2
When she came to, the first thing she felt was muscles clenching and unclenching against the front of her body. And she felt hair sweeping across her face, and fabric against her cheek. Arms under her thigh. Someone was carrying her. She recognized a scent. Makoto. Jupiter. Lifting her head a little, Usagi huffed, not feeling well enough to speak yet. But Makoto heard her, and Usagi was let down on the ground gently. Her body ached. Her head felt as if it should split. Lovely. Usagi looked around. The girls looked tired.
"How long have we been in here?" she asked.
"Hours," replied Mars, rubbing her.
"I can't crack the exit," Mercury explained apologetically.
"How are you feeling, Usagi?" asked Venus.
Usagi looked at the true Leader of Senshi. "I've been better, Venus."
"My back has been better too," Jupiter joked.
Usagi cracked. Laughing so much she cried, she sat down on the stone floor until she calmed down. The Senshi gave her curious looks.
"Heh, you always had a dead-on humour, Jupiter."
"Always?"
"Yeah, back then," Usagi said, nodding.
"What are you talking about?" Jupiter asked, confused.
Venus, giving her a quick look, stepped in. "About our previous lives. About a life that none of you don't remember."
"Hold the horses! Previous lives? Come on!" said Mars, scoffing.
"Mars…" Usagi said, looking at the raven hair Soldier of Fire.
Mars shrugged. "Alright, alright! What about it? Oh, what, do I have to curtsy?"
Usagi rolled her eyes. "I'll steal your manga if you even think about it."
Artemis coughed. "Princess, if I may- "
"Don't call me princess. I'm not Serenity," Usagi interrupted.
"What do you mean? You're the moon princess, don't you remember?" Luna said.
"I remember. But I'm still not Serenity. She's my past, a part of me, yes, but I'm not her. I'm Usagi."
Silence. Usagi sighed and rubbed her nose.
"The Silver Millennium was on the Moon long, long ago. My mother at the time, Queen Serenity, was the ruler and everything was peaceful. Then, from Earth, came forces of Darkness and everything fell into ruins. We have been reborn. All of us lives in the Silver Millennium; the four of you served as Serenity's, and the Queendoms, guard."
They stared at her. Well, all except Venus. So, she knew as well, then. Usagi wondered how much; she herself didn't remember everything yet.
"Wait… are you saying we are aliens?" Jupiter said, baffled.
Mars facepalmed. "Hello, have you electrified yourself? She said we lived on the moon; that'd make us moon people."
"Um, actually Mars, we are humans with souls from the moon. My guess is that the Queen wanted us reborn for some reason, but she also must've wanted us to be normal and happy for as long as possible. And, besides, moon people can't dwell on earth for long, right?" Venus said, turning to Usagi for confirmation.
Usagi nodded. "Mhm. Something about the air made us ill. But anyway. We need to get out of here, get that Chiba guy back, and then, I don't know… beat the bad guy boss. We wouldn't be awake if not," she said.
"That's why we found you! We awoke because we felt Dark forces, so we followed the Queens orders and woke you as well," Luna put in.
"Alright! Let's toast them!" Mars declared. Flames leaped from her hand and she yelped, jumping backwards in shock. "The hell?!"
Usagi sniggered. "Fierce, Mars," she commented.
Mars snorted. "Very funny."
"If anyone is interested, I've found the exit," said Mercury, calm as ever, and closed her small computer, clicking away her glasses as well by tapping her earring.
"Yay! We can leave this creepy cave!" Venus cheered, raising a fist in the air. They had taken three steps when Usagi felt the dark surge of power fill the cave. Floating in the air high above them, white hair streaming around him, cape billowing – that had to be done by magic – was Kunzite.
"I'm surprised you found the exit," he drawled, voice hard as steel. He was clearly pissed off about something. Usagi rubbed her neck, suddenly tired of all this fighting. Or, not suddenly, just more tired. The Senshi moved as one; stood in front of her before she could protest, not moving an inch. Usagi saw Luna and Artemis huddle close to her, and she hastily pointed to them and then waved her hand, a silent find a safe place. The cats leapt away. Two less to worry about. Venus and Jupiter had never been much for beating around the bush, and so the two just went for it, throwing their attacks at the white haired Shitennou. Kunzite must have had done some serious thinking since last time, because he had an annoying absorbing shield up and going. Usagi frowned, tapped Mercury on the shoulder. "I think we better take him together," she whispered.
"No! you have to stay in the back! The want you!" Mercury argued. Usagi glared. Mercury did not move an inch. Venus and Jupiter crashed down. Mars jumped in, all fire and steel, only to get thrown away as well. With Mercury, Kunzite didn't even care to give her time to attack, he just blew her into Usagi, knocking them both to the ground. Usagi shrugged, stood up. The Crescent Moon Wand vibrated in her hands, filled with, unused power.
"Do you mean to step into Hell voluntarily, Princess?" Kunzite asked, mocking. Usagi said nothing, simply focused on the power that filled her, trying the recall on the long-lost memories of how to use it. "Fine, then, I will take my revenge for Zoisite!" Kunzite went on. Oh. Zoisite must be dead.
"How can you blame that on me? I did not kill Zoisite," Usagi said.
"You made him fail! You as good as killed him!" Kunzite snarled and threw his power at her.
The Silver Crystal blazed to life; pink light flooded into every corner of the stranger, twisted dimension that had been Starlight Tower. When Usagi looked around, Kunzite was gone. She didn't know if she killed him, but somehow, she didn't think so. The tower pretty much blown to pieces; it couldn't withstand being twisted into Darkness and then cleansed. So, Usagi stood in the ruins of metal and waited for her friends to wake up. It wouldn't do to call a hospital since none of them would be able to explain their injuries. And they healed quickly. All they needed was rest and food. Usagi rubbed her neck. They would have to get Chiba Mamoru back some way. The soul of Serenity inside her screamed for her lost love. It was annoying, even if Usagi understood the princess.
"Usagi!"
Usagi looked up. Venus smiled and gave her thumbs up. Mars nodded a thank you, Mercury wanted a hug and Jupiter whooped loudly.
"You did a real number on this place!" the Senshi of Thunder sniggered as she survived the fallen pieces of metal.
Usagi facepalmed. "Well, it was this or die, and I rather fancy being alive. But let's get gone," she said.
They slipped away in the early morning light, heading to Rei's place for some undisturbed rest, since Rei's grandfather never once questioned their presence or behaviour. Before she fell asleep, Usagi wondered if the old man knew.
#
Usagi couldn't sleep. The other four girls had fallen asleep almost at once, opting to sleep for a few hours and then get on with the day. But Usagi could not. She had woken up after fifteen minutes of dead sleep. Her brain was being ripped apart. Serenity wanted to be in charge; to go after her Endymion, to wipe out those who dared hurt him. Usagi wasn't nearly as panicked. Sure. It was bad that the Dark Kingdom had gotten hold of him, but she reasoned that if they wanted him dead, they wouldn't have taken him. So, they wanted something from, or with, him. So, they would, logically, keep him alive. Therefore, he was remotely safe. Serenity screamed that she was cold hearted. Usagi retorted that the princess was love stuck and not thinking clearly. On and on they went, until it was lunch time and Usagi was close to fainting. Somehow, they came to an agreement; Usagi would do her best to get Endymion back; Serenity would bring fort as much memory and knowledge about the Moonpower that she could. Usagi rubbed her neck. She hated this crappy existence she had been dragged into. She just wanted to be normal.