Dark Kingdom Transgressions - Part 01 Fallen

********


The last rays of the setting sun refracted through the tall, cut glass windows of the palace\'s grand ballroom. Queen Roselynn slowly walked through the room, oblivious to the rainbows waltzing across the marble floor around her. She then continued on through the large dining area, keeping her sharp eyes peeled for anything that wasn\'t ready for the New Year\'s Eve dinner and ball that evening. This was the culmination of their two-week celebration and she wanted it to be perfect.

As Roselynn continued her inspection, she decided the last two weeks might have started out a bit tense, but in the end, she was happy with how everything worked out. Endymion had finally done what was right by Princess Beryl. Soon they would be married and he\'d settle into the role of husband. Then, if his and Beryl\'s recent behavior continued, it wouldn\'t be long before they also became parents. Roselynn was looking forward to having a baby in the palace and to becoming a grandmother. However, she also knew that nothing worked quite as well as a helpless newborn to teach a couple of headstrong and self-centered people what life was really all about.

********


\"Dear sister, you\'ve been very difficult to catch up to,\" Jumel admonished.

Beryl almost jumped out of her skin. Jumel had suddenly shown up behind her, and with Endymion on her right and Nephrite and his latest girl to her left and in front of her, Beryl had no way to leave without being conspicuous.

Setting her smile, Beryl turned to face her adoptive brother, who was standing uncomfortably close. \"Why, Jumel, I\'ve been right here.\" Her smile wasn\'t reflected in her eyes as she asked, \"What do you want?\"

Jumel\'s smile widened. He stepped back to deeply bow. \"Only to share a dance with my newest sibling.\" Beryl silently accepted with a nod and took his offered arm.

Jumel led Beryl onto the dance floor, put his arm around her and tried to pull her intimately close as they merged with the other dancers. When Beryl firmly kept him at arms length, Jumel\'s green eyes briefly flashed annoyance.

They silently danced. When Jumel again attempted to move closer, Beryl resisted, and he petulantly observed, \"Beryl, you aren\'t being very friendly to your new big brother.\"

\"First of all,\" Beryl quietly hissed between her teeth, \"you may be taller than me, but you\'re still five months *younger* than me. Second, my *parents* chose to adopt you. I detest you!\"

Jumel threw his head back and heartily laughed, making quite a few dancers look at them curiously. He loudly responded between chuckles, \"I guess I will need to work on changing that impression. Won\'t I?\"

Beryl seethed with embarrassment and annoyance. She snapped, \"Don\'t bother trying. It would be a waste of your time and energy!\"

Arguing with Jumel had distracted Beryl and as they completed a turn, he pulled her close up against him. Beryl tried to push away, but Jumel’s arm was a steel band around her waist. She glared at him, and Jumel\'s smile never slipped as he quietly advised, \"Don\'t underestimate me, my dear sister.\"

To Beryl\'s relief, the dance ended at that moment and Jumel had to let her go. She spotted Endymion talking with his four friends and their dates and as quickly as she could without bringing attention to herself, she hurried back to him.

Endymion barely noticed when Beryl grabbed his arm. However, it did get his attention when Jumel joined the group and loudly proclaimed, \"It\'s good all of us are together here. I\'m honored that, as the Prince of the Northern Kingdom, I am now able to fill one of the two empty positions in Prince Endymion\'s guard.\"

The silence that descended on the group was deafening. Zoisite had paled so much he looked like he might faint, whereas Kunzite\'s face was a deep ruddy color. His ice-blue eyes flashed dangerously and his fingers were clenched where he usually wore his sword. Nephrite and Jadeite both looked at Jumel incredulously and Endymion\'s expression was grim. It was obvious this was something Jumel had not discussed with any of them.

Nisha, who had felt her fiancé’s arm muscles tense under her hand, quickly glanced around the group. Except for Beryl, the other guy\'s dates were cluelessly confused. She quickly offered, \"My feet could use a rest. How about we girls go sit and chat for a little while. I\'m sure we\'d just bore the men if we stay here.\"

The other girls turned to follow Nisha, and Endymion\'s glance made it clear he wanted Beryl to go too. With a sigh, she also left.

Endymion considered moving the guys to a more private place to deal with this, but decided against it. In public, his friends\' good manners might keep them from beating Jumel to a bloody pulp.

Endymion quietly reasoned, \"Jumel, yes, you are now the Prince of the Northern Kingdom and King Fredrick\'s heir. However, no Golden Kingdom prince has ever had a full guard of six. In this time of peace, four guards are sufficient. You will have many new responsibilities so I\'m sure it would be in your best interest to concentrate on them.\"

With a deep, flourishing bow, Jumel responded, \"Thank you for your consideration, my Liege.” Standing up straight, he smoothly continued. “However, you need not be concerned. I spoke with my father and he also feels it\'s important this gap be filled. You never know when something will come up and you\'ll need the additional protection. It’s a well known fact that in battle and strength I\'m worth quite a bit more than some others.\"

Jumel hadn\'t named anyone but his inference was clear. Zoisite\'s face had gone from pale to flush. Gritting his teeth, Zoisite reminded himself that his respect for Endymion and his home was stronger than his desire to take a swing at his blood brother.

Nephrite stepped forward. He was taller than Jumel but they were probably equal in muscle mass. Hoping to goad Jumel into saying something that would give them the justification needed to beat the tar out of him, Nephrite growled, \"Just whom do you mean?\"

Jumel smirked at Nephrite. \"Why do you ask? Are you worried?\"

At this point, Endymion realized things were going to become violent -- public place or not -- and he needed to do something quick. Signaling to his friends to back off, Endymion ended the conflict. \"Jumel, this is a celebration and I don\'t want to discuss business until after the holiday. We will formally talk about this with my father and the council then.\"

Jumel had no choice but to conceded to his prince\'s wishes and Endymion internally sighed as each guy returned to his date.

As soon as he could, Endymion took his father into an aside room and told him what had happened. He ended with, \"Jumel can\'t be a part of my guard. He doesn\'t get along with anybody!\"

King Stanton stroked his beard as he silently thought. He then advised, \"As Fredrick\'s heir, Jumel will eventually be the King of the Northern Continents. He will be a powerful member of the council and you and the other members will have no choice but to work with him. That will be much more difficult if you reject him now.\"

Dismayed, Endymion blurted, \"But they won\'t ever get along!\"

Endymion\'s father shook his head and chuckled as his son’s idealistic expectation. \"Does my council always get along? Part of my job is to make sure things don\'t get out of hand between my council members. That\'s what keeps our kingdom consolidated. Your guards protect you, and in turn, you make sure they work together at least reasonably well. It was easy when they were all friends but things change. You will need to figure out how to deal with this. If you don\'t then it will only be worse later on.\"

A knock on the door interrupted them. A palace worker informed the king it was almost midnight and he was needed in the ballroom.

Endymion turned to follow his father out the door and internally sighed. He understood the logic in his father\'s advice but discouragingly wondered how he’d ever be able to accomplish it.

********


Everyone in the grand ballroom had gathered together by the window that faced the palace clock tower. Special torches glowed around the base of the tower to light the clock face for the occasion.

King Stanton and Queen Roselynn ascended the royal dais that had been moved to the window. As the final moments of the year passed, King Stanton raised his glass to his subjects. \"Here\'s to commemorate the peaceful and prosperous year that has passed…\" He swept his other arm out to include Endymion, Beryl, Kunzite and Nisha, who were all standing together, and ended the toast with, \"…and to celebrate the new beginnings promised in the year to come!\" The tower\'s bell began to chime the hour and everyone in the room heartily cheered.

As the last chime faded, the guests began to turn back to their dancing and conversations. The area in front of the royal dais cleared except for the royal family and King Stanton\'s council and families.

Stanton and Roselynn turned to descend the dais to also rejoin the party when the room was suddenly filled with bright, silvery light. Everyone shielded their eyes and Stanton and Endymion’s guards scrambled to place themselves between the unknown source of brightness and their royal family. As their eyes tried to adjust, muttered curses were heard regretting the need to leave their swords in their rooms.

A majestic fanfare began and as the light faded, everyone in the room could see a group of eight people standing in front of the royals. A couple, with crescent moon emblems on their foreheads, stood in front apparently leading the group. The man was tall, slender, and young looking but had eyes that were indeterminately aged, and long, straight, white hair. The woman was also young looking with age wizened eyes, had dark-purple, wavy hair to her knees and a small set of hair buns above each ear. Four more young women stood behind the couple, each in a long, solid colored dress and to each side, two child trumpeters dressed in white, played for all they were worth.

Once the light dissipated the group didn’t look very threatening at all but that didn’t stop King Fredrick from stepping forward. Jumel joined him and they impressively powered up their magic auras.

The couple’s eyes widened at the blatantly aggressive display. Confusion and dismay crossed their faces but the four women behind them had a completely different reaction. Quickly stepping forward, their formal dresses instantly transformed into warrior\'s uniforms. Magical power flowed from their hands to create a barrier of four colors - blue, green, red and gold. The tallest warrior, who wielded the green power, looked behind her and accused, “See! Nothing has changed. If we weren’t here, you’d be in great danger!”

The warrior in red hissed, “We’re greatly outnumbered. What makes you think we aren’t still in danger?”

The blue warrior stood silent but her sharp eyes didn’t miss a thing and the gold warrior curtly commanded, “Hold position,” as she met the two men’s glares unflinchingly.

King Stanton’s command of, “Stand down and step back!” caused Fredrick and Jumel to glance back then reluctantly power down. They did step back, but their expressions made it clear they thought the King was making a big mistake.

Stanton watched as the two, now silent, trumpeters nervously peeked out from behind the couple with wide eyes. The warriors still stood defensively, but they hadn’t taken advantage of his disarmament so he stepped forward past his guards. “Please accept my apologies. You surprised us, and we reacted as such. You obviously aren’t here to overthrow us. I am King Stanton of the Golden Kingdom of Earth.”

The four warriors then also powered down and separated to allow the couple to step forward to greet the king. They bowed and the man offered, “We bring greetings to you, King Stanton of the Golden Kingdom of Earth, from Queen Serenity of the Moon and the Silver Planetary Alliance…” Gasps and murmurs were heard from the group at the man’s announcement.

Endymion wanted to move forward to join his father but Beryl had a firm hold on his arm. He softly tapped her hand, obviously meaning for her to let go, and whispered, “I must join my father.”

Looking up, Beryl nodded. “Of course.”

Beryl started to step forward and Endymion realized she meant to go too. Not even his mother had yet dared to step forward past the wall of guards! Endymion quietly commanded, “You stay here.”

Beryl’s eyes flashed annoyance. She opened her mouth to argue but before she could, Endymion angrily growled, “This isn’t one of our childhood games, Beryl! Let go.” Endymion walked towards his father and Beryl pouted but stayed where she was. She rubbed her hands together to soothe her fingers, hurt when Endymion had pried them off his arm.

King Galeron, with a puzzled expression, asked, “Queen Serenity of the Moon? Please forgive my skepticism but we know of no other royalty than the Golden Kingdom.”

Both the man and woman were worriedly looking over the group as if looking for someone. The woman asked, “Where are the priests of Elysion? They can explain and verify our identity.”

“Elysion? Priests?” was heard whispered among the group of royals. Their expressions showed confusion, curiosity and some fear.

King Fredrick’s expression showed even more suspicion and King Anir looked at the group of strangers thoughtfully, trying to figure this all out. King Branor asked, “Priests of Elysion? We know of ambassadors Corvus and Elara from Elysion but no priests.”

King Stanton interrupted, and to his council’s surprise, stated, “I know of the priests of Elysion but what do you have to do with them? They never mentioned a Queen Serenity of the Moon or a planetary alliance.”

The man opened his mouth to answer but instead smiled and pointed at the large glass double doors leading to the garden.

The group turned and received their second shock of the new year. Five large, flying horses swooped down from the sky onto the garden patio, transformed into robed men, opened the doors and quickly walked toward the group of royals.

Again the royal guard tried to move to protect their King and Prince but Stanton stopped them. Merak, with four of the shrine council members, approached and bowed, first to King Stanton, then to the Silver Alliance entourage. Merak offered, “Welcome and greetings from Elysion’s shrine. I am High Priest, Merak. We have long anticipated your arrival.”

The couple smiled, relieved. The man answered, “Greetings, High Priest Merak. We are Artemis and Luna of the planet Mau, personal advisors for the Moon’s royal family.” He then turned to introduce the rest of their entourage. “These are four of the solar system\'s planet senshi - Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Mercury.”

By now, the Earth’s royals were totally confused and obviously getting annoyed. King Stanton turned to Merak. “These people said you could verify their identity and purpose for being here.”

Merak nodded. “King Stanton, these people represent the Silver Alliance. A planetary government led by the royal family of the Moon. As was prophesized in the Ancient Texts, they are here to offer an alliance with the Earth.”

“Prophesized? You knew they were coming?” Stanton asked incredulously. “Why didn’t you inform me of this? We could have killed them as invaders!”

Merak explained, “According to the Ancient Texts, the people of Earth weren’t to know of or have any contact with the Ancients until the appointed time. However…,” and with this, Merak looked to Artemis and Luna, “…our impression was that the meeting would be at Elysion’s Shrine - not on the Earth.”

Artemis responded, “We were to meet with the King of Earth so we went where we saw his power signature.”

Merak nodded and internally sighed. He felt he should have somehow anticipated this complication but as the saying goes, “Hind sight was always sharpest.”

King Fredrick, whose frown had deepened into impatience and anger, stepped up to address King Stanton. “I don’t trust anything they say! Elysion hasn’t had anything to do with us in the past, and I don’t see why they should start now. To me it looks like they had an agreement with this Silver Planetary Alliance all along and purposefully kept it from us. We were doing fine by ourselves. We don’t need an alliance with them or Elysion!”

Murmurs of agreement and dissent rippled through the crowd. Before things could get out of hand, King Stanton stated, “I trust Merak and Elysion explicitly. However, I will gather all the facts and discuss the issues with my council before I make a decision.”

King Stanton then turned to the Silver Alliance delegates. “I appreciate your offer and will need to look into the matter more fully. If you wish, you can stay here or in Elysion as my guests.”

Artemis shook his head. “We need to return. However, Queen Serenity wishes to extend an invitation for you to meet with her. She would like to show you how the Silver Alliance could benefit the Earth and to discuss the issue in more depth. She also offers you this gift.”

All but the royal family and Elysion’s priests gaped as Artemis pulled a large box out of thin air from behind him. He opened it and held it out to King Stanton. Inside was an intricately carved and jeweled medallion. It looked like burnished metal but weighed less than any metal found on Earth. Artemis explained, “This will allow up to four people to travel to the Moon’s royal palace. Just place it on the ground, stand upon it, link hands and it will activate with the thoughts of a royal.”

Stanton accepted the gift. With a bow, Artemis concluded, “We are honored to have met you, King Stanton. We truly hope for a peaceful and prosperous alliance with the planet Earth. Thank you.” The others in the group also bowed, and in a flash of light, the party of delegates vanished.

Merak turned to King Stanton. “Please forgive us for keeping this from you. We truly desire that you meet with Queen Serenity. Elysion’s intersession between Earth and the Ancients has ended. It is now time for Earth to join the Silver Alliance.” Merak and the other priests then bowed to the King and walked back to the garden - oblivious to the distrustful stares that followed them.

The rest of the party attendees, who had watched all these events unfold, began to murmur amongst themselves. Throughout the room could be heard tense questioning, curiosity, confusion and uneasiness. It was obvious the party was over.

King Stanton again ascended the dais, and the room somewhat quieted down. He soothed, “What just happened was a surprise, but it’s something we can handle. There is no reason to be worried about something that’s purely a diplomatic issue. The council and I will give this our full attention and we will choose what will be in all of our best interest. Thank you for attending our celebration and may each of you have a happy and prosperous year.”

As the room began to empty, Stanton moved to stand beside Roselynn. She looked up at him and he quietly explained, “The others and I need to meet. We’ll be in my office.” Roselynn’s questioning expression prompted him to add, “Yes, I know it’s late, but I’ll regret it if I let them stew about this till morning. Hopefully we won’t be long, but don’t wait up, just in case.” Roselynn nodded and Stanton gave her hand a quick squeeze. “Wish me luck!” he whispered as he turned to leave the ballroom. Roselynn watched the other council members catch her husband’s signal then follow him out the door.

********


\"Woah...\" King Stanton muttered, shaking his head to regain his equilibrium. Looking around, he saw the same disorientation in his son’s, King Branor’s and Jadeite’s eyes. The medallion’s transportation had been unlike anything he had experienced before. If pressed for a description, he would have said it felt like being pulled under a waterfall, dissolving into the flow then being pushed back out - somehow in one piece.

King Stanton’s decision to go to the moon had been met with the expected resistance. What had surprised him was how many of his council had agreed with Fredrick. The only one who was willing to give Earth’s unexpected neighbors a chance was the diplomat of the group, Branor.

The four travelers turned their attention to their surroundings and found they were standing in a small room with luminescent walls and another medallion on the floor at their feet. The man and woman they had met the day before were standing in the arched doorway to greet them.

“Welcome,” Artemis stated with a smile. “I’m glad you decided to accept Queen Serenity’s invitation. We’ll take you to her.” Luna and Artemis turned, and the four men followed.

As they walked, Jadeite quietly whistled under his breath and Branor silently echoed his son’s reaction. The palace they were walking through was unlike anything they had seen on Earth. The walls, cathedral ceilings and even the floors looked to be made of solid ice or crystal. It would have been a cold and stark environment but for the silvery, opalescent glow that made it amazingly inviting. Branor noticed the art on the walls. The surreal scenes and landscapes seemed to flow and change as they walked by. Branor resisted the urge to stop and figure out the intriguing pictures that seemed to tell stories in a language he didn’t understand.

The group came to a large, open section of the wall and the four men stopped in amazement. Not one had known what to expect of the moon, but they hadn’t thought it would be so soft and comfortable looking. The light outside was from the same pleasant spectrum as the light inside, and the plants, trees and flowers were a multitude of different hues, shapes and scents. Some were familiar to them but most were exotic. A lush groundcover hugged the winding paths, and its pillowy, silver-gray harmonized and calmed the riot of colors surrounding it.

Luna and Artemis had also stopped and respectfully waited. King Stanton finally turned to look at them, and they smiled. “This is the queen’s favorite garden.” Luna offered.

Nodding, Stanton agreed. “It’s beautiful.” The group continued on until they reached the end of the hall where large double doors parted for them to enter.

The spacious, lunarian throne room was flanked by quite a few people, in many different styles of clothing, quietly murmuring among themselves. Across from the door was a three-tier dais with two silver, jewel-encrusted thrones. One throne was empty and a woman sat on the other one. The room fell silent as she gracefully stood to her full stature and Artemis and Luna both bowed. Luna then turned to bow goodbye to the guests and exited through the doors they had just entered.

Artemis stepped forward and gestured to his left. \"Queen Serenity, I present to you, King Stanton Vasilis of Earth\'s Golden Kingdom, and his son, Prince Endymion.\" He turned toward his right. \"And also Branor Marcelo, King of Earth\'s Southeastern continent, and his son, Prince Jadeite.\"

Queen Serenity stepped down from the dais. As she approached the group, Endymion thought he felt a brief, vague recognition and blinked in surprise. On second look, he knew it was impossible. Over and above the fact that with her long, silvery-white hair, sky-blue eyes, alabaster skin and moonlight-white gown that flowed over her statuesque form, she was stunningly beautiful, the strong, magical power she effortlessly carried, made her almost overwhelming to look at. Had he met her previously, he most definitely would have remembered it.

The Queen smiled then spoke in elegant, soft tones that still reached every corner of the room. “It’s a great pleasure to meet you. I have long looked forward to the day when I could greet my closest neighbors. Please, we will retire to the sitting room for refreshments and to get to know each other better.”

Artemis opened a second set of doors off to the side of the room and the queen led them into a smaller, less formal room furnished with chairs around a fireplace and a table set for tea.

Motioning for her guests to sit, Queen Serenity reached for the ornate, silver teapot to pour. Artemis also reached for the pot. “Your Highness, please…let me.”

The queen shook her head as she lifted the pot. “Artemis, when the day comes that I’m too feeble to serve my guests tea, I’ll be sure to let you know.” Her reproach was softened by a gentle grin. Quietly sighing, Artemis nodded and stepped back out of her way.

As she poured the smoky, dark-amber liquid, Queen Serenity explained. “This is my favorite Venusian tea and the pastries are made with Armata, a fruit exclusive to Jupiter.”

Endymion picked up his cup, sniffed the aromatic steam, then tasted. A pleased but perplexed expression crossed his face. “Mmm…It’s good, but it reminds me of something...”

Branor sipped his drink too. “It kind of reminds me of Jasmine.”

They all drank and nodded agreement. King Stanton added, “It’s similar, but woodsier.”

Lifting a pastry puff to her lips, Queen Serenity took a bite. A bit of the purple filling flowed over the edge, threatening to spoil her gown, but the queen expertly caught it with her tongue.

The men also took bites and were carefully of the drips they now knew were inherent to this treat.

The queen quietly savored her last bite of pastry then took another sip of tea. “One of the best things about the Silver Alliance is that we all share in the unique abundances each planet has to offer. We have a superb variety of meats from Mars, herbs and spices from Venus, fruits and vegetables from Jupiter and vast fish and mineral resources from Mercury. Earth has many unique things to offer in all those areas and we’re hoping to add what we have to the variety already available to you.”

Endymion asked, “Is trade the only reason you wish to form an alliance with us?”

“It has been our intention from the beginning of the Silver Millennium to have all the solar system planets work together and protect each other.

Branor looked up. “Are there other planets in the solar system that aren’t a part of the Silver Alliance?”

“If your planet joins us, it will be the completion of our goal,” Serenity answered with a smile.

King Stanton brought his cup down from his lips and placed it on the saucer. He bluntly asked, “Why were we excluded up until now? Why did you hide all this from us?”

Sighing, the queen nodded. “I knew this was going to be one of your questions.” She hesitated, trying to decide how best to word her response. “When the Alliance was formed, the Earth was renowned for its exceptional fighters. Their physical prowess, courage and endurance were legendary. The Earth was, and still is, the only planet in the solar system with its own crystal. The rest of the planets depend on the Silver Crystal and/or the Golden Crystal’s powers. Originally, the Earth was a very powerful member of the Alliance and the Silver and Golden crystals worked together in harmony.”

Queen Serenity stood and walked to the fireplace. She absently stirred the smoldering ember with a poke as she continued. “However, there were some cultural and physical differences that made the people of Earth uncomfortable in the alliance. Eventually, the differences became too much for some to bear and they insisted the crystals be used to erase the differences, making everyone the same. The ruling family of Earth, the wielder the Golden Crystal’s power at that time, sympathized with this radical group. It was questionable whether the Alliance would prevail if the Golden Crystal and the Earth’s resources were used against it. We tried to settle this with negotiation, but it became clear the conflict was going to lead to violence. With the possibility of the Silver Alliance being destroyed, or even our entire solar system, the decision was made to give the Earth\'s people time to grow and mature past this problem. The Pegasuses of Elysion were assigned the task of helping to protect the Earth, the Golden Crystal and its Royal Family and to also mentor the Earth’s people in their growth.”

Turning back to finally look at the men, Queen Serenity added, “I truly hope you can understand why this was done. There was no other way to resolve this without it ending in war and violence.”

The four men silently digested this information. Finally, Stanton quietly asked, “So, the Silver Alliance has now decided that we have matured enough to see past these differences? What were they?”

The queen gracefully sat back down. “There is also another reason for bringing the Earth back into the alliance at this time. We have had intruders from outside the solar system. In the past, the Senshi assigned to patrol the outer parameter have been able to either chase them away or subdue and incarcerate them. Recently, we had an enemy break free of our restraints and she managed to avoid detection and get away. Our concern is that she will return with reinforcements and more power. Since this could also affect the Earth, we felt you needed to know about it. Also, the additional power of the Golden Crystal and the Earth’s warriors could make a difference in the outcome of such a conflict.”

“I see,” Endymion dryly observed. “You need us, so now you want to be our friends.”

For a moment, no one said anything. Queen Serenity sighed. “I suppose you could look at it that way. I hope you won’t though. I’ve wanted to reestablish contact with the Earth for quite a while but it is difficult to convince others to set aside past grievances without a motivating crisis.”

********


The morning after the New Year’s Eve party, Beryl woke up late. She dressed then went to peek into Endymion’s room. She knew the council meeting had still been in progress when she had gone to bed. If it had run into the early morning hours then there was a good chance Endymion would still be sleeping.

Beryl was kind of surprised to find his bed empty. She then decided to go to the dining room. Endymion wasn’t known to be a morning person. If he had slept at all last night then he would have only just gotten up. Maybe she had just missed him and he was eating breakfast. If he wasn’t there then more than likely someone would be in the dining room that could tell her where he was.

When Beryl got to the dining room she heard Endymion had left to go to the Moon with his father. Sitting down to eat, Beryl fumed. Why hadn’t Endymion come to tell her he was going to the moon? She was his fiancée! He should have at least told her he was going to do something like leave the planet!

Beryl didn’t trust the Silver Planet Alliance people anymore than her father did. Had she known, she would’ve insisted Endymion not go but her opinion hadn’t been asked. They knew nothing about these people - it could be dangerous! She didn’t care if they had taken King Branor and Prince Jadeite too. The risk in her opinion wasn’t justifiable. If that queen wanted to meet them bad enough then she should have come to earth herself!

Beryl also didn’t like the idea that their warriors had been so beautiful and powerful. Was their queen just as beautiful? Was Endymion meeting all those beautiful and powerful women? He’d better not be and nothing had better happen to him! Beryl had worked hard and was finally exactly where she wanted to be. She’d never forgive him if he messed everything up by getting himself killed!

The more Beryl thought about it the more upset she became. Suddenly, she realized her stomach had become decidedly queasy. Quickly returning to her room, she locked the door and barely managed to make it to the pot.

Afterwards, Beryl washed her face. She completely forgot about her previous train of thought as she realized this was the third time she had lost her breakfast that week. Drying her face and hands, Beryl then rifled through her dresser drawer until she found her personal diary. Sitting down on her bed, she started flipping pages. Finally, after mumbling and counting out loud a few times, Beryl slammed the book closed and flopped back with a bemused expression.

“I’m…pregnant,” she whispered, trying to wrap her mind around the idea. “I’m carrying Endymion’s child…I’m pregnant!”

With a sudden smile, Beryl hugged her arms around herself and rocked back and forth in delight. This was absolutely perfect! Now they would have to get married sooner - even before Kunzite and Nisha. All her dreams of marrying Endymion and becoming the future queen of the Earth were definitely coming true! Beryl couldn’t wait to see Endymion and tell him. It just couldn’t be more perfect!


Continued...

Thank you for reading my story. I hope you are enjoying it. If you did like my story, or if you have any (kind and gently worded) suggestions/comments about my story, please let me know. I truly appreciate feedback. You can email me at ndeblock@att.net .

This story was edited and enhanced by the great minds and imaginations of my three wonderful betas, Sophia Prester, Yumeko & Loki. Their help and ideas have been of great value to me! Each is also a fabulous Sailor Moon fanfic author. Sophia Prester’s and Yumeko’s stories can be found on Fanfic.net with an author’s name search (Yumeko\'s author\'s name is Heavely Pearl). Loki’s work is on AriasInk.com. I highly recommend reading all of their stories. ^_^

Bye, Luna Hope

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon, her lover, her friends, her family and her enemies all don’t belong to me. They belong to Naoko Takeuchi. I just borrowed them for a little bit of fun. All original characters in this story do belong to me. ^_^