The Rebirth

A hundred years after the near downfall of Moon Kingdom, the last of the royal family is reborn in a young teenage girl. AU

disclaimer: As cool as it would be, I don't own Sailor Moon. I barely own my Macbook.

Glossary

Mare Serenitatis: "The Sea of Serenity;" where the Moon Kingdom is located during Silver Millennium.

(Source: mindat; Sailor Moon Wikia)

I

Princess Serenity knew in her heart that she was the only one left.

There was chaos and destruction all around her. Smoke from fires and burning embers rose and blocked the infinite, yet comforting darkness of the once peaceful, sparkling sky. Even Earth, the azurite-colored orb that peeked at the Moon Palace from over the horizon was hidden from her gaze. She could smell what she knew was death in the wind; she could hear the far-reaching echoes of screams from her fallen citizens. The Moon Kingdom, her home, was dead.

She looked up at the tumultuous sky once more and shivered, as if she felt the dark presence right above her and its hungry desire to smother her.

She listened to the strong voice in her head, a voice that was hers but much more mature and capable than how she felt. Wipe your eyes, that voice said, and run. Run and hide.

She obeyed and ran through the remains of the castle, footsteps quick and careful. She knew the Moon Palace like the back of her hand, had always wandered around its splendor as a child. But now, the ornate chandeliers had fallen, and the crystals that caught the light had shattered; statues and busts and vases were broken; and pieces of the crumbling walls fell and made her start with fright. Her journey carried her into the grand ballroom, the epicenter of the palace's destruction from their enemy, and she edged around pieces of the fallen architecture, fistfuls of her dirty white dress in her hands. She was fearful of those unseen eyes she felt around her; her eyes fought against staring at the tumultuous sky through the hole in the ceiling once more. It had only been a few hours since the attack, but it felt like a million eternities. Throughout the journey, she kept her glance focused forward and high; she could not bear seeing the strewn, broken doll-like bodies across the marble floor—the noblemen, the handmaidens, the advisers and guardsmen…children. She did not want to see more of the lifeless gazes of the people she loved and had grown up with every day.

The silence, the fear of being watched reminded her of seeing her senshi as they had died protecting her. Mercury. Mars. Venus. Even Jupiter whom she had always felt was particularly invincible.

And he had died protecting her. The only man she had ever loved, whose dried crimson-tinged blood was smeared on her hands and clothes, the blood he shed as he died in her arms… "Endymion." Tears fell from her eyes and she bit back a sob as she thought about his body left there without her.

Several times, she felt sticky liquid underfoot, and she would fight the chills running down her spine and urge to vomit.

There came a sound from far away: the palace doors, the tall ones that led to the bridge that connected the palace's island to the mainland were being forced open. And then she heard the shouts of men, and her name in their yells.

They knew she was here. And they knew she was alone.

She ran harder down a hallway she had ventured into but once when she was eight or nine, one that led to a pair of heavy doors crafted with sturdy hands and painted and trimmed with gold to match the adjacent palace walls and hide its means of entry. It was a secret door that had piqued her curiosity since the day she had first taken to noticing it was there and had constantly been reminded of her caretakers' orders not to get close. And it was her salvation. Her hands desperately pressed against where she believed the latches could be found. Knowing the room was always sealed tight and the thought of being cornered and caught with nowhere else to go made her panic, but the doors gave in to her frantic touch without a fight. It was as if they understood her plight, and now recognized it necessary to open themselves to her.

She stepped inside and whipped her head around to watch the doors shut on their own accord.

The princess was in The Holy Sanatorium of the Mare Serenitatis, the holy land of the Moon Kingdom, even now, unchanged and protected from the destruction of the rest of the palace.

"This is an important room, the sacred ground of the Moon Kingdom blessed by our ancestors." Her mother had told her in a whisper.

Even now, Princess Serenity could remember her mother. Tall with silver-white hair and eyes, and ever graceful with long limbs and slender hands. Full of wisdom, strength, and love. Her mother was known to all as a calm, powerful woman, and yet the Queen of the Moon's own presence had seemed dwarfed in the enclosure that was slightly smaller than Serenity's own bedroom. It was filled with something the princess had not been able to articulate as a child. A type of power that held traces in the very air and imbued the golden wall moldings of roses, vines, and animals and paintings of golden-winged, ruddy-cheeked angels with skin and hair in every imaginable hue. It was a power that had caused the hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end and made her feel even tinier than she was.

"Can you feel it, Serenity?" Her mother's eyes twinkled. "This room protects great power."

"Great power?" She had repeated the words in hushed tones, as if the room itself could hear her questioning its majesty.

"Yes, my love. The power of the Silver Millennium Crystal." The monarch smiled, lifting her hand and pointing. "Look there, in the arms of my mother's image, Queen Selene… Can you see it?"

Princess Serenity had peered towards the back of the room, and saw that there was a statue depicting a young, beautiful woman about her mother's height with long, cascading hair. "She looks pretty like you, Mama." And indeed the young princess was reminded of times when her mother took her hair down from its buns, a hairstyle that she made sure her own white hair resembled. This image captured Queen Selene with her chin raised and eyes closed serenely. A dress of the finest gold silk hung off the figure, its fabric and hem embroidered with feathers and what the child had just learned were the phases of the Moon seen from the mysterious planet above the back of the palace wall's horizon, Earth. And resting on a small red cushion held up by her hands was what appeared to be the largest and strangest-shaped diamond she had ever seen.

Serenity's eyes, brimming with awe and curiosity, fixated on the crystal. She could hear a sound filling her ears, like music or a ringing. As if drawn like a moth to a flame, her tiny feet began to step forward towards whatever called to—

Her mother's hands stopped her.

Her mother's arms scooped her up to keep her close.

"Listen to me, my love," her mother had whispered, as if she were telling a secret in a room full of strangers. Their foreheads pressed together and their crescent-moon birthmarks, the mark of the royal family, kissed. "The Silver Millennium Kingdom is your birthright; and the crystal is your responsibility. One day, when you are older, my responsibilities will fall on your shoulders. My power will wane and yours will grow, and the crystal will be under your protection. It and this room will grant you great power, and it will be up to you to keep it safe from those who will try and take it for their own selfish, destructive needs. Until that time when you are ready to assume that responsibility, you must only come here if you are in great danger, never for anything else.

"Promise me."

She remembered pulling away and seeing the sharp glance in her mother's eyes and feeling the firm, but gentle grip of her hands. The solemn part of herself rose to the occasion.

"I promise."

She could not waste time.

She half-ran to her grandmother's effigy, and her bloodstained hands picked up the crystal. It felt heavy and empty in her grasp. She stared into the sculpted, tranquil face of her ancestor and wished that the statue were real. Back and forth, back and forth, wanting to know what to do and wishing that someone, anyone, would come and help her, comfort her, and wake her up from this nightmare.

But there was no one.

Just her.

Only her.

With her back against the wall and the pillagers of her homeland desperate to reach her.

The emotions she had barely kept together spilled over inside her. Helplessness made her heart clench; panic made hot tears spring from her eyes and her body slump to the floor. She curled into a ball at the marble feet of her ancestor, pressing her head against the hem of the dress it wore. "Please help me. Please help me. Help me, please."

Her heart pounded. She wished she knew what to do.

"I am the Silver Millennium Crystal."

The voice permeated and echoed in her head. Rich and deep, it carried a timbre that seemed to hold the secrets of time itself. Her hands opened and her eyes stopped their tears to stare at what she cradled.

"I am the Silver Millennium Crystal," the voice repeated. "Created by the gods, protected by their Children of the Moon to guard against darkness and Evil."

"Darkness?"

"Darkness. There is…much darkness in this land… Is this the reason you call me?"

"Y-yes." Her hands clenched the crystal in her grasp once more. "Yes! I am Moon Princess Serenity. Heiress of the Moon Kingdom and the Silver Millennium's future ruler…I am the ruler of the Moon Kingdom now…" Her hands held the crystal tighter. "I am…and I am the one that is to inherit your power to protect the Moon! My mother was Queen Serenity…my grandmother was Queen Selene.

"Please! I am asking you to accept me… Please give me your power!"

Silence.

"And what is it that you wish of my power, child?"

"What…do I…wish for?"

"I have the power to do all, and grant you the wishes of your heart… What is it that you wish of me?"

"I wish for—" She heard another sound, the sound of pounding at the sanitarium doors. Her enemies lay in wait for her outside…they had found her somehow…! She remembered her mother's words from that day long ago, about the crystal being able to make her fondest wishes come true. "I wish to save everyone. Everyone in the Moon Kingdom…my people, my friends…Endymion…even myself! Everyone! This is my only wish now. It's my greatest wish now! Please—grant my wish!"

She opened her hands and stared at her only hope for salvation in her hands. Nothing. Her hands tightened around the crystal, and her body curled upon itself once more. Her eyes squeezed closed; her breathing was becoming quick and raspy. She heard the continued pounding on the doors and a disharmonious entity of voices speaking their homogeneous frustration at her being kept out of their collective, desperate reach. "Please help me save everyone."

Nothing.

Nothing.

And then…

She felt a steady heat in her hands. They opened once more, and the glow spilled over her palms, filling the room and pressing against the walls. She was being enveloped in silvery light. The crystal lifted itself from her hands and hung suspended in the air. And then it opened itself, changing before her eyes into the shape of a blooming flower that held no name.

"Moon Princess Serenity, Heiress of the Moon and Ruler of the Silver Millennium Kingdom, your wish is great and pure of heart. It is a wish worthy of being granted. But the power you would need for it to come true is so much greater than what you now possess.

"Are you still wanting of this wish?"

Her heart pounded. "…Yes. …YES! If it means that everyone will be safe, if it means that I will be able to save everyone, then yes! Grant me my wish!"

"…Very well…"

The crystal shattered into a thousand fragments.

And one by one, almost too fast for her to realize, the pieces turned on her.

Her scream pierced the walls as shard after shard dug into her skin, branding her nerves with its white hotness. A fire centered and grew in her chest, left her grasping for air. Her hand grabbed the hem of her ancestor's statute and tears fell from her eyes. Never had she felt this type of pain before! Her skin felt like it was peeling off, becoming part of the air itself.

And then suddenly, she realized that that was what was happening. She was becoming thin air. Already, some of her fingertips were missing. The tears that fell from her eyes dried as she stared in wonder. Wonder, in and of itself, had become stronger than pain.

Her body lifted from the floor.

The doors broke open, and she looked over to see her would-be captors. Soldiers clad in black armor raced inside, and then stopped to stare at her glowing and disintegrating form above their heads. Some grabbed at her, desperate to grasp her foot, her ankle, but for all their effort, all they did was succeed in helping her fade more. A thought of fear raced through her mind, skittish, like a marble rolling across the floor: What is happening?

"Do not be afraid or worried, child. For millennia, the Children of the Moon have protected me, but this time, it is I who will protect all. Until the moment comes when you are ready…"

She was watching the crowd of panicked soldiers parting, hailing the presence of another coming into the room. Their commanding officer. Her sight was blurring, fading, but she could see the figure was adorned in silver. Male.

Their words, excitement, and pointed fingers no longer meant anything to her.

But then the mysterious, silver-clad newcomer lifted their head. Their hands slowly removed the helmet.

And the last person she had ever expected looked up at her in awe.

Her lips parted one last time. "You?"

And then she saw nothing because she was nothing.

Nothing but a pure, blinding light.

R&R