In a time of peace, even the most brilliantly-minded people do some rather stupid things out of boredom. Princess Serenity swapping places with Tsukino Usagi was the first. As they say, when great minds grow restless...well, you'll see...
AN: I just remembered, I don't own Sailor Moon. How sad.
The Swap
Chapter One
The Escape
During the time of princes and princesses, good and evil, is where this story starts. Through a time of peace, many grew restless. The Moon Kingdom was the pride of the Solar System, boasting the Sailor Senshi, the mythical women warriors sent to protect all civilians, and to fight for love and justice.
However, even they were growing restless with the peace, not that it was a bad thing…
But when great minds grow restless…well, you'll see…
The Moon Kingdom was the pride of the Solar System. The kindness of its ruler, Queen Selene was infamous, civilians flooding from all sides of the universe just to live under her rule. The castle itself was easily twice the size of its nearest rival, and was decorated with art works from hundreds of planets, including Earth. The Moon Castle gardens, however, were the pride and joy of the Queen. They were millennia's old, holding many secrets within them, but she made sure that they were tended to as often as needed.
On an ordinary, uneventful day, if you were quiet, sounds could be heard from deep within the garden. Some guards said they were haunted by past royalty, others claimed they were made by mischievous fairies. The truth, however, was a little less interesting…
"Mars, how long is it going to take for you to set it up?" A girl with long blonde hair moaned, pacing around the other girl. Rei's eyes narrowed, as she pushed her long black hair out of her face.
They were in a small clearing somewhere close to the centre of the garden. They had found a small stone table, with two stone bench-seats forming a small circle around them. It was one of many scattered throughout the vast distance of the gardens.
"Listen Venus, trying to create a sacred fire isn't as easy as it sounds, ok?" Mars snapped, glaring at the blonde-haired idiot. "Especially in the middle of the Queen's gardens!"
She was kneeling in front of the stone table, willing the fire into life. Hearing rustling sounds, the two whirled around to see another two girls appear out of the shrubbery.
"I thought you'd both be here." A blue-haired girl said, with a book in her hand. "And the Princess wanted to see what was going on." A blonde-haired girl popped out from behind her compatriot, grinning from ear to ear.
"The Queen won't be too impressed." Venus remarked, eyeing Serenity warily.
"What are you talking about?" Serenity asked, waving her hand around airily. "I told her I was with you, of course!" There were three simultaneous groans.
They all looked over to Mars, where the fire was now crackling. She looked up and grinned.
"Alright, where do you want to go today?" She asked, her head now facing the fire again.
"The arcade!" Jupiter squealed as she burst through the shrubbery. "Sorry I'm late."
They all sat around the fire, staring intently at the flames. Slowly, pictures began to form, as voices swirled around them...
"Coffee, Motoki, and make it strong." A grumpy blue-eyed man hauled himself onto the bar stool, and flicked out his newspaper.
"Bad day Mamoru?" Motoki asked, half smiling when he handed the coffee over.
Mamoru just snorted. "Something like that."
Motoki continued staring at him, waiting for him to continue. When he didn't, his smile just grew wider. "Ah, girl problems. Right?" Mamoru just sighed.
"I have no idea wh-"
"Don't you dare finish that sentence, Chiba Mamoru, so help me." Motoki growled, throwing his hands into the air. "For heaven's sakes, just ask her out. How hard can it be?"
Mamoru glared into his coffee. "I will only say this once, Motoki. I do notlike her. I don't like anyone. So please, just let it go. I've just had a bad day, that's all, ok?"
"And it just got worse, seeing that she wasn't here when you arrived, am I right?"
Mamoru balled his hands into fists. "Motoki, you're making this very difficult for me to-" He was just about to continue when the doors of the arcade slammed open, and a certain blonde-haired blue eyed girl skipped in, grinning from ear to ear.
"Toki-nii-chan!" She squealed, skipping up to the counter. "One chocolate milkshake with cream and a cherry please!" Motoki grinned as he saw the look on his friends face. But it disappeared as if a work of the imagination.
"Odango atama." Mamoru greeted, donning a smirk. "How wonderful it is to hear that melodic screech of yours so late in the evening. To think I almost went all day without hearing it. What a shame." Mamoru drawled lazily, leaning casually onto the bench in front of him.
The girl beside him turned pink with anger as Motoki handed her the milkshake. "Motoki, can you hear something? An annoying, high-pitched, whining sound?" Usagi asked, flicking one long, blonde pigtail over her shoulder. "You should really get it removed. It can't be good for business."
Motoki simply chuckled as Usagi stalked away, flashing him a grin. Mamoru growled.
"Why are you so horrible to her?" Motoki asked, whilst topping up Mamoru's coffee. "I know you like her." A grunt was his answer.
Usagi was now sitting at a booth along with the rest of her friends.
"I know this is going to sound stupid, but being part of the Senshi when nothing happens is boring." Makoto said lazily, poking her spearmint milkshake.
"Well, we could always train." Minako suggested, flicking her blonde hair over her shoulders.
"Or we could do what we're supposed to be doing and study." Ami retorted, looking at them all over the rim of her book. "You know, for exams."
Each of them exchanged glances.
"Exams aren't for another five months, Ami." Usagi said, eyeing her suspiciously.
"I know that, Usagi, I'm simply pointing out..." Ami was cut off by Rei.
"How about a trip to the mall?"
A soft ringing sound snapped them all out of their trance. Groaning, they all knew what it was. It was their communicator, and the only person who could use them other than the Senshi and Serenity was the Queen.
Venus was the first one to jump up and pull out her communicator.
"Yes, your highness?" She enquired, seeing the monarch's face appear on the communicator's screen.
"Venus, please inform my daughter and the other Senshi that their attendance is needed post haste. The Terran's Royal party will be arriving shortly, and you all need to get ready." The Senshi turned to see the Princess slowly edging away from them.
"And where do you think you're going?" Jupiter asked, stepping behind her.
The Princess just gulped.
"Come on. You can't seriously force me to go to that welcoming party, can you? I have never even me the Prince and they're going to make me marry him!" Serenity wailed, throwing her hands above her head.
"Serenity, they're not going to make you do anything. All you have to do is go there and flash them that heart-warming smile of yours, then we can come back here and check on Usa-chan and Mamo-chan!" Venus squealed, twirling around her.
"Listen, no matter how many times you tell me I'm not going to get married that jerk, I know you're lying through your teeth. Now, please, just let me disappear for a few days, then he'll lose interest, and we can go back to watching our next lives through the sacred fire!" She said, hopefully. But, by the looks in her Senshi's eyes, they weren't looking too impressed.
And then she did something that none of them expected. She grinned. And their smiles vanished as she jumped head first into the sacred fire, and completely disappeared.
"SERENITY!"
"There's two of them!" Sailor Venus called out, as she readied herself for attack. "Venus Crescent Beam Attack!" She shouted. One looked like a giant human-octopus, with all eight limbs flailing about, and the second was four times the size of the girls, and it looked really really strong.
Sailor Mars snorted, as she realised what it looked like. A green brick wall with a head, arms and legs.
The attack hit the octo-man, sending it along with its many limbs flying into oblivion; but the other charged at her wanting to run her down. Venus saw a red blur run past her just before the youma was engulfed in flames.
"Sailor Moon! Dust it, quickly!" Jupiter shouted, launching a lightening attack of her own at the beast. Taking her tiara off, she thrust it at the youma, who screamed and then turned into dust.
The other one, however, had other plans. Seeing that she was preoccupied, it snuck up on her, and sent all of its tentacles out at her. Sailor Moon knew it was too late to do anything. She couldn't move, so instead, she just clenched her eyes shut and prayed.
And boy, were they answered.
Half-opening one eye, she looked at her saviour, and her heart leapt. Tuxedo Kamen. As usual. "You should really start taking better care of yourself, Sailor Moon. What would you do without me?" He asked, a smile gracing his lips. Sailor Moon had a sudden urge to kiss that smile off his face. But instead, as always, she snapped out of her trance-like state and reverted back to being Sailor Moon.
She managed to dust the other youma without any hassle.
Sailor Moon then turned to Tuxedo Kamen, her scouts waiting patiently in the background. "I'm not sure what I would do without you. You're always saving me. Thank you." She said, turning a slight tinge of pink in embarrassment.
A deep, husky chuckle was her answer. "The gentleman always saves the damsel, Sailor Moon."
Locked in each other's gaze, she raised an eyebrow seeing the sudden change in his eyes.
She followed his gaze, and froze. "Why am I glowing?"
"Get away from her, you creep!" Sailor Jupiter shouted, charging at the confused caped hero.
"It's not me!" He shouted, dodging one of her fists.
The Senshi and Tuxedo Mask were forced to watch as Sailor Moon was lifted about a metre into the air. Sailor Mercury was the only one thinking straight. She was tapping away on her computer, getting all kinds of weird readings. Just as Sailor Mars made a lunge for her, Mercury cried out, "don't touch her, it's a teleport!"
And in that second of hesitation, Sailor Moon disappeared.
It was almost midnight, and as anyone would expect, the streets were quiet.
And someone was there who didn't belong.
A couple who were strolling home stopped to look at this strange, young girl, who was staring wide-eyed at the moon, tears rolling down her cheeks. She knew that the Moon Kingdom did not exist, but she had never prepared herself to gaze upon its bleakness.
It was dead. The Moon Kingdom, all of her friends, family, her people. All of it, dead.
And it hung in the sky at night, as a reminder to all those on Earth.
Steadying herself, Serenity tried to ignore the moon, and instead, find someone of use.
The couple watched as the girl with unusually long silvery-blonde hair and a long white silk dress started walking down the street, forgetting her tears. Shrugging, they kept walking, and turned the corner.
'So this is where I live in the future, huh?' Serenity thought to herself, as she walked the streets. Luckily for her it just happened to be a warm summers night. Her floor-length silk dress moved with the wind, and she loved it. It had been a gift from the planet of Venus. It was strapless, with the bodice intricately beaded with jewels and pearls. From the end of the bodice, flowed white silk, as if made of water. Shaking her head, Serenity stopped checking out her figure in the dress. The only thing was having to carry the train of her dress around was proving to be a pain.
"Where can I go?" She mused, thinking. They had been watching their next lives quite a bit, she realised. She knew all of their usual 'hang outs', plus where they lived, and, of course, the arcade. But where to go?
Sighing, she already knew the answer. The leader of her Senshi, who just happened to be her best friend. And so she took off in the direction her heart was telling her to go in order to find Sailor Venus.
She couldn't believe her mother, trying to get to marry a complete stranger! I mean, what was the Moon Kingdom turning into? Some sort of dating service? It wasn't Serenity's fault that the Earth and the Moon had had a huge falling out. But the way to fix it wasn't through marriage, least of all between her and that snobby prince.
Prince Endymion.
Oh yeah, she had heard of him, alright. And she had even been granted the privilege of talking to him through the telecommunications systems set up between worlds.
And it was a complete disaster. Serenity snorted in a most unladylike manner, then looked around, praying that she wasn't within earshot of any of her Senshi or Luna.
Remembering where she was and what she was trying to accomplish, she smiled, and kept walking.
Thinking back, Serenity couldn't exactly remember what had sparked the shouting match, but she did remember three VERY important facts.
One: Endymion was a self-centred conceited jerk who thought women, no, all citizens of planet Earth were there to cater to his every whim. As such, she thought with a smirk, his small brain had obviously overlooked the fact that she was not from Earth.
Two: Just because the inhabitants of Earth didn't have any sense of fashion, did NOT give him the right to make fun of the ancient Lunarian hairstyle which she was wearing.
Three: She would find out what meatballs were and then she would put them on his head.
AN: Hope it was ok...more to come, if you like it, that is. R&R.