Chapter 10: The Search for The Moon Princess Continues
Usagi never expected her to be pounced the first time she stepped her foot on Hikawa Shrine of the week. Ami was rambling as she hugged her waist tightly while Rei was cussing her between her sobs. They felt horrible of not knowing Usagi was hospitalized because of a car accident happened when she was going out with her family. Ami felt bad of not knowing the reason why Usagi wasn't present on those few days. Haruna sensei told them Usagi was such in a condition that they weren't advised to visit her, should they want. Ami only concluded she wasn't in the condition to go to school and left it at that. Meanwhile, Rei was only miffed for the fact it would only be Ami for a while.
Usagi was grateful Minako didn't join them with the excessive skinship, as she and the two Generals (in their civilian uniform) were sitting quietly at the floor. Granted, they were snickering, but at least they wouldn't do anything.
"Never, ever disappear without us again!" Rei sobbed, pulling Usagi at an arm length. "We thought you were dead!"
Usagi winced as she looked uncomfortably at Ami and Rei.
"Next time, don't kill me off too quickly." She said seriously to both of them. Ami backed off and turned to Rei, glaring. "Oh hell no I didn't! You are the one who jumped to conclusions!" Defended Ami, crossing her arms.
Rei's sob stopped abruptly as she sent a glare toward her. "You hoped Sailor Moon was dead."
"I hope her popularity would die," Ami calmly countered. "So Mercury would find its well-earned reputation as defender of Peace!"
"Um," Nephrite piped out hesitantly. "Don't you mean Justice?"
"Peace!" Both Usagi and Ami snarled. "Justice is subjective! God we've been through this before!" Usagi sighed dramatically.
Rei shook her head in disagreement. "That's not catchy!"
Luna and Artemis shook their head as it ended up in a full-blown argument between the recently hospitalized Usagi, the evil-turned-good Nephrite, and the Senshi of Mars and Mercury.
"I didn't sign up for this," Luna muttered, her head hung low. Artemis beside her patted her back in pity with his paw but said nothing. After all, Artemis casted a quick amused look at a shaking Zoicite. "Someone about to explode," Artemis whispered to Luna, and both cats decided to cover their ears.
And explode he did.
Zoicite slammed both of his palms to table. "Oh be QUIET!" He shouted, glaring at Usagi, Ami, Nephrite, and Rei who was arguing with their heads pressing on each other. Minako pitifully hid her laughter at the corner of the room. The shaken look of the four was enough for her to sleep well for days.
"Now, sit down." The four hung their head and proceeded to sit circling the table. Zoicite cocked his head to Usagi. "Who are you?"
Usagi pointed at herself. "What do you mean who are you? It's me who should ask you that. These children are my friends not yours."
Zoicite scowled at her. "I'm Zoicite, who are you? Are you a senshi?" Zoicite asked bluntly, ignoring snicker from Nephrite. Zoicite then realized the distinct hairstyle. Minako's eyes widened. "Or are you Sere-"
Before Zoicite could finish his question, Nephrite delicately answered him, saving Zoicite from being pounced by Minako. "Tsukino Usagi-san is Sailor Senshi's PR." He ignored the choking sound of Rei and Minako. They weren't even eating nor drinking anything. Weird.
"PR?" Zoicite raised an eyebrow, as he wasn't someone who is familiar with humans' trend.
"Public Relations," Ami said with a twitch on her eyes. "Someone who handles our - Senshi's - publicity. Apparently her favorite is Sailor Moon." Usagi chuckled nervously as Ami sent her icy cold glare toward her.
"I know that," Zoicite's voice was unimpressed. "Where is Sailor Moon, who killed Jadeite?"
"NEVER I mean NEVER kill off someone to quickly." Usagi muttered with her eyes wandered to the door.
Just then, the door slid open to reveal a blonde young man with Moto Azabu High's uniform.
"Sorry I'm late!" He said between his pant. On his arms were two boxes of cake. "Motoki-san wanted to give- NEPHRITE?! ZOICITE?!" He had nearly dropped the top box had Usagi and Ami weren't quick enough to catch it.
Usagi was quick to point her finger - after saving the box of cake, of course - to the man. "He's Sailor Moon." She said seriously with a deadpan expression, looking very convincing herself. The blond man looked at her in confusion, but Usagi gave him a quick glare. He gulped.
"H-Hai, I'm Jirou Arata." He shuffled to Usagi's side, growling. "Sailor Moon."
Zoicite glared as he crossed his arms. "He's definitely not Sailor Moon. I'm not an idiot, everyone." Nephrite feigned a shocked look, to Zoicite's irritation. Glowering, Zoicite shoved Nephrite harshly. "Knock it off, Nephrite."
Nephrite smirked before flipping his hair fabulously. "Could've fooled me, Zoi-chan. Oh an apparently my name right now is Naoki Kuroba."
"I thought your name was Masato Sanjoin?" Rei asked in confusion.
"That's a disguise," Naoki said easily to Rei, but his eyes were on Minako who nodded in approval. Like the Senshi, the Shitennou were reincarnated as normal humans before Beryl took them. "And OF COURSE Jirou isn't Sailor Moon. You think Sailor Moon is a guy in drag or something?" Usagi giggled at the thought of Jadeite in twin buns like her and fuku. Hilarious, but at the same time was nightmare inducing.
Zoicite flushed. "Of course not!" He answered with a cough. "But who is he?" Truth to be told, Zoicite had a suspicion he was Jadeite - based on appearance - but Jadeite was long gone. Flattened by metal bird, according to a youma. Then again, his youmas were gossip mongers, not all information from them were the truth.
Jirou gave Usagi and Naoki a look that promised violence and answered through gritted teeth, "I'm Jadeite." A moment of silence as Zoicite sagged in his seat at the confirmation. Of course, why would he be surprised?
"No you're not." Naoki replied after a moment of silence, looking utterly confused. The memory of being embarrassed in public still haunting him.
"Why do you think I'm not Jadeite?" Jirou challenged. "We're both awesome and blonde. Got awesome ice power," Ami twitched as Jirou produced a shard of ice, "And hate Sailor Moon-"
"What the hell."
"-popularity." Jirou finished, glaring at Naoki. "Aren't you the harasser who mistook me as Jadeite?"
Naoki rolled his eyes and touched his hair. Naoki had short wavy hair that reached his nape and bright brown eyes - while Masato or Nephrite had long wavy hair and dark blue eyes.
"I didn't mistake anyone," He defended, rising from his seat. "You are, in fact, Jadeite. But you for some reason refused to admit that!" He added. Jirou gave him an incredulous look.
"Of course I had to deny at that time! I wouldn't risk my life!" Jirou defended himself.
Naoki scowled. "Give me the cake!" Jirou swiftly dodged Naoki's prying hands, smirking. So Nephrite – er, Naoki didn't hide the fact he's a sucker on sweets now? Interesting.
"Unfortunately this is for Ser-" Minako and Usagi gave him a quick glare. "-I mean, Usagi." He said and opened the box, making everyone drooled at the sight of glorious blueberry cheesecake and the triple flavored one. Noticing all of them were drooling over the light blue colored cake, Usagi decided to place the triple flavored one to kitchen with Rei, and went back with plates, forks, and a large cake knife.
"What's the occasion?" Usagi asked, taking a slice and gave it to Naoki who brightened immediately as he wolfed down the cake. It tasted gloriously.
"Said you aced the test?" Jirou answered, almost sounded dubious himself.
Ami looked downright furious.
"What about-"
"If Motoki-san has to reward you if you aced your tests, he's going to be bankrupted," Jirou explained flatly. "It's not a praise nor offense, Ami-chan."
"I don't even know whether I should take it as a praise or offense, Ji-kun." Ami said honestly, taking a slice of the cheesecake herself. "Now onto the topic for today. Usagi-chan, this is Minako; Sailor V." She gestured at Minako, who grinned widely.
Usagi nodded as she returned the grin. "I know her." Rei's and Ami's eyes widened considerably. "YOU KNEW?!" Rei shouted, leaping from her seat to grab Usagi's shoulder. "HOW?!"
"Yeah," Usagi grinned, swallowing the food inside her mouth. "She's my savior." After a pause she added, "The accident, remember?"
A dull 'ah' resounded on the room.
"But that still didn't mean you know how she's Sailor V," Zoicite pointed out. He sighed in bliss as the cake melted inside his mouth, making Naoki to shuffle away from him, horrified. Zoicite took a bite again and sighed louder.
"Stop making lewd sounds!" Naoki hollered. Ami nearly choked and Minako had to rescue her with a glass of tea and hard slap on her back.
Zoicite glared at him. "Tsukino, answer him!" Naoki whimpered, genuinely scared when Zoicite giving him a cutthroat motion.
"Well not much to explain, you see," Usagi answered, chewing the cake slowly. "I know she's Sailor V and she knows I'm Sailor Moon-"
"YOU'RE SAILOR MOON?!" Naoki screeched. "I thought you're PR and shape-shifter and a p-" Warning glare from Minako calmed him down in a second. "-and a fraud."
"I'm not a fraud, thank you." Usagi hissed. "I totally told you I'm Sailor Moon the day you visited me on the hospital!" Naoki's eyes narrowed but said nothing. She didn't say she was Sailor Moon per se, she showed him that she was Princess Serenity.
"How can you be Sailor Moon?" Zoicite narrowed his eyes, but the question was ignored as Usagi continued her tale. It earned a loud growl from the youngest general. "I can swear you're Ser-"
A glare from a blonde, and Zoicite shut up.
Now smiling brightly, Usagi continued the topic. "Okay back to topic. She knows I'm Sailor Moon because I think she saw me – in my civilian uniform – ran to a certain direction, only for Sailor Moon to appear from the same way I've gone to. So one day, she saw me going to our Senshi meeting and drag me to discuss things."
The group looked at Minako for confirmation. Minako nodded. "Ish yhe truthe." She said, mouth full of cake.
"Things like what?" Ami inquired, glancing over to Minako who happily munching on her second serving.
"School stuffs, you know. We were bonding like normal girls," Usagi saw Minako rolling her eyes but chose to ignore it with a shrug. "And few battle discussion, mostly. I told her to be my second-in-command. And what coincidence it was, I was hospitalized shortly after - with her as my savior." She ended with a huff. Then her eyes brightened as she saw Luna re-entering the Shrine with Artemis. She honestly never noticed the cats exiting in the first place.
"Ah I'm sorry for not acknowledging you earlier," She smiled apologetically to the white feline. "Artemis, isn't it?"
Artemis nodded. "Yes, it's an honor to meet you, Sailor Moon."
Usagi nodded. "Likewise. Oh and Luna, I wonder if I am a Moon Princess? I mean, I'm Sailor Moon now, aren't I?"
The Shitennou choked.
Zoicite, though still not really sure, had a suspicion Usagi Tsukino was the Princess of the Moon that was engaged to their Prince. The hairstyle was hard to forget, honestly. Now that he realized Sailor Moon did have the same hairstyle…
Sailor Moon was probably the said Princess, right?
Luna nodded, much to everyone's surprise. "Yes you might be a Moon Princess, as you are the avatar of the Moon itself. But you're not THE Princess we are looking for, Usagi-chan."
Minako, intrigued by the twist, urged her to explain. "Do explain, Luna."
Luna nodded. "You see, Moon is unique; its Sailor Crystal is Silver Crystal itself; the strongest of the strongest power source. But due to its overwhelming power, the creator of Crystal Goddess Selene split it to two – dividing its power so the bearer wouldn't be too overwhelmed by the power, as humanoid race would become weaker and weaker in the future.
"The True Crystal bearers are usually the direct descendants of Goddess Selene, by its latest user was Queen Serenity and currently, should have passed to her daughter; the Princess we are looking for. The Part Crystal is usually passed down to the True Crystal's bearer choosing. Usually a Lunarian royalty as well. Exception was made for Queen Serenity's era however, as it was at peace and she thought she didn't need any Protector."
Her gaze turned to Usagi. "Usagi-chan. You could be a Moon Princess, but not THE Moon Princess we are currently looking. You are Sailor Moon – the second bearer of the Crystal. Part Crystal is generally weaker than the True Crystal in term of its raw power, but it is more focused on combat and such. If I wasn't mistaken, you are the Protector of the Heiress; with the other senshi I told you way, way back earlier is generally her future Court."
"But Luna," Ami cut off, eyeing at Minako who looked completely fascinated. "We've seen Sailor V transformed into a Princess herself!"
Luna's tail waved as she giggled. "All of you are Princesses, really. Not the Heir to the Throne, but still a royalty. Minako-chan is the Princess of Venus, but she couldn't awaken her true power if certain goal has not yet been accomplished."
Both Usagi and Minako visibly relaxed.
"Luna, if Usagi is the bearer of the Part Crystal, why do we bother to search the seven pieces of the True Crystal?" Rei questioned, tapping the fork against her lips.
"If it fell to Beryl, we won't have any chance of winning," Artemis explained. "Queen Selenity once told me about Silver Crystal being sentient and hearing those who have good intent would release its true power; but only when the Crystal are whole. If separated, the Crystal wouldn't be as sentient and strong; thus a problem if the crystal fell to Beryl. Back then, to seal the Seven Youma she sacrificed the True Crystal to seven pieces and thus she had to rely on the Part Crystal to keep on ahead, as she didn't have any Protector. It's partly the reason why Silver Millennium fell, really."
"Question, Lady Luna, Sir Artemis," Naoki interrupted. "I remembered meeting the Queen when we were escorting our Prince to Moon. She had odangoes like Usagi-san. How can she not be the Princess if we remember her so clearly?"
Usagi stiffened.
Luna nodded sagely. "It's kind of a tradition of Lunarian Court, Naoki-san. On my human form, I put my hair in odangoes as well. Based on paintings of Goddess Selene, she ties her hair into braids or buns; hence why. Lunarian and mostly the Court members tied their hair in a bun, twin buns, braid, or simply ponytail when attending formal events. Delegations from other Planets are told not to follow Lunarian traditions, in fear it might be a taboo among their own people."
Everyone nodded slowly in silence. Both Usagi and Minako released a soft relieved sigh. But the Shitennou were still convinced that there was only ONE Princess.
Zoicite was the one who ended the silence, to their surprise. "Right it's cleared up," He said, pulling a corner of her lips to a smile. He turned to Usagi, his eyes soft. "I'm sorry on being rude before, Usagi-san."
"No problem," Usagi smiled. Then she noticed the cheesecake had completely perished. She chuckled to herself and rose to her feet, walking to kitchen with Rei to retrieve the second cake. As they returned, everyone immediately cheered happily. Putting down the cake, Usagi smiled at everyone present. "Now let's just continue eating, minna! Naoki-kun! Jirou-kun! Zoi-chan!"
Zoicite flushed. Embarrassed, but not angry. Being called so affectionately by Usagi was… quite endearing. "Why am I-"
"Pick a name which is not very feminine, Zoi-chan," Jirou teased, taking a bite of the cake. "This is GOOD! How on earth did Motoki-san make this?"
"I think there is a thing called practice, talent, and knack of delicacy." Usagi said with a smirk. Jirou glowered.
"Lots of practice, surely," Ami answered casually, motioning Jirou to hold down for now. Her eyes suddenly perked up. "Jirou-kun do you want to secure partnership?"
Confused, the blonde quirked up an eyebrow. Ami scooted closer to Jirou, ignoring the twitch on Rei's eyebrow. "Let's work together to bring Sailor Moon's popularity down," She whispered with a smirk. "I'm forming an alliance for Senshi or Shitennou who are always forsaken by Sailor Moon. Who knows, we might return the favor." Almost immediately Jirou shook Ami's hand with a similar smirk on her lips. "Deal."
Usagi coughed as Jirou and Ami shared an evil laugh. "I sense you're planning for my demise." The Shitennou, except for Jirou stared at the two, horrified.
The Miko laughed. "Don't worry, it's about Sailor Moon's demise." Rei patted Usagi comfortingly. "Sailor Moon's popularity, actually."
Usagi shuddered. "It's worse!"
Finally got my hands on this website!
Well, here's the 10th Chapter. Oh and I add some PGSM things too, to stick with the realism.
Here's the current appearance of the Shitennou on normal human form:
Jadeite (Jirou): Same, but wears glasses
Nephrite (Naoki): Shorter hair (like Helios' but his bangs parted on his right side -became longer only when on Nephrite's form), light brown eyes (changes to dark blue when transforming to Nephrite)
Zoicite (?): Shorter hair (like Naoki but had strawberry blonde hair, parted on the middle like canon - changes to light blonde when transforming to Zoicite)
Kunzite (?): ?
As per usual, please review!