Prologue:
“Darien!” a shrill voice called throughout the Earth Kingdom Palace in Tokyo, Japan. “Why can I not go with you to see Serena? You never take me, I always have to wait for Mother and Father to go to the Moon for me to see her.”
The 14-year-old girl belonging to the voice picked up her deep aquamarine skirts and chased after Darien. Her firey red French braid whipped behind her as her heels clicked on the white marble floors. Darien spun around on his heels and his perfect black hair hung over his eyes. “Jacey, for the thousandth time, I am not going to see Serena, I have to see her mother about the impending ceremonies.” His face softened. “But if you really want to see Serena. . .”
“Oh Darien! I could just kiss you!” Jacey chirped throwing her arms around his neck. “You’re the best big brother ever!” she said to the 18-year-old.
“I know, I know,” he said with a grin on his face. “Let us go, I have a meeting to get to.”
Darien and Jacey faced each other, Darien took her hands and they closed their eyes. A blue and green aura surrounded the pair and almost as if in a trance, their eyes shot open and they shouted “Earth Teleport!” A blue and green fire swallowed them up and they were gone.
***
Serena and Jacey sat on a bench in the Royal Gardens on the Moon. Queen Serenity, Serena’s mother and ruler of all of the Silver Millennium, Prince Darien, and the other sovereigns from the other planets were having a top secret meeting about these “ceremonies” that the girls had been hearing about. Serena and Jacey were, as usual, gossiping about it.
“Oh, Serena, it is driving me crazy! I know all of these things are going to determine our entire future, could it be a betrothal ceremony?” Jacey said biting her lip and looking at the sky. Her mind began to wander to the stables and the love of her life.
Serena paused for a minute. “I do not know. Could be, I mean, you are the only one without a boyfriend, officially at least, so they could be pairing you off and announcing the engagements of the rest of us.” Jacey snapped back to reality and looked at Serena with misty eyes. “You know you could never marry him, Jace. He’s a 16-year-old stable hand. The age-old rules say that you must marry a man four years your senior, and the fact that he doesn’t fit that description would make for quite an interesting dinner discussion. But the fact that he’s not a prince! That one would be pushing it.” Then she looked at a violet by her foot thoughtfully. “But he is cute!”
"Do not even start with me, Serena. You have my brother, you cannot have you know who!” Serena threw her arms up in defeat. “Okay, so maybe they’re not discussing betrothal. But I still wonder. . .”
***
“It is time to do this!” King Mars shouted at Queen Serenity in the conference room. “I do not want to see my only child hurt, but we have to pass on the powers!”
“I am with Mars,” Queen Pluto said. “My Trista is older than Prince Darien, he powers should have been bestowed when she was 14! Just because I want her to take her rightful spot at the gate of time does not mean I love her any less.”
"Fine! I see that I am outnumbered on this one. We will set the date for the ceremony for one week from today. All of the princesses will have the powers of the Sailor Scouts bestowed upon them,” Serenity said with a heavy sigh. “The powers will be passed from mother to daughter, but I will not pass mine to Serena. It is my job to defend our world and her job to rule it in the future.”
A rumble came from the sovereigns of the planets. “What are you doing, my Queen?!” cried King Jupiter.
“I am protecting our kingdom, Serena is far from ready to fight, and upon my death, she will obtain her powers from me,” Serenity said definitively. All of the rulers began to sit and clam down, then Prince Darien stood up.
“Queen Serenity,” he bowed to her as he stood up. “I do not feel that my sister, Princess Jacey, should be a candidate for the powers.” Darien timidly awaited the outburst from the planetary rulers, but he knew Serenity would be on his side. Jacey was like a second daughter to Serenity and she would do anything in her power to protect her.
Serenity looked relievedly at Darien and silenced the noise with a flick of her wrist. “Why not, Darien?” she asked.
Darien smiled and cleared his throat. “Well, Jacey is neither the only child nor the oldest, so, I say give me the powers and I will be the guardian of the new generation of Scouts.”
“Well, looks like Luna and Artemis are out of a job!” Queen Mercury laughed. The tension in the room was totally lifted with that remark and Serenity was pleased with the way everything