Cat-Alin does not gain any profit by writing or publishing this story.
All characters are owned by Naoko Takeuchi and TOEI Animation.
I have finally managed to draw Chibiusa in a fuku I wanted her to wear for
a different story - and it didn't fit the atmosphere anymore. Then this story
appeared in my head and things flowed from there.
Look for sketches of this story at my deviantArt account as Cat-Alin!
There's no specific timeline when this story takes place,
but it's definitely after StarS.
The young girl stood on the balcony of her room, the view below her depicted the
royal rosecourt and a glimpse of the bazaar over the palace's inner wall.
She dimly heard merchants advertising their goods in loud voices,
customers chatting animately with each other or the merchants.
The young girl leaned against the railing, hoping to hear more but failed to do so.
Her rose colored hair was put up into two pigtails, arched in big puffs, and her
dress flowed in a big wave from her body, the slit in the middle revealing another skirt underneath.
"-renity."
She sighed and wished to go to the bazaar.
"Serenity!"
A hand patted her on the back slightly and she turned, seeing a girl a bit older than herself
looking at her. Her paleblue eyes matched her hair, set in a fashion that seemed impossible to imitate.
"You're not reacting. Pallas has been calling you for a while now!" the girl said, sounding hurt.
"Sorry. Guess I was spacing out." the other one apologized. Yes, she was still trying to adjust to being
called Serenity now. She was so used to the nickname she had gotten back then. Even now, she was mostly
still called Small Lady. Only her parents and guardians had begun to call her that.
But Chibiusa still felt more familiar to that than Serenity ..
"You're spacing out again. Don't leave Pallas alone."
Serenity giggled. "Sorry, sorry. Just .. nothing."
Pallas sighed deeply and sat in a fetal position on the railing, looking depressed.
"Pallas thought Serenity trusted her, but Serenity doesn't talk about her problems. Serenity doesn't
like Pallas anymore .." she muttered sadly.
"Ah, no, that's not it, Pallas!" Serenity waved it off quickly and patted Pallas' back. "I like you
and I trust you - you and your sisters are my dearest friends."
The girl turned around. "Really?"
"Yes. I'd tell you any worry I might have .."
"Pallas is glad to hear that! So, what's wrong?" she asked, her eyes growing wide with curiosity.
Serenity hesitated for a moment. "Do you remember Helios?"
"Of course!"
"Well, it's about him .." she started and stopped.
They had met, fallen in love and needed to go separate ways again, but had promised each other
that they would see each other again. Definitely. But so far, nothing had happened.
"Serenity, you're worried about him?"
Serenity shook her head and turned her gaze towards the bazaar again. "No, just .. I had sort of
thought that, when I returned here, he'd be waiting for me. Meeting me at the Time-Space Door."
She decided to not say anymore, as she knew that she had repeated these words and similar ones
so many times that everyone was probably sick of hearing about it.
And it wasn't like talking about him would change anything ..
"Oi, Pallas! What'cha doing?"
The annoyed voice made the two girls jump and turn towards the door where an older girl was standing,
her arms crossed in a strong gesture. Her green hair was extraordinarely fashioned and her green
pants slid down her hips carelessly.
"Onee-sama .."
"You're taking forever, Pallas! You probably forgot what you left for the moment you came here!"
Pallas gasped in an embarrassed manner, it was probably right.
She laughed sheepishly and looked at her older. "I'm sorry, Onee-sama .."
"Geez, any slower and you wouldn't move at all." the girl sighed exhausted. "Serenity, would you
please come with me? Pluto-sama is calling for you."
Serenity blinked confused and approached the older girl who started walking ahead,
so she and Pallas followed her. Their footsteps echoed in the big empty crystal hallway,
their reflections moving in perfect synchronisation.
"Juno, what does Puu want from me?"
The older girl shrugged her shoulders slightly. "Not sure. She just told us to get you and meet
her at the Time-Space Corridor."
Serenity nodded slightly, still confused but thought that it was something necessary.
"Small Lady?"
All three stopped and looked at the young and pretty woman approaching them.
"Mylady .." the two sisters said and bowed, leaving quietly after signalling Serenity to catch up.
The woman's white dress trailed delicately on the floor, her silverblonde hair was almost the same length
and her blue eyes looked worried. She was cradling a newborn in her arms.
"What are you in a rush for?" she asked, having noticed the sisters talking with her earnestly.
"Puu .. Pluto has requested to speak with me, Mother." Serenity said with a slight curtsey. "I'm not sure about what."
Her mother nodded slightly. She trusted Pluto and knew her well, knowing that it must be important.
"Very well. Run along, then. Keeping her waiting is not good." she told her daughter and focused her attention
then to her second daughter, who was whining slightly.
With another slight curtsey, Serenity followed the way the sisters had gone.
"Did the Queen want anything?"
In the Time-Space Corridor, when Serenity had caught up, two other girls had already arrived.
One had yellow flowers in her pink hair, the other had hair as red as flames - both were about the
same age as Juno, older than Serenity and had similar styled hair.
Serenity shook her head, trying to see through the thick fog of the corridor, looking for Pluto.
"She wanted to know where I'm going, but let it be when I said I was meeting Puu."
"I am glad to hear that, Small Lady."
The deep voice belonged to a young woman with dark skin and long dark hair,
her solemn red eyes focused on each of the five girls, then on Serenity again.
"Puu!" she gasped slightly, happy to see her friend again after some time. "I'm happy to see you!"
"I'm pleased as well, Small Lady." Pluto said and grew serious again. "I have asked you to come here
for something important."
Serenity nodded and listened, her guardians were quietly paying attention as well.
"I need you and your soldiers to travel." Pluto said and fumbled with the keychain around her waist,
tiny silver and gold keys clinking together animatedly. "To the 31st Century."
The girls gasped - it was unlikely to be told to travel forwards in time. Of course, it was forbidden
to travel to any time at all, but if an urgent matter came up, they were generally sent back in time.
Either to change something that had happened or to stop something entirely.
Serenity stepped forwards and took the small silver key from Pluto who was holding it towards her.
"What for? What are we supposed to do?"
"Travel to the future - to save our present."
A gasp was heard from the girls, their thoughts focusing on one: What could happen that would
destroy their era of peace? The Black Moon Clan had been defeated some time ago,
things had been almost boringly calm and eventless since then.
If, in a rare case, monsters appeared the soldiers were there right away - the monster was defeated,
it barely worried the citizens anymore.
"Can you tell us what is happening?" Serenity asked calmly.
".. I'm not sure." Pluto admitted. "Something has drastically reduced the population .. perhaps a disease
broke out and claimed them too quickly for a cure .. anyhow, I want you to find out what caused it
and try to stop it."
The girls nodded and followed Pluto to one of the dozens of doors and Serenity used the small key
to open it. The fourth dimension beyond it swirled fiercely. All five girls gripped Serenity's hand
which held the key tightly and took a deep breath, jumping into it.
The swirls around them hissed noisely and the sensation of falling down a deep hole strengthened
before everything went black.
A short prologue, newer chapters will be longer than this.
Next chapter will focus on the future and a new encounter
brings them closer to their goal?