Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon.

Chapter 2: Old Enemies Return

Beryl's laughter rang through the dark chamber as she watched Endymion pierced Serenity's heart with the very blade he had once turned on her. Her eyes were filled with malicious glee as the prince swiftly pulled out his blood soaked blade and the Princess of the Moon collapsed into a bloodied heap. Finally, the bane of her existence was eliminated, by the hands of her own lover no less. How she had dreamed of her death the moment she had found her prince bewitched by this moon brat.

'Now Endymion is mine alone,' Beryl thought confidently as she turned her attention back on her prince.

Her grin immediately vanished when she saw the way Endymion clutched the dying princess in his arms as if to protect her from death's grip. The familiar feelings of jealousy and rage filled her entire being as she saw the tears slide down his face while obviously hanging onto every word the dying girl was struggling to tell him. Then came the moment when all life left the Moon Senshi and Endymion filled the dark chamber with his anguished scream. Rather than feeling joy and triumph from Serenity's death as Beryl had anticipated, she could only feel her hatred for the Moon Princess intensify at the sight of the Earth's Prince's heart-broken grieve.

'Even in death and with Endymion under Metalia-sama's control, the accursed moon brat STILL holds Endymion's heart!'

"That's enough Endymion! Forget about her and bring me the Ginzuishou," Beryl commanded as she intensified the dark energy's hold on the Earth Prince.

Seconds passed, but Endymion showed no sign of acknowledging Beryl's command. He merely continued to gaze at the girl in his arms as if willing her to reawaken from death's slumber.

"Rrggh, I gave you an order Endymion. Return to my side at once!"

Beryl felt her rage reaching its boiling point when her order remain unheeded. Her normally orange eyes began to glow blood red as she suddenly sent out a powerful wave of dark energy, throwing the shell-shocked prince flying back away from the dead Moon Princess.

"WHY? WHY IS IT YOU ONLY HAVE EYES FOR HER," Beryl exclaimed as she made her way towards Sailor Moon's body, "I HAD ALWAYS BEEN BY YOUR SIDE. EVERYTHING I EVER DONE I DID IT FOR YOU, SO WHY DO YOU ONLY LOOK AT HER?"

Standing above her body, Beryl glared at her hated rival with uncontrollable rage. Without warning, she kicked the already dead Moon Princess in the face.

"She is trash! Poisoned your mind and turned you against your own people, against ME!"

"Stop," Endymion said weakly.

When Beryl ignored his plea and raised her staff high above Sailor Moon's head with the clear intent of crushing her skull, the Earth Prince felt his blood run cold.

"If not for her, we would have been happy! THIS MOON WITCH RUINED EVERYTHING," Beryl exclaimed as her staff descended straight for her dead rival's head.

"STOP!'

Mamoru's eyes shot open as he sprung up from bed. His eyes frantically took in his surroundings as he prepared to defend his princess. Several seconds passed before he realized he was in his bedroom at his apartment and not in the caverns of the Dark Kingdom. The panic slowly left his eyes and his battle-readied mind relaxed as his rapid breathing slowed down.

'Another nightmare,' Mamoru realized as he stared down at his hands, half-expecting to see them smeared in bright-red blood, her blood.

It had all felt so real. He could still feel the way his Usako had went limp in his arms, the way her warmth quickly faded. His heart tightened at the memory, even if it had all been from a twisted nightmare. Pushing his blanket aside, Mamoru rose from his bed and made his way towards his bathroom. Standing above the sink, he turned on the cold water and splashed it onto his face. Feeling more awake from the water's icy-chill, he grabbed a near-by towel to dry off. Not wanting to go back to sleep for fear of more nightmares, he sat on his couch as he tried to clear his mind. But the more he tried to convince himself that the nightmares have no special meaning, the more he thought otherwise. He couldn't shake off the feeling that there's a reason he's been having these dreams.

"But what," Mamoru muttered in frustration.

Letting out a sigh, he silently admitted to himself that he would not be able to figure it out by thinking in circle on his own. He knew he had to talk to someone who could help him figure out the reasons behind these nightmares. Glancing at his clock, Mamoru figured he still have a few hours to kill before it would be considered a decent hour to go see the person he had in mind.

'Guess I'm getting another early start today.'

A bright red-orange flame burned fiercely at the center of the room as Rei sat between it and the room's entrance in deep prayer. The raven-haired priestess showed no sign of fear from the heat and flickers of small embers emitting from the Great Fire before her. The soft chant of her prayers seemed to blend with the crackling of the burning wood. If not for the slight furrow of her brow and the small frown on the Fire-senshi's face, all would have looked serene. As her prayers came to an end, Rei lowered her arms, but kept her eyes closed, the expression of deep thought never once leaving her face. It was only when she heard the sound of approaching footsteps did she finally opened her eyes.

"Umm Rei-san, Chiba-san is waiting outside asking to see you," Yuuchiro's hesitant voice came through the sliding doors.

"Let him know I'll be right out," Rei quickly replied as she wondered why Mamoru came to see her so early in the morning.

After rising up, Rei quickly dusted off the small specs of soot that had fallen onto her miko attire. After giving the Great Fire one last uncertain look, she turned to open and exit the sliding doors. Navigating through the corridors of the shrine, she soon came to the entrance of the Hikawa Shrine. It didn't take her long to spot Mamoru standing in front of the small shrine placed at their entrance in silent prayer. As she walked closer to where he stood, Rei could see the rigidity in his stance and the tiredness on his face.

'He looks like he hasn't gotten any real sleep in days,' she thought as she called out to him.

Turning at the sound of his name, Mamoru gave a weak smile as he returned the greeting.

"I'm sorry for bothering you so early in the morning," he apologized as the two took a sit on the porch in the front of the shrine.

"Don't worry about it. Frankly I'm more concerned about how tired you look. Is something bothering you Mamoru-san? Did something happen with Usagi," Rei asked as she could not think of another reason that Mamoru would seek her out on his own.

"No no, nothing bad happened between me and Usako," Mamoru quickly replied.

Rei could not help the small amused smile that arose when she heard the slight panic in his reply. The usually calm Chiba Mamoru would only ever show panic when it came to Usagi.

"The reason I came here today is because of the dreams I've been having," Mamoru continued.

"Dreams?"

"Truthfully they're more like nightmares," Mamoru replied with a deep frown, "All of them involved the time I was under Beryl's mind control and tried to kill Usako."

"It's not uncommon to have nightmares about the things that haunts us," Rei said in a sympathetic and understanding tone, "I'm sure all of us have our fair share of nightmares about past battles."

"It's not just that...these nightmares, they're not just memories of that awful day. They come in bits and pieces every night. At first it would start out like I vaguely remember, but then at the point where Usako had cleansed me, the dream would diverge. At that witch's command, I would...I would...I-I-I..."

As he tried to force the words out, Mamoru suddenly felt a hand placed upon his own shaking ones. Raising his gaze away from the ground where he had been staring, he was met by Rei's understanding smile. Her message was clear: You don't have to say it.

"How long have these nightmares been going on," Rei asked after giving Mamoru a moment to compose himself.

"A little over a week."

"...Does Usagi know about them?"

"She found out two days ago. Don't worry, I'm not planning to keep this from her...not after what happened the last time I had nightmares," Mamoru all but whispered the last part bitterly, almost as if chiding himself.

"Well since you've already talked to Usagi about these dreams, you've obviously came to me with a reason other than just someone to confide in. Is there something you wanted to ask me about concerning these nightmares?"

After a moment of hesitation, Mamoru let out a soft sigh before asking in an uncertain tone, "Do you think they mean anything?"

"What you do you mean," Rei asked in honest confusion.

"What I'm trying to say is, do you think these nightmares have a deeper meaning to them...like it's some sort of premonition."

"Is that what's been bothering you Mamoru-san," Rei asked as understanding dawned on her, "You're afraid these nightmares are telling you you'll end up hurting Usagi?"

His silence was all the answer she needed.

"Mamoru-san you've got to understand that whatever happened in your nightmares DIDN'T actually happen. You were cleansed. You did NOT kill Usagi. Beryl is gone and you've got to put the past in the past for both yours and Usagi's sake."

"No you and Usako don't understand," Mamoru replied, his tone more desperate than accusing, "Each time I have these nightmares, they play out longer and more clearly. It doesn't feel like I'm dreaming up the scenario, more like I'm regaining bits and pieces of a long forgotten memory. I know its sounds crazy, but I can't help feeling like these dreams really did happen or WILL happen."

"Okay, let's say that these nightmares really are premonitions, it still doesn't add up. Beryl's gone, we've destroyed the Dark Kingdom," Rei reasoned as she tried to come up with another explanation for Mamoru's dreams, "Is it possible that the King is sending these dreams to you as another test?"

"If it is, then shouldn't there be some sort of message or warning like the ones I got years ago," Mamoru said with a shake of his head.

"I'm sorry Mamoru-san, but I really can't think of any other explanations than the ones I've already shared," Rei said apologetically, "I wish there was something I could do to help."

"Actually, there is something I wanted to request that only you could do," Mamoru replied.

"Oh if there's something I could do to help, I would gladly be of service," Rei answered enthusiastically.

"I was hoping you could do a fire reading for me. If these nightmares really are some sort of premonition, maybe you can find some clue as to what they mean or whose sending them."

"...I'm sorry but I'm afraid I can't do a fire reading for you."

"I know it's a long shot, but I really-"

"No you don't understand Mamoru-san," Rei interrupted as a deep frown formed on her face, "It's not that I won't do a fire reading for you. If I could, I would gladly try no matter how small of a chance it may be to find answers about your nightmares, but the truth is I haven't been able to do any fire readings with the Great Fire for days now."

"Did something happen?"

"I don't know. Just this morning, right before you came, I was trying to do a fire reading, but I couldn't even sense the spiritual power I could normally sense from the Great Fire. It almost feels like something is blocking my attempts at connecting with it," Rei said, concern evident in her voice.

"You don't think there could be a new enemy doing this do you," Mamoru asked, all thoughts regarding his nightmares immediately pushed aside.

"I really can't say," Rei replied with a shake of her head, "I was planning on discussing this with the others this afternoon. I really hope it's not, but it's better to be safe than sorry."

Mamoru nodded in understanding. Silently, he also hoped that there was no new enemy. After all, it did not feel like too long ago that they had that battle with Chaos. Just the memory of his Usako's tearful face when he had returned to her was enough to make him cringe. Her gaze had been filled with disbelief as if he and the others would disappear at any moment. It had taken weeks before Usagi finally lost that haunted look in her eyes and could give a real smile, one that actually reached her eyes. Raising up from his sit on the porch, Mamoru was about to thank Rei for listening to him when the familiar sound of her senshi communicator went off.

"Rei we need you at the Crown Arcade! There's a youma attack," Artemis's frantic voice came through the device as sounds of explosion rang loudly in the background, "The other girls are already on their way, but Venus's on her own right now!"

"Hang in there, I'll get there as soon as I can," Rei exclaimed.

As she quickly shot up with her transformation pen in hand, Rei saw Mamoru had already began heading down the temple steps in his Tuxedo-Kamen persona. With a quick glance of her surroundings, she made sure no one was around before raising her transformation rod in the air and exclaimed, "Mars Crystal Power, Make Up!"

"Why don't you just come out of hiding? With that dead weight, I'm bound to find you sooner or later," the tiger-faced youma growled out as it scanned the room with its yellow eyes.

Behind some toppled over game machines, Venus clutched an unconscious Motoki close to her in an effort to keep out of sight. Frustration filled her eyes as she knew she could not face the youma head on when Motoki was with her in the line of fire. She needed the others.

"They're coming," Artemis who was couched by her side whispered as if reading her thoughts, "We just need to stay hidden long enough for them to get here."

"That's easier said than done," Venus mumbled to herself as the ground shook from another explosion sent by the youma.

Before the feline could respond, an explosion hit the rubble they have been hiding behind, sending all three flying apart. With a pained groan, Venus quickly pushed herself back onto her feet as she worriedly gazed around for her two companions. To her horror, she was soon met with the sight of the youma standing right above Motoki's limp form.

"I didn't come for human energy, but I'm sure the prince will not mind more fuel for what he has planned," the youma said with a grin as it began sucking the life energy out of the unconscious man with its extended arm.

"No! Stop," Venus exclaimed at the monster right as Artemis leapt onto its arm and bit down hard.

The youma let out a howl of pain before flinging the white cat onto the ground. Turning its angry gaze away from Motoki, it swiped its sharp dagger-like claws straight at Artemis who was struggling to get to his feet.

"Venus-Love-Me-Chain!"

A golden chain caught the youma's hand right before it could hit its target.

"Your fight's with me you tiger-faced freak," Venus declared fiercely with a glare.

With a loud angry cry, she sent the surprised youma plummeting face flat onto the ground with a sudden tug of her chain. Not giving it anytime to recuperate, Venus immediately sent her Love and Beauty Shock attack at the dazed youma.

"Grr, now you've made me angry," the youma growled as it stood back up even with the obvious wounds on its body from the attack, "The masters had instructed to leave the senshis with minimal damage, but you've dug your own grave. I'm sure the prince will overlook your unfortunate demise once I present him with such powerful energy!"

Sprinting at mach speed, it slammed Venus hard against the counter before she could even attempt to dodge. Her pained scream soon filled the air of the wreaked arcade as she felt the energy being sucked out of her through the youma's grip around her neck.

"Shabon Spray!"

"What," the youma cried out in confusion as a cold fog began to surround it.

"Mars Flame Sniper!"

The youma let out a pained growl as it felt hot sheering pain from where the arrow-shaped flame pierced its arm. As its grip loosened, a top hat shadow swooped in and carried the injured Venus away.

"Whose there," it demanded as its gaze fell on the four figures stepping out of the shadows as the fog cleared.

"How dare you destroy this precious arcade and attack my friends! In the name of the moon I will punish you!"

"You! No, I was suppose to find Master's crystal before you arrive," the youma growled out to itself when it saw Sailor Moon.

"Master? Who are you working for and what crystal are you looking for," Mars asked upon hearing the youma's words.

"Hee wouldn't you like to know," the youma taunted before letting out an ear-splitting roar that sent shock waves strong enough to push everyone around it flying into the wall or scattered rubbles.

Then aiming its roar at the ground at the center of the arcade, it blew out the floor to reveal a small underground chamber. In the darkness, a single glint of light shimmered from a faintly glowing gem.

"There!"

With its excited exclamation, the tiger-face youma made a leap for the glowing jewel. But before it could enter the darkness, it found itself suddenly tugged back by a familiar golden chain.

"I don't know what you want, but I'm not about to just let you take it without a fight," Venus declared.

Anger evident in its eyes, the youma gave the chain a tug of its own and sent the already weakened senshi into the ground. It then leapt into the air with its claws extended, intent on digging them into the interfering senshi's back.

"Sparkling Wide Pressure!"

A ball of electricity slammed into the youma in midair, effectively stopping its attack.

"Akuryo Taisan," Mars exclaimed as her ofuda landed on the youma's forehead.

It let out a howling screech as its body became engulfed in flame before it crumpled to the ground.

"I see you've failed in your assignment," a voice suddenly boomed out catching everyone's surprise including the youma.

All heads turned to the source of the voice where a long silver haired man hovered in the air. Shocked recognition filled the senshis eyes while Tuxedo-Kamen's own eyes were suddenly filled with dread at the sight of the man they all thought had died.

"Kunzite! But how," Venus wondered aloud as she leaned on Tuxedo-Kamen's extended arm for support in her injured state.

"Please help me Master Kunzite," the youma pleaded weakly as it shakingly tried to stand.

"After you deliberately disobeyed my orders AND the prince's orders you expect my help," Kunzite said with narrowed eyes as he landed before the cowering youma, "You were to retrieve my crystal. Nothing more, nothing less."

"But Master Kunzite I-"

"I don't want to hear your excuses," Kunzite declared coldly as his gaze momentarily met the barely standing Venus, "You disobeyed direct orders. I have no tolerance for unruly scums like you. Begone."

With his palm spread out before him, Kunzite sent a beam of energy at the kneeling youma that immediately turned to ashes. Before any of the others could react, his palm suddenly glowed white as the gem in the dark chamber became encased in the same white glow and was teleported into his hand in an instant.

"Hold it right there," Jupiter exclaimed as she saw the Shitennou prepared to leave, "What makes you think we'll just let you waltz right out of here with that crystal?"

"I did not come here to fight."

"Then why would you send that monster here," Venus retorted with narrowed eyes, anger laced in her words.

"It was sent to retrieve this crystal, not cause destruction," Kunzite calmly replied.

"What did you expect when you sent a youma to do your dirty work," Mars shot back with a scoff.

"Kunzite, if you really mean no harm, then tell us what's going on. Why do you need that crystal and who is this prince you're working for," Sailor Moon asked, her eyes pleading for the man before them to answer honestly.

"Gentle as always, even after all the battle you've gone though. I suppose I should not have expected anything less from you Princess Serenity."

Confusion and surprise filled their eyes not because Kunzite had called Sailor Moon by her past name and title, but because of the way he had said it. His tone had been gentle with a hint of admiration. It lacked the hatred and mockery he had used to say it with when they had faced him years ago.

"But I'm afraid I can't tell you what's going on just yet princess," Kunzite continued as his form began to fade before their eyes, "Just know your role in our plan will come in due time. So until then, it would be best if you stay out of our way. Trust me when I say that you would not want to upset our prince."

His warning seemed to hung in the air even after he had vanished from their sight. Stunned by what had just occurred, it was only the sound of approaching sirens that brought them out of their thoughts.

"We better get out of here before the police finds us," Venus said as she cradled the injured Artemis in her arms.

"What about Motoki onii-san," Sailor Moon asked as her worried gaze fell on the still unconscious man.

"It's best we let the paramedics take care of him," Mercury replied as she made her way towards the back entrance, "Don't worry Usagi-chan, I already made a quick scan of his vitals and I don't think he sustained any major injuries."

With a reluctant nod, Sailor Moon allowed Tuxedo-Kamen to pull her towards the back exit where the others were waiting. So lost in her worry for her friend, she missed the way her protector's grip around her wrist was tighter than usual. While calm on the outside, Tuxedo-Kamen was warring with his frantic fear within himself as the dread from earlier this morning returned to him in full force. A single frightening thought had planted itself in his mind the moment he saw the supposedly dead Shitennou.

'If Kunzite is back, does that mean Beryl has also returned?'