Their plan had not been successful, though they had the element of surprise on the Vampire King, the human Seer had known about their strategy. As soon as the human squadron had opened fire the entire house had gone still, nothing moved inside or out, then without warning Vampires had emerged from the woods around them and attacked mercilessly slaughtering everyone they could find.

Without any warning Kain had pushed Astra into the woods and taken her to cover as they watched their men being slaughtered.

"We have to help them!" she yelled trying to pull out of Kain's grasp.

"I agreed to come here to make sure you got out of this alive, throwing yourself into a fray of blood thirsty Vampires isn't going to let me fulfill my objective," he yelled as he pulled her into a retreat, and headed for the one truck that had remained behind.

"They're being killed!"

"I am aware of that!"

"I can't just let my people die!"

He rounded on her and grabbed her shoulders shaking her as he yelled, "They're not your people!"

Astra froze and stared into his eyes, she opened her mouth, but a forceful blast threw them to the ground. They both looked back and saw a bright light coming from where the house stood; Astra could hear the cries of the men, she jumped to her feet and was running back towards the house when she was once again knocked to the ground. Her face hit dirt and her chest felt like she had been hit with an anvil.

"Astra!" Kain's voice was somewhere behind her, she felt dizzy and it hurt her chest to breathe.

"Retreating while your men are being killing, have you no honor?" said a cool voice from above her. "You humans…"

Astra was about to pull her gun on the man when she felt Kain's foot smash down upon her right shoulder pinning her to the ground. "You've got a lot of gall making judgments about us while your men are using our men as snacks," he snapped.

"I have no judgments for you boy, only making an observation, my King and Queen would never have run from the field of battle like that."

"Well you're King is a blood thirsty bastard I could understand his desire to be around violence."

"Watch what you say human, he's no far away."

Astra tensed, the Vampire King was watching them; she looked up trying to discern any movement that would give away his position. She saw none, she tried to look up at the other man who was speaking to Kain, but all she saw in the light was blonde hair.

"I don't give a damn if he's watching I'll say it to his face!" Astra heard a faint clicking sound and realized what Kain was doing. She inhaled a breath preparing herself, the pressure on her shoulder lessened. "You Vampires think you're so smart, so impervious to everything, you think it gives you the right to look down your noses at everyone else. Arrogant bastards." There was a final click and Kain's foot was suddenly off of her shoulder, "Go" he yelled as he threw himself at the blonde.

Astra rolled and pushed herself up onto her feet, she took off running without a moment's hesitation; the small bomb that Kain had armed would explode in ten seconds. She jumped over a fallen log and almost lost her footing. She could hear the two men behind her yelling and fighting. 'Keep going, have to get to the truck,' she thought as she ran full speed.

Five seconds. She tripped over a root and stumbled.

Four seconds. Brambles scratched her face; a short distance away she saw an old bridge in the path.

Three seconds. "Astra!" she heard her name, a woman's voice had called her, but it sounded distant and far away, she paused for a moment.

Two seconds. She ran again trying to gain more speed, there was a break in the middle of the bridge she would have to jump.

One. The blast hit her right as she was midair throwing her to the ground. She landed hard and rolled onto the aged stones. "Damn," she said struggling to her feet. She knew she had a concussion, her head was throbbing. She grabbed the side of the bridge to steady herself, "Didn't think I'd be spending tonight on the ground."

"Get used to it, in the ground is where your final resting place will be," his voice sent shivers through her body. She knew she had never heard it before, but something somewhere deep inside she thought it was familiar. She slowly reached for the weapon at her side.

"Don't do anything unnecessarily stupid girl."

Her hand paused, "Seeing as how you are going to kill me anyway it seems like I should take the only chance I have to try to kill you," she said without turning around.

"You're brave…I'll give you that. Surrender and I will give you a quick death after you are questioned."

"Is that what you gave my family? A quick death?"

"I don't grasp your meaning," he said.

"You killed them, murdered them because they stood up to you!" She paused, "Have you killed so many that you've forgotten them?"

"Yes."

She inhaled a shaky breath, "Monster."

"To you, yes. To others, no, it all depends on which side you're on."

"I fight for the side of humanity!" she grabbed her weapon and spun around quickly pointing at him. But he was standing in front of her, he grabbed the muzzle of the gun with his hand, and raised his fist before she could even pull the trigger.

Blue met blue, and both of them froze. It wasn't fear that made her blood run cold, Astra knew fear, this was something else…..recognition. She knew his eyes, they had been in her dreams, they had called to her, and they had watched her. But they had held no danger for her, no malice, no anger, no hate, for her they held only recognition and love.

The Vampire King stumbled back his mouth opened, eyes wide as he stared at her. She tried to make herself lift her gun, but his eyes held her gaze. "Ser…Serena," he whispered.

The name echoed through her mind and then suddenly her head exploded into pain, she grabbed her head and fell to her knees. "What's happening…." Images flashed before her closed eyes, her brain felt like it was on fire. "What did you…"

She looked up at him, and though her eyes were blurred she raised her weapon and fired twice. The gunshots were the last things she heard before she dropped her gun, before the world went black the demons words echoed in her mind. 'Forgotten souls finally be found.'

Jadeite rubbed the back of his head, there was a knot forming. The explosion had knocked him into a large tree a few feet away from where he had fought with the human, looking up he saw no sign of his opponent. Jadeite pulled himself up to stand, his legs wobbled slightly, and the world tipped a little as he found his balance. He surveyed the area, the small crater was about three feet away from where he had been fighting with the human, had it been any closer, and had he been facing it he would have been injured much worse.

"Jadeite!" he turned to see Endymion walking towards him carrying the blonde woman in his arms, he noticed that the King's knuckles were bloody.

"My Lord," he said his voice scratchy.

"Are you all right?"

Jadeite nodded, "A little banged up, but alright for the most part."

"Good the man who was with her is near the bridge, he attacked me but I was able to subdue him. Restrain him and bring him to the car we're taking him in for questioning."

Jadeite nodded at the woman in his arms, "What about her?"

"We need to take her the Trista and Hotaru immediately," Darien said gazing down at the woman in his arms.

"My Lord?"

Endymion shifted the woman, her hair fell away from her face, and Jadeite's mouth dropped, "Serenity! The brought her here but….she was fighting with them!"

"I'm not sure what they have done to her but….." he paused and stared down at his wife. "I need to take her to them as soon as possible. Retrieve the other one." He brushed past Jadeite as he walked back towards the house. Jadeite watched him go then headed in the direction he had come from.

He saw the human lying on his back arms spread out, his face completely bloody and almost unrecognizable. Jadeite could hear the man was taking shallow breaths and was alive, but just barely. Endymion's fury had been unleashed upon the man, Jadeite thanked providence that he had left the human alive, though how he had he didn't know. If he ever got his hands on the girl who had almost killed Rei he didn't think that she would have escaped with her life.

He picked the man up, ignoring the groans of protest, and began dragging him back to towards the house.

"She's been awake for a few hours now," Ami said. "She's responsive and she's been able to digest food, though so far only soft foods, but it's better than a few days ago when we thought she was going to be dead in a few hours."

Cole and Ami stood at the door of Rei's bedroom watching the group gathered around Rei's hospital bed. Rei was sitting up in her bed a weak smile on her face, Lita sat on the bed facing her, Nephrite had taken a chair next to the bed, Yaten leaned against the wall quietly, and three other friends of Rei's all stood around her with large smiles of relief on their faces.

"What is your diagnosis?" Cole asked.

Ami shot him a look, "Nothing I have no explanation for this. Her levels had been steady since the last operation, nothing suggesting that she would wake up, it was….." she hesitated.

"Ami?"

"It's like someone flipped the on switch in her and turned her back on."

"Her other injuries?"

"She's rapidly healing, faster than anything we've ever seen before, even for a Vampire. I don't know what to make of it."

Cole looked back at the young Princess sitting in bed, she still looked weak and tired, but even he could tell that she looked better than she had a few days ago. "Keep me informed on her progress, call me if your results reveal anything."

Ami nodded, "Have you heard anything from Darien?" she asked before he could turn and leave.

Cole stopped, "No, nothing but I'm sure someone will have told him. I'd expect a call from him soon." He turned and left her alone.

Ami looked back at Rei, she caught the other woman's eye for a moment and they shared a smiled. Ami had no explanation for Rei's recovery, but she was glad that the her friend was better. Ami leaned against the wall just as a warm hand slid onto her hip.

"Well done love," Zoicite whispered into her ear.

"Wasn't me, this was Rei's doing."

"I'm sure your surgical skills helped make things easier for her."

Ami turned to face him, "I don't know. This is all…..just very unprecedented."

"Everything in our lives is unprecedented," he said. "Yaten came to see me a few days ago, asking about how you're holding up."

Ami sighed, "He won't let it go." She broke away from her husband's grasp and headed down the hallway towards her private office. She opened the door and went to her desk; Zoicite followed and closed the door behind him before sitting down on the couch against the wall.

"He's concerned about you Ami, you've barely taken a break in the last few months," he said.

"I've been trying to save lives," she shuffled through the papers on her desk not looking at him.

"Ami," he was beside her in half a second, he turned her chair away from her desk and kneeled before her. "You have never talked about losing the baby."

"Zoicite…"

"I'm a doctor Ami I know how these things can affect someone psychologically, and just for your information your brother isn't the only one who is concerned."

"Zoicite," she took his face in her hands, "I've dealt with it my love, I've said goodbye to our son, I miss him and it pains me to know that I'll never…" she felt tears forming in her eyes. "That I'll never hold him in my arms, but I cannot dishonor his existence by falling to pieces and becoming worthless. Everything I do I do to help catch that creature who stole him away from us. I can't stop and slow down when I'm so very close. We've closed in on them Zoicite, their numbers are dwindling…"

"And they're becoming more aggressive," he cut her off. "Ami I just worry about the toll you're taking upon yourself."

"Zoicite this….this is how I deal, this is my therapy my love," she leaned forward and kissed him. "I am fine, you don't have to concern…."

The door to Ami's office was thrown open by Cole's personal assistant. "My Lord, my Lady please forgive the intrusion, but General Cole has just received news. He needs all members of the small council to convene at Southern Mansion as soon as possible."

Ami stared at the man, "The General is aware that the Princess cannot be moved, correct?"

"He is my Lady, however, he requests that you leave her with trusted peers and report to headquarters with the two Demonti agents."

Ami and Zoicite shared a worried glance, "What do you think it is?"

Zoicite shrugged, "Never know with our family."

Crack! The sound of Seiya's hand hitting her cheek echoed around the room, and Ashlee was thrown to the floor from the force. She felt her lip split and she could taste blood, she pushed herself up onto her hands, but didn't look up at Seiya.

"Explain to me again why you thought it would be a good idea to allow my fiancée to ride along with an ambush team heading towards the Valcorian King," he glared down at the red head.

"She was determined my Lord, she wouldn't listen…."

"I don't give a fuck about that! She could be dead for all we know, we haven't heard back from the team in the past hour, and from the surveillance it looks as if they barely did any damage to the Seer's house! Moreover you have put Astra in serious danger with your carelessness."

The entire room was silent; Taiki stood a few feet away from Ashlee, his eyes nervously flicking between his fiancée and the young master. He looked up and saw the demon child looking out of the far window, staring up at the moon. A few other soldiers were standing timidly around them. All of their eyes were trying to not look at the bloody motionless bodies of the two beaten men lying on the floor behind Seiya.

"You have put the woman I planned on spending my life with in direct danger, danger from that Vampire bastard who ruined her in the first place," Seiya stormed over to Ashlee and grabbed her by the hair. "I should rip your head from your shoulders! You can't even follow the simple orders to keep her safe, you're worthless." He pushed her away from him and walked in a large circle. He ran his hand through his hair and sighed.

"No matter, it's all fine, as long as the spell is in place we still have time."

"Don't put all of your little eggs in that basket," said the Demon from her window. "You forget that she is now in the presence of those she knew and loved before, she also has Hotaru and Trista near her. My spell is strong, but it's not impervious." She turned to look at Seiya, "The Vampire King has unlimited resources, if his own people cannot break the curse he will find someone who can."

"Then we will have to retrieve Astra before he is able to." He turned to Ashlee and Taiki, "I won't even try to convince myself that the two of your will be capable of doing this, I'll organize it myself." He looked around the room and down at the two bleeding men, "Pick them up and report to your stations." He turned and left the room; the remaining men helped up their two friends, none of them talked above a whisper, and all of them made sure to avert their eyes away from Ashlee's crumpled form.

The Demon was the last to leave, she sauntered over to the double doors turned to face them and closed the door, her dark smile never wavering.

As soon as they were alone Taiki bent down and pulled Ashlee to a couch against the far wall. "Let me see," he said moving her hand from the side of her face.

"You're not a doctor," she said.

"Then you assess it, is anything broken?"

She hesitated for a moment, "I think he fractured my cheek."

Taiki frowned deeper, "I'll get someone to take care of it." He stood, but her hand on his wrist stopped him.

"Please just wait a moment," she said looking up at him with unshed tears in her eyes. He sat back down next to her, after a moment she spoke. "I thought he was going to kill me after what he did to those men."

"I have to admit I did too for a moment," he said.

"What if….what if they do break the curse?"

Taiki waited, "I'll prepare passage for us to a safe zone, it's not going to be safe for us here when Seiya realizes he won't be able to get the Vampire Queen back."

"You think he will fail?"

"He'll never get close, she's about to become the most protected woman in the world, there will be no chance of him stealing her back. No chance at all."

The tension in the air was weighing down upon everyone, Endymion had ordered all of them to wait in the Library until he arrived. Ami and Zoicite sat together both glancing around the room every now and then; Cole sat at a large desk glancing around the room and then to his phone that lay silent before him; Yaten was playing with his own phone whilst leaning up against a bookshelf, he would glance up every now and then and then return to whatever game he was playing; Trista stood at the window staring into the darkness; Amara sat rigid on the couch with Hotaru, who was staring blankly at the carpet; Knox sat in a chair watching Hotaru; Lita pretended to star at the books on the shelves; Nephrite simply stared into space occupied by his thoughts. No one had spoken since they had arrived.

Finally the door opened, everyone looked as Endymion and Jadeite walked inside. Endymion went to the desk where Cole was sitting took the large decanter of brandy and poured himself a drink. "Appraise them of the situation Jadeite," he said before downing the glass and pouring another.

"Yes Sir," Jadeite turned to the ground, "A few hours ago myself and Endymion went to visit the human Seer living several miles East of the city. While there we were attacked by a human group."

"Was the Seer involved?" asked Zoicite.

Jadeite shook his head, "No, she was also a target, but she was able to defend herself and we were able to capture two of the group's leaders." Jadeite leaned down and pressed a button on the coffee table that stood in front of Amara and Hotaru. The lights around them dimmed and a holographic image rose from the table. "This man was captured during the attack," the image as a complete replica of Kain's head and shoulders.

"We have taken him into custody and our doctors are addressing his injuries."

"Injuries?" Nephrite looked over to Jadeite.

"He tried to blow us up whilst I engaged him, it failed and he attempted to attack the King, he failed in that as well," Jadeite glanced over to Endymion then back to the group. "He had serious facial fractures, his left arm was broken, and he had some internal bleeding. He's stable now and is sedated, when he is strong enough our plan it to question him."

"We've used our facial recognition software and have been able to collect a small biography, but most of the information about his was destroyed. We ran his fingerprints but we can't find anything."

"You won't find anything," everyone looked up at Knox. "He's a Demonti, a fallen Demonti, but a Demonti none the less."

Jadeite looked at Endymion, "How do you know?"

Ami let out a small laughed, "Everyone knows about Kain Damnian." Knox and Yaten exchanged glances before Ami continued. "He was a very powerful Demonti about three hundred years ago, he was a rising star in the ranks, there was talk of him becoming the youngest leader of the Demonti once his mentor stepped down."

"What happened," asked Lita.

Ami looked at Yaten then Knox. "Kain was…it was discovered that he was using Vampires and humans in experiments that violated several moral and humanitarian laws. He was tried and then sentenced to death, however he escaped and went into exile, he has been on the Demonti's most wanted list since his escape."

Cole leaned back in the chair, "What kind of experiments was he conducting."

"Transmogrification, he was experimenting with spells that would turn a human into something else," Ami said.

Zoicite turned to his wife, "How do you know all of this, you don't have access to the Demonti files."

Ami looked at Yaten then back to her husband, "Several decades ago I had an…encounter with Kain Damnian. It was right before the end of the War."

"And you didn't turn him in!" snapped Yaten.

"At the time, brother, I was in need of his services."

Yaten's eyes narrowed, "For what?" Ami stared at her brother, but gave no answer.

Finally Knox broke the silence, "He also used Wares, Fae, Wiccans, and Vampires in his experiments. He was convinced that he would eventually be able to turn a normal non-infected human into a Ware or a Vampire."

"But his ultimate goal was to crossbred the species," interjected Yaten. "He wanted a Vampire with the properties of a human. Being able to walk in the light, erase the dependence on blood as sustenance, and the reactions to silver. He was trying to create hybrids."

Zoicite turned to his wife, "Was he successful?"

Hotaru let out a small laugh, "Success is always subjective to a scientist, especially one who has no moral compass."

Yaten pushed away from the bookshelf, "In retrospect some of his creatures were….able to survive without mechanical help, however they were so disfigured and the psychosis….well let's just saw their fate could have been worse."

Lita glanced between Yaten and Knox, finally she understood their meaning, "You exterminated them."

Knox looked up at her, "There was no other option, allowing the creatures to live would have been worse ."

"We euthanized them in the most peaceful way we could," Yaten explained. "There were other options, but despite what you think the Demonti are not sadistic."

"Depends on who you are talking to," said Hotaru. The group looked at her, "The Demonti believe that they are gods, that they have the final say on matters that most often don't concern them. But I do give you credit this time, cleaning up your own messes. However I wonder how much of Kain's research they kept."

Yaten glared at her, "The information was classified, only the highest members have clearance…"

"It should have been destroyed, you saw them Yaten, they were monsters, tortured souls who were abused and then used. It should have ended there, but because it didn't now Serenity pays the price."

Lita sat up, "What do you mean?"

Hotaru glanced at Jadeite, "Tell them, put all the pieces into place."

Jadeite glanced at Endymion, who had been silent the entire time. "We've found The Queen."

Finally Rei was alone, there had been tons of visitors non-stop for the past several hours, she felt like she hadn't had a moments piece since she had woken up. After the last person she had asked the guard at the door to belay anyone else who wanted to see her until tomorrow, she was tired and needed to rest. She collapsed into the pillows behind her and dimmed the lights.

"Despite having been asleep you're tired? Ironic," said a voice.

Rei's eyes snapped open and saw the little girl seated across the room from her, her legs dangled from the chair, her hair was pulled back, and now she wore a dark green dress.

Rei swallowed, "Which one are you?"

The girl smiled, "If I was the other one do you think you'd still be alive?"

"Sofie," it came out with a rush of relief.

"I've come to tell when it will happen."

Rei nodded, "She won't be able to stop it will she?"

Sofie shook her head, "I expect that she'll be glad to be rid of me."

Rei gave her a weak smile, "Do you cause her that much misery?"

"It's what I do best."

They shared a smile then sat in silence. "Will there be time for goodbyes?"

Sofie looked away, "I can't be certain when it's time it's time there's no changing that."

Rei nodded, "Are you ready?" Sofie asked her.

"Are you?"

"I guess it doesn't really matter for either of us."

"It will help them?" Rei asked.

"Yes, it will."

"Then we have to be ready."

The doors slid open before the group, the lights in the room were dimmed, save the one bright light that was shining directly on the medical table beneath it, there were several doctors and nurses in the large room, vital signs and stats were shown on the large monitors on the walls. Serenity lay unconscious in the middle of the table, her combat outfit had been removed and she had been dressed in a simple blue tank top and black shorts. She was clean and the cut on her forehead had been attended to.

"She was with the group that attacked you?" asked Amara. Cole stood next to her; Zoicite and Yaten stood staring up a large monitor and muttering to each other.

"Yes, from the markings on the suit she was wearing she was their commander," Jadeite explained. "Kain also had the same type."

"He was probably her second in command," said Nephrite.

Lita looked down at Serena, tears forming in her eyes, "Why is she unconscious?"

"We aren't sure."

"The CT scans show swelling in her brain, and unusual activity in the cerebral cortex," Ami said from the far side of the room. She was staring at the brain scans that were up on the walls; "There are neurons firing rapidly without any reason."

"Her brain is fighting itself," Trista said. The group looked behind them at the doorway to where Trista and Endymion stood.

"Why would her brain be fighting itself?" asked Cole.

Trista glanced at him then looked back towards Serena, she took a few steps closer. Nephrite and Jadeite moved aside; she reached out and put her hand on Serena's forehead. "This is a powerful spell, the demon erased her memories and implanted false ones. She also put a protective spell around her true memories, they cause her Majesty pain whenever she tries to access them."

Ami came back to the table, "Jadeite is this how you found her?" Jadeite nodded, "Has Kain woken up yet?"

"The doctors say that his injuries are too significant for right now, waking him up could allow him to cause himself more damage."

"Damn," Ami smacked her hands down on the medical bed and bowed her head.

"Ami, what's wrong?" asked Lita.

Ami however didn't look up, she continued to stare down at the floor.

"He turned her human," all of them save Ami and Trista looked over to Endymion. "Kain and whomever took her turned her human."

Lita looked down, "then the question is how do we turn her back?"

"We must help her true nature to fight off the human presence," said Trista. "We must help her remember who she is, and what she is. She's going to wake up and have both sets of memories, she will be very confused."

"How do we help?" Zoicite asked coming nearer to the group.

"By reminding her of who she was," Trista said as she straightened up and turned to look at Endymion. "She will need her husband."

Endymion glared at her, "I buried Darien because I thought she was dead, now you ask me to soften my heart again in the hope that she may come back to me!"

"Hope, it's a powerful thing." Hotaru stood behind Endymion, she moved into the room and looked at all of their faces. "You built this world on hope, the hope that Romulens and Valcors could live together in peace, look at you all now. She had hope that you would save her, she hoped that the sacrifices made during the War would create a better world. She hoped that you would create a better world with her King Endymion."

Hotaru turned back to him, "Hope created your daughter, your love, your existence, don't give up yet."

"The odds are stacked against us, there is no certainty that trying to turn her back won't kill her, and I don't even know where to begin!" he snapped.

Hotaru smiled, "You will not be alone my Lord." Hotaru looked sideways, but not at anything directly. "Soon, help will come soon."