Sailor Earth
Part Five: Aurora
"Minna, I'm glad you could make it," Rei stated to the five people and two cats gathered in her bedroom at the Hikawa Shrine, her voice serious. Sunlight poured in through the windows, filling the room with warmth and light. The door was shut so no one could overhear their private conversation about . . . well . . . the usual. Minako and Makoto sat next to each other cross-legged on the bed, Artemis in Minako's lap. Usagi leaned back against the side of the bed beneath Makoto, Mamoru sitting on her left, his arm resting around her shoulders, Luna sitting in his lap. Ami sat on a chair at the foot of the bed, hands folded quietly in her lap. They watched Rei intently. The priestess knelt on the green mat alongside the bed, looking regal in her shrine robes. Her violet eyes stared down at her hands, which rested within the red folds which covered her knees.
"Um, sorry Chibiusa-chan couldn't make it," Usagi piped up in order to break the tension. "She had a real bad headache and opted to stay home."
"Poor kid," Minako said, ponderingly. "She must have really gone through a lot in the future."
"Mm-hmm," from Rei.
Silence again.
"Rei, what's this about?" Ami ventured to ask after the silence had stretched on for a few minutes. "And where are the Outers?"
"Well . . ." the exotic beauty murmured as she kneaded her robes nervously, speaking faster and faster as the anxiety she felt crept into her speech, "that's the first problem. You see, I had a premonition last night and did a fire reading this morning, and, well. . ."
Odd, the others thought. Normally, Rei didn't get so flustered. Something must be really wrong . . .
"Well . . . they're gone."
"Gone?" Makoto asked incredulously as shock displayed itself clearly on the faces of the others. Usagi's face was filled with concern for her friends. "How do you mean, gone?"
"Well . . . perhaps I better explain the dream first."
The others nodded, hanging on to her every word.
The priestess made a huge effort to compose herself, straightening her shoulders and looking her friends squarely in the eyes, her violet ones flashing back and forth from one set of eyes to another as she told her story in a voice of ice.
"I dreamt that the Queen of the Future was in great trouble. I saw her, beautiful as I last remembered her, smiling and holding Chibiusa-or, rather, Small Lady-by the hand and walking in a deep expanse of blackness. The Silver Crystal rested on her chest, glowing in a kaleidoscope of silver shades. Behind her, in the blackness . . ."
Here the Spirit of the Flame shuddered at the memory, and Usagi moved out from under her boyfriend's arm to comfort her. However, the priestess, being true to her nature, squared her shoulders fiercely and went on before Usagi reached her, fire now blazing deep within her eyes.
"From the blackness came a shock of red lightning that raced across the sky in a quick flare. Serenity turned to stone as Chibiusa-chan vanished. The Silver Crystal remained bright on her chest for just a moment before shattering into dust."
Slight fear crept into her voice. "The statue of Serenity crumbled and collapsed inward into a silver spark, and four orbs of light-gray, purple, aqua and navy-plummeted downward into the spark as though they were chasing it. But as soon as they vanished into it, the spark winked out into the blackness."
No one needed to know about
Rei gritted her teeth in anger and terror. "The horrible thing about it was, Serenity never stopped smiling. Not when she turned into a statue, not when the Crystal shattered, not even when she herself vanished."
Vanished, not died, Usagi thought. Well, at least _that's_ a relief . . .
"It was . . . disturbing . . ." Rei murmured, "to say the least."
"So, what did the fire reading tell you?" Artemis said.
Rei sighed. "I saw the faces of the Outer Senshi briefly before I saw an image of the Time Gates closing, then a feeling of absolute helplessness. I think . . . I think that they went to investigate what happened in the Future and somehow were shut out of this dimension, trapped in the Fourth Dimension."
A collective gasp from everyone present. "Oh, no," Mamoru whispered, his hand to his mouth.
"How are we ever supposed to free them?" Usagi cried, near tears. "Pluto is the only one who has control over the Time Gate!"
"Come to think of it," Makoto said, "how would someone be able to manipulate the Time Gate to their will if they don't have Pluto's power and protection? It'd be impossible!"
"Unless they hurt . . . or killed . . . Setsuna and somehow stole her powers," Luna mused.
The enormity of the situation settled over the room like a fog, and the group stared at each other in hopeless silence.
"Well," Ami said, pushing up her glasses as she whipped out her computer, "the first thing to do is to find out what happened to the future, who's responsible, and how they trapped the Outers inside the Mists of Time."
"THANK you, Ami! That is the FIRST intelligent thing I've heard ANY of you say regarding the situation! Gods, you all are pitiful!"
The strange voice caused everyone to jump and look to where it had come from; the sliding door leading to the veranda that surrounded the building.
Rei took notice of two things. First, it was the rude girl who had stopped by the Shrine yesterday to warn her of the Senshi's supposed impending doom.
Second, the door was open. She looked like she had been there for quite some time, leaning against the door with a smug smile on her face, arms crossed over her chest as she leaned against the frame. Her long bright green hair was done up in rather sloppy oval odango and trailed to the floor, and her ruby red eyes glinted mischievously as she snapped her gum in the most annoying manner. She wore red pumps and a matching red short . . . SHORT . . . dress under a tight white cardigan sweater. A pink pen was clipped inside the chest pocket of her sweater, glittering strangely in the dim light of the approaching dusk. Her nails were done in a bright shade of red, and tiny dagger earrings hung from her ears.
Those gathered in the room sweatdropped at the sight of the scantily-clad stranger, save Rei, who was turning an interesting shade of red as her temper flared. "YOU!" she screamed as she leapt to her feet and stomped over to yell in the girl's face. "You impertinent little BITCH!!! What the HELL are you doing here, spying on a PRIVATE meeting, not to mention, breaking into my BEDROOM _UNINVITED_?!?!?!?!?"
The girl yawned and inspected the already-perfect nails of her right hand, unfazed. "Calm yourself, Rei-chan. I'm here to help, so settle."
"You BRAT!" Rei screamed, her cheeks flaming. "Don't you DARE refer to me as though we're familiar with each other! You don't even _know_ me!!!!!"
"Rei-chan," Usagi murmured as she attempted to pull her away from the visitor, "please, calm down! If she wants to help, then let her!"
"Thanks, Blondie," the girl said cheerfully as Rei growled, but composed herself. "Her hot air was mussing my hair." Gum snap. Makoto and Ami both cringed as Minako leaned forward, curious.
Rei snorted. "Minna, this was the other _thing_ I wanted to tell you about," she spat. "This little SNAKE showed up at the Shrine yesterday and delivered a pretty little warning that things were going to take a turn for the worse for us."
"Wait a minute," Ami spoke, rising from her chair. "Does that mean that . . ."
"If you're asking that I know you're the Sailor Senshi, then yes, I already know that," the girl purred.
"What does that make you?" Mamoru asked accusingly, rising to his feet and looking at her straight in the eye from across the room. The girl stood up straight, meeting his eye squarely.
"That makes me one, too. Okay? Goddess, you people are incompetent," she groaned, rolling her eyes and twirling a long strand of hair. "Sailor Earth, if you must know. And yes, I was the one who saved your sorry butts the other day."
"Thank you," Usagi said warmly. The girl looked over at her levelly-they were about the same height-and her steel gaze softened slightly.
"You're welcome."
"So, why are you here . . . uh, what did you say your name was?" Minako asked, leaning forward from her position on the bed.
"Aurora. Just Aurora."
"Aurora, then. Why are you here? And from where?" Makoto inquired, leaning forward just as Minako had.
"To help you. To help me. The future."
"Do you know what happened to the future?" Rei asked, forcing herself to be calm and composed.
"Yup."
"Will you tell us?"
"Nope."
"Why NOT????"
Aurora rolled her eyes. "Because then you'll just go running off to try and fix things, and it's a whole lot more complicated than just go in, kill the bad guys. You gotta save the Outers, you gotta save the future, and you gotta save one of your own. And my mother always taught me never to trust strangers." Everyone but Usagi and Minako caught the sarcasm in that last statement.
Aurora dug into a pocket in the side of her dress, as impossible as it seemed, due to its constricting style, and pulled out a small object. She began tossing it up and down nonchalantly as she spoke, the object glittering in the light of the rising crescent moon. "The first thing I recommend is to call the Starlights and see if they'll be willing to help. They owe you a favor after all, ne? I mean, you saved their princess and their galaxy, I'm sure they'll be more than willing to come help." Her gaze slid over to watch Usagi out of the corner of her eye. "Some more than others, ne, Usagi-chan?"
Usagi flushed as Mamoru looked at her.
Aurora continued without missing a beat. "The people you're going to fight are pretty damn strong and you'll need some help. I bet they're on their way right now, even."
"Kami-sama," Usagi murmured. "How do you know all this?"
Aurora grinned. "I just do, Usagi-chan," she said as she caught the object and held it out for all to see. The Time Key shone brightly with a light of its own.
There was a collective gasp. Ami pointed. "Where did you _get_ that?!?"
"Pluto. Of _course_!"
Rei glared. "If you're the one who trapped them, there will be NOTHING--"
Aurora tapped the priestess's lips. "Uh-uh, Rei-chan. I wouldn't do that to my friends and allies. But I _do_ know some people who would . . ."
With a grin, she spun on her heel and walked into the gloom of the surrounding trees, seeming to vanish into thin air.
Usagi sighed. "I hate it when they do that."
Mamoru looked at her. "What, vanish into thin air?"
"Not tell you anything about what's going on. Is it even necessary? We're going to find out sooner or later anyway . . ."
Before anyone could wrap their minds around this comment, there was a flash of light from the front yard. Phobos and Deimos cawed and there was a scream as evil laughter filled the air.
The Senshi looked at each other and sprinted for the front of the shrine . . .
*~*
_The Tsukino Residence_
Chibiusa sighed and rolled over restlessly in her attic bedroom. This was just getting worse. Her headaches were only intensifying and the blackout periods were more frequent, lasting even longer. And it just wouldn't stop.
She finally found the will to force herself to sleep just as her communicator watch beeped from her drawer, which went unnoticed by its now- snoring owner . . .
_End Part Five_
Wow, minna, that was fun to write! This story is just getting better and better, I'm so glad I have the chance to continue it! Stay tuned! And remember, this is based on the manga!
Tuxie Starr
"Much of life depends on our being ignorant of reality. If we understood reality, we would never go on."
Part Five: Aurora
"Minna, I'm glad you could make it," Rei stated to the five people and two cats gathered in her bedroom at the Hikawa Shrine, her voice serious. Sunlight poured in through the windows, filling the room with warmth and light. The door was shut so no one could overhear their private conversation about . . . well . . . the usual. Minako and Makoto sat next to each other cross-legged on the bed, Artemis in Minako's lap. Usagi leaned back against the side of the bed beneath Makoto, Mamoru sitting on her left, his arm resting around her shoulders, Luna sitting in his lap. Ami sat on a chair at the foot of the bed, hands folded quietly in her lap. They watched Rei intently. The priestess knelt on the green mat alongside the bed, looking regal in her shrine robes. Her violet eyes stared down at her hands, which rested within the red folds which covered her knees.
"Um, sorry Chibiusa-chan couldn't make it," Usagi piped up in order to break the tension. "She had a real bad headache and opted to stay home."
"Poor kid," Minako said, ponderingly. "She must have really gone through a lot in the future."
"Mm-hmm," from Rei.
Silence again.
"Rei, what's this about?" Ami ventured to ask after the silence had stretched on for a few minutes. "And where are the Outers?"
"Well . . ." the exotic beauty murmured as she kneaded her robes nervously, speaking faster and faster as the anxiety she felt crept into her speech, "that's the first problem. You see, I had a premonition last night and did a fire reading this morning, and, well. . ."
Odd, the others thought. Normally, Rei didn't get so flustered. Something must be really wrong . . .
"Well . . . they're gone."
"Gone?" Makoto asked incredulously as shock displayed itself clearly on the faces of the others. Usagi's face was filled with concern for her friends. "How do you mean, gone?"
"Well . . . perhaps I better explain the dream first."
The others nodded, hanging on to her every word.
The priestess made a huge effort to compose herself, straightening her shoulders and looking her friends squarely in the eyes, her violet ones flashing back and forth from one set of eyes to another as she told her story in a voice of ice.
"I dreamt that the Queen of the Future was in great trouble. I saw her, beautiful as I last remembered her, smiling and holding Chibiusa-or, rather, Small Lady-by the hand and walking in a deep expanse of blackness. The Silver Crystal rested on her chest, glowing in a kaleidoscope of silver shades. Behind her, in the blackness . . ."
Here the Spirit of the Flame shuddered at the memory, and Usagi moved out from under her boyfriend's arm to comfort her. However, the priestess, being true to her nature, squared her shoulders fiercely and went on before Usagi reached her, fire now blazing deep within her eyes.
"From the blackness came a shock of red lightning that raced across the sky in a quick flare. Serenity turned to stone as Chibiusa-chan vanished. The Silver Crystal remained bright on her chest for just a moment before shattering into dust."
Slight fear crept into her voice. "The statue of Serenity crumbled and collapsed inward into a silver spark, and four orbs of light-gray, purple, aqua and navy-plummeted downward into the spark as though they were chasing it. But as soon as they vanished into it, the spark winked out into the blackness."
No one needed to know about
Rei gritted her teeth in anger and terror. "The horrible thing about it was, Serenity never stopped smiling. Not when she turned into a statue, not when the Crystal shattered, not even when she herself vanished."
Vanished, not died, Usagi thought. Well, at least _that's_ a relief . . .
"It was . . . disturbing . . ." Rei murmured, "to say the least."
"So, what did the fire reading tell you?" Artemis said.
Rei sighed. "I saw the faces of the Outer Senshi briefly before I saw an image of the Time Gates closing, then a feeling of absolute helplessness. I think . . . I think that they went to investigate what happened in the Future and somehow were shut out of this dimension, trapped in the Fourth Dimension."
A collective gasp from everyone present. "Oh, no," Mamoru whispered, his hand to his mouth.
"How are we ever supposed to free them?" Usagi cried, near tears. "Pluto is the only one who has control over the Time Gate!"
"Come to think of it," Makoto said, "how would someone be able to manipulate the Time Gate to their will if they don't have Pluto's power and protection? It'd be impossible!"
"Unless they hurt . . . or killed . . . Setsuna and somehow stole her powers," Luna mused.
The enormity of the situation settled over the room like a fog, and the group stared at each other in hopeless silence.
"Well," Ami said, pushing up her glasses as she whipped out her computer, "the first thing to do is to find out what happened to the future, who's responsible, and how they trapped the Outers inside the Mists of Time."
"THANK you, Ami! That is the FIRST intelligent thing I've heard ANY of you say regarding the situation! Gods, you all are pitiful!"
The strange voice caused everyone to jump and look to where it had come from; the sliding door leading to the veranda that surrounded the building.
Rei took notice of two things. First, it was the rude girl who had stopped by the Shrine yesterday to warn her of the Senshi's supposed impending doom.
Second, the door was open. She looked like she had been there for quite some time, leaning against the door with a smug smile on her face, arms crossed over her chest as she leaned against the frame. Her long bright green hair was done up in rather sloppy oval odango and trailed to the floor, and her ruby red eyes glinted mischievously as she snapped her gum in the most annoying manner. She wore red pumps and a matching red short . . . SHORT . . . dress under a tight white cardigan sweater. A pink pen was clipped inside the chest pocket of her sweater, glittering strangely in the dim light of the approaching dusk. Her nails were done in a bright shade of red, and tiny dagger earrings hung from her ears.
Those gathered in the room sweatdropped at the sight of the scantily-clad stranger, save Rei, who was turning an interesting shade of red as her temper flared. "YOU!" she screamed as she leapt to her feet and stomped over to yell in the girl's face. "You impertinent little BITCH!!! What the HELL are you doing here, spying on a PRIVATE meeting, not to mention, breaking into my BEDROOM _UNINVITED_?!?!?!?!?"
The girl yawned and inspected the already-perfect nails of her right hand, unfazed. "Calm yourself, Rei-chan. I'm here to help, so settle."
"You BRAT!" Rei screamed, her cheeks flaming. "Don't you DARE refer to me as though we're familiar with each other! You don't even _know_ me!!!!!"
"Rei-chan," Usagi murmured as she attempted to pull her away from the visitor, "please, calm down! If she wants to help, then let her!"
"Thanks, Blondie," the girl said cheerfully as Rei growled, but composed herself. "Her hot air was mussing my hair." Gum snap. Makoto and Ami both cringed as Minako leaned forward, curious.
Rei snorted. "Minna, this was the other _thing_ I wanted to tell you about," she spat. "This little SNAKE showed up at the Shrine yesterday and delivered a pretty little warning that things were going to take a turn for the worse for us."
"Wait a minute," Ami spoke, rising from her chair. "Does that mean that . . ."
"If you're asking that I know you're the Sailor Senshi, then yes, I already know that," the girl purred.
"What does that make you?" Mamoru asked accusingly, rising to his feet and looking at her straight in the eye from across the room. The girl stood up straight, meeting his eye squarely.
"That makes me one, too. Okay? Goddess, you people are incompetent," she groaned, rolling her eyes and twirling a long strand of hair. "Sailor Earth, if you must know. And yes, I was the one who saved your sorry butts the other day."
"Thank you," Usagi said warmly. The girl looked over at her levelly-they were about the same height-and her steel gaze softened slightly.
"You're welcome."
"So, why are you here . . . uh, what did you say your name was?" Minako asked, leaning forward from her position on the bed.
"Aurora. Just Aurora."
"Aurora, then. Why are you here? And from where?" Makoto inquired, leaning forward just as Minako had.
"To help you. To help me. The future."
"Do you know what happened to the future?" Rei asked, forcing herself to be calm and composed.
"Yup."
"Will you tell us?"
"Nope."
"Why NOT????"
Aurora rolled her eyes. "Because then you'll just go running off to try and fix things, and it's a whole lot more complicated than just go in, kill the bad guys. You gotta save the Outers, you gotta save the future, and you gotta save one of your own. And my mother always taught me never to trust strangers." Everyone but Usagi and Minako caught the sarcasm in that last statement.
Aurora dug into a pocket in the side of her dress, as impossible as it seemed, due to its constricting style, and pulled out a small object. She began tossing it up and down nonchalantly as she spoke, the object glittering in the light of the rising crescent moon. "The first thing I recommend is to call the Starlights and see if they'll be willing to help. They owe you a favor after all, ne? I mean, you saved their princess and their galaxy, I'm sure they'll be more than willing to come help." Her gaze slid over to watch Usagi out of the corner of her eye. "Some more than others, ne, Usagi-chan?"
Usagi flushed as Mamoru looked at her.
Aurora continued without missing a beat. "The people you're going to fight are pretty damn strong and you'll need some help. I bet they're on their way right now, even."
"Kami-sama," Usagi murmured. "How do you know all this?"
Aurora grinned. "I just do, Usagi-chan," she said as she caught the object and held it out for all to see. The Time Key shone brightly with a light of its own.
There was a collective gasp. Ami pointed. "Where did you _get_ that?!?"
"Pluto. Of _course_!"
Rei glared. "If you're the one who trapped them, there will be NOTHING--"
Aurora tapped the priestess's lips. "Uh-uh, Rei-chan. I wouldn't do that to my friends and allies. But I _do_ know some people who would . . ."
With a grin, she spun on her heel and walked into the gloom of the surrounding trees, seeming to vanish into thin air.
Usagi sighed. "I hate it when they do that."
Mamoru looked at her. "What, vanish into thin air?"
"Not tell you anything about what's going on. Is it even necessary? We're going to find out sooner or later anyway . . ."
Before anyone could wrap their minds around this comment, there was a flash of light from the front yard. Phobos and Deimos cawed and there was a scream as evil laughter filled the air.
The Senshi looked at each other and sprinted for the front of the shrine . . .
*~*
_The Tsukino Residence_
Chibiusa sighed and rolled over restlessly in her attic bedroom. This was just getting worse. Her headaches were only intensifying and the blackout periods were more frequent, lasting even longer. And it just wouldn't stop.
She finally found the will to force herself to sleep just as her communicator watch beeped from her drawer, which went unnoticed by its now- snoring owner . . .
_End Part Five_
Wow, minna, that was fun to write! This story is just getting better and better, I'm so glad I have the chance to continue it! Stay tuned! And remember, this is based on the manga!
Tuxie Starr
"Much of life depends on our being ignorant of reality. If we understood reality, we would never go on."