Chapter 8
Haruka started to walk away hanging her head low. Her hands were in her pockets. Suddenly, she stopped and turned. She had a very confused look on her face.
"What the hell is that?"
Everyone else turned and saw what seemed like stars moving towards each other. They seemed to dance around in the sky. Then they moved down towards the quarreling senshi. Then it hit all of them on what and who that was. Who else but Niloc?
The lights took form and sure enough it was him. He was smiling as usual. His yellow eyes seemed to glow as if the magic was still trapped within the container called his body. The smirk was so sarcastic you wanted to cut it off his face and scream as you did so. Of course one can't do that as much as one wants to.
"Good evening ladies and gentlemen, and those in-between. I hope I didn't interrupt anything important. Even if I did I have something much more important. I've just come back for my daily search of history gems and I realized that I needed to pick you all up. So off we go!" He laughed then, a strange sound that was either beautiful or horrible. You couldn't make out the difference.
"We are not going with you! How stupid do you think we are!" Rei protested as she got up, still very shaken from her fall.
"News flash! We aren't idiots." Makoto also objected. It came out as a faint whisper though.
"Who exactly are you by the way?" Luna questioned.
Niloc's grim immediately faded. His eyes grew so cold, it made you shiver. "Who do you think I am Luna? I have already told you. I am Niloc of the Silver Millennium. I was the high magician of the white moon. Who else would I be?" Niloc then grunted to complete his statement.
"If you are from the white moon as you claim, then why did your so-called-leader attack us? We have done nothing to offend him. At least not on purpose." Setsuna remarked.
Niloc's face became completely expressionless. He did not move, except his mouth. "I apologize for the lord's rudeness. He did not believe you to be the true senshi. He was convinced that I was lying or that you were. You must forgive him, you understand that you have evolved a lot since the last time we all saw you."
Everyone was silent. It was a hard decision to make. The excuse seemed reasonable but what had happened the last time was not something that anyone wanted repeated. Of course, one must listen to their leader and royalty. In this case, that person was very sentimentally forgiving and trusting.
"We will go with you. No funny business though." Usagi conceded. "You have a second chance. Take us to, wherever that place is!" She tried to act royally but the goofball self took over again.
Haruka simply turned away. She started to once again head towards the exit but was stopped by Niloc.
"Just where do you think you are going?" He asked with great provocation and disappointment.
"I am no longer welcome in the presence of the princess and her court. That was interrupted when you had came. My walk of shame." She had meant to be sarcastic, but it didn't come out that way.
"I'm sorry but your exodus has to be postponed. All the senshi available who have been in acquaintance with her majesty, the Princess Serenity also known as Eternal Sailor Moon must report to ??????? ASAP!" With that, he made the flash and they all went to the place, willing or not.
They were in the same desolate place they had been in before. But, it was different. The haze was still there but you weren't choking on your breath and the pain was mislaid. Then the smoke all of the sudden vanished. All of the senshi gasped as they saw the true interior of the place they had thought was hell transform itself.
It was as if you were in a brick castle. The walls were brick and had beautiful mantles all over them. There were armor statues and a carpet over the floor. The room was lit by many candles but also some other light. The pool was absent from where it used to be.
"We shouldn't dally here too long. We need to get to Dillabcra. This is but the waiting room." Niloc informed.
"So we aren't where we were before?" Chibiusa questioned.
"No little one." Niloc replied softly. "You are in an illusion of the tower of law and punishment from the old castle of the Moon."
Suddenly, and unnoticed door flung open. The senshi all quickly turned their heads to the door and were immediately teleported there. The room was a bit darker. There was a throne fit for a king inside but instead Dillabcra sat there. The other five people stood next to him on either side. They seemed to be much more welcoming this time since they all seemed to be smiling. Dillabcra wore the biggest smile of all.
"Welcome home friends and dear princess! Please excuse my rudeness from before. It was a horrible and ignorant act of treason. Will you please excuse it?" Dillabcra announced very regally. He stood up too.
"No serious harm done. It's ok." Usagi replied embarrassed.
Kôji then replied "And such a forgiving princess too. We are so happy for your safe homecoming."
Nyan added. "We were horribly rude the other day. I certainly hope you speak truthfully about your wounds. We wish so much for your honest forgiveness." Nyan looked like she was about to cry.
Yulun looked embarrassed at Nyan and turned and apologized. "I do hope you excuse her. She is still very young and inexperienced with royal gatherings."
"So am I." Ruini laughed. The old man patted Nyan on the back. "We're all rusty."
Kôji and Yulun both turned and yelled at the same time "Ruini!"
Then Dillabcra coughed into his hand for attention. All of those people immediately jumped up into a formal position. They all looked embarrassed then. As if each one had been laughing loudly in church and had just realized it.
"Now if we may princess, we love for you to introduce to us your acquaintances. There are a few I cannot place." Dillabcra asked politely.
"Oh sure." Usagi answered completely informally. She walked over to the Starlights first. "Ok, this is Seiya Kou who transforms into Sailor Star Fighter. This is Yaten Kou who transforms into Sailor Star Healer. This is Taiki Kou who transforms into Sailor Star Maker. And this is their princess, Princess Kakyuu. They are from the Kiminko System." The Starlights looked very embarrassed about the sudden spotlight.
"Ah yes, I've heard of that galaxy. Supposedly very beautiful and has little enemies." Dillabcra answered. "We bid you welcome."
"Thank you sir. We're happy to be here and have been able to fight alongside your very powerful princess for the cause of justice and love." Princess Kakyuu boldly stated.
Usagi felt it was then the right time to introduce her future daughter, but didn't know how to say it. How would they react? What would they think if she said she was her daughter?
"And um. This is my future daughter from the thirtieth century! She is my and Tuxedo-I mean Prince Endymion's and my daughter. Her senshi name is Sailor Chibi Moon and her nickname is Chibiusa Chiba. And this is her cat, Luna and Artimis's future daughter, Diana." She just blurted it all out. The people didn't seem confused at all. They just were saying things like "how nice....she has her....dad's face...eyes...she's so cute"
Now there was a question that had been annoying her the entire time and she felt that she had the right to know. "I don't mean to be rude but, who are you four? I am sorry but I don't remember you. . ."
"Oh it's ok. You can't be expected to remember everyone. I can't remember everything. I'm Ruini. I'm Princess Mercury's personal butler and advisor. I was also in charge of some of the servants in Marina castle." Ruini smiled. He seemed to be a very kind old man. (But, just how old????)
Then Yulun spoke up. "I'm Yulun. I'm Princess Jupiter's co-head maid under Asillem. I was always with the princess in Io castle."
Kôji introduced his occupation. "I was one of the soldiers on Mars, but then I was moved up and up until the point where I was head of the entire Army of Phobos Deimos."
Nyan then looked very ashamed and whispered. "I was just a servant in Magellen. I was often around Princess Venus though!"
The senshi looked confused. Especially the Starlights who didn't know the names of the castles. But then memory struck the Solar Sailor senshi. Of what the castles looked like, and the servants that worked there. The hustle and bustle of getting strange yet mystical objects of different sizes and shapes to their proper place.
The servants just smiled, as if they already knew the memory hit them. The senshi blushed in ignorance of deducing those people were enemies in lieu of close friends . . .
"It's completely alright if you're feeling guilty." Nyan added softly as she stared at the embarrassed faces of her elite persons.
Yulun then cut Nyan off by nervously integrating. "She means to say that we understand if you are feeling some regret of your actions earlier to us because of the late Queen Serenity's mystic ways for your early happiness."
That quote confused the world to Usagi. The advanced words and mechanics was just too much! But Nyan's earlier answer explained it all to her.
"Oh, well, alright then." Ami replied. "Now what do we do?"
"Nothing at all. I will have the preparations done now. Then we will finish some way back when if you will, unfinished business. When that has been taken care of, we will take into hand the matter of originating our, um, Crystal Tokyo, if that is what it is called." Dillabcra answered.
Having that said, most of the senshi's faces lit up. Grins were made quickly as thoughts of their future coming in such a few short hours! The smiles grew so much it was as if they would sprout wings and fly to the sky.
The Starlights too were pleased. Even though it wasn't their kingdom that was becoming built once more, they were happy. Now a official alliance could be written out between the two kingdoms and identities would no longer be needed to be kept secret. Excited whispers from everyone began to emerge.
Dillabcra was smiling too. It seemed to brighten up the room. He stood up and immediately all of the whispers ceased. They all turned and stared at him. After all, he was the one who would make it all happen. His arms lifted, almost as if in slow motion. His cape slid off his arms and limped at the mercy of his shoulders. His fingers spread and then his voice roared. "????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????" Then he glanced at the senshi as power flew from his hands and then as the golden wave threw itself on the bodies of the ones below he yelled. "Royalty be recognized! Past and future synchronize! Let there no longer be division! Power and destiny come into vision!"
As if on cue, the wave became a tornado around them all. Each senshi in their own special hurricane began to change. Then the raw magic reacted to the sudden power variation and ensued the given color of each individual royal soldier. The gale grew brighter and brighter until it exploded into a million different colored falling stars. The stars showered the senshi in a beautiful rain of colors. Each senshi was wearing their Princess dress or were dressed in a handsome individual tuxedo.
"Wow, how did you do that?" Princess Mercury asked moving here dress around and staring at it in amazement and unbelief.
"Why did you do it?" Princess Mars quoted but with no less wonder then the Princes Mercury had had.
"The latter question is on my mind as well." Princess Uranus agreed less excited about the change of clothing.
"All in good time my princesses." Was the response they all got. "First, I wish to ask what the event we, I guess so rudely interrupted was. It seemed very important."
There was a very heavy silence over the group. How could one explain something such as that? An unspeakable as well as shameful event surely didn't deserve repetition in a wonderful place such as this.
"It doesn't need to be discussed." Princess Venus finally broke the silence. "It really isn't that important."
"Really? Please excuse my defiance on the subject but from what I ???????????????? from Niloc I think it is." Then Dillabcra had a facial change that looked nervous and he turned to Niloc. "Is there a translation for that into their language?"
Niloc looked confused and slowly responded. "I don't believe so sir. That isn't a verb to ordinary humans. But my best bet would be mind-reading. But there is no true word for it."
"Thank-you Niloc." Dillabcra replied. "Now do you girls wish to discuss it? It would be most appreciated. I have questions referring to it if you don't mind."
"And we have thoughts on the subject too." Piped in Yulun. "That is your highness, if you don't mind us."
"Well," Our dear Princess Serenity started. "You see, um, its a very argument, like, subject."
"Perhaps we will be able to shed some light on it for you." Dillabcra urged. "Please do tell."
"I'm not sure."
"With all do respect Princess," Yulun asked. "Could it be that you do not trust us?"
"Oh no!" Usagi shouted quickly. "It isn't that. I just can't speak well of it... That is I can't put that story into words. You know..."
Dillabcra's face grew soft and gentle. A smile was formed on his face. "Then would it be alright if I was to read your mind my Princess? That way there would be no complications with your words."
"I guess that would be alright." Usagi slowly answered.
"All you have to do in order for this to work is step a little closer to me. Then you clear your mind of everything save what happened today. It won't hurt a bit. I promise your grace." Dillabcra explained politely. "Are you ready?"
"Yes."
"Then let's have a look, shall we Princess?"