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Date: Sunday, February 06, 2000 6:27 AM

A Change of Destiny Ch.9
By: Ria
TiMia637@aol.com
Rated PG
**********************************************************
    "Why are we having a meeting without Luna Amy?  I
really don’t think it is right to keep her in the dark." 
Artemis felt really uncomfortable leaving Luna out of Sailor
business, especially since the meeting was about Serena.
    "Yeah, Ames.  I don’t think it is right for us to keep
information about Serena away from her.  Serena was like a
daughter to her and Serena’s disappearance devastated her
too."  Mina and Artemis usually never agree but this time it
was different, Serena was involved.
    "Sorry guys we can’t let her know about what we have
found out," Amy knew that if she was in her friends position
she would object just as loudly but circumstances were
different, right know Luna was the enemy.  Well, maybe enemy
is over stating it but she was in opposition with them right
now.  "Don’t take it personally but it took me a lot of
reasoning to let you guys in too.  We’ve been real careful
to conceal the fact we know she is alive and right now we
have no idea who to trust."
    Raye had been silent, which was pretty amazing since
all she wanted to do was shake Amy until she spilled every
little detail about Serena.  Unable to control her emotions
anymore she exploded, "What the hell do you mean you can’t
trust us?  How dare you say such a thing!  Every time we go
to battle you trust us with your life and you can stand
there and say, no accuse us of being untrustful.  If
anything you are the one that has the loyalty problem."
    "Lay off Raye.  You shouldn’t yell at Amy like that
until you have heard everything," everyone’s head swerved to
the male voice coming towards them.
    "I don’t think it is wise to berate Raye right now
Darien.  Plus, if I was in her position I would just be as
offended."  
    "Okay, can you both stop talking to each other like we
are not even here and tell us what the hell is going on,"
Mina was getting really annoyed.  They have been having one
hell of a month and right now she didn’t want to deal with
more bullshit and complications.
    "Sorry," Amy couldn’t look anyone in the eye right now. 
She knew what she did was for the best but it didn’t lessen
the guilt she harbored for keeping it away from the rest.
    Darien scanned the faces starring at him expectantly. 
He saw nothing in their expressions that told him that they
knew Serena was alive.  The girl’s eyes still had the
sadness in their eyes, even though right now the anger was
taking over.  What really surprised him was Lita’s calm
exterior.  If anything he would have thought she would be
the first to lose it.
    "Before I start I want to apologize for the way Amy and
I sounded.  We trust you with our lives but when it came to
Serena we all had our loyalties to her.  That was where the
problem came up.  No, don’t interrupt me yet," Artemis was
in the process of asking about Luna when Darien cut him off. 
"I would appreciate it if all of you wait till the end
before asking questions."
    Darien took a deep breath and began...

A couple of hours later...
    When the last words left Darien’s mouth silence
accompanied after.  They just didn’t know how to react. 
Raye looked subdued, Mina was comforting Artemis, and
Artemis was switching from angry to depressed over Luna’s
hidden secrets.  The only one in the room that did not show
any emotion was Lita.  Amy watched her throughout the whole
explanation and what she saw scared her.  Lita had had the
same blank expression on her face since the beginning and
Amy was starting to dread the event when all of her bottled
up emotions would explode.  Before she could ask Lita if she
was okay a smile covered hr whole face.  Her eyes held the
same joy it had when she first became friends with Serena.
    "Lita are you feeling well," Amy was getting spooked
even though she was relieved that Lita’s first reaction
wasn’t lethal.
    "I’m fine Amy.  It just makes me happy to have a friend
like Serena.  Ever since my parents died I often cried about
having no one to protect me.  I never thought Serena would
become that person, especially since I am suppose to protect
her," her whimsical voice calmed everyone.
    "I guess I should be proud of old meatball brains.  I
never thought I would see the day that Serena could stay
vertical.  But it still does not excuse her for not letting
us do our job," Raye couldn’t suppress the pride she felt
for her bestfriend, her leader, and her princess from her
voice.  She always pushed Serena to become her best and it
was gratifying to see Serena reach it.
    "Who could have guessed that Serena would become so
powerful," Mina was awed, especially when she remembered all
the times Sailor Cosmos saved the day.
    "Serena isn’t what surprised me, it is Luna.  Both Luna
and I knew that Serena would eventually become the leader
she was meant to be.  What really ticks me off is that Luna
kept it away from me, I mean us."
    Mina stroked Artemis’s head softly.  She knew that
Artemis considered this a great betrayal to him.  Luna and
Artemis never held secrets from each other.  Well, except
the one about him liking her, but then again that secret is
pretty obvious.
    "Oh Artemis, try to see it from her position.  Luna is
practically Serena’s second mother and it tore her apart
that she couldn’t do anything to help her, to save her,"
Mina’s voice broke but she forced down the rising guilt and
continued to comfort her feline friend.  "Then suddenly
Serena comes back and she asks Luna for her help.  I bet
Luna saw it as her opportunity to redeem herself, to do what
she wasn’t able to do, what all of us couldn’t do, help her. 
If you are all honest with yourself I bet you would have
done the same as Luna, Sailor Pluto, and Sailor Saturn.  We
would have done practically anything for Serena, even betray
each other."
    Mina’s words hit everyone dead center.  They all knew
that it wasn’t really Luna or even Serena that they were mad
at, it was themselves that they had issues with.  Deep down
they knew that they were envious of Luna and the others. 
Serena hadn’t come to them for help and Mina and the others
couldn’t shake the feeling that it was because they had let
her down.
    Raye was the first to speak, "You are right Mina and
maybe someday I will even have the courage to ask for my
princess’s forgiveness but right now I think it is best if
we figure out the truth.  I need a princess to grovel to
before I ask for forgiveness."
    Darien smiled at her gratefully for breaking the spell
they were all falling into again.  "Okay the best idea Amy
and I have come up with is that Sailor Pluto was telling the
truth about what we are up against.  But, since Serena is
behind everything I think we are all safe to conclude that
Serena is the Messiah of Light," when everyone shook their
head for agreement Darien continued, "and that she is Sailor
Cosmos and she is passing herself off as Selene."
    Amy took over from there when she saw Darien get all
dazed again when he mentioned Selene.  "The problem is that
we have no idea who is in on the whole deal with Serena and
so Darien and I think that it is best if we treat the rest
of the outers as if they knew," Amy would have gone on but a
disgruntled voice stopped them.
    "Ah, isn’t that a bit presumptuous from all of you? 
Couldn’t you all at least give us the benefit of the doubt? 
Helen and I are just as anxious to see our princess too."
    All heads swiveled towards the steps just in time to
see Sailor Neptune and Sailor Uranus bearing down on them. 
Both did not look to pleased.

    "Something is up princess," ever since Sailor Saturn
had blown their cover she had been playing the spy and
spending ever spare moment of her time with Selene and the
others.  She didn’t want to be pessimistic or anything but
this might be her only time to get to know her princess.  
    "What makes you say that?  And I told you before the
name is Selene or if you want you can even call me Serena in
private but whatever you do don’t call me princess.  It
makes me uncomfortable."
    "Sorry.  I’ve always dreamed of being able to help you
this way and in my dreams I have always called you princess,
for respect."
    Selene gave the younger girl one of her million dollar
smiles and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.  "What ever
happens to me Heather I will not allow you to be put back to
sleep.  This I promise."
    The young girls eyes misted over when she saw the
compassion and the honesty in Selene’s eyes.  She quickly
regained her composure and wiped  away the tears that had
escaped.  "Look at me, I’m not helping by getting all
emotional on you.  As I was saying, Helen and Marina have
totally cut me off.  I don’t think they trust anyone, except
themselves.  It is really making me nervous especially since
it was Sailor Uranus that has had her doubts about you guys
from the beginning.  Then, before they got all quiet on me
they even suspected that the inners were keeping secrets
about you."
    "I don’t like this Sele.  The inners are totally closed
mouth, even to Luna and now the outers.  They know," Sailor
Pluto didn’t want to distress Selene but she knew that she
was relieved that the scouts had finally caught on.  It took
them long enough.
    "It doesn’t matter anymore anyways.  The time is near."
    "What the hell do you mean the time is near.  Since
when did you know?"  Rhea was mad as hell.  Selene had been
keeping things from her too.
    "I’m sorry Rhea but this time I couldn’t tell you.  The
elders warned me that your loyalties would be divided.  I
knew you wouldn’t be able to help it.  I couldn’t let you
and Luna tip the scouts in time.  They must stay out of it."
    Selene had been facing the window throughout her whole
speech but Rhea saw her shoulders tense.  ‘So she had known
that Luna and I had let bits and pieces out.’
    "How?" Luna didn’t know how Serena had found out but
she knew that she was mad as hell.  
    "Well, I didn’t really.  I couldn’t prove my suspicions
before but now you two just did."
    "We are really sorry Serena but we couldn’t just stand
by and let you get killed," Luna never knew Serena could be
so sneaky.
    "I have asked all of you to keep this quiet and I want
to know now if you will obey my wishes.  The time is soon
upon us and I don’t need any more complications to deal
with."
    Luna, Sailor Pluto, and Sailor Saturn stared real hard
at their stubborn princess and sighed.  They knew that if
they turned their backs on her now they would never forgive
themselves for it.
    "Fine," all three sighed out sadly.
    "I know this is hard for all of you to keep in but I
assure you regardless of whether or not the others know I
will have to do this on my own.  As many have done countless
of times before."
    "Man, you just have a pool of secrets in that head of
yours," Heather stumbled to the nearest chair and closed her
eyes.  She knew what her princess was about to say was not
going to make the whole situation better.

    "What the hell!" Lita was really getting tired of
surprises.
    "I can’t believe I didn’t feel you guys coming, again,"
Raye looked like she wanted to smash her head to the
concrete floor.       
      "Don’t worry about it Raye.  It wasn’t your fault.  I
used my mirror to see what all of you were up to," Neptune
tried to console the distressed priestess.
    "I don’t understand why you are trying to make her feel
better.  They were about to keep us from finding the
princess," Uranus looked like she was still deciding if she
should blast everyone in the room.
    "We are sorry Helen but we couldn’t take the chance of
letting Serena know we are on to her," Amy tried
unsuccessfully to calm down the hot tempered scout.
    "Stop it Helen!  You would have done the same thing if
you where in their position." Marina was sick of all the
yelling.  What she really wanted to know was were in hell 
Princess Serenity was and how she could help her.
    "Okay I’ll stop but if no one tells me where the
princess is I will blast everyone in this room."  Sailor
Uranus hadn’t sat down but she did relax a bit.
    "Everyone just cool it.  I want you two to swear on the
name of the moon that you didn’t know Princess Serenity was
alive." Darien didn’t care if he offended anyone at this
point.  What he wanted was complete trust or he would walk
away and get Serena back himself.
    "You know what pal.." Helen was about to give Darien a
piece of her mind, prince or no prince, when Marina’s hand
connected with his head.  "Owww."
    Everyone watched in amusement as the powerful scout of
Uranus clutched her head and yelled in pain.
    "Yes we swear to everything we hold dear that we did
not know that Princess Serenity was alive," Marina replied
narrowing her eyes on Helen to crush any objections.
    Darien took what she said to heart and began all over
again with the explanations and what their objectives are.

    "So what exactly have you kept from us Sele," Rhea had
found herself a comfortable chair and closed her eyes.
    "Very little my friend but all of grave importance. 
You see I do know when this whole thing is going down,"
Selene had taken the seat closest to the window so she would
have the best view of the moon.
    "You can stop with the pauses Serena we won’t interrupt
you any longer," Luna couldn’t help feel more helpless than
before.  Sailor Pluto and herself had been positive that all
their work would have resulted with the scouts and Tuxedo
Mask helping out Serena in her battle.
    Selene looked over her friends with a sad smile.  She
knew they had tried their best to get the others to help but
she just couldn’t let that happen.  She knew from experience
that her friends would not be able to join her in her fight. 
It was against the rules so she tried to do the unselfish
thing and not let her friends go through her death a second
time.  ‘I guess it is about time Rhea know the whole thing.’
    "In the beginning the creator of life had bestowed to
each reality a chosen one.  You can call it different names
in different religions, planets, galaxies, etc. but it is
the same supreme being.  It bestowed upon the chosen few
gifts of power and knowledge to protect their reality.  You
see the person I will be fighting is the mirror image of
myself.  But only in appearance and age.  We have been
around for the same amount of time and we both have had the
same teacher.  The difference is that she has chosen to use
her gift for evil.  We all decide what kind of person we
want to be and she chose the path that led to destruction. 
I don’t know how or when she became like this but Metallia
has become the epitome of evil.  We, as the last resort to
our reality, were not suppose to know of our skill until we
were needed but for some weird twist of fate Metallia was
able to open that hidden piece of her mind.  After that the
idea to conquer everything in existence was planted in her
head.  She plans to put herself higher than the creator.  I
don’t know if that is possible but it is my responsibility
and the responsibility of other realities to stop her." 
Selene took a sip of a water and continued with her
recitation.  It really didn’t matter whether or not she told
them.  After the battle they will forget everything they
have found out.  Secrets have a way of remaining secrets.
    "Where was I.  Oh yes, it would be a lot easier if I
had help but like I said before the chosen ones of each
reality will not awaken until their reality is in danger. 
For some reason every freak in every reality seems to like
to conquer our reality first.  I think I’ve been awakened
more times than the others put together."  Luna smiled at
Selene’s whining tone.  She might be the ultimate warrior
but underneath all of that power is the same Serena she has
known for two millenias, or is it more.
    "Hmmm, I guess I shouldn’t complain.  Nobody can change
what faith has bestowed upon me.  And this is where all of
you are so hard headed.  It is my fate to die for all of
you.  I am not Princess Serenity any longer.  I am the
Messiah of Light and this time fate and destiny will not let
me escape.  Queen Selenity couldn’t accept that her only
daughter would be taken from her so she sacrificed her life
and the lives of almost the whole galaxy just to save one
person."  The guilty tears seeped through her lashes. 
Selene had not forgotten her last glance at the magnificent
Silver Alliance sent to the ground in ashes.
    "Mother had known who I was from the beginning.  The
Elders of Magick had visited her on the day she conceived me
and warned her of the upcoming battle.  They advised her to
train me and to keep me from the seduction of evil but above
all they told her to keep me away from my soul-mate.  That
was the main reason Earth was kept from the Alliance. 
Mother knew that Endymoin was my destined soul-mate so she
put as much distance between us as possible.  It wasn’t that
the Elders wanted me to be unhappy but they had wanted to be
sure that my mind was focused on the task at hand, not at
trying to save my lover.  I never understood why fate made
us meet.  I guess I’ll never understand why.  During the
time I was sneaking around with Endymoin the Elders came
back to warn my mother of Metallia’s rising and my little
affair with Endymoin.  It was the hardest choice my mother
went through.  She had to decide whether she would be Queen
Selenity, High Queen of the Silver Millenium or a mom.  In
the end her maternal instincts won out.  I was the only
child she had and she couldn’t bear to lose her child as she
lost her husband.  I have never forgiven myself for giving
into her so easily.  You see the process of awakening was
already taking place and I had somewhat of an idea on what
my responsibilities were but when she tempted me with being
in Endymoin’s arms forever I couldn’t say no.  I let her use
the crystal on me to keep down my power as long as possible. 
She put a spell that would keep my powers and memories
dormant until my 16th birthday.  If you three don’t remember
it is when the power of the silver crystal and myself are
one.  Mother knew that she wouldn’t be able to hold the
mental block she had on me so she prayed that Metallia would
attack before that day.  I don’t know whether it was a good
thing or a bad thing that Metallia attacked us on my
birthday.  The spell mother had on me was wearing down but
before I could regain everything I needed to destroy
Metallia and her minions it was too late already.  The
scouts were all gone, except for you Rhea since you had to
guard the time gate, and Endymoin was taken from me moments
before.  I would have followed Endymoin to death but in a
blink of an eye my powers and my memories came crashing down
on me.  My mother took one look at me and said sorry before
she used the silver crystal.  I didn’t understand then why
she would sacrifice everyone just so I could survive.  At
first I was angry with her.  She knew that I had the power
to protect everyone but she deprived me of my one reason for
existing.  But then I felt loneliness, pain, confusion, and
sadness.  Everyone was gone.  Endymoin was gone.  Mother
held out long enough to tell me that she was sending me to a
new future with Endymoin and all my friends.  She knew that
she didn’t defeat Metallia, only contained her.  Her last
words were I’m sorry and I love you.  Before I was swept
into the magic of the silver crystal I promised myself that
I would not let anyone make the same mistake Queen Selenity
did.  I would not let my love ones have the decision to
protect me."
    All three understood now.  There was no other way.      

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