Bunny drifted through sleep, lulled by the gentle, piping music that had accompanied her since… well since the Dream. Tonight was no different than the rest, yet she had a sense of frustration, being stymied… there was something she wanted, or maybe needed, to do…
Fighting through the music was like trying to run in waist-deep water, but she pushed gamely through, feeling only a small twinge of guilt. It seemed selfish to throw off the anonymous protection of the music- yet some deep-buried feeling was telling her she had to.
She emerged, as if from a hazy cloud into the garden of roses. The shrine was ahead, a figure on the steps looked up then ran towards her. Uncertainly she fell back.
You musn't come here anymore. The young man stopped a few meters away from her, and she was at the same time relieved and disappointed. As you value your life, stay with Peruru. I will come for you.
She found herself losing her grip on the dream-garden, those final words echoing in her ears as she slipped into wakefulness. She was unsure whether they were reassurance or threat.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"My lord…" Zephyr started, not looking up from his kneeling position. His fellows in servitude ranged in their customary semi-circle around the throne just behind him.
"Be still." His master's voice was cold and emotionless, and the red star pulsed ominously on the brow of his headdress. "I grow tired of constant failures and excuses." Zephyr tried not to cringe. "You are all inept… but I have accepted that." The hazel eyes, which always seemed almost soft in the calm, haughty face, passed briefly from man to man.
"Zephyr, you have a sharp, well-ordered mind, but the most brilliant of schemes mean nothing if you are unable to adjust to new variables." Zephyr nodded slowly. "However," the lord continued, "I saved your life for a purpose. None of you are without use to me." So saying, he held up the round crystal that he wore on a slender chain around his neck.
It was the same jewel that had encased the captured senshi's spirit-crystal, but where it once had been glass-clear, it was now a cloudy red. The flame which shimmered within it was still as vibrantly active, but seemed smaller, almost subdued. The man stroked the crystal with slender fingers, and the light within flared somewhat, as if protesting his touch. "My lady Juno, would you care to join us?"
Movement stirred the shadows in the doorway of the room, a tall, slender figure stepped forth. The woman wore a long silk dress, shimmering between jade and black as she moved. It accentuated her willowy figure, and her fluid green hair, which hung loose except for a silver headband. A ruby pendant of a four-point star glimmered on her chest, flame-like in the red light that bathed the room. Emerald cuffs at her wrists completed the effect, as she inclined her head towards the central figure in the room. "I am at your service, my lord."
Zephyr felt keenly aware of a certain smugness about the other three men. They had, after all, been responsible for the capture of the unawakened senshi. Nonetheless, this strange manner and compliance was unheard of in one lacking a spirit-crystal. His eyes flickered to the jewel in his lord's hand. Despite himself, Zephyr was intrigued. "My lord…?" He let his query hang in the air, not yet willing to dare anything more concrete.
Half a smile touched the pale man's lips. "Don't be afraid to seek knowledge, Zephyr. You are all, after all, still my students; though it has been long since we addressed each other in that manner." He paused a moment, before continuing, and when he did, his voice seemed to slip into a mode it was more accustomed to than that of lord.
"You were going ask about the lady Juno, were you not? I'm sure you've noticed a discrepancy between her behavior and that of our… other guest. Lady Juno is merely the end-product of a technique I have been perfecting for some time." He raised the smoky red sphere. "This spirit-crystal has been very carefully divided. Part of it has been returned to its owner, while the rest remains in my keeping. The procedure is time-consuming, but it is enough to change one of the spiritless from a mindless animatron to a willing servant."
The four men took a moment to absorb that. "Does she retain her senshi powers?" Aquilo asked suddenly.
They were all startled when the woman replied. "I do. They may manifest in different ways, but my capacity remains the same."
Austeri grinned his green eyes alight. "One of theirs, working for us- now that's priceless!" His smile froze as the sleek young woman moved to stand directly in front of him.
"I am not 'one of theirs' nor am I working for you. If I have the misfortune to wind up working with you, I trust you'll keep that in mind," she said coldly.
Eurius let out a low whistle. "Austeri got told," he muttered quietly. Aquilo and Zephyr looked momentarily like they were suppressing laughter. The butt of the joke glared balefully at them.
Lady Juno raised an arch eyebrow, then returned her attention to the focus of the room. "What do you wish of me, my lord?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The three girls gathered in Bunny's room again the following day. Cerecere and Pallapalla were having a rather involved argument on the subject of pencil erasers, while Bunny, who hadn't realized strong feelings on that matter were possible, took advantage of her friends' distraction to speak privately with Diana.
"So there's one more senshi out there somewhere… Where do senshi come from, anyway?"
"Well, your parents originally lived long ago on their guardian planets."
"Wait- wait a minute- Mom and Dad?"
Diana shook her head. "Not the parents you have now. Like your true parents, you were reborn into this time, though for different reasons."
""Reborn…?' I died?!"
"Actually, no. Your parents did, long ago, when a war between Earth and the Moon destroyed both cultures. Your parents were given a second chance, and reborn into this time. You yourself were not born until long after this time, in an era known as the silver millennium."
Bunny blinked. "You're telling me I'm from the future?"
Diana twitched her tail. "I know it's hard to understand. When you were sent back, you lost all your memories of that time so you could be reborn."
"Actually…" Bunny flashed on the series of weird feelings she'd been having… "I can almost accept that. So where are my 'true' parents, if they're in this time too?"
"Er… we don't know. If they were where they're supposed to be, you'd have an older sister right now."
Bunny tried to sort through that rather cryptic remark. "So you're saying… my parents… Usagi would be my sister?"
Diana looked sharply at her. "You used her name."
"I did? Wait a minute… Usagi's my name." Bunny held her head. "Ooh… headache. There are way too many conflicting points involved in this."
"Time travel will do that for you," Diana commented wryly.
"Hey!" Bunny said suddenly. "If I've forgotten everything how come you remember it all?"
Diana looked affronted. "I am a cat," she said, as if that explained it.
Bunny didn't ask.
Just then, the doorbell rang. "I'll get it!" Pallapalla cried, breaking off her argument, and releasing Cerecere from her stranglehold. She disappeared out the doorway, and returned with Vestavi in tow.
Cerecere looked up, still brushing herself off. "Hi, Vesves. Isn't it pack-up day?"
Vesves ran a hand through her red hair. "I got fired. It was kinda difficult to explain how the lion and tiger had gotten out, and exactly how they had been hurt."
Cerecere looked dismayed. "Oh no! Vesves, I'm really sorry-"
The other girl raised a hand to stop the flow. "Not your fault. Besides, I needed a vacation… I was getting pretty far behind on my schoolwork, and a hardship will only get you so far with the school boards." She grinned suddenly. "I registered at your high school. We're going to be students together!"
Pallapalla made a face. "I hate private school. Maybe I should enroll in your high school, too."
Diana cleared her throat. "If you all are ready to begin…?"
Vesves dropped down onto the bed. "Talking cats… I definitely wasn't dreaming. So you guys… I mean, we're like super heroes or something? We get to kick bad guy tail and all?"
Diana smiled. "Something like that. You three are part of the Asteroid Senshi, the four sailors who defend the Earth and moon princess."
"Moon princess?"
"That would be Bunny."
They all turned to look at her. She blushed. "Not my idea. Diana, who is the enemy? And why was I- was I sent from the future or whatever?" That provoked another strange look from the other three.
Diana shook her head, twitching in ear. "We don't know who they are, or even what they want. All we know is that something happening in this time was causing disruptions in the future world- and with the time guardian gone, it could be almost anything."
"Setsuna?!" Bunny blurted out. She didn't know where the name came from, but it conjured up the face of a smiling, emerald haired woman, and Bunny felt a pang of disquiet.
Diana regarded her speculatively. "It would seem your memories are coming back… and far faster than anyone expected."
"What happened to… to the time guardian?" Bunny managed to ask.
"She disappeared. And since Sailor Pluto is perhaps the most powerful of the senshi; that bodes very ill."
Cerecere flopped back onto a pillow and stared at the ceiling. "Sometimes I think I'll just wake up from all this and go downstairs and have some ice cream."
"Sounds like a pipedream to me," Pallapalla commented sardonically.
Bunny stood up. Pipedream… Piping music in her dreams…. Stay with Peruru… Dream/Pipe/Peruru!- She ran to her bedside table and started rummaging through the drawers. "Where is it? I know I put it in here somewhere…"
"Put what, Bunny?" Cerecere asked, disturbed by her friend's somewhat psychotic behavior.
"Is she on medication?" Vesves asked her quietly.
"Rrrgh… I'm sure it's here…" Bunny ignored them. There was something, something just beyond her grasp… Her hand closed around a long, curving tube. She drew out a glittering, spiral pipe and held it up. Her friends fell silent. "Peruru gave this to me," she said quietly. "But… not in this lifetime. How is it possible, Diana?" She turned bewildered eyes toward the small feline.
"Dream Faeries are not strictly bound by the laws of this universe…"
"Who's Peruru? And what's a dream faerie?" Pallapalla asked.
Bunny stared bemusedly at the pipe. "Someone I helped… once. He's been watching over my dreams. The enemy tried to attack me through them- it must have been real, and not just my imagination! Something really did try to kill me!" She shivered.
"The enemy got into your dreams? And actually attacked you through them?" Diana quizzed her, looking disturbed. "But that would mean… Bunny did you see a face?"
"I try to remember… but when I get to that part, it's like there's this whole in my memory, and I can't! All I can see is this horrible red light. Oh and something… someone says they'll come for me."
"Bunny that's awful!" Cerecere gasped. "Why didn't you tell anyone?"
"I thought it was just a nightmare. A really, really bad one. But you know, nerves and all." She shrugged, then returned the pipe carefully to its drawer. "So what happens next?"
"We wait I guess," Cerecere said. "I meant to tell you. I thought about it later, and Vesves recognized us. That means we still don't know whether we're anticipating them, or they're following us."
Pallapalla groaned and fell over. "I hope the fifth senshi is better at this than us. 'Cause we could seriously use some help.
Vesves chucked a pillow at her. "Well, we all knew, you needed it," she joked, then had to jump to avoid a flying ceramic pig. A full-blown mock battle erupted.
Bunny joined in, laughing. I know I should be worried. But somehow right now, I can't help but just be happy! I guess even warrior princesses need to take a break once in a while!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Lady Juno bowed ceremoniously. "All will be as you wish my lord. The sailor senshi won't know what hit them."