The dark man stood silently in the hearing room. He wore a long black cloak with scarlet trim and carried a staff. A hawk perched on the ball of the staff fidgeting nervously. The man spoke to it in soft undertones, trying to calm the nervous bird. Suddenly the man's turn came and he strode to the center of the High Court of Ceres' hearing chamber and stood directly in front of the High Queen and bowed in a very courtly manner. "Announcing his lordship Naverght, newly named Prime Minister to High Queen Iris." He was received reverently and joyfully. 'Finally,' thought the court, 'We'll have a normal prime minister, not one like that nutcase Thornbrush.' Play Opening Song Series Title, Sailor Moon Remembered Senshi Episode Title (8) Awakening Naverght walked slowly through the lily garden which had, at one time, been tended by a certain, young, banished, princess. Every time he passed the calla lilies and the white lilies he was struck by an odd familiarity that puzzled and confused him. He had felt this feeling several times before while wandering around the palace. Once in the stables, once in the library (which was under new management), once underneath the Lord Rowan, and once at the crystal cascade in the main ballroom. The strongest by far was the one he'd experienced when he looked at a forgotten portrait of the princess. All the paintings of the princess had been burned when she'd fled over a year ago, yet this one still miraculously lived on in plain sight. Probably because the High Queen and her loyalist supporters never ventured into the high, fifth floor galleries. Naverght was mesmerized by the painting. Her elegance, beauty, and spirit could never be imprisoned by a canvas and paints, Naverght saw at once, but the artist had not done a terrible job, and the painting was just a whisper, a promise of the woman. He was, by all means, sure that he must have met this princess before, but after and inquiry to her identity, his logic was once again thwarted. She'd left the palace twelve months before he'd even set foot on the accursed soil of Ceres. These feelings made him uneasy. "I have Kazracite," he murmured to himself, and indeed, the fiery young emotional was his the moment he asked, and he was attracted to her. She was a trusted advisor, but something kept him from her company. Something made him bitterly sad whenever she made an advance to him. It was another mystery of the past he could not recall, along with his bitter hatred of Ceres. He kept himself away from her when he could, and ignored her when he could not. But now, with this woman he'd never even met, he was drawn, pulled toward her, not repulsed. Not even understanding himself why, he ordered the portrait moved to his private quarters and the lily garden closed off to all but him. ~*~ Naverght sat alone in his quarters staring silently and deeply at the newly hung portrait. The hawk, freed from his jesses, sat on an ebony perch near the far wall crying in an effort to draw Naverght's attention. Finally the bird gave up and flew off of his perch and hovered for a moment. He was suddenly bathed in golden light and his body changed forms from that of a hawk to that of a slender, hawk-nosed, golden-eyed man. "Have you forgotten why we are here, Lord General?" asked the hawk-man harshly, "We did not come here so that you could moon over some lost princess. We came for the crystal." Naverght looked up at the man coldly, "I know our mission Titanite. As you may remember, it was my plan. I do not need you to baby-sit me." "Terribly sorry your Lordship," mocked Titanite, "Well how goes your search for the crystal?" "Well." replied Naverght, "We can plan to take it before another week passes. The 'High Queen' foolishly trusts me. After we discredited her former prime minister, Thornbrush, I had no competition. She keeps the crystal in a spell protected bell-jar on a table near her bed. However, the spells protecting the Jadestone are nothing I cannot remove." "Then we can tap into the absolute power of the Ceres core very soon. It will make us invincible!" said Titanite. "Correction," said Naverght, turning his attention back to the painting, "It will make me invincible, and then I can finally destroy this hateful planet." ~*~ Far from the palace, in a small wooden cottage deep within the southern forest, a slender brown-haired woman awoke from a troubled sleep with a start. "The Jadestone! It's in danger!" she mumbled to herself. On the end of the bed, a black long hair cat with a golden crescent moon on his forehead stretched and yawned, "What excellency? What is it?" He promptly fell over again back asleep. "The Ceres Emerald Jadestone! Celeus! Wake up!" She nudged the cat with her foot. "Yes your excellency," he mumbled in his sleep. "Celeus!" she pushed him off the bed. He still remained stubbornly asleep. "Well fine. I'll just go to the palace myself and protect it." Celeus sat straight up, "The palace?!! Excellency, you can't be serious!" "You bet I am. I have to protect that crystal. Aspen once told me that no one on Ceres was safe until that crystal was. Now it's in danger." "Well, then I forbid it." "You're a cat Celeus, albeit a talking one. What are you going to do?" "I might have known that that Aspen would continue to get you in trouble even after he left." "Celeus, show some respect! He did get us out of the palace. If he hadn't helped, we'd probably be in the tower now, or worse." "Yes, he saved us, then he left and we haven't seen from him since. What a great help he was." "Celeus!!!!" Terra cried angrily. "Sorry excellency," Celeus said humbly, "I'm just worried for your safety and venting. You can't be serious though about returning to the palace, can you?" "I am." "But you know it's dangerous for us there now, more than ever. You know that Duke Longstem brought us word of the execution of your father. If we go there, we could very likely end up in the same predicament." "I can protect myself," she said quietly, "I can transform now without the Jadestone. You know that." "I know, but I still don't like it." "Then stay here. I'm not forcing you to go." "No, excellency. My place is at your side. I have to advise you." "Very well, Celeus." ~*~ Naverght looked at the sleeping Queen in contempt. Of all the parts he'd had to act during this charade, the Queen's confidant was the position he most loathed. Even after the High Queen's manipulator, Thornbrush, had been exposed, she was still loonier that a gaggle of geese, and sadistic too. Now Naverght held her life in his hands. The green crystal shimmered as it floated above his palms. The Queen stirred fitfully in her sleep, then came slowly awake. Abject terror crossed her pace as he murmured, "Negative Vacuum." Within a few moments, the High Queen of Ceres was nothing more than a puddle of body fluid and Naverght was gone with the Jadestone. ~*~ Naverght stood with Titanite before the great altar in the Temple of Demeter that formed the center of the palace. Naverght placed the Jadestone into the cusp made for it and placed a lily on the altar. He began the holy chant that came so naturally to him. Suddenly a voice startled him from behind. "I am Sailor Ceres, defender of this planet, and that crystal, and you had better surrender while you still can. Ceres Emerald Jadestone, to me!" The crystal flew from its cusp and to Sailor Ceres, but before it got there, Naverght countered, "Emerald Jadestone, return!" The crystal hovered in the air held in thrall by the two countered commands. Naverght turned to see what held the Jadestone away from him, who should be able to easily overpower any spell-caster as he had the High Queen. As soon as he saw who held the crystal from the other end of the magical connection he stopped. Sailor Ceres stopped as well. They stood, silently staring at each other unbelievingly over the pale green light of the crystal. The temple with its reverberative quality, was so silent that they could hear each other's hearts beat. A minute passed, then another. Titanite could stand the silence no longer and quickly shifting into a bird, he flew over and snatched the crystal. He placed it in the altar and finished the incantation as Sailor Ceres and Naverght stood watching, paralyzed. A bright green golden light erupted from the altar in a straight line through the temple and palace roof and into the green tinged black night sky. A strong womanly voice was heard echoing through the chamber, "Unclean hands have dishonored my temple! INFIDELS!" The last word shook the temple to the foundations. The ground of Ceres began to rumble, Naverght and Titanite were shaken off their feet and Sailor Ceres floated up, off the ground. The crystal floated off the altar and circled Ceres as she started to spin. The rumblings grew louder as two spirit shadows separated themselves from her. The Jadestone and the planet fractured along unseen lines, and the crystal shattered into three pieces. Two of the pieces imbedded themselves in shadow children, the third was absorbed by Sailor Ceres. The last words heard on the doomed planet were the soft whispered words of fading Sailor Ceres, "Aspen . . ." Terra sat bolt upright in the hospital bed and looked to David's empty chair. She questioned Luttra and Mina in a half hysterical voice, "Where is he, where's David?" Mina tried to pacify her, "Shhh, we sent him home so he could get some sleep. Poor guy was exhausted. You know he sat by you for three days without sleep? Skipped out on four classes too. Don't worry, he'll be back as soon as he's rested, and I'm sure he'll be really happy that you're finally awake. You know you gave us quite a sca . . . " Terra interrupted, "You don't understand, I have to find him now! It's very important. I had this dream . . ." She recounted the dream in a rapid manner and Mina and Luttra were visibly startled. "Don't worry, Mina, you stay here with Terra and I'll find David," said Luttra resolutely. "No Luttra," said Terra as she got up from her bed slowly, "I have to go. It's destiny." Knowing that it was senseless to argue when she couldn't win, Mina sighed nodded. "Now we just hafta sneak you out of this place . . . " ~*~ Kazracite was finally pleased once more. As soon as she'd found Chaos, she'd sent her immediately back to assist Void, because despite Void's capability, she wasn't doing a very good job of finding the Ceres Emerald Jadestone. No doubt, with the added help of Chaos, Void would have no problem getting the Jadestone, at least, Kazracite hoped. Qintozite appeared behind Kazracite from his typical blue shroud. However, something was clearly atypical about him at that particular moment, because it was obvious he was seething with anger. "What do you mean by sending Chaos back into battle?" he fumed. Kazracite was amused. She'd been expecting him. "I told you before, she is expendable. It matters not if she is ready, I need her there now. So, she is there, now." "You have no right to send her back! She will be killed!" "You had no right to take her from . . . !" "I didn't Dis did. You'll have a fun time explaining yourself to him now." "I was going to say chamber. I've already spoken to Dis and he agreed that it was better to keep Chaos in battle and away from you." Lord Dis materialized from the shadows. Qintozite's eyes widened. "I would rather see her dead than with you," the Death Knight hissed, "Or more conveniently, I would rather see you dead than her dead." "You don't understand, Dis, Chaos had some valuable information. You don't understand, I've found out where Naverght is," he pleaded. Kazracite motioned for Dis to stop, he did. "Naverght is on earth, in the positive plane, and he's running around with those Sailor Scouts that have given Chaos and Void so much grief." "You're sure?" breathed Kazracite expectantly. "I'm positive, now call him off!" Kazracite thought for a moment then motioned for Dis to continue, "I can't, I've given my word to Dis that he can kill you." She disappeared in a burst of flame. Dis followed soon after leaving Qintozite in a crumple pile on the floor, covered in his own cloak. ~*~ David awoke from his fevered sleep at the same time Terra woke from hers. He was confused by the myriad of memories that had returned at once, and confused by them too. The idea that he'd hurt Terra in anyway, at any time made him hate himself. He found himself dressed and walking in McKenna park, round and round the duck pond. He had no idea how he got there, his last memory had been sitting up in bed, but he found the park soothing, and a cool wind blew off the pond, calming him. Suddenly there was a wild cackle behind him and he turned to see a dangerous looking woman with bright orange, curly hair flanked by the two Twisted Sailors, each carrying their crystals. The woman's eyes widened as she stared at him and a look of demonic enjoyment passed over her face. "Naverght, it is you!" she cried out happily and beckoned to him. He stood his ground. Naverght was the name he remembered from his dream. Could this woman be some connection to his dream? "Naverght, it's me, Kazracite!" she cried out again. She ran over and hugged him. Kazracite, he remembered that name from the dream too, but all these names he remembered in conjunction with hurting Terra. He shoved the woman away and stepped back. Kazracite grew angry, "Now look! I'm Kazracite and you're in love with me, remember." He shook his head vigorously as three figures and a cat arrived on the scene. "I am not!" he cried out, and he surprised himself by adding, "I'm in love with Terra of Ceres, and I always have been, you witch!" Kazracite was fuming now, "You do to love me! You're just not remembering right, but don't worry, once we get back to the negative temporal plane, we'll fix you all up!" "I'm not going anywhere with you!" "Oh yes you are!" "No, I'm not!" "Yes, you are! A new voice made herself heard, "Oh no, he's not and I'm going to make sure of it. I am Sailor Ceres, defender of the weak, and of the Ceres Emerald Jadestone. I say I don't care what he's done. Past is past and now is now! If you don't stand off, you'll deal with me!" "And me! I'm Sailor Venus!" "And I'm Sailor Infinity!" Kazracite weighed her options. She could destroy her hated rival Sailor Ceres now and take the Jadestone, or she could escape with David. For once, she was prudent. "FLAME WALL!" she cried out, and both she and David were surrounded by a raging inferno. David was not pleased. She grabbed him by the wrist before he could retaliate, and called out, "OVERLOAD!" A blast of energy surged through David's body and he passed out. Kazracite looked amused, "Looks like I won this set, Sailor Ceres. Chaos, Void, take her out!" And with that, she and David disappeared in a burst of flame, and the flame wall vanished. "No! David, not again!" Sailor Ceres cried out in pain. She fell to her knees. Venus and Infinity advanced to protect her since it didn't look like she was likely to protect herself. They weren't ready for the doble attack that followed. Powered up by their crystals, the Twisted Sailors both attacked. "CHAOTIC BLACK TEMPEST!" "VOID NETHER-MATTER NOVA!" Both Venus and Infinity were knocked unconscious, and the Sailors advanced on Ceres. Suddenly, their crystals began to glow of their own volition, and they removed themselves from the Sailor's grasp. Ceres rose up, off the ground and floated, though not of her own will. She began to spin and the two Twisted Sailors were caught up in it. They spun round and round and over their heads floated the three fragments of the Ceres Emerald Jadestone. Sailor Moon and company arrived on the scene and were awed by the display. They stood rooted in their spots. Suddenly a vivid flash of green light erupted from the fragments, and they fused again. The spirit children Chaos and Void were absorbed back into Ceres body, and when the light at last faded, both the crystal and Sailor Ceres fell to the ground, exhausted for the moment, but whole again. End Eighth Episode Roll Credits and Play Ending Song Final Edit Finished August 11, 1998 (9:04PM) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mail comments (and flames, as you may wish) to lindseybrowning@hotmail.com or sailorceres@usa.net. Visit the mondo SMRS homepage and the homepage of Princess Terra and Celeus at http://www.geocities.com/tokyo/garden/8378 Please send me feedback!!! Smiles and Ceres Cosmic Power, Lady Ceres a.k.a. Lindsey Browning