Note: Hey everybody! Soldier of Souls here with the last chapter of "Dawn of the Sea Queen." Like always, I don't own Sailor Moon but I do own the rest of the characters I invented in this series of stories. Enjoy! E-mail me at pikoloo@hotmail.com if you want to contact me for any old reason.

 

Dawn of the Sea Queen:

The prince and the void

      Where am I? This place is so strange…everything is white. I am the only bit of color in this void…"This is my final act Princess…when the sands of time reach the bottom of the hourglass, this void and everything in it will disappear. You can't escape!!!" It is the voice of Alpha. What's going on? Something is appearing…oh no. An hourglass. The sands have already started to fall. I run wildly around. "If only I had the key to this dilemma…" I mumble. I clutch my fists. There's something in one of them! I open my hand excitedly. I study the tiny golden object. A key…but that's what I just asked for! A key to the dilemma. So maybe if I wish for anything it will appear! "I wish…" but no. The sands of time are still going steady. Maybe I should wish for more things and take them with me? But then again, I don't know how to leave yet…I must ponder this. If I had to take certain things with me…what should I take? If I were a void, how would you escape me? What am I saying…I'm just confusing myself. Maybe…that's it! "I wish that the hourglass before me would disappear!" I wait. The sand still falls. What am I to do?

 

      I groan. Of course! Alpha wouldn't just let me wish the time limit away! He was ugly, but not stupid. I wonder if maybe I can wish for more than just objects? "I wish Setsuna were here…" oh great! What am I saying!? If she does appear then she'll be in grave danger! "Michiru?" She appeared! Despite myself I run to her arms. "Setsuna what have I done? I have put you in so much danger….how could I have been so stupid? I always thought myself so smart on Earth…I, I…I can't have done this…No…NO!!!!!" I sob into her arms. Despite the circumstances she holds me. "Michiru get a grip on yourself! Obviously you have to find a way out of here right?" She pushes me back in front of her. I mumble a weak "yes". I look over at the sands of time. Setsuna…sands of time…"Setsuna!" I know the answer now! The only question is…will this work?

 

      She looks at me and cocks her head. "Your powers! You can change time right?" She nods slowly. "But Michiru…I can't stop time without dying…you know that." I shake my head smiling. "I don't need you to STOP time, I need you to turn BACK time! With us retaining our memories of course. That way, we can have more time to think of a way out of her and I can explain my predicament to you!" she smiles…but no. Her smile is fading. "What's wrong Pluto?" I rarely use her planet name, only in Sailor Form usually. "I…I…I don't know if I CAN turn back time Michiru…it's just that…I've never done it before and maybe I sacrifice myself if I do either…" My smile fades too. "Could you try?"

 

     She slowly nods. She murmurs a prayer under her breath. She holds up her arm and her garnet staff appears in it. The crystal in it begins to glow dimly, then more and more powerfully. "Time change!" she yells. I feel light…so very light…my eyes close. But just before they do, I glimpse at the hourglass. Odd…the sands are moving in the opposite direction…they're floating up towards the top…floating…higher…that man…he floated in the sky…I'm tired…tired…

 

       I am back with Setsuna in the void. We both sit down to think. At least we know that when the sands become dangerously low she can use her powers to bring them back up again. Setsuna opens her mouth as if to speak, but she closes it again. "Who IS this Alpha dude anyway?" she asks. I shrug. "I guess he works for Beryl's old mistress…Negaru Atomica or something like that." She nods. I had explained to her earlier the whole thing with the wishing and all and she is convinced that we can use it. Then she stands up smiling. "I've got it! Wish for a door to your castle! I can always get a carriage home from there and he said that only things within the void would be destroyed!" I smile at her. At least she wasn't brought here in vain. "I wonder why I was at the palace in the first place…" I had become so intent on figuring out how to get out of here that I had forgotten. Then I remembered. The man I had met. "Wait!" I cry out. But it's too late. Setsuna was going through the door and the last grain of sand was falling. I ran to the door and I heard the last grain fall as I close it.

 

      I open my eyes. We are in beds, all three of us. Wait a sec...Three of us? The man…he…he's here too! I sit up immediately in the bed I am in. "Who in the world are you!?" I shout. Too late I realize what a fool I was. I blush a crimson red. He smiles at me. "I see you caught me princess. I am Prince Deran of Mercury…I can see the question forming in you. Yes, I'm Ami-Chan's older brother."

 

      He explains that Ami thinks very highly of me and as soon as he saw my picture he wanted to know me better. She told him where to find me and encountered Alpha on the way. It appears that Negaru didn't want there to be any more large planetary alliances so she sent him out to make sure I was destroyed before Deran had the chance to meet me. He had been watching me for even weeks before I went to Pluto and he said he was charmed by my beauty and talent. Can you believe it? Anyways, he saw Alpha take Serena into the shadows and made her disappear. He said he had to leave because if Usagi were destroyed then the all the planets would be in uproar and I might be killed in a chaotic war. Do you believe me up to now?

 

       He said that he came back as I knocked the Ginzuishou out of Alpha's hands and he shouted at me to stop but I couldn't hear him because I was concentrating so hard at the task at hand. He tried to come near me but the evil men and women stopped him. He said I disappeared in the blinding light and the evil ones did too. Usagi was safe in the palace and had sent out search parties to look for me. Just as he had lost all hope, he had been sucked into the void and I pulled him through the door. The next thing he knew he was here with me and Setsuna.

 

       I sat beside him listening intently for the time he told the story to me. It took my mind moments to register all that information. Only now I realize I am sitting beside my friend's brother…no…a prince, staring into space like a lunatic that just clued in on something. I blush again. He…he's holding my hand! I blush harder. "I…um…sorry princess…" he takes his hand away and begins to turn a shade of light pink too. I feel a surprising disappointment at the removal of that hand. Oh my gosh…what am I doing? How did my hand get over there and take his back? He looks up at me. I smile weakly, still red as a ripe tomato. He squeezes my fingers and smiles back. Life'll sure be different after all this, but I think I'm gonna like it.

 

Well, that's the story. For all you people who read the whole thing, Michiru did marry Deran and they lived on Neptune. Of course Ami visited them a lot and so did Setsuna and don't forget Usagi! Michiru did make that outfit for Chibi-Usa too and she loved itJ. There is one other thing too. I never quite understood the whole Haruka and Michiru thing. I was always told they were cousins and that they just really cared for each other but I'm really starting to wonder if Haruka is like a guy or something. If somebody could clear that up for me, I'd really appreciate it. If they are lovers, this whole story totally wrecks that, so I wanna know for sure. E-mail me at pikoloo@hotmail.com if you can tell me the TRUTH or if you just wanna contact meJ. Bye bye folksJ!