Prologue
"Brrr..." The small black cat shivered, a wind blowing her fur. "It's so cold out here, Artemis."
The black cat jumped up onto the wall where her companion was seated. They were looking over the city, filled with blinking lights of the old and new buildings mixed together. The lights flashed rainbow colors, greatly contrasting the colorless sky.
"Moscow." The white haired cat breathed into the night.
"Yes, Moscow." She silently whispered in agreement. "Do you really think she is here, Artemis?"
"I sure hope so, Luna, I hope so." Artemis looked at his friend, "Hey, we could always go back to the U.S." A suggestion.
"I wish. It was so much more bearable then here. This princess chase has got us going in circles." Her tail twitched in irritation.
"Damn! Why couldn't we have been awoken sooner? What is the reason for being awoken now? The world needed the princess years back! Why now?" The small white cat shook his head, an almost human frown across his pale white face.
"It doesn't matter. What's past is past. Let us focus on the present. Right now we have to find her and her soldiers, they are needed once again."
Artemis nodded and with a sense of foreboding said, "Yes, they are needed. They are needed for the greatest battle of good and evil the world has ever known."
"Mr. Shields, your car is ready." The buzzing voice was heard across the room.
"Excellent. Mrs. Jones, I'll be down there in a moment." Mr. Shields, the widely popular, handsome, and rich bachelor of New York City, turned back to his colleague.
"So have you agreed then, Mr. Shields," the man with dark skin rolled his pinky ring around and around. They have been there talking for quite a while and their meeting was coming to a close. "I know you have taken a recent break in your practice to work on the board, but I assure you, everything will be taken care of, and my colleagues greatly appreciate it."
"Of course, Mr. Tametcz, I have business to take care of in Tokyo, anyways, so it will be no problem." Mr. Shields stood and shook Mr. Tametcz' hand.
Mr. Tametcz, in turn also stood. "Thank you for all your help."
"No, problem. I hope to see you soon." After the formal good-byes between the two businessmen, Mr. Tametcz quietly exited the room, shortly followed by Mr. Shields holding only a briefcase and a coat.
"See you, Mr. Shields!" Some of the young ladies called to the attractive bachelor, only to receive a curt nod in their direction as a reply.
After entering the lavish limousine, the driver drove away to the airport.
At a stoplight, the driver turned around and smiled. "Cutting it a little close, aye, Mr. Shields?" He said in a deep British accent.
"Why of course, Ed, wouldn't have it any other way." The driver just laughed and turned around just in time to catch the light as it changed from red to green.
A few hours later, Mr. Shields was on a private jet flying over America.
Quietly, he put down his books and opened up his private notebook to a certain page, while skimming a few earlier entries along the way.
Soon, he began to write.
November 22, 2004
I am on a plane of all things at this very moment. I am currently over some state I believe to be Illinois. I can feel my princess calling me. My beautiful blue-eyed princess. I feel you calling all of us together again. I will get to see you. My heart fastens with excitement, and anxiety in my waiting. But I know I'll arrive soon enough. And I'll be able to hold you in my arms and see your smile again. I'll then know that all in the world is right, and my heart will be at peace.
I am also doing small business there. The board sent a representative and recently has asked me to take over a job as a pediatrician for the time being. It worked out great due to the fact the job is in Tokyo.
There are a lot of dark shadows here that cover Tokyo. This is where I grew up, where my parents died, everything in my past is in Tokyo. I wonder why I didn't think of looking in Tokyo in the first place for Serenity. Of course we would be born together… Some easy way for us to find each other, I suppose. Oh well, I must finish this up. I have loads of paper to file through before I take a nap.
Mr. Shields closed his notebook and slipped it back inside of his briefcase.
He turned and looked out the window.
Princess, I'll soon see your face again.
The scent of the ocean filled her nostrils. Sigh... To be back home. The wind, the air, the scents... they're all here.
The tall brunette grabbed her bag and jumped into the awaiting taxi.
"Where to Ms. Kino?" The driver asked.
"Richard, I told you to stop calling me that. Lita, the name's Lita." Lita sat back and smiled. "I'd like to go relax at my hotel. I believe I am off for the rest of the day."
"Right away. Ms...I mean, Lita." The driver turned to the front. "So how was your trip. You didn't get any sea sickness did you?" The driver called over his shoulder while driving steadily towards the Tokyo skyline.
"It was very nice. They had quaint little shops on the ship and I just had to buy all the souvenirs they had."
"I would be worried if you didn't," the driver chuckled.
"Yes. Well..." The driver then turned his attention back on the road, leaving Lita to her thoughts.
It is very nice to back in Tokyo. The busy people, the bright signs...
My business is booming. Lita' s Culinary University is skyrocketing and now expanding. The flower shops have become world-renowned. And I am happier then ever. Granted, if I had a boyfriend everything would be perfect. Lita's eyes scrunched up, her lips in a slight smile.
Just then, a sharp pain, like electricity, shot through the young brunette lady.
Oh no, the pain is back. The pain seems to be getting worse the closer to Tokyo I am getting. It's almost like I'm forgetting something. Well what ever I have forgotten, I feel that I will soon find out.
"GET OUT OF MY APARTMENT!" The short blonde screamed.
"Vut, Mina. I luvz you. Pleave zee that!" A young man groveled at the feet of the blonde goddess.
"Monsieur Morel, this was a summer fling. I thought you understood that when we were first going out." The goddess, a complete turnaround from her earlier tantrum, calmly stated to the poor man.
"Vut, Mina!"
"No buts! Now get out of my apartment before I call security."
Morel reluctantly turned to the doorway, and as a last effort he turned around and exclaimed, "I vill alvayz luv you!" The young man blew a kiss before stepping out the door.
Mina flopped on the couch with a hand to her head.
"UH! When is this day going to end!" Mina cried out.
BRINGG!!! BRINGGG!!!
"Damn Phone! Call back later!"
BRING!!! BRINGGG!!!
"Fine! You have your way. Nobody cares about the kind of day I had. Life is so not fair." Mina walked over and jerked the phone off the hook.
"I AM IN THE WORST MOOD RIGHT NOW. AND JUST BY YOUR CALLING ME, YOU HAVE MADE IT TEN TIMES WORSE!" She screamed into the phone.
"Mina?" A meek voice replied.
"Teddy! Is that you?" Mina's eyes lit up. Her voice went from screeming to high pitch squeals of delight. "You wouldn't believe the day I have just had. Oh Teddy! I miss you so! Oh my gosh, Teddy, I have had the most awful day! First, I had this majorly bad break up with Morel."
"Morel... Was he the guy I met at the Crystal Open?"
"No that was Steve...or was it Jason? Wait... that's right... Jason was at the next open with me."
"Of course."
"So anyway, really bad break up. I really like Morel, I do... It's just he is so clingy. Oh and don't get me started about this morning at work." By this time Mina had made her way back over to the couch and collapsed.
"Well, we'll save that story for later. Mina there is something I need to tell you."
"Teddy, what is it?" Mina sat up, as if in full attention.
"Well, I know that you are doing strictly acting right now, but we could really use your help here. I know how much you hate the modeling work, but we just need you for about two or three weeks."
"Teddy... I don't know..."
"Please, Mina. We need you over here. Four of our models got sick and one has upped and left. We need all the help we can get. Please, Mina. Now don't you make me start my incessant begging routine."
"Oh please don't! I'll do it!" Mina laughed.
"Thank heavens."
"Now where is this place and when should I be there?" Mina got out her day planner and a pencil.
"I will need you to fly out here in the next few days to get settled in... Now I've made travel arrangements with your travel guide already..."
"Teddy, where am I going?"
"Oh yes, sorry, Tokyo, Japan."
The phone dropped.
"Mina? Mina? Are you all right?" A worried Teddy asked.
"Why yes. I'm sorry, just dropped the phone. Clumsy me." The actress in her covered her shaking insides.
There was a pause. As if trying to decide whether to believe her or not. "Oh, okay then. I'll see you in a few days time?"
"Yes of course. I'll see you there. Bye." Mina shut the phone off before dropping it carelessly on the floor.
Tokyo. That's the city that I keep seeing in my dreams. The city that I was born from. The city where I abandoned my negligent parents to start my new life here in Europe. It's seems that I'm always going to be pulled back there.
The dreams, or visions, are coming true. The visions of destruction and monsters. Chaos is starting. The Evil has been reborn!
"...And as Valedictorian of Harvard University, it is in my honor that I announce the graduating class of 2004!"
Hundreds of caps swarmed the air like bees before falling back down to the earth.
The young girl walked down from the podium, then off the stage.
"Amy! Amy!" A middle-aged woman cried.
"Mother! You made it!" The blue-haired girl did nothing to suppress the tears of joy coming from her eyes.
"Oh, Amy, I wouldn't miss this for the world. Graduating four years earlier then any regular student, and as a valedictorian too." The mother hugged her twenty-two year old daughter.
"Oh, Mother. I am so happy that you made it."
"Well how does it feel to have your very own Ph.D. in Medicine?" Her mother pulled back jokingly.
"It feels great. I can't wait to start work back in Japan in a few days. The apartment and everything is ready to move in. I just have to hop on a plane." Amy smiled.
"You're coming back home!?!" The mother cried out and hugged her daughter.
"Well, not exactly. I will be close to home. I'll just be living in the city instead of the suburbs, Mom. Close to Tokyo Children's Hospital."
"Oh that's great! I was afraid that you wouldn't be coming back." The mother's face grew a quite somber look which Amy took notice of.
"And leave you in Tokyo all by yourself to do heaven knows what? Come on Mom, you know that I'm smarter then that!" Amy plastered a great smile on her face.
"Oh you! I'm so proud to have you as my daughter." The mother gave one last big hug to her daughter. "Now I want us to meet for dinner tomorrow. So you can do all that crazy partying tonight."
"Sounds great. I'll be leaving for Japan the day after. I have a six o'clock flight."
"Okay. I'll see you tonight. Have fun with your friends!"
Later after the families departed, Amy found herself back in her dorm room, packing some more clothes into her suitcase. Her roommate, Natasha, was also in there listening to some music.
I'm finally done. My dream is finally coming true. Yet I still sense a void that I'm forgetting something important...
"Hey, Brains! How was the graduation?" Apparently, her roommate had removed her earphones.
"Oh it was very nice. And I was so happy that I didn't throw up during my speech."
"That is so weird to graduate during the fall. I've never been to a graduation in November."
"It's not entirely all that odd. There are several people who graduate this time a year. I just am graduating after first semester, since I decided to take up summer semesters as well." Amy pointed out.
Her friend rolled over to get a better view of Amy. "I guess... Say aren't you going back to Tokyo?"
"Yeah. I'm pretty excited. I will be able to return back to my home. Back to where I grew up."
"Woah. You lived there? How come I never knew that?"
"Because you never asked. Besides don't you have an six o'clock class starting... well, in about ten minutes?"
Natasha sprang from her bed. "Oh no! I completely forgot!"
Her friend, now a seemingly tornado, flew across the room collecting several articles of various notebooks papers and writing utensils, while Amy sat in a daze.
"See ya!" And her friend was gone.
Wow. That was fast. And almost familiar… she reminds of someone I use to go to school with. What was her name? Amy sat staring at the slightly opened door, at the remnants of her flying friend. Oh well.
Amy stood and walked over to the window, looking at the leafless branches and the students that covered the sidewalks.
Oh, goddess. Please protect us.
"Sun. Moon. Star. Earth. Fire. Air. Water. Rock. Sun. Moon. Star. Earth. Fire." The priestess's eyes glazed over.
Like a dream the black haired priestess was walking down a hallway made of elegant marble. There were paintings of planets and other heavenly bodies floating in the sky in all their glory.
The priestess walked determinedly down the hallway as if looking for something.
Click. Click. Click.
'Wait... what am I looking for?' The thought ran across her mind.
Just as soon as the thought came, the marble wall opened up to reveal a passageway. The priestess walked down the pathway. Each step she took, her surroundings transformed into a dark cave or tavern of sorts. Every rational part of her body told her to turn away, but her feet didn't heed her wishes and continued on its own, knowing that they needed to teach the young priestess a lesson of sorts.
The priestess' eyes grew fearful, knowing that whatever laid in the darkness was just that, darkness. Evil.
She stopped, suddenly, in what seemed to be the darkest corner of the cave-like pathway.
There was not sound. The darkness was deafening.
The priestess waited patiently, unsure of what was to happen.
"Heh...heh..." A slight chuckle, like a breeze, floated through the air.
"Who goes there?" The fiery girl demanded. Her eyes flashing every corner and crevice she could make out.
"I will come back for her. I will never cease until she is dead!" The last word echoed across the cavern for emphasis.
"Who is she? Why do you want her dead?" The priestess asked, and with each word, gaining more courage then before.
"You'll learn." Was all the voice said.
A gasp of air as if she had held her breath too long brought the maiden back to reality. The young priestess had snapped out of the trance she was in. She was visibly shaking from head to toe.
Lights from her pillar of fire had vanished leaving a column of smoke dancing in the wind.
And in a low whisper, barely audible unless you were really listening, she exclaimed, "The Darkness is coming!"
"Metalia, I call you forth from the darkest abyss, to resurrect the wicked plan of the olden days, that is, to rule the Universe! Come forth, Metalia, and heed the new way of ORDER!" The wicked queen of darkness raised her pale arms that looked to have not seen the light of day in years.
The eerie quietness of the place quickly submitted into the soft rumble of an ancient evil arising from the darkest depths.
"Beryl..." The Evil, known as the Metalia, whispered across the room and echoed silently. If Beryl were a mere human, she would have been terrified, or at the least, be shaking ever so slightly.
"Metalia! You live again!" Beryl's once beautiful features now were wrinkled and frail, lightened up as her master came forth from the earth.
"I'm weak... Bring energy... I...NEED MORE ENERGY!" The last few words hung in the air and finally settled deeper into the cave.
"Yes, your wickedness... I'll do just that. Soon I will have all the old generals resurrected and all our old servants back." Beryl bowed deep and turned to leave.
"Hurry... I need that energy!" Once Beryl had gone, Metalia was left alone to think.
I feel different this time. As if something much greater then I is out there also waiting. Could it be there is something more powerful then I? Unless... Is it true?
Dancing.
Swirling.
Misty.
Blue eyes blinked curiously at her surroundings.
Why does this place seem so familiar, yet, so foreign?
Hundreds of people floating.
Going around and around.
That looks like fun.
"May I have this dance?" A white glove shot in front of her.
The porcelain hand was placed on the glove, so the dance began.
I'm so warm and safe. Don't let me go.
Dancing
Twirling.
Tearing.
Then Darkness.
NO! Don't leave! NO!
Crystal tears fell from the maiden's eyes.
"Do not cry. Your time for crying is over. You must now pay for what you have done!"
The darkness closed in.
Getting closer...
And closer...
Until...
"Aghhhh!!!!"
Tokyo, Japan. 7:30 a.m. Three days since the prior events occurred.
A blond haired woman shot from the bed. Her sheets clung to her pajama's like a second skin, obviously she had to have been sweating vigorously. Even in the chilly November air.
"It was only a dream?" The blonde whispered. "That was one hell of a dream."
What she didn't know was her forehead bore the royal moon insignia, that flashed brightly and was now slowly fading, and eventually disappeared all together.
Back in the cold country of Russia, a certain black cat with the familiar insignia, felt a wave of power coming from a certain young lady in Tokyo. Luna quickly woke up her friend, who was quietly sleeping peacefully in the nook located on a roof. "Artemis! Wake up! We've found her!"