The white gold rays from the Moon faded as Rashelle and Dite floated towards the Earth. Inside of a bubble-like casing, she clasped their hastily packed suitcase tight in her shaking hand. Her other hand was nestled into Dite's sleek black coat, clutching him close to her fast-beating heart. A strand of sun-kissed hair dangled in front of her pale blue eyes and rested itself her pursed lips.
As the Moon's glow grew smaller and Earth loomed ahead, Rashelle couldn't help but to think of happier times living in her mother's kingdom. This was of course before her father died. The two of them had always been a team, inseparable. When she was little and had a bad dream, she would crawl into his awaiting lap to receive kisses and hugs. She remembered playing with him in the garden, and planting the beautiful circular arrangement. Helios had let her pick out the flowers herself because he said it was right, seeming as it was her room's balcony that overlooked that spot. She had picked out her favorites, pink and yellow daisies. But soon after that, he died.
Rashelle remembered it as if it were only yesterday. She had woken up early from a nightmare although she couldn't remember what had scared her so. Running to her parent's chamber she found her mother broken down in tears. Some said it was a heart attack, some that he had just turned permanently into Pegasus but no one told Rashelle what really had happened. The only details she knew about that horrid event were ones that she had picked up from whispers. Of course, whenever anyone realized she was around, they would stop talking about it right away.
As the swirls of white that was the protective layer of Earth approached, Rashelle's heart was full of hope. She would soon she Neo Queen Serenity. Certainly she had been told the true story of what had happened to Helios. Leaning her head against Dite's warm fur, she smiled and closed her eyes, trying to picture what her grandmother would look like in real life. Paintings of the Great Queen had been hung all over the Moon Palace, but paintings are just pictures and cannot possibly do justice to how beautiful she must be.
Usagi sighed as she paced the floor, a million thoughts flooding through her head at once. A dark soul was calling to her and could not be quieted. At first it had merely flooded her dreams, causing her to wake in a frightful sweat and forget were she was. A vision of a dark shadow haunted her, calling her to him. When these dreams were not answered, the shadow started to visit her mind in the daytime. A newly formed dark planet had been spotted only a few million miles from the Earth. Usagi was sure that these two events were linked, and that it was a new enemy. She had become very restless and worried about what shape they would take.
Walking over to a nearby chair, she sat down and rested her head in her trembling hands. The faint knocking on the door draws her attention, and she calls for the inquirer to enter. Mamoru walks quickly over to her, a look of worry and confusion etched into his face.
"What is it? Has an enemy been spotted?" She gets up and goes toward him, placing her hands in his.
"No, or at least I don't think so. But a girl clutching a suitcase and a black panther is headed here in a bubble. It seems she has traveled here from the direction of the Moon."
"Not…..Rashelle? But, that's impossible! She had died with Helios in that terrible explosion! There is no way……but the black panther? No one else on the Moon could have a black panther. Aphrodite was the only one that we set up there, their kind is not native." Picking up her skirts she raced out of the room and down the hall to see who was coming toward Crystal Tokyo.