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Preface: A Heavy Burden
Serena gazed at the full moon and sighed. She was remembering all of the
good
times she had had on the moon. Nights with Endymion, days with Luna and her
mother,
and parties with the other princesses. So many lost days since then.
Serena found the
feeling of homesickness overwhelming at times. And so, she transported
herself to the
palace ruins. There, in the center of where the palace used to be, was the
one remaining
room: the realm of the Imperium Silver Crystal. Serena closed her eyes and
imagined her
mother standing there, giving her lessons on how to be a good queen.
Serena smiled unconsciously. Being queen was something she never would
have
thought about if her mother hadn't brought it up. She knew that her mother
would live
thousands of years, perhaps forever. Serena was only 17 in the Silver
Millennium when
her mother died. As she thought of this, one solitary tear fell down Serena
's cheek. A
soft breeze blew and dried her tears. Serena could feel her mother's
presence and power
in this place, even if she couldn't see her.
Nearby, a silent figure watched her new queen from the shadows. She
swiftly
returned to the only form that Serena had known. Quietly, the form walked
forward into
the light. This guardian of the moon princess and of Sailor Moon uttered
one soft word,
catching Serena by surprise.
"Serenity."
"Oh!" Serena opened her eyes and looked at Luna. "You startled me. I was
just,
um, I was..." She didn't want to admit her loneliness for her mother.
"You were just praying to see you mother here." Luna knew Serena all too
well.
"I hate to tell you, but I doubt that you will see her tonight. Is there
something you would
like to talk to me about instead?"
"No, thank you, Luna," Serena sighed. "I'll just go back to Earth now."
She
disappeared.
As soon as she was gone, Luna stood up and transformed back into her
original
form. She walked along the premises of the old castle, her old home. She
passed the
ballroom, which was now nothing more than a heap of white marble. In her
mind, she
could see the ballroom as it once was: beautiful white marble, with delicate
designs
crisscrossing each other, over the banisters, through the halls; a
never-ending circle. The
floors were made of lustrous mahogany, imported from earth, and the
balconies were
always covered with fragrant flowers from the other planets.
Flowers.
Luna made her way to the gardens. Some of the columns were still
standing, but the flowers had long since died off. The only remnants of the
beautiful
garden were fossilized tree branches, dark and twisted, much like the demon
who had
destroyed this world.
Luna walked around the garden, making her way to the front hall of the
palace,
which was no longer intact. Luna stepped over the rubble and dug into the
white marble
gravel. Beneath her, she found the center of the control room, where all of
the maps for
all of the star systems in the universe had once resided. Here, all one had
to do was ask
for the star map to any system, and the walls, ceiling and floor became a
moving sphere of
stars. It had been one of Luna's favorite rooms. She paused, remembering
the countless
hours she had spent memorizing these star systems.
Luna stood up again and walked to the back of the palace. To her surprise,
the
stream was still running. Luna looked into the water and there she saw, for
the first time
in many years, her human reflection. Before her was a raven-haired beauty.
The nose was
soft but firm. Her eyes were large and bright blue, like the sky. Her
mouth was charming,
the color of deep scarlet roses. Her hair hung loosely about her shoulders,
except where it
was pulled up into two buns on wither side of her head. It was wavy, and
black with hints
of purple. Her skin was as white as snow, with one exception: the golden
crescent moon
on her forehead that served as a reminder of her place in the palace.
Luna was surprised to see she hadn't aged. She looked to be only 18 years
old,
but she felt the burden of her years.
And it was a heavy burden to carry.
~Slip on your shades and view the First Eclipse~
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