eyes. “Kunzite and the other generals were there! What if something happened to them?” The other girls gasped, and tears appeared in Ami’s eyes. ‘Oh no…..Zoisite………my love…..’ she thought, sorrow once again threatening to over whelm her. She shook the feeling off and looked at the Queen. “You said our services could be helpful, my Queen…” she said. “How can we help?” The other girls exchanged looks of understanding, knowing what it meant for them. Queen Serenity walked over to her intelligent friend and placed her hands on her shoulders, looking down at her with solemn eyes. “I had wanted for you to discover this for yourself, dear Princess of Mercury, but I am afraid I have no choice.” She pulled out what looked like a pen, but had a star on the top with her planet’s symbol in the center. “Ami…..you are one of the legendary sailor senshi destined to guard this galaxy. The others are senshi also, but they discovered this on their own. For reasons unknown to me, your time to know never came, and so I am telling you myself. I need you……this galaxy needs you……to drive Metallia’s dark energy out of our galaxy as your parents did so many years ago, but this time for good.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ .:Chapter Eight:. .:FanFiction Home:.