Darkness
By Kit Ryan

     It was your normal, average Sunday morning. Serena, her friends, her boyfriend Darien, and her daughter who was visiting them from the future, Rini were going to the park. When suddenly, as if climbing out of an unseen hole or tunnel, a figure appeared. It was a girl, about 17 years of age. She had short black hair and mysterious dark eyes. She wore a Sailor Scout-type outift with a black collar, black bows, and black skirt. Her boots were like Lita's- only black. She wore a white mask like Tuxedo Mask's.
     "Who....who are you?" asked Serena, tentatively.
     "I am Midnight, daughter of Prince Darien. I come from the future," said the girl in a crisp, cool voice that sounded like the night air. Her dark eyes flashed mysteriously.
     "Daughter of Prince Darien?" asked Serena, slightly confused. "You mean you are my daughter? Wait a minute! I have two daughters in the future?!"
     "Serena," said Midnight, removing her mask and staring hard at Serena continued, "I am not your daughter."
     "But...but how?! If your Darien's daughter, you must be my daughter- Darien and I get married in the future....how can all of this be?!" Serena began to freak out a little.
     "Where is the one called 'Raye Hino'?" asked Midnight, turning away from Serena and her rambling-ons.
     Amy stepped aside and Raye stepped forward. "I am Raye Hino," said she.      Tears filled Midnight's eyes. She wiped them away. "You have no idea for how long I've wanted to meet you....

     ....mother"

     "WHA?!" Now Raye began freaking out as Serena fainted dead away.
     "Serena!" cried Darien as he raced over to catch her before Serena hit the ground.
     "Get your hands offa her!!" yelled Lita as she gave Darien a sharp kick.
     "Ow!" Darien yelped.
     Mina took Serena and laid her gently on the ground, then joined Amy and Lita in beating up Darien, calling him a cheater, a traitor, no good, etc, as Raye stood there, still shocked at the idea that she had a daughter with Darien. Midnight giggled slightly at the reactions her small talk had had.

          But wait. I'm sure you're thinking something to the effect of, "STOP! STOP! STOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!! What the bloody hell's goin' on here?!" Am I right? Well, too bad if you're not, because I'm going to tell you Midnight's history.

     She was born in a house out in the country to Prince Darien and Raye Hino, friend and gaurdian of Neo-Queen Serenity. You see, two weeks after Darien and Serena were married, Darien had sex with Raye, and accidentily got her pregnant. They couldn't have an abortion, because Serenity had owtlawed it. Not wanting Serena to find out what he had done, Raye said she was ill and went out into the country. One dark night, Midnight was born. Knowing that Raye would have to go back to the palace, Darien took the baby to an elderly friend, by the name of Mrs. Hatheway. Mrs. Hatheway raised the child, and neither Darien nor Raye ever saw Midnight again.

          On Midnight's 16th birthday, Mrs. Hatheway told Midnight everything about her past. The next day, Mrs. Hatheway died. Midnight fled to Sailor Pluto's gate shortly after Mrs. Hatheway's death, and Sailor Pluto trained her and made her a Sailor Scout. At the age of seventeen, Midnight made an important decision. The decision to go back in time and meet her mother. For the very first time. Midnight learned that on the last day of each month, around midnight, a secret portal opens next to the Time Gate. A time portal that would travel one to any time period in any place the person who enters it wants to go. Of course, Sailor Pluto always gaurded this portal with the utmost care. "Somehow," Midnight had thought, "I've got to get to that portal."
     She waited, silent in the dark, as Sailor Pluto gaurded the gleaming portal. Midnight quietly ran to the portal. She reached the edge of the portal just as Sailor Pluto saw her. They stood, face-to-face, the portal between them. The light from the portal reflected off their faces. Neither moved, each waiting for the other to make the first move. Midnight went into the portal.
     "No!" Sailor Pluto shouted, but she was powerless to stop it.
     "Goodbye, Setsuna." Midnight said something else, but as she faded away, her voice faded away as well, and Pluto could not make out what Midnight had said.
     Bitter thoughts did Pluto think as the portal closed. "How is Midnight to get home?" She had thought angrily. She considered calling the Time Patrol, but then Midnight would be in serious trouble. "I hope you know what you're doing," Pluto had sighed as she went back to her regular duties.
     Midnight then found herself in a tunnel. "Must be a time tunnel or something." That was the invisible tunnel that she climbed out of in the very first paragraph of this story. Now, Midnight had not the intention of ruining time by confronting her mother, but she was so caught up in the emotion of it all that she couldn't help it. She spoke without really thinking.
     Well, that's basically Midnight's history. Anyways, back to the story.

     The next day was a Monday. School for the scouts and Darien, and pre-school for Rini. Mdnight hung around town that day. That day at school, Serena acted....different. She wasn't spazzed out, or even angry. She wasn't clumbsy, didn't eat too much, was polite to everyone(including Melvin!), did her homework, and just didn't act at all like her normal self. She emptied out her locker and brought all her books home. After she had done that, she went outside, where the others were. Amy and Lita had told Midnight about how weird Serena had acted during school that day. Serena focused her attention on Darien. "Darien?" said she. "I'm breaking up with you."
     The second those words rolled off Serena's tongue, something verrrrry strange began to happen to Rini. She became transparent. Not so you could see her insides, but you could see through her. It was like looking at a ghost! And then, Rini disappeared forever.
     "Rini?! Midnight, what happened to Rini?!" asked Mina wildly.
     "Since Serena and Darien broke up, Rini was never born. She ceases to exist," replied Midnight coolly.
     "Oh." No one knew exactly what to say (I think they were all thanking God that Rini no longer tortures them, and never will). Serena walked back inside her house.
     "I've got a bad feeling about Serena..." said Midnight. Then she gasped. Something sort of clicked in her head. She raced into the house and burst into Serena's room. Sure enough, there on the bed was Serena- gun to her head.
     "Midnight Power....Make Up!!" Midnight transformed. "Dark Flash!" the room instantly became dark. Midnight snatched the gun out of Serena's hand just as the darkness faded away. Serena began to cry. "How'd you know?" she wailed.
     "Well, it was kinda obvious. You were acting way too weird to be mentally stable."

          For the next few days, life went pretty much back to normal for the gang. It was that Friday, I believe, that Darien worked up all his Courage....and asked Raye out. She agreed. The second the word "Sure!" escaped Raye's lips, something strange began to happen to Midnight. She became transparent!
     "What's going on?!" wondered Lita.
     "It's because of Darien and Raye. They're getting together, so Midnight wasn't born out in the country, in secret, so she never had a reason to come here! She's being sucked away into the future!" cried Amy.
     "Whoa!" Mina and Lita exclaimed.
     Midnight slowly faded away. "Midnight!" Raye cried as Midnight was blown back in time. Midnight noticed that there were colors swirling all around her. She screamed. The scream echoed all around her. She began to age. And as she aged, she forgot everything that had ever happened to her. Her memories were replaced by ones of family picnics with Darien and Raye, fun times together, good report cards, friends, pets, the childhood Midnight had always wanted, all of these new memories swirled around in her head as she aged. She stopped aging when she reached about 19.
     THUNK! She felt like she had been dropped. She found herself in a middle to high-class house, and she was nineteen years old. Her mother and father were standing over her. "Dear, are you okay? You passed out for a second."
     "Yeah, I'm fine, mom."
     "Are you sure?" asked Darien.
     "Yeah, I'm okay."

          Midnight did not remember anything that had happened. Not Mrs. Hatheway, not Sailor Pluto and the time portal, not even that she changed the entire course of history- just by going to meet her mother. Now, since Darien and Serena had broken up, in the future they did not marry. Raye and Darien marreid 3 years before Darien would have married Serena. So, Midnight was born earlier, which explains the strange aging process she went through.
     Little did Midnight know what she had done...


     Scene: 5 years later. 3 years after Neo-Queen Serenity would have declared an end to nuclear war forever. We see Earth. It is a vast, empty planet without life. It is black. Grass does not grow, oceans are furiously whipping about. Acid rain falls from the sky onto the poor dead planet.
     Not a living soul around, except one. One human left. She lays on the ground, writhering with pain and regret near the remains of a building. "The radiation will soon kill me," she thinks. Her thoughts drift back to three years before. She had been too sad to declare end to nuclear war, still sad over Darien. She had never loved again after that incident. She had made a horrible queen, doing nothing to help her country, only moping about her lost love. You see, this poor life lying there is Neo-Queen Serenity. She thinks back, now to the year before. That year was the one when WWIII (World War 3) began.The nuclear weapons had destroyed everyone and everything except her...and in a few moments it wouldn't matter, she'd be dead as well from the radiation which circles the lanet. "It's all my fault," she thinks. "If only...." and everything faded into darkness.