WOO-HOO! I'm SO happy because this is the very first time I ever publish one of my stories.

-jumps and dances around drawing everybody's attention-

-blushes-

O----k, back to business.

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon, it belongs to Naoko Takeuchi, I only borrowed them for my own crazy pleasure. However, I DID wished I owned Tuxedo Kamen. Imagine all the fun we'd have... -drools over a pic of him-

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Battling Demons

Prologue

Serena was quietly watching the sunset from her balcony. No matter how many times she watched she couldn't grow bored of it. It was just breathtaking! The horizon looked as if it was on fire. Shades of orange, yellow and red mixed with the dark blue of the night sky. The soft evening breeze caressed her silk dress against her bare skin. She felt she was in a trance during every sunset and sunrise. It was one of those rare moments when she didn't feel the pain of not having her parents near her. She didn't feel the pressure of being the future queen. Slowly the darkness was consuming the light, bringing the stars and the two moons.

Hilda was a small planet far from the Milky Way. It had some things in common with the Earth though. The way the days, months and years were divided was the same as well as the appearance of the people. Compared to Earth, Hilda had a lower level of technology. This was due to people being too much connected with religion. Through religion and lack of education, the government could control the people as they pleased.

Hilda was divided in five continents: Io, Mokos, Isa, Agni and Hurakan. Each continent had a different kind of government, culture and religion. They were almost totally independent from each other, only doing business when absolutely necessary. The leaders were polite and gentle to each other, showing a peaceful relationship. However, the people didn't know that was only façade, that their leaders had other plans. More wicked plans, if you know what I mean.

Princess Serena sat on her bed lost in her thoughts. It was just a week before her 21st birthday when she would finally become queen. She really didn't know how to rule a kingdom. She had hardly ever left the castle, and when she did she disguised herself and spent nothing more than three hours in the city's streets. Not that she enjoyed walking in those dirty and filled-with-people streets, quite the opposite.

The world outside was unknown to her and she wanted to see it before she became queen. How was she supposed to rule properly if she didn't even know her lands, what her people needed and how they lived? How would she help them? She wished her parents were with her, they'd guide and comfort her. For the hundredth time she thought how her life would be like if her parents were still alive. They died when she was four. Serena used to wake her parents up nearly everyday, and that morning was no different. She went to her parent's chambers and jumped happily on their bed, but they didn't wake up. She shook them but got no response. Tears started to fall down her cheeks and she ran to get help. One of the maids saw her crying and asked what had happened. The little princess didn't say a word; she just took one of the maid's hands and pulled her to the chambers. As soon as the maid saw the king and the queen the pieces were pulled together and she ran to see if they still breathed. She couldn't hold the tears when she realized they were dead. How they died remained unknown.

After the death of both the queen and the king, the High Council had to choose a temporary ruler. Asura was chosen. He was queen Serenity's younger brother and the only person who had royal blood and could legally rule. He was twenty-one when he was assigned to the throne. Despite what most people thought, he was a fine looking man even after sixteen years. He had silver hair and blue eyes just like his sister, he was tall and his voice was calm but, at the same time, it had such a powerfulness that made people do exactly what he said. Whoever saw queen Serenity and Asura together thought they were twins.

Something about Asura made Serena hold back when she was with him. Her sixth sense told her to be careful because something was wrong, something didn't feel right. She investigated but found nothing, and then decided to push those thoughts to the back of her mind. Maybe she was just overreacting because of all the pressure.

She sighed and opened the top drawer of her bedside table. From there she took a photo of three people. She had found it during one of her rare 'trips' to the palace garden. The wind was quite strong and she saw a piece of paper coming in her direction, she took it and saw it was actually a picture. On the left was a light-brown haired man, his arm was around a dark-brown haired woman. They were both smiling. On the right side stood a dark haired man with his arms crossed and an annoyed look. Serena smiled and caressed a finger on the dark haired man's face. He was so handsome. He had deep blue eyes, was tall and his dark suit fit his body perfectly. 'And what body!' Serena thought, 'I imagine what's hidden under that suit...' she had to blush at her own boldness.

The future queen was so focused on the picture that she didn't realize when someone sneaked in her chambers. Then she felt it.

Pain.

Someone had knocked her on the neck. She felt dizzy and couldn't focus. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head and she was welcomed by darkness.

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"Where's Serena?" a blonde haired woman asked to no one in particular. Her curious blue eyes were scanning the place, searching for any sight of her princess.

"How the hell are we supposed to know, Mina?" a dark haired woman angrily answered.

"Well, I thought you were the ALMIGHTY and POWERFUL priest, who could see everything she pleased. Isn't that right, Rei?" Mina asked sarcastically.

"I CAN see things, but it doesn't work so easily like you think nor can I see whenever and wherever I want. Oh, never mind! I won't waste my time trying to explain this to you. You're hopeless!"

"WHAT did you call me?" once again they were fighting like the children they were. Not even one day passed without Mina and Rei arguing. It had become a kind of strange habit to hear them insulting and, sometimes, almost hitting each other. Like the other girls said: the day was not complete without their argument.

"Enough you two!" the tallest of the group spoke and shook her head, her brown hair gracefully following her movement.

"Lita, I'm worried about her. I think we should see if she's all right." the blue haired one said thoughtfully. Something was wrong, she could feel it. They had been waiting for almost an hour. Serena used to arrived fifteen or thirty minutes later, but not an hour!

"You're right Ami. Let's go!"

Ami, Rei, Lita and Mina were Serena's guardians and, above all, friends. They were called "Sailor Soldiers" due to their sailor-like outfit.

Ami was Sailor Mercury, the soldier of intelligence. She was very shy and preferred to discuss things before acting. Because of her amazing intelligence people always thought she was superior and didn't want to talk to her, she was always left aside. But with the help of her friends she learned to be more confident and to loosen up, though she still had a long way to go.

Rei was Sailor Mars, the soldier of flame. 'Inner strength' were two words that defined Rei perfectly. She was calm, mature and despised men for some unknown reason. Maybe she didn't like the idea of depending on someone of the opposite sex or maybe she had suffered because of them. The girls never talked to her about that because though she hardly ever lost her patience, when she did it was very scary.

Lita was Sailor Jupiter, the soldier of thunder. She was the opposite of Ami, she hit first and asked questions later. She was the tallest and most impulsive of them all. Her skills in combat and cooking were just the best. Lita loved cooking to other people and hear them say how wonderful her food was. Though she looked a tough girl, she was really sweet.

Mina was Sailor Venus, the soldier of love. She was pretty friendly and playful with everybody around her. Being the first one to become a Sailor Soldier she was, obviously, the leader. Mina spoke from her heart and that sometimes annoyed people, but she had such a cute and soft way that someone couldn't possibly be angry with her for long.

They made their way to the princess' chambers and knocked on the door.

No answer.

They knocked again and again, but no one answered. Lita opened the door, "Serena!" she said while giving a quick look around. They searched in the bathroom and in the closet, but she was nowhere to be seen.

After looking in the entire palace they decided to talk to Asura. The princess' guardians hastily explained the situation to him. They were desperate and worried to death.

"First you have to calm down," Asura said, "then you'll go try to find the princess."

"But how? We have no idea where she is!" Rei exclaimed, visibly the most nervous of them all.

"Each one of you will go to a different continent and try to find any clue, any clue at all." He said in his usual calm and soft tone, "Mina, you'll go to the Mokos continent. Ami'll go to Isa, Rei to Agni and Lita to Hurakan."

"Wait!" Mina said, "Just us? You must be joking 'cause those continents aren't small, we'll need help."

"No, I'm not joking, Venus." He looked at her with such cold eyes that all her protests and arguments slipped away from her. "No one shall know about the princess' disappearance. We don't know how the people would react, that's why you're going to work on your own." Asura was the kind of person who never thought with his heart, he was very practical. In the most critical times you could count on him to be the voice of reason, maybe because he didn't show any expression beyond his usual coolness. Sometimes the girls had to wonder if he really had a heart beating under his chest. "Well, about the Io continent, as it's the biggest of them all, I'll send the other four guardians to search here. You may leave as soon as you're ready."

They all nodded and quickly headed to their chambers to pack their things and leave immediately.

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A purplish-haired woman, with a golden crescent moon on its head, sneaked in the princess' chamber to confirm what she had already heard.

The princess had disappeared.

"It's all my fault!" The woman thought aloud, "I'm sorry princess, I've failed..." Soft tears ran down her cheeks. She tried to stop them but it just got worse.

Luna was princess Serena's loyal counsellor and friend. Actually, the princess had one more counsellor: his name was Artemis. While Luna was wise and calm, Artemis was playful and cheerful, just like Mina. It was no surprise that Mina and Artemis got along so well.

After the king and queen died, Luna thought she had to protect the princess from everyone and everything at all costs. So she kept Serena inside the castle as much as possible, not realizing that it hurt Serena more than helped. When she heard the guardians saying that the princess had disappeared she felt her heart sink in sadness. She should have been there for her. She should have protected her. It was her responsibility. Her fault.

From the balcony Luna could see the guardians leaving the castle.

"Good luck on your journey. May the Sun guide your paths and the Moon give you strength." she whispered as if it was a prayer, a prayer she hoped would reach them and bring them back safe and sound. All of them.

Then an idea hit her. Maybe she could help them, even if it was from afar. First she needed to talk to that stupid Artemis, she would need his help. After all, he had to be useful for something. She wanted to know why that had happened, she had a hunch, but she wanted to make sure.

However, Luna didn't know the game of intrigues, secrets and madness that she and everybody else had been thrown at. The wheels of destiny were moving, slowly now, but soon they'd be in an unbelievably fast pace, crazily changing the life of everybody involved, forever and ever. It was the beginning of the end, but, maybe, there was hope. A small flame of hope that, in wise hands, could grow enough to turn the tables.

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Well, hope you enjoyed the prologue and if you want leave me a review, but no flames, OK? I'd be really glad if you did, but if you don't wanna to... what can I do, ya? It's not like I can torture you to do so... or maybe I can... -evil laugh-