So sorry this took so long! More chapters to come! ^_^

Disclaimer: I do not own any Sailor Moon characters


Chapter 1

Serena pounded the edge of her palms into the dough roughly for the apple pie she was making for breakfast the next morning. Her hands were starting to feel a little raw and ragged from her day of toil. Her parents had always been a great pair of extra hands and a great emotional crutch. It hadn't hit her how much she needed them until this troop of royals had come in and demanded ten times the amount of food she was used to making. She didn't even have extra staff other than her brother because everyone had fled the grounds when the king had left.

So here she was, beating out her constant frustration of having to take on most of grueling work around until they could get more townspeople to come and work for the prince. Serena's eye twitched at the thought of the amount of arrogance that the prince had. Yes, he was of royal blood, but he shouldn't have deserted his peopled like he did. Then he just up and decided to come back and disrupt the way things were in the town and in the castle. There was no announcement, no whisper of a warning or anything.

"Who does he think he is?" she whispered to herself through gritted teeth.

"An entitled prick of a prince," an unfamiliar voice answered.

She looked up from her dough and found that the entrance to the kitchen was blocked by a tall blonde woman with bright blue eyes. Serena had heard that she was the wild and out of control princess named Mina. She had been engaged to the prince and from what Serena had heard through the gossip chain, Mina had ended the engagement the day before the big day because she was eyeing a high ranking soldier. There was so much turmoil within the inner circle of these royals; it sort of disgusted Serena.

She cleared her throat and bowed to the blonde princess, "Your majesty."

"What's your name?" she asked casually as she strolled into the kitchens.

"Serena, ma'am."

"What are you making there, Serena?" Mina asked, pointing to the dough out on the flour covered cutting board.

"I'm making a pie crust," she answered. "It's part of your breakfast for tomorrow."

"You prepare breakfast the night before?"

Serena kept her eye on the princess as she prowled around the kitchen like a leopard, "Well ma'am, with the number of guests that have suddenly arrived here, I need to prepare some of the food ahead of time."

"I see," she nodded. "You don't have anyone else to help you?"

"My brother Sebastian assists from time to time, but he's hard to track down. He has the stables to tend to, the land to take care of. It's a daunting task."

Mina sat down on a crate covered with a burlap sack and crossed her legs. Serena was surprised that the princess would risk getting her specially made, expensive dress dirty by sitting in a mangy kitchen like this.

"We'll have to get you some more hired help," the princess mused. "We can't have a pretty girl like you slaving away in the kitchen all day and all night."

Serena curtsied to her, "Thank you, your highness."

"It's really no trouble," she grinned. She pushed her long blonde hair behind her ear and stared intently at the servant, "So tell me more about yourself."

"What do you want to know?"

"Parents? Any other siblings aside from the one mentioned? Married?"

"My parents passed away about a year ago – bless their souls," she answered as she got back to flattening the dough with her rolling pin. "My brother is my only family and I'm not married."

Princess Mina stood up to her feet and started to saunter closer to the counter, "Really? A woman as gorgeous as you isn't married?"

"Thank you for the compliment ma'am, but no … I'm not married. My father said he would find me a suitor before he died, but as it turns out that never happened," she shrugged. "I take it as a sign that I must find a suitable match on my own."

"That's so sad…"

"It's life," she replied. After an awkward few seconds of silence, Serena asked, "What brings you all here?"

"Endymion has some grand idea that he wishes to convey to the rest of us," she answered with a nonchalant tone to her voice. "You know how he is."

"No I don't ma'am. I only know how his father is … er was. I served under his rule for most of my childhood. He was not the kindest ruler to take hold of this land."

"The king has some … issues," Mina nodded.

Serena wiped her sweat-glistening forehead with her flour dusted apron and smiled a bit, "That's a bit of an understatement."

"Well, hopefully things will change with Endymion back. He has some big plans," she stated as she started to mosey on out of the kitchen. She paused at the doorframe and turned back to Serena, "Don't be shocked if he asks to see you more often. Some how, you have intrigued him. Just warning you."

Serena furrowed her brow in curiosity and nodded to the princess as she walked out of the room for good. She sighed and took out a pie pan from a drawer down below only to stand up and find Sebastian at her side. He had been hiding in the pantry the whole time, listening to the conversation.

"What do you think she wants?" he asked.

"I haven't the slightest clue," Serena shrugged. "But whatever it is, I'm sure we'll find out soon enough."

"Do you think the prince fancies you?" he replied while picking out a slice of apple.

Serena slapped his hand as he shoved the fruit into his mouth and answered, "If he does, I'll be sure to mention that my brother needs to be taught some manners! And he needs to be put to work more!"

He rolled his eyes at her, "I get it. I get it!"

"Stop fooling around with the few maids we have left and get back to helping me!" she snapped. "I'm serious. There is real royalty here. We cannot mess up our chance for making a good impression. Keep it in your pants from now on. No scandals. Is that understood?"

He crossed his arms over his chest and said grouchily, "Yes. I get it."

"Good."

With that put passed her, she continued to roll out her crust and work ahead of schedule for the next day. She had to be on her game for the whole time that the prince was here. No slip ups. Her parents wouldn't have allowed it if they were still alive.


Mina arrived in her quarters immediately after interviewing Serena and plopped down on her bed where Ami was lying. Her glasses were pushed up against her blue eyes as she scanned over a small, leather-bound notebook. Engraved on the front of it was the name "Serena". They had created a plan to steal the servant's diary; distract her in the kitchens for a few minutes as well as ask immediate questions that could help unveil more within the journal. Mina gave Ami the task to read and take notes on the diary because she knew she would be fast. They could place the notebook back before it was even noticed that it was gone.

Mina sprawled her body out across the gold stitched duvet covers and sighed out loud, "Do you think Kunzite has given even two thoughts about me since we last saw each other?"

"The general probably has other things to worry about," Ami murmured while jotting down notes on a separate piece of parchment with a feather pen. She lifted her gaze from her work and continued, "But I'm sure that in whatever little spare time he has, his thoughts are spent on your beauty, poise, and kind personality."

"Please don't say things you don't mean Ami," she groaned as she flipped over onto her stomach and shoved her face into a spare throw pillow. "He probably has so many other wonderful suitors at his feet. I bet countless women from all over the land – no the world even – have have begged for his attention. How could they not? He's so handsome and charming."

"Mina, the more you worry about how he feels about you, the more wrinkles you'll acquire on your face," Ami said in between reading some more.

"Are you serious?" she exclaimed as she leapt up to her feet and scurried across the room to her vanity, staring at her skin.

"That's what I've heard," she mumbled. After a large pause, Ami looked up at the princess and announced, "Did you know that the servant was found on her parents' doorstep as a baby?"

Mina turned around from gazing at her reflection and pursed her lips, "So?"

"So? That means she has no origin! She could be from anywhere! Belong to anyone!"

"Ami … don't read too much into this," Mina warned her as she came back and sat down on the edge of the bed. "For all we know, some poor couple didn't have the means to take care of her and simply dropped her off at their doorstep."

"True … but I have a suspicion that it's something more than that."

"You always think it's some sort of conspiracy."

Before Ami could continue with her thoughts, there was a loud knock at the door. She stood up to answer it and found it was Prince Endymion. He had a casual disposition, but everyone could feel the tension he dragged with him. This whole mission, this whole secret task that he was going to unveil the next day was building and building.

"What'd you find out?" he asked immediately.

"What? No 'how are you'? Where are your manners your majesty?" Mina scoffed.

Endymion tilted his head to the other side and looked at Ami, "Please answer my question."

"Well … um, we discovered that she's not married, she only has one sibling, um … and she works in the kitchens," she said as a small blush filtered through her cheeks.

"And she could use some extra help," Mina mumbled as she played with her golden strands idly.

"That's it? Anything else?" he pressed.

"Her parents died recently," she continued. "About a year ago."

He nodded to the newly acquired information and then backed out of the room announcing, "Meeting in my room tomorrow morning at nine am sharp."

Mina leapt up from her bed and sprinted to the door way, hollering after him, "Is Kunzite going to be there?"

Endymion, continuing to walk backwards down the hallway, simply grinned, "Come and find out for yourself."

Mina stomped her foot in frustration and slammed her door shut in his face. Endymion was so infuriating! He was definitely the brother that her parents never wanted.


The next morning…

Endymion paced back and forth while waiting for the rest of the group to show up. Mina, Ami, Jadeite, Rei, Zoisite, Nephrite, and Lita were all present in his den as requested. The only one who hadn't shown up yet was Kunzite. At half past nine, he finally arrived, still in his sweaty, dirty riding clothes from his morning horse ride. Mina did her best to not look at him intensely, but it was difficult. Her feelings for him were growing by the day; it was hard to contain them at this point.

"Now that Kunzite has graced us with his presence, we can get started," Endymion stated sternly as he leaned against his large desk.

He gestured for Zoisite to unravel the large piece of parchment that he was carrying under his arm. With the help of Jadeite and Nephrite, he was able to lay it out over the large Oriental rug that covered most, if not all, of the room. They placed stone paper weights on the corners so that it didn't curl up. On this large, thick cut out was a lot of writing around what looked like a shining sliver of a moon in the middle. Silence fell over the group as the stared at this discovery before them.

"What is this?" Lita asked.

"This is the golden prophecy," Endymion answered. "This is what killed my family."

"Killed your family?" Ami repeated with wide eyes.

Jadeite knelt down on his knees and gazed over the illustrations and scribble, "His … the prince's present has completely come true."

"What does this all say?" Nephrite asked as he glared at the scribble on the ground. "This is an ancient tongue that none of us can read!"

"'A young child of the golden era will be born and stolen'," Jadeite read aloud.

"There are reports of a baby princess being stolen from the kingdom, this kingdom, that my father acquired," Endymion chimed in.

"'She is the key to peace and happiness. With the Silver Imperial Crystal to guide her, she will bring light back to a desolate kingdom. Death and destruction will only come naturally during her reign and there will be no more man-made devastation'," Jadeite finished up. "'Bringing forth the powers of earth, fire, water, and love from her servants, she will save those around her.' So she is the person that everyone will be after. Kingdoms from all across the land will want to use her power for their own benefit."

"Did your father ever find out about this princess?" Ami asked.

"I believe so. I think he was behind the kidnapping that happened over twenty years ago," he stated.

"I can see why he would jump to such hasty tasks," Jadeite replied without tearing his eyes away from the prophecy. He scanned his finger across some of the writing and read it to the room, "'This young one born on the first full moon of the new millennium will be the demise of the old and the creator of the new.' So his kingdom, along with those around her, would either fall or be rebuilt."

"My father is one to keep to his ways and his ways only. He is a stubborn man," he informed them all. "He would go to great lengths to keep his kingdom run the way he wants."

"Why hasn't he approached you about this? Surely he knows that you have the prophecy," Jadeite commented.

"Even if he does, there's not a whole lot he can do. I'm his son, his last remaining heir. If he kills me or does anything to me, there will be a absolute chaos. He wouldn't be able to handle it," he shrugged.

Nephrite crossed his arms, "Wait a minute, I thought you said this was about Endymion."

"Right here." Jadeite pointed to one side of the curling prophecy, "At the fall of one kingdom, another arises with dark blood and a royal head amiss.' When King Cepheus came to this land, he drained it of all of its natural resources."

"And the part about the royal head?" Nephrite grinned.

"Don't play the fool!" Zoisite snapped, immediately coming to his master's defense. "You know that is a line about his mother being tried for treason."

"How is that supposed to predict his ultimate present state?" Nephrite exclaimed. "This is so general!"

"And where is this crystal?" Mina pried.

"It does not say," Jadeite sighed.

"So in other words, there is some great goddess who is supposed to save all of us with some crystal and we are supposed to find her?" Lita summed up.

"That is what it sounds like, darling," Nephrite nodded.

"Are there any other clues? This is the vaguest piece of information I think I have ever received," she laughed.

"This is why I asked lady Rei to join us," Endymion said, gesturing to the dark haired maiden.

She took a deep breath and exhaled, "The greatest prophecies are the ones that have you searching for more."

She knelt down next to Jadeite and grasped onto his hand for support. No one in the room had seen her when she went into a meditative state. She probably should have warned them all, but she figured there was no time to explain. She crossed her legs, took a red crystal out of her sleeve and placed it in front of her. Rei closed her violet colored eyes and started to take very, very deep breaths. As she did this, the crystal started to lift up right and stand on one of its points as if it was being held by a chain. It moved slowly across the room and stood right on top of the drawing of the crescent moon. The color suddenly started to drain from the crystal and spilled out across the parchment. Rei's eyes flashed open; she looked possessed.

"Blood will spill all over this land," she said in a deep voice as more writing began to appear underneath the red liquid that came from the crystal. "The prophesized crystal … the clues to the prophesized crystal are written in … this castle. Everything is here… we just need to find it." She looked up at the rest of them and sighed with a disgruntled tone.

"I have investigators searching every inch of this castle," Endymion informed her and the rest of the group. "Please do not be alarmed."

"What if your father threw away any possible evidence ?" Mina asked.

"It's here," Rei stated. "I can feel it."

"I will believe it when I see it," Kunzite said finally, his deep voice cutting through the tension like a knife. Everyone turned to look at him except for Endymion. "Since you seem to have concocted this whole plan, will you let me know when you have found any real news."

He started to walk out of the room, but right as he stepped beside Endymion he was held back by a gripping hand. He looked at the prince and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I do have a hunch," he said with an arched eyebrow.

"And?" Kunzite inquired.

"Who is the one person who has been here since the fall of the kingdom?"

Nobody spoke for a moment and then suddenly Ami's voice squeaked out excitedly, "That Serena girl."

"The kitchen maid? The one I interviewed?"

"Poorly… the one you interviewed poorly, you mean," Endymion corrected her. "You didn't find out any information that I didn't already know." He let go of Kunzite's shoulder and shoved him lightly toward Mina who simply blushed and stepped to the side. The prince placed his hands on his hips and stomped his foot at the head of the large prophecy that had consumed his life. He started to spin around slowly, gazing into each of their eyes, "I brought you all here because I need your help. You have all accepted this task because you will get something out of this."

"Oh really?" Lita replied.

"You and your husband are craving action. You need to fight one more big battle in order to be happy. That last battle to put you up on a pedestal and take your names down in history. Do not tell me this hasn't crossed your mind," he smiled. The couple simply grouped together and leaned into one another.

When Endymion caught Mina's blue eyes, he shook his head with a narrowed gaze, "You really don't want me to—"

"No, no," she interrupted, lifting her shaky hands up in protest.

She didn't need to have him explain her reason for being here. The fact was, she was pretty useless to the group for right now. Her only objective was to have a husband under her belt and if anyone got wind that she was hunting down the honorable General Kunzite, that would be the end of it all. It may had seemed like she was constantly gushing over him, but that was always behind lavish closed doors. She kept a solid front when out and about with royal officials like her parents or the prime minister. Everyone was expecting her to make the right decision and the right decision would only come to fruition if there was this said war. If Kunzite led this war alongside Nephrite and Endymion … well it would be the talk of the country – no, the world. And she would be the one to snatch him up at the right moment … she just had to.

"Are you seriously going to sit there and list all of our goals attached to this prophecy?" Rei asked.

"I don't know. You tell me. You're the fortune teller," he shrugged.

Rei took hold of the crystal and as soon as she did, the red liquid was sucked back up into it. She rolled her hands up into fists and stood on her feet. She took her place beside Jadeite and kept her weight positioned evenly on both feet. Her goal at the end of this road was find her purpose in life. Why did she have this gifted curse? What was the point? And of course the prince knew this already, otherwise he wouldn't have been giving her that sly look.

"Listen," he continued, "you all have an objective, but in order to get to that goal, you have to get through me."

He let out a large sigh and slouched his shoulders. He wafted his hands in the air and said to everyone, "We will pick this up later. You can all leave … except for Ami, Mina and Zoisite."

The room was left to the foursome. He looked at Mina and winked, "This plan will kill two birds with one stone for you. Find Sebastian, Serena's brother, and flirt with him. Flirt with him wickedly. Get any and all information about his sister that you can possibly find."

"And how is this killing two birds with one stone?" she replied.

"Flirting with him will get Kunzite's attention. Trust me." He walked around to sit at his desk and then went on with his plan, "Zoisite, Ami, I want historical documents of what happened to that baby. I've only heard rumors. Get me everything you possibly can. I also want birth records of Serena and Sebastian. There's a link here … we have to find it."

The two nodded and walked out of the room. Before they could exit completely, Endymion hollered, "Don't leave anything out. I don't care if it incriminates the people here or people elsewhere."

After a few minutes of being alone, he stood up and poured himself a drink. He started to walk around the large room and examined the prophecy that everyone had been after. It didn't say much, but it said just enough for them to start investigating. Endymion studied the work and the papers on his desk for about two hours until he found himself distracted by the prophecy all over again. He tilted his head, keeping his eyes glued to the unrolled parchment as he backed up toward his door. He told the page that stood outside his door to get him Serena. While circling the piece of work, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," he bellowed.

Serena walked in quietly, keeping her hands clasped behind her back. Her eyes widened a little bit when they caught sight of the big piece of thick paper that covered the room practically like a rug. The writing and the imagery curling around the edges of it was intoxicating. She couldn't keep her eyes off of it. Even when Endymion said her name she didn't remove her deep blue eyes from it.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" he gestured.

"Yes, it is," she whispered. "What is it?"

Before he could answer, there was a knock at his door again. He sighed and opened it up to find a small stack of papers shoved into his face from Zoisite.

"That was fast," Endymion smiled widely.

"I head from a servant that she was in there with you … I thought these could be of some use to you," he replied. The expression on his face was intriguing.

"Thank you," he nodded.

The prince waltzed back into the den and started to flip through the pages of documents. There were certain parts that had been marked up so that he would read it immediately. Serena finally looked up from the prophecy and asked demurely, "You wanted to see me, sire?"

"Yes …. Yes I did," he murmured as his eyes frantically scanned the papers in his hand. He pointed to the chair across from his desk, "Have a seat miss…uh…"

"Serena," she finished for him.

"No, I know," he said, tearing his eyes away from the documents, "but what's your last name?"

"Why does that matter?"

"There are no documents of your birth, Ms. Serena," he stated.

"So?"

"There are papers of your brother's birth. The midwife measured him, weighed him, and wrote down your mother's physical state. This midwife did no such thing for you though," he informed her.

"A-are you investigating me?" she stammered.

"I do this with all my staff," he insisted. "I like to know their full background." He paused a moment and pulled out a page from the pile he had received. He tossed it to her after scanning it over a bit, "This is a statement given to my father by your parents."

She looked over it briefly with her dirt crusted hands and shook her head, "So what? I was found on their doorstep."

"And the date?"

"My birthday, October 23rd," she said, shaking her head in confusion and tossing the paper back to him. "Why are you so curious about this?"

"That's the same night a young princess was stolen from her crib. She was hailed to be the answer to everyone's prayers … well, almost everyone. My father saw her as a threat to his legacy," he explained. She merely responded by wrinkling her forehead with interest. Endymion smiled and continued to describe the situation, "That same night, my father tore up that very prophecy you see on the floor and sent it to the far reaches of the earth."

"What is the connection here?"

"You," he answered as-a-matter-of-factly. "You are the connection."

"You think I'm this missing …" Serena couldn't even finish the sentence. She stood up on her feet and waved her hands around in the air, "No, no, no! This is ridiculous!"

"Serena—"

"Stop it!" she snapped. She took a deep breath and wiped her clammy hands on her work apron. She looked back up at Endymion and said with a shaky tone, "I-I am sorry your majesty … I … I need to get back to work. I have to prep dinner."

"That's not for another eight hours. You can stay."

"I don't have a lot of help," she exhaled.

"That can change," he replied. "I'll get you more help today. I'll get the best this land can offer, but only if you listen to me."

"Is that your strategy? Get more hired help so you can have me all to yourself?" she questioned.

"I … no. Do not take it like this," he replied. Endymion took a few short breaths and then stood up to his feet. He walked around his desk and grabbed his cloak. "Come. Follow me. I have something to show you."

Serena clenched her jaw and tilted her head in confusion. She didn't understand where this was going and as far as she was concerned, this was just a ploy to get her to a secluded area so he could have his way with her. She was a little bit scared and definitely on her guard. She always kept a small dagger with her in her apron pockets at all times. She shoved her hand in and clenched the metal tightly for reassurance of her security. She was not going to be taken advantage of by this snobbish prince who decided to roll in for some unexplained reason. Prophecies, princesses … it all seemed like one giant hoax.

"Come on, let's go," Endymion ordered.

She followed him unwillingly, but with an air of curiosity. What did he want to show her exactly?


Find out what the prince is going to show her in the next chapter! The prophecy will continue to unravel! Please review! ^_^