Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ MOON REDUX ❯ Prelude ( Chapter 1 )

MOON REDUX

By: QUEEN TECHNICOLOR --11/23/09

Prelude—A Dream of What May Come

 

Blanket Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon, the anime, manga, or live action show, so suing me is out of the question. ( All you'll get is a case of CD's from the 1990's and a box of Act II popcorn ). All of this belongs to Naoko Takeuchi and I personally thank her for this wonderful world that she created.

 

 

This is a nightmare.

Just a nightmare.

At least, that's what Tsukino Usagi was telling herself at this very moment. She wanted to believe that, but it was getting harder and harder by the passing second. Usagi knew she was dreaming. Just moments ago she had been sitting in her room, reading the latest manga that she could get her hands on. She had shut off the lights and had gone to bed. That was it.

She DEFINITLY didn't remember wearing her Senshi uniform when she went to sleep. Usagi stared at her hands, covered by the normal gloves that she saw when she transformed. She knew this had to be a dream when she saw the normally pristine white gloves covered in blood, soaked onto her own skin from the quantity of it. Usagi looked down farther, realizing that her uniform had…changed itself. It was more regal than before, more colorful and ornate. But that didn't faze her when she saw the blood that had covered her hands had drenched her own body. It was too much for her to see, so she gently lifted her head.

Now she wished she hadn't.

The battlefield before her was torn up. Whether it had once been a city block or a field somewhere in Japan, it didn't look like that now. The ground was ripped to shreds, dirt and grass covering every square inch possible. Rocks and concrete made the landscape seem broken and mangled, with no hope of becoming anything again. There seemed to be nothing left of the scenery, just destruction as far as the eye could see.

The sky above her was a sickening green/gray color, swirled into one another to create a picture of fear. The clouds rushed by, almost afraid to stand still over the battle taking place below them. The wind howled in Sailor Moons ears, whipping her hair around in every which way. The golden tresses floated around the girl, helping show her shock and confusion at the sight that beheld her.

The Senshi in front of her were moving so fast that her eyes could barely keep track of them. Her guardians were flying through the air, sending attack upon attack at some strange enemy, that she truthfully couldn't see. Electricity brushed by her, fire swirled overhead, beams of light streaking across the air, ice dancing in arcs around the field. Her friends….her friends were those elements, she realized. Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Mars, Sailor Venus, Sailor Mercury…they were fighting. Sailor Moon couldn't break away from the fight brewing in front of her. She noticed more girls in the corner of her vision, dressed like Senshi in darker colors, seemingly screaming at the unseen force. But Sailor Moon noticed two girls in front of her more than anything else. They were younger than the rest of them, it seemed. Dressed in blue and pink, the girls were yelling, giving orders it seemed, as the battle raged on around them, ignoring the fact that they seemed to be covered in blood, staining the uniforms from white to a deep dark red. It was then that the girl in blue charged to one direction, her face livid and filled with anger so great that Sailor Moon could feel it from where she sat. She dashed into one battle, disappearing from sight. The pink Senshi was standing still, waiting it seemed, when she noticed Sailor Moon staring at her. Her face showed more emotion at the sight than the fight that was around her. She opened her mouth and screamed something at Moon.

Usagi then noticed why the battle seemed otherworldly: there was not a sound around her. She had been so horrified at the sight that the noise hadn't crossed her mind for one second. She stared at the girl, not understanding at the least what was occurring around her. At that one moment, that one second of weakness that the girl had used to scream, something appeared behind her. Sailor Moon's eyes widened, realizing the mistake that the girl had made when she should have been fighting away then ones attacking them. She raised herself off the ground, feeling the sharp, terrible pains that assaulted her with that small act. But this wasn't the time for her to cry or worry about them. She took off running, extending her hand, trying to summon what power she could from her crystal. Moon opened her mouth to yell, to tell her to run, to flee, to escape, until she realized the other horrid fact that this was a dream: her own voice was gone.

Sailor Moon then watched as the figure behind the girl raise a sharp, long sword and proceeded to drive it through the girl's chest. The blood that poured out splashed her face, frozen in terror as the realization that the sword was sticking out of her registered in her brain. Usagi felt her body tremble at the sight, her stomach lurching, her heart shredding into pieces. This wasn't right.

Sailor Moon felt the tears in her eyes, pouring over her cheeks and rolling off her face.

This was a nightmare.

 

 

“Usagi-chan! Wake up!”

Tsukino Usagi lurched out of bed, flinging the covers off of her body in her fright, accidently sending the one who woke her up along with them.

She panted as she realized that she had been sleeping. Her body was covered in sweat, soaking her night clothes through. Her hair that had become crazed during her sleep, frizzed and slightly damp around her forehead, as it flew forward only to hit her in the face. Usagi opened her mouth to breathe, finding that her throat was dryer than she remembered.

`Wh-what? What happened?'

Usagi sat still, trying to calm her breathing, until she felt a slight movement on her bed. She turned her head only to find her cat Luna staring right back at her. The cat's glossy black fur shone in the morning light, accenting the golden crescent moon on her forehead. The look on the cat's face showed that of a worried advisor, shaken from the sounds of a frightened girl.

“Usagi-chan! What is going on? You've been thrashing in your sleep all night! And whimpering as well! I've been trying to wake you up for at least an hour now. You're lucky that your family didn't hear all the whimpering you were doing…but that's not important right now. Can you tell me what happened?”

Usagi stared at Luna, trying to make sense of what had happened to her during the night. She peeked down at her hands, afraid that the blood in her dream would be there as well. But she worried for naught. Her hands were clean, albeit clammy from the sweat on her body. The blonde lifted her eyes to look at the moon-cat, noticing that Luna had moved to sit on her lap and continued to stare at her master and friend.

“Erm…Luna, what is it called when you have a dream that seemed….like you were seeing the future?”

The cat looked at her strangely for a second, before her answer floated into the air. “Prophetic dreams, Usagi. It's when you have a vision of things that may come. Is there a reason for this or are you trying to cover up for something? A dream of a future test you may fail, hmm?...”

The blonde shook her head. It wasn't even close to what Luna was saying. “Luna…I dreamed of a battle. It was real, almost like I was there, in another me's body. There was nothing funny about it. There was blood and the land was destroyed. Nothing was right! What does-!”

“Usagi. Stay calm. If you raise your voice, you may wake up your whole house.” Luna's tail motioned to the clock that sat on her nightstand. 6:15 AM. `No wonder Luna's so cranky', Usagi thought. Luna tended to get up only when she was running to school (late, but that wasn't the issue here). The girl turned back to the cat, her face still puzzled at the idea that she was awake even earlier than her alarm.

“Luna…”, Usagi continued. “What does that mean? I saw a battle in the future?”

“It is possible Usagi-chan. The powers of the Ginzuishou are very odd and can act on their own. I can't say that it was a false dream, but this is something that I'll look into for you if you want, Usagi-chan.”

Usagi thought for a moment. The strange crystal that had taken over her life…it did seem to act according to its own wishes, it seemed. The last few months had proven that to her in more than one way. She stared at her nightstand again, only looking at the broach that was laid there. Circular and colored a pale pink, it held the aforementioned crystal. The golden star on it shined in the light that came through the bedroom window, accenting the golden moon in the middle with its pink gem, along with the red, blue, green, and yellow gems that surrounded it. Usagi reached over and picked it up, holding it to her chest.

Luna watched as a strange clam overcame the young girl. It was odd though. A prophetic dream? Only Queen Serenity had had those, and they were few between, almost nonexistent. While her memories still weren't at their best, she never really remembered the late queen ever speaking of dreams to her. The closest thing had been one time in the prayer room…but that was a dream that had led to her own personal disaster, nothing like what Usagi was saying. Luna shook her head, filing the memory away and turned her attention back to the nervous teenage girl currently holding the broach tightly. The black cat shifted in Usagi's lap and cleared her throat.

“Anyway…Usagi-chan, I don't think that you have anything to worry about. I think that the battle you witnessed won't happen for quite a while. You just defeated the Dark Kingdom and resurrected the Moon Kingdom. Try and enjoy your efforts alright? Now, how about a good warm bath? With all the sweating you did, I'm sure you would enjoy it.” Luna then jumped off the bed and made her way to the door, pushing it open for the teenage girl to follow her.

Usagi watched as Luna left. She still held onto the broach, almost like a familiar presence washing over her. `Maybe it's because it's my own power now, not Queen Serenity's…or…mothers…' That had also been bothering the girl. She had two mothers now, though one had been gone for at least a thousand years while one was sleeping down the hall with her father. It felt odd, the connection she had felt with the late queen. The realization that that had been her mother, that she had died to save her and her friends…it was amazing. But holding the Ginzuishou made her feel loved. Her mother in the past had loved her, had sent her to this wonderful future to meet her friends and her true love once again. That was better than anything she had ever been given.

Usagi smiled, feeling the comforting waves of the crystal in her hand. After a few more seconds, she placed the broach on her nightstand and pulled herself out of bed. She still had trouble believing everything that had all started since the day she helped Luna get that band-aid off of her forehead. A secret past, powers unlike anything she had ever dreamed of, a tragic tale that could put the worlds soap opera writers to shame. For just one moment, Usagi thought back to the days where she just had to worry about waking up late, what pranks Shingo had in store for her that day, and what tests she had failed. That Usagi was in the past now, the blonde realized. She had to share with the great defender of justice, Sailor Moon, from this moment onwards. Staring at the clock, Usagi realized that it was too early for anything. But when the sounds of water drifted to her ears, she felt like that bath Luna had promised sounded better than anything else at that moment.

 

 

A/N--

Hello hello! Nice to see that you`re reading this! Hmm….I guess I should introduce myself right about now. I`m Queenie, and welcome to my first fanfiction! It shows, right? Sigh…I know. I have a long way to go with this. I`m not asking you to be all sweet and sugar coated to me. Believe me, I`d rather have people be honest with me about things that I can change about this story. Er…but enough about me and all that…

Well yup, this is my first fanfiction and I decided to do a Sailor Moon one, in honor of it being my first real anime as a kid ( technically it was Pokemon, but I guess it doesn't really matter… ). This has been on my mind for years now, and seeing as I`m now in college ( and not getting any younger… ), I figured I should try and write it down. And it`s been picking at my brain since I got here too. Silly ideas…ANYWAYS. Here are some of my authors notes that are seemingly important to the story, so read on my dears!

 

START UP!

I should start with probably the most confusing part of the story: the timeframe. Fans of Sailor Moon should notice that this takes place after the first arc of the story, which is the first season of the anime and manga. Before I get ten thousand questions, no, I`m not going to go back and rewrite the first season of the series. Why? Because the changes in the story happen AFTER the end of the Dark Kingdom saga. Besides, don`t fix what`s not broken they say. This is also due to the fact that I`m just a lazy bones. :) But in all seriousness, I`m not going to rewrite the first arc of Sailor Moon as it would pretty much just be the entire thing just as it is.

 

Fans of the series should also notice that the Crystal Star broach makes an appearance in the prelude. For followers of the anime that haven`t read the manga, the Crystal Star actually appears in Act 12 of the Dark Kingdom saga, when the Moon Kingdom is resurrected after Sailor Moon destroys Metallia. But it is given to her by Queen Serenity still, so that shouldn`t be an issue.

 

 

 

And yes, the crystal will be known in this fic as the Ginzuishou, not the Imperium Silver Crystal ( though, that is one of the literal translations of the name ). While this may seem confusing, it`s much easier for me, as I`m trying to forgo the Dub terms and names that I grew up with. And another yes, this means that I won`t be using the dub names for any of the Senshi, their powers, locations, or anything else. So if you`re confused, then I apologize. I`m sorry!

 

I`m going to say that I really don`t have a FULL idea on how long this fic is going to last. I DO know that it`ll be a long ass fic though, with multiple arcs. I`m still deciding if I should break up the arcs into their own storylines or just continue with this one fic and just make an add on after I`ve reached the chapter limit on MediaMiner. Any input on that idea would help greatly! Though currently, I have 10 arcs that will appear in this fic alone.

 

 

So about reviews! In this section, I`ll post the reviews/questions from the previous chapter only, as I would rather place these author notes right after I post the chapter itself. It seems tedious, but hey. That`s how I work I guess. But yes, I`ll try and answer as much as I can for each person. And I`d like to say something about postings: I honestly have no set schedule for them as of yet. I`m hoping to put out one or two chapters a week at the moment, but as a college student, I can`t guarantee anything as of yet. And I`m still currently setting things up with the OC characters that will show up, as well as the overarching plot, so I`m planning on a slower start than most writers I suppose.

 

 

Well! That`s it for this chapter of MOON REDUX! Next time be sure to expect the first of the reviews and questions to show up as a part of the regular postings! And for anyone who wants to give me any advice on how to make this segment better or more entertaining, please let me know!

 

Love, Queenie.

( 11/23/09 ) <3