The website: http://members.xoom.com/sailmoonSol/solitair3.html CHAPTER THREE **************************************** 20th Century Tokyo **************************************** Morning had dawned on Darien and Solitaire, who were on their way back to his apartment. The it had been raining all night, and continued to rain into the morning, so that the couple looked just as wet as many of the other people without umbrellas. A halo of mist surrounded their warm bodies in the cold rain, as Solitaire clung to Darien smiling. As they reached a busy street; "Oh! I almost forgot! I have to go back to school and pick up some books I left there yesterday." Solitaire sleepily announced, Darien frowning as he looked at the soaked state of her beautiful dress. "No one will notice," she whispered, this time more enlivened, as she kissed his warm lips. Darien held her closer, as people began to stare. "I have to get ready for work too." he replied, smoothing Solitaire's wet hair out of her face and smiling. "I'll be back in ten minutes." Solitaire said, releasing Darien's hand as she began to hurriedly walk towards the intersection. He smiled at her as he watched her disappear, looking at his watch and realizing that the traffic in the rain would be horrible and probably make him late for work. Maybe he should call in sick so he could spend the day with her... From around the corner Darien easily heard the screeching of breaks and the smashing of metal, followed by the gasps of many people. A shot of fear drove right into his very soul, and instinctively he ran around the corner to make sure Solitaire was...laying on the ground in the middle of the intersection. Two cars had smashed into eachother, a third was hurriedly leaving the scene, while people pointed after the man with short brown hair who was in the car. "Solitaire!" Darien roared, as he pushed through the crowd, knocking over people in the process, hurrying to Solitaire's limp body. "Someone call an ambulance!" he heard in the background, but it and the other voices drowned out as he tried to cradle Solitaire, her arms falling lifelessly to her side. A gust of wind blew through the crowd, but then subsided. The couple remained that way, until eventually reality got through to Darien and he realized Solitaire was dead. A salty tear rolled down his cheek unnoticed, mixing with the raindrops as they splashed onto Solitaire's cooling skin. He lay her body down softly, covering her uselessly with his jacket as the rain poured even harder. The wind began to pick up again, and had it not been for the rain, a silver glow would have been seen to appear over Solitaire. Darien ran his hand over her face, and leaned down to kiss her blood-soaked lips one final time. Through the haze he could make out the flashing lights of an ambulance. ********************************************** At the same time in another part of the universe ********************************************* A tall woman with vibrant red hair stood in the middle of a dim and eerie room, as a man clothed in a general's attire stood before her, speaking. "I have done as you requested, Queen Beryl. Princess Serenity is dead." said the man with short brown hair to the woman. "Excellent, Mesolite!" the woman beamed, watching the scene in her crystal of a man with black hair holding a woman with silvery-blue hair done in the royal hairstyle, rain soaking them through in the middle of the intersection. Beryl smiled as she sensed the pain of the man. "Endymion has paid for his betrayal with the price of his beloved Serena." Beryl snickered, spitting out Serena's name. "Now there is no one who can stop me." "What shall I do with her?" Mesolite asked of Beryl. "Keep her here. We may need the power of the Silver Crystal." Beryl replied, as the general bowed and turned, a silver haze filling the room as Solitaire's body appeared in his arms. Beryl did not bother to make sure that the lifeless body was in fact Serena's. She continued to stare at Endymion in her crystal, who, unlike the sailor scouts and Serena, she remembered very well. Unlike Ami, Rei, Lita, and Mina, whose identities as Sailor Scouts did not occur to her because she didn't remember them from the Moon Kingdom (other than when they were transformed), Darien remained fresh in her mind. But Serena was only a fleeting image, and Solitaire looked enough like her to convince Beryl that Sailor Moon was eliminated and her reconquering of Earth could resume. Mesolite went into another room, placing Solitaire on a crystalline table that glowed with the silver haze she emitted. He whispered some words, and waved his arms over her, encasing her in more of the dark crystal. ***************************************** Moon Kingdom ****************************************** Solitaire stood in the morning sunlight, having been woken up by Serena not long ago, at the top of a slight hill in one of the many palace gardens. Her royal dress floated innocently in the breeze, but with the uttering of the words "Silver Revolution" and a transformation sequence surpassing the other scouts in its elegance and power, the winds of the moon seemed to converge at Solitaire and clothe her in a silvery-white, halter-style, skin fitting mini-dress with silvery-gray knee length boots to match. As the wind and silver shimmer died down, Solitaire stood omnipotently at the crest of the hill, a small crystal appearing between her shielding hands. *Flashback* Solitaire stood in the doorway of the crystal room, stone pillars towering over her seven year old body, listening to her mother's broken and straining voice as she was talking to Luna. "I just don't see any other way." Queen Serenity solemnly announced, as Luna's head dropped towards the ground. "She will never be able to find love, and without the guidance of a king you I cannot allow her to rule the Moon alone." "But your majesty!" Luna looked up to her queen. "Her destiny allows for no other choice. Serena will fall in love with a powerful planetary prince, but Solitaire will never be able to find that kind of love. And a heart that does not receive love grows cold." Serenity said, a tear forming at the corner of her eyes that were so similar to Solitaire's. "She's too intelligent and will be too independent. I cannot allow the future of the Moon to be placed in jeopardy by such power." A rush of footsteps could be heard outside of the royal room, as Queen Serenity and Luna turned their heads to the origin of the noise, then to eachother. A sobbing little girl ran into one of the well-hidden rooms in the palace, closing the door with tremendous force for her small body. Without looking, she threw her hands to her sides, knocking a very important crystal off a guarded pedestal onto the floor, its impact with the stony ground making a sound that echoed throughout the hall. Worry washed over Solitaire's face, realizing what she had done, as she picked up the crystal, noticing a hairline crack at one of its outer edges. The jewel split, with a blinding light, as the separated piece remained in Solitaire's hand, the much larger one healing itself, but unable to regain its missing part. Solitaire placed the crystal back onto the pedestal, holding the small chip in her hand, as it glowed unstably. She hurriedly ran out of the room. *end flashback* Solitaire smiled, thinking of how much work she had put into making the crystal in her hands more powerful. It had, infact, intensified in size within the last fifteen years, as well as in power, though its instable energy still fluctuated. The original Imperium Silver Crystal was never to be the same - it had once been the most powerful force in the universe, but even without the smallest of parts it could no longer hold enough power to defeat all enemies. It now needed the power of love as well to magnify it. Solitaire's crystal, however, had been modified over the years by her since she could never take pleasure in life's small offerings. Instead, her energy was focused on the crystal she had kept, her own determination making the crystal stronger and with each day, different from the original in its powers. The time had come for Solitaire to learn how to use it, or rather to unleash its greatest and most powerful force. Little did Solitaire know, that like the Imperium Silver Crystal, her crystal could only expend its full power when the owner wanted something so badly that she would be willing to give her life for it. But over the centuries, even that aspect, along with many others, would mutate and change with Solitaire's efforts, as well as the efforts of others, until the only force that could stop it (in the time of Crystal Tokyo) was the force that was so unfamiliar to it - the force of love. Today, however, Solitaire stood in the beautiful palace gardens, clad in her own version of a scout's suit, to try and unleash the great power of the crystal. It emitted a silver glow from her hands, and as she pulled them apart the crystal seemed to separate into four distinct energies. Like the Imperium Silver Crystal, Solitaire's crystal's power was composed of the powers of the inner senshi - Mercury water, Mars fire, Jupiter thunder (lightning actually), and Venus's love chain, but unlike Queen Serenity's crystal, these four powers separated when Solitaire used her crystal. As her hands drew farther away from eachother, a long strand of glowing bubbles, in addition to a fiery- looking lightning energy stemmed from Solitaire?s palms; the strand of bubbles being the combination of Venus' and Mercury's powers, the lightning energy Mars' and Jupiter's. Between the two intermingling energies glowed a silver ball in the center, as the energies wrapped around the ball, becoming part of its glowing and dense mass. Solitaire slapped her hands back together, the energy focusing into the rounded ball once again, but nothing happened as the ball drew back and re-crystallized, falling into Solitaire's palm. Disheartened, she returned it back into the small box with the crescent symbol on top. Unsure of her capabilities to use any of her powers, Solitaire decided to make sure that they were still functional. From behind some stone pillars Serenity stood watching her daughter, wondering why she wore clothes that looked anything but innocent. In the distance she could hear "Surging Silver Glare - shatter!", a blending of elegance and power as Solitaire brought about the attack, utilizing the winds of the moon as her private source of energy. Infact, all her powers were related to those winds, that followed and kept her company when she was outside of the palace. The silver energy from the attack dispersed into space, perhaps back into the wind where it originated from. Serenity looked worried. **************************************************** 20th Century Tokyo *************************************************** Darien looked more than pale as he stood over an elegant bridge in the city as the sun slipped below the horizon. Color had washed from his face, his stomach felt unsettled, as he peered over the shining lights of Tokyo building in the distance. He had not long ago gotten off the phone with Solitaire's parents, listening as their voices changed from happiness, at the sound of his voice, to the deepest despair and anguish of human emotion when they heard that their only daughter was dead, and if matters could be made any worse, that the ambulance that had taken her away had disappeared. Darien closed his eyes, tilting his head over the bridge, his body ready to follow and plunge into the cold waters far below. As he creeped towards the edge, a strong gust of wind threw him back, almost pushing him away from the railing. He almost had done it. Perhaps this was all a horrible dream, Darien fanaticized, and when he opened his eyes Solitaire would be standing before him, with her smile that could warm his soul. Uncontrollably, he turned towards the walkway on the bridge and opened his eyes, nearly falling into the river once again as he tried to understand what he saw. A young girl walked along the path, her hair done in the royal hairstyle, but with rolls at the top. Darien didn't notice the difference, nor that this girl's hair was golden (he assumed the sunlight would turn silvery-blue hair a golden color), nor that the girl was much shorter than Solitaire (and her dress length much longer), but instead looked at the innocent expression on her face as she came closer to him. His heart almost stopped, thinking that he saw Solitaire approaching, and was unable to move as the girl simply ran by him. He would not see her again for almost a year. ************************************************** Moon Kingdom ************************************************** Solitaire held the piece of paper in her hand as she arrived on Earth, in one of the verdant garden's of Prince Endymion's palace. The silver haze around her subsided, revealing the unrivaled beauty of the princess to Endymion's royal guard. Neflite stepped forward, taking Solitaire's hand and kissing her on the cheek, as Jaedite smiled happily, the prince struck with jealousy. Solitaire walked up to the Prince with Neflite, both exchanging bows with Endymion, then greeting the three other generals. As they talked, Zoicite eyed Solitaire wearily, thinking of how a beautiful woman had almost come between the generals and the prince before, and was even more worried as he glanced towards Malachite who seemed transfixed surveying Solitaire's unparalleled perfection. Malachite was never one to involve himself too much with women, thought Zoicite, and this HAD to mean trouble. Fortunately, he thought, Jaedite spent his time obsessing about Lady Mars instead of other women, and thus he was out of harm's way. Solitaire surveyed the plush plumes of green mingling between stones in the palace garden, the usual sadness in her eyes replaced by awe and amazement as she soaked up the natural beauty of her surroundings, unlike on the Moon where she blended in perfectly with her unnatural-looking surroundings. Neflite took Solitaire's hand and proceeded to give her an overview of the palace as well as the landscape, Solitaire smiling uncontrollably in her hopes of happiness for her future. "They look very happy." Endymion whispered towards the couple in the distance, his face twisting in disgust. "Why does he have to invite her here - just to irritate me!" "My Prince!" Jaedite warned, not foreseeing such a reaction from Endymion. "And to think he would try to focus his energies on the war at hand - not lust over her like that." Endymion retorted. "It is a gesture of Queen Serenity to keep the relationship between Earth and the Moon in this way, my prince" Malachite chimed in eloquently, his serious expression contrasting with the prince's twisted one. "You've heard, after all, that Lady Solitaire holds the highest ranking with the Queen, and here presence here serves to help us in our struggle." Endymion, wanting to cut his losses, mumbled something incomprehensible and turned towards the palace, the others eventually following behind him. ************************************************* Crystal Tokyo - Nemesis (before Wiseman) ************************************************* Prince Diamond stood before the quivering mass of Solitaire's body, weakened after destroying three of his higher ranking officers when they had attempted to capture her, thinking she was Queen Serenity. Rubeus stood above Solitaire, powering the dome of dark energy that was keeping her down. "Queen Serenity." Rubeus stated triumphantly, signaling towards the struggling form, as he spat out the words. Diamond was transfixed, looking into Solitaire's eyes that burned with more emotions than he could name. "Fool! Can't you see its not her?" He yelled at Rubeus, who under the misunderstanding took his mind off the dark energy stream he was emitting, allowing Solitaire enough energy to stand up. "What?!" Rubeus roared, expecting the prince instead to congratulate him on his capture. "How would Queen Serenity come to Nemesis? Look at her - its not Serenity." Diamond ordered, thinking how Serenity could never have been as beautiful as this woman who stood before him. Solitaire, meanwhile, formed a silver ball of energy above her head, throwing it at Rubeus who barely missed it, his focus returned to the woman as he launched a sphere of dark energy towards her, smashing Solitaire against the floor, unconscious. Rubeus was prepared to destroy the intruder, but Diamond stopped him - "No, Rubeus!" Diamond ordered. Rubeus was further confused. Why would the Prince not want this intruder killed, whether she was Queen Serenity or not. He stared down at her unconscious form, and began to notice the differences between Solitaire and what he had been told about Sailor Moon. Furthermore, there was no crescent Moon symbol on her forehead, and her dress was, well, unexpected. Sapphire appeared behind the Prince, Prisma clinging to him, as the three other sisters hurried into the room, sobbing. "She killed them!" Avery cried, her dress covered in blood like the other two. Katsy stood motionless infront of Solitaire, unable to say anything when she confronted the woman who had killed her love, while Berty, being the quickest to think between the three, began her water attack to destroy Solitaire before she could hurt anyone else. "No!" Diamond shouted once again, as he knocked Berty back with his own energy. Berty was bruised and speechless. Emerald appeared behind the Prince, putting a hand on his shoulder until his menacing expression forced her to take it off. "Diamond?" asked Sapphire, breaking the silence. Diamond turned to his brother but didn't say anything. "If she?s not Queen Serenity, who is she?" Rubeus spoke, trying to understand what just happened. "What?!" the four sisters cried out, while Emerald gasped. Saphire's face grew even more shocked. "I don't know." Diamond finally answered. Avery and Katsy helped Berty stand up, while Emerald eyed Solitaire, her eyes glowing with envy. Prisma tried to comfort her grieving sisters, Sapphire aiding in her efforts, while Rubeus took note of Emerald's rage. The prince was lost in his thoughts about Solitaire. Katsy's low, raspy cries found him however, as he approached the sisters. "I'm sorry." he silently said, as Katsy looked at him with disgust. "Traitor" he could hear between her muffled sobs. Katsy didn't understand why Diamond was protecting Solitaire, when she had done so much irreparable harm to her and her sisters. Diamond saw that he needed to give the sisters ample time to settle before he could explain his actions, realizing that he himself had no explanation for why he was protecting the strange woman. *********************************** Moon Kingdom *********************************** Night had finally set in over the palace, but the Moon was visible towards the edge of the sky. Solitaire marveled at how...ugly it was from the Earth, as she viewed it from a sunroof in one of the palace's rooms. Strangely, the moon's rotation and orbital patterns coincided with eachother precisely, so that from Earth the exact same side of the Moon was always seen. She had just been briefed by Endymion's generals as to the nature of Beryl?s conflict, which snapped her out of the happiness of being with Neflite and forced her to face her own grim reality. The night sky was haunted by the Moon as well, and the autumn days had kept the days free of clouds so that it was there during the day, serving as a constant reminder of her fate and how somehow this happiness she had found with Neflite was not to last. She could hear Neflite's breathing in the doorway, as silence and darkness (except the moonlight) shrouded the open room. Had Solitaire been like Serena, she would have let the tears slide down her face, her emotions released in abandon. But Solitaire had been hardened, and the only indicators of her feelings would be her eyes and an occasional smile. The childish innocence that she should have retained, even if only to a certain degree, was replaced by a restrained and unemotional mind when it came to how she expressed her own feelings. Neflite thought he had been able to reach her in some way, and melt the hardened defense she had taken, but seeing her sadness return when she was on Earth signaled to him that she was perhaps beyond hope. Nevertheless, Neflite attempted to overlook her possibly only flaw as he approached her. Solitaire turned, channeling her sadness into longing when her eyes met his. Her heart raced more or less, a combination of her feeling of loneliness and her healthy anxiety when she was near him, unconsciously trying to drive her sadness out with the adrenaline in her body. Thoughtlessly, as was so uncharacteristic of her, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and smiled into his eyes. Just the reaction that Neflite wanted, as he kissed the sadness out of her (or so he hoped). ************************************ Later in the evening ************************************ Neflite thought he had been able to make a breakthrough, but Solitaire's sadness still glowed in her eyes by the end of the night. Unable to sleep, as happiness fought with concern in his mind, Neflite decided to turn to the starts for some answers. He had been reluctant to try and predict the future, for fear of seeing what was going to happen to the Earth, especially because Solitaire seemed to be so worried about it. As he walked through the cool autumn gardens, the smell of recycling leaves enlivening him, Neflite headed for the old garden temple of the skies. The cloudless night left no questioning as to if what Neflite saw was true. Solitaire's fate was unmistakable - it shone unbrokenly far into the future, piercing through the danger that he foresaw for the Moon Kingdom, and beyond until Neflite could no longer trace it. No fortune crossed with hers, which could either mean that Solitaire would never find love, or that she and Neflite were destined to be together (as he could not ever see his own fate). But unlike the joining of Jaedite's and Mars' fortunes, which changed their wavelengths as well as united them, Solitaire's fate only grew stronger and remained unchanged, indicating that it was eternal loneliness that she would experience, and not a union with him. Upon a closer look, Neflite could see others that would approach her signature, but none that could cross it, making hers grow even more strong in its loneliness. Neflite finally understood what had caused Solitaire to always be enveloped in her sadness as he began to hurry towards the palace. His first reaction was to rush to her and, like before, use his love for her to stifle her loneliness, but a moment later it was clear to him what he must do. Neflite knew destiny was to be held accountable for Solitaire's isolation, and if there was to be any hope for her to find happiness in the future (for destiny was not set in stone), she would have to be shielded from the hurt of rejection throughout her life, starting with him. He couldn't imagine himself ever hurting her, but he knew it was inevitable on way or another, and to make her love grow for him would only cause her greater pain. ********************************** Crystal Tokyo - Nemesis ********************************** Diamond watched Solitaire resting on the bed, amid the undoubtedly beautiful Dark Moon Palace surroundings. He tried to place the feelings he had for her, that had made him protect her, as he gently laid the moist towel on her forehead. At first he thought perhaps it was her beauty compelling him, but realized that Emerald was also very beautiful, and HOW she irritated him (although Solitaire surpassed even her beauty, though not by much). He hadn't heard her speak, but he had looked into her eyes, traces of sadness hiding behind passion and exhaustion, as well as pleading. He had never seen such expression in the cold hearts of any of the other women on Nemesis, only greed and envy and a quest for power. Little did Diamond know that Solitaire's expression was nothing compared to the warmth found in Queen Serenity and the scouts, but eventually he realized what had prevented him from having her killed was that she represented hope for him. The question was, who was she? Sapphire had meanwhile entered the room, watching his brother looking at Solitaire. "The sisters want revenge." Sapphire announced coldly to Diamond, who stood to face his younger brother, but said nothing. Inwardly Sapphire was angry at Diamond - he could get like this, infatuated with something, to the point where he was blind to others until it was too late. "Diamond?" said Sapphire, almost shouting. "For what?" Diamond finally replied, pretending not to comprehend. "For the death of their loved ones. She DID manage to kill them, you know - " Sapphire explained, pointing to Solitaire. "They'll get over it." Diamond said heartlessly. He did not know what it was like to love one of the opposite sex in that way, and thus he didn't understand how painful such separation could be. To his credit, however, Berty, Katsy, and Avery had never really *loved* the three dead officers, just like Sapphire didn't really *love* Prisma. Sapphire cursed silently, seeing as the prince was falling in love with one of his ideals again. "I don't think she *wanted* to kill them." Diamond noted, trying to ignore the bad news. "Why did they have to attack her?" Diamond questioned Solitaire. "You would have done the same thing, if you had thought it was that tyrant Serenity." Sapphire quickly added. Looking at solitaire, however, he realized the obvious differences between the two. He knew neither he nor Diamond ever liked the officers that Solitaire had done away with - they had always been plotting to remove Diamond from the throne, but he felt obliged to the sisters, like he felt obliged to Prisma. "Perhaps." Diamond apathetically replied. "But tell them I'm not going to allow for any more bloodshed." Diamond said, flexing his powers of diplomacy. He knew that the sisters didn't ever wholeheartedly love the officers, and sooner or later they would all be fighting for Rubeus' affections. "Besides, we don't know WHO she is, although she must be related to Serenity somehow, and she could be of use to us." Diamond dramatically lectured, knowing that he had no intention of pursuing any attempts of using Solitaire for anything. Sapphire, satisfied with the Prince's resolution, left to continue to console the sisters. He could see through Diamond's fake attempts to cover up his feelings, but was disinterested over the whole issue. *********************************** Moon Kingdom *********************************** A day had passed since Neflite had consulted his charts, and Solitaire could feel the wall Neflite had set up between the two of them. Once again the sun was setting, the autumn winds twisting around Solitaire in the courtyard, in attempt to shield her from the pain that was about to come. She lifted her champagne flute to her lips, downing the last drops of the bitter-sweet liquid. In the back of her mind she hoped that Neflite was simply thinking about the war, but it was clear to even the other generals that something was amiss. Neflite approached Solitaire, who heard his steps and turned towards him. Usually she could shake her feelings of loneliness when she saw him, but this time her eyes pierced his with the pain that she felt from knowing that that somehow she would have to give him up. Had she shown any signs of emotion, Neflite would have been tempted to abandon his plan, but ironically her composure allowed him to follow through. By the end of it, Solitaire?s hand was dripping with blood, as she had broken the glass she was holding into her hands, to channel her emotional pain into a physical one. Thus, she retained her fortitude when Neflite told her that he was wrong, that they could no longer have the same relationship they had, shocking Neflite by not asking him why. Neflite noticed her injury, but knew that helping her would snap the fine thread of resolve he had in him that had grown thinner as he looked into her dejected expression. In a vain attempt to console her, Neflite kissed Solitaire on the cheek, and turned to leave her before he would change his mind. Malachite had approached, to inform the couple that the evening's events were waiting for them, eager for a chance to talk to Neflite and Solitaire about a possible solution that he had discovered for the conflict. Neflite had stormed by him, on his way to the courtyard, before he could even get a chance to talk to him, and Malachite wondered where was Solitaire. His eyes glowed dark gray sensing that Neflite had just done something irresponsible that he would have to make up for. Looking towards the horizon, he could make out her delicate form, head tilted towards the moon that pierced the sky. He could sense that something had happened, as his brooding expression returned. "Lady Solitaire!" Malachite called to her, as his cape fluttered in the breeze that surrounded her. Solitaire turned to Malachite, not wanting to gracefully hide her feelings any longer. She wasn't angry at Neflite, for she knew that he was lying and his actions were not his own, knowing that she could not question his decision and that it all ultimately came from her own limitations. Finally a tear broke free from her eyes. Malachite immediately noticed her bleeding hand, as he could see the pain in her eyes, pain that someone would always be trying to make her forget. *********************************** Neflite stormed passed Malachite on his way into the palace, rudely ignoring the senior general. He was in no mood to talk. He felt like he should be holding Solitaire right now, asking her for his forgiveness. Instead he had left her there alone, wounded inside and out. How could he have been so cruel to her? Thinking back, he realized that her restraint had numbed him, but now that he could not see her sad eyes, and began to remember their occasional happiness, he could not resist the urge to go back to her. The stars had begun to shine in the darkening sky, but Neflite blocked out their warnings as he headed back to the courtyard. Looking ahead, he could see Malachite holding Solitaire's hand, his energy meshing with hers as he healed the wound that Neflite felt he had given her. He stopped, realizing he was too late to hold her, to take back everything that he had said. He watched as Solitaire fell into Malachite's embrace, as her tears soaked his uniform. Tears that she had not had for him, making Neflite regret his decision even more. Even jealousy emerged in his heart, as he turned back towards the palace, trying to walk away from reality. *********************************** Crystal Tokyo - Nemesis *********************************** Diamond woke, feeling himself smashing against the dark wall of the room where Solitaire was resting. He had fallen asleep, watching her sleep, only to wake up pinned to the wall of the room. A light blinded his view, but as his eyes adjusted to the brightness, he could see Solitaire standing before him, energy flickering at her hands. "Where is the crystal?" she asked quietly and calmly, prepared to fire another attack. Solitaire was at the heart of Nemesis, however, thus without the crystal that she had used to kill the three officers, her own powers were limited and could do relatively little damage. Diamond, although beginning to feel the sensation of his impact, was intoxicated by the beauty of the woman before him. Solitaire had not realized she was attacking Diamond. Upon her energy's evanescence, she had seen her opponent and without understanding why, she did not attack him again. Yes, she felt that he had saved her earlier, but the reason was deeper and one that she could not explain. The energy at her hands subsided, as a gust of wind blew through the room. Diamond peeled himself off the wall, but his mind did not function as it normally would have and therefore he did not retaliate the attack. The two stared at eachother, not sure whether to be fighting. "Who are you?" Diamond finally asked. Solitaire's defenses were shattered by the sound of his voice, which was like a soft whisper meant only for her ears. She didn't hear the question, only the way he formed the words as the sound sparked something deep within her mind and her soul. She was lost in the trance until she felt Diamond's hand upon hers, which broke the previous emotion with an even more powerful one. She had never been one to be at a loss of words, as Solitaire ignored the question, causing Diamond to wonder if she had some sort of amnesia. "I am Prince Diamond, of Nemesis, the Dark Moon." Diamond said softly as an encouragement to get some sort of reaction out of Solitaire. His voice, once again, stirred Solitaire's core, as she faintly whispered "Solitaire." Diamond had not let go of her hand, as Solitaire took notice of his. Why was she acting like this? Diamond lifted Solitaire's face to meet his, repeating her name questioningly. How could such an awkward name describe someone so beautiful and full of emotions - *Solitaire* was derived from the word solitude, and it also meant a single jewel and a card game. He didn't see how any of these things related to what he knew of her, which was very little. "I'm so sorry!" Solitaire apologized, trying to see if there was pain in Diamond?s eyes. Instead, she saw they glowed like so many others had glowed before his. "I'm fine." Diamond said consolingly, dismissing the issue Solitaire raised in an attempt to learn more about her. "Why are you here?" he asked, a question that he had been contemplating ever since he had first seen her. "Where?" Solitaire asked, moving closer to Diamond as his voice softened her expression and her words. "Nemesis - the Dark Moon. Are you from Crystal Tokyo?" Diamond patiently asked, hoping that Solitaire would know what he had just said. "Crystal Tokyo? No - I was from...Tokyo...but the Moon Kingdom... and then Sailor Moon...Oh! Where is Neflite?" she replied, the place he had mentioned having no meaning for her. Diamond felt a surge of jealousy as he heard the name, but was even more intrigued by Solitaire's mentioning of the Moon Kingdom - a place he had heard of even less than about the legend of Sailor Moon. And then Solitaire knew about a Tokyo, but not a Crystal Tokyo. Solitaire stared at Diamond, looking for answers in his eyes. "Sailor Moon?" Diamond questioned, trying to start with the familiar before he attempted to understand the rest of the things Solitaire mentioned. "Yes. After Sailor Mars attacked, and then I don't remember anything, until the three men..." Solitaire whispered, trying to sort out her own memories. She noticed Diamond's concerning gaze, blushing. "I'm sorry. I don't know exactly what happened." "You know Sailor Moon, then?" Diamond inquired, as he tried to understand what Solitaire was explaining. "No - I mean, I knew her from the Moon Kingdom, when she was Serena - she was my sister." Solitaire replied. Diamond's face flushed with horror, wondering how Solitaire could be related to someone who had caused his family so much pain. He had dropped Solitaire's hand, as Solitaire stared into his terror-filled eyes. Solitaire looked confused. The caring dropped from Diamond's voice as he accused "She sent you here." Solitaire sensed the hostility from him, which, strangely, affected her because it was coming from him. "No one sent me here!" she angrily cried out of confusion. A tear had formed in her eye, as she was still defenseless against his voice that sounded so harsh when she herself could not figure out what was going on. Realizing how pitiful she must look, she wiped the pain from her face and crossed her arms, tensing her body like she had always done to keep herself from revealing her emotions. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I was just trying to understand?" Diamond hesitantly replied. He could see that Solitaire did not know anything about Crystal Tokyo and his accusations were hurtful. Besides, she could not be related to Neo-Queen Serenity - her eyes were so warm, thought Diamond, as his expression returned to the caring one he had a few moments earlier. Solitaire's defenses melted at the sound of his voice. She felt awkward, her ever-present confidence gone. No one had ever been able to take her fortitude away from her before. She wondered what was wrong with her. Solitaire realized, however, when Diamond took her hand again. She was losing restraint, but looking into his eyes that glowed kindly again, she realized she was almost enjoying it. "Prince Diam-" Solitaire began questioningly, but the exhaustion of her battle and the use of her powers caused her to faint into his arms. Diamond was at first concerned, but realized that she must have been exhausted after the earlier conflicts. Holding Solitaire's head up to his own, he kissed her, Solitaire waking and uncontrollably wrapping her arms around Diamond. Diamond's energy glowed as it merged with Solitaire's body. He pulled away from her momentarily, to avoid confusion; "We have learned to create and transfer energy here on Nemesis in a variety of ways, kissing being one of them." Diamond explained. "Oh. I'm sorry." Solitaire replied quietly pulling away from Diamond thinking that she had made a mistake. "For what?" he asked jokingly, seeing that Solitaire had ironically misunderstood his explanation as a sign that he was kissing her out of some sort of obligation, when infact the opposite was true. "For my actions." Solitaire admitted ashamedly. She had lost almost all of the confidence she had had around men in the past. Before he could do more harm, Diamond whispered to her "Don't be", kissing her again holding her closer to him.