Three of Charles Xavier's students, Danielle Moonstar, Sam Guthrie, and Roberto da Costa, stood before the professor in his office, which had been automatically repaired by the mansion's Shi'ar technology following the battle with Kunzite. And they were not at all happy with him.

"We should have been there when Illyana was fighting," Dani stated with a firm determination.

"You shouldn't have sidelined us!" Roberto added.

Xavier regarded each of the members of his trainee team, including those who were not present at the moment. Doug would not complain about being left out of a battle given how recently he had joined the school and his complete lack of combat skills. Warlock did not think in human terms, and so any complaints he had would stem from a different place entirely. Amara was as proud as any of the three who stood before him, but being raised in an ancient Roman culture she placed a high value on respect for authority and was not one to question decisions Xavier made as a military leader.

As for Rahne, the idea of her complaining about not being allowed to help Illyana was laughable.

"And why should I have sent a team of children into battle?"

"The Sailor Guardians are the same age as us," Roberto said. If they can fight, then so can we!"

Dani squinted her eyes in pain and leaned forward over one of the chairs on the other side of his desk, putting her weight on the chair.

"Illyana's our teammate," Dani said. "When our teammate is fighting, we should be there."

"Is she?" Xavier asked. "Is she your teammate? You hardly seem to act like she is."

Dani looked like she was struck by lightning, while Sam and Roberto exchanged guilty glances. Dani finally gave in to what her body was screaming at her and sat down.

"Danielle, you just got out of your wheelchair, and are hardly fully recovered. And you want to go back into battle already?"

In truth, Xavier believed that Dani was the New Mutant who could have been the greatest help during the battle with Kunzite. The rest of the team's powers could possibly have been effective against the youma, but that was hardly the assistance the X-Men and Sailor Guardians had needed during the fight. Only Dani's mental ability to summon a person's fears had a chance of breaching Kunzite's defenses. Still, that did not mean he wanted to see her on the battlefield, especially in her condition.

"When your teammates battled the Demon Bear, they were willing to risk life and limb to defend you. Your team fought like they'd never fought before, because you are their friend and important to them. Can you honestly tell me that the New Mutants would fight the same way for Illyana?"

Xavier had never brought up the way the New Mutants treated Illyana with them before. He wanted them to build a relationship in a more natural manner based on a gradual culmination of interpersonal interactions with her, and he believed that simply scolding them would not help matters, and in some cases would even deepen the resentment they felt towards Illyana.

This decision of these three to confront him was the first sign that the team was finally beginning to move past their fear and dislike of their sorceress teammate. If they were finally starting to see her as more than a scary witch, then they were perhaps ready to feel guilt over how they had behaved.

Dani was silent. She had been the only member of the team who had started to treat Illyana as a human being before this Moon Kingdom business had started. But as the unofficial team leader, she had not stepped up to diffuse the tension that had been created when Illyana had joined their ranks or asked any of her teammates to try to treat Illyana better.

It was Sam who spoke up instead. "Maybe you're right, Professor. But those scoundrels didn't just attack Illyana. They attacked the mansion and all of us who live here. We'd fight to defend our home."

"I have told you many times, you are not meant to be the next generation of X-Men," Xavier said. "Some of you may become X-Men in time, but that was never the purpose for which I gathered you. If it had been up to me, none of you would have fought at all until now, and I consider it a failure on my part that you have seen real combat. It is true that the Sailor Guardians are the same age as you, but I am not their teacher or their guardian, and their safety and well-being is not my responsibility the way it is for you."

Dani stood up, her strength returning. "Illyana didn't just save my life from the Demon Bear. She brought my parents back to me. I'm not going to sit on the sidelines while she's fighting for her life."

Roberto nodded. "And where Dani goes, the rest of us will follow."

Xavier rubbed his forehead as the three turned and left his office. The mixture of frustration and pride he felt was becoming an all too familiar sensation.

Illyana and the Sailor Guardians sat around one of the library's tables. Luna and Artemis stood on the table. All eyes were on the Silver Crystal, which lay on the wooden surface.

"It's no use," Illyana said. "Nothing I've tried has gotten any response from the crystal has worked. Even just using it to power spells does nothing."

"That is strange," Artemis said. "Every member of the royal family has always been able to wield the Silver Crystal without problem. With your training as a sorceress, it should be even simpler for you."

"Then the simplest solution would be that I'm not a member of the royal family."

Lita rolled her eyes. "That again? Just give it up already."

"Even if you weren't the princess, you should still be able to use the crystal to empower your spells," Luna explained. "It has to be something else."

"Maybe the crystal only responds to someone with no evil in their heart," Rei suggested, earning her a look of rebuke from Mina.

Luna shook her head. "If that were the case, we wouldn't have to worry about keeping it out of the enemy's hands."

"That's right," Mina said. "The queen's strategy in the final battles would have been completely different if the enemy couldn't use the Silver Crystal's power to enhance their own strength."

"Just how strong is their leader?" Illyana asked.

"Beryl," Mina said softly. "She's much more powerful than any of the Shitennou, but she's not unbeatable, which is why she needs the Silver Crystal. I'm almost certain you're quite a bit more powerful than she is when you transform."

Illyana looked down. "I'd rather not have to do that."

"I'm sure we can come up with a strategy together with the X-Men that will allow us to win without having to use the crystal or your true power," Mina said. "Right now, I'm more worried about how they knew the exact moment we reforged the crystal."

Queen Beryl's upper lip quivered in rage as she waited for her summons to be answered. She fought the urge to express her impatience by tapping the edge of her throne or to take out her anger on the youma which cowered along the walls of her throne room.

At last, the man she had summoned arrived. Many youma fled the throne room entirely as he entered, more afraid of this newcomer than of their own queen, even though his power was a fraction of her own.

The man's skin and clothing were a deep red, though his outfit and flowing cape were adorned with golden highlights and jewelry. His neat hair, erect posture, and cape gave him a regal appearance. Even the pair of curved horns which protruded from his forehead seemed like a crown upon his head. His eyes were yellow and pupil-less, and his right arm was missing, his cape concealing where it had been cut off.

Kunzite had found this man and brought him to Beryl under her orders. But now she wondered if that had not been a mistake.

"What do you have to say for yourself, Belasco?"

"When I told you that I had sensed that the Silver Crystal had been reforged in Limbo, I instructed you not to panic. The death of your subordinate is entirely the result of your own rash actions."

"Be mindful of to whom you speak!" she hissed.

Belasco bowed to her. "My apologies, Queen Beryl. I meant no disrespect."

The words flowed with such seeming sincerity that she almost believed them. Belasco was crafty and far more cunning than any of the Shitennou had been.

"As I predicted, the princess was unable to use the Silver Crystal," he said.

"And when she does learn how to wield it?"

"She never will. The crystal will never be a threat to you as long as it is in her possession."

"How can you possibly be sure of that?"

"Because I trained her myself, and I know my apprentice better than she knows herself."

"How do I know you do not retain a soft spot for your former apprentice, and are attempting to protect her from me?"

Belasco growled in rage and raised his one fist. "Once I sat at the same table as Mephisto, as Hela and Satannish. I ruled Limbo like a god. And she took that from me, reduced me to groveling at your feet. I will have my revenge. When I take back my kingdom and the locket she stole from me, my powers will be fully restored, and you will learn to fear the name Belasco."

There it was, she thought. The selfish motivation he could be trusted to pursue at all costs. That would make his inevitable betrayal predictable. His boasts about his true power were probably exaggerated to some extent, but to be safe, she would eliminate him after he outlived his usefulness.

"These others who joined in the battle against Kunzite, what do you know of them?"

"Ah, the mutants. The X-Men. Yes, they are a serious complication. As individuals they are powerful in their own right, and as a group they are a force to be reckoned with. But they can be defeated. I killed them all in one timeline. If you are willing to listen, I can show you how to eliminate the mutants as a threat entirely. Raw power is not what will win the day, neither against the X-Men, nor the princess."

Illyana set the Silver Crystal down on her desk in her room and glared at the object. She could sense the awesome power contained within, making it all the more frustrating that this power remained so far out of reach.

This anger frightened her. Power was an addictive drug, as she knew all too well from her years in Limbo. She remembered the thrill she felt each time she mastered a new spell and the first time the demons she had so feared as a child fled from her sight in fear of her growing power.

The Silver Crystal was dangerous in the wrong hands. But even if she believed every word the Sailor Guardians and their cats said, it did not mean that her hands were necessarily the right hands.

There was a loud knock on her door, causing Illyana to reflexively raise her hand towards it. Recent events, starting with S'ym's attack on the mansion, were beginning to make her paranoid, and she was starting to consider putting warning signs on the door, for the others' protection more than her own.

Lowering her arm, she asked: "Who is it?"

"It's Doug."

Illyana walked to the door and opened it. She must still have looked angry, because Doug just stood there for several awkward seconds like a deer in headlights.

"What is it?"

"Um, you remember how I was reading up on the X-Men's old battles?"

'Yes."

"Well, I was reading about the whole thing with Jean Grey going all Dark Phoenix … Man, that must've been crazy."

"I know about Jean Grey," she said, growing annoyed. The Dark Phoenix saga was another cautionary tale for her, and a likely harbinger of her eventual fate. "What's your point?"

"Well, at the end, the X-Men fought the Shi'ar elites … in the ruins of an ancient civilization … on the moon."

Illyana's jaw dropped and she stared at him for several more awkward seconds.

"Illyana?"

"Get Warlock," she instructed him. "We're going on a field trip."

On the International Space Station, an astronaut floated into one of the station's cupolas to gaze out of its windows at the earth below. The seven-windowed module attachment to the station served many purposes, from observing the approach of spacecraft to taking spectacular photographs which NASA's PR team loved.

The astronaut noticed a black dot on the earth's surface while looking through the center window. As he focused his attention on it, the dot grew closer, and he realized that it was a large object approaching from the earth at an extremely high speed. Whatever it was had to have launched from the earth.

"No way," he whispered as the object grew close enough to make out its shape. The object was not on a direct course for the space station, but it changed direction slightly to put a greater distance between itself and the station as it passed by.

"Holy shit!"

"What is it, Larry?" a fellow astronaut asked, startled by his sudden profanity.

Larry climbed out of the cupola. "You're never going to believe this, Joe. I just saw the freakin' Enterprise."

It takes an earth vessel three days to travel to the moon, a Shi'ar vessel mere minutes. For Warlock the journey took about a half-hour.

For the journey, the techno-organic being had assumed the shape suggested to him by Doug, that of the Starship Enterprise from the original Star Trek movies.

Warlock approached the Mare Serenitatis, the Sea of Serenity, and touched down in the Luther Crater, assuming a shape more appropriate for landing as his passengers disembarked.

Illyana, Professor Xavier, Doug, the Sailor Guardians, and the cats stepped out into the Blue Area, the ruins on the moon which contained a habitable atmosphere, the site where Jean Grey had died.

All of them gazed in wonder at the ruins surrounding them.

"This is it," Mina said solemnly. "This was our kingdom."

"Something's different about it," Artemis observed.

Amy summoned her visor and began to examine the ruins. "Someone else rebuilt this city after the Silver Millennium was destroyed. There's newer, alien architecture built over the original structures."

"That would be the Skrulls and the Kree," Xavier said. "Reed Richards believed that they built this city when the human race was in its infancy. It would seem that they merely appropriated what was already here."

Illyana turned to Doug. "That's why you're here. If anyone can sort through the different languages we're bound to come across and lead us to something useful, it's you."

"I'd better get to work then." Doug approached Amy, who was continuing to scan the environment. She pointed at a particular structure which stood out to her.

Mina pointed: "The palace would have been in that direction."

"Are you sure?" Lita asked. "This place looks very different from when we used to live here."

"Positive."

The group was silent as they followed Mina's directions. She and the cats were haunted by memories of what was, and the other guardians felt a sense of loss despite not having the same memories of their previous lives. Xavier was haunted by far more recent memories.

It was here that he had watched as his X-Men were defeated one by one, taken down by Lilandra's Imperial Guard. Here that his first student, Jean Grey, had taken her own life rather than succumb to the power of the Phoenix.

That was the main reason he had chosen not to bring the other New Mutants on this trip to the moon. He knew they would be angry at him again, but he did not want to associate his newest students with the fate of his oldest student any more than absolutely necessary.

Soon all of them had learned to pick out the white ruins of the Moon Kingdom from the more metallic alien ruins.

They approached the ruins of a large stone building, and Xavier closed his eyes in a grimace.

"The palace, it's all gone!" Luna exclaimed. "But the inner parts were still standing even after Metaria's attack!"

Xavier knew what had happened to it. What remained of the palace had been destroyed in a battle between Illyana's brother and the Gladiator, Lilandra's most powerful soldier. The collapsing stones had decided the battle's outcome, and not in Colossus' favor.

"We may not find anything of use," Artemis said. "It may all have been destroyed."

Doug stepped forward and began to climb over the rubble, looking for any piece of stone that had pictures or writing on it.

"I think I've found something," he said. "This stone has the word 'prayer' on it."

"That must be the entrance to the chamber of prayer!" Luna said. "We need to remove that rubble!"

"How?" Rei asked. "Even with the moon's lighter gravity, those stones still weigh tons."

"Leave that to me," Illyana said as Doug climbed down from the rubble. She extended both arms, her heft hand in front of her right, and curved her fingers downward as she cast a levitation spell.

Stone after stone rose slowly into the air, hovering between eight and fifteen feet off of the ground, and revealing an underground passage beneath. Illyana gestured towards her left, and the stones moved in tandem with her arms, dropping in a place where they would no longer be in the way.

Luna approached the passageway first. "Only the Queen was allowed into the chamber of prayer. It was at the base of the Crystal Tower, the heart of the Moon Palace."

The followed her down, Warlock providing light, and emerged into a round room. Pillars, some half destroyed, circled a large crystal obelisk. In front of the obelisk was a stone altar in which a black-bladed sword was sheathed.

"The Sword in the Stone," Doug said.

"Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Venus," Luna asked, "can one of you free it?"

"Sure," Lita said, grinning as she approached the altar, "just leave it to me." She grasped the hilt and began to pull with all of her might.

"What is this thing?" she asked as she strained to budge the blade. "Who makes swords out of rocks?"

Lita let go, rubbing her hands. "It's stuck."

"If this is indeed similar to the Arthurian legend," Xavier said, "strength of arms will not suffice to free that sword."

There was an orange glow as Mina transformed into Sailor Venus. She took Lita's place and gripped the hilt as Lita had done.

Mina grunted with the effort, but slowly, the blade began to move upwards, A blue light burst forth from the hole left by the sword as she pulled it free.

Mina stumbled backwards, the low gravity sending her tumbling into the other guardians, who caught her. Having pulled the sword out, she now struggled to lift it up, such was its weight even on the moon.

A voice spoke from within the blue light. "That is a sacred sword, meant to protect the royal family of the Silver Millennium. Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Venus, it belongs to all of you."

The light coalesced into a figure, a hologram of a woman, which appeared above the opening in the stone where the sword had been sheathed.

The figure was beautiful. Her face was nearly identical to Illyana's only older, as a mature adult, and with the golden crescent moon permanently shining on her forehead. Her long, silver hair was gathered in a pair of buns on top of her head, from which two ponytails extended all the way to the ground. She wore a gorgeous white gown, and appeared to have a pair of translucent butterfly wings extending from her back.

"Luna, Artemis, thank you for bringing everyone here," the holographic woman said.

"Queen Serenity," Mina said.

The queen smiled at each person and cat gathered in front of her before setting her gaze on Illyana.

"My adorable little Serenity, is that really you?"

Illyana took a deep breath and glared at the hologram. "I'm not your anything. I don't know you, and I certainly don't consider you to be my mother. I've already got a mother."

"I see," the queen said sadly, looking down.

Seeing how the hologram reacted, Amy asked: "You're not just a recording, are you?"

"Thanks to the Moon Palace's Eternity main system, even though I have physically perished, my consciousness and my memories remain in this form. I have waited so long for this moment."

She looked up at Illyana again. "However, why is it that the princess appears to be the same age as her guardians?"

Illyana was startled by the question. "What do you mean?"

"When you were killed, I was inconsolable. After I barely managed to seal Queen Metaria away, I used the last of my strength to ensure you and the Sailor Guardians would be reborn on earth. Knowing that the enemy would return, my spell would have had the princess reborn many years after the guardians. I had hoped this would prevent the enemy from finding you, and allow you to grow up in a world free from that darkness after the guardians defeated Metaria and her servants."

Mina looked down at Artemis. "We were never supposed to fight at the princess' side at all! We were supposed to keep her from ever having to fight!"

Artemis scowled. "If only we'd known. If only we'd remembered!"

Illyana stared open-mouthed at the image of the queen, trembling. Finally, she steadied herself enough to speak.

"If that was your plan, then it backfired spectacularly. I've suffered more than you could ever know, and it was because I was so young and innocent."

Xavier and Illyana had seen many holograms in the Danger Room, but they had never seen a hologram cry as the image of the queen did then.

"I am so sorry. I did what I thought was best. Can you ever forgive me?"

Illyana looked down in thought, then back at the queen. "I don't know," she said softly.

The queen turned to Xavier, Doug, and Warlock. "And who might you be?"

"I am … I am Illyana's teacher," Xavier said. "And these two are her classmates."

"You must care deeply for her, to have come all this way with her. I thank you, for looking after my daughter."

The queen wiped her eyes, and her tone grew stern. "You all must have many questions. I will do my best to fill in the blanks. Ours was a peaceful, prosperous kingdom, thanks to the power of the Silver Crystal. Our mission was to watch over the earth and guide it as its people grew and evolved."

"But then, a terrible disaster occurred. A horrible creature emerged from its billion-year confinement in the heart of our sun, an ancient eldritch abomination …"

"An Elder God," Illyana said.

The queen nodded. "That is exactly what Metaria was. Despite our best efforts, it conquered earth quickly. The people of the planet were easily swayed by its power and evil. But this was not enough for it. It wanted the power of our Silver Crystal. And so, it attacked us here in our home. Even with the Silver Crystal, I could not destroy this evil. All of our people were killed in the battle, including the princess. Only the Sailor Guardians' leader survived long enough to help me use the Silver Crystal's power to seal Metaria away, before she too succumbed to her wounds."

"I alone remained of our great kingdom. But I knew that one day the seal I placed on Metaria would be broken one day, and I would not have the strength to battle it a second time. But my motivations were far more selfish. I simply wanted my daughter to live again. So, I used the Silver Crystal one last time to bring her back, as well as the guardians to protect her.

"I know that the evil one has returned to finish what it started. While this was not my intention, now that you are here, Serenity, it falls to you to destroy it once and for all. You must do what I could not, and end the threat of Metaria for good."

Mina stepped forward. "Your majesty, there is a problem. We have successfully reforged the Silver Crystal, but the princess cannot use it. It does not respond to her."

"Given what I have heard here today, I cannot say that I am surprised," the queen said. "The Silver Crystal follows the princess' heart. If in her heart she rejects who she is, she rejects the crystal as well, and it will not work for her. It will likely never work for her, I am afraid."

"But there is another way the Silver Crystal can be used," she continued. "The Silver Crystal is also the original source of the powers you guardians wield. If you combine your powers, all four of you, you can channel that power through the Silver Crystal even without the princess. And perhaps more."

"Was that what you had wanted us to do originally?" Mina asked.

The queen nodded again, and the image of her began to glitch, becoming pixilated for split-seconds. "Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Venus, work together, and protect the princess. Do our kingdom proud"

"I am afraid I cannot talk much longer. The system which allows this image to manifest before you has little power left after so long.

The queen reached out towards Illyana. "Serenity, I know you have had a difficult life, but I hope you can still find happiness with those you love."

Another tear fell down the queen's digital cheek as the glitches became more frequent.

"Goodbye, my little snowflake."

Illyana gasped, the hardened expression she had maintained melting away. "What … what did you just call me?"

The hologram glitched again, and Illyana ran forward, attempting to grab the queen's outstretched hand.

"Wait, mother!" she screamed.

The queen disappeared just as Illyana's hands passed through hers. Illyana froze in place, her hands outstretched, her mouth wide open, and her eyes unblinking.

The Sailor Guardians stirred. Seeing the queen had awakened something deep within their minds.

"I remember now," Amy said.

"So do I," Rei said. "We used to live here. We were so happy here."

"Those were the best days of our lives," Lita said. "How could we have forgotten?"

Mina walked over to Illyana. "I just remembered something, too. The one time you and the queen visited the earth together … we went with you as bodyguards. You were so young, you had never seen snow before, and you were fascinated by it. The queen explained how every snowflake is unique in its beauty, and she decided then that was how she would express how special you were to her. From that day on, you were her little snowflake. Do you remember any of this?"

Illyana finally moved, turning her head to look at Mina. Pools of water were forming around her eyes. Unlike the hologram, her tears were affected by the low gravity and did not fall down her cheeks. She choked back a sob, and shook her head. No memories had returned to her, good or bad.

Xavier walked over and put his hand on Illyana's shoulder. She looked up at her teacher and pulled him into a hug.

Warlock extended his neck towards Illyana and Xavier, intending to ask why Illyana was crying, but Doug tapped his shoulder and motioned for him to stop and leave them be.

"It's true," Illyana said between sobs, in a voice so soft only Xavier could hear her. "I wanted it to be a big mistake so badly, but it's all true."