Sailormoon Genesis: #1 - Let There Be Light By: Janelle Jimenez (miaka@bishounen.org) Official Webpage: www.sailormoon-millennia.net [http://bishounen.org/smmillennia/] Note: If you are reading this and you've never read Sailormoon Zodiac or Sailormoon Neo (and it MUST be both). Then stop, turn around, and walk the other way because this is a prequel and it won't make a drop of sense if you aren't familiar with my world. :) Sankyuu! Note for Readers: This episode is extremely strange, possibly confusing, and probably goes against everything you know about the Silver Millennium. However, I figure the story told in the anime & manga isn't the entire story and so this is my spin on what the Silver Millennium truly was. I hope no one is TOO offended. * * * * The Sol System was barren--a wasteland. Debris from the shattered Golden Millennium littered the black canvas of space. Yet, the silent Earth knew nothing of this shattered realm as it quietly revolved around its light, warming itself on her beautiful rays. However, the other major planets knew of what had happened as they made revolutions around the Sun, who as always, sat stoically on this canvas. It was quiet and dark. It was hauntingly peaceful, the sort of peace that was brought upon because of death. Those who inhabited the planets of the Sol System were frightened, fearful, they knew a terrible tragedy had occurred--those on Earth were the only ones who were ignorant. They shut themselves away from the rest of the system. They allowed their ears to go deaf to the cries of their neighbors, for truly, Earth was the greatest and most populated of all the worlds. However, it's inhabitants were cruel and vicious. Only a select few believed in the worlds outside of their own and they were a dying breed. It was a dark time in the Sol System. But then, on the face of the cold moon which rotated around the Earth, a light shone. A beautiful pinpoint of light that encircled every planet and every being. Life will return! True peace will return! Out of the chaos, there will be order! The pure and peaceful brilliance touched every corner of the System. With the exception of Earth--it too was purified, but not many of its great populace felt its touch for they did not believe in this miracle. Every planet sent their Queen to pay homage to this great being who had restored life to their delicate system. And so the often tragic history of the Sailormoon Millennia began--with a gift of Light. * * * * "Her Majesty, Queen Pandora de Dosei." cried the page as a beautiful woman entered the court of Queen Selenity. Her black hair hung long, past her waist, past her knees, even past her feet. It was a river which almost matched the train of the Queen's violet dress in length. The serious Queen bowed before Queen Selenity, "Your Highness, I hold the protection of the planet Saturn. I am Your Lady and I shall do your bidding." Queen Pandora de Dosei said with such regality and presence that Queen Selenity was actually a bit intimidated. Queen Pandora took her place at a throne on the right side of Selenity, "Her Majesty, Queen Amphritrite de Kaiousei." the page called as another Queen entered the throne room. Her long aqua waves held an elegant crown made of sea shells. Her dress was like water. She bowed and presented herself to court, making a promise of tribute to Selenity. "Her Majesty, Queen Titania de Tennousei." the page cried, a woman dressed in gold with amber colored hair bowed before the Queen, "I hold the protection of the planet Uranus. We swear our fidelity to you, Gracious Queen." "And, Her Majesty, Queen Proserpina de Meiousei." the page called. A moment passed and a woman dressed in a long black dress entered court. She drew a gasp from the crowd with her stately, cold manner. She held her head high and wore her crown with such dignity. At her sides were two smaller versions of herself, twin daughters. "Queen Selenity, I, Queen Proserpina de Meiousei along with my daughters Princess Pluto and Princess Charon, hereby swear to protect the Silver Millennium." she said with a short, but respectful bow. She then lead her two daughters to the only throne of the nine which were vacant. She sat down, her children standing at her sides. They were mature for their ages, far more mature than their peers. Queen Selenity then stood up and looked over the eight Queens who were now Ladies of the Court. They all looked to her with respect, but maintained their own dignity. She smiled warmly at all of them and looked out to those others in her court who stared upon her with approval. She glanced with slight nervousness to her Vizier, Lady Isuka who gave her a nod of reassurance. Queen Selenity cleared her throat and raised the Illusion Silver Crystal, its brilliance entered all who laid their eyes upon it. "My Ladies," Selenity began, "With these promises and tributes that you have so graciously bestowed upon me, the Silver Millennium will surely prosper for many millennia..." * * * * We are many. We are one. The doctrine of Chaos, repeated endlessly through swarms of entities. They thought as one, yet they all thought differently. They felt as one, yet each felt on an individual level as well. This was the way of things for an eternity. A cloud of beings which transcended time, space, and dimension. Entities which could not exist without another--until now. Now they were individuals. Now they were gods. Some were good, some were evil. But all wielded power unheard of to those corporeal beings that dwelt on planets. Those souls who limited themselves by residing in attractive shells made of flesh and blood. From the Chaos sprang forth entities who gave themselves names and identities--Amaterasu, Ishtar, Yahweh, Bastet, Baal, Master Pharaoh 90, Hydraja, Metallia and others--all these entities, all these gods, all let loose upon the Universe. Yet all seemed to see one tiny planet, in one insignificant galaxy, in yet another spiral universe. Earth. All could see the potential and the future of Earth and all wanted to be part of it. Many of those from Chaos became permanent facets of Earthian civilization--others did not. There was one entity however, who was foolish, a foolish goddess, one might say. She still thought in linear terms, a restriction she had placed upon herself. "I wish to conquer this little planet." she said to the other deities of the skies. All laughed, for they knew she would never win--but she refused to see the future which lay before her. "Yes, I will succeed. One day, all will sing the praises of the Great Queen Metallia." * * * * "Prince Endymion, your kingdom diminishes daily." said a voice from behind the handsome Prince. Endymion nodded in agreement, "We cannot survive, our ways cannot survive. So many other realms have disappeared...surely we will be next. Our believers number in the mere thousands..." he murmured with a small sigh, "You cannot give up hope, my Prince. One day, our way will flourish again. You must marry, my Prince. Only when you are joined with She Who Is Brighter Than Day will our ways return to Earth." said the old man. Endymion turned and gazed at his advisor, he was the wisest man he had ever met and his words were true. The Power did not flow in the veins of a King, only a Queen. "We have received an invitation from the Moon Kingdom of the Silver Millennium, there is another ball for the Princes and Princesses of the Sol System, perhaps you should attend?" said the man, "Yes, that's wise, my friend." Endymion said nodding, he had no other choice, his line must go on. * * * * "Hehe, Miranda, look at the way those Princes are dressed." Uranus whispered, brushing away her sister's amber hair as she murmured into her ear. "Ah, Uranus, what a tomboy. Do you not see the beauty that these Princes possess? You always think gowns look so ridiculous, but gowns suit you, sister. You truly must stop wearing all that ridiculous militarial garb." Miranda laughed, pushing her sister away from her. Uranus scoffed and tossed back her white hair, she detested these balls and cotillions that they were forever having to attend. Ever since they were eight years old, Miranda and Uranus had to dress up even more gaudier than normal and look for prospective husbands--it was all very humiliating and a waste of time. Uranus didn't know why, but she disliked the Princes who came to court her. They were all so rough and crude, even for Princes. None were gentle and delicate, the type of man she dreamed for. "Oh...look at her, Uranus, I'm jealous. She's so beautiful and exotic looking." Miranda sighed, she pointed at the beautiful aqua haired female who just entered the room. Her dress was the similar color and it hung on her loosely like flowing water, "Who is that?" Uranus asked, leaning forward to get a better look, "That is the Princess Neptune of Kaiousei, I believe. Yes, that's right, her mother is Queen Amphritrite." Miranda said nodding, Uranus was enthralled--what beauty, what grace...she blushed slightly as she had no idea what had just come over her. It must be envy, yes, truly envy that such a beautiful creature exists, Uranus thought. Uranus moved her eyes away from the Princess of Kaiousei and glanced around the room. There was a crowd forming around someone on the far left corner from them, curiosity overtook Uranus as she dragged Miranda over to see what the commotion was. Standing in the middle of the circle was a beautiful young Princess with long red hair and beautiful green eyes, she was dressed in a long black gown. She was discussing intellectual topics with various members of her 'audience' the rest of the people were just curious onlookers. "Who is this girl?" Miranda whispered to a girl with short blue hair who was enthralled by the conversation, "Mm?" she murmured, "She is Princess Beryl of the Dark Kingdom, isn't she wonderful? So intelligent and so beautiful...They call her the Morningstar because she is so shining and gracious." the girl sighed. Miranda frowned slightly, that was not the answer she had hoped for. "Ah? Princess Uranus?" said a voice, Uranus turned to see who had called her and saw someone she only knew through her mother, Princess Mars. Mars turned to the blue haired girl, "Oh, Princess Mercury...have you met Princess Uranus and Princess Miranda before?" she asked, "This is Princess Mercury of Suisei," Princess Mars said introducing Uranus to Mercury. They exchanged the standard greeting of nobility to one another. "I am rather surprised you still have not met Princess Mercury, but it is not often that you venture into the Inner Planets." Mars said nodding, Mercury seemed distracted--well, she was distracted. Her attention had returned to Princess Beryl who began a discussion on time travel and the probability of life after stasis and other such things that Uranus didn't know much about. "So, where is the little Princess?" Miranda perked, she glanced around the ballroom to look for the tell-tale hairstyle, but she did not see those blonde comet-tails anywhere. She sighed, "Why is it that I have been to the Moon Palace several times, yet I have only seen Princess Serenity once. She is not very social for the heiress to the Silver Millennium." Miranda said with a frown. "Princess Beryl, would you care to dance?" asked a male voice, the beautiful Princess giggled and agreed and they whirled away in a flurry of silks and satins. The crowd dispersed, their object of intrigue disappearing amongst the hundreds of people in attendance. "The Princes here are so...boring..." Miranda said with a slight sigh, her blue eyes scanned over the room. No, no one new or interesting was attending the ball today. "There is one new Prince, actually." Mercury began, "The Prince of Earth." "I did not know we even had a Lady from Earth." Mars said, "We don't, so how is it that a Prince exists from Earth? Earth is a silent planet that chooses not to believe in existence outside of their own realm..." Uranus replied reciting what a prophet had told her, "Not all Earthians believe that since obviously there is a group of individuals who believe in The Way. Otherwise, we would not have a Prince of Earth." Mars pointed out. "Is this Prince handsome?" Miranda asked, "I've only seen him once. He had striking blue eyes and jet black hair, yes, he was very handsome--but he seemed very...cold..." Mercury murmured. "What is his name?" Miranda demanded, Uranus shook her head at her sister. "The Prince of Earth is a very important man. No doubt he will be married to Princess Serenity." "Nevermind that. What is his name, Princess Mercury?" Miranda asked again. Mercury looked thoughtful for a moment, as if she were trying to recall. Her face lit up as she suddenly remembered, "Endymion. Yes, that's right. Prince Endymion of Earth." * * * * "Lord Endymion, for shame...you could be my son..." giggled a voice. Princess Serenity pressed her ear against the wall. This was certainly more interesting than socializing with those boring, unattractive Princes in the ball room. She smiled slightly as she listened to Lady Isuka Ryota, presumably with a man. Who exactly was this Endymion she spoke of? "I did not come to this desolate place to not be entertained." the man replied, "Besides, you certainly do not look that old...and it was you who called me here, Lady Isuka." This was Endymion, most likely. "The power that my Queen possesses allows us to transcend time." Isuka said, "Lord Endymion, I called you to my quarters to arrange a meeting with our Princess. I did not know that the man would be so enticing..." "Surely you do not expect me to believe this, my Lady Isuka." he laughed. There was more laughter, then silence. Blushing, Princess Serenity pulled herself away from the wall. Were they kissing? How fascinating. If what Lady Isuka said was true, then she would be meeting this Lord Endymion shortly enough. Would he kiss her such as he kissed Lady Isuka? What would it feel like? "Such things for a child to think." Serenity sighed, she wandered out to her balcony and stared in space. The Earth was waxing in the black night sky, there was a slight chill in the air. Music from the ballroom below was wafting upwards. There was a knock. "Princess Serenity?" said a voice at the door, the person came forward and stepped beside the Princess. "Venus, good to see you." Serenity said, staring out into the sky. "You don't sound so thrilled, Princess." Venus said dryly, she wondered what was wrong with her dearest friend. "Your mother wants you to come down to the ball and meet people." "Don't you ever wish you could go there?" Serenity said dazedly. "Go...where?" Venus asked, "Earth." "Why would you want to? It's nothing but water and soil." Venus scoffed. "I want to see trees and mountains...and oceans...and..." "Why? You can see the Martian canals, the Jovian cloud storms, the rings of Saturn...What could be better than that?" Venus asked. Serenity sighed, no one could possibly ever understand her...she felt such a longing to be on Earth. Her friends said this longing came from the fact that she was not allowed to go there, but that wasn't the case. She would do anything to be on Earth. She didn't know why, it was something that she felt in her heart. Fate. Yes, Fate. It was her destiny, she knew it. One day she would go to Earth. It was only a matter of time.