Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Souls of the City ❯ first meeting ( Prologue )

Disclaimer:

The characters and locale were created by Takeuchi Naoko and are used without permission.

The following events are not a part of Pluto's design, so expect changes and alterations to the established flow of events leading to the creation of Crystal Tokyo. Also, if anyone in a sailor fuku shows up and asks for me, particularly Pluto herself, I had nothing to do with it, I'm merely re-telling events as they happened to the parties involved, and I have no idea why someone would try to frame me for them.

I wait any comments, good, bad or angry. How well I respond to upsetting comments might depend on my mood at the moment, but all C&C will be read & welcome regardless.

Sailor Moon: Souls of The City

Chapter 1.

Safety in Crystal Tokyo is something taken for granted. It is a bright, orderly and welcoming place. After all, life is nearly perfect in this city of solid dreams. It is where the best of the past, the present (and occasionally the future) work together to create a virtual paradise for humanity. It is a city with no crime, no poverty, or any real disease, other than the occasional flu or allergy. It is so, even during a slightly overcast late-night in a semi-deserted park, no matter how much a couple of strollers might have wished it to be otherwise. As they get closer, snatches of conversation from the younger of the two voices can be heard.

"It is all quite pointless, anyway. After all, it's not like it would change anything right? So why should we care about …?

… look, even if those bickering fools could actually manage to do something, do you think it would change things for us? It would probably just create an alternate timeline, since it seems to me that we are both still here and not someplace else. Even if Pluto ever allowed it to happen in the first place, which …" Hmm? What's this? She looks familiar… Could it really be… Hmm. Maybe that fool can be good for something, after all. "Now here's something for you to ponder on: See that one, all alone by the park? If Serenity has made this city into such a safe haven, then that little one should not seem so worried? Worry is the seed of Fear, and fear is not allowed in the heart of her kingdom, right?"

"A test of my conviction and powers? If you insist. Let's start by setting the mood. A lonely park after dark shouldn't be so relaxing, wouldn't you think? Within it, one should take but a single step away from the hustle, the noise and the lights, and become part of something older, something a great deal darker and primal." At least if one could ignore the wretchedly manufactured nature of it all, that is. "Still, even here and now, we should be able to manage a cloud or two to make it a bit more uncomfortable, right? See, that's much better. The wind has gone still, and a chilly silence has begun to settle in! Look! Our young person looks more awake and alert already! As a matter of fact, If I didn't know better, I'd say there was something very familiar about her. Almost like…"

"So you finally noticed it, you old windbag. I was wondering how long it would take you to." I wonder if They did not scramble his mind, along with his molecules, so very long ago? Not much I can do about it now, I suppose. We could have all changed a bit in these last couple of millennia, but still... "Well, oh wise and ancient one, are you going to quit staring and come with me, or what? Don't you think it is about time we introduced ourselves? You used to be a lot more polite than this before, old geezer, and if she really is the one we are both thinking of, it might be a really bad idea for us to keep Her waiting."

Boy, it sure got dark and cloudy, all of a sudden. And did the forecast mention anything about rain tonight? Nooo, they said it would be a beautiful, clear night. Figures. The weather service precogs are certainly getting sloppy these days. I should send in a complaint. Well, if it rains, there's bound to be a kiosk or something with a roof on this park, right? Still, it was quite strange how this little park got so spooky with only a few clouds rolling in. In a really weird way, it almost seems better now than how it was before.

She was trying to get away from all the people and the noise, so it made perfect sense to find a quiet place, somewhere to clear her mind, and work out whatever it was that was bothering her. She was pretty sure it was not some kind of budding 'talent,' since early screenings where generally very accurate in finding out the precogs and most of the other 'normal' espers. Rarer talents were harder to screen, but even those tended to be apparent by age six.

Her parents insisted that it was just a stage of puberty, a side-effect of growing up, and that it would all fade away in due time, but she could not shake away the feeling that there was something wrong. It could not be some mental illness, like depression or paranoia, since she had a clean bill of health at her last regular medical checkup, and that was just a week ago.

So here she was, considering again why it was that she had decided that walking into a dark, deserted park in the middle of the night would help. Still, if it rained, those trees should give some shelter, and even if she caught a cold and got grounded for this stunt, it would be worth it. She could just imagine the faces of her friends at school, as she told them the tale:

There I was, following the trail as it meandered behind the trees. As I walked the path, the clouds blotted the moon from my sight, and I was plunged into an almost palpable darkness. As my eyes adjusted, I could tell that there was barely enough light to distinguish the trail. I forged ahead, nonetheless. It was as if the path wished for me to continue onto an abyss leading me into the dark heart of the earth. The wind seemed to whisper sinister words of encouragement that my steps echoed with tones ...

"… just like I remember. It must be …"

"Shut up! She'll hear us!"

Huh? Wait a minute. That almost sounded like someone else was here.

"… want to be the one to explain what happened to Her? I was just starting to enjoy …

"… must know we're here already. If we try to hide or run, it'll only make it worse for…"

Yep. I was right. There is someone else here. Two of them, it seems like. They sound like a couple of little kids about to get busted. Might as well give them what they expect. "Look, I don't know what kind of an act you two were trying to pull on me, but it didn't work. You can either come out now, before I get mad, or I'll go in and get you myself!" There, that should do it. Huh? These two guys look too old to be pulling this kind of stunt on people. Still, from the look on their faces, I'd say my tactic worked. They look absolutely terrified! Maybe I should try this on the jerks at school. "All right you two losers, will one of you explain the point of this little stunt? You better have a good excuse for following me around and ruining my night with all your yapping, or else!"

Turning quite pale, the two young-looking men shared a brief look of resignation. While they expected to receive no pity from the young lady, it would not do to upset her any further. They proceeded to blame each other for their stupidity, all the while begging for her forgiveness. After about a minute, it became apparent that the apology had degenerated into an argument between the two over whose fault it was that she had gotten upset. And, as the argument showed no sign of stopping after a few minutes, it became apparent that unless somebody intervened, the amount of noise those two were making would get all three of them in trouble.

Geez, these guys are pathetic! I better stop this now, before things get too ugly. "Alright! Stop! I have just had about enough of you two! You will stop this childish behavior and pull yourselves together! Or do you really want everybody to know about this little incident? With the kind of racket you two are making, it's a wonder the Senshi themselves have not turned up here yet!"

Surprisingly, this last remark caused the pair to stop at once, and take a quick look around them. As they straightened up, one of them, the blonde, sighed and made a dismissive gesture. The clouds dissipated at once, and the moon was once again allowed to shine above the park. Under different circumstances, it would have seemed like an ordinary spring scene: Two embarrassed young men standing next to a rather upset redhead girl in her teens. Neither man seemed willing to meet the young lady's eyes, for some reason. Even in this late hour, a passerby might have mistaken the scene for some kind of sabotaged romantic date. Said passerby might have thought the men to be rivals for the young lady's attention, and he would have been quite right, just not in any romantic sense. Both men wore simple gray uniforms of some sort, and seemed to be trying to appear apologetic, alert and inconspicuous at the same time. They were failing miserably. Finally, after a few moments of silence, one of them spoke, hesitantly.

"Your Highness, we wish to extend our profuse apologies for our rude behavior. Seeing you among us again was quite an unexpected shock. It has caught us ill prepared to rejoin your cause. While we have to report that after ten thousand years of captivity, some of our combat skills have deteriorated, and the enemy has grown strong. However, if you give us another chance, we will once again prove our true worth to you. We've have been able to study their tactics in detail, and given the opportunity, we should be able to finally defeat them."

Jadeite, you idiot! Have you forgotten everything? Never mention a hint of weakness to her when she's upset! At this rate the best we can hope for is that, she'll merely think we're worthless and leave us again, to rot here for all eternity. It would be no big loss in your case, but I'm not looking forward to wasting away in Crystal Tokyo. I need a plan. Something that'll make me look good, but that will still spread the blame if something goes wrong. If I remember correctly, a compliment on her subtlety, good health or intelligence should temporarily cheer her up and get me back on her good graces. Well, seems like once again, it's up to me, Nephrite, to save our skins.

"Ignore the fool's rambling, your majesty. He is overwhelmed by concerns for your safety here. While it is true that we are not on top form at the moment, we are not quite as helpless as he makes it sound. Individually, we may no longer be capable of engaging the Senshi in battle and winning, but collectively we are still quite capable of protecting you from them. We are quite grateful for the chance to learn you are all right, but if you might excuse my boldness, might I inquire as to why you decided to come here, now?"

Huh? Majesty, me? My cause? What are they talking about?

Why are they talking about fighting the Sailor Senshi? The Senshi are good guys. But then, that would mean that these two would be some kind of … ! Oh boy, am I in trouble.

Hold it girl, this is no time to panic! This doesn't make any sense. I always thought the history books said that they were all dead or something. Besides, they act as if they are more afraid of me than anything else. If they were for real, there would be no reason for them to act that way, so this has got to be some kind of sick joke.

Yes, that's got to be it! In fact, that last question cinches it! Some jerk from school probably caught me sneaking out of the house and set this up! And, if these two goofballs hadn't been so nervous about getting caught, they probably would have scared the heck out of me tonight, and I would have never heard the end of it tomorrow at school.

Those jerks!

And on top of that, they still remembered enough of their lines to creep me out, the bastards! Lets see how they like it when they play this game by my rules! I wonder how long they could keep this charade going? I bet I could get them so upset they'll start to contradict each other within a couple of minutes. It would be a just payback for what they tried to do, after all.

It's strange, but there is something so satisfying about watching these two squirm in front of me. It's almost scary. I mean, it is a lot of fun, but definitely weird. At least they managed to make me feel better. Whatever's bugging me can't be worse than being like those two losers. So maybe coming to this park was not such a bad idea after all. Too bad I really don't have the time to really teach them a lesson for bugging me tonight. I should head back home soon, or I'll really suffer through school tomorrow.

How do I get rid of them? Let's see, according to them, I'm supposed to be an evil queen or something, right? I don't know if I should feel flattered or insulted about that. Whoever picked them out certainly chose them for their looks, and not their brains. Insulted it is, then. Who would want to rule over idiots like these?

"While I will excuse your imprudence this time, I do not see how it is any of your business to know. Even if I told you, I doubt either one of you is competent enough to understand my reasoning. I certainly did not come here to meet the likes of you. Go back to where you came from, and tell whoever sent you that I will not be intimidated by cheap theatrics." There, that should do it. I hope I got the tone right.

Damn it! If knew letting Jadeite talk first would be such a big mistake, I would not have pointed her out to him. "Please, your majesty, give us a chance to prove ourselves!