Yay! Finally, the END of chapter three! Unfortunately, there is a fourth chapter to follow this one…though who knows when it will turn up?

The song sung by Queen Serenity is called ‘Goodnight, My Angel,’ and was written by Billy Joel, and the song at the very end was written by Billy Corgan, and is called ‘Bodies.’

Sailor Moon is the property of Naoko Takeuchi, Kodansha Comics and Toei Animation.

the persistence of memory

by Celeste Goodchild

chapter three:

And so it had come to pass.

Four generals. Four lives, four men, four personalities destroyed so easily by one all-encompassing darkness.

But the game was not over.

Not yet.

Not quite.

Not until the last star was extinguished.

These are the thoughts the Queen meditated upon as she over looked the perverse darkness encasing the earth like a smothering cocoon. The same darkness that was almost upon her own palace.

It was the Moon they had to destroy, after all. The heart of all things pure, the Kingdom built on love, purity…but most of all, peace. The peace of the cosmos.

Two of her daughter’s Senshi lay dead. And the four generals whom had once served under her daughter’s beloved were also dead – all had been murdered by perverted forms of love. Orpheus killed Adonis because he loved him, and wanted to hurt Adonis for making him hurt – because love hurt. Orion had killed Orpheus because Orpheus loved Adonis, and this love had broken the daemon Beryl’s control over him. Then, Perseus had killed Orion, because she thought death would release him from the Darkness. She was wrong. And Serenity knew it. With the death of the fourth, Hermes, executed by Aphrodite in partial revenge, partial love, over the death of her beloved friend and comrade, Deimos, Beryl had taken their roaming spirits, and they were gone.

Gone to the Darker Side of Nature.

Athena was still crying quietly beside her, being comforting by a similarly mourning Aphrodite. The two were the only remaining members of the eight guardians…

"We have to protect the Prince and Princess," whispered Aphrodite to the sobbing girl. Athena had been hit hard by the death of Orpheus. She had always believed, deep in her heart, that Orpheus would turn around. Instead, he lay dead on the floor of the ballroom of the palace of Earth.

"Selene and Endymion are here," spoke the Queen quietly. "And so is the darkness. Go, if you must. I have to stay here – it is from here I will speak with the demon Queen."

Athena’s eyes widened. "We can’t leave you here, alone! What if this…Beryl simply destroys the palace! We can’t let you stay in here!"

"And what of the Prince and Princess?" asked Serenity quietly. "They will now come in here – they are trying to help their people…they are on the balcony. Outside Selene’s room…go to them."

Aphrodite nodded, and took the unresisting hand of Athena. Both were still dressed in their Senshi seeming, and were ready for it all.

The final battle drew nigh, Serenity knew it in her heart. She sighed, holding the crystal close. She knew what was going to transpire…but she knew the role she had to play. She was only the implementor…she had no business disturbing the flows of time.

________________________________________________________________________

Selene stood beside Endymion, resting her head lightly on the shoulder of the Prince, who had wrapped a protective arm about her slender shoulders. The pair stood as a pair of watchful children on the balcony that lead out from the Princess’s personal chambers. The Moon Kingdom was being periodically destroyed by the forces of this Dark Kingdom, the evil form of the dark Empress Metallia hanging heavy in the sky.

"Where is this daemon Beryl? The one you told me is Metallia’s avatar?" asked Selene quietly. Even though she addressed Endymion, her greatest and most dearest love, she did not turn her pained eyes on the young prince…no, the young king. His father was dead. The title had passed to him.

Endymion also did not look to her, unable to tear his stunned gaze from the destruction being wreaked across the land that had been the embodiment of so many dreams. The basis of so many hopes…and the home of that mystical moonlight. The moonlight that was the guide for so many pathways…

"I am not sure," he murmured softly. "Selene…"

"Your guardians," she said softly, suddenly looking to the sky, where the silent orb of earth hung as a despondent reminder of what the Moon could suffer if they failed. "They are gone…"

He felt a tightening in his chest. "They all betrayed me…and Orpheus. He killed my father…I can never forgive them for all they’ve done."

The silence lasted only a moment as Selene gathered her thoughts. "They were not who they used to be, Endymion. And from what I know, Adonis never abandoned you."

"He did," he replied blankly. "He must have had ample opportunity to kill them, as they came to try to take him to whatever depths of Hell they arose from…but he didn’t. He let them live…and he let my father die."

Selene was rocked to the core by his quiet condemnation over the four men whom had been both friends and protectors to him. "Endymion, you didn’t honestly expect him to kill them, did you?"

"Why not?" His voice was bitter, angry. The wound of his father’s death was still raw, still fresh. "He knew that they were capable of the most heinous acts, yet he let them run amok…"

"Even you couldn’t kill Orpheus, even after he had killed your father," pointed out the golden-haired moon princess softly, still gazing over the beautiful fallen city, the smoke still rising from the fires. "Endymion, understand. What has happened is not your fault, neither is it theirs. Do not carry this anger with you always…it will only destroy you. Making a grand revenge from the ache in your heart will not make it go away."

"You haven’t lost as much as I," he said, though the words sounded weak to his own ears.

Selene bowed her head, tears suddenly slipping down suddenly pale cheeks. "Endymion, two of my greatest friends lie dead. And what of my remaining Senshi? They’ll fight to protect me from the inescapable confrontation between the daemon and myself, and surely, they too will perish…"

"How do you know they won’t turn too?" asked Endymion softly, and she ached to hear the distrust, the cynicism in that dear voice. "As my guardians turned against me?"

"You’ve been hurt, Endymion," she replied softly, wrapping her arms about him, pulling him around so that he stared directly into her large, luminous blue eyes. "I hate to see you so bitter, all because you’ve been so badly betrayed. But Endymion, love, don’t let such an episode turn you to stone inside – all those who love you will not abandon you. I love you, and I shall never leave you."

Endymion smiled at her sadly, and then he wrapped his long arms around him, and held her very close, so that their bodies were pressed so tightly together he was well aware of every inch of that glorious body. She too, pushed herself against him, enjoying the security of his arms, the pleasant sensation of being held so tightly to the man she had always loved above all others, even before she had known him.

"So sweet. It makes me nauseous."

The malicious words jolted both pairs of deep blue eyes open, yet they did not separate, did not turn from one another. Selene – Princess Serenity of the Moon Kingdom – felt the arms of her protector tighten around her. Then, he pulled away from her gently, and drew his sword slowly, turning to face the voice.

"Hello, Beryl," he said in a dull, dead voice. "Long time no see."

She smiled, raising a scarlet eyebrow. "I see you remember me, Endymion."

Selene was caught in a dead silence as she gazed upon the tall, imposing figure before her. She had never imagined that a single person could have such a twisted beauty to her – was such a thing possible? Long, scarlet hair fell down to a tiny waist, emphasised by the figure-hugging violet gown she wore. Impractical for fighting in, really – but still, this looked like one woman who would never need to fight physically.

"How could I forget you?" he whispered. "You were…the girl who used to talk to me when I was young…the only one who would ever treat me as if I were a real person, and not some aloof prince who didn’t have any feelings…"

"That was me," she replied, inclining her head. "Call it playtime – you intrigued me, little prince of earth. I wanted you from the day you were born, did you know that?" She smiled slightly. "I knew you were lonely…so I played your only friend."

"Until you abandoned me," he replied, his voice hardening. "You became just another tool in some evil force’s quest for ultimate power…you are just a tool! You’re being used, can’t you see that?!"

Beryl threw back her head and laughed. "Fool, Endymion! I was Metallia’s queen then, and I am her avatar now! My friendship with the child-prince was just to leave an imprint in your mind – I am your only friend, and your only love, Endymion!"

"You need to get out of the Dark Kingdom more often, Beryl," he replied, sounding as if he were on the verge of hysterical laughter. Only the soft touch of the princess’s hand on his arm kept him from completely losing his sanity. "So, you’re still talking to spirits, huh? Let’s face it, you’re a basket case."

Her eyes widened something terrible, and a slight monster lurking there suddenly reared up, baring its teeth. "ENDYMION!"

The scream echoed around the falling empire, and then, it fell silent. The only noise was the faint battle cries from far away. Her eyes glinted maliciously as she suddenly spread her arms wide, and four people appeared, two on either side of her. "See this, Endymion? Your so-called friends…all mine. They preferred my darkness over your light…can you honestly say that they were ever your friends?"

He gasped, his face paling as he looked to find four familiar faces…though all were lowered, all unconscious. Beryl may have taken their souls, but they were not fit to fight. "My…friends…"

"Never," she whispered in triumphant reply. "Never were they your friends, Endymion. I am the only one who would ever be your friend."

"That’s not true," came a voice from beside the prince – and Beryl’s eyes narrowed. "Ah, the brat who would be Queen of the Universe – let me tell you now, you and I need to have a little heart to heart."

"So you have one?" asked Selene, slightly candidly, slightly bitterly. "That’s not something I would be willing to stake my life on."

"Maybe I’ll just stake you," replied Beryl softly, her tone dark and dangerous. "You’d make a very pretty ornament…for my collection of fallen enemies."

She pulled back slightly, and then launched herself at the princess, a long dagger growing in her hands. "You want to try to stand between Endymion and I? Then I shall cut you down and-"

Endymion did not make a move to step before the princess. He didn’t need to.

The dagger sang as it collided with the two swords crossed between the princess, who stood strong and tall, regarding the avatar from behind the safety of the blades of her Senshi.

"I think a little bit of savage gardening is in order," breathed Venus heavily, as Beryl pulled back in shock. Mercury also turned pained eyes on the queen – the four silent men, all with heads bowed, floating two inches above the ground, were instantly recognisable to them. "So, you have taken our friends?"

She snarled, and then laughed. "Yes, four kings for one queen – call me a little excessive, but it’s fun to mix and match, don’t you agree?"

"I thought you only wanted Endymion," said Selene darkly, and Beryl laughed again.

"Dear princess, you should know that a Queen can do whatever she wants…and I shall. If I want Endymion, I shall have him. And I also want to see you dead – and so I shall."

Aphrodite calmly stepped in front of the blade aimed for the princess’s heart – she did not cry out as the sword passed though her. Her eyes were unwavering, and to the shock of all gathered, the blonde princess laughed as she fell to her knees. Beryl watched, stunned, as Aphrodite, princess of Venus, Senshi of the Moon Princess, laughed out loud.

"I guess that’s me done…I’ll see you in Hell, Beryl. Actually, no. I’ve been a good girl…I’ll just wait at the gates for you, and point and stare and laugh as you walk through them…because I’ll be forever happy knowing that I was right…and you were wrong. Love does triumph…even over you…even over you…" Her voice faded as she collapsed, the others watching in horror, Beryl in mild triumph. She waved her hand, the four silent kings vanishing – and then she stepped closer, standing over Venus’s body, with the puddle of growing blood.

"And then it was only you," she said in soft tone directed at Athena, conjuring a new sword. The last still lay in Venus’s warm body. "Does the last Senshi wish to stand up for her princess before I kill her?"

Mercury did not tremble. She was not afraid to die. "You took the musician?"

Beryl cocked an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"Orpheus was a musician," she replied softly. "He once told me he could play to make the stones weep – but you are harder than stone. Nothing could make you cry – therefore, no one shall ever cry for you. The fact that I would stand up for my princess is strange to you – yet I shall do it. Because I love her. And I loved Orpheus. Love drives us to do many strange things. You wouldn’t understand that, however. The day you know love will be the day I take my own back."

With that, the Senshi of Mercury threw herself at the Queen, who simply threw up a wall. She hit it – and fell slowly. She didn’t murmur a word – and she barely looked touched.

She wasn’t breathing.

"And then there were three," Beryl said aloud in triumph. Selene’s pretty face was streaked with her silent tears, but she had not said a word throughout the murders of her guardians. She had known it would come to this – she had foreseen it, even better that Deimos ever could have. "And you know what they say – two’s company, but three’s a crowd."

Calling upon Metallia’s great power, the avatar screamed the name of her master in triumph, as the daemon moved to through upon its power. "Endymion, dear little moon princess – you should both die for your pathetic devotion to one another – and this exalted love you all speak of so greatly…but you just don’t realise. Your loves will never come to fruition – life’s not fair, is it?"

Endymion pushed the Princess Serenity backwards, ready to take the brunt of the power for her as Beryl disappeared from the balcony, to watch the show from a safer angle. However, the princess did not let him go. "I’ll never let you be alone again," she promised, and in the split second before the blast rocked them, they had a true moment of peace. When the universe seemed to be filled with their great and powerful love.

________________________________________________________________________

Serenity looked up from her quiet meditations on the crescent moon wand, dropping it as she felt the power surge outside her palace. Luna and Artemis gasped in horror to hear the explosion – and the desperate cry.

________________________________________________________________________

"Endymion!" Selene screamed in agony as the blast rocked them apart, sending them both spiralling upward into the winds of Metallia, dark power to hold them apart.

"Selene."

It was not a cry. It was just the way he had always said it. He simply held out his long fingered hand to the princess, and smiled sadly. "Take my hand."

She reached, and by some greater force, they drew closer, and joined hands. The power of their love was somewhat greater than the hatred Metallia held in her hands.

"This will not be," she murmured quietly, and Metallia threw the greatest force of her dark power at the pair.

________________________________________________________________________

Serenity and the two cats burst from the throne room, running across the ruined courtyard, the official name of both she and her daughter screaming from her throat. "Serenity!"

The two lovers, caught forever in the deep eternal sleep of death, floated into the sky silently, tears still falling like shimmering pearls from Selene’s closed eyes. Together at last – but the spirits of Endymion and Selene were separated by a span of uncaring universe.

But that’s not quite true – their spirits are still within the grasp of the Silver Crystal…and if they are harnessed, then and only then, will there ever be peace here once more…

Serenity called the Silver Crystal from the cosmic pocket where it lay, and then quietly spoke the words to bring the Crescent Moon Wand into her hands. The two cats looked up in shock as the woman placed the crystal into the setting designed to hold it in place on the golden crescent. It shone with a slightly subdued power as she did so – but they knew a greater power was hidden in that latent gem.

"If you use the silver crystal, you won’t have any strength left," protested Luna weakly, while Artemis stood behind her with similarly bleak eyes.

Queen Serenity, gentle and true ruler of the Dark Kingdom, simply smiled sadly. "From the moment we are born, we are fighting a losing battle against time. We are born with only so many breaths, and when we use them up, we die." She looked to the sky, eyes shining with tears. Beryl watched her warily, not sure how to react to the Queen’s quiet acceptance of her fate.

"Luna, Artemis – I have two choices. I am to die tonight…and I can either die in vain, or I can die with peace in my heart, knowing my daughter, her prince, and her Senshi are safe…even if the generals are lost, all is not lost…" She raised her moon wand, and smiled as she said "Moon healing escalation…"

The powerful voice of the elegant, eloquent queen seemed to make the world melt around her, so that the universe narrowed down to three things – her eyes, her energy, and the ginzuishou. The Silver Crystal.

Beryl reared back, shocked beyond belief. She had heard of the crystal, she knew its power – but she had never seriously believed that Serenity would dare use it. Not when the price was so steep.

________________________________________________________________________

And then, the entire land was bathed in the silent glow of the crystal. When the ethereal glow faded, the silence stayed. For the entire celestial body was abandoned. The crystal had wrapped its long fingers around every spirit near it, and drawn them into the power. Only three notable exceptions remained – the ones the crystal had left, for they were too close to the crystal itself to be caught in its tractor beam. The crystal had taken them all…and left a simple silence behind it.

________________________________________________________________________

Serenity took the crystal gently from where it was set in the wand, her pale hand wrapping around the gently glowing crystal.

The Moon Kingdom lay fallen. And so did its last member. Serenity was leaning against the fallen pillar of one of her palace’s rooms, her smile still so wistful, yet with hidden strength.

Luna and Artemis watched her, pride building in their hearts. Yet they too knew the consequences of such actions. "Your majesty…you’ve done it."

"Yes…" she whispered, and she cast her dying eyes on the orb of the earth. "I trapped them all…inside the power of the crystal." She then laughed, almost bitterly. "I am the one who kept Beryl alive – because I could not bear to lose my only daughter…"

"What do you mean?"

"If I were to destroy the evil, I would end up destroying my daughter and her guardians too. The crystal’s power is not that selective…thus, they are all inside the power of the crystal. I will send this crystal to earth…though upon arrival in the atmosphere, Beryl and her psychotic menagerie will be sent back to whatever Hell spawned them…but Selene and her court, they will sleep. I do not know for how long…but until the crystal awakens them again."

"But…when it enters the atmosphere, would that not be the perfect chance to destroy the evil?" asked Artemis eagerly, and Serenity smiled in amusement, her eyes closing.

"Silly…I will be dead then. There is no more time for me…but Selene, she has her life spread out before her…and you two shall guide them all…"

Luna nodded, and bowed her head respectfully. "Of course, your majesty." They could not argue with the dying queen, who now seemed on the verge of tears. As they watched, she began to whisper a song to her daughter, as she let the crystal drift into the sky from her upturned palm. "Goodnight, my angel, now it’s time to sleep – and still so many things I want to say…I think I know what you’ve been asking me, I think you know what I’ve been trying to say…but you should always know, wherever you may go…I never will be far away…" She turned glistening eyes on the two moon cats, and smiled sadly. "You know what you must do," she whispered, and they nodded. They turned towards the Earth, and closed their eyes, bowing their heads. As they did so, the crescent moons on their foreheads began to glow, encasing them in the golden glow of their guardianship. And the silver crystal, still hanging in the sky, began to pulsate with a pure white light…and then! ! it was done.

It a matter of seconds, Queen Serenity, sole surviving member of the Moon Kingdom, was alone. Her child, her subjects, thousands upon thousands of sleeping souls…all inside the power of a single crystal. Though Beryl was already back in her own world…probing with the fading magical abilities of her mind, Serenity could sense the Dark Kingdom…and the weakness of the doorways between their worlds. When Beryl regained her former strength, she could attack the earth whenever she pleased…

"But…Selene lives…as she always will," murmured Serenity, tears still streaming down her cheeks. But as the Queen closed her eyes forever, her face held a gentle, beatific smile. The crescent wand fell from her lax grasp, but it never hit the ground, instead vanishing into cosmic oblivion, where it waited for its new mistress to summon it.

The dying Queen’s last words seemed to hang heavy in the air as the Kingdom vanished into the past, leaving a desolate, barren moon. Without its children, the Moon Kingdom could never flourish, and thus became an oxygen-less satellite that the people of earth would forever look upon and wonder at. They may have forgotten the Queen and her kingdom, but she had never forgotten them. She sent to them her greatest gift – her only daughter. And she blessed them, even in death.

* * *

Puck sighed heavily as he finished the story, Alexander watching him with wide eyes. "Whoa, what a story, Uncle Owen…is it a true story?"

As he transformed into his human seeming, Puck meditated on telling Alexander the full story, about what was surely going to come to light later. Though Alexander did not know, he was actually a part of the whole mess. But still…innocence was bliss.

"Partly – at least, in the other dimension, it is true," he replied, in his usual monotonous voice. A tinge of warmth coloured his words, however. The young child always had that affect on the otherwise staid man. Alexander smiled. "I feel kind of sorry for them all…is that the end of the story? It isn’t, is it?"

Owen thought he would have been surprised, but he was wasn’t. "You’re very perceptive, Alex. No, that is not the end of the story – but it is the end of story hour. Your mother will crucify me for keeping you up so late."

Alexander nodded, and cuddled down into his blankets. Owen reached over to tuck him in tightly, before walking to the doorway. He watched the child silently from the door for a few moments, wondering why he felt so – empty?

Alexander looked up, and smiled sleepily. "’Night Uncle Owen."

"Goodnight, Alexander," he murmured, and flicked the switch off.

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As he sat in his darkened office later, he listened to a CD quietly, the words reverberating through his head. They seemed to speak of that fallen kingdom, so many years ago…

So, what did you think of my lovely screwed up version of the Silver Millennium? Write to me and tell me…I’d love to hear from anybody and everybody! Heeheehee…