Natsu blinked in confusion, honestly not understanding the other man's panic. "So?" he asked.
Mamoru turned a panicked, and slightly annoyed gaze towards the dragon slayer, never pausing in his efforts for a moment "Look, I don't care if you don't understand right now, and I promise I'll explain later, but please, PLEASE, just gather your blankets and run into Usako's room now" He begged, his face flushed at having to lower his pride to the extent of begging. That, or he was furious at Natsu's idiocy.
Natsu sighed, seeming to catch onto the other man's panic, if not the reason for it, and he quickly grabbed his bedding and raced up the stairs, Mamoru hot on his heels. They barged into Usagi's room just as Natsu heard the door open downstairs, and watched as Mamoru quickly held up a finger to silence the girls' startled protests as he woke them up. Despite himself, Natsu was impressed how quickly they sobered and tensed, as though waiting for an enemy to barge in any second. Whatever else they might be, they didn't seem to be strangers to battle or war-like situations (which also struck him as a bit odd, to be honest).
"Usako, you're parents just came home" Mamoru hissed as he pushed the surprisingly quiet dragon slayer into the closet. He only had time to see Usagi's panicked stare before he jumped in and shut the door on them both.
"What do we do?" Usagi hissed, already hearing her parents walk up the stairs. Technically, she was supposed to be staying at Rei's while her parents were in Nagoya, so she wasn't sure if they would check on her or not. Luckily, Ami could always be counted on to keep a cool head.
"Mako-chan, hand me the flashlight in Usagi's drawer. Everyone, get in a circle, quick!" Lucy hesitated for a moment, but quickly followed orders when she noticed everyone else doing the same. "Mina, when Usagi's parents walk by, grab the lamp and open the door. Be sure to look as though you're going to use it to defend yourself" Lucy felt her eyes widen as she caught onto what Ami was trying to pull off. From the grins that crossed the rest of the girls' faces, it seems they had figured it out, too."
"Way to go, Ami-chan!" Rei whispered, reaching over to teasingly ruffle the girl's short hair.
The dark-haired girl settled for rolling her eyes. "When they realize that we are all in here, the story is that Usagi forgot a couple things and it was dark by the time she found them, so we all decided to spend the night here rather than go back to Rei's at night"
They all tensed for a moment when they heard the footsteps coming up the stairs, but then everyone leapt into action, causing Lucy to watch in amazement as the entire plot unfolded like clockwork. The only hitch occurred when Usagi's parents noticed her presence and wondered who she was. Then, it was Ami to the rescue again with a quickly devised cover story of Lucy being an exchange student from America. Whatever either of those things were, Usagi's parent seemed to buy it and they quickly left the girls alone, with only a few "goodnight"'s and "be sure to get some sleep tonight"'s as their parting words.
Once everyone heard the door of the master bedroom close firmly, they all heaved a great sigh of relief and watched in amusement as the closet door tumbled open, Mamoru and Natsu falling out of the cramped space.
"What the hell? Are you running a fever or something?" Mamoru hissed at the pink-haired man. "It was sweltering in there with you!"
"I can't help it, pansy!" Natsu just barely managed to keep his voice down. Lucy had already begun to massage her temples.
"I swear, that idiot can't go 20 minutes without arguing with someone" she muttered under her breath.
Whether he heard her or not, Natsu continued on, "I have a higher temperature than everyone else. Sort of comes with the magic"
Lucy looked up to see everyone staring at the bickering duo with surprise and shock. Leaning over, Usagi tapped Makoto on the shoulder, "Err, why are you all looking like that?" she asked.
Makoto just barely managed to tear her gaze from the argument, "Mamoru almost never bickers with anyone like that. In fact, every time I've seen him argue like this over anything, it's been with Usagi"
Lucy blinked, trying to process the information until her thoughts were interrupted by a particularly loud noise from the pair of them. Or perhaps it only seemed loud because of the silence in the room. Sighing and seeing that everyone else still seemed to be glued to the floor, Lucy got up and quickly walked across the room, grabbing the dragon slayer's ear and pulling him back to where she had been sitting previously.
After pushing his grumbling and protesting form to the ground, she plopped down next to him and looked calmly at the rest, who had turned their still shocked expressions to her.
"Alright then, so what do we do now?"
Everyone slowly began to come out of their stupor, even Mamoru closing his open mouth and sitting down between Usagi and Chibiusa.
"How did you make him shut up so easily?" Mamoru couldn't help but ask.
Lucy just rolled her eyes, "Let's just say I'm used to it. Now, back to the situation at hand. What are we going to do about these two," she gestured to the males, "in the morning?"
Natsu responded by yawning and leaning on Lucy's shoulder. She, in response, glared at him before rolling her eyes, seemingly resigning herself to the situation.
"Well, we can't just leave them here" Mina pointed out.
Makoto nodded, her eyebrow drawing together for a moment before she suddenly grinned. "Why don't you two just camp out in my living room for the night?" she asked, "It's closer than Mamoru's place anyways, so we can all walk and meet you two over there after we catch some sleep"
"Aw hell no!" Mamoru broke in, "I'm not staying alone with that idiot for another minute" he protested, though his voice seemed to dwindle slightly when he saw the twin looks Usagi and Chibiusa were giving him.
Rei piped up from across the circle, "I don't think you have much of a choice, Mamoru" she pointed out, "There's no way either of you can stay here now, and at least this way you'll be close. Besides, you dealt with Usagi for quite a while, I'm sure you can deal with Pinky over here for a few more hours" she finished, ignoring Natsu's tired protestation against being called Pinky.
"Mamo-chan" Usagi said quietly, laying her hand on his knee.
The man looked at her for a few seconds before sighing. "Alright, alright, fine. How do we get in, Makoto?"
"I keep the spare key taped to the bottom of the chair on my landing. Don't eat anything when you're there, I'll make breakfast when we all get over there, later"
Lucy shifted her shoulder a little, prodding Natsu to get up. "But Luuuuuuucy" he whined
"Natsu, get the hell off me, you idiot" she grumbled. Mamoru just gave an irritated look and stalked over. Grabbing the younger man's arm, he pulled him over to the window and slid the glass pane open.
"Follow me and keep your mouth shut" he ordered. When it looked like Natsu was going to argue, Lucy stood up and smacked the boy on the head.
"He's not Gray, so stop acting like he is," she hissed at him. When the two were finally gone, she sighed and slumped back to the floor. "He is one of the most frustrating people I have ever had the misfortune to know" Lucy lamented, causing all the other girls to start giggling. "What?" she asked, "Trust me, you'd feel the same way after a single job with that idiot, and that's not even considering all the times he breaks into my apartment."
"I don't know," began Rei, a large smirk on her face, "you two seem awfully close"
"Yes!" agreed Mina, "The bonds of love surrounding you two are strong!" she proclaimed, affecting what she thought was a mystical air. The other girls saw through it and began to giggle even more at her antics, though Lucy began to blush furiously.
Chibiusa crawled over and sat down facing the poor blonde. "What did you mean when you yelled at him for crawling into bed with you. Does that mean he does it often?" Ami and Makoto looked shocked as they stared at the youngest member of their party, wondering if she understood what she was implying, but the rest got devilish looks on their faces.
Scooting closer to Lucy until she was practically in the stuttering girl's lap, Usagi smiled slyly. "Yeah, what did you mean by that?"
Finally, Lucy managed to get a hold of herself. "No! It's not like it sounds!" she sputtered out, "He just breaks into my apartment all the time and ends up crawling into bed with me. I have no idea why and I kick that idiot out everytime he does once I wake up."
"It seems to me she doth protest not enough" Mina piped up, looking rather proud of herself.
Ami opened her mouth as though she were about to say something to the mistaken girl, but sighed and settled for shaking her head.
"You know," Rei said, sidling up to Lucy's other side, "we did a pretty good job in getting Usagi and Mamoru together. We could probably give you a hand, too."
Lucy groaned and fell back on the floor, reaching up to cover her furiously blushing face as she ignored Usagi's protestations.
"I don't need a hand" she muttered
"Oh, such confidence in your love!" Mina gushed. Lucy glared.
"There isn't love. Well, not the kind you're talking about. He's my partner and my best friend, even if he is an idiot"
Usagi left off her arguing with Rei and returned to the conversation at hand. "You know, you need to be best friends with the one you love. Otherwise, it'll never work" she pointed out.
Lucy began to argue again before she stopped, a flummoxed expression on her face. "Aren't you a little young to know so much about love, anyways?" Lucy wasn't expecting the wisdom the young girl seemed to exhibit in matters of the heart.
Usagi looked at the others and they all began to giggle nervously. "Well, you could say that I have some first hand experience with the concept of soul mates"
Lucy gave her a look of disbelief. Granted, Lucy could be a hopeless romantic at times, but this girl was what, 16 at the most? Even if she noticed that Usagi and Mamoru seemed to genuinely care for one another, calling them soul mates when she had just barely reached a dating age seemed a bit of a stretch.
"What do you think of reincarnation?" Ami suddenly piped up, causing everyone to swivel and look at her.
"Ummm, a cliched, overused literary plot device used to give more weight and depth to a character than necessary?"
That seemed to startle them for a second, but it wasn't long before Ami cracked a small smile and Rei started laughing. Even Makoto had the corners of her mouth uplifted when she spoke.
"Perhaps, but in all seriousness, what do you think?"
Lucy shrugged a little, "Well, I'm not sure, I've never really thought about it. Before last week, I would have never thought that different worlds existed, yet look where I am. I just got back from meeting an alternate version of me, and now I'm here."
Ami nodded and gave her a small smile, "I hope you will tell me more of that some other time, but to clarify the reasoning for my question," she sighed a little, knowing this would sound ridiculous, "it's very much real. Usagi and Mamoru were lovers a millenium ago"
"You've got to be kidding me" Lucy burst out, looking between their faces. Finally, she turned and settled her gaze on the girl in question.
Usagi looked at Lucy with a far more serious expression than she had come to expect from the girl. It was loving, reminiscent, yet, sad, too.
"We're not, though. I believe I promised you an explanation earlier in the evening."
Biting her lip, Lucy closed her eyes and took a deep breath, physically forcing her mind to clear and be more receptive to what she was about to hear.
"Alright, alright, alright. Considering my story, I guess I don't have room to make calls like that. Tell me" she said, opening her eyes once more to level a steady gaze at Usagi.
The young blonde nodded and absently pulled a blanket over Chibiusa, who had fallen asleep in her lap. "I was once Serenity of the Silver Millenium, that was the name of our home. Rei, Ami, Makoto, and Minako were my guardians in that time, and Mamoru was my lover. When our home was attacked, we were all killed and, in order to save us, my mother, Serenity, used her power to send us to the future so that we would have a chance to live, and ended up dying in the process. When we were 14 years old, our ancient enemy reappeared and we were woken to our memories in order to fight against her. We managed to defeat Beryl and Metalia, but soon after a new enemy appeared, along with Chibiusa, who came from the future in order to get help...mostly," the corner of her mouth quirked upwards for a moment, "Wiseman was defeated as well, and she was sent back to her time, but the little pest couldn't seem to stay away and she has returned in order to train to take my place as Sailor Moon, once I cannot act in that role any more. Now then, do you have any questions?" Usagi finished, smiling brightly. Lucy simply stared blankly.
"Idiot," Rei said, glowering, "even we would have questions at that explanation, and we lived through it!"
As Lucy looked on, her mind whirling in an attempt to process the information, Rei and Usagi quickly dissolved into an argument, though they at least made an effort to keep quiet so as not to wake Chibiusa. Lucy was grateful, though. The act kept the other girls distracted and allowed her to file things away within her mind. The elder girl was pulled from her reverie as she heard the argument begin to settle down. Licking her dry lips, she nodded.
"Before you say anything, we would all like to vouch for Usagi's story, as hard to believe as it might be" Mina piped up, her voice bright, even as her gaze was serious. Lucy stared for a few seconds and then smiled in response, all the words she had secretly been rehearsing abandoned.
"I believe you," she said simply, a bright smile appearing on her face. All the other girls seemed floored by her statement, and Makoto leaned forward a bit.
"But..why?" she asked, disbelief coloring her voice.
"Well, I'm a stranger to this world, and you aren't, and you haven't exactly done anything that would make me doubt you. You found Natsu and I, took care of us, fed us, and listened and believed our story. It wouldn't exactly be very grateful of me to refuse to do the same, especially when you don't seem to have any reason to lie."
With each passing word, Usagi's smile grew brighter and brighter and finally, in an enthusiastic lunge, the girl wrapped her arms around Lucy in a hug. The older girl, who didn't seem to be expecting it, looked down at Usagi with confusion in her gaze.
"Errr.." she said, while Mina and Ami laughed.
"Well, it looks like your partner might have her appetite, but you seem to be the most similar to Usagi," Makoto remarked, "She's always eager to look for new friends and see the best in people. I'm guessing she now considers you within that category. Too late to get out of it now," she teased.
Usagi blushed a little, but her smile never wavered. Lucy laughed a little and returned the hug, the girl reminding her a little of Wendy.
"I do still have a couple questions, though" she pointed out.
"Oh, I'm sure you do. After all, I think we've already established that was a terrible way of explaining everything" Rei grinned.
Lucy snorted a little and shrugged noncommittally, refusing to risk antagonizing her hosts. Clearing her throat, she asked her first question, "Alright, so what was with the getups I saw earlier, then?"
"Those were our uniforms," Ami explained, "Earth isn't like what your world seems to be like. Magic is limited, and there are many who don't believe in it. Our appearance a year ago has sparked a great deal of confusion and controversy. While the general populace of Japan seems to regard us as heroes of some sort, the government would love to find us. There are many possible reasons why, but I would think that performing experiments on us or trying to get us to work for them are both very likely scenarios should they succeed," she grimaced, "This world doesn't have a very good history of treating unique people with kindness. That aside, it would be bad if our enemies were to discover our true identities, as they could target our friends and family who would be unable to defend themselves.
Our Senshi uniforms are imbued with some sort of magic that helps disguise our true identities, though Usagi, and sometimes Rei, can see through the magic to a certain degree. Each of us has an alias while in our uniforms, derived from our past lives, and each of us have specific powers that relate to our planet of origin."
Lucy sputtered a little bit at the last part, and interrupted Ami's significantly more reasonable explanation, "I'm sorry, but planet of origin?"
"Yeah," Makoto said, "Each of us were princesses in our own right of whichever planet we came from. Our galaxy was united in an alliance termed The Silver Millenium. At the head of the alliance was the Moon Kingdom, over which Usagi's past mother ruled. Mamoru was Endymion, prince of the Earth. The only reason we each have the powers we do is because of our direct connection with the planet that acts as our patron, of sorts."
Lucy swallowed and nodded dumbly, part of her mind contemplating whether she should bow to her companions or not. Before she could make a decision either way, Ami continued where she had left off.
"You won't find evidence of the Silver Millenium in Earth's history books, but traces do remain. After the Alliance was destroyed and we were killed, Earth fell into something of a dark age. Our history became stories, then legends, then myths. Only fragments of the truth can be found now, and even then one must search well. For example, in the history of the earth, there was once an empire led by the people called the Romans. They had their gods and goddesses, though I believe these icons were derived from our past selves. Jupiter, the king of the gods, was the god of lightning, just as our own Makoto is Sailor Jupiter and controls the element. Similar trends exist for the rest of us," they all smiled a little.
"Venus was the goddess of Love, to the Romans. I can manipulate Light and can be sensitive to other's emotions," Minako said.
"What she said about me is true, too," Makoto said, "Even if they did fuck up the gender," she growled under her breath. To be honest, Lucy could see how they could do so. Makoto could be quite intimidating, if she wanted to be. 'Much like Erza,' thought crossed her mind unexpectedly and caused a small smile to flit across her lips. Maybe this world wasn't as similar to Earthland as Edolas, but it seemed as though it still had its connections.
"Mars was the god of war, and Fire is my element," Rei continued.
"Unfortunately, mine isn't as connected as the others, and serves as a small weakness in my theory. Mercury was the god of travel and theives, but my element is Ice."
"Oh come on, Ami, it's barely a weakness," Rei interjected, "Mercury was also supposed to be really clever, and I've never met anyone who's smarter than you," she finished, boldly, causing the dark haired girl to blush.
Lucy had reached a point where she ceased to try and understand everything they were explaining and instead decided to accept their words as fact, even if Ami's explanation seemed to help considerably.
"So, are you all fighting anything now?" she finally felt compelled to ask.
Their faces were a mixture of hope and grim acceptance, and the room grew silent. Finally, Usagi spoke quietly, "No new enemy has yet to appear. I really hope another won't for a while, but Chibiusa is living proof that we will eventually have to fight again at some point." She looked as if she didn't relish the prospect, to put it lightly.
Lucy nodded again, the wheels in her mind turning. The room grew silent once more as the sky outside began to lighten. Just as the sun began to reach above the horizon, Lucy spoke again, lifting her chin stubbornly.
"I have a favor to ask. I want your help in getting Natsu and I back to Earthland" she said. The girls looked interested, and Usagi opened her mouth, no doubt to readily accept, if Lucy's impressions of the girl were correct. She help up a hand to halt their words, "But, in return, I want you to allow Natsu and myself to help you fight, if you need to. We're both experienced and capable mages, and he is crazy powerful. I don't like to fight, but I want a way for us to earn our keep."
The Senshi grew thoughtful and shared poignant looks with each other. Usagi looked reluctant at the prospect, however. "We will help you, I swear, but you don't need to help us fight. It wouldn't be your battle and I would hate for either of you to get hurt" she stated quietly, though her gaze was steady as she looked at Lucy.
Lucy met the girl look for look, her chin jutting forward stubbornly, "Regardless, both of us have plenty of fighting experience. Besides, we're friends, right? Where we come from, our friend's struggles are our own, and the same applies to you. I must insist."
Usagi grimaced and looked at her Senshi again, seeming to have a silent conversation with them. Finally, she sighed and shook her head resignedly. "Fine. Who knows, maybe we'll get lucky and you won't need to fight," She said, her voice growing more bright as the realization came to her.
Lucy grinned back, and reached over to hug the girl once more. All the girls in the room visibly relaxed and began to laugh, no one seeming to notice Rei staring out the window and muttering something about "famous last words" under her breath.
Hey there, everyone! I'm sorry for the late update. I was suffering from a little bit of writer's block, though the main reason was finally getting the password to the family Netflix account (x,x) and starting an account with a new RPG. The one I've just begun is Aion and, if you haven't played it, I would recommend it. It's free and, though it takes a lot of time to download (I haven't experienced any problems regarding bugs or viruses), it's really fun and has an awesome storyline and graphics. If you decide to play, or you already play, feel free to find me! I'm currently using the same character name as this account (*cough cough* MixBerkaan). Also, you can find me on DeviantArt and Tumblr under this name.
I'm sorry this chapter wasn't very exciting, but I did have to get the exposition out of the way before I can start to build up the plot. For those of you who are tuned into my other story, "For Better or Worse", I'm also apologizing for the lateness on that one. I have finished Chapter 6, but have recently been able to get a beta who is in the process of reading up on the story so far, so I'm not going to upload it until she has an opportunity to read over the text.
I hope you all enjoy the story so far, and I'm looking forward to continuing it! If you desire, please leave a review in the box below. It doesn't have to be intensive if you don't want it to be (though they would be quite welcome). Even just jotting down a few of your thoughts would be wonderful. Until next time, readers!