The Family Not Known

3/13/05

Ancient History


Walking through the corridors of the castle, she was on alert for any danger. Even though she was in the palace of the Moon Kingdom, the most secure in the Solar System, it was her job to ensure the safety of the future ruler, Princess Serenity.

She was Captain of the Princess’ Bodyguards. Before that, she was the second-in-command. She
was placed in that post by Queen Serenity, herself, from her own bodyguards.

She stopped outside the doors to the princess’ chambers. The guard on duty slammed his fist, the
heel of his palm first, against his chest, over his heart. She returned the salute.

“Captain,” he said in greeting. She nodded her head in response, as she walked past him and entered the rooms. Besides the princess herself, there were only two people that could enter on
their own without knocking, unchecked. They were the princess’ mother, Queen Serenity, and the Captain of the Princess’ Guards, Billie.

As soon as she closed the door behind herself, she called out, “Princess, your mother is waiting
for you! You were supposed to meet her in the garden for breakfast, ten minutes ago!”

“Billie!? I’ll be out shortly!” the princess called out from the bedroom. “I overslept and now I’m
having trouble getting dressed!”

“Where’s the maid?” Billie asked confused.

“She looked ill this morning, so I told her to go to her bed and get some rest. She didn’t think
that was a good idea, but I told her that if there were any problems, that I would deal with them.”

Billie smiled. Princess Serenity was always concerned about the welfare of others. “Do you need
help, Princess?” Billie asked.

“Please!”

Billie chuckled, then entered the room that the princess was now in. She stepped up behind the
younger woman and helped her with her corset. She pulled the laces tight enough that the corset
hugged the princess’ youthfully slender curves, but not so tight that she could not move, eat, or
breath.

“I much prefer it when you lace this thing up! Everybody else does it too tight,” Princess Serenity
sighed.

As she watched the princess pull her dress over her head, Billie said, “You have company for
breakfast this morning, I’m told.”

“Who?” the princess asked as she smoothed out her dress.

“I heard that it is a prince who wishes to secure you for all the dances at the ball tonight.”

Princess Serenity looked crestfallen when she thought about all the princes who have been vying for her attention as of late. She had only eyes for one prince, and all knew it. It was also well known that he felt the same. They were engaged to be married a few months after her nineteenth birthday, her next birthday. “Where did you here this from?” she asked.

Billie knew what Princess Serenity thought of the rumors of the Royal Court, she felt the same way. Neither took much stock in them. The princess knew how Billie felt about them too, she was surprised that the princess was so taken in by all of this. She knew that she shouldn’t be taking pleasure out of stringing the princess along like this, but she was finding this fun. “I heard it straight from the guest himself!”

“And who is this mystery man? Are you sure that he wants my attention and not yours? I seem to remember that there was a prince or two that had their eyes on your more than they did on me. And this one seems so friendly to you?” Princess Serenity smiled at the light flush that covered the cheeks of her closest friend and protector. “Perhaps I should send word with you to my mother that I am not well and need to rest before tonight’s celebrations.”

“OK, I’ll pass along the message,” Billie said as she walked out of the bedchamber and into the
next room, towards the door leading to the hallway. “But I’m sure that the news will surely
disappoint Prince Endymon!”

At that, Princess Serenity gathered her skirts and ran out of the bedchamber and through the door
to her chambers, behind a chuckling Billie.

Billie motioned for the guard at the door to stay on duty there, while she was still chuckling at the
other woman.

Once they were down the hallway far enough that the guard couldn’t see them, the princess
slapped the Billie on the arm and giggled. ::That wasn’t nice,:: Billie heard in her head.

::No,::Billie agreed, ::but it was funny though.:: She looked to the younger woman, ::you know
you would think so if you were saw it happen to somebody else.::

::That it was,:: the princess conceded.

::You’ve been practicing!::

::Of course, it’s a matter of my safety after all, isn’t it?:: Billie heard in her head, and the sarcasm
behind the question too.

::Not just yours, Princess. I’m in charge of the safety of Prince Endymon while he is on the Moon.::

A few moments later Billie asked, “So what time did he leave?”

For an instant, Princess Serenity had the look of someone caught with their hand in the cookie jar
shortly before mealtime, but Billie still saw it. The princess’ voice was shaky when she asked,
“What do you mean?”

“Prince Endymon, what time did he leave your chambers?”

“How did you know that he was in my chambers last night?”

Billie looked to her, “I have my ways.” After they walked a few steps, she added, “Don’t you remember when we first started your training with the link between us that the link worked best when your mind was relaxed?”

“Yeah”

“Well, Princess, your mind was really relaxed last night, and I heard a few stray thoughts, wether
you know you were sending them or not.”

“What?” Princess Serenity said, blushing, almost horrified by what and how much of the thoughts
that crossed her mind last night that her friend and guardian had heard. “How much did you hear?”

“Not very much. Once I figured out what was being sent to me, I put up a barrier.”

“I thought that you said you wouldn’t do that! What if I have been in trouble?” the princess
asked, scared.

“I knew that with the prince, you were safe and I only put guards that I trust one hundred percent, outside your door. Besides, if you were to have tried to reach me, you could have. It was a weak barrier to block out stay thoughts only. How do you think that I can block my secret moments from you?”

“Will you teach me the barrier?”

“If you practice so that we can have more than just a short conversation that way...no wait...I promise that I will definitely teach you before your wedding night! I definitely don’t want to hear
your thoughts at night after then!” Billie said laughing.

The princess laughed too. Then after they had moved a few more meters down the corridor,
Billie noticed that she had taken a solemn look.

“Princess, what is the matter? What are you thinking about?”

“I was just thinking about Prince Endymon.”

“I would have thought that thoughts of the prince would make you happy, no matter how long
ago you saw him last. Especially considering the last time that you saw him.”

Princess Serenity gave half a smile, “He does make me happy...very happy...but I was just thinking about the reason for his first visit to the moon a few years ago, just before you became one of my bodyguards.”

Billie had never heard the reason before, but she knew the result of the visit. The prince and princess met and fell in love. The only problem was that at the age of fifteen, the queen didn’t think that she was old enough to marry. The queen wanted to make sure that she was trained to use the Silver Emperium Crystal before she wed. The crystal was to be handed to the princess when she became queen herself after her mother’s death. When Prince Endymon said that he would wait, he was not told why at that time, and then continued to grow closer to the princess, Queen Serenity knew he would be the one her daughter would love and be eternally happy with.

Shaking her head clear of the thoughts that filled it, she asked, “What brought him here?”

“His sister, Princess Celeste.”

Billie stopped in her tracks and Princess Serenity stopped a few steps ahead of her, then turned
and gave her a funny look.

“Something wrong?” Princess Serenity asked Billie.

Princess Celeste!? That was a name that Billie had not heard in a while. “Wasn’t she
the one who died during a duel with a wizard while she was still studying magic?”

“That’s the story that was told to her parents by the one who was teaching her.”

“Why would a dead sister bring Prince Endymon here?” Billie was happy that her voice stayed steady.

“He doesn’t believe that she is dead.”

“Why not?”

“Because I had been in enough fights along side of my sister to know that she wasn’t foolhardy
enough to get into a fight that far above her skill level,” said a voice to Billie’s right.

Both women spun towards the voice. Billie with her hand on the hilt of the sword hanging off her
left hip, ready to draw it.

“Endymon!” Princess Serenity squealed as she rushed into his arms then gave him a kiss. Billie
released the sword.

“Easy Serenity,” Prince Endymon said, looking nervously at Billie, while hugging the woman that
he loved with all of his heart.

The two females looked at each other and started laughing.

::You tell him,:: Billie mentally sent to the princess.

“Tell me what?” Prince Endymon asked. The two women had shocked looks on their faces.

I will have to be careful in the future! I forgot how strong the link between he and me
is, Billie thought.

“Billie knows just what’s been going on between us.” Princess Serenity said.

Prince Endymon looked dumbfounded, “W...What do you mean?”

“She means that I know that you were in her chambers last night,” Billie said as watched slight flush rise to the young man’s cheeks. Then she watched as the flush deepened into an all out blush with her next words, “and I know just what the two of you were up to, too!”

“How would you know that?” he asked looking at Billie like he was trying to put a puzzle together, but wasn’t sure he had all the pieces or knew what it should look like.

Endymon, you were always so easy for me to read. I just wonder how much you have figured
out, Billie thought, but she said, “It’s my job to know what happens to the princess.”

“What brings you here? I thought that you were with Mother in the garden,” Princess Serenity
asked Prince Endymon.

“I came to find the two of you, Serenity, your mother’s getting worried.”

Billie looked beyond the prince and saw one of the queen’s guards behind him, standing just out of earshot. She had worked with the man before and knew that he could be trusted. Signaling for him to come forward, she said to the princess, “You go on, I need to have a few words with the prince.” She then turned to the guard, “Escort the princess to her mother. If anything happens to her, I will personally come after you, got it?”

The guard swallowed nervously and nodded. Princess Serenity led the way to the garden with her
mother’s guard closely following.

Billie led the prince farther down the hallway, past the exit that the princess had taken just seconds before. She led him outside the castle towards the training grounds where the army trained. When she looked over at him, she saw that he looked uneasy.

“Nervous?” she asked him

“Why? Should I be?” he asked.

She laughed before she answered, “Depends, what would you do to the guy that spent
the night in your sister’s bed, even if she was willing?”

He paled slightly before he asked, “Are the two of you that close?”

“You’ve know us long enough to answer that one yourself.”

She heard him gulp. Laughing, she said, “Relax, if it were anybody else but you, I would not be taking this so lightly. I’m going to the captain of the castle’s guards to give him a report.” She saw that he was confused. “I was helping to do a sweep of the palace after one of the guards heard one of the maids saying that she heard something unusual the past few nights.”

He winced.

“Unless you were near the maids’ bedchambers as well as the princess’ last night, it wasn’t you
that she was heard.” She saw that he released his breath and she laughed.

“I thought that you didn’t believe rumors,” he stated.

“Rumors that one usually hears in the court, I don’t. But when the rumor indicates a possible
intruder, all us guard captains take notice.”

“What do you mean?”

“What do you know of spies, Prince? The information that they usually gather is nothing more
than rumor and speculation. The trick is just knowing which rumors that you need to listen to.”

“It was just the three of you who did the security sweep? How is that effective?”

Billie shook her head as the dojo came into view ahead of them. She stopped and turned to face to the prince, “The guards where put on alert and the other two captains got their reports, and I checked the secret passageways and hiding places in the castle.”

“Why you?”

“I don’t think that there is one that I don’t know about.” She saw the questioning look on his face. “Before Princess Serenity had her own guards the castle’s guards and the queen’s guards protected her. I was assigned to protect her most of my shifts because I was the youngest guard and could relate to and keep up with her. We played things like tag and follow the leader a lot, and she led me through a lot of the passages, and that got me curious, so when I wasn’t on duty, I spent a lot of time roaming the castle trying to find more passages and to where they led.

The two resumed walking and when they were at the entrance to the building the prince asked, “What if whoever it was went into one of the passages or hiding places after you checked it?”

They heard a new voice behind them, “If they can get into it, the deserve to hide there.” The Captain of the Castle’s Guards, Sebastian, had come up the path behind them. “Right Billie?”

Billie just nodded.

“Not many people can get through a solid wall of ice, that’s for sure.” They all turned to the door of the dojo, where the Captain of the Queen’s Guards, Damien, was standing.

Billie gave him a look that threatened fire, but he just laughed at her reaction. Please, Damien, not another word, she thought to herself.

Turning to Captain of Castle’s Guards again, “Sebastian, I didn’t find a thing, not even footsteps
in the dust.”

Sebastian just nodded. “I didn’t get anything from the guards on the grounds or around the perimeter entrances to the castle. Damien, how about inside?”

“Nothing.”

“I’ll have the castle’s guards keep an ear out over the next few nights.”

“It may not hurt to put a few extra people on too,” Damien said.

Billie and Sebastian agreed.

“How about we put a couple extra of our people on duty inside the castle and you put a few extra of yours outside?” Billie suggested.

Sebastian looked at Damien and Damien nodded. They worked out the number of people that
they would each add to their schedule each shift for the next week.

Well Endymon, if you chance a tryst with Serenity for the next week , I hope for your sake
that you are careful not to get caught.

“Do you still have the passages barricaded, Billie?” Sebastian asked. When she nodded, “You should let them down now. There will be some very upset workers and guests if they can’t use the passages.”

Billie straightened her back, pushed her shoulders back and closed her eyes. After a few moments, she opened her eyes. “The ways are now clear. No water on the floors this time either,” she said a little smirk on her face.

Damien and Sebastian chuckled quietly and Prince Endymon looked more confused than he had
yet that day.

“Thank-you both for your help with the search,” Sebastian said to Billie and Damien.

Damien answered for them both, “No problem. It’s our job to take care of an intruder too. Occasionally there is one or two good enough to make it past your men.” Billie looked at Prince Endymon quickly and winked. She personally knew one that was that good, but he had made it a hobby as a child to duck the guards and sneak around the castle. Not seeing Billie’s action, Sebastian chuckled at Damien, then turned to the dojo and moved past Damien to enter it.

“Prince, if you will follow me, we can have that talk now,” Billie said.

“Heading back to the castle?” Damien asked.

“Not just yet,” Billie said, “the prince and I have a few things to discuss about his security concerns and needs.”

“You working the ball tonight?”

“Unofficially, yes.”

“Well, I’ll see you there. To bad we couldn’t both be unofficial at the same time. I would love to
have a few spots on your dance card,” Damien said laughing.

“Maybe next time,” Billie said.

“You said that last time you worked a ball as a guest, and you haven’t done it since.”

“There are going to be a few high-ranking royals attending this ball, Sebastian asked me to work
it this way.”

“Like who?”

“No idea,” Billie said, “I won’t see the final list until after mid-day. You should be getting your
copy of the list soon though. It could be at your office even as we speak.”

“Well, I guess it’s a good thing that is my next stop. I have to finish my paperwork and to make
the changes to the schedule,” Damien said as he started to step away.

“Billie? Come here a moment please!” They all turned back to the dojo where Sebastian was
standing beckoning her back.

“Damien please stay here with the prince until I get back. I’ll be as quick as I can.” The two men
nodded and watched her as she watched away.

“Tell me something?”

“What?”

“What did you mean earlier about a solid wall of ice?”

“You don’t know? Billie there is a Mage. A powerful one.”

“I’ve never seen her use magic since I first met her.”

“You sure? You’ve never seen somebody slip as if they had just stepped on a patch of ice on a warm summer day? You’ve never seen somebody grab their sword to fight her only to let go of it as if it burned to touch it? Think back, I’m sure some things will fit into place now that you know that she does magic.”

“My mother does magic, she has to use incantations for spells like that. I’ve been right beside Billie when those things have happened, I’ve never heard a sound out of her!” Prince Endymon didn’t believe it.

“I told you, she’s powerful. You just saw her do it just a few minutes ago. Her teacher said that
he had never seen someone who can summon a spell by thought alone, or...”

“Or disengage one by thought alone either,” the prince interrupted as he caught on.

“Right! She even knows a spell that Ryder said was beyond his capibilities.”

Ryder? How can she know a spell that is beyond him...I didn’t think that there were any! Mother said that he was the strongest Mage on the planet when he was Celeste’s guard. “You said Ryder? He’s not the same one that I know, is he?”

Damien nodded. “He was the captain of your sister’s bodyguards before she went to study magic
under that incompetent jackass.”

“Why do you call him that?” Prince Endymon asked, secretly agreeing with the title for
the man.

“What other kind of teacher lets their student get themself into a situation that they weren’t ready
for? One that they knew the student wouldn’t survive?” he watched the prince shrug. “Billie was
a lot luckier with her teachers.”

“How so?”

“When Billie came to the Moon from Earth she was under a spell called ‘Quiet’. She couldn’t cast magic, not that she knew any spells, nor could she even speak. A white witch countered the spell and took her in. Billie stayed with the older woman for almost a year, doing things like helping around the hut and fighting off the occasional bandits that find their way here without being caught. The witch had sensed a power in Billie and taught her the spells that she would need to defend herself against spells like the one that she was under when they first met, and how to counteract them if they are managed to be placed on her. After she left the witch, Billie worked as a barmaid at an inn. She was there only a couple of weeks when she was found by Ryder. Soon after that he took her as his student. She studied with him until seven years ago. That’s when she joined the castle’s guards. A couple of years later she was transferred to the Queen’s Bodyguards, under my command. Three years ago, shortly after you first came to the Moon Kingdom, she was moved to the Princess’ Bodyguards when they were formed as Second-in-Command, at the request of Queen Serenity. A year later she was made Captain of the Princess’ Bodyguards after that incident with the former captain. The rest you know.”

“You said that she defended the white witch, she had a sword and knew how to fight when she
arrived? Didn’t you find that unusual for a female from Earth?”

“Yeah, that’s why I dueled her. No magic, only swords.”

“And?”

“She kicked my ass!” Damien said laughing.

“That would embarrass some guys.”

“Anybody else at that age defeating me like that, and yeah, I would have been. But she had the
skill of somebody trained by a true master. I could tell in the way that she handled her sword that
she had been training with it for a long time. It’s like a part of her body.”

“And the sword?”

“She said that her father gave it to her when she had learned how to handle it. Said that it was the
only part of her family she had left. She hasn’t said anything more to me or anyone else that I
know of, about her family since.”

Prince Endymon finally had enough of the pieces to see what the puzzle should look like, he was sure that he had the answer to the question that was tickling his brain for the last two and a half years.

Damien looked at the prince for a moment, suspicious, “Why do you want to know so much about Billie?”

“She reminds me of somebody I knew as a child.”

“Who?”

“My sister....’s friend.”

“I’m sure that if she were that girl, that she would have remembered you.”

“I guess that you’re right. How is it that you know so much about her?”

“I used to be her commanding officer,” Damien reminded the prince and watched as Billie walked towards them. “I try to find out as much as I can about somebody before I let them join my ranks.”

“Good policy.”

“Hasn’t led me wrong yet!”

“Which is why I adopted it,” Billie said as she stopped beside the two men. “You wouldn’t believe how many potential security risks it eliminates.”

“Huh?” sounded Prince Endymon.

“My predecessor, he had a few people working under him that did things that put Princess
Serenity at risk.” Billie said, not looking at anybody, but up to the castle.

“What’s going on?” Damien asked, nodding his head in the direction of the dojo where Sebastian
located his office, changing the subject.

Billie blushed, “Nothing that you need to worry about. Pleasure and not business.”

Damien gave her a wink, “I get it. Well, I’ll be off. Prince Endymon, Billie, I shall see you both tonight at the ball, I hope,” he said looking at Billie. He then walked off towards the castle. I guess I don’t need to worry about any dances with her...I’m happy that they have finally revealed their feelings to each other, it’s about time, everybody else could see it a long time ago.

“Let’s get going. We’ll talk on our way back to the castle. I need to go to my office to get my work done before I need to start getting ready for the ball tonight.”

“Alright,” he agreed.

@}~`~,~~


Billie awoke once more and saw that she was surrounded by white once again, and then Sailor Pluto came into focus. “What happened?” she asked as she rose to her feet.

“I showed you a bit of who you are. I have only shown you a small part of the whole truth. Though you have been seeing bits and pieces of your past self all of you life.”

She looked at Billie and saw the confused look on her face. “Your dreams.”

“My dreams?”

Pluto nodded. “Yes.”

How does she know of my dreams? “What do you mean that you have only shown me a
small part of my past, why not more, or all, of it?”

“I can only show you what I have. I am forbidden to show you any more than that.”

“Forbidden? By who?” Billie said confused.

A voice that Billie didn’t remember hearing before, but one that sounded very familiar to her, behind her said, “I forbade her from showing you your whole past. What’s left you must figure out and remember without help from Pluto or myself.”

“Who are you?”

A woman that looked like the princess in Billie’s vision appeared in front of her. She then made
the connection, “Queen Serenity?” The woman nodded.

“Yes. What Sailor Pluto has shown you, really happened. The story that you tell really happened, just you were part of it. Though the legend does exist, it was never told to you as a child.”

Pluto then spoke up and said, “You know it from your childhood because it was a dream, and a
nightmare. You could never bring yourself to tell your parents about them because they would
never believe that it was anything other than that.”

“And the other bits and pieces that I have been seeing my whole life are just filler to the rest of the
story?!?” Billie asked starting to grow frustrated, it was all to real to comprehend. Billie had no idea that she was sending her next thought out to the queen, ::Maybe I did hit my head back there. Maybe this is all a dream, and when I wake up...::

::This is no dream, Billie.:: the queen’s voice sounded in her head, just as the princess’ had earlier.

“You are a defender of the Earth. Your destiny is to fight along side of Tuxedo Mask to protect
Sailor Moon and the other girls as they fight to protect the Earth and the universe from the evil
known as the ‘Negaverse’,” Queen Serenity said, then faded away from sight, just like Billie’s illusions do at the end of an act.

Billie looked around herself, “Where is she? Where is Queen Serenity?”

“She is dead,” Sailor Pluto said sadly.

“But she was just here!”

“And now the last of here energy is spent and all of you are safely on your way to Earth’s future.”

“What!? That happened a long time ago! Why do you make it sound as though it just happened?”

“Because for her it just did.” Pluto saw the confusion deepen on Billie’s face. “I am ‘The Guardian of Time’ remember? Bringing the two of you together like this is no large task for me. Especially as it was final wish.”

“When did she make that?”

“Just before she appeared before you, in her time. She wanted you to be able to help her daughter
if the Negaverse were to ever appear and she needed you to help.”

“Why now? It seems as though the enemy has been around before now, why not the first time
they appeared?”

“Once Sailor Moon and the rest of the Scouts had their powers awakened. At that time the
enemy wasn’t strong enough for you to have to fight too. Tuxedo Mask was enough protection.”

“And that has changed? How?”

“There are many families within the Negaverse, they all wish to rule over the others. The only way that they can truly do that is to seal the Silver Millennium Crystal from its holder. The ones that come after the crystal are getting stronger.”

“Who is the crystal’s holder?” Billie asked as she tried to see if she could remember what the crystal was and why it was so sought after.

“Sailor Moon,” Sailor Pluto answered, just as Billie remembered that the crystal belonged to the
royal family of the Moon.

Something inside of Billie’s brain clicked, and suddenly a few things were finally starting to make
sense. “Sailor Moon was Princess Serenity on the Moon Kingdom, wasn’t she?” Pluto nodded,
and Billie continued, “The other scouts must have been the princesses from the other planets.

Pluto needed again, smiling. She was pleased that Billie was making all these connections on her
own.

“That makes Tuxedo Mask, Prince Endymon?”

Pluto nodded a third time. In a matter of moments, she should make all the connections that
she needs right now.

Billie thought back to the man that had caught her when she was thrown, an unknown time ago. She had heard the tales going around Sailor Moon, the Scouts and Tuxedo Mask, how they protected people from monsters and guarded the Earth against evil. She recognized the face that
she first looked into as the description of Tuxedo mask, but then she remembered that the face
had changed. It was an illusion!with an illusion’, she just never really understood it before now even though she knew it
was true. She then remembered who Tuxedo Mask’s face turned into. Darien!? “Darien is
Tuxedo Mask?”

“The only reason that I am telling you this is because I know that you would never betray them to
anybody, yes he is,” Pluto stated.

Billie was silent for a moments as she followed the logic to its conclusion. Darien is Tuxedo Mask, Tuxedo Mask is Prince Endymon. That means Darien is Prince Endymon! Prince Endymon was deeply in love with Princess Serenity, and she him. Darien’s deeply in love with...Serena! Serena’s Princess Serenity! Princess Serenity’s Sailor Moon. Serena’s Sailor Moon! The other Scouts are the princesses from the other planets, minus earth. The other girls must be the rest of the Scouts. By who is which one?

That stumped her, she would just have to wait and see if she could figure it out later, she just
didn’t know enough about the other Scouts to be able to identify their personalities in order to
identify them out of uniform.

Somehow she knew that her time here with Pluto was drawing to an end. “Are you ready to become the ‘Masked Mage’ and join in the fight to defend the Princess?”

“How am I supposed to fight? All I know is illusions! How is that supposed to help?”

“What did you learn about yourself?”

“That I had magical powers, that I was a Mage.”

“What else, think to the part of the vision that your past self was not there for.”

“I don’t know,” Billie answered, then thought back to that conversation, then thought back to the conversation between Prince Endymon and Damien. She was a skilled fighter. She knew a sword and use it well. “Like I would remember how to use a sword, even if I had one. Just like I’d be able to recall how to cast any of the spells that I once knew.”

“It will come back to you...”

“In time, I suppose you’re going to say next.”

“Not at all. It should come back to you rather quickly, now that you’ve unlocked your memories.
If you happen to have gaps in your memories, though, don’t rush them. They will fill in
only when you are ready to know what they contain.”

“Another restriction?” Billie said sarcastically, “From the queen?”

“Not at all,” the Guardian of Time said. “Queen Serenity had nothing to do with any possible further repression of any more memories. Neither do I.”

“Who then?”

“You would.”

“What? Why?”

“I cannot tell you, but once they are revealed, you will know why you would have hidden them,
if there actually are any.”

With just as many new questions as those that were just answered, Billie was as ready to do all that she could to help her new friends now knowing that they had put themselves in possible danger to save not just her. There was an innocent at risk too! “What must I do to become the ‘Masked Mage’?” she asked.

“Concentrate on who you need to protect,” Pluto said, knowing that Billie’s powers were different and because of the mental strength that the other woman possessed that a transformation spell wasn’t needed, neither was an object like the rose that Darien used to become Tuxedo Mask.

Billie closed her eyes and thought, My friends! Billie thought about all of her new friends who had put themselves into danger. But when she opened her eyes, she felt no different.

“Who do you really feel the need to protect from evil? Think of them.” Pluto, of course, already
knew who that was.

Billie closed her eyes and tried again. In her mind an image appeared before her. She saw the monster that had attacked her as it had been when she first approached it. There was one major difference though, instead of the woman it had had at that time, it had a man in its grasp. Then she saw the man’s face...Kolton! I need to keep this evil away from Kolt! She felt a power course its way through her body. When she opened her eyes and looked down at herself she saw surprised to see that her clothes were different. This is no illusion! But isn’t Tuxedo Mask an illusion cast over Darien? Shaking the thought away, she took in what she was wearing.

The outfit was mostly black. Snug black pants clad her legs. A black jacket that reached her hips hung open. Under the jacket she had on a purple tank top that dipped low enough to show a little cleavage. On her feet, she noticed the black boots that laced up the front and had three inch heels. There was a cape on her back, black on the outside and lined in purple the same shade as her tank top, it was fastened on at the front of her shoulders.

On her left hip hung a sword. She looked closely at it. The hilt was wrapped in rust/brown colored leather on the grip. The end of the hilt looked like a rose in bloom. When she drew it from the sheath she was surprised at how light it felt, she thought that it would have been heavier. Looking at the blade, she saw that there was something on the half closest to the hilt. Turning the sword so that she could take a closer look at the image, she saw that it was of a rose and a dragon intertwined with each other. The head of the dragon was with the bloom of the rose, close to the hilt, while the dragon’s tail and the rose’s stem pointed down the blade.

She then realized that she had a mask on her eyes. She took it off and saw that it was similar to
Tuxedo Mask’s only her’s was purple in color to match her top and cape.

Placing the mask back on her face, she couldn’t help but wonder about the overall effect.

“Ready?” Pluto asked, as the other woman turned towards her.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Billie/Masked Mage answered.

“You must be sure that you are ready to fight, or else you could put everybody in danger. They have been doing this for sometime, they know that they have the ability, you will need to show them that you can fight along side of them. To not need them to protect you.”

The Masked Mage’s eyes narrowed and she said, “What’s the matter Pluto? Don’t think that I
can do my job and protect the princess?”

“I didn’t say that, I just don’t want you to go into this battle until you are ready, truly ready,”
Pluto said calmly.

“I assure you that I am ready! If I can remember nothing else, I know that I can at least
use some illusions as a distraction. There are a few that I have used for sometime that I don’t
need an incantation to summon.”

“Alright then, let’s get you back. I must warn you, though, that only a couple of seconds will have passed since you blacked out in Tuxedo Masks’ arms and to when you return. To the others it will be like, I would protect Billie and then Masked Mage is there to help them in their fight.”

Masked Mage nodded, “Alright, let’s go help our friends!”

“I’m not going,” Pluto said.

“What!? Why not?”

“I’m already there.”

“Huh?” Masked Mage asked, but before she got an answer, she saw a flash of light in front of her eyes. When it cleared and she could see again, she saw that she was back in the park and in front of her was her friends battle with the monster that had grabbed her earlier. I’ve heard that payback’s a bitch, let’s see if it holds true! she thought as she ran forward to help.