Chapter 1: New Beginnings

In her temple, Rei's eyes snapped open, bringing her back to reality. Looking at the fire once more she shakes her head in utter disbelief.
*It's impossible*
She walks slowly down the hall to her room where her friends are waiting for her, shaking her head the entire time. As soon as she enters the room, all conversation stops, leaving Rei the only one mumbling to herself.
"What's the matter Rei? What did you see in the fire?"
*Should I tell them the truth*
Not answering for a second, Serena looks at her in confusion.
"Come on Rei. Tell us what you saw. I want to finish this so that we can eat some of this yummy cake that Lita prepared."
*Oh Serena, this could be bad for you. No this is bad for you and all you can think about is cake*
Rei slowly turned around to face her friends, and sighed in resignation.
"I think we should get Darien over here for this. He needs to know."
Everyone stared at her in confused disbelief, not knowing what to think. It was a rare moment when Rei would turn to Darien for help.
"Rei-san, what do you mean by that?"
Serena stared at Rei with wide eyes, not understanding.
"You guys, this may sound ridiculous, but I believe that it's true...No, I know that it is true. Girls he is back..."
Shock ripped through the girls as this thought settled into their heads. All the girls look at Serena, who had dealt with him before and almost lost, as she starts to shake her head no.
"It's impossible. He is supposed to be dead."
Trembling slightly, she bit down on her lower lip until she drew blood. Gasping at the slight pain she glanced around at her fellow scouts/guardians until she met up with Rei's eye. Never looking away from the girl's glare she sighed.
"You are right Rei. He is back. I should have realized it earlier."
*I have known this fact all along...Just my mind doesn't want to comprehend it*
The others turned towards Rei, who had finally broken their eye communication.
"What should we do Rei? We need to protect our princess."
*Pray*
"The best thing for us to do now Mina is to get Darien. Maybe with all of our powers we can create wards for out protection."
*It is my only hope that he remains away until we are finished*
"Yes. Artemis Luna...You guys go get Darien. Don't tell him everything right now. Just say that it is a scout emergency."
"Hai."
With that, the two guardian cats darted away quickly, eager to complete their mission before it was too late.
"What should we do while we wait Rei?"
"I am going to go read the fire again to see if I can locate him. The best thing for you guys to do is pray."
*And pray fervently*
As she started to walk off, she remembered something and turned around quickly.
"Oh Lita, can you come get me when Darien arrives?"
"Yes Rei."
Rei gathered up the bottom of her robes off the floor and made a mad dash for the prayer room. Running down the hall with her hair whipping behind her a look of panic crosses her face.
*Oh god, please let Darien get here quickly...Maybe I should have told them the entire truth...No, it would have scared Serena more then me, and we need our princess to remain as calm as possible*