Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ The Fragility of Time ❯ "To Live and Die in Starlight" ( Chapter 20 )
[ P - Pre-Teen ]
By: etj4Eagle 
An attack by a Cardian and Diana makes the scene.
Anime/Manga: Sailor Moon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Action | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 08.29.2001 | Pages: 11 | Words: 8.0K | Visits: 241 | Status: Completed
An attack by a Cardian and Diana makes the scene.
Anime/Manga: Sailor Moon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Drama / Action | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 08.29.2001 | Pages: 11 | Words: 8.0K | Visits: 241 | Status: Completed
The Fragility of Time
BOOK TWO: "Falling Towards Apotheosis"
Chapter 20: "To Live and Die in Starlight"
Author: etj4Eagle
Email: etj4Eagle@yahoo.com
http://www.geocities.com/etj4eagle
Lasted Edited: 5/18/01
Disclaimer: A reminder I own none of the characters of this story,
all rights are owned by others. However, the unique circumstances
of the story are mine. If you distribute the story, do only
so freely and inform me of where you post it.
___________________________
"She. She has wings," Jupiter managed to finally say, the others being
too stunned for the moment to say anything. Well except for Mercury,
who like any good scientist was examining/dissecting the subject in front
of her.
"Ow! Do you mind?" Sailor Moon asked, turning to glare at her examiner,
who was currently holding one of her wings up to see where it connected.
"Gomen, don't know what came over me," the abashed Sailor Senshi
replied. Releasing the wing, Mercury backed away, and resisted the urges
to go examine those wings some more.
"Anyways we are not here to gawk at my new outfit nor the wings that I
somehow acquired. Something powerful crashed into the city over there,"
Sailor Moon said pointing towards the crater in the ground. "And we
should find out all we can about it."
"The princess is right. That object came from outside our solar system and
with an entrance like that it is probably a threat." Uranus replied. Neptune
whom had been resting against Uranus's shoulder nodded her assent.
"Ooh, but it is so much more fun poking at Usagi's wings." Venus
whined.
Mars getting slightly annoyed silenced Venus's whining by grabbing her
by the ear and proceeding to drag her to the side of the roof. "If it is not
one blond acting up it is the other." Mars mumbled. Then as what she said
sunk in and her mind awoke to something else not being quite right she
cried out, "HOLD IT!" while spinning to regard the princess, "Your hair it
is no longer blond." She accused Serenity.
The rest of the Senshi all stopped walking towards the edge of the building
and turned to stare at their princess, none of them having noticed the
different hair color till now. Of course that was forgivable considering that
it was night after all, plus they were a bit too occupied by their leader's
new wings. So now they looked closely at her hair and one by one they
acknowledged the new hair color with, "Yep, Yeah, I would say that ain't
blond, Silver looks good on you," and the like.
Mercury clearing her throat pulled their attention back to the situation with
the crater. If she was not going to be allowed to poke and prod Usagi and
examine those wings, then they better damn well be investigating that
mysterious crater. Her little analytical mind was dieing to analyze
something and if she didn't get to analyze something soon she might just
start running a medical test on Jupiter who was standing conveniently
close by.
With the group reassembled and focused again on investing the crater,
they jumped down off the building. Activating her scanner and bringing
out her computer, Mercury scanned the area, while the others looked
around. The impact had drawn a small crowed, but the police had quickly
dispersed it, and now the streets were deserted once again. While the
police probably would have let the Senshi poke around in the crater, Ami
was glad no one was here, since the presence of the Senshi would just help
to fuel some unneeded hysteria.
Forty minutes later, they finished up their investigation and each went
their separate ways to try to salvage some sleep from the night.
Unfortunately, as far as they were concerned, Mercury's analysis had
come to the same conclusion that Uranus and Neptune knew innately.
Once again, it looked like they had two threats to deal with. This crater
was the crash landing of a couple of life forms from outside the solar
system. These new arrivals had used some kind of energy sphere to travel
in, much the same way they would should they ever have the need to
travel the stars.
One other thing Mercury noticed, which she kept to herself for the
moment not wanting to give the others a false impression, the energy
residuals were extremely weak. They were far below what her computer
gave as the norm for space flight. That indicated that the travelers were
low on energy, but whereas the others might see an easy opponent, she
knew that meant they would be facing a much more ferocious one, an
opponent who was fighting for their very own existence.
* * * * * * * *
The exiled princess of the moon kingdom greeted the morning sun with a
yawn. Turning her head, she looked at the clock. Upon seeing the time,
she gave a disgusted sigh and dropped her head back to the pillow. Wrapping the covers around her
body she attempted to fall back asleep, but for one of the few times in her
life, sleep just would not come.
Throwing the covers down she got out of the bed, not at all happy about
the situation. Without thought, she adjusted the blanket to recover her
child before silently storming out to the bathroom. Looking at her face in
the mirror, she wondered why she could not fall back asleep, especially
after having to get up in the middle of the night. Returning to her room,
she walked over to her desk, glancing down at her locket. Absent-
mindedly she picked it up, and with a mental command caused the locket
to vanish releasing the crystal from its confines. Cupping the glowing
crystal in her hands, she walked over to the middle of the room and sat
down.
Peering into the heart of the Ginzuishou, she could feel its energy and
even to a slight extent its bound to her soul. At first she just stared at it,
admiring its beauty, never having taken the opportunity to do that before,
and was marveled by what she saw. In a distant part of her mind she
remembered Ami's or was that Mercury's, of course the difference
between the two was academic, description of fractals, now truly
understanding what the Mercurian Princess meant. Feeling its energy she
suddenly realized why she was awake, staring at it a bit more sternly she
spoke to it, "It was you who woke me up wasn't it?"
A slight pulse of energy was the crystals response. While she did not know
exactly what it said, the gist of the message was clear, yes the crystal had
awoken her. But she was not yet sure why, surely it was not simply for her
to sit here and look at it, though she did enjoy doing that. However, the
princess did not have to ponder long the why, as the Ginzuishou came
alive, flooding the room with its energy. As its energy bathed Serenity, the
two melded into one for the time.
Her mind linked to that of the crystal and the physical world faded from
Serenity's perception. Replaced instead by images, memories of the
crystal, of herself and the other girls from the past few months. She
watched as a dormant part of their souls erupted in light and life, bringing
the warrior of the past to the present. She saw a child born, cloaked in
strong magic to mask and hide its aura. She watched as her attempts to
protect her daughter caused her aura to grow stronger and the resulting
increased difficulty that the glamour spell had in hiding her aura from
view, and how that energy came from her own reserves. The last finally
answering that question of why she felt extra drained after using her
stronger attacks. Then she saw the powers of the other Senshi crash into
her form while she faced Metalia, and the resulting shower of energy from
the spell exploding, overwhelmed and broken.
Understanding beginning to form in her mind, the crystal brought other
images to the front. Now she watched as Pluto guarded the gate of time,
stabilizing the damage to the time stream. She saw the worry evident on
the Time Guardian's face as she made a decision, one that she could never
make lightly, the decision to enter the time stream. She watched as Pluto
stepped out into her time and wove a magic spell around her to disguise
herself as Setsuna.
Now knowing what to do, the Moon Princes abruptly rose and cried out,
"That's it!'
True to the habits she inherited from her mother, ChibiUsa soundly slept
through the outburst, while a half-asleep Luna opened one eye and replied,
"What's what?"
Not registering Luna's question, Serenity knelt down to quickly recover
the crystal from where she had accidentally flung it. Cupping it in her
hands she let her energy flow as she began the spell, one that would solve
her current troubles. With her sigil glowing brightly, energy visibly flowed
down her hands and into the crystal. Then with a sudden backlash, the
energy coursed back up her body to utterly obscure her from view. Then it
was gone and so was Serenity, and instead Usagi remained in her place.
With a laugh of triumph, the silver haired Usagi swung around to regard
Luna. "What do you think?" She asked her guardian.
"Wha.. Huh..?" sputtered Luna.
A smiling Usagi decided to help her out. "Its like the disguise pen, only
better."
Not noticing the baiting, Luna lashed back out at her charge ready to
chastise her, "How many times have I told you the Lunar Pen is only for
Senshi business?"
Laughing a bit now, Usagi continued, "Yeash, Luna relax. One, this is
actually Senshi business, we can't really have me walk outside with my
wings now can we?" Luna had to give her that and plumped back down,
the wind removed from her sails. "Also this is much different that the
Lunar Pen, it basically the same spell that the crystal fragment had cast on
me since the time I was born. You know, the one that made you think I
was a Sailor Senshi and not the Moon Princess." She couldn't help herself
with that comment, she just loved the look that would come over Luna's
face when she reminded the feline of all the danger she had put her
through in looking for the precious Moon Princess. "Anyways it is nothing
more than the glamour spell that Pluto casts to be Setsuna, only a bit
stronger to hide by wings from both sight and feel.
"A simple spell and I reconstructed the glamour that had served me so
well before." Looking into the mirror and noticing her hair she continued,
"Though, it would appear that it couldn't do anything about my hair, oh
well."
Then looking back at Luna, she noticed the clock behind the feline who
was still laying on the bed and let out a shriek, "Oh no, I'm going to be
late!!" And with that, she tore out of her room, somehow managing to grab
her backpack as she flew by it at twice the speed of sound. Thirty seconds
later she was out the door and down the street.
thought Luna watching Usagi's
rapidly departing form through the bedroom window. Hearing a noise,
she turned around to see a confused Ikuko wander into the room.
Expecting her daughter to spend at least another day here at the house, she
was surprised to see Usagi dash down the staircase and grab a piece of
toast before tearing out of the house. Further, while Usagi still had the
silver hair, she looked different as well. Her mind a little lost with the
events from the past day, she had headed up stairs to see if she could find
answers. However, the morning haze prevented any coherent thoughts
from being formed.
"She remembered how to hide her true identity with glamour magic.
Apparently, the crystal showed her how to do it this morning. Guess she
has decided it best to begin attending classes again. Thought we would
have had to practically drag her to the school for that to happen, though."
offered Luna.
Ikuko thought about Luna's suggestion for a moment. "Guess the instinct
of running to school is so engrained in her that when she saw the time on
the clock the instinct just took over." she said finally. Looking over to the
sleeping child, she moved to adjust the blankets some. "ChibiUsa can
sleep for a few more minutes before I awake her. Especially since this
clock appears to be running fifteen minutes fast." She said while looking
at a suddenly slightly smaller Luna.
* * * * * * * *
Standing on a building's roof, Ail watched the sun rise in the morning sky
of this their new home. While he liked the beauty that a new morning
brings, those thought also led him down to the problem at hand, surviving.
With a mental effort, he shoved his current thought track out of his mind;
he did not need to dwell on those morbid thoughts this early in the
morning. He had come out here to enjoy the morning sky before beginning
the day's activities of integrating themselves into society with the natives.
Deciding that he needed an activity that would engage his mind a bit more
than admiring the rising sun, he looked down at the street to watch the
simple-minded inhabitants of this planet begin their day. Noticing one in
particular who was moving down the sidewalk at quite a clip, sending
pedestrians flying in every which direction, a smile came to his face.
Looking down at his wrist at the simple chronometer, he had picked up on
the street earlier this morning he realized he was going to have to head
back to the apartment he and his love had appropriated. Turning and
walking towards the middle of the roof he prepared to teleport when a
wave of energy crashed into him. The feeling was like a sudden gust of
wind, but not a harsh one, instead a real warm, gentle, reassuring one. The
result was that he felt suddenly refreshed, a bit stronger.
Heading back to the edge of the roof he tried to figure out what had caused
the wave of energy, but was unable to find its source. Concentrating a
little harder, he noticed that each of the humans had some of that
wonderful energy wrapped around themselves. He would need to tell Ann
his findings later today, but now he had class. And if he did not want to
have to see how well he and Ann would hold up against an entire city
sized angry mob, he better not blow his cover.
* * * * * * * *
In an alley, a rip opened up in the fabric of the universe and out stepped
Pluto. Walking out of the alley, she shifted to her Setsuna-self while the
rip closed back upon itself. Heading down the street amongst the throng of
people clogging the sidewalks, she noticed a caf'. In the original timeline,
she would frequent this caf' quite a bit in a few months as she prepared
and then aided in the fight against the Death Busters. She really liked the
tea they prepared here; somehow always making it, just the way she
wanted it. Though know one else knew it, she had on a couple of
occasions momentarily left another part of time to come here and relax
with a cup of tea from this place.
With her cup of tea and the day's paper, she sat down in her favorite seat
by the window. First order of business for her was to check the date on the
paper to ensure that yes time had flowed in her absence as she thought it
should. She did not know why, but she never had good control of exactly
when she would reenter the time-stream. At first she had thought it was
her queen preventing her, but of late she had come to realize it was just
some artifact of the way the universe worked and the nature of her power.
With some relief, she saw that the date on the paper indicated that only a
couple of days had passed, no new monkey wrenches yet into her duties.
With all the damage done to the time-stream of late and then that little
battle at the North Pole, she would not have been surprised if the gate had
deposited her months from now.
Taking another sip of her tea, Setsuna looked up just in time to see her
princess dart by. A large smile growing on her face, she leaned back and
relaxed. Another of her major worries had just been satisfied. Now was a
critical juncture again in the flow of time. Some branches would destroy
the reborn kingdom before it ever happened. And, some would give that
kingdom's ruler the time necessary to mature into her powers. Thankfully
it appeared, that at least for now, the river of time had chosen give her that
time; her Princess had relearned glamour magic.
Bringing the cup up for another sip, she paused for a moment to revel in
its warmth. The aromas made her think of the Utopia of Crystal Tokyo,
which Usagi would bring about. The steam coming off the cup reminded
her of the way that time was supposed to flow. But even as she was
reassuring herself with those thoughts, the gently rising steam gave way to
chaotic patterns as the liquid began to boil. Quickly releasing her hand, the
cup fell only a few centimeters before the porcelain still in mid drop
shattered, spraying hot tea everywhere.
Standing up quickly, a time ripple passed through Setsuna, causing her to
falter for a moment. Time ripples in themselves were not dangerous; they
were merely warnings of what might be. Some places at times seemed to
attract them and trained individuals might even be able to occasionally
summon them. But for the unprepared, they were unnerving, since they
tended to have a hallucinogenic effect with sensations that were even more
vivid than real life as they passed through an individual.
Shaken, but knowing she needed to find out all she could from this ripple,
she summoned the Garnet Orb and flung it into the room of the caf' while
her glamour fell. The pulsing orb caused the ripple to become visible to
the naked eye with a reddish ting. The two locked together in an embrace
of energy; the ripple began to slowly be drawn toward the garnet orb while
the pulses of the orb sped up. Very quickly, the pulses of the orb became
continuous and then it had absorbed the ripple. Reaching out her hand,
Pluto retrieved the orb and returned it to its place on her staff. Placing
some yen to cover the cost of the shattered cup, she left the caf' and its
bewildered patrons.
Desiring expediency, Pluto opened a portal as she stepped out of the caf'
leaving the busy streets of the Tokyo for that forested land she liked to
frequent. Once again removing the Garnet Orb from her staff, she held it
in her hand and commanded it to release the time ripple. This time in
command, she reached out her hand and felt the time energies of the
ripple, opening her mind to how they flowed.
Fear and dread again hit her; she could clearly feel the despair that would
befall the world and even the Cosmos, should the Messiah of light get a
hold of the Holy Grail. The displaced fragment of time twisted and
showed her a different portion of time's river. With a half laugh, indicative
of her recognition of the universe's sadistic humor, she released it, "You
don't actually expect me to help that fool, do you?" she asked of the
universe.
Grapping her staff, the Orb settled into place. Releasing the ripple from
the hold the orb held on it, she watched for a moment as it began drifting
once again. But only for a moment, as she brought her staff around and
with the howls of time released a Dead Scream. Getting at least some
satisfaction she watched as her attack obliterated a most annoying time
ripple. Turning and walking through the forest towards Tokyo, she
grumbled a bit to herself about what the ripple had shown her. She hoped
the five hour walk back to the city would be sufficient time for her to calm
down, since right now she was apt to blast one of those annoying stupid
people on the streets, which no city seemed to be without.
* * * * * * * *
Becoming aware of a missing presence in the bed, a small child awoke.
Rolling to the side of the bed, she opened her eyes to look for her mom.
Not seeing her, and knowing how much her mother liked to sleep, worry
began to creep into her. Pulling her robe on, she headed out of the room to
search for her mother. Not finding her in the bathroom made her worry
even more, and so she padded down the stairs.
Downstairs cleaning, Ikuko looked up in time to see the small child,
somehow looking even more kawaii than normal, walk softly into the
room. While the child attempted to hide it, some fear did show through
onto her face.
"Sleep well ChibiUsa?" Ikuko asked. When the small child nodded she
continued, "Usagi actually managed to wake up in time for school today.
According to Luna, she used some kind of glamour magic to hide her
rather unique features."
"Usagi went to school?" asked a slightly incredulous ChibiUsa.
"Yep, didn't believe it myself at first either."
"Guess I should go to school as well." said ChibiUsa, though one could
easily tell from the tone of her voice that she was not too excited about
that option.
"If you would like, though probably should do something about that
Crescent Moon first." suggested Ikuko.
"What crescent moon?" asked ChibiUsa as the said mark faded from view.
"How did you?" asked a puzzled Ikuko.
"Mother showed me how when I was younger. I had wanted to know how
she hid her wings and crescent moon when she wanted to disappear out
into Tokyo. Momma really doesn't change that much in the future; she is
still Usagi, hates doing work. Drives Venus and Mars nuts every time she
pulls one of her disappearing acts."
The last little bit caused Ikuko to laugh a bit. Shaking her head, she thought to herself. "Come lets get you some
breakfast and then I can take you to school when I head out to do my
shopping.
* * * * * * * *
"Oh I'm sooo late." Cried Usagi as she sped down the sidewalk. A little
ahead of her, an employee of a pet store was just finishing putting a cage
with some puppies out on the sidewalk to attract customers. "Ooh they're
so cute." Usagi cried when she saw the puppies. School forgotten, she
plopped herself down in front of the cage to play with the puppies.
Cuddling one of them in her arms she looked up at the clock inside the
store and noticed that she had plenty of time left. Not really remembering
what time she left the house, she guessed that she must have just read the
clock in her room wrong and went back to playing with the puppies.
* * * * * * * *
Umino sat at his desk reviewing his information. He prided himself on the
completeness of his information network; nothing happened with respect
to anyone at school that he did not hear wind of before everyone else.
Unlike others who traded gossip, he liked to know the why to go along
with the interesting facts. Hence, Mizuna-san's behavior the other day was
causing him pains. Normally she would have finished her exam in record
time, but she just sat there staring out into space for more than half the
exam time. His network even indicated that she did not finish the exam;
the posting of the results later today would confirm that bit.
Hearing the first bell ring, he looked up and noticed that Usagi was not yet
present. Though, if she held true to her normal form and not like the way
she had been acting recently, she would arrive slightly after the second
bell. Usagi she was also driving him nuts. He had thought he had her all
figured out, and then with the arrival of that little kid things just started
becoming weird.
ChibiUsa, real name Tsukino Usagi, apparently a cousin of Usagi,
however, his search of public records had failed to reveal what relative of
Usagi was the parent of said child. The two were alike enough to be
sisters, so the relationship between the two could not be very distant.
Additionally the two of them had a very strong bond, with the child
wanting to come with Usagi to this school for comfort. In addition to all
the questions that ChibiUsa raised, there was the issue of Chiba-san. First,
the two utterly hated each other and now they were acting as if they had
been in love for the past centaury.
The door being practically ripped off its hinges while a slightly out of
breath person ran in just as the second bell rang, announced the arrival of
Usagi. Looking up, Umino's eyes bulged for a moment as he noticed her
hair. Moving his hand to write this down in
his book, he paused for a moment before continuing.
Taking her usual seat in the middle of the classroom, Usagi began to catch
her breath. Looking up she noticed that Haruna-sensei was not yet in the room.
About to ask Umino if he knew where Haruna was, the door to the
classroom opened and Haruna came in leading another girl.
"Class this is Ginga Natsumi, she and her brother just moved here. She is
going to be in your class. Ginga-san why don't you take that empty seat to
the left of Usagi."
* * * * * * * *
A little earlier in the day outside the Juuban district, a child woke up to
greet the sun. With the ample light given off by the lanterns in her
otherwise dark room, she got herself dressed in her usual outfit. But then
as she was heading to the door, she remembered yesterday's surprise from
her father. With joy, she walked back to her closet while removing her
current clothing selection and dropping it all along her path to the closet.
Arriving at the closet she removed a hanger and held it up in front of
herself, not believing that she was finally getting her wish to wear the
uniform it contained once again.
Bouncing down the stairs, the now very bright-eyed child greeted Eudial
and went to get some breakfast for herself. Quietly humming, Hotaru ate
while her legs swung. Eudial looked up from her breakfast and noticed the
good mood. Eudial was happy for the child. Finally, fate was beginning to
deal the child a good hand, just as long as the bad feelings she had about
the professor's lab did not materialize.
Once the two of them finished their breakfast, Eudial brought out Hotaru's
satchel for school and then the two headed out of the house. As they left
the house a very energetic Hotaru walked beside Eudial, a child who was
barely able to contain her excitement about finally being healthy again,
having associated being healthy with being able to attend school. Coming
in sight of the school, Hotaru's pace slowed till she now walked slightly
behind Eudial.
"What's wrong Hotaru?" Eudial asked. When Hotaru did not reply she
continued, "Don't worry it is perfectly normal to feel a bit nervous and
scared on your first day of school. I am sure everything will be fine. This
is a different school, no one will know about your illness. Plus you have
been getting a lot better lately. I am sure you will find others here like
your friend ChibiUsa."
Hotaru looked up the older woman and tried to put a smile on her face,
succeeding only slightly. Internally she kept telling herself that this is what
she wanted. But a nagging part of her mind kept reminding her about the
last time she was in school, about how everyone was scared of her. How
she would apparently go berserk and hurt her classmates and then
completely blackout, never recalling any of it. However, another part of
her kept telling her that she had to do this, that she could not turn back.
She was not sure why, but when she focused on that feeling she got a
momentary burst of strength.
Far too quickly, they arrived at the gates of the school. Giving Eudial a
quick hug, she picked up her bag and hurried up the steps joining the other
students. Looking at the sheet her father given her last night, she headed
towards the principal's office. Steeling herself, she reached up and opened
the door to the school's main office and walked up to the receptionist's
desk.
* * * * * * * *
Classes over till after lunch, Seijuurou got up from his desk and headed
towards the door. As was his habit before they had to flee, he pulled out a
flute like instrument and brought it to his lips and began playing. Behind
him entranced by the music and his good looks, the girls of the class
followed him, each wanting a just to get this hunky new guy to notice
them. The little following of his continued to grow, as students searched
out the source of the song he played.
Occasionally one of the girls would get the courage and try their luck in
talking to him. But, in each case, he gave no indication of even knowing
that they were there. In many ways that was the truth of the matter, he
could care less about their advances. The females on this planet would
never hold any interest to him; he had his love, Ann.
Turning around a corner and quickly sidestepping into a room, he lost his
fan club. Sensing a presence in front of him, he stopped playing and
looked up, bringing the instrument down from his lips. There standing in
front of him was a girl with a very peculiar hair color, silver.
"That was a very nice song you were playing. I wish I was that good at
anything. You must be knew here what is your name?" she asked. Then
reaching one of her hands behind her head she let out a little laugh as she
realized something. "Oops, heeee. How rude of me, asking for your name
before giving you mine. My name is Tsukino Usagi, but just call me
Usagi-chan."
Seijuurou was taken back by this girl that stood in front of him. For
starters, she was one of the few who did not go all starry eyed over him.
And secondly, he sensed something was different about her. He could not
place it, but he felt much more kinship with her than with anyone else he
had come across so far on this planet. For the first time the loneliness of
having fled his home planet and having Ann as his only companion was
gone. So, unlike all the other times, this time he began talking.
"My name is Ginga Seijuurou."
* * * * * * * *
Walking outside the building looking for her "brother" Natsumi looked in
one of the windows of the school and finally found him. But instead of
seeing him alone as she expected to find him, she saw him having a
conversation with one of the females of this planet. Trying to discern who
that other girl was, she suddenly felt a wave of energy wrapped around
that child. Uncertainty combined with the fear she had grown up before
the tow of them fled,
* * * * * * * *
With the ringing of the bell, the teacher let her students out to lunch. Not
in any real hurry, Hotaru began getting up from her desk. While the
morning had not really been bad in any way, it was neither that great. The
problem was that while the other students did not look at her with fear or
such, neither did they really include her either. Consequently she was
beginning to feel a little lonely and out of place. She was used to feeling
lonely, but that was when she was at home and alone. Being lonely in a
place filled with other children made her loneliness much worse. In
addition, the others seemed to look at her funny, in respect to her very pale
skin.
Grabbing her school bag, she left the classroom. With her head down, she
began walking towards one of the building's exit to head out to eat her
lunch. A sudden high-pitched squeal brought her to an abrupt stop.
"Hotaru-chan!" cried a certain pink haired child, who now making a
beeline to the stunned girl.
Recovering, Hotaru turned and looked up, and reciprocated the squeal,
"ChibiUsa-chan." And took off as well to greet her best friend. Meeting,
the two girls embraced for a moment, before ChibiUsa began pulling
Hotaru along with her to lunch.
"I didn't know that you went to this school?" ChibiUsa asked. "Isn't this
kind of far from your house?" she asked a moment later.
"Hai, it is a bit far. This is my first day here. Poppa decided I was well
enough to attend school with other kids again." Hotaru replied with a big
smile on her face. "I am going to this one, as everyone here will be new."
"I think its great." ChibiUsa replied as she pulled her friend towards her
favorite spot to eat lunch. "Now we can hang out together during school as
well."
"Hai!" Hotaru enthusiastically replied, her day suddenly looking a lot
brighter.
* * * * * * * *
Ail and Ann stood on a branch of a large tree overlooking a daycare
center. With school over for the day, the two had headed out looking for
energy. They still had some energy reserves from the trip, which was good
as other wise they would have had trouble making it through the school
day. But, now that they were here and somewhat integrated into society, it
was time to collect the energy they so desperately needed to live. While
they were walking down the streets, the kids playing on the jungle gym
outside of a building ahead of them had drawn their attention.
Ail could feel the kids radiating the same kind of energy that had drawn
them here to this planet. If they could find a way to tap it, their tree would
be able to. Knowing what they needed to do, they had let their glamours
drop and relocated themselves up into a tree. There hidden from view
from others, Ail pulled out his deck of Cardian cards and fanned them out
to Ann. With a telekinetic thought, Ann lifted one of the cards. Placing the
others away, Ail brought out his instrument and began playing a tune that
would bring the Cardian to life.
* * * * * * * *
Ami walked down the street alongside Minako. She had wanted to spend
this afternoon analyzing the readings she had taken the other night from
the apparent meteor crater. But, as their leader, Minako had declared that
Ami should take the afternoon off, something about no sense worrying
ourselves silly till the new arrivals, if any, showed some hostile intent.
There was also that bit about Ami needing to take a break from her studies
every now and then. Consequently, Ami also learned that she was to
accompany Minako this afternoon, not that she minded that much really.
She liked children and once she learned that there was not going to be any
opportunity to attempt to study those readings, she actually began looking
forward to the afternoon's activities.
The particular daycare center that Minako occasionally helped at was
located next to one of the elementary schools, allowing it to share the
same playground equipment. The kids were currently outside playing on
that equipment. One of the caught sight of their favorite helper and called
to the others. Rushing over to the fence, they all began to wave, and
Minako returned their waves by flashing her trademarked V-sign.
Ami who had been walking beside Minako paused in her step when a
delicate melody played by a flute like instrument began drifting through
the air. "That kind of sounds like the instrument and melody that [Ail]-san
was playing today."
Minako noticing that her blue haired friend was no longer with her turned
to question Ami on why she had stopped. However, she did not get a
chance, as Ann's chosen Cardian chose that moment to roar to life and
make it way to the now panicking children. Spotting a nice sized group of
kids, it unleashed a blast, draining them of all their energy.
The sight of children dropping to the ground like a sack of potatoes,
snapped the two Senshi out of their daze, and with a cry of "Iie", they
called upon the powers of their respective planets, Minako in the process
tossing the basket she carried into the bushes. Empowered by the energy
that was theirs to command the two warriors took off towards the battle
scene, Venus heading towards the creature, while Mercury raced towards
the children.
A quick scan with her visor and computer in passing told her that the
drained children were fine for the time. Continuing her dash, Mercury
placed herself between the monster and the remaining children.
"Shabon." Mercury began and then after only a moment of hesitation
added, "Shield!" and unleashed her mist attack, which quickly solidified
into a shield, like the one that she had created during that previous battle
during the early morning hours.
The Cardian had not wasted any time in unleashing a second attack, but
this time its attack never reached the children. Instead, the shield of perfect
ice crystals blocked and dissipated the attack before vanishing. Seeing its
attack blocked, the Cardian gave a roar of rage and looked to find the one
that dared to interfere. However, it did not get the chance, as more
immediate threat presented itself.
"How dare you attack these defenseless children. Daycare centers are
supposed to be safe, fun places for our children to spend the day. As the
Soldier of Love and Beauty, in the name of the planet Venus, I will punish
you!" Venus declared as she landed in front of the demon. Dodging an
awkward lunge by the Cardian, she somersaulted backwards through the
air to land outside of its reach and unleashed one of her crescent beams.
With the demon's attention focused on Venus, Mercury was able to bring
out her computer again, this time to analyze the Cardian. Remembering the final battle up at the North Pole, Mercury
moved to flank the demon and then unleashed one of her Shine Aqua
Illusions.
When Mercury's attack came, Venus had been in the process of dodging
out of the way of some of the Cardian's attacks. Hence, her first clue that
Mercury had joined the attack was the sudden cessation of any noise from
their opponent. Landing and looking in the direction of the monster, she
was surprised to see the demon encased in ice. she thought,
having not seen Ami use her new attack during the final battle. Then
looking past the monster-icle, she saw one blue haired scout who seemed
to be pretty pleased with herself for some reason. Then making the
connection, she smiled at her partner.
While part of Venus's brain told her she
should call Usagi to get her over here to dust this creature, the anger at its
attack on these helpless little children was too much. Instead, all she
wanted to do was to dust it here and now. Bringing her arm up she began
the spell of her crescent beam, but then new casting words came to her
mind in the middle of the spell ".Meteor Shower!" she finished. From
her outstretched hand, her normal crescent beam sped toward the target,
but then it began replicating at an exponential rate. The result was
hundreds of beams hitting the demon all at once. Slamming into the ice,
the energy of Venus drilled its way through the ice to burn away at the
darkness enclosed within, till at the end only a pile of moon dust was left.
Slightly drained by the new spell, Venus dropped to her knees. But
rejuvenation came quickly as a pint-sized mob composed of the children
who had been lucky enough to not be drained swarmed at her. Not
wanting to disappoint her fans she picked herself up and flashed them a V-
sign before kneeling down to answer their questions.
But first, she scanned the area for any additional threats. Seeing none, she
knelt down with the kids and calling over to Mercury said, "Guess
ol'Rubeus is loosing his touch. We didn't even need Sailor Moon to dust
that one."
Mercury too had noticed the relative ease in which they had taken out this
demon. Pulling out her computer, she looked back over the readings she
had initially taken of the creature, and frowned. "I don't think that was one
of Rubeus's Droids."
"Then a left over from the Dark Kingdom?" Venus suggested.
"No, its energy signature is different from the demons either the Dark
Kingdom or the ones that supposedly belong to Rubeus."
"You mean. ?" Venus asked trailing off, not really liking where this
conversation was heading."
"Yes we have a new enemy. While this creature was easy, that may be
simply because they were not expecting any resistance. Now that we have
thwarted one of their plans, I would expect the following creatures they
send out to be more dangerous.
"Wonderful, get rid of one bad guy and a new one comes to take their
place. And, we still have Rubeus to deal with, and he has been giving us
enough trouble with just those random attacks of his." complained an
annoyed Venus.
* * * * * * * *
Ail watched as the Cardian drained energy from the first batch of children.
Grasping a portion of the collected energy, he examined it. He could
readily feel a taste of that energy signature which had drawn them to this
planet in this batch of energy. With a smile he spoke to his love, "This will
do fine, a few more sources like this one and the tree will be rejuvenated
in no time." With a final look at the energy, he sent it to join the rest of the
collected energy in feeding the tree back in their apartment.
Looking back at their Cardian, wondering why a second batch of energy
had yet to be collected he saw two warriors facing off against it. "Huh,
who are those two?" he asked out loud in response.
At first, he and Ann did not concern themselves too much with the two
interlopers, not expecting them to pose much of a threat to their Cardian.
Consequently, they watched in amusement as the two attempted to face a
magical being, which would surely be more than they could handle. But
that amusement quickly turned to horror as they realized that those
warriors were mage soldiers, in particular when the blue one encased the
Cardian in ice.
Disgusted Ail watched as the other launched an attack consisting of
hundreds of energy beams, destroying it. Assessing the situation, "It looks
like we are in for some trouble. It appears that this planet is not quite as
devoid of magic as we first thought. With the presence of mage soldiers,
are going to have to use stronger Cardians, ones that can defend
themselves. Once the tree has enough energy, we may need to eliminate
these warriors and any of their allies if we wish to remain here and not be
hunted down." But, satisfied with the meager amount of energy that they
did manage to collect, the two of them teleported away.
* * * * * * * *
Diana walked the streets of Tokyo now in her feline form again. Now that
she might run into her parents, the queen, or the Senshi of the past, she
could not risk being seen in her human form. She was still having trouble
understanding what Pluto meant by sleep-sickness with respect to her
parents. But from all the time she had spent at the Gate with Pluto, she
knew the importance of not disrupting the timeline. Turning around a
corner, she saw Sailor Venus and Mercury reverting to their civilian
forms. Knowing that her quest was over she began running over to them.
* * * * * * * *
From where he had landed in the bushes, Artemis finally managed to
extract himself from Minako's basket. Once again he had to remind
himself why he let her carry him around in that basket, as since it was the
only way she could smuggle him along with her to various places. But he
was definitely going to have to have a talk with her about how to properly
place the basket down on the ground before going off to fight, one of these
days he was going to get hurt.
Looking around he noticed only a pile of dust remained of the demon, and
saw Venus and Mercury powering down, but he could find no sign of
Sailor Moon. For that matter he did not remember hearing her voice at all
during the battle. After a quick check to ensure that he was still in one
piece, he started walking over so that he could chew out Minako and find
out the story on this demon.
"Daddy!" came the cry of a high-pitched child's voice. Three pairs of eyes
turned to focus in on a little kitten that came dashing at Artemis. Reaching
her father, Diana began nuzzling up against him.
"Artemis how could you? Double timing like that." Minako accused him.
"But. I." Artemis sputtered as he attempted to deny and get his mind
around what was going on.
-End Notes:
-I guess better late than never. Two chapters this semester, not my
best for writing. I basically completely stopped writing around the middle
of the semester. So restarting took almost a week of just getting the story's
tapestry back in my mind. But it is there now and ideas for the final battle
have begun to float around. Lets just say there will be some surprises and I
may be a bit evil ? (maniacal laugh). But Saturn lovers should like it.
Everything for me ends this Friday, so by the time you read this story I
will be utterly done with my Masters Degree. Then in two weeks I go
looking for an apartment and move down to Wilmington, NC at the end of
June. Should be fun, and hopefully I will have another chapter out before
then.
-B5 fans might have trouble placing the title of this chapter. It is
the title for the new B5 TV movie, which is being produced for Sci-Fi and
will air this fall. The working title of the movie is "The Legend of the
Rangers." But since it may lead into a series of its own, the movie has its
own separate title: "To Live and Die by Startlight." In this case, it is of
course referring to Ail and Ann, who will live or die depending on
whether or not they can find sustenance on this planet.
-It only took me too many chapters, but Diana is here! Finally
completed her trip, she has rejoined the Senshi. And, boy does Artemis
suddenly have a lot of explaining to do.
-BTW I would stay away from Pluto for the time, as she seems to
be plenty pissed about something she say in the time ripple.
-Spoiler Warning: Some of the later chapters are going to involve
some elements from Stars. Can't say what, but they are critical for the
final battle. Though they won't appear till at least after Ail and Ann are
dealt with.
BOOK TWO: "Falling Towards Apotheosis"
Chapter 20: "To Live and Die in Starlight"
Author: etj4Eagle
Email: etj4Eagle@yahoo.com
http://www.geocities.com/etj4eagle
Lasted Edited: 5/18/01
Disclaimer: A reminder I own none of the characters of this story,
all rights are owned by others. However, the unique circumstances
of the story are mine. If you distribute the story, do only
so freely and inform me of where you post it.
___________________________
"She. She has wings," Jupiter managed to finally say, the others being
too stunned for the moment to say anything. Well except for Mercury,
who like any good scientist was examining/dissecting the subject in front
of her.
"Ow! Do you mind?" Sailor Moon asked, turning to glare at her examiner,
who was currently holding one of her wings up to see where it connected.
"Gomen, don't know what came over me," the abashed Sailor Senshi
replied. Releasing the wing, Mercury backed away, and resisted the urges
to go examine those wings some more.
"Anyways we are not here to gawk at my new outfit nor the wings that I
somehow acquired. Something powerful crashed into the city over there,"
Sailor Moon said pointing towards the crater in the ground. "And we
should find out all we can about it."
"The princess is right. That object came from outside our solar system and
with an entrance like that it is probably a threat." Uranus replied. Neptune
whom had been resting against Uranus's shoulder nodded her assent.
"Ooh, but it is so much more fun poking at Usagi's wings." Venus
whined.
Mars getting slightly annoyed silenced Venus's whining by grabbing her
by the ear and proceeding to drag her to the side of the roof. "If it is not
one blond acting up it is the other." Mars mumbled. Then as what she said
sunk in and her mind awoke to something else not being quite right she
cried out, "HOLD IT!" while spinning to regard the princess, "Your hair it
is no longer blond." She accused Serenity.
The rest of the Senshi all stopped walking towards the edge of the building
and turned to stare at their princess, none of them having noticed the
different hair color till now. Of course that was forgivable considering that
it was night after all, plus they were a bit too occupied by their leader's
new wings. So now they looked closely at her hair and one by one they
acknowledged the new hair color with, "Yep, Yeah, I would say that ain't
blond, Silver looks good on you," and the like.
Mercury clearing her throat pulled their attention back to the situation with
the crater. If she was not going to be allowed to poke and prod Usagi and
examine those wings, then they better damn well be investigating that
mysterious crater. Her little analytical mind was dieing to analyze
something and if she didn't get to analyze something soon she might just
start running a medical test on Jupiter who was standing conveniently
close by.
With the group reassembled and focused again on investing the crater,
they jumped down off the building. Activating her scanner and bringing
out her computer, Mercury scanned the area, while the others looked
around. The impact had drawn a small crowed, but the police had quickly
dispersed it, and now the streets were deserted once again. While the
police probably would have let the Senshi poke around in the crater, Ami
was glad no one was here, since the presence of the Senshi would just help
to fuel some unneeded hysteria.
Forty minutes later, they finished up their investigation and each went
their separate ways to try to salvage some sleep from the night.
Unfortunately, as far as they were concerned, Mercury's analysis had
come to the same conclusion that Uranus and Neptune knew innately.
Once again, it looked like they had two threats to deal with. This crater
was the crash landing of a couple of life forms from outside the solar
system. These new arrivals had used some kind of energy sphere to travel
in, much the same way they would should they ever have the need to
travel the stars.
One other thing Mercury noticed, which she kept to herself for the
moment not wanting to give the others a false impression, the energy
residuals were extremely weak. They were far below what her computer
gave as the norm for space flight. That indicated that the travelers were
low on energy, but whereas the others might see an easy opponent, she
knew that meant they would be facing a much more ferocious one, an
opponent who was fighting for their very own existence.
* * * * * * * *
The exiled princess of the moon kingdom greeted the morning sun with a
yawn. Turning her head, she looked at the clock. Upon seeing the time,
she gave a disgusted sigh and dropped her head back to the pillow. Wrapping the covers around her
body she attempted to fall back asleep, but for one of the few times in her
life, sleep just would not come.
Throwing the covers down she got out of the bed, not at all happy about
the situation. Without thought, she adjusted the blanket to recover her
child before silently storming out to the bathroom. Looking at her face in
the mirror, she wondered why she could not fall back asleep, especially
after having to get up in the middle of the night. Returning to her room,
she walked over to her desk, glancing down at her locket. Absent-
mindedly she picked it up, and with a mental command caused the locket
to vanish releasing the crystal from its confines. Cupping the glowing
crystal in her hands, she walked over to the middle of the room and sat
down.
Peering into the heart of the Ginzuishou, she could feel its energy and
even to a slight extent its bound to her soul. At first she just stared at it,
admiring its beauty, never having taken the opportunity to do that before,
and was marveled by what she saw. In a distant part of her mind she
remembered Ami's or was that Mercury's, of course the difference
between the two was academic, description of fractals, now truly
understanding what the Mercurian Princess meant. Feeling its energy she
suddenly realized why she was awake, staring at it a bit more sternly she
spoke to it, "It was you who woke me up wasn't it?"
A slight pulse of energy was the crystals response. While she did not know
exactly what it said, the gist of the message was clear, yes the crystal had
awoken her. But she was not yet sure why, surely it was not simply for her
to sit here and look at it, though she did enjoy doing that. However, the
princess did not have to ponder long the why, as the Ginzuishou came
alive, flooding the room with its energy. As its energy bathed Serenity, the
two melded into one for the time.
Her mind linked to that of the crystal and the physical world faded from
Serenity's perception. Replaced instead by images, memories of the
crystal, of herself and the other girls from the past few months. She
watched as a dormant part of their souls erupted in light and life, bringing
the warrior of the past to the present. She saw a child born, cloaked in
strong magic to mask and hide its aura. She watched as her attempts to
protect her daughter caused her aura to grow stronger and the resulting
increased difficulty that the glamour spell had in hiding her aura from
view, and how that energy came from her own reserves. The last finally
answering that question of why she felt extra drained after using her
stronger attacks. Then she saw the powers of the other Senshi crash into
her form while she faced Metalia, and the resulting shower of energy from
the spell exploding, overwhelmed and broken.
Understanding beginning to form in her mind, the crystal brought other
images to the front. Now she watched as Pluto guarded the gate of time,
stabilizing the damage to the time stream. She saw the worry evident on
the Time Guardian's face as she made a decision, one that she could never
make lightly, the decision to enter the time stream. She watched as Pluto
stepped out into her time and wove a magic spell around her to disguise
herself as Setsuna.
Now knowing what to do, the Moon Princes abruptly rose and cried out,
"That's it!'
True to the habits she inherited from her mother, ChibiUsa soundly slept
through the outburst, while a half-asleep Luna opened one eye and replied,
"What's what?"
Not registering Luna's question, Serenity knelt down to quickly recover
the crystal from where she had accidentally flung it. Cupping it in her
hands she let her energy flow as she began the spell, one that would solve
her current troubles. With her sigil glowing brightly, energy visibly flowed
down her hands and into the crystal. Then with a sudden backlash, the
energy coursed back up her body to utterly obscure her from view. Then it
was gone and so was Serenity, and instead Usagi remained in her place.
With a laugh of triumph, the silver haired Usagi swung around to regard
Luna. "What do you think?" She asked her guardian.
"Wha.. Huh..?" sputtered Luna.
A smiling Usagi decided to help her out. "Its like the disguise pen, only
better."
Not noticing the baiting, Luna lashed back out at her charge ready to
chastise her, "How many times have I told you the Lunar Pen is only for
Senshi business?"
Laughing a bit now, Usagi continued, "Yeash, Luna relax. One, this is
actually Senshi business, we can't really have me walk outside with my
wings now can we?" Luna had to give her that and plumped back down,
the wind removed from her sails. "Also this is much different that the
Lunar Pen, it basically the same spell that the crystal fragment had cast on
me since the time I was born. You know, the one that made you think I
was a Sailor Senshi and not the Moon Princess." She couldn't help herself
with that comment, she just loved the look that would come over Luna's
face when she reminded the feline of all the danger she had put her
through in looking for the precious Moon Princess. "Anyways it is nothing
more than the glamour spell that Pluto casts to be Setsuna, only a bit
stronger to hide by wings from both sight and feel.
"A simple spell and I reconstructed the glamour that had served me so
well before." Looking into the mirror and noticing her hair she continued,
"Though, it would appear that it couldn't do anything about my hair, oh
well."
Then looking back at Luna, she noticed the clock behind the feline who
was still laying on the bed and let out a shriek, "Oh no, I'm going to be
late!!" And with that, she tore out of her room, somehow managing to grab
her backpack as she flew by it at twice the speed of sound. Thirty seconds
later she was out the door and down the street.
thought Luna watching Usagi's
rapidly departing form through the bedroom window. Hearing a noise,
she turned around to see a confused Ikuko wander into the room.
Expecting her daughter to spend at least another day here at the house, she
was surprised to see Usagi dash down the staircase and grab a piece of
toast before tearing out of the house. Further, while Usagi still had the
silver hair, she looked different as well. Her mind a little lost with the
events from the past day, she had headed up stairs to see if she could find
answers. However, the morning haze prevented any coherent thoughts
from being formed.
"She remembered how to hide her true identity with glamour magic.
Apparently, the crystal showed her how to do it this morning. Guess she
has decided it best to begin attending classes again. Thought we would
have had to practically drag her to the school for that to happen, though."
offered Luna.
Ikuko thought about Luna's suggestion for a moment. "Guess the instinct
of running to school is so engrained in her that when she saw the time on
the clock the instinct just took over." she said finally. Looking over to the
sleeping child, she moved to adjust the blankets some. "ChibiUsa can
sleep for a few more minutes before I awake her. Especially since this
clock appears to be running fifteen minutes fast." She said while looking
at a suddenly slightly smaller Luna.
* * * * * * * *
Standing on a building's roof, Ail watched the sun rise in the morning sky
of this their new home. While he liked the beauty that a new morning
brings, those thought also led him down to the problem at hand, surviving.
With a mental effort, he shoved his current thought track out of his mind;
he did not need to dwell on those morbid thoughts this early in the
morning. He had come out here to enjoy the morning sky before beginning
the day's activities of integrating themselves into society with the natives.
Deciding that he needed an activity that would engage his mind a bit more
than admiring the rising sun, he looked down at the street to watch the
simple-minded inhabitants of this planet begin their day. Noticing one in
particular who was moving down the sidewalk at quite a clip, sending
pedestrians flying in every which direction, a smile came to his face.
Looking down at his wrist at the simple chronometer, he had picked up on
the street earlier this morning he realized he was going to have to head
back to the apartment he and his love had appropriated. Turning and
walking towards the middle of the roof he prepared to teleport when a
wave of energy crashed into him. The feeling was like a sudden gust of
wind, but not a harsh one, instead a real warm, gentle, reassuring one. The
result was that he felt suddenly refreshed, a bit stronger.
Heading back to the edge of the roof he tried to figure out what had caused
the wave of energy, but was unable to find its source. Concentrating a
little harder, he noticed that each of the humans had some of that
wonderful energy wrapped around themselves. He would need to tell Ann
his findings later today, but now he had class. And if he did not want to
have to see how well he and Ann would hold up against an entire city
sized angry mob, he better not blow his cover.
* * * * * * * *
In an alley, a rip opened up in the fabric of the universe and out stepped
Pluto. Walking out of the alley, she shifted to her Setsuna-self while the
rip closed back upon itself. Heading down the street amongst the throng of
people clogging the sidewalks, she noticed a caf'. In the original timeline,
she would frequent this caf' quite a bit in a few months as she prepared
and then aided in the fight against the Death Busters. She really liked the
tea they prepared here; somehow always making it, just the way she
wanted it. Though know one else knew it, she had on a couple of
occasions momentarily left another part of time to come here and relax
with a cup of tea from this place.
With her cup of tea and the day's paper, she sat down in her favorite seat
by the window. First order of business for her was to check the date on the
paper to ensure that yes time had flowed in her absence as she thought it
should. She did not know why, but she never had good control of exactly
when she would reenter the time-stream. At first she had thought it was
her queen preventing her, but of late she had come to realize it was just
some artifact of the way the universe worked and the nature of her power.
With some relief, she saw that the date on the paper indicated that only a
couple of days had passed, no new monkey wrenches yet into her duties.
With all the damage done to the time-stream of late and then that little
battle at the North Pole, she would not have been surprised if the gate had
deposited her months from now.
Taking another sip of her tea, Setsuna looked up just in time to see her
princess dart by. A large smile growing on her face, she leaned back and
relaxed. Another of her major worries had just been satisfied. Now was a
critical juncture again in the flow of time. Some branches would destroy
the reborn kingdom before it ever happened. And, some would give that
kingdom's ruler the time necessary to mature into her powers. Thankfully
it appeared, that at least for now, the river of time had chosen give her that
time; her Princess had relearned glamour magic.
Bringing the cup up for another sip, she paused for a moment to revel in
its warmth. The aromas made her think of the Utopia of Crystal Tokyo,
which Usagi would bring about. The steam coming off the cup reminded
her of the way that time was supposed to flow. But even as she was
reassuring herself with those thoughts, the gently rising steam gave way to
chaotic patterns as the liquid began to boil. Quickly releasing her hand, the
cup fell only a few centimeters before the porcelain still in mid drop
shattered, spraying hot tea everywhere.
Standing up quickly, a time ripple passed through Setsuna, causing her to
falter for a moment. Time ripples in themselves were not dangerous; they
were merely warnings of what might be. Some places at times seemed to
attract them and trained individuals might even be able to occasionally
summon them. But for the unprepared, they were unnerving, since they
tended to have a hallucinogenic effect with sensations that were even more
vivid than real life as they passed through an individual.
Shaken, but knowing she needed to find out all she could from this ripple,
she summoned the Garnet Orb and flung it into the room of the caf' while
her glamour fell. The pulsing orb caused the ripple to become visible to
the naked eye with a reddish ting. The two locked together in an embrace
of energy; the ripple began to slowly be drawn toward the garnet orb while
the pulses of the orb sped up. Very quickly, the pulses of the orb became
continuous and then it had absorbed the ripple. Reaching out her hand,
Pluto retrieved the orb and returned it to its place on her staff. Placing
some yen to cover the cost of the shattered cup, she left the caf' and its
bewildered patrons.
Desiring expediency, Pluto opened a portal as she stepped out of the caf'
leaving the busy streets of the Tokyo for that forested land she liked to
frequent. Once again removing the Garnet Orb from her staff, she held it
in her hand and commanded it to release the time ripple. This time in
command, she reached out her hand and felt the time energies of the
ripple, opening her mind to how they flowed.
Fear and dread again hit her; she could clearly feel the despair that would
befall the world and even the Cosmos, should the Messiah of light get a
hold of the Holy Grail. The displaced fragment of time twisted and
showed her a different portion of time's river. With a half laugh, indicative
of her recognition of the universe's sadistic humor, she released it, "You
don't actually expect me to help that fool, do you?" she asked of the
universe.
Grapping her staff, the Orb settled into place. Releasing the ripple from
the hold the orb held on it, she watched for a moment as it began drifting
once again. But only for a moment, as she brought her staff around and
with the howls of time released a Dead Scream. Getting at least some
satisfaction she watched as her attack obliterated a most annoying time
ripple. Turning and walking through the forest towards Tokyo, she
grumbled a bit to herself about what the ripple had shown her. She hoped
the five hour walk back to the city would be sufficient time for her to calm
down, since right now she was apt to blast one of those annoying stupid
people on the streets, which no city seemed to be without.
* * * * * * * *
Becoming aware of a missing presence in the bed, a small child awoke.
Rolling to the side of the bed, she opened her eyes to look for her mom.
Not seeing her, and knowing how much her mother liked to sleep, worry
began to creep into her. Pulling her robe on, she headed out of the room to
search for her mother. Not finding her in the bathroom made her worry
even more, and so she padded down the stairs.
Downstairs cleaning, Ikuko looked up in time to see the small child,
somehow looking even more kawaii than normal, walk softly into the
room. While the child attempted to hide it, some fear did show through
onto her face.
"Sleep well ChibiUsa?" Ikuko asked. When the small child nodded she
continued, "Usagi actually managed to wake up in time for school today.
According to Luna, she used some kind of glamour magic to hide her
rather unique features."
"Usagi went to school?" asked a slightly incredulous ChibiUsa.
"Yep, didn't believe it myself at first either."
"Guess I should go to school as well." said ChibiUsa, though one could
easily tell from the tone of her voice that she was not too excited about
that option.
"If you would like, though probably should do something about that
Crescent Moon first." suggested Ikuko.
"What crescent moon?" asked ChibiUsa as the said mark faded from view.
"How did you?" asked a puzzled Ikuko.
"Mother showed me how when I was younger. I had wanted to know how
she hid her wings and crescent moon when she wanted to disappear out
into Tokyo. Momma really doesn't change that much in the future; she is
still Usagi, hates doing work. Drives Venus and Mars nuts every time she
pulls one of her disappearing acts."
The last little bit caused Ikuko to laugh a bit. Shaking her head, she thought to herself. "Come lets get you some
breakfast and then I can take you to school when I head out to do my
shopping.
* * * * * * * *
"Oh I'm sooo late." Cried Usagi as she sped down the sidewalk. A little
ahead of her, an employee of a pet store was just finishing putting a cage
with some puppies out on the sidewalk to attract customers. "Ooh they're
so cute." Usagi cried when she saw the puppies. School forgotten, she
plopped herself down in front of the cage to play with the puppies.
Cuddling one of them in her arms she looked up at the clock inside the
store and noticed that she had plenty of time left. Not really remembering
what time she left the house, she guessed that she must have just read the
clock in her room wrong and went back to playing with the puppies.
* * * * * * * *
Umino sat at his desk reviewing his information. He prided himself on the
completeness of his information network; nothing happened with respect
to anyone at school that he did not hear wind of before everyone else.
Unlike others who traded gossip, he liked to know the why to go along
with the interesting facts. Hence, Mizuna-san's behavior the other day was
causing him pains. Normally she would have finished her exam in record
time, but she just sat there staring out into space for more than half the
exam time. His network even indicated that she did not finish the exam;
the posting of the results later today would confirm that bit.
Hearing the first bell ring, he looked up and noticed that Usagi was not yet
present. Though, if she held true to her normal form and not like the way
she had been acting recently, she would arrive slightly after the second
bell. Usagi she was also driving him nuts. He had thought he had her all
figured out, and then with the arrival of that little kid things just started
becoming weird.
ChibiUsa, real name Tsukino Usagi, apparently a cousin of Usagi,
however, his search of public records had failed to reveal what relative of
Usagi was the parent of said child. The two were alike enough to be
sisters, so the relationship between the two could not be very distant.
Additionally the two of them had a very strong bond, with the child
wanting to come with Usagi to this school for comfort. In addition to all
the questions that ChibiUsa raised, there was the issue of Chiba-san. First,
the two utterly hated each other and now they were acting as if they had
been in love for the past centaury.
The door being practically ripped off its hinges while a slightly out of
breath person ran in just as the second bell rang, announced the arrival of
Usagi. Looking up, Umino's eyes bulged for a moment as he noticed her
hair. Moving his hand to write this down in
his book, he paused for a moment before continuing.
Taking her usual seat in the middle of the classroom, Usagi began to catch
her breath. Looking up she noticed that Haruna-sensei was not yet in the room.
About to ask Umino if he knew where Haruna was, the door to the
classroom opened and Haruna came in leading another girl.
"Class this is Ginga Natsumi, she and her brother just moved here. She is
going to be in your class. Ginga-san why don't you take that empty seat to
the left of Usagi."
* * * * * * * *
A little earlier in the day outside the Juuban district, a child woke up to
greet the sun. With the ample light given off by the lanterns in her
otherwise dark room, she got herself dressed in her usual outfit. But then
as she was heading to the door, she remembered yesterday's surprise from
her father. With joy, she walked back to her closet while removing her
current clothing selection and dropping it all along her path to the closet.
Arriving at the closet she removed a hanger and held it up in front of
herself, not believing that she was finally getting her wish to wear the
uniform it contained once again.
Bouncing down the stairs, the now very bright-eyed child greeted Eudial
and went to get some breakfast for herself. Quietly humming, Hotaru ate
while her legs swung. Eudial looked up from her breakfast and noticed the
good mood. Eudial was happy for the child. Finally, fate was beginning to
deal the child a good hand, just as long as the bad feelings she had about
the professor's lab did not materialize.
Once the two of them finished their breakfast, Eudial brought out Hotaru's
satchel for school and then the two headed out of the house. As they left
the house a very energetic Hotaru walked beside Eudial, a child who was
barely able to contain her excitement about finally being healthy again,
having associated being healthy with being able to attend school. Coming
in sight of the school, Hotaru's pace slowed till she now walked slightly
behind Eudial.
"What's wrong Hotaru?" Eudial asked. When Hotaru did not reply she
continued, "Don't worry it is perfectly normal to feel a bit nervous and
scared on your first day of school. I am sure everything will be fine. This
is a different school, no one will know about your illness. Plus you have
been getting a lot better lately. I am sure you will find others here like
your friend ChibiUsa."
Hotaru looked up the older woman and tried to put a smile on her face,
succeeding only slightly. Internally she kept telling herself that this is what
she wanted. But a nagging part of her mind kept reminding her about the
last time she was in school, about how everyone was scared of her. How
she would apparently go berserk and hurt her classmates and then
completely blackout, never recalling any of it. However, another part of
her kept telling her that she had to do this, that she could not turn back.
She was not sure why, but when she focused on that feeling she got a
momentary burst of strength.
Far too quickly, they arrived at the gates of the school. Giving Eudial a
quick hug, she picked up her bag and hurried up the steps joining the other
students. Looking at the sheet her father given her last night, she headed
towards the principal's office. Steeling herself, she reached up and opened
the door to the school's main office and walked up to the receptionist's
desk.
* * * * * * * *
Classes over till after lunch, Seijuurou got up from his desk and headed
towards the door. As was his habit before they had to flee, he pulled out a
flute like instrument and brought it to his lips and began playing. Behind
him entranced by the music and his good looks, the girls of the class
followed him, each wanting a just to get this hunky new guy to notice
them. The little following of his continued to grow, as students searched
out the source of the song he played.
Occasionally one of the girls would get the courage and try their luck in
talking to him. But, in each case, he gave no indication of even knowing
that they were there. In many ways that was the truth of the matter, he
could care less about their advances. The females on this planet would
never hold any interest to him; he had his love, Ann.
Turning around a corner and quickly sidestepping into a room, he lost his
fan club. Sensing a presence in front of him, he stopped playing and
looked up, bringing the instrument down from his lips. There standing in
front of him was a girl with a very peculiar hair color, silver.
"That was a very nice song you were playing. I wish I was that good at
anything. You must be knew here what is your name?" she asked. Then
reaching one of her hands behind her head she let out a little laugh as she
realized something. "Oops, heeee. How rude of me, asking for your name
before giving you mine. My name is Tsukino Usagi, but just call me
Usagi-chan."
Seijuurou was taken back by this girl that stood in front of him. For
starters, she was one of the few who did not go all starry eyed over him.
And secondly, he sensed something was different about her. He could not
place it, but he felt much more kinship with her than with anyone else he
had come across so far on this planet. For the first time the loneliness of
having fled his home planet and having Ann as his only companion was
gone. So, unlike all the other times, this time he began talking.
"My name is Ginga Seijuurou."
* * * * * * * *
Walking outside the building looking for her "brother" Natsumi looked in
one of the windows of the school and finally found him. But instead of
seeing him alone as she expected to find him, she saw him having a
conversation with one of the females of this planet. Trying to discern who
that other girl was, she suddenly felt a wave of energy wrapped around
that child. Uncertainty combined with the fear she had grown up before
the tow of them fled,
* * * * * * * *
With the ringing of the bell, the teacher let her students out to lunch. Not
in any real hurry, Hotaru began getting up from her desk. While the
morning had not really been bad in any way, it was neither that great. The
problem was that while the other students did not look at her with fear or
such, neither did they really include her either. Consequently she was
beginning to feel a little lonely and out of place. She was used to feeling
lonely, but that was when she was at home and alone. Being lonely in a
place filled with other children made her loneliness much worse. In
addition, the others seemed to look at her funny, in respect to her very pale
skin.
Grabbing her school bag, she left the classroom. With her head down, she
began walking towards one of the building's exit to head out to eat her
lunch. A sudden high-pitched squeal brought her to an abrupt stop.
"Hotaru-chan!" cried a certain pink haired child, who now making a
beeline to the stunned girl.
Recovering, Hotaru turned and looked up, and reciprocated the squeal,
"ChibiUsa-chan." And took off as well to greet her best friend. Meeting,
the two girls embraced for a moment, before ChibiUsa began pulling
Hotaru along with her to lunch.
"I didn't know that you went to this school?" ChibiUsa asked. "Isn't this
kind of far from your house?" she asked a moment later.
"Hai, it is a bit far. This is my first day here. Poppa decided I was well
enough to attend school with other kids again." Hotaru replied with a big
smile on her face. "I am going to this one, as everyone here will be new."
"I think its great." ChibiUsa replied as she pulled her friend towards her
favorite spot to eat lunch. "Now we can hang out together during school as
well."
"Hai!" Hotaru enthusiastically replied, her day suddenly looking a lot
brighter.
* * * * * * * *
Ail and Ann stood on a branch of a large tree overlooking a daycare
center. With school over for the day, the two had headed out looking for
energy. They still had some energy reserves from the trip, which was good
as other wise they would have had trouble making it through the school
day. But, now that they were here and somewhat integrated into society, it
was time to collect the energy they so desperately needed to live. While
they were walking down the streets, the kids playing on the jungle gym
outside of a building ahead of them had drawn their attention.
Ail could feel the kids radiating the same kind of energy that had drawn
them here to this planet. If they could find a way to tap it, their tree would
be able to. Knowing what they needed to do, they had let their glamours
drop and relocated themselves up into a tree. There hidden from view
from others, Ail pulled out his deck of Cardian cards and fanned them out
to Ann. With a telekinetic thought, Ann lifted one of the cards. Placing the
others away, Ail brought out his instrument and began playing a tune that
would bring the Cardian to life.
* * * * * * * *
Ami walked down the street alongside Minako. She had wanted to spend
this afternoon analyzing the readings she had taken the other night from
the apparent meteor crater. But, as their leader, Minako had declared that
Ami should take the afternoon off, something about no sense worrying
ourselves silly till the new arrivals, if any, showed some hostile intent.
There was also that bit about Ami needing to take a break from her studies
every now and then. Consequently, Ami also learned that she was to
accompany Minako this afternoon, not that she minded that much really.
She liked children and once she learned that there was not going to be any
opportunity to attempt to study those readings, she actually began looking
forward to the afternoon's activities.
The particular daycare center that Minako occasionally helped at was
located next to one of the elementary schools, allowing it to share the
same playground equipment. The kids were currently outside playing on
that equipment. One of the caught sight of their favorite helper and called
to the others. Rushing over to the fence, they all began to wave, and
Minako returned their waves by flashing her trademarked V-sign.
Ami who had been walking beside Minako paused in her step when a
delicate melody played by a flute like instrument began drifting through
the air. "That kind of sounds like the instrument and melody that [Ail]-san
was playing today."
Minako noticing that her blue haired friend was no longer with her turned
to question Ami on why she had stopped. However, she did not get a
chance, as Ann's chosen Cardian chose that moment to roar to life and
make it way to the now panicking children. Spotting a nice sized group of
kids, it unleashed a blast, draining them of all their energy.
The sight of children dropping to the ground like a sack of potatoes,
snapped the two Senshi out of their daze, and with a cry of "Iie", they
called upon the powers of their respective planets, Minako in the process
tossing the basket she carried into the bushes. Empowered by the energy
that was theirs to command the two warriors took off towards the battle
scene, Venus heading towards the creature, while Mercury raced towards
the children.
A quick scan with her visor and computer in passing told her that the
drained children were fine for the time. Continuing her dash, Mercury
placed herself between the monster and the remaining children.
"Shabon." Mercury began and then after only a moment of hesitation
added, "Shield!" and unleashed her mist attack, which quickly solidified
into a shield, like the one that she had created during that previous battle
during the early morning hours.
The Cardian had not wasted any time in unleashing a second attack, but
this time its attack never reached the children. Instead, the shield of perfect
ice crystals blocked and dissipated the attack before vanishing. Seeing its
attack blocked, the Cardian gave a roar of rage and looked to find the one
that dared to interfere. However, it did not get the chance, as more
immediate threat presented itself.
"How dare you attack these defenseless children. Daycare centers are
supposed to be safe, fun places for our children to spend the day. As the
Soldier of Love and Beauty, in the name of the planet Venus, I will punish
you!" Venus declared as she landed in front of the demon. Dodging an
awkward lunge by the Cardian, she somersaulted backwards through the
air to land outside of its reach and unleashed one of her crescent beams.
With the demon's attention focused on Venus, Mercury was able to bring
out her computer again, this time to analyze the Cardian. Remembering the final battle up at the North Pole, Mercury
moved to flank the demon and then unleashed one of her Shine Aqua
Illusions.
When Mercury's attack came, Venus had been in the process of dodging
out of the way of some of the Cardian's attacks. Hence, her first clue that
Mercury had joined the attack was the sudden cessation of any noise from
their opponent. Landing and looking in the direction of the monster, she
was surprised to see the demon encased in ice. she thought,
having not seen Ami use her new attack during the final battle. Then
looking past the monster-icle, she saw one blue haired scout who seemed
to be pretty pleased with herself for some reason. Then making the
connection, she smiled at her partner.
While part of Venus's brain told her she
should call Usagi to get her over here to dust this creature, the anger at its
attack on these helpless little children was too much. Instead, all she
wanted to do was to dust it here and now. Bringing her arm up she began
the spell of her crescent beam, but then new casting words came to her
mind in the middle of the spell ".Meteor Shower!" she finished. From
her outstretched hand, her normal crescent beam sped toward the target,
but then it began replicating at an exponential rate. The result was
hundreds of beams hitting the demon all at once. Slamming into the ice,
the energy of Venus drilled its way through the ice to burn away at the
darkness enclosed within, till at the end only a pile of moon dust was left.
Slightly drained by the new spell, Venus dropped to her knees. But
rejuvenation came quickly as a pint-sized mob composed of the children
who had been lucky enough to not be drained swarmed at her. Not
wanting to disappoint her fans she picked herself up and flashed them a V-
sign before kneeling down to answer their questions.
But first, she scanned the area for any additional threats. Seeing none, she
knelt down with the kids and calling over to Mercury said, "Guess
ol'Rubeus is loosing his touch. We didn't even need Sailor Moon to dust
that one."
Mercury too had noticed the relative ease in which they had taken out this
demon. Pulling out her computer, she looked back over the readings she
had initially taken of the creature, and frowned. "I don't think that was one
of Rubeus's Droids."
"Then a left over from the Dark Kingdom?" Venus suggested.
"No, its energy signature is different from the demons either the Dark
Kingdom or the ones that supposedly belong to Rubeus."
"You mean. ?" Venus asked trailing off, not really liking where this
conversation was heading."
"Yes we have a new enemy. While this creature was easy, that may be
simply because they were not expecting any resistance. Now that we have
thwarted one of their plans, I would expect the following creatures they
send out to be more dangerous.
"Wonderful, get rid of one bad guy and a new one comes to take their
place. And, we still have Rubeus to deal with, and he has been giving us
enough trouble with just those random attacks of his." complained an
annoyed Venus.
* * * * * * * *
Ail watched as the Cardian drained energy from the first batch of children.
Grasping a portion of the collected energy, he examined it. He could
readily feel a taste of that energy signature which had drawn them to this
planet in this batch of energy. With a smile he spoke to his love, "This will
do fine, a few more sources like this one and the tree will be rejuvenated
in no time." With a final look at the energy, he sent it to join the rest of the
collected energy in feeding the tree back in their apartment.
Looking back at their Cardian, wondering why a second batch of energy
had yet to be collected he saw two warriors facing off against it. "Huh,
who are those two?" he asked out loud in response.
At first, he and Ann did not concern themselves too much with the two
interlopers, not expecting them to pose much of a threat to their Cardian.
Consequently, they watched in amusement as the two attempted to face a
magical being, which would surely be more than they could handle. But
that amusement quickly turned to horror as they realized that those
warriors were mage soldiers, in particular when the blue one encased the
Cardian in ice.
Disgusted Ail watched as the other launched an attack consisting of
hundreds of energy beams, destroying it. Assessing the situation, "It looks
like we are in for some trouble. It appears that this planet is not quite as
devoid of magic as we first thought. With the presence of mage soldiers,
are going to have to use stronger Cardians, ones that can defend
themselves. Once the tree has enough energy, we may need to eliminate
these warriors and any of their allies if we wish to remain here and not be
hunted down." But, satisfied with the meager amount of energy that they
did manage to collect, the two of them teleported away.
* * * * * * * *
Diana walked the streets of Tokyo now in her feline form again. Now that
she might run into her parents, the queen, or the Senshi of the past, she
could not risk being seen in her human form. She was still having trouble
understanding what Pluto meant by sleep-sickness with respect to her
parents. But from all the time she had spent at the Gate with Pluto, she
knew the importance of not disrupting the timeline. Turning around a
corner, she saw Sailor Venus and Mercury reverting to their civilian
forms. Knowing that her quest was over she began running over to them.
* * * * * * * *
From where he had landed in the bushes, Artemis finally managed to
extract himself from Minako's basket. Once again he had to remind
himself why he let her carry him around in that basket, as since it was the
only way she could smuggle him along with her to various places. But he
was definitely going to have to have a talk with her about how to properly
place the basket down on the ground before going off to fight, one of these
days he was going to get hurt.
Looking around he noticed only a pile of dust remained of the demon, and
saw Venus and Mercury powering down, but he could find no sign of
Sailor Moon. For that matter he did not remember hearing her voice at all
during the battle. After a quick check to ensure that he was still in one
piece, he started walking over so that he could chew out Minako and find
out the story on this demon.
"Daddy!" came the cry of a high-pitched child's voice. Three pairs of eyes
turned to focus in on a little kitten that came dashing at Artemis. Reaching
her father, Diana began nuzzling up against him.
"Artemis how could you? Double timing like that." Minako accused him.
"But. I." Artemis sputtered as he attempted to deny and get his mind
around what was going on.
-End Notes:
-I guess better late than never. Two chapters this semester, not my
best for writing. I basically completely stopped writing around the middle
of the semester. So restarting took almost a week of just getting the story's
tapestry back in my mind. But it is there now and ideas for the final battle
have begun to float around. Lets just say there will be some surprises and I
may be a bit evil ? (maniacal laugh). But Saturn lovers should like it.
Everything for me ends this Friday, so by the time you read this story I
will be utterly done with my Masters Degree. Then in two weeks I go
looking for an apartment and move down to Wilmington, NC at the end of
June. Should be fun, and hopefully I will have another chapter out before
then.
-B5 fans might have trouble placing the title of this chapter. It is
the title for the new B5 TV movie, which is being produced for Sci-Fi and
will air this fall. The working title of the movie is "The Legend of the
Rangers." But since it may lead into a series of its own, the movie has its
own separate title: "To Live and Die by Startlight." In this case, it is of
course referring to Ail and Ann, who will live or die depending on
whether or not they can find sustenance on this planet.
-It only took me too many chapters, but Diana is here! Finally
completed her trip, she has rejoined the Senshi. And, boy does Artemis
suddenly have a lot of explaining to do.
-BTW I would stay away from Pluto for the time, as she seems to
be plenty pissed about something she say in the time ripple.
-Spoiler Warning: Some of the later chapters are going to involve
some elements from Stars. Can't say what, but they are critical for the
final battle. Though they won't appear till at least after Ail and Ann are
dealt with.