Thanks for coming to read the next chapter of my rewrite!!
First, I'd like to take a moment to thank Lilac Summers, The Yarnspinner, Alicia Blade, Sexylyon, and Tsuki Doriimaa for allowing me to post their works on my site, A Haven For Lovers, aka www.usagi-carter.org.
Next, I'd like to remind everyone reading that Emails and Reviews are nice things, things that all authors would like to have. Please review my story if you can at whatever website you're at, and please, don't forget to email me!!
And now, I share with you my most recent favorite quote. I was re-reading some of Lilac Summers' stories, and came upon this and in the midst of the sadness that is in First Truths, I saw this and had to laugh. It's truly a Minako-ism.
"Baby, your blood is bluer than a drowned Smurf!" - Minako from Lilac Summer's First Truths.
Now, on with the story!!
Do You Remember
Chapter 5
By Usagi Carter
Email: webmistress@usagi-carter.org
Re-written: December 20, 2003
Ruins of Golden Palace
Sun City
Sol
Two bodies blinked into existence, one falling to the ground and the other wavering back and forth before she caught her balance. "Are you alright?"
"Dizzy, other than that, I'm fine."
"Stay close to me. With a bit of help from Usagi-chan and Amy-chan, I've managed to create a five meter circle around us to shield us from the atmosphere..."
"Where do we begin?"
"The ruins behind you are all that's left of Golden Palace, home to Sol's ruling family." Mayo swung around at Pluto's words and gasped in shock. The once lovely palace stood no more. Instead, several columns and the arch of the main entrance way were all that was still standing. The rest was either dust, or crumbled and shattered.
"How did this happen Pluto? Usagi-chan told me that the Dark Kingdom attacked all the planets, but I don't understand how..."
"They attacked every planet, one by one. The day the Princess of Sol left here for the ball on the Moon, Sol was attacked, and everyone here was destroyed," Pluto informed her, her voice hard as nails, tough as steel. To remember the events that had enfolded during those last days... well, it wasn't something Pluto relished in the least.
"By then, word had yet to spread to the Moon that the Outer planets, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Venus, and Sol had perished. The night of the ball, Serenity informed the Outer senshi about the severity of the situation. By then, the Earth and Moon were the only places with any type of civilization. Just as she did with the Moon, Beryl used the Shadow Warriors and the brainwashed Earth Generals to destroy everything and everyone in Metallia's path."
"Oh," Mayo whispered, watching Pluto's face carefully. No emotion shone through the thousand year old wall the older woman had erected around those memories, but Pluto's eyes said it all. It was no wonder to Mayo now, why Setsuna always seemed to be eternally sad.
"Shall we? I believe the chamber we're searching for is about 1/2 kilometer in front of us, buried under the debris." With a silent nod, the pair advanced to the middle of what once was the throne room.
~~
Juuban Park
Tokyo, Japan
Earth
Same Time Frame
"They should be there by now, right?" Usagi questioned Amy restlessly. Amy looked up from her mini computer, a slight glare in her eyes. It was the fifth time since Pluto and Mayo had left that the blonde had asked that question.
"Usagi-chan, calm down," Luna exasperatedly spoke. "Amy is doing everything she can to monitor them."
"They've made it," Amy started, gaining Usagi, Luna and Artemis' attention. "From what the computer is saying, they've moved into what use to be the throne room of...Golden Palace." Amy looked up to see Usagi's eyes glaze over in tears. Luna and Artemis sighed. Usagi, more so then the others, had memories of the way things had been during the Silver Millennium. Every now and then, she'd catch a more detailed glimpse of that time of her life in a dream, and Golden Palace had been one of the few things she could remember distinctly.
"As Princess Serenity, you visited there very rarely. Only during royal functions, as a representative of the Moon Kingdom, and on bi-annual trips with your parents to visit your grandmother and aunts and uncle," Luna spoke in response to Usagi's tears.
"I can remember the palace. It use to radiate power, golden power," Usagi whispered, eyes closed, body tensed.
"The power of Sol," Artemis murmured.
~~
Ruins of Golden Palace
Sun City
Sol
"It must be hard on you and the others to remember the way things were, and to see the way things are now," Mayo spoke as she and Pluto set about the task of clearing debris away from a spot that Pluto indicated was where they needed to look.
"Of all the others, only the Inner Senshi have seen the ruins of the Moon," Pluto huffed as she hefted a giant piece of what was once the ceiling and moved it to her left. "Of the Inners, only Usagi-chan has any real memories of that time. The Outers, thus far, have been spared the pain of glimpsing what was."
"Is that perhaps part of their problem when it comes to dealing with and being in the presence of the Inner Senshi?"
"Occasionally, I would say yes, but truth be told, I know no more about that then you do. AH!" Pluto gasped as Mayo moved away one last piece of rumble, uncovering a dimly lit carving in the ground.
"The symbol of Sol," Mayo muttered, never noticing the sad smile on Pluto's face.
"You go alone from here. Remember I'll be waiting when you're done," Pluto spoke, watching Mayo nod, before the younger woman reached out and traced the carving with her finger. When the carving started to glow brightly with power and light, Pluto's smile increased when she noticed that Mayo never cringed. In an instant, the power flared, blinding both women, before it died down and revealed an opening in the floor, with a staircase leading from the surface downward.
"Wish me luck," Mayo whispered, dropping herself down into the opening before following the staircase down into the bowels of the sun.
~~
Nearly three hours later, Mayo found herself lost in the darkness. The caverns beneath what use to be the palace held no torches, no openings, just darkness and a low humming sound that drove Mayo crazy. Muttering to herself, the black haired woman sat down and brought her knees to her chest, resting her arms and head on them. She was lost, and knew that there was probably no way Pluto would know that she was lost or be able to find her in this darkness. "Yeah, some senshi I'm turning out to be," she muttered as she buried her face in folded arms and wept.
As Mayo wept, something in the back of her mind registered that the humming sound was increasing in volume and pitch, and that her forehead was burning steadily. It wasn't a painful burning, but more of a warmth that seemed to seep through her bones. Finally deciding that crying wasn't going to get her anywhere, the black haired woman stood, and suddenly noticed that the room was dimly lit. She also seemed to realize where the light was coming from - her forehead.
Reaching up, Mayo brushed her fingers over her forehead, noticing as she did that the light seemed to fade out until she removed her hand from her forehead completely and the light returned. "Well, I'll be damned," she whispered, before turning around in the tunnel, trying to find out where she was. Closing her eyes, she listened to the hum as it vibrated off the walls. Something in her urged her to try to find the source of the noise, so she closed her eyes and let her ears follow the sound. Her feet began to move of their own accord, taking a path that somehow seemed eerily familiar.
Ten minutes later, Mayo opened her eyes and found herself standing in front of what looked like the door to a vault. On the front was a panel inscribed in a language that Mayo guessed was Solarian. "There's no way I'm going to get that open!" she hissed as she studied the panel. What she didn't count on was finding the words that seemed to be written in a language Pluto had recently taught her - Lunarian - interwoven with Solarian on the surface of the panel. Carefully wracking her brain for the lessons she'd been taught, Mayo began to translate the Lunarian words into Japanese.
Reciting the words in her native language, Mayo pondered their meaning.
"Daughter of Sol, be thy name. From earth she comes, at long last, to reclaim, the power of the star, which gives life and sustains. In the time of Moon's great need, she will travel by Pluto's gate to fulfill her destiny. Power of Sol, possessed by thee, will unlock the vault, where there is a hidden key. True to her heart, she must be, to be worthy to set free, what was passed by those before. This is the God, Apollo's, decree."
As Mayo read the words aloud, the panel seemed to glow and the humming noise grew louder. She stared at the panel for a long time, before her brain registered with her that there seemed to be a glow like the shape of a hand coming from the panel. Shrugging her shoulders, she stepped forward, hand outstretched. "Could it really be this simple?" she asked aloud as she placed her hand, palm down, on the panel. The next thing she knew, the humming stopped and the panel stopped glowing. Just as she was about to pull her hand away, she felt a stinging sensation on her palm, and then noticed the glow started again, this time accompanied by a rumbling sound, that of rocks moving. When Mayo yanked her hand back, she noticed six dots of blood on it - one on each finger and a slightly larger one in the center of her palm. Wiping the blood off on her pants, Mayo looked up and noticed that the door where the panel had been was now open, and there was a light coming from inside.
~~
Juuban Park
Tokyo, Japan
Earth
"It's been five hours already, you'd think Pluto would have gotten in touch with us," Artemis grumbled as he settled himself on Amy's lap.
"From what Pluto told me, Sol is probably covered in debris just like the Moon," Usagi spoke softly as she sat rubbing her hand along Luna's back. She wasn't about to admit to the others how worried she really was about Mayo and Setsuna, otherwise she'd never hear the end of it.
"Usagi, Amy, come in!" a voice chirped as both girls' communicators went off. Amy was busy bringing up another screen on her computer, one that was chirping in alarm while Usagi opened her communicator, revealing the face of Sailor Mars.
"Usagi here."
"We've got a problem down at Crown. You'd better get here ASAP."
"How bad is it Mars?" Amy questioned as she grasped her henshin wand and Usagi yanked her broach off her shirt.
"It's really bad. We've got at least a dozen youmas on the ground, five droids on top of the building, and more coming by the minute," Mars informed them, all the while dodging incoming attacks. "Jupiter and Venus are still five minutes away and I sent a message to Neptune and Uranus. Saturn's here with me already."
"On our way," Usagi gestured to Amy as she snapped her communicator off. "MOON ETERNAL POWER, MAKE UP!"
"MERCURY CRYSTAL POWER, MAKE UP!"
~~
Ruins of Golden Palace
Sun City
Sol
Pluto sighed as she closed her communicator. She'd heard Mars' message and an uneasy feeling swept over her; somehow, she knew that the others would be in trouble soon. A dozen youmas and five droids was a lot to handle to begin with, who knows what else the Dark Moon was sending the senshi's way. Knowing that the others' survival may very well depend on Mayo's findings, Pluto dropped to one knee, her hands firmly clutching her staff, and began to pray.
~~
The light had started out as a nearly blinding white, but as she stepped into the vault, it dimmed to a warm yellow. Mayo took a moment to adjust her eyes to the light, and when she felt secure in her vision, she turned around to get a good look at the inside of the room.
The vault was small, about the size of Usagi's bedroom. It had four barren walls, which seemed to Mayo to glow an unnaturally warm yellow. In the center was a pedestal, which was topped off by a glass ball glowing a silvery-yellow color. Inside the ball was an object, though Mayo couldn't make out its exact shape because of the light.
Take a deep breath, the silver eyed, black haired woman took two steps forward and found herself stuck by an invisible force field. "Who dares seek the power of Sol?" a distinctly female voice boomed, causing Mayo to flinch before she regained her composure and answered the person.
"Taiyou Mayo."
"That name is not recognized here!" the female voice boomed again, causing Mayo's anger to flare.
"Ok," she whispered to herself. 'I will just have to try another approach' she thought to herself, as she stood straighter. "My name is Princess Mayo, eldest daughter of Queen Serenity of the Moon and King Solaris of Sol, sister of Princess Serenity of the Moon, and rightful heir to the Solarian Kingdom!" Mayo's voice raised several tones as she nearly shouted out the titles of her past self.
"That name is acknowledged," the woman said again, and in a moment of flaring power, Mayo watched as a gorgeous woman stood before her. "Welcome home, Daughter of Sol."
"Queen Corona?"
~~
Outside Crown Arcade
Juuban District
Tokyo, Japan
Earth
"MERCURY!" several of the senshi screamed as the Senshi of Ice was thrown across the street and into a tree trunk.
"Saturn, go make sure she's alright," Sailor Moon commanded as the senshi began to regroup and stand between the Dark Moon's army and the fallen senshi of mercury.
"Where's Pluto?" Uranus hissed, knowing that the senshi of time's powers would come in handy considering their current situation. The five senshi standing with Sailor Moon watched her visibly flinch when she heard Uranus' comment.
"She's on Sol," Sailor Moon muttered as the group of warriors looked at her as though she'd grown another head. "She's trying to retrieve the powers of Sailor Sol."
"YOU SENT HER TO THE SUN?" Mars screeched, dodging an incoming attack while launching one of her own.
"How irresponsible could you be Sailor Moon?" Venus harshly accused the Senshi of Justice as they all dove for cover.
"We need Sol's powers, and there was no other way then sending Pluto to retrieve them," Moon huffed as she rolled and slid to a stop near Jupiter. "I'd have gone myself but I know the kind of conniption fit you would have had if I had!"
"SILENCE WALL!" Saturn's attack stopped the interrogation any further as the senshi were given a moment to rest and re-gather their thoughts.
~~
Ruins of Golden Palace
Sun City
Sol
"The time has obviously come, if you are here before me, for you to receive that which you hid so many years ago," the woman spoke, causing Mayo to snap out of her stupor.
"So I am Princess Mayo."
"Do you still not believe?" the woman asked, walking forward and raising a hand to caress Mayo's cheek. The black haired woman's silver eyes welled with tears when she realized the older woman was nothing more than a hologram. "Mayo, I died several years before the fall of the Silver Millennium, surely Pluto told you of that before she sent you down here." At Mayo's nod of no, Corona sighed.
"I died when you were about," Corona started, counting off the years on her fingers. "I believe fifteen, maybe a bit younger. As a spirit, I have resided in this vault since that day. It was I who helped you hide your henshin wand here, and it is I who have guarded that wand with all the power the gods left to me."
"Why now? Why not when the others were awakened?"
"Because there was no need for your powers then," Corona spoke softly, watching as more tears welled in Mayo's eyes and slid down her cheeks. "Because you have always been overly protective of you sister and her senshi. You would have tried to shield them from the most important battles of their lives. Every challenge they have faced till now has been about building their bond back up, and now it's time for you to do the same with your bond with them."
"They don't accept me."
"They will. With the power of Sol, you will have what it takes to convince them you are the true Princess of Sol. Besides, Serenity already believes, what more do you really need?"
"Their friendship, their trust, their love. I want to feel like I belong."
"Those are things that need to be earned. In the past, the senshi were less cynical about who they shared those with, now it's become a necessity for them to guard those feelings," Corona spoke, watching the pain drift over Mayo's face. "You, Pluto and Serenity haven't exactly done a whole lot to promote those feelings either. Not that I'm condemning you for the way you three went about the start of this, as I know Choronos has plans that must be carefully followed, but you haven't exactly given the senshi any reason to give you their trust, their friendship, or their love."
"In my dreams, even before Pluto came to me, I use to see bits and pieces of the life I was forced to leave behind," Mayo spoke softly, watching Corona smile sadly.
"I know. The coming trials will be painful, Mayo, but you will survive them. But I'm afraid we must hurry, something tells me your sister and her senshi are in danger."
"What must I do?" Mayo questioned as Corona stepped back behind the pedestal that held the glowing glass ball. As the older woman gave her room, Mayo advanced on the sphere of light, and instinctively knew what to do. Reaching out a hand, she began to chant in a language that she never knew she could speak. This in turn caused the light in the ball to grow outward, shattering the glass. When Mayo's voice finally silenced, she felt her fingers wrap around the henshin wand that now resided within the palm of her hand.
"You must go now, and remember always that I love you."
"SOLAR CRYSTAL POWER, MAKE UP!"
~~
Outside Crown Arcade
Juuban District
Tokyo, Japan
Earth
"SATURN!" Moon screamed as she watched the youmas fling the last of her senshi back away from them, until she alone stood before the army. "Minna..." she muttered hopelessly. The seven planetary senshi lay motionless, as did the three Sailor Stars, and a battered and bruised Tuxedo Kamen.
"Your serene highness," a smooth male voice whispered, causing Sailor Moon to suppress a shudder of fear.
"Prince Diamond." Sailor Moon's eyes grew wide as saucers when the white haired prince of the dark moon stood before the army, and before her, his eyes roving over her sailor suited figure.
"It has been quite a while, your highness," Diamond nearly hissed.
"Not long enough, I'm afraid." Sailor Moon swallowed, and seemed to internally pour all her power through her link with Kamen and the senshi, hoping against hope she could rouse them. She knew that if they didn't wake up soon, or that Pluto didn't return, she was going to be taken captive or she was going to die.
"I must apologize about the damage inflicted on your friends, but it was necessary for my associate and I that they be momentarily eliminated from the battle in order for our plans to proceed."
"And what plans would those be?"
"Why, the separation of you and the Silver Imperium Crystal."
~~
Ruins of Golden Palace
Sun City
Sol
"Congratulations," Pluto spoke as Mayo emerged from the underground staircase, dressed as Sailor Sol. Unlike the other senshi, Sailor Sol's fuku was white while her body suit a glittering gold. On her chest was a glittery gold bow, and on her lower back as a white bow, while her feet were grace with golden high heels. Elbow length white gloves with glittering gold ringlets, a glittering gold tunic with white lines, a glittering gold choker with a star pendant, and a gold tiara with a white jewel topped the ensemble. Moreover, in her left hand a staff, much like Pluto's Time Key, resided, its top carved with the golden glowing symbol of Sol.
"Arigato. My aunt, she was there," Sol started as Pluto nodded in reply.
"I know. A transmission came through while you were there. The others are in trouble."
"Then let's go."
The two senshi faced each other, their staffs held out inches apart, as they began to build their power. "SAILOR TELEPORT!"
~~
Outside Crown Arcade
Juuban District
Tokyo, Japan
Earth
"Ahhhh!" Sailor Moon screamed as she was flung back by several of the youmas under Diamond's control. When he had first appeared, she knew instantly that this was not the Prince Diamond who had saved her during their last meeting; this man was simply a physical copy of him, none of the qualities that had made up the real Diamond were possessed by this man.
"Give up Sailor Moon!" Diamond hissed as Moon shook her head to clear it and attempted to stand.
"Never."
"Then I will simply have to take you by force," Diamond began, until one angry voice cut through the commotion.
"Touch her, and die." The voice was decidedly female, and more over, it was one very angry female.
"Ah, Pluto, how good of you to come. And here I thought you weren't allowed to enter these types of battles."
"Normally, I'm not, but the Gods allowed me this exception," Pluto hissed. Obviously, Diamond didn't recognize the first voice as someone other than herself. 'I pity the fool.'
"Take one step closer to her, and I'll make sure that every bone in your body is broken before you die a slow and painful death," the female's voice said again as Diamond attempted to make his way to Sailor Moon.
"And just who are you?"
"Sailor Sol." Diamond's eyes widened a bit in momentary surprise before a purely evil smile stole over his lips.
"I'm afraid you're too late to save your sister, Sailor Sol, as she know belongs to the Dark Moon." Unnoticed by the two senshi or the Dark Moon prince was the fact that the other senshi were beginning to awaken and could hear everything that was happening.
"NO!" Pluto hollered, as Sailor Moon's body began to glow.
"SOLAR FLARES!" Sol cried out as she shoved as much of her power through her body and toward the Dark Moon Prince as she could. However, she was too late. Sailor Moon and Diamond as well as the fleet of youma and droids disappeared in a flash.
"SERENITY!" Sol cried out in horror.
"Usako," a tormented Kamen whispered in hurt.
~~~~~
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR, 2003!
First, I'd like to take a moment to thank Lilac Summers, The Yarnspinner, Alicia Blade, Sexylyon, and Tsuki Doriimaa for allowing me to post their works on my site, A Haven For Lovers, aka www.usagi-carter.org.
Next, I'd like to remind everyone reading that Emails and Reviews are nice things, things that all authors would like to have. Please review my story if you can at whatever website you're at, and please, don't forget to email me!!
And now, I share with you my most recent favorite quote. I was re-reading some of Lilac Summers' stories, and came upon this and in the midst of the sadness that is in First Truths, I saw this and had to laugh. It's truly a Minako-ism.
"Baby, your blood is bluer than a drowned Smurf!" - Minako from Lilac Summer's First Truths.
Now, on with the story!!
Do You Remember
Chapter 5
By Usagi Carter
Email: webmistress@usagi-carter.org
Re-written: December 20, 2003
Ruins of Golden Palace
Sun City
Sol
Two bodies blinked into existence, one falling to the ground and the other wavering back and forth before she caught her balance. "Are you alright?"
"Dizzy, other than that, I'm fine."
"Stay close to me. With a bit of help from Usagi-chan and Amy-chan, I've managed to create a five meter circle around us to shield us from the atmosphere..."
"Where do we begin?"
"The ruins behind you are all that's left of Golden Palace, home to Sol's ruling family." Mayo swung around at Pluto's words and gasped in shock. The once lovely palace stood no more. Instead, several columns and the arch of the main entrance way were all that was still standing. The rest was either dust, or crumbled and shattered.
"How did this happen Pluto? Usagi-chan told me that the Dark Kingdom attacked all the planets, but I don't understand how..."
"They attacked every planet, one by one. The day the Princess of Sol left here for the ball on the Moon, Sol was attacked, and everyone here was destroyed," Pluto informed her, her voice hard as nails, tough as steel. To remember the events that had enfolded during those last days... well, it wasn't something Pluto relished in the least.
"By then, word had yet to spread to the Moon that the Outer planets, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Venus, and Sol had perished. The night of the ball, Serenity informed the Outer senshi about the severity of the situation. By then, the Earth and Moon were the only places with any type of civilization. Just as she did with the Moon, Beryl used the Shadow Warriors and the brainwashed Earth Generals to destroy everything and everyone in Metallia's path."
"Oh," Mayo whispered, watching Pluto's face carefully. No emotion shone through the thousand year old wall the older woman had erected around those memories, but Pluto's eyes said it all. It was no wonder to Mayo now, why Setsuna always seemed to be eternally sad.
"Shall we? I believe the chamber we're searching for is about 1/2 kilometer in front of us, buried under the debris." With a silent nod, the pair advanced to the middle of what once was the throne room.
~~
Juuban Park
Tokyo, Japan
Earth
Same Time Frame
"They should be there by now, right?" Usagi questioned Amy restlessly. Amy looked up from her mini computer, a slight glare in her eyes. It was the fifth time since Pluto and Mayo had left that the blonde had asked that question.
"Usagi-chan, calm down," Luna exasperatedly spoke. "Amy is doing everything she can to monitor them."
"They've made it," Amy started, gaining Usagi, Luna and Artemis' attention. "From what the computer is saying, they've moved into what use to be the throne room of...Golden Palace." Amy looked up to see Usagi's eyes glaze over in tears. Luna and Artemis sighed. Usagi, more so then the others, had memories of the way things had been during the Silver Millennium. Every now and then, she'd catch a more detailed glimpse of that time of her life in a dream, and Golden Palace had been one of the few things she could remember distinctly.
"As Princess Serenity, you visited there very rarely. Only during royal functions, as a representative of the Moon Kingdom, and on bi-annual trips with your parents to visit your grandmother and aunts and uncle," Luna spoke in response to Usagi's tears.
"I can remember the palace. It use to radiate power, golden power," Usagi whispered, eyes closed, body tensed.
"The power of Sol," Artemis murmured.
~~
Ruins of Golden Palace
Sun City
Sol
"It must be hard on you and the others to remember the way things were, and to see the way things are now," Mayo spoke as she and Pluto set about the task of clearing debris away from a spot that Pluto indicated was where they needed to look.
"Of all the others, only the Inner Senshi have seen the ruins of the Moon," Pluto huffed as she hefted a giant piece of what was once the ceiling and moved it to her left. "Of the Inners, only Usagi-chan has any real memories of that time. The Outers, thus far, have been spared the pain of glimpsing what was."
"Is that perhaps part of their problem when it comes to dealing with and being in the presence of the Inner Senshi?"
"Occasionally, I would say yes, but truth be told, I know no more about that then you do. AH!" Pluto gasped as Mayo moved away one last piece of rumble, uncovering a dimly lit carving in the ground.
"The symbol of Sol," Mayo muttered, never noticing the sad smile on Pluto's face.
"You go alone from here. Remember I'll be waiting when you're done," Pluto spoke, watching Mayo nod, before the younger woman reached out and traced the carving with her finger. When the carving started to glow brightly with power and light, Pluto's smile increased when she noticed that Mayo never cringed. In an instant, the power flared, blinding both women, before it died down and revealed an opening in the floor, with a staircase leading from the surface downward.
"Wish me luck," Mayo whispered, dropping herself down into the opening before following the staircase down into the bowels of the sun.
~~
Nearly three hours later, Mayo found herself lost in the darkness. The caverns beneath what use to be the palace held no torches, no openings, just darkness and a low humming sound that drove Mayo crazy. Muttering to herself, the black haired woman sat down and brought her knees to her chest, resting her arms and head on them. She was lost, and knew that there was probably no way Pluto would know that she was lost or be able to find her in this darkness. "Yeah, some senshi I'm turning out to be," she muttered as she buried her face in folded arms and wept.
As Mayo wept, something in the back of her mind registered that the humming sound was increasing in volume and pitch, and that her forehead was burning steadily. It wasn't a painful burning, but more of a warmth that seemed to seep through her bones. Finally deciding that crying wasn't going to get her anywhere, the black haired woman stood, and suddenly noticed that the room was dimly lit. She also seemed to realize where the light was coming from - her forehead.
Reaching up, Mayo brushed her fingers over her forehead, noticing as she did that the light seemed to fade out until she removed her hand from her forehead completely and the light returned. "Well, I'll be damned," she whispered, before turning around in the tunnel, trying to find out where she was. Closing her eyes, she listened to the hum as it vibrated off the walls. Something in her urged her to try to find the source of the noise, so she closed her eyes and let her ears follow the sound. Her feet began to move of their own accord, taking a path that somehow seemed eerily familiar.
Ten minutes later, Mayo opened her eyes and found herself standing in front of what looked like the door to a vault. On the front was a panel inscribed in a language that Mayo guessed was Solarian. "There's no way I'm going to get that open!" she hissed as she studied the panel. What she didn't count on was finding the words that seemed to be written in a language Pluto had recently taught her - Lunarian - interwoven with Solarian on the surface of the panel. Carefully wracking her brain for the lessons she'd been taught, Mayo began to translate the Lunarian words into Japanese.
Reciting the words in her native language, Mayo pondered their meaning.
"Daughter of Sol, be thy name. From earth she comes, at long last, to reclaim, the power of the star, which gives life and sustains. In the time of Moon's great need, she will travel by Pluto's gate to fulfill her destiny. Power of Sol, possessed by thee, will unlock the vault, where there is a hidden key. True to her heart, she must be, to be worthy to set free, what was passed by those before. This is the God, Apollo's, decree."
As Mayo read the words aloud, the panel seemed to glow and the humming noise grew louder. She stared at the panel for a long time, before her brain registered with her that there seemed to be a glow like the shape of a hand coming from the panel. Shrugging her shoulders, she stepped forward, hand outstretched. "Could it really be this simple?" she asked aloud as she placed her hand, palm down, on the panel. The next thing she knew, the humming stopped and the panel stopped glowing. Just as she was about to pull her hand away, she felt a stinging sensation on her palm, and then noticed the glow started again, this time accompanied by a rumbling sound, that of rocks moving. When Mayo yanked her hand back, she noticed six dots of blood on it - one on each finger and a slightly larger one in the center of her palm. Wiping the blood off on her pants, Mayo looked up and noticed that the door where the panel had been was now open, and there was a light coming from inside.
~~
Juuban Park
Tokyo, Japan
Earth
"It's been five hours already, you'd think Pluto would have gotten in touch with us," Artemis grumbled as he settled himself on Amy's lap.
"From what Pluto told me, Sol is probably covered in debris just like the Moon," Usagi spoke softly as she sat rubbing her hand along Luna's back. She wasn't about to admit to the others how worried she really was about Mayo and Setsuna, otherwise she'd never hear the end of it.
"Usagi, Amy, come in!" a voice chirped as both girls' communicators went off. Amy was busy bringing up another screen on her computer, one that was chirping in alarm while Usagi opened her communicator, revealing the face of Sailor Mars.
"Usagi here."
"We've got a problem down at Crown. You'd better get here ASAP."
"How bad is it Mars?" Amy questioned as she grasped her henshin wand and Usagi yanked her broach off her shirt.
"It's really bad. We've got at least a dozen youmas on the ground, five droids on top of the building, and more coming by the minute," Mars informed them, all the while dodging incoming attacks. "Jupiter and Venus are still five minutes away and I sent a message to Neptune and Uranus. Saturn's here with me already."
"On our way," Usagi gestured to Amy as she snapped her communicator off. "MOON ETERNAL POWER, MAKE UP!"
"MERCURY CRYSTAL POWER, MAKE UP!"
~~
Ruins of Golden Palace
Sun City
Sol
Pluto sighed as she closed her communicator. She'd heard Mars' message and an uneasy feeling swept over her; somehow, she knew that the others would be in trouble soon. A dozen youmas and five droids was a lot to handle to begin with, who knows what else the Dark Moon was sending the senshi's way. Knowing that the others' survival may very well depend on Mayo's findings, Pluto dropped to one knee, her hands firmly clutching her staff, and began to pray.
~~
The light had started out as a nearly blinding white, but as she stepped into the vault, it dimmed to a warm yellow. Mayo took a moment to adjust her eyes to the light, and when she felt secure in her vision, she turned around to get a good look at the inside of the room.
The vault was small, about the size of Usagi's bedroom. It had four barren walls, which seemed to Mayo to glow an unnaturally warm yellow. In the center was a pedestal, which was topped off by a glass ball glowing a silvery-yellow color. Inside the ball was an object, though Mayo couldn't make out its exact shape because of the light.
Take a deep breath, the silver eyed, black haired woman took two steps forward and found herself stuck by an invisible force field. "Who dares seek the power of Sol?" a distinctly female voice boomed, causing Mayo to flinch before she regained her composure and answered the person.
"Taiyou Mayo."
"That name is not recognized here!" the female voice boomed again, causing Mayo's anger to flare.
"Ok," she whispered to herself. 'I will just have to try another approach' she thought to herself, as she stood straighter. "My name is Princess Mayo, eldest daughter of Queen Serenity of the Moon and King Solaris of Sol, sister of Princess Serenity of the Moon, and rightful heir to the Solarian Kingdom!" Mayo's voice raised several tones as she nearly shouted out the titles of her past self.
"That name is acknowledged," the woman said again, and in a moment of flaring power, Mayo watched as a gorgeous woman stood before her. "Welcome home, Daughter of Sol."
"Queen Corona?"
~~
Outside Crown Arcade
Juuban District
Tokyo, Japan
Earth
"MERCURY!" several of the senshi screamed as the Senshi of Ice was thrown across the street and into a tree trunk.
"Saturn, go make sure she's alright," Sailor Moon commanded as the senshi began to regroup and stand between the Dark Moon's army and the fallen senshi of mercury.
"Where's Pluto?" Uranus hissed, knowing that the senshi of time's powers would come in handy considering their current situation. The five senshi standing with Sailor Moon watched her visibly flinch when she heard Uranus' comment.
"She's on Sol," Sailor Moon muttered as the group of warriors looked at her as though she'd grown another head. "She's trying to retrieve the powers of Sailor Sol."
"YOU SENT HER TO THE SUN?" Mars screeched, dodging an incoming attack while launching one of her own.
"How irresponsible could you be Sailor Moon?" Venus harshly accused the Senshi of Justice as they all dove for cover.
"We need Sol's powers, and there was no other way then sending Pluto to retrieve them," Moon huffed as she rolled and slid to a stop near Jupiter. "I'd have gone myself but I know the kind of conniption fit you would have had if I had!"
"SILENCE WALL!" Saturn's attack stopped the interrogation any further as the senshi were given a moment to rest and re-gather their thoughts.
~~
Ruins of Golden Palace
Sun City
Sol
"The time has obviously come, if you are here before me, for you to receive that which you hid so many years ago," the woman spoke, causing Mayo to snap out of her stupor.
"So I am Princess Mayo."
"Do you still not believe?" the woman asked, walking forward and raising a hand to caress Mayo's cheek. The black haired woman's silver eyes welled with tears when she realized the older woman was nothing more than a hologram. "Mayo, I died several years before the fall of the Silver Millennium, surely Pluto told you of that before she sent you down here." At Mayo's nod of no, Corona sighed.
"I died when you were about," Corona started, counting off the years on her fingers. "I believe fifteen, maybe a bit younger. As a spirit, I have resided in this vault since that day. It was I who helped you hide your henshin wand here, and it is I who have guarded that wand with all the power the gods left to me."
"Why now? Why not when the others were awakened?"
"Because there was no need for your powers then," Corona spoke softly, watching as more tears welled in Mayo's eyes and slid down her cheeks. "Because you have always been overly protective of you sister and her senshi. You would have tried to shield them from the most important battles of their lives. Every challenge they have faced till now has been about building their bond back up, and now it's time for you to do the same with your bond with them."
"They don't accept me."
"They will. With the power of Sol, you will have what it takes to convince them you are the true Princess of Sol. Besides, Serenity already believes, what more do you really need?"
"Their friendship, their trust, their love. I want to feel like I belong."
"Those are things that need to be earned. In the past, the senshi were less cynical about who they shared those with, now it's become a necessity for them to guard those feelings," Corona spoke, watching the pain drift over Mayo's face. "You, Pluto and Serenity haven't exactly done a whole lot to promote those feelings either. Not that I'm condemning you for the way you three went about the start of this, as I know Choronos has plans that must be carefully followed, but you haven't exactly given the senshi any reason to give you their trust, their friendship, or their love."
"In my dreams, even before Pluto came to me, I use to see bits and pieces of the life I was forced to leave behind," Mayo spoke softly, watching Corona smile sadly.
"I know. The coming trials will be painful, Mayo, but you will survive them. But I'm afraid we must hurry, something tells me your sister and her senshi are in danger."
"What must I do?" Mayo questioned as Corona stepped back behind the pedestal that held the glowing glass ball. As the older woman gave her room, Mayo advanced on the sphere of light, and instinctively knew what to do. Reaching out a hand, she began to chant in a language that she never knew she could speak. This in turn caused the light in the ball to grow outward, shattering the glass. When Mayo's voice finally silenced, she felt her fingers wrap around the henshin wand that now resided within the palm of her hand.
"You must go now, and remember always that I love you."
"SOLAR CRYSTAL POWER, MAKE UP!"
~~
Outside Crown Arcade
Juuban District
Tokyo, Japan
Earth
"SATURN!" Moon screamed as she watched the youmas fling the last of her senshi back away from them, until she alone stood before the army. "Minna..." she muttered hopelessly. The seven planetary senshi lay motionless, as did the three Sailor Stars, and a battered and bruised Tuxedo Kamen.
"Your serene highness," a smooth male voice whispered, causing Sailor Moon to suppress a shudder of fear.
"Prince Diamond." Sailor Moon's eyes grew wide as saucers when the white haired prince of the dark moon stood before the army, and before her, his eyes roving over her sailor suited figure.
"It has been quite a while, your highness," Diamond nearly hissed.
"Not long enough, I'm afraid." Sailor Moon swallowed, and seemed to internally pour all her power through her link with Kamen and the senshi, hoping against hope she could rouse them. She knew that if they didn't wake up soon, or that Pluto didn't return, she was going to be taken captive or she was going to die.
"I must apologize about the damage inflicted on your friends, but it was necessary for my associate and I that they be momentarily eliminated from the battle in order for our plans to proceed."
"And what plans would those be?"
"Why, the separation of you and the Silver Imperium Crystal."
~~
Ruins of Golden Palace
Sun City
Sol
"Congratulations," Pluto spoke as Mayo emerged from the underground staircase, dressed as Sailor Sol. Unlike the other senshi, Sailor Sol's fuku was white while her body suit a glittering gold. On her chest was a glittery gold bow, and on her lower back as a white bow, while her feet were grace with golden high heels. Elbow length white gloves with glittering gold ringlets, a glittering gold tunic with white lines, a glittering gold choker with a star pendant, and a gold tiara with a white jewel topped the ensemble. Moreover, in her left hand a staff, much like Pluto's Time Key, resided, its top carved with the golden glowing symbol of Sol.
"Arigato. My aunt, she was there," Sol started as Pluto nodded in reply.
"I know. A transmission came through while you were there. The others are in trouble."
"Then let's go."
The two senshi faced each other, their staffs held out inches apart, as they began to build their power. "SAILOR TELEPORT!"
~~
Outside Crown Arcade
Juuban District
Tokyo, Japan
Earth
"Ahhhh!" Sailor Moon screamed as she was flung back by several of the youmas under Diamond's control. When he had first appeared, she knew instantly that this was not the Prince Diamond who had saved her during their last meeting; this man was simply a physical copy of him, none of the qualities that had made up the real Diamond were possessed by this man.
"Give up Sailor Moon!" Diamond hissed as Moon shook her head to clear it and attempted to stand.
"Never."
"Then I will simply have to take you by force," Diamond began, until one angry voice cut through the commotion.
"Touch her, and die." The voice was decidedly female, and more over, it was one very angry female.
"Ah, Pluto, how good of you to come. And here I thought you weren't allowed to enter these types of battles."
"Normally, I'm not, but the Gods allowed me this exception," Pluto hissed. Obviously, Diamond didn't recognize the first voice as someone other than herself. 'I pity the fool.'
"Take one step closer to her, and I'll make sure that every bone in your body is broken before you die a slow and painful death," the female's voice said again as Diamond attempted to make his way to Sailor Moon.
"And just who are you?"
"Sailor Sol." Diamond's eyes widened a bit in momentary surprise before a purely evil smile stole over his lips.
"I'm afraid you're too late to save your sister, Sailor Sol, as she know belongs to the Dark Moon." Unnoticed by the two senshi or the Dark Moon prince was the fact that the other senshi were beginning to awaken and could hear everything that was happening.
"NO!" Pluto hollered, as Sailor Moon's body began to glow.
"SOLAR FLARES!" Sol cried out as she shoved as much of her power through her body and toward the Dark Moon Prince as she could. However, she was too late. Sailor Moon and Diamond as well as the fleet of youma and droids disappeared in a flash.
"SERENITY!" Sol cried out in horror.
"Usako," a tormented Kamen whispered in hurt.
~~~~~
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR, 2003!