The Dawn Queen Returns(2nd Chronicle of the Dawn Arc) by Faerie Chapter 2 *********************************************************************** The fire crackled as Sailor Mars frowned in concentration. Her two loyal petbirds, Demos and Phobos settled on a nearby perch, quietly keeping watch. Finally, she opened her eyes and shook her head. "Looks like what is about to happen is unavoidable." she whispered ruefully to Neo Queen Serenity, who stood at the entrance. "I feared that...." "Serenity, put your mind at ease. Remember, you rescued the future in the past...nothing will be out of the ordinary now..." "But would Small Lady be able to bear this burden?" Mars got up and stood before Serenity. "She will be fine." seeing the uncertainty in Serenity's mind, Mars insisted more forcefully. " The young princess will be fine." ```````````````````````````````````````````````` In the far reaches of the Solar System, even after the icy planet of Pluto, was a dark and nearly invisible planet. Unbeknownst to anyone, it contained an evil that had was once human.... At that time, Phantom silently cackled as he carresed his black orb. The time was near...soon he would be able to get his revenge on those who called themselves sailor senshi. How humiliated he felt when Neo Queen Serenity banished him to this lonely planet. Everyone insulted and avoided him, all believing that he was evil..He tried to show them the true path of enligtment, away from the mystic control of the now Crystal rulers..but no...no one wanted to listened to him.... But now, he had the power. The fools who sent him here didn't know of the crystal that lay beneath the planet's surface, which had the power to distort time. With it, he obtain a power at the sacifice of his own human body. Using it's powers, he increased his abilities in a few short months in what would normally take centuries...with that power, he too seek out more of his kindred, those who despised the Moon people. Now all he wanted was the Imperium Crystal, a crystal knowned for its' rejuvenating powers. Of course, that meant that he had to obtain the flesh of the blond Moon Queen since only she could wield that power.....which reminded him of.... Prince Demando..pah! Phantom snorted in derision. The boy too longed for the Imperium Crystal, that could present some problems.... Phantom suddenly appeared in the royal hall where Prince Demando and his cronies were having a small banquet. All except the Prince, jumped in surprise. "What is it, Wiseman?" asked Prince Demando in his deep voice. "Your Highness, it is time we launched an attack on Crystal Tokyo , the stars are in our favor." replied Phantom in a mystic tone. Wise- man was merely an alias he gave them in order to protect his identity. "Hmm...he's right, it's time we crushed those idiots on Earth." cried Rubeus. "We now have enough power, thanks to the black crystal." "Very well. I too will go, it's been a long time since we've gone back to earth." Prince Demando rosed amidst cheers of his comrades. Wiseman silently congratulated himself. ````````````````````````````````````````````````` "I'M A PRINCESS!!!" yelled an angry Small Lady at the snickering boys before her. She hate them..all of them! How dare they say she was a commoner! "Ya, right. And I'm a monkey's uncle." laughed one of the boys, Barney was his name. "So you may live in a fancy palace, but you're definitely not a princess." "Barney's right. You don't even have that moony symbol like your Mom has. Heck, you can't even do the cool stuff she does. I bet you're adopted-" "I'M NOT ADOPTED! I'm the daughter of Momma and Daddy!" "Oh?!" snorted another boy as the other boys chuckled. "Have you ever seen the Imperium Crystal?" Small Lady stared back at him, at loss at what to say... "No? Then you can't be her true daughter, only a real princess would be able to touch the Imperium Crystal! You're just a klutzy, cry- baby phony!" Small Lady ran. Kept on running even until the mocking laughters behind her died off...she couldn't be adopted...could she...Her young face was covered by tears.....I'll show them, I'll show them that I'm a REAL princess... ~~~~~~~~~ She knew Momma would never allow her in the throneroom. The last time she had tried to enter, Sailor Jupiter had roughly carried her away...they wouldn't let her in even though she tried to wheedle them ...almost as though they were afraid she would steal it....almost as though..she had no right to even see it.... Small Lady shook her head, her pink odangos flipping. {No, I'm the true daughter of Neo Queen Serenity.} she told herself as she quickly glanced left and right, no one was around.....she slowly pushed open the doors and entered the throne room. In the middle of the room was a marble stand. On it hovered a beautiful crystal, glowing with a gentle light. Small Lady's face broke into a wide smile. This must be the legendary Imperium Crystal...it's so beautiful.... {I'm just gonna borrow it} Small Lady grabbed Luna P, her loyal robotic playmate and brought it smashing down on top of the glass casing. Immediately, beeping alarm bells sounded. "Small Lady?" Neo Queen Serenity's approaching voice rang out. Small Lady gasped and quickly hid behind a pillar. How did Momma knew she was in here? Neo Queen Serenity entered the throne room and saw the broken marble stand. She gasped and her the blood drained from her face...the Imperium Crystal was missing, that meant.... "Small Lady, where are you?" Fright and worry made Neo Qeen Serenity's voice grow higher. But to Small Lady, it sounded as though her mother was angry. "I better stay here until she cools down." She quickly attached the imperium crystal to the chain she wore around her neck. She heard Neo Queen Serenity hurrying out of the throne room, shouting for the Inner Senshi. ````````````````````````````````````````````````````` A loud sudden boom made Small lady wake up from her doze behind the pillar. She blinked in confusion and quickly grew scared. She ran out into the corridor. For some reason, she felt queasy. When she reached the main halls, she stared in shock. All the nobles were lying sprawled on the ground, like they were asleep...but they were gasping for breath....Small Lady let out a small whimper in fear as she ran to find her mother and father. Meanwhile, the Black Moon group were busily hacking down people. Prince Demando strode through the destruction, smiling at the fleeing people and those that lay strewn across the ground. Then he frowned, the consistent crying of a young child nearby was wearing apoun his nerves. He strode over and saw a little girl sobbing over a charred body...the result of Cathy's work. "Noisy little brat!" he grabbed the crying child by the neck and sucked her life force. The child only managed to let out a pained whimper before her plump body shriveled in a dry skeletal husk. "Small Lady?!" a melodious voice rang out behind him. Prince Demando turned and stared in amazement at the beauty before him. She had silky blond hair that was tied up into two odangos. Her gown was pure white and feminine, showing her womanly curves. But her forehead was engraven with a golden moon symbol...which meant...she was Neo Queen Serenity! Prince Demando silently congratulated himself on seeing the beauty first. She was everything his dream girl was...... Neo Queen Serenity on the other hand nearly fainted. The man was Prince Demando..the leader of the black moon kingdom! Then, she saw his hand clutching the skeletal remains of a young child and nearly choked in anger...how could he so cruel....so evil....what if that was Small Lady?! She challenged his gaze furiously, all her fears cast away as her mothering instict for the poor child took over. Prince Demando watched as Neo Queen Serenity's expression went from shock to plain disgust...no one had ever dared to show him that kind of humiliation before...He felt his blood boiling as he blindly blasted Neo Queen Serenity. Serenity froze as the energy zoomed towards her, slightly shocked. {So that's how I'm suppose to be injured} she thought as her raise her hand to protect herself. Suddenly, another crackling energy zoomed towards Serenity and surrounded her, effectively defusing Demando's attack. it then quickly crystallize, encasing Neo Queen Serenity into a statue like pose. "Who is there?!" demanded Demando. A lithe shape stepped out. It was a masked senshi who wore a strange outfit with bellbottom trousers. Grey designs adorned her fuku around the chest and hips. Her long dark flowing locks was held in check by a crystal bird with swooping wings. She stepped protectively before the frozen Neo Qeen Serenity. "Who are you?" demanded Demando again, feeling peeved. "Who am I is no concern of yours....listen to my voice..." the senshi droned on, her voice holding Demando in an hypnotic trance. "You will remember nothing of this incident..or of me....all you will remember is that Neo Queen Serenity was protected by the Imperium Crystal...do you understand?" "I do." replied Demando blankly. "That's good...then keyword to unlock your memory would be 'Sailor Cosmo Eos'. Understood?" At his nod, the senshi smiled and laid her hands on the crystal behind her, and vanished into a bright light. After the blinding flash, Prince Demando came out of his trance. He blinked, slightly disorientated. So that was the power of the Imperium Crystal.... ``````````````````````````````````````````````````` After gentling easing Neo Queen Serenity onto the altar bed she had given as a wedding present, Sailor Cosmo Eos once again encased her with quartz. At the sound of the approaching footsteps, Sailor Cosmo Eos hid behind one of the long curtains. The Inner Senshi gaped as they saw their Queen lying before them. "Oh my goodness..." exclaimed Sailor Mercury. "I..I thought we were the ones to encased her into the quartz?" "That's what I remember." "If we didn't do it...then who did?" asked Mars weakly. "Well...Endymion..*yawn*...maybe..." suggested Jupiter. Venus too stifled a yawn. "Um....I'm not feeling so good...." "Me too..." replied mercury, her legs buckling. "What's...going on...." yawned Mars as she struggled to remain awake...but soon the four senshi were snoring in peaceful slumber on the marble floors. "I'm so sorry to do this, senshi." murmured Sailor Cosmo Eos as she stepped out, patting the sleeping dust in her hands..."Now on to Chibiusa..." "There's no need." a serious voice made Sailor Cosmo Eos jumped. Sailor Pluto materialized. "She has already seen what needs to be seen. Now it's all up to my past self to help her." "Hmmm....and that means you're considered from the future." "Yes." Sailor Cosmo Eos shook her head. "Very confusing. So the reason you contacted me was to tell me NOT to meddle with the Black Moon King- dom and let Crystal Tokyo be destroyed was just to let destiny run its course?" "Yes." Sailor Cosmo Eos groaned. She then materialized her staff and quickly transported the still sleeping forms of the Inner Senshi into similar altar beds in the dancing hall. Already lying there was King Endymion and the two adult cats. "Would they be alright?" murmured Pluto. "Don't worry, as long as Serenity can reawaken, they will be alright. Though now..they can be considered 'dead'." Sailor Cosmo Eos inclined her head slightly. "Endymion will be alright, Pluto..." Sailor Pluto's hand only twitched slightly. She nodded and stroded out, leaving Sailor Cosmo Eos alone on the hall. Sailor Cosmo Eos sighed. "Love is blind indeed." she muttered. A sudden faint cry caught her attention. It was a little kitten, unconcious due to the poisonous air released by the Black Moon Kingdom. Noticing the crescent symbol on its forehead, Sailor Cosmo Eos transmitted a portion of her healing energy into the kitten and deposited it beside the forms of Luna and Artemis. She smiled and patted the little kitten before walking out of the hall. *********************************************************************************** Author Note: This chapter mostly follows the manga, especially the part where Chibi- usa gets the Imperium Crystal.... The reason I'm doing this is because it is more logical....also there is the strange rumor that Sailor pluto actually has a kinda crush on King Endymion....hey it's a rumor!...read the manga and find out yourselves.... If you're reading the "Dawn Queen Returns" before reading "The Chess Set"...I suggest you'd better go read the "Chess Set" first since you get to know Sailor Cosmo Eos better.... Oh! the incident about neo Queen Serenity nearly fainting when she sees Demando is because of a sense of deja-vu.....remember, he died in the past before she became the Queen, so it's kinda scary... Any comments or suggestions are welcome shoriana@yahoo.com http://futarikko.tripod.com/