Nephrite:

The Story of His Past

Part 2 by Liv Well

Small_Lady_@sailormoon.com

 

“May the Stars always be by the Moon’s side, helping to brighten the darkness of the night.”

 

               

                Morning was coming, and as the stars began to fade, so did the tears.  There was nothing left to do, Nephrite was gone, and five young ladies could only cry so much, for so long.  It was barely dawn now, and the scouts decided to bring Molly and the Queen to Hinokawa Temple.  None of them cared any longer about identities.  Besides, it was doubtful Molly could see beyond her red eyes, or the lingering tears.

 

                The city was still sleeping, but each of the ladies knew such sleep would be hard to find once they reached the temple.  They sat outside, on the steps, awaiting the sun rise.  There was silence. 

 

                Molly, stayed very still, for very long, not wanting to let go of Liveen.  As far as Molly new, it was the last part of Nephrite she had left.  Liveen some how understood.  Sailor Moon wondered if Molly would ever be the same.  Sailor Mercury was curious as to why Queen Blue all of a sudden trusted them, when just hours ago she might have destroyed them, and Sailor Mars wanted to know who exactly Liveen was, and who Nephrite had been.

 

                After a long time, Molly looked up at Liveen, and broke the silence.  “Please, tell me” her voice was muffled by the sobs that refused to leave her throat. “Who are you? And who is Nephrite.” She paused, trying desperately to piece it together herself  “First he’s some millionaire named Maxfield, then he’s not even human, an evil general from the Negaverse, or some place, and now what?  A King of some far away planet?”  She began to sob again, still confused.

 

                “Sshhhh...” Liveen cradled Molly as though she was a child. “I will explain it to you all.”  Liveen took a deep breath, and began her story.  “His name is Nebule, and he is my brother, the Second King of the Blue Star.”  She continued to explain how this had come to be.

 

                “Long ago, there was peace, every where in the Universe.  People were seldom ill, or in pain, there was happiness every where you turned, and the sciences and arts were blooming.  So far, every planet in your solar system was inhabited with people, yet the people wanted to explore further.  The only places that had remained  mysteries, were the stars. 

 

                So, not long from then, some of the greatest and bravest explorers and scientists went on a ship to voyage there.  Everything seemed fine on the journey, but as they reached the nearest star, their ship was consumed by a pocket of gas.  This gas wasn’t like any other.  It penetrated the air tight systems of the ship, and every one on board inhaled it, and lost consciousness.  When they awoke, they found themselves on the star, undamaged by the heat, and new atmosphere.  Later it was discovered to be the gas that had enabled them to live on the star.

 

                They returned to their home planets to report what they had learned, and soon every one wanted the fame of being on one, and the power of ruling one as well.  During that period, many had journeyed to the stars.  Four in particular; The Red Star, Yellow Star, White Star, and Blue Star.

 

                The explorers grew plentiful, and exploration soon turned into settlement as it tends to do, but there was a problem, the stars had no government, and the chaos began. Seeing this, the planets wanted nothing more to do with the stars, and gave up on them.  But soon the complaints and protests grew too large.  The rulers of each planet decided they would do this; the man and his minion who defeated a star would have royal recognition as the Star’s King!

 

                You can imagine what happened next.  Total war was waged on each of the four stars.  After many years, their kings were finally determined.  Each of them, but the Yellow King had Queen, and only one, The Blue King, had a young Prince.  That Prince, was Nebule.

 

                So, the Planets, hearing of the victories, and happy with the outcome, threw a great celebration in the honor of the four new Kings.  It was the First Star Kingdom Coronation.  The Kings were rewarded with mighty crowns, studded with the rarest stones in the Universe, that of a rouge moon, or perhaps planet.  It’s orbit is so awkward that it is rarely ever seen, anywhere.

 

                The historians say that for a while, the Kings were well off, and ruled fairly, but before long, they became hard, and cruel.  But the Planets decided to ignore it, until something happened.  The Yellow King was still with out a Queen, so he sent some of his men to Venus, to find the most beautiful woman they could find, and bring her back to the Star.   She was forced to marry him, and have his twin children.

 

                The Planets were officially outraged by this, and sent battle ships to wage war upon the stars, but the ships could not get past the gas pockets with out every one on board loosing consciousness and being destroyed by Celestial Armies standing by.  Finally, the Planets gave up, and passed laws that forbid any contact what so ever between them and the Stars.

 

                As for the Venusian woman, some anarchists helped smuggle her back to Venus, were I imagine she grew old and died.  To the people of the Stars, she’s not been gone for more than 5 years, but to the planets, she was returned over a thousand years ago.  There’s a strange time-space continuum between us.  I’ve been here on your earth for hours, yet my friends have not missed me for a minute yet.  Which is why I assume the evil lords Nebule was with gave him some sort of eternal youth.  I’ve not seen him in over a year, but he must not have seen me for hundreds, if not a thousand.”

 

                “That’s not the case, your Majesty” Luna interrupted.  “He was taken by the evil Queen Beryl, and fought to destroy the Universe a thousand years ago...though I imagine, he, as well as the rest of them died, and had been reborn.  I’m not exactly sure.”  Luna didn’t know anymore than that...it all seemed very blurry to her.

 

                “Is that it?  I see.”

 

                “I don’t understand”  Sailor Moon spoke.  “How did he end up with the Negaverse?”

 

                “The story is not over yet”  Liveen continued.  “Now the Kings each had a son, and daughter.  The sons tended to be like their fathers as they grew, evil, and cold.  While on the other hand, the daughters were innocent, as their mothers had been.  But Nebule was the exception.  He was unlike our father, and he sided with the daughters.  We like to believe it was he was born before the wars began.

 

                After we had all grown up, it was time for the Four Princes to be crowned King, in the place of their fathers.  We knew very well that the new Kings would be no better than the old ones, and decided we had to stop it.  Nebule and I, along with Burnima, the Red Princess, Gildala, the Yellow Princess, and Pyurin, the White Princess, developed incredible powers, in hopes that one day we could defeat them.  Powers such as telepathy, teleportation, and immense strength.”

 

                “I understand now!”  Sailor Mercury spoke abruptly.  “That’s why you trusted us so quickly after his death just now.  When you closed your eyes, and that blue star appeared on your foreheads, you were reading his thoughts! And then you learned of who we were.”

                “Very good, Sailor Mercury.  You are very clever.”

 

                “Thank you, your majesty.”  Mercury seemed proud of herself for the Queens compliment.

 

                “Well, as I was saying, with the Second Star Kingdom Coronation at hand, we new the time to act had come, and we could only hope we were prepared.”  Liveen paused for a moment, saddened by her memories.  “I’ll spare you the details of the battle, but I will say that all the Princes escaped, and all the Kings except for the Yellow King had been destroyed.  Including my father, who Nebule killed himself with this very sword I hold.”  She held up the Blue Star Sword, and looked at it sorrowfully.  After a moment, she pushed herself to continue the story.

 

                “We couldn’t have done as well as we had done though, with out the help of the Revolutionists who showed up during the fight.  Unfortunately, though, Pyurin had been murdered by her father, the White King, before Burnima killed him.  She was the weakest of us five, but where she lacked in strength, she gained in recovery.  It was learned that because of her purity, she could be brought back.  And even though she would never be as strong as us, she would always be able to return.

 

                Everything was fine for a while, we all ruled well, and we kept order, and prosperity.  We began to rebuild what our fathers had destroyed.  Their original crowns were shattered, and desposed of, plus we had appointed a brand new chief and commander of our new Celestial Army, it was the Revolutionary leader, that helped us so much during our battle.

 

                Oddly enough though, Nebule began to act differently.  He became colder, and just simply quieter.  It was bad enough that the escaped Princes and Yellow King who had gone underground were attacking every so often, but the new Blue King was acting up.  The Queens of the stars, my only friends, my sisters, suspected that I was giving him a hard time, and making him feel guilty, because they were Queens, and he was King, I was the only one of them left who was a Princess, and not a Queen.  I had done no such thing.  I was very content with my position.  I was only worried for Nebule, so I began to spy on him.  Every day he seemed to be getting worse, and I learned nothing from watching him.

 

                There was nothing I could do, until the very day the three Queens confronted me with the issue.  They accused me, openly, and I stormed off, angered and alone.  If I were going to wash my hands of this, I would have to talk to Nebule about it, and get strait answers out of him.  Upon his door, I heard another voice in his room.  That of a witch’s voice, a constant cackle.  I heard her saying;

 

                 “You have done me well,  I have one last assignment for you to accomplish before I can admit you to my realm.”

 

                He responded “What is your wish, my Queen?”

 

                My Queen!?! Who is he speaking to? I thought.

 

                She then continued.  “You must destroy your sister, the Princess Liveen, she is becoming suspicious of you, and I do not want her interfering with my plans.”

 

                This was shocking enough, but I felt the blood rush from my face when I heard Nebule’s answer; “Yes, my Queen, anything.”

 

                By the time I turned around to get to the others, he was there.  He drew his sword.  I pleaded with him.

 

                “Nebule, what’s going on, who, or what has you doing this? Can’t you see what it’s doing to you?  Nebule, you’re under some kind of spell!”

 

                “It’s no spell Liveen.  My new Queen has shown me the ways of all being.  She has promised me universal wisdom for my service, as well as power, more power than I could ever have here, even as King!”

 

                “Nebule, what more do you want? You have millions of people at your disposal!  You have all the power and wisdom you need!  All you could ever want!”

 

                “NO! You were always holding me back!”  His anger finally took over, he charged at me with the sword, and I drew mine, quickly, and all I could do was defend myself.  His vision was obviously clouded, he was not making any sense.

 

                As we fought, my sword caught his arm, and blood dripped from his clothes, but it was not blood like mine.  Not red, or blue.  His blood was green.  I remember telling him, shocked at what I saw;

 

                “Look Nebule! Look what this has done to you! You are no longer celestian, they’ve turned you into a monster!”

 

                He only charged at me, with more force.  He had become stronger than ever before.  The battle for me was hopeless.  He struck me, and I fell to the ground, wounded, and dripping with blood.”

 

                Liveen’s body stiffened as she spoke to the girls, and all she could do was shudder at her thoughts.

 

                “Nebule then stood over me, sword in hand, and I looked up at him.  There was no fear in my eyes, so I spoke to him.  “This Evil that has taken you, it will see to your last breath.  And I will be there that day, to stand over you as you die to say ‘I told you so!’ I will see to it!”

 

                He looked down at me, angrily, and spoke.  “We’ll just see!” And then, he ran the sword through me.  Everything went black, and I knew I had died.  But before even a second I felt blue flash on my head.  My eyes weren’t open, but I could see Nebule turn around, with the very same star on his head.  A great black portal opened behind him, and he stepped through.  I was alive, he brought me back...and left.”  She looked down, and held forward the sword again, it was this very sword, again, that he killed me with, the Kingdom’s treasured Blue Star Sword, that is supposed to be held by the rightful King.”  She inhaled the cold morning air, and continued once more.

 

                “Next thing I knew, I was in my bed, bandaged.  The Queens had realized their mistake, when they saw me, slaughtered on the ground by Nebule’s chamber, with him no where in site.  They apologized, and I forgave them.  We hadn’t seen Nebule ever since then.”

 

                Liveen paused, a great sorrow coming over her.  Her voice cracked, as she tried desperately tried to push back tears.  “He’s gone.  He’s really gone this time.  What am I going to do, with out him...he’s taken care of me all my life, now I’m alone.  He’s dead, my only brother.  My Father is dead, and better off that way, my mother has disappeared, and my only brother has been murdered.  I am an orphaned Queen...” She took a deep breath, and felt the urge for a sarcastic remark  “How grand”  She took her head in her hand, and felt tired.

 

                Molly inched closer to her once more, and shyly, spoke to her.  “That’s not true.  You said the Queens were like your sisters.  And didn’t you say you were getting married?”

 

                She looked up at the girl.  “Yes, yes I am, to Olsam.” A weary smile grew on her lips.  “He and I will be married soon.  I love him so much.”  She let out a chuckle.  “You know, we almost killed each other the first time we met.  He is the new Celestial Army Commander, he was the Revolutionary leader that helped us on that day.  I remember wandering the corridors of the throne room, searching for one of the escaped Kings, and there I found him, he drew his sword, and then we almost fought, but we talked it over, and decided we were on the same side.  I alerted the others that help was on the way, we were all very grateful.

 

                You know, he’s a Lunan, like you, Sailor Moon.”

 

                “Like me?” 

 

                “Yes, he told me that he grew up on the moon, and one day, a prophet of his Queen’s foretold a great evil upon them, that would gather the young and strong, then cast a spell on them to command them to destroy the Universe.  Olsam wanted no part in that, so he and some others went underground, and came to the Stars.  He learned that the Stars were under monarchs’ rules once he reached there.  Then he decided that he would rather fight a tyrant than an evil force who’s power seemed limitless.

 

                He will be the third King of Blue Star, I will see to it that he has a better fate than the first two.”

 

                “Yeah, be careful, these Lunans don’t tend to make good leaders!” Sailor Mars snapped.

 

                “Hey!” Sailor Moon retorted “Why I auta-”

 

                “Queen Blue,” Mercury interrupted their fight, “how did you know to come to Earth, at that very moment, when Nephrite was..?”

 

                “What caused me to come here was a disturbance in our Star’s flow of energy.  I guess Nebule was using the stars’ power to fight you, am I right, Sailor Moon?”

 

                “Yes”  she answered.

 

                “I am sorry he has caused your world so much trouble, Sailor Soldiers, and I thank you for keeping him in line all those times.  I will repay you for all his mistakes, and help you fight the likes of those who destroyed him.  When I return to Blue Star, I will transfer some of our energy to your place, here.  There’s nothing much better than ‘Star Power’ backing you up, I can tell you that much.  Poor Nebule was just using it wrong.”

 

                Liveen looked to the sky, at the rising sun.  “I have never seen night before.  We call the hours in which we sleep ‘night’ but I have never truly seen it before.  It frightens me, for such darkness to consume so much at once.  But Earth is lucky, it has a Moon to brighten it.”  She looked to the scouts, then to Molly.  “I must return to my Kingdom now.  Contact between us is supposed to be forbidden, and I’m afraid I can not let you remember what I have told you tonight.  I must wipe the memory of Nebule and me from your memories.”

 

                “No! Wait!” Molly protested.  “I don’t want to forget him, ever!  He asked me never to forget him!” 

 

                “You’re right...” Liveen thought to herself. “Then you shall remember him as you have before we met, and he will live forever in your memories.”  She gave Molly a hug, and kissed her on the forehead. “I have you to thank, Molly.  You had faith in him where no one, not even I did.  You brought forth the good in him once more.  I’m sure he, as well as I, shall be eternally grateful.”

 

                The Queen stood, and turned to the scouts.  “Perhaps one day I will return to this place, when it is no longer forbidden for us to have contact.  In the mean time, Sailor Moon, Mars, Mercury, Luna, we will be allies.  You may not remember the significance, but call upon the power of the Stars when you feel the need to.

 

                And now, I must bid you all farewell.  Thank you, I will return your kindness tenfold.  Goodbye.”

 

                Queen Blue stood apart from the rest of them, and took a bow.  She closed her eyes, and with a flash of blue light, she was gone, and took with her the memory of her presence on the Earth that night.

 

                                    ****************************

 

                “Oh, every one, get ready to receive her, Liveen is coming back”

 

                “Already?”

 

                “Yup!”

 

                Liveen appeared with a gleam of blue, as the others stood ready to greet her.

 

                “Liveen, welcome back!” Gildala greeted.

 

                “Where did you end up?”  Asked Pyurin.

 

                “How long were you there?”  Burnima asked while finishing up some reading on a monitor, near by.

 

                Olsam stepped forward, and put his arms around her.  He gave her s sweet kiss, and looked up at her.  “Did you bring my back any souvenirs?”

 

                “Yes actually.”  She stepped back from his arms, and pulled from a new sheath on her belt, the sword, and held it for all to observe.

 

                “That can’t be the...” Pyurin looked at it.

                “It is” Liveen answered.

 

                “Liveen, if I’m not mistaken, the Blue Star Sword vanished along with-” Burnima recalled to herself

 

                “Yes, along with Nebule. I found him.”  At Liveen’s news the girls were stunned, and the questions were hearled at her at once.  Once she got them hushed, she finished.  “I found him, mortally wounded.  He has apologized for what he has done, and I forgave him.  He sends his regards,” She looked to Olsam, “and has given us his consent to marry”  Liveen began to hand the sword to Olsam.

 

                “No Liveen, he would want you to have it.  Either way, I’m not worthy of that sword.” He pushed it to her.

 

                “Then it will stay by my side, in his memory.”

 

                “Will you tell us what happened, Liveen?”  Gildala asked.

 

                “Yes, but before that, I must do something.”  Liveen walked to the control board, and monitor where Burnima stood.  “Burnima, can you send some energy in some contained form or another to where I just was?”

 

                “Yes, I can”  She busily punched buttons on the board

 

                “How long will it take?”

 

                “About seven minutes, according to this calculation”

 

                 “Damn, months will have passed on Earth” She was displeased, but there was nothing else she could do about it.  “...do it then, Burnima”

 

                “Sure”

 

                Liveen looked at the blinking screen, to the dot that stood for where she had just met her newest allies.  She thought to herself.  May the Stars always be by the Moon’s side, helping to brighten the darkness of the night.

 

 

THE END

story by: Small_Lady_@sailormoon.com