Chapter 3

Father Chronos was sitting on his throne when they arrived. Hotaru and Reenie were sleeping soundly in his lap. “Were they much trouble?” Sailor Moon asked as he handed Hotaru to her.

Chronos smiled and replied, “My dear, taking care of beautiful children such as these has never been a chore to me. But I must admit, I wouldn’t do it too often.” After he handed Reenie to Venus, he sat up and cleared his throat. “Now then, where is this thief?”

“Right here, Father,” Earth answered quietly, lowering his eyes to the ground.

Chronos was clearly surprised, but remained silent.

The trial was set to take place a few hours later. Chronos was to preside over it. Unlike the system on Earth, Chronos was judge, jury, and executioner here. The courtroom setup was almost exactly the same, though. When Sailor Earth emerged, he was surrounded by armed guards, and his hands and feet were chained together. But when he reached the appointed place for him, he was forced to kneel. Chronos frowned heavily on criminals, especially ones who committed crimes of this magnitude. He demanded respect from them, no matter what their status. This same rule clearly applied to Sailor Earth as well.

“What are we waiting for, Pluto?” Jupiter asked. “Shouldn’t the trial begin now?”

Pluto responded, “No, my friend. There is one more who is not yet here.”

A few moments later, a bright light filled the room, and something that resembled an angel floated down from the ceiling. She quickly took her place next to Chronos, looking more radiant and beautiful than most had ever seen her. She wore a long dress of pure white, which sparkled with many diamonds.

Chronos stood up and began to speak, his voice echoing around the room. “Sailor Earth, you are charged with the theft of the Time Staff. How do you plead?”

But Earth remained silent, partially because he was staring at the lovely Queen Serenity. One of the guards placed a hand on his shoulder, and Earth blinked and looked up. “I am guilty of the crime, Father Chronos. I will not deny it.”

Chronos nodded grimly and spoke again. “I am sure that on the planet Earth, such a confession would earn you leniency in the time of sentencing. But you would do well to remember, this is not Earth, and the Lord of Time is anything but lenient! The penalty for such a crime here is death, and that is the law!”

Gentle Queen Serenity placed a hand on Chronos’s arm. “Hold, Time Lord. I would like to speak in Sailor Earth’s defense.” She walked slowly towards Earth and stood next to him, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. The guards surrounding him quickly backed away, for only a fool would dare to stand in Queen Serenity’s path.

Serenity stared down at Earth as she spoke, and the look in her eyes could only be described as one of everlasting love. “Shortly before the fall of the Moon Kingdom, I begged Mother Moon to spare my family. She complied, but only if I gave my life in exchange for theirs. As you can clearly see, I made good on my part of the agreement. So Mother Moon spared my precious daughter and her friends, and gave them new lives on Earth.” At this point, Serenity paused and looked at the Sailor Scouts, her gaze lingering on Sailor Moon. When she began again, tears flowed from her eyes.

“Unknown to the entire Moon Kingdom, save only a select few, the Moon Princess was not my first child. My firstborn child was a boy, and I loved him dearly. But the prophecies of Mother Moon were law at that time. She had made it very clear that the heir to the throne would be a girl, and that if any boys came before her, they were to be sacrificed. I couldn’t bear to part with my beloved son, so I raised him in secret, and when he was old enough, I made him my royal advisor. I named him Luke, Latin for ‘light-bringer,’ because of the light he had brought into my life.

“As I earlier stated, my covenant with Mother Moon spared my family, and I declare officially that this day, Sailor Earth is my first child, my only son, and I will not allow him to die, despite his crime against you, Chronos. To end his life would break the vow that Mother Moon made to me, and even you would not dare to do such a thing as that.” Serenity kneeled down and drew Earth into a loving embrace, placing an affectionate kiss on his forehead.

“Thank you, Mother,” he whispered.

Chronos approached the two and helped Earth to his feet. “You will not die, Moon Prince, but you broke the law, and you must be punished. Therefore, I will give you three choices, but you must suffer a loss. You will either lose your powers, your memories of the Moon Kingdom, or the immortality that was given to you by Sailor Pluto when you were just a child. You will lose one of these things, but I swear to you, you will not lose your life. You have exactly twenty-four hours from this moment to make your decision. Good luck, my friend. This court is adjourned for the night.”

The man known as Sailor Earth sat very still, staring at the chains on his hands. He didn’t like the chains, but he was glad to see that his hands were now clean of their past sins. He had regained his title, as well as his family. For the first time in a very long time, he was truly happy and at peace with himself.

Sailor Moon was the only one to visit him. She had just stared at him at first, but finally, she threw her arms around him. There were no words to express the joy he felt as he held her in his arms. “I don’t understand,” she said at last. “Why didn’t you tell me you were my brother?”

Earth shook his head. “I couldn’t do that, dear sister. Our mother hid me from the day I was born, and swore me to secrecy. It was the only way to save my life. I wanted to tell you, but I knew the risk all too well.”

Father Chronos entered a few moments later, with Pluto at his side. Queen Serenity was right behind them, along with the other Scouts. “Have you made a choice yet, Earth?” Chronos asked.

“There is one thing I must know first, Father,” Earth said. “If I choose to lose my memories of the Moon Kingdom, would I also lose the memories of my sister?”

“I’m afraid so,” Chronos replied. “Any memories that you have of Sailor Moon, in any form, would be totally erased.”

Earth was silent for a few moments. “I have made my decision, Father. I will give up my immortality.” Pluto frowned at this, but said nothing.

Chronos nodded. “Very well, my friend. But I must ask what made you come to this decision.”

“It’s very simple, Father,” Earth explained. “If I gave up my powers, I could no longer help the people of the planet I swore to protect. I could never give up the memories of my family, let alone the Moon Kingdom. The price would be too great.”

The old man laid a frail hand over Earth’s heart. Instantly, Earth fell to the ground, and a red pill shot out of his mouth. Chronos caught the pill and crushed it in his hand.

Sailor Moon gently helped her brother to his feet. The chains on his hands and feet came unlocked, and Earth quickly took them off. “You are now free to go, Moon Prince,” Chronos said. “Farewell, Chosen One.”