Hello dear friends, so sorry, but for a few of you this chapter will be familiar, I'm working on some re-edits and new chapters though and will be posting more soon! 3 stay safe out there! DMA

Disclaimer: I do now own sailor moon.

Astra stared at her toes. I painted them a dark blue and perfectly manicured. She liked the color, but try as she might, she couldn't remember when she had gotten them done.

She held her hands out in front of her and looked at the lines crisscrossing her palms. They were familiar as if they had always been there, yet unfamiliar, like she didn't recognize the pattern.

Her head throbbed again. She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. The bedroom door creaked open. Astra looked up from her seat on the edge of the bed.

Cole stood in the doorway holding a mug. "Ami said this would help with the headaches."

He held it out to her, and she took it, "Tell her thank you for me."

"I will." He sat down in a chair across from her.

"And tell her I'm sorry. I smacked her fairly hard during my attempt at escape."

Cole smirked, "She'll have a bruise, but it'll heal quickly enough."

"The advantage of being a vampire, I suppose," Astra said.

"It is one of our better characteristics." Cole watched as she took small sips from the mug. She cringed at the bitter taste. "It's herbal, doesn't mean that it will taste great." They sat in silence for a few more minutes before he finally asked, "Do you remember who I am, Serena?"

She looked up, her mind rolling over the name he had called her. "I remember your face…your name is Cole. You're my...cousin."

"Is that all you remember?"

"I remember that we didn't like each other as children. I think you spiked my tea with ink when I was twelve."

"That was your brother's idea. Though he talked me into being the culprit," Cole smiled. "Astrid was furious. It turned your mouth blue for the entire week that your father was hosting foreign diplomats.

"Astrid?" The name sent a chill down her spine.

"Do you remember her?"

She took a moment, then shook her head, "No, I don't. The name feels familiar, though." She took another sip from the mug.

"It wasn't that we didn't like each other, more like we enjoyed playing pranks on each other. You and your friends once snuck into my room to glue all of my things to the floor and cut holes in my clothes. We did things like that to antagonize each other."

She smiled. "We liked to fight a lot. You liked to pick on me even though you're several years older than I was...your maturity was...lacking." She touched her head. The memory had come to her without warning, from somewhere deep in her subconscious.

"Do you remember your brother, Serena?"

"No…there are a few images, but no memories. His name...was...his name was..." she rubbed her forehead as pain had started between her eyes again.

"His name was Sethaniel. He was your predecessor, your older brother. He took care of you."

"Did we...did we get along?"

"Yes, Sethaniel was more of a parent to you than your actual parents were. Do you remember your father?" She shook her head. "Well, he wouldn't have won any parent awards. He didn't want you to be Queen."

"Why?"

Cole sighed. "He was told a prophecy that frightened him, and I think he was afraid of losing you the way he lost your mother and brother. He tried to protect you, in his own misguided way. He was convinced that it was best if you stayed off the throne, but your brother embraced the prophecy and made it his mission to turn you into the best Queen that he could."

"Did my brother abdicate?"

Cole frowned. "No, he died. The throne passed to you after his death."

"I don't remember any of them, my father or my mother."

"Your mother died when you were very young, and your father stayed away for most of your childhood.

They left you in our care, Sethaniel, Astrid, and I. We were your guardians. We made sure you had the best education and training and ensured your safety."

She traced the rim of the cup as they again shared silence. "That girl who died she was my sister-in-law, Rei?"

Cole nodded. "The sister of the King, she was married to one of the Generals."

"The blonde man, I saw him with her body. When I saw her, I remembered things. Nothing significant, feelings mostly...and my heart aches." She rubbed at her chest, "Every time I think of her it pains me."

"You had grown close over the years."

"Do they know what caused her death?"

Cole shook his head. "Ami will do the autopsy, then we'll have answers." He stood. "I can tell you what we find out."

She nodded and handed him the cup. He took it and drew a handkerchief from inside his pocket. Astra looks at it, confused. "You're crying."

She touched her face, there were wet tears on her cheeks. "I didn't realize."

"Subconsciously you're mourning Rei's death."

Astra took the handkerchief and wiped her tears. "Where...where is Endymion?"

"Taking care of Rei's body."

After he had left, Astra laid on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. Her heart ached, but there was also a burning inside of her, one that she didn't understand. It made her hot and agitated, but no matter how much she wracked her thoughts, she couldn't figure out what it was.

Ami lay in bed staring at the wall, silent tears rolled down her cheeks. She heard the door open and close.

The bed sank with the weight of another person.

"Ames?" Yaten whispered. She didn't answer him, "Ames?"

He waited for her answer, but she didn't respond. After a few moments, he finally laid his head down on her hip and wrapped his arms around her. "I'm sorry, Ames."

Ami reached down and put her hand on his head, her tears never ceasing.

Hotaru sat on the floor staring down at the history book in front of her. It was a written history of the Valcorian rulers who had existed. Her fingers traced the family tree that sprawled out on to the two extended pages. She traced from the roots to the branches, stopping at Rei's name. She ran her fingers over the date of her birth.

Knox sat down behind her without speaking.

"I warned them that death walked through this house," she said as she traced the ink.

"A warning that I'm sure no one understood."

"One that I didn't even understand myself. I thought it was an intruder, or that Serenity would harm someone accidentally."

Her fingers traced over the branch where Endymion's name connected to Serenity's. The child's name was crossed out. "So much loss in this family."

"It's the price of who we are."

"We?"

"Well, we're all distant cousins in this war," he said then reached out tentatively and touched the ends of her ebony hair.

"I never considered you my cousin. That would make our marriage even stranger."

Knox smirked, "Stranger than it is already?"

Hotaru looked over her shoulder at him. "Yes, stranger than it is already." She turned back to the book lying in front of her.

"What will you do when this is all over?" he asked her.

"It depends on how it all ends. If the humans win, I supposed I'll spend the rest of my life running and hiding. If we win...well there more options attached to that outcome."

Knox was silent for a long while, "You could come with me."

Hotaru stiffened, "Where?"

"Anywhere the North, the South, islands, continents, the country, cities, anywhere you desire to see." He leaned forward and covered her hand with his. "I'll take you anywhere."

"We used to talk of seeing the world together, of doing something with this longevity," she gripped his fingers.

"We could make up for the time stolen from us."

"If I remember correctly, you hated the idea of having to spend the rest of our lives together."

"That was at first, then I got to know you and I only regretted it a little," he said. He saw her smile. "I've missed you, Hotaru."

She looked over her shoulder at him, "And I you."

She leaned in towards him, and he mirrored her actions. Their lips were inches apart when the door burst open behind them.

Amara leaned against the frame panting, "Hotaru it's Michelle she's returned! She brings news from the Demonti."

Merula stared at Malachite's body. There were scars across his chest; a black tattoo above his hip, long thick black lines encased the crest of his family; his stomach and his perfectly toned abs.

She titled head, "A fine specimen."

"Don't you think that's a little inappropriate?" Taiki said as he wrote notes in a file.

She was sitting on Malachite's thighs, her feet dangling over the edge of the metal table, swinging back and forth. "Not at all considering all the other inappropriate things I'd like to be doing to him," she said with a wicked smile.

"You're in a pleasant mood. Should I ask who you've been torturing?" He checked the machine that was rhythmically beeping next to Malachite.

The demon let out a laugh. "Oh, no no no. Nothing like that, my sad little sodomite. The other one has just been quiet for a long while, and it's brightened my dark spirits. Now tell me something more entertaining because as fine as this vampire is, we both know I can't enjoy any of my favorite activities in this body." She hopped down and leaned her elbows on the table, watching Taiki. "Tell me about your escape plans."

Taiki glared at her and continued to monitor Malachite's levels.

"Oh, come now, he's fine. He's been the same for months, whatever you're giving him is working. Now tell me, why are you going to run off with the red-headed doctor? We all know all you want is to snuggle Kain for the rest of your life."

"That is none of your business," he snapped.

She slammed her hands down on the table. "Make it my business." Her eyes were pitch blank. She radiated a dark, angry energy. "Or I'll make it Seiya's business and you and I both know what he does to traitors."

Taiki was silent for several long moments. "He's losing his mind, partially from your influence, partially from the loss of the Vampire Queen. I've watched him slip deeper and deeper into madness. I don't want to be around for the fallout."

"And Ashlee, why save her?"

"She doesn't deserve his wrath. They arranged our marriage, but that doesn't mean I hate her. Neither of us had a choice in the matter. I care for her as a friend, and I love her as I would love a sister."

Merula let out a noise of disgust. "You humans are so sentimental with all your stupid foolishness. Your lovers, friends, family, children, they'll all betray you to save their own skin when it comes time. They'll all run right for the door when the going gets rough. Humans are worse than scum.

"I've watched humanity for thousands of years. It never changes. War, blood, betrayal, hate, sex, lies, birth, fear, shit. It's all the same, just on repeat over and over again, and the worst part is that you all still deny it. You pretend that you're all wonderful, that there's some majestic light inside of you that will end up saving you all."

She turned back around to face him, "And the truth is there isn't. You're all just scared little monkeys, the only differences between your family and the families in the trees is that you learned how to use rocks first."

She walked around Malachite's bed, tracing her finger over his skin. "Humans, vampires, you're all the same and yet you've spent eternity trying to rip each other to pieces. It's pathetic. I remember when this world was full of fun things. When humans feared the night and hid in their caves, hovering around their campfires and praying for the wind to die so they wouldn't freeze in the darkness. Hells, I can't wait till we can chase them back beneath the rocks."

"Is that your plan then? To chase humanity back into their caves?"

She shrugged apathetically. "Not like there is anything better to do in this world."

"And the vampires?"

Merula let out a laugh, "Vampires aren't anything more than amped up humans. You know that you all started out the same. The first vampire was born from a human couple."

As she spoke, her gaze became unfocused as she remembered events from a long, long time ago. "I remember that man from long ago, I don't remember his name, it's been too long. But I remember when he lost his wife in childbirth, and when he thought he would lose his son. He was so desperate to ensure that his child lived in this harsh world that he went to a practitioner. She told him it was impossible, "You don't cheat death." But we demons were already watching, already toying with those sad little human, and one of us whispered the idea in their mind. What if we made a small group of them, stronger, faster, hungrier? Made them live longer, hunt better. What if we changed the game?"

Taiki swallowed, his eyes fixed on her, fascinated by her story.

"Well, one of us finally did. Not sure which one. There were so many back then. He gave the man what he wanted, and then when his son was hungry, he devoured his father. Thus, the first vampire was born from tragedy and cannibalism." She smiled at him darkly and licked her elongated fangs.

"You're lying," Malachite's voice was soft and scratchy. His blue eyes stared up at the ceiling. "Vampires didn't come from demons."

"Oh, really and what were they made from?"

"Sorcery, human sorcery," he choked.

"Peft, a delusional vampire." She turned to leave the room.

"That's what you told Seiya, isn't it? To make him hate us, you told him we were descendants of demons."

Merula looked back over her shoulder. "He needed his tale of horror, so I gave him one." She giggled as she walked away.

Taiki went to Malachite and peered down at him over the top of his glasses. "Your metabolism is speeding up. I'll increase your dosage."

Malachite locked eyes with Taiki, "You want to know the actual story, don't you?"

Taiki glanced towards the door, then back to Malachite. "How were they created?"

"The Ancients were the first ones. They wanted to be immortal, so they created a spell to give them eternal life, but you can't cheat nature. It doesn't like clever tricks, so it fought back. They gained immortality, but other things turned on them, the sun burned them, silver killed them and made them sick, and their bodies craved blood. It was the price of their actions, and they passed them down to their children."

"And the ancients, where are they now?"

"True immortality became too much. Most went mad and had to be put to sleep, others grew tired and went to sleep, some were clever enough to kill themselves. Those left are underground now, desecrated but not dead." Taiki turned away from Malachite, "Do you still see us as monsters?"

He was silent for several moments, "Serenity, with her memories gone, she was different. She was kind and caring, but determined and strong. They taught us it was the soul that was black, that a vampire was evil and would be evil no matter what. But…"

"But Serenity made you think differently," Malachite let out a small laugh. "She has that effect on people."

Taiki took a syringe from the drawer from behind him. "Lately, the only monsters I've seen have lived in this house, and they're not vampires. So, I don't know what to think anymore." He stuck the needled into the vein in Malachite's arm. "What I know is that when this wears off, you won't be chained down anymore." Malachite locked eyes with Taiki. "What you do with that will be your own decision, but I will be gone. Goodbye, vampire, I hope we don't meet again."

Malachite's eyes slowly closed as the drugs took hold.

Taiki threw away the syringe, unclasped the restrains holding Malachite down, then left the room without baring the door.

As he walked up the steps, he thought about the demon's story, and Malachite's. He didn't really care about the vampires anymore. From the research he had seen they weren't evil as Seiya's family of radicalists had said, they were the same as humans. Biologically different, but still similar. But when it came to the soul, the heart, they were just the same as humans. Some were horrible, some were good, most existed somewhere in-between.

He shook his head as he opened the door to the foyer, Ashlee was waiting by the door. She had her coat on. The collar drew up high to hide the nasty bruises on her face, and a simple travel bag at her feet. Without hesitation, Taiki walked across the foyer and picked up her bag. She looked into his eyes, waiting for a confirmation. He nodded and took her hand. Together they walked out of the house to Taiki's parked car.

"Do you think we'll be hunted when he realizes we've left?" she asked, as she pulled on her seatbelt.

"No, he has more pressing matters to attend to, and by the time he realizes we're gone it won't matter anymore."

"What about the cause?"

Taiki looked up at the mansion and the black dragon crest that hung above the door. "Fuck the cause. They're wrong, vampires aren't the monsters the world should worry about."

He started the car, and they drove away mansion and its inhabitants.

Jadeite stared down at his wife's body. She lay on the exam table, illuminated by the overhead light. Her jacket, jewelry, and makeup removed. She looked like she was sleeping, and that he would open her eyes and look up at him with a smile if he called her name. His hands itched to reach out and touch her face, but he restrained himself and kept them securely at his sides.

"Do we have a cause of death yet?"

Jadeite looked up at Darien, who stood across the table, his gaze avoiding Rei.

Ami stepped up to the exam table. Her face was worn and her eyes tinged red. "No, I haven't completed all the tests yet."

"Could it have been from her surgery?"

Ami shook her head. "I don't think so, but I can't make an official ruling until the...autopsy." They all felt the weight of that word. It meant that Rei really was dead.

"When can you do it?" asked Darien.

"Within the hour. We should have all results and tests completed soon. Jadeite, I will get you answers, I swear." She reached out to take his hand, but he pulled away from her and left the room. "I can't imagine the pain he's feeling right now."

"I can," Darien muttered.

Ami looked up at him. He was staring at Rei. He tried to hold back his emotions, but she could feel his anger. "Endymion…."

"When you've finished, bring the results to Council meeting room. We'll hear everything together." He left her without another word.

She waited until his footfalls had faded, then collapsed onto a stool. She closed her eyes and fought back the tears.

Astra sat on the bed staring out of the window. She had tried to meditate, but she couldn't concentrate, her mind was too wired. There was something calling to her, something in the back of her mind trying to get her attention. She climbed out of the bed and went into the bathroom.

Splashing icy water on her face, she tried to ignore the feeling, but it kept getting stronger. Something needed her, there was somewhere else she needed to be.

She let her feet lead her into the hallway. This part of the house was quiet and deserted. As she walked down the hall, she remembered that this was a special part of the house. This was where the King and Queen lived, and where her daughter's room had been.

She stopped outside of one door. She touched her fingers to the wood and felt a sharp pain in her chest.

Her daughter's room, this had been her daughter's room. She wanted to go inside, but she couldn't yet. The feeling was pulling her down the hall. She continued on. The pain in her head lessened as she continued on, and she wondered if the thing calling her was causing the headaches.

Finally, she came to the last door in the hall. She opened it without knocking. It was a study, Endymion's study. She took a deep breath and instantly knew his smell. She closed the door behind her. She stood in the middle of the room and looked around. The room was familiar, like everything else in the house. As if she had known it from a dream she had long ago.

'Let me feel,' he reached out and placed his hand on her rounded stomach. 'She kicked me!'

'She does that, my love.'

She looked at the couch. She remembered sitting there with Endymion as they felt their daughter's movement.

'A name?'

'Astrid?' he suggested.

She shook her head, 'No, too much history.'

'Serenity?'

'Another Serenity?'

He smiled, 'I wouldn't mind.'

Astra touched her head. Another memory was coming to her, one that wasn't as happy.

"You cannot expect my people to bow to you just because we signed a piece of paper, it will take time! You have to earn their trust."

He slammed his fist down on his desk, "I am their King and your husband! You will order them to show me respect or I will…"

"You will what?" she challenged him. "Execute them? Torture them? Scare them? Those aren't ways to make them love you."

"I don't give a damn if they love me, they will respect me!"

"Love is more powerful than respect, Darien."

"Darien…" she said the words without thinking.

"Yes?"

She turned towards the voice.

She hadn't seen him when she entered. He was sitting on the ground by the window, a bottle of whisky in his hand. His dark clothes had helped to conceal him in the shadows.

She was instantly wary. She wasn't prepared to speak with him yet. "I was just…"

"You called my name."

"A memory," she blurted. "It was of us, fighting."

He let out a small laugh, "We fought many times in this room." He brought the bottle to his lips and tipped it up. When he finished, he spoke again, "What are you doing here? I don't think you came to see me."

"I was following something..." she trailed off, the feeling was gone.

"Following something?"

"A feeling. I felt like I needed to be here."

"Here?" he stared at the bottle, "there's nothing here. There will be nothing here soon. This house is full of death."

"You're drunk," she said.

"It seems I am," he said, smiling sardonically. "But why not? My sister is dead, my people are being killed, my child…" his voice faltered. He covered his eyes with his hand, then cleared his throat and continued. "My friends think I'm losing control, my wife doesn't remember me and hates me."

"I don't hate you," she blurted out without thinking.

He looked up at her. He was already fighting his desire to touch her. Her words chipped away at his already weakened resolve.

She blinked, and he was in front of her. She jumped and was about to take a step back when a grabbed her arm. He stared into her eyes, dark blue falling into light blue. He carefully moved in till they were inches from each other.

She wanted to wrench herself from his grasp and slap him. Her brain screamed, 'Kill him! He's a murderer! He killed your family!'But another part of her, something deeper, wanted to take him into her arms and comfort him.

"Do you remember?" he whispered.

She took a shaky breath, "Some things, images here and there, but they're all confusing. It's all mixed up with the other memories. Part of me wants to kill you, and the other part-".

He let out a small laugh and released her. Collapsing onto the couch he said, "Well that's close to how you felt when we first met. I suppose it's fitting that we're back to it."

"What do you mean?"

"You tried to kill me the first time we met," he said. "You were trying to kill most of the people in this house."

"The Vampire War," she said, sitting down on the couch across from him. "I read about it in my…" She paused, the word fiancée when felt wrong regarding Seiya. "When I was with the humans."

"You don't remember it?"

She shook her head.

"None of it?"

Again, she shook her head.

"You're lucky then, I wish I could forget the things I did," he upended the bottle of whiskey.

"You're the Vampire King feared by all, your reputation is what made you, why would you want to forget that?"

"The man that I was when we met was a terrible arrogant bastard. No one liked that man."

"And he's changed?"

"He had until…."

"Until?"

He looked at her, "Until he lost his other half. His better half."

She felt a twinge in her heart.

"When a person loses their better half, there's a hole, and nothing can fill that hole but darkness. It'll grow bigger and bigger until it swallows you up, and sometimes we can't come back from it."

She stared at him. She could tell, even without her memories, that he had had a long life and had known his share of pain. "Has it consumed you?"

"This time it may have."

They sat in heavy silence for several moments before he spoke again. "You tried to stab me."

"When?"

"When we first met, and your father electrocuted me."

She leaned back, "Tell me."

Hotaru gasped for breath, she couldn't breathe. It felt like something had grasped her lungs and was squeezing. She opened her mind and to find the source. Was it an attack? Was someone trying to kill her? No...something was off balance.

"What's wrong?" Michelle asked.

"Something's coming!" Her knees gave way, and she fell to the ground gasping for breath.

"What's coming? What's happening?"

Dishes clattered to the floor. Michelle looked up, Trista was now on her knees gasping for air and clutching her chest.

"There's….it's too much," she cried.

Michelle was almost in a panic. "Hotaru what's happening?"

"She's...leaving," Hotaru choked out.

A piercing howl echoed through the house, startling Seiya from his chair.

It was the demon. He threw open the door to his study to see several terrified faces looking back.

A young red-haired woman stood before him. "Sir….the girl…she's…."

He pushed her out of his way and followed the screams. They were coming from the first floor. He made it to the top of the stairs and stopped.

The demon child was clawing at her body, ripping her hair out, tearing her skin, and spitting up blood. She slammed a fist against the floor, cracking the stone.

"Damn her!" the Demon screamed. "Damn that witch!" She howled again in pain, her body contorted and jerked against her will. Then her body froze in an unnatural position, and a voice echoed in his mind.

'You shall not win this. You will fail.'

Then another darker voice spoke. This one was harsh and full of sinister intent. 'Trickster girl. Tricky witch. It won't work, you're too late.'

The light grew brighter, and the voices argued with each other in unfamiliar languages, switching every few phrases. A high-pitched ring grew from nowhere, it got louder and louder. Almost everyone in the room covered their ears and cringed in pain from tone.

Seiya yelled out for the demon to stop, but his voice was mute. The light grew brighter and brighter. He closed his eyes, but he could still see it. He felt heat on his face, burning his skin. Then suddenly an explosion knocked him backwards, and the light was gone.

Ami's assistant helped her into her scrub gown, then she pulled her surgical gloves onto her hands. It was time for the autopsy.

She had no hypothesis about what had killed Rei. The surgery had gone fine; she had reviewed the files, her post-op checkups had been normal, everything was as it should have been. Which meant that something else had happened. She didn't know what possibilities there were, but by the time she was finished she swore she would have an explanation for Jadeite and Endymion.

"If you're ready I am," said Knox.

She looked at him. He was dressed in similar scrubs. He had volunteered to help her and while she hadn't wanted him at first; she had finally rationalized to herself that his Demonti knowledge could come in handy.

"I am, Vanessa show him in." Her assistant nodded, then turned and led Knox into the exam room.

Ami picked up her tray of tools. She stood before the doors and took a moment to mentally prepare herself. She was about to cut into the body of a friend, a dear friend, someone she loved and cared about, and she hated it.

She didn't want to see Rei's chest cut open, her ribs broken, her heart removed. It was painful enough to know that she would never…

Vanessa's scream cut through her train of thought. Ami rushed into the exam room. "What is it?"

Vanessa stared horrified at the autopsy table.

Ami's tray fell from her hands and clattered to the floor.

Rei's body was gone.

Astra closed her bedroom door behind her.

She and Darien had talked for the past hour. It had been enlightening. He had told her about their first meeting, then their second, what he knew about her brother, and his interactions with her father.

Despite her hesitation, it had been a good talk. However, there were several times she had to fight the impulse to break a chair leg off and stab him through the chest. At first it had been hard, but as they spoke, she relaxed and even enjoying his presence.

She had noticed that he was right in his self-assessment; he was filled with darkness. He missed his wife terribly, and with the death of his sister even she could see he was slipping further and further into an abyss.

As she flipped the light switch on her body tensed, the hair on her arm stood up. Something was amiss.

She stepped further inside, her eyes scanned the room. Nothing was out of order, the windows were still locked, the bed wasn't touched. Everything was just as she had left it, but something wasn't right, something was making her uneasy.

Deciding that she needed to get out of the room, she turned to leave, but froze when she saw Rei blocking the door. Astra's mouth dropped. It was impossible. She had seen her die. She had seen them carry her body from the room.

Rei smiled at her, not a sinister smile, but a warm, genuine smile. "Hello, Serena."

"Impossible," Astra stuttered.

"No, nothing is impossible."

"I saw you die."

Rei rolled her head, "True, it's a little complicated, but after it's all over I'll explain everything."

"After what's over?" Astra asked, taking a step back.

"Your transition."

Before Astra could process the words, and Rei was on her. She grabbed Astra's head and jabbed a syringe into her flesh. Astra watched as the dark liquid was pushed into her veins.

Rei withdrew the needle and tossed it aside. "Sorry, that'll sting."

Astra moved to push Rei away, but Rei held onto her.

"And forgive me, but this will hurt," she said as she sunk her fangs into Astra's neck.