The Will of the Ring Chapter One

by Makura Koneko

Big Thanks to:

Sheetula

TenshiDaisy (I'm on your fav's list??? You're the first one to put me on their fav's list! *tears* I feel so special! *bawls* Thank you! *hugglez*)

Rinavariel (*eyes bulge* N-nani? Best on fanfiction.net??? *shakes head vigorously while blushing* I'm not that good!!! *blush* Gosh… *blushes again* I'm so honored you think so, though…)

ChibiTenshi

abyssal chaos

HikariTsuki (*bawls* Your review was so sweet!!! So glad you think everything fits! Took me a looong time to figure out how to fit two such complex plots together…glad my effort shows! *blush* And you think I'm talented? *blush* Thank you! *hugglez*)

Lacrea Moonlight

Nica (Exciting? Really? *hugglez* Thanks! I was a bit worried it would be boring! And yes, the Senshi will be making an appearance, soon, and yes, there will be couplings. I would say, but…don't want to give away anything important, now would I? *winks*)

Leslie Hellstone, Chamos

Goddess-of-Light

Rose Yami Hikari (*sigh of relief* phew. Glad you think I 'covered all the angles.' I'm sooo bad at catching plot holes in my own stories! ^^;)

Piper

Kawaiibaka (You said your real review was too long, so you sent it by e-mail, but I never got it…)

Angel-of-Halo

~Angel Mellisa

One Winged Angel's Lover

Usagi_1313

Butterfly

Miranda

Moo, Woo, Duu and Fuu

Shannan

sailorruss

TA

SailorFad64 (As all authors can agree, I think a good 'WOW!!!' is the best compliment an author can get. *grins* thanks for giving me such a big one!)

nicole

And another big thanks to averyone else who reviewed!

Now on to the Story…

It came again, that dream. It wasn't always the same dream, really, more like sections of a whole. Like if you were to take a movie and separate it into five different chapters, and watch one each night. Each time you turned on the TV, you saw the next part of the movie.

So it was with the girl who slept peacefully under the moonlight. Every night she went to sleep, and every night an unseen force revealed to her another piece of her past…all the pieces except the one that would answer the question that she'd wanted so desperately to be answered, even back then…

"Serenity!" Queen Selenity of the White Moon Kingdom rounded the corner of the balcony/deck that wrapped around the second floor of the White Moon Palace, supported by large marble pillars that went all the way around the main floor of the palace.

Princess Serenity, the Second Princess of the White Moon Silver Alliance Headquarters, jumped up from the bench she'd been sitting on, at the railing, with a squeak. She stepped on the hem of her gown, and went sprawling over the polished marble floor.

"Owie…" She whimpered, pulling herself up out of her most ungraceful heap while her mother chuckled. Serenity grinned sheepishly, straightening her skirts and hair as best as she could, the midnight wind bring to her the sounds of the party going on inside.

"You snuck out to watch the Earth again, didn't you?" Selenity asked softly. Serenity's sheepish expression deepened into that of an embarrassed blush.

"Sorry, mama," She said. For a moment Selenity hoped…

"But mama, I just don't understand why you disapprove of me even looking at it! It's not my fault it's such a beautiful planet, especially from up here, and it certainly isn't my fault you hate the place so much, and-"

Queen Selenity sighed. So much for hoping that she would get away without having to argue with her daughter, for once.

While Princess Serenity appeared no more than sixteen, her true age was over three thousand. With eyes the color of the brightest sapphires, creamy porcelain complexion, slender form, pert pink lips, and hair the color of…

Selenity's eyes darkened.

Even her own daughter was a reminder of her mistake… She was only glad she had the sense not to blame Serenity for her own folly, so long ago, just because her hair happened to remind her of something dear to her, something she'd been forced to give up by a man she'd not only been forced to marry and love, but had killed her mother, as well…

As Serenity ranted on with the reasons why Selenity should at least tell her daughter why she hated the Earth, Selenity looked up at the subject of her daughter's argument. She didn't know if Sauron was all powerful on Earth yet, or he had been defeated, or if he even succeeded in creating his 'One Ring,' and she had not the heart to find out.

She tuned back in to her daughter's voice as Serenity finished her rant. Serenity fumed. Her mother had hardly been listening! She'd gone off into a daze again, staring at the moon…

Well, isn't that what you do? A part of Serenity taunted. Serenity felt herself blush with frustration. It wasn't the same, she argued with herself.

She gave up.

It was an old argument.

Serenity had long ago guessed that maybe the reason for her mothers hateful, yet longing looks at the Earth, so much like her own, were linked to the only other real mystery in her life; who was her Father?

She knew he had to be human. She also knew that someone on her father's side had blue eyes.

No Lunarian had ever had blue eyes. And they were too light to be that of a Mercurians, and blue eyes among any other planetary race were extremely rare, let alone eyes the color of hers.

So, she knew her Father was human, and that he had hurt her mother, but that was all she knew.

Sometimes she wondered if she really wanted to know. What if her father turned out to be some evil villain? Could she handle knowing that she was the daughter of a murderer? She didn't know.

But she wanted to find out…

She shook herself out of her familiar reverie when her mother placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder, and smiled at her kindly. Serenity hugged her mother, and the Queen returned the embrace. Together, they returned to the party inside, an idea forming in the mischievous, determined mind of the 3000 year old Moon Princess…

"Serenity, if you get caught, I had no part in this! Just remember that!" The raven haired, violet eyed woman hissed to her princess and best friend.

"I know, Mars, I know," Serenity rolled her eyes. She'd had to promise to show Mars where her secret chocolate stash was for this, but if she found what she wanted… If she succeeded in her quest down there on that planet, the planet that was the destination that was programmed into the transporter console they were hiding behind, then it was worth the contents of all her stashes.

Mars reached up and punched in her code; the transporter was programmed with a security protocol that made it impossible for a transportation to be made without the code of at least one Senshi.

"Go, go!" Mars hissed, slipping something sleek into Serenity's hand as she shoved her towards the transportation pod. "Hurry!"

"Thank you!" Serenity said softly as the rainbow glow of the transporter engulfed her, and she faded away. Mars stared at the place her best friend and princess had stood moments before, and mentally wished the golden haired girl luck, with all her heart.

Serenity awoke in her bed, groggily, having received very little sleep after returning from Earth. She touched the locket at her throat…a gift from the man she swore was her soulmate…

"Prince Endymion…" She murmured. She remembered how she had materialized, disorientated, in a garden…she'd seen someone coming, had ducked behind a tree…he'd seen her…

She had, foolishly, she now realized, told him who she was. He believed her after she'd displayed some of her lunarian magic, and her upturned crescent moon insignia on her forehead. He'd told her how the legend of a kingdom on the moon was considered a legend.

She'd asked him if there was any 'legend' about a moon queen coming down and having a child with a human. He'd told her no, and asked, curiously, why she wanted to know… She'd told him everything. How she didn't know her father, how her mother refused to speak of him, how her mother seemed to both hate and long for the Earth.

She'd then asked him if anything big had happened three thousand years ago, and he'd proceeded to tell her the most amazing story she'd ever heard. About sixteen Rings of Power, about the One Ring, the master of them all, how it was forged in secret in the first of Mount Doom in the land of Mordor, a place that had once been part of Gondor, the kingdom that was now the headquarters for the Earthen Empire.

He told her of the Last Alliance, the last bounding of Men and Elves to go against the Dark Lord, of the Dark Lord's fall, and the passing of the One Ring into the hands of Ilsildur. He told her how the Ring betrayed Ilsildur, and how over a span of three thousand years, it corrupted the creature Gollum, and then came to the hobbit Baggins, and then to Frodo Baggins. He told her, as she lay in his arms, of how the Fellowship of the Ring had guarded Frodo on his quest to destroy the One Ring in the fires of Mount Doom, the one place it could be destroyed.

He'd then given her the locket that now lay around her throat. A gift, he'd said. A family heirloom. My anscestor was one of the men who fought in the Last Alliance. He found it among the ruins of Castle Baraduil before they retreated from Mordor. Besides, my father wanted me to give it to the woman I plan on marrying. He'd kissed her gently. And I plan on marrying you some day, he'd told her…and she'd left…

Serenity sighed happily, gripping the locket, and drifted back into sleep… But as we all know, to sleep in the real world is to awake in the dream world, and just as that is for the real world, so it is that to sleep in the dream world is to awaken here, in the real world… And so the girl awoke, and remembered…

But not before an image of a lidless eye, wreathed in flame, bore into her very soul…

Luna stopped, her paw raised and ready to swipe her charge across the face in a last, final attempt to awake her before all hope of actually being on time for school was lost. Before she could lower her paw, Serena Tsukino's eyes snapped open, and she sat up sharply with a screech of genuine fear rather than the horror of being late yet again.

"Goodness, Serena, what ever is the matter?" Luna picked herself off from taking a tumble off the bead, due to the blonde's sudden rising. She leapt back up onto the bed on dainty paws, and looked up into Serena's sweaty face, genuine concern on her feline features. Serena groaned and buried her face in her hands.

"I had another one," She mumbled. Luna's eyes widened.

"Another?" Luna echoed. "That's the tenth in a row…and each one picks up right after the last one ended, you say?" Serena nodded and looked up, her expression the most serious anyone, even Luna, had ever seen.

"Starting from my 1500th birthday. And in this one I was three thousand, at least."

"So your dreams are covering one thousand, five hundred years every ten nights," Luna mussed. "You were…" Her eyes widened.

"I was three thousand and ten when the Moon Kingdom fell, I know," Serena whispered. She sniffed. "I remember that part of my past perfectly fine."

"I know you do, but…" Luna bit her lip. "Most likely, Serena, you will relive the End in one of the next few nights to come… Do you want to set up a sleepover with the girls, so they'll be there with you, to wake you up, or to just be there?"

"Yeah, a sleepover! Funfunfun!" Serena said cheerfully, all trace of her previously gloomy mood completely gone. Luna's eyebrow twitched. How did she do it?

"Another thing, though, Luna," Serena reached for her Eternal Moon Locket at her bedside, the one that housed the Silver Crystal.

"My Eternal Moon locket was in the dream, too," She said. "Only it was smaller, and on a chain, like a real locket…it was a gift from Endy."

"One of your brooches, not made of MoonPower?" Luna said, blinking. "That is odd…"

Just then the alarm clock went off…

Followed by an inhuman screech…

And the all too familiar cry of  "I'm gonna be laaaaaaaaate!!!"

Luna shook her head as Serena dashed into her bathroom, and the shower was turned on, followed by a yelp, the result of Serena's typical unwillingness to wait for the water to heat up.

"Some things never change," The feline laughed softly.

"Think we should bring up going to bed, soon?" Ami asked softly, so her voice would not be heard by anyone else than the one she was talking to. Lita, standing at the stove and slicing some fresh made brownies, glanced through the 'window' in the wall separating the kitchen and the living room. Her lips quirked.

"I don't think we need too, Aims," Lita laughed. Ami glanced into the living room and chuckled softly. Serena was sprawled out on her back on the couch, snoring, still dressed, her shoes kicked off, sound asleep.

"Do you think what Luna said is true?" Raye asked as Lit and Ami came back into the living room.

"I have no idea," Lita said, glancing with a worried expression on her face at her Princess.

"Ssh!" Mina hushed. "Keep your voices down!"

"Oh, please," Raye rolled her eyes. "A hurricane couldn't wake her up right now." To prove her point, she went over and clapped her hands right next to Serena's ear.

The girls winced and waited for the impending shouting match that was to come…

Nothing.

Serena snored on. Mina shook her head and Raye smirked.

"Funny…" Lita said, setting the tray of brownies down on the floor in the middle of them all, on the floor beside the couch.

"What?" Mina asked, reaching for a brownie.

"Usually just the smell of food has Serena up and running, no matter how tired…but even though she's right there, she's still asleep."

"Now that makes me worry," Raye muttered.

"What was that?" Ami asked, raising an eyebrow. "You, worried for Serena? And admitting it? My, my, my..." Raye fought the embarrassed blush that flared in her ears.

"Whatever," She mumbled. Mina grinned, and opened her mouth to say something, when a bloodcurdling, agony filled scream cut her off. She whirled, being the one with her back to the couch, and stood at the same time as everyone else.

"Serena!" Raye cried, dashing to her best friend's side. Still asleep, her back arched, fists clenched and eyes shut tight, Serena sobbed and tossed and turned with some unknown agony.

"Hold her down so she doesn't hurt herself!" Ami yelled over Serena's screams. Lita, being the strongest, pulled her Princess off the couch and to her, wrapping her arms around Serena's torso and pinning the smaller girl's arms to her side, while Raye grabbed her legs.

It was a good five minutes before her throws and screams stopped, and by then, so hard pressed they had been to keep their princess from hurting herself, the girls had yet to notice, as they caught their breath, the silver-golden glow that surrounded her…

The moment the pain stopped, Serena realized all at once that a) she was burning hot and freezing cold at the same time. B) she ached all over. C) She was on the ground. D) She was outdoors. And finally, E) she couldn't sense any of her Senshi, or Darien.

That last was what frightened her the most, admist all the fears and emotions and realizations that crashed into her all at once.

When her senses and mind began to slowly clear, she began to sense and realize other things. The first was that there was magic, wherever she was. The second was that there were the unmistakable sounds of a battle -she'd been in too many herself to not recognize them when she heard them- not far away.

But above all that she sensed…need…someone needed her…that was what had pulled her from the brink of death, she knew. Whatever it was she had gone through, her Senshi sense told her she should have died from the strain. But someone here needed her, and so she had lived. It was always like that…She lived and died, depending on what was needed of her. And she'd never once turned away, since she was always brought back. Always. Maybe that was why, when it came to the big fights, she wasn't afraid, because it was all or nothing. Whereas with the little fights, she knew that if she got hurt, she would live and have to deal with it.

Cowardly, she knew, but she felt sacrificing her life six times now allowed her to be a little selfish.

The need of the person that was dying pulled at her again. Suddenly Serena was able to ignore the pain, and open her eyes. Just like when fighting the pain of being under Rubeus's G-Flux capacitor and feeling like the entire world had been dropped on top of her, she forced herself to remember her loved ones, remember the ones that depended on her.

She pulled herself to her feet, and pried her eyes open once more. The colors and trees and greenery around her blurred, so that all she could make out was, in the distance, two dark figures. One was darker than the other…oh, so much darker…the other was on it's knees… She could feel the life draining out of him. With the empathy that she had always had, that had been awakened when she had become Sailor Moon, she could see, with her spirit's eye, his sorrow. She could see tendrils of light seeping away from him. She could also see that the creature in front of him was shrouded in a darkness that would have made Beryl think twice.

Serena didn't care.

That man needed her help…

Without realizing it, her crescent moon glowed into existence on her forehead, an invisible wind blowing her hair away from her brow, displaying her heritage and power for all to see as she painfully stumbled towards the fallen warrior…

There it was again, that feeling that something was drawing near. Good or evil, even he, an Elfen Prince trained in the ways of foresight, could not tell. Perhaps that meant that the…thing, whatever it was that was coming, was good, but it would bring ill…? That seems the most logical, thought Legolas Greenleaf as he flung his last dagger into yet another enemy hybred-Orc, right between the eyes.

In the distance, he heard the Horn of Gondor being blared one last, weak time. He urged Aragorn to hurry to Boromir's side, knowing that it was Boromir that protected the two halflings. He, himself, as he fought his way through countless Orcs, kept an eye out for Frodo, all the while wondering about the force that was drawing ever nearer…

Serena cried out in pain as she fell to one knee, her arms wrapped around each other. Every sense, especially her empathy, was multiplied ten fold by the magic that surrounded her, that was woven in to the very fabric of time and space, here. She'd never felt anything like it in her time… Her time?

Yes…for as her senses here multiplied, she was somehow able to sense that she was not really in a different place, jut a different time…

God, she wished her head would clear from the pain so she could think more clearly! None of this made any sense…

There was another grunt of pain, not far up ahead, but this one did not originate from the man with four arrows buried in his chest. No, this came from the now beheaded monster that had shot those arrows. Another man stood over him, bloodied sword in hand as he rushed to the side of the fallen warrior. Serena watched from behind a tree that she pulled herself up to lean against.

She had to wait…if she interfered now, things would go wrong…there was something the fallen man had to say to his rescuer before she could interfere…if he did not, something would be lost…something important….

Damn, why couldn't she think straight?

And why was she thinking so…sensibly? She could just hear what Raye would say if she could hear her thoughts; 'Did Meatball Head get a brain transplant? I expected to see visions of sugarcanes and hamburgers in here! Not mysterious contemplations on the ways of the universe!'

Serena shook her head, then hissed with the pain it brought. Biting back a groan of nausea, she held on for the life of the man before her…she just hoped he would say whatever it was he needed to say before it was too late…

The last Orc fell. It was the last; his senses told him so. Now Legolas could start looking for that halfling in earnest. Grumbling under his breath as he fitted another arrow into his bow, he headed for where the Horn of Gondor had sounded. Perhaps Frodo had heard the call and, being the naively brave halfling he was, had gone to help.

He rounded a large tree, and promptly jumped back, nimbly and silently. He glanced around the tree once more, his eyes narrowed. A slender, willowy figure was leaning against a tree at the edge of the clearing that housed a fallen Boromir and a stricken Aragorn. She held herself as if she were a queen about to die…he could see the agony she felt in her slight movements, the hang of her head, the tilt of her shoulders.

Legolas watched as an unseen wind blew her gold-silver hair out behind and around her most oddly clad body; a short, pleated black skirt and a pink top. She was also barefoot, he saw, and had no cloak. How cold she must be… he thought. How did she get all the way out here? How is she unhurt, clean, no cuts and scrapes?

Legolas narrowed his eyes as he stepped silently out from behind the tree, bow at the ready. As he neared, he heard the girl sniffle, wrapping her arms around herself tighter. Faintly, he registered words being exchanged between Boromir and Aragorn. Past the golden haired girl, he saw Aragorn fit Boromir's sword into Boromir's hand, and his attention was sharply pulled towards the two men, though he kept an eye on the girl, as well.

So…Boromir was to leave them. Legolas was familiar with the act of human warriors preferring to die with their weapons in hand.

Legolas's attention was once more pulled to the golden haired girl as she, with a sob, shoved herself away from the tree and stumbled into the clearing. Cursing, Legolas lowered his bow and stuck the arrow back into his quiver on his back. He rushed forward and grabbed her, partially to keep her from falling, and partially to keep her away from Aragorn, should she had planned on attacking. Not that she would have been able to do anything; the girl was louder than a horse.

"Let me go…" The girl groaned as she fell against him. "He needs me…"

Boromir…she was looking at Boromir.

"He is dead, lady," Legolas told her. His senses screamed that she was no threat…that she was love and purity incarnate, and yet…the thing he had felt was drawing near…the sensation…it was gone. Did that mean that this girl, this tiny slip of a human girl was the great prescence he'd sensed drawing near?

With strength she must have summoned from her very lifeforce, she pushed away from Legolas, and pulled herself to her feet. Legolas moved to stop her, then saw the ultimate determination on her face, her gaze fixated not on Aragorn, but on the lifeless form of Boromir. She half stumbled, half crawled to his form, refusing any form of help from Legolas, or Aragorn who was now watching with wariness as she pulled herself up, gasping with exhaustion and pain from an unseen wound, beside what was once Lord Boromir's shell.

The girl shoved herself up on her elbow, staring down at Boromir. She shut her eyes tight, and placed her other hand on his forehead. Something on her forehead flashed, bringing the upturned, golden crescent moon to the attention of the elf and human, and the dwarf that came up behind them.

"Who in the name of the seven devils is she?" Gimli roared, renewing his grip on his battle ax.

"I think she's trying to save him." Legolas said, a skeptical look on his face.

"Lady..." Aragorn reached for the girl. "Lady, please, he is gone. There is nothing you can do..." His words trailed off as a soft silver glow began to eminate from the crescent moon, growing until it had surrounded the girl and Boromir.

"What's she doing?" Gimli demanded, incredulous. Legolas stood and placed a hand on the dwarf's shoulder, should the shorter warrior decide he didn't like what he saw and attacked. Gimli shrugged off the hand.

"Do not touch me, elf!" He growled. "I am not so stupid as to interfere with this sort of sorcery!"

"It's not sorcery," Aragorn said, his eyes fixated on the face of the girl, contorted in determination, pain, fatigue, and, slowly...truimph?

The glow faded...

The three warriors held their breath...

As Boromir drew one, and the girl collapsed on top of him in a dead faint.

To Be Continued...

IMPORTANT: If you would like to be notified when new chapters are posted, please e-mail me at: Makura_Koneko@hotmail.com, or just review and say so, with your e-mail addy, and I will add you to my list! Thanks!

Now on to the real author's notes…

Ta da! Yet another chapter, yeah, I know, I said by August 20th, but I finished this early so I figured why not post it now?

OMG the response to the prologue was absolute amazing!!!! I'm so touched that so many of you liked my story so much! *tears* I feel so special! *hugglez all*

As for bringing Boromir back, I fully expect a flame or two regarding that, but, I want to give my story every unique twist I can, and I have seen VERY few fics that brought Boromir back/had him never die, so... Plus, I kinda liked Boromir. He hated the fact that he wanted the Ring so badly, and it wasn't his fault; he's only human! Yes, yes, I know 'well, Aragorn resisted, so why couldn't Boromir?' News flash; everybody's different. Plus, I have another reason for bring him back, which will be revealed later.

My last note before I say adieu, is that unless I get an overwhelming amount of requests for a Serena/Legolas (which is the only other couple I will consider, sorry), Serena will remain loyal to Darien. Sorry, peeps; I'm a pretty solid cannon relationship fan, and Serena and Darien definitely count as a Cannon couple. I know Darien's not exactly an angel, but if you haven't noticed, I'm going with more the manga version of Sailor Moon (except for the names) and in the manga, Darien is MUCH more attentive and darling than the anime Darien-baka.

So, with that said, I shall say adieu as I promised, and that I hope to see you all again in the next chapter! Ja ne!

Hope Makes the Universe Shine,

Makura Koneko

*ALL STANDARD DISCLAIMERS APPLY*