Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Unnecessary Punishment ❯ Chapter 1

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

SECOND CHANCE-EPISODE 1: UNNECESSARY PUNISHMENT
By: Darkpower
RATING: R/TV-14 DVLS
DISCLAIMER: Everything belongs to their respective companies.
E-MAIL: darkpowrjd@aol.com
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The High Crimes Court, or just HCC for short. Something that would scare even the
most hardened criminal, traitor, or anyone in the Moon Kingdom who thought they were
above the law there. Maybe it was because the sentencing there sometimes went a tad
bit overboard for the crime. Robbery, for instance, would normally got at the most a
few years in a holding cell. However, one person got life for doing such a thing. They
were careful. A little too careful, some thought. Yes, people would think twice before
doing something stupid, but exactly how much of that lesson do you need before you learn
from the mistakes you made, asked some critics.

To some, NOT ENOUGH!

Treason, one of the highest crimes there, had a max of life in the cell. However, two
people got executed because of such acts. This was definitely not necessary to the many
people watching the trial that day. Not even Queen Serenity condoned the sentence, and
knew that they were going too far with the sentencing.

And she would've said something about it, except for one tiny little detail. A long time
ago, she signed a deal that prohibited even her from getting in the way with the
sentencing or verdicts in any way what so ever. Doing so would get her in some hot
water, since it going back on a contract that she had signed to. However, the critics of
the HCC were convinced that something had to be done about such punishments.

They had rebuilt the kingdom since the attack by the Dark Kingdom of the Negaverse. The
Moon Kingdom had learned that since the reinvention of the castle, the Dark Kingdom had
returned. This was due to expiditors, looking for oil in the middle of Antartica about a
year ago, something in which they weren't sure why they were looking in that country for
such a commodity. Instead, though, they found a box containing the souls of the Dark Kingdom,
and unintentionally released the very souls that were entrapped in the container. The team
hasn't been seen since.

However, the Moon Kingdom had also learned that ever since then, there were major changes to
the Dark Kingdom. Sanikite, the newest general, had changed Queen Melissa Beryl a lot.
Standing about six foot three, he was 210 pounds, brown hair, with all black clothing.
For the first time, she had loved someone, and that person was Sanikite. In her mind,
that was the light bulb that said that she was doing something wrong. They had since destroyed
the Dark Force, which was Queen Metallia, and had started a 180 degree turnaround in
everyone's eyes. However, that wasn't all that had happened.

A new princess was born there. They had named it Princess Ashely Beryl of the Dark Kingdom,
who has inhereted the same looks that her mother had, only with darker, straighter hair. She
had just turned four by now standing about four foot, and everything was well. And it was
apparent that the dark queen cared so much for her princess. In fact, the destruction of the
Darkforce came because Queen Metallia, the woman in the Dark Egg, said that Beryl couldn't
have a daughter, and thus tried to kill Ashely. Melissa opposed to this, and actually took
the shot that Metallia shot directly at her. Melissa survived, but not before suffering major
pain.

This was the attitude she showed towards her daughter. She would let the Sailors
destroy the Dark Kingdom, if it meant keeping Ashely alive. Even more so, she would
sacrifice her own life to save Ashely, if it came to that. And, so help her, if someone
tried to kill her daughter, the things she would do to them. One already tried to go
after her daughter, which everyone knew that was going to not be a good move to make.

He had severely hurt Ashely, which sent her mother into a fit of rage. "You hurt her.
I'll hurt YOU," were the last words he ever heard before Melissa killed the attacker,
which in some minds was a death he very much deserved. No one knew why it was such a
forgivable act to kill the man instead of convicting him to jail time, but it was,
notherless. As Ashely got cared to, Melissa thought that Ashely would die because of
this person's cowardliness. The Queen was so sad that, for the first time, someone actually
saw her shed a tear in her life. She had ran away to not be seen, probably because she
knew tears were flowing, and she didn't want to be seen looking like hell because of her
daughter. This was understood, as well. However, really, Sanikite was the only one
who felt her pain, or who would want to.

Although many had seen this, they didn't want to believe the things that were going on
there. Some people even went as far as saying that she was trying to pull them into a
trick of feeling sorry for them, and then attack them again when they least expect it.
They couldn't of been further from the truth, however, as Melissa was truthfully felling pain
and sadness at the time.

Melissa soon got her daughter back safe and sound. The very next few hours were a sight to
see. Melissa, on her throne chair, with her daughter in her lap, comforting her, almost
putting her to sleep. She told everyone to leave the room for the moment. Although a
few stuck around to see this remarkable, if not surprising, expression of feelings
coming out of someone so cold and evil, who didn't really know what feeling were. And
there she was, with Ashely, as happy and relieved as possible, almost in disbelief that
this daughter was the one she almost lost forever.

However, everything as they knew it was about to change forever.

The High Crimes Court still wanted to nail her for what had happened. Even more so now
that she was happy. This didn't fit well with a few people, one of which was a brother
of Serena's, named Casto Sommers, with short and dark hair, and a medium-type voice. His
build was in between a slim man to a medium-build body, although he never really cared
about how he looked. He usually had jeans and a traditional, gray t-shirt on. He was the
only one to really feel the pain of what Melissa went through that wasn't in the Dark Kingdom.
However, he knew she had to be punished somehow, if it was even a little sentence as to sign
a contract to not attack anymore. Casto knew that Queen Beryl wouldn't think twice then to put her
horrid past to rest once and for all.

So why wasn't he so content with the HCC's strategy? It was because he didn't know why they
would move to press charges against her at this point. He thought, 'why the hell do they
have to ruin something so wonderful for Melissa by bringing her past back up?' He wanted
them to let it go and move on, but, needless to say, they didn't.

One day, all hell broke loose in the Dark Kingdom. Soldiers from the HCC came and
arrested Melissa. The only words that she needed to hear was, "You are under arrest for
destroying the Moon Kingdom," for her to be puzzled, as well. Why did they have to
arrest her for something that she knew they could put to rest? They were arresting her
for something that, to the rest of the witnesses, they could take it as the past, and
move on. However, to everyone's sadness, she was taken away. Some people tried to stop
them, and, needless to say, they failed miserably. The last words that Melissa said to
Sanikite were, "Take care of Ashely for me, and tell her I'll love her always." Sanikite
said he would with a nod, and then, she disappeared into the portal, with the hole closing
immediatly afterwards. That wasn't the last of that incident, however.

A few minutes afterwards, Ashely came in, and immediately asked, "Where's my mommy? Daddy,"
pulling on Sanikite's uniform, as he was the one who conceded her, "where's my mommy?"

In a blink of an eye, Sanikite could see Zoysite shed a tear, something she never did
before. Zoysite didn't want Ashely to be without a mother. Sanikite, however, knew that he
couldn't dare tell Ashely what really happened, because that would scare her greatly, and
he didn't want to do that. That's the last thing he wanted Ashely to be. Scared. He knelt
down to her and said, "Mommy's had to do something. She'll be back soon."

Ashely, however, knew that was a lie. She was only four, but she wasn't stupid. Learning
alot from her mother, she could tell, even at her young age, if someone wasn't telling
her the truth or not.

"No she's not," she responded. "Something happened to mommy. Please tell me." Sanikite
looked in her face. He didn't have any balls to tell her what really happened. However,
he found it within himself, somehow, to tell her what was going on.

"Ashely, I'm about to tell you something about your mommy. You may not like it, but I
want to tell you something. Your mommy, a long time ago, did something that she regrets
doing now. She did something bad. She destroyed someone's home."

At that moment, Ashely was dumbfounded. She didn't want to know this about her mommy.
She would've been more contempt about taking the lie as the truth.

Sanikite continued, "You're mommy did that, but now they're okay again, and mommy wanted
to patch things up with the lives she messed up. But they don't want to let it all go
away. They want something to happen to mommy." Sanikite knew Beryl had regrets for what
happened that day, and those regrets couldn't be measured by a scale of any sorts. She
wanted to tell them "I'm sorry" for what she did, or tried to do, anyway.

Ashely started to ask questions, as any child would do after hearing something this
hellish. "What's gonna happen to mommy?"

"They'll probably try to patch things up with your mommy." Immediately, he thought, 'I
hope.'

"Will she be okay?"

"Yes, she'll be just fine," said Sanikite, although he really didn't know if there was
truth in those words or not.

'Please, let her be ok,' he thought once more to himself. 'Don't let anything happen
to her mother, to my soulmate. I love her with all my heart. Please, don't hurt her.'
*********************************************************************
He would find out his soulmate's fate, because the next day, the trial took place. Everyone
was there. All of the Sailors were there, Serenity and Edmonton was there, as well as Casto
and the vulture guardian that he owned. He was the only male Sailor of the entire group, Sailor
Vulture, and the Vulture was more than a power or a guardian, it was a part of his soul. Luna
and Artimiss also attended, and about all of the people in the courts attended Beryl's trial.
People knew that this would be something to see. The sentence of the one person who had the
guts to destroy the place, although she had regrets for what she did to them.

"This court meeting will come to order," said Judge Carl Reinheart, the high judge, a
big, buff guy who looked as if he could kill with a single punch, and had a cold
stare which told just the same. He was also their executioner. He was the one to
carry out a death sentence if that was the case. And he was known as a true
bastard in executions. He loved every second of it. Once, when killing a man, making
him bleed, he went so far as to taste the blood of the man. He loved to execute, and
loved the agony and the pain that went with it. He even goes so far as to make some
slow and painful, with each minute ticking away to their death. That was just the
kind of man this guy was thought to be.

However, he wouldn't execute a man if he wasn't guilty of something. He wasn't that kind
of guy. He knew that he was a fair guy. If the man wasn't guilty, then he, or she, was
free to go.

"This case is against Queen Melissa Beryl for destroying the Moon Kingdom ten years
ago. Melissa, this court has reviewed the documents that say the case, and we have
reviewed them. The case against you is very incriminating. I don't know if there is
anything that could save you from being found guilty. However, we understand that you
have the right to defend yourself in this courtroom. With that being said, do you have
anything to say on behalf of your case," he said. Melissa did have a lot to say.

Melissa started, "I do, council." She then turned towards the audience and began to
speak towards them. "Ten years ago," she continued, "I did something that I will regret
for the rest of my life. I had destroyed your home. There is no punishment great enough
for what I did. However, I have turned my life around. I have a husband that I hold dear
to me, a daughter that means very much to me, and all of the people there have made me realize
that I was doing the enough things. I stand before you now, to say that I, am sorry. I
know that won't be enough. If I am found guilty, then all I want as a punishment is to
say that I will never do it again. I will not hesitate to sign any type of contract that
says so. That is all," and with that, she sat back down.

"Well, Queen Beryl," started the judge, "I see that you are component that you want
these people to forgive you for what you did to them. You presented your case pretty
good. You had changed greatly. This court applauds you for doing that." Melissa was getting
a smile on her face from that notion.

"HOWEVER!!"

That word all of a sudden brought her smile out of touch, and a worried look came on
her face. She knew she wouldn't get the sentence that she wanted if she was found
guilty. She wouldn't get a plea bargain. She listened as the judge rendered his verdict.

"Your crimes can never be forgiven. Your crimes will never be forgotten, and the crime
will not go unpunished to the highest extent that I can, maybe further that even that.
Queen Melissa Beryl, on behalf of this court, I find you...GUILTY ON ALL CHARGES!!!!!!"

A few people clapped their hands in acceptance, thinking that this would finally be the
end of their troubles, even though the clapping was very weak-sounding.

"Now," he continued, "I have also thought of the sentence to carry out if you were found
guilty. We thought to execute you. That wasn't enough. We had thought to exile you to a
place of Hell forever, but that's not enough. Not even is that suck-ass effort about a
contract deal enough. I had thought about it. Melissa, there is something that you hold
very dear to you. Someone that you care about more than anyone here."

She was believing that he meant her new husband, Sanikite, in which she knew that he would
give his life for her.

"Go ahead. Kill him if you must. I deserve it. You should if that is to be my
punishment. He would be more than willing to die if it meant for me to move on," she
said, knowing that she should be punished.

"HUH?!! HIM?!! Who said anything about a HE?!!" Reinheart had said that with great
stride.

Serena was there that day as well, accompaning Casto. "What's he talking about,
Casto," she asked to her brother.

"I don't...," Casto stopped, now seemingly knowing what he's going to say, "Oh my God!!"

"What is it," Serena asked.

"Take a listen," Casto said.

Beryl also knew what he was going to say. Immediately, she started to worry, with tears
starting to flow down her cheek.

"No, Judge!! You CAN'T!! WHY HER," she screamed in shock.

Carl Reinheart spoke on. "You hold your daughter so dear to you that it's amazing. I
can't believe how much you really love Princess Ashely Beryl. However, as your
punishment, we shall...EXECUTE HER!!!!!"

As soon as he was finished, everyone turned straight at the judge in disbelief of this
sentence, Casto more than any other. His quickness in standing up told the whole story
with his sudden thought of the matter at hand.

"I OBJECT TO THAT SENTENCE," screamed a trembling Casto, who shot his way out of his seat.
Everyone turned towards him, as his voice was so loud it caught the attention of everyone
in the courtroom. No one held enough guts to question a sentence like this before.

"Now I know that Queen Beryl did some very bad things in her life. Some very bad
decisions, but the sentence that your asking. Why kill her daughter?!! She has nothing
to do with this."

"Casto, I suggest you sit down before I throw you out of the courtroom."

"I don't care if you throw me..."

"Casto," Serena started, "let it go for now. We'll find some way to convince them."

"NO, I WILL..." Casto was interrupted by some guards who escorted him back to his seat
and directed him to sit back down.

"And to teach you a lesson, we are ordering you to watch the execution."

All of a sudden, the doors to the courtroom opened, and two guards were holding one hand
each of Princess Ashely. 'How the hell did they find her,' Melissa thought.

"Mommy," Ashely said when she found her mother, "what's going on. I'm scared, mommy. HELP
ME MOMMY!!"

"GIVE ME BACK MY GOD DAMN DAUGHTER," Melissa pleaded to the guards, to no avail. "You can
kill ME!! I'll DIE if I have to!! But PLEASE let her GO!!"

A guard came over to her. "Shut the FUCK up," was the last thing she heard from his lips
before a stinging slap came before her face. She would've retaliated, but in fear that they
would kill her daughter right then and there if she tried anything, she decided against it.

"MOMMY, HELP ME PLEASE!!" Ashely was crying and screaming to the loudest her lungs could
allow her.

Melissa Beryl was also scared of what they were doing. "PLEASE let her go. I'll do anything you
WANT!! I'll be your slave for the rest of my fucking LIFE!! ANYTHING BUT HER!! PLEASE LET HER GO!!"

That was the last thing she said before Ashely disappeared from her mother's eyes, maybe for
the last time before she had to see her die, and at the executions, Melissa knew that the
true bastard behind Reinheart, the true him, came out then.

Casto was also staring dead at the door, with a cold look. He couldn't believe they were
going to do this to Melissa. Sure, she did some very evil things, but, in Casto's mind,
not even Queen Melissa Beryl herself deserved what this sentence was asking for, which was
that this was the only way she could be punished effectively, by murdering her only daughter.

"Execution will occur tomorrow. This court is adjourned."

And with that, it was over. Just like that. No jury, no testimony, nothing. Usually,
Reinheart was also a fair judge, and heard both sides of the case. But something
possessed him to not be fair this time. Like he almost wanted her to be guilty of the
crime.

'That little son-of-a-bitch' Casto thought to himself. 'So my mother hired a murderer as
a high judge. She'll hear something from me about this. I'm not gonna let that bastard
Reinheart murder an innocent four-year-old girl for something that's in the past.'
*********************************************************************
After the trial was over, Casto went right into Queen Serenity’s room.

"HOW COULD YOU LET THEM DO THAT," he screamed into her face. Obviously, he was very
angry at what had happened at the trial.

King Edmonton was also there, as well. "You shall never speak to your mother in that..."

Serenity knew, though, why he was angry at her. He deserved an explanation as to why she
didn't intervene, as he knew nothing of the agreement that she and the courts made about
her not interfering in the trials.

She interrupted her husband, "It's okay, my love. He's as angry as I am right now at all
of this. He has the right to be angry at me. I'm angry at myself for this, as well."

"What?" the king said. "You cannot be serious. You're saying that you agree with the way
he just lashed out at you? And with knowing that this is the best"

"My dear husband, my strong-willed son, I know what Queen Melissa Beryl did was wrong,
but I would've been happy for what she wanted. I would've be happy to let everything
go to rest in the past by doing what she wanted. But I don't think taking her only
daughter she has ever had away from her is the right way. This is not necessary.
Unfortunately, I can't do anything about it."

"And why is that," Casto screamed angrily at her.

"Because a long time ago, I signed a contract, stating that I wouldn't interfere in the
court's decisions in any way. If I would've intervened then, I would breech the
contract, and they could...find me guilty."

Casto looked at her dumbfounded. "Mother, why are you letting them control you? No one
can do that. Your the queen of this kingdom, for God sakes. Why did you let them take
control of you like that?"

"Because, I was...stupid. I didn't think twice when signing it. At the time, I didn't
know that they would do such a thing. But don't worry Casto. So help me, I am not going
to let them go though with this sentence."

"I would hope not," he said in response to her comment. "I looked into both Reinheart's
and Ashely's eyes earlier. Reinheart's was filled with joy, while Ashely's was filled with
fear. If what Reinheart is planning goes through tomorrow, he is going to have to be
answering to me, and I'll send his sorry ass straight to Hell!"

"Son," Serenity said to Casto, "I know that you are angry. I know that you want to do
something about what has happened. But please, don't get too angry, or you'll do
something you might very well regret. I myself am angry right now, but I have a known
history for expressing my anger calmly, with no violence from my end. But Casto, I've
seen you at times like this. You may not be able to hold back your anger, and that's
what I'm afraid of. Casto, for me, please, try not to get into anything you might not be
able to turn back from?"

"Don't worry, mother, I'm not going to try anything downright stupid. I'm just warning
you that if anything happens to that poor girl, I'm going to take off his head. She
doesn’t deserve this. GODDAMN IT, SHE JUST DOESN'T DESERVE THIS," Casto screamed,
kneeling down and punching the ground with his bare fist.

"I know, my son. I feel your pain," Casto's mother answered back, putting one of her
soft, gentle hands on his shoulder.
*********************************************************************
It was night time in the Dark Kingdom. Melissa Beryl was in her bedroom, and slowly, she began
to feel a quick tear running down her cheek.

She then remembered the moments when she was crying. She would be in her bedroom,
thinking about how her life was almost ruined because of what she did, and she would
start to cry. Then her daughter would come in and see her mother crying into a pillow.
And then she would say, "Mommy, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" Melissa would look into
her eyes, crying over something. Ashely was the only one to see these emotions out of
her mother. "It's okay, mommy," she would say. "Don't cry, mommy. Everything's okay." Then
she would get onto the bed with her, and hug her. This would comfort Melissa to know that
no matter what she was feeling, her daughter would love her 'mommy'. Melissa slowly would go
and give her back the love that Ashely would give her. Ashely knew nothing about what
Melissa did, and she didn't dare tell Ashely what she did to the Moon Kingdom, although
those regrets would always be what brought her to tears.

"It's okay, sweetheart. Everything okay with your mommy," she would say. And Ashely was
the absolute only one that Melissa would talk to in that manner, calling her "sweetheart,"
among other comforting names. She would do this to let her know that everything was okay.

Her mind then came back to present day, and now, knowing that those times might be taken away
from her, she started to get puffy cheeks from sadness. Her eyes were litterly shining because
of the tears that she was trying to hold back. 'I can handle this,' she thought. 'I'm strong.
I don't have to cry over this. No one needs to see their queen, somoene they need for guidance,
to be crying at all. I have to stay strong, to continue to lead. Don't let yourself--!'

Her thought was quickly cut off by a quick sob. 'But...my daughter...oh God, Ashely. I love you so
much. I never felt like this. I've never felt so helpless.' She then let out another sob, this one
longer than the first. And then, she felt a tear slowly rolling down, and Melissa was quickly losing
her will to fight her tears. 'Ashely, I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't cry. I'm sorry you don't have me
there, to comfort you. I can almost see you now, so scared, no clue what the hell is going on. I wish
I was there, just letting you know that mommy's here for you. Oh God, I can't lose her. I---just---can't.'

That was all it took for her to completely lose her endurance to hold back her feelings.
She buried her head into the pillow that was on the bed there, and she just started
crying. The sobs were loud, and she was soaking the pillow in tears, although she would
be damned if she cared about that right now. And then, without even thinking twice, she
blurted out about the HCC, "YOU FUCKING BASTARDS!!" She yelled out those words as loud
as she could possibly get. Then she buried her head back into the pillow, and started to
cry again.

Sanikite seemly heard those words, as well, as they were yelled that loud. He quickly
came into the room to see what was going on with his wife. "What's going on," he said.
He hadn't attended the trial, so he didn't know about the sentence, but he did see the
guards kidnap Ashely.

"GET AWAY, SANIKITE," Beryl commanded to him.

"Tell me what's wrong, and I.."

"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME RIGHT NOW," she said, not realizing who this was that she was
saying this to.

"Okay, then, I'll..."

Beryl then realized what she said, and quickly felt guilty. Her emotions had taken over,
and she needed someone to take it out on. Sanikite was there, so she belted on him,
without realizing that he knew nothing of the trial.

"Sanikite, please don't go. I'm sorry," she said. Sanikite heeded the request.

"Sure," he responded. "Just tell me what's wrong. You yelled so loud I could hear you
from out there in the throne room."

Melissa fought to get the words out. "They found me guilty."

"OH MY GOD," Immediately, Sanikite knew that she was talking about the trial earlier.
Then he linked that with Ashely being kidnapped. "What happened with Ashely?!"

"There gonna use her as my sentence. They're gonna...KILL HER to teach me a lesson!"

Sanikite could be seen with his jaw opening his mouth uncontrollably, and now he was the
one holding back tears. He starred at his wife in disbelief as what she just said
"I...don't...believe...it." He said those words as if he was fighting to find those
words out of the anger and sadness he was feeling right now, as she was talking about his
daughter, too.

Melissa then uttered some words that Sanikite knew he would never forget for the rest of
his life. She let her emotions now take control, and just blurted out what she
thought was happening. "There gonna take my daughter away from me. Ashely, my princess,
everything that I had ever tried to turn around my life for, is gonna be taken away by
those FUCKING bastards!! DAMN THEM!! They're NOTHING to me. Serenity was sorry for me,
too!! She wanted to do something, but I knew she COULDN'T!! DAMN THEM FOR MAKING HER BE
UNDER THEIR CONTROL!! And NOW, Ashely is gonna DIE because those Courts don't know how to
be FAIR!! DAMN THEM ALL!! DAMN THEM ALL TO FUCKING HELL!!"

Sanikite was about scared to death at those words, but never showed his fear. Never had
Melissa talked talk way before. Sure, she used such profanity before, but never in such
succession, and never in the way she used them, either. But he knew why she was saying
such phrases. He felt the same way, too, but his emotions hadn't taken control of him yet.
Her's has now. She was saying words about what she felt. She tried to fight them, but she
couldn't. She had to tell someone about what she felt. She had to let it out. And Sanikite
let her just air out what she needed to let out. He then took her by the shoulders.

She started to speak again, realizing now who she said those words to. "Sanikite, I'm
sorry. I'm letting everything go to my head, am I?! I'm taking it all out on you when I
shouldn't, am I?"

"No, your not," he responded, starting to choke up himself. "You're not doing anything wrong.
She's my daughter, too. I feel the exact same way you do, my love. I wish that I could say the
same things that you just said to them in their face. They would think twice before killing her.
Melissa, let it out. Don't let your emotions build up inside of you. Please, if this is the way
you feel, then say it to me. You don't have to hide it from me. Melissa, I love you. I
don't want to see this happen anymore than you do. If this is the way you feel..."

She interrupted him, "Yes, I do feel that way. They're gonna take my baby away
from me for their gain. She was the only one that I would die for. If she was ever taken
away from me, I wouldn't know what I would do. Sanikite, I'm SCARED that they'll do it.
I don't DESERVE this. I WANT ASHELY BACK!! IN MY ARMS!! I WANT TO SAY THAT EVERYTHING'S
GONNA BE OKAY!! MOMMY IS HERE FOR YOU!! I'M NOT GONNA LET ANYTHING HAPPEN TO YOU!! I'm
not gonna get that chance AGAIN to comfort her. I want to SEE her again! That's all
that I want, and those BASTARDS. They won't LET me. They said that it was to teach me a
LESSON. They've already DONE that. I'll do ANYTHING for them. I JUST WANT MY DAUGHTER,
THE ONLY PERSON THAT I HELD DEAR TO ME, BACK WITH ME!! MY GOD, THERE GONNA TAKE MY
SWEETIE AWAY FROM ME!!"

That was the last thing she said before burying her face into Sanikite's shoulder and
started to cry some more. She held him tightly, and she almost broke his back at the
grip that she had. However, he didn't care. Her emotions were the only things that were
being felt right now, and she needed to be comforted right now. She needed someone to
speak to. Someone who would cry with her. Sanikite started to stroke her hair
peacefully, telling her that it was going to be okay. Her hair was smooth, and he liked
doing this for her. He then felt her get a hold of some of the fabric on his uniform to
strengthen the comfort of his body against hers. He didn't mind it a bit. He took his
lips to her forehead and started to kiss her on the head, trying as hard as he possibly
could to comfort her more. He lied down with her on the bed, and he did nothing else
that night but just hold onto his love while she let everything out. She had been
crying now for about an hour, and no longer did she fight back the tears.

And in a way, he was holding onto her to comfort him, as well. He was saddened, as well.
He had said to her that everything would be okay. Now he knew that it was a complete
lie. They were going to murder Ashely because of something that they could've forgave his
wife for now. He decided not to think about what could happen, and what was happening
right now. He was able to not think about the awful stuff that could happen, but his
wife didn't. He helped Beryl undo her dress and took it off of her, so she would feel
more comfortable physically, at least. He continued to stroke her hair and kiss her on
her temple. He then heard Beryl stopping the geyser that was her crying. He then looked
on her face. She was asleep. She had cried herself to sleep, lying right on her lover's
chest. Sanikite smiled, knowing that she was comfortable right where
she was, on him. He stayed where he was at, until he fell asleep himself. This was the
kind of thing that would happen after they had a night of passion. After a night of them
showing that they really did love each other, although they knew tonight wasn't one of
those nights, so he had to show it another way, and this was the way. To just stay with
her tonight. They were then sound asleep, bodies touching one another.
*********************************************************************
Casto went to the Courts in the middle of the night, hoping to see why Reinheart was so
impatient to find Melissa guilty in the first place. He thought that even that was
suspicious. He went to where the judges sat. Mistakenly, they had left the documents for
the case there. On it was the one statement that would justify his suspicions about
Reinheart and the case. He didn't know what it was, but he had a feeling it was from one
of his private records and files that they kept under lock and key. It read, "I HATE
Queen Melissa Beryl for what she did. That new attitude of hers was only a mask. She doesn't
care about her daughter, although, yeah, she makes us that. It is my duty to make sure
that she gets punished to the extent of not the law, but of what I believe is right. And
let's see how she really cares about Ashely when I get a taste of her blood. Not only
will I make Melissa watch it, but I'll make her watch me get a little sample of that four
year old's..."

He couldn't read any more. He thought this was sickening to even think about wanting
that. The message that he received churned his stomach to the point of where he was
going to vomit because of what Reinheart really wanted to do. He didn't find her guilty
of destroying the Moon Kingdom. Casto figured that Carl couldn't care less about that.
Carl found her guilty of a personal vendetta against Melissa. Reinheart wasn't fair. And
what was more, he didn't and maybe wouldn't ever figure out the motive behind his madman
antics, much less what he was reading right at the time. He didn't care, though. He just
wanted to put an end to this rage before this issue went further than it had to, and
slowly, but surly, it was getting to that point. And that note as it was showed that he
was serious, for whatever reason he wrote it.

He then got down to the bottom portion of the note he wrote. It read, "I am also real
happy that that bitch, Queen Serenity, can't do anything about it. I really wish,
though, that she would do something foolish, so I will have a reason to kill her, and
get a taste of her blood. I already got a taste of her blood once before, though, and it
tasted so good She was very..."

"OH MY GOD!!" Casto blurted out those words, wonder if either Reinheart was a vampire,
or if he had hurt Serenity before. He couldn't believe this sick and twisted mind of his.
It was truly revolting to him.

"So he's also hurt my own damn mother," he said, raising a trembling fist to his face in
anger. "I'm gonna make sure that he pays for this. But first, I have to show this to my
mother. She must know what's going on." He immediately went back to Serenity’s room.
*********************************************************************
He woke her up, and showed her that note. Immediately, a surprised look came over her,
and she started to cry.

"Mother, what's wrong?"

"That's how he got me to sign that damn thing," she said.

"My God, you mean he really DID threaten to kill you if you didn't sign that
contract?"

"YES!! Melissa is right, just as much as you are, abut this Carl Reinheart. He IS the
sickest bastard that ever walked the face of the Moon."

He never heard Serenity talk about anyone this way. In fact, he never heard her talk
this way period.

"Mother," Casto started, "what happened to holding back your anger? You've never said
that about anyone before in your life, not even to Melissa when she was destroying this
place. You said to me yourself that you can express your anger without conflict. What's
going on? What's made you suddenly say that about him?"

"Casto, I never hated anyone in my life until I met him, either. If you saw me trying to
hold myself back with him, you would think that I was lying to you. I hate him. Hate him
more than anyone could ever be hated. For what he has done to me, what he's tried to do
to my family, and for what's happening now."

"What did he do to you, though" Casto blurted out. "It said that he had hurt you. I want
to know what that son-of-a-bitch did to you."

"He slapped me in the face, and then he punched me where he slapped me. I had a cut in
my lip. I was bleeding. He then took a finger and got some of the blood that was
seething down my face, and, to my sickness, he took that finger into his mouth."

"WHAT?!!" Casto was about to stop her right there. That enough was enough to tell her to
stop this right now, before he got to becoming sick to his stomach. It was one thing to
hit Casto's mother in the male Sailor's eyes. However, the tasting of the blood went too
far by his standards. He would think that Reinheart had a little bit of class, or a little
bit of reasoning of when he was taking things too far. But he knew then that Reinheart
didn't, and there was more than met the eye for what Casto viewed as a sick and twisted
mind. More than what he wanted to know.

"It's true," Serenity continued. "I don't know what possesses him to do such a thing,
but he does it. I finally gave that son of a bitch what he wanted, which was to sign it.
But you look at it. I was shaking when I signed on that dotted line. And then, he left
without saying a word. I cried myself to sleep that night, not knowing what possessed
him to do such a thing."

"Mother, why didn't you stop him? I know that you are powerful enough to stop that guy
from hurting you. If that was me, I would've done whatever I could to kill that
bastard."

"I would have, but there was one problem." She continued to cry, trying to get out all
that she could. "He also threatened my family if I didn't sign that contract."

"WHAT?!!"

"He said that he would kill my whole family if I didn't sign it. I almost retaliated
with the punch to my face, but I thought that if I did, my family would be murdered by
that bastard. I took the blows, knowing that if I didn't, it would be you and Serena
taking them, and no one, and I mean no one, hurts my family and gets away with it. I'd
rather die before I let you two get hurt."

Casto understood what she meant by that. He knew that, beyond normal, his mother would
do anything to protect her family. Her husband, son, and daughter.

Serenity continued. "Now I am stuck with him as a judge, jury, and executioner. He
wasn't too bad of an executioner till I saw his face on one. He's not human. He loved
every second of that damn thing. And I thought that that was all that he did, until I
saw that I wasn't the only blood that..."

Casto stopped her right there. As soon as she said blood again, he knew exactly what she
was talking about, and he really didn't have the stomach to handle another tale of the
vampire-like tale of him and his blood-tasting. It was already churning him as it was. One
more mention of it, and he wouldn't have been able to hold back what he wanted to do.

Serenity understood what he was feeling about that blood-tasting tale. "I know, it's
kind of sick, and it's kind of revolting. But that's the kind of man he is...if you want
to call him a human." Casto didn't want to.

However, now he realized something that could've turned the tide of this whole ordeal.
Using people was a high crime, as well, and now he had the judge for something. If he
could bring this up in the courts, not only would Reinheart definitely be guilty, but
Ashely would be saved, and Serenity would be released of any contracts that he made her
sign, under law.

Casto, however, knew that this would have to be quick, because the execution of Melissa
Beryl's daughter was tomorrow.

He was about to walk out of Serenity's room when he heard her say, "He'll get something
from me tomorrow."

"Huh," Casto asked, and turned back around. "What do you mean by that?"

"I'm going to be there tomorrow, Casto," she answered her son. "And when I get there,
I'm no longer going to try to hold back my hatred for him. I can't. I just can't hold
back from that little...that.."

"Mother, I'm here. I know how you feel. Don't try to hold back the anger. Don't try to
hold back that hatred that you have for him. Personally, I don't think there's anything
else that will surprise me."

"Thanks, Casto. You were always a warm-hearted guy who cared about his friends and
family. I'm glad that I had you for a son and brought you up. I did well, I think. But
it's not going to be the same for that...that...," she tried to hold it back, but
suddenly, she couldn't take it any longer. She could feel her anger building up inside
of her, and it was about to burst like a geyser. Her teeth were clinching, her body was
trembling, and anger arose in her voice with every syllable that she spoke in this
particular conversation.

"Mother," Casto asked, a little worried at what would happen.

"...that LITTLE PIECE OF SHIT," Serenity screamed to the top of her lungs. As she said
that, her fist met with a wall in sheer violence, her entire body shaking in anger, with
steady tears glistening down her face.

As Casto heard her mother say that, he was both proud that her mother had finally seen
enough of what she was going through. But at the same time, the thought of what she said
to him earlier that night raced through his head. He knew several times from pure
experience that once you lose your temper like the way he witnessed, you might as well
have lost it totally for the next few days, and the execution was the very next day.

For now, however, he let Serenity say what she wanted to say without any immediate
concern.

She continued. "Why did that have to happen to me, Casto? You know me very well, maybe
even better than my own husband. You know I don't want to be like this. But why the hell
do I have to actually take that from that bastard? Why was I so STUPID," she asked,
starting to cry. "I...I can't do this. I can't hold it back any longer."

"Don't, mother," Casto answered. "Don't hold back. You have to tell someone how you
feel. You can tell me. Just continue to let it out."

"Thanks. It's just that Reinheart has the guts to murder her. Murder an innocent,
helpless daughter of my former enemy. What kind of courage is that? He can't find a
better way than to use violence to solve his problems. It's not even anything that I'm
concerned with anymore. All he cares about is his OWN reputation. He'll stop at nothing
to get it. Not even...," a quick breath came out, "...not even...HURTING MY FUCKING
FAMILY!!! HE'S NOT GONNA GET AWAY WITH IT!!! HE'S GOT THE FUCKING NERVE TO TRY TO HARM
MY OWN GODDAMN FAMILY!! WHAT A BASTARD HE IS!! A FUCKING BASTARD!!" She then looked up
at the ceiling, as if she was talking to someone not in the room. "DO YOU HEAR ME,
REINHEART?!! THAT'S ALL YOU ARE!!!! A FUCKING, NO-GOOD BASTARD!! I HOPE YOU...I HOPE YOU
DIE!!!"

She knelt down on both knees after saying that in her loudest voice ever. Casto knelt
down beside her. He could see the tears flowing down her cheek as she cupped her hands
and buried her head in them. Casto could only hug her at this point. Serenity wasn't
used to saying such words to express her anger, and Casto wasn't used to hearing her in
that manner. Serenity cried for about two minutes without a word while her son tried to
comfort her in the best way he could.

"I...I'm sorry, Casto," she said, trying to get the words out in between her sobs. "I
think I went too far with saying that. I never wished death upon anyone before. I never
said those words bef..."

Casto interrupted her, "Shhh, it's alright, mother. Don't worry. You didn't go too far.
In fact, I'm proud of you."

"You are?"

"Yes. I know you've been holding back that anger inside for so long. I could never do
that. But at the same time, at some point, you have to let it out, sometimes in ways you
never thought you could. You thought you could never say anything like what just came
out of your mouth, did you?" Serenity nodded yes. "Well, I know more than anyone here
that each person deals with their anger with different ways. Sometimes, though, the
actions people take aren't the best ways to go about expressing it. You trying to hold
back that anger wasn't the best way, in my mind. This guy is someone that you have to
deal with directly." He paused for a few seconds before asking, "Mother?"

"Yes," she answered with a sniff.

"Tomorrow, if you do show that son-of-a-bitch exactly what he deserves, save some of him
for me, will you? I have some issues that I want to deal to him myself."

"WITH PLEASURE," she stressed.
*********************************************************************
That tomorrow turned into today. Ashely was in a prison cell, not knowing what was going
on. "Mommy, where are you. I'm so scared. I need you, mommy."

Ashely was so scared she was shaking. She was on the bench, curled up in a ball, shaking
in fear. So scared she was, and so frightened from that cell. They had locked up her in
that cell, and it would be scary to a grown man alone. Imagine what would it do to a
four year old girl, who didn't know what was even going on, or why she was in there. In
many eyes, she deserved an explanation, and more than that. She needed Queen Beryl, her 'mommy'
there. She wanted her 'mommy' to comfort her. To be there, telling her it was
okay.

"Hey, kid, you have a visitor." The guard said that like he was going to croak if he was
excited at all. Ashely was hoping that her mother was coming. The guard wasn't allowed to
let her have any visitors, but the reason that he did this was the person. Casto was the
visitor. Ashely quickly gave up all hope then. He was let into the cell. Ashely all of a
sudden backed up to the back wall of the cell.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!! YOU'RE ONE OF THEM," she yelled, becoming scared of him.

"No, I am not," Casto tried to tell her. "I am here to help. I want to tell you what's
gonna happen, and I want to know a few things."

"Start talking."

"How can I put this? Do you know why they have you here?"

"No, I don't."

"Do you want me to tell you?! It might scare you."

"Please tell me."

He tried to tell her in word that wouldn't scare her as much as she was already.

"The judge wants to do something to you to teach your mommy a lesson. He wants...to kill
you."

He knew saying that would scare her, but, for some reason, those words blurted out. And
it did scare her. She started to whimper a little.

"Don't be scared, Ashely. I'm not gonna let those bastards do this to you. But I need for
you to do something."

"Please let me see my mommy."

"I will, Ashely, but what I need from you is to tell me what happened. How exactly did
they kidnap you."

"They just took me. My daddy tried to stop them, but he couldn't. They said for me to
stay with them."

"Those bastards. Okay, that's all I needed to..."

All of a sudden, Reinheart came into the part in which the cell was. He didn't expect
Casto to be there. "What the hell are you doing here, Casto," he said.

Casto went right into his face, and started to scream. "What I want to know is, WHAT THE
HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO KILL HER LIKE THIS?!! SHE DIDN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH
IT!!"

"I have a duty to uphold the law, and you're in the way of me doing that."

"Well, I know that it wasn't that she DESTROYED THE MOON KINGDOM THAT MADE YOU FIND HER
GUILTY!! IT WAS THAT YOU DON'T LIKE HER!! I ALSO KNOW THAT YOU HURT MY MOTHER, AND FOR
THAT, I'LL MAKE SURE THAT YOU GET BUSTED!!"

Reinheart was surprised, because no one knew that much about him. "YOU BASTARD!!
GET OUT OF MY WAY BEFORE I HAVE TO KICK YOUR ASS!!" Reinheart went and punched Casto in
the face. Casto fell to the ground in extreme pain. "COME WITH ME, CHILD!!" He grabbed
Ashely by the hand and dragged her out of the cell, not caring if Ashely was a child,
a newborn, or whatnot. He was only intent to execute her.

"Come...back...uh...here with...her.
You...won't...get..away...with...this...you...son-of-a-bitch," were the last words that
Casto could get out of his beaten body before he passed out on the prison cell floor.
*********************************************************************
Casto came to in a chair in a room. He then looked up after rubbing his eyes. What he
saw was the most heinous thing ever to him. He saw Princess Ashely, there an electric
chair. A basic form of execution, and here was the four year old, scared half to death,
not knowing what was going on, and here she was, tied up, restraint from even moving,
ready to die.

"What the hell...?!," He said out of the blue, and then it hit him. "Oh, my God! He can't be
SERIOUS!! This piece of crap is really going to go through with this? Has this guy lost his mind?"

A door opened up. Two guards were there, each dragging Melissa by one arm each. "LET ME
GO," she said, with no one even listening. They then brought out a special chair for
her, in which they put her in. They restrained every part of her body, down to the
eyelids, so she wouldn't be able to close your eyes to not witness it, and the neck
still so she wouldn't turn her head from her daughter. Her eyes became glittery from the
tears she was letting out. Everyone else that was forced to watch came in.

Reinheart appeared on the other side of a plain sheet of glass which was held by a wall.
It was a two way glass, so Ashely and her mother would see each other, or be able to, at
least.

"MOMMY," she screamed.

"SWEETIE, I'm here," Melissa responded.

"MOMMY, I'M SCARED!! WHAT ARE THEY DOING TO ME?! TAKE ME HOME!! I WANT TO GO HOME!!"
Ashely followed that with a few tears of fear going down her eyes.

'Ashely,' Casto thought, 'I'm not going to let him do this. I swear on my soul, I'm not
going to let him do a thing to you.'

Reinheart started to speak. "Now, ladies and gentlemen, Melissa is sustained to watch, and
you all have been brought here to watch. So, let's get going."

Reinheart went to the lever. When he pulled it down, Ashely would be subjected to a lot
of electricity, and be dead within minutes. And he was gonna do it. No one was going to
be able to stop him, either.

He got halfway down with the lever, when Casto couldn't take it anymore. This was it for
him. The breaking point. He had tried to subdue this for so long, but this was it. He
had reached the breaking point. Something had to give in him.

"STOP IT RIGHT NOW!!" Casto jumped up right from his seat. Reinheart quickly went back
up. "THIS IS ENOUGH!! MELISSA HAS LEARNED HER LESSON ENOUGH! STOP THIS!!"

"And what are you gonna do about it?!"

'Good question. This was a sentence that he handed down to her, but it's going too...'
He then thought of something surprising to him. 'HEY, THAT'S IT!! Why didn't I think of
it sooner?'

The next words surprised everyone there. "I want to drop all charges on Queen Melissa Beryl."

People were heard of saying "Is he out of his mind?" Or "What did he say?!" Everyone
turned to Casto, and looked dead upon him.

Reinheart looked that way, too. No one did such a thing at that point. "Don't tell me
you want to do this now."

Casto said something even more surprising. "Melissa doesn't deserve to have her
daughter killed like this. Please stop. We can find another way. You're nothing but a
greedy, sick son-of-a-bitch to be seeking revenge this way. Enough is enough."

"No way, Casto. You have no idea what Queen Beryl having a daughter will do to us."

"Do I, or do you? Ashely has nothing to do with anything that Beryl did. All I want is
for you to stop. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, THIS IS NOT RIGHT!!!!!"

At this point, Melissa was thinking that Casto was a savior to Ashely. She was relieved
that he has taken as much as this as he could possibly see before he has reached the
boiling point.

Reinheart thought nothing of his request, though.

"No, Casto, and if you have the fortitude to do that again, I'm gonna kill you..."

"I agree."

Someone just interrupted him again, but no one knew who it was. They looked for the
owner of the voice. It was King Edmonton, who had also seen enough.

"I'll admit, I didn't see it at first, but you, Reinheart, are a poor excuse for a
judge, and even less of an excuse for a human being. If you kill her now, we will
never forgive you, and damn you for all eternity. Let her go. I'm dropping the charges,
also," said the alledged first individual who would want to see Melissa punished.

Suddnly, Serena, who was also in the room, stood up to join her father and brother in their
efforts. Then, to Reinheart's surprise, everyone stood to join the three. They had all
said, one at a time, what they wanted to say, with the words that told him that they
wanted to drop all charges that was on the Queen. Melissa had a rally going to let her go
free.

Reinheart, however, said nothing about it, and went back to the lever, to everyone's disbelief.
They had all rallied against his form of punishment, but to no avail.

He was about to pull the final two inches, when a staff hit his head, and the lever
swung back up. He looked up, and to everyone's surprise, Queen Serenity was there,
holding that staff on his head, and she was shaking in anger, with the worst angry look
that she could possibly give someone.

"LET HER GO, OR I'M GONNA KILL YOU," she said, without thinking twice. Reinheart didn't
know what she was doing, nor why.

"QUEEN SERENITY!! What in the world do you think your DOING?!"

"You know damn well what you did to me, you fucking bastard."

"NOW WAIT A MINUTE!! I didn't do anything to you."

"YES YOU DID, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!! I'M NOT HOLDING BACK ANY LONGER!! I WANT EVERYONE IN
THE MOON KINGDOM TO KNOW WHO YOU TRULY ARE!! YOU'RE NOT THE MAN THAT PEOPLE MADE YOU OUT
TO BE!! YOU'RE SUCH A BASTARD!!" Serenity started to have tears rolling down her face as
everyone got startled by her sudden change in attitude.

Serenity continued, "Take her off of that chair right now, you son-of-a-bitch, and I
will NOT tell everyone what you did to me. Casto already knows. I TOLD HIM!!"

With that, she pushed Reinheart to a wall, and lifted him up on the wall by his chin
with her staff.

"Now, are you gonna let him go, or am I gonna have some fun tearing you up into
SHEADS?!"

"CASTO, tell her to LAY OFF!! She's gone totally INSANE!!"

Casto just looked on in happiness. "Do it, or I'll HELP HER!!"

"Help her do what," Reinheart asked, and as he was saying this, neither Casto nor Serenity
saw him pull out a knife. The next thing they saw was him sticking the knife right into
Serenity’s heart. Serenity screamed, and fell limp to the floor.

"MOTHER," Casto screamed to the top of his lungs, as he exited the witness room, and
entered the execution room. He held Serenity’s body up, to see the paleness of her face.
It was too late. She was murdered by Reinheart.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! MOTHER!! DAMN IT," he exclaimed. "REINHEART, THE HELL ARE YOU
THINKING," he screamed, looking straight at him with a cold stare.

Reinheart was ready now to kill Ashely. "Now, to you, Ashely," he said.

Melissa, however, was using the distraction to get the restraints off
of her. She was done with the arms, and now she could get the rest undone.

Serena entered the execution room, only to see Serenity’s dead body. Within a blink of
the eye, Serena had enough of what was happening, as well. Any person who has saw
Serena's temper flare up could tell you that it would rarely do so, and it would happen
if you hurt someone she really cared about, and Serena cared for her mother.

So it was to no one's surprise that Serena started to flare up again, this time to
Reinheart. She wasn't going to forgive Reinheart now, not after everything that he tried
to do. In a quick move, Serena went after him in great rage, which was unsuccessful, as
Reinheart quickly slammed her to the ground, with no way of getting up quickly enough.
Both Serena and Casto were helpless to stop anything, even the events that were taking
place.

And what would be the most hellish thing that would happen, in the witnesses' eyes.

As Melissa got the last of the restraints off, Reinheart did something that would stick in
her mind forever.

He pulled the lever.

And this time....IT WENT DOWN!!

"MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY, HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP
MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!," Ashely screamed in pain and agony.

"OH MY GOD, NO!!!! AAAAASHEEEELY!!!!" At that moment, Melissa took her staff
and smashed the glass with it. She launched herself over the wall.

"DON'T DIE, ASHELY," Melissa screamed . This was the loudest she had ever gotten. "NO,
ASHELY, DON'T DIE!! DON'T DIE!!! DON'T DDDDIIIIIIEEEE!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

Melissa then broke the chair in which Ashely was in. Ashely's now limp body fell to the
cold ground. Melissa then went to her and held her daughter close to her.

"Ashely," she screamed as she let out a loud sob, "DON'T DIE!!" Melissa then took a
pulse, and afterwards...she found that there was nothing there. She then check for
breathing...she wasn't.

It was at that moment that Melissa's greatest fear had came true. Reinheart had gotten
his wish, as Ashely was dead! Killed by the electricity from the chair. Her face was so pale,
and Melissa felt the cold skin that was coming to her. And then Melissa started to cry.

"NO, ASHELY, PLEASE DON'T LEAVE MY LIFE!! I LOVE YOU, MY PRINCESS!! DON'T DIE!!"

But it was no use. There was no use in telling her anything now, and the entire audience
was stunned in frim disbelief.

"OH MY GOD, NO!! SWEETHEART, I'M SORRY I WASN'T THERE!! I'M SORRY!!"

Then, she took a cold, hard look at her executioner. And then, one word that Melissa had
said told the entire story for her.

"MURDERER!!!"

That was the only word everyone else needed. No one dared to stop the dark queen now. No one
wanted to.

Reinheart has a smirk on his face. To everyone there, it was the most sickening
display could laugh at to, and there he was, laughing.

Melissa came up, and now she was breathing heavily, her whole body shaking, and her voice
trembling the words she was speaking.

"I HATE YOU, REINHEART!!" Those words stung in people's hearts, because everyone knew
she meant those words. "I FUCKING HATE YOU!! YOU KILLED MY DAUGHTER!! NOW, I'M GONNA
KILL YOU!!"

No one wanted to stop her, either. So Reinheart had to beat it before she carried out
her promise.

"As this is where I make my exit. I've served my purpose. Farewell, criminal," he said,
and with that, he was gone, out of the door and had escaped from the room. But he gotten
his wish. Melissa had suffered a great loss.

"COME BACK HERE, YOU FUCKING COWARD," she screamed, followed by a loud yell of anger. She
then swung her staff angrily at anything she could break. The lever was broken.
Next, she almost tore apart the wall separating the two rooms. Everyone hurried out of
the room. Melissa then fell to her knees, weakened by the sadness, and then she ended up
crawling to Ashely's limp, dead body.

"No, Ashely. You can't be dead. You can't be dead...." She repeated that last sentence
for about a minute, and then she picked the body up, and hugged it, like she was asleep,
and, Indian style, she sat down on the ground with her, and put her on Melissa's lap. Then
she stated to rock her, like she was rocking Ashely to sleep. This site was so sad to see
for everyone, as Serena buried her head in Casto's shoulder, avoiding looking at that site.

However, what Melissa did next was a earful. She started to sing to Ashely, like she would do to put
her to sleep when she was a baby. No one knew exactly what she was singing, or made out
what words she was singing, but they figured she was singing something to Ashely. She
didn't want to believe that she was dead. And no one could move her, get her attention,
or anything. She stayed that way, rocking, singing, and sometimes kissing her limp
daughter, the only one person that she showed this side of her to. Melissa didn't care who
saw her now. She didn't even realize what she was doing. She was only thinking about
what had happened. Over and over again, people tried to get Beryl's attention, to no
such avail. Beryl looked more and more like hell itself as the time went along.

What was surprising was, no one saw this side of her before. They had seen the most evil
side of her that anyone could see. They saw her happy side, but they have never seen
anything like this coming out of the dark queen, of all people. Everyone was in tears over
this. They then decided to just let her go. Let her grieve in the only was she knew how to
do so. She ended up doing that all night, not getting even a wink of sleep. She had stayed wide
awake all night, just singing and rocking Ashely. Her voice was to a hum now, and when it
came to morning, she was just holding that cold body, rocking it still, not wanting to
believe that Ashely was actually dead at all, and that she was only sleeping.
*********************************************************************
Serena woke up the next day, hoping that what had happened the night before was just a
bad nightmare. That she would see Ashely, alive and well, and that Beryl would be as
happy as can be.

When she went down to the cells, however, she saw Melissa, still sitting in the exact same
place she was the night before, rocking Ashely.

"Uhh...Melissa...I'm so sorry."

Melissa then finally woke up from what was like a trance to her. She had heard Serena's
words. 'I'm so sorry' was what she said to her worst enemy.

Melissa couldn't find the strength to acknowledge her, though. She just uttered the words,
"please don't be," very softly, and left it at that.

Sanikite came in a few moments later, and instantly, he was shocked to see what had
happened.

"OH MY GOD, NO!! ASHELY!!"

Melissa somehow found the strength to look towards him, but only to say, "They took her
away from me. They took my baby away from me. MY GOD, SHE'S GONE!!"

Sanikite came over to her, and sat down next to her, once again unsure how to express his
emotions. "Melissa, I don't know what to say. No words can express the anger, the sadness,
the guilt of what I'm feeling right now."

The next three words that came out of Queen Melissa Beryl's mouth shocked both Serena and Sanikite.

"My life's over."

Sanikite want to make sure he heard that right. "WHAT?!"

"YOU HEARD ME, YOU DUMB SON OF A BITCH!! MY LIFE IS THROUGH!! SHE'S DEAD!! SHE'S
FUCKING DEAD!! WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT ME TO SAY?!!!"

"MELISSA, CALM DOWN!!"

"I CAN'T CALM THE FUCK DOWN!! MY LIFE IS OVER!! THEY KILLED HER!! THOSE BASTARDS
KILLED MY ONLY DAUGHTER!! I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO NOW!!"

Serena tried to calm her down. She was ready for this. She knew the stages of how a
person will deal with such a death. First, sadness, then came the anger. She was at her
second stage of dealing with this.

"EVERYONE, GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!! I CAN'T FIND IT WITHIN MYSELF TO CARE
ABOUT ANYONE ANYMORE!! DAMN YOU ALL!! YOU ALL CAN GO TO HELL!!"

"NO, BERYL, DON'T SAY THAT!!"

"YOU FOLLOW ME, SO HELP ME, I'LL KILL YOU RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!!"

"MY LOVE, PLEASE...," Sanikite cried out.

Serena stopped him. "Sanikite, let her go. She needs to get this out of her
system. I guess that's the only way to express her anger towards what happened here."

He let Melissa run outside to wherever she was running off to.
*********************************************************************
She had ran and ran and ran for about twenty minutes, as far as she could go, until
she stopped, and broke down crying again. A few minutes later, Sanikite appeared. Beryl
knew who it was.

"Sanikite, I'm sorry I acted that way. I'm sorry I told you to go to hell. I'm sorry for
everything."

"My love, you don't have to apologize to me. I understand why you said those things.
Personally, that's what I want to say right now. Not really in that way, but that's
basically what I'm feeling right now."

Sanikite held Melissa tightly. Melissa felt like she was gonna sink into Sanikite's chest.
She did, too. But she didn't feel like sleeping. She just wanted Sanikite to hold her.
To comfort her. To tell her how he felt.

The dark queen then had something come to her head. "Sanikite, tell me something. Was Ashely
the only reason why I turned good?"

"WHAT?!!"

"Was Ashely the only real reason why I destroyed the Dark Force?"

"No, she wasn't. You destroyed it to start a new life. You wanted to put your past
behind you. It was for Ashely. She was only one of the many reasons you turned your life
around."

Although the Dark Force statement he said was a complete lie, and he knew it, he felt
that saying it that way would comfort her, because he was fearing that she might turn
back into the cold-hearted woman she once was because of all of the events that had taken
place.

"Thanks, Sanikite. I needed to hear that. Please, I must do something. Don't come after
me."

She broke his hold and went off. Sanikite heeded request not to follow her.
*********************************************************************
On a table was a gun that someone from Earth on a visit there left there by mistake. One
bullet was remaining in the magazine. Melissa was staring at the gun. She then wondered a
lot of things.

"Sanikite," she said, "I am sorry for what I want to do. Ashely is dead,
and my life is though because of it. I don't want to live my life without Ashely with me.
She was my princess. My little baby. I want to join her. I want to rock her to sleep
again. I can't do that now. I can't live with that pain inside of me. I love you,
Sanikite, but this is too much for me. I want to join Ashely. I would die for her. When I
sung that song of mine to her, I knew that I wouldn't be able to do it ever again."

She looked at the gun, and picked it up, cocked off the safety, and pointed it to her
skull. It would kill her the minute she pulled on that trigger. What was scary, though,
was that she had that look in her eyes. That she didn't care what that thing would do to
her. She had enough of everything that was going on around her.

"Ashely, I'm coming to comfort you once again. In heaven, Hell, whatever. I don't care
where I go, as long as I'm there, holding you close to me. You have to be scared by not
having me there. And, to my kingdom, I'm sorry. Please, everyone, forgive me."

And with that, she pulled the trigger right to her brain.
*********************************************************************
Sanikite was near the Kingdom when he heard a gunshot go off.

"OH MY GOD!!"

He ran into the Moon Kingdom as fast as he could. As soon as he went into the room in
which the gunshot echoed from, his mind just went blank of all other thoughts.

Melissa had committed suicide with that gun.

"Oh God! MELISSA," he screamed.
*********************************************************************
The next thing that Sanikite remembered was everyone gathering around the limp body
of the dead queen. Some people knew why she did it, while some people still questioned
it to this day.

The answer was explained to everyone from Sanikite. He told them that because her
daughter was dead, she didn't think she had a life anymore. Her daughter was her light.
It was her star shining bright. Ashely was not just the Princess of the Dark Kingdom, but
Queen Beryl's personal princess. Her little pride and joy, and when she saw her dead
before her, she thought that there wasn't anything left that she could do to ease the
pain. Sure, Sanikite loved her, and she knew that she still had him, but she would be
damned if she had forgotten about Ashely's death. She couldn't live with it. In her mind,
the only way to ease the pain was that permanent solution. The shot to the head was all
it took. A quick second for her to kill herself.

And she was in heaven, Sanikite hoped, with Ashely.
*********************************************************************
Somehow, some kind of message came to him that Melissa had actually made it into heaven.
Ashely was her star. It was her light. Melissa, after years of belonging in Hell, had
finally did something right, and had made it. Sanikite knew that when his time came, he
would meet her again, and their daughter. But for now, he had a new mission. Find
Reinheart, and kill him.
*********************************************************************
Reinheart disappeared after that day, and hasn't been seen since from anyone.
Casto was named the new High Judge of the High Crimes Court. He never has executed
anyone to this very day. But he swore to God that if Reinheart ever showed his face
there again, he would suffer the same fate as Ashely did to show him how that felt the
hard way.
*********************************************************************
But for right now, that electric chair still is broken, and no one will be ever allowed
to fix it to make it work again, to make sure that the horrors of that day stick in
everyone's mind, and to teach a lesson to everyone. That lesson was that life is a
precious thing, and someone else's life shouldn't be treated like a toy. And, in a way,
it was in memory of Princess Ashely, to say that it didn't have to happen that way.

THE END...FOR NOW!!
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