Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I don't own them. If I did, there would have been even more angst in Sailor Stars.
Summary: In the attempt to save the royal family from temporal disaster, Pluto succeeds in saving only one. The only time they can go is a time where neither exists, a young girl hurts, and the ability to fix things is still within reach.
AN: So, I realize this is late. Again. Still. Sigh. And I shouldn't be posting, because school is busy and updates will be still delayed for awhile yet, but then I remembered this part was actually written! Yay! So I'mma post it. So there. Thank you all for the reviews and lack of torches!
Chapter Fourteen –Revelations
The air hung acrid around him, stale and bitter though the space surrounding him seemed limitless. Minori had fallen from the phone booth to an unfamiliar world, and part of him knew before looking around that he was not exactly on Earth anymore. At least not in the way he knew it to be. There was a disconnect between him and the planet, something he never realized was there until it was gone. He felt empty without it.
He struggled to get up from the kneeling position he found himself in, but a weakness seeped into his bones and caused moving to be a difficult endeavor. He was unsure if it was the unfamiliar mode of travel that did something to him or the planet's absence.
"What is this?" A voice echoed around him through the void. His mind wondered over this. Was there an invisible barrier that allowed for such acoustics to occur?
"He just followed me," Seiren said behind him. "He was rather rude about it. I may even bruise."
"Silence," the voice repeated. It took all his strength to lift his head toward the sound of the voice. A woman, imposing in gold armor and a steel stare, walked toward him from a dais. "I know he followed you. That much is obvious."
There were no more words from Seiren, and her silence set wrong in Minori.
"Let us see who you are, then." Strong fingers grabbed his hair and yanked, pulling Minori painfully tight and she inspected his face. Her gaze was cold and calculating as she brought up her other hand to trap his face in a tight grip. She turned his face this way and that, inspecting him, before she finally grinned. It was a cold expression, and such a feature should have enhanced her beauty, but instead it sent a void deep into his chest. "This is very interesting."
"He is the one, Galaxia. With the star seed we left behind."
Minori struggled in her grip. He did not know who this woman was, but he knew that she was not like the others. Where Seiren was aloof and perhaps a bit eccentric, this woman appeared to possess all of her faculties. It was that kind of insanity that he knew was the most dangerous.
"You mean that you failed to bring me," Galaxia corrected, jerking her hand in a way that stilled the boy's movements. "No matter, he's here now. And he's a most peculiar specimen."
"I'm not peculiar," he gritted out through clenched teeth. It came out sounding weird to his own ears with the way she held his face, but he held his ground.
"You aren't?" Galaxia asked before she laughed. "Do you even know what you are, little boy? An anomaly, nothing more." His heart pounded at her words as she brought him closer until her lips pressed against his ear. "Would you like to see?"
He shuddered as her breath hit his ear and slithered against his skin. "See what?"
"What it's supposed to look like."
Before he could answer, the space behind the dais tore open, revealing hundreds of thousands of seeds. Unlike his, they all sparkled with a light that screamed to be released. He focused in on one in particular, glowing a brilliant gold.
"I see you recognize it," she noted, realizing where his gaze laid. She released his face, causing all his weight to rest on the pulling grip she had on his hair. The seed came forward, waving back and forth in a futile resistance. "This is what it's supposed to look like."
"So? It looks the same as all the others," he pointed out, shifting so that one foot braced the floor beneath him.
Galaxia blinked at him before throwing her head back in laughter. "You honestly have no idea, do you?" Her grip shifted in his hair, still pulling him upright but he had the opportunity to brace for enough support to relieve the rest of the pull. "This is the star seed of Earth. Beautiful, isn't it? I was fortunate. With this out of the way, there was no one to stop me."
The seed shone brighter, engulfing him in a wave of gold light. He could see a plane and a man looking at a picture with a familiar girl. Then a light so bright it was blinding tore through the craft. He watched an all too brief fight as the man fought to the last, and heard his parting words.
Minori knew who he was, and now knew the reason why Usagi never received an answer to her letters. He felt an anger on her behalf pour through his veins. "You think that'd be enough? You know he was right, they will stop you."
"Of course you would say the same thing he did. After all-" Before she could finish, he launched himself up, using all his strength to leap past her. His hands closed around the bauble that meant so much to her, certain that if he got it away from her, there would be a chance to stop her.
It was hot in his hands, a burn that pulsed up his arms, but he held tight as the surprised of his movement forced Galaxia to let go of his hair.
As he landed, he felt a shift in the atmosphere around him. Something beside him popped and sizzled beside him, and with a glance up he saw three senshi emerged from a rift.
One of them, with short hair and a familiar face, blinked down at him. "Minori?"
He stared up at her, recognition slowly eking into his conscious mind. "Haruka?"
As the other two senshi stepped forward, his cousin grabbed him by the collar. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Protecting her," he shouted back.
"Of all the stupid…look, just stand back and let us handle this." She dropped him to the floor, where he landed in a grateful slump. His hair hurt, and his entire body ached. His hands were screaming at his brain to let the seed go, but he refused. He would get this away from Galaxia if it was the last thing he did.
xoxoxox
The paramedics arrived, making excellent time as they strapped the teacher in the gurney and carted him off. They made brief inquiries to the senshi, but left quickly. Starfighter kept her eyes on Sailor Moon, who continued to stare at the spot where Minori had been.
"We have to get to him," she said in a low voice. "Mercury? Is there any way?"
The blue haired girl shook her head as her fingers flew over a small keyboard. "No, I can't seem to triangulate their location."
"But we have to do something! We can't just-"
"We'll get him back, don't worry." Starfighter surprised herself by speaking up, but she could not stand to watch the normally cheerful girl acting so frantic.
Unfortunately her voice brought the attention on her, and soon she was bombarded by questions.
"Just what are you doing here," Mars demanded, fists clenched.
She smirked and leaned against one of the remaining desks. "I had detention."
Mars gave her an incredulous look as she crossed her arms. "Really."
"Sure," Starfighter replied with a shrug. She was unsure whether or not she should say anything more, or if the girl would connect two and two.
It was not Mars who connected it, but Mercury. "If what you say is true, then that would make you…" The girl blushed, rosy cheeks flaring in a pretty manner. "Seiya?"
Everyone stopped at once and gave her an appraising eye. "What can I say? I'm a master of disguise."
She was surrounded then as inquisitive fingers poked here and there. One of them landed quite forcibly on her breast, and she squawked. "Do you mind? Yes, they're real."
"But…you're a boy." Makoto pointed out.
"Yes I was," she said. She fended off a curious hand as it traveled toward her shorts. "And no, I'm not." She felt a peculiar sensation on her backside. With a yelp, she grabbed the offending wrist and stared down at Venus. "Would you knock that off? What does that part have to do with anything?"
The girl's eyes widened. "You really are Seiya! Then that means-"
"Starfighter, what the hell are you doing?" Everyone turned toward the door where Starmaker and Starhealer stood in the doorway.
"Like I had a choice? That lady just attacked us in the middle of detention!" The others were not pleased that she had revealed her identity, and by association theirs, but she stood by her belief that bad things would have happened otherwise.
"Wait, if you're you, then that means you know…" Mars turned toward Sailor Moon and clenched her teeth. "Usagi!"
The girl in question sniffled. "What does it matter, anyway? It's not like we stopped anything. They took Minori!"
Jupiter knelt beside the girl and whispered something while running soft circled on the girl's back. Sailor Moon nodded after a moment and wiped her eyes before offering a watery smile in return.
"What's so important about this guy, anyway?" Starhealer sneered as she kicked a piece of debris. "He's just a casualty."
"No he's not," Starfighter retorted before any could answer, memories of his identity swirling in her mind. Then she caught herself. Blushing, she gritted her teeth. "He was a civilian, caught on my watch. I promise I'll get him back."
Starmaker muttered something, but all Seiya could pick up was the word 'impetuous.' Then she glared at the senshi of this system. "This isn't our fight."
"But we have a similar goal," Sailor Moon pointed out. "If we team up, I know we can-"
"The answer is no," Starhealer said. "We'll leave you to clean your own mess. Come on, Starfighter."
"I can't," Seiya said after a beat of everyone staring at her. "It's as much my fault as anyone's that he was taken. What would I be if I didn't try to help?"
"This isn't our fight, Starfighter," Starmaker implored, her eyes wide as she urged her to join them.
"But who's to say it's no different?" she asked.
"Starfighter. It's not our fight."
Seiya sighed. There was no way to get her teammates to agree with her, at least not here and now. She needed to talk to them in private, get them to see what she knew. She walked over to her group and turned to look at Sailor Moon.
"Don't worry, Odango," she started. "I'll be back."
Her last image of the young girl before they took their leave was of her staring up, wide eyed and trusting.
xoxoxox
She blinked at the chaos around her. She had yet to be noticed, and doubted anyone would unless she spoke up. Chibi-Chibi, from outside the room, had fought her own tears as her suspicions about him were confirmed. He was gone and away, and now she could barely feel his presence.
Taking a deep breath, she strengthened her resolve as she felt her clothes shift and change into her uniform. She would find him, and bring him back. It was within her power to do so, but after she would be exhausted. He was already in another battle, though, one he had to fight alone and without the interruptions of this time.
Closing her eyes, she stepped out of the room and focused on him, and only him. It was not hard to do, really, she would know him anywhere. When she opened her eyes she whimpered. Other friends were fighting, keeping Galaxia away from the boy. She could bring them all back, bring them to herself, and then when she has rested, the fight could continue.
He looked up at her, looking so exhausted. This was not his place, or where he belonged, and she knew it weighed on him. "Chibi," she assured him, patting his cheek with a smile.
He offered her a tiny grin as he shook his head. "You're one too? I don't know why I'm not surprised."
Patting his cheek once again, she turned and hopped to where the other three were fighting. Galaxia fended off their attacks, but Chibi-Chibi knew that once she had the chance, the enemy would steal their glowing seeds.
"Chibi!"
Her young voice was enough to startle all of them as Galaxia stared down at her. "You."
"Chibi!"
Galaxia looked enraged, and if the young girl was honest with herself, very scary. Gulping, she took a step back. She could see the bracelets coming together, and when the bright light threatened to blind them all, she closed her eyes and focused. When she opened them again, the school hallways greeted them.
"What the hell happened?" Uranus asked. "What did you do?"
Chibi-Chibi whimpered and ignored the tall woman, going over to where he lay. His cheek rested against the floor. She grabbed his hand and tried to pry his fingers open, but his grip was strong even as he was almost unconscious.
Larger hands removed hers, and looking up she saw Uranus kneeling beside her. The hand was beginning to smolder, and the taller woman cursed. "Come on, you stubborn brat. Let go."
Finally his fingers uncurled, and Chibi-Chibi gasped at the seed that escaped. She recognized it as it whipped past and into the room where chaos still reigned. Whimpering, she burrowed into Uranus' side.
xoxoxox
Galaxia stormed back up to her dais, brimming with far too much tension to settle down. How dare that insolent man steal what was rightfully hers? She refused to allow this to go unpunished, and if she had her way, he would pay dearly for what he had done. She would not even give him the honor of being added to his collection. After all, his was useless, and why take something battered and bruised when she could have the rightful one in its place?
She felt the glow of the other seeds and closed her eyes, embracing their warmth. She had so many, and was so close to her goal. But that one had been special, and the man who it belonged to had defied her to the very end. It was those seeds that were the best, pulsed the brightest.
"Um, Lady Galaxia, would you like me to go after them?"
Seiren's voice grated through her nerves as she whipped around. "You brought him here. This is all your doing."
"I honestly do not see how," she said as she pondered over this fact. "After all, he was the one who shoved us both in the booth."
Sailor Lead Crow, who had returned from her own failed mission, stepped beside her rival. "Seiren, be silent!"
"What for? I am merely pointing out the truth."
"Hush, you fool!"
"Silence, the both of you!" Galaxia stood tall, hand poised.
"Please don't do this, we'll find them and bring back what they took, I swear!" It was not Seiren who pleaded for her life, but Lead Crow.
Galaxia allowed her hand to drop minutely and then smirked at Crow's obvious relief. Then, quicker than any of them could blink, shot it up, fingers outstretched toward her target.
Crow's screams as her friend disappeared from existence made her spine tingle with pleasure.
xoxoxox
Usagi stared at what floated in front of her. It glowed with a bright and familiar warmth, and her throat closed. "What is this?"
"I don't know," Makoto replied.
Usagi reached for it and brushed her fingers against the barrier surrounding it. She refused to allow her brain to wander, to think about what it was or where it came from.
Commotion at the door brought her attention away from the seed. Uranus rushed in, and to Usagi's immeasurable relief, Minori was in her arms. He was unconscious, or close to it, and that made her forget about the seed she did not want to know anyway.
"What happened, is he okay?" She asked as she rushed toward the two.
Uranus laid the boy on the teacher's desk. "I don't know, you tell me. How the hell did he end up there, anyway?"
"We can figure that out later," Neptune said as she placed a hand on Uranus' shoulder. "The important thing right now is to make sure he'll be okay."
"He just tackled her," Usagi offered, hovering around them. "Is he okay?"
"Chibi?"
Usagi looked down where Chibi-Chibi stood, leaning heavily against her knee. Bending, she picked the small girl and took in her outfit. Before she could ask, though, the young girl fell asleep against her shoulder.
"He's okay, just exhausted," Neptune assured everyone. She picked up his hand and inspected his hand. "However, it appears that whatever he brought back with him did not agree with being held."
Usagi looked and gasped at the burn on his palm. "Will it be okay?"
"I doubt it will scar," Neptune responded, pulling up the classroom's first aid kit. "However, it won't be healed for a couple weeks, I'm sure."
"I'll take notes for him," she promised.
There was a beat before the people around her started to giggle, but she ignored their humor. Instead she focused on Minori, running her fingers through his bangs. He cracked an eye open and regarded her for a long moment.
"I'm sorry," he croaked.
"Don't worry," she assured him. "You're fine, so that's all that matters, right?"
He shook his head. "No. I'm sorry for this." He gave a weak wave in the direction of the floating seed. "She said-"
"I don't want to know what she said," she bit out, feeling something trying to claw out of her chest.
"Usagi," he ground out.
"Okay kiddo, that's enough for now," Uranus said as she pushed his shoulder back down. "You need rest."
"What I need is for someone to listen," he said, trying to shout, but it came out more a pant instead. "It's why she's been able to do as she pleases here. She attacked him first, cornered him someplace where he couldn't escape!"
"Stop it!" But he did not. He told them what he knew, what Galaxia had said. She did not want to hear this. Her knees shook, and even as she turned from him her traitorous ears hung on to every word. The more she heard, the closer she clung to the small girl in her arms.
The floor slapped her knees where she fell, and she barely had the presence of mind to set Chibi-Chibi down before the shaking became too hard for her to keep hold of him. She was aware she was talking, but she could not stop her tongue from calling out a name of a man who was dead.