Once Upon a Moon

The Choice

Chapter 1: The Choice

She couldn't do it. In the end, Serenity chose life at the cost of her own. It didn't matter anymore if she kept going. If she was with them. All that mattered was that the Universe was preserved, and her friends could go on to lead normal lives. Outside of being Sailor Soldiers. That was her wish.

She sat in the bottom of the Cauldron, finally at peace with her choice, when a voice called out to her, "Hello."

She looked around, confused, "Who's there."

"I am the Guardian of the Cauldron." She finally saw a small being with fairy wings floating beside her, "For your sacrifice, I give you a choice."

"A choice. But I thought my wish was my choice."

The Celestial Being giggled, "But that wasn't a wish for yourself. That was a great sacrifice of your life and your future to save the Universe and your friends. As a reward for that sacrifice, I will give you a choice."

"What kind of choice?"

"You may choose to blend your life back into the Cauldron and start a new Star's History. A life with no memories of the past or future. No pain for you loses. Or, I can send you to a new timeline that is currently being built. You will retain all memories, good and bad, but you will be alone. It will be up to you on what you do with that life. If you choose it, you will retain all of your powers from your timeline, as it will no longer exist."

"None of it?" The girl frowned, "So, no Crystal Tokyo? No Darien?"

"I understood that in the timeline you are reborn in, you have become the Queen of Crystal Tokyo and that you and Darien, or Endymion, or Soul Mates. In your original timeline, the one you were first born into, your Soul Mate was someone different."

"What? That's not possible."

"It very much is. And, with the wish that you made for your friends, which includes Darien, he has already been given a new Soul Mate." The blonde started to cry, "If you decide to live with your memories, you will retain all of your timeline's memories. In all of your lifetimes."

"But, why would I..."

"The choice is yours. If this is the path you choose, understand that this new timeline will still be fraught with danger. Another wish on a very powerful jewel has been held in limbo for too long. It's straining to be freed. In order to do that, we had to create a new timeline. When we did that, it merged with the new timeline of your wish."

"What does that mean?"

"It means, that in this timeline, there are still Youma. There will always be Youma. That cannot be helped. Also, there is the known presence of Youkai."

"Demons?"

"That is correct. They've been around for thousands of years and this timeline has Youkai and humans walking freely among each other. In this new timeline, there will always be a need for the Sailor Soldiers."

"My friends."

"Will be awake and have memories of the Moon Kingdom during the Silver Millennium. They will not be aware, yet, that their long thought dead princess has been reborn. They will be scattered across the world, living double lives, well, triple lives. Your wish doesn't just revive them on Earth. It revived the Kingdoms on the other planets as well. The ones that were destroyed by the Negaverse. Not the moon, unfortunately. That would completely negate everything your mother did."

"So, they'll be known as the princesses of their planets, but not known as the Sailor Soldiers that they are." The Moon Princess sighed, "Or the regular lives they live outside of their Royal Titles."

"That is correct. So would you. Only difference would be, they don't know about you." The Guardian regarded the princess, "You have a difficult choice. You do this, you will start back as a teenager, but maintain your current personality. That of Neo Queen Serenity."

"But I'll have my memories of all of it." The Guardian smiled, "The time during the Silver Alliance, my Rebirth, the Crystal Kingdom." She looked up, "Will I start remembering more of my time on the moon?"

"Yes. The truth this time. How it really happened. No changes to you memory for the sake of the timeline. Not this time. No more blanks. You will have everything. And a gift."

"A gift?"

The Guardian held up a locket and a compact, "This locket will now be your connection to your powers. No need to call out for the transformation. You can think of any of the forms you ever held as Sailor Moon and the weapons, and it will happen instantaneously. You met Sailor Cosmos, correct?"

"She was me, wasn't she? A future Sailor form."

"The timeline is forever changing and this new one will no longer have the Crystal Kingdom. That future, your current present, no longer exists. However, it is part of you. Which means, you have access to her powers. And Sailor Cosmos has all of the planets powers."

"Whoa."

"This compact, which must be charged under a full moon, will allow you to speak to your mother on the moon. She will be your connection to the past and your adviser."

"Mother." Serena stared at the items, blinking, "Who will I be in this new world? Will I be Serena? Or Serenity?"

"Again, that's up to you. You decide what you want and it becomes part of your choice."

Serena paused for a moment and nodded in determination, "I'll take my memories. This timeline has made me who I am. Even if I don't have my friends or loved ones, I couldn't part with those memories. It's who I am. I would never want to change that. I've made my choice. I will go to this new timeline and make something of myself. It will be different and a lot of work, but I think it will be worth it. Something tells me that it's going to be the start of something different and amazing. And I can't wait."

"Very well. I can't wait to watch this unfold." The Guardian held out the items with a smile and once the girl took them, waved her staff, sending the Princess to her new destiny.

Well... true destiny. The one that was taken from her.

To be continued...