After the defeat of Queen Beryl, the memories of all of the sailor scouts were erased with Princess Serenity's wish for peace. Unfortunately, this also erased the memories of Luna, Artemis, and Endymion. A new enemy is rising, and the feline councilors do not have much time left—they have to start their search for the Princess all over again. But will they find the right one?
Chapter 1: The Search Begins
"Another day, another chance to find her Highness," Luna spoke to herself. She hid herself behind bushes in the park, watching the people as they strode by. "Surely I will find her soon. It has been so long…I don't want to consult with my contact on the computer again with no news."
"You won't have to," answered a voice behind you, low enough for only her to hear. "Your contact has apparently found you."
Luna turned her head around and was surprised to see a white cat with a crescent moon on his forehead, just like hers was. "Artemis? Is that really you?"
"Yep, it's me," the white cat confirmed, his eyes sparkling with delight. "It certainly has been too long, Luna. Or should I say…not long enough?"
"What on earth are you talking about?"
"I'm saying this is not the first time we have met."
Luna rolled her eyes. "Well, of course we have—on the moon, during the Silver Millennium."
"I'm not talking about that," said Artemis, suddenly growing more serious. "I think we have found the Princess before, but we have appeared to have lost her."
"How can that be?"
"Come to the computer station with me and I will show you." Artemis ran off in the other direction, with a bewildered Luna following in pursuit.
They reached the arcade and headed to the basement where the Moon database was kept. "How did you know I kept base here?" asked Luna.
"I tracked the ISP from my computer with the computer I've been communicating with all these months. It turns out, Luna, that we have sent transmissions to one another—all indicating that we have been in contact for quite some time. I don't have many transmissions after the message that you found Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, and Sailor Jupiter."
Luna jumped on the seat and began rapidly typing into her computer with her paws. "How can that be? And why don't I remember any of this?"
"Don't worry, I don't remember any of it either," admitted Artemis. "I got my first clue when I checked the date on the computer this morning. I thought it was a date several months ago, but it hasn't. I thought, well, either I've got amnesia or I'm just crazy. But I remember my mission—finding the Princess. So I started reading through the logs. That's when I realized that we were already acquainted and had found the scouts—even the Princess. See?" He pointed out Luna's screen where she kept her logs of daily senshi activities. It was full and had many messages. Luna clicked on the latest one. It read:
The senshi are heading to the North Pole today to fight Queen Beryl. I pray that our Princess and her guardians are powerful enough to end this war and free the Earth from evil's dark grasp.
Endymion himself has been captured by the enemy. I am sure, though, that with Serenity's love and the Imperial Silver Crystal, he can finally be set free, and we will have our Prince and Princess back here where they belong.
Artemis and I have given a lot of training to these girls. I am sure that it will pay off, and Sailor Venus, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, and Sailor Jupiter will defend their Princess with all of their strength.
May we be safe in this battle.
**End Transmission**
Luna's jaw dropped. "But…did they succeed?"
"Well, the world's not exactly being overrun with Beryl's army, so I'm assuming that we are safe, for now," stated Artemis, cocking his head to one side. "I just wish we had been smart enough to put the girls' names down so it would be easy to find them again. What if they remember and we do not? Won't they be looking for us?"
"Hmmm… perhaps you're right. If that were the case, they would recognize us the instant they saw us. We don't exactly have good disguises—the crescent moon is a readily identifiable symbol."
"So let's go look for them," suggested Artemis. Luna sighed, nodding. Then she perked up, as if an idea had just occurred to her. She began to rapid type on the computer again. "What's up?" asked Artemis eagerly.
Luna answered, "Just a second." She kept typing until a list of locations popped up on the screen. "Aha!"
"Are you going to fill me in?" inquired the impatient white cat, his ears perked with curiosity.
Luna smirked. "When I found the senshi, I recorded the location of where I first met them, in case their locations corresponded with other senshi we have yet to find. Look—I met one in a parking lot, saving me from a bunch of little boys. Then I met another one in a computer lab class. Next was the senshi from the temple. Then the next one was at the local junior high school. Sorry, Artemis, I don't have a fifth location—that must be because I wasn't the one who found Sailor Venus. You were, according to the computers."
"And I can't remember where I found her, or who she even was."
"Well, she should be relatively easy, actually. Did you miss the posters on the front of the arcade? They were all about Sailor V. She must have been really popular—maybe even the Princess we were looking for."
"Oh yeah…"
"Well, the junior high school and the temple should be easy locations to find. I didn't specify which parking lot or which computer lab I found the other two senshi, unfortunately," said Luna.
Artemis nodded. "I know where the temple is. It's only a few minutes away from here."
"Then let's go."
…..
A raven-haired girl swept the front of the temple, watching as Yuuchirou and her grandfather practiced her grandfather's idea of "wrestling." She shook her head, smiled at their silly antics.
"Hey Rei! Watch this!" shouted Yuuchirou as he pinned down her grandfather.
"No Rei! Watch this!" shouted Rei's grandfather, as he reversed Yuuchirou's hold on him, pinning the young man down.
Rei stopped her sweeping and replied, "Won't you two ever grow up?" She chuckled and resumed her sweeping. The next time she looked up, she saw two cats, one black and one white, standing at the entrance to the temple's grounds. Intrigued by their presence, she walked over to them and knelt in front of them. "My, aren't you two cute. Crescent moons and all…Strange, I feel like I've seen you before. Bah, what am I doing? Cats don't talk back."
"Actually, we do," replied Luna. She nodded to Artemis, affirming that this was probably one of the senshi they were looking for.
Rei was stunned. "Um, you do talk?"
Artemis replied, "Yes. It would perhaps be better to go inside, perhaps, if you're afraid of people thinking you're crazy. We want to ask for your help."
"Uhh….okay…" she stammered, standing up rather quickly. She headed to go inside the temple.
Her grandfather called out, "Hey watch out there, Rei, I think you have kitty stalkers!"
"I'll be fine, Grandfather," answered the young girl as she went inside.
…
"So you're telling me I am a sailor senshi?" asked Rei.
"Yes. Everything we have told you about the Princess and her guardians is true. Now the trick is to figure out perhaps which one you are. You seem rather calm, especially since you've been approached by two talking cats with an almost unbelievable story," said Luna. "Surely, perhaps, you are Sailor Moon."
"Sailor Moon?"
Artemis nodded, "Yes, the guardian of love and justice! You right wrongs and triumph over evil. You use your power to help others in their time of tribulation."
"But if I was Sailor Moon before, as you said, then why don't I remember?"
"Everyone's memories were erased when Queen Beryl was defeated," answered Luna. "Even Artemis and I don't remember which senshi was which. But I know you are a senshi—you have a very understanding spirit."
"And another thing," added Artemis. "We talked about it, and decided that from our logs, the only one who could be a Princess was Sailor Moon. The rest of the senshi were her guardians."
"Wait, you're saying…I'm a Princess?" asked a stunned Rei.
Luna replied, "I know it's a lot to take in, dear, but you have to believe us. For the sake of this world and the protection it needs, you have to believe in your destiny."
"Wow…" Rei stayed silent for a moment, taking in all that the cats had told her. It seemed to make sense to her. She was always the rational one, the one who stayed mature when others wanted to play…she had always felt there was something better for her somewhere else. "When will I remember who I am?"
"It may take some time," answered Luna.
Artemis interrupted. "But are you ready to face your destiny?"
Rei thought about it. With a determined look on her face, she nodded.
There's no turning back…