I'm really sorry for the long delay in this chapter. I really haven't felt like writing the past
few months. I've realized that this
story needs considerable revision. So
it might be a really long time before the next chapter. I'm going to go through all of the chapters
and fix any mistakes. Then maybe I'll
be in the mood again to write. I hate
making you all wait and I'm sorry. But
I intend to give you the best story I can possibly give you.
AN: Haruka refers to Usagi as kitten a lot in
the manga.
Chapter 18: The Sun Turns Black…
"MOON ETERNAL…
MAKE-UP!" Within seconds, Usagi
transforms into Eternal Sailor Moon. The inners follow suit and leave Haruka and Michiru behind in the
restaurant.
"Are you sure this
is the right thing to do?" Michiru asks.
"I think that
you've been hanging around kitten too much."
Michiru
smiles. "Maybe… she has that effect on
people."
"As outer senshi,
our main concern is to protect our prince and princess from dangers outside the
solar system."
"Which is why we
are here. We sensed an evil presence
here. One definitely not of this
system."
"Yes… but that does
not mean we are going to barge into an enemy's fortress, whom we know nothing
about.
"So you would
abandon the prince of the Sun like that?"
"It is not like the
Silver Millennium where politics was a big thing and we had a King of the Sun
to worry about. Today, in this time our
mission is to protect this system from outside invaders. Not rescue a boy. Even if he is the prince of the Sun."
Haruka and Michiru
sit quietly for a while, hearing battle noises in the background.
Michiru stands up
and says solemnly, "It's time to make an entrance."
Haruka follows
suit. "I agree."
"NEPTUNE PLANET
POWER…"
"URANUS PLANET
POWER…"
They say the last
part simultaneously, "MAKE-UP!"
Sailor Uranus and
Neptune run outside to join the battle.
* * *
Meanwhile outside…
Moon finishes her
speech as the inners join her, "And in the name of the Moon, I shall punish
you!"
"And don't forget
us…" Venus says, then is joined by the other inner senshi, "We're the Sailor
Senshi!"
Celestine, who is
floating above the senshi, looks down on them with a wicked smile on her face. "So you are the infamous Sailor Senshi… Well Azurite was nothing compared to me!"
"We'll see about
that!" Mars yells. "MARS… FLAME
SNIPER!" Mars shoots her arrow at
Celestine. She dodges it easily. "Ha ha! Pathetic!"
"So she's fast,
eh?" Jupiter smiles and looks at Venus. Venus nods. "JUPITER… OAK
EVOLUTION!"
Celestine dodges
the tornado of leaves. "I cannot even
believe that you neat Azurite!"
"VENUS… LOVE AND
BEAUTY SHOCK!" While Celestine is busy
mocking Jupiter's attack, Venus attacks from behind.
"What?!" Before she can react, she is hit by the
array of hearts. Celestine falls to the
ground. The senshi cheer and
congratulate Venus and Jupiter for their victory. Bit in all of their congratulations and celebrations, they do not
notice Celestine pick herself up again.
Mercury looks at
the victim and notices that she has risen… but too late. "Look out!" she shouts. The senshi are hit and fell to the floor.
"Looks like you
need some help!" Uranus' voice is heard
in the background.
"Who are you?"
Celestine yells. She turns to glance at
two figures in the distance. The wind
blows rose petals in the air.
"Fighting for
magnificence, I am Sailor Uranus, the soldier of the skies!"
"Fighting for
elegance, I am Sailor Neptune, the soldier of the seas!"
"More Sailor
Senshi? No bother, I will destroy you
all!"
"Not if we destroy
you first!" Uranus takes out her space
sword talisman. "SPACE SWORD…"
"Wait!" Celestine
interrupts Uranus. "To fight me is
suicide on your part. I'm wondering if
you can defeat my latest creation!"
"We can destroy you
and anything you throw at us!" Uranus yells.
"Excellent!" Celestine looks down below herself. "Prince Apollo you have been challenged!"
Underneath
Celestine a portal with a blinding light appears. The senshi shield their eyes at first but then struggle to
look. Walking from the portal they see
a male figure. As the portal disappears
behind him, all of the inner senshi gasp.
"LEO?!" they all
say shocked.
"You are mistaken…
I am Prince Apollo, devoted servant of Queen Mineralia."
"Is this the boy
you told us about?" Uranus asks.
"Well…" Sailor Moon
starts, "but…"
"But nothing! He is the enemy now!"
"Wait! I can turn him back!" Sailor Moon takes out her crystal and it
glows with a brilliant light. Celestine
stares at the crystal in awe.
"That's one of the
crystals Mineralia is looking for!" Celestine whispers. "Prince Apollo!"
"Yes?"
"Queen Mineralia
wants that crystal… get it!"
"Yes, at
once." He pulls out a sword and
prepares to slay Sailor Moon.
Sailor Moon takes
no notice, and concentrates all of her energy on the crystal. Prince Apollo jumps above Sailor Moon, sword
raised above him. He comes down to hit
her but still she doesn't move from her place.
"SAILOR MOON!" the
senshi shout. They try to run and save
her but knew that it would be too late. Prince Apollo swings his sword down.
CLANK!
The senshi hear the
sword hit something… something other than flesh…
"Tuxedo Kamen!" the
inners shout.
Tuxedo Kamen held
his cane horizontal in front of Prince Apollo's sword. The two of them are pushing against the
other, seeing who is the stronger fighter. It is pretty evenly matched but Tuxedo Kamen manages to move the fight
away from Sailor Moon, who is still was concentrating on the crystal. When they are a good distance away from
Sailor Moon, she extends her arms and raises them, and the crystal above her
head. She opens her eyes and stares at
Prince Apollo.
"SILVER CRYSTAL
POWER!"
The light around
the crystal grows brighter and stronger. Sailor Moon lowers her hands to her sides, but the crystal is still
above her head. She raises her right
arm back to the crystal. The light
around the crystal is so great, that you could no longer see the crystal
itself, just the light surrounding it. She quickly lowers her arm so that it is extended in front of her. The beam follows the direction of her arm,
towards Prince Apollo. The beam hits
him. He screams as he is being bathed
in the light. When light disappears, he
and Sailor Moon both fall to the ground. The crystal returns to her broach.
"Im… impossible!"
Celestine yells. "He was supposed to be
invincible!"
"Heh, not as strong
as you thought he was!" Uranus mocks.
Celestine clutches
her hand into a fist after hearing Uranus' comment but manages to suppress her
anger. "I see he still needs some
work. No matter. Prince Apollo!"
Prince Apollo
struggles to get up. But manages to get
on his feet. He walks towards
Celestine.
"Wait!" Sailor Moon
shouts. "Leo!"
Prince Apollo
stops. Turns around to stare at Sailor
Moon. There is an empty expression in
his eyes. Sailor Moon notices
this. It was the same look Mamoru had
when controlled by Beryl.
"I told you. You are mistaken. I am Prince Apollo. Not
Leo." He turns back around. The portal appears once again in front of
him. He walks through it and it
disappears.
"But…" Sailor Mon
is confused about what happened. "But…
the crystal was supposed to heal him…I… I don't understand…"
Tuxedo Kamen looked
at Sailor Moon and thought about his sister.
"How are we going
to tell Addy?" Sailor Moon adds.
"I will tell her,"
Tuxedo Kamen says. The senshi look at
him. "She is my sister after all. I don't think it would be right if anyone else
tells her."
Sailor Moon
nods. "I guess you're right. But still, she will need someone to be there
I think. I will tell her with you."
Before Tuxedo Kamen
could argue, she was already de-transformed and on her way back to Addy's
house.
Sailor Uranus and
Neptune look at each other a little confused… for once. Their expression turned serious when they
look at the other senshi. "Who is
Addy?" Uranus asks.
The inner senshi
look at each other, hoping one of them would step forward to tell. After none did, Uranus became
aggravated. "So? Who is she?"
"Alright," Venus steps
forward. "I tell you… but not
here. Some place more… private."
Uranus nods,
"Agreed. Let's go to our place." She and Neptune de-transform and start
walking. The other senshi follow suit.
Rei whispers to
Minako, "What are we going to tell the flower soldiers?"
Minako frowns, "I
don't know. We'll worry about that
later."
* * *
Mamoru and Usagi
find themselves at Addy's and before Mamoru could say no, Addy and her mother
invite him to dinner. Usagi sits down
at the table excited about dinner, "So what are we having today Mrs. Terran?"
"Oh nothing
special, just a simple pot roast and vegetables," Mrs. Terran says.
"I'm sorry to
trouble you like this Mrs. Terran," Mamoru says. "If you want, I can just talk to Addy and Usagi for a bit then
leave."
"Oh it's not
trouble at all. Addy's father is coming
home late tonight and picking up a sandwich for himself on his way home. So I have a meal for four and only three
people to eat it. You're staying!" She smiles as she says the last part.
"How could I say no
to a pretty young lady?" Mamoru knew what it took to please a mother. After all, he and Usagi still have to tell
her parents about the engagement. Practicing his charm on Addy's mother would allow him to make sure he
will be flawless when he approaches Usagi's family.
Mrs. Terran blushes
at the comment. "Well Usagi, looks like
you've really picked up a charming young fellow. You better make sure he doesn't do anything foolish!"
Usagi squeeze
Mamoru's hand underneath the table. "Oh
I'll keep my eye on him." She turns to
him and winks.
* * *
Haruka and Michiru
lead the rest of the senshi to their hotel room. They are staying at the Plaza hotel. Minako, as usual is star struck by the atmosphere.
"Oh my god! You guys are staying here? It must cost a fortune!"
Michiru smiles and
is pleased to know that Minako will never change. "Half a fortune actually," she jokes.
Haruka, on the
other hand, isn't as pleased. "Minako,
who is Addy? What does she have to do
with the royal family or with us for that matter?"
"Well, she's
Mamoru's brother from the past. She is
Princess Gaia of Earth. And Leo was
Prince Apollo of the Sun. Other than
that, I do not know."
Michiru, pensive,
looks up to the others. "And this new
enemy… what do they want?"
"We don't know,"
Ami says a little disappointed. "All we
know is that they are very similar to our first adversaries. The difference being is that they are a lot
stronger." She looks up as if an idea
just struck her. "What if Metallia has
come back stronger?"
"That is not
possible." Surprised, everyone turned
to Haruka. "If it were Metallia, then
Michiru and I would not be here. We
only protect the system from outside invasion. This new threat is someone else."
"So who are they?"
Makoto yells.
Michiru and Haruka
look at each other. "Another attack…"
Michiru says solemnly.
"Where?" Makoto
yells.
"In that park over
there."
Rei picks up her
communicator. "I'll call Usagi."
* * *
After dinner, Usagi
reluctantly goes to clean the dishes by request of Addy's mother. As she gets up, she whispers into Mamoru's
ear, "If you start without me you're dead meat!"
When Usagi
finishes, she leads Addy upstairs. "Addy, come on, we need to talk." Usagi's tone indicates to Addy that it had to deal with Sailor business. Addy doesn't hesitate and leads them
upstairs into her room. Upon entering,
she closes the door.
"Now, what is it we
need to talk about?"
Usagi and Mamoru
look at one another, each expecting the other to start.
"Well?" Addy
asked. "What is it?"
"Well Addy," Usagi
begins. "We've actually never sat down
to talk about what happened the other day. About the battle and about Leo."
"I've told you
Usagi, I don't know who Leo is."
Mamoru gets up and
walks toward Addy. He says, "Addy, you
do know who he is. Remember the
past. Leo is your current
boyfriend. In the middle of a battle,
he got injured. In that moment, the two
of you regained all of your memories. They were your memories of the past, of the Silver Millennium. Try to remember…"
"I…" Addy begins to
get a headache. "I… I think I need to
sit down…" She goes to sit on her bed. Usagi sat down beside her.
"Addy, I know it's
hard. I went through the same exact
thing not to long ago. I was in
denial. You need to snap yourself out
of it. Or else, it will destroy
you. Addy… Leo, he was taken by the
enemy shortly after he got hurt… well Mamo-chan and I saw him and…"
"He has turned
Addy," Mamoru finished. "The enemy has
turned him against us. Usagi tried to
turn him back, but failed. We felt you
needed to know."
Before Addy could
answer, a beeping sound comes from Usagi's communicator.
"Usagi-chan?"
"Hai Rei-chan. What is it?"
"It's another
attack. Right outside Central Park."
"We're on our
way." Usagi looks to Addy. "Are you coming?"
Addy nods after a
moment of hesitation. "Yes, let me call
the others." When she finished, Usagi,
Mamoru, and Addy rush out of the house.
When they left,
Luna comes out to greet Marigold. "Well
Marigold, what do you make of all that?"
The golden cat
looks down. "The memories are
painful. I've always known what they
were but I hid them from her as to hide the pain. So she wouldn't suffer a second time. But it looks like she will."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, here's the
entire story…"
Flashback
Addy, well Princess Gaia never knew I was always watching her. I always knew where she was; always knew what she was doing. That was my job. I had to make sure she wasn't getting herself into trouble. It was the day she learned that she was to wed Prince Leo of the Sun. She was in an argument with her father in the throne room.
"But father, I do not even know this Leo," Princess Gaia explained. "How do I know if I am going to love him once we are married?"
The king looked at her with understanding. "You will grow to love him in time. A union between the Earth and the Sun would be a glorious one."
"I don't see you forcing Endymion to marry anyone."
"His position is different than yours. I know it is difficult but in time you will learn to love this man. I'll tell you what. I will give you until the next full moon to find a noble you wish to marry. If you don't find one, you will marry Prince Leo."
I could tell by Gaia's face that she was not happy with this decision but she wasn't one to disobey her father's wishes. "Alright father. Now if you will excuse me."
Gaia left the throne room. I followed her to make sure she was ok though I knew she wasn't. She was running through the halls, holding back her tears and all I could do was follow her to her room where I could ask her what was wrong.
But Gaia never made it to her room. On the way she bumped into one of the many new servants of the palace.
"Damn, watch where you are going woman!" He obviously didn't know who she was.
"How dare you talk to me in such a fashion servant!"
I noticed he looked her over before talking again. But that didn't make a difference in his attitude. "Miss, you are the one who bumped into me, causing me to spill all of the water onto the floor. Now I have more of a job to do than I did before."
Gaia was enraged that a servant was yelling at her. "Do you have any idea of who I am?"
"I see that you are a brat who doesn't watch where she is going. Now if you don't mind, I have chores to do."
Gaia couldn't take it anymore and ran past him and on to her room. I had to come out and say something!
"What do you think you are doing?" I questioned him.
He stared down at me just like he did to Gaia. "What do you think I'm doing cat?"
"That's Marigold to you buddy! And did you know that you just yelled at Princess Gaia?"
"That was the Princess?" he yelled. I could only shake my head.
"Yes that was the Princess. And if you are lucky, she will forget all about this and not have you executed!"
"Damn, I've probably ruined all chances already." I thought I heard the servant mutter something. But I ignored it and went to address the Princess. As I had feared, she was crying on her bed.
"What's wrong Gaia?"
"Oh nothing, just that father wants me to marry someone I don't even know and he's not forcing Endymion to do the same. And now I have servants yelling at me."
"That servant had no right yelling at you. But your father is another story."
End Flashback
"Soon Gaia and
this, Lucas kept sneaking off together. Sometimes I even covered for her. But she knew that the two of them could never be together. He was a servant. The day Beryl attacked, Gaia was going to tell her father about
Lucas. But she wasn't able to. Lucas was one of the first killed. We both watched him die. It broke her heart. She attacked Beryl and was too killed. I have never seen the king cry like he did
on that day. Unfortunately, Endymion
wasn't there to protect us. He was on
the Moon trying to get help from Queen Serenity. But sometimes I think that he would have been killed too had he
been there."
Luna could only try
to fill in the pieces with her own memories of the Silver Millennium, the
painful memories of Beryl and Metallia. "He didn't have much success on the Moon either. When Beryl attacked the Moon, he died protecting
Princess Serenity."
Marigold's eyes
widened. He couldn't believe that the
prince's fate was to be the same whether he was on the Moon or on the
Earth. It also pained him that Beryl
had been so strong.
