Blueeyeddevil06 thank you for being my beta.
I hope it was clear that I completely rewrote the Black Moon Clan's story, and that made them part of Princess Serenity's past.
I hope you like my story.
Thank you for reading.
Chapter 24 – Queen Serenity
Darien was astounded watching Serena heal the whole population of the Black Moon Clan all at one time. She was magnificent, and he didn't even think she noticed she changed into Princess Serenity once she called forward her Silver Crystal. She was stunning and powerful, and his admiration just kept growing. He then heard cheering and realized they were all cleansed of the dark energy and celebrating her.
He looked back at her and smiled at her. The joy he was feeling slid out of him as he realized her eyes were glassy. He then saw her eyes roll back in her head and he lurched forward, catching her before she was able to come close to hitting the ground.
He held her unconscious body in his arms and looked at Sapphire, "Show me where I can take her to lay down. I need Luna, Artemis, and her uncle here now! They need to figure out what the hell happened to her."
Sapphire quickly ordered someone standing off to the side to take her to their best guest suite, grabbed Jadeite, and said, "I will take you to Earth. You then take me to retrieve them, and we'll bring them back together." They disappeared.
Darien followed the woman leading them, and every bit of him radiated fury as he strode as quickly as he could. She struggled to stay ahead of him to lead him to a room for Serena, and she showed them in before quickly retreating.
Kunzite and Mina were the next through the door. Everyone else followed them in. Amy managed to keep her head enough to take Serena's vitals with the Mercury computer.
Amy said, "Darien! Focus! I know this is Serena, but you are training to be a doctor. Look at these readings."
He nodded and walked to her side, looking at the computer and taking a deep breath. "Thank you, Amy, for doing what I should have thought to do."
She replied, "No one blames you for not thinking rationally right now. It is our job to calm you down and have you look at the facts."
Mina spoke up, "And knowing Serena, she would want you to thank that poor woman standing outside the door trembling. I think she is afraid to leave in case we need something."
Darien agreed and looked at Amy, "Keep monitoring her, and let me know if something changes."
"I will, but you won't be gone long. You'll be right outside the door."
He walked into the hall and noticed that Mina wasn't exaggerating like he thought she was. He mentally berated himself and spoke, "I apologize for my behavior. I'm terrified of losing her, and I shouldn't have acted that way around you. Thank you for quickly showing us a room so that I could make her comfortable. She's in stable condition."
She bowed and said, "I'm very relieved to hear she is stable. Everyone will be pleased."
Darien looked surprised.
She then said, "When she wakes up, please tell her thank you. She saved us all." She began crying tears of joy. "I feel I can speak for everyone when I say we would do anything for her."
Darien smiled, "Thank you. I will let her know." He then returned into the room.
He took up Serena's hand. Then there was a spark, and he collapsed next to her.
Instantly, he was standing next to her on the moon and holding her hand. In front of them was a woman bathed in light. He looked next to him at Serena, and she smiled.
Serena spoke, "I'm glad you've joined us. This is my mother, Queen Serenity." She then returned her focus to her mother.
Queen Serenity spoke, "Darien, it's good to meet you in this lifetime."
He said, "It's good to meet you too, Your Highness." And he bowed.
She smiled at him and said, "Serena has unlocked more of her power, and it has triggered our meeting. She's in perfect health, and you'll both wake when we are finished here. I witnessed your worry over her, and as her mother, it was endearing."
Serena looked at him and was beaming, "You're a sweetheart to go and talk to the woman in the hall. I'm proud of you."
He smiled at her and kissed her cheek. "Only you two would praise me for that after I terrified her in the first place."
Queen Serenity smiled, "As I said, I'm her mother. You should be terrifying when you feel she is in danger." She then looked at them. "Serena, you have unlocked quite a lot of power today. It unlocks in stages, so you aren't overwhelmed with the raw power and badly hurt. I'm proud of how you handled all that power to protect and restore those people. Since your scouts' powers are linked to your Silver Crystal, they will find their power has increased also. They must train with them. They never had access to that much power even during the Silver Millennium. Regarding Raye, I'm proud of how you handled that difficult situation. You're right. I sent a sister of hers to be reborn, and she is available to you should you need her." She then held up a sword and handed it to Serena.
Serena spoke, "The sword is dull. I don't think it will do much, mother."
Queen Serenity gave a wry smile and said, "Hand that to Raye. It will help lead her down a path of self-discovery. It's a sword of Mars and an heirloom that should be handed down to her. You will know she has learned her lesson when the blade is sharp. The sword was specially forged on a principle that Sun Tzu said best 'Know thyself, know thy enemy.' It's the perfect vessel for self-discovery."
Darien looked perturbed, and Queen Serenity smiled and asked, "What's wrong?"
He replied, "She disrespects Serena and gets an heirloom from her home planet. Isn't that rewarding her?"
She shook her head, "Do you think her journey will really constitute a reward? It's a difficult path she must travel and, if it's successful in the end, she will have a sword to protect Serena with. If she fails, she has an heirloom as a reminder of her failure."
Darien spoke, "I take it back, it's perfect."
Queen Serenity addressed them again, "Darien, Jadeite was right. You don't have the power of premonition, I do. You have a beautiful future together, and you must hold onto that. She does not leave you like others have. And even then, you don't have the whole story." Here she sighed and looked in his eyes, "I'm sorry, but you're from Earth, and my ability to direct you and your generals' rebirth was not as accurate as the others. I held no dominion over those from Earth, I did have power over those from all the other planets. I couldn't protect your generals, and Beryl had gotten a hold of them. Your rebirth," she closed her eyes and sighed, "You weren't exactly born as much as you were placed in the timeline. Since you are a ruler of Earth, the Earth itself assisted in filling in your existence. Your birth wasn't directed by a sentient being. That, in combination with my lack of dominion over the planet, placed you without my leading. You have no memory of your parents because you were born, for lack of a better word, on your sixth birthday."
Serena looked shocked, "What does that even mean?"
Queen Serenity said, "I had attempted to make you six years younger than you are, and it's all incredibly complicated, but you can't remember your parents because they never really existed. The powers in the Earth fought back and made you older than her. Probably since your last act in life was to protect her. Six years has given you a substantial advantage in that arena."
Darien tried to digest the vague information, "I didn't have parents?"
"You did not."
"And, I have been on this Earth the same amount of years as Serena?"
"Yes, you have."
"But, my parents died in a car accident."
"That is what everyone believes. There wasn't even a cliff near where you were. The rebirth created a backstory for you, for lack of a better way to put it.
He took Serena's hand, kissed it, and looked into her eyes, "I was completely created to protect you, my love." The rest of it he would deal with later. He smiled and said, "We may need to rethink my promise about allowing you to put yourself in danger."
Serena shook her head, "Not a chance, my prince."
"At least I tried."
Queen Serenity then got their attention again, "Live a life full of love. One last thing. Serena, when you marry Darien, you will become Neo-Queen Serenity, and Darien, you will be King Darien. You're still the heir of Earth. There will come a time when the world will come under attack. You both will save the Earth and be crowned King and Queen officially. You have a good friend that is not from the Silver Millennium, Andrew. Trust him, and keep him close. He will come to serve you well in the future. Others will come along over the years. Trust each other to help make the decision on who to bring in."
Serena cried and said, "Mother, will I see you again? I love you."
Queen Serenity replied, "I'm not able to see that right now. The Crystal will call me if I'm needed. I love you too, Serena." She turned to Darien, "Darien, I'm overjoyed you and Serena are together."
He replied, "Thank you for this second chance you gave us."
She kissed Serena on the forehead, and then they both woke up.
Darien noticed he was laying on the bed next to Serena, and she was now holding the sword in her hands. They sat up and noticed how relieved everyone was to see them awake.
Serena spoke first, "I accessed a lot of power from the Silver Crystal and my mother, Queen Serenity, had some things she wanted to tell me. Then Darien showed up, and she spoke to us both. I wasn't harmed by healing everyone." She looked at her uncle, Luna, and Artemis, "Sorry they brought you here for nothing."
Luna spoke, "We would much rather get here and discover you're fine."
Her uncle spoke next, "And, how is my sister-in-law?"
"She's great, and it was amazing to see her. She was glad to have the chance to speak to me in this lifetime."
Sapphire then entered the room, "Serenity, you're awake! I'm relieved, and I will inform everyone. The whole of the Black Moon Clan is worried for you."
"Please call me Serena. I'm sorry I worried everyone; I'm just fine." She was embarrassed she made people worry.
"You saved us all from the darkness. You're a hero. Don't apologize for worrying anyone."
Serena and Darien got up from the bed and indicated she would like to set people's minds at ease by showing them she was awake. Sapphire led them all from the room, and they retraced their steps, coming to the same balcony she blacked out on. When she stepped into view of where the crowd was, she heard a loud cheer go up and smiled. Sapphire announced, "As you can see, Serena is feeling better. She's powerful and used a tremendous amount when she healed us all. She wanted you all to be assured she's feeling better." Loud cheering picked up again when he finished addressing them. Darien was glad to hear the appreciation and to see the smile on Serena's face.
Serena waved, and after five minutes, stepped back so she couldn't be viewed by the crowd. She then told Sapphire, "I think it's time to return home. How long will it take you to get your position secured enough to come and visit us?"
"I would like a full week to remain here and help my people. I would also like to spend time updating Emerald on what happened."
"We'll see you in one week then. Here's my address." Darien then handed him the address to his apartment. It gave Sapphire a way to contact them and kept Serena's location secret. He lied to himself that it had to do with protecting her when it was actually a way to keep him away from her.
Sapphire thanked him then opened a portal. "It leads back to the park. It's strange how easy a portal is to open there."
They stepped through the portal, and once they were all back, they split up to make their way home.