Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Dark Serenity ❯ Chapter 1

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Sailor Moon is property of Naoko Takeuchi/Kodansha
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Sailor Moon: Dark Serenity
Chapter 1
Wisemans Plot! Death of the Black Moon!

"I am the Messiah." She smiled evilly "But you can call me... Dark Serenity."

"Dark... Serenity?" Demando repeated in confusion.

She ignored him and turned to Wiseman. "I suppose I should be grateful. Your
incompetent fumblings were able to release me. I might never have been able to influence
Usagi, much less take over her body, without the push you gave her."

Wiseman was reeling. He had planned to create an ally to help control the Black Moon
Family and summon the Death Phantom, but something told him that Dark Serenity
might be just as much a threat to him as Neo Queen Serenity.

Ignoring the confusion around her, Dark Serenity pressed on "Now my servants, if we
are to prevail, we must finish what was started in the past. We must return to my time
and take over the earth there."

Wiseman started "Servant?!" He repeated angrily "Do you know who you deal with?"

Dark Serenity's eyes flashed, and a black and pink tendril of dark power shot out from
her body and enveloped Wiseman. He screamed in agony as she levitated him into the air
and attacked him mercilessly.

As the attack continued, she turned to Demando and caressed his face "I know I don't
have to question your loyalty Demando." She said sweetly, ignoring the tortured screams
of Wiseman.

"Hai Serenity-sama." Demando agreed, her touch was ecstacy, and the look she gave
him... Neo Queen Serenity never looked at him like that! He would follow her straight
into hell if he had to.

Dark Serenity nodded and abruptly stopped her assault on Wiseman. The crumpled
cloak and crystal ball fell to the ground. "Get up." She said angrily.

Wiseman lifted himself back up again. His eyes shone bright red with fury from under
his cowl.

"Consider that your only warning." She said menacingly "You will only live so long as
you are useful to me."

***

The Sailor Senshi were in the Crystal Palace trying to come up with some sort of plan.
Things were looking grim. They were startled when a hologram of Sailor Pluto
appeared.

"You must return to the past, something strange has happened to the Princess." She told
them as a time portal formed in the room.

"What has happened to Usagi?" Sailor Venus asked worriedly.

Sailor Pluto ignored her "Hurry, you have to return to your own time!" She urged them.

As the senshi and Chibi Usa walked through the portal, Tuxedo Kamen paused "Pluto,
what happened before we created Crystal Tokyo and became King and Queen?" he
asked the mysterious guardian of time.

Pluto shook her head "You already know too much about your future, it would be bad to
know more. Please, just live in the present and look to the bright future." She smiled half
heartedly.

Tuxedo Kamen nodded as he stepped through. That made sense.

***

In the twentieth century, the black moon flagship floated high above the earth. Dark
Serenity stood on the bridge with Demando, Saffiru, Esmeraude and Wiseman. "The
earth is beautful in any century." Saffiru sighed as he looked out the viewscreen.

Dark Serenity glared at him "This beauty is a lie." She snapped "The earth will only be
beautiful after I have cleansed it."

Alarm bells went off in Saffiru's head at that statement. The entire reason they had been
banished to the Black Moon was because their ancestors had refused the cleansing
offered by Neo Queen Serenity and her Silver Crystal. He had a feeling Dark Serenity's
cleansing would be even worse.

Looking at his brother, Saffiru lost even more hope. Demando seemed like his entire
purpose in life had been realised simply by being with Dark Serenity. 'Doesn't he know
she has nothing in common with Neo Queen Serenity?' he thought angrily.

Then he noticed Wiseman glaring daggers at Dark Serenity. 'So the cowled one is
unhappy too? I might have to join with the manipulative bastard to save my brother.' he
grimaced at the thought, but as the old saying went 'Better the devil you know'.

Dark Serenity smiled to herself. The Black Moon Family were idiots, Demando would
follow her to death, and Saffiru would never betray his brother. Esmeraude was
completely beneath her notice. Wiseman was a trickier subject. She knew he was also
manipulating the exiles, but to what ends? She would have to find out.

She was looking forward to making the wretches on the planet below pay for what they
had done to the Silver Millenium. 'They don't deserve the kind rule of Neo Queen
Serenity, they deserve me!' she chuckled darkly at the thought of holding an entire world
in the grip of fear. It excited her.

It wouldn't stop there though... 'Once I have the sacred chalice... the whole galaxy will
kneel before me!' she allowed her self indulgent laughter to increase it's intensity.

Saffiru gaped at Dark Serenity. That kind of laughter could in no way be construed as a
good sign. He was definitely going to have to do something.

***

Michiru shot upright in her bed, breathing heavily with sweat pouring down her face.
The dreams were becoming more and more vivid. The time of Silence was approaching.

***

Wiseman meditated in his quarters. Things were rapidly spiraling out of his control.
Dark Serenity was far too powerful for him to defeat, and she didn't seem like she could
be manipulated. 'I have to summon the Death Phantom quickly...' he thought before he
detected an intruder. "What is it Saffiru?" He asked.

Saffiru stepped into view. "Dark Serenity." He said darkly.

"Ah, I suspect you are not as enthralled as our dear prince by the new addition to our...
family?" Wiseman mocked.

"She has my brother wrapped around her little finger." Saffiru glowered "We have to
stop her."

"And why is that?" Wiseman said "I thought the purpose of this exercise was to get
revenge on Earth for exiling us? I am sure Serenity-hime will cause untold suffering to
the Earth."

"No!" Saffiru slammed his fist against the wall. "Our quarrel was with Neo Queen
Serenity because she exiled us! We just wanted rid of her so we could live on that
beautiful planet that is our stolen birthright. Dark Serenity is even worse than the
Queen."

Wiseman was now satisfied that he could use Saffiru. "We are too weak to defeat her
you know." He said, setting Saffiru up for his request.

"I know." Saffiru shook his head "But we were too weak to defeat Crystal Tokyo, until
you showed us how. Don't you know of a way to get her?"

If Wiseman could smile, he would be doing so now. "As it happens, I know a way to
summon a power she will pale in comparison too." He summoned a small piece of the
black crystal, which hovered in the air before Saffiru. A holographic map of Tokyo
appeared, with a blinking light in the Azabu district "Place this crystal here and feed it
with energy, it will open a conduit to the Black Crystal on Nemesis, the gate will
summon the Death Phantom."

"Death Phantom?" Esmeraude stepped into view. Wiseman was annoyed that he hadn't
noticed her earlier.

"Ah Esmeraude." Wiseman greeted the annoying woman "Am I to take it you wish to be
rid of Serenity as well?"

"That witch has some sort of spell on Prince Demando." Esmeraude spat on the floor.
Wiseman decided he would kill her for that. "I should be the one to rule beside him."

Wiseman summoned another piece of the black crystal. It was shaped into a tiara. "Then
you can help summon Death Phantom. This tiara will boost your natural energy, you can
feed it to the Black Crystal which Saffiru is going to plant on the Earth." 'Of course it
will drain your life force to death you irritating harpy.' he added mentally to himself.

Esmeraude's eyes lit up and she eagerly accepted the tiara. Saffiru was a little smarter. "I
haven't agreed to your plan yet Wiseman. And you haven't told us what this Death
Phantom is." He said, pointedly ignoring the shard of the black crystal hovering before
him.

"It is kind of like a God. It will easily defeat Dark Serenity." Wiseman decided he should
end this conversation before Saffiru started asking more awkward questions "I leave the
choice to you." He teleported out, confident that Saffiru would play along with his
scheme.

***

While Wiseman plotted, Dark Serenity was keeping herself busy.

Teleporting to the ruins of the Silver Millenium on the Moon, she observed the
devastation which had been wrought by Queen Beryl and the armies of Earth one
thousand years previously. The absence of any kind of atmosphere didn't bother her in
the least.

She extended her arms and concentrated on her innate magical powers. The Ginzuishou
appeared between her outstretched palms, adding inconcievable amounts of power to her
spell. A bright silver light spread out from her, enveloping the wrecked palace. When the
light subsided, the palace was restored to the splendour it had displayed at the height of
the Silver Millenium.

Dark Serenity smiled at her handiwork before she suddenly felt light headed. Swaying on
her feet, she put a hand to her head "I have to be careful in using the Ginzuishou..." she
reminded herself of what it was capable of - and the price it exacted for using its fullest
power.

"The Ginzuishou shouldn't be used for such frivolous purposes." A voice came from
behind her.

Dark Serenity spun around to confront the intruder, only to see someone who had been
on the Moon far longer than she had. "Mother!" She whispered, looking at the almost
transparent ethereal figure of Queen Serenity.

"Am I your mother any longer?" The goddess of the Moon asked sadly "Something
terrible must have happened to cause this change in you Serenity-hime." she said
sympathetically.

"I have changed." Dark Serenity admitted "But it is for the best."

Queen Serenity shook her head "The Silver Millenium died a long time ago. Let it
remain a happy memory, rather than the nightmare you would unleash."

"No!" Dark Serenity responded forcefully. "Those people," She pointed up at the white
and blue orb high above "destroyed the most perfect civilisation ever! All because of
their petty jealousy! And I will punish them."

"We always protected the Earth. Will you betray all that the Silver Millenium stood
for?" Queen Serenity looked to the ground sadly "Will you betray me?"

Dark Serenity felt tears sting her eyes at that accusation "No..." She shook her head
vehemently "I will avenge you!"

Serenity took a few steps forward and brought a ghostly hand to Dark Serenity's cheek
"You already have. Beryl and Metallia are dead. The people on the Earth today don't
even remember the Moon Kingdom, why punish them?"

"Because it's what they deserve!" Dark Serenity balled her fists and stepped backwards
away from the Queen.

"Even the Sailor Senshi who are living peacefully as humans now? Even Tsukino
Usagi?"

"Tsukino Usagi," Dark Serenity spat "Is an abberation! A mistake which warped my
reincarnation." Her eyes flashed dangerously "A mistake that has now been corrected."

"No." Queen Serenity said with conviction "You are the abberation. You are neither my
sweet Princess Serenity, nor the happy girl she became in her new life. I do not know
who you are."

The spirit of Queen Serenity would later decide in retrospect, that her words hadn't been
especially well chosen.

"I AM THE MESSIAH!!" She screamed, unleashing the power of the Ginzuishou once
more to erase this deceitful spirit which posed as her mother to derail her from her chosen
path.

Eventually Dark Serenity collapsed "I am the Messiah..." she whispered to herself,
Queen Serenity, who had almost but not quite lost her tenuous grip on the physical
universe decided not to bother her for a while.

***

"Usako!" Tuxedo Kamen looked up at the Moon. 'What did I just feel?' he wondered.

The time travellers had been deposited by the lake where Chibi Usa had first appeared in
the past. "What is it Mamo-chan?" The aforementioned child asked the man who would
one day be her father.

"I'm not sure..." He answered slowly "I sensed something strange..."

Sailor Mercury activated her miniature supercomputer. Her eyes immediately widened
"I'm picking up a massive energy release on the Moon! The readings are consistent with
the Ginzuishou!"

That got everyone's attention.

"Is it Usagi?" Mars wondered.

"Unfortunatly my computer isn't powerful enough to search for a single person on the
Moon... Gomen." Mercury apologised.

"It is her!" Tuxedo Kamen spoke with conviction "I am sure of it!" He was filled with
frustration at knowing something drastic had happened to his love without him being
able to do a thing about it.

"But what is Usagi doing on the Moon? And why is she using the Ginzuishou?" Venus
tapped her chin thoughtfully.

"She must be fighting the enemy!" Jupiter slammed a fist into her palm angrily "And
there's nothing we can do if they're on the Moon."

Sailor Mars suddenly staggered "What is it Mars?" Venus asked her while putting a hand
on her friends shoulder to support her.

"I feel an enormous dark power..." Mars' eyes suddenly widened as she saw something
appearing above the Tokyo skyline "Kami-sama! What is that!" She pointed to the
massive dark crystal which was rapidly expanding over the city.

All eyes turned to the black crystal. Mercury began scanning it with her computer
"Hmm... it seems to be a conduit for dark energy... the origin point is in the outer solar
system. It's growth rate is already slowing down. I suspect it is approaching a critical
mass."

Jupiter swallowed nervously. But she had to ask "Critical mass for what?"

"Something very bad." Was the best answer Mercury could come up with.

***

Saffiru looked at the dessicated corpse of Esmeraude with disgust. She had been so
arrogant after recieving Wiseman's tiara. Now she was a dried up husk. Saffiru wasn't
sure how he felt about her death. On the one hand she was the single most annoying
woman he had ever encountered. On the other, she was the only ally he had right now.

Saffiru considered his position. Wiseman had amply demonstrated how little he thought
of the Black Moon Clan, and wouldn't have any hesitation in killing Saffiru if he deemed
it worthwhile. Dark Serenity was probably a whole lot worse than Wiseman - and the
simple fact that she was connected to Neo Queen Serenity was enough to turn Saffiru's
stomach.

And Demando was completely in thrall to her.

No matter which way he looked at it, he was screwed. Badly.

The arrival of the Sailor Senshi was just the cherry on top of his bad day.

"What is this?" Sailor Venus shouted at him, pointing at the nearby giant crystal.

Saffiru sighed. He was really past caring at this point "It's the death of us all."

"Nani?" Mars was confused. She had been expecting a big speech about how they were
dust before him and how he would rule or destroy the earth. But he seemed pretty
unhappy with the crystal himself.

"We really have been fools. And I was the biggest fool of all to think I could trust
Wiseman." Saffiru said sadly.

"I don't understand. What's happening?" Jupiter asked.

"The crystal will summon Death Phantom and kill everyone." Saffiru looked at each of
the Sailor Senshi in turn "Now, I'd rather be killed by the great Sailor Senshi than by that
great deciever, so if you want to kill me go ahead."

"We don't want to kill you." Mercury said "If Sailor Moon was here, she could turn you
into a normal human like the Akayashi Sisters."

Saffiru burst into laughter, but there was no joy in it.

"What's so funny!?" Tuxedo Kamen demanded angrily.

"Sailor Moon won't be saving anyone, I can assure you of that."

In an instant Tuxedo Kamen had Saffiru by the throat "What have you done to her?" He
demanded, his voice filled with barely contained fury.

Saffiru didn't even try to struggle "It's not what has been done to her. It's what she will do
to us. Don't think you're safe because of your previous relationship, she is-" His speech
was cut off as a bolt of dark power lanced through him, killing him instantly.

"Enough with the villian's exposition. They always bored me."

Everyone slowly looked up in dawning horror at the source of that familiar sounding
voice.

"Usako?" Tuxedo Kamen whispered, looking up at the slightly different form of Dark
Serenity floating above them.

She smiled darkly down at him "Close, but you're way off."

"What's happened to you?" Sailor Mars demanded, unused to seeing such an expression
on her best friend's usually goofy, sometimes beautiful, but never hateful features.

"What did you do to your hair?" Venus looked at the unusual hair colouring she had.

Dark Serenity frowned "Look, this promises to be interesting and all, but I'm afraid I
have more pressing matters right now. Would you mind giving me some quiet?" She
started to examine the slowly expanding Dark Crystal.

The Sailor Senshi looked at each other in confusion. They weren't sure how to respond to
this altered Usagi. On the one hand she had killed Saffiru, but on the other, he was an
enemy. And she seemed to be worried about the Dark Crystal. This led them to assume
that she was still good. Her request for some quiet wasn't that unreasonable.

After a few minutes of observing the crystal, she leaned in and placed her ear to it before
tapping it twice. She floated back and adopted a thoughtful expression.

"Er... Usagi? Have you found anything out yet?" Mercury asked hesitantly.

Dark Serenity glowered down at her with such force to cause the senshi of ice to shrink
away. "Did I not just ask you for quiet? And don't call me that name."

Tuxedo Kamen had had enough. "Usako, what's wrong with you?" He leapt onto the
Crystal and grabbed her arm.

"Remove your hand now." She hissed between grated teeth.

"Usako!" He said more insistently, trying to get a familiar reaction from her.

He got a reaction, though certainly not one he would expect from his loving girlfriend.

Dark Serenity drew back her free hand and punched him square on the jaw. Even with
the enhanced strength he possessed as Tuxedo Kamen, he felt it would certainly leave a
nasty bruise. She then grasped his arm and dug her nails in to force his grip loose. That
done, she threw him to the ground. Hard.

"Usagi! What are you doing?!" Jupiter was very worried at this change in disposition.

"My name" She forced each word out harshly "Is Dark Serenity. Tsukino Usagi is dead!"

Everyone gasped in shock at this statement. Before anyone could question her further, a
bolt of black lightning struck Dark Serenity. She cried out in pain and surprise before
quickly repelling the attack. "Wiseman." She breathed.

The familiar bundle of robes appeared before her. "You caught me by surprise last time
Serenity-hime, but with the power of the Dark Crystal I will become Death Phantom and
destroy you."

Dark Serenity raised an eyebrow at that statment. "Really. I must admit it's a clever plan,
but you're dreaming if you think you can defeat me." She clapped her hands impatiently
"Demando!" She called out.

"I already took the liberty of disposing of our dear prince." Wiseman informed her.

She shrugged "He would only have been a diversion. I can manage." She began to
energise herself with the power of the Ginzuishou, adding to her own magic.

Wiseman began to take power from the Dark Crystal, beginning his transformation into
Death Phantom.

The Sailor Senshi meanwhile, had decided that even if Usagi was acting strangely,
Wiseman was the obvious enemy.

"Mercury Star Power!"
"Mars Star Power!"
"Jupiter Star Power!"
"Venus Star Power!"

Dark Serenity launched a narrow beam of silver light from the Ginzuishou at Wiseman,
which struggled with the black aura building around him.

"Sailor Planet Attack!!" A huge collumn of rainbow-like energy shot out from between
the four inner senshi, stripping away Wiseman's already weakened defences

There was a massive explosion of competing energies. Everyone looked on in wonder,
but when the light faded, Death Phantom floated there!

"That... that was very good... But now I am invincible!!" he gloated, though it was
obvious he was in fact struggling.

"I can't believe we weren't strong enough!" Mars complained bitterly.

"I'm too weak to do another attack..." Mercury was being supported by Jupiter to keep
from falling over.

Dark Serenity smirked "Nice bluff Wiseman. But you're all out of power yourself aren't
you?" She was feeling the strain from her repeated use of the Ginzuishou herself, but she
certainly wasn't about to let anyone here see that.

"Far from-" He was suddenly interrupted in his rebuttal as a red rose embedded itself
under his hood. He moved to pluck the offending flower out, but it was stopped when it
began frying his brain with Tuxedo Kamen's magical energy. The self proclaimed God
shrieked in agony before collapsing to the ground. The Dark Crystal began to fracture
and vibrate rapidly.

Dark Serenity floated over him. "Say goodbye Wiseman." She began to concentrate on
the Ginzuishou as a silver aura enveloped both herself and Wiseman.

"N..no.." Death Phantom tried to deny his fate, but it was no use. The aura flared brighter
and disintegrated him.

Dark Serenity smiled triumphantly, before she suddenly plummeted from the air. Her last
conscious thoughts were 'Perhaps I overexerted myself?'

"Usako!" Tuxedo Kamen rushed over to catch her. Meanwhile the Dark Crystal was
already starting to dissolve into nothingness.

"Did we win?" Venus asked as the senshi crowded round Tuxedo Kamen and Dark
Serenity.

Mars looked at the woman in his arms. The woman who used to be Tsukino Usagi, the
crybaby defender of love and justice Sailor Moon. "What has happened to you Usagi-
chan?" She brushed a black haired pigtail away from Dark Serenity's sleeping face.

***

Dark Serenity slept peacefully on a futon in one of the spare bedrooms at the Hikawa
Shrine. It had been quite a job for Rei to convince her grandfather that she was to be left
well alone.

Chibi Usa hesitantly slid the door open and stepped inside. The other girls and Mamo-
chan hadn't told her much, just that there had been a big battle and something had
happened to Usagi. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw Dark Serenity's mostly
black hair, with just an occasional streak of sunflower blonde to remind her of it's old
nature.

Fighting back tears, the little girl walked over to kneel beside the futon and look at her
future mothers face. She was surprised to see the golden crescent moon on her forehead.
She knew her mother had such a mark, but she had never seen it on Usagi. Her own
crescent moon mark only appeared when she was really frightened and released her
powers.

"Please wake up Usagi." She sniffed sadly as she touched Dark Serenity's cheek. She was
so beautiful, just like Neo Queen Serenity.

Chibi Usa climbed onto the bed and hugged Dark Serenity as she too began to drift off.
"I love you." she whispered.

In her sleep, Dark Serenity smiled warmly and unconsciously shifted her body to
embrace the girl.

***

End Chapter 1