Silver Millennium:
Maximar, the Mighty One, or just plain Max as he preferred stays perfectly still in the hidden alcove in the Lunar Crown Princess' garden, only he and the princess could access this part of the garden. It troubled him that she hadn't yet slipped away to meet him, even sick she came to him. Something was wrong, she was never this late coming to meet him. Just as he was about to go looking for her she appears before him, as this nook was in a pocket dimension that only they could manipulate, he takes in her haggard appearance, " Ren-hime, what happened? Whom do I need to go kill? "
" Nyx handled it and Dike is going to be filling in for me. "
Max curses when she sways and he steadies her, " Ren-hime, focus. "
" Assassination attempt, smart one. Get me to Angitia, fast, Max. "
Max pales, she had said Angitia, the snake goddess associated with magic and Healing. That meant things were looking very grim for his hime. Concentrating he opens the necessary portal with his Cap and they appear in Angitia's domain, near Fucine lake. " Angitia, Είναι επείγον( It's an emergency)! Ελάτε γρήγορα( Come quickly)! " Max calls out, due to his association with the princess in his arms he had learned Greek, Latin, and could swear in several planetary languages.
The snake goddess pales upon seeing Hades daughter being brought to her and she snaps into healer mode, " Φέρτε την στην καλύβα μου αμέσως και να την βάζει στο τραπέζι( Bring her into my hut immediately and lay her down on the table)! "
Max watches Angitia work with his hands clenched into fists, if there was ever a time he needed his good luck to work it was now. He could not lose his princess, it would kill him. Five hours later the snake goddess looks at him and he meets her gaze head on, "Θα ανακάμψει( She will recover). "
Max sighs in relief upon this news, he wouldn't lose his hime this day at least. "Μπορώ να τη δω( Can I see her)? "
Angitia nods and Max heads over to his princess and no one was going to tell him differently on that point, she was his princess. His eyes soften when they finally take her in, she looked so peaceful, and didn't look so pale now, even though Lunarians are already pale, this was her healthy normal pale. Crown Princess Serenity the V, Serena as she preferred awoke to find her Cap Bearer run through with a sword meant to take her life, " Max, no. "
He grins at her, " Couldn't let you die, Ren-hime. Promise me that you'll live for me, don't give up, try and fix your mother's mistakes, and never let Endymion have what is mine. Ren-hime, protect my cap, you know how important it is. I managed to kill your would be assassin, but another will come for the cap, it cannot be destroyed. "
The princess steels herself, " This I swear on the River Styx, I will never allow any man other than my true chosen soul mate to claim me in any way and that I will always protect any and all Cosmic Caps that come into my path in this life and any other that I may have, so mote it be. "
Max's eyes widen, he knew the importance of that vow, she had sworn her undying loyalty him and only him, "Et ego semper tecum,( I will always love you) Ren-hime. "
The princess felt her soul shatter as he breathed his last, but she would survive, if only for him and the Outsiders. Every nymph heard her silent scream of anguish and they mourn with her. Soul bonds were a part of nature itself and the loss of one half of such bond was always keenly felt in the nymph community. The princess takes the navy colored cap with the golden M emblazoned upon it and places it in her subspace pocket, she had promised Max she would protect his cap and she had meant it.
Current Times:
Max Sloan, the Mighty One, curses as he makes his way through Japan, he knew from Virge's ramblings that he was in the Juuban District of the Minato Ward of Tokyo, Japan. Unfortunately for him that was all he knew at this moment. It would help if he could actually read Japanese, but of course he just had to go wandering. The preteen groans and then almost curses when he bumps into a local girl, as blonde as him, only her hair was long and in a braid, " Daijobu ka? "
" If you're asking if I'm all right then the answer is yes, I am. " Max says, taking a guess at what she had asked him.
" Oh, you're a tourist, I'm Tsukino Usagi. "
" Sloan Max, " he was thankful he had at least paid that much attention to the Japanese Culture lessons his archaeologist mother had given him.
" Would you like a tour guide, Max, not to mention a translator? " Usagi asks him, she had seen his cap already and had a pretty good idea whom he was. Usagi had been quite bored wandering around her home district anyhow, seeing as how she couldn't do what her mother had wanted her to do after all.
" It would be appreciated, but I don't want you to go out of your way, Usagi, or get in trouble for helping me. "
" Please, mama already told me not to return until I've studied enough to pass my next test. What she doesn't get is that I know the material, but well… "
" You don't test well. Sounds to me like you might have a learning disorder. You should get tested for such. "
" Try telling that to my parents. They think I'm tanking school deliberately. If I did anything I'd make sure I stayed in the middle of the pack. " Usagi says.
The twelve year old Usagi almost skips as she leads Max around, just letting him know the area and teaching him some key Japanese phrases while he helps her with her English. Max was finding that he was actually enjoying his time with the local girl, she was helping him to keep his mind off of his duty, or at least letting him have fun even while he was trying to get to where Virge had said they needed to go. She was even helping him to learn Japanese while she was at it.
" Being the bearer of the Cosmic Cap isn't fun, is it, Max? " Usagi asks him suddenly.
" How do you know? " Max asks her, suddenly wary.
Usagi sighs, " I'm not your enemy, Max, I know because I remember my last life, there used to be more than one Cosmic Cap, in fact there still are two, it's just the second came with me when I was reincarnated. The bearer of that cap gave it to me to protect it as he knew that I would rather die than give it up. It's in my subspace pocket right now. "
" Why should I believe you? " Max asks her.
" Like Virgil I am one of the last of my kind, there are several descendants of the Silver Millennium but I am the last high Lunarian royal, living, at any rate, through reincarnation. "
Max pauses, every instinct he had said to trust her, " Come on, Usa, I have a job to do. "
Usagi walks with him, inside she was ecstatic, she had found the new Cap Bearer, what she didn't know was if he was, in soul, the same one she had fallen for during the Silver Millennium. No one had known of her connection to him as his luck had made it so no one, not even Saturn had known the truth, and she told Saturn everything. Twenty minutes later Usagi is shoving him out of the way of a Lava Beast, getting the beasts arm through her stomach. She was astonished at how quickly trouble found him or he found trouble, she couldn't be sure of which at this point. Usagi winces, papa had never inflicted this much pain upon her. No vital organs were hit so she would recover, " Usa, are you insane? " Max demands of her, even as he leads the beasts away for his Viking bodyguard, Norman, to deal with.
Usagi gets up, wincing, " No, I'm not, I will not let another Cap Bearer die in front of me. " Unknown to the Japanese blonde she had slipped into Lemurian when she said that and Virgil's eyes widen, how did this girl know the Lemurian language anyhow. Virgil hadn't been happy when she had shown up with the Mighty One, but now she had saved his life and knew Lemurian. Only one female had ever known Lemurian and had also known a bearer but she had died at the fall of the Silver Millennium. The Lemurian's eyes widen, it couldn't be? The princess couldn't be back, could she?
" Paulo sanitatem, est ut( Little Serenity, is that you)? " Virgil asks.
Fuit aliquando, hoc non habet, priores socios atque amicos( Been awhile, hasn't it, old friend)? " Usagi says in response.
" How? " Virgil asks her.
" Reincarnation, you didn't honestly think that my mother beat down on Beryl and Metallia, did you? I'm the one that saved everyone and then granted us all a new life here on Earth. I remembered when I was two and I've been keeping off the radar ever since. You were the only tutor I never ducked out on as well. " Usagi says.
" I will deign to make sure your education is going averagely then. " Virgil says.
" Contact Mizuno Saeko, she's Queen Amelia of Mercury reincarnated. " Usagi says, as Norman had dealt with the Lava Beast while she was getting up, after Max had led it away.
Max was actually having to keep her on her feet, she hadn't been this injured before in this life at any rate. The preteens exchange addresses in order to stay in touch and help each other with their native tongues. Max was actually looking forward to learning Japanese from Usagi and she was looking forward to learning English and proper American Slang. Well, Usagi had actually given him Naru's address as she knew she wouldn't get his letters otherwise, no need for him to know how bad her home life actually happened to be.
Virgil had promised her that they would meet up at her school to discuss tutoring options, as the Lemurian knew the troubles the princess had with learning, though he hadn't found that out until the last Mighty One had taught her a key concept through a hands on approach. The last Mighty Max had been very close to the princess, it was just a shame that his cap had been lost, or so the Lemurian thought, as the princess had never told him that she was keeping it safe. Then again the queen had kept an annoyingly close watch on her daughter during that time.
Chapter One
Tsukino Usagi almost whimpers as she makes her way to Naru's place, papa had really let her have it and thanks to Virgil's tutoring she was doing way better in school. You'd think that would please her papa, but no, it didn't. Nothing ever did because she wasn't good at sports, well, at least that she let be known. It was getting to the point that not even her accelerated healing could keep up with her injuries anymore. Tsukino Kenji was going to kill her soon, she was hoping she had a letter from Max to read at Naru's, she could use something to get her spirits up.
" Usagi-chan, you have to report them. " Naru exclaims when she sees Usagi's left arm hanging uselessly at her side.
" Can't, Naru-chan, I'm needed here in Juuban soon. " Usagi replies, how she wished that wasn't so. She needed to go on another job with Max and soon. She really didn't know how much longer she could last living with Kenji.
Osaka Naru curses at this as her best friend had in fact informed her of certain truths, one reason why she allowed Usagi to give out her address to certain people so the blonde could stay in touch with them. Naru had even met Max a few times and even was writing to him, he was helping to improve her English as well and this was shocking hers and Usagi's teacher as they were both at the top of the class when it came to English now. Usagi had become a solid B student and more importantly she was actually doing better in school. Ikkuko no longer locked her out, especially when it became known that Usagi had a learning disorder and that was why she did so poorly in school.
Ikkuko had been beside herself in guilt for what she had done to her daughter, she had never even considered that her little girl might have had a learning disorder and that was why she did so poorly in school. Usagi smiles happily at the letter she spied with Max's untidy scrawl on the envelope. Working gingerly she gets the envelope open and smiles as she reads the news from him. The look behind her has her spinning around and the male blonde grins even as she hugs him, there were times he absolutely loved being the oh so powerful Mighty One, " Konnichwa, Usa-chan. "
" Baka. " is her immediate response.
Unknown to Usagi Naru had told Max of her suspicions regarding their mutual friend, and Max frowns when he realizes Usagi's left arm was hanging limply at her side. " Hey, cut me a break, Usa-chan, dealing with old Bonehead isn't easy. "
" You here to liberate me? " Usagi asks him.
" Usa-chan wa, nani ga anata no ude ni nani ga okotta( Bunny, what happened to your arm)? "
" Ē to, watashi wa ochita( Um, I fell). " Usagi replies.
" Watashi no chisei, Usagi o bujoku shinaide kudasai( Don't insult my intelligence, Usagi). " Max retorts.
Usagi sighs at this, he wouldn't be put off, " Papa did this, I'm never good enough for him, Max. Thing is, I have to stay in Juuban, you know why I do as well. I'll be needed here soon enough. "
Max groans as he finally releases her from him completely. He hated the fact that she was right. Even Virgil said she was needed here, but not for a while, still, she needed to stay. That didn't mean she couldn't help him out from time to time, Virge had actually said that would be good for her, of course, the Lemurian had never said anything about what her home life was like, unless Usa-chan met him at the library for tutoring.
" This can't keep happening, Usa-chan, if you die before you're needed then that defeats the purpose. " Max points out to her.
" It doesn't matter, I just have to play with the hand I've been dealt, Max. " Usagi retorts.
" Usagi-chan, it does to matter, neither one of us likes seeing you suffer like this. Please, he'll kill you if this keeps up, and you know it. " Naru pleads with the stubborn female blonde.
" All that matters is that I do my duty, it doesn't matter what shape I'm in when I do it. " Usagi replies softly.
Max's blue eyes flash at this, " Like hell it doesn't matter. Where did you get that notion from anyhow, Ren-hime? "
Usagi's eyes widen, only one person had ever called her Ren-hime, it was him, but how had this happened? Max freezes, where had that come from anyhow? Why had he called her Ren-hime, it had felt right, but why had that slipped… new pathways start firing up on all cylinders as long forgotten memories rush along them. Forgotten abilities being reawakened as the newly restored memories impart their knowledge to him. Max growls lowly, he knew why she thought that way now, Queen Serenity the IV. The Bitch Queen of the Moon and the reason why their association could never be known.
He had never understood why Virgil had actually liked the woman. Only Virgil and Norman had known of his association with the hime, it had been better that way. " Ren-hime, where is your crystal? "
Usagi's eyes widen, " It split into seven to seal away Metallia's seven shadows, whom were reincarnated into six humans and an animal, why? "
" You need to gather the pieces now, we have to shake things up. " Max states.
Usagi looks into his vivid blue eyes and sees the Mighty One she had fallen for looking back at her, he truly remembered and was doing his best to help her succeed and survive what was to come. He'd had darker blonde hair back then but his name had still been Max, every Mighty One had that name. Generally it was shortened from Maximillian or Maximus, something like that. " I'll need help, remember, I was to never be on the battlefield. "
" I seem to remember teaching you how to fight regardless. " Max tells her blandly.
" I know you did, but I don't remember any of that. " Usagi tells him.
Max swears in ancient Lunarian under his breath, which was very similar to Latin. That damned Serenity IV had never wanted her daughter to be able to think for herself and always be reliant upon her guardian senshi. Don't even get him started on Endymion, that damnable bastard should have been castrated once he was old enough to start taking women to bed. " Wait a minute, Naru was there, she was Psyche, the senshi of the Soul. " Max says, his brain starting to fire on all cylinders even faster, as he knew the Crystal had to be found before Usagi turned fourteen.
Naru's eyes narrow as her memories return to her as well, " Usagi-chan, you need to be trained as a senshi. However, we can't have you being Sailor Moon, that would be way too obvious, once Luna crops up then yes, you will have to be Sailor Moon, until then you will need a different senshi identity. "
" Can you even henshin? " Max asks Naru.
Naru smirks at him, " I know where Ai is, she'll have my henshin wand. "
" Go, I'm gonna take Usa-chan to Mizuno-sensei and get her looked at, if we can get her up and running as a senshi and recollect the pieces of her crystal then things are looking up. " Max states.
" Are we going to go ahead and defeat the seven shadows while we're at it, because if we are then we're going to need some help. " Naru asks.
" Might as well, though we'll need to be fast about it. " Max admits.
" First, we need to get things settled for Usagi-chan, I'm going to find Ai now. " Naru says.
Naru curses severely under her breath as she looks for her advisor, Max was right, they needed to shake things up and make it so the hime would live. Usagi-chan almost seemed resigned to the fact that she wasn't supposed to be happy, that she was meant to suffer. As she looks for the red cat with an orange heart on her forehead the senshi of the Soul is glad her best friend had Max in her corner. She only wished she had known him during the Silver Millennium. She understood why their relationship had been kept a secret though. Max had been the hime's one selfish desire though Naru couldn't fault her for this.
Naru remembered when the hime lost that zest for life, that must have been after Max had died back then. The loss of one's soul mate left very deep wounds indeed. Naru smiles when she spies Ai, " The kitty pounces at twilight. "
Ai spins around, " The kitty caught her prey. Oh, Psyche, it's so good to see you again. "
Naru scoops the feline up, " Likewise, Ai, we're accelerating the timeline, the hime needs to be trained and gather up the seven pieces of the rainbow crystal. Her human father, Tsukino Kenji is going to kill her one of these days, unless we can even the odds in her favor. "
" You know who the hime is and where? " Ai asks her, shocked.
" She's safe, that's all I can say in this area. We need to get somewhere secure, Ai. " Naru states.
The feline nods at this and leads her to the backroom at the Crown Game Center. Once there Naru fills Ai in on everything and the guardian feline moans in dismay, " You are quite correct, Naru-chan, we do need to train the hime and gather up those crystals. Honestly, if we wait around for Luna to show up then this is all going to be a lot worse to pull off. Still, I will need to find Nike, Dike, Eos, and Nyx. Not to mention Hesper. "
" Set the computer up to tracking them, we need to make indiscreet communicators and pass them out to the Mighty One and his team, along with you, myself, and Usagi-chan having one, plus, we should fill in Motoki-san, the blonde whom works out front. " Naru says.
Meanwhile Max has managed to coax his stubborn blonde friend into seeing Mizuno-sensei. The bearer of the Cosmic Cap frowns while he waits for the reincarnated princess, he didn't like what he was coming up with either. Serenity the IV wanted her daughter to be a puppet, easily manipulated. He had already figured out in his last life that she wanted her daughter dependent most especially upon her inner court of senshi. Ren-hime had always spent more time with the senshi known simply as the Outsiders as they had accepted her half-sister, Sailor Saturn, fully.
" Max, I need to speak with you, I have her sedated, which is no easy feat. " Saeko says.
" Mercury-joō, what's wrong with my Ren-hime? " Max demands.
" I had always suspected there was something going on between you two. Quite frankly the number of remodeled fractures and breaks I've found is appalling. If she had been anyone else she would already be dead. We will need your luck to make this work out favorably for Serenity-hime. "
" Serena-hime, she hates being called Serenity. " Max corrects her absentmindedly, already going over various methods of how to get his hime out of an abusive situation, " Does she have to live in Juuban or just in Tokyo, she told me she has a few cousins in Odaiba, would that be close enough? "
Saeko ponders this question, Max had raised a good point, the hime need only stay in Japan, nothing said she had to stay in Juuban. If she had family that could take her in somewhere close by then that would be terrific, " She won't want to switch schools, as this one has finally acknowledged her learning disorder and that took the efforts of your Lemurian friend. "
" She wouldn't have to, her relationship has improved with her mother, she needs only be with other relatives until her father gets his ass thrown in jail where it and the rest of him belongs. Of course, we'd have to get Ikkuko to actually own up to the fact that there is in fact a problem. " Max admits.
" Hey, luck is your thing after all. " Saeko points out to him.
Max snorts at this, " I'm not a freaking god of good luck you know, I'm only blessed with good luck. Not even I can work a miracle like that. "
" It may be the only way to help her, Maximar. " Saeko tells him.
Max winces, he had never told anyone in his last life what the Max was short for, should have known the Mercurian Queen would know. " Look, Ikkuko doesn't even know about me, all of Usagi's personal mail gets sent to Osaka Naru's place, Sailor Psyche, whom even as we speak is retrieving Ai and regaining her ability to henshin. " Max points out.
Saeko groans, Max was right, he couldn't just approach Ikkuko out of the blue, she would have to be the one to approach the woman and hope to reach through to her, because Usagi would not last much longer at this rate. If Ikkuko and Usagi's relationship was improving then perhaps Ikkuko would be able to remove the blinders where her husband was concerned, if not, well, that was where Max's good fortune would come in handy.
Divine Realm:
Amaterasu was absolutely furious with the treatment of one Tsukino Usagi and she was about to do something about it. " FUKUROKUJU, GET IN FRONT OF ME NOW! "
The god of happiness, wealth, and longevity instantly appears before the Queen of the Japanese pantheon, " Yes, Amaterasu-sama? " Fukurokuju asks her.
" Why the hell is Tsukino Usagi suffering this much? She has to have been praying for help, I know she has been, so why the hell hasn't she been given said help yet? "
" The Moirae are interfering with my ability to help her out, they have no control over the actions that happen around the Mighty One though. " Fukurokuju explains.
Amaterasu's eyes narrow and the sun goddess smirks, " Give the Mighty One all the help he needs, Fukurokuju, I am going to have a little chat with some Greeks. "
Mt. Olympus:
Every major Olympian freezes when a blinding flash of light occurs and Apollo curses, what was his Japanese counter-part doing here and why did she look pissed off, " Zeus-sama, I need to speak to you about the actions of the Moirae concerning one of my citizens to watch over and protect. "
Apollo swears again, this had to be about the Tsuki no hime. Oh, this was not going to turn to well. He had warned those arrogant bitches, the Parcae, their Roman equivalents weren't nearly as stupid, the Moirae, however, they were an entirely different story. " Which one of your citizens are they interfering with? " Zeus asks the Queen of the Japanese Pantheon.
" Tsukino Usagi. "
Zeus pales as Aphrodite, Psyche, and Eris go straight for the Moirae bitches. Eris takes on Atropos, Aphrodite gets Clotho, leaving Lachesis to Eris, the goddess of Chaos smiles evilly, " Did I just hear that you are interfering in my best friend's new life and interfering with the duties of foreign deities? "
Lachesis, unlike her sisters, actually has a self-preservation instinct, they just always over ruled her common sense. " Yes, Eris, but it was all Clotho and Atropos' idea. They always over rule me, I knew Apollo's warning was for real and that we were treading on thin ice when it came to operating in Japan, but Tsukino Usagi's soul is Greek in origin. "
Amaterasu snorts, " You think I don't know that, you Greek bitches. The Tsuki no Hime is the daughter of Hades-sama, and that part of her is under my control, as the hime has a split personality, if you will, Shinimegami is mine. There were no more spaces in the Greek or Roman pantheons for her. "
The Japanese sun goddess watches as that news sinks in with the Moirae and they pale, screwing with another deity was always frowned upon, the fact that she had died meant she hadn't been fully matured as a goddess yet. Even the gods themselves could die if they were not fully matured and Lunarians generally hadn't reached maturity until they were in the age range of 18-28 in Terran years, there was some variation, but that was about it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon or Mighty Max!
Author's Note: They meet when Max is going through everything the second time and a lot of the story will be in Juuban and centered there. Everything that happened in the Mighty Max cartoon still happens it just won't be written out. The story is past that point in chapter one anyhow.