So… this is an AU in a weird way… just… go with it. There is no fixed year. I'm putting this in a time warp type thing. The original series was in the nineties…. And Crystal is set in the nineties. However, I feel that- because of the major time jump I'm going to be doing, there is no set year… that it began the second time. Basically, Helios kind of… froze time… in a way.

Also, the prologue and part one will both be relatively short. You could say that part one is another part of the prologue in a way. It details what happens before the story line begins.


PROLOGUE- The Cycle Repeats

Ami Mizuno- Sailor Mercury

No one expected this to happen. No one could have seen this coming if they had tried. It was too soon for this kind of thing. The Crystal Kingdom had finally come to be, her home world finally re- vitalized.

She didn't understand. She, the tactician of the sailor scouts, the 'brain' (so to say) of the Sailor Scouts. She'd just seen her Queen married to the love of all of her lives. Ami cried inside, even as she fought the soldier of the Crystal Kingdom's enemy. She was losing.

She did not see the blow to her ribs- a blow that would have killed her- until it was somehow deflected. She gasped as she saw the culprit for this phenomenon. Something that she hadn't seen since… since the generals died.

A stone… a Zoisite stone. She gasped. She'd seen that particular stone (now pieces of stone). "No…" She whispered, her eyes filled with tears, but she had no time to dwell on his sacrifice. He had- as she'd known, ended his existence in the stone- Zoisite was no more.

She continued the fight, her energy renewed at the thought of her soul's former lover sacrificing himself. All in vain, she realized later, for the next time she was struck, there was nothing to hold the blow back, she was done. As she lay bleeding, she fought the tears.

Again, this had happened. Again, their lives were ruined, and again, they were forced to watch the world they loved be decimated. Again, she lost the man that- even now- she loved. The princess- now queen- she'd been sworn to protect, the man that Usagi loved, dead as well as their child- a baby who had yet to live as they knew she would…

And as she closed her eyes for the last time, she could swear that the taunting laughter was familiar. Horribly, horribly familiar.

Rei Hino- Sailor Mars

There was simply no end! She fought, her fires burned far brighter than she was used to, her energy was waning. She watched, helpless to assist as Sailor Mercury fell, let out a scream of anger and sorrow, even as she felt the knife pierce her flesh. She still fought. She'd sustained worse injuries, after all, than this.

The next blade was aimed at her heart. It would have killed her then, if not for…. She frowned, looking for the reason the knife had not hit the target, only to see the glistening stone on the ground in pieces. "Jadeite," she whispered.

He protected her one last time- when he could not have before. However, the thought came too late, she was already far too wounded to continue for much longer, the princess she served- as well as Usagi's family- had already perished. It was at an end, they had lost, for without Sailor Moon, they lost their hold.

She fell to her knees when the last blade's aim held true. Her opponent laughed as she fell, as blood poured from her body, covering the stone that held the soul of the man she'd once given her heart to….

"I'm sorry, Usagi…" her voice was raspy as she fell.

Makoto Kino- Sailor Jupiter

She cried out as she felt her sisters' deaths. One by one, the guardians fell… one by one they lost. Now, there were three less- four if one counted baby Chibiusa… five if Mamoru was counted. Dear gods! Mamoru and Usagi! What were they to do? Their sole purpose, again had been stolen far too soon! She did not cry. She could not. There were no tears left. She could only wait for death to take her as surely as it had been taking her comrades.

She was slowing down, her attacks getting weaker. With each storm she summoned, she felt her strength leaving. Have courage, my love….

She gasped as she looked around. It could not be…! Nephrite? But… how was this possible? He was… dead. Another cry escaped at the thought. What did she have left? The reincarnation of the mighty princess Tova of Jupiter… she really was a pale imitation….

No! you are strength, my love, My Tova, Makoto… Lita… whatever name you go by… you are strong. His voice again, she gasped as new tears (she had thought she'd run out) ran down her cheeks, mingling with the blood that dripped down. He was wrong.

Nephrite was wrong, and she would die here, again…. As she had at his hands all those years before… she did not see the arrow of light strike out at her, but she screamed again, as it hit her- wait, no. it didn't connect? She looked around, confused, only to see the stone.

Fight on, my lightning witch. His voice made her sob again. But she felt more invigorated. She may not have been able to save her princess… she may die here…. But she would be damned if she didn't take as many of these black-hearted bastards with her. She threw herself right back into the fray, even as she felt the wounds she'd already sustained pulling, bleeding.

She would fight until her last breath.

Minako Aino- Sailor Venus

She heard her warrior sister's last defiant scream as she let out the last of the thunder she'd had left. Sailor Jupiter fell, and Minako could do nothing. Great Venus, she could do nothing! She watched her sisters-in-arms fall, the one person in the universe that she was supposed to protect…! She was a failure as a commander.

She was a failure as a sister.

What was she to do but keep fighting? If nothing else, then she'd have a glorious death in battle- not something she'd ever wanted- that was more Mako's speed… always had been… at least until she'd met Nephrite. Much like she'd been…

She parried and blocked, sword in one hand, Venus chain in the other. She was the most powerful, after all, after Mako, she was the strongest physically- no one could truly hold a candle against the Jovians when it came down to brute strength, after all.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw it- that bright, white light-spear headed towards her. She knew then, that she could do nothing to stop it, bracing herself, she prepared for death. Kunzite, my love, let's meet again in the after world… she closed her eyes…

The surprising sound of the light shattering something caused her eyes to fly open, enough time to parry yet another attack, and look to see what had saved her. She gasped as the crystal- Kunzite- lay before her, shattered like glass, and she felt her eyes water.

The last thing she thought of was her knight in shining armor. The one who tried to save her when he knew she needed it.

AFTERMATH

They'd been too late. Sailor Pluto's lips trembled as she surveyed the aftermath of the battle in Crystal Tokyo. She was rarely wrong in her premonitions…. But this… this had been the exception. She looked over at her compatriots to see Sailor Saturn holding Sailor Neptune as the teal-haired woman cried over the needless death.

Sailor Saturn's footsteps came to a stop beside her. "We were wrong…" she whispered, her violet eyes held sorrow that Setsuna could fathom only because she felt it now, herself. Like the others, they'd felt the deaths of their sisters-at-arms, as they hurtled through space. She could only nod. "We were."

They'd come just in time to seal away the evil that had returned. "I had thought that we would have more time before that… that thing returned." Her face twisted into a helpless snarl. "But… we were wrong. Metelia got the upper hand on us."

"What are we to do now?" Sailor Neptune whispered from her lover's arms. Sailor Saturn studied them both with troubled, blank eyes. The same question was reflected in the darker blue gaze she set on them. Setsuna shook her head as she looked at Hotaru, Michiru, and Hakura.

"We can only wait. We have been defeated again, just like in the Silver Millenia. Just like then, they-" she motioned the graves of their fallen sisters, and the royal family, "Shall once again be reborn. I don't know when or how… or even what names they will take." The woman sighed as she looked over the graves.

"We cannot win." She murmured. "That, I can see." The others gasped. "You can't mean that, Setsuna!" Michiru gripped Hotaru harder, her face becoming pained. "What do we do?" she whispered, voice hoarse. "If we can't win…"

"We cannot win alone." Setsuna clarified. She cast a gaze to Hakura. "We need help… we need those who were lost in the Silver Millennia."

"If you are referring to the generals, they are dead as well." Hotaru murmured. Setsuna raised an eyebrow. "Their souls were trapped in those gems," she murmured, as she once again swept her eyes over the graves. The four inner scouts were buried with the gems that had protected them. "They will be reborn as well."

"In the meantime, what do we do?" Michiru asked.

"We are immortal, we cannot die. Not without injury. We do not age, either, and our planets have awakened." Hakura pointed out. "We shouldn't just wait-"

"We must. We don't have Usagi, anymore." Hotaru deadpanned. "Without her, we can only do so much." She frowned at the other two. "We wait."

"And if Metalia takes over the minds of the generals again? The first time, she did it through Beryl… foolish woman…" the guardian of Saturn sneered. "But it will happen again, should we allow this to go on. They are the perfect targets." To this, Pluto Nodded in agreement.

"You make a fantastic point." Setsuna frowned, pondering. "We've sealed her essence- for now, though… we just don't have the same amount of power as Queen Serenity did- or even Usagi. The essence will seep out. Slowly. Over a millennium. That's how long we have." She hesitated.

"We wait, we watch. When the generals are born, we watch over them." It was Hotaru who spoke. "They won't be put under the control of Metalia because we will be their guardians." She frowned again. "It's the only chance they have."

The other three nodded. "That is the most logical course of action." Michiru said softly. "The only way." We keep lookout for their births. When they are born… we will watch over them. With them as well as the other guardians, we may actually stand a chance against that evil witch when she resurfaces…"

"Are you sure about this?" Hakura asked softly, demurer than they were used to from the tomboy. It was Michiru who usually acted this way. Setsuna just nodded. "If we have any hope, it is with this plan." She replied.

"So, it shall be done." Hotaru whispered softly, the butt of her staff hit the ground. "We shall return to our home planets for now. When Helios gives news of the birth of the first of the Generals, we will return. Are we all in agreement?" the others nodded and took their leave.


So… that's the prologue. R&R if you liked it and want more. This is kind of just a test… Anyway. Thanks for giving it a chance…. AOP out!

P.S.- Sorry for killing everyone but the Outer Sailor Scouts. it needed to happen. I really didn't like it... but what can ya do?