Act 9: Princess
"Tuxedo Kamen?" she said quietly, as if he were only asleep and she was going to wake him up. But in fact she was shaking so much that her words were barely audible. She looked down at his blood covering her arms and neck, and could feel the flecks of blood splatter dripping down her face. She tried again, "Tuxedo Kamen?"
Mamoru's mind was buzzing, and he was desperately trying to figure out if this was real or not. The pain all over his body definitely confirmed it was real, but the woman from his dreams was right in front of him, calling out his name. She had long, flowing hair, and was speaking directly to him. He blinked, realizing that for all this time, he had been dreaming about Sailor Moon. But no... not Sailor Moon...
"Tuxedo Kamen!" she began screaming a little more frantically when she saw his eyes move, "Please be okay! Please say something! Just don't die, please!"
Her beautiful eyes were swarming with tears. Just as they had done so long ago. This was just like last time, when Princess Serenity was holding his dying body, and she was calling out his name, "Endymion! Endymion!" As he died, all the memories of his former life flooded back to him. He smiled. Most of them had been very happy. And he was glad to have been reborn as Mamoru Chiba, because he managed to spend a few days with the woman of his dreams. But his old history seemed to have repeated itself. He was even going to die in the same way, in the arms of his true love.
With the last of his strength, he reached up a hand to brush away her tears and some of his blood. He whispered her name, "Serenity," and tried to tell her not to cry, to be brave and strong, but he was feeling very weak.
Usagi cupped her hand to his face as she watched the life slip out of him, and watched him die.
"NO!" she screamed very loudly, unable to believe what had just happened. Her body reacted before her mind did. She started hyperventilating, biting her lip and sweating. Once she truly registered that he was dead, she screamed with every fiber of her being, "NOOOO!" She held his body tightly against him, feeling the small amount of warmth that was still in him. The sphere around her began to glow brightly, and she couldn't see anything outside of it.
But the other girls could. They were completely shocked, and gasped when they saw Sailor Moon's tiara shatter. Underneath it was a glittering, golden crescent moon. And, like a light bulb that suddenly turned on in her brain, the memories of her past life as Princess Serenity came flooding back to her.
Makoto, Rei and Ami realized it very suddenly. Sailor Moon is the princess! Sailor V's fake crescent moon faded and was replaced with a regular tiara. She smiled, at least now she could stop pretending to be the princess.
It wasn't just Sailor Moon's tiara that had changed. Her outfit was slowly changing as well, turning into Princess Serenity's official gown. It was flowing, white and lacy, and strapless, except for the balled sleeves on her upper arms. She heard a strange sound, a sort of ticking, and reached into what used to be her pocket and pulled out Mamoru's watch. It had started working again... but now it was moving backwards.
"The past," Serenity said out loud, "Tuxedo Kamen, it's like we're going back in time. To our past lives. Do you remember it?" she wasn't speaking in Usagi's voice anymore, her real voice was gentle and soft.
Rei gasped, grabbing her head, and Ami and Makoto quickly did the same. Rei whispered, "I don't believe it. I remember. I remember everything."
"Yes," Makoto said, "We were Princess Serenity's guardians, assigned to protect her."
"And we were reborn," Ami concluded, "So we could find our princess again, and restore the Moon Kingdom. Our princess," and they looked back at Serenity, who had now completely transformed into her former self.
All of Mamoru's blood vanished from Serenity's body. Her skin was now faintly glowing, and her hair had changed from blond to a glittering silver; her pigtails were longer than they had ever been before. She carefully rested her beloved's head in her lap, cradling him and speaking to his body, "I remember it. Everything. Especially you, Endymion, my true love. I feel like I'm going to be drowning in these memories. But it's a good feeling. It's like when I look into your eyes, and feel like I'm drowning in that blue color, the same blue as your planet. That blue planet of hope and possibilities. Oh, how I loved to watch it from the moon.
"Even when I was a little girl, I would watch it from the palace. It was always so beautiful. And I would hear stories about its handsome crown prince, Endymion. I wanted to meet you. So one day I disguised myself, and went to the teleporter where the Earth people travel to the Silver Millennium and back, and I wound up in your garden. And there you were.
"Endymion, the Earth was beautiful. There was real, true sound on your world. The air felt incredible to breathe. And there were animals, the ocean, clouds... but it was you that fascinated me the most. But we weren't supposed to communicate, for it was a forbidden law for the kings of Earth to look upon the celestial rulers of the Silver Millennium. But we had to be together. You would sometimes sneak onto the moon, or I would meet you in your garden. Do you remember the last time I came to see you? You pulled me into your warm arms and said that we were never to see each other again, that you had decided that you should honor your ancestors rules and never look upon me anymore. You said you were doing your best not to fall in love with me... but then you kissed me, so very passionately, and said that is was hopeless. It was far too late to keep yourself from me. We were so in love, and so happy.
"And then the uprising happened. The Earth people decided to destroy the Silver Millennium, because they wanted the Silver Crystal for themselves. They came to the moon with weapons, and attacked. And you were there, and you tried to protect me. One rebel, a woman, rushed up to me with a sword, and when she saw you she demanded to know why you were betraying your planet. You yelled at her to stop what she was doing at once. But a great darkness with white eyes emanated from her, and she cut you very badly, and you bled to death in my arms while I screamed and screamed your name..."
Princess Serenity came back to reality, and looked down at her dead lover once again, "Can you even hear me? I like to think that you are. You can't be dead, it just wouldn't be fair. We were reborn here, on your planet, to find each other once again. Is this our fate, Endymion? My Tuxedo Kamen, there is still so much I never had the chance to say to you. We have only just found each other."
Finally, she began to cry, "You are the only man I will ever love," and the tear that fell down her cheek shone with a brilliant, bright light. Kunzite and the sailor soldiers winced and had to look away, for the white light was too powerful. It shone brighter than the sun over Tokyo. The people who had died in Kunzite's attack stood, brushing themselves off, completely restored. Every plant in the city turned themselves to the light. Every sick and dying person in every Tokyo hospital were suddenly healed. The city was instantly purified as the tear crystallized and landed in Princess Serenity's hand.
Ami finally realized she had her special glasses on her, and when she put them on she could see through the light, and gasped when she saw the crystal.
Queen Beryl, who had been watching through her crystal ball, screamed when her castle began to shake. She was alarmed when, suddenly, the entire scene began playing out directly in front of her. Kunzite stared at his queen, since it seemed that the crystal had created a portal, connecting the location of the crystal to the Dark Kingdom.
Below the castle, Queen Metallia began to vibrate. The space that consisted of her mouth grinned as she felt the portal connect to the human's dimension. The light of the Silver Crystal reached her dark cave, and she felt her power growing. She opened her eyes, and she could finally see.
"Now this," she said to herself, "this is the power of the Silver Crystal."
Three figured appeared behind Queen Beryl, and Kunzite gasped. He saw his three comrades, Jadeite, Nephrite and Zoisite, standing there as if they had never died.
"You've all come back to life!" Kunzite gasped.
"Yes," Jadeite said, "We have regained our lives and our memories. Kunzite, where is our Prince Endymion?"
And just like that, Kunzite's own memories of his past life returned. So long ago, he and his comrades requested an audience with Prince Endymion, demanding that they attack the Silver Millennium and take the Silver Crystal for themselves. The Moon Kingdom had always been spying on them, mocking them with their thousand-year lifespan and great wisdom. Prince Endymion stood from his throne, demanding to know just what the Moon Kingdom had done to them personally, and if that mass of darkness had planted those ideas in their heads.
"What is this?" Kunzite asked, stunned, "What is this memory?"
"It's our past lives," Nephrite smiled.
Zoisite continued, "We were reincarnated to locate our Prince Endymion. But the dark creature enslaved us once again, before our memories could return. We sold ourselves, like slaves. It changed our bodies, melting them and molding them to do evil."
"Enough!" Queen Beryl cried out, and with a wave of her hand the three generals turned into small stones, their own namesakes. Kunzite was stunned, but before he could ask his queen why she would do that, he heard Sailor Mercury cry out, "Look! The crystal!"
The glow from the crystal dimmed into a tiny ball, which flew out of the crystal and into Tuxedo Kamen's chest. The night was restored to its usual darkness.
"Now, Kunzite!" Queen Beryl cried out, "Before the portal is closed! Get the crystal!"
Reacting to his gut instinct, Kunzite attacked with his energy force, but the sailor soldiers were quick. They rushed to their princess's side, holding her tightly. The grip Serenity had on Tuxedo Kamen slipped, and he fell out of her sphere. Kunzite leaped forward and grabbed his body.
"Tuxedo Kamen!" Princess Serenity screamed.
Kunzite attacked again, this time with an even more powerful energy force. The sailor soldiers stood in front of their princess, focusing on their sphere to make it stronger, while Princess Serenity tried to get through them.
"Stop, princess!" Minako cried out, "We can't fight him now. We have to withdraw!"
"No!" she screamed back, "We can't leave, Tuxedo Kamen is..."
Kunzite quickly made his way into the portal leading toward the Dark Kingdom, and the doorway began to fade away.
"Luna, Artemis," Ami said over her communicator, "Teleport us to the control room, right away!"
She had to yell that, because Princess Serenity was screaming, "NOO! No Tuxedo Kamen, noo! MAMO-CHAN!"
They wound up on the roof of the arcade. Serenity was leaning on the edge, sobbing her eyes out. All the times she had ever cried during battle as Sailor Moon didn't compare to this. She was crying because there was a hole in her heart, where Prince Endymion belonged. She had had him, for just those few seconds before he... it wasn't fair at all, they were supposed to be together, that's why they had been reborn, and now he was gone...
Sailors Mercury, Mars and Jupiter just stood, not sure what to do or say. It was Sailor V who stepped forward, and knelt as she spoke to her princess, "Sailor Moon? I mean, Princess Serenity. Do you remember me? Sailor Venus?"
Serenity lifted her head, and turned to look at her friend.
"You do remember that I, Sailor Venus, am the true leader of the four guardians who protect the princess? And you remember our kingdom, Silver Millennium..."
"Yes," Serenity said quietly, "I remember. Prince Endymion, he... we had so many happy times together, before we were reborn. Back when the Earth was only one, large continent, and the moon had its kingdom. But, there was war between the worlds. We had so many happy times too, didn't we Venus? All of those happy moments were destroyed. And, just like tonight, I couldn't save my prince."
There was a pause. Luna finally spoke up, "I should have known that Tuxedo Kamen was Prince Endymion. It makes so much sense. I can't believe this could have happened."
"It's all become of that thing!" Sailor Mars yelled, "That creature was the whole reason the Earth people went to war with us in the first place. It's targeting the people again, brainwashing them."
"From what I remember," said Sailor Mercury, "It was a creature from distant space, with no physical body. It's just darkness, an evil darkness."
"But we sealed it away!" Sailor Venus insisted, "I know it was. How could this be happening again? Do you think..." she paced, thinking, "Somebody had to be working for it. And when that dimension appeared, there was that woman standing there... could she be the one? Is she the one who is in charge of the Dark Kingdom?"
"We can find the Dark Kingdom," said Sailor Jupiter, "I know we can! Maybe we can use the Silver Crystal. Part of it went into Tuxedo Kamen's body, right? Maybe we can use the crystal to locate his body, and the Dark Kingdom. But who knows what they could be doing to him..."
"Jupiter!" Venus said, interrupting her, and glanced over at the princess. She didn't want Serenity to think about what could be happening to her lover's body.
Princess Serenity looked down at the tiny crystal that was clutched in her fist. She pressed it to her cheek and said quietly, "I still can't believe that my tear became the crystal. It was inside of me all along. It shone so brightly, but now it's like a piece of ordinary glass. But it's still a little warm," her voice began fading, "Just like... his warmth... his hands..." and she collapsed, fainting.
"Princess!" the four girls rushed to her. Venus said resolutely, "We should get her home."
Tuxedo Kamen's body healed up from the light of the crystal, and his heart was steadily beating as he slept. Kunzite and Beryl stared down at him, not sure of what to do.
"He's stabilized," Kunzite said, shrugging, "I can't locate the power of the crystal, but it's keeping him alive somehow."
"We both saw it," Queen Beryl said, disgruntled, "That light came from the crystal and into his body. All of the crystal's power is inside of him. Maybe it just spread through his entire body."
She snapped her fingers, and his body sat upright.
"I have no use for a dead body that doesn't contain the Silver Crystal," Queen Beryl sighed, and she began to chant. Slowly, Tuxedo Kamen's skin began to melt off, and his blue eyes dropped out of their sockets.
"NOOO!" Usagi woke from her nightmare with a start. Once she realized that she had dreamed all that, she put her face in her hands and began to cry all over again. She had woken up every hour from some terrible nightmare about what was happening to Tuxedo Kamen's body, and she just couldn't take anymore. She refused to go back to sleep.
She looked at herself in the mirror. She stared gloomily into her puffy eyes, which were now actually red like a rabbit's from too much crying. I've never looked uglier, Usagi said to herself. But, she realized, at least her hair turned back to blond. She ran a hand through one of her pigtails, and realized that something was very, very wrong.
Luna couldn't bear the thought of going back to Usagi's house. She stayed curled up in the control room, feeling terribly guilty. She had taken an oath, so long ago in the Moon Kingdom, that she would never abandon the princess or leave her side. And here she was, sulking underneath an arcade, far from her princess. The only other time they had separated was after the Moon Kingdom was destroyed, and she and Artemis had entered a cryogenic sleep, only to wake once the princess had been reincarnated. When she awoke, her only thought was to fulfill her mission: find Sailor Moon, train her, and take care of her. Her memory had specifically blocked some things, while for Artemis they weren't. Part of his mission was to turn Sailor Venus into a fake Princess Serenity, in order to protect the Silver Crystal that was sleeping inside of Usagi's body, and to deceive the enemy. If only she knew that Usagi would be so... Usagi, and be cute and clumsy and a cry-baby. She hadn't expected that, and became fixated on it, so much so that she never pieced together that Tuxedo Kamen could be Prince Endymion. If that had happened, then this whole catastrophe could have been avoided. It was her fault that Usagi was in such pain.
She sighed, and said out loud, "I'm a failure as Usagi-chan's partner."
Artemis was quickly at her side, "If you're her partner, you should be with her."
"Oh Artemis... I'm sorry, this isn't like me at all."
Artemis licked her face, trying to cheer her up a little, "Have you been hiding in the arcade all this time?"
"I was trying to find the true location of the Dark Kingdom, but I got nothing. How long have I been in here?"
"Almost a week."
"How is Usagi-chan?"
Ikuko opened the front door to find Usagi's four friends standing there, looking worried.
"Hi girls," she smiled a little, "I'm glad you came by. You do know that all of you have been calling the house every day, right?"
"How is Usagi-chan?" Ami asked, "I brought all her homework, since she hasn't been to school."
"That's kind of you," Ikuko smiled, "I know I should force her to go to school. But she's never actually refused to go before, so I know something serious must have happened. And she hardly ever leaves her room, or eats. But I can't get her to tell me what happened..." she jumped, as Luna suddenly dashed into the house between her legs, "Oh, Luna the bald spot kitty is back. She must be worried about Usagi too."
Luna rushed to Usagi's door and scratched at it, "Usagi-chan? Are you alright in there? It's me, Luna!"
"Usagi-chan," the four girls stood beside Luna as Rei knocked, "You have to tell us what's going on."
They heard Usagi reply in a quiet voice, "Come in." Rei opened the door, and all of them gasped. Usagi was sitting on the floor of her room, and her blond hair had grown so long that it cascaded across her carpet.
"Hey Luna," Usagi sighed, "Hey guys."
They gaped at her. Usagi shrugged and said, "It just kept growing."
Minako pointed to her desk, "Sit. Do you have any scissors?"
"Yeah, here," Usagi struggled to walk to the desk, and handed Minako some scissors from her desk. Minako got right to work, cutting and snipping and tying buns in her hair.
"Man, your dumplings are more complicated than I thought. But I remember your long hair, back in the Silver Millennium. Your pigtails would practically float behind you. Maybe your body is changing now that you've recovered your memories."
"Changing?" Usagi wrapped her arms around her body, "I'm turning into some space princess, aren't I? I'm going to lose my identity."
"You'll be fine," Makoto grinned, "As long as you have us four, we will make sure you don't go... space princessy."
"Where is the Silver Crystal?" Luna asked, "I hope you're keeping it safe."
"Of course," Usagi pulled it out of the safest place she could think of: her bra. She held it out so everyone could see, "It hasn't done anything. I mean, not like that night. You're sure this is really the Silver Crystal?"
"Of course it is, Usagi-chan," Luna insisted.
"Maybe it's not doing anything because of what happened," Makoto suggested, "You know, when that light flew out of it and went inside Tuxedo Kamen's body? I'm sure that has something to do with it."
Usagi's memories of that night came rushing back to her. The blood, her screaming, the way his face relaxed as he died in her hands...
"Where is he?" Usagi demanded, standing up from her desk, "I know they have him. We have to defeat the Dark Kingdom! We have to rescue him!"
"Usagi-chan," Ami said in a relaxing voice, "Calm down, he..."
"No!" Usagi shoved her away, "We have to go get him right now! If we don't, they're gonna melt his body and... no! No! Endymion!"
Minako grabbed Usagi's shoulders and slapped her across her face, snapping her out of her episode, "Princess! Hold yourself together! We are here to help you, okay? We are all gonna go rescue him together, so, don't cry like this. Be happy that we are still here, okay?"
Usagi blinked the tears out of her eyes, feeling the sting from Minako's slap, "You're right. I'm Princess Serenity, the heiress to the Moon Kingdom. I can't be acting like this. But you guys," she looked at them, desperately, "I know he's alive. I just know it. So we will rescue him, and bring him back."
She tucked the Silver Crystal back inside her bra as she said, "We have to find the Dark Kingdom, and we have to figure out how the Silver Crystal works. But how are we gonna do any of that? I've been thinking, and I've got nothing."
"So let's go to the moon and find out," Luna said.
The five girls just gaped at the cat.
"We can go back to where our kingdom once was. I'm sure we can find all the answers we need on the moon."