Sailor Moon:

G

Gemstone

By: Elena L Sanchez

Disclaimer: I own the sailors in this fic (Gem Sailors) and the artwork here in this fic. They are mine and no one has the right to use them for their own purposes without my permission. The idea of the sailors and Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon and the original characters such as Serena etc...belong to Naoko Takeuchi. I own NONE of her characters and do NOT claim to, but rather thank her for making such wonderful and inspirational characters. Waii! ^_^

Sailor Moon: Gemstone : New Beginnings and Old Grudges. The Introduction of Queen Ada.

“I can’t WAIT to dig in!” Serena declared, her eyes enlarging to the size of saucers as she oogled the tall, frosty, triple scoop, tall glass mint ice cream before her.

      “Somethings really never change, surely you know that Serena,” Raye chided, glancing at Serena out of the corner of her eyes.

“Ahhhhhh?” Serena garbled, as ice cream dribbled from the corner of her mouth. The scene set off a round of giggles from Mina, Lita and Amy. Raye looked away from her friend, utterly exasperated.

“Ou know Waye, I’m not ah qween yet. It’s perfuhly okay to let…oose,” Serena replied, trying to look as dignified as she could with cheeks stuffed full of ice cream. “I… ah…ahhh… AHHH! Ooo make it stop!” she swallowed, wincing as brain freeze set in. “Ouch! Ow ow ow!”

Raye fought a little smirk and lost. “Serves you right for stuffing your face!”

Serena shot Raye a little glare being entirely playful. “Have you no compassion?”

“I do,” Raye said with a slight nod. “Just not when you inhale your ice cream like a vacuum,” she added with a smile. Serena grinned sheepishly, a slight flush spreading across her cheeks.

       Lita sighed helplessly and cast a longing look at Serena. "Speaking of vacuum, where does all of that go Serena? I still can’t figure it out…"

Mina looked to Lita and gave a cheesy grin. “Maybe the silver crystal has the power to fight off calories as well as monsters!”

“Oh brother. Don’t give Serena that idea. If you do she’ll eat out all of Tokyo’s donut shops thinking she’ll never gain an ounce,” Raye teased. Serena leaned in at Raye. “I would not! I have do have SOME dignity, you know!” she said with a turn of her head. Raye smirked and shot Serena a sly look. “And that dignity stretches to allowing yourself to wolf down ice cream like a wild animal?”

“Oooo be quiet…” Serena fumed as she prepared to take another wide bite of ice cream. She stopped and eyed the spoon, then she favored Raye with a briefly evil look and instead took a nice delicate bite off the spoon.

The rest of the girls couldn’t help but to laugh and Serena joined in.

Once the laughter calmed down, the girls began to sort through their money. Once the bill was paid and the tip was left, the chatter started back up again as they left the restaurant.

       "So Serena, we've told you all about what we’ve been up to but you haven’t mentioned what you’ve been doing," Lita hinted. At this all four girls leaned in, clearly interested.

"YEAH! What about you and Darien?" Mina added eagerly as she leaned into Serena. Serena blinked, looking from girl to girl. “Well, I guess I just forgot to mention it! I’m sorry!”

“That’s strange considering we could never get you to shut up about him before,” Raye added, deliberately pushing her friend’s buttons. Serena just stuck her tongue out at Raye in response.

Suddenly Mina’s face fell and took on a utterly horrified look. "You didn't...break up did you?!!!?"

“Of course not!” Lita said, nearly cutting off Mina and favoring her with a scolding look. “They can’t. They’re the future king and queen. You know that Mina!” There was a brief air of silence and finally Lita leaned into Serena and whispered in her ear, her eyes narrowed (like this: ¬_¬). “…Er…Right Serena…?”

       Everyone's eyes grew to the size of beach balls and their stares remained fixed on Serena. Serena shook her head, furiously and giggled. She hadn't realized that she hadn't mentioned her own life OR Darien for that matter. She had just been so caught up in the reunion.

       "No, Lita’s right. We're still together," Serena said with a fond smile.. Before she could finish all four girls let out a sigh of relief and slumped forward a little. “We’re just fine!” Serena said brightly.

       At this statement all four girls promptly straightened up again and advanced in on Serena like hungry tigers to a steak. "Speaking of which, when's the wedding?" Mina piped up excitedly. “I just can’t wait to help you pick out the dress. OH! OH! And the flowers!! I LOVE pink roses and-“

       "Well..." Serena stammered, a bright blush invading her face. Mina was still carrying on.

“And the bridesmaid dresses!! They should be light pink because – no maybe lavender. And oooo the CAKE!”

A big, big smile spread across her face.

       Amy laughed a little and gave Serena a kind smile. “You had better tell us you DO have a wedding planned or Mina might actually deflate from disappointment!”

       Serena laughed at that but didn’t answer. Raye smiled and pushed Serena on. “Well, come on and spill! It’s not nice to keep up waiting Serena!”

       Serena took a deep breath then continued, suddenly afraid her friends, especially Mina, may pounce her for her answer. "We decided to wait."

        "Wait?" Lita asked, perplexed. “White shoes would- WAIT!?” Mina cried, her eyes shrinking to small dots. (·_·)

       Serena nodded. "Until this royalty thing works itself out. After I have become Queen, then we have agreed to wed."

      Mina recovered and her eyes grew large and teary. “Oh… even better…it’ll be like a fairy tale…” she said dreamily. Then she piped up, looking to Serena brightly. “Plus the whole castle thing will be a very nice addition to the wedding!”

       "I agree with Mina. Very romantic indeed," Lita added, nodding. Raye however didn't look fully convinced and suddenly looked a bit troubled. "Serena we don't even know HOW you are to become queen, isn't it a bit early to make plans that far ahead?"

       "Well...-" Serena blushed. Raye did have a point even if Serena didn’t much care for hearing it. Lita patted Raye’s shoulder in reassurance. "Don't worry Raye! Too much has happened for Serena NOT to become Queen. I think it’s pretty well written at this point, right Serena?” Lita said in defense.

      Serena gave Lita a big smile and nodded eagerly in agreement.

       "How's Luna and Artemis?" Mina inquired out of the blue. “Oh yeah! I completely forgot!” Serena confessed, feeling a bit ashamed for a moment. She smiled sheepishly, “They're fine!" she reassured Mina. As the girls had moved on with their lives, Luna and Artemis had stayed to keep an eye on Serena. Mina had insisted Artemis stay with Luna (who he had grown very close to) and Serena, but even Serena could tell that it was one of the hardest good-byes Mina had ever had to make. Now, a sad, yet also happy smile weaved it’s way onto Mina’s face. "I've missed Artemis. It's just not the same without him tagging along, but I think it's better for him to be with Luna. She’ll make him happy and besides, I'd hardly have time for him anymore" Mina confessed sadly. Serena gave Mina a kind smile.

       "It’s not your fault Mina, but you’ll be glad to know he IS doing well and he talks about you a lot!” Mina’s face lit up. “He sends his greetings. He and Luna wanted to come but Luna mentioned they had important business..." Serena said, trailing off with a thoughtful look.

       "Did she mention what?" Lita asked, now curious.

       "No…" Serena said with a slightly troubled pout.

       "Well, I'm sure it can't be too important, otherwise she would've surely told you" Lita argued. “Besides, she probably just wanted some aloooone time with Artemis,” Lita said cheerfully, making a smooching face. Serena just nodded, giving Lita a forced smile. She hated when Luna kept secrets from her, even if it was really just to sneak off and be alone with Artemis. She'd have hoped that by now that Luna could've at least let her in on her feelings and intentions. She did consider Luna a friend after all and wasn’t that what friends did?

       "Don't worry Serena. I'm sure everything's okay!" Lita chimed in, trying to cheer Serena up as she noted the smile slip from her face. Serena smiled brightly and nodded, brushing the thoughts off for now. Now wasn't the time to worry and truth be told, Lita probably was right. Most likely everything was okay and Luna hadn’t meant any emotional harm. Her brain kept saying Lita was right, but another part of her wasn't so sure.

***

       Elsewhere, in a place far, far from the happy atmosphere that the girls were sharing, someone was watching the girls’ every move.

       A pair of cold, golden, hawk-like eyes, burned through the darkness and watched the scene with complete scorn. The room itself was dark. It was as though the walls were alive and writhing with black darkness. Like they had been painted with the very essence of black. The only light was illuminated from about five crystal orbs which, hung around the room. Only one of the five glowed with life and within it, the picture of the four girls.

       The light and the picture faded, leaving the room totally dark. After a moment of silence, very dim, violet lights turned around all around the room with a brief, soft, ghostly wail. While the room remained dim, it was lit now to the point that you could make out a figure and the room itself.

       The room was empty except for a grand canopy bed with plushy black velvet sheets and a vanity on the far wall. The dim lights formed a circle around the perimeter of the room revealing it was in the shape of an hexagon with not one window to be found. The vanity was old and rather ugly though carved out of black onyx. The mirror was large, yet had a small crack in the upper right corner.

       The vanity seemed to mirror it's owner: Hard, cold and blackened. The figure that had been watching the crystal orb now drifted to the sullen vanity. It was a woman. She wore an outfit colored entirely black, as though she too had been swallowed by the room’s darkness. It was a long, sleek, black dress with elbow high black gloves. The dress was strapless yet stayed put perfectly against her pale, china doll skin. Around her shoulders was a silver cloak that seemed to shine like the surface of water itself.

       The woman sat down slowly at the vanity. Her hair was a shade of vibrant violet. Even in the dim lighting, it shone beautifully. Her bangs were styled on both sides of her forehead and her hair only came a little past her shoulders. Though mostly straight the ends had some curves to them.

       The woman would not look up into the mirror, her eyes shadowed by her bangs. She knew what awaited her there in that reflection. The same reflection that always laughed at her. The same face that she had come to hate.

       The same face she would kill.

       She raised her head, along with her eyes, to see her own reflection.

       She had the face of a child, smooth and clear skin with very lightly round cheeks. Her lips were also small like a child's. She could've been considered quite attractive, had there not been the coldness lurking behind her eyes. It was a coldness that screamed agony, pain and suffering. The only mar to her image.

       It was the coldness that had been in the eyes of her mother.

       The same reflection she saw in the mirror.

       The woman shuddered then merely stared. "You haven't won, even in 'death,'" she whispered harshly, allowing her eyes to narrow.

       It was like this all the time for Ada. Alone and constantly growing more demented on the thought of killing her mother and how she would do it.

       Slowly the door opened. The bright light seeped into the dark room and the shadows and black seemed to shrink back. Ada turned slowly.

https://houshosenshi.tripod.com/ADASCENE1.gif

       "Who is it?!" she snapped, her voice cruel and demanding.

       "...Has there been any sign yet?"

       "I told you to have patience, didn’t I?!" Ada spat, then in the blink of an eye, stood and advanced angrily on the person in the doorway. She smiled sweetly then in one swift motion, grabbed the figure by the collar and yanked them forward. "I told you that I GIVE THE ORDERS!!!!!" she screamed, all the while maintaining a smile upon her childlike face. "I do not need you, little girl, giving me daily checkups!"

       The person in Ada's hands did not struggle but rather kept calm and still although their face betrayed their fear though along with their voice. "San told me-"

       "What have I ...TOLD...you about those names!?!" Ada demanded, tightening her grasp on the collar so it was painfully tight around the person's neck.

       The person finally began to squirm in discomfort and fear. "Kyuuka!” she hurriedly corrected herself. “She...ordered-" the figure then began gasping for air. Her hands clawed at Ada's in a desperate attempt to breathe. Ada only smiled in a sweeter manner. Her features were calm, but her grip tightened. "...Do you need a breath, my child?"

       The figure choked an attempt at an answer but it was no use.

       "Well do you?" Ada asked, feigning innocence. "I hold your life right before you. I really do suggest you answer," she said in a child’s voice, quite amused with the scene.

       "Kknt..." the person stammered, their hands clawing more need fully but growing weaker.

https://houshosenshi.tripod.com/ADASCENE2.gif

       "Hmm...? I can't hear you...!" Ada teased in a singsong, merry voice.

       "Mm...tthhherr..." the person rasped.

       Ada threw the person into the door harshly. There was a brief cry, as their already weakened body connected with the door.

       Ada turned with her expression unreadable. "Perhaps you should learn to stand up to your sister. As it is, you're a poor excuse for a guardian and a shame as a daughter."

       Silence ensued and the person, now revealed to be a girl with length brown hair, the sides swept back into a pony tail, weakly stumbled up, her legs just barely making it. Her green eyes glittered briefly with tears as she looked to Ada.

       "Unless you wish to continue, leave. Now," Ada said now strangely calm. The girl hurriedly ran through the doors, their weak legs causing them to stumble along the walls.

       "Pitiful..." Ada muttered and the large, monstrous black doors slammed closed, enveloping her in the darkness she knew so well.