"Serenity, stop staring at the Earth and pay attention! Some day you will need to wield the Ginzuishou. It can do much more than simply channel power. If you focus, you can use it for many other things--healing, teleporting, locating a missing person, moving objects, just to name a few. What would you like to see first?" Queen Serenity looked down at her daughter and sighed. The girl had the most powerful fascination with the planet below.
The young girl blinked and forcefully brought her attention back to her mother. "I am sorry, Mother. What would I like to see first?" The princess thought for a minute before responding, "I want to know where Luna is right now."
"Very well. Now, watch closely. Once I've demonstrated the technique, you can try it. Ready?"
Serenity nodded eagerly. It wasn't often that she was allowed to practice with the powerful crystal, but now that she was maturing, her mother had started training her in the handling of the Ginzuishou.
The Queen held out the Ginzuishou and closed her eyes. "The first thing you must do is visualize the person you are seeking...then, project that image into the Ginzuishou." The Ginzuishou began to pulse with the a soft glow at the Queen's words. "Luna is in the library."
"But, how do you know?" Serenity wrinkled her nose in confusion. "How can you be sure that what the Ginzuishou shows you is true?"
"You must have faith. The Ginzuishou is not sentient. It is merely a tool that allows us to focus or amplify our own powers. You wouldn't lie to yourself, would you?" The Queen moved the Ginzuishou in front of Serenity. "Now, you locate Artemis."
Serenity obediently held out her hand, palm up, and called the Ginzuishou to her. Once it was hovering just above her hand, she thought of Artemis--sleek, white fur, large blue eyes with a hint of mischief in them...'Artemis,' she projected to the Ginzuishou. The Ginzuishou blazed with light. Serenity had a quick impression of the library, then everything went dark.
Luna and Artemis both started with fright when the princess suddenly appeared in front of them and collapsed.
When Serenity awoke, she was in her bed. Her head was aching dully and she groaned softly when she tried to sit up. Immediately, her mother's cool hand touched her forehead and the pain receded. "What happened?" Serenity asked, blinking groggily.
"You used too much power and the feedback zapped you pretty hard. You needed to focus more on what you wanted to happen. You must have blasted the Ginzuishou with the thought of Artemis so hard that you were teleported to him. I must say, you gave him and Luna quite a shock when you appeared out of nowhere and fainted in front of them. All of your Senshi came running in a panic, and I had a difficult time convincing them that you were fine. You'll have to go out and reassure them soon, or I'm afraid they'll break the door down."
Serenity smiled sheepishly. "They're a bit overprotective, aren't they?"
The Queen smiled in return and nodded. "We'll take up your training again tomorrow. Just remember, you need to control the amount of power you send through the Ginzuishou. If you send too much, you risk draining yourself completely."
"Focus and control." Serenity repeated as her mother rose and left the room.
"Usako. Usako, you need to wake up now."
Usagi jumped as she came back to herself. For a moment, she was disoriented by the darkness. She had expected to find the soothing white and silver of her room in the Moon Kingdom. The comforting sound of Mamoru's voice calmed her a bit and then everything came back in a rush. The attack, her blindness, the capture of the Inner Senshi... Usagi sat straight up in bed. What was she doing napping when her friends were in trouble?
"What is it? Have you found them?" she asked anxiously.
"No, that's why I came to wake you. We need you to find them with the Ginzuishou. Setsuna says that it's possible. Do you think you're up to it?" Mamoru asked as he looked at her with concern. She was still much too pale and he didn't care for the dark circles that had formed under her eyes.
Usagi nodded. "Yes, I can do it. Have the Outers come in here." When Mamoru left the room, Usagi concentrated on the dream she had just had, or was it a memory? "You're helping me still, aren't you Mother? Focus and control," she whispered to herself as she reached for the Ginzuishou. When he returned with the Senshi, the Ginzuishou was floating just above Usagi's open palm.
Pluto nodded approvingly as she entered. It seemed that the Princess had remembered some of her training. She and the other Senshi had already transformed and they were ready for action. "Princess, once you have located the Inners, Michiru, Haruka, and I will go after them. The Prince shall remain here with you." When it looked like Usagi was about to argue, Setsuna stepped forward and grasped her free hand. "If we need to worry about you, we will be distracted from rescuing the others. If the two of you are here, we will be able to concentrate on the matter at hand."
Usagi swallowed the protest that had sprung to her lips. Puu was correct, as usual. "Alright, but I will do more than simply locate them. I will send you there, as well. Then you will not need to expend any energy in simply arriving and you'll be at full strength."
"I don't want you to drain yourself, Usako," Mamoru warned.
"I'll be fine. I'll have you to sustain me. The Inners have never teleported without me before, so they'll need all the power they can get." Without waiting for an agreement, Usagi closed her eyes and began to concentrate on her four missing friends. Silently, Mamoru took the hand Setsuna had relinquished and sat on the bed next to Usagi. Immediately, she felt his calm and strength flowing into her. Some of the tension eased from her shoulders and an image of the Senshi solidified in her mind. "They are encased on some sort of crystal crosses. They appear to be unharmed, but they're all unconscious."
"Is anyone guarding them? What can you tell us of their surroundings?" Haruka asked.
Usagi frowned in concentration. "I don't think anyone is around them, but they could be monitoring remotely. The whole place is constructed of crystal," she paused as she tried to make out more details that could help. As she examined the scene in her mind, she noticed certain crystal shards that were coming out of the floor and pulsing with different colors. Usagi felt her heart jump--that was it! "I think the crosses are controlled by the crystals on the other side of the room. Each cross has a crystal that pulses with the same color of light and tempo. I think if you destroy the shards, the Senshi will be released from the crystals."
Setsuna nodded. "All right. We'll aim for the shards first. Do you think you can place us in front of them?"
"I'll try." Usagi gathered herself and visualized the Outer Senshi standing within the image in her mind. The crescent moon blazed to life upon her forehead and the Ginzuishou answered with a brilliant flash. When the light faded, the Outer Senshi were gone and Usagi and the Ginzuishou both collapsed on the bed.
Once he had assured himself that she was merely asleep, Mamoru retrieved the Ginzuishou and replaced it on her bedstand. Pulling the blankets up to her chin, Mamoru placed a soft kiss upon her forehead and then sat on the bed next to her to wait.
Setsuna gazed around her quickly. Usagi had given them a very accurate description of the room or cavern in which they found themselves. The Inner Senshi were suspended behind her and the pulsing crystals were just where she had said. A larger crystal glowed softly in a corner to her left, but it was unclear what its purpose might be. "Uranus, take care of these crystals. Neptune and I will try to revive the Senshi."
Uranus nodded in agreement and called out her attack as the other two women hurried across the room. "World Shaking!" The globe of pulsing energy obliterated the two crystal shards in front of her and Mars and Jupiter were released from their crystal bonds. Pluto grunted as Jupiter's weight landed on her, and then eased the girl to the floor. She looked up to see that Neptune had caught Mars similarly and called out to Uranus, "Okay, take out the next two."
Uranus grinned and cracked her knuckles. "With pleasure... World Shaking!"
Once again, with the destruction of the shards, the remaining Senshi were released. Neptune caught the Senshi of Ice and then glared at Uranus. "Next time, I get to destroy things and you have to catch falling Senshi."
"I second that," Pluto huffed as she knelt next to Sailor Venus.
"Well, well, what do we have here? A rescue attempt? I don't think so." Rubeus smirked as he floated into the chamber.
"If you know what's good for you, you'll just let us leave," Uranus snarled.
"That's not a very friendly attitude, now is it? Where, pray tell, is Sailor Moon? I'm fairly certain that my invitation was for her and the Rabbit." Rubeus pouted petulantly before shrugging. "Ah well, now I have more bait." He waved his arm dramatically and the Senshi found themselves pinned to the floor by their own weight.
"Deep Submerge!" Neptune cried out as she used all of her strength to launch her attack.
Rubeus simply raised his hand and a force shield appeared before him. Neptune's attack hit the shield and dissipated. By this time, the Inner Senshi were starting to come around and peer about them uncomprehendingly.
"You know, I don't believe I need all of you. Perhaps if I kill one or two of you, Sailor Moon will take my threat seriously." He raised a hand and a ball of orange-red energy streaked toward the fallen Senshi of Water.
"No!" Uranus cried out in helpless horror as she tried to move her disobedient body. There was no way she could reach Neptune in time. Fury consumed her and she called her attack. "World Shaking!" The resulting explosion was much larger and louder than those that had destroyed the shards, but when the light died down, Rubeus still stood unscathed. Bitter tears burned in Uranus' eyes as she glared at him with undisguised hatred. She looked over to where Neptune had been and collapsed to her knees. Sailor Jupiter was just getting to her feet after pushing Neptune out of harm's way. Weak with relief, Uranus closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"You're stronger than I thought," Rubeus muttered as he fired off another attack at Jupiter.
Mercury, meanwhile, had been scanning the area as the fighting was going on around her. "Pluto, distract him," she whispered as she continued scanning.
"Dead Scream," Pluto whispered and a wave of energy hurtled toward Rubeus.
As his shield pulsed, Mercury nodded in satisfaction. "Jupiter, the crystal!" she yelled as she pointed at the pulsing crystal Pluto had noticed when she arrived.
"No!" Rubeus cried. He started to prepare another attack when Mars and Venus struck at the same time.
"Mars Fire Soul!"
"Venus Love Me Chain!"
With Rubeus distracted, Jupiter rose to her feet and centered herself. "Jupiter Supreme Thunder!" Lightning streaked from the antenna on her tiara and the crystal shattered. The effect was immediate. The force holding them so securely released them and the reclining Senshi surged to their feet.
"It doesn't matter!" Rubeus screamed frantically. "You'll all die with me. The whole ship is self-destructing now!"
"He's right!" Mercury yelled after checking on her computer. "We've got to get out of here!"
"Form a circle! We're teleporting out of here." Pluto had to shout to be heard over the sounds of falling crystals and cracking floors.
The other Senshi hurried to do as she directed, but Mars gave a worried glance around as she clasped hands with Venus and Mercury. "We've never done this without Sailor Moon. Will we have enough energy?"
The other Inner Senshi all turned worried eyes toward Pluto.
"Don't worry, we'll make it. Just concentrate." As she spoke, Pluto closed her eyes and a garnet glow began to emanate from her. The other Senshi followed her lead and, in a rainbow of color, they were gone.
Rubeus looked around wildly. It just wasn't possible. How could they have escaped? More importantly, how was he going to escape? An evil laugh behind him caused him to spin around. "Emerald! We've got to escape now. The ship is going to explode any minute!" he cried excitedly as he stumbled to reach her.
"So sorry, Rubeus. I'm afraid you're stuck here. The Wiseman has no use for failures like you. Bye!" Emerald grinned slyly and then she, too, was gone.
"I'll see you in hell, wi..." Rubeus' proclamation was clipped short as the ship thunderously exploded in an impressive pyrotechnic display.