Episode 11 : A History Lesson, the Lunar Civil War

SuperSailorsaturn shifted uncomfortably as six pairs of eyes bore into her. //They don't understand, it's not my place to tell them.//

"Tell us! We have a right to know!" SuperSailormars demanded.

"I-I'm sorry! But I just can't!" Saturn turned to make a hasty retreat when something grabbed her arm firmly.

"Saturn-chan please," Saturn turned in surprise to EternalSailormoon. The princess' sad blue eyes were full of tears. Moon hated to see anything bad happen to anyone, especially one of their own. Never mind that she barely knew SuperSailoruniverse and SuperSailorSun, it still hurt her.

Saturn jerked away from Moon's grip. Her hands clenched and unclenched around the handle of her glaive several times, finally she nodded hesitantly, "all right, I'll tell you what I can," Saturn took a deep breathe, "I don't really know much about their early years. What I do know is they were both orphans, and eventually discovered they were sisters. Both were identified as great powers at the time of their birth. It is even said that Sailor Universe's birth played a part in the creation of the Ginzuishou." Moon absent-mindedly clutched her brooch. "Both were trained from an early age, Sun-mama practically since birth. Basically all they had was each other, and well us, but you know. Then one day Sun-mama made friends with someone who was to become an honorary family member, so to speak...Sailormoon. No not you Princess, the one you just met, Lady Kodomo. Your predecessor was a Lil. You see there was once two races of people living on the Moon, the Moonie's and the Lil's. The Lil's were originally from Lilith, a natural satellite of Earth's long ago. The Lil's lived on the dark side of the Moon, and so they lived a very different lifestyle. Kodomo-san was the "Princess of Lilith", but as tension grew between the two races, The Commander of the Moon Kingdom Army and a trainer of Sailorsun and Sailormoon, Doraiba Fuekino, forbid Kodomo-san from living with the rest of her people. He feared she would be corrupted. Eventually Universe pulled Sun-mama out of Doraiba-sama's training program, let's just say he trained Sun-mama rather 'harshly'.

Sailormoon suffered a lot of prejudice and developed a bit of paranoia. Then for some unknown reason, Sailorsun began to throw herself into training, returning to Doraiba-sama. She didn't have much time for Kodomo-san and since no one save Raa-san and myself actually knew she was training, Kodomo-san took that as a sign that Sun-mama no longer trusted her. It couldn't have happened at a worse time. The Lil's were staging a war. Sailormoon left the Moon Kingdom Army to fight with her people. I'm sure you were all too young to remember it, even if you had all of your memories back. It was only one battle, but the loss of life was so great it could only be referred to as the Lunar Civil War.

***Flashback***

Sailorsun marched to the control room, making a surprising amount of noise considering her weight. She was not happy, the scowl on her face said that much. She had just been called up from her training. //This better be important, or there will be hell to pay.// Her brooding ceased as soon as she entered the control room. Everyone was already there, Sailoruniverse, Sailoruranus, Sailorneptune, Sailorsaturn, even Sailorpluto. This wasn't good. Sailorpluto was only called up on very serious occasions. Each girl looked more upset than the last, they were already changed out of their princess gowns and into their senshi fuku's. "What's going on here?" Sailorsun asked monotone.

Sailoruniverse let out an exasperated sigh and massaged her temples. "A battle's breaking out. The Lil's are attacking."

"We all knew this would happen eventually," Sailorsun replied.

Universe met her sister's eyes and her forlorn expression became visibly greater. She was disappointed at the lack of emotion she found. //Why is Sun-chan blocking her emotions from me? I can't feel her.// Universe shook her head, "Sun-chan, there is something else...."

"What?"

"Kodomo-chan...she's...she's fighting on the side of the Lil's," Universe blurted out and then looked up for a reaction, but found none.

Sun fought hard to keep up her stone face. Although it made perfect sense, and in a way she had expected it, it still hurt. //Ko-chan's fighting for the Lil's? How could she!//

"If any of you do not feel like fighting, it's perfectly fine. I myself will not be fighting. I do not think it's right for Sailor Senshi to fight each other. I refuse to fight against another Sailor Senshi, but that's me. You have to decide for yourself what you want to do."

"Well, I will fight to protect the kingdom," Sailorsun declared.

"We must do anything to protect the kingdom, that is our mission," Sailoruranus stated firmly

"It is our fate," added Sailorneptune.

Saturn and Pluto nodded and contemplated the situation.

"Be careful and good luck," Universe finished as the rest of the present sailor team filed out of the control room. As soon as she was alone, Sailoruniverse gazed out the window and whispered, "they will win, but the price will be great."

"Uranus World Shaking!" Sailoruranus' attack buried yet another group of soldiers. "They just keep coming!" she called to her partner, Sailor Neptune.

"Hai, demo...Neptune Deep Submerge!" Their opponents on the receiving end of the attack cried out before their bodies gave out under the force of the attack, "they're no match for us!" Neptune winked at her partner.

"How can they act so cool at a time like this?" Sailorsaturn asked the timeless senshi as she observed the surroundings. What had been once a lush forest was now a dusty wasteland. Explosions happened spontaneously as fire scourged the land. Dead bodies lay everywhere. Luckily most of the corpses were of Lil origin. But that was simply bittersweet.

"It's just a cover-up, they're just as worried, but they are able to stay focused to the task at hand. Which is what we must do. Don't worry everything will be fine." Sailorpluto reassured Sailorsaturn. Saturn smiled, but Pluto knew everything wouldn't be fine. The Lil's were going for all or nothing. She also knew that whatever group of unlucky soldiers that would come across Sailormoon were as good as dead.

SailorSaturn knew Sailorpluto was lying, but didn't want to question it right now. However she was worried, it had been hours since Sailorsun was spotted. But Saturn knew she was still alive, she had always had a strong bond with her mentor.

"Oi! Where the hell is Sun-sensei?!" Uranus called.

"Oh Come on Uranus, you know her, she's probably right in the middle of it all fighting Sailormoon," Neptune replied.

"Yeah Right!" Sailoruranus agreed laughing despite the circumstances.

Sailorsun sprinted in the direction that the screams had come from. She knew that she would find Sailormoon there. Moon had been mocking her telepathically for hours until Sun had finally managed a mental barricade. She knew she had to fight Moon, but she was unsure of herself. She was shaken up badly. Seeing her boyfriend dead had unnerved her. And after all, Moon had been more than a best friend, she had been like family. //Mustn't feel emotion, mustn't feel emotion...//

SailorSun reached the top of the hill just in time to see Sailormoon decapitate a Moonie soldier using her tiara. Sun stared at Moon's back angrily as Moon caught her returning tiara. Moon turned and smirked. "So I see you finally made time for me."

"Nani?" Sailorsun did not like the evil look in Sailormoon's eyes, something was wrong, Moon wasn't herself.

"Oh, you ignore me for weeks... and all you can say is nani?!"

"Iie, Ko-chan! You don't understand! I was going through some things and..."

"Like what?" Sailorsun fell silent and looked at her feet, "Can't tell me can you? You don't trust me either!" Perhaps Sun had imagined it, but Sailormoon had sounded sad for a minute there, "you Moonie's don't trust us! YOU DON'T TREAT US AS EQUALS! AND YOU EXPECT US TO FOLLOW YOU!? FORGET IT! OUR TIME IS NOW! AND IT'S PRINCESS KODOMO TO YOU!" Moon lunged in rage at Sun and punched her with such force that Sun flew back. Sun gasped in surprise at the sudden attack, but soon recovered as she did a flip off her hands to land softly on her feet.

"Ko-chan! We don't have to do this!" Sun argued.

"Oh what's wrong? Miss 'ultimate warrior' won't fight me! That is so weak! Come on! Let's see who the real warrior is! FIGHT ME!" Sailormoon launched another attack. This time Sailorsun dodged the series of kicks and punches that Moon threw at her.

"Please! Stop This!" Sun persisted.

A swift kick to the gut set Sailorsun gasping for air. "RRRRR! How annoying!" Sailormoon yelled. Then she grinned evilly as she eyed the Moon Kingdom's Palace in the distance. "Well it looks like I'll just have to find a way to get you to fight!" Sun looked up from her position on her knees and saw Moon once again powering up for her tiara attack. But the attack wasn't aimed at her, then Sun saw it, Moon's target. The glowing disk of energy was aimed straight for Queen Serenity's window. And Queen Serenity was out on the balcony! Sun knew Moon's aim, and it was deadly accurate.

Before Sailorsun could even think, her instincts kicked in. Part of her yelled for her to stop, but it was too late. Sun pulled out her dagger and charged . With neck breaking speed Sun jumped to her feet and stabbed Sailormoon right in the chest. Moon's eyes went wide and her breaths became short and shallow. Sun pulled the dagger out. Finally what she had just done sunk in. "NOOOOOOOOO!" she screamed. The disk of energy dropped to the ground, and reverted back to a tiara. Then Moon fell backwards and landed with a thud that echoed in Sun's ears. Sun rushed to Moon's side and lifted her upper back up so that Moon was now half sitting. "Iie! Ko-chan! O please be okay, you'll be okay! I'll just go find Saturn-ko...."

"You know it's funny...." Sailormoon struggled to talk as her voice became hoarse and raspy. "We were the only people who could really understand each other, but we were destined to be enemies. You know what Sun-chan, I've got some advice for ya." Moon grabbed Sailorsun's collar and pulled her face closer. "Never trust anyone...ESPECIALLY ME!" Mustering up all the strength she had left, Moon punched Sun in the face. Sun was thrown away from Moon and Moon fell limply back to the ground.

Saiolorsun sat up and rubbed her sore jaw. Her cheek was now a flaming red from the hit. "Ko-chan?" Sun whispered crawling over to her former best friend, "Ko-chan?" Moon's eyes were closed and she didn't appear to be breathing. Sun checked Moon's wrist for a pulse, there was none.

Sailoruniverse was standing guard by Queen Serenity. "Sailormoon is dead," Universe informed the Queen as she choked on her tears. Queen Serenity nodded and pulled Universe into a hug. Then the two walked somberly to make the announcement of victory.

"Attention Minna-san," Queen Serenity's voice sounded throughout the kingdom, "the Lil's have been defeated and we are victorious. Let us all please take a moment to remember those who have sacrificed their lives to protect this kingdom." Sailorsaturn, Sailoruranus, Sailorneptune, and Sailorpluto all bowed their heads in silent prayer. "Congratulations everyone on the victory, you make our kingdom proud..."

"Victory?" Sailorsun muttered skeptically, "how can something so blood stained be a victory?" Sun stared at the body of Sailormoon. Sun bent over and began to dig in the ground.

Sailoruniverse approached her sister cautiously, and in silence she bent down and helped Sailorsun dig the grave for the girl who was like a sister to them.

***End Flashback***

Saturn held her breath, hoping that they wouldn't start asking for more information. After a long silence, broken only by Eternal Sailor Moon's sobs, Mercury spoke up, "Well now we know a bit more about our enemy, and about our new 'allies', but we still don't know how any of them got here."

"I'm afraid I don't know, I would like to find that out myself."

"Perhaps we can help," a solemn male voice spoke. Eight heads swiveled in the direction of the voice. Two cats emerged from the shadows, One calico, and one silver tabby. Both had gold crescent moons on their forehead. They looked remarkably familiar."

"Oi you're!"

"Hai, you've met us before," replied the male calico cat, "I'm Raa, SuperSailorsun's Guardian, and this is Zorya, SuperSailoruniverse's guardian. I guess we aren't doing to good of a job," Raa laughed bitterly as Zorya whimpered a greeting. "Anyways, we can tell you what happened to Sailoruniverse and Sailorsun at least, and how the four of us ended up in this time."

"You know that white haired-man?" Zorya broke in.

"Yes, Sailorsun filled us in a little bit about him," Venus replied.

"His name is Manipyuretano Kinsen, and well he was Celestial's...Sailoruniverse's boyfriend for quite some time. Sun-san was always suspicious about him and she warned Celestial-chan that he was evil, but Celestial-chan wouldn't listen. She couldn't believe that a Moonie could be evil. Besides, everyone else thought he was the nicest guy. Except Princess Mars, she had a bad feeling as well. As it turns out he was working for Queen Beryl, but we didn't find out until it was too late," Zorya began.

***Flashback***

"Raa-kun, Zorya-san!" Sailorsun got onto her knees and peered under the couch. "Where are those two!" Sun caught a glimpse of something outside. She glanced over and saw a platinum blonde odango bouncing alongside her window. Sun smirked, "well where would 'nechan be going?" Suddenly the answer hit her, and she became instantly serious. //I don't like this, she's going to meet Kinsen. Death is near, I can feel it. Oh Cel-nechan.//

"Kin-chan!" Sailoruniverse ran up and wrapped her arms around her boyfriend.

"Konbanwa Cel-ko," he replied smiling. Then he sobered and pulled Celestial's arms off of him, "I have to talk to you about something."

"Okay."

Sailorsun snuck around behind the bushes and fumed at the fact she had been right. Kinsen took Sailoruniverse's hand in his and got down on one knee. Out of this air he produced a midnight blue velvet box. He opened it and revealed a diamond ring. Sun's jaw unhinged. //Iie! Cel-nechan you can't! He's evil!//

"Cel-ko, will you marry me?"

"Well...umm...I-I...wow." Even Sailoruniverse didn't see that one coming. Her eyes watered as she broke away from Kinsen's touch. She turned her back to him and held herself. "Gomen Kin-chan, but I can't. I just have too many responsibilities. Also, I'm afraid I still haven't gotten over him."

//Yes!// Sailorsun cheered mentally and even allowed a small smile to grace her lips.

"I see," his voice was a deadly quite as he stood up, "well then I'm sorry for having to do this."

Sailorsun saw the ice blue energy gathering in his hand. "Iie! Universe look out!" Sun screamed with all urgency. Sailoruniverse looked over and saw her sister, then behind her at Kinsen, just as Kinsen fired his attack. Universe was encased in a capsule of ice. "Iie!" Sun ran to her sister's aid but it was to late as Kinsen sent a powerful gust of wind at her sister's frozen form. The gust was powerful enough for Universe to breach the atmosphere's barrier, and she was launched into space. Sun gave out a cry and her eyes began to glow a deep garnet as she turned a gaze of pure hatred to Kinsen. "You," now it was Sun who's voice was deadly, "I warned you, and now you will pay." Sun took a menacing step towards Kinsen. "Don't either bother fighting back, I could beat you blindfolded with both hands tied behind my back."

"That I do not doubt, which is why I have insurance. A puff of smoke brought forth a caged Zorya and Raa. The two feline council members gave some apologetic looks to Sailorsun before Kinsen sent them skyward with another gust of wind. Sun gave out a cry as she leapt into the air and caught the caged cats. Her cry turned into a scream as ice took over her being. The last sound she heard before she slipped into unconsciousness was Kinsen's mocking laughter.

***End Flashback***

"Well...now you know," Zorya finished.

"But what do we do know?" SuperSailorupiter asked aloud.

"We must figure out how to rescue the others, and what our enemies next move is," Tuxedo Kamen suggested.

"Right, now we can assume that Dark SuperSailormoon and Kinsen work for the same people Pandora did. However they all seem to have separate agenda's. Triton and his master are after souls, Dark Moon is out for revenge, and Kinsen...well in some twisted way he appears to be after SuperSailoruniverse's heart. Perhaps we can find a way to work this in our direction," SuperSailormercury added

"That would be wonderful, except I don't think you understand. Kodomo-san is a masterful strategist. She won't be easy to beat. However I am pretty sure who the next target will be."

"You," SuperSailorvenus broke in.

"Exactly, although I didn't fire an attack in the battle, I was there. She will want to complete her revenge."

"So then you can stay at my house tonight!" EternalSailormoon offered.

"Arigato, but she doesn't know my human identity, she didn't know me well enough in the previous life, I will be fine."

"Wait a minute! Zorya-san and Raa-san are gone!" SuperSailorvenus cried in alarm.

"They probably just need to spend some time alone to sort things through," Artemis assured.

Everyone detransformed, and for a few minutes an awkward silence settled over the group. Finally Usagi broke it, "okay well can we please get out of here! I'm starving!" she half-whined.

"Usagi-chan," everyone chorused.