Witnessing the End

By Aurae

Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon © Takeuchi Naoko, Kodansha Publishing, and TOEI Animation; no infringement is intended or should be inferred. Sailor Aurora © Aurae 2007; not available for public use.

The rose-haired girl shifted uncomfortably inside of the energy capsule. Through the foggy barrier that surrounded her, she shot past the stars so fast that they looked like snaking trails of light instead of pinpoints. Sailor Aurora reached up to push a curl away from her mouth, trying not to lose her focus on the Sailor Teleport. It took a lot of power to travel so far this way, especially without the other sailor soldiers.

She wished there was some way to tell what time it was. Aurora had been returning from the distant starburst-galaxy in Ursa Major on yet another diplomatic mission. Her brown eyes dimmed sadly. Although she wore the sailor-suited uniform of a soldier, she was barred from battle.

Sailor Uranus back-flipped cleanly into the air, her lithe body slicing through the air like a knife. The pleated navy skirt of her uniform fluttered around her thighs as she plummeted towards the ground, swiftly folding herself into an attacking position. From the cushioned floor of the training room, a yellow-clad soldier ran backwards, her eyes focused on Sailor Uranus. From the sky, the blonde woman smirked to herself as she honed in on her opponent. Sailor Aurora skidded to a halt and quickly pressed her gloved palms together.

"Dawning..." she began, forming the pulsating ball of light between her hands.

Sailor Uranus's boot slammed into her shoulder before she could finish the attack, jarring her concentration and pinning her body to the floor. Brown eyes widened in shock as the other leg of the elegant soldier swung past, catching her under the ribcage.

"Stop!" Sailor Neptune called from the side of the room, slowly crossing to where Sailor Uranus stood nonchalantly and Sailor Aurora wheezed on the floor.

The teal-haired woman shot a stern look at the blonde.

"Uranus, this was a practice, not an execution."

The taller soldier shrugged in defense.

"I didn't put any effort into it, Neptune. I tried to make it easy," she responded, bending down to pat the pink-haired girl on the shoulder. "Nice try, kid. Need some help?"

Sailor Aurora accepted the offered hand with a downcast look, wincing in pain as she stood. Her bruises hadn't even healed from the previous day, despite focused healing attention, and now she could barely feel her arm, which swung like a dead-weight. She had been at the training facility in Miranda Castle for almost ten months—with little improvement beyond her initial transition. In the first few weeks, she had really felt like she was making progress; she had picked up the basics of combat well enough. Beyond that, she had not progressed.

Sailor Neptune paged through the analysis displayed on a large screen. Her dark eyes were cold as she poured over the numbers, comparing them with previous reports. After a while, the older girl sighed wearily, and walked back to join where her tall partner supported the dazed Sailor Aurora.

"Aurora," Sailor Neptune began, placing a hand gently on the younger girl's shoulder, "You've been trying very hard, and doing your best, but this isn't the right path in life for you. Your current power and combat ability aren't enough to help us protect our Solar System. We're going to consult Queen Serenity to find a position for you."

She had stared blankly at the girl before the last line echoed in her mind, trying desperately to fight back tears.

"We hope you understand."

At first, she had hoped to be included in Princess Serenity's guardians, but the wise, silver-haired queen of the Moon did not place her among them. Instead, it was decided that she would be sent out on ambassadorial assignments to forge contacts and friendship with distant star systems and galaxies. The Queen had taken the ceremonial sword and blessed her with it, and a ball had been arranged in her honor for her first trip. Aurora was grateful for all they had done for her, but she was lonely. Her brown eyes watched Sailor Venus angrily chase down Princess Serenity, with Sailors Mercury, Mars, and Jupiter close-behind to scold her and she witnessed Sailors Uranus and Neptune in the world that was all their own. She was not part of their world.

Of course, Princess Serenity accepted everyone. On her send-off, the blonde girl had latched onto her with a tight hug, and pouted until Sailor Aurora promised to return safely. The Princess's guardian soldiers eyed her a bit uncomfortably, although they were still very polite. Sailors Neptune and Uranus were friendly, if only because she had gotten to know them somewhat during her failed time training to join them. After she left, however, Princess Serenity was the only one who contacted her. She smiled, remembering the times she had awoken to a tiny holograph of the Princess hastily conveying brief messages.

She was headed back to the Moon because of one of those messages. The other day, when she had retired to her room after another meeting to finalize a treaty between the Silver Millennium and the ruling bloodline of the system, a new hologram of Princess Serenity began playing from the communicator on the desk.

The somewhat-fuzzy projection of Princess Serenity stood and fidgeted, her traditional white gown billowing in soft ruffles about her feet.

"Um, tomorrow is my birthday party," she squeaked uneasily, "I know you're on another mission for my mother, but we haven't seen you in a while. Could you try to come? I'd like everyone to be there."

A separate, unclear strain of background noise filtered over that of the Princess. Sailor Aurora exerted to hear it, and made out a vague voice calling out for Serenity. She giggled to herself, and flipped a section of pink hair over her shoulder. It was probably Sailor Venus—that poor girl was always the one sent to look for Princess Serenity whenever she had run off.

The image of Princess Serenity glanced over her shoulder and turned swiftly back to face Aurora.

"I have to go; please come if you can!"

The transmission ended.

She looked out at the endless expanse of space, and felt a shiver of delight when she noticed she had entered the Milky Way Galaxy. Hopefully she would be at the Solar System soon! There wasn't a way to tell time during Sailor Teleport, and she hoped she wouldn't be too late. She had wrapped things up as quickly as she could so she could leave early in the morning, but time didn't quite flow the same across the universe. Aurora wouldn't be surprised if she was late, but she wanted to be on time. She wanted to grant the Princess her birthday request.

Soon, the speed of her energy bubble slowed. This meant she was almost at her destination. As soon as she landed, she'd brush her hair and re-tie her blue hair-ribbons. The pink-haired girl didn't want to look like she'd been traveling for hours by Sailor Teleport, even if she had.

As she approached the Moon Palace, a strange feeling started to intensify. She tried to ignore it, but as she looked out toward the small pearl of the Moon, she knew that something was wrong. Sailor Aurora gasped with horror when she grew close enough to see that the palace was in ruins—and a dark, menacing form lurked high above. Her eyes filled with tears as she noticed the crumpled, beaten bodies of the sailor soldiers scattered amongst the rubble and broken glass that had once formed the beautiful white marble castle. She choked on sobs, pressing both hands over her mouth, when she spotted the white-draped form of Princess Serenity splattered with blood. Clasping the fallen girl's hand was a tall, handsome man that Aurora had never seen before; but she didn't have time to question it.

She was landing on the ruins of the Moon. There was no way to stop it now, but she desperately wanted to leave. The capsule gently set down on the broken surface of what had once been a lush, beautiful stronghold of the universe and dissolved. The yellow-clad soldier slumped to the ground, her legs failing to support her weight. She stared at everything in shock—until she heard a familiar voice. The voice of the Queen!

Aurora struggled to her feet, but the voice continued, and she saw a flash of brilliant light in the distance, focused on the dark clouds that swarmed the sky. The darkness let out an eye-splitting shriek as it started to spiral and separate, being pulled towards the radiant light that Sailor Aurora could only assume came from the beautiful and forbidden Silver Crystal of Illusion. Although the light dazzled her, she wished she had never seen it.

Soft footsteps behind her caught her attention, and she whirled around to see an unfamiliar sailor soldier. The dark-haired girl in the indigo uniform smiled sadly at her, and adjusted her grip on the massive glaive she carried. She uttered not a single word as violet eyes watched the light counter the darkness in the distance. The victor mattered not. Soon, it would all be over.

"Please!" Sailor Aurora begged, reaching out towards the other girl, "What happened? What's happening? Please!"

The other soldier didn't even turn back towards her cries, and tears blurred her vision as she sobbed helplessly among the rubble. The raven-haired girl lifted her weapon high into the air, and slowly swung it in a slow arc towards the ground. Sailor Aurora's brown eyes widened one last time as she watched the world around her explode before everything went black.

The End