The Rewriting of a Legend
Episode 6
By Rain Ayo ( rain_ayo@hotmail.com )

	Venus stroked Kunzite's hair absent mindedly.  
"Usagi is there a way you can get Mamoru's attention?  
He should hear this as well," she said.
	"Umm...I've never tried, but I'll give it a 
try," she said.  She closed her eyes and concentrated on 
him.  It became amazingly easy for her.  She could see 
with her mind's eye that he was sitting by himself in 
his apartment.  She smiled softly as she realized what 
he was thinking about.  She knew she couldn't send him 
any words, but just a feeling of being needed would be 
enough to get him to get him to come.
	They all detransformed as they waited.  Kunzite 
came to and Mina looked relieved.
	Mamoru arrived shortly afterward with a curious 
look on his face.  Mina motioned to them all to do their 
best to make themselves comfortable.  
	She took a deep breath and began.  "One thousand 
years ago, there was a beautiful kingdom on the Moon.  
It was ruled by a kind and generous ruler, Queen 
Serenity.  It was the time of the Silver Millenium of 
Peace.  When all the planets lived in harmony.  Each 
planet had a ruler and those rulers sent their daughters 
to become a Senshi, all except Earth.  The Earth was 
against most of the Moon Kingdom's policies and didn't 
send forth a representative since before Queen Serenity 
was born.
	"One of the greatest events of the century was 
the birth of the Queen's lovely daughter, Serenity.  By 
the time this story begins the Queen was over 400 years 
herself and the Princess almost 200 years old.  You see 
the people of the Moon pride themselves on their 
longevity.
	"The Princess met and fell in love with the 
Prince of Earth.  His name was Endymion.  Kunzite, 
Jadeite, Zoisite, and Nephrite were his guardians.  As 
Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Mercury were the Princess's 
Guardians.  The eight guardians worked with one another 
to cover up the Prince or Princess's absences.  It was 
then the Earth once again sent forth representatives, 
although they did not have a Senshi.  The Prince of 
Earth became a common visitor to the Moon.  Eventually 
the Queen assented to the Prince and Princess's 
marriage.  Little did she know that this announcement 
would be the downfall of her kingdom.
	"An uprising from the land of Atlantis on Earth 
was lead by Queen Beryl.  She brought forth the demon 
Queen Metallia and with her power, Beryl made quick work 
of the capture of Earth.  Beryl then set her sights on 
the Moon.
	"Endymion's guardians sent him to the Moon 
before the Earth was taken.  They were taken by Beryl to 
hit the Guardian Senshi right in their weak spot, their 
hearts.  Each of the Senshi had fallen in love with one 
of the Guardians. Beryl knew if they were forced to 
attack their loves, they would crack and be easily 
defeated.
	"I often wondered if Beryl would have backed off 
and not attacked the Moon if Endymion had remained on 
Earth.  She would have undoubtably taken him for her 
king, just as she wanted.  Perhaps if Serenity had been 
more private about the marriage, Beryl wouldn't have 
found out that the man she was obsessed with was in love 
with another.  Beryl's obsession with Endymion caused 
all of this trouble.  There are too many maybes and no 
way to fix any of them now.
	"Beryl attacked the Moon with her four new 
generals.  The generals were defeated, but at the cost 
of the Guardian Senshi's lives.  The Prince and Princess 
were forced to meet face to face with Beryl herself.  
Beryl tried to convince Endymion to join her, but to no 
avail.  She ran him trough with a sword and left the 
Princess to morn her love's death.  In the end she 
prefered her own death over her life and stabbed herself 
with the same sword that had slain Endymion.
	"Queen Serenity, seeing the costs of the battle, 
sealed the evil away with the power of the Imperium Silver 
Crystal.  Then sent the people of the Moon to the Earth, 
where they would be reborn and able to enjoy the life 
they deserved.
	"Three years ago I became Sailor Venus.  Around 
that same time I met Kunzite.  Beryl had struck and was 
looking for her generals.  As I witnessed his capture, 
most of my memories resurfaced.  It was then that I 
began my search, with Artemis, for the rest of you, the 
crystal and the Princess.  Unfortunately there were gaps 
as you must know.  Please forgive me.  Things have not 
been that easy for me either."
	"Oh I'm sorry Mina.  I never thought..." Usagi 
trailed off as she quickly rushed to hug her sobbing 
friend.
	"It's okay Usagi.  You had the right to be mad. 
I did let all of this get me emotionless and cruel.  I 
should have come to you with all of this.  Things 
probably would have been different," Mina said.
	"Like you said, there are too many maybes and no 
way to fix them now," Rei said.
	"I'm sorry, Mina.  I should have been there for 
you," Kunzite said.
	"Beryl is strong.  She is not easily stopped," 
Mina said.  "I'm just glad you're back."
	"I did my best to stop her.  She couldn't have 
me as she wanted.  She had to destroy the real me before 
she could have my shell," he said.
	"Shh.  Don't worry about the past.  Just rest," 
she told him.
	"So that does make Usagi the Princess.  We are 
the Senshi who died at the hands of our loves," Rei 
said.  "There are other planets, so where are the rest 
of the Senshi?"
	"I was the leader of the eight Senshi.  We were 
split in two.  The Princess's Guardians, those of the 
Inner planets and the System's Guardians, known as the 
Outers because they were of the outer planets," Venus 
explained.  "I don't know what became of them after the 
battle.  They must have followed us."
	"So in time we'll find them," Mako said.
	Mina nodded.  "Now that we have reached this 
point.  What will we do now?" she asked.
	"What can we do?  Beryl has no one left to fight 
us.  We've restored her generals.  She will have to face 
us now," Usagi said.  "We need to be ready for her.  We 
need to be at our top performance.  Even at that point 
we are going to need help.  The rest of the Earth's 
Guardians are going to need to take their place in the 
battle.  We shall end it once and for all.  Beryl will 
not be allowed to destroy us once more."
	The four Senshi nodded in agreement.  "We may 
not have much time," Ami said.  "We need to find the 
others quickly."
	"I agree.  Mako, go to Nephrite.  Ami, Zoisite 
needs more medical attention.  Rei, you have Jadeite," 
Usagi said.  "I need to find Luna and Artemis.  We still 
have yet to find my crystal."
	The Senshi nodded again.  The three left to 
follow through with their orders.  Mina, with Mamoru's 
help, brought Kunzite into her house.  Mamoru met Usagi 
in the living room.
	"How are you feeling?" he asked her.
	"I could ask you the same question," she said 
while staring out into space.
	"This is all overwhelming, but it seems natural. 
Like a part of me remembers all of this," he said.
	"It must, otherwise Zoisite wouldn't have a hole 
in his stomach," she said.  "You have powers from your 
past, just as I do.  We just need more practice.  The 
question I wish to have the answer to is how, and from 
what, do we get these powers."
	Artemis padded in slowly.  Usagi quickly rushed 
to him and picked him up.  It was quite obvious that he 
hadn't completely recovered from being smashed into the 
wall.
	"You shouldn't be moving about like this.  You 
still haven't recovered completely," she said.
	"I'll be all right," he said.  "I was more 
worried about Mina."
	"She's okay," Usagi said.  "I have a question.  
I don't know if you'll know the answer, but I'll ask 
anyway.  Where do we get our powers?"
	"You're right.  I don't know the answer to that 
question.  I was a tactical advisor to the Queen.  Luna 
was the one with the mystical knowledge.  All I know is 
that it was already in the royal blood," he said.
	"So because we're royalty we're able to use 
these powers.  We have transformation pens, or in my 
case, broaches.  What are they for?" she asked.
	Artemis did his best to shrug.  "I wish I could 
help you.  You would need to see for your answers," he 
said.
	She nodded.  "I'll take you with me.  Luna is 
better suited to take care of you than I," she said.

	Makoto slipped once again into Nephrite's 
room.  She felt a rush of excitement as she entered.  It 
was so obvious, she hadn't needed to have Mina tell her. 
She already knew he was the man she loved.  To be with 
him always, was the one thing she desired more than 
anything else.  Since she'd seen him staring out the 
window looking so sad. 
	"Makoto!" he exclaimed.  "Somehow I knew you'd 
come by today."
	"Well I need your help," she said.
	"Anything.  You've helped me so much," he said.
	"I can't explain here, but I promise I'll tell 
you everything when we get where we need to go," she 
said.
	"Of course.  Let's go," he said.

	"Umm...hello.  My name is Rei," she said to 
Jadeite as she stood before him at his foor.  'How do 
I say this and not sound completely out of my mind?'
	"Can I help you with something?" he asked.  He 
took a moment to get a good look at her.  "Umm...do I 
know you?"
	"I suppose you could say that.  That's why I 
came here," she said.
	"I do know you?" he asked.
	"It's hard to explain.  Do you believe in 
reincarnation?" she asked.
	"I don't put too much faith into things such as 
that," he said.
	"Well whether you do or not doesn't matter.  We 
did know one another in a past life.  It's hard to 
explain all the details.  If you'd come with me I'd 
explain everything," she said.  "It's very important.  
You must come."
	He was silent for a moment.  "What have I to 
lose?" he said.
	"It's more like what do you have to gain," she 
said.

	Ami slipped in silently into the ICU and then 
into the closed off space that was occupied by Zoisite. 
She was quite glad she'd prepared a long time ago for 
medical emergencies.  In her dimensional pocket she 
carried a larger than normal first aid kit.  Also a few 
strange items she had "borrowed" from her mother, before 
she died.
	Zoisite lay silently seemingly asleep.  Ami took 
a few readings with her computer to estimate damage.  He 
was doing quite well.  She brought up a few medical 
files to see what she could do to speed the process.
	'I should probably look at the wound,' she 
thought.  She looked down at him.  He only wore the 
normal hospital robe.
	His eyes opened as her cheeks turned a crimson 
red.  "And who might you be?" he asked.
	"Oh!" she exclaimed.  "I...umm..ah...umm..." she 
rambled on for a while.
	He chuckled.  "Well you aren't a doctor.  You're 
not a nurse.  And you're definitely not that annoying 
candy-stripper," he said.  "So that must mean you're not 
supposed to be here."
	"Umm...well not really," she said.
	"Well that's all right.  It gets rather dull in 
this place fast.  Any company I can get is great," he 
said.  "So what brings you here?"
	"I'm trying to see if I can get you out of here 
soon," she said.
	"Really.  How are you going to do that?" he 
asked.
	She quickly checked her computer and was 
surprised.  "Wow!  Your healing rate nearly quadrupled 
since I got here," she said.
	"Beats me.  The doctors haven't been able to 
figure that one out," he said.
	"There's no doubt that it's true though.  I've 
got the proof in front of me here," she mumbled.  
"Doesn't mean I have to believe it."
	"Huh?"  Ami ignored him and started to take off 
all the tubes he was attached to.  "Ah, what are you 
doing?" he asked.
	"Getting you out of here.  There's no point to 
having you stay.  Unless you want to be some lab 
experiment," she said.
	"You don't have to ask me twice," he said.
	"Stay put for a second.  I'm going to get you 
some clothes," she said.
	She snuck out of his closed off part of the 
room.  She looked around, hoping she'd find something.  
Down the hall, she spotted the laundry room.  She 
snagged some clothing and hurried back to Zoisite.
	"Here.  Hurry up, before the nurse makes her 
rounds," she said.  
	She waited outside his area so he could change. 
She watched for anyone coming, hoping it would be a 
while before someone showed.
	He came out in mismatched clothing and a 
disgusted look on his face.  "Was this all you could 
get?" he asked.
	"Don't worry about it now.  We've got to get out 
of here before we get caught," she said.  She took his 
hand and dragged him out of there.

	Mamoru drove Usagi back to her house on the 
motorcycle he had taken to Mina's.  Artemis didn't 
exactly enjoy the ride.  He was placed in the best place 
they could find for him.  A small closed box attached to 
the side of the bike. 
	He was fine however after the ride and swore if 
they ever made him do that again, he'd claw their eyes 
out.  Usagi didn't even smile at the joke and that 
worried Mamoru some.  Artemis also noticed Usagi's 
strange behavior, but left the dealing with that to her 
guardian.
	Luna was quickly found sleeping on Usagi's bed. 
Artemis had a good laugh at her expense, claiming that 
she shouldn't make fun of his sleeping habits if she was 
going to do the same.  Luna nearly killed him as she 
chased him around the room.  Usagi had to force the two 
of them apart to keep Luna from clawing at him.
	"Luna, please.  This is childish," she said 
scoldingly.  Luna made what could have passed for a 
puss.  Usagi just shook her head and got down to 
business.  She repeated her question to Luna, who was a 
little surprised that she would ask.  Almost as if she'd 
expected her to know already.
	"Strange as it may seem, I'm surprised I didn't 
realize it when I first started this whole thing.  Each 
of the royal families of every planet, that we knew of  
( the Earth had to be excluded because of their lack of 
communication with us ), possessed magical powers.  That 
was how their were able to become the Senshi.  All it 
took was a special rite to strengthen their powers.  A 
blessing from their respective gods or goddesses," Luna 
explained.
	"When I worked with the young Princess of the 
Moon, she possessed either little or no actual powers.  
It was so shocking that it became something that needed 
to be covered up.  The people of our system needed to 
believe that their rulers had the power to protect them 
with a wave of their hand.  If they had known that one 
of the future heirs, the most powerful heir in our 
system, was powerless or simply not powerful enough, 
there would have been such an uproar that it was 
possible that it could have started a civil war," she 
continued.
	"I can't explain how you could possible have any 
powers, now that I think of it.  The only way you could 
have powers would be if you had the Imperium Silver 
Crystal, but you don't, do you?" Luna asked.
	Usagi shook her head deep in thought.  How could 
she have power without the crystal.  It wasn't possible, 
so what was she drawing her power from?  She had to have 
the crystal.  That could mean only one thing.  "Is it 
possible for something like the crystal to be inside of 
me?" she asked.

********************************************************
That's all for episode 6.  Lot's of new stuff out in the open.
I hope you've all enjoyed this so far.  This is taking a little 
longer than I had wanted.  I'm sorry that I'm taking absolutely 
forever with this.  I promise that next week I will be posting 
episode 7 and my new story The Night the Moon Didn't Rise.  
Night is my baby and she's as perfect as *I* can get her.  I 
just need to get some last minute feedback from my wonderful 
friends.
One big thank you to Jade for putting up with me.  Arigato Jade!
I should also thank everyone at A Sailor Moon Romance for 
posting my stories.  Something I don't really do enough of.  
Thanks to all of you so much.  
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, or whatever holiday 
you celebrate.  See you all next week!

Rain
http://members.tripod.com/~Rain_Ayo/