DISCLAIMER: I do not own the characters of Sailor Moon.

Chapter 1.

The alarm bell went off, rudely awakening Serena Moon from her deep slumber. Wanting so desperately to hit the snooze button and sneak back under the sheets, it took all her willpower to do the opposite. Just fresh out of college with today marking her third month in her new job, she knew better than to jeopardize herself. She was after all the secretary of a very important man in a very important enterprise.

Yet this morning, she felt absolutely battered. Her muscles sore and her throat strained, the last thing she wanted was that annoying voice ambushing her as she got up to go to the bathroom.

"You drained most of your energy fighting that demon last night thanks to your recklessness Serena. If it wasn't for me, you would have-"

"Shh!" I hissed sharply and the voice stopped. But Serena's senses were especially sensitive during the mornings and even the soft brush of feline fur against her calf drove her to near hysteria.

The high pitch wail of a cat soon hammered even through the closed bathroom door and Serena had to press her hands against her ears and delivered another loud "Shh!" while she peed.

"You can't 'Shh!' a hungry cat," the other side responded followed by another loud impatient wail.

God.

"You know they eat cats in China," Serena hollered and her face twisted at the sound of her voice bouncing off the walls of her tightly constrained toilet space. "I could teleport you there right away."

"You wouldn't dare!" cried the other end, baffled.

"Try me!"

Silence now and Serena started washing herself.

God, why did she even allow a talking cat on earth? She wondered to herself even as she already knew the answer. Back on the moon, every being communicated telepathically. There were no need for spoken words. The only reason why voices exist was so that sounds like laughing and crying could still exist. The very basis of human nature was still a necessity even among higher beings like herself. Without a voice, she wouldn't have been able to survive on earth. And as the frequency levels on earth were too low, there was no way she could communicate telepathically with anyone, much less her cat. Which was why she allowed a human voice box to be implanted in her in the first place. Little did she know how much fun Luna was having with her newfound voice. Talk about verbal diarrhoea.

Serena tugged at her damp blonde hair with a brush. Electricity levels on earth were also too damn high that every morning she would wake up with her hair gathered in huge clumps. It always seem to take forever to get them straightened out after a wash and Serena had contemplated many times chopping it off.

"But you would lose a lot of your magic if you do," Luna had warned against it and Serena listened. Another reason why Luna had been given a voice. She was pretty much Serena's voice of reason when her own logic failed her.

So she kept her locks but instead of letting it fall freely and end up tangling on every single branch of a tree she passes by, she buns it up. But bunning it all up would make her look like she has a big golden tumor growing on the top of her head. So she makes it two. But bunning all of it up into two would make her look like Princess Leia and she would have none of it. She considered braiding but braiding takes up too much time. Right when she was about lose it and grab a pair of scissors and in her wild madness snip her magical hair off, Luna said, "why don't you just bun it halfway?"

Serena's ocean eyes bulged as she stared back at Luna who was doing her monorail cat rendition on her bedside sofa. The only word that had escaped from her mouth was 'Oh'.

Thank god for a talking cat.

She was all set and ready to go. Her golden locks bunned up halfway in two, her face powdered, her eyebrows penciled, her eyelids lined, her cheeks rouged, her lips glossed and her body clad in an all corporate black dress.

Like a bloody OL, she thought.

Except she was no ordinary OL. "I'm the secretary of of the CEO of Shields Enterprise," she proudly exclaimed, fist to her chest.

Luna just stared at her and wailed. "Don't forget to feed me Miss Secretary." Serena got out of her stupor and goofed around for the box of kibble that she kept on top of the cabinet in the very small part of her apartment known as the kitchen. If not for the stove and sink, that area might as well have been just an extended hallway that led to the main door.

"Bye Luna!" Serena sang after filling a bowl of kibble and slammed the door close behind her, leaving Luna to her antics for the next ten or so hours. But Serena wasn't worried. Talking cat or not, Luna still pretty much acts like an ordinary cat and Serena would usually come home and find her either sleeping, eating or just staring into space.

Humming to herself, the heels of her pumps clunked as she walked to work. It was a twenty minutes stride to work and she was grateful that the company she works for had land nearby where they built rows and rows of apartments. All for the employees of Shields Enterprise who didn't own a car and whose hometown was two hours drive away. And along the way, she would bump into the other employees, one of them was Molly Baker who lived about five apartments away from her.

"Good morning Miss Baker," Serena greeted in a singsong voice and walked alongside her. Molly too was dressed in black corporate dress and there were frills on her collar.

Cute, Serena thought and smiled.

"Good morning, Miss Moon." Molly Baker replied but from the corner of her eyes, Serena could see that she was scanning for something until it stopped at a particular spot. Serena followed her gaze and saw a figure waiting at the end of the fence, one hand in his pocket and the other shifting the rim of his glasses. After a moment, Serena realized that it was Melvin Butlers and after noticing the blush on Molly's face, she picked up on the cue and hurried her way ahead.

"See you later, Miss Baker!" "Morning Mr Butlers!"

The peak of Shields Enterprise building soon entered into view. It was a 120-storey building with at least fifty offices on each floor. But as her eyes meandered from the base and up towards the toppest floors, Serena knew that there were only five offices there, one of which was hers. And right above those five offices, there was only one office where her boss works.

Serena knew better than to display her delight even though she was bursting with elation inside. After all her years on earth, she was finally at the top. And along the way she had learned one thing. That the people on earth do not care much for the accomplishments of others. She has grown numb from all the pain and hurt she went through and for a time she even succumbed to nights of drinking and fucking. But thanks to Luna's incessant nagging, she straightened up and focused on what she wanted instead of what she couldn't have.

Besides aiming to be an accomplished woman on earth, she also has other priorities. Like fighting demons for one. And last night, on a Sunday of all nights oh god, she had defeated one and she had the scars on her back to prove it though it had almost faded due to her enhanced healing capabilities. The physical scars may be gone, but the pain it caused her mentally and emotionally have not. And since they are here to stay, Serena decided that they're either an obstacle to her life on earth, or a driving force that would push her to succeed in a place she thought she never knew she wanted. She decided on the latter and after pursuing for a scholarship in college, she's finally here. At the top.

Well, almost, she thought as her eyes peered through the screened glass windows that make up the pyramid-shaped pinnacle. With her hawk-like vision, she could see that the interior was still empty.

Wait, no. There's movement. She strained her eyes but before she could make out what it was, her vision started to cloud.

Damn low frequencies, she cursed. But she knew it wasn't just the low frequencies. It was due to her over-draining her powers last night. Luna was right. If it wasn't for her, she would have…

Serena shook her head. This is not the time to be thinking about such things. But her mind wouldn't allow her to forget. She was after all a self-proclaimed protector of earth. She was a princess once and she remembered basking in her moonlight glory, eons before the very same forces that now wants to take earth that took her planet. Her moon. Her family.

As she entered the building, she decided against taking the elevator and went for the steps. 120 floors up isn't such a big deal and if she did grow tired she'll just take the elevator.

With each echoing step up each stair, Serena started to remember.