CHAPTER 1

“You’re not going to get away with this, Beryl.” A proud determined sailor senshi stood across the garden, starring at one of the most evil women she had ever met.

“And what do you plan on doing to stop me?” Beryl mocked. Her staff stood parallel to her body as she stared, frustrated, at the senshi who wasn’t even from the system she was determined to rule.

“Queen Serenity will know,” the senshi said. “I’ll tell her, and your plan will fail. I won’t allow you to ruin this beautiful peace.”

“This doesn’t even concern you,” Beryl said arrogantly as she stroked her staff. “This isn’t your home to worry about.”

“I am obligated to protect all good things, even if they wouldn’t normally concern me!” the senshi retorted. “I won’t let you do this!” The senshi lifted her hand to call her attack, but no words came from her mouth. Instead, blood curdled in her throat as she felt a warm wetness cover her middle. She looked down to see a glowing blade protruding from her middle. Blood streamed from her mouth as the blade vanished into thin air. She fell to her knees, her eyes wide and unbelieving. Her long pink hair cascaded around her body, creating a curtain as she felt all color drain from her face.

“Your obligation has cost you your life,” Beryl said with a cold sneer. “Do give that some thought in the afterlife.”

The senshi looked up to see Beryl flanked by three of her generals. She followed the fourth as he joined the rest, blood soaking his pristine white gloves. As she slowly felt gravity fall away, only one word was left on her red lips: “Jadeite…”

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“Good morning Karen!” 13-year-old Karen spun around as her friend Tenka ran up behind her. As usual, her periwinkle-and-blue school uniform was wrinkled and obviously uncared for.

“Good morning, Tenka,” Karen replied. “Did you get your homework done?”

“Well, mostly,” Tenka admitted as she scratched her back with her school bag. “I was hoping you could help me out a bit.”

“I don’t think I can,” Karen replied. “I didn’t get all of mine done, either.” She groaned and stomped her foot. “I hate history! It’s so boring and I just can’t focus and remember anything!”

“It’s too bad it isn’t in another language,” Tenka said. “Then maybe you’d pay attention better. It would make you focus more and you might retain more of it.” Karen laughed.

“See? This is why you’re the smart one!” The two girls laughed and then sprinted the rest of the way to school.

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As the girls ran into the school, an unsavory figure stood atop it. It was nothing but a billowing cloak and a hooded head, but it was simply something about the way it stood that made it most unpleasant. “There is one here,” the figure spoke in a smooth, sultry voice. “I can feel it. It grows stronger.” The figure tilted its had back, its hood revealing a pair of plump red lips that thinned into a sinister smile. “Finally.”

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“USAGI!” Rei charged after Usagi, who has accidentally spilled a soda on a small stack of Rei’s comics. Usagi was running as fast as possible for the safety of the street. She knew Rei wouldn’t leave the temple alone, and wouldn’t go past the stairs. Of course, Usagi had to get there first. And that wasn’t going to happen. Usagi hadn’t been paying attention to her path and plowed right into someone.

The two tumbled until they stopped with Usagi across the poor person’s stomach. Usagi groaned, and then heard Rei behind her. “Usagi, you fat lard, get off her!” She couldn’t do it herself, though. She felt Rei’s foot jam into her rear and rocket her several feet away. Rei, meanwhile, knelt next to the downed innocent.

It was a girl with short brown hair. Her bangs were swept to the right side of her face, covering one of her blue eyes. “I apologize for her,” Rei said as she offered a hand to the girl. The girl looked up at her in surprise but took her hand nonetheless and stood.

“It’s okay,” the girl said. “There’s a girl in my class who does that every morning because she’s always late and some poor fool always gets run over.” She girl tilted her head and brushed her bangs further over, so both her eyes were visible. “I’m Karen, and I’m looking for charms for my mother.”

“I see,” Rei said. “Please follow me.” The girl followed Rei as Usagi was left in a daze on the stone ground. A short time later, Ami, Makoto, and Minako came up the stairs to the sight of Usagi still on the ground, her butt stuck up in the air and her chin plastered to the stones in drool. The girls stopped and stared, unsure of what to think of it.

“Well, she must have gotten on Rei’s bad side,” Makoto said with a shrug. The others nodded, and then together they went to Usagi’s side. Makoto and Minako took one shoulder each and pulled their half-witted friend upright. They shook her a bit, bringing her back to Earth.

“What did you do make Rei mad now?” Amy asked.

“Huh?” Usagi looked confused, but then it dawned on her. “Oh, that!” She laughed. “Oh, it was nothing worth mentioning.” She held the back of her head with her hand as Rei came up behind her. She tapped Usagi’s shoulder with the top of the broom, causing Usagi to practically jump out of her skin. She ran around to hide behind Makoto.

“Nothing worth mentioning, indeed,” Ami said with a smile as she walked to the temple. She stopped, however, when she saw the girl Usagi had run over walking toward her. She recognized the girl’s periwinkle-and-blue uniform as being from the multi-lingual academy, Sougyokyuu Gakuen. Ami had once wished to be a part of the academy, but being Sailor Mercury made her forget about it.

“Hello,” the girl said politely as she passed Ami. Ami turned and let her stare follow the girl as she walked toward Makoto and the others. The girl saw Usagi hiding behind Makoto and she smiled.

“I forgive you for running over me,” the girl said. Usagi peeked out from behind Makoto and stared at the girl. “As I told your friend, I’m used to it.” Usagi smiled and stood up straight.

“I really am sorry, though,” Usagi said. The girl lifted her hand and shook it.

“No no, it’s all right,” she said. “Now if you will excuse me, I have homework to attend to.” The girl bowed and walked away, passing by Rei. As she passed by Minako, she happened to glance up and see Rei’s two crows start to circle her. The girl froze and watched as they continued to circle. She took a step to get away, and ended up tripping over her own foot and falling into Minako. The two fell, but Makoto grabbed at them, managing to grab Minako before she fell. The girl stopped her fall with her hands, but couldn’t stop her school bag from coming open. Minako knelt down to help, but the girl had everything scooped into her bag in a hurry. Some of her papers hung out, but she didn’t seem worried. She hurried to her feet and searched for the two crows. They were now on Rei, one resting on each shoulder.

“Are you okay?” Rei asked. The girl nodded, her lips pursed together as she backed away. She never took her eyes from the crows. “Are you sure?” Rei asked. Then she looked at her crows. “Are you afraid of them?” The girl nodded, lips still pursed and going white. “Oh, you don’t need to be, they are very friendly.” The girl didn’t look convinced, and then in a flash she turned around and was gone down the stairs.

“What a strange girl,” Makoto said.

“She probably won’t come here anymore,” Minako said. “She seemed very frightened.” The girls nodded and made their way to Rei’s bedroom.

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“Oh, I hate birds, I hate birds!” Karen groaned as she sprinted home. She took a short rest in the elevator up to her apartment’s floor and then sprinted to her door. She paused outside of it and took a deep breath before going in. Her mother, in her usual kimono, was in the kitchen and cleaning the tea set. “Is it tea time already?” Karen asked.

“No, it is not,” her mother replied. “You missed tea time.”

“Oh no!” Karen exclaimed. “I’m sorry, Mother! I stopped and bought your amulets and I must have lost track of the time!” Karen held out the three amulets for her mother.

“Ah, I see,” her mother replied. “Well, it is normal to lose track of time on occasion. Do try to avoid that mistake in the future.”

“I promise, mother,” Karen said as she offered the amulets to her. Her mother took them gratefully and Karen retreated to her room. There, she dumped out the contents of her bag and began reorganizing it all. As she did, she picked up a pen she hadn’t noticed before. “I don’t remember this,” she said. She looked it over, and then noticed a crescent moon on it. She lay back on her bed and began to slip into her own little fantasy world. “Wouldn’t it be great if I could be like Sailor V?” she asked to no one. “If only I could be like that, be a super hero like in her cartoon.” Then she sat up straight and lifted the pen up. “This could be how I transform!” she said. “That would be so cool!” She then stood and dramatically held up the pen. “I can be the new Sailor V! New V Power, Transform!” Her smile quickly changed as she suddenly felt her clothes vanish. She didn’t yell in surprise, though, as it was over as suddenly as it happened. The pen was gone from her hand, and when she looked at her hand, she saw a white glove. She then bolted to her mirror, and was in shock at what she saw. Staring back at her through her mirror was a beautiful Sailor Senshi with long pink hair in an orange bow and a green mask upon her nose. “Am I…” She touched the mask, unable to believe what she saw. “I’m… a sailor senshi!”