Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or her characters, and have no right to it except as a long time fan.
Unexpected Arrivals
Prologue
A tall woman stood in a dark area that was not a room and yet was not an outside area with thin misty fog surrounding her and the area before thickening the further out one looked.
There was no heat, no cold, not any weather to make her feel uncomfortable in any way. There was a calm, almost peaceful, silence all around her, and to her back was the only thing keeping her company; a massive marble doorway.
She stood calmly, her dark green hair trailing down nearly to the back of her knees, holding her tall silver staff that looked like an elaborate key that would fit into a large and unique lock with her wise red eyes gazing off into the distance.
Suddenly her whole body tensed before she forced herself to relax. She stepped forward and toward her left as she looked off into the dense fog; her vibrant eyes serious as the end of her staff rested on the ground as if helping to keep her steady.
A disturbance was happening in time. She could sense it clearly. Something had entered a timeline it didn't belong in.
She quickly narrowed it down to one specific timeline, and lifted her staff; the garnet orb at the top glowing as it heeded her will to show her the timeline in question.
After carefully examining the line she realized it had changed from what it was supposed to be. It was still on course to what it should have been, was going to be, but there were changes; some big and some small, and she couldn't see what else would change before it became what it would.
She was not even sure if the changes were already happening before whatever entered the timeline or if its appearance had started the changes.
As she continued to gaze at the line, and the events and occurrences happening within, she made a mental note to keep a close eye on it. She needed to be aware in case it produced events that could affect the space time stream.
~~UA~~
Chapter One: Living Life
Time passes as it always does. Many months had gone by, almost a year in fact, since the Guardian Sailor Scouts, Tuxedo Mask, and the Guardian Generals defeated the Negaverse. Enough time that the school year had ended, the summer had drifted by, birthdays had come and gone, and the next school year had begun.
In that time so many things had happened. Instances and occurrences that were not life changing, but were examples of them all going on about their lives without the threat of an attack to distract them.
Artemis, guardian and advisor, had stayed with Serena for two months before he decided to spend time with the other girls getting to know them on a more personal level. He had spent a little more than a month with Amy, Raye, and Lita each, and was now currently spending time with Darien.
That he had decided to do that had surprised Serena, but she approved and appreciated that he also wanted to get to know her prince better. She also had wondered if his decision had to do with the fact that he now fully remembered the past and recalled her secret and forbidden relationship with Darien.
During his time living with her she had returned Artemis' memories like she had done for her Scouts. It hadn't occurred to her to do it sooner, as in before Luna's punishment or before they finished the Negaverse, for some reason.
Still, despite the delay she had done it, and he was now just as knowledgeable as the rest of them of all the events and persons of the past.
Serena and Darien had immediately gotten back to work as soon as their week long break had finished. Although, they had of course continued to go to school and spend time together during that break.
They continued with their after school workout and training, and their after school classes of taekwondo and karate, and gymnastics for her, growing more experienced and confident in what they learned.
However, during the summer Serena had decided to stop taking the gymnastics class. It was fun but she had learned all she could from it by that time, and the only reason to continue with it was if she was going to compete. So after talking it over she and Darien decided to take a kenjutsu class, which had coincidentally took place on the days her gymnastics class had.
Serena had wanted a weapon to use besides her power, especially after dealing with the last monsters they had faced that had tentacles, and Darien had agreed to help her get a sword or another type of blade.
After talking about it and looking at his sword and how he used it she had decided a sword would be best for her. Since then he had begun to teach her how to use one, using his own sword, and the thought of classes was easy to agree on.
She would learn what she could from Darien and what he had known from his training in the past, and they would both learn the modern variant or at least what modern professionals knew from studying styles throughout history or what was passed down through apprentices and family.
They still carried a duffle bag each with their workout clothes, martial arts uniform, and kenjutsu uniform which consisted of a Hakama, obi, keigoki and a wooden sword called a bokken. The bokken was given to them on loan when they first started the class, so they could practice outside of class. They had to bring it to every lesson, and if they lost or damaged it they had to pay for it.
Serena's parents had adjusted to her secret life as much as they could and were handling it very well. They saw that she was still training and going to her after school classes and taking them all seriously. They were still asking questions whenever they came to mind, and thankfully being discreet about it so their son would not overhear and learn his sister's secret.
Mr. Tsukino was even more comfortable with his daughter's relationship with her boyfriend with all he had learned about Darien and the exact nature of their relationship. He was finally convinced that there would be no breaking up over arguments or jealousy and there would be no cheating.
Neflite, Zoycite, Malachite, and Jedite had finally adjusted to being back among the human population although they were still saddened about what happened to their families. They were also still dealing with their personal feelings about how they had betrayed their prince in both the past and the present.
They had learned to accept what happened since it couldn't be changed, but moving on from it was harder because they felt they needed to prove to themselves and their prince that it would never happen again. That they were with him one hundred percent. Helping to defeat the Negaverse at the end wasn't enough in their minds because it was a group effort.
Aside from those feelings the Generals continued to work out and train themselves individually and as a group, so they would always be ready to do their duty and have the chance to prove themselves and more importantly redeem themselves.
These workout and training schedules had taken time to get around the schedules of their everyday responsibilities, which was something they had been happy to finally establish.
Malachite had managed to get a full time job at a hotel as the front desk clerk. Making reservations, checking in and checking out guests, and taking care of problems guests had while staying in the establishment.
However, he didn't feel like he had been working long enough yet to try and focus on continuing his education as well. It was already hard enough to work out and train around his work schedule, and that was while there was currently no enemy to deal with.
Neflite had gotten himself a full time job at a botanical garden as a tour guide for school children. He liked it. The children were entertaining and willing to learn and he got to be surrounded by earth and plants all the time. In addition to that he had begun to take a few online classes for a college to start his general education while he decided on what he wanted to ultimately study.
Zoycite was pleased with the part time job he had managed to get at a bookstore that was in the neighborhood not far from the apartment building he shared with his fellow generals and prince.
Jedite had managed to land himself a part time job as a park ranger in the same neighborhood as the bookstore that Zoycite worked at. He loved it because it allowed him to be outside among the open air the entire time he worked. It hadn't rained yet since he started the job, but he was sure he would still enjoy it.
Aside from the jobs Jedite and Zoycite had managed to find a junior college that would allow them to finish their high school education and start on their university education. Thankfully they found the school in time to enroll in summer classes, so they were able to get started as soon as possible on their schooling.
So far they were all doing well with their jobs and school, which was helped by the gift their prince had gotten them.
Darien had purchased all but Malachite laptop computers, so they could take online classes and do homework without having to rely on the school or public library. Malachite had said he would get his own once he decided he was ready to continue his schooling.
Mina, Amy, Lita, and Raye were also all going to school as well and continuing their individual workout and training sessions. In addition to that they still continued to do their group training with Serena and Darien on the weekends. Occasionally with the guys as well when they could make it.
All in all they were all fully comfortable with each other, and using their powers around and with each other.
~~uUuUu~~
Another weekend had finally arrived and the secret Sailor Scouts were in the middle of their Sunday morning training session.
Serena stood off to the side in the large clearing they were gathered in watching the girls spar against each other one on one. She smiled lightly at their progress and recalled all they had accomplished with their training in the past months.
Amy, Mina, Raye, and Lita had learned how to create personal barriers that took on the color of their powers, so they could now protect themselves against attacks when dodging was not possible. Since accomplishing that they had even decided to try to add their elements to the barrier to make it a bit of a weapon should the enemy run or slam into it.
Beyond that they had become faster at launching their attacks, being able to do them silently and with less movements, which was a plus for their more powerful and destructive attacks.
Serena also recalled the incident that proved that she herself was getting stronger along with her Scouts.
~~uUu~~
Serena leapt from tree branch to tree branch as she raced through the trees around the clearing where she and her friends and fellow scouts were training. She made a complete circuit of the clearing as she ran from an imaginary enemy before she leapt down to an area away from each of the girls and lifted her hands in her crouched position.
Cosmic Starlight Illusion. She thought, and watched briefly as white blue tinted marble sized energy stars went flying all over the place.
Cosmic Starlight Illusion Beam. She silently launched the attack at the target, which was a tree slightly off in the distance, as she stood up.
The beam sped forward and collided with the center of the tree just as the energy stars from the first attack converged and slammed into the exact same spot.
Serena nodded as she relaxed, lowering her arms, and was just about to focus on bringing up her barrier when she suddenly began to glow a bright white.
She lifted her arms and looked at them before looking down at herself in surprise, but then she felt a warm soft pulse inside her chest and realized whatever was happening was because of her silver crystal.
Another pulse and then another echoed inside her before a spark of light winked into existence right in front of her glowing at arm's length across from her chest. The spark pulsed in time with the pulse inside her, and grew brighter and larger as it seemed to stretch its length.
She could hear the girls behind her seeing what was happening and voicing their surprise, confusion, and curiosity, but she ignored them as she focused on what she was feeling inside herself and what was forming in front of her.
After a few more seconds of pulsing and growing the light began to fade until it was only a light outline around the object as it floated in front of her.
Serena's eyes widened in surprise as she realized what she was seeing, and a moment later understood why it had happened.
Floating before her was a long scepter. The rod was pink with a red rounded base. Along the top length of the rod were three golden stars and above that was a pair of gold wings with a gold outlined heart in the center and inside that was a red gem on a pink background.
Topped above the wings was a red sphere inside a gold crescent moon with five tiny red gems along the length of the crescent curve, and above that at the very top was a tiny red and gold crown.
She reached out and grasped the pink rod and the slight glow disappeared. A final pulse echoed inside her and she was supplied with the name of her new weapon: the Moon Scepter.
As she gazed at the slightly heavy scepter she really began to understand that she was granted the new weapon because of all her training. She had proved that she was strong enough to use it and further earned the right to use it with her dedication with all the various forms of training she was doing.
She swung it around experimentally and the words suddenly drifted through her mind.
Moon Scepter Elimination! She said silently as she pointed at the same tree she had been using as target practice before, and watched as the new attack came streaming out quickly.
~~uUu~~
It had only been a couple of months since she got the scepter and Serena was still surprised at having it or at least how she got it. So far she liked using it and was able to use her attacks through it along with the ability it had come with, which had been easy to use.
That let her know that if she came up with more attacks she would be able to use the scepter to launch them.
She had also realized shortly after getting her scepter that she still had her Crescent Moon Wand. She wasn't sure what she would need it for aside from its ability to hold her silver crystal and channel its power easier, but she was glad she still had it since it was hers and she didn't want it to simply disappear when she got something better.
Having gotten stronger herself and with the class she was taking on how to use a sword she was now toying with the idea of having her Scouts use weapons.
Well, she was more than toying with the idea. She wanted them to have something aside from their powers to use, because sometimes they wouldn't have time to use their powers or they needed something other than their powers to handle an enemy.
She herself was enjoying learning how to use a sword, but she had yet to practice what she learned in front of the girls; not that that stopped her from letting them know that she was learning the skill.
"Ladies!" She called out to them, gaining their attention instantly. "Let's take a break. I have something I want to ask you all."
The four secret Guardian Scouts stopped what they were doing and moved toward her before they sat in the grass and began to stretch and rest.
"You all recall that I'm taking a class to learn how to use a sword, and that Darien is instructing me as well." Serena said as she sat down with them, and the girls all nodded curiously. "Did you guys use weapons in the past?" She asked.
They blinked and looked at each other while one frowned thoughtfully.
"Actually I remember that we did know how to use weapons back then." Mina said. "I knew how to use a sword, but I preferred using a whip."
"I used a bow and arrows." Raye said simply.
"I preferred sai swords." Amy informed her princess.
"I used a hammer axe." Lita said rather proudly.
Serena frowned. "What are sai swords exactly?" She asked Amy curiously.
"The basic form is a hand held weapon that has a long sharp metal prong in the center with two shorter curved side-prongs projecting from the handle on each side of the center prong." Amy explained, and Serena nodded as she imagined that type of weapon.
"Do you all still prefer those weapons, because I believe it would be good for you to use actual weapons again?" She said.
"The reason I wanted to learn how to use a sword is because there were many instances when I was fighting monsters that I wished I had a weapon I could use when my powers didn't seem to be enough or didn't suit the situation." She explained.
"That makes sense." Mina said as she nodded. "I can remember instances where we definitely could have used weapons against certain monsters."
"True." Lita agreed. "Having a weapon again would be a good idea."
Amy and Raye exchanged a look before both nodded in agreement.
Mina frowned. Already she was wondering how she would get her hands on a whip let alone a sword. She doubted she could just waltz into a specialty store and buy the dangerous weapons at her age.
But I had the whip and sword in the past. She reminded herself. She knew that Darien still had his sword from the past, so theoretically speaking she should have her weapons as well.
She closed her eyes and focused on wanting her whip while concentrating on what she remembered it looking like.
Holding out her hand slightly she felt a weight almost instantly and heard light gasps. She opened her eyes and smiled to see a coiled up whip that was actually a series of circular ruby beads connected by a thin delicate looking golden chain.
Mina nodded and looked to the others, who were looking at her, before she placed the whip in her lap and tried to summon her sword.
Just as before she concentrated on what she remembered it looking like and held out her hand as she focused on wanting it. Instantly she again felt a weight in her hand and blinked to see the slightly familiar sword.
It was a typical looking Japanese samurai sword, a Uchigatana, with a sharp silver blade and an orange and white handle, which was strange since she had it back in the Silver Millennium before samurai were even a thing.
"Well that answers the question of if we still have our weapons." Mina said as if anyone had asked the question out loud. "No need to try and buy them or try to make them from our powers."
Raye, Amy, and Lita looked at each other before smiling and grinning.
Amy closed her eyes and rested her hands palm up on her legs as she pictured what her weapons had looked like and wanting them back.
A light yet significant weight appeared in her hands and she opened her eyes and smiled at her success. There in each hand was a sai sword. The handles were wrapped in a royal blue and light blue material, and the blades themselves were silver and sharp.
Lita held out her hands slightly and gazed at her palms as she concentrated on recalling every detail of her past weapon and wanting it back, needing it back to help her be the best she could be.
Within moments the weapon appeared without any fan fair. It was a hammer axe with a single handle. The handle was long, as long as her arm from shoulder to wrist, and made of a strong wood that was rounded and smooth to the touch.
Halfway up the handle rich green slightly thick vines appeared to grow out of the wood and wind themselves up the handle and wrap around the middle of the combined silver hammerhead and axe blade as if to keep it securely connected to the handle.
She smiled and held the weapon in her hands, testing the weight, as she noticed the hammer and axe separately were both the size of her hands.
Raye closed her eyes and concentrated, as if she were meditating, on what her past weapon had looked and felt like even as she focused on wanting and needing it. She opened her eyes the moment she felt something in her lap, and saw the bow and over a dozen arrows she had been remembering.
The bow was a red flat wood asymmetric reflex recurve bow with a white grip and matching string. The arrow shafts were white with sharp pointed silver arrow heads and red feathers at the ends.
"Congratulations." Serena said as she smiled at the girls' success. "I'm happy you all have your weapons back. I won't worry about getting myself a weapon until I have more training." She added.
"Will you only use a sword?" Lita asked.
"Yeah." Serena answered as she nodded. "I don't think I should focus on learning a second weapon. I'll concentrate on just learning how to use a sword and using my powers to the best of my ability."
"That's a god idea." Amy said. "That way you won't stretch yourself too thin, and can get really good with the sword instead of trying to collect weapons to use and not know how to use them to their full potential."
"That was my thought exactly." Serena replied, and then sighed. "Well, how about you all get started on re-familiarizing yourselves with your weapons. Once you have you can begin sparring against each other and see how to add your powers to the mix."
The four secret Guardian Scouts nodded and exchanged excited smiles and grins before they climbed to their feet and got started.
~~uUu~~
Serena sighed as she settled in one of the slightly uncomfortable chairs in the library closest to her house. She had only finished training with the girls a little over an hour ago, and now that she was clean and relaxed from that session she decided to use her free time productively.
Both she and Darien had been searching for Malachite's sister as they had promised since they had defeated the Negaverse, and so far they had come across nothing.
She sighed as she sat in front of the computer and thought of all the information Malachite had known before his kidnapping.
His sister's name was Keiko Tomoe. She had married a year before his kidnapping, she was older than him, and had long black hair with a purple sheen and violet eyes. He was eighteen at the time he was taken, and believed he and the others had been with the Negaverse for about three years.
They had been focused on any mention of his sister during the time of his kidnapping, but that wasn't turning up anything so far and it had been months. She had even gone back and tried to find a possible wedding announcement and that hadn't turned up anything either.
Serena hummed quietly and wondered if maybe Malachite had the timing wrong and that was why they hadn't found anything yet.
Maybe I'll try and go back further then where I started. There's nothing at three years or four years, so it wouldn't hurt to give it a try. She thought.
So she began typing on the keyboard and clicking on the mouse and searching for and reading through different news articles; looking for the name of Malachite's older sister.
She ended up having to go back two more years before she finally found anything. As her eyes moved along the tiny words along the screen she gasped sharply, and was saddened and also surprised at what she was reading, and thought Malachite would feel the same once he learned.
What she was seeing was entirely unexpected. She barely knew how to process the information; she didn't know how Malachite was going to react.
Serena sat back with a sigh. First I'll tell Darien, and see what he wants to do. She thought firmly. She knew that they at least would have to do a bit more before bringing the information to the general.
With that in mind she printed out the news article with all the information. She would let Darien know what she found either tonight or tomorrow.
~~uUuUu~~
In the middle of the night just after one in the morning two objects entered the Earth's atmosphere and quickly streaked through the air high over many lands before they descended lower and lower. Miraculously they stayed together as if they were caught in each other's gravitational pull, and circled each other as they sped closer and closer to land.
Suddenly they seemed to hit a pocket of air as they moved through the dark night sky over Tokyo, Japan that caused them to put on a burst of speed that had the added benefit of separating them slightly.
The large object streaked through the air and moved slightly to the left while the smaller object moved slightly to the right; both looking like blurs as they streaked through the sky.
Almost at the same time the large object slammed into the ground of a large empty parking lot, and the smaller object slammed into the grassy ground of a large park. Loud explosive sounds echoed as both settled into large craters as dust and dirt flew up into the air obscuring any possible immediate view of the mystery objects.
~~uUu~~
Darien slept peacefully in his bed in the early hours of Monday morning with Artemis curled up in a white ball asleep on top of the covers with him. His peaceful rest was something he was glad for as he had classes in a few very short hours.
He had finished and graduated from high school at the end of the last school term, and was now attending K.O. University and beginning his studies toward a medical career.
After he had been accepted into the university he had made sure to have all his classes be during the five weekdays and during the time he had attended classes while he had been in high school, which was morning through the early afternoon.
This was done so his routine schedule with Serena would not be disrupted. He would be able to continue meeting her after she got out of school to work out and train and then attend their after school classes. Beyond that he wanted to keep his weekends clear, so he could continue with his part time job at the hotel he worked at.
Had the secret masked warrior and prince of the Earth been aware of how peaceful his repose was he would have been proud, because there had been a time where his rest wouldn't have been peaceful.
For two weeks after having slept in each other's arms before they had defeated Beryl and Metaria he and Serena had had problems sleeping. It had only been that one night, only a few hours really, but it had been enough to make sleeping alone a difficult task.
After that two week time span it grew easier to sleep alone, and they hadn't had a chance to repeat the experience since then. Something that he was both thankful for and cursed, because while it had made sleeping alone a problem it had been the best rest he had ever had.
Suddenly he snapped awake; sitting up quickly with a sharp gasp and a cry of pain as he brought a hand up to his bare chest.
Artemis blinked his eyes open sharply at the alarmed sound and looked over to see Darien in clear pain.
"Are you alright?" He asked the young man as he quickly sat up and stepped toward him.
"I don't know. I woke up because I felt a sharp pain in my chest. It's slowly fading but it's still there." Darien said in a pained tone.
Before he or Artemis could say anything more they were distracted by a flash of bright white light and the sight of Serena suddenly standing in the room with them in her pajamas and her long hair hanging like a curtain behind her.
~~uUu~~
Miles away in a quiet bedroom Serena woke abruptly with a gasp as she felt a sharp pain in her chest. She sat up in confusion as she put a hand to her chest and looked around. Her confusion doubled as she saw there was nothing in the room with her; aside from Luna and her gasp hadn't even awakened her.
She continued to look around as she rubbed her chest, feeling nothing there that could be the cause, and realized she was also feeling shock along with the pain, but she knew that couldn't be right because she wasn't shocked. She had felt surprised pain and was still feeling confusion.
She frowned before it suddenly occurred to her that it likely wasn't her pain since the feeling was already fading.
Darien. She thought in the next moment, and quickly climbed out of her bed, pulling her long loose hair free from her covers, and focused on getting to him.
She gathered her power and concentrated on an area in his bedroom, and disappeared in a brief white flash. Within moments she reappeared at the foot of her prince's bed to see him sitting up in bed with Artemis standing next to him.
"Are you alright?" Serena asked instantly as she moved around the bed toward her prince.
"Yeah. I just felt this unexplainable pain in my chest that woke me up." Darien answered, and she nodded.
"Yeah. I figured that was what happened." She replied as she sat on the edge of the bed.
"How did you know?" He asked. "And why are you here? Not that I'm not glad to see you."
"I woke up from a pain in my chest, and when I realized it wasn't me feeling it I assumed that it was you, so I came right away to see if you were alright." She explained.
"Thanks for checking on me." Darien said even as he grimaced at the continued pain, and she nodded.
"Is the pain not going away?" Serena asked worriedly.
"It's fading, but it's slow." He answered. "It felt like something had slammed into my chest."
"Well, obviously nothing did slam into you, so maybe it has something to do with the Earth." She suggested, and he hummed thoughtfully.
"I'll check and see if I can find anything." He said.
He began to push his covers back and Serena stood up and stepped back to allow him space to get up before she sat back on the bed.
"Once I figure out what's going on we can talk about you feeling what I felt." He said as he stretched slightly.
"Then we should also discuss how I can sense your emotions as well." She added.
Darien paused in his steps toward his balcony and looked at her with slightly wide eyes.
"And now you're feeling surprised." She added, and he hummed.
"I wonder if I can sense your emotions as well." He said.
"You probably can, but you're a bit more than distracted by your pain at the moment." She replied reasonably.
He nodded and continued toward his balcony. He pulled the sliding glass door open and stepped out onto the cool concrete.
Serena glanced down as she felt Artemis sit next to her, and stroked his warm fur before she returned her attention to Darien. They both watched him stand on the balcony and rest his hands on the railing, and waited to see what would happen and learn what he would discover.
Darien closed his eyes even though he didn't need to anymore. Since he wasn't in danger he felt fine doing it, so he could focus better on what he was seeing.
He focused on his power as he stood there, no longer needing to kneel with his hands on the ground. He had made sure to practice that since the defeat of the Negaverse. He concentrated on trying to find the source of his pain; the disturbance that had affected him enough to wake him from a sound sleep.
Images instantly began to flash rapidly through his mind until they stopped to leave the visual of a large parking lot. The scene zoomed in and he frowned as he saw that something had obviously crashed into the ground leaving a very large wide hole with lots of smoke and dust in the air.
The scene zoomed in further and he saw a large green pulsing object that looked like a massive egg or jelly bean with vines or veins wrapped around it.
Before he could note anything else the object lifted off the ground and floated up and out of the crater. It hovered for a few moments before it sped away at a speed that he couldn't keep up with.
Darien sighed and opened his eyes. As he gazed out over the city he wondered where out there that thing had disappeared to, and more importantly what it was and how long before it made another appearance. He sighed again before he turned and walked back inside and slid the glass door closed.
"I saw some kind of green large oval...egg-shaped living thing had crash landed in a parking lot before it flew off and disappeared into the city." He informed his princess and the feline guardian.
"I don't know what that could possibly be, but it is likely that our next enemy has arrived." Artemis said seriously.
"Yes. That's what I was starting to think." Serena said and then sighed. "At least our peace lasted longer than I thought it would." She added, and Darien nodded in agreement.
"I think we should go take a look at the crash site." He suggested.
"Should we get the others to come as well?" She asked as she looked from Darien to Artemis.
"Yes." Artemis said. "If this turns out to really be a new enemy then you all should find out as soon as possible, so you can prepare for what that means."
"Alright." Serena said with a nod. "I'll go back home and change and contact the girls before coming back here to go with you." She told Darien, and he nodded.
"I'll get dressed and contact the guys while you're doing that." He said.
"Alright. I'll be back." Serena replied. She got up from the bed and focused on the space beside her own bed closest to her room door and willed her power to take her there.
Darien watched his girlfriend and princess disappear in a flash of white light before he sighed and lifted his hand to look at his communicator ring. He pressed the red, green, blue, and gray gems, ignored the white gem, and waited as he walked toward his closet to find something to wear.
Serena blinked as she appeared back in her dark bedroom. She glanced around and saw that her bedroom door was still closed and Luna was still asleep on her bed. She moved over and clicked on her lamp to provide herself some soft light.
She lifted her left hand and looked at the silver ring sitting on her middle finger. A few weeks after they had defeated the Negaverse she had decided new communicators were in order for herself and her Scouts.
She had liked the idea Darien had of ring communicators, so she modeled them off of the ones he made for himself and his Generals. They were easier to get to and more sophisticated looking than the small pink calculator looking devices they had been using.
She had designed the rings to be silver with five open decorative spaces for herself and four for the girls. For the girls rings all the spaces were filled with colored gems to represent three of the scouts and their princess, and Serena's ring was filled with gems for all four of her Scouts and one for her prince. Added to that she had connected her communicator ring to Darien's and his to hers so they could contact each other.
The only thing she had worried about when making the rings was how they would use them when they were transformed since their gloves would be in the way. She knew Darien took his glove off, but their gloves were too long and form fitting for that.
Instead she had the idea to summon them so they would appear on their finger over their gloves. Once she had made her ring she had transformed and tried it out, and was thankful that it worked properly and wasn't uncomfortable.
Serena shook away the memory and pressed the red, green, blue, and orange gems as she stepped toward her closet. She pulled out some warm and comfortable clothes since she knew from Darien opening his balcony door that it was cold outside.
"Raye here." The secret scout of Mars' voice came through first.
"Mina here." The secret scout of Venus answered sleepily.
"Amy here." The secret scout of Mercury answered, sounding more awake then the others.
"Lita here." The secret scout of Jupiter answered with a yawn.
"I'm sorry for contacting you all so late, but we have a situation to deal with." Serena said as she held her communicator ring near her face.
She then explained how Darien had been awakened by a sharp pain in his chest and that when he used his ability to see through the Earth he had seen some kind of large green egg shaped thing had crashed landed into a parking lot leaving behind a large crater.
"Artemis believes that it could possibly be a new enemy, and Darien and I agree, so now I want us all to get to the crash site so we can have a look for ourselves to get an idea of what we're possibly dealing with." She said seriously.
"Amy, can you check with your computer to see what you can find?" She asked the scout of Mercury. "Any strange energy readings in the city."
"On it." Amy replied.
"Alright. I'm about to get dressed. I suggest you do as well." Serena added.
"Are the guys coming too?" Mina asked.
"Yes." Serena answered. "Darien is contacting them as we speak."
While she waited for Amy she pulled on a pair of jeans, a long sleeve shirt, and a zip up hooded seater. She grabbed a pair of socks, and sat on her bed and began to pull them on.
"Okay. I found the crash site and strange energy readings have been left behind. I can't tell more, but I think I might be able to once I'm at the scene." Amy reported.
"That's okay." Serena said as she pulled on her second sock. "We'll just have to wait until we get there to see if there's anything else to discover."
"Right." Amy said before she gave them the address of the site. "People are already gathering at the scene." She said, and then paused for a few moments. "I've discovered a second strange energy reading. I think it's probably a part of whatever landed in the parking lot; it probably separated before it crashed."
"Okay." Serena replied in acknowledgement of the information. "I'll see you all at the site. Keep a look out for me." She added, and everyone agreed. "Serena out." She said before she ended the connection.
She grabbed her shoes and pulled them on before tying the laces tightly then she grabbed her brooch and put it in her pocket. Standing up she tapped into her powers before she focused on Darien's bedroom and wanting to be there. Within moments she disappeared in a brief flash of white light and reappeared in her prince's bedroom.
She didn't see him or Artemis but she saw light out in the hallway from the open door, so she walked out of the room and down the hallway and saw him sitting on his couch in the living room.
"Hey." She said softly, and watched him turn and look at her.
"Hey you." Darien replied.
"Are you still in pain?" She asked in concern.
"No. It's gone now." He answered reassuringly. "Are you ready?"
"Yeah." Serena said as she reached the couch, and spotted Artemis sitting in a side chair. "I contacted the girls and informed them. Amy found strange readings, but couldn't tell any more without being on site." She informed them.
Darien nodded as he stood up and transformed silently in a red light. When it cleared moments later he stood as the masked man Tuxedo Mask. Serena pulled her brooch out and held it up slightly.
"Moon Prism Power." She said calmly, and was instantly surrounded in a warm pink light. When it cleared she stood as the warrior Sailor Moon.
"Bye Artemis." She said as she followed Darien to the balcony door. "We'll let you know what we find."
"Be careful you two." Artemis said as he watched them from the arm of the chair.
"We will." Darien said with a firm nod as he slid the door open.
He stepped out onto the balcony and Serena joined him before he slid the glass door closed. They carefully made their way down the building using the various balconies, and once they reached the ground they took off running; both of them knowing the way from the information they had.
They ran along sidewalks and across mostly empty streets, skirted around parked cars, and when they found an appropriate building they made their way to the roof and began to move along the rooftops to get to their destination quicker.
Serena's eyes were focused yet constantly moving to make sure she was aware of her surroundings as she ran alongside her prince. They leapt to the next rooftop and just as her feet touched down she felt a sudden pulse from her silver crystal that echoed through her chest.
She frowned at the unexpected sensation but continued to run. Before she could begin to wonder why her crystal had done such a thing it happened again. The pulse was stronger this time and she got the sense that she needed to turn and head in the direction toward her right.
She slowed to a stop in confusion as she looked off in that direction and scanned the buildings and sky. There was nothing that she could see, but her crystal pulsed again; more urgently this time.
Darien stopped and looked back before he turned and stepped back toward his princess.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
"My crystal is telling me I need to go in that direction," Serena said as she pointed to her right. "and I get the sense that I need to hurry up about it."
Darien looked in the direction himself, but saw nothing that was concerning or out of place.
"Okay." He said with a shrug. "It's not like we're in a real hurry, that object that crashed is gone, so we can afford to take a detour. Besides, I'm sure your crystal has a reason for directing you. It's never done that before has it?"
"No. It hasn't." She said, and then sighed. "I guess I had better follow its directions. I trust it after all."
Darien nodded and they took off running in the direction the silver crystal had indicated.
They ran along the rooftops switching from high to low roofs as they came across them before Serena led them down to street level. From there they sprinted along the sidewalks, cut through alleys, and crossed streets before they came in sight of a fairly large park. She paused and felt her crystal pulse again and urge her toward and into the park.
"Whatever my crystal is insistent about is in the park." She informed her prince.
"Then let's see what we can find." Darien said.
With that the two of them sprinted into the park and ran along the path before Serena veered off into the grass at the direction of her crystal. After a few short minutes they began to see an obvious disturbance in the grass.
As they moved closer it became obvious that it was a crater that had disturbed the ground and ruined that area of the park.
"Something obviously crash landed here as well." Darien said. Why didn't I see this site as well? He wondered as he though back on his earlier mental view of the first crash site. Maybe I was just too focus on the first site or didn't think to check for any other disturbances.
"Amy said she picked up a second strange energy reading, but she thought it was something that had separated from the thing you saw since she couldn't tell if they had different energy signatures." Serena said.
"The thing I saw looked whole." He said as they stepped closer. "There was nothing missing from it. This has to be something else."
Serena held in a wary sigh. "I guess we'll find out if whatever landed is still here." She said.
They reached the edge of the crater and looked down into it only to blink in surprise at the sight. There lying at the bottom, clearly unconscious, was a simple looking cat.
"This is unexpected." Serena said blankly.
"No kidding." Darien replied. "Do you think that cat actually crash landed or it got trapped down there and couldn't make it back out?"
"I think it might have been what landed, because if it had gotten trapped it would be conscious and trying to get out. After all, the landing didn't happened that long ago." She said.
Darien nodded, and Serena felt another final pulse from her crystal urging her toward the feline.
"Can you keep watch?" She asked. "I'm going to go in and see what I can find out."
"Very well." He said calmly.
He wasn't happy about this since they didn't know what would happen if she touched that cat, but he also knew that it was for the best. Obviously it had come from outer space since it had crash landed, so there could be something on it or radiating from it, but with him watching he could react faster to anything that happened with it.
Plus, I can also be on the lookout for anyone approaching the area. He consoled himself.
Serena gave him a small smile, sensing his reluctance, before she leapt into the crater. She landed lightly at the bottom next to the feline, and carefully stepped around it until she was facing its face and legs.
She cautiously knelt down and saw right away that it was breathing so it was still alive, and that its fur was a solid purple color. The interior of its ears were a pinkish white, and its whiskers were white.
Its forehead was unmarked, unlike Artemis' and how Luna's used to be, and it appeared to be a regular cat, but it had crash landed and her crystal had guided her to it so there had to be something significant about this feline.
She carefully picked it up, instantly noting that it was limp in her arms, and leapt out of the crater.
"It's alive, but unconscious." She said as she landed next to Darien.
"It looks like a normal cat." He said after looking at it carefully.
"Yes, but I think there has to be more to it, because my crystal wouldn't have led us to it." Serena said.
Darien nodded thoughtfully and continued to gaze at the feline trying to see if he could discover anything that his princess might have missed.
Serena did the same but instead of looking for something vague memories began to surface to the front of her mind. Memories of lessons in the past of learning where Artemis and Luna had come from; being the talking cats that they were.
Could this cat be like them? She wondered as she gazed at the cat. It was a possibility but she wasn't sure though, because that would mean that the planet was still populated out there whereas the other planets weren't.
And if it's true then what's this cat doing here instead of being on its home planet. She thought, and then she suddenly recalled Darien's vision from months ago about Artemis and another feline.
"Darien, what if this cat is like Artemis?" Serena asked quietly. "Remember your vision."
Darien's eyes widened as he did indeed remember that first vision of Artemis, a dark furred feline, and a lavender furred kitten.
"It's possible." He admitted as he looked to her and then back to the cat. "We should take it back to Artemis since he might be able to tell, but not mention the vision to him. Artemis might remember it, but there's no need to remind him out loud of his possible future when he was just meeting his possible mate."
"Do you want to go together or should I just pop back to your place and leave the cat with Artemis and meet you back here?" She asked.
"You go alone and meet me back here. I'll take us back to the building we stopped on before we changed direction." He said.
Serena nodded as she tapped into her power. "I'll be right back." She said before she willed herself to the living room of his apartment. She disappeared with the purple cat and appeared inside his apartment in a flash of light a moment later.
"Serena?" She heard her name and looked over to see Artemis looking at her from his spot in the chair he had been in when they left. She quickly moved around the couch that she had appeared behind and placed the cat on one of the cushions.
"My crystal led us off course and to a second crash landing spot in a park, and we found this feline unconscious inside the crater." She quickly explained. "I think it might be from the planet you were originally from, but I'm not sure. We thought you might be able to tell."
Artemis' eyes widened in surprise as he looked at the reclined feline.
"I will see what I can find out." He said, and she nodded.
"I'll leave you to it then and get back to Darien." Serena said.
Within moments she was disappearing and reappearing in flash of white back in the park next to her prince.
Without a word Darien wrapped his arms around her and they disappeared in a flash of gold only to reappear on the roof of a building. He released her and they started running toward the original crash site they were headed for.
Only a few minutes later they stopped on the roof of a tall building that allowed them to see over two shorter buildings and view the crash site.
"The crater is bigger than I imagined." Serena commented.
"Then it should be larger once we're up close to it." Darien said, and she nodded.
"Then let's go." She said.
They carefully descended from the building and released their transformations before walking hand in hand toward the parking lot. A few minutes later they walked out into the parking lot with a few other curious people, and more trickling in from seemingly all directions. They spotted their friends grouped together after searching with their eyes and made their way toward them.
Mina spotted them first and waved, and Zoycite looked over as they got close.
"There you are! What took you so long?" He asked the couple.
"Yeah. I thought you two would be here before most of us." Jedite said.
"Sorry." Serena said as they stopped next to the group. "We had to make a slight detour." She added before she looked to Amy. "Do you recall that second strange energy reading?" She asked quietly yet loud enough for their group of friends to hear.
"Yes." Amy said with a nod.
"Well it turned out it was another crash site. We found an unconscious cat inside the crater." Serena informed them.
They all gasped in surprise, and Darien nodded in agreement with their reactions.
"We think the cat might be like Artemis since my crystal guided us rather insistently to the site." Serena said.
"We're hoping Artemis will be able to tell one way or the other." Darien said.
"Wow. I wonder what it means that your crystal was so insistent about finding that cat." Mina said.
"We'll likely know more when the cat awakens." Serena said. "So, did you guys see anything interesting since you arrived?" She asked.
"No. Nothing other than taking in the massive size of the crater." Neflite said.
"And all the curious people arriving to have a look." Jedite added, and Serena nodded.
"Amy, did you find out anything?" She asked the bluenette.
Amy nodded before she looked to the screen of her minicomputer, which she was holding in one of her hands.
"The energy reading I found earlier is definitely not from the Earth." She confirmed. "The traces I was able to get from whatever was here was plant based, and definitely from a type of plant I've never heard of and I'm unable to find any information on."
"Aside from that I tried to trace the objects path away from the crater from the energy signature it left behind, but it faded after only half a block and disappeared entirely." Amy added.
"That's all good to know." Serena said as she nodded. "I guess that from here on we'll have to keep our eyes open for anything unusual."
"Or an attack." Darien added.
"So this really is likely a new enemy." Malachite said quietly.
"We think so too, which means our peace is likely coming to an end for the time being." Darien said.
Raye sighed quietly and looked back to the crater. If whatever made that crater was a new enemy they would be back to fighting, which meant she would have to go back to worrying about her grandfather finding out about her scout life.
Lita wasn't too happy about the prospect of having to start fighting again, but she knew that was why they had continued to train regularly. So they could be ready to deal with another enemy should they show up.
She glanced to Neflite and looked away with a light blush. If nothing else this opportunity will allow me to spend more time with him. She thought.
"We should all head back home and get back to sleep." Darien said after looking to the crater. "We all have things to do in the morning, and we especially need to be well rested in case we need to fight."
"Yes." Serena agreed. "We'll let you know what we find out about the cat if there's anything to find out."
Everyone nodded in agreement, and they all wished each other goodnight before they began to walk off and away from the parking lot, so they could teleport back to their homes without being seen.
~~uUuUu~~
Artemis blinked as he watched his princess disappear and shifted his eyes back to the reclined feline. He couldn't tell anything from where he sat except for the fact that the cat was unconscious.
He leapt onto the coffee table and moved closer to the couch cushion where the cat was, and saw that the feline had purple fur that looked almost black in the current light and was shiny so he was sure the feline was healthy.
He shifted his face and twitched his nose as he took in the scent, and blinked to realize the feline was a female and smelled rather nice in his humble opinion. In fact, the scent and look of her was familiar, but he was having trouble placing why.
He hummed quietly as he sat down and continued to gaze at her. Serena's words drifted back to him about how she might be from his previous home planet.
He supposed it was possible but it begged the question of if the planet was still inhabited in this time. If it was, and she had indeed come from there, then why was she here on Earth? And if she wasn't from the planet in this time then did she come from a different time? Because that too was actually possible. It was highly unlikely, and likely meant something serious had gone wrong, but it was very possible.
Of course in the back of Artemis' mind was the vision that Darien had had so many months ago. He had never forgotten it but had put it in the back of his mind since there was no such female around for that vision to come true and it was likely very far in the future.
Now he could not help wondering if this female was the one Darien had seen. Was this female his possible future mate? Why was she familiar, and would finding out that answer possibly make it certain that they become close?
Artemis sighed. He was glad Serena hadn't mentioned it, because it had likely occurred to her and Darien as well. Of course, there was always the chance that one or both of them would mention it when they returned, but he was hoping they wouldn't. He didn't want to give the thought an actual voice.
She would likely be going back home whether to the planet of this time or another, but he couldn't help thinking of what could possibly happen if she stayed.
He would have someone like him who he could talk to, and if she was from a different time that might help in some way as well. If she was from the future maybe she could let them know if they were on the right track, and if she was from the past then they could chat about past happenings.
He would have someone to relate to, and that would be very nice. That was something he missed about Luna. Her personality this time around had been atrocious in his mind, but he had liked being able to talk to her and have her understand where he was coming from even if she disagreed.
That would certainly be nice but he shouldn't get his hopes up. If she truly was from his original planet and from a different time on top of that she would have to go back sooner rather than later. Especially if she was from a different time. They couldn't risk anything happening to the timeline.
Before his thoughts could continue he saw a flash of golden light and looked up to see his princess and her prince arrive.
"Welcome back." Artemis greeted.
"Thank you." Serena said.
"Is our guest awake?" Darien asked.
"No." Artemis answered. "She hasn't moved an inch since Serena brought her here."
"So she's a she." Serena said as she followed Darien around the couch. He sat in the side chair to the right of the couch and she sat on his lap.
"Yes. I was able to tell from her scent." He said. "The only other thing I know for certain is that she and her scent are familiar to me, but I can't place exactly why."
"That's more than we knew before." Darien said as he wrapped his arms around his princess. "Do you think she could be like you?" He asked.
"It is possible." Artemis admitted. "Either she came from my original planet in this time or she is from a different time; past or future I can't say."
Serena hummed. "I'm curious to know more about her." She admitted. "Especially since there's nothing we can do until we can get some answers from her."
Darien silently wondered what they would do if it turned out the female feline was from a different time. How would they get her back to her original time? And more importantly what if they couldn't get her back and she wound up stuck in the present?
Artemis looked back to the female curious himself to know more about her, and finally figure out why she was familiar to him. His nose twitched delicately as he once again focused on her scent; hoping it would trigger a memory or something that would give him an answer.
Serena yawned and twisted in Darien's lap until she was facing the side the couch sat on, and curled up as best she could and rested her head on his shoulder.
"Are you tired?" Darien asked as he rubbed a hand up her back and then ran his fingers through her hair.
"Yes." She said softly as she closed her eyes.
"If you fall asleep in my lap you'll have a hard time sleeping alone like last time." He said quietly as he shifted his eyes to her face. "You don't want to experience that again do you?"
"Not particularly, but it might be worth it. In fact, I'm sure it would be worth it since I would sleep so well." Serena replied, he chuckled quietly.
"We still need to talk about you sensing my emotions." Darien said after a few silent moments of watching Artemis stare at the purple feline.
"Yes." She said quietly. "Can you sense mine yet?" She asked.
He closed his eyes and felt weariness and curiosity that didn't belong to him.
"Yes I can." He said as he opened his eyes. "It appears that the connection between us that lets me know when you transform and how to find you is evolving."
"Yes, and now you can sense my emotions in addition to my transformation." Serena replied. "I wonder, since I can sense your emotions, if I can sense your transformation as well. I wasn't paying attention earlier to see if I could."
"You'll just have to pay attention the next time I transform, which is going to be soon. At the very least when we train together after school later today." Darien said quietly, and she hummed.
"I'll definitely pay attention." She said softly.
Artemis meanwhile was still staring at the female and was also doing his best to ignore the quiet conversation his princess was having with her prince. Their tone alone made it obvious they didn't particularly want him to hear them or at least listen in on what they were saying.
And because he was gazing so intently at the female he saw when her paws twitched. He sat up straighter and focused further on her.
Serena and Darien, catching Artemis' reaction, stopped talking and focused on the feline as well waiting to see if she was finally waking up.
~~uUuUu~~
Breathing was the first thing that registered in her mind as she regained awareness, which told her at least that she had survived her harrowing trip through the wormhole and the further unexpected ordeal afterward.
She sighed lightly as the next thing she registered was that she was comfortable, which told her she was in a safe location for the moment. That was somewhat of a comfort to her still adjusting mind since she could still hear her own terrified screams ringing through her mind.
She stretched slowly and tried to push the sound of her own screams to the back of her mind, and finally decided to open her eyes revealing vibrant red eyes.
The first thing she saw, much to her extreme shock, was a rather familiar looking blue eyed white feline.
"Ambassador Artemis?!" She said, her voice full of her shock and surprise as her eyes widened.