Author Notes: And yet another series I'm going back and revising. My main reason for revising this is that I can do so much better with the character relations now… Initially I pretty much just used the cliché stereotypes. It's sickening really, so I'd like to give it a go and go back and give justice to the poor abused characters. That and I know I can write much better kiss scenes .
Thanks go to D-chan mouto let's see if this inspires her to rewrite a favorite of mine, eh? and to Phedre-imouto, my ultimate favorite editor. she's so good!
Prologue: The Ungrantable Wish
Her heart was breaking.
Or at least that was how it felt to the elderly queen. She was like an ever blossoming rose. Neither the ravages of time nor anything else could ever make the seemingly young woman wither. And as the tears trailed like raindrops down her cheeks she was once again reminded just how much that she hated this 'gift.' For though she looked so young, she was in fact well over a thousand years old, yet her beloved husband whom she had cherished and cared for had succumbed to his human fate of dying of old age. He had survived so many battles and conflicts and in the end the great 'Tuxedo Kamen' was taken down by time itself.
She hated this curse so. No matter how she had begged and pleaded both the keeper of time and her own holy gem, she was never able to stop his aging. She watched him wither in front of her and nothing could have hurt quite so badly. To be immortal and watch your loved ones die around you… it was more horrifying than any monster she had ever encountered. A fate she never wanted to have to suffer through again. So that left only one choice…
"Holy Ginzuishou," the words were like a caress as she spared the tiny gem a glance. The gem sat on a pedestal between her and her husband's throne. She had wanted it there to prove how much she loved and trusted him, and he had always understood. Her Mamo-chan… She wanted to beg for his life to be returned, but before the time keeper had passed on she had been warned that such a wish would be pointless. But maybe this wish wouldn't be…
She stared at the tearful young woman that was reflected on the crystal's smooth surface. It hurt knowing that young woman was her. That she looked just like she had when she first became ruler. "Ginzuishou," this time her voice had trickled to a plea as she picked up the gem and held it tight enough for its edges to cut into her skin. "Let me die," the words spilled from her lips as easily as the tears that fell from her eyes. She didn't want to live without her loved ones anymore. She couldn't handle it. "Please…"
The gem began to flash a variety of colors as it felt its Mistress's pain. It flickered as it sought to channel energy to grant the wish before falling silent in her hand before making the attempt again. The idea that her dreams just might have a chance of being achieved was almost enough to make her weep out loud in hope. But she dared not give lease to this thought, she knew if she did then she would most likely be denied her fondest dream.
She was on the verge of praying to the crystal as memories washed over her again. Memories that hadn't touched her mind since the days they had happened. Memories of her friends' funerals... She had outlived every single one of her senshi, and that included Pluto. Early on, before her Mamo-chan even showed signs of aging, her friends and guardians had all met up with mortals they didn't want to live without. They, unlike her, seemed to realize that their loved ones would eventually wither and slowly die in front of them. That and the fact that the senshi, excluding her of course, could not bare children. She had interceded on their behalf and managed to break the spells that stopped them from living lives full of love and family… But their immortality had been stolen away in the process.
Back then it had seemed so romantic and heart-warming. She had even been the god-mother of all them that had children. But… the children were all old now, they had moved away when their parents died. Honestly, she couldn't blame them; she wished she could just as easily escape the heartbreak that being left alone caused. She'd give up anything to join them, even her life.
The first funeral had knocked her over unawares. It had seemed surreal and like a giant dream. She hadn't known the grey withered form in the casket. That hadn't been her sweet Ami-chan that had always chided her to study harder. That hadn't been the young doctor that had solved so many diseases that people claimed incurable before her death. No, it had been an old stranger who had reached the end of her natural life span. She hadn't even cried over her the old woman who had once been one of her best friends...
The next death wasn't any easier to accept.
How could the withered corpse in the coffin be compared to Makoto? She didn't look like the girl that had valiantly saved her life, nor did she resemble the graceful woman who had opened a café and flower shop. It had been like a trance being at that funeral. While everyone wept she had stared blankly. Some of the others hadn't forgiven her for failing to show emotion at two of her best friends' funerals.
What kind of monster had she become? They looked so different compared to her, who still looked as she had on her wedding day. Minako's death hadn't improved her memory as once again she stared emotionlessly at the figure tucked snugly in the wooden box. Of course it was a pretty box, but it was still made of nothing but mere wood. You would think that the girl who had been Crystal Tokyo's sweetheart, the greatest actress that had ever lived, would have gotten something better than being condemned to having her mortal remains rot away in a box of wood.
But Rei-chan's death was different. Though the form still wasn't the young woman who had worked so hard to keep Crystal Tokyo safe, she could still see traces of her best friend in the worn features. It was shameful to know that the only senshi she had shed tears for was the senshi of fire. Hadn't the others deserved her grief just as much? But as she looked at the peaceful and happy expression on Rei's face….It had torn her heart to shreds. She had cried hard releasing all of her loneliness that had come about as her friends were taken one by one. After Rei had been put to rest no more tears had trailed down her cheeks. That was until her husband's death, he had been the only link that kept her hanging onto life. As he died she realized she wanted to join him, she'd do anything to join him.
She had known he was going to die of old age of course, she had watched him do so. The Ginzuishou had granted him a much longer lifetime than he would have originally had, he was able to live for a thousand years by her side. But even that amount of time seemed like a single drop in the entire ocean when she realized while everyone else around her seemed to get older, she remained fresh and young. He had even teased her about it, claimed the Ginzuishou couldn't allow such a beautiful woman to turn into an old fart like his self. His smiles and touches had been so soft, so kind. He must have known what she refused to believe, that she would live far longer than he ever would. He had even tried to encourage her to take another partner once his age caught up to him. It had been their first fight and their last….
After his death she found out she was truly immortal. And it didn't happen by some great revelation, things were never so simple or kind for her. No, she found out a week after his body had been laid to rest inside the cold harsh ground. It had taken all of her willpower not to throw herself on his casket and refuse to leave his side when it happened… It had been so hard, and exactly a week later all the pressures came to a peak inside of her.
She couldn't handle it anymore. She had tried but the pain was so great. It hurt so much. She couldn't just grieve for him, it hurt to know it was the fate of everyone around her. All those she talked to, all those that she smiled at. They would all one day suffer the same indignity. She just couldn't deal with such a horrible future.
She had learned she was truly immortal when she awoke from the swoon she caused when she had sliced her wrists and stained the flawless black floor with a wave of pure white blood. She remembered seeing the color and staring at in horror before blacking out. Her daughter had found her the next morning, a woman that already looked double her own age.
Her daughter, her Chibiusa-chan hated her with a passion. She blamed her for the deaths of the senshi and of course the death of her own father. The woman was convinced that the seemingly young ruler should have known of all the powers of the holy gem. That she should have realized taking away the Ginzuishou's powers and turning the senshi into normal women was a death sentence. She had yelled and fought with her mother after she had found her on the ground. Called her every name in the book and then some, claimed that because of her mother's selfishness that she Chibiusa would never get to rule Crystal Tokyo as was her birth right. That Usagi as she was once known didn't deserve the throne anymore and had demanded it from her right then and there. She had denied the girl such a thing and Chibiusa had left with even more hatred for her mother than before…Serenity's eyes were unfocused as she stared at the darkening gem. Even it was denying her. Had she deserved this punishment somehow? Had she not performed a task she was destined to do? Perhaps… perhaps it was because she had forced the world to see things from her view? In the creation of the utopia she had achieved she had done little more than brainwash people into believing as she did. Surely this was punishment for such a gesture?
A stream of tears leaked onto the holy gem as she wept again. If she could go back in time she would have undone it all. She would have been greedy and denied the senshi their wish,. She felt horrible for realizing such a thing but she was too weak, too much of a coward to go through life all by herself. She needed them by her side and it was something she couldn't do a thing about. She never would have cleansed the Earth had she known this was the outcome. Maybe the cleansing was what had turned her mortal blood into something more like that of a Goddess? All of her life she had just wanted to be normal… a normal teenager, a normal wife, but now she realized that no matter how desperately she wished for it, it would never come true.
The crystal shined as her tears landed on it. It was connected to her and realized the emotional turmoil she was in. It vibrated hard, almost enough to knock itself out of her hands, as she desperately held her breath. After all this time… Would it? A fountain of multiple colors of lights seemed to erupt from it and she gasped in wonder as this dazzling light seemed to swirl around her. It was like being inside a rainbow and seeing colors that had never even been discovered.
Since she was busy staring at the lights in awe and shock she never realized what exactly had happened. She never knew that the light she had saw was the Ginzuishou shattering. The force of her wish to die had collided with what it had always done, protect its holder. And so now all of its magic and power floated in the air around the awestruck girl.
Serenity reached out to touch the seemingly solid colors and stared in awe as her skin seemed to absorb some of the hue. She was so entranced she never noticed herself shrink until she was as tiny as the Ginzuishou had once been. She was still dazzled by the lights when the Ginzuishou reformed itself with her in its protective center and began to harden.
Serenity was too shocked to do anything as she watched the colors turn into hard bands and her hand struck a cool solid surface where there had once been light. The colors were still as awe inspiring as ever but they were like a solid wall now. A roaring sound filled her ears and crying out in pain she clamped her hands over them to drown out the noise. This wasn't supposed to happen! This wasn't what she had wished for!
She whirled and struck out at the walls as hard as she could. She practically bounced off of them and landed in a heap on the ground. She felt something odd beneath her and stared in horror at her arms that were being encased into the multi-colored crystal. This was going to be her death? Instead of the harsh underground she was going to be buried alive in the Ginzuishou? She tried to call out, to order the Ginzuishou to let her go but a bright silver flash blinded her and by the time her senses had began to return she was completely encased and her thoughts simply died off.
The Ginzuishou had figured out a way to solve its dilemma. It hadn't killed its mistress, but it hadn't left her awake to suffer either. It hovered into the air before vanishing in a spark of black light as it vanished from the known world to heal itself and one day manage to free its mistress from her curse once and for all.