Aneena General Notes 01.) This story focuses not on the Sailor Scouts, but instead on the villains whom they have fought and defeated in one form or fashion. 02.) Timeline: This story takes place mostly within a place which exists outside of time as we know it. But the events which do take place within the real world will take place between the end of Sailor Moon R and the beginning of Sailor Moon S. 03.) Criticism: Please be honest, but kind. This is my first fan fiction, so don't stomp on me, okay? If you want to criticize me, that's cool, but don't be rude, it's, well, rude. 04.) Those Wacky Characters: I know that I have taken great boundless liberties with the characters from the Black Moon Family, but it couldn't be helped.I think the villains in the Black Moon Family are just the coolest and, well, they belonged in this story. I admit that I only saw the US version like too many unfortunate souls out there. SO, if anybody knows where I can get more info on the BMF, please drop me a line. 05.) The Business Stuff: Obviously the main characters are property of all those wonderful people who bring us Sailor Moon. All the other characters were given being from my own mind. 06.) Enjoy the Story... ************************************************************ Prologue What happens to those who die? Perhaps something wonderful or perhaps something horrible or then again, perhaps nothing happens. Perhaps we just fade away like a brilliant star after it's time had past. Different people believe in different things. But regardless of your beliefs everyone knows deep in their soul that death is inevitable no matter what occurs afterward. For a moment put aside your beliefs. Step away from your fears and your doubts to ponder a question. A simple possibility which is both terrifying and intriguing. What if there was a power so great that it could, not only defy death, but conquer it utterly? Let us take this one step further. What if this power were to not only bend death to it's will, but use it as a tool by which to build to force that will determine the fate of the world as we know it? Oh this note, with this thought in mind. I shall begin my tale. A tale which I call....TheLife Beyond Death. Prologue Part II: The Gathering For far too long Jadiete had been locked away inside the great void, condemned to the Eternal Sleep by his Queen. Eternal sleep was viewed by many to be a fate far worse than death, which was kind in comparison. While in such a sleep, Jadiete was completely aware of his situation. No breath escaped his lips, no smell entered his nostrils, no sound echoed through the blackness and no food or water passed his lips. Jadiete knew that the events which occurred in the world beyond his void. Queen Beryl had allowed him that small gift. He had a gift of telepathy which was just strong enough to allow him to view the events of that brightly-colored world. Still, even with the telepathy, the eternal sleep was a living hell. It wasn't long before Jadiete forgot the emotions and the feelings he had known before his imprisonment. He forgot what about all the senses beside sight. He lost all touch with the emotions he had known such as love, hate, anger, and fear. By the time he forgot the last of his emotions, the Generals and Beryl were already dead. He watched dispassionately as the aliens: Ann & Alan; were defeated and left with their doom tree to start a new life in peace on some other planet. He was equally dispassionate as he watched Reeny and the rise and fall of the Black Moon Family. It was then that he once again felt the tingling of the emotion he could have called fear. The Wiseman terrified him on a level so deeply ingrained in his soul that even the Eternal Sleep could not erase. Not long after the fall of the Black Moon Family, Jadiete felt his telepathy fading away slowly but surely. At this he wondered if he perhaps after all this time he was finally going to die. Jadeite was not so lucky. He felt a sudden rush of feeling, a feeling he would have called pain. It was beyond anything he had ever known and it was so intense that he fell into unconsciousness almost immediately. *** As his body faded, Neflite thought of only two things: The Stars and Molly. He thought only of love and the oddly fair decision of the stars to allow him to die by the hand of a man like himself in the arms of a young woman he'd perhaps began to love. He heard Molly's cries and wished that he could comfort her, but he knew he could not. And then he was one of the stars, with everything...but only for a moment. As a violent wave of pain washed over him, Neflite felt himself being forced from his place amongst the stars into a world of darkness and pain. *** Zoycite knew she was going to hell. She would not be passing go, and she would not be collecting two hundred dollars. She would merely descend into the inferno that she had been told about by her parents. It was almost amusing that she should remember her parents and her previous life in the moon kingdom as her body died. Her only regret was that she could not tell Malachite about all that she now knew. She wished...but there was no hope for it, words left to her. For an instant she could feel Malachite's arms around her, but it only made her feel even stronger that she deserved to be sent into some dark, hateful place for all she had put him through. For the first time in years, she almost felt like the old Zoycite again. The woman who had been able to merely love Malachite as they fought together to preserve the Earth during the Silver Millenium. A woman who had not been so power hungery and spiteful. Her soul wept for the people she'd hurt, the people she had once called friend. She would never be forgiven for what she had done, she knew that. She just hoped that somewhere, somehow, all those she'd hurt were at peace. Mentally, Zoycite gasped as she felt pain take hold of her soul and as the darkness closed over her, she prayed that she would not meet Malachite again in the hellish inferno that she was sure she would soon descend to. *** Malachite's last thoughts were of Zoycite. He wondered if he would meet his love wherever his soul was destined to flee to. *** "I'll have my vengeance you spiteful witch!" That one thought burned through Rubeus as his ship exploded with him inside. He died with his thoughts filled with anger, hate and vengeance. *** Esmeraude's last thoughts were of Prince Dimand, the love she could not win. The love that should have been hers. *** "Brother, there is something you must know..." Sapphiro tried to force his lips to form those words as he died, but the pain from the Wiseman's blast only worsened as he attempted to speak. He didn't have the strength to fight death. But he tried and fought in vain against the great pain and darkness until he was lost. *** Regret, anguish, pain. All these emotions swept through Prince Dimand as he floated through the darkness. He had lost his brother, his love, his hopes and most of all his dreams. Yet the pain of these losses caused still followed him, even in death. He had been falling through darkness for what seemed like an eternity towards he knew not what. When he began to lose all hope of ever reaching a destination he saw it: A beautiful light which he knew to be his destination. It was a place of wonder and hope. A place in which he would never fell pain and anguish again. He was held rapt in wonder as the light seemed to reach to embrace him. Suddenly he felt an arm snake from the darkness and snatch him away from the light. Dimand cried out and struggled against the force which gripped him tightly around the waist and dragged him back down into the pit of despair. When he regained some sense back, Dimand tried to turn and look at the being, but found that he could not. "Damn you, whoever you are. Why are you doing this to me? Have I not yet suffered enough?" The Prince asked quietly. He knew the voice that answered him, knew it far too well. But before he could place it, Dimand felt himself slowly losing consciousness. As his mind drifted into a darkness not so different from the darkness through which he fell, he heard the being's words echoing in his soul. "I do this because you are going to help me destroy the Earth, my friend. You all are."