Greetings, fellow reader! This is my first fanfiction and my first overall public display of writing. Outside of college, that is.
This is a story I have been brewing for years, yet only now did I have the courage to publish it. Let's see if it makes an impact!
First things first, some important points:
1. I do not own Sailor Moon. All characters belong to Naoko Takeuchi. This is a work made simply for fun, from a fan to other fans.
2. This will follow the original anime timeline, but I intend to insert some aspects of other continuities, especially from the manga.
3. There will be some unsavory themes later on in the story. Nothing really explicit, but expect some strong themes and imagery. I may add trigger warnings if it gets too disturbing.
Without further adieu, enjoy!
A curious sight in Shinjuku: A man wearing a tattered yellow robe strolling down the streets. Whatever skin he had, it was covered in filthy bandages. A pallid mask with a pained expression with several thorns produced on its forehead covered his face. After aimlessly walking for hours, he became fixated on a colorful poster announcing a pop idol double-header show later on that weekend.
Naturally, such an unusual sight attracted the attention of about twenty curious onlookers. The murmurs and whispers traded attempts to guess who or what that person was. An old beggar, perhaps? The member of a fan club? The man noticed their presence, and without taking his eyes off the poster, he lifted his left arm, all covered in bandages and with the index finger raised as if asking for silence.
And silence he got.
Everyone in the surroundings became frozen in time, so as not to bother the shady figure. He wanted to absorb every information plastered on the left side of that poster; there were two girls in colorful dresses, but only one truly caught his attention: She was billed as Aino Venus, and seeing this, the man had no more doubt of who she was. "It's time to act," he muttered to himself.
Only then did he take his eyes off the poster and walked back to what he called his home. Before crossing the block, he lifted his left index finger once again. Suddenly, the mass of people that stood inert around him found its collective senses again. "Where am I?" and "What happened here?" were the most asked questions after he moved away from the crowd's sights.
(~~)
Diary Entry
They are here, in this day and age. The Warrior Princesses that stopped the universe on its tracks. The Sailor Guardians.
If they are all alive, then it can only mean Beryl has utterly failed. Useless wretch. I should have known better than to trust that woman with the solar flare, the Crests, and the Carcosian troops. I hope the Demigoddesses are still dormant, otherwise, this is doomed to fail.
I only lament for my friends. They most likely died in that fateful venture. Poor sods were made to fight the women they loved.
And now, the Fates have given me a new chance. To finish what Beryl, the Heavenly Kings, and the Gods know whoever else tried and failed. To topple the tyranny before it even starts.
The time I spent investigating what was left of the ancient arts was not in vain, after all. Time to gather servants for the summonings. They will have to help.
(~~)
The Incubus, Part 1: Two Demons in Azabu-Juuban
It's been a little over a year since the fateful battle against Galaxia, the death and rebirth of all humanity. With the threats spawned by Chaos being dealt with, the unsung heroines were able to return to their regular routines, to pursue their dreams and the peace of mind they needed.
Things have been fairly peaceful for the rest of humanity as well. No longer threatened with mutually assured destruction, they could finally go on with their lives, their societies, and their particular dramas. At the very least, no monsters from unspeakable origins to undo any chance for a better tomorrow.
It was not to last.
On the sensationalist news program that Luna and Ikuko Tsukino checked on while the latter finished preparing that night's dinner, the big report of the day was that of a girl named Junko Hagase, found dead at her home the night before with her wrists slit beside some kind of circle surrounded by strange scriptures, entirely drawn in her blood. According to the report, the girl was obsessed with Western occultist practices, and she wanted to summon some kind of demon to make her company, only to lose too much blood from her wounds in the process.
Naturally, the Tsukino matriarch was aghast at hearing such a tale, especially in the dramatic way it was told. She hoped neither Usagi nor Shingo were into such kind of supernatural insanity.
As for the cat, rather than dismiss it altogether as she usually did when identifying half-truths, she mulled on it seriously. "The Underworld... Why do I have an odd feeling about it?"
"I'm home!"
Usagi finally arrived from school, taking her shoes off next to the front door. She, who faced death itself, saw dimensions that no living being is supposed to ever know about and single-handedly resurrected humanity in its darkest hour, had only mundane worries to solve, such as her formal education; to her, it was a much welcome change of pace in her daily life.
She climbed the stairs and rushed straight to her bedroom. Not that her mother minded: She was still busy with her housewife chores and would have all the time to talk to her daughter at dinner time.
The girl was tired after an entire week of tests and couldn't wait for the weekend to begin, so she could hang out with Naru at her house and stroll down the city with her fellow Guardians. And of course, have her weekly talk with Mamoru over the phone on Saturday night. With danger away, the young man could finally resume pursuing his Master's Degree at Harvard. To guarantee he was there, safe and sound, he promised we would talk directly to his beloved every week, and he's done so religiously. The sound of his voice was enough to soothe and heal the wearing and tearing that her mind acquired every week. They were bound to be together, she hoped, and the pearl-encrusted engagement ring he gave her and she wore on her left ring finger was the symbolic proof of their bond.
After a few minutes, Luna followed the girl to her room. She found Usagi lazily contemplating the city's skyline from her window. As the sun went down, the sky acquired a pink tint that meshed itself well with the room's colors, and its final sunbeams glared through the window's glass.
"So, how did you go on your tests?" the cat asked.
"So and so," she answered while snoozing.
"Well, I better get ready for the festival of screams and weeps next week."
"Ah, don't be mean, Luna-chan... I've had a hard week, okay? I'm tired, so so tired..." As she answered Luna's snarky remark, she laid down on her bed and slowly slipped into slumber.
(xx)
Unbeknownst to the entire city, a humanoid creature hovered about Azabu-Juuban. A red-headed, copper-skinned demon that could penetrate people's dreams, without the need to reveal their Dream Mirrors.
Able to shift their tangibility, it is said that incubi were created by the Oneiroi themselves to exploit and analyze humanity's carnal weaknesses, but due to their predatory nature, they were cast down to the Underworld, remaining as lesser demons while retaining their abilities, only surfacing when explicitly called to do so. They are usually diabolic in appearance, but Astar was of a different breed. He had conventionally good looks, with slick fiery hair falling to his lower back and a good physique that makes him more humanoid than the usual impish creatures of his order.
"Very well, Astar," the incubus talked to himself as he slowly descended to the city below. "It was about time you revealed your true self upon the surface. All these years as a vagabond human will finally pay off. Pity that the girl who summoned you was a goner by the time you fully awakened, but that was not your fault. Now you better go sate your thirst."
His natural lust was flaring up the closer to ground level he approached. Like all incubi, he was able to sense the vital aura of people who were asleep, but at that moment he sensed only one, so he slowly descended in its direction, until he stopped by the windowsill on the second floor of a suburban house. From the window, he saw a girl sleeping on her right side. She was still wearing her school uniform, and had serene facial features, with blond hair tied into two buns.
"She's quite good-looking," he affirmed while smirking maliciously, admiring Usagi's beauty. "And her aura is incredibly powerful. Almost as if she could bring the end of the world if she wished so."
It wasn't even deep into the night, and she slept soundly. For all the demon cared, she was ready for the picking, and he wouldn't waste time indulging himself.
All Astar needed to insert himself into someone's dreams was to simply lay beside or above the victim in his intangible state, slowly entering their body to seep into their minds. Passing through the room's walls, he laid down beside her, as if spooning her. An instant later, he found himself inside her mind.
(xx)
Usagi's Dreamscape
Dreamscapes are symbolical planes of existence that each person has in their minds, symbolized by physical structures that store both dreams and memories with landscapes that change according to the state of mind, general demeanor, and disposition of a person. Within these structures, it is possible to find a person's inner self, the personification of how they truly see themselves at a given moment.
It is possible to invade a person's dreams by revealing their Dream Mirrors via spells, though this is a painful method for the host, and if the Mirror is destroyed, it essentially kills the person attached to it.
Inside Usagi's Dreamscape, Astar saw a beautiful palace whose walls stretched beyond his sight. Several towers stretched skywards, beneath the stars that formed every visible constellation. Its centerpiece was a larger domed structure with the effigy of a crescent moon placed on top of it. Strangely enough, what loomed over the night sky was not the Moon, but planet Earth itself. After contemplating his surroundings, the incubus strolled on the walkway towards the marble staircase that led to the palace's entrance.
Something in that place made Astar stop in awe at his surroundings. He's done this several times in his life, and yet there was something about this particular Dreamscape that felt strangely good. Familiar, even. And not only did the place look impressive, but he also felt some kind of tranquil warmth running through his body as he climbed the wide staircase that led to the front gateway. Just by being there, Astar felt revitalized, but he was not to waste the chance to have his way with Usagi's inner self.
"Who are you, and what are you doing in my daughter's conscience?" a female voice inquired. When the incubus turned around, he saw a woman in a tightly-fit regal dress with a bow on its back that resembled wings, who looked exactly like Usagi, yet had silver hair and visible age features. Astar shook when he saw the figure of Queen Serenity inside Usagi's mind. Clearly, that was not Usagi, but an entirely different entity altogether. One that stated Usagi was her daughter... How was that even possible?
Her eyes widened in anger as if she recognized him and his purpose.
"Get out, NOW!"
One swipe from the erstwhile Queen's hand was enough for Astar to lose his senses completely.
About five seconds later, he found himself in the waking world again, inside a garbage container a couple of streets away from Usagi's house. Whenever a person wakes up suddenly, the incubus disappears and either reappears right beside the person whose mind he invaded - or in the case of Astar, blasted away from their sight with no regard as to where they would end up.
"Hey man, are you alright?" asked a man in ragged clothes, the sole witness to the unusual scene.
"Uhh, yeah, I guess..."
"Really now, you came flying from over there," the man pointed from where he saw Astar flying towards the ground.
"I see. Well, I better get going back now."
In his human form, Astar looked like an unremarkable drifter, save for his long slick hair, so for the witness, it looked as if he just attempted a strange stunt, or tried to kill himself. The street dweller could only scratch his head in confusion about the whole situation as he saw the stranger run back to where he came from.
(xx)
Luna suddenly woke up after hearing a sonic boom from outside. Usagi, however, still slept and still grinned at whatever she was dreaming about. She gazed from the window but saw no sign of unusual movements from the streets below or the sky above. Then she heard more noises from inside the house. The cat then checked the main entrance downstairs, where she saw somebody wearing a purple cloak, standing over the prostrated body of Usagi's mother. Feeling her fur standing up, Luna immediately went back to Usagi's room to warn her of the danger.
"Ow... I was dreaming so nice..." she murmured as she opened the door.
"No time for that now, your mother has fainted, and it-"
That sudden realization shocked Usagi enough to shake off her sleep. She immediately darted toward the staircase and saw her mother laying down in front of the entrance. No trace of anything or anyone else. She went to her aid and seeing she was not hurt, she carried her upstairs to her parent's bedroom. Once Usagi returned with a glass of water and aspirin that she almost dropped on the floor in her haste, Ikuko woke up slowly.
"Mama, what happened?" she asked concernedly.
"Oh, Usagi, thank goodness you're fine! Some kind of burglar entered by..."
"Don't worry, Mama," Usagi spoke in a conciliatory manner, trying to calm down her mother. "I think you startled him and now he's gone. Now calm down, take the aspirin and rest yourself, okay? Everything is fine now."
As Usagi left the room, she addressed Luna: "Who did you see?"
"Whoever it was, they were wearing a purple cloak."
"Got it. Stay here and keep an eye on Mama and on the house. If anything happens, call me through the communicator. I'm going after them."
The cat nodded, and as Usagi left, she climbed the stairs to mount guard at the parents' bedroom, feeling somewhat proud of how aware and proactive the young woman had become. Years ago, when she was still getting the hang of her duty, Usagi would have been running in circles at the prospect of danger ahead of her.
(xx)
As soon as Usagi turned the corner of the street, her brother Shingo appeared, returning from school. "Usagi? Why are you running like that?"
"Shingo, thank goodness!" She stopped to answer while catching her breath. "Quickly, go back home and take care of Mama! There's a burglar on the loose and they tried to break into our home!"
"Huh, w-what!? Why? How?"
"No time for that, please go help her! I'm going after the perp!"
The boy complied, seeing the seriousness of how Usagi addressed him. She soon resumed her fearful sprint. Her inseparable compact containing the Silver Crystal started emitting a light signal, indicating the presence of danger in the premises. And if the Silver Crystal reacted to something, to Usagi's apprehension, it meant real trouble loomed over her.
(xx)
Usagi ran across the blocks while checking on the Silver Crystal's signal for ten minutes that felt like they lasted forever. She eventually arrived at a construction site, where the mysterious boy stood waiting. "There you are," he exclaimed with a surprisingly deep and raspy voice. "Long story short, you have something that belongs to us!"
"What are you talking about?"
"Don't play dumb with us, lass. A demon from the Underworld is in your mind, and it is our duty to take him back. You should be aware of its presence within you."
The more the boy spoke, the more tense Usagi felt. How could a demon enter her? How could she feel its presence, if she didn't feel anything unusual until that moment?
"I'm telling you, I don't know anything," she tensely answered.
The boy chuckled, showing off some yellowed teeth on the corner of his mouth. "Looks like you won't contribute with us. In this case, the matter will be simple. We will kill everything you hold dear, one by one until you answer us."
As he finished the sentence, the youngster morphed into a monster with the head and the hind legs of a deer, with red eyes and sharp teeth that formed a wicked smile. "I am Furtur, Earl of Hell! Tremble before my mighty presence!"
She did tremble for a fraction of a second, but then rose her hand to the skies. "That does it. Moon Eternal, Make Up!" Finally, Eternal Sailor Moon made her presence felt, with glorious wings and glowing aura.
"Don't think I'm afraid of you, wench!" the beast interrupted while leaping toward the heroine once more. With her powers, all Sailor Moon could do was dodge Furtur's attacks with a bit more ease. She was still scared senseless, despite being on equal ground with the demon in terms of power. The Guardian tried to face off Furtur, running towards the beast and grabbing its horns, only to be violently pushed towards the steel beams that shaped the construction's foundations.
A contingent of police officers took notice of the noise that came from the site and immediately entered to take action. "FREEZE!" demanded one of them, who immediately drew forth a pistol. Three others appeared behind it to fully enclose the beast. Not that it mattered: Furtur swung its arm around and floored all four cops. It then leaped toward the heroine, who felt she had no other choice but to keep running away from the beast. With several eye-witnesses, she couldn't call for her powers. She had to run, as far as possible, and avoid getting people hurt. Easier said than done, as Furtur left a path of wanton destruction behind wherever it went.
A police car that was patrolling the neighborhood took notice of the happening and turned on its lights in open pursuit. After running around for several blocks, the beast suddenly stopped. The police car's brakes emitted its piercing screech, and it careened toward Furtur with no way to stop.
"Do not interfere," it seethed.
The demon picked up the car by its front and tossed it towards Usagi with absolute ease and no care for the people inside it. She naturally dodged it in a single bound toward the other side of the street, but the vehicle hit a nearby wall at an incredible force. All that was left was a total mess of scrapped metal and miscellaneous debris.
Usagi couldn't believe what she just saw. Whoever it was that drove the police car couldn't have survived such an impact. Furtur then turned its attention back to the Guardian, ready for the killing blow. Sailor Moon instinctively braced herself and hoped for something, anything, to either save her or for the pain to be short and her death to be swift.
But then, just as Furtur was about to gore the heroine, an object thrown from above made it stop on its tracks. A red rose was tossed from the veranda of a nearby apartment. All eyes were turned toward the source, and they all saw a familiar-looking young man dressed entirely in black, wearing a ballroom mask, a cape, a top hat, and a confident smile.
"Who are you!?" the beast queried.
"The newest player in the table. I am Tuxedo Mask, ready for the call!"
Sailor Moon was stunned at the sight of her beloved. How was he even there? Wasn't he supposed to be in the United States at that moment? With her trembling lips, however, she couldn't even form a single sentence to question this.
"Sailor Moon, this what you are dealing with is no normal being. It is a demon from the depths of Hell itself!"
Hearing this snapped Sailor Moon out of her incredulity trance, but also crept her out. Tuxedo Mask reassured her: "Your powers are more than enough to purify the wretch. Use them, quickly!"
She smiled and nodded, and called forth her attack: "Honeymoon Therapy Kiss!" The ethereal feathers covered the beast completely, and when they faded away, it turned back into the cloaked boy from before, who fell down on his knees and hands.
"Oh no," he lamented, now speaking in a normal teenager's voice. "Dis Pater is gonna split my head open for this!"
He then pointed at Sailor Moon with a desperate look on his face. "Do you have any idea what you clods have done? This means war with beings beyond your worst nightmares! Your days are numbered, you hear me?" Having said that, the youngster got up and ran away into a nearby alleyway, leaving the heroine behind with a slew of doubts hammering her head. Who exactly was he, and why he turned himself into such a fearsome creature? And what did he mean by "war with beings beyond their worst nightmares"? As she cooled down, Sailor Moon could only find relief in the fact that the danger was away for the time being.
She then turned to her beloved Tuxedo Mask. "I can't thank you enough... but how did you come here? Weren't you supposed to be in the United States?"
"Whenever you need it, no matter how distant we are from each other, I will be there to aid you, my love. See you!" Having said this, the mysterious hero vaulted over an apartment block and quickly disappeared from sight.
Sailor Moon observed him taking his leave with relief and amazement. Mamoru was literally half the world away, and yet somehow he managed to come back to help her. She was as happy to see him as she was puzzled for the same exact reason.
The heroine's musing was interrupted when a familiar voice called from behind her: "Usagi-chan! Thank goodness..."
"Luna! How is everyone at home?"
"Don't worry, your mother and Shingo are fine, and there were about four policemen mounting guard on the block."
"Good. We better go back and see if we can help too," Usagi said as she turned back to her civilian self.
(xx)
They rushed back to their home, in front of which an ambulance was parked. Two others passed by, sirens blaring at the full sound, towards the scenes of Furtur's onslaught.
Kenji arrived from work as soon as he could, and while he was relieved in seeing his family unharmed, he remained anxious for the rest of the day, as any concerned father and husband would after hearing his family was attacked. What could guarantee no such a thing would happen again?
Final tally: four police officers with minor injuries - one with a broken collarbone and another with minor head trauma had to be transferred to the nearest hospital. The Chief Superintendent was the officer who was driving the ill-fated police car. He died instantly in the crash, a terrible sight from every angle.
"There is a strange surge in cases dealing with paranormality and occultism in the city," a policeman affirmed as he took the testimonials from the family. "For now, we are as much at a loss as you in this, but I promise we'll investigate this further. Now if you excuse me, I must warn the family of Chief Shinozaki of his death. Good night." With one last salute, the policeman left.
This last phrase struck a chord in the household, especially in Usagi. In all those years fighting alongside the Sailor Guardians, not one person that wasn't directly related to their struggle was severely affected, and if they were, they were properly taken care of by the end of the conflict. Now, there was an innocent casualty, for attempting to carry on his duty. If she could, she would use the Silver Crystal's power to bring the man back to life. But the Crystal's powers, as she was warned many times by Luna and even her past mother, were not to be "abused" like that.
Slowly and steadily, the Tsukinos tried to carry on with the rest of their day. But at the dinner table, the mouths were too shaken to fully appreciate Ikuko's efforts in the kitchen. The usual questions about each other's days felt tense and uncertain about whether they would make it to another day. And then there was the TV set blaring from the living room, which reported its usual share of bad news: the skirmish in their neighborhood, the death of Chief Yuutarou Shinozaki, and a boy named Aguri Hanekoma gone missing for two days.
"Hanekoma..." Shingo commented with sadness. "He's my classmate. I wonder what happened to him?"
There went the last threads of the good mood of the household.
It wasn't even 8 o'clock when everyone snuck into their bedrooms, changed to their nightly gowns and pajamas, and tried to call it a day.
"This is so confusing, Luna... The deer demon, the cloaked boy, Tuxedo Mask..." murmured Usagi, as she tucked herself in her bed. "And that deer demon said I had another demon in me or something like that. How could that be?"
"I don't want to jump to conclusions yet... but perhaps all of this has to do with a case of demon summoning I saw earlier today in the news."
Hearing the words "demon summoning" made Usagi's hair stand up just as much as when she actually faced them. "Who would do such a thing, and why? This is getting more and more weird by the minute..."
"You're right," Luna replied with a snooze. "But we'll discuss that tomorrow with the girls. I have already set up a meeting for tomorrow morning at the Hikawa Temple. For now, let's try to rest."
Usagi agreed with a short nod, but as much as she tried, she couldn't fall asleep right away. The girl was too tense to sleep but eventually slipped into slumber once more when her mind became too weary to keep her awake. It took about an hour and a half of uneasy turns for her eyes to begin weighing. The same happened to Luna, after pondering about how her instinct did not lie to her, and about what exactly they were dealing with.
(xx)
Astar spent this entire time in the Tsukino household's backyard in his invisible state, biding his time until the girl came back home and fell asleep once again.
But as he waited, he pondered about what he was doing. Why did he feel restored without seducing Usagi's inner self? What if that lady was still there, guarding her Dreamscape? How and why is it she had a separate soul within her mind? Why did she refer to Usagi as her daughter, since she lives with her own flesh-and-blood mother in the waking world?
Rather than mulling further over those facts, he decided to leave and seek other hosts to feed himself. There were more young women full of pent-up energy in that city, and his own lifeforce now depended on his exploits. But he made sure to remember where Usagi lived, so he may attempt to enter her mind at a later time.
The strongest aura he felt came from a Shinto shrine not too far away from the Tsukino's residence. He took on his human form and made his way to his new target for the night.
To be continued on Part 2
Hello once again! If you made it this far, my eternal gratitude.
How am I writing? Please let me know in the review sections. Feedback is always welcome.
From your newest friend, The Hospitaller Knight