Storm Begins
A lead weight had been placed on her body – or at least that's what it felt like – as she tried, to no avail, to lift her body off of the bungalow's tiny porch. Her daughter was in trouble, and she couldn't move!
Damn it, she thought, frustrated, get up!
Suddenly, she was released. Her body, now light, shot up and rushed through the door to the bungalow. She found her Senshi each sprawled on the floor, transformed, and unable to move.
"The princess," Jupiter moaned. "She's…"
Oh, God, the queen thought as she hurried to the room her daughter occupied. There, she nearly collapsed with fear onto the bed. The room was empty, except for the disheveled furniture and clothes strewn all over the floor.
She pressed her fists to her mouth, trying to smother a scream, before she turned and ran back into the parlor to her friends.
One by one, she knelt beside each of her guardians, using her crystal to free them from the invisible chains holding them to the floor.
Tears streamed down her face as she pulled Jupiter - the last of her friends – out of her stupor. The green Senshi sat up, holding onto her queen for support as the others had.
"I'm sorry, everyone," Serenity cried. "I should've tried to stop him!"
"Serenity," Jupiter soothed. "There are more important matters right now. Endymion wasn't immune to this either. Go to him."
Her breath caught in her lungs as she flew from the floor and into the bedroom she shared with her husband. He was motionless, hanging half-way off of the bed, his face imbedded in the floor.
She turned him over, slowly lowering the rest of his body to the floor before pulling out her crystal once again. Within moments, he stirred and his eyes opened.
Serenity breathed a sigh of relief as she leaned down into his waiting arms.
"Endymion," she cried softly into his chest. "He took her."
Endymion took a few deep breaths as he held Serenity close to him. His heart felt as heavy as his wife's did, he was sure. His daughter – crown princess of Crystal Tokyo; heir to the throne of Earth and Moon – was in the hands of something.
No, someone. Someone they had trusted, and every fatherly fiber of his being wanted to bolt, running after the monster that had come in here, attacked his family, and taken his precious jewel. However, years of ruling – especially beside the one in his arms – had taught him that fighting angry only blinds you, and if you are going to battle anything – be it monsters, spirits, or an ornery wife – you must be able to think clearly.
He pushed his wife off of him gently and stood. Gone was the father on vacation in PJ sweat pants and undershirt, and in his place stood the king, in all his lavender glory. Gently, he pulled his wife up off of the floor and held her, allowing her to once again draw on his strength.
"What are we going to do?" she sobbed into his lapel.
"We," his majesty began, "are going to meet with the rest of the Senshi, and then get our daughter back." He stood back a bit to look his wife in her clear, blue eyes. "No matter what it takes, Serenity, I'll get her back for you…"
"We will get her back, Endymion," Serenity choked. "I'm not allowing you to do this alone."
He smiled at her beautiful face. There she is, he thought to himself as he gave his wife another quick hug. The queen has arrived.
***
"What?"
"Hmm?" Parallax quickly turned out toward the sea. "Oh, nothing."
Mars turned him back to her. "What?"
Parallax smiled at her. "I'm just surprised, is all."
"Stop being so damn cryptic…"
He laughed as he sat down in the sand. "Forgive me, Senshi Mars. It is in my nature."
Mm, hmm, she thought skeptically as she joined him. After a few moments, she asked, "So, how is it you know the Royal Family?"
Parallax laid back and gazed towards the heavens, a smile in place. "The king had me arrested."
"He what?"
"He had me arrested." He sat up, laughing at the look of complete confusion on her face. "I was watching the soul in the princess's room one night, and she saw me, screamed, and he came running after me and caught me."
"So, you were…"
"…stalking your princess, yes, but not intentionally. Though," he continued, "I'm fairly certain I provoked him. It was just too easy."
"Why would you provoke him? That's just stupid…"
"What could he do to me? My kind doesn't die. Our beings aren't – how would you say it? – wired that way. You could blow us into a million pieces, and we'd just reform back into our original being."
"That sounds like fun."
"Not really. Usually when you tell someone, or some being, that, they blow you up just to see. It's a very messy process, but I can assure you, it does work. I've been blown up a few times."
"Does it hurt?"
"Not really. It really just gets old."
"Can you die?"
Parallax smiled. "No, Princess. We are pure cosmic energy. Our beings take on the form of the planet we are on."
Mars started. "What did you call me?"
"I called you Princess, Senshi Mars. Why?"
"Why would you…"
"Because you are one, correct? You were the princess of Mars in the first Silver Millennium on the Moon, correct?"
"Well, yes, but…"
"Then you continue to be a Princess now. Therefore, I called you Princess." He could sense her uncertainty. "Mars, let me explain something to you. Serenity is very powerful, but much of her power comes from all of you combining your powers into her. Any one of the Senshi can do that. The problem is, you've been taught to believe that Serenity is the most powerful of you, which, at the moment, is true. However, it does not have to be that way. You are just as powerful as the queen you support."
"But how can I be a princess of a planet with no life?"
Parallax smiled. "Just because you cannot see the life on your planet does not mean it does not exist." He situated himself so he could look into the onyx eyes of his newest pupil. "When Lunar Queen Serenity sent you and your companions to Earth to be reborn, she gave you earth bodies – lungs that can only breathe Earth air; Earthen families; etcetera. However, once you embrace your destiny, as it was meant to be – not as you think it should be – you, too, will be able to go back to your planet, and will once again be reunited with your people."
"So, we can breathe on the moon…"
"…because you've embraced that part of your destiny. That part of your destiny is your duty to the Lunar Kingdom as protector and ally." He lowered his gaze slightly so he could examine the Martian Princess.
Mars sat, taking this all in. "What about the others?"
"Their destinies lie along a similar, but slightly different, path than yours." Before she could continue her questioning, he continued, "Senshi Mars, I chase lost or stubborn souls across the Universe in order to get them to fulfill their destiny. The soul in that bungalow is not my only assignment."
***
As the ruler of the night gave way to the ruler of the day, Usako – no, Serenity – stood watching the horizon, wishing she could hear something with her inner ear; see something with her inner eye; sense something with her inner-most heart. But her mind was clouded with anxiety, and she could hear, see, and sense nothing. Every once in a while, she would calm herself – or so that was the theory – in hopes she could stretch out her senses and locate her wayward child, but all she could sense was peace – which often times, in her experience, meant…
No! she chastised herself. No, it's not true!
She was angry. She wanted to be looking. Surely, there was some reason for the sudden wind-speed that whipped her hair into her face and out of her odango. Surely there was a reason for the sudden electrified clouds that hovered over the earth.
Her daughter was in trouble. They needed to be looking for her, and her husband and friends wanted to discuss this in committee! It really did not take a genius to figure this out! Massive power surge along the coast, and a missing princess who happens to wield that kind of power if provoked...
Rocket science, this is not, she couldn't help but think as she leaned onto the railing of the outside deck, allowing her frustrated tears to fall.
"Serenity," a soft voice came from behind her. She didn't move. "Serenity," the voice tried again.
"I can't sense her," Serenity whispered sadly as her eyes bored holes in the wooden support.
"I know," he soothed as he took his wife into his arms.
"We don't know where Mars is either. She would be the one who would know where Usa was…"
"I know." What else could he say?
"Endymion, what if…"
"Shh," he soothed. "I know she's not…"
"How?" Her eyes pleaded with his. "How do you know? I know you can't sense her either…"
He shook his head. "I just do."
"We haven't been able to sense anything, Endymion! She could be…"
"She's not dead to us yet, Serenity, nor will she be." The wind picked up and drops of water began falling on the couple.
This frightened the queen a bit, but before she could voice her fear, her husband held her away from his body slightly and nodded a reassurance. "It's time."
She pulled back a bit more, taking a deep breath to calm the anxiety. "Crystal Cosmic Power…MAKE UP!" The newest of her transformations and probably the most fantastic thus far, she stood before him in a pure white leotard with a pearlesque skirt that barely reached her mid-thigh. White gloves, white boots, and silver crown with a flawless diamond in the middle completed her body armor.
Endymion sighed as he stood staring at his wife. How he loved seeing her in her Senshi form (perhaps it was the skirt)! With a flourish, he waved his cape, and he, too, transformed into the warrior King, formal armor covering his body; his own pearlesque cape flying behind him.
A door opened behind her, and she turned to see her Senshi standing just outside, each of them also transformed. They smiled as they looked at their queen. Gone was the anxious queen – the worried mother – and in her place stood the Sailor Moon of old – determined and confident, almost to the point of cocky, and ready to face anything to get her daughter back.
And God help her, she was going to do it…no matter what the price.
***
The rain had started as a drizzle, but quickly increased in ferocity as a funnel formed over the water.
A water spout? Mars thought to herself as she watched. No, these are the wrong type of clouds. She watched as energy swirled around and around two figures – one of them too familiar – positioning themselves in the middle.
It was then that she felt it – psychic energy – right before she was blown backwards onto the beach. It took her a moment to recover and realize what happened. In that moment, another blast was launched at her, blasting Parallax and Mars behind a small rock outcropping.
The wind blew her hair around her face as she peeked out around the rocks, watching the vortex of power that had formed over the ocean. The power emanating from the structure was so great that Mars had to fight to keep from fainting.
"What is that thing made of?" she asked, her tone incredulous as she tried to deflect the energy that had started flying at her.
"It's made of pure psychic energy. The soul I'm chasing doesn't have this ability. This is something completely different."
Mars dodged another energy blast. "Well, the soul you're chasing may not, but our princess does, and I'm sensing her in the middle of that thing."
"That's impossible," Parallax said as he pushed her out of the way of another bolt.
"Why?" she asked.
"Because your princess's essence is in my bag. If you sense anything, you're sensing the soul I'm chasing."
"But, Small Lady's body is in that thing."
"I know. Her soul is with me."
"I get that, Parallax! However, it isn't her soul that's the source for her power. It's her crystal, which is in her body."
"Then we have a problem…"
Mars turned to him, shocked. "What do you mean?" Then it dawned on her. "You mean she's…?"
"Yes, she is."
The storm had just begun.