Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon Labyrinth ❯ A Strange New Girl, Usagi has Another Daughter?! ( Chapter 2 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Chapter Two: A Strange New Girl, Usagi has Another Daughter?!
The following chapters all deal with a stretched time period during one day. This is the first chapter with action! ^_^ (In case you haven't closely followed the anime, the senshi have their super forms at this point.)
"The girl from my dream," Rei hissed softly and reached into her kimono for a ward. The other girls warily got to their feet and moved closer together, Usagi standing in the center.
"Who are you?" Makoto asked. Her voice was guarded, but not unfriendly.

The girl hesitated before saying, "Pluto told me I could come back here and try to fix things. Are you the one who has the ginzuishou?"
Without waiting for an answer she peered at all of the girls and said, "Of course you are. I'd recognize the five of you anywhere. You look younger, but I would still know the women who raised me."

"Come to think of it" Ami murmured softly, "She does look remarkably like Usagi-chan. I wonder..."

"Are you Usagi-chan's daughter?" Minako asked the strange girl.
The girl hesitated for another moment, as though she was afraid to reveal her true identity, but finally she shrugged and responded, "I'm from the line of Serenity, yes. But no, I'm not Usagi's daughter."

Luna was now carefully looking over the dark-haired newcomer and shook her head with amazement, saying, "If you're not Usagi and Mamoru's daughter, you certainly could pass as her. You look more like her daughter than Chibiusa-chan does."
The girl paled and she snapped, "She looks like her parents and I look like her!"
Her blue eyes widened and she clapped a hand over her mouth as she realized she had revealed her identity.

"You're Chibiusa-chan's daughter?!" Usagi exclaimed with surprise.
After a moment of thought she added, "Then that would make you my granddaughter, right?" At the girl's affirmative nod, Rei snorted with laughter.

"Usagi's a grandmother," Rei chanted in a soft, sing-song voice. Usagi responded by sticking her tongue out, which Rei soon copied. Ami laughed with embarrassment, and Mako-chan and Minako looked the other way. The strange girl blushed slightly and stared at Rei and Usagi with amazement.

"And I never believed it when Grandmother and Rei told me they used to fight all the time," she murmured softly to herself.

Luna, remaining cautious, said, "How do we know you're telling the truth about who you really are? Don't be offended, but we can't trust everyone who walks up to the temple."
The girl flushed slightly and she stammered, "I don't know. I'm not used to people not knowing who I am..." She trailed off and seemed to be fighting tears.

"She doesn't seem to be too good at dealing with decisions, does she Luna?" Artemis looked at the girl with a mixture of pity and confusion, adding, "I don't see how a princess of Crystal Tokyo could be so timid."

"I don't know Artemis, if she really is Chibiusa-chan's daughter she isn't very important politically. She may be nothing more than a figurehead."

The girl fidgeted as the cats talked and Rei and Usagi fought, waiting for someone to speak to her directly. Finally, Ami walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder. The girl jumped, but didn't move away.
Ami smiled gently and softly said, "Don't be afraid. If you are who you say, we're going to do everything we can to help you. It's our duty to protect Serenity and her children."

"Arigato," The girl whispered gratefully, tears welling up in her eyes again.

"Oh! You poor thing! Don't worry, we're here for you."
Mako-chan crept up and added, "Yeah, the senshi will protect you." She clenched her fist, saying, "Nobody hurts Usagi-chan while we're around."

Luna, seemingly finished with her conversation with Artemis, walked up to the three girls and said, "What's your name?"

Hearing something she finally knew how to answer, the girl drew herself up proudly and replied, "Neo-Princess Serenity of Crystal Tokyo, known as Usagi or Usa-chan to my close friends and family. Third in line for the throne, heir to Neo-Queen Serenity-sama and Neo-Princess Selenity-sama, my grandmother and mother."

"Did you notice that Sailormoon wasn't in her list of titles?" Minako whispered softly to Makoto.

Before Mako-chan could respond, there was a massive explosion of concrete at the bottom of the steps leading to the temple. In a cloud of gray dust, a shadowy figure flew through the air above them. Squinting and coughing, the girls craned their necks upward.

"What is that?!" Makoto exclaimed.
"Henshin yo!" (transform) Luna shouted as she and Artemis sprinted for the relative safety of the temple.

"Moon Crisis!"
"Mercury Crystal Power!"
"Mars Crystal Power!"
"Jupiter Crystal Power!"
"Venus Crystal Power!"

"Make-UP!" They shouted simultaneously.
In swirling colors and a few flashes of light, the girls transformed into the Sailor senshi.

Usa stood still, staring at the strange creature through the dust. She didn't seem impressed by the senshi's transformation, which seemed to miff Sailormars. It occurred to her that if Usa really was Usagi's granddaughter she had probably seen the senshi transform numerous times in the future. Her pride slightly appeased, Sailormars turned to face their new enemy.

The creature before them was beautiful. Obviously female, she wore a long, form fitting, black silk dress and had metallic, shimmering, crimson hair. Her skin was very pale, her face was delicate and fine-boned, and she had slender hands and fingers. A pair of huge, white-feather wings were settled gracefully over her shoulders, giving the illusion of a cloak of feathers. She reminded Sailormoon of the artist she had healed while the senshi were still fighting the Dark Kingdom.
Sailorvenus looked at the beautiful creature and whispered, "Are we sure she's evil? She doesn't look dangerous."
The creature held completely still and gazed at each of the senshi carefully. Apparently seeing nothing she was interested in, she ignored all of them except Sailormoon. When she looked at Sailormoon, she leaned forward slightly, carefully looked her up and down, and finally shook her head with slight disgust.
Sailormars chuckled softly at the look Sailormoon received, but before the blond, odango adorned senshi could respond, the creature made an odd whistling noise in her throat.
Staring at Usa, she moved forward slowly, taking in every detail of her appearance. The whistling grew slightly louder, and seemed to take on the notes of a soothing song. Usa looked slightly intrigued, but didn't seem to be affected by the strange music in any other way.
Sailormercury, noticing Usa's lack of a reaction to the music, ruled out the idea of hypnotism and murmured, "I wonder what that creature is doing? Trying to soothe the prey before the strike?" When what she had just said fully sank in, Sailormercury jerked her head towards the creature with alarm and shouted, "NO!"
She launched herself into action and tackled the still Usa seconds before a barrage of razor sharp feathers went shooting from the creature's wings.
Sailormercury's head hit the cement, and her body went limp. Usa looked down at the prone senshi with horror and then up at the approaching creature. It looked just as angelic as it had when it first appeared, but the soft, white feathers now gleamed with an ominous metallic sheen.

"Mercury?" She whispered in disbelief as she shook the girl's shoulder slightly. The blue-haired senshi didn't move, and the shaking caused her hair to fall back, revealing a lump that was already starting to swell on her forehead.

"Mars Flame Sniper!" An arrow of flame shot from Mars' hands.
"Jupiter Oak Evolution!" Numerous orbs of green energy shot from Jupiter's spinning form.
"Venus Love and Beauty Shock!" Venus smiled and blew a golden kiss.

The triple attack raced towards the creature, which threw out dozens of feathers in retaliation.
The result was a massive explosion that threw Usa and the unconscious Sailormercury several feet away from the senshi. The creature began making its way towards Sailormercury and Usa again when Sailormoon pulled out her moon kaleido scope.
The creature, apparently sensing the severe threat the weapon posed, stopped moving. Every muscle in her body tensed, she held completely still as Sailormoon shouted,
"Moon gorgeous meditation!"
At the last second, the creature took to the air again. Using her wings, she easily gained height and hovered over all of the senshi. Usa and Sailormercury remained in the path of Sailormoon's attack.

"No! Stop!" Sailormoon made a pulling motion with her hands in an attempt to stall her attack, but it rushed towards the two helpless girls without slowing.
Time seemed to slow down.
(Images on the "screen" are silent.)
Usa looked at the upcoming attack with huge eyes, the senshi all began calling out attack phrases, knowing that they wouldn't be used in time to cancel Sailormoon's attack, Sailormoon herself frantically trying to stop it, and the creature hovering overhead with a placid look on her face. At the last second, Usa reacted. (Sound resumes)
"NO!"
She screamed, and crossed her arms in front of her upper body and face, hands clenched in fists facing inward.
As the moon gorgeous meditation fell upon the hapless Sailormercury and Usa-chan, who was kneeling just in front of the fallen warrior, there was a silver flash of energy as a golden crescent moon flared to life on Usa-chan's forehead. She uncrossed her arms and threw them away from herself, opening her hands as though she could push the attack away from herself and Sailormercury. With a silver flash of light, the attack dissolved, and the moon kaleido scope shattered in Sailormoon's hands. The crescent moon stopped glowing and Usa collapsed on top of Sailormercury.

"I guess there's no doubting she really is Usagi-chan's granddaughter now, huh?" Sailorvenus whispered.

"Mars Flame Sniper!"

The creature, apparently blinded from the light of Usa's crescent moon, was rubbing her eyes frantically and didn't see the attack coming at her. The flame arrow pierced her body, and passed completely through. Black energy poured from the wound, and even though she landed, she didn't seemed to be seriously hurt.

"Jupiter Oak Evolution!"
"Venus Love and Beauty Shock!"

The twin attack spiraled towards one of the creature's wings, and slower due to her loss of energy, she couldn't completely avoid it. The creature screamed, a musical flute-like sound, as the double attack tore a large chunk out of her right wing.

"Mars Flame-"

The words died on her lips as the creature's eyes began to glow red. The feathers fell out of her wings, and her skin turned scaly and reptilian. Her wings became bat-like, and her delicate fingers turned into razor-edged talons. The creature hissed and charged at Sailormoon.

"Aieeee!!!!" Sailormoon ran at full speed, still screaming as she did so.

"Mars Flame Sniper!"
"Jupiter Oak Evolution!"
"Venus Love and Beauty Shock!"

The creature fell to one knee, but quickly pulled herself up again. There were no visible signs of damage anywhere on her hide. Sailormoon tripped and fell flat on her face.

"Sailormoon, look out!" Sailorjupiter yelled, and she ran towards the creature. Sailormoon looked up to see a frightening reptilian face looming over her. She shrieked again, but at the same time, yelled, "Sailor Body Attack!" and propelled herself at the creature. The creature stumbled back as Sailormoon hit her, and Sailorjupiter grabbed her leader around the waist, dragging her to safety.
A red rose flew through the air and embedded itself into the creatures throat. She stumbled back, clawing at the beautiful, but obviously dangerous flower. Tuxedo Kamen stepped closer to Sailormoon protectively and glared at the monster.
"Now everyone! Attack!" Sailormars yelled, followed directly by, "Mars Flame Sniper!"
"Jupiter Oak Evolution!"
"Venus Love and Beauty Shock!"

A familiar voice weakly whispered, "Mercury Aqua Rhapsody." Being supported by a slightly weak looking Usa, Mercury smiled at them as her attack of shimmering streams of water joined the swirling ball of power. Mercury's added attack and Tuxedo Kamen's rose were enough to finally send the creature into death. With a final, ear-splitting shriek, she disappeared. A small gem hovered in the air for a moment before disappeared with a 'pop.'
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"She failed me, Kage." The woman's voice was cold, and slightly angry.

"Yes, My Lady, but you learned something valuable from her." A male voice responded.

"Which was?"

"The princess is powerless in the past. She can't transform."

"Hmm...You may be right. That tenshi (tenshi means "angel" in English) may have served her purpose after all. Although," she paused sardonically, "I wouldn't call her abilities as Neo-Princess Serenity powerless. She's just limited. If we can catch her without the senshi, she will collapse after releasing her energy. It would much easier to finish her that way..."

"As you say, My Lady."

A black gloved hand extended, and the gem that had disappeared when the tenshi was defeated reappeared. It hovered an inch above the palm of the woman's hand and spun slightly.

"I think we'll review this later. I need to think right now."
The crystal disappeared, and the male voice said, "Yes, My Lady. Until then however, I would like to send my own creature out; I have my own plans of course, and my task is to gather energy."

"Very well, your tasks are your own. It isn't my concern what you do with your energy."

"Thank you. I will be at your call should you need me."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
As the senshi watched, the golden crescent moon faded from Usa's forehead, leaving only a few strange scratch marks.
She smiled shyly and said, "I guess that proves my identity anyway."
Sailorjupiter had moved to help Sailormercury up, and Usa also got to her feet.
When Sailormoon and Tuxedo Kamen walked over to them, Usa winced and said, "I'm sorry about your moon scope; I didn't mean to break it."
Sailormoon rushed over to Usa and swept her up in an energetic hug, exclaiming, "I'm just happy you two are alive! Ami-chan is one of my best friends, and Chibiusa-chan would never forgive me if I accidentally killed her daughter!"
Everyone laughed, and Usagi carefully inspected Usa for signs of damage. Finally, satisfied that no harm, save a few bruises, had come to Usa, Usagi nodded with relief and detransformed. The others followed her example, including Tuxedo Kamen. Luna and Artemis cautiously came out of the safety of the temple.

"Nice work, girls!" Artemis said. Luna followed with, "Yes, it was quite impressive when you managed to destroy that creature without the use of Sailormoon's moon kaleido scope."

Usagi sniffled slightly and put in, "Yeah, but now I don't have a weapon again!"
Rei looked over at her and opened her mouth, a wicked look on her face. However, before she could say anything, Ami said, "Usa-chan, I think you need to tell us exactly what has happened in the future, about the ginzuishou, and why and how you got here."
Usa seemed surprised at Ami's use of the "chan" after her name, since it obviously wasn't a reference to her age, but smiled warmly and took a deep breath. ("Chan" can be used in reference to someone younger than yourself, or to indicate very close friends- like how the senshi use chan with each other)

"Setsuna-san, er, Sailorpluto, was the one who first told me about the flaw in the ginzuishou. She told me that it was being used to control Neo-Queen Serenity and that Serenity didn't even know it. She said that the flaw was influencing the Queen, and that I was supposed to find a way to fix the flaw, or stop it from controlling her, or something..."
She shook her head sadly, "She didn't explain it to me very well. She said there wasn't time. Whatever it was she wanted me to do, I ruined it. The ginzuishou shattered, the Labyrinth went berserk, and Crystal Tokyo fell."
A lone tear trickled down her cheek.
Minako blinked with confusion and said, "Could you slow down and start from the beginning? That story doesn't make sense."

Usa took a deep breath and said, "It actually started years before I was born. Not all of the people in Crystal Tokyo were happy with the constant peace. Neo-Queen Serenity wanted to create something that would help the more 'energetic' people vent their aggressions, but would keep the peaceful aura the city held. So," Usa shuddered slightly, "She used the ginzuishou to create the Labyrinth. Pluto gave me this," She held up a mauve jewel, "and told me throw it up into the air when I was ready to tell you about the future."
She tossed the jewel up, and it hovered in place a foot about their heads. A mauve light suddenly shone brightly from the jewel, and they saw everything.