The Will of the Ring

Prologue

by Makura Koneko

"Tell me a story, father," The child, sitting on a floor made of stardust and interwoven moonbeams, asked of the Being on His universal throne. The child played with floating balls of light, guiding them to one another, gently weaving a tapestry with the threads of light that formed when two of them met.

"Just a story, my child?"

"Any story." The child confirmed. "Please? A long one, to pass the time till we can see the outcome of the Battle?"

"Ah, yes, the Battle," The Being nodded. "The Battle..." He said thoughtfully. "Perhaps, since your entire existence has been during the Battle, you would like to hear of another, smaller, but no less important struggle, fought within our Great Battle?"

"Yes, yes!" The child laughed gleefully as two of the lights merged. The Being chuckled.

"Very well," He said, and He began His tale....

            There was once a time where strife was unknown, suffering extinct, pain almost forgotten. There were ten great Empires, surrounding our Star. One Empire for each Planet three Realms for each Empire, and three Kingdoms for each Realm. And one...one special Kingdom, not on a planet, but on a moon. A special Moon, for this Moon had once been a planet. Caught in the all but legendary battle between Mars and Jupiter, before the time of peace, most of the planet was destroyed, leaving only the core. This core, no bigger than a moon, was pulled into orbiting the planet Earth.

Vowing that such a destructive battle would never again take place, the Queen of the Moon Planet erected the Silver Millennium. She was Selene, the first Queen of the Silver Alliance. All other Royal Couples of the other nine planets swore allegiance to her, and their daughters to Selene's daughter, the first princess of the Silver Millennium, the Princess Selenity.

Princess Selenity was a lovely child, with eyes of pure silver, and hair the color of the Moon's only ocean, Mare Serenatis; silver-white, tinged a slight violet. She had a sunny, yet naturally mature and poised disposition. She was the ideal and model Princess, a lady, kind to all, with an understanding of all things that bordered on unnatural.

But Princess Selenity was destined for more than Queenhood of the entire Solar System. She was destined to set into motion the greatest strife the Universe would ever see, to unknowing provide a way for the evilest of all objects to be created, by the man she would one day love. She would a provide a way for all this to happen, at the simple age of six years old, by simply accepting a gift from the one she loved most...

            "Mama...this isn't gold." Said Crown Princess Selenity of the Silver Millennium Silver Alliance White Moon Kingdom, Heir to the Throne of the White Moon Throne, Duchess of the Palace of Serenatis, Baroness of Silver Lake, the daughter of High Queen Selene, Ruler of the Nine Planetary Kingdoms, Matriarch of the Silver Alliance and Lady of the Stars.

"No, you're right, it isn't." Queen Selene smiled down at her pale silver-lavender haired six-year-old daughter.

"Then what is it, mama?" Selenity played with the small golden coloured locket in the shape of a heart, an upturned crescent moon made out of weaving and flouncing filigrees was impressed into it on both sides. It had an unnaturally pure glimmer to it, an uncanny silver sheen when the light glanced off it. It looked as if it had been freshly polished, and yet no gold, no matter how pure, could ever reach the level of flawlessness this locket seemed to radiate.

"Open it," The Queen urged, one of her long rose pink streamers of hair falling over her hair, silver eyes twinkling.

The little princess, tongue peeking out from between the corner of her ice pink lips, a determined look on her face, set to prying open the small contraption of the mysterious alloy.

At last tiny fingers succeeded, and the locket popped open. A mysterious and hauntingly beautiful melody danced from the locket to caress the ears of the princess and queen. The music seemed to invite the very stars in the sky to come and dance, coaxing the moonbeams to sway to its enchanting lullaby.

A 'v' shaped beam of silver light spilled upwards from the locket cupped in the hands of the First Moon Princess, whose mouth was forming a tiny 'o' of surprise and delight. Bathed in the beam of silver light was an image, an image of a sphere of white light. Blended, faded into the image of the moon was a transparent image of the smiling Queen Selene.

"Our Moon…" Selenity whispered. Selene smiled.

"Yes," She said. "As long as you hold this locket close to your heart, I, and our Moon, shall always be with you." She cupped her hands over her daughters, closing them, and thus closing the locket, cutting off the beam of light and calling the music back into slumber. She folded the princess's arms so that the locket, the chain spilling out from between her fingers, was pressed against her heart.

"It is made of Moongold," Selene told her. Selenity gasped. In all the Universe, there was only one place where Moongold existed; the White Moon, her Moon, her home. And there were only three nougats of Moongold ever found, and all three were in the possession of the only one who could mold it; the Queen of the Moon, Selene.

For some reason unknown, only a member of the White Moon royal family could handle Moongold, let alone forge it into anything. Queen Selene herself had formed the first Moongold nougat it her tiara, which she only wore at the most important of times. The second made up the top sphere of her Royal Staff. The third, the purest of all three, had been formed into locket, or brooch, meant to house the Silver Imperial Illusion Crystal, the only heirloom left from the lineage of the original Moon Kingdom, when the White Moon had been a planet.

"A fourth nougat of Moongold?" Selentiy looked up at her mother with wide eyes. Selene nodded, smiling. Even though only six years old, Selentiy grasped the importance of being given something made of Moongold, crafted by the Queen's own hands and magic. She turned around in her mother's arms and threw her arms around her neck.

"Thank you, oh thank you!" She cried. The Queen laughed, and embraced her daughter. The locket, in the hands of the princess, glowed, reacting to the love and happiness resonating between mother and daughter.

When they pulled apart, Queen Selene helped her daughter clasp the locket around her neck, so that it rested in the hollow of her throat. Selenity touched it, smiling.

"Thank you ever so much!" She said happily. The locket warmed at her touch, and the Queen smiled.

"Glad you like it," She said, and stood, taking her daughter's hand. "Now come, the embassy from Earth will have arrived by now. We must meet them in the Grand Hall. King Mindocino has brought his son, Prince Sauron. Think you can be my darling little princess and show him around the palace?"

"Of course!" Selenity said happily. Selene smiled once more. What an angel her daughter was… Her smile dimmed slightly as she remembered the reason King Mindocino had brought his son along. She sighed. But law was law, the law she herself had approved regarding marriage for royal sons and daughters for the Nine Planets. It was only fair that she herself abide by that law, she reminded herself as she, with her daughter's hand in hers, left her sitting chambers and headed for the Grand Hall.

Now that she fully realized that it meant engaging her daughter, at six years old, to a spoiled Earthen Prince she'd never even met before, and probably never would again till her sixteenth birthday… Selene questioned her actions for the first time in a long while.

She sighed as she and Selenity rounded a corner.

The preliminary papers had already been signed, via ambassadors. There was no going back now without starting an interplanetary dilemma that would take years to resolve. And with the Alliance so new… No, that was not a chance she could take. She simply had to hope that Selenity and Sauron got along…

She winced as she remembered some of the reports her ambassadors had relayed to her about the Terran Prince. A spoiled child, but not without his own qualities. He was supposedly protective of things he loved, and knew how to get his way without causing an uproar. He was also controlling. Very controlling.

But Selene supposed those were traits that, when trained properly, would make for an excellent King.

Yes, she thought, an excellent king…. She hoped.

They reached the grand doors to the Grand Hall, and two guards, after bowing, pulled them open. A steward stepped out of nowhere to enter before, announcing her and her daughter in a loud, regal voice. He stepped aside, and winked at the princess, her hide a smile and a giggle.

"Your Majesty," A man rose from the table he and a boy, no more than ten, had been sitting at. He walked over to her in long, strong strides, and took her hand and kissed it. "It has been far too long," He told her. "Since I have last looked upon your radiant face." He winked. He may be married and with a son, Selene thought, but he will forever be the playboy I used to know as a child.

"And little Selenity, how lovely to see you again, too," He smiled down at her. "Last time I saw you, you were a newborn, brand new, a curious little wide eyed beauty." Selenity smiled and curtseyed.

"Thank you, my lord," She said.

"Well, I shall hurry and get the formalities out of the way so we can begin our…er, catching up." The King grinned broadly as he placed his hand on the shoulder of the boy that came to stand beside him. The resemblance between them was startling…but that wasn't what made Selenity unable to hold back a gasp. "May I introduce my son, Crown Prince Sauron, Lord of the Golden Woods, Master of Lothlorien, and Duke of Rivendell, the three Kingdoms of the realm of Middle Earth, and heir to the throne of all of Earth."

Selenity barely heard the introduction, so fixated on the boy before her was she. Not so much the boy, really, but his eyes. The pupils were the blackest of black, but the irises…they looked like wreaths of fire, swirling reds and yellows and gold, the light of the torches along the walls glanced off them, making them look like dancing flames.

The Prince nodded, a polite smile on his face. He glanced at the locket at her throat, and brief realization donned in those marvelous fiery eyes before he took her hand and bent over it.

"A pleasure, my princess," He told her. A boy of only ten, he already had the voice of a man. Deep and rich, yet with a hint of boyish charm that made Selenity's heart beat faster, though she had no idea why.

"May I give you a tour of the gardens?" Selenity composed herself beautifully, and in splendid time, once more demonstrating maturity beyond her six years.

"I would be honoured," Sauron bowed, and then held out his hand. Lifting her skirt elegantly, Selentiy placed her hand delicately over his, and they walked thus out of the room, a miniature version of what would one day be a most glorious looking couple.

"They do look good together," Mindocino said. Selene forced a smile, though nothing about her betrayed it was forced. She nodded her agreement, glanced at the door that closed after her daughter and the prince, unable to quench the growing sense of dread as she walked to the table where a document lay. A pen was on the table next to it, ready for her to take up…

A knowledge suddenly gripped her, and a fierce determination to save her daughter- save her daughter? From what? She didn't know…all she knew was that if she even touched the pen, she would be making a grand mistake. A mistake that would explode maybe tomorrow, maybe not for another eight thousand years, but explode it would.

"King Mindocino," Selenity turned to the king, fully prepared for the consequences of what she was about to do, resolving that a decade of interplanetary diplomatic turmoil was far worth it, to save her daughter.

Her eyes met those of blackest black, wreathed in flashing fire…

"Yes, Selene?" Mindocino's voice was not his own…

Selene blinked and turned back to the document and sat. Mindocino placed a hand on her shoulder as she picked up the pen. As she signed her signature on the contract with a flourish, she wondered why she had ever had the ridiculous notion that her daughter was more important than securing her reign over her kingdoms…

Ten Years Later

The Nine Planetary Empires rejoiced.

Today was the day the Heir to the Throne of the White Moon, the throne of the Solar System, would marry Sauron, Prince of Middle Earth and future King of Earth itself.

Many thought today would be a grand day.

Oh, how wrong they all were…

It would be a day for nightmares to become reality.

"Princess?" The red haired seeress knocked on the door to the chambers that the Princess of the White Moon had moved in to that morning. The SpaceFlight from the Moon to the Earth had not been a pleasant one for the silver-lavender haired princess, and she, along with Selenity's other four bodyguards were worried. So they had sent their second in command, the Princess of Mars, to check on her.

"Come in…" Came a groggy voice. Mars' lips quirked. She sounded like she had just like she did when forced out of bed earlier than usual for a meeting with a Venusian; they preferred to do business first thing in the morning, so that they had the rest they day off for fun things.

Mars pushed open the large mahogany doors and her gaze softened as she saw her Princess sitting on a be-cushioned and be-ruffled window seat under a large, arched window over looking the beautiful mountain city known as Volorium.

"Hey…" Mars said. "You feeling any better?"

"I got over my spacesickness hours ago…" Selenity admitted after a moment.

"Now you're just sick with nerves, eh?" Mars' heart twitched at the stiff nod of Selenity's head, her silver-lavender hair bobbing with the movement. It was done up the 'royal hairstyle' as it had been teasingly nicknamed by many. Twin sphere of silken hair were atop her head, two streamers of wavy, silken moonbeams of hair fell from the buns to her ankles.

"Last time I saw him was ten years ago, Mars!" Selenity suddenly burst out. "And the letters he sends are nothing but romantic love letters. They tell me nothing about him! All they tell me is he is a good poet and has an imagination, but then again, who knows if he was really the one that even wrote them, let alone came up with them? I'm marrying a stranger, Mars! And I'm…tonight…the wedding night…I'm…I'm expected to…to…" She buried her face in her hands.

Mars looked at her sympathetically. Poor girl…she reached around her friend and hugged her. Feeling the brush of cool metal against her arm as Selenity leaned into her, she unclasped Selenity's locket from around her neck, and pulled away. She opened it, and placed it in Selenity's cupped hands. The same enchantingly beautiful melody sang and danced on the sound of their heartbeats, teased the wind of their breath as the image of the glowing silver white moon appeared in a beam of silver light. The image of the Queen was not there, this time.

"Look at that, Selenity," Mars told her. "Yes, you are marrying a stranger. But look what you are doing it for! The Kingdom you love so much! Think of that! And remember; he can only touch your body, not your soul, not you, not if you don't let him."

Selenity looked at the image of the moon for a moment, then slowly smiled. She launched herself into Mars's arms, closing the locket of Moongold as she did so.

"Thank you!" She said, much as she had to her mother ten years ago. Mars smiled and returned the embrace.

Just then, there was a knock on the door, and four girls entered. Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Neptune, all bearing bags and baskets and boxes. Neptune bore the heaviest of all the packages; a large white bag. Selenity sighed as she realized what was in that bag; her wedding dress.

"Ready?" Jupiter asked. Selenity exchanged a small smile with Mars, who squeezed her hand reassuringly. Selenity stood, and nodded.

"Yes," She said. "As ready as I'll ever be." She added as an afterthought. They all laughed gently, and Mercury helped her Princess up on to a stool, as Venus began undoing the laces at the back of Selenity's flowing gown and Neptune hung the bag up on the top wire frame of her canopy bed.

It was nightfall by the time the First Moon Princess was ready. Her long, flowing white gown with a ten foot train, edged in ten thousand pearls, all from the sea of Mare Serenatis. In her hair -which had been redone up by Venus in the Royal Hairstyle with intricate braids and weaves and curls- amongst baby's breath and white elven roses from Lothlorein was her mothers Moongold tiara, studded with diamonds and pearls and moonstones.

The strapless, sleeveless bodice of her gown clung to her curves seamlessly, edged at the top in a two inch wide ribbon with silver and gold brocade, studded with even more tiny pearls, also from Mare Serenatis.

A veil made of moonsilk, transparent and unnaturally light and gauzy, with a slightly silver, magical sheen to it fell over her buns and curls from her tiara and down to blend with the folds of her train.

It was another two hours before they reached the wedding site, which was a huge platform held aloft and kept cool by magic over the open volcano of mount Volorium, where the raw power of the Earth, in the form of magma, was exposed for all to see.

They were born across the space from the edge of the volcano to the platform by a pegasus drawn carriage. It landed softly, and one by one, as the wedding music was struck up, Selenity's bodyguards and best friends stepped out of the carriage. They were assisted by Sauron's best men, who then walked them down the isle before turning aside just before reaching the alter. One, two, three, four couples, two on each side of the alter.

Another song began to be played by elven flutes, played by the elf maiden Maiya and her brother, Elothien.

Selentiy stepped out of the carriage, and took her first step down the isle. In her head, she could hear the melody of her locket, at her throat, being played to her by her mother, who stood at the alter beside the Priest and Priestess, as a child.

Part of Selenity wanted to hate her mother for doing this, but the rest of her knew her mother' had had no choice.

She carefully kept her thoughts blank as she walked down the isle, so her expression would have the least amount of trouble fighting her true emotions. She also carefully avoided looking directly at Sauron, clad in golden splendidry, and standing beside her mother, Queen Selene.

Selenity knew people were wondering why she did not look at her bridegroom, and so, swallowing, not wanting anyone to have doubts about this marriage (although she was having every doubt and fear possible) she looked up at the man that was to be her husband in a few moments…

Her silver eyes met fiery ones, and an emotion that made her want to scream in terror washed over her heart…she fought it…but it was too late…

She was in love.

Against her will, or with it, she would never know.

She, smiling for real, now, stepped up to her fiancé, and together they turned to face the Priest and Priestess, and swear their fealty to each other.

A few moments later, Princess Selenity was married and received her first kiss…five hours later, after much celebration and merrymaking, when the newlyweds retired to their wedding chambers, the Second Crown Princess of the White Moon flared into existence on the tapestry of life.

Nine months after the marriage of Princess Selenity and Prince Sauron, the Galaxy had another reason to rejoice.

Crown Princess Serenity was born, blue eyed like her father's mother, the Queen of the Earth, and hair like the Moongold of her mother's locket; gold, that looked silver under glancing light.

"My little angel," Selenity cooed to the newborn in her arms as she rocked the princess back and forth, humming the tune of her locket without realizing she was. She stood by the same window seat that Mars had once comforted her at over her fear of marrying her now beloved Sauron. He was a good man, she always told herself. He never hit her, he gave her gifts, he said sweet things to her, he looked at her with something akin to respect in his eyes…but he didn't love her, she knew. He may care for her, but that was a far cry from the love she vowed she would make sure her daughter would have…

Her daughter…hers and Sauron's…little Serenity… Now she was something Sauron loved. The only thing Sauron loved. The only thing Selenity believed he would die to protect; his daughter. She was the only thing Sauron, now King Sauron, cherished more than power and gold.

Gold…

Selenity touched the locket at her throat. She knew he wanted it. To possess an article of Moongold…she knew that was one of her husband's greatest desires. To possess one of the Rings was his second.

The creation of the Rings had been announced almost a week ago, to the rulers of Earth -King Sauron, the Dowager Queen Molciny of Earth, herself, King Aradur; king of Gondor, the largest country in Middle Earth, as well as Queen Galadriel, Lady of Lothlorien, and Lord Elrond, Lord of Rivendell. These places, previously governed by Sauron, had been given to the children of the ones whom had been his best men in his wedding one his ascention to Kinghood.

The purpose of the creation of the Rings was -officially- not all that important. But Selenity knew why. The races of the other eight Planets all had natural, inborn magical powers. Even the Earthen Elves aren't born with magic; they were simply the best at learning to use it.

With the Rings, if one were to wear their Ring their entire lives, their offspring would inherit some of the power from the Ring naturally, even more so if the mother wore her/her husband's Ring during pregnancy. That power would be enhanced when they inherited their parent's Ring, and then when they had a child, that child's power would be even greater, only to be doubled once they received their Ring. Eventually it would be so that the descendants of the original bearer of one of the Rings would be born with magical powers with our without the ring, regardless if their parent's ever had a Ring.

And, in the great, great, greatly far future, perhaps all three races of Earth -human, elf, and dwarf- would have 'natural' magical powers.

But of course, this was all just an outrageous, ridiculous rumor.

Selenity smiled slightly as she rocked her baby to sleep in her arms.

Funny how the simplest of rumors turn out to be false, and the most unbelievable, to be truth.

One Year Later

The forging of the Rings of Power had been completed, and distributed. Three to the greatest of Elven Lords -or rather, two Lords, one Lady- five to the dwarf Kings, and nine…one for each of the Kings of Earth, the UnderKings, rulers of separate continents, all whom served the High King of Earth, Sauron, and his wife, Selenity, Princess of the Moon and Queen of Earth.

Selenity could only be grateful that it was done. Though she had to admit, the nine that had been giving to the human kings worried her…the dwarves, did, too, but there were only five of them that bore Rings. But nine Kings…even UnderKings, one of which, the King of Gondor, actually served her, since Middle-Earth was hers. She wondered briefly why Sauron had not demanded he, too, be given a Master Ring. She had thought all he loved was power and gold, power and gold, gold and power, gold and power.

But then why…?

Selenity froze as a thought, despite her love for her King, entered her heart and her mind. A cold dread entered her, and her hair brush stopped it's descent through her locks.

She'd always known Sauron wasn't pure, but then, no human is. But she'd thought the extra 'dirtiness' in his soul was a result of the many, however little, wars that had been breaking out lately. Granted, she wasn't allowed much information on what was happening on Earth, much less her own Empire, Middle-Earth.

Selenity's cheeks warmed at the thought. Sauron had given her the whole of Middle-Earth to rule as her own for their first anniversary. He'd even had a fortress, a palace, the one they were spending the summer in right that moment, built just for her on top of a similar to the one she'd been married on. They had moved in for the summer, and christened it the castle 'Baraduil' nine months ago.

At the thought of 'nine months,' Selenity smiled and looked at the small mound under the silken sheets on her bed. The little princess's birthday was tomorrow…

"My angel…" She murmured.

"And my treasure," A, just as deep and rich as it had been the first time she'd heard it, rumbled from behind her, and Selenity turned to look up into the face of her king.

"Good evening, husband," She greeted him with a happy smile on her face. The same queer contentment that had gripped her heart on her wedding day overcame her now as he leaned down to gently kiss her lips. There was no love, no passion in his kiss, but it was enough for her…though she had a feeling it shouldn't be…a part of that 'contentment' lashed out to smite the flash of doubt that bubbled up within her, and it disappeared.

Sauron stood, and glanced at the one-year-old Princess Serenity, asleep.

"I want to give her something special, for her first birthday." He said after a moment. Selenity blinked. This was an unusual, rare statement of sentimental value. He looked at the babe with genuine tenderness.

Sauron looked down at his wife…his fiery eyes seemed to flash, those same, deep black pupiled eyes, wreathed in fire, boring into her very soul.

An idea came to her then, as she stared into the eyes of her husband. Her hand went to the locket at her throat…then around the back of her neck to the clasp. She released it, and let it drop into her hand. She looked at… A sudden flare of wild rebellion against what she was about to do sprang up. Sauron touched her shoulder…

And Selenity dropped the locket into his hand.

He kissed her on the forehead, turned, and left, and Selenity sat, blinking, wondering what she had just done.

"Ah, your Majesty,"

Queen Selene of the Silver Alliance White Moon turned away from the barred window of the large, clean cell to face the man standing on the other side of the bars, the bars that glowed with a dark golden light that kept her prisoner.

"Sauron," She said coolly to the man she had trapped her daughter into marriage with. Oh, how she wished she had resisted the force that had made her sign that contract…

"Explain to me why you summoned me from my kingdom so urgently, then had me thrown into your dungeon?"

"Ah, that will be a hard one to explain…" Sauron tilted his head to one side. "So," He said cheerfully. "I don't think I shall." He snapped his fingers, and the guards opened the doors. This was the first look Selene had gotten of them; the ones that had taken her had been Royal Guards. But these…these creatures…they were mutilated, scaly, slimey green skin…unnaturally large eyes of sickly yellow and darkest of blacks. They walked as if permanently lamed, as if they relished the pain it brought them. Their mouths were open to display blood-caked, needle like teeth.

"Wh-what are these things?" Selene demanded as one of them grabbed at her arm. She jerked back, and its claws scrapped three long, deep gashes down her arm. She clutched the injured limb as Sauron chuckled.

"Ah, my Queen, don't fight them." He said. "You're not very good at it. As for what 'they' are, they were elves once." He grinned as the two 'guards' finally succeeded in grabbing her by the arms and dragging her towards the exit to the cell.

"Little sneaks." He shrugged. "They'd had visions when they were elves. They'd figured out what I really was. So I decided to see if, instead of killing them, I could make them into something I could use." He grinned a grin that Selene swore a demon would have trouble rivaling. "I can tell you, my…'interrogators' had fun…'convincing' them to serve me.

"I call them…well, it was rather easy. It's the name of a race long forgotten. The not so nice and regal cousins of the elves. They became extinct long before humans came along. Orcs, is what they were called. The Elves destroyed the original Orcs, their evil cousins in a battle a long time ago. And I…I have brought them back." He smiled. "I'm sure you'll have fun getting to know them while we take a walk." His tone and expression clearly stated what was at the end of this 'walk.'

Selene screamed. Sauron laughed.

The two Orcs proceeded to drag the Queen to a large, heavy iron door. Two more Orcs pulled the doors open, and beyond it was seem a stone promenade ledge reaching out over the fiery depths of the active volcano that was just under the surface of the Mountain. Selene was dragged to the edge, where Sauron ordered them to turn her around to face him. He stepped close, smiling a smile that was quite decieving in its peaceful state.

"Why do you do this?" Selene demanded, every inch a Queen. Sauron pulled from his pocket something Selene recognized immediately, and her eyes widened. Selenity's locket!

"I wanted to make something special for my daughter's first birthday," He said. "I had an idea for a sort of…twin necklaces, like the ones best friends have, where one of them fits into or onto the other. I looked at every sort of drawing that I had conjured up by the best goldsmiths in the Galaxy. They were all lovely, mind you, but none were good enough for my baby…" He laughed. "Well, actually, to be quite truthfull, that will only be the story behind what I am going to be using you to create." He tossed the locket back and forth between his hands.

"I know you know about the Rings of Power that were recently completed," He said. "I also know that you wonder why I did not demand that I get one as well." He snorted. "As if I would want one of those purity-ridden things. Disgusting. Power is meant to be corrupting! So I thought, why not make my own Ring? One Ring to rule them all, and eventually, in the darkness I will create, bind them to me!"

"You are mad!" Selene growled. Sauron laughed.

"Yes, my Queen, I am," He said, and winked. "But you know what they say 'power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." He tilted his head. "Imagine how corrupted I will be when I have absolute power?"

"That still doesn't explain what you want with my daughter's locket, or me," Selene said. She refused to think about what he had just said…the notion was just to terrifying. Oh, how she wished she had her Silver Crystal…she could end this all right now if she had it…but she did not even have the strength to summon it, not all the way from the Moon.

"Tis simple, my dear lady," He said, clasping his hands behind his back in a boyish manner. "It only makes sense that the One Ring be made of something no one else has possession of, eh? And I'm not foolish enough to try and craft this alloy on my own." He dangled the locket before her. "And plus, a ring that fits into a small locket would be the perfect father-to-daughter gift for the little princess, don't you agree? Something Daddy and baby can share for all eternity."

"You plan to drag little Serenity to the depths of evil with you…" Selene gasped, eyes wide with disbelief. "Why?"

Sauron sighed.

"Must I spell out everything to you?" He shook his head. "Selenity is a lovely, exquisite creature, and while she is under the dillusion she loves me, when it comes down to it, she is too powerful in the ways of Pure Magic to ever truly be my Queen. So…"

"Oh, God…" Selene swallowed the bile rising in her throat…this…this…creature before he planned to take his own daughter and raise her in the ways of evil, then take her as his wife!

And Moongold…if he had truly found a way to, through her, craft it into a Ring of Power…the natural energies of the alloy would give it the edge over all other rings, just enough of an edge to indeed make it a Master Ring. Perhaps if she could get him to tell her how he planned to use her to make the Ring out of the Moongold, perhaps she could figure out a way to stop him from using her…

"And…just how do you plan on using me to forge this ring?" She demanded.

"Simple, my Queen," He grinned. "Make you one with the fire I will use to melt the Moongold." He waved a hand at the lava below. Selene's eyes widened, and before she could do anything, by a silent signal, the unnaturally strong Orcs hefted her up, and sent her flying down towards a fiery death that not even a Queen of the Moon could live through…

But rather than a scream being the last sound she made, she cried out something in a long forgotten language of the Royal White Moon Family's lineage, and the locket in Sauron's hands glowed…

A tiny bit of love and hope and light settled into the depths of the Moongold…undetectable by someone so engulfed in hate and despair and darkness and evil as Sauron.

The cry of the Moon Queen faded away, and was nothing…

And a glowing tendril of silver light in the tapestry of life faded, and disappeared…

The lava of Mount Baraduil flashed silver, and Sauron called out in a sinister tongue forgotten to all but the evilest of enchanters. A column of fire rose up at his command. He took from one of the Orcs a small, thick steel cup on a long dowel. He dropped the locket into the small cup, and thrust it into the fires of his Mountain…his mountain of doom…for the doom that he would spread throughout Middle Earth would indeed begin at this place…

He pulled out the cup; the Moongold, melted by the fire that had been infused -for how long, Sauron did not know- with the Power of the Moon glowed a soft silver-gold, even in its molten state. Two molds were brought to him, a hole in the top of each. He poured the golden liquid down the throat of the first mold, and when it filled and was taken away, then set to filling the second. He shut his eyes, and began to mutter and concentrate with all his might, pouring, along with the Moongold, all his hate and malice and will to dominate into the mold, where the two things, Moongold and pure evil, ran together and became One… The One.

And thus the One Ring was created, and the rising of the Dark Lord Sauron of Middle Earth began.

In a room in the castle of Baraduil, high above, a silver-lavender haired woman fell to her knees in pain, as an image flashed before her…

"Mother…" She whispered, and, all at once, she knew.

Everything.

She fled to the cradle beside her bed, and scooped up the sleeping princess, flung a cloak about her shoulders, and ran to the balcony. Summoning powers she had inherited only moments before, the exact moment of her mother's death, she flared angel-feathered wings, and soared to the Moon.

Tears of anger and sorry and betrayal and pain streamed down her face as she clutched her hope and future to her chest. She vowing that her daughter would never, ever know why that she, now Queen of the Moon, would demand that there never, ever, be any communication or interaction with the Earth, ever again… Ever…

To Be Continued…

So, how did I do?

I know, I know, Shattered Tapestry is still on hold, and here I am starting another fic…well…just like when nature calls there's no resisting, it's the same with me and my muse.

Plus, I found the floppy that has Shattered Tapestry on it (I'd lost it, which was actually one of the main reasons it went on hold) so I should actually be able to post a chapter or two between now and when we move in to our new house, in October.

I know this chapter was a little….slow, but remember, this is a difficult story to set up, and you have to be careful when merging two complex plots such as LoTR and Sailor Moon.

And as for the title, 'Will of the Ring' that will be explained at a later date as the story progresses. A little hint; remember that little bit of 'love, hope, and light' Selene planted into the Moongold before she died….? Just remember that.

Anyhoo, stay tuned for Chapter One! I should have it out by August 20th, and chapter five of Shattered Tapestry sometime before then. Ja!

Hope Makes the Universe Shine,

Makura Koneko

ALL STANDARD DISCLAIMERS APPLY