Silver Millennium

By: Amber Evans Potter

Prologue

Summary: When Queen Serenity's spell goes haywire, the entire population of Earth must watch the chain of events that led to the Moon Kingdom's destruction. Sequel to Lunar Expedition.

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon. All rights reserved to Naoko Takeuchi and everyone else who owns the rights to Sailor Moon – people who do not include me. Oh, how I lament the tragedy!

Author's Note: hello and welcome to the sequel of Lunar Expedition, the story of Silver Millennium. Like it's predecessor, SM is going to be pretty long so I hope you're ready for a huge story. I know that some of you may not like this seeming detour from the main story but this is the story I've wanted to write for ten years. I hope you enjoy it as much as I've enjoyed writing it. Also, you probably want to read LE before this one, although the chapters without Chibi Usa will be standalone. Enjoy!

…

Night blooming jasmine wafted in through the half-open doors, sending slivers of delicious perfume to all the corners of the room. The small, cozy lights hanging overhead offered a semi-lighted ambience to the bed raised on a dais in the center of the room. White and silver curtains shadowed the lone occupant of the bed, stretching out like loving hands over her legs.

The pain was excruciating. Queen Night Serenity had draped herself over a sea of pillows, her eyes tearing up at the sudden agonizing pain in her back. She lifted a hand to her swollen belly and stroked it, trying to soothe the insistent kicks to her kidneys. Part of her wondered if she was being punished for something she'd done in a previous life. She tilted her head back and struggled to find her inner peace.

"Having some trouble?" an amused voice said over her head. Night opened one eye and glared.

"I hate you," she said. "You're not pregnant. Go away."

"You look like an overturned turtle," Sailor Moon laughed, eyes sparkling mischievously as she perched by her sister's head. "They'll have to carve that child out of your belly. It is way too big for you to carry around anymore." Even though her words were biting, her gloved fingers were gentle as she smoothed back the sweaty hair at Night's temple.

"Moon," Night whispered, "Normally, I don't mind listening to you make fun of me. But I really don't have the patience for this right now. Can't you annoy someone else?"

"Can't, Venus is securing the perimeter and Jupiter is prepping the army before we seal ourselves inside the palace. The priests have determined that you're having this baby in the next fortnight. You're stuck with us until she pops out," Sailor Moon said with a grin, her fingers dancing along Night's neck and over her shoulder. "Have you decided on a name yet?"

"I already have a name for her," Night said, forcing herself up on her elbows to glare at her sister. "Just because you won't accept the one I picked doesn't mean I have to listen to your list of possibilities."

"Lady just seems so unimaginative," Sailor Moon whined, gently pushing Night back into a restful position, tucking pillows behind her head. Night let herself be manhandled - Sailor Moon so rarely had an opportunity to take care of someone. "You have the opportunity to name the girl something new and exciting. We've already had two "Ladies" in our ancestry."

"What are you talking about? We only had the one," Night said without thinking. When Sailor Moon didn't say anything, Night's face heated up. "Ah, two." Her eyes flickered to her sister and then quickly away. "I'm sorry. I forgot."

"I know," Sailor Moon said, patting her cheek a little harder than she needed to. "It's just such a boring name."

"It was your name," Night said, frowning.

"Was being the important word, and it was still boring," Sailor Moon said with a grin that appeared and disappeared just as quickly. "Anyway, you can't call her by that cursed name. You'll make her into a Senshi when I die otherwise!"

"Shut up," Night said, sinking back into the bed. "I like Lady."

"I'll call her something else behind your back until she thinks my name is the real one and yours is the fake," Sailor Moon said, dancing out of Night's reach as her sister tried to pinch her thigh. "I'll make it something good and embarrassing. You just watch people get confused about us calling her different things; and I'll spoil her rotten so she always thinks I'm the right one."

"Just go make sure Venus is done," Night said as she chucked a pillow at her sister's head. True to her Senshi training, Moon dodged with a laugh and a half prance out the door. Night waited a moment longer to make sure she was really gone before stretching out on the bed again, closing her eyes. Her hand gently stroked her belly, a little annoyed that the baby had stopped kicking at Sailor Moon's voice. She'd always had that calming effect on the baby, uttering just a few arrogant words and soothing all those painful kicks. She hoped it didn't mean the child would turn out just like her sister. She had enough problems without another hot tempered princess dashing around her in circles.

…

Night stuffed a pillow against her mouth and screamed into it, her toes curling around the bedsheets as she tried to muffle the sound. As if from thin air, a gentle gloved hand pulled the pillow from her face and smoothed the hair off of her forehead. Venus smiled like pure sunlight, gently taking Night's trembling hands in her own. "It's alright. You can scream."

"Please do! It's not like that pillow was cutting off the sound anyway," Moon said cheerfully tugging on Night's toes. Venus, still smiling, smacked Moon with the pillow, aiming directly to the face. Moon made a keening sound as she flopped over backwards onto the ground. "Ow," she said, drawing out the sound into a whine. "V, why are you so mean to me?"

"Your sister is going through agonizing pain; the least you can do is quit poking fun at her," Venus said, gently smoothing back Night's hair again. Night wanted to feel smug about her sister getting beaten up by one of her own Senshi but a spasm of pain jerked her body nearly upright, heat shooting down her legs and back. A moment later, a cool, damp cloth wiped the sweat from her face and Night opened one eye to stare weakly back at Venus. "It'll be all right, you'll be all right. We're here with you."

Night nodded weakly and clung to Venus's hand, focusing all of her pain and anguish into that one spot. She focused on the firm grip Venus offered in return, the long fingers that gently stroked her forehead, the soft murmur of her voice. She remained suspended in a haze of pain and sensation, the strain making everything strange around her. Her vision seemed to fade around the edges so that colors stood out only in front of her. Sounds and feeling heightened so that she heard when the door at the end of the hall scraped open quietly and the quick, light steps of a visitor approached before Venus and Moon did. Jupiter saluted them at the door and beckoned for Moon to come closer. With one final tweak of her toes, Moon stood and went over to Jupiter, their heads coming together as they spoke softly. Venus patted her hand, a reassuring smile lighting her lovely face.

The world faded around the edges at that point. She knew that time was passing, that Jupiter came and spoke with Moon and Venus, that Venus occasionally left and returned, that Moon was sometimes by her feet, then by her side, then brushing away the damp hair on her forehead, then rubbing soothing circles on her swollen belly. Sound faded next, the dull thumping of her own heart drowning out any other sound. Even surrounded by her Senshi, she felt alone.

She drifted on a haze of pain and delirium. One moment she saw Moon leaning over her, whispering soothing words like cool water against her flushed cheeks. The next moment she saw her mother, willowy and swaying, like a mirage. In the next moment, she recalled her mother's death and thought she must have been going crazy. In the next moment, she saw her Mau advisor, a large orange cat with bright green eyes and a wicked sense of humor. Except she too had died long ago, even before her mother had passed on. Moon was at her side again except she was not a Senshi, but her sister once more, her long flowing gown curved around her body like a glove.

She could barely tell what was real and what wasn't. Venus's soothing hands on her face felt real but so did the faint tickle of her mother's hair on her feet. Was she dying? The pain made her think she was.

The youma seemed to have walked directly out of her dreaming. One moment Night's eyes were closed and the world spun in a kaleidoscope of reds and purples, then she lifted her heavy eyelids to find him standing at the foot of her bed. For all of the danger she'd been warned about as a girl and the scars that the Senshi had borne over the years, Night had never seen a youma herself. Part of her had secretly thought that they did not exist - that they were, rather, an overgrown bedtime story stuffed with unspeakable terrors, meant to keep her constantly under watch. She could not even imagine what such a terrifying monster could look like, capable of destroying entire cities and seducing unsuspecting young princesses…

This one, although it looked like nothing she had ever imagined, was unmistakably a youma and nothing less. It had dark purple hair on one side of his head which dipped down his shoulder like a cloak, very pretty. The other side of his head was bald and the bare, pointed ear sported five gleaming rings. In her delirium, she thought the rings looked like sea shells. He wore black armor over his torso and thighs, a loincloth over his hips, and a gleaming dagger on his loose belt. Around his neck hung the most curious necklace Night had ever seen, with large spherical stones on a gleaming chain. Even as she wondered what the spheres were, dread built in her belly and made her breathing come in sharp, quick gasps. She didn't want to know, she decided. Whatever it was, she didn't want to know.

He allowed her to observe him, smiling faintly at whatever expression she must have worn. He had jagged, pointed teeth.

She must have made a sound because in the next moment, Moon was on his back, her eyes filled with a fury Night had never seen before. Venus leapt to her leader's side, her Venus chain extended and gleaming in her hands. Night watched them from a far distance, as if a veil were covering her eyes, her fingers clenched around the bedsheets as Moon and Venus wrestled the youma out of her room. She waited, tried to make sense of what had happened, failed to make a connection. The pain redoubled and she gasped, clutching her belly as it rippled against her hands. She cried out for her sister. She cried out for her mother. No one came.

Some distant part of her could vaguely make out the clash of battle, with shouted orders and one hair-raising scream, but then the threads of comprehension vanished completely and Night no longer cared what was real. She panted, she writhed, she finally screamed her own anguish into the silence. The child burned inside her and she could find no release for the pain. Time crawled by and no one came for so long. She didn't know if she could stay in that place of pain and pressure for much longer. Something inside of her would snap and she would break into a thousand pieces in that world of pain.

A trembling, wet hand touched her sweaty brow and she opened her eyes. Moon smiled gently, blood caked to her chin and ear. A long gash from her left breast down to her right hip looked like a crimson sash. "Are you alright?" she said softly. Night stared up at her and nodded.

"She's already in labor," Venus said, her voice sounding garbled and far away. When Night turned her head to look, she saw that Venus had one blood-soaked hand covering her left eye but even with that shield, Night could see the penetrating gash beneath her fingers. Her eye was gone. "We need to help her. She doesn't have long."

Moon would have cursed before. All her life, Night remembered that Moon typically complained about whatever unfairness befell her and then moved on. It helped her cope, she'd said once with a wicked grin. "If I keep the anger inside, it never goes away." Night waited for the angry words but Moon merely narrowed her eyes and smiled gently. "Tell me what to do," she said. Venus moved her free hand out and grasped Moon's shoulder, squeezing. Moon shook her off.

"Take off your gloves," Venus said.

"Oh baby," Moon said stoically. Venus gave her a watery almost-smile. "What else?"

"Wash your hands and we'll go from there. Night," she turned to the bed, her eyebrows pinched together in worry. "Can you hear me? Are you still with us?"

Night tired to nod but her head no longer felt as if it were attached to her neck. Venus smiled at her and gently stroked her brow with a steady hand. "We are here."

Some distant part of her mind noted that Jupiter was not there, that she had not so much as stuck her head through the door. Had the youma been real? Or was he just another illusion, like her mother? She tried to make sense of it, struggled to come back to reality. She watched Moon lean over and kiss the corner of Venus's mouth. Venus stared at her, stunned by the open affection. Night smiled weakly. Was this an illusion too? Was this real?

"I love you," Moon whispered in a voice Night had never heard her use in a long time. She hesitated, then wrapped both of her blood-soaked arms around Venus's waist and buried her face in the long, shimmering blond hair at her throat. Moon spoke to her in a ragged gasp, her shoulders trembling. "Don't be frightened love, I'll only be gone for a moment. I'll wash my hands faster than your beautiful light beam, I swear. Don't open the door for anyone. Ask me anything. Ask me my favorite position, what color my toenails are, ask me anything and make sure its me. I'll be back, I swear it. I love you." She gently pushed Venus away and bent over Night, rubbing wet lips on her sister's eyebrow and then she was gone. Venus secured the door after her, leaning her forehead for a moment against it before she came back. Night's vision faded around the edges and finally dimmed to nothing. She could vaguely sense her body jerking with every contraction, a stab of pain so white hot it was her entire world.

When she came back to herself, Moon was back and her bare hands were bloody again. Night squinted at her, panting with the effort of keeping her in focus. Venus mopped her forehead, her other hand caressing her neck with cool, clean fingers. When Night's head lolled back to look at her, she saw that a piece of Venus's golden skirt had been torn off and was used as a makeshift patch over her ruined eye, hiding most of the jagged skin underneath. Inexplicably, Night thought that she was fiercely beautiful, even without her eye, and she began to cry.

Venus smiled and soothed her gently, both of her bare hands caressing her face. She was speaking to her but Night couldn't hear a thing but her own pounding heart. Moon leaned over her and said something else - urgent, quick, controlled. Night smiled weakly.

Moon and Venus exchanged a look and then moved, shifting Night's legs and body, manipulating her and using their hands to communicate. Her body understood and she let instinct take over, her screams just more background noise to her racing heart. She let them hold her life in their hands, let them take everything away from her.

And then it was over. The pain and the pressure subsided abruptly and the sound returned tenfold. A child cried somewhere nearby, screaming so loudly that she wondered if she was the one screaming. She looked down, confused and curious. Moon huddled at her feet clutching a little bundle wrapped in the silver-blue blanket of Night's youth. It had belonged to their mother, and her mother before that. Venus smiled through her tears, her fingers gently caressing the child.

"What will you name her?" Venus asked, grinning down at Night. Moon carefully moved towards her and even more gently placed the child on her chest. Night stared down into the most beautiful face she had ever seen.

A tiny button nose twitched as tiny lips slowed and stilled, as if sensing her. The eyes were closed like a mole's and tufts of soft wispy blond hair curled around tiny ears. A golden crescent mark shimmered like a wet spot on her forehead as the little creature reached for her with tiny fingers. Night could feel herself pulled in to this little sun's orbit, could feel her heart leave her own body and curl into this tiny being. It was like a quiet invasion and abduction, all her love sucked away in an instant, but she didn't want it back.

"Lady would be a fine name," Moon said softly. Night looked up and was stunned by the force of raw emotion and love reflected back at her in Moon's eyes. Even though she had not thought it in years, had even forgotten that once, they had been twins - Night felt as if she were not looking at someone else but rather that she was looking at herself. Moon was Night and Night was Moon - an endless cycle of completion and love. They smiled at the same time, like when they had been little girls and played the mirror game. Night looked down at her child and her smile grew.

"Neo," she whispered. "Her name is Neo."