Serena Sailor Moon

41

Serena tumbled through the swirling energies of the portal, her heart racing, a tumult of light and shadow wrapping around her. One moment, she had been standing resolute beside her fellow Sailor Scouts, the laughter of friends enveloping her, the next, she was alone, landing with a dull thud on barren ground. As she pushed herself up, dust swirling around her, she stared wide-eyed at the wasteland sprawled before her. The air tasted bitter, and a shroud of despair hung heavy like an oppressive fog. Ruined remnants of a once-vibrant city punctuated the land, with skeletal structures reaching toward the sky as if grasping for something long lost. Serena inhaled sharply, feeling an uncanny chill seep into her bones. In the center of a village, an altar of twisted stone gleamed dimly, surrounded by chanting figures draped in black. “The Great Sacrifice of Ages…” Serena read, the words chilling her to the core. The ritual was meant to drown the universe in darkness, wrenched from the depths of despair. It was a truth too terrible to fathom.