This particular story will primarily, though not entirely, cover roughly the nine or so calendar months immediately preceding the events of Be Careful What You Wish For. And it will also be mainly, if not entirely, in the same basic timeline and/or dimension of the Universe as the above story. That particular dimension of the Universe will be the Dreamrose Dimension of it. So the Sailor Senshi and their allies in it may not be exactly as they are in any certain currently-known Sailor Moon official continuities, just so you all know this here well enough. And certain things in it will also be at least somewhat different, in other ways, from things in any of them or from things in our real world, for that matter, people. Please do honestly try to keep those facts quite in mind here as you each read this particular story and/or any other sufficiently-related stories to it, then.
There will be certain elements from various versions of Sailor Moon added as needed from time to time here, and I also will not be entirely sticking to one particular timeline of events from any of them. Instead, I will follow a certain timeline of events as the need then arises for me here. As things progress, you will then hopefully better understand why I will have written the story as I have, of course, everyone.
Well, I hope that you all really enjoy this story here, then. With no further ado, people, I now give you the very first chapter for the first book in the story series Guardians of the Dreamers! This is the Universal Storyteller signing off now, and hoping that you all will read and review this brand-new story here with plenty of quite clean, quite courteous, and quite constructive reviews, of course!
Chapter One: The First Dreamer Awakes
One September evening, a young girl was lying on her bed taking a nap for a while before a certain purplish cat secretly slipped through her slightly open window to change her life forever. It wasn't too long before the young girl was drawn away from her room into a life that she'd never even dreamed of having before. That girl was drawn away from her room into that life when she somehow heard, from quite some distance away, her best friend's rather urgent and rather fervent cries for help from a monster that was seeking to take all her energy.
This particular half-human, half-spider, monster had her best friend caught in a spider-like web of some sort on an interior wall of what appeared to be a fashion designer's studio somewhere in the Azabu Juuban part of Tokyo, Japan. And that friend of hers was quite terrified indeed of that monster, evidently, by the time that girl appeared on the scene, not as she had been in her bedroom, but as a young woman in some sort of mostly pink fighting uniform with a silver sash also present for it.
The young woman, who also wore a metallic gold tiara with a pinkish-white stone at its base on her forehead here, made her entrance on the scene by saying, "Let her go, or you shall most certainly face the consequences of not doing so."
"Who dares to interrupt my search for the Imperium Silver Crystal?" asked the monster as it was about to shoot another bit of webbing towards one Naru Osaka here.
"Who am I? I suppose I should tell you, because it's only fair that you know the name of your executioner if you don't let my friend go here completely. Very well, then. My name is Sailor Moon, and I am now pledged to fight for love and justice, on behalf of God's own Moon in this Universe of ours, foul monster."
"I never heard of a Sailor Moon. Well, no matter. I suppose I'll never need to hear of them again. For I, Morga, youma servant of the Dark Kingdom, will destroy you, and please Queen Beryl greatly, when I do, no doubt."
"We shall see, monster who dares to attack my friends and so many other innocent people here and now! Prepare to meet your doom!"
"Only if you can stop me somehow, Sailor Moon. I don't think you can, for you appear very weak and inexperienced at this sort of thing. I can sense the sheer fear now in your mind, and you don't really want to fight me."
"True, but I still won't let you harm my friend any more than I have to, if I can help it!"
"Then try to stop me, young one!" said Morga, as she waved one of her hands briefly, to shoot a bit of webbing directly towards Naru's face here, so that Naru wouldn't be able to speak while the two fighters squared off here.
"Oh, my! That's it, you're a goner, if I can somehow make it happen." From behind that sash, Sailor Moon then withdrew some capsules of some yet-unknown sort, and tossed them to the nearby floor somewhere between her and Morga. Several of those capsules burst, and provided a smoke screen of some sort, for at least a few seconds, if not even longer than that. They provided Sailor Moon with at least enough decent cover to allow her to then reach behind her sash yet again for some knives each a few inches long, at most.
Morga flailed somewhat blindly around in the studio, not yet knowing where Sailor Moon had gone in it, until she somehow made unexpected contact with her through one of her four non-humanoid legs. That same leg smacked Sailor Moon into the wall nearest her in the studio here. And Sailor Moon didn't rise from there for at least a few seconds after being smacked a little hard into that particular wall. But she was still not knocked out here, just the same.
While Sailor Moon struggled to rise from where she'd been smacked into the wall, the cat sprang briefly at Morga, hoping to buy Sailor Moon a bit more time to do that here. Morga was caught rather unaware briefly by the cat's attack here, but eventually managed to throw her off, and send her unknowingly right in front of Sailor Moon here. The cat said, "Sailor Moon, I've done what I can to buy you some time here. You must destroy that youma with your Moon Knives, somehow, or your friend will not survive, and so won't the rest of humanity, it seems."
"Where is she, then?"
"Ten feet directly in front of you, and heading this way. Can you see the strange marking on her torso well enough here now?"
"Barely. She nearly knocked me for a loop, cat."
"Aim your knives at that spot, and send them towards it until you run out of knives. Then you must finish them off with the tiara on your forehead. If you don't, then Morga will be able to do this sort of thing to more innocent people, no doubt."
"Is there something I can use to help me get to my feet here for a long enough period of time, then, cat?"
"You are within arm's reach of a small pillar on your left. It should allow you to stand up here well enough if you get a good enough grip on it." The cat, whose name was Luna, soon pushed Sailor Moon's left hand towards that pillar until it made sufficient enough contact with it, and then Sailor Moon rose as easily as she then could while remaining in such contact with it for at least a few seconds. By the time that Sailor Moon was standing fully upright again, then, the smoke screen that'd been provided by the bursting of several capsules from her was completely dissipated from everyone's view here.
"Prepare to die, and go to the Pit where you deserve to go, then, Morga! I don't know who this Queen Beryl is, or what the Dark Kingdom is, but you are toast! For attacking innocents, you shall receive the ultimate punishment that I can give you now! Death to your mortal body, that is!" Seconds later, then, many knives began heading Morga's way here. Morga defended herself as best as she possibly could here, but not even she could knock away all the knives that Sailor Moon then sent her way, while her opponent then dodged assorted blobs of webbing and/or various acids. Before Sailor Moon could finish her off, though, she managed to at least slow down Sailor Moon briefly with some webbing that semi-immobilized her, by keeping her from moving her feet, at least, for a little while. Yet, even that battle tactic of hers didn't last long. For the webbing that held Sailor Moon's feet temporarily to the floor where they had done so was rather unexpectedly pierced by six to eight red roses that landed near Sailor Moon's feet in a ring of sorts.
Of course, Morga didn't like that at all, and shouted, "Who dares to interrupt my fifty-course dinner here?"
"I am Tuxedo Kamen, and how dare you attack all these people here? What are you, even?"
"Morga of the Dark Kingdom, youma servant to Queen Beryl. I take it you wish to become my dinner as well, Tuxedo Kamen," said she, as Tuxedo Kamen suddenly shot the end of an expandable cane that he now held in his right hand directly at her. She attempted to bat it away, but, strangely enough, it became vine-like, somehow, and dodged between various limbs of hers. It then smacked her in the stomach at least long enough for Sailor Moon to perhaps get the best possible shot at the marking Luna had just mentioned mere moments before, and even knocking Morga to her back in the process of smacking her like it did now.
Sailor Moon wasted no further time, once she saw that mark well enough, in shouting, "Moon Tiara Action." Of course, Morga couldn't get away, and she soon turned very briefly into moondust, before vanishing completely from sight. After Morga vanished, everyone who Morga had drained earlier began to get their energies back from wherever they'd been sent, even Naru. Some more quickly than others, quite obviously enough. Before Tuxedo Kamen left, he said, "Well done, Sailor Moon. I look forward to our next battle alongside each other, for I somehow know that we've not actually seen the last of each other. There will be more monsters that will appear, it seems to me. And I know that you will fight them, from time to time. I will aid you all I can, when you do. Until next time, take care, young warrior. Pleasant dreams, then." Then he left.
Sailor Moon and Luna watched him go briefly, and then checked on all the people that Morga had drained here for a little while. Especially Naru, in fact. They eventually saw that everyone would be just fine, and then left just as safely and as quickly as they possibly could here for the young girl's house, for all the obvious reasons here, of course. Not long after doing so, then, they were both at that girl's house, where they each would be for the rest of the night, at least.
The following day, the young girl arose from her bed, and hurriedly dressed for school, seeing as she was already running at least a few minutes late for it, at her current pace. Luna watched that girl do so in almost a tornado-like manner, and thought silently to herself, "I wonder if this girl is going to be like this here for the rest of her time in school or not."
The aforementioned girl was blonde with buns in her long hair and she was still tying the bow for her school uniform when her mother called from another room of their two-story house, "Usagi, you're really going to be late for school if you don't hurry up, and your teacher will not be happy if you are, you know!"
"Yeah, Mama, I know. She always hates it when I'm late for class. I've heard it so many times before from Miss Haruna. What's for lunch?" asked Usagi Tsukino, as she thundered down the stairs towards the kitchen area of her family's house here.
"You'll just have to wait until you get to school to find out." Usagi was in the kitchen area by the time the last word left her mother's lips here, and already had a tall glass of orange juice and a few slices of buttered toast in her hands or mouths no more than twenty seconds after arriving there. Both the juice and toast were completely consumed in mere seconds, and then she fled out the front door no more than a minute or two later, in fact, barely remembering to grab her lunch bag from her mother's hands on her way out of the kitchen area here.
Five minutes later, she smacked into a certain young man with a green blazer, black shirt, and gray pants, and he noticed the rather unusual hairstyle she was then wearing here. He suddenly said, "Shouldn't you watch where you're going, Odango Atama?"
"Don't call me that, Minus-Zero!"
"What's the big hurry, Odango?"
"Heading to school, Mop-Brain! Thanks to you, I'm probably going to be even later than normal! Miss Haruna is going to give me plenty of detention now, no doubt!"
"Minus-Zero? Mop-Brain? What's the problem, Odango? Can't find anything nice to say about me? Is that what they teach you at your school now?"
"You're impossible! Oh, great! There's the blasted school bell! I'm so late now, it's not even funny! This isn't over, by a long shot, Buster!" She then fled the scene before they could argue even more with each other at the current time. And greatly hoped that her teacher wouldn't really pile on a lot of detentions for her, for that matter, here.
Yet, she was at least five minutes, if not even longer than that, late for her first class of the current school day. Miss Haruna gave her detention for the rest of the school week, in response to that here, due to the fact that she was so late for school here on the current day. Her best friend Naru came up to her as soon as she could do so quite well enough, and asked her why she was later than she often was to class.
Usagi told her as little as possible why, and soon dozed off during one of Miss Haruna's lectures for some school subject, only stirring briefly after Naru mentioned Sailor Moon's appearance at the studio she'd fought her first battle as a Sailor Senshi in. She listened only briefly to Naru's description of the battle, and went back to sleep for a good long while, until it was nearly lunchtime at her school for her and the rest of her classmates.
Rather uncharacteristically for her, she rather unexpectedly went up to her school's roof, and decided to eat her lunch there for once by herself. Little did she know that she would not be alone up there by herself. At least not the only one on the roof at that time, anyway.
Within two minutes of lunch beginning, then, she was already on the school's roof. For her stomach, at least, had somehow made her speed certain things up to at least some degree, if not to a great degree, from what they normally were for her. She soon found herself on a bench near a railing along the edges of that roof, opening her lunch bag to see what was inside it at the current time.
As she reached for a ham and Swiss cheese sandwich and a bottle of strawberry milk, a voice that she was not yet well-acquainted with said, from some yet-unknown distance away, "Be at the Crown Arcade by 5, if at all possible, Miss Tsukino. Ask for Miss Kiku Mahini."
"Why?"
"I can't tell you here. Just do so, and you will learn why I want you there."
"I'll see what I can do. Who are you, really?"
"You'll find out later, but not yet. In the meantime, enjoy the rest of your lunch. I have to get back to work now, in fact."
"And what if I don't show?"
"Then you will face the consequences of doing so, Miss Tsukino." Without another word, then, the unknown speaker was gone just as quickly as they'd appeared near Usagi here.
"Who was that?" wondered Usagi, once she realized that she was quite alone again on her school's roof here. She wondered for a little while about the unknown speaker and their words, as she also had her lunch here. Eventually, though, she finished it, and had to go to her first class right after lunch, of course.
The rest of the school day went relatively without incident for her. At least for the most part, anyway. Even detention went relatively without incident, and she was soon released for the rest of the day from her school's grounds by Miss Haruna, for the obvious reasons, of course.
For about the next hour, more or less, after being released from school for the rest of the day, she then found herself wandering wherever her feet might lead her. Whether consciously or not, she eventually found herself in the Crown Arcade, and at a stool near the main counter gradually sipping a Neapolitan-style milkshake provided to her by the Crown Arcade's somewhat handsome manager, one blond-headed Motoki Furuhata. As she was sipping that same milkshake, she rather suddenly remembered what the yet-unfamiliar voice had told her earlier that day while she was still at school here. And she asked Motoki, "Motoki dear, do you, by any chance at all, actually know of anyone by the name of Kiku Mahini?"
"I believe so. Why do you ask?"
"Because I was told to meet her by some yet-unknown speaker while I was at school today. I have no idea who that speaker was, of course, but she said that I was supposed to meet someone by that name here, it seems to me."
"I see." He thought for a moment, and said, "Maybe Unazuki knows who she is better than I do. Let's just see if that's the case here."
"I suppose it's worth a shot. Though I don't know if she might recognize the name well enough, of course, Motoki."
"I think you're right, for some reason, but let's just see if she recognizes the name here, just the same, okay?" At Usagi's nod, Motoki then called out, "Unazuki, would you please come over here for a minute?"
"Sure, I have to come over there anyway to relay a few orders to you, Motoki. So why not?" asked a red-headed girl a few years younger than her roughly college-aged brother, more or less.
Seconds later, Unazuki was near her brother and Usagi here, handing Motoki a few order slips from her order pad here. "What's the matter, big brother?"
"Usagi doesn't seem to recognize the name 'Kiku Mahini' here, and she told me that someone said she was supposed to meet another person by that name no later than 5 pm, if at all possible."
Unazuki thought for a minute or two, and then said, "Kiku Mahini is a new student at Usagi's school, and the niece of a history professor at Toudai University, it seems, if my sources of information are accurate enough about such things. She lives with her aunt and her aunt's husband somewhere in Azabu Juuban, though just where in it, I'm not quite sure at the moment. Her parents are evidently dead, due to a rather unexpected plane crash a few years ago, as well."
"And just what does she look like?" asked Usagi.
"I don't really know for sure. She seems rather camera-shy in her life. Word has it that she tries very hard indeed to avoid any and all kinds of cameras whenever possible in it, for some yet-unknown reason. But she still has to deal with them periodically, at least whenever the inevitable school pictures have to be taken, of course. She copes with them as best as she can, whenever she can't avoid them, but really doesn't like them at all, from what I've heard about her and cameras."
"How does she try to avoid them, then, whenever she can, Unazuki?" asked Motoki, as he attended to the various orders that Unazuki had just relayed to him here.
"It seems she almost always wears a pair of sunglasses or some sort of mask over her face, if and whenever possible for her in her life. At the very least, if not also a long cloak and/or anything else, in it, anyway. She is rather close-mouthed to most people in her life, and doesn't get along well with a lot of people, especially whenever they periodically say that her parents were snobs, among other things. Kiku seems to be about a year older than Usagi, at least, if not even older than that, going by her known physical looks. But she still apparently has the personality of one who somehow seems to be much older than her known physical looks would suggest, for some yet-unknown reason here."
"Do you know if she has any close friends yet for sure, Unazuki?" asked Usagi.
"Not to my current knowledge, at least, but I suppose I could still ask around, just the same. Perhaps my usual sources of information might be able to dig up some more data about her, somehow, in time. Well, I suppose I'd best see to our patrons here, of course, before they start getting antsy about their orders here."
"Good idea, Unazuki," said Motoki, as he handed her the necessary items for the orders she'd given him slips for earlier. "Usagi, it's nearly 5 pm now. What do you want to do while you're waiting to meet this young woman, then, if you can?"
"I suppose I should go try to blast some bad guys on your Sailor V game machine here, while I'm waiting. I mean, that's one of my favorite things to do here, you know."
"All right. Hope you do better than you often do on it, then." Motoki soon turned away from her as she finished her milkshake, and then Usagi headed off towards the aforementioned game machine in the arcade. She was soon rather engrossed in the game, and was doing fairly well when her attention was diverted by some patrons deciding to try to crowd her as she played the game, seeing that she was doing much better than she normally did in the game. Eventually, the patrons crowded her so much that she was unable to avoid being blasted a few times by several of the virtual monsters in the game, and lose all her lives while doing so. She then entered her initials into the game as needed, and then moved away from it, once she saw that she wasn't likely going to be left alone well enough to be able to play it any more right now without unnecessary interference.
The aforementioned crowd eventually broke up, but not before she was rather suddenly and rather unexpectedly grasped by yet-unfamiliar hands and pulled away from its current members into another part of the Crown Arcade. Not only that here, but she was also just as suddenly and just as unexpectedly blindfolded by those same hands. She was brought to a certain part of that place, in fact, that most people would never be aware of in their lives, most likely, if it could possibly be avoided at all, somehow. She didn't know who was bringing her to that yet-unknown part of the Arcade, but she would find out soon enough, just the same.
The still-unknown hands brought her to that part of the Arcade, and soon pushed her down on a pink and silver chair in it behind a mostly gold table with a crescent moon pattern on it. Then the hands left her alone, and the hands' owner then sat down on a couch elsewhere in that part of the Arcade. When they were settled well enough on that couch here, the strange voice finally spoke. "Miss Tsukino, you may remove your blindfold, but don't open your eyes immediately. Or at least don't open them very fast, anyway. Otherwise, your eyes will not be able to adjust as easily as they will need to here soon enough, I think."
"All right. But when I open them fully, I want some answers, if I may have them here."
The yet-unknown speaker's voice spoke again, "Of course," as she then somewhat carefully adjusted the half-mask then on her face, and the mostly purple and gold cloak around her body, at least a little bit here. "By the way, I am Kiku Mahini, just so you know."
"I see. Why have you brought me here, then?" asked Usagi, once her eyes were able to fully take in Kiku's current appearance here well enough. Kiku appeared to be about fifteen years or so of age, and she was about 5'3" and perhaps 115 pounds, more or less, with black hair mostly worn in a ponytail, where possible. Her ears had clip-on chrysanthemum-like earrings on them, and one crescent moon hung on a chain from each of those chrysanthemums for her earrings, as well. Her cloak bore on its back several dozen small gold crescent moons on silver vine-like fringes lying along its edges, even as it fell to just above her own ankles here, by the way. The cloak was fastened in the front by a mostly black and copper-colored chain behind a mostly silver bow and a mostly gold brooch of some sort, for that matter.
"Because one of my associates by the name of Luna told me to bring you here. She says that you need to have some things that she forgot to give you at the battle last night. Yes, I know about the battle, for I was one of the people at the fashion designer's studio last night, believe it or not. And she also told me, somehow, that you are Sailor Moon, for that matter." She said this as Usagi began to explore the room that they were both now in here, in fact. Usagi soon found a jukebox near one wall of that moderately well-furnished room here. A platform was near that jukebox, and several pictures of assorted celestial bodies, for instance, were in various places on three main walls of the room they were now in here. The only main wall that was relatively devoid of any pictures at all was the main wall in which the room's main door was in here.
"I see. And just how well do you know her, by any chance, if you don't mind me asking?"
"My aunt helped deliver her when she was born, if I remember such things well enough here and now. And she and I often spend time together. She often keeps an eye on certain things for me whenever I'm otherwise occupied, in fact, believe it or not, Miss Tsukino."
"I see. Where are these things she has for me, then, if I might ask you this?"
Kiku rose from the couch she was then on, and moved to a vending machine briefly, selecting a few sandwiches from it for them both. She soon tossed two of those sandwiches to Usagi, and kept two for herself. That done, she then set her own sandwiches near the nearly-touching points of the crescent moon pattern on the table. Then she moved to a certain cabinet along one main wall of the room, and soon withdrew a calculator-like communicator, a mostly pink pen, and an antique-looking analog-style watch from it. As she handed them to Usagi, she told them just what they each were, and just what they each were meant to do for her in the future.
The communicator would be a useful item to Usagi in the future, once other Senshi and their allies started to appear in it. The pen would be able to make her appear as if she were something else, if and whenever needed and/or possible. While the watch would serve as a detector of her potential fellow Senshi and/or their future allies, for that matter. Usagi didn't yet understand just how those things might be able to do as Kiku told her they might, but she'd hopefully come to understand how soon enough, before it was too late to do so well enough.
Usagi and Kiku talked for quite a while in the room here before Usagi eventually realized it was nearly 7 pm now. Kiku still had much to discuss with Usagi at the current time, but still ultimately let her leave the room behind for the Tsukino residence, just the same. Kiku watched her go briefly, and then left the Crown Arcade through a back entrance she'd secretly found for it that very morning, once the way to it was sufficiently clear of any potential traffic anytime in the next few minutes at least, if not even longer than that. Once she was far enough away from the Arcade, and behind some bushes safely enough, she then suddenly changed from a humanoid form to a feline form. That done, she then set off directly towards Usagi's home here, following the somewhat pleasant scent of Usagi's current perfume with barely detectable traces of strawberries and chocolate now present for it, strangely enough. A few moments after then beginning to head towards Usagi's home, at most, she soon took to assorted trees and/or roofs as the need then arose for her to do so here. She followed that particular scent of Usagi's all the way back to her home, and soon sprang to the tree outside Usagi's window, once it was then sufficiently safe for her to do so well enough at the current time. By the time that she entered Usagi's room as she'd done the evening before, then, Usagi was still downstairs having supper with her family, for that matter. Kiku, or more accurately, Luna, soon curled up in a ball on Usagi's bed near the foot of it, and began taking a nap in it while she waited for her new charge to return to her room in her family's house.
Usagi appeared back in her room by 9:30, not yet noticing Luna's current presence on her bed here, somehow, and soon moved to a wooden desk in it. She worked for at least a little while on her homework, and then set it aside here, once she'd done it at least well enough to suit her here at the current time. It most likely wouldn't be done quite as well as many might like, but she still did it as best as she then could here, most likely. After setting it aside, then, she rose from the chair behind her desk, moved to her dresser before taking out a pair of mostly pink rabbit-covered pajamas and a few other personal items, closed that dresser drawer, and left her room to get a brief pre-bedtime shower. By this time, Luna was now starting to stir on Usagi's bed, but not yet fully awake.
Usagi didn't return to her bedroom after her shower for about five or so minutes. But when she did, she finally noticed Luna's current presence on her bed. She carefully picked Luna up and moved her over to the chest sitting just below her window. Then she just as carefully placed her on a particular cushion there that Kiku/Luna had actually found somewhere deep within her closet. A mostly silver and gold cushion that had already been placed there, quite mysteriously enough, by the time that Usagi had actually returned home from her semi-secret visit to the Crown Arcade, by the way. Usagi didn't really know who had put that particular cushion on that chest just yet, for sure, but she still had at least one idea, just the same, here.
After placing Luna on that cushion here, she then studied Luna for a while, even as she drew back the covers on her bed a bit. And even after she climbed into bed and began reading from one of her various manga books that she sometimes stashed away in various places all over her room. By the time she finished the particular chapter of one of those books that she was now reading, it was nearly 10:45 pm, and Luna was fully awake again here.
The two of them soon locked eyes with each other, and Luna soon said, "Usagi, those kinds of things aren't necessarily good reading material for young girls such as yourself, I think."
"I think not, Luna. Why do you say that?"
"They seem too far-fetched often, for one thing, and they don't have much of a good plot often, it seems."
"Oh, then what would you have me reading, if at all possible, Miss Furball?"
"More educationally-minded materials, for instance."
"Why? What's the point?"
"These kinds of things might rot your brain and make it harder for you to fight as Sailor Moon, I think. And to perhaps find the Princess we're eventually going to have to find to save this world from the forces of the Dark Kingdom, for that matter."
"What Princess?"
"The Moon Princess, Usagi. She is the one who most needs the Imperium Silver Crystal now in order for her to help save this world, at least, from the forces of evil, whenever and wherever they might show themselves, in fact. We and our various allies must actually defend this world, at the very least, as best as we each possibly can, until such time as she eventually appears, if not even longer than that here. And then we must all try to protect her to the best of our respective abilities, once she does, if and whenever possible in the future."
"Just how long do you think that will be, then?"
"It's hard to say just yet, Usagi, but I think it will be quite a while indeed before we can actually retire from the business of fighting evil now. Seeing as a monster mentioned a Dark Kingdom after something called the Imperium Silver Crystal, you see."
"And just how do you propose we locate this Princess or the Imperium Silver Crystal before they do, then, Luna?"
"Central Control hasn't seen fit to share that information with me just yet, for some reason or reasons I'm not actually aware of right now."
"Who is Central Control?"
"I don't really know just yet, believe it or not. But they still told me a little while ago that I was supposed to start searching for the Moon Princess's Guardians, at least. You were the first person that I had a strong enough feeling about when it came to the idea that you might possibly be one of her various Guardians, Usagi."
"So you don't really know just who this Moon Princess might be?"
"None at all. I have a feeling, somehow, though, that Central Control knows at least a little bit more about her than I do, at the current time. However, I was told to start searching for the Princess's potential Guardians, and so that's what I've just begun to do here."
Usagi and Luna talked with each other a little bit longer before Usagi began to tire of their current discussion here. So Luna let her get to sleep, and Usagi soon turned off the lamp on her bedside table here, just before falling asleep in her bed here sufficiently well.
Luna quietly listened to Usagi's calm breathing for a little while, before just as quietly slipping out her window again. She only did this here, though, once she was quite certain that Usagi was not at all likely to arise again for at least the next few hours, if not even longer than that. Luna soon began exploring the general area of Usagi's house, at least, in feline form. She only shifted into her humanoid form of Kiku Mahini once it was quite certain that she was not going to be seen or heard or detected by anyone else who didn't need to know of her shape-shifting ability here, of course. Supposing they didn't already know of it, by the way, in their respective lives, quite naturally enough.
After about an hour or two, perhaps, of exploring the area around Usagi's house in an average radius of about two miles, then, more or less, Kiku set off for the place where her supposed aunt lived with her husband and herself. She arrived there by no later than 1 am on Thursday, September 6, 1990, and headed to a bed already prepared for her use there, where she remained for most, though not all, of the pre-dawn hours. Kiku napped there for at least a little while in that bed, only rising about 30 minutes before dawn would actually begin to make its presence known, and hurried through her usual morning routine. Which included a rather quick shower, just as quick breakfast, and a rapid departure from that place, supposedly so that she could eventually get to school on time here. Her supposed aunt and uncle knew of her secret ability to shape-change, and soon wished her a very good day here, of course.
As soon as they themselves had left for work elsewhere in Tokyo, then, Kiku began running, in a somewhat circuitous manner, towards Juuban Junior High. She did this here just so that she could briefly check up on Usagi's current state of affairs back at the Tsukino residence, but only after first shifting back briefly to her feline form, once it was safe enough for her to do so here well enough. As usual, Usagi was being her usual sleepy-headed self by the time Kiku/Luna left the Tsukino home's grounds again, quite naturally enough. Kiku/Luna soon thought to herself, "That girl needs to learn to not stay up quite so late, I suppose, and not to have quite so many sweets and things, as well, maybe," just a little while before shifting back into her humanoid form in a secure enough location here. Kiku eventually arrived at school about ten minutes before the first bell was due to ring to begin classes for the day there, in fact.
Usagi arrived at school herself just barely on time, for once, and that surprised many, for she was rather well-known to often be late for school in her life. Haruna was somewhat surprised, to say the least, but didn't say much, if anything, to Usagi about her barely punctual arrival in class on the current day. Nor did many, if any, of her classmates here, for that matter.
Naru eventually sneaked a question towards Usagi without anyone else hearing her do so, and that question was, "What made you get here on time today, if I might ask you this here, Usagi?"
"Apparently, according to Mother, some singers and/or film performers are expected to visit our school as part of our education about careers we might have after high school. Including such singers as Minako Aino, for instance."
"Ah, I see. I remember you liking her music quite a bit, come to think of it."
"She's not too bad of a singer, even though she's only 13 right now. She debuted in England a while back, if memory serves me well enough here."
"Even though she's actually Japanese?"
"Yes, I believe so."
Eventually, Naru and Usagi had to shut off their secret conversation with each other here, for the obvious reasons, of course. But before they did, they promised to try to get together at the Arcade again after Usagi's next detention session, just the same.
Little did they both yet know that their next meeting would actually not happen just as they'd planned it to be now. For something would make that quite impossible here, though nobody knew just what it might be here yet, in fact.
Their day at school went reasonably well for both of them at it, and they soon parted for at least a little while from each other, quite naturally enough. Naru left the school's grounds, seeing as she didn't actually have any detention for the current day on it, while Usagi was forced to remain on them for at least a little while longer.
Kiku didn't like this one bit, but still had to accept it here, just the same. While she was still waiting for Usagi to finally get out of detention here, then, she found something to do on a red and green bench near its main gates. Specifically, she read a Pearl Buck novel until her now-hidden feline form suddenly somehow picked up barely-perceptible signs of another youma's appearance somewhere in Azabu Juuban.
Kiku rose from the bench and hurried off to a nearby martial arts center that she knew of elsewhere in Azabu Juuban, and borrowed, with the consent of the center's owner, several weapons from their stockpiles of the same. Then she set off for the location where the battle was most likely going to be fought in, once Sailor Moon was drawn to it as well. She arrived in humanoid form in that location a few minutes before Usagi was due to get out of her current bit of detention. The youma currently in question here was now in the process of draining several dozen people at a certain park in Azabu Juuban when Kiku arrived at it herself.
Kiku said, "Stop, in the name of God's own Moon, or you will have to be destroyed for not doing so here."
"Who are you, and why are you here?"
"My name is unimportant to you, and I am here to defend the innocent, no matter who they might be, whenever I possibly can do so well enough. If you're seeking to take over my world, then you're going to have to go through so many of our world's people to be able to do that well enough, foul monster. For we will not surrender our beautiful world to beings such as those from your Dark Kingdom, if we can possibly ever avoid it at all somehow!"
"You think you can stop the great Dark Kingdom which I, Biakota, youma servant of Queen Beryl, now serve? You're welcome to try, if you dare, young girl."
"I may not ultimately stop your Dark Kingdom or you all by myself. But perhaps I can at least slow you and your Dark Kingdom's plans to conquer or destroy this world at least a little bit, if not a lot, just the same."
"Enough talk, then, human. Let's fight, if you wish to try to stop or slow me and/or the Dark Kingdom down here to the best of your ability." The half-wolf, half-humanoid Biakota soon sprang at Kiku with fangs bared and flashing claws. Kiku fended off those claws and fangs for a bit, and got some licks in on Biakota in the process. But not without feeling Biakota's claws raking through her school uniform's skirt once or twice, just the same. Those claws never managed to touch Kiku's skin, but they still managed to rake through her skirt once or twice, at least.
Kiku and Biakota fought for about five or ten minutes before both Sailor V and Sailor Moon were eventually drawn to the scene from totally different directions in different parts of Tokyo. Yet neither Sailor actually saw each other when they arrived well enough on the scene. Or at least not at first, anyway. Both Sailors then watched Kiku and Biakota battle for at least a little while, if not a long while. Even as they also both checked on the various people that Kiku had interrupted Biakota's draining of here at least a little bit.
Just as Kiku was beginning to tire quite considerably indeed in the current fight here, a few rather well-thrown crescent moon-like boomerangs suddenly appeared to block several flashing claws aimed at Kiku's currently-unprotected abdomen by Biakota. When Biakota turned to see who might have actually thrown those boomerangs in her and Kiku's direction, Sailor Moon suddenly swooped in and somehow carried Kiku away from Biakota here, while Biakota's current attention was temporarily diverted by Sailor V here.
"How dare you attack a young girl such as this particular one here, or any of these many other innocents here? She was just trying to protect them from you! I am Sailor V, and on the behalf of the once and future Moon Kingdom, I will punish you, foul monster!" Sailor V stood then on top of a lamppost somewhere in the park as she said that now, in fact.
"And on behalf of God's own Moon, I will as well," added Sailor Moon, once Kiku was sufficiently enough out of harm's way here. Biakota looked at both Sailors and eventually decided to spring first towards Sailor V. Sailor V flashed a whip or chain of some kind at Biakota when Biakota was close enough to her to allow her to do that here, and that whip or chain soon stunned Biakota here quite considerably. Biakota hit the ground very hard indeed below herself, after being hit by Sailor V's chain, and didn't rise for at least a few seconds here well enough.
Before Biakota could rise well enough to gather her feet again sufficiently well under herself, Sailor V called out to Sailor Moon, "Finish her, while you still can. For if you don't, she'll come after us again, and I may not be able to keep her from doing so here well enough."
"All right, Sailor V, I will. Moon Tiara Action!" Biakota soon briefly became moondust before vanishing completely just like Morga had done the night before. Once that was done, those who had been drained of their energies soon began regaining them here well enough.
"I suppose we should both get out of here now, then, Sailor Moon, before the media, at least, actually do come here and try to talk to us here."
"I suppose so too, but why?"
"If they did so, they might somehow begin to pry in our lives, and try to figure out who we are in our civilian lives, I think. Which is something we superheroines must avoid for as long as possible, if we can, Sailor Moon. For if our enemies get word of who we are in our civilian lives, that knowledge could very well put many people we might know in our civilian lives at considerable, if not great or grave risk, you see."
"I see. Very well. Will I see you around again at a battle, then?"
"You'll just have to wait and see on that, Sailor Moon. You might want to work on that aim of yours with your tiara, though, I think. Your aim was just about half an inch off-center when you sent your tiara at the monster just now. Until later, then, take care, of course." Without another word, then, Sailor V soon bounded away over several nearby trees and/or rooftops, before Sailor Moon could ask her anything else at the current time.
After then seeing that many of the other people were now beginning to stir quite considerably in the park, she soon left it behind, for the obvious reasons, of course. Just before she left it, though, she looked in the certain place where she'd hidden Kiku some length of time before.
But Kiku was now actually gone from it, somehow, for some reason or reasons that Sailor Moon wasn't yet aware of in her own now-double life here. In actual reality, while Sailor Moon and Sailor V's attention were both sufficiently diverted by Biakota's presence, Kiku had secretly switched from her humanoid form to her feline form, leaving the weapons she'd used behind secretly hidden in the bush that she'd been hidden behind by Sailor Moon in the process of doing so. Before anyone else could spot her well enough here, then, she left the park as Luna, and set off for her supposed aunt's residence here.
Sailor Moon wondered where Kiku went for a few seconds, at least, until the now-inevitable sounds of ambulances and/or media outlets' employees began reaching her ears from at least a few blocks away here. Heeding Sailor V's advice here, she soon found a rather secure place indeed to hide in at least long enough to power down, and then did so, just as soon as she could do so quite well enough here and now.
Several minutes or so later, then, Usagi was back home again, and she was already changing out of her school uniform into more casual clothes than she normally could wear at her school. She chose to wear a pink sleeveless turtleneck, a plain white T-shirt, and a knee-length cream-colored skirt over a pair of mostly white socks and simple black pumps. After changing into those desired clothes of hers, she soon grabbed up a medium-sized bunny-covered purse from the top of her dresser and set off for the Crown Arcade for her planned, yet-delayed, meeting with Naru there.
When she appeared there, Naru asked, "Where have you been, Usagi? I've been waiting for you here for a while. Why didn't you come here right after your detention?"
"I found myself drawn somehow to a park earlier. Not consciously, mind you, but still drawn to it, just the same."
"There was a monster attack at a park earlier this afternoon. Were you one of the people drained there, by any chance?"
"No, why do you ask?"
"Because the park you most often go to around here is the park where the monster attack happened, and I wondered if you were there when they appeared."
"No, I wasn't. What happened there before I arrived, then?"
"According to the news, some girl came to the park while the monster was in the process of draining several people of their energies, it seems. This girl fought that monster all by herself until both Sailors V and Moon appeared on the scene well enough, according to footage from various security cameras located all over the park's grounds. Eventually, Sailors V and Moon engaged the monster, and Sailor Moon ultimately destroyed that monster with her tiara, if the news report is to be sufficiently believed here well enough."
"I see. I wonder why Sailor V didn't appear at the battle at your mother's fashion design studio, though, Naru."
"I don't know. But I do know that this is at least the second time that Sailor Moon has now appeared during a battle here, just the same."
"What do you think of both of them?"
"Both seem reasonably cool, for some reason. Though I really don't know just why, Usagi. I wonder if I'll actually see them and get to talk to them both for a long enough period of time someday."
"Well, if they ever happen to show up again at any more monster attacks, I suppose that might be an eventual possibility, of course."
"Sure it is, I believe. Well, enough talk about monsters and such things, then, I think. Let's go listen to a few of Minako Aino's songs for a while, okay, Usagi?"
"Should we do it here or at your place?"
"Let's do it here, at least for a while. It's my mother's bridge night with several of her high school friends, you see, and she doesn't really want me back home again here. Or at least not at the current time, anyway. By 9 tonight, she does, of course. But just not yet, by the way, Usagi."
Naru and Usagi found at least a few things to do over at least the next hour or so, before Usagi eventually had to return home for the rest of the night. Both friends parted with smiles on their faces as they did so, then.
Usagi arrived home just before supper was about to be served there. Her mother told her it would be ready to have very soon, so Usagi didn't stay too long in her room at the current time, of course. Although Luna, who by now, was back in Usagi's room tried to get her to stay in it, Usagi still headed back downstairs mere minutes, at most, after arriving home, in fact.
The Tsukinos had their suppers with each other for about half an hour or so, and periodically discussed various things that had happened to each of them on the current day, at least. Shingo said, "Usagi, when are you ever going to stop getting detentions, by any chance?"
"When I'm actually able to get enough sleep on a night, I might just be able to do that well enough. And if a certain brother of mine doesn't often be a real pest at times, I might actually also get at least a bit more of my homework done from time to time, for that matter."
"It's not my fault that you often stay up late reading your comic books, among other things, Usagi, for instance."
"Maybe not, but they often help me relax at least a little bit, if not a lot, if and whenever I might feel rather stressed out by certain things in my life. Including some things that I'd really rather not actually discuss with you here right now, if ever, for various reasons, Shingo."
"Whatever. But you won't likely ever get a boyfriend with the marks you normally might pull down in school, just the same, Usagi."
Usagi was about to shoot a comment back at him of some kind, and unintentionally tipped off her mother Ikuko that she was starting to get really mad at Shingo here. Ikuko glanced at both her children briefly, and then said, "Shingo, that is enough. Usagi doesn't need to hear comments from you like the ones you just made here, I think. Usagi, I am not happy, though, after hearing that you got detention after every day of school this week. You must do better at getting to school on time, if at all possible, you see. Miss Haruna doesn't really like it when her students arrive late to school when they can possibly ever avoid it at all, you know."
"I am quite aware of that, Mother. But I still try as best as I can to get to school on time, just the same. I can't help it, though, that I normally sleep like a log, if I'm not too mistaken here."
"Maybe not, Usagi, but your mother is right. You must do better at getting to school on time, if and whenever possible. Think of it this way, if you must. The more time you spend in detention, the less time you can spend in doing things that you might actually want to do more in your life."
"I suppose so, Dad. But it's still very hard to do, just the same."
"Is there something you want to discuss in private with me later, by any chance, Usagi?" asked Ikuko. "You know that if you ever need to discuss certain things with me, my door is always open, so to speak."
"I know, Mother. But let me try to work on those things by myself at least for a little while longer, before I ask for your input. I'm not meaning to blow you off, so to speak, but I just need to see if I can handle them all by myself right now."
"Of course, Usagi. I understand perfectly. Or at least I think I do."
The rest of supper went by in relative silence if and whenever possible, then. A little while later, then, Usagi was allowed to return to her room for the rest of the night, if she so desired. Which, in fact, she did.
As soon as Usagi was quite sure that she and Luna would most certainly not be disturbed at all for the rest of the night, not even by pesky younger brothers named Shingo, behind a locked bedroom door, Usagi said, "I suppose you want me to discuss the battle I was seen at here, Luna."
"Of course, Usagi." The two of them discussed it at some length, and Luna eventually asked Usagi, "Why didn't you jump into the battle right away when that girl was battling the youma, once you arrived on the scene well enough?"
"I was observing the battle, and trying to attend to several of the people that had earlier been drained by the monster. Sailor V didn't jump into the battle right away either, for she was also doing the very same things that I was then doing, Luna."
"I see. And what if the monster had drained or killed her, then what?"
"Didn't happen. So what's the big deal?" asked Usagi, as she began working on at least some of her current homework from school here.
"Many beings from the Dark Kingdom are beings who might often not mind killing their various victims or captives, if the mood ever strikes them, according to Central Control. And word has it that they also will seek to try to kill the Moon Princess if and whenever she might ever appear anywhere at all, if at all possible, Usagi. So we must do all in our power to protect the people of this world, at least, if not any other worlds as well, against whatever evil forces who might seek to conquer and rule anywhere at all in the known Universe. No matter what the cost may actually be to us or anyone else sufficiently like us, you see."
"Just what have you gotten me into here, then, Luna?"
"A life of battle, unless we are somehow able to defeat enough evil forces to permit peace to reign on Earth, at least, for a long enough period of time, I think. And to avenge the loss of a long-dead civilization, at least, that actually fell when it did just because of the very same Dark Kingdom that we are now fighting here, Usagi. The still-missing Moon Princess is from that very same lost and long-dead civilization, by the way, just so you know this here well enough."
Usagi contemplated this in relative silence for at least an hour, if not longer, as she worked on her homework at her desk. When she was done with her homework, she then began preparing for bed, and said nothing more to Luna for the rest of the night. The look she shot Luna when she exited her room for a pre-bedtime shower shut up Luna for the rest of the night as well, for that matter.
Usagi had a quick shower, and then went back downstairs briefly to get some black cherry yogurt for herself as a bedtime snack. That done, she soon went back upstairs to her room, climbed into her bed, had her yogurt, and was quite soundly asleep with all necessary lights off no more than fifteen minutes after climbing into her bed again. And so she slept.
There you go, everyone. There's the very first chapter for the as-yet-untitled first book in my brand-new Guardians of the Dreamers story series. I hope you all really liked it here quite a bit indeed. If so, please do seriously consider leaving me some rather clean, rather courteous, and rather constructive reviews for this chapter, everyone. And before I actually happen to forget to say so well enough here, somehow, Sailor Moon and all related characters, et cetera, are the property of Naoko Takeuchi and certain other people and/or entities, unless otherwise stated or sufficiently obvious to you all here and now, or at any time yet in the future. However, certain other characters, et cetera, in this particular story of mine, at least, are or will be of my own original creation, of course. That is all for now, at least, I suppose, then. TUS out.