Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon.
This first part will be in first person POV, but the rest of the story will not be. For one thing, writing an entire fanfic in first person POV of an original character is just egotistical. That and it will prove to be too much of a headache.
I am using a blend of the original Japanese version and the dub. Some names are closer to the original Japanese, such as Rei Hino instead of Raye Hino. And since I have no idea what the dubbed last names are, I'm using the original last names. If anyone knows where I can find the dubbed names for anyone, let me know.
"After the defeat of the Dark Queen, a new Evil shall arise.
Banished by the Light of the Moon long ago, he shall return for vengeance.
Targeting the Heirs of the two great Kingdoms, he shall strike down the protectors of the Moon unless thwarted.
New Warriors shall rise, and old allies return.
Underworld, Water, Wind, and Silence shall become greater than before.
Wood, Light, Fire, and Ice shall come into their own, reaching their elden greatness.
What was lost shall be returned by one whose true self is unknown.
Moon and Earth shall rise up to their greatest, but even they will not be able to stop the Rising Dark.
Good and Evil shall reach a Great Conflict, and only a sacrifice can tilt the scales."
I looked at the prophecy one last time before closing the book and returning it to its place. Recently, I have had nothing but time on my hands, since Neo Queen Serenity had sent Princess Rini back in time to her past self and the past selves of the other Sailor Scouts, so I was out of a job. Neo Queen Serenity had at one time placed her daughter under his protection, though it was mostly ceremonial. I hadn't minded. Little Rini was a good child, if sometimes a bit pig-headed. But even at her worst, she was always considerate, and never did anything truly bad.
I had even come to see her as perhaps a niece, since I had no family. King Endymion and Neo Queen Serenity had befriended me, as had the other Scouts. The four Inner Scouts were nice and loyal, working as Neo Queen Serenity's advisors. The Outer Scouts worked in secret, no one but themselves and the other Scouts actually knowing what they did. Except for Sailor Pluto, the Guardian of the Gate of Time. I found out about her when Rini had been sent back in time for her protection. I had almost died in the attack by the minions of the Wise Man. I was trapped in a pillar of solid crystal, same as everyone else, though I had gone down fighting. The entire battle had been unbelievable. I never thought I'd see the day when the Sailor Scouts, King Endymion, and Neo Queen Serenity were defeated. They had stood up against so much, yet they had still been defeated.
Ever since Rini had been sent back in time the second time, to stay with her teenaged mother and father, as well as her unofficial aunts, I had had nothing but time on my hands. The Sailor Scouts were like sisters to Neo Queen Serenity. As time passed with Rini being in the past, I decided to educate myself more. I studied strategy and law, math and science. I studied chemistry and history. I am planning to help Rini with her studies when she returned, but this new prophecy changed things.
"Worrying about her again?" I turn to face the person talking to me. It was King Endymion. I sighed and nodded to my liege lord.
"What are you worried about now?" King Endymion asks, "she's as safe as she can be in the past. Sailor Moon and the Sailor Scouts, not to mention Tuxedo Mask, will gladly do everything they can to protect her."
"I know that, but something has come up," I tell him, "a prophecy. A very foreboding prophecy. And I am afraid that it may involve her somehow."
"You know as well as I do that only Sailor Pluto can send you back in time," King Endymion says seriously, "and we can't risk the flow of time being altered any more than it already has."
"But don't you and Serenity say that there is a blank spot in your memories, a period of time that you cannot remember since you became King and Queen?" I ask, "like history has not quite been written?"
"That is true, and a bit more is revealed to us every day, but we just can't send you back," King Endymion says adamantly.
I sigh and grab the book that the prophecy is contained in. I open it to the Prophecy of the Rising Dark and show it to the King. He blinks after reading it.
"Jesse, this prophecy has already come to pass," he tells me.
"Yes, but has it come to pass before your 'blank space'?" I demand. King Endymion thinks for a minute, then shakes his head. I grin triumphantly. "There you go. They need my help."
King Endymion sighs. "We can talk to Serenity about it, as well as Pluto. We'll talk to Serenity first."
Later, after a deep conversation with the Neo Queen Serenity, in which she and King Endymion decided to approach Sailor Pluto about sending me back in time to help her past self and the other Sailor Scouts, I sigh in relief. Sailor Pluto was the most level-headed of all the Sailor Scouts. Convincing the Queen was the hard part.
Convincing Sailor Pluto wasn't easy. Even she admitted to being unable to see into the area of time where their memories were only slowly coming back. She explained to everyone that the end of where the 'blank period' ended was when the disruptions in Space/Time ended. This meant when Rini finally returned home, there would be no more of a 'blank period', and that life would go on as before. There weren't any other 'blank periods' past the end of the 'blank period', so they assumed that there weren't any more moments of time travel. They couldn't remember any other incidents, at least.
"Are you absolutely sure you want to go back in time?" Sailor Mercury asks.
"I am, milady," I reply evenly, "I can't let Princess Rini be in any danger."
"But we are in their future," Sailor Jupiter argues, "obviously things worked out."
"Time does not flow in such an obvious path," Sailor Pluto reminds us, "with a blank period such as the one existing in our memories, there is no telling what happened. As long as someone from the future, other than myself, is in the past, the past is not written in stone."
"So, am I going back or not?" I ask, a bit irritably I might add.
"Yes, you are, Jesse," Sailor Pluto answers patiently, "you are needed in the past, I know that much. You will be able to help tip the balance in our favor. You have every bit as much strength as any of us. Even me."
I tried to protest to that assumption. There was no way I was as strong as one of the mighty Sailor Scouts, much less the most powerful of the Scouts besides Neo Queen Serenity and Sailor Saturn, Sailor Pluto.
"Jesse, you have power, otherwise we never would have given you the task of protecting our daughter," King Endymion interrupts, "you are a noble man, and will be of great help to us in the past."
"However, I feel that it is important that you use some magic to disguise yourself, and learn to blend in first," Neo Queen Serenity adds, "also, if you have to help the Sailor Scouts, do not let Rini know that it is you. Use a pseudonym, not your other disguise."
"So I'll have three names, will I?" I ask.
"Rini doesn't know your full name," Sailor Mars says, "you can use your real name. You're always addressed as 'Sir Jesse' here, except by us. You just need to change your appearance. Your hair color for sure, maybe a haircut as well."
I stare at the Sailor Scout of Fire in disbelief. A haircut? There was no way that I was going to cut my hair! It had taken me years to grow it shoulder length. I took excellent care of my hair, as well as my neatly trimmed mustache and goatee.
"A shave as well would work," Sailor Venus adds, "though your current look does make you quite handsome. Perhaps a dye job would be better, though a haircut is needed. No matter your hair color, you just cannot pull off that look. You don't have the face for it."
I scowl at the Scout of Love. She was the only Scout I actually paid attention to when they tried to give me advice on my looks, and only then because she knew better than even the other Sailor Scouts what girls liked for in a guys' looks. Frankly, though, I generally ignored even her.
"What color would you recommend?" I ask. My hair was currently silver, though Rini and myself were the only ones to know that I already dyed my hair.
"Dark brown should work for you," Sailor Jupiter suggests, "perhaps a few shades darker than mine."
It takes all of my self-control not to burst out laughing at the most physically intimidating of all the Sailor Scouts. She had picked my exact natural hair color.
"I guess that'll do," I grumble, doing everything in my power to keep from smiling.
"Here, take this," Neo Queen Serenity says, handing me a small transformation pendant. It was a large sapphire, my birthstone, the size of decent sized coin surrounded by silver and gold intertwining like vines. The chain appeared to be a single cord of black leather. I take it and put it around my neck.
"Your imagination will set the costume," King Endymion says, "you will have to disguise your normal looks yourself, but that will enable you to enter battle without anyone recognizing you."
I thank them. "How will I get back?"
"I think you can just stay there and help us until Rini comes back," Neo Queen Serenity replies, "I know you miss my daughter just as much as my husband and I do."
"When do I leave?"
"I can give you three hours to prepare," Sailor Pluto says, "pack some clothes, gather your gear, get what you need. Meet me here in three hours and I will send you back to the past."
"Thank you," I say, then I leave for my quarters to get what I would need.
Three hours later, I return to the Hall of Time. Sailor Pluto already had the Time Gate open.
"Are you ready?" she asks. I nod.
"Good bye, Jesse," Neo Queen Serenity says, "take care of my daughter."
"Always, Your Majesty," I reply, bowing, "I will protect her with my life, if need be."
"Try and not let it come to that," Neo Queen Serenity says, "Rini would be heartbroken if you died."
"I wouldn't want to die either, but if there is a choice of saving her if I die, I will take it," I promise, "goodbye. I hope to see all of you again one day."
"You will see me soon," Sailor Pluto says, "I am going back with you."
With a wave of goodbye, Sailor Pluto and I both step through the Gate of Time.
The journey backwards in time was mind-boggling. Everything was a swirl of color and sound. It didn't feel like I was moving, yet felt like I was moving at the same time. We finally stop, appearing on the roof of a school. I'm not sure, but I think it's the same one that the younger Sailor Scouts go to, Juuban High School.
"Did we make it?" I ask weakly, still dizzy from the experience I had just gone through.
"Yes, we did," Sailor Pluto replies before changing into her civilian form of Trista Meiou, "do you want me to know your civilian identity, Jesse?"
"You mean how I change my appearance?" I ask, "sure, couldn't hurt. But first, I need to remove the cosmetic spells I have placed on myself."
My remark surprises the young woman, as I let go of the spell to change my hair from its current silver to its original color: dark brown. A small smile graces Trista's lips as she realizes that Sailor Jupiter had been very close to the mark in the job of dying my hair. I pull a dagger out of my boot and take hold of my hair. The dagger is sharp, and with a few quick slices my hair is now ear length instead of shoulder length. I make a few more alterations and now instead of just being straight, my hair is combed back before falling into an odd part, most of it going to the left but some of it going to the right. I pull out a pair of glasses, eyeglasses that I used when reading, and put them on. The change in my appearance, while subtle, is nonetheless profound. I had already changed into civilian clothes, so I didn't need to do anything else to my appearance at the moment.
"Not bad," Trista comments, "does Princess Rini know of your natural hair color?"
"She knows that silver is not my natural color, but not what my natural color is," I reply, "she's tried several times to trick it out of me. She can be quite devious when she wants something. At least her deviousness was spent towards finding out a harmless secret instead of causing trouble."
"Did you plan it that way?" Trista asks, a wisp of a smile gracing her lips.
"Perhaps," I grin nonchalantly, "it doesn't matter. The past is the past. Or, technically for us, the future."
"Time holds little meaning to me," Trista admits, "my home is wherever my duty takes me."
A sudden thought occurs to me. "Um, where the heck am I gonna stay?"
"Well, there are two choices," Trista says, a small grin tugging at her lips, "you can either go to Darien, the future King Endymion, and tell him who you are and your mission and he will undoubtedly let you stay, or you can stay with me."
I quirk an eyebrow. "You would let me stay with you? Isn't that improper?"
Trista laughs. "We're both adults, Jesse. It doesn't matter. It's your choice, anyway. Having you around will not be a bother to me."
I think it over. Her suggestion of telling Prince Endymion is tempting. Indeed, it is very tempting. He was the only protector of the Earth besides Trista who was out of high school, or at least of age. If I remembered correctly, he and I were now the same physical age. After spending a couple of minutes thinking, I finally reach a decision.
"It would be best if I did not let the Sailor Scouts or Prince Endymion know of my mission for the moment," I finally say, "so, for now, I guess you and I will share a home. I may change my mind after a while."
"Such as if I drive you crazy?" Trista smirks. I scowl. It was well known among the inhabitants of Crystal Tokyo that the protector of Princess Rini was generally uncomfortable around women. I had never had any trouble with Neo Queen Serenity: she was my Queen and deserved my fealty and respect. Retainer and master was how I saw myself and her. Princess Rini was my charge, and just a little girl. Beyond that it was the same relationship I had with her mother. It had taken me awhile, but I had finally come to think of the Sailor Scouts as soldiers and warriors, not women. But sharing a home, however big, with one of them would certainly test this way of thinking.
"We shall see what happens for now," is my terse reply, "shall we go now? You can show me around the city tomorrow."
We head down the stairs and out of the school and head towards Trista's apartment. Along the way, she gives me quick reference points in case I need them, and even shows me the house where Princess Serenity, currently known as Serena Tsukino, and Princess Rini were currently living.
"Jesse, Amara and Michelle do come and visit me occasionally," Trista says, "what do we tell them about you?"
"Do you actually have a family in this time period?" I ask.
"I do," Trista says, surprised at my question, "when I sensed the coming of Princess Serenity and the other Sailor Scouts, I created a life for myself here. So I was reborn into the Meiou family."
"Then I will adopt a name," I tell her, "from now on, as far as the Sailor Scouts and anyone who bothers to ask is concerned, my name is Jesse Meiou, your cousin."
If anyone knows a site with detailed Sailor Moon info, please tell me! I haven't seen any of the show except for renting the movies since they took it off of Toonami on Cartoon Network. And even then I never saw every single episode. I missed some out of every season except for S and Super S. I never saw any of the episodes past Emerald's appearance in R until I saw S.
Also, does anyone know the surname they gave Darien in the dub? I know he was Mamoru Chiba in the original Japanese version, but I don't know what name they gave him in the dub past his first name. If you can point out a site with the info, I'd be very grateful.
Also, if someone would like to beta this story for me, lemme know.
I really hope that anyone who reads this story will review. I want to know what people think of my work. Criticism and flames are accepted as well. All I want is feedback telling me what I'm doing right, what I'm doing wrong, and what I am doing okay in.