Chapter 2
Sailor Moon barely noticed when they had arrived in the Negaverse at last. Shock had been renewed as she recalled how Jupiter had kicked her and Mars had used her fire against her. A part of her hadn’t wanted to believe what she’d heard, she’d wanted them to say that it was all part of the plan. A part of her had wanted to simply pretend she hadn’t heard it, and still be with them. But when they had attacked her like that, all of that was wiped from her naïve mind. The friends she had trusted most were honestly plotting against her, attacking her, hurting her. Absently, she leaned against the stone wall of the entrance to Beryl’s castle, tears jetting down her cheeks, arms wrapped around her.
“Queen Beryl will not appreciate being kept waiting,” Malachite stated plainly when he noticed they had stopped. He noticed that she didn’t seem to hear him and stepped over to her, after first dismissing Ninjana. “You’d do well to forget those stupid brats! They are dead to you now!”
Sailor Moon’s head snapped up, “Shut up! You don’t know anything! Don’t you have any heart?!”
Malachite growled and tore back his hand, prepared to slap her for her insolence. “You little…” But he stopped when she visibly shrank back and threw her hands up to protect herself from the incoming smack. She looked so small and frightened, so helpless, he couldn’t help but picture Zoycite when she was being punished by Beryl for her failures. He couldn’t bring himself to go through with it and dropped his hand. “Come, Queen Beryl is waiting.”
Sailor Moon slowly unballed herself and nodded. Had she really made the right choice? After all, Queen Beryl had totally trashed the Moon Kingdom. But, it was too late now. She couldn’t beat her by herself, without the scouts, but maybe she could negotiate. She no other choice really. She just wasn’t strong enough on her own to beat her by force. She followed Malachite, thinking more seriously than she ever had before. Oh, she hoped Luna wasn’t mad at her. But what could she have done. Malachite saved her life and the crystal. Darien was in the Negaverse and needed her help. And she couldn’t do it alone.
Before she could adequately prepare her argument, she found herself in front of Queen Beryl’s throne. Malachite stood in front of her.
“Malachite, explain yourself!” came the grating voice of the Nega-Queen. “Why have you brought Sailor Moon here?”
Malachite bowed most graciously, “Your Majesty, she has brought you the crystal and wished to give it to you, herself.”
“And did it not cross your mind that it could be a trick?!” She prepared to punish Malachite for his foolishness. “I will not tolerate this stupidity!”
“STOP!” Sailor Moon cried out jumping out in front of Malachite. “Please!”
Queen Beryl stopped, out of sheer shock at the girl’s bravery. “You would protect your enemy?” How should she respond to this?
“He’s telling the truth! I have brought you the crystal!” She help up the wand. “See, I want to um, what’s the word I’m looking for, means to talk and make deals,” Sailor Moon looked around for help.
“Negotiate?” The queen cocked an eyebrow.
Sailor Moon smiled in that contagious way that she had, “Yes, that’s the one, I want to negotiate. I’ll give you the crystal and join you, but, I have some conditions. Several in fact.”
Beryl considered. What would make this child decide to join them, and what’s more, give her the crystal? Hmmm, maybe it was worth hearing what the girl had to say. “Very well, I will hear your requests.”
Sailor Moon gulped, suddenly afraid, what if her requests made Beryl mad. She was helpless. Even the crystal couldn’t protect her by itself. “Well, um….first, I….would like you to um…stop attacking the Earth. You don’t even really want it anyway, it’s just a little, weak planet. It’s just a waste of time. Besides, my family is there. And I want to finish out my school years with them. I want to live my life normally again. I can come here on weekends and during summer vacation until then for, I guess training. And I promise, I‘ll even do my homework and study really hard.” She braced herself for a deadly attack. But it didn’t come.
“Hmmm, I suppose as long as you were watched that would be acceptable, and perhaps you are right about the Earth being a weak link. But I assume there is more.”
Sailor Moon nodded, “Yes, there is. One more thing, and a promise that the crystal won’t be used for any evil. I mean, in all the stories I’ve read, magical things can be dangerous if used the wrong way. If it’s used for evil, it might explode or something. I don’t think your subjects would be very happy if that happened.”
Beryl looked slightly annoyed, but knew that the crystal would only allow itself to be given freely. “Very well, and what is your last request?”
Sailor Moon knew she just might be pushing it, but she had to try, so she chose her words carefully. “The other scouts hurt me very badly, I want to hurt them back. And I know the perfect way.”
“And what would that be, child?” Beryl wondered just how evil this girl’s mind could be.
“Take your spell off of Darien. Let him remember me. He won’t leave if I ask him not to. But, when he hears what they did, he’ll be angry and he’ll go yell at them. He’ll make them feel really guilty, so awful they won’t be able to stand themselves. It’ll be the perfect revenge.” She paused, and added, “For both of us.”
Beryl, although angered when she first heard the words escape the heroine’s lips, could not suppress a sneer. This was quite possibly a girl after her own heart. Perhaps, she could take this girl and change her from the sweet goodie two-shoes Moon Princess Serenity, and into her dark heir. “You, my dear, will fit in quite well here, I think. Very well, give me the crystal, and the spell on Prince Darien will be broken.” She held out a red-nailed hand.
No turning back now. The deal had been made, offer accepted. Sailor Moon no longer had any chance to change her mind. She stepped forward and placed the handle of the pretty pink crescent moon wand in the queen’s hand. It was done.
AN: End of chapter 2. Supposedly Serena’s made a deal with the devil. There’s actually a deeper psychological reason for the choice she’s made. But that will be discussed later. Also, the suggestion was made that I let the readers vote on the pairing. I know some writers do that, and there are some stories where it doesn’t matter. But this isn’t one of those stories. If I allow my readers to decide how I write my stories, than I might as well let them write the story and post it on their account. Sometimes, I will ask your opinion when I really cannot decide on how to take something, but otherwise, I already have a set plan in mind. Although, I am in the market for a beta. I, admittedly, am not very careful about my spelling and grammar. And sometimes, I just cannot come up with the right descriptive words. Dialogue, thanks to my English teacher in sixth grade, is really my forte. So if any of you are interested in being my beta for the rest of the story, please, just say so.
