Amidst the Mare Serenitatis, a group of young women gather to give, and receive, a sacred item. Written for the 30th Anniversary of the Holy Sword and in celebration of the Inner Senshi and Sailor Quartet.
A/N: This fic is a gift for Heavenly Pearl and Manga-chan.
At the very heart of the Sea of Serenity, four teenage girls traversed the Moon Castle grounds. The pillars of the castle looked to be Greco-Roman in their design, but of course were far older and shone with a bright silver light.
The illumination however, grew more subdued when they neared the Chamber of Prayer. In ancient times, the chamber was reserved exclusively for the Queen, but times had long since changed. Entering the chamber they approached a tall, proud tower of glittering crystal.
Their eyes went wide.
"What… What is that?" said a girl with fuschia hair. She stood at the forefront of the quartet, clearly their leader. She was pointing to a plinth a few feet in front of the tower. And embedded at the top of the plinth was a strange stone sword.
The weapon seemed to be a broadsword of some kind, with unearthly writing running down the blade. The grip was almost like a thick arrow that ended with a circular pommel. The crossguard was ornate with two crescent moons at the top and bottom of it, one opening up to the grip and other to the blade itself. At the heart of the crossguard was a series of five circles, four smaller ones orbiting a larger one at the centre.
"The weapon has many names." From behind a pillar stepped a woman in a stylized sailor uniform, her skirt and neckerchief both a vivid red. "The Holy Sword. The Holy Blade. The Sword of the Silver Millennium. And the Sacred Sword of Legend."
"No matter what is called though, its destiny is always the same: to protect the Princess of the Silver Millennium." Another woman in a similar uniform appeared, her skirt and neckerchief green.
"Over the millennia, this sword has hardened into a material that is found nowhere else but here, on our mother Moon," explained yet another woman. Her skirt and neckerchief was of the same pale blue hue as her hair. "It is strong enough to shatter diamonds and in times of need will display a spell of sealing. Such a spell was integral in the downfall of Queen Metalia and her Dark Kingdom long, long ago."
"And it also finished off Queen Beryl herself once and for all." The fourth and final speaker emerged and stood directly behind the plinth. She walked with a commanding confidence beyond the others. Like the girl who had first spotted the sword, she was clearly the leader of the foursome.
She extended her hand and pulled the sword from the plinth, revealing a kind of four pointed star affixed a little way from the weapon's point, a star decorated with the same series of five circles.
"This sword belongs to the four Sailor Senshi who directly guard the Princess. Which means…" The Senshi leader moved the blade into a horizontal position, gripping it carefully with her other hand and extending it out. "It belongs to you four."
Four gasps resounded through the air.
"You can't be serious?"
"We could never accept such a hallowed item."
"You four are legends."
"The sword-" The leader of the girls cut herself off; she had locked eyes with her 'counterpart'. Slowly, tentatively, she reached out and took the sword for herself. "It's…It's heavy," she remarked.
"Such is the responsibility you bear," replied the Senshi leader. The girl gulped slightly, but maintained her composure.
BEEP! BEEP!
The quartet opened up their wrist communicators where they were greeted by the visual display of an elegant feline with a crescent moon 'smile' upon her forehead.
"There's a commotion in Tsukishima, we could use your help!"
"We're on it Phoebe. We won't let the Princess down. Or the kingdom." She looked up from her communicator, staring intently at the four Senshi. "Or you." Though merely fourteen, the girl's voice was far harder than the sword she now wielded. "I promise, we'll make you proud."
At the girl's whisper the Senshi leader gave an approving nod and stood back, her three comrades flocking to her side. Together they watched the teenagers transform, then raise the sword aloft and teleport back to Earth.
"We know you will," said the Senshi leader.
"Just as we knew."
At the sound of the new voice, the four Senshi whirled around.
Behind them, they beheld a woman who, whilst elderly, had clearly aged gracefully, her hair a faded gold rather than grey, and her sky blue eyes still twinkling with mischief. Three more, equally glamorous senior citizens emerged from the shadows and joined her side.
"And you made us proud today too," continued Venus with a slightly wrinkled smile. Sailor Ceres smiled back.
Together, the Sailor Quartet and the retired Inner Senshi gathered around the plinth and watched the Earth rise in the distance, knowing the planet, and the entire Silver Millennium, would always be in safe hands.
A/N: This story went through a bit of an evolution and funnily enough I remember exactly where I was when that process began. I was in Leicester Square underground station in central London, waiting to meet Moonchildoh8, one of the many people I have befriended through the Moonlight Legends discord.*
It was whilst waiting for her I realised, with horror, that I had neglected to dream up a story for the Holy Sword (my personal preferred name/translation for it). I hadn't even included it in ANY of the fics I was planning to write at that time. The sword was a BIG deal in the Dark Kingdom arc and kinda sorta reappeared in a few adaptations of Sailor Moon (noticeably Crystal, PGSM and SeraMyu but NOT the original anime). As such, it felt to me like a big omission on my part.
But how do you write a story about an object? And one that isn't even a personal possession for one of the characters, like Mamoru's pocket watch for example?
My initial idea was to simply include it in a story where I list of ALL the Senshi's attacks and transformations.
But then one day en route to my job (pizza prison) it hit me. The sword is supposed to protect the princess, but what if that is specific not to Usagi/Serenity but rather whomever the princess may be at any given time. In other words, it belongs to Minako and the Inner Senshi only so long as Usagi is the Princess of the Moon Kingdom but not yet the Queen, meaning it MUST be passed down to the guardians of the NEXT princess, Chibiusa.
A sword being passed down seemed like a winner to me and it was a way for me to acknowledge the Sailor Quartet too. But when I came to actually write it I felt it was a bit empty. I suppose 'Hey Sailor Quartet, this belongs to you now' would have been good enough. But I just felt there needed to be a bit more 'oomph'.
And whilst writing the fic it hit me. What if the sword is ALREADY in the possession of the quartet and the twist is that it's being given to whomever the NEXT generation of Senshi are, the hypothetical guardians of Chibiusa's child? I love me a twist if you can't tell lol.
I still wanted to pay homage to the Inners though and was going to have like 2 versions of the story, one ending with the Inners handing the sword over and the other the Quartet, the idea being history was repeating itself. But including the elderly Inners I had already established in my other fics seemed more natural and I infinitely prefer this version now.
*'Moonlight Legends' is a discord dedicated to sharing all sorts of Sailor Moon fanworks, including other fanfics. If you would like to join so you can share your own work, get help with your current projects or just connect to other fan creators shoot me a PM and I'll send you an invite. All are welcome!
