Shattered By: Aquemarina Rating: PG-13 (some violence) Author's notes at the bottom, people. Enjoy. Chaos looked down in satisfaction. Serenity, princess of one kingdom, queen of another, lay gasping at his feet. He grinned, holding the ginzuishou tighter in his fist, and kicking Serenity in the ribs as she struggled to get up. "You really can't win, you know," he commented idly. He turned to the senshi, kept from protecting their queen by a prison cell of energy, power crackling through the bars. "End her pain. Tell her it's useless." Endymion spoke from where he knelt on the floor, holding his sobbing daughter. "Daijobu sa, Serenity. You're strong enough. We're behind you, love." Chaos frowned. "No, you're supposed to be encouraging her to do as I say. Save herself, and all that." He turned back to the young queen, glaring at him with an air of regality, even from her position on the floor. "Come now, he tried to persuade her, "do you really want to leave all this?" Her heart ached as he gestured to her beautiful city, her friends, her family. He leaned closer to her. She stiffened as his whisper grazed her bare neck. "Just transfer mastership of the ginzuishou to me, and I'll leave you all alone. I swear it." Now she froze completely. *He's mocking me... well then, let us see how he enjoys this little game.* She forced her muscles to relax, changed her face into something unreadable. "Use it then. It is yours." He looked surprised, then suspicious at her relatively quick surrender. "Really? So I could just say the words and it would work for me?" He fingered the crystal in his palm. The tear-stained face of Neo-Princess Serenity pulled itself from her father's chest to stare at her mother. Serenity hesitated, then nodded her head, just a bit too quickly. "Yes." The senshi held their breaths to see if the enemy would accept this obvious lie. Chibiusa, however, thought that her mother was really giving up. "No, Mama, don't! We can do it, I'll help you! Mama, I-" Endymion gently hushed her. Chaos searched Serenity's cold face, and she stared steadily back at him, desperately hoping that he wouldn't see through the lie. To her dismay, he laughed, and backhanded her across the cheekbone. Serenity's head whipped sideways. She blinked painfully, the world spinning out of focus amidst the senshi's protests and Endymion's yell of anger, but wouldn't allow herself the luxury of falling completely to the ground. He hissed at her, "It's not that easy, and I know it. The ginzuishou destroys all but the Moon line and those specially sanctioned by one of that line. There's no way it's that simple." He rose, and went to stand by the captive senshi. "So," he asked, a mocking smile on his face. "Which will be the first to die? The queen is nothing without her court." He peered into the glowing prison. "There's Mercury, tapping away at her computer. Found a way out yet?" Mercury looked up through her visor, startled at being addressed, but he moved on. "Mars, in some ways your closest friend. Jupiter and Venus, are they not all like sisters to you?" Reaching the Outer scouts, he noticed the queen had risen to her feet. He kept talking. "Uranus and Neptune. Tell me," he asked solicitously, "if I were to kill one of you, would the other blame the queen for it, for not giving up the ginzuishou?" Uranus spit at him, but missed as he sidled over to Saturn and Pluto. "The Senshi of Death, but a child. Yet not even your power could stop me." Saturn's violet gaze held fear. "Pluto, did you know this would happen?" She kept staring at the ground, replying uncomfortably, "I guard the Gate of Time. I know of many things, but am permitted to tell nothing." "So you didn't even warn them that something was coming?" "It wouldn't be the first time," Endymion cut in bitterly. Setsuna raised her eyes to see her king glaring at her with hatred. Chibiusa was also gazing, and expression of confusion and betrayal on her young face. "Puu?" she asked plaintively, her voice shaky at the thoughts whirling about in her head. Pluto's heart tore in two. "Small Lady, I-" she was cut off by Chaos' continued rambling. "Then there's the royal family of Crystal Tokyo," he noted the look of alarm on the queen's features, out of the corner of his eye, with satisfaction. "I think that torturing them would probably get to you the most. I'll let you choose, though." He smirked at the woman, who was now trembling in a mixture of anger and fear...anger at this man who had dared to threaten those close to her, and fear for those same lives. "Your husband, or your daughter, queen?" Endymion pushed Chibiusa into Pluto's startled arms. "Her husband." He stood as close to the hated man as possible, the glowing bars of the cell being the only thing stopping Endymion from physical violence, shaking in anger, silently challenging him. A quiet voice interrupted the standoff. "Dame." Neo-Queen Serenity stood alone, knowing this was the last chance to save her loved ones. Her voice echoed in the silence. "It is done." Chaos smiled. "I will transfer mastership to you." The senshi protested, pleaded, begged as Endymion stood silent. His mind raced. He had never seen surrender on his love's face, and he knew he wasn't seeing it now. *It's not surrender. It's something like...love...* "Repeat after me." Chaos eagerly extended the ginzuishou in front of him. In the silence, Mercury's computer started clicking. "Silver..." The blue computer whirred. *...anger...* "Silver," the man repeated breathlessly. He didn't notice that the crystal never grew brighter at his own words, instead responding only to Serenity's. A beeping. "It's down!" Mercury cried. "Let's get a move on, minna," Venus ordered, but Endymion had already taken off, the leader in the running group of senshi. He hurled several roses, but Chaos had erected a forcefield around himself, and the flowers impacted and bounced off harmlessly. He kept his eyes on Serenity's face. "Crystal..." *...determination...* "Crystal," Chaos echoed joyfully. Serenity gazed at her love, her tearful blue eyes burning his soul with their beauty. Then she looked past him, to their daughter. The tears finally spilled down her cheeks. *...regret...* Endymion froze as he fully read what was on her face. She was crying because she would never get to see her child grow up. *Our child. Oh God, Serenity...don't...please don't...* Her eyes came to rest on him once more, and they told him that she knew this was the only way to save them, to save them all... "Love..." he whispered, reaching out for her, trying to break the invisible barrier that kept them apart. She smiled through her tears. It would be all right. He would take care of their daughter. *Aishiteru, Endymion.* Chaos raised the ginzuishou higher, anticipating his power. He waited for the queen to say her next words. And then she spoke. "Destruction." The crystal shattered. Chaos screamed as he died. Serenity jerked as her link to life was severed, falling into Endymion's arms... a numb, shocked Endymion, surrounded by eight senshi, and one small, motherless child. ------------------------------------------------ Um, okaaaaayyyyyyy, you can flame me now. ::jumps for cover::. Several minutes later... ::head pokes up:: Not yet, huh? ok, but remember, I can see you coming from a mile away! Sorry. My first fanfic. Whaddaya think? I know, morbid, right? What can I say, I'm a morbid person. ::grins evilly:: I know there's a whole lot more of you morbid people out there. C'mon, raise your hands! Just kidding. Actually, I'm not very morbid (I really like that word, if you couldn't tell), just sadistic (another word I like). I like anguish and heartbreak and all that stuff. Writing it, I mean. NOT reading it. In fact, if I read this story off the 'Net, I'd probably send the author some flames myself. Or not. Depends if they got the element of anguish right. All in all, I prefer happy endings...doesn't everyone? This occurs in Crystal Tokyo, *after* Chibiusa comes back from training in the past (present?), in case you couldn't tell. For those of you who haven't read enough fanfics yet to understand the Japanese I used, "daijobu sa" means "it's all right", "dame" means "stop", "minna" means "everyone" or "all", and "aishiteru" means "I love you". E-mail me at Aquemarina@aol.com. I'll try to write back. Of course, with AOL, you never know. All comments and criticism are welcome. Ja ne! Aquemarina Gomen nasai, minna-san... long author's notes, I know.