DEADWORLD BOOK 1
CHAPTER 1 – AWAKENING
BY: darkpower
RATING: TV-14 DLV

DISCLAIMERS: Even though the story is mine, Sailor Moon is not. I do not own any of 
the characters (besides Casto and the Chameleons. Oh, and that big Youma you will 
find out about in a few moments).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Thanks to crazzieblue and Amethystheart for their wonderful 
editing/beta work for this fic. I greatly appreciate their help. Wouldn't be the 
same fic without it.

AUTHORS NOTES: I've had this idea for some time, but didn't know if I should've 
done it because of the amount of explaining I had to do to get you up to speed as 
to what has happened and why it happened, and what got us to this point. I had 
decided to find a way to add the additional info into the story itself, so it won't 
seem as if I took everyone out of character without a reason. The events I will 
talk about are all after the Sailor Moon R series, even though they do take up 
several years of time afterwards (about ten or so years before this story begins). 
Everything will be explained in more detail in the first scene, and if something 
doesn't make total sense at first, then don't worry, because I will explain 
everything. Also, I've borrowed a lot from Final Fantasy VI and its story (this 
story is actually inspired by certain events in that game), so don't be surprised 
if you are familiar with that game and find elements that parallel that story in 
this one.
_______________________________________________________________________
The female woke her eyes from their total darkness to hear two male voices 
continuing their conversation. She only continued to look up at the ceiling of a 
house as she listened, even though she felt a little weak.

“She has a pulse after all this time,” she heard a deep voice begin. “But I wasn't 
sure if she is alive even when I checked it.”

“Do ya think she'll ever wake up, Sam?” asked the other male in a broken, raspy 
voice.

“I hope so, Steve. I just found her lying there in that street. Can't say for sure, 
but I think I recognize her as one of my sister's friends. She doesn't exactly look 
like someone that would be Serena's friend, though.”

“Very odd appearance, I know. I won't be prejudiced, though. Especially after all 
the hell we've had to put up with ever since that day.”

“Don't worry. She looks like a woman who's been though hell and back before.”

“Yeah, man, and she just proved ya right. Look!”

At that point, the woman saw a bright pair of blue eyes staring into her own. 
Even though her vision was blurry at first, she had recovered enough to see that 
those eyes belonged to someone she knew: Serena's little brother, Sammy. He wore 
his usual white t-shirt and blue jeans. She could've sworn he grown since the last 
time she'd seen him, as well.

“You're awake, finally,” Sammy said after a quick gasp. “I thought you were never 
going to wake up.”

The woman's hand suddenly jolted to her brow, feeling a migraine headache coming 
on. She winced at the pain as she felt a cool cloth on her temple.

“Oh, sorry, I was trying to get you to come out of your coma.”

“Yeah,” Steve added. “You were out for some time.”

The woman suddenly asked, “How long?”

Sammy closed his eyes and sighed. “I'm not sure how to say this, but we've been 
tending to you for a year now.”

The woman shot up with her eyes widened. “A year!?”

“Yeah. I know, it's kind of tough to believe that a year passed since we found you. 
That was the day IT happened.”

She was going to question what he meant by IT, but her headache pounded on her 
once more, forcing her to lay on the couch.

“Yeah, I'm not surprised that you're waking up with the biggest headache ever, 
though we're all left with one now. I don't know how anyone can hold out anymore...
not sure how we're surviving.”

“W—who's the other guy...you were talking to? Where is he?”

“Oh, you mean you heard us? Not surprised. I didn't see your eyes opened until he 
told me you had recovered. That other man was someone that helped me get you here.”

“Name's Steve Howal, and I'm still alive over here,” Steve added. “Sorry 'bout that 
stuff 'bout your appearance. I'm just amazed that someone that's not like us is 
livin' through this hell we're in now.”

“It's hard for us to live in this world as it is,” Sammy continued. “We can't 
imagine what it would be like for anything else.”

The woman did not care to take a look as she was just too much in pain, though the 
more she was starting to adjust to her being out of a coma, the quicker she was 
slowly feeling her migraine subsiding. She was, however, becoming more and more 
curious to what she was hearing.

“Hey Steve, can you go and get us some more water? See if you can find any medicine 
while you're at it, if there is any left.”

The tall, short-haired Steve bellowed out, “Sure, but I don't think we can even 
spare the resource. Y'know how scarce clean water is 'round here anymore.”

“Anything you can get us that can help her recover is helpful and appreciated.”

“I'll see what I can do for ya, though it's gonna take some time to find all that. 
Make sure she stays put, whatever you do. She may have came to, but lord knows if 
she's ready to see it, if she has. The shock may be too much for her to handle. 
Just take it slow. I'll be back. Just hang tight.” Steve then shut the door behind 
him as he left. Sammy made sure he was alone before continuing.

Once Steve was gone, the woman felt as if she was able to talk freely. “Sammy, 
where am I? What happened?”

“We found you lying in the middle of the street, and we brought you back to 
Serena's house. I couldn't tell him that I knew who you were. Thanks for not saying 
that you knew me in front of him, too. I've kept it a secret from him for so long. 
Not sure how, but I had to in order to not make him afraid of where you came from 
or your past with who caused this.”

“You remember me?”

“Did you forget who you were?” Sammy asked with a smirk, knowing that the woman 
would know he was only trying to lighten the mood.

The woman then recalled everything that she could remember. “Of course not! Queen 
Melissa Beryl of the Dark Kingdom. I had resisted Metallia's forceful means to make 
me return to her side. She had released uncontrolled Youma for her own sick 
pleasure.”

“Uncontrolled Youma?” Sammy stared at her, puzzled.

“A magical state that our monsters were kept in when they were told to do 
something. As long as that was on them, we were told, the Youma's true desires and 
power would be suppressed. Believe me, that was a good thing, even though we never 
knew how we could do so to something more powerful than we were. She kept that a 
secret, I never knew why.”

“You talking about this Metallia woman who is doing all this to us now?”

“Yes, she was my master, and I regret serving her with my life. Rubeus resurrected 
our Dark Kingdom nine years ago to help him. He insisted instead on hurting an 
innocent child, Reenie. When Metallia agreed with him doing that, I realized who 
I had become because of her, and decided that I needed to change. I've hated Rubeus 
ever since, as well. Was wishing that he really did die on that UFO thing my 
friends were saying that he escaped from just before it blew up. He even killed 
Serena at one point with this beam from a small death crystal called the 
'Hizrounswa', something that could've killed anything, I swear. If it wasn't for us 
making him retreat back to his time to sulk for eternity, and using his 
'Hizrounswa' with the Silver Crystal a year or so later to reverse the effects, she 
would still be dead today.

“But before he left, one of Rubeus' last acts was giving Metallia enough energy to 
break free. She instead took human form, I'll never know why, and became crafty at 
torturing this world. She had tried to kill all of us with those Youmas, and we 
found it harder and harder to beat them. Then she released this gigantic and nasty 
looking Demon Youma she called Ultimagama out of her control, and...oh God,” she 
exclaimed, now realizing what she last saw. 

“Serena, Amy, Lita, Mina, Raye, and...Casto....OH GOD, WHERE IS HE!?” She then 
suddenly shot up, Sammy trying to keep her calm.

“No no no, Melissa! You need to stay calm and relaxed. I'm worried about your 
health right now. We still don't know if you are ready to even walk yet.”

“But Metallia....She released him, the most powerful Youma of them all, turned 
him loose! I tried to tell her to stop, but she didn't! It's my fault! My own damn 
fault for what happened, Sammy! I'm the one that killed the Scouts, your  
sister....her brother! I don't know what would happen if he was hurt!”

“Casto? You know of him?”

“Yes, I do. He found me in the gutters of Moon City at the age of five and cared 
enough to save me from my loneliness, and we've been best friends ever since. I'm 
the one who gave him his powers as Sailor Vulture to protect himself after I had to 
fulfill my queen duties at the age of ten after my parents were killed. After all 
he did for me, I owe him my life.”

“Why the vulture?”

“He always thought the vulture should've been more respected than it was where he 
crash-landed in Los Angeles, California. He knows the history of that bird, 
especially the Old World versions that were classified with eagles and hawks. I 
remember him teaching me why it was considered a bird of prey and why it is more 
respected in other parts of the world than where he landed.”

“Do you remember anything else?” Sammy asked, now testing her memory for any 
amnesia.

“Serena was the only one who trusted me at first after I wished to be cleansed of 
my sins and my deeds. She let me use her tiara to sever my past. I can't believe 
my hair grew back so fast. I gave Serena that idea, I take it. She chopped off her 
pigtails when she learned that her pathologically lying mother never had the peace 
period that she desired in the Moon Kingdom.”

“When did she learn that?”

“When we found the Moon Kingdom and Queen Serenity resurrected five years ago. We 
saw it when me and Casto looked for a way to restore the 'Hizrounswa' to its 
rightful condition before it was corrupted. It was when we restored Serena with the 
beams from those two crystals that one of the beams hit the moon and resurrected 
them, as well. A few months later, Serena learned that her mother never had the 
true thousand years of peace she was aiming for, after Casto and I had both told 
Serenity to do the right thing and tell her. She treated the Silver Millennium 
Project like it was really a thousand years of peace. It was actually a project 
that never got anywhere. I originally hated her for telling such a lie to them, 
making them believe that what she was selling was the truth. But now, I just think 
she was confused and didn't know what she could've done, so she just believed her 
own lies as the truth. I don't think I can ever let go of the sin of destroying 
that Kingdom, regardless of how much I despised those lies. I'm surprised all the 
Sailors have grown to trust me since then. I know I don't deserve it, but I am very 
thankful.”

“Yeah, I was very surprised that Serena cut off those meatballs. Must've been some 
lie Serenity told her to make her want to do that. But about Casto...He must be 
just as important as the others if his trust is means that much to you.”

“He is the only one that saw the truth in Queen Nicole Serenity's lies, or what she 
saw as the truth. She never thought she was lying. She wanted the Project to be a 
success, but she never got it to work. He ran away two years before I leveled the 
place. He was tired of telling people what was never true. He was the only male 
left in that bloodline, and the only male in the group worthy to be a Sailor. He 
first referred to himself as one because of his sister, but then the Scouts 
accepted him as one so much that they never gave it a second thought. Casto and 
Serena were so close to one another, nearly inseparable. He was the only one to 
trust me with his own life the way he did. He made me completely forget about 
chasing Darien all around the world. I don't know what I would do if Casto...oh 
God, no!”

Sammy realized that he never answered Beryl's question to what happened, but Beryl 
beat him to it, saying, “Sammy, please tell me he isn't...I'd take any news with 
any less of a heavy heart than if I lost him.”

“I don't know what to tell you, Melissa. I wish I knew if he was or not, or if she 
was or not. No one here knows. God, I wish she never trusted me enough to tell me 
she was Sailor Moon. Well, at least I know she is as strong as I always thought she 
was. But the more I live in this damned world, the less I want to live. Ever since 
this Ultimagama youma that you referred to cracked the Earth, we've all suffered. I 
can't believe it's only been a year since the cataclysm came; So much has changed. 
Crime is skyrocketing, the air and water is both as polluted as hell, and the Earth 
is slowly decaying. I don't think there isn't a dying plant in the world. That is, 
if you can recognize our world with the earthquakes changing the Earth's landscape 
so much. I don't know if we're still considered as Japan, let alone Tokyo. 
Sometimes, I think we're joined with what used to be Hawaii. We don't consider what 
country is what anymore, or even where any continent is.” Sammy then hung his head, 
unable to look her in the eye as he continued to talk. “As far as finding anyone we 
know, forget it. I haven't seen Serena since that day, nor your best friend.”

“Oh god, no!”

Sammy held back his emotions the best he could, trying to show calmness in sadness. 
“I wouldn't be surprised to see them dead somewhere!” 

Melissa could only listen in sheer horror to what Sammy was saying. She had been 
trying her hardest to contain any emotions she had as to what could've happened to 
Casto, trying to find out more about the cataclysm. However, what she heard last 
just killed any front she had.

“D-Dead? He..he can't be!” Melissa sat up and dropped her bare feet into the rough 
fabric of the carpet. She used her hands to slowly push herself off the couch she 
was lying on. She had success in standing up, and she took a few steps at first to 
find her balance. She found that she could walk normally on her own, at least for 
now.

“You have to be kidding, Melissa,” Sammy responded. “You're just going to leave, 
not knowing what's out there? You only walked a few inches. What makes you think 
you're ready to walk as far as your friends could be?” Beryl did in fact know that 
once she put on her raised heel flats, she would need to adjust to the changed 
balance when she walked. That could've been all the difference if she had not 
regained her equilibrium as fast as she thought she had, let alone any other 
setbacks she would have. Right this moment, however, all that consumed her mind was 
her best friend as she neared the front door.

“Casto, Serena, the Scouts--all gone? Just like that! HELL NO,” Melissa screamed 
with closed eyes and a trembling fist. She fought to not let her tears show, even 
though she quickly found that tough. “Sammy, I'm sorry about all of this! It looks 
like I'm just blowing you off. I wish I didn't have to go out there. Hearing that 
they might be dead just sent my overboard.”

Sammy only let out a deep sigh, knowing he wasn't going to change her mind. As he 
walked over to Melissa, he picked up her black flats, presenting them to her while 
trying to hide any emotions. “Here, at the very least get these on. I don't think 
you'll want to walk out there like that.”

Melissa smiled as she took her flats and was about to slip them on when she heard 
Sammy weep. She looked down to see his eyes tear up.

“Sammy--,” Melissa began. 

However, she was cut off by Sammy wrapping his arms around her once more, but this 
time unable to fight his sadness. “Melissa, I wish you didn't have to go! I feel 
like I've known you for years! The only person that I've found that could keep us 
safe! I've wanted you to stay to protect us from her! I don't want you to go!”

Melissa put a hand on Sammy's shoulder and knelt down to eye level. “Sammy, I'm 
sorry, but this is the only way I can see for myself what you have told me. I wish 
I didn't have to leave, either. My friends, your friends, your sister may not be 
dead yet, though, and I may be the only one able to fight Metallia. I need you to 
remain strong like you have been for me. I will not let your efforts to revive me 
be in vain, so help me! I'll stay strong for you, as well! I promise you, I will 
come back here! I swear on my life!” 

Sammy looked into her eyes to find that she was sincere, and he let Melissa go, 
wiping the tears from his eyes. “Remember one thing, though. It's a saying I have 
been told many times: Expect the unexpected! There are things that we may have not 
even seen yet, so I'd be ready for anything if I was you.”

With a deep sigh, Melissa slipped the shoes onto her feet and began to walk out of 
the door. However, she paused for a moment, shutting her eyes tightly. 'Yeah, 
Melissa,' she thought, 'you can barely fight your own emotions while you were 
saying that! What a liar you are!' She then continued her trek, closing the door 
behind her.

At that point, Steve returned with a small bucket of water and two pills in his 
hand. He immediately noticed the woman's absence.

“Where'd she go,” he asked.

“To realize that no one has faith left in this damn world. I was just hitting 
the tip of the iceberg of telling her what there was to know about this world.”

“WHAT,” Steve gasped. “I told ya she's not ready!”

“Like I could stop her! Her mind was made up from the get go!”

“Well, there are some things that she'll see for herself; maybe it's better that 
way. I just hope she doesn't get herself killed!”

Sammy frowned, knowing that Steve was right. “I wouldn't worry too much about her, 
man. She seems like a tough one. If anyone can handle what had happened, it's her. 
I just hope it wasn't in vain.” 

Sammy then thought, 'Melissa, I know you only told me the bare bones of what 
happened to you before all this hell happened. What you will see is more than I can 
handle to talk about. I wish you luck, Melissa. You'll need it.'
************************************************
Melissa immediately glanced upwards as she stepped foot outdoors and into the 
street. She did not see any blue in the sky. Instead, a constant sea of a crimson 
red with black clouds overtook her sight. She knew right away why: A constant wind 
had blown thick polluted air in her face that she could've done without. She had 
a hard time maintaining her balance as she walked over cracks in the ground. She 
could see the uneven road she was now upon was broken in several places, a road in 
which no one would dare try to drive, assuming there was even any transportation. 
She could not see any cars or buses. Dilapidated buildings littered the sides of 
the streets, some still occupied, some condemned, and some she thought should be 
condemned. For now, at least, she found herself alone, even though she couldn't 
tell what time it was. It was a mile later that she saw a sign that read “DOWNTOWN 
JUUBAN”, even though it littered the crumbled concrete that was supposed to be the 
sidewalk. 

She studied each structure, each inch of land, each breath of air she took in. She 
was looking at what was basically left of the destruction that Metallia and 
Ultimagama caused.

'So, this is what you desired, Metallia? You knew how much danger an uncontrolled 
Youma can have, and you unleashed the strongest Youma of all. The only one you 
forbid me to use for whatever reason, to do whatever the hell he wanted.' 

She then saw what she thought was a person. She ran over to him, and knelt down 
to his body. As she laid a hand on his shoulder, she found her hand freezing. When 
she turned him over, he had pale eyes and equally pale skin. She had found him 
dead, probably from either starvation or lack of shelter. The discovery left her 
frozen in horror.

But she didn't have any time to grieve. She looked up to see a woman running with a 
bag on her shoulder, as if she was trying to run away from something, noticing that 
she had gotten to what appeared to be her destination. Two young siblings, one boy 
and one girl, were handed some food by the woman. They scarfed up the morsels, not 
having eaten in days.

Seconds later, however, a lightning strike suddenly hit the woman from the sky. The 
bolt dropped her to the ground, convulsing as she screamed, “NO, I ONLY NEEDED FOOD 
FOR MY KIDS!!” The children could only scream in fear for their dying mother. 

'Oh, my God, what the hell was that?' Melissa thought in horror. She watched
helplessly as the woman slowly fell lifeless, the children crying, as if they knew 
the horrific fate of their mother, running away soon afterwards. She ran up to the 
body to discover that she was dead--at the hands of Metallia, no doubt. The 
lightning bolt caused the woman to have a seizure in front of her children before 
her death. Melissa examined the bag the woman had dropped. The only thing in the 
bag was some half-stale bread, and it wasn't even enough to fill the stomach of 
one child of that age, let alone two.

'Was that Metallia's doing? All that just because this girl wanted to feed her damn 
kids? Sammy never said anything about this! Metallia, why her? She never did 
anything wrong, damn it!'

She then left the woman and continued to examine the surroundings, which also 
included dead trees and grass, their blades of a light brown color. She could see 
families down alleys trying to survive with fires, however small they were. Their 
children also were dying from sickness because of the air. She looked around and 
saw the crumbling buildings and streets, dying plants, suffering families with 
little to live for, and the raunchy pollution she was smelling. The more she saw of 
this dead world, the more she realized just what Sammy had meant.

“Oh, my God, no! What the hell has this world become? This couldn't be what you 
wished to do to these people, you...you sadistic bitch!” Melissa then thought, 
'Yeah, that would be what she is, right? Never one to skimp on your words, are you, 
Melissa?'

It was then that she spotted the one thing she didn't want to see: a dead bird-- 
though if it was only that, it wouldn't be enough to make her freeze in her 
tracks. It was when she rushed to the bird and dropped to her knees to see the 
wingspan and the species of the dead bird that she realized what the omen she 
feared was: It was a vulture, cold and lifeless, slaughtered by whatever had 
murdered it. It had been dead for months, she figured, but she quickly flashed back 
to what she told Casto once about his powers: “As long as you have the spirit of 
the bird of prey, you can be immortal. Do not let that spirit perish.” She realized 
that vultures were never prey, at least to the best of her knowledge. The slaughter 
of this vulture, then, only meant one thing to her: The bird of prey was preyed 
upon, and it did not survive. She froze stiff in anger, sadness, and fear.

“C-Casto,” she wept, “please, don't let this be! I need you!” She then saw a shiny 
object to the right of the dead bird of prey. It was a medallion with a carving of 
a vulture on it, which she recognized immediately. It was a keepsake that she gave 
Casto as a symbol of their friendship back when she was seven. He swore on his life 
that he would never lose that medal. If the dead vulture she saw before wasn't 
enough to break any faith she did have left, then this finding was it.

She held that golden medal in her hands, feeling her eyes water up and her breaths 
shorten, not wanting to believe what she was now dreading. She had tried to tell 
herself that she wasn't seeing what she was. “No, this can't be happening! It just 
can't! Casto, you promised me you would stay with me and protect me! I can't live 
without you here with me! Don't do this to me, to your friends, to your sister! 
Please don't!” 

She then took that medallion and rose to her feet, slowly walking forward on the 
street, but now in a trance. She just looked back and forth, no longer caring about 
anything going on around her, only focusing on what she had just discovered: Casto 
did not survive. Within a few more minutes, that fear and thought was enough for 
her to drop to her knees in the middle of a street in what was once Downtown 
Juuban. She held her torso up with her outstretched arms, and her eyes swelled up 
with tears that splashed upon the pavement.

“I'm sorry, Sammy! I'm the real pathological liar! I'm not some tough woman, and I 
damn sure wasn't ready for this! What happened to this world? My family is dead, 
the Scouts are dead, this world might as well be dead, and now Casto is dead! 
Where's all the happiness, where's the sun, where are the children playing outside? 
This can't be the world that will become Crystal Tokyo! This can't possibly be our 
destiny! This is us living in hell!”

She paced to a crumbled building and sulked down, knees bent with her arms folded 
upon them. She then buried her head and begun to shed tears without a second 
thought. Even though she had promised the Scouts, Sammy, and especially Casto that 
she would stay strong no matter what, she could not bring herself to accept what 
she had just seen and discovered.

She then flashed back to four years ago. Raye had lost her grandpa to heart 
failure, Darien had gone to college in what was then the United States, and Casto 
had to leave with him. Raye was quickly running out of outlets to talk to, except 
for one person: Serena. However, it was Rubeus' attack on Sailor Moon with his 
'Hizrounswa' weapon that pushed the fire Sailor to her brink. It nearly ended one 
year later. Raye attempted suicide by drowning herself in the Tokyo River. Melissa 
found out and went after her, the other Scouts following her. She dove selflessly 
into the cold river, and with Amy's help, found Raye and revived her. Ever since 
then, Raye had said she owed Beryl her life for keeping her from doing something 
stupid and cowardly.

However, Melissa was now contemplating that same decision. Her mind was racing with 
thoughts of how easy it would be to end her suffering then and there. She continued 
crying, her eyes red from the tears, considering suicide herself.

It was then that she saw three individuals in hooded masks break the glass of a 
shop that was still intact and, from the looks of it, was still inhabited. She 
realized this was the crime issue Sammy was talking about, quickly trying to wipe 
away her tears. Seconds later, she suddenly found herself with newfound motivation 
as she rushed to the shop.
************************************************
“I'M SURE YOU WILL NOT MIND US GETTING WHAT WE NEED SO THE QUEEN CAN HAVE HER FUN,” 
the tallest robber had yelled to the small and slim female clerk, who had no way to 
call for help. The individuals quickly took whatever they wanted. This included 
jewelry, cash, clothing, and a few small electronics. The clerk had gone and began 
to empty out the drawer when a strong female voice resonated from the front door, 
“LEAVE HER ALONE!!”

“Who the hell--?” the clear throated robber yelled, and turned around to see 
Melissa standing there. Her arms were crossed at the chest, looking dead at the 
tall crook. He only scoffed, “Hey guys, check out THIS cutie right here. She thinks 
she's goin' to do something.”

A second robber, shorter but stronger than the first, had laid his eyes on Melissa. 
He deeply billowed out, “Damn, we have everyone trying it now! She's even looking 
the part. Sexy purple dress, stringy red hair. I'm sure we can accommodate your 
kind with us, honey.” Melissa, however, didn't budge at their advances as they were 
approaching her. They kept walking towards her, becoming too close for comfort.

However, that was all the instigation she needed. Within seconds, that strongest 
robber was on the ground, flipped to his back. In a solid, fluid motion, she then
turned and spin-punched the tallest right in the head, following up with a uppercut 
that floored him instantly. 

The last robber, a female that was the shortest and bravest one, sported a lead 
pipe in her hand. She took a huge swing to try to knock Beryl's head off her body, 
but to no avail. Beryl ducked underneath the swing and kicked her in the stomach. 
The robber doubled over. Melissa then finished her by a jumping spin-kick which 
downed her to the floor.

“Now what were you saying about me being your Goldilocks?” Melissa responded, 
smiling at her own sarcasm, mocking their physiques and how all three had just the 
opposite characteristics of one another.

“What in the hell was THAT about?” the strongest one asked.

“I guess you're Mama Bear, then, since you're a big one and seem to want to run 
your mouth!”

“Hmph. Save your lame one-liners for the Queen. She will pass judgment on you for 
your mouth. Maybe she'll give you up to us. Happened to the last one that tried to 
mess with us,” the tallest one said before all three of them got up to their feet 
and rushed their exit, leaving their loot behind.

'The Queen,' Melissa thought. 'Is Metallia behind this, too?'

“Thank you,” the soft-spoken female said, smiling at the woman who had saved her 
store. “But I'm afraid your efforts might just be in vain.”

Melissa turned around to face the woman, who had now came across the counter to 
meet her rescuer, revealing her baby-blue button blouse and short black slacks. 
“What do you mean?”

“I'm always getting a robber or something that wants money and whatnot. I'm usually 
giving it to them to save my own skin. I'm sure that won't be the last time I get 
someone wanting my stuff or money. Hell, I'm surprised I've managed to stay in 
business this long the way this place is anymore.”

“Yeah, I was shocked to see this store here, after all the crap I've been seeing 
around here tonight.” Melissa stopped, biting her tongue to prevent herself from 
saying that she was in a coma for a year.

“It's one of the few still around. Usually it's just to service the Queen's guys. I 
swear they believe this money is their's to take back when they want. They've been 
doing this more frequently, though, which is worrying me more and more.”

Melissa then realized something else one of the looters had said. “What did they 
mean about passing judgment on me, if you can forgive my ignorance?”

“Oh, that! The Queen has her own way in passing judgment. I'm sure you've seen that 
lightning strike that came out of the sky earlier tonight. That was one of the 
Queen's ways of punishment. Apparently, someone did something she didn't like. That 
isn't the only thing she has done, though. Those guys said she gave up the last 
person who tried to stop them to them. Disgusting, I know. But we can't object to 
anything around here.”

Melissa sighed, now knowing that the lightning bolt she saw strike that woman 
wouldn't be the last of it. “I saw that, alright. It's something I've seen enough 
of. I'm ready to show the Queen what the Earth still has to fight for!”

“Wow, you must be brave to want to go attack the Queen. You know you can't go after 
her alone, right?”

Melissa nodded, and then smiled. “Yes, but I've seen enough of our world like this. 
Whatever I can do to stop her for good, I will.”

“Well, all I can do is wish you luck. I'll be praying that you, Miss...”

“Melissa Beryl.”

“Okay, then, Miss Melissa Beryl. I will pray that you can put an end to that Queen 
once and for all. May our hope and our faith guide and protect you.”

That was all it took to completely erase suicide from Melissa's mind, if the sudden 
urge to help this lady out or to proclaim her desires to take out Metallia for good 
wasn't enough for her. 

“Thank you,” Melissa smiled, and then began to exit the store. However, before she 
was able to exit, the clerk blurted, “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.”

Melissa stopped on a dime. “Hmm?”

“Goldilocks. How you insulted those three jerks. Mama Bear, Papa Bear, and Baby 
Bear were trying to rob me, and Goldilocks came and chased the pansy bears off to 
their wooden house.”

Melissa felt a slight giggle escape her. “But Goldilocks I'm not. More like, Redlocks.”

“Hey, don't worry about it. Red hair is pretty nice, especially to show your fire 
and your strong will.” The clerk then saw an object that the female robber had 
dropped during her escape. “I think Baby Bear dropped something,” she said, her 
long black locks dropping in front of her shoulder as she picked up the lead pipe 
that the female robber used to try to hit Beryl. “You know what, maybe this is the 
start of something good. Maybe this world has hope for it yet. I'll tell you what. 
I'll make you a promise. The next robber who comes in here to steal anything from 
me, gets a good whack from me, and it'll be JUST RIGHT!!”

Melissa smiled, and once more headed for the exit. Before she could go back 
outside, though, the blond-haired clerk blurted out, “Elise Gertner. That's my 
name. You're welcome back anytime, Melissa.” Melissa nodded, stopping short of 
telling her the truth about her being, and finally returned to the outside world.

“I have faith now, Melissa,” Elise said to herself. “You've just shown me 
laughter...and hope.”
************************************************
“The Queen isn't going to be happy about this one bit,” the tallest robber said to 
the others as they were now in the outskirts of Juuban, trying to recollect 
themselves after their attempt went south.

“Yeah, Nightshade,” the strongest answered to the tallest. “And she even insulted 
us while doing it! UGH!!”

“Yeah, how old is that story now? Like, a thousand years old,” Nightshade responded

“Hey now, let's not forget that we were supposed to get the stuff that the Queen 
needs, and we failed at it,” the smallest, low and smooth-voiced one interjected. 
“Nightshade, Cuehead, I don't know about you, but I'm not wanting to find out if 
she will pass judgment on us.”

“Don't fret it, Firefly. She never did tell us just what she needs this stuff for, 
or even why we should care about some rusty knick knacks,” Cuehead said. As he took 
off his mask, it wasn't hard to see how he got that nickname. Pale skin with a 
completely bald head, looking and feeling like a cue ball on a pool table.

“Besides, that woman had some awesome moves, but moves that I think I've heard 
about, now that I think of it. Like she may be someone that we need to keep an eye 
on,” Nightshade added, choosing not to remove his own mask. He was still somewhat 
cautious and found that the mask shielded himself from the abundance of pollution.

“Wait a second, the Queen did say that she had once given someone a chance to 
fulfill her dreams if she were to help her with her own wishes, didn't she?” 
Firefly asked.

“She couldn't be the traitor the Queen was talking about? The one that she thought 
was killed when the world ended?” said a very disturbed Cuehead.

“If so,” Nightshade answered, “then the Queen won't like this one bit. I'd hate 
to find out what she would want us to do about it.”

Firefly turned her back to the other two members of her party. She shut her eyes in 
disgust and hung her head low.

'The Chameleons,' she thought, 'forced to listen to a Queen who has no heart or 
conscious. And here I am, only here because my own family was killed in this 
cataclysm. Why does she even need us to begin with? She is like a goddess with 
all that power she has. All she needs is to fire that lightning bolt she has or 
cause another disaster. She doesn't need us--not that she really gives a damn what 
we think anyway.'

“Firefly,” Cuehead yelled out, noticing her sudden lack of attention, “you still 
with us? You're not having second thoughts, are you?”

The short and attractive young female forced her baby blue eyes open once more and 
pivoted back around towards the two other males, looking dead into the muscular 
frame's green pupils. “Not really. Just unsure if the Queen will punish us for 
letting her survive if that was the traitor.”

“We've let others survive. I'm sure the Queen or that thing that I've seen behind 
her can handle her,” Cuehead said.

'That thing,' she thought. 'That thing is what caused all of this hell to begin 
with. It's like the devil himself, whatever it is.'

Around that point, she couldn't help but notice a huge shadow flank her. Looking up 
above, she saw a huge, bird like creature with a gigantic wingspan glide at an 
alarming speed across the bloody sky. 

'Yeah, we're serving a Queen that has let something like THAT into the world. 
Letting something like the Devil do what he wants. Damn you, Queen! Damn you for 
making me have to search for a family, and damn you for making us have to do your 
deeds because you're too lazy to do it yourself. Damn you for everything you're 
causing us. This traitor may have been our blessing in disguise by stopping us. 
Forgive me for having to put on this front, traitor. I must pick my spot.'
************************************************
Though she had left with a smile, it only took a few steps back into the dead world 
for Beryl to lose it. She knew that she now had one person that had some faith 
returned, but she knew that was going to be in vain if she was the only one. Even 
more so if those robbers, or anyone that would need to do so just to survive, were 
to strike again. Beryl knew that she had to do something to make sure that the 
world could join together to once and for all end the suffering. If she could only 
find out where Metallia even was, or what kind of power she had. The lightning bolt 
told her, to some extent, how much power she possessed now. Not to mention the 
blackness Metallia's soul and heart had, although she knew that much about her 
former master already. 

She still knew that she had yet to see Metallia's now godlike powers. She also knew 
that if Ultimagama was serving the Queen, with the amount of power she saw from 
that thing already, it would be enough to lay waste to her if she only scoffed at 
it. She knew that she had to serve justice to Metallia. But with such defenses, 
even with Melissa's powers, there was little to nothing that she could do about 
them.

Melissa leaned against a building, resting her shaking head onto her arm. “Even if 
all the faith was returned to the world, I don't think it will be enough. We would 
be able to pray with all our souls. But if we can't do anything physical on those 
two, there isn't anything I can do. Sammy, Elise, I'm sorry. I don't think I can 
save...”

“You saw him, too,” she heard a voice billow out.

“Yeah. Very weird guy. Said he was trying to look for his sister or something,” she 
heard another voice, this time a female, say. The conversation then got her 
attention, though she stood still to not reveal her eavesdropping.

“Really? He asked me if I saw this tall woman with long red hair around. I wish I 
was able to help him. Keeping an eye out for that description, actually.”

Melissa, at that moment, started to feel her heart race. She could not believe what 
she was hearing as she suddenly turned her head towards the two, approaching them.

“Wait a minute,” she yelled out to the couple. Immediately, the two turned 
to see her, and the male gasped upon laying his eyes on her.

“Th-this is the woman he was talking about. The red hair, tall, yellow eyes, and a 
tinted skin color.”

“Sir, ma'am, do you happen to know if this guy was about this height?” Melissa 
asked, the side of her hand right at the top of her breasts to illustrate her 
question.

“Yes, and short black hair, blue eyes. That's the guy. He had this voice I will 
never forget, either. Very dark, yet soothing to hear him talk, as if he had all 
the confidence in the world wrapped up in that slim body of his.”

Melissa felt her heart beat at the speed of light now with every syllable the man 
spoke about this guy, who was more and more fitting the description she wanted to 
hear. “Did you see where he went last?”

“He said he was going to find his sister and then just ran off. I tell you, he has 
some guts in this world,” the female answered. “Though he was sort of weird, saying 
something about this woman not killing his spirit yet. About her thinking she had 
his true 'bird of prey', I think he said. But she only made him lose some medal or 
something. He said to keep an eye out for that, too. Man, what a weird guy. He was 
very kind, though, I'll give him...”

“THAT'S HIM!! THAT'S WHY,” Melissa yelled out, her eyes glistening in tears, 
smiling from ear to ear. “He's still alive, and if he's still alive, they all have 
to be in some way!”

“Huh,” the male asked.

“Oh, I'm sorry. He's a friend of mine, and I know why he said that to you. It's not 
weird at all, actually. I think he knew I would try to find him. Thank you, and if 
you see him again, tell him Melissa Beryl is still alive.”

The two nodded and headed off behind her.

“Casto, you're alive, I should've known. I need to find you and all of our friends. 
They all have to be alive somehow, somewhere. If only I can find all of you and get 
the Scouts back together, we can find a way to rid of Metallia once and for all. 
Metallia, you wait, I'm coming for you. I'm taking my kingdom, my world, my life 
back.”

Melissa then continued into the distance. Little did she know that the proclamation 
that she had made was going to be easier said than done (even when she knew that 
finding them wouldn't be easy). What she didn't know was that the Scouts had gone 
their own ways since that day. For some of them, their own lives had changed 
significantly from the dead world. 

However, Melissa was now determined more than ever to atone for her sins of the 
past once and for all. By giving the world its faith back, and to bring life into 
this world.
_______________________________________________________________________
I hope you enjoyed this fic, and I am hoping you will want to see more. I have a 
lot of surprises in store, especially showing what has happened to the Sailors 
since the cataclysm.

For now, though, please give me any comments you may have on this first chapter. I 
would greatly appreciate them.

Good night, and good luck.