-Renee Markowicz


Please, be kind, this is my _very_ _first_ attempt at a fanfic.  Please
let me know what you think of it.  Any constructive criticism would be
useful, flames will be returned in kind.  Let's see, what else?  Oh, yeah.
None of these characters belong to me.  They are all the property of Naoko
Takeuchi, Toei animations, Kodansya Comics, DiC, Bandai, etc. etc. etc.
Please don't sue me for using them.  ;-)  Since I have never seen the
Japanese version, I am using the North American names.  Enjoy the ride!!

_Prologue_ 

	*A ball room is a stark and lonely place to be when there is no ball 
in it,* thought the General as he gazed around the room.  *It seems almost 
_dead_.*  He shuddered as a sudden chill crept up his spine.  The cold, 
white walls, the echoing vastness, and the lifeless tapestries which clung to 
the walls added to the desolate atmosphere.  The General wondered what 
had drawn him down here.  His dislike of the Great Ball Room and Banquet 
Hall were well known.  Had any of his subordinates seen him in either, and
in the middle of the night, no less, they might have worried that their 
General was losing his mind.  Yet something was definitely wrong.  
_Something_, *or someone* had drawn the General out of a sound sleep to 
the only place in the Silver Palace that he openly feared to tread.

	His eyes searched the room looking for some kind of clue as to what 
had led him here.  His attention was drawn to a shadow - one that looked 
out of place next to the pillar it projected from.  The General began to walk 
towards it.  His instincts were screaming at him to draw a weapon, but he 
fought them.  He moved with a calm purpose, never taking his eyes off that 
strange shadow.  His unbelievable calm, and his sure and steady grace had 
won him a position high in Her Majesty's Army, in fact it had earned him 
Mastery over the four main regiments, second only to Earth's Prince - the
Commander of the Army.  The purposeful young General finally reached he 
marble column, and his eyes widened at what they saw there.  

	A young woman stood in the shadow of the great column, and even
in the darkness, she cast her own shadow.  This young woman always made 
the General nervous, as if she were a tightly loaded crossbow, just waiting 
for a chance to strike him down, strike them _all_ down.  Her cold beauty 
filled people with awe and her icy grace and charms made all who saw her 
wish to bow their heads in submission.  Then there were her eyes.  Eyes of 
cobalt blue, they could ensnare anyone, and in the past, had ensnared for 
stronger men than the General.  The Prince himself, one of the General's 
dearest friends, had fallen victim to that cold gaze.

	The General forced himself to meet those eyes, and what he saw in
them made him wish he'd listened to his instincts and drawn his sword.  Not 
that it would have done him much good against this one.  She was renowned 
the Universe over for her fighting skills.  The General doubted that even one 
as trained as he was could beat her in a fair fight, and he also knew that
this would have been no fair fight.  He could feel the magic which 
permeated her being - a magic that could easily outreach and outlast his 
own.  He would fall in heartbeats if he tried to engage her in such a battle. 
Sometimes he wished he had the courage to try.

	The woman smiled slightly.  The smile never warmed her eyes, it 
only seemed to further stoke the cold flames that burned in her heart.  She 
seemed to take a certain amount of pleasure in his situation, and in his fear.  
He knew then that _she_ was the one who had called him from his dreams 
to this dead place.  He trembled again at her power.  The woman opened her 
mouth to speak, and in a voice that should have belonged to a goddess, not 
this ice demon, she said simply, "Good evening, General Malachite."  Then 
she smiled, a predator's smile, "I'm surprised to find you here.  Did you wish
to oversee the preparations for tomorrow night's ball yourself, or are you 
just having trouble sleeping?"  

	She grinned even wider and it took all of the General's composure to 
keep his voice steady.  He knew the game they were playing, they'd played it 
often enough.  This time, he was determined not to let her win, "It never
hurts to be certain, milady.  You never know what could be lurking in the 
shadows, eager for a chance to destroy the queen on the night of her greatest 
triumph."  The words were bitter acid in his mouth.  They stung, as only a 
vicious lie can.  Serenity's greatest triumph, nay, tomorrow night would seal 
her defeat.  For on that night, she would officially hand over the Heir's
Circlet to the princess, her daughter, and then hand her over in promise to 
the Prince, Darien of Earth.  No, this would not be a triumph, and the whole 
Army knew it.  They'd been muttering about it for weeks.  Malachite simply 
hoped that they could prevent this act from spelling the queen's death.

	It took him a moment to realize that the woman was speaking, "Yes, 
shadows can be dangerous.  You do well to remember that, Malachite.  Very 
well, but _not_, perhaps, as well as you think."  He saw her glance out the 
great window and smile at the first hint of false dawn, he'd not realized how 
long they'd been down there.  She spoke again, "It grows late, and I must 
prepare myself for the day's festivities.  Good day, Malachite, and may you 
find that your path be not as hard as the one that you have begun to set
yourself upon."

	With that she gathered the skirts of her simple white gown, and 
flowed out of the hall.  Malachite shuddered as he watched the last of her 
long blonde hair follow her out the door.  He whispered, "I fear that I have 
no choice in my path, to follow yours would lead to destruction."  After a 
moment, though the words of the ancient blessing seemed to stick in his 
throat, Malachite added, "May the Gods of the Planets watch over you and
guide you, Princess Serenity."  *I fear that you need Their Guidance far 
more than any one guesses.  And I pray that you accept Their Guidance, and 
soon, for all our sakes.*  With that last thought he turned and left the hall of 
the dead to seek what solace he could with the living.

    Source: geocities.com/tokyo/temple/9286

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