Chapter 24- The Heart's Greatest Trial

Last Time: Serena had told the tale of what had happened to her in the present and the past. She poured her soul out and in the end left to get some time to herself.

            Serena walked out and took a deep breath to calm herself.  Telling the scouts about her past had been painful and tiring.  She opened her eyes and slowly walked down the temple steps.  Even though she looked as if everything was alright, her soul was in turmoil.  After merging with Sailor Outer Moon, Serena had felt as if she was pulled in two directions. Even if it was for a brief few weeks, Outer Moon had experienced what it was like to have friends, true friends, again. Serena sighed and went to the park, to her favorite lake, to think. She sat on the bench and looked up at the moon. Her eyes drifted closed and she remembered the shy, withdrawn girl that she had known Princess Anastasia, princess of Outer Moon to have been on the moon.  Noise next to her caused her to open her eyes.  She smiled at Amara and motioned for the senshi to sit down. Right away Amara frowned.

            "Princess, something is bothering you. I can see it, and the others sense it."

Serena smiled a little, "Amara, I…I'm trying to think of a way to give Anastasia, her life back.  I know that we combined to become Cosmos, but still, she deserves to have a life."

Amara blinked and turned away for a moment. Serena smiled slightly, feeling the concern pouring off of the wind senshi. They sat for a while in silence, brooding over their own different thoughts.

"Hime….You know that the Outers will back you…always.  What ever plan you create, unless you are in danger, we will approve of it."

Serena looked at Amara then laughed. Her silvery voice brought Amara's attention to her with a quizzical look.

"Amara, I won't do anything stupid. I promise. But I do have a plan."

Serena stood up and walked back toward the temple.

            "Come on Amara. The power of the Senshi and of the Gods and Goddesses will rise to vanquish this evil."

  Amara nodded and grinned, standing to go with Serena. They went back to the temple and opened the doors, just to interrupt a beginning of a fight. Michelle was glaring at Lita and Raye. Raye looked smug and Lita looked as if she was ready to transform. Serena looked at the three and her eyes darkened.

"What is going on?!"

The three senshi looked at her sheepishly, while the others looked exahsperated.  Serena looked at Michelle. The senshi of water looked at her, and then bowed her head.

"I'm sorry.  The inners created a plan, and forgot about us. I asked if it was that they didn't want us and they," she nodded toward Raye and Lita, "said that we usually never wish to work with them. It…escalated from there."

Serena shook her head. "Well, it doesn't matter anymore. I made up a plan and we are going by it. First, we are going straight to the Negamoon. Diamond won't be coming out to get me right now because I've just gotten my powers and I would put up one heck of a fight. He doesn't want to chance it. So, we'll go to him."

Amara started to stutter, but Serena stopped her. Darien looked at Serena as if she had grown two heads.

"Serena, why? Isn't that what Diamond wants?"

Serena shrugged, "Most likely, but who knows. Anyway, next we'll split into three groups. The groups will be Outers, lead by Amara, Inners, lead by me, Generals, lead by Darien. We will cover more ground this way. I'm connected telepathically to everyone so it won't be hard if we need to contact each other.  Now, if you find anything, tell me. Diamond is fair game, while Francis is not. He's mine. Understood?"

She looked around at everyone and they nodded slowly to her. She memorized each face and suddenly felt a prickle in the back of her mind.  Suddenly, memories that were from the goddess Selene herself flooded forward. A battle meeting just like this had happened before, only with the gods, not their children. She nodded and bowed her head to hide the tears. The fight that had happened after that had been devastating, leaving only the goddess of the moon alive to pick up the pieces and to set up what would be the future Silver Millennium.  She took in a deep breath and looked up.

"Let's go."

            They stood and in turn called out their transformation phrases.

            "Wait!"

            The scouts stopped and looked at Serena. She smiled at them and nodded toward their transformation pens.

            "Use the powers of the Gods and Goddess. Transform into your sailor forms….then next powerful forms that you have."

            The scouts looked confused and looked at each other. Serena rolled her eyes and held up her locket.

            "Moon Cosmos POWER!"

            Soon Cosmos was standing there, waiting. The group looked at each other, not knowing what to do. Suddenly Rini gasped and grinned. She looked at her mom and nodded.

            "Guardian Selene! Hear my call! Selene Cosmos Power!"

            The scouts watched in awe as Rini transformed. When she was done, she stood and looked at her out fit. She was in a Greek looking outfit, only miniaturized to her size. Over all, the effect created an aura of a miniature Greek goddess warrior. Cosmos grinned.

            "Good job. You are now in the Sailor Cosmos Moon form. You can't become Cosmos, but you will carry the powers of the moon in your transformation and you also will carry the powers of your guardians in the future."

            The other scouts clued in and cried out their own phrases.

            "Aries Cosmos Power!"

            "Hermes Cosmos Power!"

            "Zeus Cosmos Power!"

            "Aphrodite Cosmos Power!"

            "Uranus Cosmos Power!"

            "Titian Cosmos Power!"

            "Hades Cosmos Power!"

            "Cronos Cosmos Power!"

            Soon the room was filled with color. When it died down, Cosmos noticed that during the time, the generals had also transformed.  She looked at her scouts and smiled. They now mirrored Rini, only in their own colors. Plus, Cosmos noticed, the scouts's outfits matched their personalities. She sighed and turned toward the door.

            "Francis's reign of terror will end today…"

Well, I hope you guys enjoy this. I know that I vanished for a while, but I'm back. Hopefully the people who loved this story will be able to read this chapter. I think there will only be one or two more chapters. Well, see you! Ja ne!

Princess Silver Serenity