LadyLing
paulac@earthlnk.net
Moon Glue 2(PG13) by: LadyLing
Authors Note: I know this has taken an especially long time to write,
but it's here now! You don't have to fret anymore! I'm apologizing
for my first chapter and it's many errors. I wrote it before there
were so many guidelines, and I got away with it! In this chapter,
you'll actually find out what moon glue is! Please send me any kind
of e-mail. Thanks and enjoy!
Disclaimer: Um, these aren't mine, so I'm not a XX-year old
prodigy, so sue me? Actually don't because I'm truly sorry for using
someone else's imagination, but I'd like to thank Naoko Takeuchi
for giving me this little world to play in.
Mamoru
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
" You guys my computer says she's...drained?" Sailor Mercury
finished.
"DRAINED, WHAT THE HELL DOES DRAINED MEAN?" I say. First Sailor Moon
does an attack I've never seen before, then she suddenly passes out,
and even Mercury's computer doesn't know what's wrong with her?
"There's no need to yell, it doesn't actually help any." Venus
states.I don't have a reason to yell? What did she just say? In the
first place I didn't yell. Plus, what I just said should help anyone
understand if I was yelling. Well, actually I thought that, BUT WHAT
DOES THAT MATTER?
"NO NEED TO YELL, I HAVE N..."
"You're hurting my ears." A soft voice interrupts. I look down to
see Sailor Moon staring up at me through slitted eyes.I cradled her
head softly and said, " You scared the bejesus out of me."
She smiled at me and I was about to kiss her to seal the fact she
was OK, when an annoying voice interrupted saying, "It's far from
over."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Luna
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
" Geez Luna you make it sound like something from Star Trek or
something." Artemis drawled. I gave him my best glare and curtly
said,
"It is just the truth. I told this to Usagi before she went into
battle but did she pay any attention to it. Of course not.
Sometimes I really do believe that this is my eternal punishment
for stealing those cans of tuna from the Moon Place. I mean who
misses tuna? I..."
" Ahem..um..Luna, the story?" Ami whispered. I looked up and was
met with all their stares. I was glade they couldn't see my blush
through my black fur.
" Right. Now don't interrupt till I'm finished. First you must now
that every Lunarian has a silver string around their heart. It is
their lifeline. Back during the Silver Millennium there was a
secret in the royal family of how to access this lifeline. It
worked very well in executing criminals, though they had to be
Lunarian. You see cutting a Lunarian lifeline kills them."
"What about the red…"
"Artemis! No interruptions! Now, the royal family also knew how to
draw energy from their lifeline. They often used it in battle. The
princess, Serenity," I point at Usagi," died in childbirth. Now it
is a well-known fact that the first born of the Lunarian royal
family is the only one who can control the silver crystal. Queen
Serenity desperately wanted her child to live and her kingdom to
stay strong."
"But the queen…"
"Artemis I will not tell you again! Anyway, her husband and
Usagi's father had died 8 months before, and she had sought
comfort in the arms of a very rich man. His name was Nathaniel
Glucose, and he ran the company Moon Glue. It gave the many
planets a source of,well glue. Nathaniel was there when Usagi
was born. He had new glue he was experimenting on as he waited
outside for the midwives to let him in. When he heard Serenity's
sob he ran into her room. As he got up he knocked over all his
ingredients, making a mess and new glue. I don't know who thought
of it, I suspect it was myself for I am always coming up with
good ideas."
Luna gave a little sigh while Artemis rolled his eyes and silently
mouthed, "It was the queen." Then Luna started up again.
"So, the idea was that Nathaniel's new glue was used to repair the
baby's broken lifeline and bring her back to life. The lifeline
couldn't sustain much, but it brought the baby back to life. I
remember how the princess was carried to the Empress room, which
was what we called the room where the royals accessed lifelines.
They focused on one's chest area and a hologram-type thing appeared
over an altar in the middle of the room. It was startlingly real,
like you saw the heart and the lines. I mean it was like you cut
open a Lunarian. I'm digressing though, aren't I? So sorry, anyway
there it was found the princess had a RED, yes I was going to
mention it Artemis, a red line around her heart as well as the
broken silver one. As the silver line became more and more frayed
and black looking, the lines became black when one died though it
was a gradual thing, the red line well, it boiled. Bubbles popped
all over it and it started to…decay. To stop the line from fully
turning black, for then the princess might live but she would
never be healthy again the glue was used. As soon as the silver
line was mended all activity with the red line stopped. Everyone
got happy over the alive and well princess, only later was it
discovered that Nathaniel had knocked something into the glue
batch, and the glue that could repair lifelines could never be
replicated. Because Serenity's lifeline was so weak she could
never draw power from it. Queen Serenity didn't want the
Lunarians to think Serenity weak, so she made everyone keep the
event a secret. I was in the room at the time Princess Serenity
was born and I was given permission to tell Artemis. When
Mercury's computer says she is drained it means her lifeline
is slowly breaking again because the attack she did drew power
from her lifeline. She is slowly dying. The line will slowly
break apart then slowly turn black." I looked at the 5 open
mouths and 1 annoyed stare I was receiving. The annoyed stare
was coming from Sailor Moon.
" You make it sound worse than it really is Luna." Sailor Moon
whined softly. Then everyone started talking at once.
"Meatball head, what were you thinking?" from Mars.
"Usagi, what?" from Venus.
"Luna are you positive?" from Mercury.
"What can we do?" from Jupiter.
"How can this be?" from Tuxedo Kamen, a little disbelieving.
"You could have put it a little lighter Luna." from Artemis.
Well, there's only thing to do in a situation like this.
"I AM NOT FINISHED YET." I yelled. They all stared in shock
at me.
" Oh, kitty. I didn't know you had that in you. Come here you
need a hug. Yes you do. Yes you do." Sailor Moon said in baby
talk as she held her arms out to hug me. I backed away and
hissed at her.
" Never talk like that again to me. Hugging me isn't going to
stop me from..mrph.."
"Loving you. I know. Let's all go home now." Sailor Moon said
as she squished me into her arms and tried to stand up. Her
knees folded beneath her as she fell back into Tuxedo Kamen's
arms. I bite her hand and jumped away from her.
"Anyway, before I was so rudely interrupted, at the time
Serenity was born the only planet even close to fighting with
the moon was Nemesis. In order to make sure her daughter would
never fight and try to harness energy from her lifeline, Queen
Serenity betrothed her daughter to the prince of Nemesis,
Demando. If the moon and Nemesis had an alliance she thought
there would be no cause for war. That's one of the reasons
Serenity and Endymion's love was so forbidden. Anyway, what
might interest you is that Nemesis was a moon of Jupiter and
the royal family all had upside down moons on their foreheads.
After Metallia conquered Jupiter, Nemesis flew out of its orbit
and was never seen again."
" Are you saying that our enemies right now might be from this
Nemesis?"
Mercury asked.
" I am positive of it. I also believe that her betrothal to
Demando and her dishonoring it with Endymion might have something
to do with all the monsters sent just to kill her" I said.
" Luna, you've made such a big deal out of nothing. Let's all go
home and get some sleep." Usagi said as she tried to get up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~Jupiter
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~I do believe I was past rage at that point. You see
I cannot face fear, so all my fear turns into anger. And I was
deathly afraid of what Luna had said.
"NOT A BIG DEAL? THIS IS YOUR LIFE. A LOT OF PEOPLE DEPEND ON YOU.
ME, THE SCOUTS, TUEXDO KAMEN, THE WHOLE DAMN UNIVERSE. THIS IS SO
A BIG DEAL." I screamed. Sailor Moon looked at me, and as I looked
at her I didn't see a super heroine. I saw my best friend. I took
a shaky breath.
" Jupiter," she said softly, "Makoto, I had to use what power I
could to keep you all safe. I'm sorry that you guys are stressing.
But it's not the end of the world. I'm going to be fine. Trust me"
" Is she Artemis?" Venus asked. The cat seemed to know as much
about everything as Luna.
He looked up at all of us and said, "I don't know."
That's when the tears started. God I wanted to cry, Venus and
Mercury were. They were right next to Sailor Moon and were silently
crying. There wasn't really anything else to do. As I looked at
Usagi she seemed so tired. I had an overwhelming feeling she
wouldn't survive. I then looked at, Mars we both stood slightly
apart. Mars and I had a silent understanding with each other. We
would not cry. We would be strong for our princess. I looked at
Tuxedo Kamen but his mask revealed nothing. I could see Sailor Moon whispering to him though, how he clutched her so tightly to him,
and his clenched fists. I heard Mars say,
"What can we do?" Mercury and Venus looked up from their silent
weeping and everyone looked at the two felines.
" We could try to get more of that glue." Sailor Moon stated.
"No," Luna sighed," no one knows what Nathaniel put in it. His
glue company died with him. I..."
" Do you know if the chamber in the royal palace where life
lines were able to be seen is still in tact?" Artemis said.
" Now? Why I..I believe it is. Why." Luna asked.
Artemis turned to look up at the moon as he answered,
"Because I know how we can get more moon glue."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Luna
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~I stared in shock at Artemis as everyone else talked
so it was a free-for-all of voices again. I couldn't believe it.
HE knew how to make the life-saving moon glue? How could he
possibly know...
" Tell us what to do." Sailor moon said in a soft voice that had a
steel undercurrent. Everyone stopped talking at the sound of it.
" Do you remember when you were fighting Kunzinite in the
Negaverse, and you relived the last days of the moon kingdom?"
Artemis asked
her.
" Very Well."
" There is a way to use the crystal to do that, but when you are
reliving the days of the Silver Millennium you can control your
actions."
Everyone started talking at once until Sailor Moon held up her
hand. She was being very strong, and that meant she might
break down in seconds.
" I'll do it."
A chorus of "What's" wrung out and Venus said,
" With you already so weak, you can't use the crystal."
"It is the only way. Last time we went back it seemed to everyone
else we had only been gone five minutes." She raised herself out
of Tuxedo Kamen arms and he immediately stood up to steady her.
"It's about 1:00 am, so meet here at 3:00 am tomorrow morning and
tell no one. Nobody will notice we are gone."
"You get up at 3:00 in the morning meatball brain?" Mars taunted.
It was a good way to relieve the tension, and the weirdness of her
acting so strong.
"Yes pyro. Now bring whatever you need in backpacks. Rest
tomor..err..today. See you soon" Sailor Moon said as she
detransformed.
"Wait," Mercury said to Usagi," would it help if you were in scout
form?"
" The breaking of her life line will be slow and almost unstoppable.
Nothing she does physically can help or worsen it." I said.
" Are you sure you are all right." Tuxedo Kamen asked. Sailor Moon
turned to face him and said,
" Yes, Tuexd..."
" Good, without you a lot of innocents might die." With that he was
gone and on the nearest roof.
Usagi sighed and said,
"I thought he might come back to me. Ha..nope. I guess not. See you
tomorrow guys." With that everyone departed. I ran to catch up with
Usagi. I was going to ask her what she possibly could be thinking
when she abruptly turned around.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Artemis
I was slowly making my way towards Minako when I heard Usagi shout
out,
"Artemis, can I talk to you for a second?"
I looked up from where I was to see Usagi coming over to me with
Luna following her. Luna had that look on her face that said
whatever involved Usagi involved her.
"Why do you want to talk to Artemis?" Luna asked.
"I just want to ask him some questions about what's going to
happen."
"I can answer very..."
"Luna, please?"
"Usagi I don't think.."
"Luna." Usagi said sternly. Luna finally gave in as Minako came up
to us.
"Fine, I'll just wait here."
"Thank you Luna." Usagi signaled me to follow her. I did and she led
me to a nearby dark grove of trees encircled by high bushes. About
half way there she yelled," Minako, hold back Luna, will you?" I
turned to see Luna following us and Minako grab her around the
waist. I would have stood and watched if Usagi hadn't come up to
me and said, "It is very important Artemis." I turned around and
we hid ourselves in the bush.
"What's up?" I asked her, having no idea why we were here.
"Artemis I need you help. Pleases don't say anything until I
finish explaining though."
"All right." What was going on?
"Thanks. First I have a question. Did you realize that I was lying?"
"What? When did you..."
"When I said it would seem as if we were gone for five minutes? I
guess I should first tell you that right now, I am absolutely
petrified. I feel as though I'm...being sucked out from the inside.
Does that even make sense? In truth, Luna told me what would happen
if I used my lifeline power, but during the fight something told me
to do it. Artemis, if I let them see how I feel, nothing will work."
"What do you mean nothing will work? They will stand by you if
you're scared. Why wouldn't they?"
"I asked for no interruptions."
"Oh, sorry. I just…"
"Artemis just don't say anything else unless I ask OK?"
"OK."
"Well, I've decided to go alone back to the Silver Millennium. I…"
"Go alone? You can't…"
"Artemis please. NO interruptions."
"Fine."
"As I was saying, I need you to tell me how I can access the power
to go. I know what to do to get no one to notice I'm gone. The
crystal is engraved with something, it looks like Latin, it is
instructions on how to switch places with Serenity, the princess
of the Silver Millennium, if I ever need to."
"Switch places? I've never heard of anything like that."
"Well, it's in Lunarian so I can't read it. I didn't want to show
it to Luna because she never would let me go alone."
"How do you know what it is if you can't read it?"
"I don't know, it's like I can sense its purpose. Sounds like I'm
turning into Rei, huh?"
"No, it sounds like you're becoming a princess." Usagi smiled at
me so sweetly as she took out her compact. She opened it and placed
it in front of me.
"What does it say?" I sighed as I looked up at her. She was being
so brave I was surprised. I knew that it was partly an act, she was
trying to convince me that she was strong enough to go alone. I
looked at face and the resolve that was perfectly clear on it.
"If I translate this for you, you have to promise to take me with
you."
"What? Artemis, I don't even know if I can do that."
"If you can, you have to."
"Why would you want to go at all?"
"You need someone to help you keep up the pretense of being
Serenity. There's a lot you don't know about being a princess."
" I know that, but I can probably just wing it."
"You don't know the cutthroat crowd that hung out at your palace.
Or at least you don't remember them." Usagi smiled then, and I was
pretty sure I would be going. She sighed and sat down next to me
and started petting me.
"I actually am glad you want to go. I was so freaked to go alone.
At least now I have a sidekick!"
"I am not a sidekick, I am an advisor."
"OK, um…whatever you say. Shall we translate now?" She said
patronizingly. I grumbled under my breath as I started to read
the crystal. I had an inkling Usagi was smiling above me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Luna
Minako was sitting on me. I'm not putting it delicately either,
she was humming some stupid song and examining her nails as she
sat on me. I could barely breathe. Everyone else had departed
except us because we were waiting for Usagi and Artemis.
"Mi..pant..Mina…"
"No Luna I won't get off you until Usagi is finished."
"UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Artemis
I had just finished reading the crystal and figuring out what
words I could use to translate the meaning into Japanese when
I heard what Usagi was singing under her breath.
" No Change I can change I can change
I can change but I'm here in my mold
I am here in my mold
and I'm a million different people from one day to the next
I can't change my mold
no no no no no"
"Usagi?"
"Hmm? Oh are you finished?"
"Yes I…what's that?" She had drawn a design in the dirt with
a stick as she was singing. It was two crescent moons whose
points overlapped one another so that one looked upside down.
"Oh nothing, just doodling." As I looked at it more it started
to look more and more familiar. I could have recognized it,
but I tried to focus on the matter at hand for it was of the
utmost importance.
"OK. Well what the crystal says is basically a set of
instructions on how to access the power of the crystal.
It's basically what I thought with a few variations."
" Can you come with?"
"Well anyone could come with actually. The crystal will emit
a circle of light and anyone in the circle goes."
"Really? Than we are all ready."
"Usagi, are you sure you want just us to go. I mean, everyone
could easily go."
"Artemis, I don't want to put them in danger. I'm still
partly against you going."
"Usagi they want to protect you. They would gladly die if
need be."
"That's it. I don't want them to die. Any of them. It is
my life in danger so therefore I will go to save it. I'll
let you go because you helped me. I don't anyone in
danger that doesn't have to be."
"What if you die?"
"That's not going to happen." She looked warn to her last
nerve and I could tell arguing with her wouldn't do any
good.
"OK, you win. Could we at least leave them a note telling
them to look out for the princess and me?"
"Aren't you coming with me?"
"No, I mean Silver Millennium me. If I go with you, my past
self goes with the princess."
"Oh. I guess I should have expected that."
"About the note…"
"Sure, I have a feeling taking care of the princess might
alleviate some of their anger at me for going without them.
Though if they didn't know I was gone at all there would
be no anger."
"Princess Serenity freaking out in the 21st century might
give them an inkling."
"Point taken. I'll leave Luna a note and you leave Minako
one, OK?"
"OK, do we have a plan of action?"
"Yes, meet me here at 1:00 am, two hours earlier than the
group. When they all meet up at three Minako and Luna can
show everyone the notes."
"Sounds good to me." She smiled and we started to go back
to Luna and Minako. I let her slip through the heavy bush
first. As she was about to enter the park area where Minako
and Luna were again she turned and said,
"Thanks Artemis." I gave her what I could of kitty smile
and followed her out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Luna
When I saw Usagi coming out I could have strangled her. I
would have if I hadn't been a cat without opposable thumbs
and at the moment trapped by the weight of one Aino Minako.
"Minako what are you doing?" Usagi came running toward me
with Artemis right behind her. He looked the same as he
did when he went with Usagi. By the secret way she was
acting I was expecting him to be charred or something at
least. Well, he was a little different. Instead of
looking serious he was laughing at ME, can you imagine?
Usagi then ran up to us, Minako and I, and pulled Minako
off me. She scooped me into her arms and I couldn't stop
wheezing. Then, to only add to my humiliation Usagi burst
out laughing. She was doing it so hard I thought she
might drop me.
"Usagi put me down! Stop that caterwauling please!" She
managed to contain her giggles and looked at Minako who
had picked up the laughing Artemis and who herself
looked ready for bed.
"What possessed you to sit on her?" Usagi asked.
" If you're going to do a job, then it's worth doing it
healthy."
"Um, OK. I guess I'll see you two tomorrow then."
"Bye-e." Came from Minako." We headed off in opposite
directions. When we were out of Minako and Artemis' earshot
I started in on Usagi.
"What did you say to Artemis."
"Nothing."
"You were with him for nearly half an hour! I hope you
know during your whole rendezvous I was being sat on.
Such an indignity I don't think I've ever experienced.
What did you feel was so compelling that you had to tell
him in the middle of the night when you could have asked
me at home just as, if not more easily. Do you think he's
smarter than I am? Is that it? I can say truthfully that
Artemis is definitely not, thank you very much."
"Luna calm down, it was nothing."
"Nothing eh?"
"Nothing that concerns you. Can we drop this?"
"Certainly not! I am your guardian. I need to know what
went on in order to protect and guide you as best I can."
A tiny devil had probably settled on Usagi's shoulder and
whispering into her ear by the look she wore. She slowly
turned towards me and said,
"I, high princess of the Silver Millennium, command you,
my advisor, to drop it. Got it?"
"You can't order me."
"I just did. Is that clear?"
"Crystal your highness." I continued to mutter rather
loudly under my breath the rest of the way home.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`LadyLing
The next morning
Usagi got out of bed very quietly so she didn't wake
anyone in her household. It was a miracle she was
even awake, she couldn't risk waking anyone up with
an alarm clock so she had stayed awake all night.
She would have plenty of time to rest once she got there.
She quietly slipped into the seat in front of her desk
and set about writing her note. She tried to make it sound
as cheerful as possible. There was no sense being
melodramatic or anything. After that she went downstairs
and out the door. It was way easier than she had imagined.
Many scenarios had occurred to her of what could go wrong,
but the plan of simply sneaking out had gone off without
a hitch. She ran to the park in her pajamas and looked
around. Artemis wasn't there yet and he had to instruct
her on what to do so she just transformed. In a flash
Sailor Moon stood where Tsukino Usagi once had. Then she
placed her hand on the compact and focused her energy
on the crystal. She was turning into Princess Serenity.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Artemis
As I walked to the park all of my doubts resurfaced in my
mind. I had been a tad melodramatic in my letter to Minako.
OK, maybe more than a tad. But I had no idea what we were
getting into. Sure it's easy to say, "Let's go 1,000 years
back in time," but it's a lot harder to actually get up the
guts to do it. As I turned the corner that led me into the
park I stopped in my tracks. There in front of me stood
Princess Serenity. To tell the truth I was expecting Usagi.
She turned and smiled at me.
"Good, now that you're here we can begin. What do I do."
I shook myself out of my stupor and walked up to her.
"First we have to stand next to each other and face the moon."
We did that. "OK next take out the crystal." She concentrated
and the crystal appeared in her hands.
"Check." Serenity said.
" Now focus on the moon, focus your energy on the moon." When
it appeared she was doing that I gave her the final instruction.
"Repeat after me but no matter what happens don't stop focusing
your energy."
"Got it, let's do it!"
"OK. Capere ego ad eo luna"
"Capere ego ad eo luna"
"Ad id temporis quando ego dominari in lunarian."
"Ad id temporis quando ego dominari in lunarian." As she
said the last word a bright light encircled us and after a
moment it seemed to implode on us. I then felt as if I was
flying past too many things too fast. A pressure was building
up in my head and it was like I was spinning in circles. But
that was only the beginning.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~LadyLing
In a certain apartment in Juuban a young dark-haired man felt
a searing pain in his chest. It felt as if his heart was
pulled out of his body and taken far away, but some part was
still attached to him so that he felt every twist as it was
pulled farther and farther away. Then, just as suddenly, the
pain stopped. He was left with only an aching feeling in his
chest.
paulac@earthlnk.net
Moon Glue 2(PG13) by: LadyLing
Authors Note: I know this has taken an especially long time to write,
but it's here now! You don't have to fret anymore! I'm apologizing
for my first chapter and it's many errors. I wrote it before there
were so many guidelines, and I got away with it! In this chapter,
you'll actually find out what moon glue is! Please send me any kind
of e-mail. Thanks and enjoy!
Disclaimer: Um, these aren't mine, so I'm not a XX-year old
prodigy, so sue me? Actually don't because I'm truly sorry for using
someone else's imagination, but I'd like to thank Naoko Takeuchi
for giving me this little world to play in.
Mamoru
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
" You guys my computer says she's...drained?" Sailor Mercury
finished.
"DRAINED, WHAT THE HELL DOES DRAINED MEAN?" I say. First Sailor Moon
does an attack I've never seen before, then she suddenly passes out,
and even Mercury's computer doesn't know what's wrong with her?
"There's no need to yell, it doesn't actually help any." Venus
states.I don't have a reason to yell? What did she just say? In the
first place I didn't yell. Plus, what I just said should help anyone
understand if I was yelling. Well, actually I thought that, BUT WHAT
DOES THAT MATTER?
"NO NEED TO YELL, I HAVE N..."
"You're hurting my ears." A soft voice interrupts. I look down to
see Sailor Moon staring up at me through slitted eyes.I cradled her
head softly and said, " You scared the bejesus out of me."
She smiled at me and I was about to kiss her to seal the fact she
was OK, when an annoying voice interrupted saying, "It's far from
over."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Luna
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
" Geez Luna you make it sound like something from Star Trek or
something." Artemis drawled. I gave him my best glare and curtly
said,
"It is just the truth. I told this to Usagi before she went into
battle but did she pay any attention to it. Of course not.
Sometimes I really do believe that this is my eternal punishment
for stealing those cans of tuna from the Moon Place. I mean who
misses tuna? I..."
" Ahem..um..Luna, the story?" Ami whispered. I looked up and was
met with all their stares. I was glade they couldn't see my blush
through my black fur.
" Right. Now don't interrupt till I'm finished. First you must now
that every Lunarian has a silver string around their heart. It is
their lifeline. Back during the Silver Millennium there was a
secret in the royal family of how to access this lifeline. It
worked very well in executing criminals, though they had to be
Lunarian. You see cutting a Lunarian lifeline kills them."
"What about the red…"
"Artemis! No interruptions! Now, the royal family also knew how to
draw energy from their lifeline. They often used it in battle. The
princess, Serenity," I point at Usagi," died in childbirth. Now it
is a well-known fact that the first born of the Lunarian royal
family is the only one who can control the silver crystal. Queen
Serenity desperately wanted her child to live and her kingdom to
stay strong."
"But the queen…"
"Artemis I will not tell you again! Anyway, her husband and
Usagi's father had died 8 months before, and she had sought
comfort in the arms of a very rich man. His name was Nathaniel
Glucose, and he ran the company Moon Glue. It gave the many
planets a source of,well glue. Nathaniel was there when Usagi
was born. He had new glue he was experimenting on as he waited
outside for the midwives to let him in. When he heard Serenity's
sob he ran into her room. As he got up he knocked over all his
ingredients, making a mess and new glue. I don't know who thought
of it, I suspect it was myself for I am always coming up with
good ideas."
Luna gave a little sigh while Artemis rolled his eyes and silently
mouthed, "It was the queen." Then Luna started up again.
"So, the idea was that Nathaniel's new glue was used to repair the
baby's broken lifeline and bring her back to life. The lifeline
couldn't sustain much, but it brought the baby back to life. I
remember how the princess was carried to the Empress room, which
was what we called the room where the royals accessed lifelines.
They focused on one's chest area and a hologram-type thing appeared
over an altar in the middle of the room. It was startlingly real,
like you saw the heart and the lines. I mean it was like you cut
open a Lunarian. I'm digressing though, aren't I? So sorry, anyway
there it was found the princess had a RED, yes I was going to
mention it Artemis, a red line around her heart as well as the
broken silver one. As the silver line became more and more frayed
and black looking, the lines became black when one died though it
was a gradual thing, the red line well, it boiled. Bubbles popped
all over it and it started to…decay. To stop the line from fully
turning black, for then the princess might live but she would
never be healthy again the glue was used. As soon as the silver
line was mended all activity with the red line stopped. Everyone
got happy over the alive and well princess, only later was it
discovered that Nathaniel had knocked something into the glue
batch, and the glue that could repair lifelines could never be
replicated. Because Serenity's lifeline was so weak she could
never draw power from it. Queen Serenity didn't want the
Lunarians to think Serenity weak, so she made everyone keep the
event a secret. I was in the room at the time Princess Serenity
was born and I was given permission to tell Artemis. When
Mercury's computer says she is drained it means her lifeline
is slowly breaking again because the attack she did drew power
from her lifeline. She is slowly dying. The line will slowly
break apart then slowly turn black." I looked at the 5 open
mouths and 1 annoyed stare I was receiving. The annoyed stare
was coming from Sailor Moon.
" You make it sound worse than it really is Luna." Sailor Moon
whined softly. Then everyone started talking at once.
"Meatball head, what were you thinking?" from Mars.
"Usagi, what?" from Venus.
"Luna are you positive?" from Mercury.
"What can we do?" from Jupiter.
"How can this be?" from Tuxedo Kamen, a little disbelieving.
"You could have put it a little lighter Luna." from Artemis.
Well, there's only thing to do in a situation like this.
"I AM NOT FINISHED YET." I yelled. They all stared in shock
at me.
" Oh, kitty. I didn't know you had that in you. Come here you
need a hug. Yes you do. Yes you do." Sailor Moon said in baby
talk as she held her arms out to hug me. I backed away and
hissed at her.
" Never talk like that again to me. Hugging me isn't going to
stop me from..mrph.."
"Loving you. I know. Let's all go home now." Sailor Moon said
as she squished me into her arms and tried to stand up. Her
knees folded beneath her as she fell back into Tuxedo Kamen's
arms. I bite her hand and jumped away from her.
"Anyway, before I was so rudely interrupted, at the time
Serenity was born the only planet even close to fighting with
the moon was Nemesis. In order to make sure her daughter would
never fight and try to harness energy from her lifeline, Queen
Serenity betrothed her daughter to the prince of Nemesis,
Demando. If the moon and Nemesis had an alliance she thought
there would be no cause for war. That's one of the reasons
Serenity and Endymion's love was so forbidden. Anyway, what
might interest you is that Nemesis was a moon of Jupiter and
the royal family all had upside down moons on their foreheads.
After Metallia conquered Jupiter, Nemesis flew out of its orbit
and was never seen again."
" Are you saying that our enemies right now might be from this
Nemesis?"
Mercury asked.
" I am positive of it. I also believe that her betrothal to
Demando and her dishonoring it with Endymion might have something
to do with all the monsters sent just to kill her" I said.
" Luna, you've made such a big deal out of nothing. Let's all go
home and get some sleep." Usagi said as she tried to get up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~Jupiter
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~I do believe I was past rage at that point. You see
I cannot face fear, so all my fear turns into anger. And I was
deathly afraid of what Luna had said.
"NOT A BIG DEAL? THIS IS YOUR LIFE. A LOT OF PEOPLE DEPEND ON YOU.
ME, THE SCOUTS, TUEXDO KAMEN, THE WHOLE DAMN UNIVERSE. THIS IS SO
A BIG DEAL." I screamed. Sailor Moon looked at me, and as I looked
at her I didn't see a super heroine. I saw my best friend. I took
a shaky breath.
" Jupiter," she said softly, "Makoto, I had to use what power I
could to keep you all safe. I'm sorry that you guys are stressing.
But it's not the end of the world. I'm going to be fine. Trust me"
" Is she Artemis?" Venus asked. The cat seemed to know as much
about everything as Luna.
He looked up at all of us and said, "I don't know."
That's when the tears started. God I wanted to cry, Venus and
Mercury were. They were right next to Sailor Moon and were silently
crying. There wasn't really anything else to do. As I looked at
Usagi she seemed so tired. I had an overwhelming feeling she
wouldn't survive. I then looked at, Mars we both stood slightly
apart. Mars and I had a silent understanding with each other. We
would not cry. We would be strong for our princess. I looked at
Tuxedo Kamen but his mask revealed nothing. I could see Sailor Moon whispering to him though, how he clutched her so tightly to him,
and his clenched fists. I heard Mars say,
"What can we do?" Mercury and Venus looked up from their silent
weeping and everyone looked at the two felines.
" We could try to get more of that glue." Sailor Moon stated.
"No," Luna sighed," no one knows what Nathaniel put in it. His
glue company died with him. I..."
" Do you know if the chamber in the royal palace where life
lines were able to be seen is still in tact?" Artemis said.
" Now? Why I..I believe it is. Why." Luna asked.
Artemis turned to look up at the moon as he answered,
"Because I know how we can get more moon glue."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Luna
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~I stared in shock at Artemis as everyone else talked
so it was a free-for-all of voices again. I couldn't believe it.
HE knew how to make the life-saving moon glue? How could he
possibly know...
" Tell us what to do." Sailor moon said in a soft voice that had a
steel undercurrent. Everyone stopped talking at the sound of it.
" Do you remember when you were fighting Kunzinite in the
Negaverse, and you relived the last days of the moon kingdom?"
Artemis asked
her.
" Very Well."
" There is a way to use the crystal to do that, but when you are
reliving the days of the Silver Millennium you can control your
actions."
Everyone started talking at once until Sailor Moon held up her
hand. She was being very strong, and that meant she might
break down in seconds.
" I'll do it."
A chorus of "What's" wrung out and Venus said,
" With you already so weak, you can't use the crystal."
"It is the only way. Last time we went back it seemed to everyone
else we had only been gone five minutes." She raised herself out
of Tuxedo Kamen arms and he immediately stood up to steady her.
"It's about 1:00 am, so meet here at 3:00 am tomorrow morning and
tell no one. Nobody will notice we are gone."
"You get up at 3:00 in the morning meatball brain?" Mars taunted.
It was a good way to relieve the tension, and the weirdness of her
acting so strong.
"Yes pyro. Now bring whatever you need in backpacks. Rest
tomor..err..today. See you soon" Sailor Moon said as she
detransformed.
"Wait," Mercury said to Usagi," would it help if you were in scout
form?"
" The breaking of her life line will be slow and almost unstoppable.
Nothing she does physically can help or worsen it." I said.
" Are you sure you are all right." Tuxedo Kamen asked. Sailor Moon
turned to face him and said,
" Yes, Tuexd..."
" Good, without you a lot of innocents might die." With that he was
gone and on the nearest roof.
Usagi sighed and said,
"I thought he might come back to me. Ha..nope. I guess not. See you
tomorrow guys." With that everyone departed. I ran to catch up with
Usagi. I was going to ask her what she possibly could be thinking
when she abruptly turned around.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Artemis
I was slowly making my way towards Minako when I heard Usagi shout
out,
"Artemis, can I talk to you for a second?"
I looked up from where I was to see Usagi coming over to me with
Luna following her. Luna had that look on her face that said
whatever involved Usagi involved her.
"Why do you want to talk to Artemis?" Luna asked.
"I just want to ask him some questions about what's going to
happen."
"I can answer very..."
"Luna, please?"
"Usagi I don't think.."
"Luna." Usagi said sternly. Luna finally gave in as Minako came up
to us.
"Fine, I'll just wait here."
"Thank you Luna." Usagi signaled me to follow her. I did and she led
me to a nearby dark grove of trees encircled by high bushes. About
half way there she yelled," Minako, hold back Luna, will you?" I
turned to see Luna following us and Minako grab her around the
waist. I would have stood and watched if Usagi hadn't come up to
me and said, "It is very important Artemis." I turned around and
we hid ourselves in the bush.
"What's up?" I asked her, having no idea why we were here.
"Artemis I need you help. Pleases don't say anything until I
finish explaining though."
"All right." What was going on?
"Thanks. First I have a question. Did you realize that I was lying?"
"What? When did you..."
"When I said it would seem as if we were gone for five minutes? I
guess I should first tell you that right now, I am absolutely
petrified. I feel as though I'm...being sucked out from the inside.
Does that even make sense? In truth, Luna told me what would happen
if I used my lifeline power, but during the fight something told me
to do it. Artemis, if I let them see how I feel, nothing will work."
"What do you mean nothing will work? They will stand by you if
you're scared. Why wouldn't they?"
"I asked for no interruptions."
"Oh, sorry. I just…"
"Artemis just don't say anything else unless I ask OK?"
"OK."
"Well, I've decided to go alone back to the Silver Millennium. I…"
"Go alone? You can't…"
"Artemis please. NO interruptions."
"Fine."
"As I was saying, I need you to tell me how I can access the power
to go. I know what to do to get no one to notice I'm gone. The
crystal is engraved with something, it looks like Latin, it is
instructions on how to switch places with Serenity, the princess
of the Silver Millennium, if I ever need to."
"Switch places? I've never heard of anything like that."
"Well, it's in Lunarian so I can't read it. I didn't want to show
it to Luna because she never would let me go alone."
"How do you know what it is if you can't read it?"
"I don't know, it's like I can sense its purpose. Sounds like I'm
turning into Rei, huh?"
"No, it sounds like you're becoming a princess." Usagi smiled at
me so sweetly as she took out her compact. She opened it and placed
it in front of me.
"What does it say?" I sighed as I looked up at her. She was being
so brave I was surprised. I knew that it was partly an act, she was
trying to convince me that she was strong enough to go alone. I
looked at face and the resolve that was perfectly clear on it.
"If I translate this for you, you have to promise to take me with
you."
"What? Artemis, I don't even know if I can do that."
"If you can, you have to."
"Why would you want to go at all?"
"You need someone to help you keep up the pretense of being
Serenity. There's a lot you don't know about being a princess."
" I know that, but I can probably just wing it."
"You don't know the cutthroat crowd that hung out at your palace.
Or at least you don't remember them." Usagi smiled then, and I was
pretty sure I would be going. She sighed and sat down next to me
and started petting me.
"I actually am glad you want to go. I was so freaked to go alone.
At least now I have a sidekick!"
"I am not a sidekick, I am an advisor."
"OK, um…whatever you say. Shall we translate now?" She said
patronizingly. I grumbled under my breath as I started to read
the crystal. I had an inkling Usagi was smiling above me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Luna
Minako was sitting on me. I'm not putting it delicately either,
she was humming some stupid song and examining her nails as she
sat on me. I could barely breathe. Everyone else had departed
except us because we were waiting for Usagi and Artemis.
"Mi..pant..Mina…"
"No Luna I won't get off you until Usagi is finished."
"UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Artemis
I had just finished reading the crystal and figuring out what
words I could use to translate the meaning into Japanese when
I heard what Usagi was singing under her breath.
" No Change I can change I can change
I can change but I'm here in my mold
I am here in my mold
and I'm a million different people from one day to the next
I can't change my mold
no no no no no"
"Usagi?"
"Hmm? Oh are you finished?"
"Yes I…what's that?" She had drawn a design in the dirt with
a stick as she was singing. It was two crescent moons whose
points overlapped one another so that one looked upside down.
"Oh nothing, just doodling." As I looked at it more it started
to look more and more familiar. I could have recognized it,
but I tried to focus on the matter at hand for it was of the
utmost importance.
"OK. Well what the crystal says is basically a set of
instructions on how to access the power of the crystal.
It's basically what I thought with a few variations."
" Can you come with?"
"Well anyone could come with actually. The crystal will emit
a circle of light and anyone in the circle goes."
"Really? Than we are all ready."
"Usagi, are you sure you want just us to go. I mean, everyone
could easily go."
"Artemis, I don't want to put them in danger. I'm still
partly against you going."
"Usagi they want to protect you. They would gladly die if
need be."
"That's it. I don't want them to die. Any of them. It is
my life in danger so therefore I will go to save it. I'll
let you go because you helped me. I don't anyone in
danger that doesn't have to be."
"What if you die?"
"That's not going to happen." She looked warn to her last
nerve and I could tell arguing with her wouldn't do any
good.
"OK, you win. Could we at least leave them a note telling
them to look out for the princess and me?"
"Aren't you coming with me?"
"No, I mean Silver Millennium me. If I go with you, my past
self goes with the princess."
"Oh. I guess I should have expected that."
"About the note…"
"Sure, I have a feeling taking care of the princess might
alleviate some of their anger at me for going without them.
Though if they didn't know I was gone at all there would
be no anger."
"Princess Serenity freaking out in the 21st century might
give them an inkling."
"Point taken. I'll leave Luna a note and you leave Minako
one, OK?"
"OK, do we have a plan of action?"
"Yes, meet me here at 1:00 am, two hours earlier than the
group. When they all meet up at three Minako and Luna can
show everyone the notes."
"Sounds good to me." She smiled and we started to go back
to Luna and Minako. I let her slip through the heavy bush
first. As she was about to enter the park area where Minako
and Luna were again she turned and said,
"Thanks Artemis." I gave her what I could of kitty smile
and followed her out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Luna
When I saw Usagi coming out I could have strangled her. I
would have if I hadn't been a cat without opposable thumbs
and at the moment trapped by the weight of one Aino Minako.
"Minako what are you doing?" Usagi came running toward me
with Artemis right behind her. He looked the same as he
did when he went with Usagi. By the secret way she was
acting I was expecting him to be charred or something at
least. Well, he was a little different. Instead of
looking serious he was laughing at ME, can you imagine?
Usagi then ran up to us, Minako and I, and pulled Minako
off me. She scooped me into her arms and I couldn't stop
wheezing. Then, to only add to my humiliation Usagi burst
out laughing. She was doing it so hard I thought she
might drop me.
"Usagi put me down! Stop that caterwauling please!" She
managed to contain her giggles and looked at Minako who
had picked up the laughing Artemis and who herself
looked ready for bed.
"What possessed you to sit on her?" Usagi asked.
" If you're going to do a job, then it's worth doing it
healthy."
"Um, OK. I guess I'll see you two tomorrow then."
"Bye-e." Came from Minako." We headed off in opposite
directions. When we were out of Minako and Artemis' earshot
I started in on Usagi.
"What did you say to Artemis."
"Nothing."
"You were with him for nearly half an hour! I hope you
know during your whole rendezvous I was being sat on.
Such an indignity I don't think I've ever experienced.
What did you feel was so compelling that you had to tell
him in the middle of the night when you could have asked
me at home just as, if not more easily. Do you think he's
smarter than I am? Is that it? I can say truthfully that
Artemis is definitely not, thank you very much."
"Luna calm down, it was nothing."
"Nothing eh?"
"Nothing that concerns you. Can we drop this?"
"Certainly not! I am your guardian. I need to know what
went on in order to protect and guide you as best I can."
A tiny devil had probably settled on Usagi's shoulder and
whispering into her ear by the look she wore. She slowly
turned towards me and said,
"I, high princess of the Silver Millennium, command you,
my advisor, to drop it. Got it?"
"You can't order me."
"I just did. Is that clear?"
"Crystal your highness." I continued to mutter rather
loudly under my breath the rest of the way home.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`LadyLing
The next morning
Usagi got out of bed very quietly so she didn't wake
anyone in her household. It was a miracle she was
even awake, she couldn't risk waking anyone up with
an alarm clock so she had stayed awake all night.
She would have plenty of time to rest once she got there.
She quietly slipped into the seat in front of her desk
and set about writing her note. She tried to make it sound
as cheerful as possible. There was no sense being
melodramatic or anything. After that she went downstairs
and out the door. It was way easier than she had imagined.
Many scenarios had occurred to her of what could go wrong,
but the plan of simply sneaking out had gone off without
a hitch. She ran to the park in her pajamas and looked
around. Artemis wasn't there yet and he had to instruct
her on what to do so she just transformed. In a flash
Sailor Moon stood where Tsukino Usagi once had. Then she
placed her hand on the compact and focused her energy
on the crystal. She was turning into Princess Serenity.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Artemis
As I walked to the park all of my doubts resurfaced in my
mind. I had been a tad melodramatic in my letter to Minako.
OK, maybe more than a tad. But I had no idea what we were
getting into. Sure it's easy to say, "Let's go 1,000 years
back in time," but it's a lot harder to actually get up the
guts to do it. As I turned the corner that led me into the
park I stopped in my tracks. There in front of me stood
Princess Serenity. To tell the truth I was expecting Usagi.
She turned and smiled at me.
"Good, now that you're here we can begin. What do I do."
I shook myself out of my stupor and walked up to her.
"First we have to stand next to each other and face the moon."
We did that. "OK next take out the crystal." She concentrated
and the crystal appeared in her hands.
"Check." Serenity said.
" Now focus on the moon, focus your energy on the moon." When
it appeared she was doing that I gave her the final instruction.
"Repeat after me but no matter what happens don't stop focusing
your energy."
"Got it, let's do it!"
"OK. Capere ego ad eo luna"
"Capere ego ad eo luna"
"Ad id temporis quando ego dominari in lunarian."
"Ad id temporis quando ego dominari in lunarian." As she
said the last word a bright light encircled us and after a
moment it seemed to implode on us. I then felt as if I was
flying past too many things too fast. A pressure was building
up in my head and it was like I was spinning in circles. But
that was only the beginning.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~LadyLing
In a certain apartment in Juuban a young dark-haired man felt
a searing pain in his chest. It felt as if his heart was
pulled out of his body and taken far away, but some part was
still attached to him so that he felt every twist as it was
pulled farther and farther away. Then, just as suddenly, the
pain stopped. He was left with only an aching feeling in his
chest.