Head Trip - A Minako Story

Chapter One: A Headache, a Sailor Crystal, and a Thirteen-Year-Old

"Why does English have to be so hard?!"

Minako glanced up, startled by Usagi's sudden wail of frustration. Three months in London – and the ever-patient tutelage of Katarina – had left her with a solid understanding of the English language. Usagi decried it as unfair every time they had an exam, but that didn't change the fact it was the one subject's homework she actually enjoyed. Of course, there's this little thing called math to balance it all out, she thought, staring glumly at the ever-growing scribbles in her margin. The bane of my existence…

"They're walking to their car," Usagi continued, reading aloud off her page. "It's parked over there." She offered a resounding groan as her head fell into her hands. "Why have three words that sound exactly the same, but mean very different things?! I just don't get it!"

Makoto peered over her own textbook in confusion. "They're a car? How can they be a car?"

"Really?" Ami slipped her glasses off with a weary sigh. "I know I've explained this to the two of you before. I mean, this is junior-high level English-"

"But it's hardddddd," Usagi wailed, reaching for her imploringly.

Makoto nodded emphatically. "Help us, Ami. Please!"

A faint wince flashed across the genius girl's features as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Alright. Let's try this again…"

Minako tuned them out, dealing with a headache of her own. It had tormented her for nearly a week now, proving incredibly stubborn. All I want is a moment of peace. Just one moment…

Rei slapped Usagi's wrist as she reached for the plate of dumplings, a familiar scowl on her face. "Do you want to turn into a real dumpling, Odango? I think you've had enough!"

"But I'm hungry!" the blonde protested. "I slept through my alarm this morning and didn't have time for breakfast!"

The miko frowned. "What about lunch?"

"I just said I missed breakfast," Usagi answered, eyeing her warily, "so I had to eat lunch in class this morning."

"Well whose fault is that?"

"I'm a growing young woman!" the blonde retorted, slipping deftly by Rei's defences to snatch up a dumpling after all. "I need all the food – and sleep – I can get!" She stuffed the whole thing into her mouth with what could only be described as gusto. "Tho thar!"

"Ugh…"

One week, Minako thought, absently twirling her pencil in her hand. It took one week for everything to return to normal. One week for everyone to forget what happened…

Galaxia's hands rose ominously, her bracelets shimmering with terrible power. A flash of light, intense pain, then finally, mercifully…darkness…

She shuddered as the memories played through her mind. Everyone else may have forgotten, but I haven't. I can't. Her fingers worked gently over her left temple as the pain flared up again; the wince was nowhere near as easy to hide this time. I have to study, she thought, mad at herself. I've got to make up for the last few years. I have to make my life actually matter! She needed quiet, though. She needed dark. I…I need…

"Can we please try to focus?" Ami asked, sounding just a little miffed. "Usagi, the key here is the way each word is spelled. They're is a contraction, a shorter way of saying they are, while their-"

"I have to go!" Minako said, shooting to her feet with a hand pressed to her head.

Artemis' head tilted quizzically to one side. "Mina?"

"Are you okay?" Usagi forgot about her homework immediately, much to Ami's consternation.

"Oh, I'm fine," she assured them, focused on packing her bag. "Just a little headache. Nothing a good night's sleep won't fix. Plus, Mother's getting extra tough with mock exams coming up. You all know how it is…"

The cat hung his head dejectedly. "It's that time again already?"

"Are you sure?" Usagi asked, not so easily appeased. "I can walk you home if you like?"

For just a moment, Minako toyed with taking her up on her offer. At least on some level, she wanted someone to notice she wasn't okay…but she couldn't do that to Usagi. She has a date with Mamoru tonight. Knowing how close she came to losing him, seeing how distraught she was, how can I mess their night up now? Mind made up, she slapped a cheerful smile on her face and shook her head. That would be selfish, and I won't do that to her. "Oh, no, Usagi, you're not blowing off your big date with Mamoru on my account. I'll be fine."

"But-"

"Seriously," she assured her, backing towards the door. "Arty will make sure I get home okay. You be sure to enjoy yourself and make lots of memories, because I expect to hear all the juicy details in the morning! Okay?"

Usagi nodded gently, her concern replaced by gooey-eyed thoughts of Mamoru. "Okay. Feel better!"

"I will." And with that, Minako was on her way. All she wanted was a nice, long nap…but Artemis had other plans.

He picked up right where Usagi had left off. "Are you really alright?"

A heart-to-heart was the last thing she wanted right now. "I'm fine."

"You didn't sleep much last night," he observed, from his usual position draped across her shoulder. "I recall you had similar trouble the night before. In fact-"

Minako sighed irritably. "Bad dreams."

"Galaxia?" he asked, with a wary twitch of his tail.

"Yes," she murmured, "…and no."

"Talking about it might help," Artemis suggested, with a familiar wink.

"I…" Minako let out a weary sigh as she rubbed her temple again. "Just…variations on a theme. It's a blur now, but…there is one thing I remember clear as day…"

"Yes?"

"A thick, black cloud, a…a storm cloud. It calls to me, Artemis…in my voice."

"And what does this cloud say?"

"Let me out," she said softly, her voice wavering as she repeated its demand. "Let…me…out." She let out a nervous laugh at his silence. "Silly, huh?"

Artemis was abnormally serious. "I'm not sure. It's really bothering you that much?"

Not just the dream, she thought sombrely. Ever since that night, ever since I died…it feels like I'm not sure who I am anymore. What I'm supposed to do with my life. All I do know is…I'm not happy the way things are. There was no chance of her saying so aloud, though, so she shrugged. "The headache's worse."

He nuzzled against her cheek warmly. "Well, like you said, a good night's sleep should do you good. I just hope your mother feels inclined to let you have one."

Minako swallowed nervously. "Me too."

Artemis might have stopped pressing, but that didn't prevent Minako's headache from worsening. It was enough that she felt physically ill, her skull throbbing painfully every second or so like clockwork. The door flew open before she could even get her key in the lock, revealing her mother's face…along with her typical scowl.

"You're late."

She made a point of checking her watch before slipping inside. "I've got one whole minute to spare."

"You can leave the sarcasm outside," Fumiko Aino growled. "I won't have you waste another year on failed exams and this foolish idol dream! Mock exams are almost here, young lady, and this time you will be prepared!"

Minako had no energy for a fight. Not now. "Yes, Mother."

"I mean it, Minako! Chasing fame won't provide for you or your future family! Do you really want to grow up into some useless loser like your father?!"

His usual groan fluttered out of the kitchen. "I love you too, dear."

Fumiko ignored him, nostrils flaring with every angry breath. "Well?!"

Minako nodded with a resigned sigh. "No, Mother."

At last, her mother appeared to relent. "Good. Now, go wash up. Dinner's almost ready."

Her stomach lurched at the mere thought of food. "Actually, I…I'm not feeling very well. Maybe I could I just go to bed-"

"Oh, no, you don't!" Fumiko snapped. "I'm not falling for that one again. You can go to your room if you like but I will be up to check on you, and I expect to find you at your desk studying!"

Minako finally lost some of her control, allowing an exasperated sigh to slip out. "Fine!" She headed for the stairs and was dismayed when she nearly tripped over her own feet along the way. What is wrong with me?

Artemis followed behind her, dropping his voice to a whisper. "Perhaps you should see a doctor, or at least get Ami to take a look at you?"

"It's just a bad headache," she insisted, more for her own benefit than his. "One of those...digraines!"

"That's not what they're…" He gave up, simply shaking his head instead. "A nap, then, despite your mother?"

"You read my mind, Arty." Minako slipped into her room and sighed, sinking back against the door as it clicked shut behind her. "Just a teeny, tiny, little nap. Then I'll stud-" She lurched forward, her skull abruptly exploding in pain. "Ah!"

"Mina?!" Artemis' icy blue eyes widened in fear. "What's wrong?"

"My…head! I don't think this is any…normal…digraine!" She toppled over, landing on her hands and knees as a strange, golden light lit up her room. The symbol of Venus; she could feel its magic tingling on her forehead. "I…I'm scared, Arty!"

"Just hold on!" he cried, flipping open her communicator with his paw. "I'll get help!"

Minako noticed a second light source. It shone from within her handbag, a vibrant orange…

"Your wand, Mina!" Artemis said, spotting it too. "Your Sailor Crystal! It's reacting to something…but what?"

She didn't answer. She couldn't. The room began spinning around her, a bevy of random images and colours dancing before her eyes. She couldn't breathe, couldn't think; all that mattered was reaching her wand. In an unfocused, last ditch effort, she stretched out her hand and reached for her bag. Her fingertips struggled with the clasp, finally succeeding in opening it as her cheek hit the floor. "Please, help…" The topaz-like gem atop her wand pulsed as her fingers brushed over it, and everything faded into darkness...

"Mm…" The gentle pitter-patter of rain roused Minako from her slumber. She groaned, pushing back to her hands and knees a little slower than she might have liked. A drop of water landed in her eye, a flinch accompanying her shriek. "I've had my shower today, thanks!" Her hands slid across the stone, cold and damp beneath- "What?!"

Her eyes snapped wide open, any lingering disorientation vanishing quickly. The comforting confines of her room were long gone, replaced with a dark street or alleyway. Minako took a deep breath, her heart thumping in her chest as she tried to stand. "Hello?" Her voice echoed around her, an unsettling silence the only answer. The sky was grey and overcast above, but it was still clearly daytime. Where is everyone? "Artemis? Anybody?"

Again, there was no reply. Wherever she was, she was sure it wasn't Tokyo. The look and feel is all wrong, she decided. No…it's far more western. Almost like… "London?"

Minako finally placed the narrow, cobblestone streets in her mind. Whitechapel, a favoured haunt of youma during her brief stay. Well preserved gas lamps, heritage listed shopfronts; she was definitely standing in the district she remembered…but something felt off. Like the first waking moments after a dream, uncertain what was fiction and what was reality.

After several more seconds of hesitation, Minako stepped unsteadily towards the nearest shopfront. It was old, as were most of the nearby buildings. The aquamarine paint had long begun to peel from its wooden façade, but the large, three-dimensional top hat above was still in pretty good shape. With a moment to search her mind, Minako finally got the name from her memory. "The Williams Street Haberdashery! Katarina, Alan and I have been here before!" She couldn't help but giggle despite her situation. "It's still my favourite word of the English language. Haberdashery!"

She made for the door, but a quick glance inside gave her pause. "It's…empty?" A closer examination proved her initial observation inaccurate. It wasn't just empty, it was utterly devoid of any interior at all! A nervous laugh flittered from her lips as she backed up, her surroundings suddenly far more sinister. A brief look at the next door down, a jewellers, yielded similar results. The exterior was just as finely detailed, but it too was an empty shell…and even the details were beginning to come unglued. Doors that refused to open or, worse, led back into the same street; windows assembled at strange, off-kilter angles; the same piece of wood used everywhere, right down to the patterns in the grain. It was less London and more a nightmarish, funhouse-like jumble of memories. Minako blinked slowly as it finally dawned on her. "Is that was this is? A memory? My memory…of London?"

"Bingo."

She span about with a startled shriek...and froze. There, right before her very eyes, was… "Sailor V?!"

Her sailor-suited counterpart struck a pose that screamed 'tada' and grinned. "The one and only."

Minako's initial shock quickly gave way to confusion, then curiosity. I'm Sailor V, at least I used to be, so it makes sense that it's my face behind the mask…but she's shorter, skinnier and looks so young… "Why are you thirteen?"

The Sailor Senshi's jaw dropped. "That's what you decide to focus on? Not the fact that I'm standing right in front of you…but my age?!"

She shrugged almost nonchalantly. "Honestly, it seems like the stranger thing."

"Only you, Minako…" Her younger double ran a gloved hand over her face. "And I can say that since I am you."

"My god…" Reality began to sink in again. "You're right! I'm talking to myself!" Minako turned away, horrified. "It's finally happened. I've lost my mind completely!"

"Hey, now, come on. I wouldn't say you've lost it, per se. I mean, when you think about it, we're sort of standing in it."

She managed a faint sniffle. "Really?"

"Yeah! And talking to yourself doesn't automatically make you nuts! Not completely, at least…"

Minako stared back at her, incredulous. "Are you using my own patented, passive-aggressive Sailor V sarcasm against me?"

"Credit where credit's due," Sailor V, with a casual shrug all her own. "It works."

Minako considered her answer a moment, then brightened up. "So, why are you thirteen?"

The Sailor Senshi sighed wearily and gestured to herself. "I'm not, but you see me as thirteen because that's how you remember me. This is all a representation of…uh, Minako? Minako?!"

She poked her double's chest, then cupped her own. "I sure grew a lot in the last three years…"

"Are you serious?!" Sailor V stuck two fingers in the corners of her mouth and whistled sharply. "Just focus, would you?! Are you not the least bit curious what's going on here?"

Minako nodded sheepishly. "Right, V, er…me?" She looked to her counterpart for approval.

"V will do fine."

"Where am I, V? What's going on?"

Sailor V took a deep breath, then abruptly faltered, laughing nervously. "Just to be upfront, I am you...so I know about as much as you."

It took all of Minako's control to avoid crashing face-first into the ground. "Then why are you here?!"

V coughed politely into her hand in a very Minako-like manner. "The question you should be asking is why you're here. Take a good look around, Minako. You're a smart girl…when you want to be…"

"Oh, thanks, I-" The backhanded compliment finally struck home. "HEY!"

"You were on the right track earlier. Think for a moment, really think. Where were you before here? What where you doing?"

Minako concentrated, frowning as she tried to recall. My head feels all sluggish and thick. Like someone poured a whole bunch of concrete into my ears! "I…"

"Take your time," V said softly, stepping forward to pat her shoulder. "Where were you?"

"I was…" A flash of stuffed animals, lots of them, and pink carpet. Clear drapes, a heart-adorned bed... "My room! I was in my room."

"Good. What else do you remember?"

"My head…" she murmured, reaching unconsciously for her left temple. "It was in pain. I was in pain. A headache. The worst one I've ever had, for a whole week now. Ever since…" She took a moment to gather herself. "Since Galaxia. Since Usagi brought us all back."

V stepped back, her lips pressed tightly together in a thin, white line. "You passed out."

"No! I…" Minako was forced to concede her point, blushing fiercely. "Okay, yeah, I passed out. There was this strange light. My Venus sigil, and…" Her eyes widened excitedly as it all came together. "I remember! I fell to the floor and my Sailor Crystal starting glowing. I touched it...and woke up here in Bizarro London!"

"What were you saying before about memories?"

"Am I…" I am a smart girl, she decided, glancing around at 'Whitechapel' one more time. "Am I stuck inside my own head?"

"Just like I said before," V giggled, with a wry grin. "Bingo! How else do you explain this wacky masquerade of London, let alone my presence?"

"But why?" Minako asked, with a bewildered nod. "Why would my Sailor Crystal bring me here?"

Sailor V's smile faded quickly. "I, uh…I'm afraid that's Artemis' fault. And mine too…sort of."

"What? Why?"

"When Artemis first found you, he activated a second Sailor Senshi persona for you," V explained. "Me. But you already had Sailor Venus identity swimming around in your head, and a whole other life from the Silver Millennium. That's a lot for the human mind to take…and yours, unfortunately, didn't."

Minako blinked slowly. "Huh?"

"Your mind is quite literally falling apart, Minako; it has been for the last three years. Dying didn't help, and when Usagi brought you back she did so as is…because she didn't know any better. You came back right on the brink, the trauma of death causing your psyche to fragment into distinct mini-personalities. That's why you've struggled with your identity all week; you legitimately aren't yourself right now. Not the whole you, anyway."

"So…I am crazy?"

"No, you're not," V said gently, "but you're definitely not…whole. And there's an even bigger problem!"

Minako stared back at her doubtfully. "What could be bigger than that?"

The Senshi wrapped an arm around her shoulders, steering her back towards the haberdashery. "I fear I'm not the only part of you that's split off." She pointed out a distant cloud. "See that?"

"What, the storm?"

"That's not just any old storm," V said, cringing. "That's you. Well, another you…"

"What?!" Just like that, Minako's head began to spin again. "Just how many mes are there in here?! For that matter, why does she, I mean I, I mean…" She took a breath breath and exploded. "WHY IS SHE A CLOUD?!"

"Like me," V replied, almost too patiently, "she looks however you picture her. Right now, she's that storm cloud."

"But why would I picture her that way?"

"I call her the Goddess." There was no trace of V's usual sarcasm in her voice. "If anyone's triggered this little, well…call it whatever you like. It was probably her…and even if it wasn't, I guarantee she's looking for ways to use it to her advantage."

"The Goddess?" Minako flinched as the distant cloud unleashed a devastating flash of lightning.

"Mmmhmm. The manifestation of all those selfish thoughts and desires you normally suppress. That side of you I know you're ashamed of." V tapped a finger to her cheek in a familiar manner. "I named her after your Goddess of Love routine…though in her case it's far more arrogant and cruel than cute."

"And you think this…Goddess…is why I'm here?" It was a lot for Minako to take in. My mind has split into multiple mes, including some psycho called the Goddess?! This is nuts!

V nodded sombrely. "She wants out, Minako...and I think your Sailor Crystal is giving you a chance to fix things. To save your mind before it's too late."

"Fix things? How?"

"There are at least three other Minakos that I'm aware of. Perhaps there's a way to bring them back together into one, cohesive whole again?" The Senshi raised a gloved hand and began ticking off fingers with each name she listed. "There's the Goddess – bad news – then Princess and Other Minako."

Minako's right eyebrow rose slightly. "Other Minako?"

"Right. The over-the-top, crazy-cheerful persona you slip into whenever you're hurting and trying to hide your feelings from everyone else." She raised a finger as Minako opened her mouth to protest. "I am you, remember? Don't bother trying to deny it."

Her jaw clicked shut again. "And Princess?"

"She's…" V hesitated a moment, chewing thoughtfully on her bottom lip. "She's a bit strange. Near as I can tell, she's a representation of your Silver Millennium self. What you remember about her, at least, but...she's not all there. Like she doesn't remember it all either. So, if we're going to find anyone first, I suggest we start with Other Minako." She snorted, a mildly sarcastic sound if Minako had ever heard one. "Not that she'll listen, of course."

"Why not?" Minako asked. V's silent stare was answer enough, though; she just sighed and nodded. If she's the part of me I think she is, we'll have a hard time just getting her to slow down long enough to explain. "Right."

The masked Senshi stretched, cracking her back with a contented sigh before gesturing to the street. "Well, then. Shall we?"

It was Minako's turn to hesitate, going over everything in her head one more time. There's a part of me that's seriously beginning to think I've had a real breakdown…and this is all a hallucination in the back of the ambulance. But V, or at least the part of me that's her? She's never let me down before. All things considered, this was nuts…but Minako had never been one to shy away from crazy situations. "Lead on, V. Let's find Other Minako."

AN: Well, that's Chapter One finished. This odd little story was actually what lured me back to Sailor Moon fanfic, preceding Last Guardian Knight Act I, but it gradually became LGK Minako's backstory instead. After finishing Order of Black, though, I really wanted to recharge my batteries without stopping writing entirely...and this was the result. Not a lot to say about it yet, but I have a rough draft of Chapter Two ready for polishing! I hope you had as much fun reading it as I did writing it. It was fun getting outside of all the canon I've established with my last several fics and just dealing with Minako as she was at the end of Stars. Admittedly, a little more angsty but I figure dying is sure to screw up your head a little, right?

This won't be a particularly long story. I'm targeting four or five chapters, and around 20,000 words max. For those who got here from Order of Black, I am definitely going to commence the second half shortly. I just wanted to take a break and have a little fun exploring why Minako's a little different in the LGK universe. A quick thank you goes to metalgear too, for letting me bounce my semi-formed ideas off him! Back with more soon!

Lisseas