Hi! I am attaching Chapter 5 of the story "Ancient History" to this. I wish to thank you very much for continuing to put this story up. It means a whole lot to me. (^_^)(^_^)(^_^)(^_^)(^_^) Thank you again, if there are problems, just e-mail me. (^_-) -Andrea (Sailor Charon) Okay, here is chapter 5 of "Ancient History." It is a little late-sorry to those who have been reading it. And thank you to everyone who has written to me concerning this fic! Your messages have been MOST appreciated and extrememly generous. I would like to thank Lianne, as always, for her continued greatness and also Jenn-for everything. Also, I would like to recommend my brother, Adam, and his fanfic for all of those who are interested in Star Trek: The Next Generation. It is a delightful cross over. Read all works by: Lianne, Jenn, Razzz, Laurel, and Sailor Hooze. That is an order (^_-)(^_^)(^_^). Thank you for reading-Sailor Charon. **************************************************************************************************************** "Ancient History" Chapter 5 by Sailor Charon The air was sweet with the scent of cherry blossoms and the sky was nearly cloudless, but the six teenagers were all but oblivious to the cheeriness of the afternoon. They were more concerned with the global implications of a new enemy beginning attacks on Tokyo. No one even stopped to ponder the irony that the fate of the world rested-as it had many times before-on the shoulders of people who weren't even considered adults. "Who is this guy, that's all I want to know!" The fiery Shinto priestess flipped her raven hair back over her shoulder indignantly. "I mean, he comes in here, blasting his way around, and says, 'My name is Prince Epsilon.' as if that should mean all the difference to us! What is he a prince of anyway? The negaverse?" Raye was met with silence as all of the senshi plus Darien simply thought about all she had said. Serena put voice to the most pressing fear they all felt at that moment, even though it had gone unstated until then. "But, but he knew us! He knew who we all were and all of our powers didn't even seem to hurt him! How can we fight him if he can attack us at any time?" Serena felt panic begin to rise in her as her head swam with the implications. "He could even go after our families just to get to us! How can we even protect them??" Her eyes began to fill with tears. "Don't start, Meatball-for-Brains!" Raye's voice was sarcastic again as she put aside her fears with the opportunity to tease Serena. "Don't start whining again!" Serena look at Raye and her tears instantly doubled. "Don't be so mean, Raye! I'm just scared that Sammy and Mom and Dad'll be in trouble and I won't be able to help them!" Serena looked down at the table and began to cry harder. Darien moved closer to her and put his arms around her from behind. She looked up in surprise, then leaned back into his comforting embrace. Darien rested his chin on her shoulder. "Don't cry, Serena. We'll find out what's going on here, we always do. I'm just confused because that 'Prince Epsilon' seems so familiar. Am I the only one who thinks so?" Darien looked around at the other girls, all of whom were shaking their heads back and forth. "Nope. I don't remember him at all. But wait! He did say that he remembered all of us, didn't he? Well maybe we knew him back from the Silver Millennium. Maybe he was one of the youma bosses back then!" Lita frowned as she continued, "No, that can't be right. All of Beryl's generals are dead, aren't they? I mean we killed Beryl, and defeated Metallia as well! How could he have escaped that?" Luna, who had previously been very quiet, suddenly spoke up. "Well, I think this has gone far enough. You all need to remember just a bit more about the past, so you can fight this new enemy." The cat looked up at Darien, held his gaze for a moment, then looked back down to the floor sadly. "Though you might not want to remember this" **************************************************************************************************************** The Silver Millennium: "King Locutai, I wish to thank you very much for permitting this gathering. It was time that our children got to reacquaint themselves. The girls were so young the last time they visited." The king of Earth nodded and smiled at Queen Serenity. It was indeed time for all of their children to get to know each other better now that they were old enough to understand what roles each of them played in Silver Millennium society. The four guardian princesses were present, of course to ensure the safety of Princess Serena as well as get the chance to practice some of their fighting skills with the two princes of Earth, who were also being trained in the fighting arts. All five of the princesses-who were now nine years old-were growing to be very beautiful and strong individuals, and the princes were becoming wise rulers. Indeed the future of the Silver Millennium seemed very bright indeed. The princesses were standing with Darien, chatting comfortably about all manner of things. The Moon Kingdom visitors and the youngest prince became fast friends, and the rulers of the Millennium looked on with happiness and pride that their children were so amiable. Then Queen Terra looked around the room, her brow creasing as she glanced about. "Where is Epsilon?" The king's mood seemed to darken immediatly with those three words. His oldest son the Crown Prince had been taking entirely too many liberties with rules of courtly conduct lately. "Yes, he should be here. I did tell him to come." The king looked back to his wife as he spoke in a slightly angered tone. "He thinks that just because he's older, the rules that applied to him once before do not now." Turning to his other son and speaking in a more civil voice, Locutai said, "Endymion. Please go and get your brother to come down here and join the rest of us. Meet us in the dining hall in five minutes, and make sure that neither of you are late." "Yes father," Darien said formally for the etiquate's sake and left to fetch Eppie. A small black cat that bore a crescent moon on her forehead followed, suspicios of activities of Prince Epsilon. The room was dark except for a sole candle burning at the oak desk where Eppie hunched over a worn book. Darien nuged the door open a little farther and peered into the gloom. "Eppie . . . Dad says we should go down for dinner now." The twelve-year-old recieved no response from his brother. He stepped through the doorway and tried again. "Eppie, he's kinda upset you're not down yet. You really shouldn't openly defy him, he'll get *really* mad then." "You think that *you* can tell *me* what to do?" Eppie's voice was pitched low, but still had a cutting edge to it. "*You* presume to tell *me* that I shouldn't openly defy him? What do you think you are? My guardian against Dad? My keeper? My owner?" Eppie had still been facing his desk, but at his last word, he turned around quickly, his voice raising in volume so he spat out the enunciation like a sour food. Eppie looked at his brother with open contempt. Darien stood, his face going ashen at Eppie's harsh words. Relations between the brothers had been getting progressivly more strained for the past two years, but never had Eppie spoke to Darien in such a tone of voice. Indeed, *no one* ever had. Luna crept into the room, slipping into the darkness like a shadow. Neither boy noticed. "Well?" Eppie seemed to be interested in what Darien would say. Recieving no answer from his brother, Eppie went on. "I'm seventeen now, Darien. I'm not a little kid who has nothing better to do than go around wherever Dad tells me to. Or wherever you tell me to." Darien began studying the carpeting in Eppie's quarters. He noticed a few stains, and started to count them. Prince Epsilon continued, "I'm not here in existence just to be your friend! I'm not going to hold your hand until you are forty just because you are too immature to face anything by yourself! I am the *Crown Prince*. That means that I take precedent over you, not the other way around. Grow up! Yes, I will go down for supper, when I am ready to." Finally finished with his tirade against the young prince, Epsilon turned back to his desk to continue studying whatever he was before Darien walked in. Darien continued to look down for a few moments, the silence deafening in his ears. He fought with all his might not to let his tears spill over his eyes, thus proving to Eppie that he was as childish as the brother said. Finally, after what seemed an eternity Darien controlled his tears and slowly walked up behind his brother at his desk. Every step of the way, he fought with himself over whether this was wise. He was aware that really shouldn't have been doing this, but his curiosity just wouldn't let him go. Luna followed the younger prince, also wanting to see what Epsilon was up to. Reaching the desk, Darien looked over Eppie's shoulder at the book and saw all kinds of evil spells and black magic scrawled over the pages. He gasped and Eppie whirled around, slamming the book closed. Eppie glared into Darien's eyes for a full seven seconds, seeing the utter terror in the boy's face. Eppie's expression softened then, and something flickered in his eyes, they went a few shades lighter for a few moments before returning to their usual color. Darien saw this and became even more afraid. He knew that the evil arts were forbidden on Earth. No one was allowed to study or perform them. Eppie was getting himself into a lot of trouble. Of this, Darien was sure. Eppie got to his feet, towering over his much-younger brother, and smiled a slightly crooked smile. He raised a hand and Darien flinched, but Eppie stroked his cheek lightly and bent down to whisper, "Don't . . . tell . . . *anyone*." He then turned, and without another word, left the room. Darien stared at his back as he left. He sniffed as tears again threatened to overwhelm him, but then regained his composure. Letting out a slow breath, he prepared to go downstairs and act as if nothing has happend. He walked out of Eppie's darkened room, and an equally stunned black cat followed him, having seen everything. **************************************************************************************************************** Present Day: As Luna finished speaking, there was silence in the room. All eyes were on Darien, to try to gauge his reaction. Darien himself had his eyes closed and a slight frown on his face. He looked to be having a slight headache. Serena nudged him. He started, looking up to see everyone staring. "I remember him." With those three words, everything seemed to come together for Darien. He remembered his childhood in the Silver Millennium, good memories filled with an older boy with brown hair . . . he remembered the slow but distinct change that came over Prince Epsilon, starting-now that he could think about it-right after Darien had shown his first magical promise. He remembered how Eppie eventually left the Earth Kingdom to join the Negaverse, a memory that still brought tears to Darien's eyes. And now he was back. And he was out to kill them. After a life with no family, this seemed an incredible irony to Darien. Maybe he would even laugh about it later. Then again, maybe not. "I don't get it." Mina voiced her opinion for the first time in the meeting. "You mean that this new enemy, who knows who all of us are, is actually Darien's brother from the Silver Millennium gone waked?" Darien winced at that description. "So what now? Do we dust him? Do we use the crystal to try to heal him? What?" As Mina looked around the group for an answer, a black haze appeared behind the group. Everyone whirled about to see what was going on. "No, my dear Sailor Venus." Epsilon's voice was syrupy as he stepped through the portal to face the group. "Now you die."