Sailor Moon
A Child's Dream
The Amazon rainforest was beautiful under the crescent moon and the stars of night. Lying among the grass and trees, Earth seemed so much like the Silver Millennium before the battle began. The breeze was cool, gentle, and quiet in the loving silence of the peaceful night.
"I have known the four of you since the day you were born," Queen Serenity gently declared to four little girls standing in her presence. Her astral form was slowly beginning to fade, but the queen remained calm, and her voice soothing. "Now, I ask that you make me a promise."
"Yes, my queen," Ceres, a pink-haired girl who seemed to stand taller and firmer than her peers, joyfully answered with her hands cupped together in respectful adoration.
"Anything, Queen Serenity," Vesta, a red-haired girl with a darker complexion than the others, happily insisted as she stepped forward with sparkling eyes.
"Whatever you may ask, my queen," Juno, a green-haired girl with a sharper tone than her peers, lovingly declared, her eyes lighting up as she touched her left hand to her heart. "We'll do anything for you, your highness."
"We love you, Queen Serenity," Pallas, an aqua-blue-haired girl and the youngest of the group, graciously spoke up with almost tearful glee as she stepped closer to her beloved queen.
"And I love each of you, my Sailor Quartet," the white-clothed queen declared with a motherly smile. "I ask that you pledge your loyalty to my descendant in the years to come. She will be my granddaughter, and you shall become her guards. Protect her with all your might, my children, for she will be young and unsure of herself."
"Where is she, my queen?" Ceres asked as her young heart began to pound. The quartet began to imagine how beautiful, precious, and wonderful the grandchild of their most beloved queen must be.
"She has not yet been born, Ceres," Queen Serenity patiently explained. "She is but a dream in my daughter's heart, but her coming has been foretold to me. Until she embraces her role as the Princess of the New Moon, the four of you must enter a great slumber. When you awaken, you will not have aged a day, and you will meet your new ruler soon after. Will you accept this final request from you queen?"
"Yes, absolutely, your majesty!" the Sailor Quartet passionately accepted.
"The princess will be under our constant watch and protection," Vesta bravely vowed. "The forces of darkness will quake and fall if you so much as approach her. I swear with all my heart and strength, my queen."
"The princess will want for nothing," Pallas happily promised. "Be it companionship, food, refuge, or even a star from the heavens, I will provide her with all she needs, my queen."
"Wherever the princess may travel, I will accompany her," Juno boldly volunteered. "I will lay down my own life for hers, and carry her on my back if I have to, my queen."
"I will advise the princess in all things," Ceres selflessly declared. "I will become her teacher and mentor if she so wishes it, my queen."
"I could not ask for greater loyalty," Queen Serenity praised her beloved subjects. "You will be given great powers and my personal blessing, my Sailor Quartet. May you sleep in peace, know nothing but sweet dreams, and awaken to a world that loves you as much as I do."
"Thank you, your majesty," the quartet answered in harmony as they genuflected and closed their eyes. "We love you now and forever."
One by one, Queen Serenity gently laid the four little girls to rest in warm, lightly furnished beds hidden from the rest of the world. Like their mother, she whispered words of love into their ears and kissed their foreheads before departing from them. With their long slumber approaching, the children looked at one another.
"I can't wait to meet the princess," Pallas whispered, as if trying to avoid getting in trouble for talking at bedtime.
"I bet she'll be just like the queen," Ceres whispered back with a smile.
"I hope we'll do a good job of protecting her," Vesta added during a yawn.
"I know we will," Juno answered without opening her heavy eye lids. "I love you, sisters."
"Love you, sisters," the quartet declared in harmony before their minds drifted off into a heavenly slumber.
Days passed by, then weeks, then months, and then years. Aside from the occasional snore, the Sailor Quartet made little noise, their breathing soft and quiet. Soon, years became decades, though the children did not stir. That was, until one day that seemed darker than any other.
"Wake up, my children," a gentle and soothing voice whispered over the wind. This voice was unlike that of Queen Serenity, though it seemed as motherly. "It's time to wake up."
The Sailor Quartet slowly opened their weary eyes and rose out of their beds. Above them, the moon was a crescent, and the night was as silent as the one they fell asleep in. Wiping their eyes, the girls found one another, stood up, and began to search for their princess: Surely, she had been waiting and was eager to meet her new, loving protectors.
"I bet she's beautiful," Vesta excitedly cried out as she and her sisters ran through the jungle.
"I'm sure she's strong and cool," Juno added as she performed a flip to keep up with the red-haired girl.
"And smart, for sure," Ceres continued as she swung from a low-hanging vine.
"And I bet her voice sounds like church bells," Pallas happily added. Struggling to keep up with her sisters, the blue-haired girl failed to notice an exposed root in her path until it tripped her. Pallas hit the ground and began to cry aloud.
"Hey, it's okay, Pallas," Vesta warmly declared as she held out her open hand. "There's nothing to cry about."
"We'll wait for you, Pallas," Ceres assured her sister.
"We'd never leave you behind, Pallas," Juno promised with a smile.
Pallas smiled, wiped away her tears, and took her sister's hand. The quartet continued their search, entertaining one another with stories, jokes, and tricks. However, there was no sign of their princess, and the night seemed to grow darker by the minute. Soon, the four fell silent. The only noise came from a nearby waterfall leading into a rushing river near the unmarked path the quartet paved. In the time they spent searching, the girls stopped imagining their princess, allowed their names to slip from their minds, and grew unsure of themselves. Scarcely an hour had passed, but all seemed lost.
"My children," the voice that awoke the quartet called out yet again. "I have waited so long for you. It was your sweet dreams and laughter that awoke me from my slumber. I feared I would sleep forever." The girls moved closer together and looked around, partially out of fear. "Don't be afraid. I am the one you have waited for."
"Are you the Princess of the New Moon?" Ceres spoke up as she continued to look around.
"I was," the voice gently explained. "But now, I have become its queen. My name is Nehelenia."
One by one, beginning with Ceres, the Sailor Quartet lowered themselves onto one knee and bowed their heads. Though they could not see their new and beloved queen, the mere fact that she was near gave them hope and peace.
"Your highness?" Pallas spoke up with a slight raising of her head.
"Yes, my child?" the voice warmly replied.
"May we see you, please?" the blue-haired girl asked with hope in her voice.
Suddenly, from the parting waves of the waterfall, a golden mirror lined with metal as black as night floated forward upon an unseen wind. The four girls watched in awe as the strange object seemed to shatter and drop into the stream, only to emerge as shards of glass that united to form the shape of a woman. Her hair flowed down to her ankles as her slim arms and legs flowed back as forth as if swimming. For a brief instant, the glass figure shined to reveal a beautiful young woman with long and cascading raven-black hair worn in a style similar to that of Queen Serenity, skin as flawless and pale as pure marble, sharp and piercing light-blue slit-shaped pupils like that of a cat, lips as red as blood, dramatic pointed ears, and the mark of a black crescent moon upon her forehead. The Sailor Quartet let out gasps and sighs of amazed adoration. The queen was, beyond all measure, truly and hauntingly ravishing.
"How beautiful," the girls declared among themselves.
Queen Nehelenia smiled to herself as her new subjects worshipped and adored her. "I must thank you all for coming to me," she declared in a strong, deeper voice. "The sounds of your youthful laughter, the fragrance of your beautiful dreams, and the childlike radiance you dwell in have saved me. Now, tell me, if given the choice, would any of you choose to grow into adults?" The quartet looked at one another in confusion. "Or, would you choose to remain by my side, dreaming beautiful dreams and never having to let go of your innocence and carefree lives? Would you not want to keep your magic until the end of time?"
Having forgotten their dreams of growing up and protecting their new home, the girls allowed their eyes to become glazed over as pacified smiles formed on their young faces. Deep in their hearts, a fear of growing old began to make itself known. The very thought of surrendering their youth to become adults seemed horrifying and appalling. In that same instant, each of the girls recalled their names.
"PallaPalla doesn't want to grow up!" the blue-haired girl cried out as hot tears began to form in her twinkling eyes.
"I would rather die than turn into an adult!" the green-haired girl, now named JunJun, angrily shouted as she crossed her arms tightly over her chest.
"I want to stay young and beautiful and close to you, Queen Nehelenia," the red-haired girl, now named VesVes pleaded as she fell to her knees.
"We'll do anything to remain by your side, our most beloved queen," the pink-haired girl, now named CereCere spoke for herself as well as her sisters. "Please, don't let the world take our magic or dreams from us, my queen."
Smiling a wicked smile, the queen brought her new protectors closer. "Fear not, my children," she soothed them. "I will bless you with magical orbs that will forever preserve your childhood and bestow upon you magic greater than you have ever known. We shall become a family: I am your mother, and you are my children. Together, we will conquer those who would steal our childhood and dreams from us. Always remember not to forget, a child's dream is a dream they should never get."
"Always remember not to forget, a child's dream is a dream they should never get," the quartet repeated in harmony.
"Rest now, my Amazon Quartet," the dark queen gently instructed as she formed extravagant beds from woven shadows. The children slowly crawled into their new sleeping quarters and received an orb from their beloved ruler. "Goodnight, little ones." Queen Nehelenia waved her hand over each of the girls before bestowing upon their cheek a kiss of darkness.
"Goodnight, my queen," CereCere whispered as her long, pink hair was fashioned into a bun atop her head, two braided bows, and two long, braided tails all tied with yellow ribbons.
"Goodnight, my beautiful ruler," JunJun whispered as her long, green hair was fashioned into three buns braided with long, brown braids, one atop her head and one behind each elbow.
"Goodnight, Mommy," PallaPalla whispered as her long, aqua-blue hair was fashioned into a tight bun atop her head with six dangling balls connected to her locks with braids.
"Goodnight, my beloved mistress," VesVes whispered as long her, red hair was fashioned into five buns connected with golden hairbands and a long, black braid connecting the fourth bun to the fifth.
Once the quartet had fallen asleep, all memory of their past faded into the night as Queen Nehelenia spirited them away to a cold, dark place modeled after a circus, somewhere far from the Earth. The Dead Moon Circus was now complete, and waiting to exact its revenge against the Silver Millennium.