Tsuki no Mikazuki Productions presents...
Written by John Talisant...
Return to the Silver Millennium - Episode P1:
"Prelude to Madness: Memory's Return"
 Return to the Silver Mllennium P1
        Millennia ago, the great Kingdom of the Moon thrived. The galaxy was at peace, and a period of time known as the Silver Millennium was coming to a close, only to give way to a greater era of peace: the Golden Millennium.
        At the close of the Silver Millennium, a marriage between the children of two great kingdoms, the Prince of Atlantis from Earth, and the Princess of Venus, would form the Twin Planets' League, and all the planets of the solar system would come under one banner...
        John smiled as he skimmed the treetops of New York City's Central Park. The time had finally come to return to the land of his birth. Perhaps, finally, he would know peace. As he neared the building he had rented a room to stay for the night in, he dropped into an alley and reverted to human form. His wings drew into his back, his armor vanished, and he lost much of his muscle mass, leaving him a perfectly ordinary-looking teenager. Well, a perfectly normal-looking New York teenager, anyway.
        Though his long silver hair hung loose about his shoulders, and people tended to look away from his crystal blue eyes, he reached the hotel without incident. When he got to his room, he fell on the bed and slept like he hadn't done so in years. His dreams were troubling, however. They were of destruction and death that were unparalleled. When he woke up, he took a shower, brushed his teeth, paid his bill, and, after a short walk to another alley, changed back into his winged form.
        John spent most of the day flying over the Atlantic Ocean, the night he spent resting in the crow's nest of a ship headed out to sea, and when day broke again, he was winging my way towards where his homeland was. Or used to be.
        "No...NO!" he cried as he reached the rock in the middle of nowhere in the Atlantic Ocean. It was worn smooth from the passage of thousands of years. "H-how can this BE?!" he shouted to the air as he landed.         Suddenly, every memory, every prophecy, every face, every name, everything from the Silver Millennium came rushing back to him as the barriers of his mind gave way to the rushing tidal wave of emotion. He fell to his knees as all of it took shape in his mind, and then blacked out from the sheer enormity of it.
[A fountain of flame bursts to life in the darkness, forming the outline of a firebird calling to oblivion. Then the flames take the shape of words...]

Return to the Silver Millennium
"Prelude to Madness: Memory's Return"
Written by John Talisant

[After a few moments, the fire dies down, revealing an exquisite garden with varieties of plant life the world has never before seen.]

        As Mina and Johan walked hand-in-hand through the Lunar gardens, they were silent. No sign of love, no sign of sentience, no sign of anything. Then Johan spoke, laughing a bit.
        "This is ridiculous. We're going to be married in a week, and we've barely said anything to each other." Johan's voice carried an undertone of caring, and some of it was for Mina. But this was a marriage of convenience more than anything, it would determine the fate of the solar system. Once the Twin Planets' League was formed, and all the planets joined under one banner, a new era of peace and prosperity would be ushered in. Perhaps one even greater than the millennium of peace that was now coming to a close.
        But still Mina was dour as ever. "I suppose." was her only, mumbled, response.
        Johan felt a twinge of pain for her. He knew this wasn't right, but his centuries of training had prepared him for heading this new organization. It had also created a fighting machine out of him, one that many warriors of the galaxy's only threat, the Dark Kingdom, feared. But there was one way he could end this right now...
        No. I made my decision. I cannot go back on that. What would it look like if I suddenly changed my mind? Suddenly, his inborn paranoia of displeasing his mother, Queen Atlantia of Atlantis, whom he cared deeply for, created scenes in his mind of his rank being stripped, his family disowning him, and his country exiling him. He shook his head. That simply could not be!
        Johan stopped walking and took Mina's hands in his own. "Mina, don't you realize that together we will have a hand in the most momentous occasion of the known galaxy? Think of it, ruling side by side, we will create peace, bring an end to hunger, and destroy the Dark Kingdom! Our children will be able to live in absolute harmony!"
        She looked up at him, her eyes wide, and he felt a warmth flow over him like it had done so many times before. He hugged her close to himself and wrapped his wings around her and himself. Perhaps love would eventually blossom between them, but right now the only thing that mattered was the fate of the galaxy. She laid her head on his chest and Johan sighed. This was one burden he'd not have to bear alone.
        Johan stood in the Celestial Hall in full armor, sword sheathed at his side, awaiting his orders. As he looked around, he could not help but be reminded why the building was so named: the domed crystal ceiling provided a spectacular view of the sky, and holographic depictions of the nine planets of the solar system lined the walls. It was a shame that a place of such serene beauty had become the command center of this war. An older, white-haired man, his long moustache hanging limply to below his chin, interrupted Johan's thoughts.
        "Your mission, gentlemen, is to confirm reports from several ambassadors and other reliable sources that the Dark Kingdom has been active on the meridian between Nightside and Dayside. Your orders are simple: confirm these reports, investigate the purpose of the activity if needs be, and take appropriate measures to either stop the incursions or call for reinforcements. Are these orders clear, Commander?"
        "Crystal, sir." he said. "If there are any warriors out there, General, be assured that they'll soon wish they weren't!"
        The general nodded gravely. "Just remember, Commander, you have help if you need it. Don't try to take the burden of destroying the entire Dark Kingdom onto your shoulders. You have allies against them."
        "I will remember that, General Tholik."
        Johan smiled. Apparently, the tactical genius remembered the time that he had almost gotten himself killed by taking on the Dark Kingdom generals Neflite and Jadeite both at once, alone. He'd only gotten out alive because of a freak encounter with several guards from the palace out for a stroll.
        "Dismissed."
        Johan saluted and then turned to his compatriots in the hall.
        "Alturi, Darethan, let's go." Darethan Durikah stepped from the few Phoenix Knights lined in the Great Hall. Alturi Vriksna, Phoenix Knight in training, was already by his mentor's side. As they walked out of the palace, Alturi was ready to fight the legions of the Dark Kingdom. Though about four inches taller than Johan, he was far less experienced, as well as less mature.
        "So we're actually going to destroy some Dark Kingdom warriors? I can't wait!" he said. His skin was tinted slightly greenish, which was offset by his flame-colored hair and eyes. He had come from a planet beyond this solar system which was half a light-year away.
        "Listen, kid..." Darethan, more experienced and older than Johan, but continually kept from promoting, cut in. "Dark Kingdom warriors aren't going to be waiting alone. They'll probably have a general or two there to keep them in line." Darethan was the same height as Johan, but his hair and eyes were both brown. "And that means some serious firepower."
        "To the air." Johan said. He was eager for the silence of atmospheric flight. As he felt the ground fall away beneath his feet as he beat his massive wings, he contemplated why Alturi was so eager to prove himself.
        Insults like "Greenie" were common. Hazings and other pranks had become increasingly devious until several demotions had been handed out. The young man had grown close to Johan, the only one who taught him and accepted him. Perhaps his own need to be accepted was the cause of his eagerness, or maybe it was an inborn trait. What Johan didn't understand was why the experienced Knights were always rejecting him. Well, it would pass.
        Another, more pressing matter plagued him now anyway: What was the Dark Kingdom up to?
        Landing about ten minutes later, Johan saw what he dreaded: absolutely nothing. The desolate plains on the fringes of the Nightside were as empty as ever. The curtain of darkness that signaled where daylight gave way to eternal night only served to enhance the effect so.
        "Strange. You think with the sighting of the portals around here, they'd leave something to throw us off at least..." Alturi thought aloud.
        "Listen, remember what we're dealing with? The Dark Kingdom. Not some little kid's dreamworld where there's an ambush at ever..." Darethan started.
        Suddenly, as if on cue, two dark energy portals opened and clacking mandibles were clearly audible through the darkness that separated the meridian.
        "He's right! Weapons ready!" Johan drew his broad sword and heard the telltale sound of metal-on-metal from his two companions, when the beetlemen attacked. The creatures were strange half-man creations of the Dark Kingdom. They had thick, chitinous hides, twin antennae growing from their heads, and fly-like wings growing from their backs. If Johan's memory served him, they were also able to see in all but absolute darkness.
        "Chschtrzle!" One of them shouted, pointing to the trio.
        "I don't know what he said, but I'm betting it isn't good!" Alturi exclaimed.
        Johan didn't care, he launched himself at the nearest one and started hacking away. Like many of the foot soldiers the Dark Kingdom employed, they had no minds, but incredible defenses. The only tactics that had worked so far was the "hack-and-slash without precedent" method that was perfected by the soldiers of the Moon Kingdom. After a minute, the first beetleman was nothing but a puddle of goo and exoskeleton.
        Johan then took a moment to assess the situation. There were dozens of beetlemen, and three Phoenix Knights. If he didn't have an inexperienced fighter with him, he might have gone with those odds. But desperate times called for desperate measures.
        "To the air!" he called out to his companions.
        "Johan, that's not going to help! They can fly too!" Alturi said.
        "I know, trust me!" and with that, he again beat his wings until he was high enough above the beetlemen. After a second, Alturi and Darethan were up behind him.
        "FLAME WHIRLWIND!" he cried as he brought his sword up over his shoulder, being careful to avoid his wings, and hurled it down towards where most of the beetlemen were gathered. Out of nowhere, a cyclone formed around the sword, picking it up and spinning it in an arc of death; then, fire washed from the sky, making a towering inferno over 50 feet high. Beetlemen were plucked from the ground and air and met their deaths in a blaze of glory, so to speak.
        Johan was beating his wings to their maximum extent, the firecone sucking the strength and vitality from his body. Then, as suddenly as the tempest had started, it ended with a final gust and sent Johan's sword spinning back towards him. He caught it without effort, and called for Darethan and Alturi to dispatch the few remaining creatures. The bugmen that hadn't died fled towards the portals, the lucky ones making it to them before they closed, the unlucky ones meeting their ends on the blades of the Phoenix Knights.
        When the three returned to the palace, they were greeted with a terrible scene. The time would be considered night, though the sky was still bright, and literally hundreds of the beetlemen were swarming over the palace grounds. The battle they'd been waiting for was upon them.
        "Wake the others!" Johan shouted, but it was too late, for the regiment of Phoenix Knights, accompanied by dozens of guards, were on their way to battle.
        "Alturi, join the others, Darethan, we must make sure the Princesses are all right!" Johan took off at top speed with Darethan close behind towards the palace, while young Alturi soared into the battle against the beetlemen.
        After half a minute of flight, Johan touched down on the balcony outside Princess Serenity's window and allowed his wings to retract into his back again. A scream pierced the night, and Johan dove through the fragile glass of the large window, sending shards everywhere. He heard the guttural anguish of a bugman and another male scream as he did so, and knew he had hit his target.
        As he regained footing and drew his weapon, he saw a yellow-haired young man reeling backwards and plucking glass shards from his bleeding arm and face and a bugman who was being destroyed by Darethan. The blond-headed male turned to him and smiled. Princess Serenity was nowhere in sight.
        "Zoisite..." Johan hissed, an undertone of malevolence, "...what is going on here? Where is the Princess?"
        "Ah, Johan! Long time no see." Zoisite sneered, blood dripping from his chin. "I didn't think it was in your tastes to destroy priceless artwork, and look now, you've ruined my face!"
        "I see no artwork, cur, only the face of a dog!"
        "We shall see, when my pet is finished with you, at least I'LL be alive!" he laughed insanely. "Hellmongrel, ATTACK!" and with that, retreated from the room.
        The wall behind Darethan simply melted, and a tri-headed dog-like beast, at least 8 feet long and as tall as a man, stood gazing at them. The thing panted ashes and cinders. Johan had known that the Dark Kingdom had been experimenting with magic, but this was grotesque! The hound was apparently sewn together from the parts of many beasts. Lion, tiger, giraffe, dog, and countless other animals patched together to make a horrible quilt of insanity.
        "Darethan! Go see to the other princesses!" Johan knew what was going on, this wasn't an all-out attack against the Lunar Kingdom, but a kidnapping ploy. Otherwise, the entirety of the Dark Kingdom's hellish legions would be upon them, not just shock troops, and another, more experienced general would be heading the attack.
        "YOU go! You know the palace better than I do! Plus, they trust you more than they trust me! I can hold off these devil-dogs!" Darethan shouted, and then was into the fray, slashing and slicing away.
        "But..." Johan couldn't argue, so he ran from the room and down the hall. When he came to an intersection, he heard four separate screams issue from the halls.
        "Damn! Where are they going to take...?" then he smiled. The only way to leave those rooms was to come to this intersection, and now that he was here, to go through him.
        He heard two of the beings in one of the halls start squabbling. He drew his broadsword as he heard the stomping of running feet, getting closer...closer...
        "We're almost home free now! Only a few more..." Johan heard Zoisite's voice stop when the Dark Kingdom general ran right into his breastplate, head on. He fell to the ground, dropping Princess Serenity in the process.
        The rest of the beings, each carrying a princess, stopped with his voice. Johan knew none of their faces, but each was definitively human. *Mercenaries.* he thought.
        "Mercenaries," Johan said. "how dare you bring the evil taint of the Dark Kingdom to these hallowed halls! Drop your charges and you will be allowed to live. However, you will be tried for your crimes against the Moon Kingdom and galactic peace."
        The mercenary holding Princess Jupiter fell to his knees, pleading. This was the first time Johan noticed that their faces, the princesses, were frozen in an almost blissful slumbering state.
        "You know well enough that we can't do that! No matter what precautions you take, the Dark Kingdom will find us and execute us!" a man with a patch over his eye said.
        "You will be protected against the Dark Kingdom here. They cannot teleport in any creatures because of the magic inherent in the palace's construction." Johan continued.
        Another man, a gaunt, decrepit-looking individual spoke up. "Then how did WE get in here? We appeared right in this hallway, knowing exactly where to go. As a matter of fact, we've only been here ten minutes at most!"
        *What? In this hallw-* then Johan saw what they were trying to do, throw him off guard. "That is impossible. There is no way the aura of darkness that the portals you used to get here..."
        The last standing member of the group, a tall, thin man, laughed. "All right, brothers, he's seen through our ruse." he stopped laughing, becoming deadly serious. "Johan, we give you a chance to surrender yourself, and join us." he smiled evilly. "Or else we will have to destroy you."
        Johan balked. "I'm sorry, surrender? You must not know who I am." he smiled arrogantly. "I am Johan of Atlantis, Commander of the Phoenix Knights. And you are-?"
        The small, decrepit man laughed. "Did you hear that brothers? He thinks we don't know who he is!"
        The other two men burst out laughing. The man groveling on the floor just fell closer to the ground, this time crawling on his chest to Johan's leg. The three men standing quickly placed the princesses they were carrying on the floor.
        "DARK GENESIS!" the decrepit man shouted. The darkness around the three men deepened until they could not be seen, then it suddenly evaporated, leaving the men in black plate mail, sickly black-feathered wings growing from their backs, and weapons. Compared to Johan's golden armor, it was quite a contrast. The tall, thin man held a broad sword, not unlike Johan's except that it was forged of black metal. The man with the eyepatch held a polearm with a black metal spearhead at each end. The decrepit man held no weapon, but smiled cruelly.
        Johan surveyed the scene as the raven-colored wings drew into the backs of the warriors. The man with the eyepatch would have to be taken out first. In the close confines fighting that he had to do, he would be at an incredible disadvantage. With only his sword, the longer range of the double-spear would be able to take him out while he fought the taller thin man. What bothered him most, however...
        "Darkwings? Why has your master sent you? Actually, what does it matter? You're going to die anyway!" he drew his broadsword up, and pointed the tip at the decrepit-looking man. "PHOENIX BLA-"
        "Yes, go ahead, Johan, incinerate us. This will make a good story, ‘Bodyguard kills own Employer!'" the decrepit man mocked him.
        Johan felt a pain of realization. He was right. All was not lost, however. He saw, out of the corner of his eye, Princess Lita's eyelids flicker open. She was about to get up and start doing some damage when Johan made a few small hand gestures. "You're right. I can't. I guess you win..." this jolted the Darkwing warriors.
        "Huh?" the tall, thin man said. "Fineous, what is he talking abou-?"
        The decrepit man, obviously Fineous, held up a gauntleted hand. "Quiet Chaltoth!" Fineous whispered fiercely, then increased his volume to speak to Johan. "You see our trap then? Ingenious, is it not?" he smiled again. "You realize you cannot escape, so why not come along quietly?"
        Johan almost burst out laughing at their shortsightedness, when a hand grasped his ankle. Not a weak, terrified grip either. He looked down and saw what had happened: the fourth man had transformed as well, but into a beetleman!
        "Damn it!" Johan shouted, trying to kick the thing off. But it was no use.
        Fineous smiled devilishly. "You didn't think we'd fall for the ‘boost their ego' trick, did you? I pulled it enough times on the Dark Kingdom, when I was on your side, that is!"
        Johan was about to panic, when his training came into play. He calmed down and thought. "Well, did you ever play ‘the old one-two punch?'"
        Fineous smiled in remembrance. "Of course, you had someone come from behin-" then his eyes went wide with realization, and he spun around to find the threat to his and his companions' health. When he saw nothing, he knew it was too late.
        "SUPREME THUNDER!" Lita shouted, sending a bolt of lightning into the thing holding Johan's leg. He quickly recovered from the grip and dove at the man with the spear, cutting through the only exposed part of his body: the back of his neck. The man fell dead an instant after the blow.
        Chaltoth spun around to cut down through Johan's skull, but he was neatly blocked by Johan's own sword. The next minute was a frenzy of cuts to try and decapitate the Phoenix Knight, but each was easily blocked by the superior swordsmanship of the silver-haired young man. Until...
        Johan felt someone grab his arms, wrench them behind his back, and a young male voice shouting. "Fineous, NOW!"
        Johan saw Fineous turn, draw in his concentration, and shout, "SHADOW SHARD!"
        The air in front of the mage gathered in the darkness, until a dart-sized patch of reality was pure black. The projectile hurtled from his hand towards the Phoenix Knight's heart. In an instant, Johan knew what was going on. This wasn't a kidnapping ploy to take the princesses! It was to take HIM! As the horrid reality of the situation stared him in the face, he could have smacked himself had his arms not been held behind his back. Now, as the bolt of pure evil sailed towards his chest, he could not help but know what would happen when it hit.
        His mind would be warped to evil. That much his old master had told him of the magic of the shapeshifter known as Doppler. When he was known and respected as a Phoenix Knight, the doppleganger spent his time luring those he taught to the Dark Kingdom's side, creating the dread Darkwings. Those that saw through his guise he would use his dark spells on to turn to loyalty only to he and the Dark Kingdom's foul mistress: Metallia.
        Now it was Johan's turn.
End Episode One
Coming soon: Prelude Episode 2 of Return to the Silver Millennium.

If you enjoyed this, the page itself, or just have some questions or comments on either, e-mail me at