Disclaimer: My sincere gratitude to Takeuchi-sensei who created this wonderful world for us to dream in. respectful bow in the general direction of Japan As we all know, all rights belong to her. I hope you enjoy my portrayal of her creations. As a side note, I don't own rights to Barbie, either, though I do own a few Barbie dolls. Oh, and for those who don't know, hotaru is the Japanese word for firefly.

I would like to thank all of my beta readers: Elflina, Ree, and Rainbow. Elflina and Ree waited patiently on each chapter (average one a week), and gave me some good feed back on how well things flowed. And Rainbow always seems to find the missing words. ^-^ Even though two out of three of them aren't Sailor Moon fans, they enjoyed the story and that definitely encouraged me to continue. So, thank you. ^-^ And yes, Elflina, I'll write that Sailor Moon / Card Captor Sakura cross-over soon...

I do not write for reviews, but I sure enjoy compliments, constructive criticism, and grammatical corrections. So if you feel like it, please press that little review button, and let me know what you think. - Raya

The Sleeper

Chapter 2 - Maze

Super Sailor Moon flew down the corridors of the palace, followed by her four guardian senshi. She could almost feel their frustration, resentment, and anger at the task assigned to them by Super Sailor Mercury. 'But it IS important,' she thought to herself. In her heart, she was certain of that. 'That look on Mama's face... We have to protect the Sleeper. But who is she? Her name will lead us? What's her name?'

She furrowed her brow in concentration as she passed through the door into the unused north wing. It was there. Just on the tip of her brain. Super Sailor Mercury was sure she knew. So sure, she hadn't explained anything more. Just the one hint. 'What name? Who could it be? Why can't I remember?'

Around her, tapestries and paintings flew by. One, blue and gold, caught her eye. Her heart twisted as she recognized the symbols for Uranus and the depictions of sea birds by a cliff. 'Uranus! She can't be dead... Can she? And Neptune! What happened to her? Why wasn't she there to help Uranus? Or... Was she? Oh no. Please no...'

She took two more quick turns with the Quartet on her heels, then ran straight at a painting of the solar system. Behind her, her friends slowed down in surprise. "Moon? Watch out!" Sailor Ceres cried. Super Sailor Moon ignored her and hit the painting at full speed. Her friends blinked a moment in surprise as she disappeared, then understood and followed her through the realistic looking hologram.

They found themselves in a long dark corridor. Now Super Sailor Moon slowed down, then stopped.

"Which way?" Sailor Pallas asked looking at the four options in front of them.

"Her name will lead us?" Super Sailor Moon said in frustration. "But what's her name?!?"

*~*~*~ Outside the Palace *~*~*~

Super Sailor Venus stared in disbelief at the sky. She had thought that Super Sailor Mercury had miscounted the enemy's numbers. But no, there were only four of them floating there in an inclined diamond pattern.

The highest, in the back, was apparently the leader. Her long, blood-red gown flowed around her slim form emphasizing her pale skin and her waist length black hair. A sneer twisted her red lips as she observed the senshi below her. To her right was a stocky man with medium brown hair dressed in a brown suit with some sort of dark gold pattern on the jacket. To her left, another man, this one slim with blond-brown hair and a dark olive green suit. His jacket had the same dark gold pattern on it. At the point was a woman with red hair that looked more like a skull cap than hair. She also wore a suit, though it was more feminine than the men's. Hers was midnight blue, with a tarnished silver pattern. Although their faces were impassive, they also gave off an aura of sneering contempt.

They looked rather... normal. The leader even looked somewhat fragile. But Super Sailor Venus knew that looks could be deceiving. Her intuition told her that these beings were extremely powerful. 'Powerful enough to have defeated Uranus and Neptune,' she thought to herself with a small shiver of fear. She shook herself, and felt her face harden once more. 'They won't defeat us. We won't let them win,' she told herself. 'We can't let them win.'

"So... You wish to stop us?" the leader jeered. "Your friends couldn't stop us. In fact, they barely slowed us down. Spare yourselves a little pain. Give me my sister, and we'll leave for now." She waited a moment. Her face then twisted with impatience at the defiant silence. "Give me the Sleeper!" she yelled. "Never," Super Sailor Venus responded for her team.

*~*~*~ At the entrance to the maze *~*~*~

The five girls inspected the halls before them. In the hall furthest to the right were paintings which seemed to have a theme. Water. Oceans. Waves. The tapestries in the next hallway were all dark, with pictures of suns and moons. The third hallway had statues of motorcycles, horses, and birds. The fourth had pictures of stars and planets. While the four Asteroid senshi muttered and grumbled and searched for some clue, Super Sailor Moon's attention was caught by the lighting.

'How pretty,' she thought, looking at the delicate pattern on one lampshade. 'They look like little fireflies. Hotaru-chan would love it... Hotaru-chan?' She felt the world rock as she finally caught the thought which had been eluding her. Around her, the other senshi cried out in fear.

"Attack! We're under attack!" "Already?!" "The heck with this! We've got to go!"

"This way!" Super Sailor Moon called, then dashed into the corridor with the statues. "What? Wait up!" Sailor Vesta yelled. "Man, why can't she ever wait for us!" Sailor Juno grumbled as they took off after her once again.

Down and around through the maze they went. Super Sailor Moon followed the trail of fireflies. Here on the lamp stand. There in a picture. Once she paused, lost, until she saw the palm sized clock with several tiny flashing lights set in its face.

Sailor Ceres caught at her arm. "Sailor Moon! Do you know where we're going? What are you following?" "Yes, I know Ceres. Trust me, ok? It's this way."

The earth tremors were getting faster and worse as they finally entered a dark room. The five of them halted in surprise. The room looked like a bedroom for some fairy tale princess, except that it was done in dark colors. Against the far wall was a fragile vanity table with six little delicate lights surrounding the mirror. A chest of drawers made of cherry stood next to it. By the wall next to the senshi was a cherry student's desk, complete with computer and file cabinet. Soft, black linen drapes were hung on all the walls. Small lamps were set all around the room, providing light.

And in the middle of the room stood a four poster bed with dark velvet curtains. The curtains were tied back to reveal a pillow laying in the middle of the bed, surrounded by a bunch of dolls and stuffed animals. They were arranged to seem as though they were keeping watch. They sat near the edges of the bed, away from the pillow. The display included a big blue fish wearing glasses, a blond Barbie wearing an orange ballet princess outfit, a huge gold teddy bear wearing a tuxedo, a pink bunny with long ears sitting up on it's hind legs holding a flower, a soft white bunny down on all fours with little ears, a red parrot with an orange chest and crest, a shiny green dragon with it's tongue sticking out, a giant smiling dolphin, an eagle, and another Barbie doll with black hair wearing a nurse's outfit and looking down at a watch. In front of the pink bunny sat a backpack with yet another bunny on it.

Laying on the pillow in the middle of the bed was a dark crystal about the size of a pool ball. The girls walked slowly across the room's dark marble floor, staring at the strange sight. "A crystal?" Sailor Pallas whispered. "How odd. What's it made of?"

Gingerly, Super Sailor Moon picked up the sphere. She gasped in surprise at how warm it was. A glow seemed to come from the inside, showing it's pretty pattern: pure white amethyst in the middle fading delicately to deep purple-black amethyst at the outer edges like a starburst. Deep in her mind, she heard... something. A stirring. A questioning sound. Her eyes went wide, then she drew the crystal protectively against her. 'It's all right,' she thought at it. 'You're safe. Everything will be all right.'

'ChibiUsa-chan? You're here?'

'Yes, I'm here. You can go back to sleep if you want. I can wait.'

'Ok. I'm still a little tired, so if you're sure you don't mind...' a pleased voice whispered into her mind.

'It's all right,' Super Sailor Moon repeated silently. 'Sleep now. We'll catch up later.' She looked around quickly, then yelped in surprise as a particularly hard shake threw her into the bed, crushing the parrot, fish, and ballerina Barbie. She blinked a moment, then grabbed up the pink bunny and the backpack. "We've got to get out of here, guys."

"What?" Sailor Ceres exclaimed. "Is that the Sleeper? If so, our orders are to stay down here and protect it." "There's no way anyone else will make it through that maze," Sailor Pallas agreed. "This would be the best place to hide."

Super Sailor Moon just shook her head, stuffed the bunny down into the backpack, and gently put the crystal in on top of it. "No, this isn't safe enough. We need to get far away. We can't let them get this Star Seed. We have to protect her."

"WHO?" Sailor Juno practically yelled in exasperation. Super Sailor Moon stared at her a moment. 'That's right,' she thought to herself. 'They haven't met any of the Outers in this life. They don't know...' "My friend," she finally replied. "She's extremely powerful. And completely helpless like this. If the enemy were to get her.... We have to protect her!" With that, Super Sailor Moon ran out of the room.

"Not again," groaned Sailor Vesta. "Wait UP!" And with that, the four remaining senshi plunged back into the confusing dark labyrinth.