Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Regency ❯ Chapter 6

Regency

By: InitialA

Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor Moon.

It was very late when Uranus and Jupiter returned to the ruins of Jupiter's house. Hotaru and Minako had fallen asleep, but the others remained awake. Neptune stood as a solitary guard outside of the front gates, being waved off by her lover with the promise of later. Usagi was putting together a makeshift bed for Chibi-usa when her guardians returned; the infant was burbling happily in her father's arms. Mamoru looked worried. “We'll need to find something else for diapers, I don't think Makoto would appreciate us ripping all of her things for diapers for Chibi-usa, and bandages for the others” he said softly.

“I wish she was old enough to potty-train…”

Sailor Mars looked irritated. “Well, you should think about it soon. I have more important things to do than be used as a dryer for baby clothes. And Mercury can't just sit around being a clothes-washer!”

Mercury turned pink, not wanting to be brought into the impending fight. “Oh! Jupiter! Uranus!”

The others turned. “You're hurt!” Usagi cried.

“It's nothing, Dumpling,” Uranus waved her off. Jupiter nodded. “We have news.”

Usagi stilled. “What happened?”

“The mob went to the government quarter,” Uranus started. “Not many of the politicians had left. But… they had some military and police support by then. The good news is that the mob was deflected without many problems, and most people have gone back to… whatever is left for them. But there were a few injuries. Maybe casualties. We didn't get too close.”

“We tried that before, and it didn't go over well,” Jupiter indicated their injuries. “The people aren't going to be happy that their government fought them back.”

“Did they approach peacefully?” Mercury asked.

Jupiter shrugged. “Some did. Others… they didn't get the police as badly as they got us, but it was enough to make them fight back.”

Usagi stared at her hands. She fiddled with her gown, not liking the thought that crept into her mind. She had attempted to revert to her normal self, but it hadn't worked. She told herself she was just tired, but that coupled with this new thought made her uncomfortable. Luna rubbed her head against her mistress's arm, trying to comfort her. “Are there any other big problems?”

“Not as much looting as we thought, but supplies are virtually nonexistent,” Uranus said. “What few remain are going to be precious cargo soon enough, and fighting will break out over it.”

“There was some talk that the Diet was attempting to have communications restored with the rest of the world, but who knows how long that's going to take?” Jupiter added.

Artemis sighed. “It would be best to rest a while. You two are beaten up, and there isn't much we can do at the moment. We can go on the move tomorrow, but there's little point right now.”

Pluto and Mars offered to stand watch outside and force Neptune to come in out of the cold. It wasn't that much warmer in the house, but they were sheltered. Usagi watched Minako slide sideways and lean against Hotaru, and listened to Jupiter chuckle. The brunette had found and distributed the rest of her as-of-yet-moth-eaten blankets. She sat against the wall wrapped in one of them. Uranus and Neptune shared a blanket near the door, talking quietly; a make-shift bandage was tied around Uranus' shoulder. Mercury fell asleep almost instantly, curled up near Jupiter.

Usagi sat up for a while, thinking. She made Mamoru rest; one arm was curved around Chibi-usa's nest of blankets, and the cats lay around the infant to keep her warm. She sensed that Mamoru was watching her instead of sleeping, but neither spoke. Time passed, and her train of thought whirled so quickly that it almost gave her a headache. A few times, she took a break to attempt to revert to her normal self, but all that resulted was a soft silver glow that she thought would disrupt the others. It was just one more thing she needed to think about. She had a rough plan formed after about two hours, and was starting to doze when the front door burst open. Uranus and Neptune were on their feet almost instantly. Chibi-usa started to cry. The others woke up a tad slower; a man rushed past the two warriors and threw himself at Jupiter. “You're okay!”

“Hiro-kun!” Jupiter gasped.

Uranus swore violently, kicking the door shut. Neptune glared daggers at Jupiter's boyfriend, but placed a soothing hand on her lover's shoulder and sat back down. Jupiter made him sit. “Hiro, I tried to find you—”

“I was stuck on the train, it was hours before we could get out. I'm sorry if I worried you!”

Usagi smiled as Jupiter started to fill him in; she picked up her daughter and tried to calm her down. Some of the others had been hesitant to allow Jupiter to confide in him their secret, but she knew better and her word was final. Hiro was a good man; like Motoki and their families, she knew he could be trusted to keep their identities to himself. Everyone settled in again, and Chibi-usa's cries began to fade. “Usagi-chan…” Luna said quietly.

“Yes?” Usagi kept her voice just as soft.

“You should rest.”

“I know.”

“You have that look on your face,” Luna said reproachfully, her eyes glowing eerily in the scant light.

“I know.”

“What do you have planned?”

“We can talk about it tomorrow.”

“Which means I won't like it.”

“Which is why we'll discuss it later,” Usagi said firmly, ending the debate.

Luna curled around Chibi-usa as Usagi lay her back in her `nest'. “I'm putting my faith in you, Usagi-chan. You aren't sixteen anymore.”

The young woman looked out the window at the pearly, pre-dawn glow. “Sometimes I'm not so sure…”

*~*

She only brought Mercury, Venus, and Neptune with her. Even Luna and Artemis were made to stay, while the others' protests fell on deaf ears. She wanted injuries to rest, and some of her healthy warriors to protect her baby. She also didn't want Rei's sharp tongue in the way of what she was about to do. They walked for a while in silence. Usagi held up the train of her dress to lessen the chances of a klutz attack, her white slippers leaving tiny footprints in the snow. Her guardians exchanged looks several times, each accompanied with wide-eyed shrugs and silent, vicious arguments about who should bring up the topic of where they were going first. Neptune finally threw up her hands in frustration and asked, “Where exactly are we going, Princess?”

“The government quarter,” she replied, and held her breath in anticipation.

“Why?”

“Because that's where we need to go to find answers,” Usagi phrased it almost like a question.

Mercury lengthened her stride to walk next to her. “Usagi-chan, do you know the implications of this? What's going to come of it? Are you absolutely sure this is the best plan of action?”

Usagi looked down. She exhaled heavily, her breath clouding the air. “Not entirely, but it's the best one we've got.”

“As compared to what?” Venus asked.

Neptune pursed her lips. “We could be conserving our energy for a real problem.”

Usagi counted to ten silently; while she knew Neptune's heart was in the right place, the constant hurdle she put up was becoming aggravating. “Compared to sitting at Makoto's, watching Mercury and Pluto and Luna and Artemis crunch numbers and put together a vague picture while the rest of us feel useless or go out and get beaten up by a crowd of angry people? I'd rather be doing something, if it's all the same to you,” Usagi said, clearly annoyed. “I know where my department kept more information; at the very least we're going to the NSC!”

“Princess, this is a human problem. This isn't something we need to bother ourselves with,” Neptune said patiently. “Nothing Rei, Hotaru, or myself have seen indicates this is supernatural.”

“Seventeen nuclear bombs, sixteen going off at one time, isn't exactly natural either, Neptune,” she retorted. “Something just feels wrong about this to me.”

“It's the End of Times, nothing is going to feel right about it!” Venus exclaimed. “So you headed off the apocalypse, it's not like you can fix—”

She cut herself off abruptly, staring wide-eyed. The others froze, catching Venus' meaning. Usagi kept walking, not looking at any of them. They hesitated, and then followed after. A few minutes passed, and then, “This is why I chose you three. Venus, you've been doing this the longest of any of us. You're my body-double and understand me almost as well as Rei does. Mercury, you've been at my side almost from the start. I need you do explain the logistics if it comes up, and you have technology we'll need on the ground that might work as a bargaining chip if necessary. And Neptune… you went through a lot of hardship before you could count on anyone to have your back. You're the realist out of everyone. A true soldier. You won't hesitate if something drastic needs to happen, and you aren't as emotionally attached to me as Haruka is. You all are the most battle-worn soldiers I have. You won't question what needs to happen unless I'm about to do something ridiculously stupid, and I trust you to speak up if I am.”

She explained all of this very calmly, as if they were discussing the weather. There was a note in her voice that made them all stand at attention. “Yes, ma'am,” Venus whispered automatically.

“Right. Let's go meet that crossroads, shall we?” Usagi asked, smiling innocently.

*~*

The NSC compound wasn't as deserted as they were expecting. Usagi was the recipient of more than a few stares, but her guardians flanking her were what caused the whispers. Some people recognized Usagi and raised their hands in hesitant waves; she nodded in response, feeling foolish, but any verbal response would prompt questions that she wasn't sure she could or wanted to answer at the moment. As Usagi led them down an unfamiliar corridor, they heard a shout. Neptune, Mercury, and Venus surrounded Usagi protectively. “Chiba!”

“Iwamura!” Usagi said in relief.

Neptune blocked him from coming any further. Iwamura raised an eyebrow. “I didn't realize you kept such company, Chiba.”

She bit her lip. “Neptune, it's okay. We work… worked together.” The older woman didn't budge. Usagi pursed her lips, but decided against the argument. “We're old friends, Iwamura. To put it in the least complicated way.”

“Complicated puts it mildly. What I want to know is what the hell happened in the control center yesterday,” he said, and Usagi's heart dropped. He had her. “I saw... I saw you do something I can't even begin to think to explain. But this,” he gestured to her dress and her guardians, “this explains a lot more than words can.”

“Iwamura…”

“It's so easy to spot it now. And what happened back there? Between that and the other Senshi who took you away… I can't believe… you're Sailor Moon. I mean, I wouldn't be able to believe it, if I hadn't seen…”

Venus touched Usagi's arm as a warning to stay where she was. “She has done everyone a favor here, kid,” the blonde soldier said. “We'd rather you didn't run around shooting your mouth off about it.”

Iwamura scoffed. “What, with a room full of witnesses to what happened? I'm not the one you have to worry about.”

“What do you mean?” Mercury asked.

“The director saw. And he put it together faster than I did. He wants you and that power you have, Chiba.”

Usagi paled. “W-wants…?”

“We have you, Japan gains the upper hand in rebuilding the world.”

“Absolutely not,” Venus, Mercury, and Neptune said at once.

“Wait.”

Usagi's command brought them back. “Let me talk to the director. I won't be a plaything of politics, but I'll hear him out.”

“Princess—” Neptune started.

“Let me do this,” Usagi said firmly.

“Remember when you said to stop you if you were going to do something ridiculously stupid?” Venus hissed. “This is one of those moments!”

Mercury was frowning, but looking at Iwamura. “Bring the director here,” she said suddenly. “We won't allow her to walk into a blind situation, and we have information your director will want to know. As a gesture of goodwill, bring him here.”

There was a glint in Iwamura's eyes that Mercury didn't like, but he bowed slightly and trotted off. Venus shook Usagi slightly. “We're not going to do that again, are we?”

“I—no. Maybe. If it's necessary,” Usagi stammered.

“Wrong! Correct answer is `no! No, Venus, we're not going to do that again, because I don't want to be exposed to a potential danger!'”

“Venus! I know him! We worked just… yesterday… five hundred years ago yesterday… We went through paperwork together! We joked about having detention! Fushikenwa almost made him do the floors!” Usagi protested.

“What part of `you'll stop me if I'm about to do something stupid' did you not mean?” Venus demanded.

“Well…”

“Exactly! Mercury, back me up!”

Mercury waved her off. “I've had just about enough of everyone fighting, please.”

Neptune held up a hand. “Quiet! He's coming back.”

Iwamura rounded the corner. “Funny thing, the director really needs you to head to the control center. He wants you to explain the damage you caused.”

Neptune blocked his path again as he tried to approach Usagi. “I don't think we were quite clear. You're on our terms.”

“No. I don't think I've made myself very clear,” he replied icily, and moved to grab Neptune.

She blocked him with one arm; he dodged her uppercut. Neptune dropped instead, sweeping a leg out and knocking Iwamura's feet out from under him. “Neptune, stop it!” Usagi cried. “Iwamura, please, let's talk this out rationally!”

Her next words died in her throat. As he hit the ground, Iwamura let out an unearthly roar, and his skin shredded into thousands of pieces as an enormous black creature took his place. Mercury gasped and activated her visor.

The creature had a resemblance to the failed Daimon experiments that Neptune and Uranus first fought against, mixed with the shape of an enormous turtle. It breathed a smoke that made them all start to cough and made their throats and lungs burn. “CRESCENT BEAM!” Venus screamed, aiming for the creature's mouth.

The smoke ignited, and Neptune screamed as her leg was caught in the flames before she could roll away. Venus looked horror-struck. “I'm sorry!”

“Be sorry later! Get her out of here!” Neptune yelled.

The creature was hardly phased by the fireball, and took a step that made the building shake and part of the wall collapse. “SUBMARINE REFLECTION!”

Venus was pulling Usagi away from the fight. She fought, kicking and screaming, tears streaming down her face. “No! No, it's Iwamura! I can heal him, I can heal him!”

“Usagi, he was shredded to pieces, there is nothing left to heal!” Venus yelled, trying to pick her up and carry her off.

“No, no, no, no, no! I can! MOON ETERNAL MAKE-UP!” Usagi screamed, throwing her hand into the air.

Nothing happened. Usagi froze, eyes wide and shining with tears. Even Venus paused, stricken. “What?” She whispered. “No… No! MOON ETERNAL MAKE-UP! MOON ETERNAL MAKE-UP!”

“GET HER OUT OF HERE!” Neptune roared, as Mercury leapt out of the way of the creature's next step. “SUBMARINE VIOLON TIDE!”

The creature swung its head, completely oblivious to the surge of power shot out from Neptune's violin. Mercury was caught and thrown into Neptune; they smashed into the opposite wall, crying out in pain. Usagi screamed with them. “Let me go, let me go! MERCURY! NEPTUNE!”

She reached for them, shrieking their names. Silver light shot out of her hand and struck them both. The light blinded everyone.