From: To: Subject: (no subject) Date: Sunday, February 06, 2000 6:27 AM A Change of Destiny Ch.9 By: Ria TiMia637@aol.com Rated PG ********************************************************** "Why are we having a meeting without Luna Amy? I really don’t think it is right to keep her in the dark." Artemis felt really uncomfortable leaving Luna out of Sailor business, especially since the meeting was about Serena. "Yeah, Ames. I don’t think it is right for us to keep information about Serena away from her. Serena was like a daughter to her and Serena’s disappearance devastated her too." Mina and Artemis usually never agree but this time it was different, Serena was involved. "Sorry guys we can’t let her know about what we have found out," Amy knew that if she was in her friends position she would object just as loudly but circumstances were different, right know Luna was the enemy. Well, maybe enemy is over stating it but she was in opposition with them right now. "Don’t take it personally but it took me a lot of reasoning to let you guys in too. We’ve been real careful to conceal the fact we know she is alive and right now we have no idea who to trust." Raye had been silent, which was pretty amazing since all she wanted to do was shake Amy until she spilled every little detail about Serena. Unable to control her emotions anymore she exploded, "What the hell do you mean you can’t trust us? How dare you say such a thing! Every time we go to battle you trust us with your life and you can stand there and say, no accuse us of being untrustful. If anything you are the one that has the loyalty problem." "Lay off Raye. You shouldn’t yell at Amy like that until you have heard everything," everyone’s head swerved to the male voice coming towards them. "I don’t think it is wise to berate Raye right now Darien. Plus, if I was in her position I would just be as offended." "Okay, can you both stop talking to each other like we are not even here and tell us what the hell is going on," Mina was getting really annoyed. They have been having one hell of a month and right now she didn’t want to deal with more bullshit and complications. "Sorry," Amy couldn’t look anyone in the eye right now. She knew what she did was for the best but it didn’t lessen the guilt she harbored for keeping it away from the rest. Darien scanned the faces starring at him expectantly. He saw nothing in their expressions that told him that they knew Serena was alive. The girl’s eyes still had the sadness in their eyes, even though right now the anger was taking over. What really surprised him was Lita’s calm exterior. If anything he would have thought she would be the first to lose it. "Before I start I want to apologize for the way Amy and I sounded. We trust you with our lives but when it came to Serena we all had our loyalties to her. That was where the problem came up. No, don’t interrupt me yet," Artemis was in the process of asking about Luna when Darien cut him off. "I would appreciate it if all of you wait till the end before asking questions." Darien took a deep breath and began... A couple of hours later... When the last words left Darien’s mouth silence accompanied after. They just didn’t know how to react. Raye looked subdued, Mina was comforting Artemis, and Artemis was switching from angry to depressed over Luna’s hidden secrets. The only one in the room that did not show any emotion was Lita. Amy watched her throughout the whole explanation and what she saw scared her. Lita had had the same blank expression on her face since the beginning and Amy was starting to dread the event when all of her bottled up emotions would explode. Before she could ask Lita if she was okay a smile covered hr whole face. Her eyes held the same joy it had when she first became friends with Serena. "Lita are you feeling well," Amy was getting spooked even though she was relieved that Lita’s first reaction wasn’t lethal. "I’m fine Amy. It just makes me happy to have a friend like Serena. Ever since my parents died I often cried about having no one to protect me. I never thought Serena would become that person, especially since I am suppose to protect her," her whimsical voice calmed everyone. "I guess I should be proud of old meatball brains. I never thought I would see the day that Serena could stay vertical. But it still does not excuse her for not letting us do our job," Raye couldn’t suppress the pride she felt for her bestfriend, her leader, and her princess from her voice. She always pushed Serena to become her best and it was gratifying to see Serena reach it. "Who could have guessed that Serena would become so powerful," Mina was awed, especially when she remembered all the times Sailor Cosmos saved the day. "Serena isn’t what surprised me, it is Luna. Both Luna and I knew that Serena would eventually become the leader she was meant to be. What really ticks me off is that Luna kept it away from me, I mean us." Mina stroked Artemis’s head softly. She knew that Artemis considered this a great betrayal to him. Luna and Artemis never held secrets from each other. Well, except the one about him liking her, but then again that secret is pretty obvious. "Oh Artemis, try to see it from her position. Luna is practically Serena’s second mother and it tore her apart that she couldn’t do anything to help her, to save her," Mina’s voice broke but she forced down the rising guilt and continued to comfort her feline friend. "Then suddenly Serena comes back and she asks Luna for her help. I bet Luna saw it as her opportunity to redeem herself, to do what she wasn’t able to do, what all of us couldn’t do, help her. If you are all honest with yourself I bet you would have done the same as Luna, Sailor Pluto, and Sailor Saturn. We would have done practically anything for Serena, even betray each other." Mina’s words hit everyone dead center. They all knew that it wasn’t really Luna or even Serena that they were mad at, it was themselves that they had issues with. Deep down they knew that they were envious of Luna and the others. Serena hadn’t come to them for help and Mina and the others couldn’t shake the feeling that it was because they had let her down. Raye was the first to speak, "You are right Mina and maybe someday I will even have the courage to ask for my princess’s forgiveness but right now I think it is best if we figure out the truth. I need a princess to grovel to before I ask for forgiveness." Darien smiled at her gratefully for breaking the spell they were all falling into again. "Okay the best idea Amy and I have come up with is that Sailor Pluto was telling the truth about what we are up against. But, since Serena is behind everything I think we are all safe to conclude that Serena is the Messiah of Light," when everyone shook their head for agreement Darien continued, "and that she is Sailor Cosmos and she is passing herself off as Selene." Amy took over from there when she saw Darien get all dazed again when he mentioned Selene. "The problem is that we have no idea who is in on the whole deal with Serena and so Darien and I think that it is best if we treat the rest of the outers as if they knew," Amy would have gone on but a disgruntled voice stopped them. "Ah, isn’t that a bit presumptuous from all of you? Couldn’t you all at least give us the benefit of the doubt? Helen and I are just as anxious to see our princess too." All heads swiveled towards the steps just in time to see Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus bearing down on them. Both did not look to pleased. "Something is up princess," ever since Sailor Saturn had blown their cover she had been playing the spy and spending ever spare moment of her time with Selene and the others. She didn’t want to be pessimistic or anything but this might be her only time to get to know her princess. "What makes you say that? And I told you before the name is Selene or if you want you can even call me Serena in private but whatever you do don’t call me princess. It makes me uncomfortable." "Sorry. I’ve always dreamed of being able to help you this way and in my dreams I have always called you princess, for respect." Selene gave the younger girl one of her million dollar smiles and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "What ever happens to me Heather I will not allow you to be put back to sleep. This I promise." The young girls eyes misted over when she saw the compassion and the honesty in Selene’s eyes. She quickly regained her composure and wiped away the tears that had escaped. "Look at me, I’m not helping by getting all emotional on you. As I was saying, Helen and Marina have totally cut me off. I don’t think they trust anyone, except themselves. It is really making me nervous especially since it was Sailor Uranus that has had her doubts about you guys from the beginning. Then, before they got all quiet on me they even suspected that the inners were keeping secrets about you." "I don’t like this Sele. The inners are totally closed mouth, even to Luna and now the outers. They know," Sailor Pluto didn’t want to distress Selene but she knew that she was relieved that the scouts had finally caught on. It took them long enough. "It doesn’t matter anymore anyways. The time is near." "What the hell do you mean the time is near. Since when did you know?" Rhea was mad as hell. Selene had been keeping things from her too. "I’m sorry Rhea but this time I couldn’t tell you. The elders warned me that your loyalties would be divided. I knew you wouldn’t be able to help it. I couldn’t let you and Luna tip the scouts in time. They must stay out of it." Selene had been facing the window throughout her whole speech but Rhea saw her shoulders tense. ‘So she had known that Luna and I had let bits and pieces out.’ "How?" Luna didn’t know how Serena had found out but she knew that she was mad as hell. "Well, I didn’t really. I couldn’t prove my suspicions before but now you two just did." "We are really sorry Serena but we couldn’t just stand by and let you get killed," Luna never knew Serena could be so sneaky. "I have asked all of you to keep this quiet and I want to know now if you will obey my wishes. The time is soon upon us and I don’t need any more complications to deal with." Luna, Sailor Pluto, and Sailor Saturn stared real hard at their stubborn princess and sighed. They knew that if they turned their backs on her now they would never forgive themselves for it. "Fine," all three sighed out sadly. "I know this is hard for all of you to keep in but I assure you regardless of whether or not the others know I will have to do this on my own. As many have done countless of times before." "Man, you just have a pool of secrets in that head of yours," Heather stumbled to the nearest chair and closed her eyes. She knew what her princess was about to say was not going to make the whole situation better. "What the hell!" Lita was really getting tired of surprises. "I can’t believe I didn’t feel you guys coming, again," Raye looked like she wanted to smash her head to the concrete floor. "Don’t worry about it Raye. It wasn’t your fault. I used my mirror to see what all of you were up to," Neptune tried to console the distressed priestess. "I don’t understand why you are trying to make her feel better. They were about to keep us from finding the princess," Uranus looked like she was still deciding if she should blast everyone in the room. "We are sorry Helen but we couldn’t take the chance of letting Serena know we are on to her," Amy tried unsuccessfully to calm down the hot tempered scout. "Stop it Helen! You would have done the same thing if you where in their position." Marina was sick of all the yelling. What she really wanted to know was were in hell Princess Serenity was and how she could help her. "Okay I’ll stop but if no one tells me where the princess is I will blast everyone in this room." Sailor Uranus hadn’t sat down but she did relax a bit. "Everyone just cool it. I want you two to swear on the name of the moon that you didn’t know Princess Serenity was alive." Darien didn’t care if he offended anyone at this point. What he wanted was complete trust or he would walk away and get Serena back himself. "You know what pal.." Helen was about to give Darien a piece of her mind, prince or no prince, when Marina’s hand connected with his head. "Owww." Everyone watched in amusement as the powerful scout of Uranus clutched her head and yelled in pain. "Yes we swear to everything we hold dear that we did not know that Princess Serenity was alive," Marina replied narrowing her eyes on Helen to crush any objections. Darien took what she said to heart and began all over again with the explanations and what their objectives are. "So what exactly have you kept from us Sele," Rhea had found herself a comfortable chair and closed her eyes. "Very little my friend but all of grave importance. You see I do know when this whole thing is going down," Selene had taken the seat closest to the window so she would have the best view of the moon. "You can stop with the pauses Serena we won’t interrupt you any longer," Luna couldn’t help feel more helpless than before. Sailor Pluto and herself had been positive that all their work would have resulted with the scouts and Tuxedo Mask helping out Serena in her battle. Selene looked over her friends with a sad smile. She knew they had tried their best to get the others to help but she just couldn’t let that happen. She knew from experience that her friends would not be able to join her in her fight. It was against the rules so she tried to do the unselfish thing and not let her friends go through her death a second time. ‘I guess it is about time Rhea know the whole thing.’ "In the beginning the creator of life had bestowed to each reality a chosen one. You can call it different names in different religions, planets, galaxies, etc. but it is the same supreme being. It bestowed upon the chosen few gifts of power and knowledge to protect their reality. You see the person I will be fighting is the mirror image of myself. But only in appearance and age. We have been around for the same amount of time and we both have had the same teacher. The difference is that she has chosen to use her gift for evil. We all decide what kind of person we want to be and she chose the path that led to destruction. I don’t know how or when she became like this but Metallia has become the epitome of evil. We, as the last resort to our reality, were not suppose to know of our skill until we were needed but for some weird twist of fate Metallia was able to open that hidden piece of her mind. After that the idea to conquer everything in existence was planted in her head. She plans to put herself higher than the creator. I don’t know if that is possible but it is my responsibility and the responsibility of other realities to stop her." Selene took a sip of a water and continued with her recitation. It really didn’t matter whether or not she told them. After the battle they will forget everything they have found out. Secrets have a way of remaining secrets. "Where was I. Oh yes, it would be a lot easier if I had help but like I said before the chosen ones of each reality will not awaken until their reality is in danger. For some reason every freak in every reality seems to like to conquer our reality first. I think I’ve been awakened more times than the others put together." Luna smiled at Selene’s whining tone. She might be the ultimate warrior but underneath all of that power is the same Serena she has known for two millenias, or is it more. "Hmmm, I guess I shouldn’t complain. Nobody can change what faith has bestowed upon me. And this is where all of you are so hard headed. It is my fate to die for all of you. I am not Princess Serenity any longer. I am the Messiah of Light and this time fate and destiny will not let me escape. Queen Selenity couldn’t accept that her only daughter would be taken from her so she sacrificed her life and the lives of almost the whole galaxy just to save one person." The guilty tears seeped through her lashes. Selene had not forgotten her last glance at the magnificent Silver Alliance sent to the ground in ashes. "Mother had known who I was from the beginning. The Elders of Magick had visited her on the day she conceived me and warned her of the upcoming battle. They advised her to train me and to keep me from the seduction of evil but above all they told her to keep me away from my soul-mate. That was the main reason Earth was kept from the Alliance. Mother knew that Endymoin was my destined soul-mate so she put as much distance between us as possible. It wasn’t that the Elders wanted me to be unhappy but they had wanted to be sure that my mind was focused on the task at hand, not at trying to save my lover. I never understood why fate made us meet. I guess I’ll never understand why. During the time I was sneaking around with Endymoin the Elders came back to warn my mother of Metallia’s rising and my little affair with Endymoin. It was the hardest choice my mother went through. She had to decide whether she would be Queen Selenity, High Queen of the Silver Millenium or a mom. In the end her maternal instincts won out. I was the only child she had and she couldn’t bear to lose her child as she lost her husband. I have never forgiven myself for giving into her so easily. You see the process of awakening was already taking place and I had somewhat of an idea on what my responsibilities were but when she tempted me with being in Endymoin’s arms forever I couldn’t say no. I let her use the crystal on me to keep down my power as long as possible. She put a spell that would keep my powers and memories dormant until my 16th birthday. If you three don’t remember it is when the power of the silver crystal and myself are one. Mother knew that she wouldn’t be able to hold the mental block she had on me so she prayed that Metallia would attack before that day. I don’t know whether it was a good thing or a bad thing that Metallia attacked us on my birthday. The spell mother had on me was wearing down but before I could regain everything I needed to destroy Metallia and her minions it was too late already. The scouts were all gone, except for you Rhea since you had to guard the time gate, and Endymoin was taken from me moments before. I would have followed Endymoin to death but in a blink of an eye my powers and my memories came crashing down on me. My mother took one look at me and said sorry before she used the silver crystal. I didn’t understand then why she would sacrifice everyone just so I could survive. At first I was angry with her. She knew that I had the power to protect everyone but she deprived me of my one reason for existing. But then I felt loneliness, pain, confusion, and sadness. Everyone was gone. Endymoin was gone. Mother held out long enough to tell me that she was sending me to a new future with Endymoin and all my friends. She knew that she didn’t defeat Metallia, only contained her. Her last words were I’m sorry and I love you. Before I was swept into the magic of the silver crystal I promised myself that I would not let anyone make the same mistake Queen Selenity did. I would not let my love ones have the decision to protect me." All three understood now. There was no other way.