Sailor Moon and all related characters are owned by Naoko Takeuchi/Kodansha, Toei Animation, and DIC. No copyright infringement is intended.
Journeys Through the Past
A Sailor Moon fanfic by Sailor Chronos
Chapter One: Learning Experience
Journal, April 5th 1995
It has certainly been an exciting year! Because my grades have been so good this term, I have been offered a scholarship to study at the University of Vancouver starting in September. Despite the fact that I have been enjoying myself very much here in Canada, I'm not sure if I will take that offer up. I had originally planned to be here only one term anyway, and after the recent business with Usagi and company, I feel that I should return to Japan to finish my second-year program at Juuban High School. I'll really miss Darla though, especially after being reunited with her after all this time. For the past few weeks we have been communicating via Email, and we'd made plans for me to take the train down to Seattle to stay at her place once I'd finished my final exams.
"Alyssa Jikanno! Are you still writing in that book?" Marie demanded, her words slightly slurred with a French accent. "Keeping a diary is kid stuff."
"It's a journal, and I don't think it's kid stuff." Alyssa closed the little book and got up from the bed where she had been reclining. "One day I want to be able to show my children what kind of person I was in my youth." She turned to a mirror and fluffed her long platinum blonde hair.
"If you say so." Marie opened her closet and looked through her clothes. "Are you going to the party tonight? It's the last one of the year. Everyone is going to be there, it'll be lots of fun."
Alyssa gazed at her willowy roommate with amusement. Marie always had been somewhat of a party animal. "I'm not sure yet. I have a math exam tomorrow that I ought to study for."
Marie laughed, jiggling her brown curls. "Studying isn't everything, besides, you're top in the class as it is."
"Well-"
There was a clatter of footsteps in the hall, a quick knock on the door and another young woman looked in. "Have you girls heard the news? The party tonight is off."
Marie was shocked. "What? They can't do that! Are you off your rocker, Jen?"
The blonde girl shook her head. "Something weird happened on campus yesterday evening. The party has been canceled by the principal, and nobody is to go out alone. Apparently a girl from the grade ten class was approached and assaulted by a guy in strangely-coloured clothes. The police haven't had any luck in finding him so far."
"I hope she's okay," Marie said.
"Fortunately she wasn't hurt badly, but whatever he did do to her scared her half to death." Jen sighed. "Just what we need around here. Anyway, I thought I'd let you know."
"This doesn't sound good at all," Alyssa commented. "And I have to go a study session at the library later."
"Just so long as you're with somebody. Management isn't taking any chances," Jen said, then left.
"So much for the party," Marie said, plopping down on her bed with an exaggerated expression of despair. "I was looking foward to it so much, too!"
"Then go shopping downtown with Tamara and Ingrid. They're always glad to have someone else to shop with."
"Maybe I will!"
After her study session, Alyssa spent the remainder of the evening with a group of friends in the campus coffee shop, discussing exams, reminiscing about the school year, and talking about plans for the summer. However she found herself alone when she wanted to leave; there was nobody who was going back to the residence. It wasn't far, so she walked the short distance by herself, with no trouble. When she reached the main door she took a moment to look around, and all seemed normal. She heaved the heavy glass door open and was about to step inside when she heard a scream nearby.
Immediately she turned and ran toward the place where she thought the scream had originated, and came upon a bizarre scene. A girl whom Alyssa recognized to be one of the school's most promising musicians was being confronted by a strange blond-haired man who was dressed in a costume similar to that of a circus lion-tamer, with a whip in his hand. He spoke to the girl in a sexy yet malicious voice, "Show me your dreams, beautiful!"
He cracked his whip. "One!" An ornately decorated backboard appeared behind the girl. "Two!" Manacles extended from the board and fastened around the girl's wrists and ankles. "Three!" The girl's chest began to glow, and as she screamed again, a shining mirror appeared.
The stranger grabbed the mirror. "Let's see if he's hiding here."
Alyssa had seen enough. She had received an Email from Ami not long ago that described events such as this happening in Tokyo with alarming frequency. She had hoped that she wouldn't have to get involved, but now she had no choice. Reaching up, she flicked her fingers, bringing forth a silver star-shaped wand with a symbol of an hourglass on it.
"Chronos Star Power, Make Up!"
Her body lifted up and became transparent. A gold tiara appeared on her forehead, and her hair rippled and turned white. Then as she began to twirl, she was surrounded by sparkling silver ribbons that coalesced into a white and black sailor costume. She stopped twirling and a small silver globe circled her waist, then formed into a sword.
The stranger withdrew his head from the mirror and put it aside. He touched the girl's chin with his right hand, but there was no reaction, for she had fainted. "Your dream is lovely, but he's not here. I'm afraid I'll have to kill you now. Pity that such a pretty face has to be destroyed."
"Hold it!" shouted a voice. The stranger looked up to see a young woman standing under a lamppost. Her costume was a very familiar style: white with a silver-hemmed black skirt, silver bows, black boots and gloves, and a gold tiara with a sparkling diamond-like gem in it. "Young girls are not for you to terrorize! I will not forgive you for disturbing her dream! For love and justice, I am the pretty warrior Sailor Chronos! You're history!"
He stared at her and swore under his breath. "There are pumpkins here too? Blast, can I never get rid of them?" He looked over his shoulder. "Come out, my Lemure! The wooden puppet, Kiko-chan!" A mystical symbol appeared in his shadow, and a gaudy multi-jointed figure that looked somewhat like a giant wooden Barbie doll stepped out. "Deal with this."
"Kiko-chan!" the Lemure said prettily. Its arms separated into several segments, which it flung at Sailor Chronos.
Chronos barely leaped out of the way in time. This thing was fast!
"Do you like to dance?" the Lemure asked. Its arms reassembled. "Do the two-step!" It started to fire its fingers at Chronos' feet, forcing her to hop up and down. One of the fingers whizzed past her to hit a tree, and it passed through the tree like an air-gun pellet through glass, leaving a hole. Chronos gasped. If one of those things hit her..!
This was getting out of control. "I'll slow you down, you caricature!" she shouted, then summoned her main power. "STASIS DISK!" A sparkling energy disk appeared in her hands and she threw it, frisbee style, at the Lemure.
When the disk struck, the Lemure was frozen in place. Chronos drew her sword and prepared to strike the finishing blow, but suddenly the effect wore off! The Lemure immediately pirouetted into a kick, its leg extending as it went, and knocked Chronos flying. She hit the ground hard, and the Lemure laughed, a high-pitched discordant sound that hurt her ears. She hauled herself to her feet and swore. Her power normally worked for thirty seconds, but for some reason, this time it only took five seconds to wear off. These Lemure things must be more powerful than the Droids and other minions she had faced.
"Let's dance some more!" the Lemure said, with seemingly boundless energy. One of its legs began to gyrate.
"I don't think so!" Chronos retorted. If her first power didn't work, then she would have to use stronger measures. She held her hands out in front of her as if in prayer. "TEMPORAL!" A spark of energy grew to the size of a basketball, with multiple rings whirling around it. "FORCE!" She opened her arms wide. "DISSOLUTION!" And brought them together with a clap.
The globe streaked out to envelop the Lemure... but it wasn't there any more. Chronos found herself hanging in mid-air, held by the Lemure's disembodied hands, watching helplessly as the energy globe struck a tree instead, which was transformed from a mature oak to a withered stump in seconds. She was horrified; she hadn't intended to damage anything, but the effect of her power was permanent on whatever it hit.
Or was it?
Disregarding her precarious situation, she concentrated all her attention on the tree for a moment, willing her power to reverse. This gave the Lemure the opportunity to pelt her with parts of itself, but she ignored the pain for as long as she could. The stump began to glow.
"ATOMIC SHOCKWAVE INCINERATE!"
An arc of super-hot fire engulfed the main body of the Lemure, and it screamed. The hands that were holding her opened, and she fell to the ground. In disbelief she looked up to see a brown-haired girl wearing a white and gold sailor fuku with red bows, holding a gold staff with an atom symbol on the end.
"When evil pollutes the land, I cleanse it with the fires of Creation. For love and justice, I am the pretty warrior Sailor Mara!"
"Mara!" Chronos cried.
"I can't leave you alone at all without you getting into trouble, can I?" the newcomer said, smiling. "How about finishing this?"
"Gladly!" She scrambled to her feet. Grabbing her sword she attacked the Lemure, who was sitting nearby trying to put makeshift bandages on its burns. Too late, it looked up to see a silver blade slicing down. "Stage out!" it screamed as its head separated from its body. Then the whole body disappeared, leaving only a shadow with a strange symbol in it which slowly faded away.
The stranger, who had been watching the whole battle, swore and leaped through a portal ringed by flames. The dream mirror winked out, followed by the board that held the girl. Sailor Mara ran over to her and caught her unconscious form, easing her to the ground.
"Is she all right?" Chronos asked.
"Yes, she just fainted." Mara got up and regarded her with a measured look, then burst out laughing. "Chronos, the look on your face!"
"You..." Chronos couldn't stand it. She dropped her sword and grabbed her friend in a bear hug. "I'm so glad to see you! How on Earth did you get here? Surely you can't drive from Seattle to Vancouver THAT quickly!"
Mara laughed again and winked. "I've figured out a few things over the past few weeks. Why don't we go someplace less conspicuous so we can talk?"
Chronos picked up her sword and sheathed it, then detransformed. "Sure, as soon as I get this girl back to the dorm."
Behind them, the oak tree stood unharmed.