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CHAPTER 43 - STUPEFACTION

Alternate Dimension

THE RESCUE MISSION CONTINUES…

"Venus Love and Beauty Shock!"

Venus attacked with no hesitation when Yaten found out that the cloud-formed enemy before them seemed to have turned vulnerable to their powers. Her heart-shaped beam, one of the strongest she had ever casted, went towards its target directly with a flash of blinding yellow light.

And this time, the spell hit the enemy, making it roar in pain while starting to disappear with a fizzy sound.

"You made it! You vanquished it!" screamed Yaten enthusiastically

"Yeah…! I did, did I?" answered Venus, still not believing it

"Of course!" he said with a proud smile. Then he walked the step that separated them and sweetly kissed her on the cheek "Good girl, Minako-chan" he said teasingly with a killer smile.

The blonde blushed deeply. She was about to protest about him treating her like a kid, but the kiss had been so sweet and his playful smile so sexy she just couldn´t… she could only melt where she was…

Tuxedo Mask saw them and ran towards the couple, carrying the weakened Pluto in his arms.

Ahead of them, the mass of clouds continued dissolving itself.

"Sailor Venus!" he said, when he reached them.

"He… hey…" answered Venus, not knowing how to act around him now. What she had just witnessed was so shocking she did not know how she should react. Should she tell him they had seen everything? Should she ask for an explanation? Or should she act as if she had not just seen her best friend´s recent ex-boyfriend kissing another of her friends?!

"Are you both ok?" he asked, interrupting Venus' downwards spiral of thoughts

"Of course we are…" answered only Yaten, directing a scornful face at the Earth Prince. He didn´t like him. He had just saved Pluto and all, but he was still the arrogant asshole that had kicked them out of the shrine and treated them like some alien foreigners.

Tuxedo Mask sweatdropped when feeling his tense words.

Okay, in part he deserved that, he thought to himself. It was going to be tough to try to get along with the Starlights after what had happened when he arrived from the United States…

"And what are you doing here?" asked Venus suddenly, totally direct and tactless, making Yaten sneer with satisfaction.

Mamoru sweatdropped. She sure was lippy sometimes.

"Well, I… ChibiUsa… she asked me for help…"

"Oh, of course" answered Venus, understanding. Even if the younger girl now knew he was not her real father, it looked like she still had a tight bond with the Earth prince "She went with you when she ran away from the shrine, did she?"

Mamoru nodded. There was no point in keeping her secret, Venus had already found out about it.

"But I thought you couldn´t come in this dimension, since you are not a senshi…" teased Yaten maliciously

"Yeah… er… that´s… ChibiUsa´s doing again… She opened a Time Portal to be able to transport me here…" he answered uncomfortably. The Starlight was starting to move beyond rudeness…

"How are you, Pluto?" asked then Venus changing topics, sensing the tense atmosphere growing wildly between both men, and not wanting to think further about the complicated situation with Tuxedo Mask.

"I feel weak and somehow strange… but overall, I think I will be fine… Thank you very much for coming to rescue me…" answered the tanned senshi

"Yeah… and thanks to your Talisman that bought us the time we needed to rescue you!" pointed out Venus

Pluto blushed and looked at the heart-shaped object over her chest.
"Yes… it always cares for me…" she said softly "What about the rest of the girls?"

"We all came, but… we had to divide ourselves to manage the enemy… We should return as soon as possible and see if they are fine… I think I heard Rei screaming before…" said Venus worriedly

"Yes, me too… We should go right away and help them" said Pluto "I am really sorry to have caused you so much trouble…"

"Oh, please, this is absolutely not your fault" answered the blonde with a wide warm smile "But be sure we will make the real responsible pay for all he has done to us" she added, winking an eye, which made Pluto smile weakly.

Then, the Time senshi started moving from Tuxedo Mask´s arms to try to stand up.

"Are you sure you can walk?" he asked, helping her down, with his face so close to hers that their noses were almost touching.

Yaten rolled his eyes, and Venus blushed. It was truly uncomfortable.

"Ye…yeah…, don´t worry" she said, looking down, her cheeks rosy while slowly moving away from him. She could not confront him after what had happened between them.

"Let´s go, then" said Yaten sharply, interrupting their lovable moment.

They were about to leave when they heard the cloud mass that had formed their enemy finish evaporating. Tuxedo Mask turned around for a second, and saw something totally unexpected.

"What…?" he just exclaimed, walking a few steps towards where their enemy had been.

"What´s up now?" asked Yaten, pissed off "Can we leave already?"

"There´s… something… or someone there…!" he said, getting closer every moment.

"Oh yes! I totally forgot!" exclaimed Venus

"About what?" asked Pluto

"When we were holding the enemy back and something in it changed… Yaten and I saw a female figure inside it, and it looked like she was captive and trying to escape! It must be her!" she explained, and suddenly ran towards the unknown figure lying motionless on the floor ahead of them.

"Venus, wait! It could be dangerous!" said Yaten, but of course, she did not listen, so he followed her.

Tuxedo Mask offered his arm to Pluto, so she could support herself in him, and together they walked towards where Venus was.

"Why are you always so attracted to potential danger?!" scolded Yaten when he reached her.

"It´s… she´s… I don´t know what this is! It´s very weird!" said Venus when the four of them had gathered around it, not paying attention to the white-haired man´s words.

Pluto had a look and what she saw puzzled her as much as everyone else: there, right at their feet, laid a motionless lady, dressed in what looked like a sailor fuku. Her hair was really long and thin, and was spread loose all around her, covering her face and back. But the strangest thing was definitely that she looked like she was entirely made of light. A garnet faint light that outlined the contours of her body, which was semitransparent.

Without thinking it twice, Venus stretched her hand forward and very slowly and delicately poked her leg with the tip of her finger.

"Venus!" scolded Yaten in a strong whisper that nearly caused the blonde a heart attack "What the hell do you think you are doing?!"

"I´m just touching her!" she protested

"Don't do that! It could be dangerous!"

"But I just needed to do it, I can see the floor below her THROUGH her body!"

They all sweatdropped. It was true, and it was reaaally weird.

"…and…?" asked suddenly Tuxedo Mask with curiosity, surprising everyone, who moved their faces towards him.

"She´s not a hologram or a ghost or anything similar" answered Venus "Even though she looks transparent, she has a physical body you can feel"

"…. a ghost…?" commented Yaten "Really, Minako? You were considering that possibility?"

"Well she DOES look like one!" she defended herself "Or have you ever seen a body like hers before?"

"It´s very strange indeed…" commented Tuxedo Mask, massaging his chin in a pensive attitude.

Pluto couldn´t help staring at the garnet light-lady speechless with narrowed suspicion eyes… she somehow felt attracted to her.

"Is she… dead?" continued Venus

"It´s hard to tell, with that peculiar see-through body of hers…" said Tuxedo Mask

"She´s not moving at all…" said Venus with worried eyes

"Do you think… she´s an ally or an enemy?" asked Yaten suddenly

"Well, she was being held hostage by the cloud mass… My enemy´s enemies are my allies, isn´t that so?" said Venus with a proud smile

Yaten sweatdropped.

"That is not exactly so always… you know?" he added, looking at the blonde

Their conversation was suddenly interrupted by a flashing wave of brilliant white light that invaded the dark dimension for just a second, making them all quickly shelter their eyes. It passed along in just a moment, but it instantly made them feel refreshed and calm. They could sense the pureness and love it carried through every pore of their skin.

"What… was THAT?!" asked Tuxedo Mask, captivated

"That must have been Usagi´s new healing power… I´m sure!" commented Venus

"If she has used it… something is going terribly wrong… we must leave right away" said Yaten, worriedly looking in the direction where the healing power had come from.

"It´s extraordinary…" commented Tuxedo Mask

"Yeah, but she still doesn´t fully control it, and she faints after using it. We must go" informed Venus, and Tuxedo Mask´s face changed to one of worry.

None of them noticed, staring as they were at the mysterious woman before them, but Pluto´s Talisman which she was carrying in one of her hands started glowing softly.

Suddenly, they were startled by a very soft moan coming from the garnet-light-bodied woman below them.

They all automatically backed up a step in unison, wide-eyed with a mix of expectancy and fear.

"She´s… she´s waking up!" whispered Venus "Sailor Moon´s halo must have healed her…!"

They all remained still, not moving an inch, with their eyes fixed on the strange being before them. Yaten had one arm stretched before Venus in a protective gesture, and Tuxedo Mask was holding Pluto strongly from the arm.

The ethereal lady then started moving slowly, placing her palms firmly on the ground and sitting up little by little, her hair cascade all over her head. When she finally managed to sit, she used one of her bright semitransparent arms to move all her hair back at once and away from her face.

When she did, the four anxious friends sighed loudly in shock, their eyes open like saucers and covering their mouths in utter stupefaction.

The sitting phantasmagorical glowing woman looked at them and was equally shocked, her big bright garnet eyes fixed with surprise.

Nothing in the World would have prepared them for this…

The mysterious light-lady looked exactly like Pluto.


THE PROTECTION MISSION CONTINUES…

Mercury moved her hands to cover her mouth in a worry gesture, upon seeing her beloved friend, now transformed into Princess Serenity, dismayed over Fighter after casting her strong healing magic. She couldn´t help tears forming in her eyes.

Fighter saw her reaction and directed a sad smile at the blue senshi.

"Don´t worry, she´s fine… I can still feel her…" she said softly

Mercury relaxed a little, but her calmness only lasted a second.

The senshi´s attention was suddenly attracted by a sizzling sound coming from above their heads.

"What is going on now?" asked Maker, puzzled "The cloud mass is fading away?!"

"Yes, and Apocalypse´s presence with it" added Galaxia, and everyone looked at her with shocked expressions

"He´s… we´ve vanquished him?" asked Mercury with a small ray of hope in her eyes

"No… He is intact, but he seems to be withdrawing for now"

Mercury pressed her blue earring and the well-known screen appeared before her eyes. She did not have her computer anymore, but she still had that.

"Looks like Apocalypse´s cloud shield has finally been destroyed" she concluded looking through her goggles.

Galaxia nodded "Yes, it definitely is so, now that it was vulnerable…" agreed Galaxia "Maybe Sailor Moon´s power, or the rest of the senshi from their position… I am not sure"

"Never mind who… the important thing is that it buys us some time we need badly" said Fighter, her eyes not leaving Serenity "We must find somewhere safe until she recovers"

Mercury looked at her and then at the beautiful unconscious lady in her arms. She moved towards the couple and very carefully checked Serenity´s pulse. Her heart was beating, as Fighter had said, but really weakly.

"Her heartbeat is so faint…" commented Mercury with preoccupation

"Yes… she overdid it a little…" answered Fighter, looking at her lover with eyes full of love and sweetness.

Mars looked astonished at the scene from her kneeling position beside War. Streams of silent tears fell nonstop through her face, not fully understanding everything that was going on around her. She was now immersed in a kind of state of shock from all the overwhelming emotions lived.

Galaxia frowned and suddenly exploded.

"How did you let her do something like this, Fighter?!"

They all instantly directed their faces at her.

"Mo… Mother… I just… She had to do it, she had to try to save War…" said Fighter with a faltering thread of voice. She had never seen her like that.

"She did not! He chose to sacrifice himself to save us all, and that is very noble of him and an incredible gesture of love but… we cannot do anything for him!"

Galaxia´s harsh words brought Mars back from her catatonic state, making her sob strongly. Reality was too hard for her to endure. Her heart was once again broken.

"But… Odango can!" protested Fighter

"No she can´t! She is very powerful, but even she cannot save every single life in this Universe! We needed her to confront Apocalypse, to save the whole Universe! And now because of this irresponsible idea, she is unconscious and unable to fight!"

"But this is the way she is… pure kindness and love! She doesn´t believe that anyone should be sacrificed! And I don´t believe it either, this is OUR way of doing things… Even if it is complicated, even if it is dangerous for her, she needed to try, she had to do it for those she loves!" insisted Fighter

"She has almost died trying something that was impossible!" said Galaxia, angry at her daughter´s stubborn kindness that she recognized from Sailor Moon´s. Her last words echoed around them making an atmosphere thicker than silence. The air was filled up with pain, sorrow and inevitability.

And then, before they could continue arguing, before anyone spoke any further, and right before all of them accepted this sad fact, the miracle happened.

Their breaths stopped abruptly when they heard a loud gasp for air coming from the man lying on the floor beside them.

"…..war?…" exclaimed Rei unbelievingly with the tiniest thread of voice, instantly turning her head towards him with tears springing from her eyes "War… WAR…!" she repeated again and again, louder each time, while undoing the complicated armor he was wearing in order to allow him more space to breathe.

He did not speak or move or even open his eyes… but he was breathing. He was alive.

Galaxia looked at him with shocked eyes that were even seen turning watery with emotion.

"….unbelievable…" she muttered with a whisper, covering her mouth with her delicate hand in awe. Sailor Moon´s powers were far stronger than she had ever thought. Much more than even the Moon princess herself was aware of.

Rei let herself fall over War´s chest and cried her heart out again… only this time she was crying tears of relief and pure happiness.

Mercury and Maker looked at what had just happened as astonished as the Golden Queen. They could not believe that Sailor Moon had been capable of bringing him back from the dead…

"She is truly amazing…" commented Maker softly, so Mercury could hear her "She never stops surprising me with the power of her infinite love…"

Mercury nodded with a sincere happy smile. She was also crying quietly, sharing her friend´s tears of joy.

Fighter did not need to say anything. She just looked at her mother´s eyes with determination, and the Star Queen nodded proudly in response. Her daughter was right. The power of the Moon princess' love was immense. But even that was not her most powerful magic. Sailor Moon had given all of them the greatest of powers. The power of hope.

"We need to get out of here… somewhere they can both be safe" said Fighter, coming back to reality.

Galaxia stared at her directly in her honest dark blue eyes. She could clearly see the incredible and eternal love she felt for the Moon Princess, and her determination to keep her safe and happy for the rest of their lives. Her daughter had been able to see Sailor Moon´s pure and kind heart, and her unconditional love for all beings in the Universe, and that is why she loved her so much and shared her view and opinion about battles, life and destiny. But Galaxia had judged Sailor Moon wrong once again, and her daughter who supported her too. This time, she promised herself that she was going to make sure that it never happened again.

"Yes…" conceded finally the golden senshi with a sincere smile that none of them had seen before "She needs lots of healing and rest, and we need her to recover fast to end this battle and ensure the peaceful future that she deserves. In fact, not only us, the whole Universe needs her. She is our light of hope"

Fighter smiled at her mother´s words.

"Yes, she is" she agreed contented

"We need to do it fast, we don´t know when Apocalypse will return, but he surely won´t take long" added Mercury urgingly.

"Yes…" agreed Galaxia "I am going to send her to the only place I know she would be safe and able to fully recover fast. And Fighter, my dear daughter, you are going with her to take care of her while she does"

"Of course… I will never get separated from her… Where are we going then?"

"To the Moon" answered Galaxia simply

"To… to the Moon?" asked Fighter unbelievingly

"Yes… the Moon Castle is now in ruins, but its ancient power still remains. Sailor Moon´s own healing power will be boosted while she´s there, and also, the Moon Castle will hide both of you from Apocalypse. He will never be able to find you there, so it is the safest we can find" she explained, while casting one of her teleporting bubbles around Fighter.

The Starlight looked at her mother astonished, but nodded with determination.

"Wait!" said Mercury suddenly, running away and coming back fast, carrying something in her hand "She will be asking for this when she wakes up…" she said, and handed over Neptune´s mirror to Fighter, who took it in one of her hands.

She smiled when she understood.

"Of course she will… Thanks" she said, winking an eye at the blue senshi, who blushed slightly "What about you girls? What are you going to do?" she asked then, preoccupied

"We must go and check on the others to see if they managed to save Pluto, her rescue is still our priority" clarified Maker "Then we will withdraw somewhere safe until you two return. Even if he does not have his cloud armor anymore, we cannot fight Apocalypse as we currently are, and not without Sailor Moon, that´s for sure" she said, and her Queen nodded in agreement "Don't worry, sister, we´ll be fine" she added finally, directing a smile at Fighter

"I´m sure" answered Fighter, with a complicity smile.

Galaxia moved her arm and the bubble started floating upwards.

"Take good care of her!" said Galaxia with a note of worry on her voice.

"Of course, Mother!" answered Fighter, and her voice got lost in the wide space around them while they saw the golden bubble disappear into nothingness.

"Ok, let´s go find the others" proposed Mercury, also worried by the rest of their friends.

"Yes, we need to get away from this dimension as soon as possible… we don´t know how long it will take Apocalypse to return after Sailor Moon´s last attack" said Maker

"What about War?" asked Mars, who was now a little calmer, but did not move an inch from her lover´s side "He´s still unconscious…"

"And he probably still be for a while…" commented Galaxia

Mars looked at her with distrust eyes. She had not liked the way in which Galaxia had been so comfortable with the idea of War sacrificing himself, and how she had almost killed him herself before that. But this was not the time to argue, she understood as much.

"I am going to send you two back to the shrine…" answered the Star Queen "But you need to come up with something so Apocalypse won´t find you. He is sure going to be enraged after what has just happened here, and in search of fast revenge. If he detects your powers before we all arrive… you will be no match to him"

"Understood" she said "I will manage to protect the shrine somehow…"

Galaxia casted another one of her bubbles and sent the couple away. Then, the three remaining senshi ran towards where their friends had left in search of Pluto.


Moon

"This is incredible…" said Fighter, speaking it out loud to herself.

The transporting bubble had performed an amazing journey out of Earth and through space, at an incredible speed, until it had reached the Moon's surface. There, it had floated gracefully and slowlier towards what Fighter had understood that were the remains of that magnificent Moon Castle that she had seen before during her journey to their past lives.

The ruins were still breathtaking, shining in the soft light like beautiful sea pearls, overwhelmingly white and flawless against the starred sparkling dark sky. There were also traces of what had been the lush Moon Gardens, with their unknown flowers and trees of a beautiful soft silverish-blue, and the immense lakes and fountains everywhere, now dry. The atmosphere felt as if the whole castle had been stopped in time after the last battle so long ago, waiting for something or for someone. It was somehow sad to see it how it now was, knowing the previous splendor of its era.

The golden teleporting bubble finally popped right at the base of the wide staircase in the front facade of the main building, or what was left of it. Fighter grabbed Princess Serenity up bridal-style and looked ahead of her.

"Your house sure needs a makeover, nee, Odango?" she said teasingly, although Serenity was still unconscious.

She then carried her up the stairs, where she found a white marble reclining bench that was still almost intact, and carefully placed the beautiful sleeping princess there. She looked magical in that white silky vaporous dress and with her castle as background, like she truly belonged there. She looked like an angel.

Fighter smiled and sweetly passed her gloved hand through her golden bangs, moving them away of her face. Then, she turned around, and never going too far away from her, she inspected the area to make sure they were completely alone and safe.

The buildings were very torn, and looked like they barely stood. There were no ceilings, except from a pair of smaller rooms that still kept a part of them, and the walls were destroyed, when not nonexistent. Still, it looked impressively marvelous. When she was sure they were safe, she took the chance to detransform herself. Once Seiya again, he sighed with relief. He was back to being himself.

Walking around the ruins, he found what he thought could be the Royal Family´s main prayer room. It was a round room delimited with eight long slim columns, some of them broken, that had been holding what looked like a domed ceiling, from which only a tiny piece was left standing. In the center of the room there was a profusely decorated pillar, about the height of his hip, looking like it was prepared to hold a small object on top of its well-polished upper base, where a silver shiny moon symbol had been carved. If the Moon Castle still had power as his mother had told him, it was surely coming out of that sacred pillar.

The floor surrounding the pillar was completely covered by a beautiful silver looking grass he had never seen before. He couldn´t help kneeling and touching the grass. It was as soft and fluffy as he had never touched before. It was like passing a hand through a silk carpet, or a velvet cushion, or a box of feathers, or all of them at the same time. He smiled to himself. He had found the perfect place for her beloved princess to rest until she recovered.

He returned to the palace´s entrance and grabbed Serenity to carry her inside. He then softly placed her over the fabulous furry carpet-like grass he had found in the prayer room, her head pointing at the center pillar. The temperature on the Moon was perfect and the floor underneath her was as soft, warm and comfortable as it could possibly be. Then, following an intuition, he carefully grabbed in his hands Serenity´s Silver Crystal, and placed it with extreme care in the center of the pillar. It was the exact size to fit in between the two horns of the crescent moon, it really looked like it belonged there. Satisfied, he lay beside her and got lost into gazing at her beauty while caressing her face with the tips of his soft fingers.

A few seconds later, the Silver Crystal on top of the pillar started glowing faintly, and the same happened with Serenity, who gleamed with a faint white halo surrounding her. Seiya smiled. It was working.


Alternate Dimension

"Jupiter!" yelled Mercury when she saw her friend´s unmistakable figure ahead, kneeling.

The green senshi instantly turned around, with a relief smile visible in her face.

"Girls…!" she cried

When the trio reached her position, they were shocked to see what they had before their eyes. To either side of Jupiter, the bodies of Neptune and Uranus lay motionless.

"Oh… no!" said Mercury, quickly kneeling right beside Jupiter and starting to check on her friends.

"What has happened here?!" asked Maker worriedly "Where are the others?"

"We were attacked by that cloud mass above…" started explaining Jupiter while Mercury continued checking their friend´s vital signs "It descended in the form of several female figures that impeded us to continue forward"

Galaxia narrowed her eyes, eager for the rest of the story.

"Uranus and Neptune decided to stay here and fight against it by themselves, while we escaped to save Pluto in time…." continued Jupiter

"That is so like them…" commented Maker, who was already familiar with the couple´s peculiar style of doing things.

"Yes… but… this time… the enemy was stronger. When we had almost reached Pluto, the enemy came chasing us to try to avoid us from rescuing her. That was when we understood that something had gone wrong with the Outers, and I decided to return to help them"

Mercury looked at her friend with tender eyes.

"They are still alive…" she announced softly

"Yes… I… I used my electric powers to revive them, when I found them and saw they hearts had stopped…" said Jupiter shyly

"That was very smart, Jupiter… and really complicated" said Mercury "You saved their lives"

"Wait, but… you left Healer and Venus alone to fight the enemy, then?" asked Maker, preoccupied

"We had no other choice! Neptune and Uranus needed me!"

"Oh… no…" said Galaxia, coming into the conversation while looking ahead of them.

"Of course… you did great" said Mercury, and Maker sighed with resignation in agreement. They were right. She would have done the same thing even if it was not the most logical. The first thing was saving their friends. Like Sailor Moon always did.

"Then…" continued Jupiter "I heard a loud scream that looked like Rei´s, and a little after a flash of very intense light that seemed to bring some more color to their faces"

"Yes… that´s… a long story. The light was Sailor Moon´s power, so it has probably started healing them both" explained Mercury

"That´s so great…" said Jupiter, relieved.

"We need to go check on the rest of them…" announced Galaxia "If Apocalypse still has Pluto, we are in trouble"

"Yes, indeed" agreed Maker

"I will send Uranus and Neptune to the shrine" said Galaxia upon seeing Jupiter´s worried face "Mars is already there and will take care of them"

"That´s great, I´m going with you then" said Jupiter

And with this, the four senshi hurried ahead running through the dark dangerous dimension in search of the rest of their friends, hoping they had managed to fulfil their mission.