Disclaimer
	These characters are not mine they belong to Takeuchi Naoko and I am using
them without permission.

Author's note-
	This is an alternate reality fic.  Many things are the same but there are a
number of key differences which make this completely different from the Sailor
Moon Takeuchi Naoko created, while leaving intact many of the things Sailor
Moon fans know and love.

By the way for anyone who read and remembers the prologue, forget it.  Part of
it was rewritten for chapter one and the rest wasn't worth reading.
 

A Tangled Destiny: Chapter 1 Rebirth

by DreAshaman


Some Cliff, Twelve years ago
	Artemis searched through the remains of the car wreck and sighed.  It was
unlikely that anyone had survived the crash.  His magic sense confirmed what
he had feared.  Had the Prince survived Artemis would have easily been able to
find the trail left from the young boy's powerful magic aura.  As it was he
could still sense it hanging thick in the air where the boy must have died.
So powerful.  Artemis thought of what a warrior the Prince would have become
had he been allowed to grow up.  The words "would have" lingered in Artemis's
mind.  After a thousand years of vigilance, he had failed.
	What to do now was the question that hung in Artemis's head.  Maybe regroup
with Luna.  Artemis let out another sigh.
	A faint scent drifted by his nose.  Artemis followed the scent.  It was
leading away from the wreck!  Could the boy have...?  But the only way my
magic sense wouldn't have been able to pick up a trail was if it was masked.
No one could have taught him how to do that and he's far to young to have
figured it out on his own, so how...?  Artemis sniffed the air again, to
convince himself he wasn't hallucinating.  The scent was still there!  It was
almost nonexistent thanks to the odor from the wrecked car, but it was there.
	"Well Artemis, find something of interest?"
	The new voice caught Artemis completely off-guard.  He turned to face the
voice and discovered a man who he had never seen before.  "Who are you?"
demanded Artemis.
	"You don't remember me Artemis, I'm hurt," the man said in a sarcastic
manner.  "Well you've never seen me in this form before so I shouldn't be
surprised that you don't recognize me.  Does this help?"  As the man said this
his body began to change.  He aged.  His dark hair grew longer and took a
grayish hue.  His features looked sharper and more rigid then they had before.
If anything he was more impressive in this form.
	"You!" it was almost a shout.
	"Oh, so you do recognize me.  I'd would have been disappointed if you'd
forgotten me after only a thousand years."
	"Why are you acting like this.  Don't you realize what's happened here!"
	"Realize!" the man began to laugh as if Artemis had made a joke.  Artemis
scowled at him while waiting for him to finish.  "Realize," he repeated.  "I
caused this."
	Artemis's scowl turned to one of disbelief.  "I never trusted you during the
Silver Millennia, but this!"  With a hiss Artemis launched himself at the man,
who's arm moved like lightning, deftly catching him by the throat in mid air.
	The man extended his arm and heaved the cat into the air by its throat.  "Too
bad you weren't here Artemis, it was a spectacular explosion.  Although I
preferred the one I engineered when Serenity and Metallia's mother died."
Artemis gave the man a horrified look, not knowing what to say.  Actually it
probably wouldn't matter if he could think of something to say, the
constriction to his throat was preventing him from making a sound.
	"What was the name of that friend of yours, Artemis?  Luna was it?  Maybe
I'll go take care of her and the Princess now that I'm done with you."
	"Not done yet..."  Artemis managed to get out.
	There was an audible snap as Artemis's throat was crushed.  "Yes you are,"
the man announced as he dropped the cat's lifeless body to the ground.
	The man polymorphed back into his younger form.  While the thought of
tormenting another being does sound amusing, I can't actually finish off Luna
and the Princess, yet.  After all I need them to find the Silver Crystal for
me.  Well this was fun.  I haven't had the chance to make someone's death a
living nightmare since those two fools' mother, the late Queen Placidity.
	The man frowned, the next part of his plan, releasing Queen Usagi from her
prison without being noticed, wasn't going to be nearly as fun.


	That day the papers read, "Car Explosion Sends Unknown Family Plummeting to
its Death."



Somewhere, The Present
	"Free at last!" came the four distinct cries.  The four woman wore silk
dresses with a slit in one side going up to the knee.  The dresses were
without decoration.  each wore a different color.  A woman in a fiery red
dress had long black hair with red highlights that fell around her shoulders.
A second woman stood taller than the rest, she wore a deep green outfit that
went perfectly with her chestnut brown hair that was done up in a knot.  A
third woman wore an orange dress.  She had long blonde hair which fell all the
way down to the small of her back.  The last woman wore a pitch black dress.
It seemed to contrast her blonde hair which was done up in two long ponytails.
The other three stared at the forth as if waiting for commands.  She was
obviously the leader of the group.
	After many minutes the silence was finally broken by the one dressed in
black, "Where's Ami of Mercury?"
	She was with us when Metallia used the crystal to imprison us," came the
sharp voice of the one in green.  "I'm sure of it."
	A puddle of water appeared on the floor.  "Oh, I'm sorry.  Am I late?"  The
puddle rose, becoming the form of a young woman.  The water solidified and the
form became flesh.  This woman wore a stunning blue dress and like the others
it lacked decoration of any form.  She had short black hair with the faintest
of blue highlights.  "Oh don't stare at me like that," the woman said.  "I had
no clue when you were going to finally get out of that stupid prison."
	"How long have we been imprisoned, Ami of Mercury?" their leader asked.
	"Around one thousand years, my Queen."
	"And you were free all of this time?"
	"No, I was stuck almost as long as you were.  I escaped only a little over a
decade ago when some outside force affected the energy of the prison.  It
really is amazing that even the power of the crystal could hold us for that
long.  I hope to study it..."
	"You have it then."
	"No.  I do not Queen Usagi."
	"How then...?"
	"Queen Usagi, when Metallia imprisoned us with the crystal she sent the
Princess and her honor guard forward as well.  They most likely have already
been reborn.  I'm sure that Metallia sent the crystal forward in such a way
that only Beryl could retrieve it.  We'll have to watch find her and watch her
closely."
	"Minako of Venus."
	"My Queen?" came the reply of the blonde wearing orange.
	"That will be your task.  You saw the girl in the Silver Millennium.  Find
her for me."
	"Yes my Queen."  The woman's flesh seemed to melt away and become a figure of
pure light, the light focused on a single point and then it was gone.
	"Rei of..."
	"My Queen, I apologize for interrupting you.  In the last decade I've been
working on a device that should be able to supply us with a limitless supply
of energy.  I request to be given the charge of collecting energy for us."
	"Very well then, Ami of Mercury you may proceed.  Remember you are no longer
alone, I want to be informed of any change in  status of your project.  Go."
	"I thank you my Queen."  She turned and smirked once at the woman in the
fiery red dress.  Her flesh melded into water and the form destabilized and
fell to the floor in a pool and then that too was gone."
	"Now Rei of Mars you will try and locate my birthright, the Silver Crystal."
	"But Queen Usagi I..." the woman in the red dress was cut off.  Queen Usagi
had been about to give her the job of locating energy until Ami had
interfered.
	"I have already made up my mind.  You will use your scrying powers and locate
the Crystal."
	"Yes my Queen."  Her clothes seemed to catch fire but in fact it was her skin
that was burning.  Her features melted away until she became a fiery inferno,
which then vanished.
	"Mokoto of Jupiter."
	"My Queen?" Replied the final woman remaining.
	"Your task is to locate the Prince Edymion.  He and Beryl had an arranged
marriage.  Metallia must have sent him ahead as well.  Find him, I want no
loose ends."
	"Yes my Queen."  The woman's dark green dress went rigid as her hair began to
stand on it's ends.  In a flash the woman transformed into a being of
electricity.  Less intimidating and yet more controlled than the raging
inferno created when one of the House of Mars teleports.  In a flash she too
was gone.
	Queen Usagi was now alone and free to let her guard down.  "Mother," the
woman in black almost weeped the word, but one such as her did not weep.
There was too much she had to accomplish.  "Mother, I will bring you back.
You will led us once again and together we will end this nightmare and restore
the glory of the Silver Millennium."  It was an oath she had sworn to herself
long ago.  Her mother was the true leader and she had so much more to learn.
She sighed.  Self-pity would get her nowhere and there was so much work to be
done.


The Tsukino Residence, The Present
	"Beryl wake up already!  I warned you about staying up late last night and
reading that manga."
	"It's not just a manga, it's about a girl who has ESP."
	"I don't care what it was about.  I already told you that I wasn't going to
let you read those stupid manga of yours anymore if you were late.  Beryl are
you listening to me.  Get up already, it's the first day of high school."
	"I'm getting up already.  Why'd you have to throw open the shades, my eyes
weren't adjusted yet!"


	Twenty minutes later a fifteen year old, green eyed, girl with shoulder
length red hair, came running out of the house.  "Boy was Mom upset.  What was
the big fuss I got out of the house on time didn't I!"  After power walking a
couple of blocks, Beryl's walk to school was interrupted by what sounded like
a cat's screech from up ahead, followed by someone yelling, "All right, I got
it."  As Beryl turned the corner she saw a rather disgusting scene in front of
her.  Three teenage boys had trapped a black cat in a corner and were tossing
garbage at the pour creature.
	"Beat it!"
	"Oooo, its Beryl."
	"What are you going to do use some black magic on us."
	"I bet she'll turn us into toads, ha!"
	At this Beryl promptly kneed the closest boy between the legs.  He fell to
the ground with a thud.  The other two boys just stared at him squirming on
the ground for a few seconds before they began laughing.  After about a minute
of taunting from the other two teenagers, the boy Beryl had downed climbed
back to his feet.  He turned on her menacingly.
	Great going Beryl, she mentally kicked herself, get the bigger person angry
at you.  The boy began advancing on her.  She took a large step back, and then
another.  She was about to take a third step back when she realized she
already had her back to the wall.  The boy continued to advance, while his
buddies supplied some colorful encouragement.  Beryl gulped audibly, and
clamped her eyes shut.  The foot steps were getting really close now.  Just as
the boy was about to reach her, she heard a scream.  At first she thought it
was her own, but when the boy started cursing she realized she'd been
mistaken.  She opened her eyes to a comedic scene, the black cat she had
"rescued" had clawed the teenager, who was now on the ground again, this time
holding his bleeding right leg.  The other two boys began laughing again.
Beryl, deciding this would be a good time to leave, grabbed the cat in her
arms and took off.



	"Ami!"  Came the angry scream of the outraged warrior of Mars.
	"What is it Rei," Ami said is her cool confident voice that made Rei want to
throttle the arrogant woman.
	"How could you get me stuck with finding the crystal."
	"I have no idea what you're talking about Rei.  It was Queen Usagi's decision
after all.  Why don't you take it up with her?"
	Rei knew she shouldn't have bothered asking.  This was just a waste of time.
	"I, of course, agree whole-heartily with the Queen's decision."  The smirk
from earlier returned to Ami's face.  "You really wouldn't be any good at
gathering energy, anyway.  No you'll be much more useful just sitting around
trying to locate the crystal with your mental probes.  Well I've got to go.
Those of us with useful skills don't have time to sit around and chat."
	"Are you trying to pick a fight!"  Before the words escaped her mouth Ami had
already transformed into a puddle of water and left.
	"Damn that arrogant bitch!" Rei swore. 



	"I don't think they're following us.  Lets see if your hurt.  That's odd you
have a bandage on your forehead."  At this the cat began rapidly moving its
paws over the bandage.  "You want it off?"  The cat nodded.  "Okay, your
pretty smart.  I wonder who trained you," with that she pulled the bandage off
the cat.
	"No one trained me," Luna announced rather in a mater of fact tone.
	"Wha..."
	"My name's Luna, I've been searching for you, Princess Beryl."
	Beryl tried to think of something intelligent to say, but instead came up
with, "You can talk!"
	"I don't have time to explain, you're in great danger.  The enemy is...meow."
	"Come on Luna out with it already, what were you going to say?"
	"Yes what were you going to say Luna.  Come on Beryl, I know you're into like
all those really strange manga and all, but I thought you at least had the
sense to know that in real life cats don't talk," came a the voice of a girl
from behind.
	"Of course cats don't talk, Naru.  I was just kidding, and my choice of manga
isn't strange, they're very popular."  Well that explains why Luna started
acting like a normal cat so fast.  Maybe I should tell Naru.  Nah, Luna
obviously doesn't want her to know and she wouldn't believe me anyway.
	"Yeah, they're popular, with boys who have no life."
	"Ha, just because they're about people with special powers doesn't make them
geek material.  Besides the stories are more interesting then your stupid
Shojo manga."
	"Hey, now that's getting personal."  Naru said, smiling.  This particular
conversation (minus the talking cat) was played out almost every morning by
the two of them.
	"Well hurry up Beryl, unless you want to be late, come on."
	"All right Naru I'm coming.  Luna I'll meet you after school," she pet Luna's
head.  "You'll wait for me won't you.  Good kittie."  I hope that didn't make
Naru suspicious.  Actually I probably shouldn't be worried at all.  Naru's
always been the skeptic of the two of us.  I'm surprised we get along so well,
its like we're complete opposites.
	The two began walking to school.  Naru was going on about some dress she saw
in the mall.  Beryl was pretending to pay attention.  Her mind was on other
things.  Talking cats mostly.  What did she mean "Princess Beryl?"  Maybe I'm
just going crazy.  No that cat definitely talked.  This is going to be a long
day.


	I know she told me to stay, thought Luna, but the enemy is in the area.  Now
that I've found her I'd better not let her out of my sight.  That being
decided Luna began running after the girl.  There is so much that she must be
made aware of.


In another part of the world, an ancient man felt an energy being awakened.
He smiled, it was time.


	So she didn't posses any real skills did she.  She'd show Ami.  That woman's
cool confidence was quite possibly the most annoying thing she'd ever
encountered.  I'll show her up by gathering a lot of energy before she gets
any.  Then Queen Usagi will see that she made a mistake putting Ami in charge.
Hmph.  I don't need to be discrete.  I'll just march right into a mall and
drain everyone in it.  Then I'll teleport out before anyone has time to react.
Hmm, what's that building over there?  A school, this will be much better then
a mall.


	It was time for lunch at Beryl's high school.  Throughout the day all Beryl
had been able to think about was her strange encounter that morning.
Fortunately she had been able to avoid getting in trouble, mostly thanks to
the fact that half the school, the male half that is, had something on their
minds as well.  It wasn't talking cats.
	"Did you see that, during the assembly, Mizuno Sensei looked at me," bragged
one boy.
	"She was scanning the whole class you moron!" came a second.
	"You're just jealous she didn't look at you," replied the first.
	Mizuno Sensei was the school's new Principal and according to the male
population she was extremely hot.  All she'd been hearing about all day was
short hair and blue dresses from her friend Naru.  It was enough to make her
sick.
	"I'm going outside Naru, I need some fresh air."
	"Okay, I'll come with..."
	"Hey everyone look it's her!"  One of the boy's shouted,  "Mizuno Sensei is
walking by!"
	General chaos ensued and Beryl used it as an opportunity to slip out.

	I feel kind of bad just leaving Naru like that but I just need to get
someplace quite, where I can think.  She was sitting with her back to one of
the trees, lost in thought when the bell rang.

	She's such a space case, thought Luna, watching Beryl from above.  I'll have
to cure her of that.  It could be worse though, she could be a complete clutz,
who is always either day dreaming or eating, and can't be serious about
anything.  I wonder where that vivid image came from.  Luna dismissed the
image, being unable to match it with anything from her extremely long memory. 
	That was when the screams began.


	The first shout broke Beryl out of her reverie.  She became increasingly
aware of a column of greenish light floating upwards, towards what appeared to
be a human female dressed completely in red.
	"Princess Beryl!  I have no time to explain.  This has to be the enemy's
work.  Take this broach and say the words 'Moon Prism Power' to transform into
Sailor Moon!"
	Beryl, having had all day to mentally prepare herself for her next meeting
with Luna, took this rather well.
	She shouted, "Moon Prism Power!" and waited.
	"Were you expecting some flashy transformation?" inquired Luna.  "That's it.
Your done.  Get out there and stop the enemy."
	"That's it?" asked Beryl in disbelief.  "All that happened was my skirt got
shorter.  How am I supposed to fight?"  This never happened in my manga.
	"Your magic from your previous life has been awakened.  You'll start
remembering things shortly.  In the meantime use the tiara on your far head,
throw it and say Moon Tiara Action.  It's magic."
	Fingering the tiara on her forehead, "Wow, it's so light I didn't even
realize it was there.  Wait, what if someone sees me?  Aren't I supposed to
keep a secret identity or something?"
	"Don't worry about that.  The purpose of the transformation is that it
invokes a powerful spell that will prevent people from recognizing you.  Now
stop the enemy!"


	Rei was pleased.  This one school had provided more energy then she had
expected.  In this time no one knew how to use magic.  No one could stop her,
there was no need for discretion.  She willed her levitating form to return to
the ground.  It was time to leave.
	"Hold it right there!  I am Sailor Moon and...oh forget it.  Moon Tiara
Action!"
	"Flaming Shield!" Instantly a blazing shield appeared around her completely
blocking the projectile.
	Rei looked up to see a lone figure silhouetted on top of the building.  The
girl appeared to be no older than fifteen.  She wore what would have been a
normal blue school uniform, with red ribbons, except the skirt was far too
short.  In addition she wore some sort of tiara/projectile weapon.  It had
been a long time since Rei had had a chance to test her skills against a real
opponent.  Might as well start with the basics, "Fire Soul!"


	Meanwhile her opponent was having second thoughts about this whole fighting
thing.  Okay lets look at the situation.  Bad news, she has a defense against
the tiara and I'm stuck dodging fireballs.  Good news...I'm more agile in this
form so I can actually dodge these things.
	Okay a plan would be good here.  Come on Beryl think!  Maybe I can trick her
into using one of those blasts too close to a gas line.  Wait, that sounds
like a plan.  All right I've got a plan!


	Inside the school building one person wasn't completely drained.  Ami Mizuno
cast a  spell that would prevent people from recognizing her.  "That fool!
What does she think she's doing.  This is my energy source!  I'll show her.
I..."  Ami stepped outside just in time to watch Rei step next to a gas line,
toss a fire soul at the sailor clad girl, who then neatly jumped up and over
the fire soul and Rei landing on the other side of the gas line.  Rei turned,
already summoning another Fire Soul before she realized her mistake.  The
explosion sent the young girl flying but Rei wasn't so lucky.  She was caught
in the center of the blast.
	It was an impressive explosion and Ami might have enjoyed watching it more if
it hadn't been destroying the school, which was the key to most of her plans
for acquiring energy.  She began gathering her elemental energies into one
massive spell, "Rain Storm!"  The effect was noticeable immediately.  The
skies above the school darkened and a gale wind picked up.  A few seconds
later the skies erupted, spewing forth her element.
	Fortunately the weather hadn't gotten cool yet, so the gas wasn't on inside
the building.  After maintaining the spell for a good two minutes, Ami
satisfied that the fire was out, rested.  The spell had taken more out of her
then she would care to admit.  She walked over to Rei's unconscious form.  She
was in amazingly good condition, probably due to the amount of energy she had
absorbed from the students.  All she had suffered was a minor sun burn all
over her body.  Good, while there was no love lost between the two, Ami had no
desire to see Rei dead.  After all without Rei who would she be able to have
fun with.  Picking Rei up she teleported them away.


	Beryl woke up cold and wet.  She had been briefly knocked out from the force
of the explosion, but the water on her back quickly awakened her.  She got up
a bit dazed just in time to see a woman wearing a blue dress disappear with
her opponent.  She made the decision to find Luna and leave.  It just wouldn't
due to be the only person conscious when the police arrived.


	"Rei of Mars, I'm extremely disappointed in you.  Not only did you choose to
disregard my order to concentrate on locating the crystal but you interfered
with Ami of Mercury's assignment which she has been preparing for years."
	"I'm sorry my Queen.  But it was all Ami's fault.  She should have told us
what she was planning.  She..."
	"Silence!  Count yourself lucky that Ami's machine survived the explosion
unharmed.  It can still absorb tiny amounts of energy from the occupants of
the building without their knowledge.  That school was supposed to be a
testing ground for her device before she managed to have one installed in
every school building in Japan.  Due to your actions we will have to wait for
the students to regain their strength before testing it.  Of course that is
none of your business is it, Rei of Mars.  You will find me my birthright,
energy is none of your concern.  Now go."
	"Yes my Queen."
	As Rei turned herself into the inferno that would allow her to teleport a
single speck of light appeared next to her.  As Rei teleported the light grew
becoming the form of the young woman from the House of Venus.
	"Usagi?"
	"I can't do it anymore Minako.  It hurts too much."
	"What does?"
	"This act, it's not me.  I'm was worried that Rei was hurt but I can't be, I
have to be Queen Usagi.  I have to be strong, like my mother.  She didn't give
up even after she was exiled.  I just can't do it I need her."
	"Usagi, if you don't lead us who will.  I know it's hard on you but you only
need to put up with it until we get enough energy to bring back your mother.
Then things can go back to the way they were before...well everything."
	"It's too hard.  I can't do it."
	"Usagi, you have to do it for us, for your mother, for everyone who died
during the fall of the Silver Millennium.  Maybe I don't understand what your
going through.  Maybe I'll be lucky enough that I never will.  It is unfair
that your mother left you with this burden but you're the only one who can put
things right.  It has to be you.  As unfair as that responsibility is you have
to live up to it.  At least for a little while longer."
	"Thank you Minako.  It's just that I feel so alone.  I have to hide myself
from all the others.  Put on that phony act.  I need to be myself again."
	"Shh.  That's what I'm here for Usagi.  Let it all out."  With that the
mighty Queen began to weep.

End of Chapter One

Wow, that took me a while to finish.  One down twelve to go.  In case you
can't tell there is a plot to this story.  It's not just me going, "Wouldn't
it be cool if the bad guys were actually the good guys."  So in addition to
C&C I'm going to ask that if you read through this and you have a prediction
about where it's going let me know.  If I'm not getting my ideas across it's
because I'm not doing my job as a writer.  I want to know so I can improve my
writing and give you a better story.
Also I need some prereader so if you're willing to preread and point out
grammatical mistakes and tell me paragraph three is unclear rewrite it please
email me.
Finally I really want to hear from you if you read this.  Just telling me you
read through the thing and liked what you read will make my day.  When I
posted a prologue for this and got no replies at all I stopped working on it
for a while.  I'd especially like to hear if I've succeeded in getting across
a more mature version of some of the characters and a less mature version of
others.

DreAshaman@aol.com