Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon.

Prologue: A Twisted Divergence

"Go on Endymion, kill the little moon brat and bring me her head!"

At Beryl's command, Endymion raised his sword with both hands, intending to take the life of the kneeling girl. But before he could swing down his blade, he found himself unable to look away from the girl's fearful gaze. Something inside of him was screaming at him that he knew this girl; that he would regret it if he followed through with his dark queen's command.

"Please Endymion, you have to remember. It's me, Serenity. We were forced apart by Beryl in our last life, but we've been given a second chance. Now you're Mamoru Chiba and I'm Usagi Tsukino. We just found each other again. Please don't let her tear us apart in this life too!"

Not completely understanding the girl's tearful plea, he nonetheless found himself trying to make sense of her words. So lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice the object the girl pulled out until the soft sound of a familiar tune reached his ears. The music felt calming, soothing, nostalgic, as if it was trying to help him remember something important. Without knowing why, he found himself slowly lowering his sword, all intent of slaying the girl before him gone as he stared mesmerizingly at the star shaped locket in her hands.

"Se-re-ni-ty," he uttered strainingly as if an invisible force wanted to prevent him from saying the name.

Even though he had said the name barely above a whisper, the two present had heard it loud and clear. While one pair of eyes lit up with hope and joy, the second pair of eyes became filled with hatred and rage.

"Endymion, have you-"

"NO! I gave you an order Endymion! KILL HER NOW," an enraged Beryl screeched, the dark aura around her intensifying.

The instant after the command was given, Endymion reflexively plunged his sword straight through the kneeling girl's chest and pulled it out in one swift motion. One moment he had been gazing intently at the star locket, the next, he found himself staring at the shocked gaze of the eerily familiar girl. He was vaguely aware of the music that continued to play from the dropped star locket, now lying on the ground between them. Instinctively, he dropped his sword and caught the bleeding girl in his arms. Even as blood began to trickle down her lips, the girl's shocked gaze quickly turned into a soft, understanding one. Unable to tear his eyes away, he watched on as she shakingly raised a hand to place against his cheek which felt cold and wet.

'Likely from her blood.'

But that thought quickly vanished when he realized the girl was trying to speak to him.

"It's *cough* alright Endymion. I knnnnow it's nnnot your fffault."

He could not phantom why the girl was trying to comfort him until he noticed his vision had began to mist. Only then did it dawned on him that the wetness he felt on his cheek was not the girl's blood, but his own tears.

"Why?"

That one word he uttered held so many questions. Why was he crying? Why does the star locket's melody sound so familiar? Why was the girl he just impaled looking at him with such a loving, yet guilt-filled gaze? Why did he drop his weapon to cradle said girl in his arms? But most of all, why does it feel like a gaping hole had form in his heart the moment he had ran the girl through with his sword?

As he watched the life quickly fade from the girl's eyes, he was suddenly struck with an intense feeling of fear.

'Don't go.'

As if having heard his silent pleas, the girl in his arms gave him a small smile that was filled with love and regret.

"I-I-'m sssorry I cccoul-dn't sssave you."

After having murmured those words, her eyelids fell completely closed as her body went limp in his arms. Staring at her lifeless body, Endymion felt as if all the air had been knocked out of him. At that moment, a sharp pain crushed his head along with a rush of images that began to bombarded his mind. All had one thing in common, she was in each and every one. While he couldn't understand all these new found memories, one thing was crystal clear. He loved the girl in his arms. He loved Serenity and she was dead, killed by his own hands. At the realization, Endymion let out a bloodcurdling scream as he tightly hugged Serenity's lifeless body against himself.

"AHHHHHHH!"

Shooting up from his bed, Mamoru had cold sweat dripping down his forehead as he breathed heavily while trying to take in his surrounding. Panic was evident in his eyes as he tried to separate dream from reality. The sound of his ticking nightstand clock and the sound of traffic outside convinced him he was in his apartment and not some hidden underground hideout of the the Dark Kingdom.

'Usako!'

At the thought of his princess, Mamoru forced his emotions back as he urgently searched for the invisible link that connected him to his girlfriend. Relief flooded him when he not only felt her presence, but could also sense that she was in no danger. Turning his head to the side, he saw it was almost four in the morning. As much as he wanted to call Usagi and hear her voice to put his mind at ease, he knew that would be unwise, suicidal even if it was her father that answers the phone. Ever since Usagi's father found out about the ring he had given to his precious daughter, the man had been trying to find any possible excuse to proof Mamoru was unsuitable to be with his daughter.

'Thank goodness Usako's mother can keep him in check,' Mamoru thought with a slight smile.

But the smile quickly vanished as his thoughts strayed back to his nightmare. While it wasn't the first time he had such nightmares about that terrible time in their lives, this had been the first time his nightmares strayed from his actual memories of the event. He shuddered to think of how that time could have easily ended the way his nightmare had.

'One wrong move and I could have...,' unable to finish that train of thought, Mamoru shook his head as if to shake out the very idea from his mind.

"It was just a nightmare. Just a nightmare."

After repeating those words several more times to himself, Mamoru laid back down, hoping the rest of the night will have no repeats of that awful dream, his biggest comforting thought being that he would be meeting up with his princess tomorrow for lunch.

Darkness shrouded the seemingly endless throne room. The floating spheres of red flame cast an eerie glow throughout the room. A lone man sat upon the black crystal-like throne, his eyes closed and head laid back as if in deep slumber. By his side sitting at his arm rest was a single glass of red wine with no sign of having been touched. His arms rested on his lap, fist clutched tight. The silence was broken when a portal suddenly opened a short distance away from the slumbering figure. The instant the first footstep tapped against the floor, the man's eyes snapped open. Sitting up poised and alert, he watched silently as the figure of the one who disturbed him slowly approached before kneeling on one knee several feet away from the throne.

"My lord, the preparations are almost completed," the scaly creature said in a raspy voice, "The masters are making the final adjustments as we speak. They are awaiting your orders to proceed with the plan."

"Begin the process immediately. I want the portal opened as soon as possible. Any more delays will be met with severe consequences," the seated man instructed sternly, his piercing gaze causing the creature to lower his head further in a deep bow.

"As you command my lord," it replied, fear of retribution evident in its voice.

The man watched stonily as the creature quickly vanished through a new portal to deliver his message. Alone once more, the man stood up and stared at the object he had been clutching in his palm even during sleep.

"Soon my love we will be together again. And this time, I won't let anyone tear us apart again."