Prologue – What has come before
For over a thousand years the solar system was at peace. While civilization grew and came to war on the planet Earth, the rest of the solar system existed in harmony. The era was known as the Silver Millennium, a time of peace and prosperity. Not surprisingly, the Earth itself was outside of this kingdom of harmony, being so young and comparatively uncivilized. Strangely, however, it was the Earth's Moon that was at the center of it all. The Moon Kingdom was a magical place, ruled by monarchs bound by their love for all life, as well as by the power of the Ginzuishou. Also known as The Silver Crystal, it was a mystical gem that, according to legend, had the power to both destroy and create life without limitation. It was impossible for the monarchs to abuse this power, however, as the greater of its magics had a high cost, the bearer's life.
As was tradition, the princesses of each planet spent the large majority of their training to become monarchs of their own planets on the moon. There they learned the intricacies of court, but perhaps more importantly, they were ladies in waiting to the Heir to the Silver Millennium. Their role, on the surface, was that of students. It was also widely speculated that the practice had originally been established to created close bonds between the future rulers, thus further ensuring the peace that lasted for centuries. Perhaps more importantly, however, they were friends to the Heir as well as bodyguards. Known as the Sailor Senshi in battle, the princesses were the guardians of the Silver Millennium and the support on which the Heir leaned. They were her shelter, her confidants and her friends, as well as her guardians, leaving her side only when the time came for them to assume rule over their own planets.
Unfortunately, this Utopian society could not last forever. Though the exact dates are lost, around the time of 1000AD, by Earth reckoning, War broke out.
The current Heir, Princess Serenity, daughter of Queen Serenity, was fascinated by the green and blue planet that hung so tantalizingly close to her home. She fell so in love with the Earth that one day she found a way to sneak down to the planet's surface. Some would say what happened next was an unfortunate accident, others would say fate, but regardless, the Princess stumbled upon a Prince of Earth named Endymion and the two fell immediately head over heels for each other. Though her Senshi found her shortly thereafter and brought her back to the Moon, the damage was already done. Serenity and Endymion continued to meet secretly whenever they could sneak away, despite all efforts to keep them apart. For their love was cursed to bring only despair, and the vehicle of that despair was a woman on Earth.
Beryl loved Endymion with a fervor and a passion that was doomed to become twisted and ugly with after constant rejection magnified her growing jealousy. Beryl hated the Princess which had stolen Endymion's heart away. This hatred quickly became an obsession, and in her darkest moment Beryl offered her soul to a demon in exchange for the power to strike out at her rival. She amassed her power swiftly, first using her new magic to turn Endymion's guards against him, and then to raise an army with which to destroy the Moon Kingdom.
She brought her armies down on the Earth first, conquering all that stood in her way, her army growing with each conquest. Seven shadow creatures, gifted to her by the demon, destroyed all in their wake with terrifying ease. The more fear, hatred and death the war created, the more powerful the creatures became. With Beryl's forces marching on his palace, Endymion fled to the moon to warn his beloved of the war threatening to spread throughout his entire world. In this, however, he was wrong. Beryl did not care to conquer all of the Earth. Once her power was large enough, she had her sights on the Moon instead.
The attack came during the celebration of Serenity's 16th birthday. Endymion had sneaked in to the celebration to see Serenity one last time before he led the forces of Earth in what was looking to be their final attempt to save the planet. So it was, that Beryl struck without warning, and the Moon Kingdom, having been at peace for so long, was utterly unprepared for conflict. The beautiful pillar of peace and prosperity was devastated, and utterly destroyed. Beryl's forces slaughtered everyone and destroyed everything. When at last she found the source of all her hatred, she struck out with deadly force at the Princess herself. Endymion, so in love with his princess, threw himself in front of the blast to save Serenity's life and died moments later in her arms. Unable to live without him, Serenity picked up Endymion's sword and took her own life.
Surrounded by the destruction of her kingdom, Queen Serenity witnessed the death of her daughter and in that moment realized all was lost. In an act of desperation, she wielded the power of the Ginzuishou and sealed the souls of everyone away, sending them to the future where she hoped they could live in peace; knowing as she did so, that the effect of using that much of the Ginzuishou's power would not only kill her, but shatter the Silver Millennium entirely.
So it was that the era of peace and prosperity came to an end, the Silver Millennium was no more.
What happened after the destruction of the Moon Kingdom is not known. When the centuries passed, and the people of Earth finally reached out to the stars once more, they found no signs that life, much less a planet-spanning Kingdom, ever existed. With all who lived in the days after the devastation now long dead, and the idea of people living on the moon reduced to the stuff of children's stories, the mystery may never be solved.
The Queen's dying spell endured, and nearly one thousand years later, the lives that had ended at the hands of Queen Beryl began to be reborn, including the Queen, her soul forever bound to the demon which had granted her her powers. The princesses guardians, the Sailor Senshi, were reborn as warriors as well as a new soldier, Sailor Moon, the Princess Serenity reborn. Together they destroyed Beryl and the demon Metallia once and for all.
Much had changed in a thousand years. Evil, undetected by the young civilization on Earth, had spread across the universe. Though the Princess, now known as Tsukino Usagi, and her friends and fellow soldiers were happy during times of peace, they were called upon repeatedly to save the Earth from destruction. Usagi's soul was tied to that of the Ginzuishou, and while it granted her great powers, it was a heavy burden.
During the battle against a being known as Galaxia, it was discovered that the Senshi of the Silver Millennium were not a unique force in the Universe. Three soldiers, known as as Sailor Star Fighter, Sailor Star Healer, and Sailor Star Maker, came to earth as the last survivors of a Galactic war. They had arrived to search for their princess, and to escape their decimated home planet.
Galaxia's path of destruction was marked by her collection of Star Seeds. It was learned that all Senshi, as eternal beings, held one. It marked them as guardians of their planet or star, and housed their eternal soul. Galaxia herself was once a senshi, the most powerful of them all, guardian of the galaxy. Chaos, the ultimate force of destruction, consumed her as it had so many others, and through her sought to control all of the Galaxy's Star Seeds, spreading chaos and destruction throughout. Those living on the Earth were the last. The only soldier with any hope of combating this evil was the soldier who's star seed was both immensely powerful, and incorruptible. For not only was Serenity's life tied to the ginzuishou, her soul was now as well, for it was her star seed. The battle was devastating, but in the end Serenity, with her pure and endlessly loving soul, was able to bring Galaxia back to the light, and shatter Chaos' power.
It seemed that evil would be eternally attracted to the third planet from the sun. During one of the battles, however, there was a great surprise. A new Senshi was revealed, hidden beneath the contamination of evil, and healed by Serenity. Sailor Rain Drop, Silia, an ageless girl appearing to be no more than 12, with no memories of her previous life, was a conundrum. She had no planet, no star, nothing but her element of water to go by.
Silia was accepted by the senshi, but her origin remained a disturbing mystery. There was only one person who might have been able to discern the truth, the guardian of time, Sailor Pluto. She had been searching the past for answers; however, her quest was cut short at the end of the last of the battles. Rifts in time, which had already caused two souls from alternate Universes to cross, threatened to destroy all of time and space. Sailor Pluto, known also on Earth as Meiou Setsuna, used all of her power as guardian of time mend the rifts, and return all to the way it was meant to be. The cost was high, for such an impossible act it had to be, and it was her life.
Though it started with such a terrible event, for the next 10 years there was a joyous peace on the Planet Earth, and the senshi were at last able to live like normal people. Serenity and Endymion, now known as Usagi and Mamoru Chiba, are wedded at last and have an 8 year old daughter. The senshi went on to have lives, careers, and families of their own, but it was always with the knowledge that one day, without warning, they might be called upon to defend their world again.
Now, that time had come.