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.
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 3 – A Long Journey
*~*~*~ Outside the Palace *~*~*~
Super Sailor Jupiter looked up from her sitting position on a high rise, panting, and used the back of her gloved hand to remove the blood from her chin. Her green eyes flashed with defiance and resolution. "You're not getting my queen, my princess, or my friends," she spat. She rose to her feet again, balanced herself, and called the powers of strength and protection once more. "Jupiter Storm Strike!" From the sky, dozens of green lightening bolts poured down to strike continuously at the shield around the invaders. The shield flared, then the redheaded woman cried out in surprised pain. The man in the olive green suit swore as he barely avoided another bolt.
"Mercury Melodic Spray!" A spray of chiming ice crystals flew through the holes in the shield, cutting at the occupants. Only the leader escaped unscathed.
"Dark Avalanche!" the redhead yelled. Super Sailor Mercury dodged, but was not quite fast enough. Her scream resonated off of the crystal shield protecting the Palace.
"Black Hurricane!" the man in the olive suit yelled. Super Sailor Jupiter leaped as high as she could to get over it, but was caught. As she screamed in pain, the wind spun her around, slamming her into the crystal shield and several high rises before taking her high in the air and dropping her.
"Leave something for me to play with," the brown haired man growled.
"Right here," Super Sailor Mars challenged in response. Slowly, painfully, she pushed herself up from the crater caused by the last blow she had taken. "Mars... Purifying.... Backdraft!" A flaming bowl appeared behind her opponent. It quickly roared up to become a 10 foot wall of fire that charged at him. He jumped to the right, but was singed by the licking flames. With a cold, infuriated look, he pointed at Super Sailor Mars and yelled "Death Laser!"
As she put up her arms uselessly to protect her face, Super Sailor Mars felt a familiar chain grab her around the waist and haul her out of the laser's path. Unfortunately, the laser followed, burning a molten path through the rooftops. Super Sailor Venus, tried desperately to wrench her friend around to safety, using her uninjured arm. She had almost succeeded when the laser cut her Chain Wink Sword in half. Super Sailor Mars flew off into open air over a plaza, while Super Sailor Venus fell backwards off the edge of her high rise and into the street 30 stories below. Their screams blended into one, then cut off as they both hit ground.
The black haired leader turned her gaze to the Palace itself. Inside a tall spire of crystal, she could just barely make out a figure on the roof. It appeared to be hunched over, not paying any attention to the fight going on around it. As she raised an energy ball, however, the figure straightened up and raised it's face in challenge.
'Neptune and Uranus. Mercury. Jupiter. Venus. Mars. No! My friends.' Tears of emotional pain running down her face, Neo-Queen Serenity drew herself up and prepared to defend her Palace, husband, child, and remaining friends.
*~*~*~ In the maze *~*~*~
In the maze deep beneath the palace in the north wing, five sailor senshi ran as quickly as they could. Sailor Pallas' eyes widened as she finally figured out the pattern that Super Sailor Moon was following. Most mazes have a key, a certain pattern of rights and lefts that repeat themselves. 'The key isn't a repetitive pattern in the layout,' she thought in amazement. 'It's the decorations. The clocks. Well, ok,' she amended as Super Sailor Moon turned to the right and ran through an illusionary wall with an illusionary hourglass on a stand in front of it, 'the time telling devices.'
A few turns later, she made another observation. 'Not just any time telling device. Only ones with moons on them. Moons that form a doorway or arch.' As Super Sailor Moon slowed down at an intersection with a picture of a (slightly modified) famous London clock tower, then bore right, Sailor Pallas realized that every decoration in the place gave the clues, not just the actual clocks. 'I wonder what she was following before...'
Having noticed this, she looked as best she could for other repetitive pattern markings. She stumbled a few times, causing Sailor Juno to offer an arm for assistance. Sailor Pallas grabbed Sailor Juno's wrist with a grateful smile, then turned her attention back to the decorations. By the time they left the maze and ran back into the north wing, she had identified at least four more patterns: waves, fish, birds, and time devices with both the sun and moon. Deep inside, she was awed by the genius who had designed the complex labyrinth. 'It must have been Mercury, but... It doesn't seem to be her style.'
By now, the senshi were beginning to tire. The tremors had gotten worse however. They had also been joined by a ringing sound. It felt as if the whole palace was about to shatter around them.
Finally, Super Sailor Moon began to slow down. She turned out of the corridor into an open hall. At the far end were a set of doors, covered with panels showing the various phases of the moon. Super Sailor Moon gazed about, apparently looking for something.
"Hurry Sailor Moon!" A small, feminine voice called to them from beside the doors. "Diana!" Sailor Ceres gasped as they came to a stop by the doors. "What are you doing here?"
"No time to explain right now. Here!" The gray cat picked up something from the floor, then jumped up to Super Sailor Moon's shoulder. As the senshi held out her hand, her adviser dropped a familiar looking key into it. "Diana?" she asked amazed. "Hurry!" Diana cried.
As Super Sailor Moon looked at the cat with uncertainty in her pink eyes, Diana sighed. "It's ok. She just went to the Command Center for an update." The cat jumped back to the ground, then looked significantly at the backpack that Super Sailor Moon was carrying in front of her. "But she wouldn't appreciate you waiting on her."
Super Sailor Moon finally nodded, then faced the Doors, held up the Time Key, and called out the words she had not used in five years. "Let the Doors of Time be open for me. I call you by your true name, the all-knowing God of Time, the Father of the Guardian. Chronos! Lead us! Protect us! Send us the Cherry Way!"
Before the wide-eyed senshi, the Doors opened, revealing a roiling mist and a path of cherry-colored light. "Let's go," Super Sailor Moon said, hurrying into the portal. A severe tremble threw her into one of the paneled Doors. All around them, the senshi heard the sound of shattering crystal. "MAMA!" Super Sailor Moon screamed. "Sailor Moon!!! HURRY!" Diana yelled back.
Crying, Super Sailor Moon ran onto the Cherry Way. The Asteroid senshi looked at each other, torn between their duty to protect the palace and their duty to protect their princess. "What are you WAITING for?!" Diana howled at them. "RUN!!!!" Galvanized, the four senshi ran through the portal and into the unknown. Behind them, the Doors closed.
Quickly, they caught up with Super Sailor Moon, who was crying so hard she could barely see the glowing path. Sailor Ceres reached out to touch her shoulder, but was soon shrugged off. Gulping, Super Sailor Moon got a hold of herself. She transferred the Key to her other hand, then pulled out her Pink Moon Crystal. Still moving down the Cherry Way, she began to wave the Crystal in the air, causing the mist to roil more than ever, and the path to twist. Behind them, Diana began to twist her body into strange patterns, making things even worse. The Quartet cried out in fear and frustration.
"What are you doing?" Sailor Vesta demanded. "How are we supposed to run fast with the path bucking like this?" Sailor Juno complained. "I thought we were in a hurry," Sailor Ceres agreed. Sailor Pallas just looked green.
"I... I'm confusing the path behind us," Super Sailor Moon sobbed. "That should slow the enemy down some, if they make it this far." The three complainers had the grace to look ashamed.
"She'll be all right," Pallas whispered around clenched teeth. "Neo-Queen Serenity-sama is the most powerful being in the universe. There's no way she'll fall to whatever it is chasing us. HER Guardians won't allow it." At this assurance, Super Sailor Moon looked a little brighter. "You're right," she whispered. "I have to keep faith."