Author's Note

This story was my attempt to "fix" some of the problems with the American dub of "Sailor Moon." I wrote a Sailor V story and a Prologue and was going to write the entire first series.season in prose form. My interest in Sailor Moon has gone down since then, but mu interest in anime and HTML has gone up. That's why I've created an HTML version of my old short story. I might still write some more Sailor Moon stories, including the sequel to this one that I've had planned for a while. We'll see, it might be nice to explore the Sailor Moon universe again.

You should also note that this story might contradict the episode of "sailor Moon" that explains just what Sailor v was doing in England. Unfortunately that episode was never dubbed into English, so I've never seen it. Consider this story as having taken place before what happened in that episode. If I manage to find the episode someplace, I'll either work out the contradictions or try to explain them here.

On the subject of "correcting" the dub, I've taken "Negaverse" as the dimension that the "Dark Kingdom" was sent to. I've also kept the name "Malachite" for Kunzite because they evidently had a good reason for changing it (the mineral was named after a person).

Enjoy!

The Silver Millennium was a time of peace and prosperity, for the Kingdom of the Moon and the Kingdoms of the other planets. Only one planet did not belong to the Silver Millennium, the tenth planet, Metallia. It's Queen, Beryl, ruled with an iron fist, because she was the only one who had been able to tap fully into the power of Metallia. The planet was eternally plunged into war. Out of this had emerged four warlords, Jadeite, Nephlite, Zoicite, and Malachite. They each ruled a sizable amount of territory. When the entire planet had been conquered and the warlords had fought each other to stalemates, they turned to see the rest of the Solar System. Beryl called the Four Warlords together and they swore to become her Generals. Calling themselves the Dark Kingdom, they challenged Serenity and her Silver Millennium. Beryl destroyed the colonies on the outer planets first: Pluto, Neptune, Uranus, and Saturn. Then she turned to the inner planets, making a base on Earth, on the island known as Atlantis. When she had destroyed Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, and Venus she turned to the Moon. The destructive energies she unleashed destroyed the continent of Atlantis but she was unprepared for the force of Queen Serenity's counter. She had saved the Sailor Warriors and the Guardians for last, but before she could attack them Serenity sacrificed herself and sent their spirits into the future, along with Endymion, the Earth prince. With her final thrust of power Queen Serenity sent Beryl, the Dark Kingdom, and all of Metallia into another dimension. With her last breath Serenity surveyed the destruction. The Colonies had all been destroyed, the Earth was in ruins thanks to Beryl's presence, and the Moon Kingdom lay as rubble. A tear rolled down Serenity's cheek as she released the Silver Crystal to the future.

In the dark dimension, Queen Beryl awoke. She could feel the power of Metallia there with her, as well as the Four Generals. The first order of business was to create a palace. Summoning a small part of her power, Beryl recreated the palace she had occupied on Earth. With a physical structure now present, the Four Generals arrived.

"Our first priority is to reopen the portal between this dimension and our own," Beryl informed them, "Malachite will lead that effort." Malachite was the oldest, most experienced, and most powerful of the Generals.

"Yes, My Queen," the white-haired general replied. He vanished, gone to amass his troops.

"Now, then," Beryl continued, "one of you four will lead the invasion of the other dimension. I do not expect Malachite's task to be an easy one, so you will have a long time to please me into choosing you."

Artemis awoke from his sleep, hardly realizing that he was not a normal cat. He ran nearly on instinct until he came to a pool of water. Seeing the crescent shape on his forehead awakened some of the memories. He realized he must find the Moon Princess and the other Sailor Soldiers and protect them in case the Dark Kingdom returned. He looked around and realized he was in a park. Wondering where to begin looking, he began scouting the park, hoping to discover what continent he was on.

In Japan, several things were happening. The Seven Rainbow Crystals were being born into seven individuals, the Sailor Soldiers were being reincarnated, and the Silver Crystal was preparing for the arrival of the Dark Kingdom. In the Dark Kingdom Malachite was leading the search for a dimensional portal. They had found three weak spots in the fabric of the dimension, all of them located on Earth. One was in Tokyo, Japan, another in London, England, and another somewhere in the Arctic. The portal into England was the strongest (being located, actually, over Stonehenge) but the energy there was making it almost impossible to use. The portal in the Arctic was the largest, but possessed the smallest amount of energy, making it unusable until more energy was gathered. The portal into Tokyo would allow several beings to cross over, presumably one of the Generals and several of his youma. The Dark Kingdom prepared to begin their invasion anew.

It had taken Artemis more than five years to find the first of the reincarnated Soldiers. It had taken him four years to determine the right time to approach her. But it had only taken Aino Minako a few weeks to get used to being Sailor V. Artemis had decided that advertising her as Sailor Venus was too risky, so he had redefined the parameters of the transformation device to produce a new identity. He had to admit (although he was more partial to felines), Minako looked great as Sailor V.

It was an overcast day in London, and a chilly wind was blowing. Artemis had calculated Stonehenge as the point of a portal from the Negaverse, but their were too many things that didn't make sense. Stonehenge simply didn't offer enough of an opportunity for a portal. Artemis jumped down from the desk. Typing on a keyboard always made his paws sore from jabbing at the keys. And it was slow going, having to hit them one at a time. Mina was lying on the bed in the dorm room. Artemis had used his powers of persuasion to "convince" them that she needed her own room. Wouldn't do to have her roommate drop in a faint every time Sailor V was needed.

Artemis jumped up on the bed and prodded Mina with his claw. She opened her eyes and looked at him.

"What is it, Artemis?" she asked softly.

"I've figured out where it's most likely the Dark Kingdom will open a portal from the Negaverse," he told her. "The energy signatures are getting stronger and stronger, centered around Stonehenge. We may need Sailor V there soon."

Mina sat up. "Well, then, we'd better get ready!" Grabbing her transformation pen, she shouted: "MOON POWER TRANSFORM!" In the shimmering lights she became Sailor V.

Above Stonehenge, a white light, perfectly shaped into an archway, appeared. Malachite stepped through and floated gently to the ground.

"Ah, so this is England," he mused, "Well, it will soon fall to the power of the Dark Kingdom!" He laughed. Looking up at the portal, he called: "Caltrop! Appear at once!"

From the portal dropped a teen-age boy. His black hair was severely tousled and he wore blue jeans and a white T-Shirt. His eyes were solid black. Malachite looked him over.

"I see you have already assumed human form," he said to the youma, "Excellent! You will go into the town closest to here and survey the situation. See if these people are right for Queen Beryl's energy-draining operation."

"Of course, Lord Malachite," Caltrop replied and vanished into the shadows.

"CRESCENT BEAM!"

Suddenly, a yellow beam shot into the stone near Malachite's head. He looked up in surprise.

"I am Sailor V, champion for love and justice! I know about the Dark Kingdom and you won't get a chance to hurt innocent people! Prepare to pay!"

Malachite sneered. "Ah, Sailor V, how nice of you to drop by, but I'm afraid I'm on my way out. Do forgive my lack of hospitality, but don't leave empty handed!" A spear of energy formed in his hand, which he hurled at Sailor V.

"SAILOR V CHOP!"

She dodged and then chopped the spear, causing it to lose momentum and drop. It faded as it his the ground. Sailor V rubbed her singed hand.

"SAILOR V KICK"

She launched herself at Malachite, but he had seen her coming and teleported to the side.

"Well, Sailor V, I really have no time to play, Bye Bye!" He launched several large energy darts at her before disappearing. He reappeared at the portal.

"Have fun!" he called down to her, laughing. The energy darts hit the stone she was standing in front of, causing it to fall on top of her in pieces. Artemis ran up as she was trying to dig herself out. The portal had vanished.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he ran up to her. She lifted a few large stones and rolled them to the side.

"I'm fine, nothing a little bed rest can't cure," she groaned as she finished uncovering herself, "I'm just lucky he doesn't have better aim."

"You're lucky none of those stones fell on your head," Artemis admonished, "C'mon, we'd better get you back to the dorm."

Mina dragged her back to the dorm room and collapsed on her bed. Artemis worked on the computer for a little white, then went to check on Mina. Feeling her with his paw, he didn't see any signs of broken bones. After he had finished making sure that her ribs were all intact, he fell asleep curled up on her stomach.

Caltrop had entered a large British pub. The barkeep noticed him come in.

"Hey, kid, yer in the wrong place. This 'ere's a serious drinkin' establishment!"

Caltrop went up to the bartender and looked him in the eye, as if he was looking for something. The combination of his attitude and the blackness of his eyes caused the bartender to be taken aback.

"Hey, kid, what's wrong?" he stammered.

"Perfect!" Caltrop mused. He held his hand out in front of the barkeep's forehead and began draining energy.

"Not bad," he remarked as the barkeep dropped to the floor, "It will take a little getting used to, but not bad."

Several of the patrons noticed him and the barkeep and got up, suspecting trouble and looking for a fight. They advanced on Caltrop. He looked at them a little hesitantly; he could only drain their energy one at a time and didn't want to reveal himself in a fight. He quickly ducked out of the bar. The group of men followed him, but when they got outside there was no trace of him.

The next day Minako was feeling better, although still sore in most places. She was glad that being Sailor V offered her a little extra resistance to injury. She walked down to breakfast, Artemis following along behind her. She ate, giving Artemis the rest of her food when she was finished.

Her day at school was fairly uneventful. She was getting more and more used to classes in English, and speaking the language better. She found she actually did a little better on tests and quizzes in England, although she had forgotten to do her Math homework the night before, her fight against Malachite had taken up plenty of her time, and she had needed to recuperate. She managed to convince the teacher to let her hand it in tomorrow for half credit, telling her a story about having had to visit a relative who lived in England.

"Good old Uncle Malachite," she thought as she went to her next class.

Caltrop returned to the Negaverse. He went to Malachite's audience room, located near his quarters. He still wore his human disguise, he wanted it to be as easy as possible to maintain it. Soon he stood before Malachite.

"Well, Caltrop, what have you learned?" the General asked.

"Much, my lord. I have learned that this human energy is indeed of use to us, and it is relatively easy to gather. I drained one human, but had to flee a large group or risk revealing myself."

"Very good, Caltrop. I will send you down with an energy gathering crystal, so that we may analyze this human energy. I will also make arrangements for your full infiltration of human society. Go and await your return."

"Yes, Lord Malachite."

The next few days progressed uneventfully. Later in the week the teacher introduced a new student into one of Minako's classes, a boy named Phillip. He had tousled black hair and looked vaguely ill at ease in the school uniform.

"You can sit in the empty seat next to Minako," the teacher told him, "Phillip is also an exchange student, from America. He will be spending the next two months with us here."

"Hmm, he is kinda cute," Mina thought. She noticed his eyes were very dark, they looked black. It gave him an odd effect, as if he had giant pupils instead of irises.

"Still kinda cool," Mina thought. She spent the rest of the class looking at him out of the corner of her eye and thinking up ways to get to know him. She missed everything the teacher said up until: "...due tomorrow. See you all then."

"Uh..." Mina scanned the blackboard hastily to find any sign of the next day's assignment. Not finding anything, she turned to Phillip.

"Excuse me, I didn't catch the assignment," she said.

"It was to answer the six questions on page 78," he told her.

"Thanks!" she said and started to gather up her books. Phillip walked with her to the door.

"Err, do you think you could help me out at lunch, I really want to be able to catch up to the rest of the class."

Part of Minako's mind wanted to say "I don't think I'd be much help, I've only been here a month" but the other part (the part that usually wins) was saying "I can't believe he's actually asking ME!" What she said was "Sure!"

She and Phillip separated in the hallway, but eventually arrived at the same class. After the teacher introduced him, he went to sit in the seat in front of Mina. Neither of them got much work done, Mina was worrying about their lunchtime meeting, and Phillip kept turning around because she was staring off into the distance-straight at the back of his head. They both walked out of class a little nervous, for different reasons, only to discover that it was lunchtime.

Caltrop found a seat next to the girl at the lunchtable. She was telling him a little bit about Japan, which made him nervous. He was afraid that she would ask him about America, which he had never visited.

"I should have said I was from France," he thought, "Either the English like them or they don't, but they know enough about them."

He was also more than a little nervous because he found himself feeling a little attracted to her. He was relieved when she stopped talking about Japan and began filling him in on the two classes they had just had together.

Mina and Phillip found they had a few more classes together. After school Mina returned to the dorm while Phillip returned to the Negaverse. He reported to Malachite, leaving Minako completely out of the story. He then returned to his own quarters to do his homework.

Mina arrived in her room to find Artemis working on the computer. She dropped her books and sat on the bed, thinking about Phillip. That tousled hair is what does it, she decided, and those dark eyes, ooh! Artemis had to jump up on her lap to get her attention. She looked down at him.

"I've figured out that the portal we saw at Stonehenge isn't from the Negaverse, it leads to Tokyo. The energy signatures are just too strong over Stonehenge to allow the Negaverse break through," he told her.

"Then why can't they just arrive somewhere else?" she asked him.

"The portal must be opened over a deposit of energy, it's just that Stonehenge is too powerful, and not configured properly to allow a portal from the Negaverse. The Dark Kingdom has to come from Tokyo to get to England."

"But why come here at all?" Mina asked, "They were doing well enough in Tokyo."

Artemis shook his head. "That's what I can't figure out," he said, "I'm afraid that they came to escape Sailor V. If that's the case, we may have to go back to Japan. Malachite knows you're here, and there haven't been any attacks since you saw him earlier this week."

Mina thought of Phillip. She didn't especially want to go back, not when there was the possibility of something happening between them.

"Can't we wait a little while and see?" she asked, "Don't you have ways of finding out what's happening in Tokyo?"

Artemis looked puzzled. "Why do you want to wait?" he asked. Mina hesitated for a minute before replying "Well, there's this really cute boy that just came into class, and I think he might ask me out."

Artemis blanched, quite a feat for a white cat, and sighed. "You have boys on the brain, Mina. When will you start thinking about being Sailor V?"

Over the next week, Mina and Phillip's relationship turned into a good friendship, with Mina hoping for something more and Phillip a little scared of what they already had. They decided to meet after school in a video arcade that Mina had found.

"...and we can play Sailor V," Mina told him. Phillip paled, play Sailor V? He didn't understand. When she saw his expression, she said "The video game Sailor V Returns. I hear it's much better than the original, Codename: Sailor V."

They met at the arcade later. Mina showed Phillip the game and he discovered he was actually pretty good at it. She played a while, until she found him looking back and forth between her and the large picture of Sailor V on the side of the machine. She let herself fall into a trap she knew was there and steered him await from the machine. When they went to the little restaurant off to the side of the arcade, he watched the people playing, thinking that it was a perfect place to use the energy crystal Malachite had given him.

That evening Minako was walking past the arcade with Artemis. She had convinced him that she needed a break from studying and had taken him out to get ice cream. She was holding her own cone (double chocolate cones with chocolate sprinkles) and the little cup of vanilla ice cream she had ordered for him until she saw the carnage inside. Artemis avoided having the cup hit him on the head as the cone smashed next to him, spattering him with chocolate and sprinkles.

Inside the arcade was a Dark Kingdom monster. It was tall and had bony spikes protruding from it's neck, elbows, shoulders and wrists. It held a small crystal up in the air, and the people in the arcade were collapsing on the floor.

"SAILOR V POWER, MAKE UP!"

"Let's go!" Artemis shouted, "It looks like he's draining those people dry!"

"SAILOR V KICK!"

The crystal went flying out of the youma's hand. It gasped in pain and held the hand she had just kicked.

"Sailor V!" it growled. The youma dove for her. She jumped out of the way but it grabbed her by the ankle. With one hand it swung her, cracking her against, ironically enough, the Sailor V game machine. She stood up. Her shoulder burned fiercely.

"CRESCENT BEAM!"

The beam hit the monster, who disappeared in a flash of light. Sailor V noticed that the people were recovering, since the crystal had been smashed. She took out a pen and signed "Sailor V" on the side of the game machine, then flashed the V sign to the few people who were already up before running out.

The next day Mina didn't want to go to school. Her shoulder felt like it was broken in a million places, but Artemis examined it and told her she would be sore for a few days, but nothing was wrong. She left late but the teacher let her into class when he saw the way she was holding her arm. She sat down next to Phillip.

When the teacher asked for homework, both she and Philip didn't have it. Mina noticed the way he was rubbing his hand.

"Are you okay?" she whispered to him.

"Fine," he said, "I just, err, closed a door on my hand last night. What about you?"

"I, um, tripped," she replied hastily, "and landed hard on my shoulder."

It was then that the teacher noticed them talking and told them to be quiet.

After school that day Caltrop returned to the Negaverse before meeting Mina. He wanted to be able to do his work and work on a cover story, in case he got hurt again. When he had reported to Malachite, the General hadn't been pleased that he had let Sailor V intervene. He took consolation in the fact that she thought he had been destroyed.

"Mina's getting too close to "Phillip"," he thought, "and there's something strange about the why she hurt her shoulder. Isn't that what happened to Sailor V?"

It all came together in Caltrop's mind. Mina was Sailor V! He was certain of it. She looked like Sailor V, she was suffering the same injury as Sailor V, and she had hustled him away from that picture when he started comparing the two. He decided not to tell Malachite until he had gathered more proof.

Phillip and Mina met outside the school that evening. Mina was excited because it seemed like a real date. Phillip was terrified that he would accidentally reveal her identity, or his own. They were walking to a little Japanese restaurant Mina had found, when it started to rain. A light drizzle was fine for a while, but then the sky opened up and huge drops began to rain down on them. Mina looked up and saw they weren't far from her dorm.

"Come on," she urged him, "We can go to my dorm room. I've got umbrellas there."

They ran through the rain and arrived at her room. Mina went off to the bathroom to get them both towels, while Phillip looked around her room. He saw a Codename Sailor V manga lying on the floor by the bed. He looked at it, but it was all in Japanese. Then he saw the white cat lying on the bed. It was sleeping, but opened its eyes when he sat down near it. When the cat's gaze caught his, he noticed the crescent moon shape on it's forehead. Then suddenly it was gone. Phillip rubbed his eyes and turned as Mina threw the towel at him. He caught it with one hand and began drying his hair. She took out the wet red bow and replaced it with one exactly like it. His normally tousled hair was, oddly enough, tousled in exactly the same way. She sat down next to him on the bed.

"Thanks for the towel," he told her.

"It's okay," she replied. Their eyes met and locked. As if drawn together by a chain, they both began to lean closer...and closer...until...Phillip suddenly felt a furry face in front of his. He opened his eyes to find the cat had imposed it's head between him and Mina. He noticed that the crescent shape was back, and glowing faintly.

In the moment he had lost all thoughts of who they were, but now he remembered. He couldn't let himself do this! He ran out of the room, leaving Mina sitting on the bed, stunned. She got up to run after him, but Artemis stopped her.

"Minako, he's from the Dark Kingdom!" he told her.

"What?!" she shouted, "What do you mean?"

"He's a youma," Artemis said, "He isn't even human!" Mina was stunned.

Caltrop ran through the rain, ignoring the huge drops of water that pelted him. He wanted to reach the portal, to return to the Negaverse, to sort things out.

Out of nowhere thin tentacles sprung out at him. In his distraught state he couldn't avoid them. They wrapped around his body and swung him around, face to face with Terrara. The plant-youma held him up in front of her.

"Lord Malachite was right to have me look after you," she said with a cackle, "You have betrayed the Dark Kingdom, Caltrop. You will be replaced."

"Fine, kill me then," Caltrop said through gritted teeth.

"Oh, Lord Malachite has different plans for you," Terrara said, and then everything went black for Caltrop.

Caltrop felt as if he were falling through darkness. He could see and hear nothing, but an annoying warmness pervaded the air. He then felt as if he were being wrenched apart. He suddenly felt the pain in his hand disappear. And once again he lost all sensation.

Minako was sitting on her bed, feeling a mixture of anger and sadness. She was furious at Phillip for pretending to like her, he must have known she was Sailor V the whole time.

"If I ever see him again I'll send him back to the Negaverse where he belongs, with a Crescent Beam!" she fumed.

Artemis sat on the desk, calmly watching her.

"You can't make yourself feel bad just because you got suckered into believing him, the Dark Kingdom is very--"

"--SUCKERED!?"

Artemis leapt off the desk as a book slammed down in the spot he had just been sitting in.

"Hey, Mina, don't take it out on me!" Artemis complained.

"I really liked him," Mina sobbed, "We were really good friends. And now to find out he was a youma from the Negaverse, sent by the Dark Kingdom to spy on me!"

"Well, there's nothing you can do about him now, you have to concentrate on your work and on defeating the Dark Kingdom."

"SAILOR V POWER, MAKE UP!"

"I'm going to Stonehenge to find that portal into the Negaverse. I'm going in there and I'm going to make them pay!"

"Minako, no, wait, you don't know how dangerous that is!" Artemis called after her, but she was gone.

Caltrop felt another falling sensation, but this time when he opened his eyes he saw something. He was at Stonehenge, by the portal. He felt strange. His hand no longer hurt. He suddenly had a flash of fear, an unfamiliar sensation. He realized it wasn't fear for himself, but for Mina. He started running through the circle of stone, attempting to go to her dorm and protect her.

As he left the circle of menhirs he saw a figure clothed in white and blue ahead of him-Sailor V. As she spotted him, she raised her hand to point.

"CRESCENT BEAM!"

The energy lanced right through him, hitting the stone behind him. He staggered, falling to his knees. He had hardly been able to absorb the energy from the blast. It was enough for him to heal the wound, but not enough to give him any strength.

"Mina, please," he gasped as the pain from the wound and the healing burned through him like the beam had.

"The Dark Kingdom knows where you are, they'll go to your dorm to find you and your cat. I've come to stop them, to help you."

"I'm not going to believe any trash from the Dark Kingdom. You're the enemy, not my friend. You're not even human, just a youma in disguise!"

"The Dark Kingdom branded me a traitor. They used some sort of mystical process on me. I've seen it done before, to other youma. It takes the humanity of the youma and separates it into two parts." Tears were brimming in his eyes. "Please, please believe me. All youmas were descended from humans, they just became warped because of the energy emanating from Metallia and the Dark Kingdom."

"He is speaking the truth, you know," said a mocking voice from above.

Sailor V looked up to see Malachite hovering by the portal. "The process is very experimental, but I have managed to weed the humanity out of a few youma, leaving me more perfect soldiers. Caltrop, appear!"

Both Sailor V and Phillip looked up in surprise as the youma Caltrop dropped from the portal.

"I serve only the Dark Kingdom now, no more feelings for pitiful humans. Long live Lord Malachite!"

"No," Phillip gasped.

Long bony spikes shot out from the youma. Sailor V and Phillip dove to the side to keep from being impaled. The youma shot up in the air and shot bone arrows at the two on the ground. Malachite laughed.

Phillip crawled over to lean against the stones. The wound he had received a few minutes before had not quite healed. He saw Sailor V battling the monster that had taken his form. Phillip remembered what he had heard Malachite say about the energy emanating from the stone. If he could absorb some of the energy, he could heal himself faster and battle Malachite and the youma. He placed his hands against the stone, oddly warm to the touch. Energy started coursing into his hands, almost overwhelmingly, as if the stone wanted to release the energy it kept pent up. Phillip took his hands off the stone. He felt energized, but what was more, he felt his old powers return in force. Energy bolts lashed out to his the Caltrop youma. The monster staggered at the sudden assault from behind. As it turned, Sailor V launched a kick at it. The monster stumbled and fell.

"CRESCENT BEAM!"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Simultaneously they hit the youma, who screamed and began to fade away. Malachite laughed as he descended from the portal.

"Fools! You have just signed your own death warrant! One half cannot live without the other!"

Phillip gasped and fell to the ground. The pain had suddenly his him, greater than any he had felt before. He looked up at Minako. She noticed that his eyes no longer had the darkness she had noticed about him earlier. They were now an indigo shade, halfway between blue and black. Malachite laughed triumphantly as he saw the expressions of horror on the faces of his enemies.

"Mina, I really did love you. But I want you to forget me. I don't want my memory causing you pain."

"Oh, well spoken," Malachite said sarcastically, "I can assure you both one thing: a quick death!" Energy spears formed in his hands. He launched them at Phillip and Minako. Phillip moved, faster than anyone could have expected. In a second he was standing, two spears impaled in his chest.

"Phillip!" Mina gasped. The spears slowly shortened as he absorbed their energy.

"I'm all right," he told her, his voice stronger. He turned to her. "Just promise me one thing. You must defeat the Dark Kingdom. Don't let anything stand in your way. But remember that not all youma are bad, there is some good in us."

She nodded, numbly. He turned back to Malachite. Without words he launched himself at the white-haired general. Malachite paled as the energy began to leave him.

"SAILOR V CHOP!"

Sailor V hit him hard. Malachite broke away from Phillip's touch and stumbled back, shielding himself with his hands.

"I'd love to stay, but I know when the situation is hopeless." He disappeared through the portal. It slammed shut behind him, leaving only the light of the stars and the moon.

Mina rushed to Phillip. He had once again collapsed.

"There is nothing you can do to help me. You can only continue to battle the Dark Kingdom. Beryl must be destroyed, even at great cost. She will stop at nothing."

His eyes faded to light blue and he smiled.

"Good bye, Mina." His voice was fading.

"Good bye," she whispered, tears filling her eyes. He slowly faded from sight, leaving her holding nothing.

© 1997

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