Riven-del: Thank you to my constant reviewer! As to punishing Mamoru, I think I know what to have him do *evil snicker*. It'll be later on in the story, but it will be worth the wait I promise.
It had been nearly a month since Rhiannon visited that shrine, and Lord Purgstall was starting to worry about his apprentice. She appeared more tired than usual since her visit there and had refused to speak of what transpired. It concerned the Zoalord to no end, and the strange dreams that had started since then weren't helping matters in the least.
He kept dreaming that he was courting a young woman that looked very similar to his apprentice. In the dream, he and she wore strange clothing, and for some reason his mind kept telling him that he had been wearing clothes of a Lord of Jupiter while she had worn clothes of Saturn nobility. That was impossible; there wasn't any form of civilization on neither Jupiter nor Saturn that they knew of. However, the dreams persisted to remain in his mind like a forgotten memory trying to resurface, and the feelings that came with them didn't help matters. He could tell that his counterpart in the dream was deeply in love with the woman he had been courting.
The communication screen in front of him came to life, bringing the Zoalord out of his musings.
"Lord Purgstall," said the Hyper Zoanoid on the screen. "His excellence Amniculus has arrived and is heading up to the command post."
"Very well. Thank you for informing me." The screen went black just as the new arrival stepped through the door way of the command post. "Good to see you, Sin."
"I suppose it has been a while, hasn't it Purgstall?" asked the dark haired Zoalord with part of his Zoacrystal barely visible in the center of his forehead.
"Well, we've all been busy since X-day. I still find it hard to believe that an entire year has passed since that day."
"It appears that Japan is in good condition."
"Thank you, but what about you? How are things in the Dead Sea?"
"I actually came here to talk to Dr. Barcas about that. Do you know where he is?"
"I'll take you to him right now if you want."
"Alright," the Overlord of North America follow his longtime friend and confidant out of the command post and to an elevator that would take them to where the elder Zoalord had holed himself up in. "How is Rhiannon doing? I haven't heard from her in a while and her mother says she hasn't contacted her either since her high school graduation."
"She is learning remarkably well, and she is quickly gaining respect here in Cloud Gate. However, it has been difficult to get her to invoke a conversation. It's as though she doesn't know how to interact with others, but she has been improving a great deal since she made friends with a human girl close to her age."
"Really? She finally made a friend?"
"Yes, she has. The girl's name is Usagi Tskino, still in high school."
Sin looked as though he were trying not to laugh. "Her name is Moon Bunny?"
"Yes it is." Fred'rich smiled. "To add to it, she wears this strange odango hair style that makes her look like she has rabbit ears."
"Have you met this Usagi yet?"
"Yes, and she is quite a charming young lady. She could befriend just anyone if she wanted to." They fell silent for a moment; Sin smiled at the thought of Rhiannon finding some form of happiness finally. The elevator stopped and the door opened allowing the two Zoalords to their trek through the R&D section.
Fred'rich von Purgstall was not the only one wondering about their dreams. Rhiannon sat at a table in the Crown Arcade remembering her dreams, but the most prominent were those of a Jovian Lord.
She was standing next to her foster father in the ball room of his majestic mansion on Titan. Nobles of every planet—even Princess Serenity and her court of guardians—were holding glasses of wine and looking at the father and daughter.
Lord Sin held up his glass and said, "To my daughter, Titania, who today turns sixteen, the custom age to marry and the age to join Princess Serenity's court. Happy birthday, Titania!"
"Happy birthday, Lady Titania!" the crowd of guests cheered together and drank. Serenity approached Rhia's past self with a lavishly decorated box.
"Titania," the Silver Millennium's Princess said with a smile, "it is my honor to present to you your henshin brooch. Though Terran born, the Silver Millennium recognizes you as one of its guardians, Sailor Gaea." She opened the box to reveal a circular brooch with Gaea's insignia.
Titania touched it and she transformed into Sailor Gaea, her raven hair turning into a star light white color and her ears attained points like elf ears. Her sapphire eyes remained unaffected and Rhia had to wonder if her past self ever got cat like pupils.
"Welcome to the Moon Court, Lady Titania, Sailor Senshi of Gaea," the princess finished and that was when a certain Jovian approached the new guardian.
He looked very much like the Fred'rich von Purgstall she knew a thousand years or so later, but in the Silver Millennium he was Lord of Ganymede, the largest of Jupiter's moons, and he was Lady Titania's soul mate. Though their relationship would be looked down upon on Earth today, it was considered normal in that golden age for women to seek more adult men for husbands. Titania and he were ten years apart in age, but the two nobles were deeply in love, something Rhia envied her past self for.
"Titania," the Jovian Lord knelt on one knee before her, "I have known you for two years now, but I know with all of my being that you are the one I want to spend the rest of my life with." He held out a crystal box and opened it to reveal a beautiful engagement ring. Rhia could practically see the love the man had poured into the ring; it was tradition for a man to forge an engagement ring for his beloved in the Silver Millennium, hence the beautiful white gold ring embedded with the finest diamonds was truly unique and one of a kind. "Titania, will you marry me?"
Titania, still in her Sailor Gaea form, was now crying, but she managed to say, "Yes! Of course I will!" She undid her transformation so he could slip the ring onto her ring finger. The room erupted into cheers that escalated in volume when the newly engaged couple kissed.
"Ouch!" Rhia gripped her chest when she felt something prick her and felt the brooch from her memories pinned to her blouse's collar. "What the-? When did this appear?"
"Just now," said Hotaru. She was sitting next to Rhia while Usagi and the two lover Senshi were playing a racing game. Setsuna was back at the Time Gate, looking into the something no doubt. "You remember your past life now," the youngest Senshi said with a big smile.
"Not all of it," she told the Soldier of Destruction and Rebirth. "It's still fragmented, but I remember being close friends with you. You didn't care that I was from Earth and we would always find time to play together."
Hotaru leaned against Rhia and said, "It's good to have you back, Titania-nii-chan."