By Yohann DeSabrais
a.k.a. Technuma Saturn
CYCLES OF LIFE
EPISODE 13: FUTURE PERFECT
There are receptions, and then there are the receptions organized by
Queen Serenity. Both were as far from each other as night and day,
mainly because her parties and soirees were unmistakably THE social
events of the entire silver millenium, and whenever there was one
you could be sure that everyone who was anyone would go. These
lavish receptions were also those who would inspire many immortal
fairy tales in human lore long after the moon kingdom`s destruction
and drift into the shroud of forgotten history.
Of course, not everyone enjoyed these gatherings. One such woman was
bored out of her mind, unmoved by the music, untouched by the
beautiful clothes and just not hungry enough to eat the mouth
watering foods. Still in her early twenties, Laurella was the
youngest of the special women who had been chosen years before to
be trained to become defenders of the silver millenium, the sailor
scouts. The other scouts had, over the years, learned to enjoy these
parties and mingle among the moon kingdom royalty, ambassadors and
many more guests and VIPs. Laurella, however, just found this to be
utterly pointless, though she came anyway as the presence of Sailor
Jendra was required.
So she sat in a corner, all by herself. It didn`t matter how many
times her teacher Kitechnum Jendra explained her that grace and
elegance were just as important for a scout as fighting skills, she
hated every minute of it. The only reason she went was so that she`d
get an occasion to get close to Kitechnum in a more relaxed
situation; Laurella had a big crush on her mentor and did not miss
any chance she could get to spend time with him. Unfortunately, he
still hadn`t returned from Saturn Station alpha yet and this party
seemed to move along to a crawl without him.
"Why is a charming young lady like yourself doing sitting here all
alone?" asked the ambassador Kunzite to Laurella. Wearing his white
and purple silk uniform, he was undountebly one of the main
attractions at this reception. He had just been sent to the moon
kingdom on behalf of Queen Beryl who was still totally unknown in
this part of space. Charming and charismatic, he could have easily
seduced any woman in the room although for some reason he didn`t
even try. Some rumors had started to go around that he might indeed
have no eyes for women...
"I`ve never been the partying type. I`d rather take the princess
skating or train some more. Celeste has been on my case lately about
that, maybe that would finally get her off my back." she answered.
"You wouldn`t happen to know where I could meet the ambassador of
Atlantis, would you? I`ve been trying to see her all evening and I`m
starting to get the feeling she`s avoiding me altogether." wondered
Kunzite.
"You just missed her again, I`m afraid. She ran off with the prince
of Earth in the courtyard only a minute ago. There`s definitely
something weird about her, but I guess it`s just cultural
differences. We don`t know much about what is going on in Atlantis
since they began having problems with earthquakes and shut
themselves up ten years ago."
"Thank you, have a nice evening, Sailor Jendra." gracefully said
Kunzite with a polite bow. He left her to mingle some more with
the royalty.
Tired of sitting down, she stood up and walked around. She absent-
mindedly looked at the Technum guardians discussing lifeform
detection outside the solar system`s outer rim with the terran
diplomats, vaguely stared at her fellow scouts as they danced with
ambassadors from their respective planets and barely gazed at the
huge buffet table where many involved discussions were taking place.
She could only think of her mentor Kitechnum.
Laurella could only think of her lover, she missed his tender words
and sweet kisses.
Making her way through the crowd came Celeste, Sailor Mars, all
dressed in red of course. She was looking for Laurella and
discreetly handed her a paper note. Laurella`s name was written
on it in Kitechnum`s handwriting. She smiled.
"Thanks, Mars." she whispered.
"Don`t mention it, kid." said Celeste.
"Don`t call me `kid`, I`m twenty-two, you know. Just because you hit
thirty last month doesn`t make an elder like the queen." protested
Laurella.
"My, aren`t you touchy today." said Celeste, leaving Laurella by
herself again.
She opened the note and read the message.
Dear Laurella,
I`ve been waiting all day for tonight`s party just so I could
finally see you. As you read this note, I`m in the royal library
where we won`t be disturbed.
Love, K.J.
At last! Kitechnum had been away on business for quite some time
now, but he was back and he was all hers. She made up some excuse
and slipped out of the party. Sailor Jendra never even knew that
all her friends were discreetly watch her leave.
"I`ll bet she`s on her way to meet with Kitechnum right now."
whispered Michiru to Minako.
"This is so cute! They`re convinced their relationship is secret
even though we all know about it." said Minako.
"Noratech Neptune told me that the guardians know about them too;
they decided to keep their mouths shut until Kitechnum feels
comfortable enough to let it out in the open by himself, just
like we did." added Michiru.
* * *
Laurella anxiously walked down the corridor to the library, the
music echoing in the distance and growing fainter with each step
she took. She opened the large wooden door and peeked inside; there
he was, sitting on the corner of a table and reading a book
relating the long story of the moon kingdom`s ruling dynasty. Tall
and muscular, he was dressed in the same emerald green guardian
uniform Laurella had always known him to wear. She sneaked in and
closed the door as silently as she could.
Kitechnum took notice of his student when he heard the door closing.
"I`ve been waiting for you." he said with a smile, putting the book
down on the table and walking towards Laurella.
"So have I." she replied. From that moment, neither was able to take
their eyes away from each other`s. They embraced warmly and kissed
with the fire that had grown stronger for every day they spent apart.
Eventually, the couple let go of their lip lock, smiling from a
happiness that can be described by those touched by love.
"You left in a hurry, last week. When I woke up, you were already
gone." whispered Laurella.
"I know, I`m sorry to leave you alone in a bed so big, but The Prime
had called upon all guardians and we had quite a lot to do. I`m
lucky I had time to come back at all this evening." said Kitechnum.
"I`m happy you could come back tonight. This reception was so boring,
the only highlight of the whole evening was the part when I got your
message." explained Laurella.
"I didn`t send you a message... YOU sent me one!" argued Kitechnum,
pulling a piece of paper from his back pocket.
"Wait a minute, how could I send you one if I didn`t know when you`d
be back?" wondered Laurella.
"Something`s wrong here." said Kitechnum, his face stiffening in
concern.
A third voice joined this discussion, coming from the shadows out of
which emerged Celeste in her Sailor Mars uniform rather than her
ballroom gown. "I brought you here with notes I forged myself." she
said. "I heard rumors about you two and had to find out if they were
true. It saddens me to discover they are."
"You KNEW about us? That`s impossible!" protested Laurella.
"Everybody`s talking in your back, Laurella. To be honest, I`ve
always tought you as the worst recruit of our group. You`ve crossed
the line, this time, by pursuing this relationship with your teacher
which you corrupted insidiously!" snarled Celeste, her anger burning
in her eyes.
"She`s a great student, Celeste, she learned to use her powers even
faster than you!" defended Kitechnum. "You, Celeste, are the
dangerous one, with your excessive zeal and obsessive behavior!"
"You went too far, Celeste. Technara is hearing about this, you can
count on it!" added Laurella.
"I don`t think so." said Sailor Mars, pulling a strange crystal wand
from her compacted reality pocket; all sailor scouts have one of
those to keep their scepters, swords and other weapons in.
"Ambassador Kunzite got it on my demand, I`ll have to thank him
later."
The crystal wand glowed brightly and proceeded to violently extract
vast amounts of Technum energy from both the guardian and his
students. "I aligned it especially for Jendra`s Technum, I promise
you that I`ll make a better use of it than you ever did." commented
Mars who absorbed the raw power.
"Don`t do... this... going to... destroy... thousands..." mumbled
Kitechnum, pleading for mercy.
Wracking pain surged through their bodies as the Technum flux failed
to replenish them and compensate for the brutal extraction. Laurella
wanted desperately to help her lover, to no avail. She was just as
helpless as he was; thus she saw the mighty Kitechnum Jendra fall
down and die before she collapsed herself. The resulting Technum
imbalance had an immediate effect on the overall power distrubution
of the solar system, with terrible results.
Planet Jendra exploded with a bright flash unlike anything ever
witnessed before or since.
Throughout the solar system, it seemed as though all life stopped for
an instant as everyone stared to the sky and watched astounded as the
unthinkable unfolded before their eyes. Sailor Jendra heard in her
mind the inhuman sound of thousands of people screaming for an
instant, then dying down forever. Her connection to planet Jendra
was very strong, condemning her to share its fate; Laurella`s heart
missed a beat, then another a second later, then it stopped
altogether while her spirit slowly faded into darkness. Piercing
through the shadows, she could hear voices around her, the panicked
words of Technuma Saturn trying to revive her, Sailor Saturn`s tears
of pain, but they seemed to be so far away now. Tearing pain wracked
through her chest as Technuma jolted her dead heart with raw Technum
power. Darkness ultimately swallowed the voices in its formless void
along with the pain. A bright golden light came for her, warm,
peaceful, serene. Laurella knew for certain she was dead- Kitechnum
was already there, extending his hand to her. She could tell he was
inviting her to join him into the great beyond.
So ended the story of a love destroyed by savage betrayal.
* * *
"Concentrate as the light extends and lashes out, it`s the most
difficult part of the whole routine. Watch for the color changes to
get a feeling for the right timing." explained Shingo to Laurella.
It had been little more than a month since his amazing discovery:
Tsukino Shingo was really the reincarnated soul of the deceased
Technum guardian Kitechnum Jendra. His reawakened powers were still
pretty weak compared to those he once wielded, but they grew
stronger along with those with those of Laurella Hammerson, the
reborn spirit of Sailor Jendra. Remembering his previous existence
through his dreams he was now able to instruct Laurella to reclaim
those abilities she had lost during her reincarnation. One of those
was her most powerful attack wich she was on the verge of learning
anew.
"JENDRA..."
A reddish orange glow engulfed her hands; she aimed carefully at an
empty soda can laid on the ground several meters away.
"...SPECTRUM..."
A yellowish green surge of power extended slowly from the reddish
halo, changing color from green to blue to purple as it advanced,
gaining speed at an incredible rate.
"...WHIPLASH!!!"
Turning from indigo to invisible ultraviolet, the unseen attack
struck the can dead on. It was blown away, thrashed beyond
recognition.
"Cool!" said Laurella, amazed at what she just did.
"Very good." commented Shingo.
Sweeping up the temple grounds, Rei watched the two of them from a
distance and could almost picture what they looked like in their
previous life. Of course, Shingo being fourteen, he still had most
of his growth spurt to go through. That explained why he was
slightly shorter than the sixteen years old Laurella who had grown
to her full heigth already. Usagi was still bugging her brother
about being too short, but that wouldn`t last as he was growing
quite fast.
Laurella reverted from her scout uniform into her regular clothes
while Shingo picked up carefully the smoldering remains of the
destroyed metal can. Rei went to meet them, inquiring to Laurella`s
latest progress.
"Thanks for letting us use your place for my training." said
Laurella.
"No problem, Yuuichiro`s only too happy to keep grandpa busy while
you practice. It makes him feel good to know that he`s helping us in
our fight against evil. It`s too bad that he`s going away, now that
his music carreer is starting to pick up, I`ll miss him very much...
still, I`ll always be there to keep granpa busy as long as you need
a private spot to train." said Rei.
"Are you going to be okay? I know you two had become pretty close
ever since that witch Vortika cursed you and he helped you beat the
hex." asked Shingo.
"Don`t worry about me, I`ll be fine. Our breakup is going to be
pretty smooth, as separations go anyway. But enough about me,
Laurella, have you recovered all your lost powers?" said Rei.
"It seems so. I finally managed to master the spectrum whiplash and
it feels great to be so strong!" commented Laurella.
"You haven`t even reached your peak yet. Before your death on the
moon, you could hit up to four different targets in a single blast!"
mentionned Shingo.
"Speaking of our deaths, I saw them again in my dreams last night.
I was the one dream that has been haunting me all my life where
Celeste betrays and kills us, but... now that I know about my past,
it didn`t scare me anymore. And neither do those emotions I`ve felt
since our first chance encounter." said Laurella, giving Shingo a
sweet smile.
"That`s right." added Shingo who smiled as well. "What Laurella is
saying, essentially, is that we have become a couple again after a
thousand years of separation." he explained to Rei.
"Oh boy, Usagi is going to blow a gasket for sure when she finds
out." said Rei.
"We`re still not sure which one of us should tell her." said
Laurella.
"I`ll write you into my will if you let it be me!!!" begged Rei.
* * *
Like two dolphins slicing through the warm shallow waters of the
Florida Keys, Ami and Michiru enjoyed the underwater silence of the
local public pool. Upon resurfacing for air, the ambient noises
were once again audible to the duo of expert swimmers.
"That feels great. Water truly is my element." commented Michiru as
she wringed her hair to remove some of the water it was gorged with.
"Chibi-Usa would have loved to come, she`s a natural when it comes
to swimming. It`s almost uncanny." said Ami.
"Maybe she was a sea dweller in one of her previous existences, like
we were." said Michiru.
"Perhaps." said Ami, climbing out of the pool and reaching for her
towel.
"Haruka spoke with Minako yesterday." mentionned Michiru, following
her out. "She told me about the two of you getting together."
"Oh, that..." said Ami, blushing.
"I never would have guessed you had inclinations for women."
observed Michiru, drying herself from the chlorine laced water.
"It surprised everyone, including me."
They left the pool and went for the changing room. Several people
stared at them from a distance, hoping that the two girls wouldn`t
notice that they did so. The atmosphere was quite uneasy around
them.
"Admitting it to those I know was tough. Telling it to Minako the
first time was even harder." said Ami who found it somewhat easier
to speak with a friend that could understand her so well.
"It can never be harder than admitting it to yourself." added
Michiru.
"I`ve already lost many of my so-called friends... how bad was it
for you? Did a lot of your friends turn their backs on you?" asked
Ami, opening her locker and pulling out her dry clothes.
"I lost all of them. After I openly admitted my homosexuality, only
Haruka remained... until I met you and your scout friends. Keep
them close to your heart, Ami, for a handful of true friends is
worth more than a thousand hypocrites who will judge and condemn
those who differ from them." said Michiru as she removed her
drenched bathing suit.
Ami noticed a couple of girls she knew from school; they were
whispering and pointing at her.
"Yeah, I know what you mean." she replied.
* * *
Walking with Luna on her shoulder to the Cherry Hill temple, she
might have appeared to those who passed by that she was talking to
herself. In fact, she was speaking to her cat; her cat, as it stood,
was quite a remarkable feline for she had the astonishing ability
to talk back.
"It`s really weird that my brother turned out to be this
reincarnated half-god being, you know?" said Usagi.
"How many times must I tell you? He`s not a half-god, a demiurge or
an alien of any kind! He`s a Technum guardian, a race of beings
quite similar to humans; the only difference is that he wields a
power that can instill life to barren worlds." explained Luna.
"Creating life out of a dry hunk of rock is nothing short of
godlike." argued Usagi.
"He`s not THAT poweruful. Not yet, anyhow. How knows, he could quite
possibly outlive even the two of us. In the meantime, he`s still
your brother, a blooming young man discovering a new world of
feelings and experiences." said Luna.
"What do you mean?" asked Usagi, sensing Luna was holding something
back.
"Well, he just might be having feelings for your friend Laurella.
They HAVE been spending a lot of time together lately." explained
Luna.
"That`s ridiculous! Shingo and Laurella, a couple? He`s just
training her to regain an attack she hasn`t been able to remember
yet!" protested Usagi.
"He`s a young man, Usagi, and all young men fall in love sooner
or later. After all, Laurella is an attractive, smart lady." said
Luna.
"I`d rather have it happen later." said Usagi, out of arguments.
"I have some business here." said Luna as the turned a corner a few
streets away from the temple. "Could you let me down?"
Usagi gently put her cat down and went on her way. A few minutes
later, she made it to her destination. Standing outside the front
gate, Laurella was quietly smoking a cigarette. She tried to make
smoke rings, but the gentle wind made her task next to impossible.
She waved at Usagi when she saw her.
"Hiya, Laurella, taking a break from my pesky brother`s training?"
asked Usagi.
"Yes. I wanted to smoke one while I had the chance; Rei insisted
politely but firmly that I do it off the temple grounds." explained
Laurella.
"Threatened to rip your head off again, has she?"
"In no uncertain words." answered Laurella, flicking off her
finished cigarette. "Hopefully, I`ll be able to shake off this bad
habit by the time you`re crowned queen of Crystal Tokyo."
"Say, what`s with your dad buying off the agency?" wondered Usagi.
"So you`ve been watching the business reports on television, have
you? I`m beginning to rub off on you, I see." said Laurella with a
giggle. "Since the owners of the agency have... shall we say...
`disappeared`... the upper management has collapsed, the stock
dropped to rock bottom values. Dad understood the potential of the
agency and bought it out completely, lot, stock and barrel. It`s a
good company, offers great corporate protection. It was just a
matter of removing the rotten core, the former corrupt owners;
we saw to that personally."
"To think that your dad owns our former enemy... that just feels
so strange." commented Usagi.
"Speaking of strange feelings, Usagi, you better come in with me.
Your brother and I must speak with you." said Laurella, flicking
off her cigarette.
* * *
Laurella and the scouts weren`t the only ones whose dreams revealed
fragmented memories from the moon kingdom. A certain black cat named
Luna had those dreams, too; scattered bits of her younger days at
Queen Serenity`s service came back to her mind each night. That was
the very reason why she wasn`t going directly to the temple, but to
a small restaurant`s terrasse. There she hopped on a table where a
seemingly young girl was enjoying a nice cup of coffee.
"Hello, Luna. I was expecting you." said Setsuna, the mysterious
guardian of time also known as Sailor Pluto.
"I had another one of my dreams last night, one that brought back
to my memory some strange details of the events that led to the
destruction of planet Jendra." said Luna.
"Yes, certainly one of the greater tragedies of history. Not even
the black plague epidemic of 13th century Europe could compare to
this one." observed Setsuna.
"So am I right? Is today the day?" asked Luna.
"It certainly is. The portents have spoken, the elements fallen in
place. On this day she must go full circle and complete the loop,
close it once and for all." said Setsuna.
"I hope she`s ready, she will be facing a difficult moment soon."
commented the black cat.
"She has to, or all is lost."
* * *
Gazing into the deepest, blackest pits of the atlantic ocean, one
would have a better chance of finding signs of life than in the
empty eyes of the frozen Usagi. Stunned into a state of
shock-induced paralysis, she stared vaguely into the air with
her mouth wide open.
"Did you hear what I said, Usagi?" asked Laurella, afraid the news
might have blown a couple of Usagi`s microchips; after all, she
didn`t have that many to begin with.
"I`ve seen that expression before, she heard you all right." said
Shingo.
"Usagi, snap out of it!" screamed Laurella, shacking some sense
back into the blonde zombie.
"Huuuuh... you and... my brother? Why?" she uttered, half her mind
still blown away from shock.
"That`s right. My emotions for Kitechnum.. your brother Shingo...
haven`t changed from my reincarnation. I missed his presence my
whole life and now I found him again." explained Laurella.
"It`s the same for me. I`ve know Laurella through my dreams for my
entire life, but never told anyone because I figured it was just
that: a dream. Then my powers surfaced, and I met Laurella- I knew
right there I couldn`t dismiss my nocturnal visions as I always did.
I was sure we were meant to be together the way we were denied a
millenium ago." continued Shingo.
"But... you`re much too young, Shingo! You`re only fourteen years
old and Laurella`s already sixteen! This can`t work, the age
difference is too great." argued Usagi.
"Remind me again how old YOU were when you fell for Mamoru."
replied Shingo. Usagi knew the answer well: fourteen years old
as well.
"That`s totally different, we`re destined to be together!" protested
Usagi.
"So are we." added Laurella, taking Shingo`s hand in hers. "The way
I understand it, I`ll live to be over a thousand years old; your
brother... well, only The Prime knows for sure. By then, those two
years of age difference won`t mean anything."
Finding no fitting counterargument, Usagi stormed away, frustration
flaring over her face. Clearly, she disapproved of his brother`s
newfound love. From a distance, Rei and Minako observed and
commented on the scene.
"She was the first to accept my love for Ami; you`d think she would
have accepted her brother`s. She was refused love by fate and given
a second chance... why doesn`t she understand this is the same?"
wondered Minako.
"Her brother is becoming a man, it`s a big change in her life, it
was just a matter of time before it happened. Change is always
difficult to accept." replied Rei.
* * *
Walking down the street with the temple behind her, Usagi raged and
mumbled to herself things that were better left unheard. Venting her
frustration as best she could, she took no notice of Setsuna turning
the corner andslammed right into her.
"Oh, I`m sorry, Setsuna, I had so much on my mind that I didn`t even
look where I was going!" she appologized.
Setsuna did not reply; she simply invited Usagi to follow her by
taking her hand and taking her to an unknown destination. Usagi
didn`t mind, being used to her friend`s rather strange behavior.
She was also curious to see where Setsuna was taking her. They
walked like this for over half an hour until they arrived at a
large appartment building where Setsuna resided. She led Usagi
straight to her place and opened the door, to her friend`s
amazement.
Usagi had never seen her Pluto`s home, and it was truly a sight to
behold. A nightmare to any self-respecting interior decorator, it
hurt everybody`s eyes the same way a bright light would after
remaining a long time in the dark. Eclectic didn`t even begin to
describe the collage of mismatched furniture pieces and numerous
knick-knacks strewn around in no particular pattern. These objects
appeared to come from varied periods of history, though how Setsuna
came in their possession was far from obvious. Altough none of these
things could ever complement each other in any positive way, their
owner somehow made it work in one unified result pleasing to the eye.
In short, the apparment reflected Setsuna to perfection.
"Please sit down, Usagi." she finally said, breaking her long
silence and pointing to a comfortable looking leather sofa. Usagi
did so while Setsuna sat down on a wooden chest that had seemed to
be waiting there for a few hundred years.
"Did this couch belong to Sigmund Freud?" asked the curious blonde
girl.
"What if it did? Would that change anything?" replied Setsuna.
Usagi thought it better not to elaborate on that one. "Why have you
invited me here, Setsuna?" she asked instead.
"Tell me, Usagi, what do you think about if I mention the date of
august 6th 1945?" asked Setsuna.
"Hiroshima destroyed by the first atom bomb attack, of course. It`s
something we`re constantly reminded of in class."
"Anything else?"
"No, nothing, really." said Usagi.
"Where you aware that on that very day was born the man who would be
Rei`s father in her second incarnation?" asked Setsuna.
"No, I didn`t. What does it have to do with me?"
"A very old cycle of events is about to complete itself. To bring
it to completion as you must, you will have to understand that some
events cannot be changed, regardless of their tragic endings; hidden
in their shadows, however, are the seeds of love and life which go
unnoticed to bloom and grow." explained Setsuna.
"I don`t get it." said Usagi.
"You will." concluded Setsuna who took a small transformation pen
from her jacket pocket wich she used immediately. "PLUTO STAR POWER...
MAKEUP!"
In a single glorious moment of flashing light, Setsuna left her
place for Sailor Pluto, the guardian of time. "Stand up, young Usagi,
your mission awaits." she ordered.
"My... mission?"
"A life is in danger... someone who cannot be allowed to die is
risking death at the hands of a murderer whose true motives are
hidden in deceit. You must save that person no matter what,
regardless of other events unfolding around you wich you might be
tempted to interfere in." said Sailor Pluto. She summoned a huge
swirling tunnel of pink light right in front of Usagi: the passage
of time that Pluto was sworn to protect. "Remember that you can
always trust Luna. Leave, now, to a time where you are greatly
needed."
Usagi walked in the tunnel at that point... or did the tunnel move
forward and swallow her? As far as her memories of that day went,
she would never be able to tell as that moment seemed somewhat
surreal.
* * *
The whole world`s spinning, spinning out of control, thought Usagi,
please make it stop someone, anyone.
Please make it stop, she begged. And it did.
When her head came back out of this spin and her senses returned,
she noticed that night had fallen already and she was lying on a
beautiful patch of silver grass. Silver grass?
She stood up and looked around. No dount about it, she was inside
the courtyard of a place she saw many times in her dreams: the moon
kingdom palace. High in the sky shone the earth, waxing to its full
glow wich it would reach in just about two or three nights. "The
moon kingdom? Am I really here?" she wondered.
She also remembered that Setsuna had mentionned saving a life...
who did she mean?
"Queen Serenity, here you are at last! I had a feeling you might be
here stargazing. I must discuss with you some final details regarding
the ambassadorial accomodations." said a warm maternal voice all too
familiar to Usagi.
Turning around, she saw behind her was a small black cat whose
forehead was graced by a shining golden crescent moon. Around her
neck, a glithering diamond collar gave the venusian cat a
distinguished look that was perfectly suited for her royal duties.
Unmistakably, this was Luna, a thousand years younger. Usagi didn`t
answer the cat`s request, staring at her absent-mindedly.
"Majesty, we must adress this matter soon since our guests will
arrive in less than... wait a minute, you`re not the queen, are
you?" said Luna, noticing that this girl, though she looked very
much like Serenity, was certainly hundreds of years younger.
"You`re right, Luna, I`m not." replied Usagi, crouching down to meet
her at her level.
"This ressemblance is incredible, you look so much like Queen
Serenity... of course, you must be PRINCESS USAGI! Did Sailor Pluto
send you back in time?" asked the astonished cat.
"Yes, she also said I should trust you implicitly."
"That`s very flattering, but why did she send you? My, you look
seventeen or eighteen, so you came from roughly... ten years from
the future!" said Luna.
Usagi almost blurted out that it was more like a thousand years, but
she realized it would have meant a lot of needless explaining and
revealing of unnecessary information about Beryl destroying
everything a few years down the road. "Yeah, that`s about right."
she finally said, relieved that this Luna hadn`t learned yet to read
her face to tell if she lied.
"Sailor Pluto told me I was meant to save a life, but I`m not too
sure who she was talking about." said Usagi, picking up the cat in
her arms to caress her. "She was really cryptic about the whole
thing."
"She`s always been that way as long as I`ve known her. You`ll need
a disguise, princess, unless you feel like explaining your presence
to the entire palace, and I know just what to do about that." said
Luna, jumping out of her arms and leading her inside the castle.
"Follow me."
* * *
It just so happened that Luna was great at disguising people, a
hidden talent that allowed her, some years later, to create the
luna pen with the help of the royal artificer. It took a while for
Usagi to do it, but Luna`s directions helped her change her
trademark ponytails into a different hairstyle. Now, they were
instead two elaborate braids that rolled around themselved and
covered her ears.
"I look like Princess Leia!" complained Usagi, remembering an old
american movie she once saw with Rei.
"That`s as good a name as any, so that`s who you will be. Since this
guest quarter is one of those reserved for ambassadors and other
such guests, it will be yours for the duration of your stay...
princess Leia." replied Luna.
"It doesn`t matter how I comb my hair, you know, no fake name in the
world will convince anyone as long as they see my face! I`m still a
dead ringer for the queen!"
"There is something we can do about that." said Luna, pointing to a
superb cat mask lying on the dresser, close to Usagi`s left hand. It
was a beautiful work of art made from pure terran mahogany,
carefully hand carved and painted. "It`s an earth made mask, noble
women from Atlantis are known to wear them from their thirteenth
birthday until they reveal their face to the man they choose to
marry."
"So a princess is expected to wear one?"
"Exactly. As Princess Leia, you are not to show your face to anyone
but the man to whom you wish to declare your undying love."
explained Luna. "We had little diplomatic contact with Atlantis
these past years, so you won`t be meeting another Atlantean
ambassador. You`ll face little risk of being exposed."
Usagi tried it on. The mask covered most of her face, leaving only
her eyes and mouth to be seen. With her hair done and mask on, she
was looking at a total stranger in the mirror.
"That`s amazing, Luna, I don`t look a thing like myself... have you
ever done this for somebody else, I wonder?"
"Well, you are old enough to know, I suppose... when your mother
fell in love with your father Technazul Terra, I`m the one who snuck
her out of the palace so they could meet in secret. I did this until
their official engagement, and nobody ever knew about it, either."
said Luna with a big smile.
"How many more secrets have you hidden between those pointy ears,
little kitty?"
"Maybe someday I`ll tell you, princess. Now go to sleep, tomorrow
is going to be a hectic day... I`ll see you back in the morning and
don`t forget to put on some clothes to blend in! The closet has a
few selections that will help you move around more smoothly." said
Luna who hopped off the dresser to leave.
"Luna?"
"Yes, princess?"
"I`m glad you`re my friend, even if you`re a real pain at times."
said Usagi with a warm smile.
"So am I, even if you`re really stubborn at times." replied Luna,
giggling.
* * *
As a new day was dawning on the moon kingdom, the inhabitants of the
palace slowly began to prepare themselves for their various tasks. A
few of them were already up and running. Among them, three women in
their early thirties were in the middle of their regular exercise
schedule, training hard to be the very best sailor scouts they could
be. Haruka, Makoto and Celeste were up to their third lap around the
palace courtyard so far. They paused for a moment to catch their
breath, stretching their muscles not to cool down too much for their
five remaining laps.
"The ambassadors will be arriving today; you all know what that
means, don`t you?" asked Haruka, Sailor Uranus.
"Yeah, receptions nearly every night for a week!" answered with great
anticipation Makoto, Sailor Jupiter.
"You`re not focusing on our true role, to protect these guests."
said Celeste, Sailor Mars.
"You should lighten up a little, you know. Have some fun, loosen
up." suggested Makoto.
"Yes, at least try to have a good time once in a while. It won`t
hurt your discipline and you`ll enjoy life a lot more." agreed
Haruka.
"Being a sailor scout is serious business- there`s no place for
kidding around." replied Celeste, getting started on her next lap
ahead of her two teammates.
"She`s been getting worse this past year. I can hardly tolerate
her anymore." said Haruka.
"I know. She doesn`t even have the excuse of inheriting her
obsessive behavior from her parents; I met them and they`re quite
charming. Her sister Rei is delightful as well! I`m telling you,
that Celeste seriously needs a boyfriend." said Makoto.
"Or a girlfriend, maybe? Trying to deny your true nature will make
you irritable, you know..." added Haruka. "I was a lot like her
until I accepted myself."
* * *
"Good morning, princess." said Luna to Usagi who finished getting
dressed.
"Good morning to you too, my dear friend." said Usagi who slipped
on the cat mask and tied its thin leather straps.
"I`m happy to notice how easily you got up so early. Usually, I
need wild horses to drag you out of bed; apparently, you`ll grow
up to be quite the early bird unlike your younger self."
"Well... yes, you could say that." agreed Usagi who preferred not
to clue in Luna that she still required those wild horses each
morning. "You were right about these dresses, they do make me look
like someone else." she said, twirling around to show off the
delicate blue silk gown she chose. The transformation was nothing
short of spectacular.
"After breakfast, I`ll present you to the sailor scouts. You know
them already I`m sure, but they have never met Princess Leia, have
they? It`s customary for them to meet all ambassadors upon their
arrival in the moon kingdom; since you arrived during the night,
however, you might see them during your meal.. it`s not customary
for introductions to happen this way, mind you, but this is a
rather extraordinary occurance. Tell me, princess, is your appetite
still the same in the future?" wondered the cat.
"I`m famous for never turning down food." said Usagi.
"I thought so. If you`ll excuse me, the queen expects me to discuss
some last minute details." said the cat, leaving the room in two
quick bounds.
"Where do I go for this breakfast you just told me about?" asked
`Princess Leia`.
"Go down the main corridor, take the first stairwell down and
follow your nose!" instructed the black cat as she walked away.
Usagi followed Luna`s instructions and came across many people and
rooms she remembered from her dreams; it was identical to the very
last detail, sights, sounds and smells. Along the way, she took her
time to enjoy this time travel experience by seeing as much as she
could, talking with everyone she met and gently dragging her fingers
on the smooth surfaces of the many white marble statues and walls
she came across. It took Usagi no less than half an hour to walk a
distance she could have crossed in just under four minutes at most.
The smell eventually led her to the dinning hall where tables were
being set in preparations for the first meal of the day. Amazingly,
it took Usagi a mission in the distant past to have her actually
wake up in time for breakfast.
She was greeted there by one of the cooks who felt gratified by
Usagi`s presence. "Welcome, princess, Lady Luna told me of your
arrival late last night; please sit down, we will serve you our
most delicious foods in a few moments." she said.
"Thank you..." akwardly answered Usagi who was not accustomed to
received the royal treatment, even though she`d known for over
almost two years of her being princess of the moon. Her uneasyness
lifted quickly enough when she received a large plate of eggs,
fruits and waffles bigger than any breakfast she ever had before;
she asked if this plate was a serving for the entire table and was
baffled to learn this was an individual serving and everyone would
receive a plate of the same size. She barely had time to make a dent
in it when the cook came back to her.
"Excuse me to disturb you, milady, but three of our distinguished
defenders, Sailor Mars, Jupiter and Uranus have just returned from
their morning exercise; they were wondering if they might have the
honor of sharing their meal at your table." she said very politely.
"Of course, there are three empty chairs just waiting to be filled!
Please send them over here!" Usagi said graciously. She couldn`t
wait to meet her friends as they were a millenium earlier. It was
strange to see Makoto and Haruka in their early thirties, maturity
gracing their faces. They seemed different, yet were just the same
as she remembered them from her own life in the future.
The real shocker came from Sailor Mars... CELESTE!!!
Usagi managed to contain her surprise somehow, and eased her tension
during their conversation by making small talk and doing her best
not to think about what Celeste would do to Sailor Jendra. The girls
were visibly happy to meet with an atlantean ambassador, even Celeste
who seemed downright friendly for all the evil she would one day
commit. If anything, it helped Usagi decide her line of action: to
protect Laurella from the wrath of Sailor Mars.
"You won`t be the only representative of earth at tonight`s
reception." observed Makoto during the conversation. "The king of
earth himself will be attending!"
"Is that so?" asked Usagi.
"Of course, earth is so close that the king always comes. He`ll
certainly want to meet you, the good king is the warmest, kindest
soul you`ll ever meet." said Haruka.
* * *
Lying on her back over Queen Serenity`s lap, Luna purred in delight
as the queen`s gentle fingers caressed her stomach and stroked her
smooth black fur. The cat always enjoyed her talks with Serenity,
especially the tender moments they shared afterwards. During this
special moment between the queen and her adviser, young princess
Usagi came in the royal chambers.
"Good morning, my darling." said the queen with a sweet maternal
smile.
"Hello, mother." said the young princess.
"This is a special day, you know. Our special guests will be
attending a reception in their honor this evening." explained
the queen.
"Must I really be there? I can tell this is going to be so boring!"
protested little Usagi.
"Of course you must, princess, it`s part of the royal duties." said
Luna, twisting her head to see the princess without having to leave
the queen`s gentle strokes.
"Besides, ambassador Jedite`s successor will be here for the first
time, he will surely want to meet you." mentionned the queen. "And
there is also an ambassador from Atlantis for the first time in
over ten years, Luna tells me. We will have a lot of questions to
ask her about the great city in the sea, won`t we, Luna?"
"She may not talk a lot, she`s very shy." blurted out Luna. She
didn`t want the queen hanging around the future Usagi so not to risk
revealing her true identity.
* * *
As it turned out for Usagi, breakfast in the dinning hall was the
best way to meet the sailor scouts as they all came in to eat one by
one, replacing her meal companions as they finished their plate and
left the hall. She thus met all nine of them, talking and laughing
about life in the peaceful moon kingdom. This was also a unique
chance to meet Sailor Saturn whose ill-fated second incarnation
came to a brutal end at the hands of Ronmar, the dread lord of
darkness.
During those conversations, Usagi was able to piece together that,
indeed, there was some bad blood between Laurella and Celeste. No
doubt this was the source of the conflict that eventually
degenerated in Laurella`s savage murder.
No way would Usagi let this happen.
When breakfast was over, she left the dinning hall along with
Laurella, asking the youngest of the scouts to give her a visit of
the palace. It felt strange that, in this time and place, Laurella
was older than Usagi, but it did not stop Usagi from becoming
friends immediately with this inviting and open-hearted young woman.
There was a question burning her lips, however, and she asked it
the first chance she got.
"Laurella, am I right to say that there is something between you
and Celeste... something rotten?"
Laurella blushed and looked very embarassed; how did this woman she
had just met figure out so much in so little time?
"Yeah, that`s right... she is on my case a lot regarding my work,
she keeps lecturing me about dedication and personal sacrifice to
improve my discipline. I don`t really mind, you know, `cause in a
way she`s right. There`s no sailor scout who became so strong so
fast other than Celeste... I admire her a lot, even if I never said
anything." explained Laurella.
"I see..." replied Usagi absent-mindedly. This admiration of
Laurella`s would certainly complicate matters; how was she going to
warn her of Celeste`s impending betrayal if Laurella saw Sailor Mars
as a rolemodel? Nothing in her life had ever been easy, not since the
day she`d met that little black cat with a crescent moon on her
forehead, anyway.
The sound of rolling thunder in the distance caught their attention;
thunder on a clear day?
"They`re here, princess, the Technum guardians have arrived!" said
Laurella who jumped for joy, dragging Usagi into the main courtyard
where the thundrous roar turned into the clearly identifiable scream
of the starships Avatar and Pegasus`s landing thrusters. "I`ll
introduce you to them, princess, I`m certain you`ll get to love their
company as much as I do." added Laurella. Usagi had to bite her lip
not to make a remark about Laurella`s love affair with Kitechnum
Jendra.
As the transfusion shriek died down with the engines` sudden stop,
the doors to both of the huge ships opened to let out a group
composed of quite possibly the most powerful beings who ever
existed: the Technum guardians. Out of the two ships came Technumina
Uranus, Ramatech Jupiter, Technulis Mercury, Litechnae Venus and
Noratech Neptune, soon followed bt the crafts` pilots Technuma
Saturn and Technara Mars.
Sailor Jendra seemed rather disapointed not to see her teacher
Kitechnum Jendra. Technuma took notice and explained her why he
wasn`t there. "He had some business to take care of with Techniliyis
Pluto and The Prime back on Saturn Station Alpha, he should arrive
sometime during the evening. He asked me to tell you how sorry he
was of this delay." he said with a level of empathy Usagi didn`t
know he was capable of. This was, after all, the same Technuma that
hadn`t seen his close friends die or his student get corrupted and
murdered by the dread lord of darkness... yet.
"Where are my manners?" said Laurella, suddenly remembering about
her new friend. "This is our honored guest, Princess Leia of
Atlantis. Leia, let me introduce the Technum guardians, the moon
kingdom`s allies who trained every one of the sailor scouts!"
Usagi bowed gracefully to the ageless being who politely bowed back
in return. Even though the charm school she had attended two years
before was nothing more than a dark kingdom setup to capture her
silver crystal, she had nonetheless picked up a few useful tips on
proper princess behavior.
"We picked up a passenger on our way over." said Litechnae Venus
as Prince Endymion stepped off the Avatar. "The king of Earth was
unable to come due to some health problems, so he sent his son to
represent him. Perhaps you`ve met before on some other occasion?"
Usagi stopped breathing when she saw him gracefully walk down the
ship`s boarding steps. He looked absolutely identical to her
precious Chiba Mamoru who was waiting for her back in the future.
"No, we`ve never met." she lied.
"She looks familiar..." thought the prince to himself as he looked
at this woman who was introduced to him as Princess Leia.
* * *
"So tell me, ambassador Kunzite, why was ambassador Jedite unable
to attend to my reception tonight?" asked the queen to Kunzite as
she poured him a glass of moonglow dew, one of the finest drinks
known in the solar system.
"Our queen Beryl required his special talents back home and
appointed me in his functions instead. Rest assured that I will do
my very best to equal his diplomatic skills. It`s a great honor to
be in your presence, I must say." he answered in his smooth voice.
"We have an unexpected guest with us today, ambassador." said the
queen. "The great city of Atlantis has sent Princess Leia to
represent them at our gathering... Luna, have you seen the princess
today? I`d like her to meet ambassador Kunzite, not to mention that
I still haven`t met her myself."
"She`s with the scouts right now, they`re showing her around the
castle and the city. She will be there for the reception tonight,
however." replied the black cat.
"I have a feeling that it will be a very special evening, majesty."
observed Kunzite with a grin.
* * *
The reception began with a recital from the highly acclaimed singer
Myrassanya Naru, whose name meant `voice of sirens` in ancient
lunarian. So mesmerizing was her performance that not a word was
heard for an entire hour, not as much as a hushed whisper could be
heard. With the end of this remarkable recital, the orchestra kept
playing a variety of musical pieces while the guests mingled and
ate from the very large buffet. Amidst the large crowd, Usagi was
quite busy playing an elaborate game of cat and mouse; keeping an
eye on both Laurella and Celeste, she also had to avoid Kunzite,
Prince Endymion and Queen Serenity. Even with luna`s help, she
could hardly keep up this charade.
"Luna, you must try to keep the queen distracted as long as you
can!" she asked to the cat.
"That won`t be a problem, she just left with Princess Usagi and
Prince Endymion for a stroll in the gardens; the Earth is full,
tonight, after all, it is quite a sight! That just leaves Kunzite
you told me that you wish to avoid... would you care telling me why
you want to do that?" asked Luna.
"No, I don`t care to explain." she snapped. She couldn`t see Celeste
anymore, so she left the cat behind to look for Sailor Mars.
"I`ll bet she has a crush on him. Won`t she be disappointed to find
out he`s gay." thought Luna. She looked around and saw Kunzite
having a conversation with Laurella in a corner of the reception
hall. She looked bored out of her mind, but this chat was bringing
out a thin smile on her lips somehow. "He could have been a real
ladies` man." thought Luna.
Usagi was busy searching through the crowd, so much so that she
never noticed that man sneaking up behind her and putting a hand to
her shoulder. She let out a loud shriek in surprise.
"I`m sorry if I startled you, Princess Leia. I noticed that you were
alone and was wondering if you would do me the honor of granting me
the next dance." said prince Endymion.
"I`d love to, but I`m busy right now and... and... wait, aren`t
you with the queen right now? Outside?" asked Usagi.
"Apparently not, otherwise I wouldn`t be right here asking you for
a dance." he replied.
"But Luna just saw you leave with the queen and her daughter!"
"I did no such thing." said the prince. "I`ve been talking with
ambassador Kunzite for over half an hour."
Usagi`s face turned pale (the part that her face that her mask
allowed to see, anyhow) when she realized what was going on- she
had to save someone all right, and it wasn`t Laurella!
* * *
"Mommy, the prince is giving me the creeps!" whispered little
Usagi to her mother`s ear.
"He`s had a long trip from Earth, honey, I`m sure he`s just a
little tired." whispered the queen to her daughter.
"But mommy... I`m really, really afraid of him!" she cried aloud.
"What`s the matter, majesty, can`t you control your daughter?"
snarled the prince in contempt. The terrified Usagi cried even more.
"I`ve had just about enough of your insulting attitude, Endymion. I
don`t care if your father is the king of Earth, you`ll appologize
this instant!" said the queen with authority.
"I`ll do something all right, but I don`t think you`ll like it..."
said the prince. At this moment, his muscle mass started to increase,
tearing through his clothes; his skin covered itself with blood red
fur and his twisted fingers grew razor sharp claws. His teeth also
turned into vicious fangs.
Queen Serenity couldn`t imagine how, but a kitling -a monstrous
shapeshifter- had managed to enter the palace and pass himself off
as the prince of Earth. She moved in front of her daughter whom she
was ready to protect with her life.
"It`s not you I`m after, your highness... won`t you come play with
me, Usagi? Won`t you play with mister kitling?" growled the monster.
Rushing the queen, he easily grabbed and shoved aside the panic-
stricken woman who hit her head hard on the ground as she fell.
Little Usagi tried to run, but the changeling leaped with all its
might, landing right in front of her.
"Now it`s just you and me, sugar..." growled the beast to the
little girl.
"Not quite, monster, you haven`t dealt with me yet!" said a voice
behind him before attacking. Prince Endymion punched the kitling
in the neck as hard as he could and grabbed him by the waist to
throw him down; a savage fistfight ensued between the two.
The older Usagi who had come along with Endymion rushed to
Serenity`s help. Her wound was only a bump and she wound be all
right in time.
"Lady, please help my mommy and the prince to fight the bad
monster!" begged the frightened Usagi; at the same instant,
Endymion was thrown clear across a distance of over twenty feet
by the raging kitling.
"No man alive can best a kitling!!!" yelled the beast as he
turned his attention back to the queen and her daugther.
"Then maybe you need to fight a woman for a change!" replied the
disguised Usagi, answering the evil beast`s challenge. The kitling
lost no more time in chitchat, charging her in a screaming fury.
Without losing her calm, Usagi caught him by the arm and used his
own strenght to throw him away with a superb judo move. Before he
could get up, she gave him two solid kicks to the stomach and took
the chance to transform into Sailor moon.
"MOON CRYSTAL POWER MAKEUP!!!"
As she changed into Sailor Moon, Usagi`s hair fell down into her
traditionnal ponytails and her mask faded away from her face; there
was no mistaking her identity. Serenity was starting to wake up and
her mind was blown away.
"Usagi?" she mumbled, trying to shake off the headache she was
experiencing from hitting the ground head-on a few moments earlier.
Sailor Moon pulled her septer and pointed it to the monster. It
would be over soon.
"MOON SCEPTER HALATION!"
A flashing burst of light shot from the scepter, squarely hitting
the beast in the chest; the pure white light proceeded to consume
the kitling, leaving behind no more than a scorched skeleton. The
danger was gone.
"Who are you?" asked Endymion to Sailor Moon as he slowly walked
back from the spot where he brutally landed.
"She is my daughter." answered Serenity. "As she will be when she
blooms into a young woman." she explained as she hugged her young
daughter who had stopped crying now that her mother was safe again.
As though he had been blind all of his life, Endymion saw through
Sailor Moon`s magical disguise and recognized Usagi for who she
was... and hopelessly fell in love. "You`re the most beautiful
woman I`ve ever met!" he said.
"If you`re ready to wait for me to grow up, I too will fall in
love with you someday." whispered Usagi.
"I`d wait for you a thousand years if I had to." he said.
"I know." said Usagi who then kissed the prince. When she released
her lips from the prince`s, she started to cry. "Setsuna was right;
in the shadows of great tragedies are born the seeds of even greater
events..." said Usagi.
"What do you mean?" asked the queen.
"I thought I could save my friend, preserve the love that shouldn`t
have died... but that was meant to happen tonight, and even my
knowledge of the past couldn`t prevent it. There was nothing I
could do to stop it!" said Sailor moon, crying in her hands as
she fell on her knees.
Before Endymion could help her back up, something monstrously
horrible happened. The night sky light up as a heavenly body
exploded. Planet Jendra had just been destroyed; it died away as a
result of Celeste`s irreparable act.
"I`m so sorry, Laurella..." cried Usagi, begging forgiveness for
something no one would ever even blame her of.
Her mission completed, Usagi faded away into the endless ripples of
time. Serenity was helped back to the palace by Endymion who would
never forget what had just happened, along with the young princess
who would one day share the feelings he had for her.
A few hours later, a sinister shadow loomed over the kitling bones
lying in the royal gardens.
The evil man pulled a small crystal from underneath his cape and
spoke into it to his dark commander.
"Queen Beryl, this is Kunzite. I am sorry to say that my plan to
destabilize the moon kingdom failed; the queen was somehow able to
destroy the kitling warrior sent to us by the tenth sphere tribes.
I suspect that she has more agents working for her that we
originaly assumed... it would be more prudent to continue gathering
energy for Queen Metalia until we can release her upon this pitiful
civilization along with the army of darkness we are currently
assembling. I will return tomorrow to continue supervizing our
operations from home. Kunzite out. "
He left.
* * *
When Usagi finally opened her eyes, it was to see the bizarre
knick-knack collection of Sailor Pluto all around her; she was
back to the present where Setsuna had brought her back. According
to the clock on the wall, only an hour had ellapsed since she left
for the moon kingdom.
"Congratulations, Usagi, you succeeded in saving your life; had you
died in Kunzite`s assassination attempt, the moon kingdom would have
fallen to Beryl`s assault in the ensuing confusion. Not even your
mother could have prevented the invasion if events had unfolded in
this fashion." explained Setsuna.
"So I was never meant to rescue Laurella and Kitechnum, was I?"
"No, you weren`t. This tragedy was no more than a smoke screen for
another event wich would later shape the entire fate of humanity...
your love with Prince Endymion is so much more than you could ever
imagine!"
"Then I guess my battle is over for today. I better transform and go
see Laurella, we have to talk." said Sailor Moon. As her uniform
faded away, it suddenly occured that she was still wearing the silk
gown and cat mask Luna had given her.
"WHAA! I forgot my clothes on the moon a thousand years ago, mom`s
going to skin me alive for that!" she yelled.
"Don`t worry, I was aware of this already." replied the guardian of
time. Opening the ancient chest she was sitting on earlier, she
pulled out the very clothes that Usagi thought she`d never see
again. "You left in a hurry last millenium, so Luna asked me to
hold on to these until you returned from your mission in the past.
She didn`t expect it would take so long to happen, but I had all
the time in the world, quite litteraly."
* * *
Laurella sat alone on her bed wich looked like Noah`s arc from the
unimaginable amount of stuffed animals she kept there. Her room was
filled with these toys, each cuter than the next. "Why can`t Usagi
understand what me and her brother have?" she asked to the teddy
bear she hugged tight. She talked to him whenever she felt bad,
and that had happened a lot in the last couple of years.
The door opened slowly and Muriel Hammerson came in. "Laurella
darling, one of your friends is here to see you; she says she
wants to appologize for something she said earlier."
"Okay mom, show her in."
Usagi entered the room and Laurella`s mother left them. She sat
on the floor among the hordes of soft furry animals and spoke first,
in a hushed tone. "I see you`ve been crying, Laurella."
"And so have you, Usagi."
"Things happened. Some that made me believe my friends were turning
on me, and others that opened my eyes and made me see that they were
only trying to be happy after a lot of bad things were put to rest.
I guess my point is that I`ve been selfish about your relationship
and I`m sorry. I lost you once before on the moon and I don`t want
to lose you again." apologized Usagi.
"I forgive you, and I appologize as well. I dropped a bomb on you
this morning, after all. We`ve helped each other out of a very dark
place and it brought us closer than we might imagine." said
Laurella, joining Usagi on the thick carpeting and hugging her.
"Why is change so damn hard to accept?" asked Usagi.
"I don`t know, but I don`t think our lives are going to get easier
any time soon." concluded
Laurella.
* * *
EPILOGUE
Neural pathways configuration is tricky business.
All it takes is a single misplaced neuron connection to turn a
sweet, caring girl into a raving psycopath whenever she hears Mozart
or tastes strawberries.
This is why Technuma Saturn was being so careful in giving his
creation the appropriate mental patterns wich couldn`t, he hoped,
interract destructively with each other. Installed in a cramped
bubble-shaped workstation trapped between two large pieces of
bioengineering equipment, he operated at the same time three
keyboards and four viewscreens wich he could access directly
through a special laser pointer mounter on a headband that also
included a microphone for voice commands. Right now, you would
almost expect him to mindlessly repeat "I am Lacutas of Borg, you
will be assimilated" over and over.
He was almost finished after weeks of feverish work, though he was
hopelessly blocked for the final keywords; he had no idea what they
should be. AWAITING INSTRUCTONS flashed on the third screen in large
type, but he couldn`t do a thing about it. This decision he had
postponed since he first came up with "project second coming" in the
hope that the solution would present itself eventually. This
definitely did not happen.
The door to his cramped bubble swooshed open, unlocked from the
outside, letting in more light than his eyes could tolerate after
nine hours in near-total darkness. Blinded for a few moments, he
quickly recognized Technulis Mercury.
"So THIS is where you`ve been spending all your time!" she said.
"This project really got you burning again, hasn`t it?"
"Still wearing human clothes, Technulis? I thought you`d have
switched back to the uniform by now." observed Technuma, removing
the constrictive multifunction headband.
"I love the uniform, don`t get me wrong, but a little change is
nice once in a while."
"What`s bringing you to my high-tech cocoon?" asked Technuma.
"Just dropped by to tell you that Hotaru`s commemorative statue is
ready, I finished it last night. I found a nice spot for it in the
memorial room." explained Technulis.
"Since you`re here, maybe you can help me finish my project. All I
need now is the final information, the keyword that will shape the
ego and determine the outcome of the entire neural matrix."
explained Technuma.
"Can`t decide on her name, can you?"
"Haven`t got a clue. Any ideas?"
"As a matter of fact, I do!" said Technulis. She crawled inside
Technuma`s bubble workstation and sat on his lap, huddling herself
to the guardian of Saturn in order to use what little space was
available. "Well, this is nice!" she commented, placing her arms
around his neck and cuddling up comfortably.
"You`re enjoying this, aren`t you?!" he asked with a smile.
"Yes, and so are you, I can tell!" she replied, giggling. Technulis
took a look at the screens and noticed something interesting in the
data: the bioengineering tank in use was marked with the symbol of
Saturn. "Isn`t this the same pod the Prime used to create you?"
"That`s the one." he replied. "The Prime felt it would be
appropriate, considering my goal. So, what`s the name you had
in mind?"
Technulis Mercury reached for the first keyboard and typed in,
letter by letter, the defining character of the new human being
about to be born:
ROBIN REDWING
"It`s beautiful, Technulis. More than that, it`s perfect!" said
Technuma.
"Thank you. I always find it inspiring to be creating, wether it`s
art or new life... especially when you`re involved, my love."
replied Technulis, kissing Technuma to keep him from talking any
further.
Floating inside the bioengineering pod, Robin`s eyes opened slowly.
Through the thick greenish fluid, she could see the two guardians
in their tender embrace. This vision of love would be the first
memory to be etched in her mind, caressing her soul as her new
life began.
And so she smiled.
The End
a.k.a. Technuma Saturn
CYCLES OF LIFE
EPISODE 13: FUTURE PERFECT
There are receptions, and then there are the receptions organized by
Queen Serenity. Both were as far from each other as night and day,
mainly because her parties and soirees were unmistakably THE social
events of the entire silver millenium, and whenever there was one
you could be sure that everyone who was anyone would go. These
lavish receptions were also those who would inspire many immortal
fairy tales in human lore long after the moon kingdom`s destruction
and drift into the shroud of forgotten history.
Of course, not everyone enjoyed these gatherings. One such woman was
bored out of her mind, unmoved by the music, untouched by the
beautiful clothes and just not hungry enough to eat the mouth
watering foods. Still in her early twenties, Laurella was the
youngest of the special women who had been chosen years before to
be trained to become defenders of the silver millenium, the sailor
scouts. The other scouts had, over the years, learned to enjoy these
parties and mingle among the moon kingdom royalty, ambassadors and
many more guests and VIPs. Laurella, however, just found this to be
utterly pointless, though she came anyway as the presence of Sailor
Jendra was required.
So she sat in a corner, all by herself. It didn`t matter how many
times her teacher Kitechnum Jendra explained her that grace and
elegance were just as important for a scout as fighting skills, she
hated every minute of it. The only reason she went was so that she`d
get an occasion to get close to Kitechnum in a more relaxed
situation; Laurella had a big crush on her mentor and did not miss
any chance she could get to spend time with him. Unfortunately, he
still hadn`t returned from Saturn Station alpha yet and this party
seemed to move along to a crawl without him.
"Why is a charming young lady like yourself doing sitting here all
alone?" asked the ambassador Kunzite to Laurella. Wearing his white
and purple silk uniform, he was undountebly one of the main
attractions at this reception. He had just been sent to the moon
kingdom on behalf of Queen Beryl who was still totally unknown in
this part of space. Charming and charismatic, he could have easily
seduced any woman in the room although for some reason he didn`t
even try. Some rumors had started to go around that he might indeed
have no eyes for women...
"I`ve never been the partying type. I`d rather take the princess
skating or train some more. Celeste has been on my case lately about
that, maybe that would finally get her off my back." she answered.
"You wouldn`t happen to know where I could meet the ambassador of
Atlantis, would you? I`ve been trying to see her all evening and I`m
starting to get the feeling she`s avoiding me altogether." wondered
Kunzite.
"You just missed her again, I`m afraid. She ran off with the prince
of Earth in the courtyard only a minute ago. There`s definitely
something weird about her, but I guess it`s just cultural
differences. We don`t know much about what is going on in Atlantis
since they began having problems with earthquakes and shut
themselves up ten years ago."
"Thank you, have a nice evening, Sailor Jendra." gracefully said
Kunzite with a polite bow. He left her to mingle some more with
the royalty.
Tired of sitting down, she stood up and walked around. She absent-
mindedly looked at the Technum guardians discussing lifeform
detection outside the solar system`s outer rim with the terran
diplomats, vaguely stared at her fellow scouts as they danced with
ambassadors from their respective planets and barely gazed at the
huge buffet table where many involved discussions were taking place.
She could only think of her mentor Kitechnum.
Laurella could only think of her lover, she missed his tender words
and sweet kisses.
Making her way through the crowd came Celeste, Sailor Mars, all
dressed in red of course. She was looking for Laurella and
discreetly handed her a paper note. Laurella`s name was written
on it in Kitechnum`s handwriting. She smiled.
"Thanks, Mars." she whispered.
"Don`t mention it, kid." said Celeste.
"Don`t call me `kid`, I`m twenty-two, you know. Just because you hit
thirty last month doesn`t make an elder like the queen." protested
Laurella.
"My, aren`t you touchy today." said Celeste, leaving Laurella by
herself again.
She opened the note and read the message.
Dear Laurella,
I`ve been waiting all day for tonight`s party just so I could
finally see you. As you read this note, I`m in the royal library
where we won`t be disturbed.
Love, K.J.
At last! Kitechnum had been away on business for quite some time
now, but he was back and he was all hers. She made up some excuse
and slipped out of the party. Sailor Jendra never even knew that
all her friends were discreetly watch her leave.
"I`ll bet she`s on her way to meet with Kitechnum right now."
whispered Michiru to Minako.
"This is so cute! They`re convinced their relationship is secret
even though we all know about it." said Minako.
"Noratech Neptune told me that the guardians know about them too;
they decided to keep their mouths shut until Kitechnum feels
comfortable enough to let it out in the open by himself, just
like we did." added Michiru.
* * *
Laurella anxiously walked down the corridor to the library, the
music echoing in the distance and growing fainter with each step
she took. She opened the large wooden door and peeked inside; there
he was, sitting on the corner of a table and reading a book
relating the long story of the moon kingdom`s ruling dynasty. Tall
and muscular, he was dressed in the same emerald green guardian
uniform Laurella had always known him to wear. She sneaked in and
closed the door as silently as she could.
Kitechnum took notice of his student when he heard the door closing.
"I`ve been waiting for you." he said with a smile, putting the book
down on the table and walking towards Laurella.
"So have I." she replied. From that moment, neither was able to take
their eyes away from each other`s. They embraced warmly and kissed
with the fire that had grown stronger for every day they spent apart.
Eventually, the couple let go of their lip lock, smiling from a
happiness that can be described by those touched by love.
"You left in a hurry, last week. When I woke up, you were already
gone." whispered Laurella.
"I know, I`m sorry to leave you alone in a bed so big, but The Prime
had called upon all guardians and we had quite a lot to do. I`m
lucky I had time to come back at all this evening." said Kitechnum.
"I`m happy you could come back tonight. This reception was so boring,
the only highlight of the whole evening was the part when I got your
message." explained Laurella.
"I didn`t send you a message... YOU sent me one!" argued Kitechnum,
pulling a piece of paper from his back pocket.
"Wait a minute, how could I send you one if I didn`t know when you`d
be back?" wondered Laurella.
"Something`s wrong here." said Kitechnum, his face stiffening in
concern.
A third voice joined this discussion, coming from the shadows out of
which emerged Celeste in her Sailor Mars uniform rather than her
ballroom gown. "I brought you here with notes I forged myself." she
said. "I heard rumors about you two and had to find out if they were
true. It saddens me to discover they are."
"You KNEW about us? That`s impossible!" protested Laurella.
"Everybody`s talking in your back, Laurella. To be honest, I`ve
always tought you as the worst recruit of our group. You`ve crossed
the line, this time, by pursuing this relationship with your teacher
which you corrupted insidiously!" snarled Celeste, her anger burning
in her eyes.
"She`s a great student, Celeste, she learned to use her powers even
faster than you!" defended Kitechnum. "You, Celeste, are the
dangerous one, with your excessive zeal and obsessive behavior!"
"You went too far, Celeste. Technara is hearing about this, you can
count on it!" added Laurella.
"I don`t think so." said Sailor Mars, pulling a strange crystal wand
from her compacted reality pocket; all sailor scouts have one of
those to keep their scepters, swords and other weapons in.
"Ambassador Kunzite got it on my demand, I`ll have to thank him
later."
The crystal wand glowed brightly and proceeded to violently extract
vast amounts of Technum energy from both the guardian and his
students. "I aligned it especially for Jendra`s Technum, I promise
you that I`ll make a better use of it than you ever did." commented
Mars who absorbed the raw power.
"Don`t do... this... going to... destroy... thousands..." mumbled
Kitechnum, pleading for mercy.
Wracking pain surged through their bodies as the Technum flux failed
to replenish them and compensate for the brutal extraction. Laurella
wanted desperately to help her lover, to no avail. She was just as
helpless as he was; thus she saw the mighty Kitechnum Jendra fall
down and die before she collapsed herself. The resulting Technum
imbalance had an immediate effect on the overall power distrubution
of the solar system, with terrible results.
Planet Jendra exploded with a bright flash unlike anything ever
witnessed before or since.
Throughout the solar system, it seemed as though all life stopped for
an instant as everyone stared to the sky and watched astounded as the
unthinkable unfolded before their eyes. Sailor Jendra heard in her
mind the inhuman sound of thousands of people screaming for an
instant, then dying down forever. Her connection to planet Jendra
was very strong, condemning her to share its fate; Laurella`s heart
missed a beat, then another a second later, then it stopped
altogether while her spirit slowly faded into darkness. Piercing
through the shadows, she could hear voices around her, the panicked
words of Technuma Saturn trying to revive her, Sailor Saturn`s tears
of pain, but they seemed to be so far away now. Tearing pain wracked
through her chest as Technuma jolted her dead heart with raw Technum
power. Darkness ultimately swallowed the voices in its formless void
along with the pain. A bright golden light came for her, warm,
peaceful, serene. Laurella knew for certain she was dead- Kitechnum
was already there, extending his hand to her. She could tell he was
inviting her to join him into the great beyond.
So ended the story of a love destroyed by savage betrayal.
* * *
"Concentrate as the light extends and lashes out, it`s the most
difficult part of the whole routine. Watch for the color changes to
get a feeling for the right timing." explained Shingo to Laurella.
It had been little more than a month since his amazing discovery:
Tsukino Shingo was really the reincarnated soul of the deceased
Technum guardian Kitechnum Jendra. His reawakened powers were still
pretty weak compared to those he once wielded, but they grew
stronger along with those with those of Laurella Hammerson, the
reborn spirit of Sailor Jendra. Remembering his previous existence
through his dreams he was now able to instruct Laurella to reclaim
those abilities she had lost during her reincarnation. One of those
was her most powerful attack wich she was on the verge of learning
anew.
"JENDRA..."
A reddish orange glow engulfed her hands; she aimed carefully at an
empty soda can laid on the ground several meters away.
"...SPECTRUM..."
A yellowish green surge of power extended slowly from the reddish
halo, changing color from green to blue to purple as it advanced,
gaining speed at an incredible rate.
"...WHIPLASH!!!"
Turning from indigo to invisible ultraviolet, the unseen attack
struck the can dead on. It was blown away, thrashed beyond
recognition.
"Cool!" said Laurella, amazed at what she just did.
"Very good." commented Shingo.
Sweeping up the temple grounds, Rei watched the two of them from a
distance and could almost picture what they looked like in their
previous life. Of course, Shingo being fourteen, he still had most
of his growth spurt to go through. That explained why he was
slightly shorter than the sixteen years old Laurella who had grown
to her full heigth already. Usagi was still bugging her brother
about being too short, but that wouldn`t last as he was growing
quite fast.
Laurella reverted from her scout uniform into her regular clothes
while Shingo picked up carefully the smoldering remains of the
destroyed metal can. Rei went to meet them, inquiring to Laurella`s
latest progress.
"Thanks for letting us use your place for my training." said
Laurella.
"No problem, Yuuichiro`s only too happy to keep grandpa busy while
you practice. It makes him feel good to know that he`s helping us in
our fight against evil. It`s too bad that he`s going away, now that
his music carreer is starting to pick up, I`ll miss him very much...
still, I`ll always be there to keep granpa busy as long as you need
a private spot to train." said Rei.
"Are you going to be okay? I know you two had become pretty close
ever since that witch Vortika cursed you and he helped you beat the
hex." asked Shingo.
"Don`t worry about me, I`ll be fine. Our breakup is going to be
pretty smooth, as separations go anyway. But enough about me,
Laurella, have you recovered all your lost powers?" said Rei.
"It seems so. I finally managed to master the spectrum whiplash and
it feels great to be so strong!" commented Laurella.
"You haven`t even reached your peak yet. Before your death on the
moon, you could hit up to four different targets in a single blast!"
mentionned Shingo.
"Speaking of our deaths, I saw them again in my dreams last night.
I was the one dream that has been haunting me all my life where
Celeste betrays and kills us, but... now that I know about my past,
it didn`t scare me anymore. And neither do those emotions I`ve felt
since our first chance encounter." said Laurella, giving Shingo a
sweet smile.
"That`s right." added Shingo who smiled as well. "What Laurella is
saying, essentially, is that we have become a couple again after a
thousand years of separation." he explained to Rei.
"Oh boy, Usagi is going to blow a gasket for sure when she finds
out." said Rei.
"We`re still not sure which one of us should tell her." said
Laurella.
"I`ll write you into my will if you let it be me!!!" begged Rei.
* * *
Like two dolphins slicing through the warm shallow waters of the
Florida Keys, Ami and Michiru enjoyed the underwater silence of the
local public pool. Upon resurfacing for air, the ambient noises
were once again audible to the duo of expert swimmers.
"That feels great. Water truly is my element." commented Michiru as
she wringed her hair to remove some of the water it was gorged with.
"Chibi-Usa would have loved to come, she`s a natural when it comes
to swimming. It`s almost uncanny." said Ami.
"Maybe she was a sea dweller in one of her previous existences, like
we were." said Michiru.
"Perhaps." said Ami, climbing out of the pool and reaching for her
towel.
"Haruka spoke with Minako yesterday." mentionned Michiru, following
her out. "She told me about the two of you getting together."
"Oh, that..." said Ami, blushing.
"I never would have guessed you had inclinations for women."
observed Michiru, drying herself from the chlorine laced water.
"It surprised everyone, including me."
They left the pool and went for the changing room. Several people
stared at them from a distance, hoping that the two girls wouldn`t
notice that they did so. The atmosphere was quite uneasy around
them.
"Admitting it to those I know was tough. Telling it to Minako the
first time was even harder." said Ami who found it somewhat easier
to speak with a friend that could understand her so well.
"It can never be harder than admitting it to yourself." added
Michiru.
"I`ve already lost many of my so-called friends... how bad was it
for you? Did a lot of your friends turn their backs on you?" asked
Ami, opening her locker and pulling out her dry clothes.
"I lost all of them. After I openly admitted my homosexuality, only
Haruka remained... until I met you and your scout friends. Keep
them close to your heart, Ami, for a handful of true friends is
worth more than a thousand hypocrites who will judge and condemn
those who differ from them." said Michiru as she removed her
drenched bathing suit.
Ami noticed a couple of girls she knew from school; they were
whispering and pointing at her.
"Yeah, I know what you mean." she replied.
* * *
Walking with Luna on her shoulder to the Cherry Hill temple, she
might have appeared to those who passed by that she was talking to
herself. In fact, she was speaking to her cat; her cat, as it stood,
was quite a remarkable feline for she had the astonishing ability
to talk back.
"It`s really weird that my brother turned out to be this
reincarnated half-god being, you know?" said Usagi.
"How many times must I tell you? He`s not a half-god, a demiurge or
an alien of any kind! He`s a Technum guardian, a race of beings
quite similar to humans; the only difference is that he wields a
power that can instill life to barren worlds." explained Luna.
"Creating life out of a dry hunk of rock is nothing short of
godlike." argued Usagi.
"He`s not THAT poweruful. Not yet, anyhow. How knows, he could quite
possibly outlive even the two of us. In the meantime, he`s still
your brother, a blooming young man discovering a new world of
feelings and experiences." said Luna.
"What do you mean?" asked Usagi, sensing Luna was holding something
back.
"Well, he just might be having feelings for your friend Laurella.
They HAVE been spending a lot of time together lately." explained
Luna.
"That`s ridiculous! Shingo and Laurella, a couple? He`s just
training her to regain an attack she hasn`t been able to remember
yet!" protested Usagi.
"He`s a young man, Usagi, and all young men fall in love sooner
or later. After all, Laurella is an attractive, smart lady." said
Luna.
"I`d rather have it happen later." said Usagi, out of arguments.
"I have some business here." said Luna as the turned a corner a few
streets away from the temple. "Could you let me down?"
Usagi gently put her cat down and went on her way. A few minutes
later, she made it to her destination. Standing outside the front
gate, Laurella was quietly smoking a cigarette. She tried to make
smoke rings, but the gentle wind made her task next to impossible.
She waved at Usagi when she saw her.
"Hiya, Laurella, taking a break from my pesky brother`s training?"
asked Usagi.
"Yes. I wanted to smoke one while I had the chance; Rei insisted
politely but firmly that I do it off the temple grounds." explained
Laurella.
"Threatened to rip your head off again, has she?"
"In no uncertain words." answered Laurella, flicking off her
finished cigarette. "Hopefully, I`ll be able to shake off this bad
habit by the time you`re crowned queen of Crystal Tokyo."
"Say, what`s with your dad buying off the agency?" wondered Usagi.
"So you`ve been watching the business reports on television, have
you? I`m beginning to rub off on you, I see." said Laurella with a
giggle. "Since the owners of the agency have... shall we say...
`disappeared`... the upper management has collapsed, the stock
dropped to rock bottom values. Dad understood the potential of the
agency and bought it out completely, lot, stock and barrel. It`s a
good company, offers great corporate protection. It was just a
matter of removing the rotten core, the former corrupt owners;
we saw to that personally."
"To think that your dad owns our former enemy... that just feels
so strange." commented Usagi.
"Speaking of strange feelings, Usagi, you better come in with me.
Your brother and I must speak with you." said Laurella, flicking
off her cigarette.
* * *
Laurella and the scouts weren`t the only ones whose dreams revealed
fragmented memories from the moon kingdom. A certain black cat named
Luna had those dreams, too; scattered bits of her younger days at
Queen Serenity`s service came back to her mind each night. That was
the very reason why she wasn`t going directly to the temple, but to
a small restaurant`s terrasse. There she hopped on a table where a
seemingly young girl was enjoying a nice cup of coffee.
"Hello, Luna. I was expecting you." said Setsuna, the mysterious
guardian of time also known as Sailor Pluto.
"I had another one of my dreams last night, one that brought back
to my memory some strange details of the events that led to the
destruction of planet Jendra." said Luna.
"Yes, certainly one of the greater tragedies of history. Not even
the black plague epidemic of 13th century Europe could compare to
this one." observed Setsuna.
"So am I right? Is today the day?" asked Luna.
"It certainly is. The portents have spoken, the elements fallen in
place. On this day she must go full circle and complete the loop,
close it once and for all." said Setsuna.
"I hope she`s ready, she will be facing a difficult moment soon."
commented the black cat.
"She has to, or all is lost."
* * *
Gazing into the deepest, blackest pits of the atlantic ocean, one
would have a better chance of finding signs of life than in the
empty eyes of the frozen Usagi. Stunned into a state of
shock-induced paralysis, she stared vaguely into the air with
her mouth wide open.
"Did you hear what I said, Usagi?" asked Laurella, afraid the news
might have blown a couple of Usagi`s microchips; after all, she
didn`t have that many to begin with.
"I`ve seen that expression before, she heard you all right." said
Shingo.
"Usagi, snap out of it!" screamed Laurella, shacking some sense
back into the blonde zombie.
"Huuuuh... you and... my brother? Why?" she uttered, half her mind
still blown away from shock.
"That`s right. My emotions for Kitechnum.. your brother Shingo...
haven`t changed from my reincarnation. I missed his presence my
whole life and now I found him again." explained Laurella.
"It`s the same for me. I`ve know Laurella through my dreams for my
entire life, but never told anyone because I figured it was just
that: a dream. Then my powers surfaced, and I met Laurella- I knew
right there I couldn`t dismiss my nocturnal visions as I always did.
I was sure we were meant to be together the way we were denied a
millenium ago." continued Shingo.
"But... you`re much too young, Shingo! You`re only fourteen years
old and Laurella`s already sixteen! This can`t work, the age
difference is too great." argued Usagi.
"Remind me again how old YOU were when you fell for Mamoru."
replied Shingo. Usagi knew the answer well: fourteen years old
as well.
"That`s totally different, we`re destined to be together!" protested
Usagi.
"So are we." added Laurella, taking Shingo`s hand in hers. "The way
I understand it, I`ll live to be over a thousand years old; your
brother... well, only The Prime knows for sure. By then, those two
years of age difference won`t mean anything."
Finding no fitting counterargument, Usagi stormed away, frustration
flaring over her face. Clearly, she disapproved of his brother`s
newfound love. From a distance, Rei and Minako observed and
commented on the scene.
"She was the first to accept my love for Ami; you`d think she would
have accepted her brother`s. She was refused love by fate and given
a second chance... why doesn`t she understand this is the same?"
wondered Minako.
"Her brother is becoming a man, it`s a big change in her life, it
was just a matter of time before it happened. Change is always
difficult to accept." replied Rei.
* * *
Walking down the street with the temple behind her, Usagi raged and
mumbled to herself things that were better left unheard. Venting her
frustration as best she could, she took no notice of Setsuna turning
the corner andslammed right into her.
"Oh, I`m sorry, Setsuna, I had so much on my mind that I didn`t even
look where I was going!" she appologized.
Setsuna did not reply; she simply invited Usagi to follow her by
taking her hand and taking her to an unknown destination. Usagi
didn`t mind, being used to her friend`s rather strange behavior.
She was also curious to see where Setsuna was taking her. They
walked like this for over half an hour until they arrived at a
large appartment building where Setsuna resided. She led Usagi
straight to her place and opened the door, to her friend`s
amazement.
Usagi had never seen her Pluto`s home, and it was truly a sight to
behold. A nightmare to any self-respecting interior decorator, it
hurt everybody`s eyes the same way a bright light would after
remaining a long time in the dark. Eclectic didn`t even begin to
describe the collage of mismatched furniture pieces and numerous
knick-knacks strewn around in no particular pattern. These objects
appeared to come from varied periods of history, though how Setsuna
came in their possession was far from obvious. Altough none of these
things could ever complement each other in any positive way, their
owner somehow made it work in one unified result pleasing to the eye.
In short, the apparment reflected Setsuna to perfection.
"Please sit down, Usagi." she finally said, breaking her long
silence and pointing to a comfortable looking leather sofa. Usagi
did so while Setsuna sat down on a wooden chest that had seemed to
be waiting there for a few hundred years.
"Did this couch belong to Sigmund Freud?" asked the curious blonde
girl.
"What if it did? Would that change anything?" replied Setsuna.
Usagi thought it better not to elaborate on that one. "Why have you
invited me here, Setsuna?" she asked instead.
"Tell me, Usagi, what do you think about if I mention the date of
august 6th 1945?" asked Setsuna.
"Hiroshima destroyed by the first atom bomb attack, of course. It`s
something we`re constantly reminded of in class."
"Anything else?"
"No, nothing, really." said Usagi.
"Where you aware that on that very day was born the man who would be
Rei`s father in her second incarnation?" asked Setsuna.
"No, I didn`t. What does it have to do with me?"
"A very old cycle of events is about to complete itself. To bring
it to completion as you must, you will have to understand that some
events cannot be changed, regardless of their tragic endings; hidden
in their shadows, however, are the seeds of love and life which go
unnoticed to bloom and grow." explained Setsuna.
"I don`t get it." said Usagi.
"You will." concluded Setsuna who took a small transformation pen
from her jacket pocket wich she used immediately. "PLUTO STAR POWER...
MAKEUP!"
In a single glorious moment of flashing light, Setsuna left her
place for Sailor Pluto, the guardian of time. "Stand up, young Usagi,
your mission awaits." she ordered.
"My... mission?"
"A life is in danger... someone who cannot be allowed to die is
risking death at the hands of a murderer whose true motives are
hidden in deceit. You must save that person no matter what,
regardless of other events unfolding around you wich you might be
tempted to interfere in." said Sailor Pluto. She summoned a huge
swirling tunnel of pink light right in front of Usagi: the passage
of time that Pluto was sworn to protect. "Remember that you can
always trust Luna. Leave, now, to a time where you are greatly
needed."
Usagi walked in the tunnel at that point... or did the tunnel move
forward and swallow her? As far as her memories of that day went,
she would never be able to tell as that moment seemed somewhat
surreal.
* * *
The whole world`s spinning, spinning out of control, thought Usagi,
please make it stop someone, anyone.
Please make it stop, she begged. And it did.
When her head came back out of this spin and her senses returned,
she noticed that night had fallen already and she was lying on a
beautiful patch of silver grass. Silver grass?
She stood up and looked around. No dount about it, she was inside
the courtyard of a place she saw many times in her dreams: the moon
kingdom palace. High in the sky shone the earth, waxing to its full
glow wich it would reach in just about two or three nights. "The
moon kingdom? Am I really here?" she wondered.
She also remembered that Setsuna had mentionned saving a life...
who did she mean?
"Queen Serenity, here you are at last! I had a feeling you might be
here stargazing. I must discuss with you some final details regarding
the ambassadorial accomodations." said a warm maternal voice all too
familiar to Usagi.
Turning around, she saw behind her was a small black cat whose
forehead was graced by a shining golden crescent moon. Around her
neck, a glithering diamond collar gave the venusian cat a
distinguished look that was perfectly suited for her royal duties.
Unmistakably, this was Luna, a thousand years younger. Usagi didn`t
answer the cat`s request, staring at her absent-mindedly.
"Majesty, we must adress this matter soon since our guests will
arrive in less than... wait a minute, you`re not the queen, are
you?" said Luna, noticing that this girl, though she looked very
much like Serenity, was certainly hundreds of years younger.
"You`re right, Luna, I`m not." replied Usagi, crouching down to meet
her at her level.
"This ressemblance is incredible, you look so much like Queen
Serenity... of course, you must be PRINCESS USAGI! Did Sailor Pluto
send you back in time?" asked the astonished cat.
"Yes, she also said I should trust you implicitly."
"That`s very flattering, but why did she send you? My, you look
seventeen or eighteen, so you came from roughly... ten years from
the future!" said Luna.
Usagi almost blurted out that it was more like a thousand years, but
she realized it would have meant a lot of needless explaining and
revealing of unnecessary information about Beryl destroying
everything a few years down the road. "Yeah, that`s about right."
she finally said, relieved that this Luna hadn`t learned yet to read
her face to tell if she lied.
"Sailor Pluto told me I was meant to save a life, but I`m not too
sure who she was talking about." said Usagi, picking up the cat in
her arms to caress her. "She was really cryptic about the whole
thing."
"She`s always been that way as long as I`ve known her. You`ll need
a disguise, princess, unless you feel like explaining your presence
to the entire palace, and I know just what to do about that." said
Luna, jumping out of her arms and leading her inside the castle.
"Follow me."
* * *
It just so happened that Luna was great at disguising people, a
hidden talent that allowed her, some years later, to create the
luna pen with the help of the royal artificer. It took a while for
Usagi to do it, but Luna`s directions helped her change her
trademark ponytails into a different hairstyle. Now, they were
instead two elaborate braids that rolled around themselved and
covered her ears.
"I look like Princess Leia!" complained Usagi, remembering an old
american movie she once saw with Rei.
"That`s as good a name as any, so that`s who you will be. Since this
guest quarter is one of those reserved for ambassadors and other
such guests, it will be yours for the duration of your stay...
princess Leia." replied Luna.
"It doesn`t matter how I comb my hair, you know, no fake name in the
world will convince anyone as long as they see my face! I`m still a
dead ringer for the queen!"
"There is something we can do about that." said Luna, pointing to a
superb cat mask lying on the dresser, close to Usagi`s left hand. It
was a beautiful work of art made from pure terran mahogany,
carefully hand carved and painted. "It`s an earth made mask, noble
women from Atlantis are known to wear them from their thirteenth
birthday until they reveal their face to the man they choose to
marry."
"So a princess is expected to wear one?"
"Exactly. As Princess Leia, you are not to show your face to anyone
but the man to whom you wish to declare your undying love."
explained Luna. "We had little diplomatic contact with Atlantis
these past years, so you won`t be meeting another Atlantean
ambassador. You`ll face little risk of being exposed."
Usagi tried it on. The mask covered most of her face, leaving only
her eyes and mouth to be seen. With her hair done and mask on, she
was looking at a total stranger in the mirror.
"That`s amazing, Luna, I don`t look a thing like myself... have you
ever done this for somebody else, I wonder?"
"Well, you are old enough to know, I suppose... when your mother
fell in love with your father Technazul Terra, I`m the one who snuck
her out of the palace so they could meet in secret. I did this until
their official engagement, and nobody ever knew about it, either."
said Luna with a big smile.
"How many more secrets have you hidden between those pointy ears,
little kitty?"
"Maybe someday I`ll tell you, princess. Now go to sleep, tomorrow
is going to be a hectic day... I`ll see you back in the morning and
don`t forget to put on some clothes to blend in! The closet has a
few selections that will help you move around more smoothly." said
Luna who hopped off the dresser to leave.
"Luna?"
"Yes, princess?"
"I`m glad you`re my friend, even if you`re a real pain at times."
said Usagi with a warm smile.
"So am I, even if you`re really stubborn at times." replied Luna,
giggling.
* * *
As a new day was dawning on the moon kingdom, the inhabitants of the
palace slowly began to prepare themselves for their various tasks. A
few of them were already up and running. Among them, three women in
their early thirties were in the middle of their regular exercise
schedule, training hard to be the very best sailor scouts they could
be. Haruka, Makoto and Celeste were up to their third lap around the
palace courtyard so far. They paused for a moment to catch their
breath, stretching their muscles not to cool down too much for their
five remaining laps.
"The ambassadors will be arriving today; you all know what that
means, don`t you?" asked Haruka, Sailor Uranus.
"Yeah, receptions nearly every night for a week!" answered with great
anticipation Makoto, Sailor Jupiter.
"You`re not focusing on our true role, to protect these guests."
said Celeste, Sailor Mars.
"You should lighten up a little, you know. Have some fun, loosen
up." suggested Makoto.
"Yes, at least try to have a good time once in a while. It won`t
hurt your discipline and you`ll enjoy life a lot more." agreed
Haruka.
"Being a sailor scout is serious business- there`s no place for
kidding around." replied Celeste, getting started on her next lap
ahead of her two teammates.
"She`s been getting worse this past year. I can hardly tolerate
her anymore." said Haruka.
"I know. She doesn`t even have the excuse of inheriting her
obsessive behavior from her parents; I met them and they`re quite
charming. Her sister Rei is delightful as well! I`m telling you,
that Celeste seriously needs a boyfriend." said Makoto.
"Or a girlfriend, maybe? Trying to deny your true nature will make
you irritable, you know..." added Haruka. "I was a lot like her
until I accepted myself."
* * *
"Good morning, princess." said Luna to Usagi who finished getting
dressed.
"Good morning to you too, my dear friend." said Usagi who slipped
on the cat mask and tied its thin leather straps.
"I`m happy to notice how easily you got up so early. Usually, I
need wild horses to drag you out of bed; apparently, you`ll grow
up to be quite the early bird unlike your younger self."
"Well... yes, you could say that." agreed Usagi who preferred not
to clue in Luna that she still required those wild horses each
morning. "You were right about these dresses, they do make me look
like someone else." she said, twirling around to show off the
delicate blue silk gown she chose. The transformation was nothing
short of spectacular.
"After breakfast, I`ll present you to the sailor scouts. You know
them already I`m sure, but they have never met Princess Leia, have
they? It`s customary for them to meet all ambassadors upon their
arrival in the moon kingdom; since you arrived during the night,
however, you might see them during your meal.. it`s not customary
for introductions to happen this way, mind you, but this is a
rather extraordinary occurance. Tell me, princess, is your appetite
still the same in the future?" wondered the cat.
"I`m famous for never turning down food." said Usagi.
"I thought so. If you`ll excuse me, the queen expects me to discuss
some last minute details." said the cat, leaving the room in two
quick bounds.
"Where do I go for this breakfast you just told me about?" asked
`Princess Leia`.
"Go down the main corridor, take the first stairwell down and
follow your nose!" instructed the black cat as she walked away.
Usagi followed Luna`s instructions and came across many people and
rooms she remembered from her dreams; it was identical to the very
last detail, sights, sounds and smells. Along the way, she took her
time to enjoy this time travel experience by seeing as much as she
could, talking with everyone she met and gently dragging her fingers
on the smooth surfaces of the many white marble statues and walls
she came across. It took Usagi no less than half an hour to walk a
distance she could have crossed in just under four minutes at most.
The smell eventually led her to the dinning hall where tables were
being set in preparations for the first meal of the day. Amazingly,
it took Usagi a mission in the distant past to have her actually
wake up in time for breakfast.
She was greeted there by one of the cooks who felt gratified by
Usagi`s presence. "Welcome, princess, Lady Luna told me of your
arrival late last night; please sit down, we will serve you our
most delicious foods in a few moments." she said.
"Thank you..." akwardly answered Usagi who was not accustomed to
received the royal treatment, even though she`d known for over
almost two years of her being princess of the moon. Her uneasyness
lifted quickly enough when she received a large plate of eggs,
fruits and waffles bigger than any breakfast she ever had before;
she asked if this plate was a serving for the entire table and was
baffled to learn this was an individual serving and everyone would
receive a plate of the same size. She barely had time to make a dent
in it when the cook came back to her.
"Excuse me to disturb you, milady, but three of our distinguished
defenders, Sailor Mars, Jupiter and Uranus have just returned from
their morning exercise; they were wondering if they might have the
honor of sharing their meal at your table." she said very politely.
"Of course, there are three empty chairs just waiting to be filled!
Please send them over here!" Usagi said graciously. She couldn`t
wait to meet her friends as they were a millenium earlier. It was
strange to see Makoto and Haruka in their early thirties, maturity
gracing their faces. They seemed different, yet were just the same
as she remembered them from her own life in the future.
The real shocker came from Sailor Mars... CELESTE!!!
Usagi managed to contain her surprise somehow, and eased her tension
during their conversation by making small talk and doing her best
not to think about what Celeste would do to Sailor Jendra. The girls
were visibly happy to meet with an atlantean ambassador, even Celeste
who seemed downright friendly for all the evil she would one day
commit. If anything, it helped Usagi decide her line of action: to
protect Laurella from the wrath of Sailor Mars.
"You won`t be the only representative of earth at tonight`s
reception." observed Makoto during the conversation. "The king of
earth himself will be attending!"
"Is that so?" asked Usagi.
"Of course, earth is so close that the king always comes. He`ll
certainly want to meet you, the good king is the warmest, kindest
soul you`ll ever meet." said Haruka.
* * *
Lying on her back over Queen Serenity`s lap, Luna purred in delight
as the queen`s gentle fingers caressed her stomach and stroked her
smooth black fur. The cat always enjoyed her talks with Serenity,
especially the tender moments they shared afterwards. During this
special moment between the queen and her adviser, young princess
Usagi came in the royal chambers.
"Good morning, my darling." said the queen with a sweet maternal
smile.
"Hello, mother." said the young princess.
"This is a special day, you know. Our special guests will be
attending a reception in their honor this evening." explained
the queen.
"Must I really be there? I can tell this is going to be so boring!"
protested little Usagi.
"Of course you must, princess, it`s part of the royal duties." said
Luna, twisting her head to see the princess without having to leave
the queen`s gentle strokes.
"Besides, ambassador Jedite`s successor will be here for the first
time, he will surely want to meet you." mentionned the queen. "And
there is also an ambassador from Atlantis for the first time in
over ten years, Luna tells me. We will have a lot of questions to
ask her about the great city in the sea, won`t we, Luna?"
"She may not talk a lot, she`s very shy." blurted out Luna. She
didn`t want the queen hanging around the future Usagi so not to risk
revealing her true identity.
* * *
As it turned out for Usagi, breakfast in the dinning hall was the
best way to meet the sailor scouts as they all came in to eat one by
one, replacing her meal companions as they finished their plate and
left the hall. She thus met all nine of them, talking and laughing
about life in the peaceful moon kingdom. This was also a unique
chance to meet Sailor Saturn whose ill-fated second incarnation
came to a brutal end at the hands of Ronmar, the dread lord of
darkness.
During those conversations, Usagi was able to piece together that,
indeed, there was some bad blood between Laurella and Celeste. No
doubt this was the source of the conflict that eventually
degenerated in Laurella`s savage murder.
No way would Usagi let this happen.
When breakfast was over, she left the dinning hall along with
Laurella, asking the youngest of the scouts to give her a visit of
the palace. It felt strange that, in this time and place, Laurella
was older than Usagi, but it did not stop Usagi from becoming
friends immediately with this inviting and open-hearted young woman.
There was a question burning her lips, however, and she asked it
the first chance she got.
"Laurella, am I right to say that there is something between you
and Celeste... something rotten?"
Laurella blushed and looked very embarassed; how did this woman she
had just met figure out so much in so little time?
"Yeah, that`s right... she is on my case a lot regarding my work,
she keeps lecturing me about dedication and personal sacrifice to
improve my discipline. I don`t really mind, you know, `cause in a
way she`s right. There`s no sailor scout who became so strong so
fast other than Celeste... I admire her a lot, even if I never said
anything." explained Laurella.
"I see..." replied Usagi absent-mindedly. This admiration of
Laurella`s would certainly complicate matters; how was she going to
warn her of Celeste`s impending betrayal if Laurella saw Sailor Mars
as a rolemodel? Nothing in her life had ever been easy, not since the
day she`d met that little black cat with a crescent moon on her
forehead, anyway.
The sound of rolling thunder in the distance caught their attention;
thunder on a clear day?
"They`re here, princess, the Technum guardians have arrived!" said
Laurella who jumped for joy, dragging Usagi into the main courtyard
where the thundrous roar turned into the clearly identifiable scream
of the starships Avatar and Pegasus`s landing thrusters. "I`ll
introduce you to them, princess, I`m certain you`ll get to love their
company as much as I do." added Laurella. Usagi had to bite her lip
not to make a remark about Laurella`s love affair with Kitechnum
Jendra.
As the transfusion shriek died down with the engines` sudden stop,
the doors to both of the huge ships opened to let out a group
composed of quite possibly the most powerful beings who ever
existed: the Technum guardians. Out of the two ships came Technumina
Uranus, Ramatech Jupiter, Technulis Mercury, Litechnae Venus and
Noratech Neptune, soon followed bt the crafts` pilots Technuma
Saturn and Technara Mars.
Sailor Jendra seemed rather disapointed not to see her teacher
Kitechnum Jendra. Technuma took notice and explained her why he
wasn`t there. "He had some business to take care of with Techniliyis
Pluto and The Prime back on Saturn Station Alpha, he should arrive
sometime during the evening. He asked me to tell you how sorry he
was of this delay." he said with a level of empathy Usagi didn`t
know he was capable of. This was, after all, the same Technuma that
hadn`t seen his close friends die or his student get corrupted and
murdered by the dread lord of darkness... yet.
"Where are my manners?" said Laurella, suddenly remembering about
her new friend. "This is our honored guest, Princess Leia of
Atlantis. Leia, let me introduce the Technum guardians, the moon
kingdom`s allies who trained every one of the sailor scouts!"
Usagi bowed gracefully to the ageless being who politely bowed back
in return. Even though the charm school she had attended two years
before was nothing more than a dark kingdom setup to capture her
silver crystal, she had nonetheless picked up a few useful tips on
proper princess behavior.
"We picked up a passenger on our way over." said Litechnae Venus
as Prince Endymion stepped off the Avatar. "The king of Earth was
unable to come due to some health problems, so he sent his son to
represent him. Perhaps you`ve met before on some other occasion?"
Usagi stopped breathing when she saw him gracefully walk down the
ship`s boarding steps. He looked absolutely identical to her
precious Chiba Mamoru who was waiting for her back in the future.
"No, we`ve never met." she lied.
"She looks familiar..." thought the prince to himself as he looked
at this woman who was introduced to him as Princess Leia.
* * *
"So tell me, ambassador Kunzite, why was ambassador Jedite unable
to attend to my reception tonight?" asked the queen to Kunzite as
she poured him a glass of moonglow dew, one of the finest drinks
known in the solar system.
"Our queen Beryl required his special talents back home and
appointed me in his functions instead. Rest assured that I will do
my very best to equal his diplomatic skills. It`s a great honor to
be in your presence, I must say." he answered in his smooth voice.
"We have an unexpected guest with us today, ambassador." said the
queen. "The great city of Atlantis has sent Princess Leia to
represent them at our gathering... Luna, have you seen the princess
today? I`d like her to meet ambassador Kunzite, not to mention that
I still haven`t met her myself."
"She`s with the scouts right now, they`re showing her around the
castle and the city. She will be there for the reception tonight,
however." replied the black cat.
"I have a feeling that it will be a very special evening, majesty."
observed Kunzite with a grin.
* * *
The reception began with a recital from the highly acclaimed singer
Myrassanya Naru, whose name meant `voice of sirens` in ancient
lunarian. So mesmerizing was her performance that not a word was
heard for an entire hour, not as much as a hushed whisper could be
heard. With the end of this remarkable recital, the orchestra kept
playing a variety of musical pieces while the guests mingled and
ate from the very large buffet. Amidst the large crowd, Usagi was
quite busy playing an elaborate game of cat and mouse; keeping an
eye on both Laurella and Celeste, she also had to avoid Kunzite,
Prince Endymion and Queen Serenity. Even with luna`s help, she
could hardly keep up this charade.
"Luna, you must try to keep the queen distracted as long as you
can!" she asked to the cat.
"That won`t be a problem, she just left with Princess Usagi and
Prince Endymion for a stroll in the gardens; the Earth is full,
tonight, after all, it is quite a sight! That just leaves Kunzite
you told me that you wish to avoid... would you care telling me why
you want to do that?" asked Luna.
"No, I don`t care to explain." she snapped. She couldn`t see Celeste
anymore, so she left the cat behind to look for Sailor Mars.
"I`ll bet she has a crush on him. Won`t she be disappointed to find
out he`s gay." thought Luna. She looked around and saw Kunzite
having a conversation with Laurella in a corner of the reception
hall. She looked bored out of her mind, but this chat was bringing
out a thin smile on her lips somehow. "He could have been a real
ladies` man." thought Luna.
Usagi was busy searching through the crowd, so much so that she
never noticed that man sneaking up behind her and putting a hand to
her shoulder. She let out a loud shriek in surprise.
"I`m sorry if I startled you, Princess Leia. I noticed that you were
alone and was wondering if you would do me the honor of granting me
the next dance." said prince Endymion.
"I`d love to, but I`m busy right now and... and... wait, aren`t
you with the queen right now? Outside?" asked Usagi.
"Apparently not, otherwise I wouldn`t be right here asking you for
a dance." he replied.
"But Luna just saw you leave with the queen and her daughter!"
"I did no such thing." said the prince. "I`ve been talking with
ambassador Kunzite for over half an hour."
Usagi`s face turned pale (the part that her face that her mask
allowed to see, anyhow) when she realized what was going on- she
had to save someone all right, and it wasn`t Laurella!
* * *
"Mommy, the prince is giving me the creeps!" whispered little
Usagi to her mother`s ear.
"He`s had a long trip from Earth, honey, I`m sure he`s just a
little tired." whispered the queen to her daughter.
"But mommy... I`m really, really afraid of him!" she cried aloud.
"What`s the matter, majesty, can`t you control your daughter?"
snarled the prince in contempt. The terrified Usagi cried even more.
"I`ve had just about enough of your insulting attitude, Endymion. I
don`t care if your father is the king of Earth, you`ll appologize
this instant!" said the queen with authority.
"I`ll do something all right, but I don`t think you`ll like it..."
said the prince. At this moment, his muscle mass started to increase,
tearing through his clothes; his skin covered itself with blood red
fur and his twisted fingers grew razor sharp claws. His teeth also
turned into vicious fangs.
Queen Serenity couldn`t imagine how, but a kitling -a monstrous
shapeshifter- had managed to enter the palace and pass himself off
as the prince of Earth. She moved in front of her daughter whom she
was ready to protect with her life.
"It`s not you I`m after, your highness... won`t you come play with
me, Usagi? Won`t you play with mister kitling?" growled the monster.
Rushing the queen, he easily grabbed and shoved aside the panic-
stricken woman who hit her head hard on the ground as she fell.
Little Usagi tried to run, but the changeling leaped with all its
might, landing right in front of her.
"Now it`s just you and me, sugar..." growled the beast to the
little girl.
"Not quite, monster, you haven`t dealt with me yet!" said a voice
behind him before attacking. Prince Endymion punched the kitling
in the neck as hard as he could and grabbed him by the waist to
throw him down; a savage fistfight ensued between the two.
The older Usagi who had come along with Endymion rushed to
Serenity`s help. Her wound was only a bump and she wound be all
right in time.
"Lady, please help my mommy and the prince to fight the bad
monster!" begged the frightened Usagi; at the same instant,
Endymion was thrown clear across a distance of over twenty feet
by the raging kitling.
"No man alive can best a kitling!!!" yelled the beast as he
turned his attention back to the queen and her daugther.
"Then maybe you need to fight a woman for a change!" replied the
disguised Usagi, answering the evil beast`s challenge. The kitling
lost no more time in chitchat, charging her in a screaming fury.
Without losing her calm, Usagi caught him by the arm and used his
own strenght to throw him away with a superb judo move. Before he
could get up, she gave him two solid kicks to the stomach and took
the chance to transform into Sailor moon.
"MOON CRYSTAL POWER MAKEUP!!!"
As she changed into Sailor Moon, Usagi`s hair fell down into her
traditionnal ponytails and her mask faded away from her face; there
was no mistaking her identity. Serenity was starting to wake up and
her mind was blown away.
"Usagi?" she mumbled, trying to shake off the headache she was
experiencing from hitting the ground head-on a few moments earlier.
Sailor Moon pulled her septer and pointed it to the monster. It
would be over soon.
"MOON SCEPTER HALATION!"
A flashing burst of light shot from the scepter, squarely hitting
the beast in the chest; the pure white light proceeded to consume
the kitling, leaving behind no more than a scorched skeleton. The
danger was gone.
"Who are you?" asked Endymion to Sailor Moon as he slowly walked
back from the spot where he brutally landed.
"She is my daughter." answered Serenity. "As she will be when she
blooms into a young woman." she explained as she hugged her young
daughter who had stopped crying now that her mother was safe again.
As though he had been blind all of his life, Endymion saw through
Sailor Moon`s magical disguise and recognized Usagi for who she
was... and hopelessly fell in love. "You`re the most beautiful
woman I`ve ever met!" he said.
"If you`re ready to wait for me to grow up, I too will fall in
love with you someday." whispered Usagi.
"I`d wait for you a thousand years if I had to." he said.
"I know." said Usagi who then kissed the prince. When she released
her lips from the prince`s, she started to cry. "Setsuna was right;
in the shadows of great tragedies are born the seeds of even greater
events..." said Usagi.
"What do you mean?" asked the queen.
"I thought I could save my friend, preserve the love that shouldn`t
have died... but that was meant to happen tonight, and even my
knowledge of the past couldn`t prevent it. There was nothing I
could do to stop it!" said Sailor moon, crying in her hands as
she fell on her knees.
Before Endymion could help her back up, something monstrously
horrible happened. The night sky light up as a heavenly body
exploded. Planet Jendra had just been destroyed; it died away as a
result of Celeste`s irreparable act.
"I`m so sorry, Laurella..." cried Usagi, begging forgiveness for
something no one would ever even blame her of.
Her mission completed, Usagi faded away into the endless ripples of
time. Serenity was helped back to the palace by Endymion who would
never forget what had just happened, along with the young princess
who would one day share the feelings he had for her.
A few hours later, a sinister shadow loomed over the kitling bones
lying in the royal gardens.
The evil man pulled a small crystal from underneath his cape and
spoke into it to his dark commander.
"Queen Beryl, this is Kunzite. I am sorry to say that my plan to
destabilize the moon kingdom failed; the queen was somehow able to
destroy the kitling warrior sent to us by the tenth sphere tribes.
I suspect that she has more agents working for her that we
originaly assumed... it would be more prudent to continue gathering
energy for Queen Metalia until we can release her upon this pitiful
civilization along with the army of darkness we are currently
assembling. I will return tomorrow to continue supervizing our
operations from home. Kunzite out. "
He left.
* * *
When Usagi finally opened her eyes, it was to see the bizarre
knick-knack collection of Sailor Pluto all around her; she was
back to the present where Setsuna had brought her back. According
to the clock on the wall, only an hour had ellapsed since she left
for the moon kingdom.
"Congratulations, Usagi, you succeeded in saving your life; had you
died in Kunzite`s assassination attempt, the moon kingdom would have
fallen to Beryl`s assault in the ensuing confusion. Not even your
mother could have prevented the invasion if events had unfolded in
this fashion." explained Setsuna.
"So I was never meant to rescue Laurella and Kitechnum, was I?"
"No, you weren`t. This tragedy was no more than a smoke screen for
another event wich would later shape the entire fate of humanity...
your love with Prince Endymion is so much more than you could ever
imagine!"
"Then I guess my battle is over for today. I better transform and go
see Laurella, we have to talk." said Sailor Moon. As her uniform
faded away, it suddenly occured that she was still wearing the silk
gown and cat mask Luna had given her.
"WHAA! I forgot my clothes on the moon a thousand years ago, mom`s
going to skin me alive for that!" she yelled.
"Don`t worry, I was aware of this already." replied the guardian of
time. Opening the ancient chest she was sitting on earlier, she
pulled out the very clothes that Usagi thought she`d never see
again. "You left in a hurry last millenium, so Luna asked me to
hold on to these until you returned from your mission in the past.
She didn`t expect it would take so long to happen, but I had all
the time in the world, quite litteraly."
* * *
Laurella sat alone on her bed wich looked like Noah`s arc from the
unimaginable amount of stuffed animals she kept there. Her room was
filled with these toys, each cuter than the next. "Why can`t Usagi
understand what me and her brother have?" she asked to the teddy
bear she hugged tight. She talked to him whenever she felt bad,
and that had happened a lot in the last couple of years.
The door opened slowly and Muriel Hammerson came in. "Laurella
darling, one of your friends is here to see you; she says she
wants to appologize for something she said earlier."
"Okay mom, show her in."
Usagi entered the room and Laurella`s mother left them. She sat
on the floor among the hordes of soft furry animals and spoke first,
in a hushed tone. "I see you`ve been crying, Laurella."
"And so have you, Usagi."
"Things happened. Some that made me believe my friends were turning
on me, and others that opened my eyes and made me see that they were
only trying to be happy after a lot of bad things were put to rest.
I guess my point is that I`ve been selfish about your relationship
and I`m sorry. I lost you once before on the moon and I don`t want
to lose you again." apologized Usagi.
"I forgive you, and I appologize as well. I dropped a bomb on you
this morning, after all. We`ve helped each other out of a very dark
place and it brought us closer than we might imagine." said
Laurella, joining Usagi on the thick carpeting and hugging her.
"Why is change so damn hard to accept?" asked Usagi.
"I don`t know, but I don`t think our lives are going to get easier
any time soon." concluded
Laurella.
* * *
EPILOGUE
Neural pathways configuration is tricky business.
All it takes is a single misplaced neuron connection to turn a
sweet, caring girl into a raving psycopath whenever she hears Mozart
or tastes strawberries.
This is why Technuma Saturn was being so careful in giving his
creation the appropriate mental patterns wich couldn`t, he hoped,
interract destructively with each other. Installed in a cramped
bubble-shaped workstation trapped between two large pieces of
bioengineering equipment, he operated at the same time three
keyboards and four viewscreens wich he could access directly
through a special laser pointer mounter on a headband that also
included a microphone for voice commands. Right now, you would
almost expect him to mindlessly repeat "I am Lacutas of Borg, you
will be assimilated" over and over.
He was almost finished after weeks of feverish work, though he was
hopelessly blocked for the final keywords; he had no idea what they
should be. AWAITING INSTRUCTONS flashed on the third screen in large
type, but he couldn`t do a thing about it. This decision he had
postponed since he first came up with "project second coming" in the
hope that the solution would present itself eventually. This
definitely did not happen.
The door to his cramped bubble swooshed open, unlocked from the
outside, letting in more light than his eyes could tolerate after
nine hours in near-total darkness. Blinded for a few moments, he
quickly recognized Technulis Mercury.
"So THIS is where you`ve been spending all your time!" she said.
"This project really got you burning again, hasn`t it?"
"Still wearing human clothes, Technulis? I thought you`d have
switched back to the uniform by now." observed Technuma, removing
the constrictive multifunction headband.
"I love the uniform, don`t get me wrong, but a little change is
nice once in a while."
"What`s bringing you to my high-tech cocoon?" asked Technuma.
"Just dropped by to tell you that Hotaru`s commemorative statue is
ready, I finished it last night. I found a nice spot for it in the
memorial room." explained Technulis.
"Since you`re here, maybe you can help me finish my project. All I
need now is the final information, the keyword that will shape the
ego and determine the outcome of the entire neural matrix."
explained Technuma.
"Can`t decide on her name, can you?"
"Haven`t got a clue. Any ideas?"
"As a matter of fact, I do!" said Technulis. She crawled inside
Technuma`s bubble workstation and sat on his lap, huddling herself
to the guardian of Saturn in order to use what little space was
available. "Well, this is nice!" she commented, placing her arms
around his neck and cuddling up comfortably.
"You`re enjoying this, aren`t you?!" he asked with a smile.
"Yes, and so are you, I can tell!" she replied, giggling. Technulis
took a look at the screens and noticed something interesting in the
data: the bioengineering tank in use was marked with the symbol of
Saturn. "Isn`t this the same pod the Prime used to create you?"
"That`s the one." he replied. "The Prime felt it would be
appropriate, considering my goal. So, what`s the name you had
in mind?"
Technulis Mercury reached for the first keyboard and typed in,
letter by letter, the defining character of the new human being
about to be born:
ROBIN REDWING
"It`s beautiful, Technulis. More than that, it`s perfect!" said
Technuma.
"Thank you. I always find it inspiring to be creating, wether it`s
art or new life... especially when you`re involved, my love."
replied Technulis, kissing Technuma to keep him from talking any
further.
Floating inside the bioengineering pod, Robin`s eyes opened slowly.
Through the thick greenish fluid, she could see the two guardians
in their tender embrace. This vision of love would be the first
memory to be etched in her mind, caressing her soul as her new
life began.
And so she smiled.
The End