Author's Notes:
If you need to email me, contact me here: Guardian4@atlantic.net. Please put fanfiction in the subject line so I know what it's pertaining to. I don't own Sailor Moon. It is the property of Naoko Tacheuchi.
Crystal Hearts
When The War Ends
Chapter 8: Breezes Through Time
The strange Endymion smiled. At their names, the strange women and man became even more hostile, but they didn't attack. "Who are you? Where are we? What's going on?" Nephrite questioned, keeping a wary eye on the warriors surrounding them.
"Permit me," the woman in white said. "I am Neo-Queen Serenity, this is my husband King Endymion, and my daughter, Usagi or more commonly know as Small Lady or Chibiusa. And these are my Senshi, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Venus, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and Saturn. And this is Luna and Artemis, my advisors, and their daughter Diana. You are in 30th Century Crystal Tokyo. Almost 2000 years after the fall of the Silver Millennium," she added gently.
"I don't believe it," muttered Jadeite.
"Believe it," Mars told him coldly.
"So we're meeting the Senshi for the first time," Nephrite murmured. "It is too bad that they were not the ones in our time. They were a legend even among the other generations before them."
"I wouldn't bet on that," Pluto responded coolly. She then looked deep into all their eyes and took pity on them. They were completely confused and more than a little sad, distraught, and scared. "I think it is time to explain to you what really happened." She turned to her Queen and King. "I think we should take them to the briefing room and explain what happened. They have no memory of the Dark Kingdom. Not only do we owe them an explanation, we need to know what they do remember and maybe ask a few questions." She was not completely sure this was not an act, but she was 95% sure they were telling the truth, whatever the truth was.
The Queen nodded and led the way, the Senshi arguing vehemently behind the Shitennou.
"Pluto, what is this all about?!" Jupiter demanded. "You of all people should remember what they did to the Moon and the rest of the planets! They murdered everyone on my home!" To her embarrassment, tears fell from her eyes.
"What is the big idea of this?" Mars exclaimed angrily. "If they make one false move, I will fry them to charcoal, starting with Jadeite!"
Mercury tried to put her arm around Jupiter, but between the tall Soldier's height and shrugging off her sympathy, it didn't work too well. This didn't bother Mercury much because she knew Makoto was trying to appear strong in the Kings' eyes and not give in to more tears. "I think we should trust Pluto. She is the Time Guardian after all and she has more experience than any of us," she said quietly.
Pluto gave her a grateful look. "Thank you, Mercury," she whispered.
The Senshi subsided into silence as they entered the briefing room. The carpet was a soft gray and the dark brown table in the center room ran from one end to the other, with many chairs set at strategic intervals. Even after they had been seated, there were still many chairs left empty.
Kunzite couldn't help but notice that a Senshi sat between each of the Shitennou so anything they said to each other the Soldier would know. The Soldier in orange, Venus, sat on his right while Endymion sat on his left, three chairs down. On Venus' right was Jadeite and next to him was the red Soldier, Mars. Next on was Zoisite and next to him the Soldier in light blue, Mercury. And last was Nephrite, on whose right was the Senshi in green, Jupiter. They seemed the most keen to keep them apart.
On the opposite side of the table in his immediate vision was the dark blue and yellow Soldier, Uranus. There was an empty chair then the aquamarine Soldier, Neptune, was directly across from Jadeite. Another empty chair and the Soldier in purple, Saturn, was directly across from Zoisite. Yet another empty chair and the last Soldier in black and maroon, Pluto, sat across from Nephrite.
They certainly weren't taking any chances, he reflected as he watched the Queen sit on Endymion's left. The young princess, Chibiusa, sat across from her parents next to another young girl with short hair in gray clothing, a silk vest and silk pants it looked like. That must be Diana.
The advisor Luna sat down next to the Queen. She had long black hair with four balls on top and the rest was loose, falling down towards her waist. She wore black leggings and a hunter green vest with an off-white shirt underneath it.
On the other side of the table, on the princess' left, sat the male advisor, Artemis. The man had white hair that reached to his waist and he was dressed in pure white. Very carefully hidden, but in easy access of his hand, was a dagger.
"I think I should begin," Pluto began. "Now, you lived in the Silver Millennium. That time was over a thousand years ago. On the Moon, there was Queen Serenity with the Ginzuishou. I assume you know all this?" They nodded. Pluto's eyebrows drew together. "Could you tell me what you don't know so I don't go over what you do and save us some time?"
"Well," Kunzite started, "We know that there lived Queen Serenity on the Moon and held the Ginzuishou. She had a daughter and she and Prince Endymion were going to be betrothed. We were the prince's guards and protectors. We had heard of the Senshi and…it seems like the longer I talk, the more I remember," he commented.
"What do you mean?" asked Pluto quickly.
"Well, my memories tended to be fuzzy, but when I speak, the things I say are things I instinctively know and the more I talk, things that I don't instinctively know come back. Anyway, I don't remember actually meeting the Senshi. I'd heard of them; we all did, but the opportunity just always seemed to pass us by, I guess. At least, that's what I remember. Maybe we did, because I have the feeling that I know some of you. We know that the Senshi protected the Royal Family on the Moon. And that's pretty much it." He looked at his friends to see if they might have remembered anything he hadn't, but they shook their heads. Kunzite shrugged.
Pluto cleared her throat. "No doubt that some things I am going to say will upset you. Your first reaction will be to deny it, but bear with me please. I only speak the truth and being the Time Guardian, I do know what the truth is, trust me on that. The Silver Millennium was destroyed by a force named Metallia and under her, Queen Beryl. She had taken control of the Earth and then destroyed the other planets. At last, when she had gathered enough power and a very large army, she attacked the Moon. The Senshi you see before you were in the Silver Millennium. They had all died, but Queen Serenity made a wish on the Ginzuishou and used the last of her power to send everyone to safety, which happened to be a millennium into the future.
"They were reborn there. After fourteen years of peace, Luna was forced to awaken the Inner Senshi, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus, with a new addition, Sailor Moon, who had never been the in Silver Millennium. They defeated Beryl and all went peaceful after that. After a few more enemies that had surfaced, and after finding out and going to the future and seeing Crystal Tokyo as it had been a few years ago, they met the Outer Senshi, Uranus, Neptune, and Saturn. I am considered an Outer Senshi, though they met me before they met the other Outers. Most likely you would not have met the Outers before because they were outer perimeter Senshi and I was at the Gate of Time.
"After a few problems, Inner and Outer Senshi made their peace between themselves. Finally, after many years and a time in which the Earth was frozen, Neo-Queen Serenity, who was Sailor Moon and Princess Serenity in the Silver Millennium, woke everyone. She married King Endymion, Tuxedo Kamen and Prince Endymion from the Silver Millennium. This is the Golden Millennium, you are in the Crystal Palace in Tokyo, and Chibiusa is the crown princess of this time.
"Now, back to the Dark Kingdom. Under Queen Beryl, there were four lords of the Dark Kingdom. Please be quiet here; these lords were Shitennou. The Kings in ranking order of highest to lowest were Kunzite, Zoisite, Nephrite, and Jadeite."
"Impossible!" exclaimed Jadeite without thinking.
Mars hit him in the arm and hissed, "She said do not speak and if she said do not speak, you keep your rat trap shut!"
They glared at each other.
"What is the last memory you have?" questioned Pluto calmly.
Kunzite stared at the wall, thinking hard. "The last thing I can clearly remember is being in the war room with Prince Endymion and his father. There were a few rebel factions that had come to our attention and we wanted to disperse them without injury to either side and without force if it could be helped."
Zoisite pondered for a moment. "I remember walking through the rose gardens, looking for Endymion. It was his favorite place to be, after all. His mother wanted to talk to him about a ball."
Nephrite ran his fingers over the wooden table, feeling it smooth with varnish and polish. "I remember being in the star chart room. I've always loved the stars and I took some time that night to just relax and watch the beauty above me. When I left, I was anxious about something, but I don't remember what."
Jadeite looked the palest of them all. His fingers would tap the desk every now and then in anxiety. He seemed to have completely forgotten about being hit by Mars. "I remember running from room to room. The palace was in an uproar because three of the four Shitennou, Kunzite, Nephrite, and Zoisite, were missing and Endymion was nowhere to be found. They suspected he was on the Moon for another visit with Princess Serenity, but there was no excuse for the other Shitennou to be gone as well."
There was silence for a moment.
"How could Zoisite be looking for Endymion in the rose garden and Kunzite be with him in the war room at the same time?" asked Jupiter suspiciously.
"Unless…" murmured Pluto. "I have a theory, no more than that. I think that Beryl got a hold of the Kings and brainwashed them, each at different times. Did you notice a reoccurring theme? Every memory has Endymion in it in some way. We all know that Beryl loved Endymion."
Jupiter stood up abruptly. Everyone's attention fixed on her. "I don't believe a word of the lies that are spewing from their mouths," she stated angrily. "They are very good at lying, aren't they? They've shown that! How do we know that they're telling the truth?!"
"Jupiter, look at them," Pluto told her. "Look at what they're wearing. Can you tell me that those are Dark Kingdom uniforms?"
Jupiter looked down at the four Kings. All looked back at her silently.
Kunzite wore a white shirt with a black vest over it and black pants. His cape was white on the outside and red on the inside. Jadeite wore a blue shirt with a royal sapphire vest with gray pants. His cape was exactly identical to Kunzite's. Zoisite wore a light green shirt with a white vest and black pants. Like Kunzite and Jadeite's cape, his was white with red on the inside. Her eyes slid to Nephrite. He wore a white shirt with a brown vest and earthen pants. His cape was like the others. On each of their hips they wore a gray sheath with a sword in it. Kunzite wore a golden chain with diamonds linking the cape ends together at the front of his shirt. Jadeite's chain was silver with sapphires, Zoisite's was bronze with emeralds, and Nephrite's was black with rubies in it.
Jupiter looked away. They didn't look like the Dark Kingdom Shitennou in those clothes, but that still didn't mean that they weren't from the Dark Kingdom. She sighed silently. All she really wanted to do was leave, but she wouldn't; she knew she wouldn't do that because of the importance of this meeting and her instinctive distrust of the Shitennou. She forced herself to sit down, avoiding Nephrite's brown eyes that watched her silently.
Pluto cleared her throat. "Are you saying you remember nothing beyond that? You remember nothing of fighting with the Inner Senshi at all?"
They shook their heads.
Mercury took out her computer and began to type. "Look, we can deal with this later. We have a war going on. Uranus, did they notice our absence? How long have we been gone? None of us, I'm betting, knew."
"They noticed your absence within a day. Mars was gone for three days, Venus came back second and she was gone for four to five days. Jupiter was the third to return and she was gone a week and a day. You got back the last and came back the same day that Jupiter did."
Mercury continued to type on her computer and then she turned to the Shitennou. "Look, I don't know how you got here, but listen up," she told them coldly. "We have been fighting a war for five months now. We have gathered survivors from all over the world and brought them to the Crystal Palace. When Chibiusa went outside the palace and the barrier a week ago, which is the only thing they can't pass, she was attacked. Neo-Queen Serenity and King Endymion went to fight it, but were attacked and after we had gotten them back in the palace, we couldn't get them to wake up after that. Then the Goddess of the Moon, Selene, appeared before us and told us we had to get four kinds of stones. We did and you appeared. She had told us that the stones were the missing link to awaken the King and Queen and win the war. My theory is that it is not the stones themselves that is supposed to do that, but you."
"But I just don't understand," Mars exclaimed. "Selene said the Shitennou we knew in our past when we were fourteen were dead, but they obviously aren't."
"That's what she said, but what if it's what Pluto said as well," Neptune began. "What if they were brainwashed and you killed that version of them. What if these Kings are like completely different people from them? That would mean that the Shitennou you fought were dead, but the Shitennou that you didn't fight weren't."
Mars remained skeptical, but grew quiet.
The Kings looked at each other. "I don't know how we're supposed to help you win the war, but we can add our talents to yours," Kunzite told them cautiously.
Neo-Queen Serenity stood up. "It is late and this has been a very hard day. Endymion will show you where you will be staying in the palace," she told the Shitennou. "Senshi, you need to rest as well. You've put in a long, hard week or more."
It was obvious the Soldiers were uncomfortable at letting the Kings out of their sight, especially the Inners, but as it was a request, not an order, from their friend, they would do as asked. But that didn't mean they had to like it.
Endymion stood up and the Shitennou followed him. They walked down a corridor, the Kings questioning their friend extensively.
"So you actually married the princess and had a daughter," commented Jadeite. "What exactly is a Tuxedo Kamen?"
Endymion laughed and turned a corner. Four doors were set down another long corridor that they were barely able to see the end to. Two doors were on each wall. After some debate, Kunzite and Zoisite got the rooms on the left wall and Jadeite and Nephrite the ones on the right.
They relaxed in Kunzite's room to talk. "I was Tuxedo Kamen. When I was reborn on Earth, I was born as Chiba Mamoru. When the Dark Kingdom and others attacked again, I was Tuxedo Kamen, fighter for justice," he told them uncertainly. He wasn't sure how they would react to the mention of the Dark Kingdom.
He was surprised however, when they didn't react much at all to the mention of them. It seemed to him that it was like he was telling a story about someone else, instead of those Shitennou as themselves.
"So Serenity was Sailor Moon? Wasn't that a bit dangerous of them?" asked Zoisite, lying on the bed.
"You see, through most of the battling, we didn't know we were the prince and princess and neither did the Senshi or the Dark Kingdom," he answered, sitting in a chair near the door. Nephrite sat in another chair opposite him near a desk, Jadeite sat on the edge of the bed, and Kunzite leaned against the wall. Just like old times again, Endymion reflected.
"Reborn without any memories," commented Kunzite. "Convenient. What about your daughter? Is she just a princess or is she a Senshi?"
Endymion sighed. "You see, when we first met Chibiusa, she had come from the future to the past. We didn't know she was our daughter until later. Then she came back a second time to train to become a Senshi. She was known as Sailor Chibimoon. But ever since she came back, she's been unable to transform. Ordinarily, you would think she would become Sailor Moon since Usako isn't anymore."
"Usako?" asked Zoisite.
"Usako is Serenity. You see, all of us were born as different people. Serenity was born as Tsukino Usagi. When we started dating, I began to call her Usako. She started calling me Mamo-chan."
"What were the other Senshi's names?" questioned Jadeite.
Endymion looked hesitant. "I'm not sure I should tell you, but I guess it can't hurt. Just remember to call them by their Senshi names. We call them that when in public. Also, don't mention you know their names unless they actually tell you. I don't know how well it would go over if they knew I told you without their permission." The Shitennou nodded in agreement. "Okay, Mercury is Mizuno Ami, Mars is Hino Rei, Jupiter is Kino Makoto, and Venus is Aino Minako. The Outers were always a bit more in experience and older than the Inners. Uranus is Tenoh Haruka, Neptune is Kaioh Michiru, Pluto is Meioh Setsuna, and Saturn is Tomoe Hotaru."
"Pretty names," remarked Nephrite.
They talked late into the night before Endymion left and the other Kings retired to their own rooms to sleep.
When Endymion slipped into the bed he shared with his wife, she rolled over and draped her arm over his chest. "Did everything go well with the Shitennou?" she asked sleepily.
"It did," he murmured back, smiling. His friends were back and that was just about all he cared about. But the real problem still lay ahead and it wasn't the war. When the war ended, would things calm down between the Senshi and the Shitennou?
End Chapter 8