BY: darkpower
RATING: TV-14 VLS
DISCLAIMER: None of the stuff that is copyrighted to other people is mine. The story is mine, though.
NOTES: Oh, please don't blast me for using the dub names...well, to a certain extent, anyway. I use the dub names, but I use the Japanese concepts. Mainly for two reasons. One, because I'm not all too familiar with the Japanese names, so I may screw them up big time (something that I don't want to happen with this fic), and secondly, Casto, to me, is considered an English name, and I do not have a Japanese name for him, and I'm too lazy to think of one for him (oh yeah, like THAT'S going to go through well with reviewers).

And the team was going to go back empty handed. That is, until one man in the team, covered all over by an overcoat, shouted, "Hey, guys, over here, I think I found something."

He did, and the rest of the five-person team came over to where he was at. It was a small mountain of snow, peaking at around a hundred yards or so, meaning that there had to be something there. This was because they hadn't seen anything for miles, and this was the opportunity that they were waiting for.

Little did they know about what they were going to get themselves into.

"Give me that drill," said the man that discovered the mini-mountain, and then he got his left foot started on the mountain when it dropped suddenly.

"What the hell," he questioned.

That was only the start, though. They had then saw that the hole that the man's foot made led to an underground cavern.

"I--I've never seen anything like it," said another man, this one sounding deeper than the discoverer.

"What do you think we should do now," asked a female member of the team, sounding quite deep and well-trained.

"We try to figure out what this is," answered the man that discovered it, which was obviously chosen to be the leader now. "We can't make a report since we're too far from the helicopter."

"Man, the general's gonna be pissed when he finds out that we went against his orders," said the second man.

"He did tell us to check out any abnormalities if we find them. This is was what he was talking about, right?"

"I guess."

"So, why don't we check it out?"

They started to climb down the cavern wall to the bottom of the cave, which seemed like forever to them. When they finally did, they found some old artifacts which had no real meaning. The rocks were of a dark blue-type color, which surprised them.

"Where are we," asked one of the other exhibitioners, who was unidentifiable from the voice.

"I don't know," the leader said.

"Hey, guys," said the guy that questioned the decision to check out this hole. "I found something."

They all went to the right wall where he was. What he found was a strangely-shaped coffin. The lid of it had a skull insignia in the center, with some strange, hard-to-describe type design surrounding the rest of the coffin. It was black in color, and looked rather heavy.

"Wow," said the female member. "Whoever lives in this place is, well, creepy."

"I would say," said the leader. "It looks like the lid can come off of it if someone wanted it off."

"WOAH," the other guy said, backing away. "You're saying that you want to see what's IN that thing? No thank you. Nowhere in my orders was there something to see what WAS a person's body."

"So, what are you saying? Remember, we HAVE to do this. This is an abnormally, and remember the order about that?"

"Damn that general," the other guy responded. "I BETTER get a promotion when this is over."

They all went to uncover the coffin.

To their surprise, nothing was in the coffin. Nothing, that is, except for another container, this time of a beige color, design matching that of the coffin, only it was smaller than the coffin. In fact, it was that of an ancient treasure chest.

"All that work for that," the second guy asked.

"Should I open it," the leader asked.

"Why not? We've opened up every other damn thing in here."

"Good point. Okay, everyone, get ready."

"It could be GOLD."

"Maybe." And with that, the leader started to open the container.

Only this time, he felt some kind of strange force when he started to open it. That and a semi-transparent white light began to show through the opening.

"Uhh," the second guy began to say. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. CLOSE IT!!"

"I CAN'T!! SOMETHING'S NOT LETTING ME!!"

Suddenly, the lid flew open, and the light filled the room. Strong winds and haunting noises overtook the room.

"COME ON," the leader said, "LET'S GET OURSELVES THE HELL OUT OF HERE!!"

They got out of there, but then, the white light turned multi-colored, and some shadows began to come out of it. They traveled and flew throughout the room. Then some portals began to open.

What happened next was all a blur, but when it was done, you could hear sounds of a woman laughing.

"HA HA HA HA!! THE RESURRECTION HAS OCCURED!! WE ARE BACK!!"

Then the woman emerged through the smoke that was slowly clearing up. The woman was none other than the one woman that the Sailor Senshi thought that they killed years back.

Queen Beryl.

This was the scene in Raye's Cherry Hill Temple. Serena Sommers, reading one of Raye's mangas, when Raye took it away from her because she wasn't focusing more on her studies. But funny thing was this time around was that there was no studying going on at any place in the temple. Raye stole the comic because she wanted to read a part of it that Serena was talking and admiring about.

"Hey, no use battling over the damn thing."

The voice belonged to a sixteen year old boy, around the same height as Serena. Short and dark hair, medium-type voice. His build was in between a slim man to a medium-build body, although he never really cared about how he looked. He had jeans and a traditional, gray t-shirt on.

The guy was in fact Serena's Moon Kingdom brother, Casto Sommers. They had found him out to be the only male Sailor Senshi in the group, Sailor Vulture, after he was enrolled in a foreign exchange program from Los Angeles, California, USA. At the initial meeting, they didn't suspect him of anything. However, in one battle with the Witches 5, Serena and Casto, who was then unarmed of his secret powers, got KO'ed in battle, and in their 'dream world', met up with Queen Serenity, who told both of them their history, and Casto's powers. Casto was unsure of his destiny at that point in time, but as time grew forth, he got used to it. He was also told that he left the Kingdom two years prior to the attack on the Kingdom from Beryl and company, and for good reason, although he wasn't told exactly why yet.

Casto's powers come of a powerful vulture spirit that he can call upon at any time. As Luna was Serena's guardian and Artemis was Mina's, the vulture, which remained nameless, was Casto's own guardian. Sailor Vulture's main "finishing move" was a "Vulture Attack" projectile move in which the vulture guardian acted like a speeding bullet towards the enemy or enemies that he encountered. Even moreso, he could actually finish the battle on his own with the vulture if he was drawing enough power into the vulture. It was no telling what kind of powers the Vulture could have in store for Casto.

He was standing there, arms folded, touching his chest. He was leaning on the right side of the doorway, looking at the two.

"Yeah, Casto," Raye answered, "tell your sister to mind her own business and do her studies."

"No, I wasn't meaning that," Casto replied back.

"Well, what do you mean, Casto," Raye asked.

"I mean you shouldn't be fighting over that issue. I can tell you what happens right here and right now."

And then, in under a minute, Casto diligently went on and explained, in detail, the entire manga issue that Raye had in her hand. Both Raye and Serena were shocked in amazement at the way he was describing the manga. When he was done, Raye had to say something.

"Wh....but....how the hell did you know everything in this issue? It's the latest one on the newsstands."

"NEWSTANDS," Casto asked in amazement. "You mean to tell me that you're paying for overpriced material. Usually you can send in one of those card things, and get them in the mail every month, before it hits those newsstands. Hmph, what a joke those places are."

"Oookay," Serena interjected. "Now that we have that covered, bro, tell me, have you found that woman of your dreams yet?"

"SERENA," Raye screamed. "Do you ever mind your own...?"

"Unfortunately, not yet," Casto interrupted. "But I hope that soon, I'll be able to see that one woman to claim my own."

"Anyone at the school you like. I know some people that would love to be with you. They think you're kinda...well...HANDSOME," Serena said with enthusiasm.

"Well, heh, thanks for the compliment, sis," Casto replied.

Their conversation was interrupted by Luna coming into the room, rather urgently.

"Guys, get into the fire room, quick. Emergency meeting."

"Emergency meeting," Serena asked. "We never had one of those since Galaxia was defeated."

"Yeah, I can remember the feeling of absolutely kicking her scrawny ass all over the place," Casto remarked. "But what's up with this meeting suddenly? Did she come back, because if she did, I'll put her right back to the hole she came out of."

"Not her, but much, much worse," Luna responded. "Quickly, to the fire room."

"Okay," she started, "now I know that it's been a year since we fought Galaxia and won. But there is a new enemy out there that we picked up. Or, should I say, an old enemy waking up from the dead."

"See, I knew it was one of those Animates. They couldn't resist putting their nose in everyone's business," Casto said.

"NO NO NO, Casto. Like I said, it's none of Galaxia's followers or herself. We hear that a past enemy is back, however. And evidence of this is both through a news story we heard, and from some of our scans that we have picked up."

"Well," Lita exclaimed, "tell us."

"Well, a day ago, an American expedition team went down to the southernmost tip of Antarctica to drill for oil. What they found was much more lethal than anything anyone could imagine."

"Well, they should know by now that there's nothing in Antarctica, much less oil. I mean, nothi..." Serena was cut short by what she remembered from a while ago. "Wait a minute. You're talking about WAY back in the past."

"Oh yeah," Artemis said. "And those members of the team are M.I.A., but what was really suspicious were our scans of the area soon after we heard of this story. Some phenomenal, supernatural force has now occupied the region."

"Okay," Luna continued. "Now remember who it was that was going to be stationed in Antarctica to launch an attack of her's?"

"I definitely don't remember," Casto answered. "I wasn't even here for that part of my destiny."

"I was," Raye chimed. "We were there when...OH MY GOD, NO!!! Don't you tell me SHE'S back."

"WAIT A MINUTE," Lita halfway yelled. "I thought we killed her years ago."

"Killed WHO years ago," Casto asked frantically. "Who are we talking about here? Are we talking about some wierdo woman who...WHAT THE HELL?! You're not talking about that one woman who did what my mother showed me happened, are you?"

"Yes, we are," Luna answered. Then, with a stern voice, she said the words that she was dreading since finding out about the incident a day ago. "Queen Beryl is back."

"No fucking way," Casto replied. "Her deceased ass is laying somewhere in a box...THOSE FUCKING IDIOTS!! Who in the hell thought oil was in ANTARTICA in the first place? If they never sent those people there, those assholes would've never seen that stupid box, and would've never resurrected her."

"It's too late to point the finger at who it was that resurrected her," Luna replied. "But you're right. No one should've sent them there in the first place. But it doesn't really matter now. We know now about the danger this Universe is in right now."

"It seems like the same game over and over again," Lita said. "As soon as we think the world is safe from people like Beryl, something else happens, and we have to come back into action once again."

"Hey," Mina said, "at least we had a one year vacation from it all."

"I know," Serena said in response. "But now it's back to fighting and saving the world."

"Hold up a sec, guys," Casto said. "I just thought of something. This phenomenon. Are we one-hundred percent sure that it's the Negaqueen there, and not someone else? I mean, knowing computers these days, anything can point to QB. We must be absolutely sure that we got the right data here, and not some mistake the scans made."

"Oh, we're pretty sure that it's Beryl in charge of this one. You can take a look at it yourself," Luna said. "And Casto, I hope to GOD that it's only a computer glitch."

"If it isn't, God help us all," Artemis responded.

Once Casto looked at those pictures, he was shocked to the worst. "Oh my God," Casto replied. "That black...THING!! That was the thing that made me lose control of my ship when I was trying to get back to the Kingdom that day. I remember it taking control of my ship, knocking me unconscious, and then the next thing I remember, my ship was down and out somewhere in LA. I'm pretty sure that that is what it was that took me out, though. That big black cloud."

"That's nothing less than Queen Metallia, or the Negaforce, as we like to call it sometimes," Artemis said. "Surefire proof that the Dark Kingdom is back."

"WOAH," Lita said. "I thought that it was the Negaverse."

"No," Luna responded. "We've now figured out that Queen Beryl and Queen Metallia was in charge of one distinct place of the Negaverse called the Dark Kingdom, which resided in the center of the dimension. No life was in the Negaverse until Beryl and Metallia took over, and then everything sprouted, so to speak."

"So," Casto started, "you guys killed her before. Why don't we just go into the Negaverse, trash the god damn place, and beat their resurrected asses like we did before?"

"Well," Artemis answered, "for one, I don't think that would be a good idea without some sort of plan, and second, if she knows what she's up against, she'll definitely be ready this time to defend herself."

"Good point," Casto replied.

"We need to plan a stage of attack, and soon. God knows when she will strike," Lita then said.

That is, until he found a strange black-hole type abnormally sitting straight near him on the otherwise deserted, barren desert terrain.

"What in the...," the middle-toned man asked to himself.

That was when the hole suddenly started to pull some particles from the sand beneath the guy's feet. With every second, the force pulling in the sand into the hole was getting stronger, until the guy who was right in front of it started to lose his footing, and started to get pulled in with it.

"UH OH," he said. "I don't think this is good."

That was the last thing he said before getting pulled into the hole, having no chance to even try to subdue the force. Soon after he got sucked into the black hole, it vanished without a trace of its brief life.

"WOW," said the man in amazement.

"HALT," yelled out a woman with a deep, middle-aged sounding voice. "Show yourself."

The minute he heard that, he immediately drew out his katana blade and turned 180 degrees swiftly, possibly slicing anyone behind him. But there was no one there to be sliced.

"What the heck," he asked himself. "OKAY," he then yelled out. "WHAT'S GOING ON?! SHOW YOURSELF!! BE HONORABLE AND FACE ME ONE ON ONE!!"

"Do not threaten me, I have no intentions on harming you...YET," the woman replied, then revealing herself to be Queen Beryl, the Negaqueen herself.

"Who the hell are you, and where am I," he asked her.

"I am the Queen of the Dark Kingdom, Queen Beryl. You are in the Negaverse, which I control. May I ask who you are, and how you got yourself here?"

He answered, still with sword in hand, "My name is Sanikite, and I got here because of a black hole that sent me here. I was looking for a place to either improve or apply my swordsman skills. I've mastered many a technique during the two years I decided to become a swordsman. My blade could slit your throat right in half if I was possessed by Hell that much. But I hardly am. I just use my skills to defend myself. I don't start fights, but I can finish them if need be."

He then slowly withdrew his sword from his hands and put it back into the sheath. Beryl was, in a way, pleased that he put away his sword, knowing that, from his looks alone, he could very well kill anyone that he had to, even her, with all of the powers she possessed. The words "possessed by Hell" got to her more than anything.

"W...Well, we've never had someone accidentally come into the Dark Kingdom before. You wouldn't happen to know what we are all about, do you," she asked him.

"Not a clue, Miss Queen," he answered.

With that, Beryl started thinking, 'Hmmm, the way that he sounds, we could very well use him for some purposes of ours. We have got to, though, convince him that he must initiate the battles that he gets into at some points.'

"What's wrong, miss," Sanikite asked Beryl, now sounding a bit concerned.

"I was thinking that maybe we could use a warrior such as yourself in the Dark Kingdom."

"Wha....? You hardly know me, if not at all, and you're asking me to join you? Do you know what kind of repercussions that may have upon yourself?"

"It's well worth the risk. All of my other warriors are still recuperating from their resurrection, and are not at full strength. Therefore, defenses are down, and so are the attack forces. I need someone that is going to be at full strength, and you are quite possibly the person I'm looking for. That is, if you're up to the challenge. Besides, you DID say you were looking for a place to hone those skills of yours, did you?"

"Yeah, I did say that. Very well, then. I'll join your forces. But be advised that I don't like to be double crossed that well, so don't push your luck, or I'll get angry, and you don't want to see me an---g-r--y."

He was cut short by the way Beryl turned around. He noticed that her hair was true red, and truly a sight for him. For some reason, that immediately attracted him to her hair. Plus, the length of it set it apart from the rest of her body at that point in time.

He was left speechless until Beryl turned around and asked, "Sanikite, is something wrong?"

Sanikite immediately came back to Earth and answered, "OH, nothing," rather nervously.

"Very well, then. I have the uniform that you will need to start serving me right away. Please, follow me."

"I wish we were," Luna answered. "But we can't seem to think of any way we can sneak attack her."

"Then why don't we use MY method of just pounding them into the ground."

"That wouldn't be too wise, Casto," Raye remarked. "Besides, we tried that once before when we faced her the first time, to no avail."

"So, what do we do," Lita asked. "If we can't just barge them, and if we can't make out a plan, then we're sitting ducks."

"What if we try to wait and see what Beryl does," Mina suggested.

While all of this was going on, Casto was going to a window just outside the fire room, and looked out at the now rainy night that Mother Nature had now bestowed upon Tokyo. He seemed a bit tired from what had been happening over the course of the day. But more than that, it seemed as if he was unsure about something. Something that was really eating him up inside that he couldn't figure out.

Serena noticed this, as well, and got a bit concerned. She stood up and went over to her brother to find out what was going on.

"Hey, bro, are you okay," she asked him.

"Well, I don't really know, sis. I mean, one minute, I'm okay, and everything is cool, and the next minute, I am pissed at whatever moves. My life is where it's at, I have a sister, a family, friends, and a life. I should be happy right now, shouldn't I? But the thing is, I'm not. Something is missing. Something in my life, my soul. Something that is not yet complete."

"Anything you can think of that could make it complete?"

"That's what I'm not so sure about. I don't think it's even something that I can even take control of anymore. But it always happens when we're sitting here talking. For some reason, I keep thinking about the same things. And sometimes, I start thinking about the 'what ifs' of my life."

"The 'what ifs'?"

"You know, like what if I didn't flee from the Moon Kingdom two years before it's demise? What if I stood up to whatever it was I ran away from? What if I wasn't such a coward at what was happening? What if I had known about my destiny before I was told about it? Could I have helped you guys out sooner than I did?"

"Casto, don't think about it. You can't change the past. You can't change what has happened. But something that you can change is your future, and what you choose to do with it. You should be able to change that."

Casto let out a deep sigh, then said, "Maybe your right, sis, but it's something that I can't stop thinking about. Something I can't help but be pissed off about. Why did I have to be such a fucking coward about whatever it was that made me leave the people that I really care about."

This was also commonplace for Casto. Since he didn't know much about his past, even though he was told so much through his mother, Queen Serenity, he was always wondering if he could've done more to help the Moon Kingdom at the time of their destruction. However, no matter what the situation, Serena was always there for him. It seemed as if Serena and Casto had a sibling relationship that rivaled any other. They cared about one another very much, maybe more than Serena and Darien cared for one another.

It was because of this that Serena had begun to develop some different sides to her. For one, she had became more and more determined to protect her family and friends, as if she wasn't determined as it was. But more importantly, she at one point started to lose the ability to forgive people for some events, no matter what the situation. She used to, no matter how much evil they had accomplished, be able to forgive. But now, because of the fact that Casto was now in her life, she had seen, whether it was for her own good or not, that some people and some acts don't deserve to be forgiven. Her brother was not going to leave her again if she could help it.

"Don't worry, bro," Serena said, trying to get a smile on her face to cheer Casto up, even though she was actually worried about Casto right now. "When we get past this ordeal, I'll talk with you. Then, you can talk to me about anything you want to. You can talk about your pains, thoughts, anything. Is it a deal?"

Casto dazed off into the dreary, gray sky that had now overtaken the heavens, and then turned to Serena. "Yeah," he said, reluctantly. "It's a deal."

"HEY GUYS," Lita suddenly exclaimed. "IS EVERYTHING ALRIGHT OVER THERE?!!"

"Ummm..." Serena started, "yeah, everything is just fine. Right, bro?"

"Of COURSE everything would be okay," Casto replied. "We were just thinking about how to get through this ordeal with this Beryl bitch."

'He certainly does know how to hide his feelings, that's for sure,' Serena thought.

Sanikite was trying on the various sizes of Dark Kingdom uniforms that Beryl had him try on. He was being surprised by how much room he got out of the uniforms, since he thought an army uniform was tight-fitting on a person's body. These dark-blue outfits, however, resembled a rather baggy fit on Sanikite, which he kind of liked.

"Only the best in MY Kingdom," Beryl said.

"And now I know why you can say that with truth in your words."

Sanikite then got the right fit. "THERE we go," Sanikite exclaimed. "Size, extra large. Very suitable for what I must do when I'm a member of a very elite army."

"Very much indeed," Beryl responded in kind. "Those boots came out of the woodwork, as well. Never been used."

"I can tell. Very shiny. I can see myself in them. True leather, as well. Sort of like my sheath here. Maybe I'll get the chance to get your tailor to make me a custom outfit someday."

"Hmmm...would be a thought. Never know what could come out of it," Beryl answered. She was being a bit more generous towards Sanikite than she was with any other general she had been with over the past years that she had ruled the Dark Kingdom. However, there was something that she was keeping from him. Something that wasn't right with all of this in her mind.

"Sanikite, can I ask you of something," asked the queen.

"Sure," said Sanikite. "Go right ahead. After all, you're the queen. You shouldn't NEED permission from me to go and ask me a question."

"Very well," said Beryl. "Are you sure that you are up for this? You seem to be a bit different than the rest of the generals here in the Dark Kingdom."

"Oh, I apologize, my queen. I haven't really met your generals yet, so I would not know much about how they act." "No, not like that. I meant, like, they weren't this willing to join my forces. They didn't seem to like the idea of serving under me as much as you are right now."

"Maybe I'm not like them. Maybe they need to be more like me. I wouldn't really know for sure until I meet them for the first time. All I know right now is that I serve you, and there is nothing that is going to change that, at least for right now."

"Well, if that's the way you see it, then welcome to the Dark Kingdom, Sanikite. You can go outside and wait on me. I'll be out and give you the information on what this Kingdom is all about."

"Okay, my queen."

And with that, Sanikite went outside to the throne room.

However, once he was gone, Beryl suddenly closed her eyes in an unsure manner, and her face grew to show an expression which gave the impression that she was feeling something that she had never felt before.

'No one's been THAT willing to join the Dark Kingdom,' Beryl started to think, 'and no one has been this nice to me before. And what is this that I am feeling? This is all too strange. I don't know how to handle something like this. He's only been here for about two hours, but already I am feeling this strong surge of energy. Something like I never felt before. Like I've had the chances to feel something like this, but failed, miserably. I don't know whether I should be careful that he is going to double-cross me, or if someone kills him. Why do I care at all? Why the questions?'

She then tried to get her composure back before heading outside of the dressing room and into the throne room.

During his sleep, however, his dreams were anything but pleasant. During the past few weeks, he has started to have recurring dreams about the Moon Kingdom, and about his times there. This was a part of the reason why he was wondering about his past earlier that night at Raye's temple.

This night, though, was different than the rest of the dreams that he had thus far.

He was in a dark hall, with nothing but blue marble walls and a dark, gloomy, arching corridor in front of him. He was running down the hall in his Moon Kingdom outfit, which was a white overcoat with black pants and shoes, along with a brown belt. However, he didn't know where he was going, or why.

He kept running and running and running until he finally got tired and fell down onto his hands and knees, trying to catch his breath. The scenery was still the same as when he was running. "Wh--where am I," Casto tried to get out while still trying to catch his breath.

"YOU'RE A COWARD, CASTO," yelled out a loud, deep, booming male voice. One in which seemed to be belonging to an overpowering person that wouldn't care about anything or anybody.

"WHO'S THERE," Casto suddenly and exclaimly asked.

"YOU WERE NOTHING TO THE MOON KINGDOM, AND YOU WILL ALWAYS BE NOTHING TO THE KINGDOM!!"

"NO," Casto yelled, shaking his head as if he was just hearing things.

"YES, CASTO!! YOU RAN AWAY WHEN YOU COULD'VE FOUGHT!! WHAT A LOWLIFE OF A SON, A BROTHER, AND A HUMAN BEING YOU WERE TO YOUR FAMILY AND PEOPLE!!"

"SHUT UP!! JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP!! YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ME!!"

"BROTHER," Casto suddenly heard. He turned around, and Serena, in her Moon Princess dress, was seen running to him urgently.

"SERENA," Casto screamed. He ran over to her. "Serena, what's..."

That was the last thing that he was able to get out of his mouth before a stinging slap came before him from Serena.

"SISTER," Casto yelled out in sadness. "WHY?"

"DIDN'T HE TELL YOU," Serena yelled to the highest she could. "YOU'RE NOTHING TO THE MOON KINGDOM!! YOU TURNED YOUR BACK ON SO MANY PEOPLE!! JUST BECAUSE YOU WERE SCARED OF YOUR OWN DAMN FATHER!!"

"What the hell," Casto asked, startled over the statement Serena just screamed towards him.

"YOU THOUGHT YOUR FATHER WASN'T RIGHT FOR THE KINGDOM!! YOU LEFT BECAUSE YOU COULDN'T STAND IT ANY LONGER!! YOU'RE THE BIGGEST COWARD I'VE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE!! AND YOU ARE A DISGRACE TO ME, BEING MY BROTHER!! WHAT RIGHT DO YOU HAVE ANYMORE OF BEING MY BROTHER?!!"

"NO," Casto screamed, now on his knees, tears streaming down his face. "SISTER, I WOULD NEVER DO ANYTHING TO HURT YOU!! I LOVE YOU WITH ALL MY HEART AND SOUL!!"

"NOT THE SAME FOR ME!! YOU'RE NOTHING TO ME, CASTO!!"

"Bro," Serena said quietly, going over to the couch where he was sleeping. He was tossing and turning rapidly. "BRO, wake up."

That was no good, as he was still mumbling words like, "How could you do this to me, sis. I love you with all my heart. Don't turn your back on me, please. I need you."

"I'm here, Casto. I'll never do that. Please, wake up. FOR GOD SAKES, WAKE UP!"

She shook him while saying that. Suddenly, Casto started to reenter the real world, seeing his pajama-clad sister staring at him with the most worried look on her face. "Bro," she said, trying to get the words out without showing her being worried. "What's wrong."

"Serena, you can't leave me now. I need my family here more than ever," Casto responded.

"I'm here, Casto. Don't worry. What did you dream about? Please, tell me. I need to know."

"I was in this hallway, and someone was telling me that I was a coward, and a disgrace. Then you came and slapped me in the face, calling me a coward, and that you would be better off not being my sister, and..."

"NO, CASTO!! DON'T SAY THAT!! I'm won't let you even THINK that I would turn my back on you."

"Serena, please, don't leave me. I know I was a coward when I left, but I couldn't help it. You told me something about my father being the reason I left, and that I was too much of a coward to face him. I'm scared, Serena. I need to know why I'm having these dreams."

"I don't know. But one thing is for damn sure. I'm not going to turn my back on you. You know that better than anyone here. I love you, bro. If there is anything you need, let me know. If there is anything you want to talk about, come to me, please. I'm here for you, okay? Casto?"

"Serena, it's been similar dreams for the past few weeks. It's never been like this before. I am so scared right now. And now that this Queen Beryl person is rising up, as well, I don't think I can take it without being so scared. I feel fine when with you guys, but alone, I break down. I almost cry because of what I dream and think about."

"You feel like you could cry right now?"

With a sudden sniffle, Casto uttered, "Yes, I do."

Serena then wrapped her arms around Casto. "I won't let go until you want me too, bro. Don't worry. I'm here."

Casto couldn't help it anymore. He wrapped his arms around Serena, and started to form tears that soon streamed his cheeks, almost sparkling in the darkness of the room. He tightened his grip on Serena by grabbing some of her pink pajama shirt.

"Don't leave me, sis. Please don't leave me."

"I won't, bro," Serena whispered in his ear. "I won't."

He continued to cry for about an hour. That was until he fell asleep again. Serena didn't want for him to feel the way he did, so she stayed with him, sleeping on the floor right near the couch. She didn't have to worry about school the next day because of the weekend, so she could've kept him company all night. She just laid there, making sure that Casto didn't feel alone in what was his own personal Hell.

Queen Beryl, for some reason, and for the first time in her life, couldn't think of how to answer that question, or what she would answer with. Sure, she wanted to take over the Universe to make it her own. However, the mere presence of Sanikite suddenly changed some feelings that were inside of her. Feeling that she didn't think she could have. Feelings that she thought she wasn't supposed to have.

"My queen," Sanikite asked, a bit worried.

"I'm thinking," Beryl answered back surprisingly quick, knowing of the situation that Beryl was currently in personally.

"Thinking about our next move, I would hope," said a tough and rough sounding male voice that seemly came out of the background of the Dark Kingdom's throne room. Sanikite turned around to see the white-haired general that was Malikite. Sanikite reached for his sword when Beryl retracted him.

"Sanikite, he's on our side. He's one of our generals. Malikite, this is our newest addition, Sanikite."

Malikite looked over the new general with caution of Sanikite drawing his sword. Just looking at Sanikite, Malikite knew that Sanikite could get out of any type of situation without the use of special powers. All he needed was his sword to cut down the strongest general if he had to. Malikite knew of this much as well as Beryl did, but through a different outlet.

"Seems to me that he's ready for the Dark Kingdom's overtake of the Universe," Malikite said to Beryl.

"WHAT," Sanikite asked in exclamation.

"What, you wasn't told of our mission yet?"

"Now that I think about it, no, I wasn't briefed about it."

"We're trying to collect energy from the humans on Earth so we can release the Dark Force. Once we do that, we will raid the Universe, and make it our own. It's a beautiful plan indeed, newbie. We will be..."

"SILENCE AT ONCE," exclaimed a very upset Beryl. Malikite looked a bit puzzled by that sudden call.

"I'm just telling him of our plan. I'm sorry if I insulted..."

"Malikite, you didn't insult me at all. It's that...well,..."

"Something wrong, my queen," Sanikite asked in worriment.

"N---nothing is wrong..." said the queen, this time in a bit of a panic mood. "I--I have to be alone for a few minutes so we can map out a plan of something. All this resurrecting stuff has gotten to my head, that's all. If you will excuse me."

With that, Beryl exited into her room.

"This is not like her," Malikite said.

"It's not," Sanikite asked in response.

"No. Usually, she doesn't let anything stand in her way of giving us orders, having a plan ready, or anything of that nature. However, I've never seen Queen Beryl act like this before."

"Like she said, the resurrection has messed up the lot of the time frame in people's heads. Maybe she can't compete with confusion. I just hope that's all it is. Confusion."

Images about her own past.

A quick white flash overtook her eyes, which came with a strong thundering sound which seemed to be over within a second or two. When it ended, she was seeing a scene with a little girl crying and on her knees in a dark hallway, much like the one Casto was in in his own dream. Only the hall was in a rectangle instead of making an arch, and it was more of a futuristic look to it. The girl crying had hair much like the Negaqueen's, and purple skin to match that of Beryl's.

'Could this be...,' Beryl thought to herself.

"YOU DON'T DESERVE TO BE MY DAUGHTER ANYMORE, MELISSA!! YOU WILL NOT NOR EVER BE ABLE TO COMPREHEND WHAT I WANT YOU TO KNOW!! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO BE A KRYLOR," said an overtaking male voice, this one being a little steeper sounding than the one in Casto's dream.

'Krylor. What the hell is going on here? Why do I remember that race of individuals,' thought Beryl.

"DADDY," screamed the crying girl, "I DON'T UNDERSTAND!! WHY CAN'T I JUST CHOOSE MY OWN LIFE?!"

"BECAUSE YOUR IDEAS ARE PITIFUL!! THIS TALK ABOUT PEACE BETWEEN DIMENTIONS, USING POWER TO SETTLE DISPUTES IN PEACE!! IT HAS NEVER WORKED THAT WAY IN THE PAST!! I HAVE LEARNED THROUGH EXPERIENCE THAT YOU MUST TAKE WHAT YOU WANT!!"

"BUT WHY DO THIS TO ME?! I'M ONLY YOUR DAUGHTER!!"

"SECURITY, TAKE THIS GIRL AWAY TO A PLACE THAT SHE WON'T BE A HINDERANCE TO ME ANYMORE!!"

'What a cruel thing to do to this girl,' Beryl thought. Then something came to her that wasn't there before. Something that was about to shock her. 'Wait a minute, this girl couldn't be...'

"AS OF NOW, PRINCESS MELISSA BERYL IS NO LONGER A PART OF THIS FAMILY!!"

'This...this can't be. Why haven't I remembered this? Father, what were you trying to prove?'

"DADDY, DON'T," screamed the crying girl who was now revealed to be Queen Beryl when she was much younger.

'No, get me out of here. I can't watch anymore. Why do I have to remember this?'

'No,' she thought. 'Why? Why did that have to happen to me? Why did that image suddenly remind me about a past I would rather wanted to be forgotten? Why do I have to be reminded of that at all? Why am I asking all of these questions?'

Suddenly, Sanikite came into the room, surprising Beryl.

"My Queen, you alright?"

"I think, yeah," answered the Queen, rather hesitantly.

"You sure," said Sanikite. "You seem to be acting rather strange."

Beryl hesitated for a second, then answered back, "Sanikite, close the door behind you. I need to talk to you for a second."

"Uhhh...sure thing," Sanikite said, and he closed the door as he entered Beryl's bedroom. "What is it?"

Beryl paused for about five seconds, then started talking. "I'm usually in here every day to think," she started, "and when I come in here, I usually plan our next move, target, in here. I sometimes need my privacy, and also need sleep like any other living thing. But only a few hours after I meet you, I already feel a strong sense of something that I haven't felt before. I don't know whether I should like it or not. It's something that I feel I should not like. But something tells me that I should like it. I'm trying to find the answers to my questions, but I'm not finding anything. Sanikite, am I going crazy? Please answer me, am I going overboard?"

Sanikite could only answer, "No, my Queen. It's perfectly normal to feel this way sometimes. I've felt this way sometimes."

"But I am sure that it was nothing like I am feeling. Have been feeling since you've came here. I---I...."

"What is it, my queen?"

"I saw myself. When I was younger. In the past. I saw my own self."

"My Queen, I don't know what you're talking about."

"I had this flash come before my eyes, and then I had some scene from a past play right before my eyes. I didn't think much of it until I knew of the girl that was before me. The girl was in fact myself being rejected and disowned by my father when I was four."

"My God, Queen..."

"The funny about it is, though, I never remembered that part of my life until now. Until that flashback."

Sanikite had never been in this situation before. He didn't know how to deal with anything like what Beryl was saying. His life had always been perfect. A great family that he could depend upon. Good friends that he had during his days in training in swordfighting. His life was not something to be sorry for, because it was a good lifetime. However, one glance at Beryl's life, her past, could only mean one thing. That this was NOT going to be the run-of-the-mill lifestyle that he was going to be accustomed to.

In the temple that day, no one was more worried about the situation than Casto. His dreams that had occurred, especially the one the night beforehand, were something that kept his mind away from the situation at hand, and, in a way, secluded him into his own little world.

"Any luck thinking of any way that we could attack the Dark Kingdom now," Luna asked. She only got "no" answers.

"It is weird, though," said Mina. "They would be bringing a youma or something our way by now, would they?"

"Good point," Lita mentioned.

"Uhhh, guys, I think they're sending the youma NOW," Raye exclaimed.

They saw through the window a huge, red monster headed towards the temple. It was rather hard to distinguish to the Sailors, but it seemed to be gigantic.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT," Casto yelled.

"It's a Dark Monster called a Youma," Luna said. "AND IT'S HEADED RIGHT FOR US!!!!"

TO BE CONTINUED!