Sailor Moon: Shadowed Secrets

Prologue

Disclaimer: First time to say it, I don't own it!

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Summary: A year has passed since the defeat of Chaos, and life for the Sol Senshi has finally returned to normal. Or that's what the Senshi think, until two new lights appear. Two new Senshi from a far away planet who seek their help. Their help, and the help of the Starlights. As the final battle approaches and the Shadows arise, secrets are unearthed. Secrets that threaten to destroy the Senshi from the inside out. Tensions rise, and Serena is forced to make a decision that will not only affect her, but the present and the future of Crystal Tokyo. Serena must decide what her heart is telling her, and if she should listen to it. But if she does…could it be the end of the Universe?

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Jazz: None of us could really think of what to say, so I'm just gonna say, hope you all enjoy the intro! Tell us what you think! BTW, never seen Sailor Stars, so this is all gonna be from information gather online and other fan fictions.

And Happy Birthday, Sailor Neptune!

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A tall woman with long dark green hair and crimson eyes stood before two large silver gates, the Garnet Orb held firmly in her hands. Her gaze was attentive, her mouth set in a firm line. Her face was impassive as she stared at the massive Time Gates before her. A strong wind blew her hair about her, and she winced at the power of the breeze. The fog around her intensified, clouding her vision of the Gates. She kept her eyes pointed where she knew they still were anyway. With a loud groan, the Time Gates slowly opened. She tightened her grip on her Garnet Rod, her knuckles white. She narrowed her eyes as the Gates opened, but suppressed a gasp when she saw who stood before her.

For one thing, the woman was very beautiful. She had golden blonde hair that reached her calves. Her eyes were a lovely shade of cerulean blue, even despite the fact they were wide with fear. Her dress flowed to the concealed ground and was white. Around her chest were golden rings, and on her back were two medium sized wings. But there was definitely something wrong with the woman.

Her golden blonde hair was stained red in some spots with blood, and in others it was stained by dirt. It was also disheveled, falling out from the two Odango shaped buns atop her head. There was a cut across her right cheek, and her eyes were red and puffy from crying. Her lips were swollen, cut, and bloodied. Her dress was spotted with blood and torn in some places, but especially around her thighs. Through the holes, numerous bruises could be seen. Some were fresh and still bleeding, while others were old and covered in dried blood. Her skin was blotched and covered in cuts and bruises all over. The wings on her back were tattered and torn, and also covered in blood. Tears flowed freely down from her cheeks and left small trails on her face.

"My Queen, what has happened?" Sailor Pluto asked, rushing to her Queen's side. Serenity choked back a sob.

"Pluto, quickly! The Time Gates must be closed, or else-" But the Queen's warning was cut off when black clouds of Shadows flowed through the Space-Time Doors. Pluto raised her Garnet Rod.

"Dead Scream!" She shouted out, sending the Shadows crawling back into the Gates. She raised her Rod high and pointed the Orb at the Time Gates.

"Great guardian deity of time and space! My father Chronos! Give me power! Close the door of the broken law! Dark Dome Close!" The Senshi of Revolution called out, and the doors of the Time Gates quickly closed.

"Oh, Sailor Pluto, thank you so much!" Neo-Queen Serenity cried, before she quickly wrapped her arms around the Senshi of Time and Space, crying into her shoulder. Sailor Pluto wrapped her arms around her Queen as Serenity cried, releasing her pent up sorrows.

"My Queen…what has happened to you?" Sailor Pluto asked, and Serenity took a shaky breath before releasing her long time friend.

"The Future…Crystal Tokyo…" Serenity began, before breaking down into more sobs. Pluto continued to comfort her Queen.

"Please…Serenity, you must tell me what has happened." The tall Senshi insisted, and Serenity nodded.

"Shadows have engulfed our world…Rini, oh my poor Rini…she is locked within her room. Barely eating everyday. The other Senshi have tried coming to you Pluto, but he found them, and locked them away…"

Pluto's eyes widened at the sound of something happening to Small Lady, but now was not the time to be concentrating on that. She had to get to the bottom of all of this.

"Serenity…who is he?" Pluto asked, and almost regretted her question a moment later. Serenity burst into more tears, and struggled to keep her composure to answer Pluto's question.

"Endymion…he has betrayed us. He has brought the Shadows to our world, and they are destroying Crystal Tokyo." The Queen confessed. Pluto's eyes widened.

"Queen Serenity…are you certain it was Endymion?" Pluto's voice was barely above a whisper. Before, the King and Queen had fought along-side each other. Now, the King was trying to kill his Queen and his kingdom.

"Pluto, I have seen it with my own eyes. He has called upon their power, as if he was their King. Uranus…oh, Pluto, its terrible!" Serenity avoided the Senshi of Time's gaze, fearful Pluto would shun her for her weakness. How wrong she was.

"Serenity, what has happened to Uranus? To all the Senshi? What has happened to Small Lady?" Pluto placed a hand on her Queen's shoulder, and Serenity turned to her, tears pooling in her eyes.

"Uranus…she tried to escape. To come to you. To get help. But Endymion caught her, and the Shadows attacked her. She couldn't even stand by the time they were done with her. She's been locked in the dungeon ever since. Neptune…Neptune tried to save her, but she was also attacked. She couldn't move when the Shadows left her alone, and she was locked in another cell. Saturn tried to do something to save Rini, but they caught her, and chained her. A guard is always at her door, and if she tried to escape, she loses a limb. She's already lost her left arm and leg." Serenity broke into more tears, while Pluto looked at her. She was horrified, how could Endymion be so cruel?

"Serenity, My Queen…I know it is hard, but please, you must tell me what has happened to the Inner Senshi and Small Lady." Pluto insisted. Serenity choked back a sob and nodded.

"Mercury…oh, Amy…she found a way out. She was going to come to you, get your help, but Endymion found her right before she left. He dragged her to a dungeon, tortured her…beat her…and the Shadow humanoids…they raped her. We…we could hear her screaming at night, wailing…and Endymion got tired of it. Right in front of us, he…decapitated her. In their grief, Mars, Venus, and Jupiter attacked him. Jupiter went for a direct hit, and…his sword…pierced her heart. She fell down dead. He…had mercy on Mars and Venus, and locked them in the dungeon cells like Uranus and Neptune." Pluto hugged her Queen as she cried again.

"What of Small Lady?" She murmured, biting her lower lip. Serenity hung her head.

"Rini…she tried to confront her father, beg him to stop…she said she wasn't afraid of him, and he struck her. She cried and he got infuriated with the sound and took his sword to her throat. I begged him…pleaded with him…and he finally listened. She was locked inside her chambers ever since that day, her only company a chained Luna P. I…I can't free her. Oh Pluto, you must help her!" Serenity begged, tightening her arms around her Senshi. Sailor Pluto felt tears run down her own cheeks as she comfortingly patted her Queen's back.

Both women tensed as they heard the recognizable groan of the Time Gates as they slowly creaked open. Pluto released her Queen and jumped before her, guarding her from whatever may be entering the Fourth Dimension. Serenity wiped away her tears and looked around her Senshi as a new figure quickly entered the Corridor of Space-Time.

The person was obviously a woman by her curved figure. And as she came into the light more, it was evident how beautiful she was. The woman was tall, with flowing ebony black hair that trailed behind her across the concealed ground. Her eyes were gentle coffee brown and her skin was a smooth olive brown. She wore a snow white gown, adorned with small pearls and golden lace. Around her neck was a golden chain, and on its end, was a small black sun with fifteen rays surrounding it. In the center of the sun was a faintly glowing moon, its light just near dimmed. Pluto bowed before the woman.

"Queen Sahara." She said, and the woman, Sahara, nodded once.

"Sailor Pluto, I have come because I sense trouble in the kingdom of the once Moon Princess." Sahara explained, her voice was musical, like church bells and chimes on Christmas morning. Neo-Queen Serenity suddenly felt somewhat intimidated by the Queen before her.

"Yes, this is the once Princess of the Moon Kingdom, Neo-Queen Serenity of Crystal Tokyo, future Queen of Earth." Pluto introduced, standing to the side and moved her arm in a sweeping gesture towards said Queen. Serenity nodded respectively and Sahara did the same.

"Neo-Queen Serenity, I can tell from your light, and your appearance, that you do not fair well." Sahara said, nearing the Queen of Earth, who looked at her strangely.

"My light?" She asked, and Sahara nodded, her hand reaching to grab the sun around her neck, and she caressed it, looking into Serenity's cerulean eyes.

"Yes. As the Divine Queen, I am connected deeply to the Moon Kingdom, especially their Queen. The moon on this necklace…it represents the light of your soul. Your hope, your happiness…the light here once shown so bright, one would think it would blind me. But as of late, the light has dimmed, and I feared the moon would soon be turning black." Sahara went on. Serenity looked at Pluto, but the Senshi of Revolution gave her no hints as to how she was feeling.

"What would happen should the moon turn black?" Serenity inquired, holding her right hand to her chest.

"If the moon turns black, that means the current royal has died." Sahara told the Queen, who looked horrified.

"So…it was dimming, which means…" Serenity began.

"That I believed you were dying." Sahara clarified.

"But…I wasn't…I'm not…" Serenity seemed unable to find the correct words. Sahara shook her head.

"Your kingdom was dying, Serenity. And I feared that if your kingdom was destroyed, you would die with it." Sahara explained.

"Is that possible?" Pluto asked. Sahara turned to her and nodded.

"If Crystal Tokyo is destroyed by the evil plaguing it, then Queen Serenity will die with her kingdom, and her people." Pluto's eyes widened at Sahara's statement.

"Neo-Queen Serenity, what is it that plagues your people?" Sahara asked, placing a hand on the other Queen's shoulder. Tears pooled in Serenity's eyes again.

"Shadows. I don't know where they come from, but they are shadows. Thousands of them. Endymion…he leads them. I don't know why…" Serenity's voice grew soft as the tears flowed silently down her scarred cheeks.

"The Shadows. I feared as much…" Sahara whispered, and she hugged Serenity. The surprised Queen embraced Sahara back and cried into her shoulder, inhaling the scent of jasmine and honey. Sahara ran her hair through the girls muddled blonde hair.

"Queen Sahara…what are the Shadows?" Pluto asked, feeling a small pang of guilt inside of her for interrupting the moment between the two Queens. Serenity barely remembered her mother, Queen Serenity of the first Silver Millennium, and hadn't had a relationship with another woman that was like a mother to her besides Ikuko. Sahara was a born mother, with a gentle nature and a kind heart. She loved her own daughter very much, and had been very close to the first Queen Serenity.

"The Shadows…we currently battle them in the past. In our present. They are ruthless beings with a strong blood lust that cannot be quenched. And they have returned." Sahara replied, soothing the sobbing Princess in her arms.

"Again?" Serenity asked through her sobs. Pluto closed her mouth, prepared to ask the same question. Sahara nodded.

"Yes, again. During the time of the first Silver Millennium, your mother, Queen Serenity and I fought against the Shadows. They were powerful back then, but with our combined magic, we sealed it within the Dark Crystal and sent it to be safe on the Moon Kingdom. Before Queen Serenity had the time to recover, the Negaverse attacked. After the destruction of the Moon Kingdom, the Dark Crystal drifted into space until it was recently found by the one known as Chaos. When your past self, Eternal Sailor Moon, destroyed Chaos, they crystal was destroyed as well. When it was destroyed, the seal was broken, and using his dark power, the Shadow Prince gave the Shadow Crystal its power again, and so the Shadow's have risen up once more, more powerful." Sahara explained. Serenity choked back a horrified sob.

"The Shadows…what have they done to King Endymion?" Serenity asked, her sobs turning into small hiccups. Sahara sighed.

"King Endymion has the blood of the Shadows flowing through his veins. He can control them, and they control him just as easily. Your King has allowed the darkness to overtake his soul." The Divine Queen said. Serenity began to weep again.

"Sahara…how to we defeat them?" Serenity asked. Sahara sighed again, knowing the poor Queen would want to defeat the evil over taking her husband and save his soul.

"They must be defeated now, in our time. The present. So that they are not as powerful in the future, Queen Serenity, your present. But your husband…King Endymion…the Shadows control him. They have control over his soul. There's nothing anyone can do for him, he is forever lost to the Shadows." Sahara confessed, and Serenity's tears flowed anew.

"How will you defeat the Shadows then, Queen Sahara?" Sailor Pluto asked, and Sahara shook her head as she released the weeping Queen of Earth.

"I do not plan to defeat the Shadows." Sahara replied simply, and Serenity looked at her with wide eyes.

"But…why?" She asked. She had heard of the Divine Queen, Queen of the Universe. She was also the most powerful.

"Because, it is not me who should. I released my daughter and her Senshi from their deep sleep to be with the present incarnation of Princess Serenity for a reason. She and Neo-Queen Serenity's past self are the hope of the Universe." Sahara's voice was suddenly ominous.

"But what of Serenity? And her Senshi? Of Small Lady? They will die if they continue to live with Endymion!" Pluto objected. Sahara looked at her with a firm gaze.

"They will have to. The fate of the Universe may depend on it that no one in the Crystal Palace knows of the meeting today here with me or Sailor Pluto. Or of anything we have discussed." Sahara explained.

"What if we all die?" Serenity demanded. Sahara shook her head.

"No, he won't kill you. Not all of you. Wait for at least a years time, and if you must, send your daughter into the past. Sailor Pluto, have her keep the Key of Space-Time. If at that point, and I'm more than certain they will be, if the Shadows are still here, only then can you send her back to the safety of the past." Sahara advised.

"Are you sure the Shadows will come here, Queen Sahara? We have only just defeated Chaos…" Pluto's voice trailed off, and Sahara nodded.

"I know, Sailor Pluto, and I'm sorry to have to bare you such unpleasant news so soon into your peaceful lives. But please, have faith in me and my daughter." Sahara murmured. Queen Serenity and Pluto nodded. Sahara smiled sadly at them.

"Queen Sahara…should I tell the other Sol Senshi?" Pluto asked, tightening her grip on the Garnet Orb. Again, Sahara shook her head.

"No, no one else but the three of us here need to know of this meeting or anything we have discussed at this juncture." Sahara said.

"Then…why have I been unaware of all of this?" Pluto's voice was laced with guilt. How could she not know? It was her job as the Senshi of Time and Space to know such things about the safety of the Universe, but she had no idea of the dangers in the future.

"The Time Gates can be influenced, Sailor Pluto. Do not blame yourself for being oblivious to the Shadow War. The Time Gates have been enchanted so that you could not see the dangers, whether they be in the past or present. Just be vigilant, I will do all I can do lift the curse. And Sailor Pluto…please, for the sake of the present and future of the Universe...be safe." With that, she turned to the Time Gates and Pluto willed them to open.

"Queen Sahara, one moment please!" Neo-Queen Serenity called. Queen Sahara glanced over her shoulder at the blonde Queen of Crystal Tokyo.

"Queen Sahara…why will you not fight the Shadows?" She asked. Sahara smiled gently.

"I fully intend to fight, but I will not win." And with that, she disappeared into the mist and the Time Gates closed behind her.

"She does not intend to win?" Serenity asked, not really to anyone in particular. Her voice reflected the near hopelessness she felt inside of her.

Her Senshi were either dead, dismembered, or being held in dungeon cells. They'd been beaten, raped, abused…and there was nothing she could do about it. None of them had eaten and were growing weaker with each day. Small Lady…Rini…she was just barely surviving. She was being deprived of feed, and of company. The poor girl was slowly spiraling into insanity. Just like her father…but King Endymion was not going insane. He was insane. The man had gone completely gone mad, into a space within his mind where no one, not even the woman who loved him, could reach him. And she…she was going to go mad because she couldn't do anything to stop all that was going on around her. Her friends were dying, and she was being abused by her own husband…and there was nothing she could do. She hung her head as tears stung at her eyes again.

She was shocked. After all the crying she'd done in the past few days…after all the crying she'd done just in the past hour…she didn't think she had any more tears left to cry. She looked up as Pluto help out a fist to her. She unclenched her fingers. In the palm of the taller Senshi's hand was a small golden and pink key on a thin chain.

"Take this back to the Crystal Palace. In one years time, if the Shadows are still attacking, give the Space-Time Key to Small Lady and send her back to us in the past. Until then, Neo-Queen Serenity, please be safe." With that, Sailor Pluto hugged Serenity and opened the Time Gates. Serenity nodded, tears and her eyes, and re-entered her world. Her living hell, filled with misery and anguish.

Sailor Pluto let her own tears flow silently as she watched the Time Gates close behind the Queen of Earth. She felt her heart lurch with fear. Her Universe, the peaceful world she and the other Solar System Senshi had worked so hard to get and maintain was slowly crumbling before her eyes, and she felt useless. She couldn't do anything. Not for one year.

"Father Chronos, be with me, guide me…" She prayed, closing her eyes as the tears flowed down her cheeks. The mist intensified around her until it was suffocating.

It is time to return to Earth…Pluto thought. She turned silently and walked into the mist. The fog surrounded her in its gentle touch and the Senshi of Time and Space slowly disappeared, fading into the darkness.

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Layla: The prologue!

Aqua: How was it? Yes? No? Continue? End it? Delete this because you hate it so much?

Kelsey: Positive thinking, Aqua. Very positive thinking…

Emma: Yeah, the negative thinking is my job!

Jazz: Doesn't matter who does the positive or negative thinking! Just, help me…should I? Should I not? Tell me what you think! R&R!