Disclaimer: Not mine... er. ours, or anyone's. Well maybe someone's.

Serenity's Secret
Chapter One: The UnNamed

Serena found herself walking along the sidewalk of a very bright city.
"Is this Tokyo?" she mused, trying to find some semblance of familiarity.
Glancing heavenward, she spotted what appeared to be a castle made of glass.
"Why would someone make a castle out of glass?.. Won't it break?" she wondered aloud.
It was then that she saw a brief sign of movement on the otherwise desolate street. A tall white haired man stood facing away from her.
"Can you tell me where I am?" she asked. Her words echoed eerily through the air. The man seemed unaffected as he walked away.
"Wait!" she called out as she sprinted after him. She saw a glimpse of white and followed him around the corner. He had stopped a few feet away from her, but he was different. His once white hair seemed blonde under the eerie lighting. Slowly, as if in a dream, the man turned towards her. His once cold features warmed as he regarded her. His eyes were so sad. Mesmerized she stood there, trying to make sense of it all. But she didn't take too long, and impulsively rushed forward, determined to reach him. Serena feel forward and darkness engulfed her. She was now falling through what seemed to be an endless black well and she was frightened.

"Darien.." she heard a distant yell but it became muddled and it was not longer clear.

"I am the moon princess?" she heard her own confused voice echo.

She saw flashed of Serenity's kind face. But a shadow was slowly forming beside her.

"Sailor Moon...." a voice whispered in anguish. But slowly the voice became more distant until it disappeared.

A winged white queen aloofly regarded the face of a crying child. Slowly she walked away.

The child's crying grew louder. So loud that it was deafening.

As Serena felt the forces of gravity pulling her towards certain death, she crashed suddenly on to the ground. After opening her eyes, she felt the cold floor beneath her.
Serena grumbled as she realized that she had fallen out of bed.
"Ouch, that hurt!" she squealed as she lifted herself off of the floor, gingerly touching her head. If she had been Amy, she would have been greatly concerned with the dream and analyzed its possible meaning, but she was Serena and she was concerned with other things.
"Breakfast!" she thought to herself. She only slightly noted that her annoying sleeping companion was nowhere in sight. She grumbled under her breath about cats. Remembering Luna's last scolding, Serena got dressed and headed towards the kitchen. Glancing towards the wall clock, Serena grumbled as she realized that she was going to be late to yet another scout meeting.
"Maybe if I hurry." she speculated.
Staring longingly at the refrigerator, Serena hesitated before decided that breakfast was the most important meal of the day. ********
The red flames flickered as visions of shadows appeared before the dark haired girl. The dark outline of a warrior faded from the fire. The girl blinked once, then twice as she tried to rid herself of her visions. Something had changed, she felt it.
A cold wind swept by, nearly extinguishing the fire. And then there was the muffled sound of a sliding door. She was no longer alone.
She scanned the room for any signs of the invader. There were no signs of movement. Furrowing her eyebrows in confusion, her eyes wandered back to the flames. This time however she noticed something different. There was a large shadow, but it wasn't in the flames but rather behind them. Following the man's figure with her eyes, she was alarmed to discover that the tall man nearly reached the ceiling. She scanned the man's countenance seeking recognition and found herself looking into a pair of dark red glowing eyes.
"Raye." it stated.
"Youma" she whispered bringing herself to her full height. He scowled, obviously annoyed.
"I'm not a demon." he growled. Unconvinced, Raye mental evaluated her opponent. Walking deliberately towards her, the youma lunged forward, parting the fire as he walked. Taking a step back, Raye regarded her opponent with renewed respect.
"He's not an ordinary youma... He's more powerful." she thought.
"I need the scouts." she thought in a panic. Abruptly, she ran towards the temple door, determined to warn the other scouts.
Suddenly a large barrier of flames erupted before her only exit. Muttering angrily under her breath, she turned around. Facing her, the youma smirked triumphantly.
"You're going to regret that, youma." she hissed threateningly. His red eyes flickered in anger as he regarded the small scout before him.
"Will you stop calling me that, you..." the rest of his sentence was muttered so she had to listen more carefully to his words. He was speaking some unknown tongue, probably negaverse in origin. While he was distracted, Raye quickly searched the room, ensuring that there were no other youma. Satisfied, she pulled out her wand and transformed. She watched the man carefully, he didn't seem bothered with the transformed sailor scout before him.
"Why did he know my name?" Sailor Mars asked herself, realizing that he had known her secret identity all along.
"No need to get worked up." the youma uttered in a heavy accent. Sailor Mars arched an eyebrow at his unexpected comment.
"Why are you here?" she demanded choosing to ignore his comment. He didn't answer. There was a moment of silence before he responded.
"To round you up, like the cattle that you are." he stated. "We're all here to do that."
Ignoring the first half of his statement, Sailor Mars asked "We?"
He nodded curtly as if it were self explanatory. "That's what I just said." he restated.
For a moment, Sailor Mars relaxed her fighting stance as realization overtook her. The negaverse was after her friends. She gritted her teeth in frustration as she glared at the fire that blocked the exit.
Abruptly, Sailor Mars high kicked the youma's face. Catching him by surprise, he took a step back as her heel narrowly missed the tip of his nose.
"I'll get you." she yelled as she lunged forward.
***************
Tapping her shoe innocently on the sidewalk, a young woman looked at the streets to her left and right. It almost seemed as she were expecting something to occur. The streets were dirty and she cringed as she looked at her designer shoes' bottom. This was a bad part of town, and she wondered why she was here. Breaking from her reverie, she heard the distant roar of an engine. She smiled and began to look about the street frantically. A black motorcycle screeched to a halt a few feet away from her.
A male voice spoke in a language unknown to her.
She shook her head in confusion. "Do you speak English?" she uttered, prononcing each syllable carefully.
"Yes." he stated with a Japanese accent.
"Are you lost?" he restated his original question.
"Um,... I'm not quite sure." she said putting a finger on her chin.
He smiled amused by the lost tourist. He looked around the street, this was obviously not a good place for a lady to be by herself.
"Maybe you could help me. I'm looking for a Shinto Temple." she said.
He nodded indicating for her to continue.
*************
The neon lights flashed over Lita's green eyes as she watched Andrew.
"Andrew." she sighed as she gazed at him with starry eyes.
Rising from his seat, Andrew glanced at the clock once again.
She began to walk towards him with newfound determination and a dazed look in her eyes.
"This will be the day." she whispered to herself. "Today I'll change everything."
Whispering her new mantra, she was quickly approaching Andrew's turned back, when suddenly she sees some sort of lump interfere with her visual range.
"Target blocked.... Grr." she thought. "Must removed obstacle."
She began focusing her eyes on the target of what would soon be a very thorough attack, when two stunning gray eyes blocked her vision.
"Looking for someone?" the lump inquired.
Lita gasped at the most handsome man she had ever seen, all thoughts of Andrew had instantly vanished.
"He looks just like my old boyfriend." she thought to herself.
"Were you saying something?" he asked with a slight smirk on his features.
"Hmmgrersges." she mumbled incoherently, obviously embarrassed.
"I mean, no I wasn't looking for anyone." she said as she attempted speech again.
"Atleast not anymore." she thought to herself.
"So, what's your name?" she asked, not very subtlely. He seemed unperturbed.
"John." he said as he extended his hand, thus disregarded her cultural etiquette completely.
She shook his hand all the while blushing. He looked at her expectantly. She gazed at him, he was so tall, had beautiful eyes, perfect hair, was intelligent, was considerate, was caring, loving, kind, in other words every woman's ideal. She gather all of this from just looking at him.
Meanwhile, he was still waiting for her response. It was a few additional moments before she realized her rudeness.
"My name's Lita." she said enthusiastically.
He nodded. "It's nice to meet you."
She gigled nervously as thought of what to say.
The first thought that came up to her mind was "Where have you been all my life?"
"Where have you been.. " she stopped herself abruptly and smiled.
"What do you mean?" he asked truly perplexed. The bright lights of the nearby arcade game danced upon his warm grey eyes, making Lita swoon.
"Where were you... before you came here?" she asked, feigning innocence.
"I was exploring Tokyo." John replied. "It's so beautiful."
She smiled widely at him, seeing her opportunity.
"Would you like me to show you around?" she asked enthusiastically, almost maniacally. Much to everyone's surprised, he actually accepted.
Moments later,
Lita and John were walking, seemingly without any destination in mind. They talked and talked about many little things. He was so warm, friendly and expressive that Lita was sure she had found her match. She smiled, it was so odd, so unlikely that she would meet him. Gradually the sky grew dimmer as heavy grew clouds gathered. However, Lita was oblivious, her only interest was talking to her new friend. John however looked up towards the sky, his warm gray eyes became as cold and grey as the clouds above. If she hadn't been observing him so carefully, she wouldn't have noticed the sudden change that overcame his demeanor. Heavy drops of rain began falling from the sky. He stopped walking abruptly. Lita followed suit, confused by his odd behavior.
"It's raining." he said in a cold yet distant manner.
Lita began to look around the street for shelter and she suddenly realized, they were standing infront of Raye's temple.
"Are we going to go in?" he asked calmly as her eyes drifted from the temple to his cold grey eyes.
*************
Something was wrong. She saw it everywhere around her. She felt as if she were drowning. The window fogged up as Amy gazed at the wet streets below. She felt cold, numb as if she were in a dream, and she wished for an awakening. What was happening? She was fine only a few moments ago. And then she felt something else...
She sensed something that was almost there, but wasn't. Something intangible, like water. A soft sound resounded through her house.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Amy widened her eyes in surprise, she wasn't expecting any visitors. Slowly she rose from her chair and walked quietly towards the door. Peering through the window, Amy was confronted with a foreign looking man. Cautiously she opened the door a crack and looked at the man before her.
He was wearing a hooded raincoat that obscured part of his face.
"Yes?" she asked. Focusing on his features, Amy was confronted with innocent clear blue eyes. He smiled softly at her question, but showed no other sign of having heard her.
"Maybe, he's a little hard of hearing." she thought.
"HELLO?" she said a little louder this time.
He smiled again and waved frantically like a child would.
"Okay, maybe he's not deaf. Maybe he's a little crazy." she said as she smiled bewildered.
Slowly he tilted his head to the side, watching her carefully. Thus making Amy think twice about opening the door to him. She looked at him for a moment and a slow sincere smile spread over her face. He was acting so childish she couldn't contain her amusement.
He nodded to himself as if he had accomplished something. How odd.
After a moment of silence, Amy tried once again "Who are you?" she asked.
"Your cats sent me." he said with a pause. Amy was surprised.
"What?" she muttured. He smiled brilliantly once more and continued.
"They said something about a password involving... catnip?" he said as he scrunched up his nose in confusion.
Amy looked at him for a moment, clearly confused.
"Sailor Scout business." he whispered conspiratorily.
"Oh." she said with a jump. Another tense moment of silence passed as Amy regarded him unconvinced.
He sighed and removed the hood from his head revealing shoulder length dark blue hair. He raised an eyebrow at her.
"Long lost twins?" he asked. Confused by his display, she was unable to answer as he pointed his hand towards the rain. Suddenly, the rain drop stopped in midair, leaving a large path of unmoving water. He turned back to her and smiled without releasing the rain from his magnetic hold. She gaped at him before realizing that he might be an enemy. The thought instantly flashed across her mind. The man frowned slightly as he realized what she was thinking.
"I'm not an enemy." he said calmly as the rain resumed it's natural descent towards the ground. She regarded him skeptically.
"Oh, come on. Was the catnip worth nothing?" he whined.
She considered his request for a moment, before realizing the he could have attacked her already, and she doubted an enemy would have knocked so politely. She shook her head it didn't matter anyway death awaits us all. She walked into her home, leaving the door open behind her. That was the moment that would seal her fate.
Amy sat down in her previously occupied chair as the feeling of displacement returned to her. Why couldn't she just accept things as they are. Why couldn't she be more silly, like Serena.
A deep male voice interupted her reverie. "It's creepy how things can feel so wrong, so misplaced."
She looked up surprised, almost having forgotten about the man inside her home.
"Why am I letting this man talk to me?" Amy thought.
She paused.
"Everything feels so different, so changed, so shifted in some unnamed manner." she said as she looked around the room dazed.
"I feel it too." he said quietly.
Her eyes widened suddenly and she bolted from her chair. "What are you doing here?" she asked.
"For right now, I'm here to see you." he stated calmly.
She took a step back, knocking down a glass ornament. It shattered on the floor. She looked at it startled and hurriedly scooped down to pick up the larger pieces. Her finger grazed one of the sharp edges and she cried out in pain.
"Forgive me for startling you." the man said apologetically.
Amy looked at him as she nursed her bleeding hand. Carefully he touched her hand, inspecting the wound.
She looked at the wound mesmerized as the skin began to glow a pale white color. Looking closer she saw the skin meld and the wound disappear.
"You're a healer?" she asked amazed.
He smiled sadly "I can't heal all wounds."
She looked up at him for a moment and whispered "There are somethings that can not be undone."
****************
Two odangos bounced down the street at a rapid pace. Below them a frightened looking blonde girl ran as fast as her legs could carry here.
"It's raining, it's raining." she thought nonsensical. "It's just one step from lightning and thunder."
She shuddered at the thought. This wasn't her day, she started by abruptly waking up from a nightmare. Her head still hurt from the impact. Then she was late for a scout meeting. Again. And now it was pouring.
"It can't get any worse." she thought as lightening appeared in the sky, followed by a loud crash.
"Oh, no!" she exclaimed aloud. She jumped up with fright. Part of her wanted to keep running, another part of her wanted to hide.
"So brave, Sailor Moon." she thought to herself. "You face villains everyday, but you can't face thunder."
Following one of her two instincts, she decided to run faster and soon realized the mistake of her ways. The sidewalk impacted her as she fell head first into the pavement.
"Ow." she said, muffled by the ground.
A car came to a halt next to the fallen girl.
The voice of a man startled her. "Are you alright?" he asked in an almost perfect Japanese pronunciation.
Not noticing his slight accent, Serena groaned. She heard the rustling of fabric and suddenly she saw a pair of deep blue eyes looking at her sideways.
"Darien?" she asked dazed.
"Daniel." he responded.
"Huh?" she questioned.
"D-A-N-I-E-L." he said pronouncing each letter carefully.
"An American?" she wondered outloud.
"British actually. Thank you for noticing the difference." he said wryly.
"Eh?" she mumbled, more confused than ever.
"You're getting awfully wet. Do you want a lift?" he inquired.
"A lift?" she asked obviously still dazed.
He smiled and offered his hand, suddenly preferring to communicate through gestures rather than words. Slowly, she took his hand, not once questioning his motives, and rose from the ground. She almost tipped over again.
"Wow he's cute." she mumbled.
"What?" he asked confused.
"Ahem. Nothing." she said quickly.
He raised an eyebrow inquisitively before leading her towards his car. Daniel opened the passenger car door for her in a gentlemanly fashion.
"Wow." she thought "Dreamy."
She glazed over in a moonstruck fashion. Suddenly a loud crash of thunder resounded through the air. Without questioning whether she would be wetting his apoilstry she jumped into the safe haven of the car. Slowly a puddle gathered beneath her. She was slowly but surely soaking the expensive leather seat. She looked down slightly embarrassed as Daniel entered the car. Noting the slight redness of her cheeks, Daniel grinned.
Bursting abruptly Serena practically shouted. "I'm so sorry I'm ruining your car." she cried out in shame.
"Oh." he said.
"Don't worry about it." he said happily. With an all too bright smile, he said "It's not my car."
"Oh, ok." she says with equal enthusiasm.
"Where are we going?" he asked her as he started the car.
"My friend's temple." she squeled "I'll show you the way."
He smiled slightly as he pulled the car into traffic.
As they drove on, Serena took the time to google her companion. He had striking resemblance to Darien. With dark hair, and deep blue eyes. She smiled he was very handsome. Unlike Darien, however he had an aristocratic air, as if he came right out of a musty history book or an ancient fairy tale.
"Tall, dark and handsome." she mused. She sighed dreamily.
Daniel shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
"Would you like to put on some music?" he said breaking the uncomfortable silence.
"Sure" she nodded enthusiastically. Reaching into the glove compartment, Daniel withdrew a CD and placed it in the radio.
Suddenly the disturbing sound of foreign opera invaded Serena's ears.
She almost shrieked simultaneously with the foreign opera singer. Daniel remained oblivious.
"I knew he couldn't be perfect." she thought while indeed inperfection had never crossed her mind.
She sighed. "You like this?" she asked hopefully.
"No." he paused. Suddenly all hope and glory was restored as Serena beamed in happiness.
"Actually, I don't like it, I love it." he uttered. "Opera is one of my most deepest passions."
She couldn't believe it, he had mentioned opera and passion in the same sentence. The world suddenly looked bleak. The clouds looked darker than they were. The rain looked more imposing. She sighed once again.
He looked at her from the corner of his eye, perplexed. "What? You don't agree?" he asked.
She shook her head still frazzled from the shocking revelation.
"Do you want to change it?" he said looking slightly disappointed.
"Yes, Yes. Please turn it off!" she thought.
"It's ok. I don't mind that much." she said.
******************
Time can be so arbitrary, entire events based on so little. Even the tiniest decisions can change the fate of the world. For instance, if it weren't for chivalry, she would still be standing on a desolate street on the bad part of town. Thankfully she wasn't.
The young woman looked at the man before her. His hair glistened black in the sun, showing off raven like blue strands of hair. His dark blue eyes widened under her scrutiny. Not that she cared. She continued her thorough analysis. He was tall by most standards. Not her own. With her high heeled boots on, she was just as tall as he. He smiled at her uncertaintly and nodded politely.
He was so polite, so gentlemanly. She wanted to gag. The young woman hid a grimace as she addressed him.
"Your name is... Darien, correct?" she asked.
He nodded. "Yes... Dilyanne?" he said pronouncing her unusual name carefully.
"Yes." she said with a small sigh. Why did she agree to this.
"Oh, right. I was forced into it." she thought sarcastically.
She looked about the street and say the Shinto Temple she had been looking for. She was tempted to leave him right there but she decided she would pay him back for his kindness.
He smiled unaware of what she was about to do. Dilyanne leaned in closer until their eyes were only inches away. A small smile played on her face. For a moment, Darien was both mesmerized and confused by the beautiful woman before him. Her eyes were a very odd shade of blue, infact the shade looked as if it were slowly changing. Swirling and fading into another color. They seemed to be turning a light shade of violet.
Darien was so concerned with her eyes he hadn't realized the other changes that had occured. He took a step back, finally realizing the inappropriateness of their proximity.
The woman before him was no longer looked like a sweet naive tourist. Before him stood a tall woman with clear violet eyes and dark purple hair. She was dressed all in black. He looked past her and saw another figure standing behind her. A tall negaverseling male stood calmly behind her. His look denoted nothing but evil. The man scrutinized Darien as if he were insignificant.
Darien backed away.
"It was a trap." he thought. "They made me lead them here."
His eyes widened in horror as the two negaverselings smiled.

End Chapter One