"I've found Venus. We're on our way to the states now to regroup with you. Its just…."

Artemis knocked his head gently against the wall behind the pay phone. He was having a hard time keeping his mouth shut about Mina's plans for the princess once they had found her. If he told Luna that she was intending on murdering the mystery girl there is no way they would receive any more help. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place. He didn't even know who trust anymore, as both Luna and Mina made good points. His only option was to let things play out a bit and, when push came to shove, do what his heart told him. That's what Serenity had always said.

Trust in yourself…

"I feel terrible about this. When I found her she just looked so happy. I can't remember a single time she smiled like that when she served as Serenity's first knight. Do you know what it's like to tell a teenage girl that she has to sacrifice her life once more for the sake of a world she hasn't experienced? If the queen really wanted to save them, why are we doing this to them?"

The sweet but critical voice of Luna called out to him from the other side of the conversation.

"We have no choice. The storms are growing worse. I tried putting this off as long as I could, but you can feel what's coming just as I can. Whatever Queen Serenity did wasn't enough to destroy Chaos."

"If that's the case, if the queen failed, then what chance do we have without her power? I don't understand why this is happening!"

"I don't know either, but I won't just lay down and die. It's no mere coincidence that we were reborn at this time. And we know that the others have been reincarnated on this earth as well. She must have had a plan. You weren't there for the final battle, Artemis. Her daughter was killed right in front of her by that witch Beryl."

Artemis felt a chill go up his spine at the mere mention of the name.

"Beryl… Why would the high priestess of the Earth suddenly turn into such a cruel monster. It doesn't make any sense."

"It was not the same Beryl you and I had come to know as a spiritual leader to that planet. She had been warped into some kind of demonic host. Serenity was filled with such grief and pain that she could not think straight. Before she sacrificed herself she promised to send us all to a peaceful future, free of the nightmares that surrounded us. I don't know what went wrong, Artemis. All we can do is prepare for the worst, and you know just as well as I do that the worst is coming."

Artemis looked out towards the cloudy skies. He could feel it too. The devourer was still out there, somewhere, searching for the crystal. Once it had a target it would destroy everything in its path, just as it almost did a thousand years ago. There was no time to question.

"We'll be there soon. But there is something I need to tell you. Venus isn't like she used to be." he said.

He was struggling with the decision to tell Luna what was going on. He found it hard to keep secrets from someone he cared about so deeply.

"About the princess… Venus…"

"I have to go. I've found her."

"Her? You mean--" he started to say before the click of the phone alerted him to the fact that she had already hung up. If she had indeed found her then what she was saying all along was true. The knights had all been reborn at the same time. This wasn't blind luck. Fate was transpiring to bring them all together once again.

He and Luna were becoming fate's lackeys.

The flight was going to be hours long. She could just feel the ghosts of the past laughing at her as she once again gave up her independence and flew blindly towards a bloody destiny. But for Mina, former royal guard of the Moon Kingdom and heir to it's undying curse, this was no mere mission. This was not another heroic moment in time. This was means to an end. More significant to the history of the universe, this was spitting right in the face of destiny.

She had been told as much as Artemis could remember. She had no memory of it herself. He could be a crazy person for all she knew. But she felt truth in his words and a sense of peace in her soul that she had never felt before. She had a suspicion that something in her life was amiss, but could never figure it out for herself. She thought she was just a dumb fifteen year old girl who was having that whole teenage confusion thing. Who could have guessed that she was fated to be the past's assassin?

She couldn't understand this curse. She had died once, hadn't she? If this was her second chance at a normal life, why wasn't she given the option? It made no sense.

Rhyme and reason made no difference anymore. The world would end. This city would crumble. It was time to leave this place behind her.

Still, as she stared out the window of the terminal at her home, she couldn't help but feel nostalgic. The good times surely outweighed the bad, and she would always leave a part of herself in England. It was the part of her that was still free. That free girl, spinning around carelessly in her school uniform, would be a ghost amongst the shadows of England.

An unwanted guest had spotted her and made his way towards the girl. The sight of a mini skirt and thigh high socks was too much for him to ignore. Casanova strutted towards Mina, who continued to stare solemnly out towards freedom.

"Hey there. You look down. I was wondering if--"

"Sod off." Mina said, cutting him off.

"No need to be rash, love. I just hate seeing a pretty girl--"

"What part of sod off did you not catch, nonce?"

"Filthy little bint, who do you think you're talking to!?!?" he said angrily as he grabbed Mina by her shoulder.

Before she even had the chance to shove her knee directly towards his crotch she was "saved" by her knight in shining white leather, Artemis. In one fell swoop he grabbed the jackasses arm, punched him in the side, and tossed him to the ground.

"Not very chivalrous, friend. Be a sport and go sleep it off somewhere. I'm far more forgiving than she is." he said, nodding towards the blonde girl that had never taken her eyes off of the window.

The man on the floor, red faced and humiliated, opted to not try his luck on this particular day. He picked himself up, muttered some kind of insult towards the duo, and made his way to a different section of the airport.

"Nice work. You want to get the rotters after us?"

Artemis sat down next to her and joined in her window watching.

"Please, for my sake. Less British slang. It's like I need a damn subtitle and translator option when I'm talking to you sometimes."

Mina nodded.

"Wasn't my choice to be born here. Doesn't seem like I have a lot of choices these days. But, if possible, I'd rather not find myself in jail today for roughing up some div."

Artemis shook his head.

"I was just protecting you. That's why I was reborn, remember?"

Mina could feel the tears starting to well up. Sometimes it was the smallest phrases that hurt you the most.

"Well you suck at your job," she said as she walked away to some lonesome corner of the airport to wait out the remaining time till their plane boarded alone.

Artemis sunk in his seat. This was becoming more and more painful. He asked himself if all of the girls were going to be like this? Mina was scared, bitter, and resentful of her destiny. And truth be told, she had every right to be. How do you tell a free spirited little girl that she's to go fight and die because of loyalties forged on a different planet a thousand years ago?

He hoped Luna was having better luck finding the others.

Little did he know just what kind of trouble she was in for when she did.

Inside a seemingly black void a voice called out in solitude, hoping to grasp hold of someone, anyone, to listen to it's plight.

The voiced belonged to the beautiful queen of darkness and former exalted priestess of the earth. Somewhere in that isolated hell she now called home, a voice called back to her.

"She was powerless to stop us and unable to destroy us. Serenity has failed. Your time has finally come"

Beryl stood up from her rotting throne, looking for the source of the voice. It was the same voice that had convinced her to attack the moon. It was the exact same voice that told her to take revenge for the wrongs that were committed against her. She blamed that voice just as much as she blamed that damned queen of the white moon for her imprisonment in hell.

It was a voice she could not fight. A voice she could resist. She was a slave to it's will.

"Majesty… Why do you call me that? Metallia… Look around you. Look at what has become of the Earth kingdom. A forgotten relic littered with the ghosts of people who put their trust in me. It's because of you that my people have suffered so much."

"You're wrong. It was you who thirsted for revenge. It was you that gave the orders. It was you that choked the life out of that girl that stole your only happiness!"

"Serenity…."

"Yes. Serenity. You must forget that name. The Serenity you knew is dead. Her empire has fallen and she has long decomposed on that cold moon that has become her tomb. But you must find her daughter, the thief, the whore that stole your love. She has been reborn on the planet you once called your own and someday she will be their new queen."

"Impossible! How can you know such things?"

"I see everything. The past, the present, and the future. I am the beginning and the endYou must believe in my words."

Beryl laughed. There was nothing that was even remotely funny, however. Her laugh was a painful one, a sound carved from a thousand years of isolation and self inflicted torment.

"Is this a part of your grand vision? Wasting away in darkness? Is this what I gave up my humanity for? You promised me what my heart desired most., yet all I have to show for it is a crumbling kingdom and a court of monsters. Why should I believe anything you tell me?"

"Because you are nothing without my power. Before I came you were a mindless drone with no strength or will. You were a pathetic woman that couldn't even keep the interest of a single man"

Beryl clenched her fist tightly. Those words sliced through her like the world's sharpest sword.

"With my help you will become a God"

The queen of darkness stared into the void that surrounded her. She had to fight back the tears that she knew Metallia had already sensed. She thought to herself-"How did it come to this?" It was a question she had analyzed for hundreds of years. In a moment of weakness, when she felt as powerless and lonely as anyone had ever been, she made the mistake a million life times.

She had made a pact with the Devil itself.

"I could have lived a good life and died an honorable death. If I hadn't been so blind before… I know now, creature. Immortality is a desire of demons. I do not wish to be a God."

"You don't have a choice."

"Try to convince me all you want. I know that your powers are growing weak. You won't be able to control me much longer."

"You are a fool, Beryl. You always were, and you always will be. You are nothing but a shell. Soon I will no longer need your filthy body and I will shed you like a snake does it's skin."

Beryl felt what seemed like a sharp slice inside of her chest. It was happening again.

"I…will…stop you…" she managed to spit out through the pain.

The voice laughed maniacally throughout the darkness. It was a deep, distorted, disturbing sound that could shatter diamonds and implode ear drums. The unseen rocks that lined the darkness crumbled and fell as pebbles around the girl as she fought to maintain her essence. It was no use. She wasn't strong enough to keep the darkness away before, she could not prevent its presence now.

"You are my puppet. And I grow tired of your crying."

Beryl's eyes began to glow white as blood started to pour from the sockets. She let out a bloodcurdling scream of agony and fell to her knees. She struggled to control the monster that was taking over her very form but a thousand years of being trapped inside this black void had made her weak, both spiritually and physically. She had no choice but to succumb to the darkness that she had sold her soul to so long ago.

"Serenity!" she screamed out as she fell to the floor, a bloody pathetic puppet.

Beryl stared upwards into nothing. Her head was pounding. Her vision, already clouded by the black room, grew darker and darker as she slipped away. Pain shot through her body, as if someone were hammering every inch of her with a mallet. Her heart felt like it was going to explode. Her very blood boiled inside of her own body. It was an unimaginable pain. It had been like this for a thousand years and every time it happened she felt another part of herself die. She wasn't sure how much longer she had left. She would have another chance to devise a plan once the Metallia's life energy diminished once more. Until then, she had no choice but to watch everything from a corner in her own tormented mind.

The doors to the so called throne room burst open and Jadeite, the youngest of the four horsemen of the Dark Kingdom, rushed in. The doors remained open at enough of an angle to let what little light illuminated the castle outside to flood in. In the dim room Jadeite found Beryl lying on the floor motionless. He rushed to her side and nudged her shoulder with his arm to wake her up. Today he would learn another item to place on his "do not do" list.

Without warning Beryl knocked Jadeite back with enough foce in her blow to send him flying back at least thirty feet. She stood up, her eyes glowing even brighter through the blood that poured over them and down to the ground, and screamed at him with such a loud powerful voice that the room itself shook.

"DO NOT TOUCH ME!"

" I'm sorry highness… Your scream alarmed us all. We were afraid something had--" he said as he climbed back to his feet.

"Fear is for the weak, insect. I have no need for your concern."

The general watched in fear as the blood seemed to suck right back into the queen's eye sockets and her bright eyes faded to what could be considered a normal glow for her.

Jadeite was a pro at humbling himself before the queen. Some called him a coward, others called him an opportunist. He considered himself a mastermind. Of all the generals that made up Beryl's horsemen he was the most calculated and less likely to let his emotions get the best of him. That made him invaluable in a war fought over something as petty and insignificant as love. His only weakness was his fear of the powerful entity they called Beryl.

"Accept my apologies my queen. I didn't mean to step out of place."

The queen of darkness practically glided across the floor to sit back in her throne. She closed her eyes and summoned an orb out of thin air. It crackled with electricity as images began to form out of the purple clouds that swirled to and fro inside of it. They were images of a far away place, a place she could not go as the years of imprisonment had made the demon far too weak to cross the void that separated our dimension from hers.

Serenity could not seal her away forever, but that wretched woman had caused her more trouble than she could have ever imagined.

"Servant of Chaos, go to Earth and gather energy so that our savior may come and cleanse this earth of the filth that has wasted it. Do so, and we will take back our planet and escape from this hell. But be wary… The reincarnations of those damned warriors are on the planet now as well. The princess herself is alive once more. While you are gathering energy for our lord, I want you to find the child and slaughter her. Slaughter them all."

Jadeite kneeled before his queen.

"Yes, highness. But how will I find them?"

The queen stared into her orb. The electricity began to intensify as it spread from around the crystal to the woman herself. Cracks of thunder broke the dead silence as bolts of lightning shot back and forth between the two.

"The silver crystal's aura grows stronger and stronger on that planet. Those little girls may already be awakening. There are strange energy levels in parts of the world that seem to be coming together in one place. The wheels of destiny are beginning to turn. Begin your search there. Create havoc and they will find you."

Jadeite nodded and smiled to himself. This was his chance. While the others argued back and forth about past tragedies he would seize the chance to become a hero of the dark kingdom. And, with a plan known only to himself, he would find the silver crystal and use it to become it's new leader. He would soon be the overlord that he had always wanted to be.

"Consider it done, highness."

He bowed his head and walked away from the queen. As he neared the exit the throne room doors shut right in front of him, blocking his escape.

"Do not fail me, Jadeite.."

The doors opened once more and Jadeite scurried away to devise a plan of destruction for the blue planet. He was egotistical but intelligent. Cowardly but calculated. He knew she was serious. There was no way he could overpower her right now. He would serve his queen until he could crush her.

Inside the throne room an unfamiliar voice called out.

"Do you really believe he can do it?"

Beryl smiled as she stared into her orb.

"Of course not. He would be easily vanquished by the moon's warriors if they had remembered themselves completely. But he will be more than adequate at gathering energy for me so that I may finally rid myself of this hideous body and the pathetic soul that inhabits it."

A young man with jet black hair, who looked no older than a teenager himself, appeared suddenly from a gust of wind in an otherwise deadly calm room.

"My brother seeks to betray you," he said without expression.

"I am aware, Jade. There is nothing my servants can keep from me. He will follow my command until he feels I am weak enough to overthrow. However, once I have no more use for him you will destroy him for me. Understood?"

"Yes. I will rip his heart from his chest and eat it in front of him."

Jade's bright green eyes appeared free of soul and conscience as he agreed. Family meant nothing to him. It was just another life to end in servitude to the higher power.

The boy disappeared once again, leaving the queen alone with her inner demons. He was one of Beryl's most powerful zealots, and he would be a deciding factor in the war that was about to erupt once more.

It would begin on that planet that Beryl could not see, nor could she remember anymore. She could only watch it through her magical orb, which she did with great joy. As she looked over the blue sky and green grass she felt a tug inside of her chest. Someone was getting sentimental…

"Calm yourself, Beryl. Or I'll begin mutilating this shell you are so attached to and rip the face from your head."

The creature laughed once again. It was beginning to enjoy this existence it was given by Chaos. But inside, somewhere deep beyond the black poison that had corrupted both body and soul, was the remnants of the true Beryl-mourning, weeping, and regretting.

And, somewhere hidden inside of the misery, hoping. Serenity was a noble queen, full of grace, compassion, and strength. Surely her daughter would be just as incredible. That was Beryl's hope.

If only she knew.

Somewhere far away from the doom and gloom of the Dark Kingdom, the rightful heir to the throne was on her way to face the greatest foe she had ever encountered in her new life.

The beast was called…the public education system.

"Being a sophomore sucks."

The two fashionable teenager girls walked casually towards their high school in sunny California. It was an everyday event, yet one that was consistently met with hostility and sorrow.

One of the girls was the ever vivacious Molly Baker, daughter of the wealthy diamond dealer Anna Baker. Molly was one of the most popular girls at her school for very good reason. Aside from her good looks and polite nature she was also worth a fortune. But despite her fortune and privilege she was very much unlike the snobby little rich girls that seemed to strangle the school they all went to in the city of Crossroads.

Walking the trail of tears to high school was Molly's best friend, Serena Tsukino.

Serena was a strange girl. Born in Tokyo to a Japanese father and Caucasian mother, her family moved to America when she was seven and had been bouncing around from city to city before settling in Crossroads a few years ago. She had a hard time adjusting to life in the states, but at sixteen years old now she had become a California girl, at the cost of losing some of her Japanese heritage. She would have been indistinguishable from the crowd if not for her exotic Asian American look and unusual personality.

Dressed in button down long sleeves and skirts that were teetering on the edge of acceptable, the two girls turned heads as they made their way past the gates to their school and began their descent into the hell that is public school.

"High school sucks. Life sucks." Serena said as she fumbled with her cell phone as she walked.

"I'm sure there are people worse off than we are." Molly replied as she nodded in greeting towards acquaintances as they passed.

"Doubtful. We catch all the bad breaks it seems. The life so a pretty girl is so traumatic."

Serena stopped as she noticed a lone girl leaning against the brick wall to the school beyond the small trees that adorned the front of the building. It was a pretty good hiding spot for people that wanted to partake in activities that weren't smiled upon by school officials. Stuff Serena and Molly would know nothing about, naturally.

They both knew who it was. The girl always stood back there out of view and smoked before school started. They had spotted her a hundred times before on their way into the building and usually let it go without a second glance. But today Serena felt different. She was annoyed with life in general. It might have been because she spent all of her money on new tops during a recent credit card expedition and had to wait to purchase the matching bottoms. Or it could be that her grades had been on a steady decline since the beginning of time and her family finally started giving her a hard time about it. Or maybe the girl leaning against the wall just really pissed her off for no other reason than they were both girls and logic was genetically scarce when it came to members of the same sex.

Whatever the reason was, Serena had no intentions of ignoring these things today.

"Come on, Molly. I'm going to put an end to this."

Molly looked at the clock on her cell phone. It was only moments before the first bell would ring.

"Leave her alone. We don't have time for this today."

"No way." Serena said as she purposely marched towards the girl. "I'm tired of forcing myself to follow all these stupid rules and have people like her laughing in my face."

"Serena, that doesn't make sense. She really hasn't ever said anything to you…"

"Then I'm on my period and just generally aggravated!"

The two came upon the girl and were struck by what they say. Neither of them were expecting her to be so beautiful. If it weren't for the dark eye liner, multi colored knee high socks, Chevelle shirt, and black gothic skirt she could be a supermodel. Her hair, dark brown with red highlights, draped over her right eye like a curtain.

"What do you think you're doing?"

The girl took a drag off of her cigarette and looked up at the sophomore.

"Do I know you?"

"You wish. I'm afraid I don't associate with the bottom of the barrel."

Molly nudged Serena and whispered in her ear "that was mean."

The girl kicked off of the wall and it became apparent to the other two that leaning on the building definitely screwed with their perception of how tall she really was. With her legs stretched out completely she was easily 5"11, maybe even 6 feet tall. When considering that the two of them were both hovering around the 5"6 mark, this was starting to seem like an extremely bad idea.

"You're the spoiled little sluts in my English class." she said as she took one final smoke and tossed the cigarette to the ground.

"SLUTS?! At least I go to class. I don't know where you find the time to do it in between My Chemical Romance concerts and nicotine breaks."

"Why are you acting like this, Tsukino?"

"I don't know why they let people like you into this school. But since we're on a name basis now, how about you tell me yours so I can tell them what you're doing out here?"

The girl got into Serena's face, though she had to look down on the much shorter girl to look her in the eye. The two stared at each other for a few tense moments before the morning bell rang throughout the area.

"We're late now thanks to you!"

The girl shrugged and started to walk away from the duo and the school.

"Fine by me. Didn't really want to show up today anyway."

Molly grabbed Serena by her wrist and pulled her in the opposite direction towards the front doors.

"We're screwed now thanks to you! Your mood swings have been getting worse and worse. Why were you trying to pick a fight with that girl anyway?" she asked as the two sprinted towards class.

"I don't know. I haven't been feeling well lately… Sometimes it feels like I'm not even myself anymore. I feel anxious and worried and I have no idea why. I'm sorry I snapped at her. I didn't even get her name or else I'd try to find her and apologize."

"Maybe you'll run into her again. Could be fate. Perhaps you knew each other in a past life or something." Molly said with a giggle.

Serena scoffed at the thought.

"Yeah right. Who believes in that stuff anyway?" she asked as the two entered and made a line straight towards first period.

Outside of the school, standing against the sunlight like some kind of omen, was a goddess clad in a red and yellow sun dress with hair that fell past her long sexy legs and almost to her knees. She pulled down her dark sunglasses as she watched the two girls disappear into the crowd of people inside of the high school.

"I have to go. I've found her." she said into her cell phone before hanging up on whoever was on the other side.

The woman held her hands close to heart. She could feel it. The person she had been seeking for so long was so close to her now. She wanted to reach out and touch the girl she once considered to be her best friend and confidant. She felt a warm comforting sensation inside of her chest at the very thought of that girl. She knew that life would change for all of them soon. They would all hate her. But for now, at this moment, in the warm morning sun under the perfect azure sky, Luna was happy.

She had found her at last.

"Serenity…"