"Usagi! Time to wake up for school!" Ikuko Mama shouted. She knew that the efforts were in vain but she still continuously attempted to bring to her children, especially her eldest daughter, the importance of punctuality.
However, Usagi was not one for change, especially when it dealt with a place that she wasn't exactly thrilled with.
"Usagi! Come on!" Chibiusa ran from her bedroom and pulled on the other's blanket covers. "It's time to wake up!"
"It's no use," Luna sighed. "I've been at this for so long, she's just not going to give!"
"Oh... Mamo-chan.." Usagi giggled noisily.
"Aye..." Chibiusa dropped her head in defeat. "Let her be late! I need to be on time!"
Just after the defeat of Nehellenia, Chibiusa had matured greatly, if not in body but by mind. And she found her heart easily claimed by the young man with brilliant orange eyes, shining much like the sun that he represented. She wondered what Helios was doing, having returned to Elysion. She wanted to see him greatly, each time her thoughts drifting to him far too easily, her heart aching. But she still was young, not yet the maiden she wanted to be when he and she met once more.
But while this was what she had thought of to be true, she never realized how soon they would be reunited or the surprises the whole group would receive.
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The young girl, just barely thirteen, moved fast along the plains. She was surrounded by red roses and vines, with pillars reaching nearly to the stars themselves as she closed her blue eyes in near defeat, her snow white hair fallen in mussed tussles.
"I must save..." She muttered weakly. She reached around her neck, a key glittering. She held it in her palm, tightly closed around it to become a fist. "I have to! Or else I and everyone else will be no more!"
She reached a plateau, where the ground became nothing but green grass, flowers of all colors dotting the plains. She looked back and sighed heavily. "They haven't realized I'm gone yet. I have to hurry."
"Time Guardian!" She raised her hand, the key floating upward. "By the powers of Chronos, thy father, open the doors to time and send me forth to my destination!"
The cherry colored beam of energy bore into her as she faded out from view.
"Maiden! Maiden!" Voices soon echoed on the horizon as the people of Elysion stirred, realizing that their important person had disappeared into thin air.
And a single voice, full of grief and pain, echoed the loudest. "Placidity!" And the sight revealed a young woman with bubblegum hair, pulled up into rabbit ears. Her red eyes filled with tears as she checked her sobs. "My Maiden..." And she collapsed, her head covered in her palms as she sobbed openly.
And within the risen castle, past the layers of security and guards and people, lay the Guardian, asleep with his snow white hair resting along the pillows. But his body was no longer whole as the more time went on, the more it was fading from existence.
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Usagi eventually rose and did her customary screech, overeat, and run to her school. She had yet to enter high school and was supposedly working on the entrance exams like she had told her parents. But she hadn't bothered yet to push herself. She was still trying to grasp at a childhood long since outgrown but she just wasn't ready to face that fact.
Unlike Chibiusa who enjoyed school and did her best. She almost always got the best scores but she sometimes felt guilty. After all, having Ami as a tutor in her future gave her a sharp edge.
She walked down the sidewalk of downtown Juuban, holding the math paper in triumph. She had gotten a ninety, far better than she had expected. She had forgotten about this test and as such had never studied.
"Chibiusa!" She heard a familiar and favorite voice and looked up, Mamoru waving to her with a open smile.
"Mamo-chan!" She raced to her future father, jumping neatly into his arms. He caught her with some difficulty, her body far outgrowing the proportions she had been in since the first they had met.
"You cannot keep doing that," Mamoru chided gently as he placed her down gracefully. "My back can't take such jumps."
"I'm sorry," She stuck out her lower lip, trembling it as she gave him a sad puppy gaze.
"Ah, now, what are you holding there?"
"It's my test! I got a ninety!" She beamed.
"That's wonderful! Studying with the girls must be helping a lot!"
Chibiusa thought of Usagi, her head thumped against the book as she snored, drool slowly dribbling out over the hastily taken notes over the last minutes of class. "Well, sometimes." Chibiusa smiled. "So, how about a treat for me doing such a good job?"
"I'm sorry, Chibiusa but I need to go to work. Maybe you'll find Usagi and the others at the CROWN?"
"Awww..." She sighed, overly dramatic before she nodded very sadly.
"Good girl. I'll see you later, okay?"
"Yes, Mamo-chan," she watched him leave before she snorted. "Nuts! I wanted to spend some time with him! Usagi would've hated that!" She grinned as she chuckled.
She pranced down to the crown, where indeed the group were gathering. Minako and Makoto were discussing the current trends in fashion and male models as Ami read up on her psychology. Rei was arguing, loudly, with Usagi about the latest issue that she was to get but was stolen by the blonde. Usagi tried hard to dispute that fact but with it sticking partially out from her book bag.
"Hi everyone!" Chibiusa grinned before sticking her tongue out at Usagi. "Nyah, nyah, I saw Mamo-chan!"
"When! Where! Where!"
"Just a minute ago but he..." Chibiusa didn't have a chance to finish as Usagi nearly flew off the seat and out to the front, exiting as the door whooshed open. She could be heard calling out for her beloved.
"He had to go to class," she finished, raising an eyebrow. "She just doesn't change, does she?"
"No, not really," the girls all said as one, also shaking their heads.
A familiar girl appeared, carrying a tray for the girls.
"Hey Una!" They all spoke again as one.
"What is this, be alike day?" Una grinned, handing Makoto her drink first.
"What does that mean?" Rei asked lightly.
"I saw someone who looked like Usagi AND Chibiusa just before work. Her hair was all snow white though and really curly. She looked messed up, actually," Una mused.
"Snow white? Were her eyes orange?" Chibiusa asked suddenly, merely pondering.
"No, I don't think so," Una shrugged. "She was in a hurry though."
"Well, probably no one we know," Chibiusa smiled, looking at her hands almost sadly.
"You lied to me!" Usagi popped up, openly glaring.
"If you recall, you never let me finish!" Chibiusa frowned.
"But you said.."
"She's right, you know," Minako smirked. "You never let anyone finish any sentence if it deals with your Mamoru!" She laughed.
"Oh hah ha! I do to!"
"I have yet to hear such a thing," Rei pointed out, lightly waving her finger in the air.
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Helios stood in the field, trying to stay calm. Just having returned to Elysion, he was instantly bothered and it took him a few days to figure out just why. Everything had been restored but something was amiss.
And it didn't take long for him to find out. Much like the Menards whom had been protected by the castle's crystal, there had been a set of four souls also in crystal. But it was for entire other reason.
Once his loyal followers, they had fallen out of favor for trying to bring the end to Elysion so long ago. Four souls that he had cherished like his family, they had turned and he had no choice. He knew he couldn't destroy them nor did he have the ability to heal them. So he locked them away, deep within the dark shadows of the castle, where he kept vigil.
But such a ordeal with Nehellenia, not to mention the destruction, was enough to break their prison and he knew what would be targeted.
He turned with a sigh, now unsure of what to do. He went to his head but found the golden crystal now gone, having been rightfully returned to Mamoru. "If I return..." He wondered. He sighed tiredly. He just didn't know what to do.
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The young girl looked at her reflection in the shop window, her hair falling farther and farther down her back, past her hips and almost to her ankles. She knew she had to place them up but she first needed to find a safe zone of which she could also rest.
She looked around, recognizing everything. Save that there was yet to be a Crystal Palace. She wondered if she had to reveal herself, much like what her mother had done in her young age.
Thinking of her mother, she prayed she wouldn't be too angry. She felt as if she were the only one to right this problem. What she had initially forgotten that senshi also existed here. Currently where she was from, she was the only true new senshi. The elders had since settled down as well as her mother, trying to keep a peace through acts of peace, not by battle uniforms.
She continued past the window and treaded the ground thoughtfully. If she could remember correctly, the Hikawa Temple should be around. It had been reverted to be apart of the Crystal Palace but within the glass walls lay the old temple. It was a homage to Lady Mars and her dreams, her grandmother had told her. That and so she wouldn't complain, her grandmother would always whisper that. She'd laugh alongside her ancestor, nodding while fighting the confusion. She knew stories and only stories of her grandmother's time and she never could grasp the importance of a place.
She found herself at the steps of the Hikawa shrine, looking up the set with a grimace. She was already wiped out but she rubbed the bridge of her nose and trudged up with a groan. She reached the top a good few minutes later, heaving. She normally was able to do so much more but time traveling wasn't as easy as it used to be.
"Can I help you, miss?" Grandpa Hino poked out, squatting over to the girl who was only a fraction of his age but much taller.
"I'm looking for a place to temporarily rest," she requested politely, bowing lightly.
"Well, if you like, we always have a spare room. In order to pay, you must help with the chores."
"As you wish, sir," She smiled brightly.
"And pray tell, child, what is your name?" Grandpa Hino smiled at the clear eyed girl.
"My name? Saiseikino Gachirin but everyone calls me Rin."
"Ah, well, welcome Rin-chan. Please, make yourself comfortable," Grandpa led her to a empty room and promptly left. Rin blinked before impulsively jumping onto the cushioned bed with a long sigh.
"Ahh... sleep."
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Rei walked with the others at her heels, feeling a strangeness. Always one with that sixth sense, she knew something new was up. Of course, when wasn't it? She thought carefully and hard about what just to say as while she was set off, she didn't know anything as of yet.
Until her grandfather came bounding out. "Rei! We have a new boarder with us. I don't know how long she'll be staying but she came about four hours ago."
"Oh, really?" Rei began.
"Oh! Maybe it's a fan of Rei's again!"
Rei blinked before frowning at Minako who flushed. "What!"
"I doubt it," Rei snorted. "So what do you know about her?"
"Her name is Saiseikino Gachirin," he beamed. "And she's a bit young. I think she may have run away from home. Perhaps you could talk to her. You're closer to her age and all."
Rei nodded dutifully.
"A runaway? How sad," Ami exclaimed softly.
Usagi and Chibiusa had finally made it to the top of the stairs, still much too full from their gorging. "You're a pig," Usagi poked the other girl's belly.
"Not like you are!" Chibiusa glowered before sighing. "That cake was delicious."
"Here comes our new guest!" Grandpa Hino waved over Rin. Rin had cleaned herself up, placing her snow white hair up into a set of three odangos, the center being foremost and the other two nearly completely hidden by it.
"Hello," Rin tried to look calm but her stomach had crashed to her feet. She easily recognized these people, especially the pink haired one.
Rei frowned. "So, Grandpa tells me you're a runaway," she began lightly.
"Oh... is it that obvious?" Rin smiled thinly.
"Rei," Minako whispered suddenly to the other girl. "Rei!"
"What?" Rei frowned. "No need to scream in my ear!"
"We.. uh, have some company," Minako smiled weakly. Rei opened her mouth but closed it as she turned and faced a very familiar male figure.
"Helios.." Chibiusa breathed.
"Helios!" The girls gasped.
"Papa..." Rin whispered thickly.
"What?" Grandpa Hino frowned. "Is that how fast girls fall this day and age? Aye, good thing I'm old!"