							June 2000

			Secret Garden 3: Final Battle
				     Scene 10

	
	Endymion listened carefully as the sounds of battle
 came closer and closer.  He held Serenity in his arms,
 feeling her shake with fear and sorrow a each point of
 power, each senshi, fell. He listened to the sounds of the
 dying and the wounded, hearing each voice as if it were a
 knife in his own soul as he wondered if his friends, his
 Generals, were among them.

	"She is coming."

	"What?" he looked sharply down at Serenity's pale
 face, "Who is coming?"

	"Beryl is coming, along with your Generals.  She has
 done something to them so that they are acting like her
 bodyguards."

	Endymion's lips thinned into a firm line of outrage,
 "How do you know?"

	Serenity shuddered, "Mother sent me an image inspired
 by the Ginzushiou.  She is using a part of its power,
 mostly to keep an eye on the battle.  If she uses much
 more..."

	Endymion kissed her gently on the forehead, "She has
 made her choice, love, you knew what she would do when she
 left us in here without a means of escape, save the
 balcony.  She will do what she can to save us, because we
 are the future, I do not mean to sound callous, but it is
 the truth.  Your mother will willingly give her life so
 that you and I can have a future."

	Serenity wiped at a tear on her cheek, catching one
 but missing several more than trailed down cheeks drained
 of all color, "I know.  It does not make it any easier
 knowing that she will not let me help.  She will..." 

	"Shh, Angel." he gently wiped her cheeks with an edge
 of his cape, wrapping it around them both so that he could
 shelter her better, "I know it will not be easy to accept
 the decision your mother has made."

	Serenity closed her eyes as his strength enveloped
 her, bolstering her crumbling resolve and courage.  She
 finally opened her eyes and met his gaze again, "Thank
 you," she whispered softly, kissing him.

	Endymion pulled away reluctantly, and rose to his
 feet, Serenity in his arms.  He let her down gently,
 allowing her to slide against him, using him for support,
 until her own legs would support her.

	"How quaint, just the two I was looking for."

	Endymion spun, hearing the velvet tone from the
 doorway to the balcony, "Beryl," he spat, "So you have come
 with your forces to oversee your dirty work."

	Beryl smiled, leaning against the door way and
 crossing her arms over her chest, "Of course.  I wanted to
 be here personally when the Moon fell to an army of men
 from Earth.  Not to mention I would not give anyone else
 the honor of striking the final deathblow to your precious
 Princess."

	Endymion slid his hand to the pommel of his sword and
 narrowed his eyes at her, shielding Serenity with his body,
 "You will have to go through me first, Beryl."

	Beryl raised an eyebrow at him, "Oh, I think not. 
 Kunzite, Zoisite, If you please."

	Endymion straightened, seeing his friends and
 protectors, under Beryl's sway, enter the room behind her,
 flanking the Lady.  They were both dressed in their grey
 formal uniforms, the last dress he had seen them in before
 they'd gone to the front lines to do battle."Kunzite,
 Zoisite.  What have you done to them?" he demanded.

	"Oh, nothing, they just had to make a choice."

	"Nothing you could offer them would make them turn on
 me," Endymion told her through gritten teeth, "What have
 you done to them?"

	"I told you, nothing." Beryl smiled a ferocious smile,
 "I simply offered them life as they lay dying on the battle
 field.  They took it."

	"I do not believe you.  My friends are warriors and no
 warrior wants more than to die gloriously on the fiel of
 battle fighting for something they believe in."

	"Oh, but they did want something more than death. 
 They wanted to protect you.  I simply offered them the
 chance to do that again, in a round about way.  You see,
 Endymion, if you join with me, they will be protecting you
 again, and you and all of your friends will be together
 again.  Of course your Princess would have to be taken as
 well and held in my sway so that you would cooperate with
 my wishes."

	"Never." Endymion unsheathed his sword, "If I must I
 will kill them to get to you and shed no tears.  My friends
 are dead if they work for you.  I will not let you harm
 her."

	Beryl shrugged, "Your loss, Endymion.  They are still
 alive, but they have no recolection of you or your sorry
 kingdom.  By the way, send my regards to your dear mother
 when you see her in the afterlife."

	"NO!" Endymion's scream rang through the room as he
 lunged for Beryl's retreating figure.  Zoisite stepped
 between them and caught Endymipn's sword on his own. 
 Endymion lashed out with a fist, catching his former
 General in the face and knocking him backwards to hit his
 head on the wall, putting him out of the fight.  

	Kunzite swung at Endymion with his blade, but the
 Prince was not to be stopped.  Enraged, Endymion caught the
 blow and swung back with one barely a half second later. 
 Kunzite couldn't compensate and got the flat of Endymion's
 blade across the midsection, winding him. "I will not kill
 you, Kunzite, for you do not know me for who I really am if
 Beryl's words are true.  She will pay for her crimes
 against me."

	Endymion caught Kunzite in the forehead with his knee
 and sent the General into unconsciousness.  Endymion lunged
 for the door and came racing out onto the balcony, sword at
 the ready.  "BERYL!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, "I
 will kill you before this is over, I swear it on my
 father's grave!"

	"On his grave, prince?" Beryl's amused voice slid to
 him from across the balcony as she stepped out of the
 shadows, "He has no grave, his head is an ornament on my
 wall."

	Endymion swung his sword at Beryl, catching her in the
 midsection.  His eyes widened in surprise as his blade
 passed harmlessly through and spun him around from the
 force of it, "Damn you, Beryl, damn you to hell."

	"Oh, I'll be back for you, little prince, once I deal
 with the Queen.  Mark my words, your time is coming. 
 Protect her well, for she will fall before the day is
 through." Beryl's image disappeared.

	Endymion looked at it stunned for a second before
 falling to his knees and letting out an inarticulate scream
 of rage.  Beryl would pay, he swore softly, his hand
 clenching convulsively around the grip of his sword he
 would make her pay.

******** 

	Queen Serenity opened her eyes, her gaze going to the
 door, "She approaches. Ready, my friends?"

	The outer senshi nodded as one, Saturn and Uranus
 flanking the door, Neptune standing just slightly behind
 Uranus.  

	Queen Serenity took a deep breath, focusing her mind
 on the ginzushiou, feeling the untapped powers throbbing
 through her veins, begging to be released.  She narrowed
 her focus to simply the ginzushiou, knowing that what she
 was about to do would take absoloute focus and control. 
 Even one slip and everything would be lost.

	Noise started to throb through the room as hundreds of
 soldiers began to pound on the many sealed entrances to the
 room, those foolish enough to charge the door still open
 met with Saturn and Uranu's fury as they burst into motion,
 their bladed weapons slicing through armor like it wasn't
 there to end the lives of those unfortunate soldiers.  

	Uranus took point, using her smaller weapon to a
 greater advantage as she called upon its powers and held
 the door.  Behind her, Saturn's glaive slipped through the
 flesh and sinew of those soldiers who would slip past
 Uranus' defense.  Somehow, both weapons remained unstained
 by the blood they drew.  

	The bodies piled up at Uranus' feet quickly, and she
 snarled at some of the more hesitant looking soldiers,
 causing them to flee.  She stepped onto some of the bodies
 and found a new stance on higher ground.  "Come and get me
 if you wish to join your fellows at my feet," she told
 those few soldiers who seemed undecisive.  They quickly
 turned and ran, leaving the door littered with the dead and
 the three senshi.  They quickly cleared the area, their
 boots seeming impervious to the slick surface as they
 pulled the dead to the sides, leaving the way open for
 anyone else who would dare try to gain entrance.

	"The Lady Beryl will be coming down on her own, soon,"
 Queen Serenity's voice was strained, her face bleached of
 all color, the ginzushiou seeming to be drawing on her very
 life force for power as it continued to burn even brighter,
 "Let her through."

	"What?!" three incredulous gazes turned towards their
 Queen, unsure if they'd heard her correctly.

	"Let her through.  She will have no power in this
 room.  Only in here, can we possibly defeat her."

	"Hardly, Queen Serenity."

	Four pairs of eyes shot back to the doorway as the
 Lady Beryl, resplendid in the robes of state from the
 Terran royal family.  Blood covered the midsection, along
 with a long slice, showing where the final blow to the
 Queen Mindaya had been delivered.  From the look of pure
 pleasure that shone in Beryl's eyes, the death had been
 long, drawn out and exceedingly painful.  And the snake had
 thrived on it.

	"Please put that away before you hurt yourself, Queen
 Serenity."

	Queen Serenity met Beryl's gaze squarely, "Afraid of
 it, Beryl? You should be, you will never be able to use
 this sacred relic and I am holding in my hands the power
 for your utter destruction."

	"Ah ah ah, Queen Serenity, I know my history. If you
 use the ginzushiou you will unleash cataclysmic forces that
 will not only kill me, but everyone in the palace and on
 the moon, not to mention all of the cities in the Silver
 Millenium that are protected by its power, which is over
 half of your subjects.  I highly doubt you would risk all
 of their deaths just to get rid of me."

	"That is where you are wrong, Beryl." Queen Serenity's
 lips thinned into a firm line, "If I do not destroy you and
 your army, you will kill my only hope for the future. 
 Without that, there is no reason for those cities to
 continue.  They know the risks of living where they do, as
 do all of my subjects here.  You underestimate me."

	Beryl laughed, "We shall see how brave your words are
 when your precious daughter is laying at my feet, a sword
 above her heart."

	Beryl jerked, thrown backwards as if physically
 punched.  The sound of bone snapping could be heard as her
 ribs gave way under the attack.  Queen Serenity heard an
 echoing crack in the walls of her palace, its inegrity
 comprimised with that possibly lethal use of the
 ginzushiou's power.

	"That is your free shot, Queen Serenity," Beryl gasped
 out, putting one hand to her chest and pushing slightly. 
 Her whole body glowed deep red for a moment and then she
 stood up, dusting her hands off, "You see, I have found a
 power well of my own.  I highly doubt you and I can battle
 without tearing the fabric of space itself apart."

	Queen Serenity felt the ginzushiou's power strengthen
 as it pulled its powers away from the cities furthest away,
 causing their atmospheres to crumble and deteriorate
 quickly, dealing a swift death to the hundres of people
 living therein.  She winced as each death weighed on her
 subconscious.

	Enraged, she turned the ginzushiou's full power on
 Beryl, enveloping the other woman in a bust of light.

********

	Serenity looked up at the cieling of her room as the
 stones suddenly parted and gave way, falling inwards and
 crashing to the floor near her.  She shrieked and darted
 for the balcony, "Endymion!"

	"Serenity! What is happening to the Palace, surely
 they have not overidden all of the defences?"

	"No, my mother is using the ginzushiou to fight Beryl,
 she's trying to destroy her but something is holding the
 ginzushiou's power off and its being forced to draw all of
 its energy away from other drains." she blanced suddenly,
 one hand going to cover her mouth in surprise and horror,
 "Selene forgive her.  Mother, what have you done?" she
 moaned softly.

	"What? What has happened?"

	Serenity turned anguished eye to meet his, "There are
 hundreds of cities that rely on the ginzushiou for their
 exsistance, without its power to sustain them, they will
 all crumble as the palance is starting to do."

	"We have to stop them both" he scooped her up in his
 arms as another stone fell from the roof, landing almost on
 top of her, "and it is no longer safe here.  Hold on
 tightly, we are going to see if we can get out of here."

	She slid her arms around his neck and closed her eyes,
 "What about Kunzite and Zoisite?"

	"I have no choice but to leave them.  I will pray they
 live through this." He bent his knees and jumped from the
 balcony, landing heavily on the ground and rolling, doing
 his best to protect Serenity from any harm.  They finally
 stopped and he forced himself to get to his feet
 immediately, looking for any dangers.

	The area was ravaged, trampled, by a marauding hoard,
 bodies littering the landscape and staining the ground
 crimson with their blood.  "Come," he offered her his hand
 and quickly pulled her to her feet, "We must stop them."

	Serenity nodded, "And you, my love, have a home to
 avenge and a promise to keep.  Do not disappoint me."

	He gently kissed the back of her hand, daring to take
 his gaze off the area for a moment to venture a smile, "Not
 now, not ever, Angel, even through a million lifetimes.  I
 would sooner-"

	She covered his lips with one finger, cutting off his
 words, "Do not say it.  Live, my prince, live for us and
 our future, do not die for them."

	"I will do what I must to keep you, and our child
 safe." his voice was grim as he turned away from her,
 keeping her hand securely locked in one hand, his sword in
 the other.  They ran as swiftly as the terrain permitted,
 their feet slipping in pools of blood, ankles turning from
 misplaced steps.  Together, they watched as columns and
 stones fell, destroying even more of the palace.

	Serenity's strength began to fade as they continued
 and she knew then that her mother wa pulling on every ouch
 of power she could get from the ginzushiou, storing it for
 one massive strike against Beryl.  She sent out a scream in
 her mind for her mother to stop before the use of the
 crystal not only destroyed the Queen, but the very lives
 she was fighting to protect.

	"Endymion." Serenity slipped finally, going down in a
 pool of blood that stained her dress crimson and coated her
 hands, "I cannot go on.  Leave me here, save my mother and
 kill Beryl."

	"I will not leave you."

	"You must, or else Beryl wins."

	He crouched, kneeling next to her and pulled her out
 of the puddle, "If I leave you, she wins.  She has sworn to
 see you dead, and if that was simply an idle threat to keep
 me at your side, it has, and will continue to work.  I will
 not leave you."  He sheathed his sword and scooped her up
 in his arms, his pace greatly slowed by her weight, but he
 ran none the less, continuing on their path towards the
 throne room where Beryl and Queen Serenity stood at a
 stalemate.

********

	"Silence... BLOCK!"

	Saturn threw up her glaive between Queen Serenity and
 Beryl, blocking both powers from getting through
 momentarily and throwing them both back.  Queen Serenity
 was tossed onto the steps leading to her throne and Beryl
 was thrown back towards the far wall, the energy blast from
 the disengaged powers hitting everyone in the room like a
 ton of bricks.  

	Saturn willed herself to stay upright as she felt each
 of the bones in her legs begin to break, and give way under
 the power of the ginzushiou's undirected energy.  It was
 only for a moment though and Queen Serenity quickly had the
 ginzushiou back under control.  Saturn maintained her
 position, "If you continue on this path, Queen Serenity, I
 will be forced to use the powers entrusted to me to end
 everything.  Do not force me to do that."

	Queen Serenity pushed herself slowly to her feet, the
 ginzushiou in her hand.  She looked much older than she had
 when the fight started, her face was now drawn, gaunt, and
 lined with age.  Her figure, already slim by any standards,
 was now skeletal, her ribs showing easily through her gown. 
 "Save yourself, Saturn. This is not your fight."

	"Impudent wench!"	 Saturn looked back at Beryl as
 the other woman regained her feet, "You will pay for that."
 she pointed her hands at Saturn and the dark energy formed
 between her palms.  Saturn's lips thined into a grim line
 as the energy shot towards her.  She braced herself for the
 impact and took most of the energy into herself through the
 silence wall.  She knew nothing more as the powers threw
 her backwards into a brilliant white glow.

********

	"Saturn!" 

	"She has killed another?"

	Serenity nodded, "We must hurry, Endy, we must stop
 her."

	Endymion nodded grimly and picked up his pace.  They
 were close now, if only they could get there before it was
 too late.

********

 Author's Note: Chapter 11 is up, go read it and then write
 me to tell me what you thought about it!

Jade_Max@innocent.com
OR 
Jademax@hotmail.com

Thanks for reading!

Jade_Max

