Alina Guardians of the Millennium: Pyramids of Ice Chapter 6 Author's Notes: 1. This is it.....the story arc is done. More of my ramblings after the story ;) ******************* FUTURE: CRYSTAL TOKYO ********************** Zoicite awoke, his joints stiff and awkward. The fog that had followed him from the land of dreams shrouded his sense of reality. He knew his name, but not much else. So many images, so many memories and chaos surrounded his mind. He looked around. What was this place? Planes of an opaque purplish crystal surrounded him. The same substance formed the meager furnishings of the small chamber. He lowered his eyebrows, puzzled that every object in the room except the pallet on which he slept was made of this substance. The last thing he'd remembered was porting in against orders, to see Beryl. Had he been successful? Or was this her prison? He couldn't see a door. Despite the sparse furnishings, the room had an oddly familiar elegance of design. He noticed a crescent moon reflecting in the pattern of the wall. Then was he in the Moon Kingdom? Some part he had never seen before? Why couldn't he remember? The wall shimmered, and Sailor Mercury entered. She looked different somehow, though he couldn't explain why. "Amy!" He cried sitting up, the motion sending the room spinning. "Tell me your really here, or else end this cruel nightmare of mine ." She reached out and steadied him.Her hands were gloved, as she was attired as Mercury. "Careful, you've been asleep a long time. " When he moved to tighten the embrace, she moved away sharply. Rather than look at him, she pulled out a computer and began to analyze him. "How long?" He asked, perplexed at her distancing herself. "Where am I? Am I on the Moon?" "No. You've been here a few days... But rest, you've been through a lot." "Is the war over? Where's Endymion? Where's Malachite?" His questions flowed quickly in the gaps left by Mercury's hesitancy to say anything or be near him. "Right here." Malachite stepped into the room, a slightly worried expression on his face. "Sorry, I was delayed." He kept his eyes low, not meeting Zoicite's gaze "You're angry I went, aren't you. I know it was foolish but I...what's wrong?" He said looking at his friend's changed demeanor. He didn't look quite the same. He seemed younger and older at the same time. "He doesn't remember does he?" Malachite said to Mercury. "He appears to think he's back in the Moon Kingdom Era, I believe." She appeared to be analyzing him through her visor. "Why are you talking *about* me like this?" Zoicite asked, his annoyance temporarily dispelling his joy at seeing them. "He's suppressing the painful memories." She said. "I'm not sure how long this stage will last. Perhaps we'd better call Jaedite here as well." "What's going on!?" Zoicite said standing up--the motion brought him face to face with the mirror. Disbelieving his eyes, he ran to the mirror, fingering the planes of his face. "What--is that me? I'm OLD. Why am I so old?" "You're only in your late 40's. That's really not old." Mercury said, her voice softening. "You're in excellent health, and, as a denizen of the Crystal Palace you should expect several hundred years more of life." "What? I can't stay here--the war " "Is long over. You're in Crystal Tokyo. In the future" Malachite said. "The Moon Kingdom ended over two Millennia ago." "Then how did I get here?" He asked. Memories pushed against the void of his mind, he shoved them away. "How come I don't remember?" "It was your punishment."Mercury replied. "And a merciful one at that." Malachite said a little dryly. "Punishment? For what?" He turned to her. "What did I do?" *********SILVER Millennium Sailor Mercury cringed as the blast from the monster hit the pillar. Her home world was no more. Word had come that the outer kingdoms had been destroyed to feed these inhuman wraiths that danced before her. She jumped aside as its arm swept to where she was. How could this have happened? The Moon Kingdom was a place of peace...why attack it? How had the shields been breached? She wondered how Earth had fallen..Her mind wandered to Zoicite--had she been right to say what she had? Why hadn't she revealed her feelings when she had the chance? She looked down at her hands. Rapidly she typed, fighting with her mind. Mars' fire blasted the ShadowWarrior. A call of OAK EVOLUTION--and the leaves of energy shot out and wrapped into the monster. It shook a little--but not enough. Mercury frowned as she again drew a blank on the weaknesses of the monsters. How much longer could they go on? Jupiter screamed as she dived to cover Mercury. Over her communications link, she could hear Luna's voice. "Your majesty...."Luna "This can't go on for another day--the Senshi are very weakened. Neptune is near death, and Uranus refuses to fight without her They've lost all the outer kingdoms.They just teleported here." In a daze Queen Selenity nodded. "I know what must be done. I've been gathering my strength for this." She stepped outside as a shadow struck down, destroying the Grand Ballroom. Light swirled around the Queen, revealing a translucency to her body Mercury had missed before. The Queen looked over at Venus and some private message passed in their look. "Mother!" Serena cried out, seeing her mother faint. She rushed to cradle her. "This is all my fault!" She said eyes large with tears. "Serena. I'm sorry. Your birthday celebration must be postponed." She whispered, each word an effort. She gently touched her daughter's dress, and the starlocket around her neck, and the guilty tears pouring down. "No Child it is not." "But Beryl....she's attacking because I fell in love with Endymion!" "No. And we will celebrate