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.
Hi everyone! Here is another chapter for your enjoyment. I'm going to be home for a few weeks, so expect regular updates for a while. Hey, I might even get it all up this time! -
I'm still working on my CardCaptor Sakura/Crystal Tokyo crossover. I'm up to chapter 10, and have a lo-o-ong way to go. - If you like long stories, keep your eyes out for that one after this is finished. I may have to upload Cherry Snow first, though, to tide you over if I'm not finished with it.
And if Countless-Truths is reading this story, thanks so much for the review of Duty. I wrote it as a stand-alone chapter, 'though it is set in this splinter universe. I hope you're enjoying this story just as much. -
I hope this comes through all right... The Quick Edit/Preview shows that my breaker marks are missing. I'll put in an extra line or two at those points just in case. Hope this problem gets fixed 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 12 – Meetings and Revelations
Minako giggled at some scene in the manga she was reading as she leaned against one of the pillars in the front of the main building. "Hey, Ami-chan! Look at this! Isn't that hilarious?"
Ami looked up from her copy of Gray's Anatomy (in English), blinked, then looked at the manga Minako had shoved in front of her. Her eyes scanned the two pages for a moment, then she, too, burst out laughing. "That's so true! I hate it when that happens!"
Makoto looked over at the two. "It must be good if Ami-chan likes it. Here, let me see." She leaned her broom against the steps, then took the manga from Minako. Seconds later, she burst out laughing. "Oh yeah. Especially when it happens in front of some enemy!" She glanced over at Rei who stood sweeping a little distance away, looking at the stairs. Then, she handed the manga back to Minako, picked up her broom, and began to help again. Companionable silence reigned for a few more minutes, then a voice could be heard faintly as someone climbed the steps. A lower voice answered it, talking about the spectacular accident in the latest motocross event two weeks ago.
"Would you STOP staring at me?!" Bessa cried as the group reached the top of the stairs. She glared at Haruka, who just smirked. "But you're so cute when you're mad," she said, aggravating the red-head even more.
The four Inner senshi looked up at Bessa's outburst, and stared at the girls in surprise. Rei turned around, caught her friends' eyes, and nodded. They nodded back. Then Makoto and Minako grinned at the expression on Bessa's face.
"Hi, ChibiUsa-chan!" Minako called out, forestalling whatever Bessa was about to say in reply.
"Hi Minako-chan! Everyone!" Lady called looking towards the Inners with relief. "How was school?"
"Oh, it was ok. Same ol' same ol'," Makoto replied with a smile. "Ami-chan's fascinated by every subject. Minako-chan and Usagi-chan can hardly stay awake...."
"Mako-chan can hardly wait until lunch time to show off her latest concoction..." Minako chimed in. Everyone but the Quartet laughed.
"Hey... Where IS Usagi-chan?" Lady asked looking around.
"Oh, she's running a little late," Minako said, smiling, and turning her attention back to her manga. Her eyes danced as Lady took it exactly the way it had been meant.
"Detention again?" she crowed. "Oh, I can't WAIT until she gets here."
"I'm taking ChibiUsa-chan and her friends shopping after the meeting," Usagi told Mamoru as they approached the gate for the Hikawa shrine. "They need some more school uniforms. And they don't have anything else to wear."
Mamoru nodded. "Guess I'll order some takeout for dinner then," he replied. "You girls have fun."
Usagi smiled happily, and skipped up the stairs. "I can hardly wait," she chirped.
"U-sa-gi," Lady called when she saw the couple. "It's about time you got here. Did you have to do double detention or something? Or did it just take you that long to figure out those problems?"
Usagi looked at the younger girl, scrunched up her face, and joined the battle with shining eyes. "I did NOT have detention!"
"Yeah, right," Lady replied, turning her head away as if she didn't care, but her eyes stayed on Usagi. "You probably pigged out on candy in the afternoon, then got caught taking a nap."
"Grrrr.... Listen, BRAT, I didn't get caught...."
"Oh, so you did take a nap," Lady interrupted, crowing triumphantly. "What, worn out from whining your way through PE?"
Their audience watched with a variety of emotions as the two girls engaged in their word fight. The Quartet were so amazed by Lady's behavior they forgot about Haruka. Usagi's performance quite convinced them that there was no way she could be the gracious, calm Neo-Queen Serenity. Haruka and the Inners watched with amusement as they saw how relaxed the two were. Privately, Minako patted herself on the back for instigating the "fight". Mamoru just sighed tolerantly, and waited patiently for it to end with a faint smile on his lips.
"Really!" Usagi huffed after several minutes of playful bickering. "Hmph. I guess you don't want to know the real reason I was late." She reached into her book bag and pulled out a container of pudding. "I guess I'll just have to keep this for myself," she sighed, eyes twinkling.
"Pudding!" Lady cried, reaching for the box. Usagi turned away, and a game of keep-away began. "I thought you might have had a long day. I really was feeling a bit sorry for you. And I thought to myself, 'I really should get my swe-e-et ChibiUsa-chan a welcome back present.' So after school, I went right over to the convenience store and bought some snacks. And then I had to meet Mamo-chan, whose bus was late. But now I remember. You're just an irritating brat. So I guess I get to keep the snacks and soda all to myself..."
Lady finally managed to grab the pudding container, then turned sad, dark pink, puppy dog eyes to Usagi. "Soda? Peach ramune?" Usagi turned away with a smile, then spun back around and handed Lady a bottle filled with peach flavored drink. "Here!"
"Thanks, Usagi!" Lady said as she took the bottle. She turned to carry her prizes to the steps, then stopped as her friends' expressions registered. "What?"
"Oh, uh, nothing," June said. "You two really are good friends, aren't you."
Lady looked at her, then smiled. "Well, sorta. She and her friends helped me a lot when I was a kid."
"Of course they did, Little One," Haruka said with amusement. "You are the future Princess, after all."
The Quartet jumped as they remembered the potential enemy in their midst. They turned quickly to face him, standing protectively in front of Lady. "How did you know that!" June demanded.
"Whoa, calm down guys," Minako called in apparent surprise. "What, are you all going to take her on?"
"Her?" Celeste asked in confusion.
"Do we get to place bets?" Makoto asked, leaning on her broom. "Hey, Ami-chan, what are the odds?"
Ami studied the adversaries a moment, then looked over at Makoto. "Oh, I'd say 3 to 5 in favor of Haruka-san."
"Whoa, that close? Really?" Minako asked.
"Mm…," Ami nodded. "They think they're protecting ChibiUsa-chan from her, after all, so they'll fight a bit harder."
"And Haruka-san knows that ChibiUsa-chan would be upset if her friends got really hurt," Usagi added, as the Inners nodded their understanding.
Haruka caught Lady's demanding stare, and sighed. "Perhaps we should take this inside away from snooping ears." she said.
"Aww, you're not going to fight?" Minako asked in playful disappointment. "I was looking forward to watching you beat up someone else for a change."
The Quartet just looked around at the relaxed girls in confusion. "Come on," Lady said quietly to her guardians. "Let's just go inside. You'll understand then." She led the way over to Rei's room.
Once everyone was settled, Haruka turned to stand in front of the Quartet. "I am the famous motocross champion Haruka Ten'oh," she said with a smile and a bow. "Haruka-san!" Lady demanded. She chuckled, then continued. "I am also Sailor Uranus." Everyone looked at the Quartet expectantly.
"Sailor…" "Uranus?" Bessa and June asked, as the four girls stared at her blankly.
"Oh come on," Rei said in exasperation. "Don't tell me no-one's ever told you about the Outer Senshi." They blinked at her with blank expressions on their faces. Pallas leaned her head into her hand and scrunched up her face as she tried to remember any mention of Uranus or Outers.
"Uranus and Neptune protect the system from external invasion," Ami said, looking at Pallas. "And Pluto guards the Doors of Time. One on one, they are more powerful than all the other senshi, save Sailor Moon. Surely someone mentioned this in your training?"
"Mercury did," Lady said, nodding in agreement as her friends looked at her in surprise. "Back when they first began their training as senshi, Mercury told them that Uranus and Neptune protect the system, the Inners protect the city, and the Asteroids protect the palace. She didn't mention Pluto or Saturn. I think Pluto may have asked her not to because of the secret of the Doors of Time, and Saturn… Well, Saturn hasn't been around in a while." The four younger girls winced as they heard their friend say the hated team name.
"I… I think I vaguely remember something like that…" Pallas said uncertainly. Celeste nodded tentatively in agreement, but June and Bessa just shook their heads. "I don't," Bessa said.
"TEENagers," Luna mumbled from Usagi's lap. "They're about as flighty as you girls used to be." "Shush..." Usagi whispered, patting her on the head.
"Yeah, and then there was that fight at the Galaxy Cauldron. Weren't you guys there?" Makoto asked.
"Eh? The Galaxy Cauldron?" Celeste asked in surprise. "Ummm... We actually don't remember too much about it for some reason. We think someone played with our memories or something. I remember there was a problem, and Lady-chan said she knew where to go get help. I remember there was a bright light, and then after we got there, there was a big fight. We got hit by a pretty hard blast... And someone called for our energy to help them. That's about it. Were the Outers there, too?"
"Yes," Usagi said a little sadly. "You were taken out before they attacked, but they were there."
"Wait, you guys were there, too?" June asked in surprise.
"Yes," Rei said as Usagi nodded with a small smile. "Unfortunately, the way Usagi told us the story, we were the ones who hit you with that blast. And if you were knocked out by us, imagine how bad it would be if you were up against someone even stronger."
"And now that you know, quit trying to pick a fight with Uranus before you get hurt," Makoto added with a small smile.
"Oh, this is NOTHING," Lady said, looking around at her friends. "Last time, they were trying to start a fight with Michiru-san and Setsuna-san as WELL as Haruka-san."
"WHAT?!" Rei shouted. "Do you have a death wish or something?" Everyone cringed back, looking at her with surprise. "You tried to pick a fight with Uranus, Neptune, AND Pluto? All at the same time?" she asked in a more normal tone. "Good thing ChibiUsa-chan was with you. Haruka-san and Michiru-san would probably have taken you up on it, while Setsuna-san refereed to make sure you didn't actually get too hurt to be of use."
"Actually, Puu was just as bad about egging them on," Lady said with a frown. "In fact, she was the one who got them all riled up to begin with."
"Pluto? I'm surprised. That doesn't seem like her…" Ami said in surprise as Lady nodded.
Haruka chuckled. "Oh, Setsuna has a playful streak, too, especially if she wants to get someone's attention. She told us later that you girls were dithering about whether to go home or stay here and protect Small Lady, and she felt the need to… Help you decide."
Makoto looked at the Quartet with narrowed eyes. "You were going to leave your princess here? Unprotected? With an enemy chasing after you?" she asked in a chilly tone.
"Ease off a little, Mako-chan," Minako ordered quietly. "Let's hear what they have to say for themselves first." She looked at the girls with steady, neutral eyes. Rei and Ami also focused on the girls and waited.
"Hey, guys, come on," Usagi said in an attempt to break the mood. "ChibiUsa-chan is a fully fledged senshi now. She can usually take care of herself. Besides, we're here. She wouldn't have been completely unprotected."
Ami looked towards Usagi with a small smile. "It is their duty to protect her. They shouldn't abandon her without a good reason. And from what they've told us, they didn't know about Pluto or time travel, so I doubt they were expecting our help."
Celeste nodded slowly and spoke for her team. "It's true. We didn't know that there were any senshi here until Lady-chan introduced us to you. But... We have two duties. One is to protect the Palace as a last line of defense for the entire royal family. The other is to protect Princess Lady Serenity. Lady-chan and Diana did something on our way here to confuse our trail. That, combined with her knowledge of this place, would have given her some safety to hide in while we attended our other duty."
She looked over at Lady and smiled softly. "We couldn't do it, though. We knew we could and should, but... We just couldn't leave you like that. We're sorry we hurt you, Lady-chan."
"It's... It's ok," Lady said, then reached out to hug Celeste. "I'm so glad you stayed, though."
"Well. Now that that's out of the way, why don't you tell us WHY you're here, ChibiUsa-chan," Mamoru said after the five girls from the future had finished once again asking and giving forgiveness. Haruka walked over to the door and leaned against the frame.
"Um, well, we don't know a whole lot," Lady began. "All we know for certain is that an extremely powerful enemy attacked our system looking for something called The Sleeper. We were sent to find and protect it. When I realized what it was, I knew that just hiding in the palace with it wouldn't be good enough. We had to get far away. So, I brought everyone here. We didn't tell anyone we were coming, and I used the Pink Moon Crystal to try and confuse our path through the time stream in case they get past Pluto."
"Wait, if you came through the Doors of Time, how come the girls didn't know Setsuna-san?" Minako interrupted. "Yeah, and what is the Sleeper? Where is it?" Ami added.
"Pluto... wasn't at the Doors when we got there," Lady replied. "Diana said that she had gone to get some information. And the Sleeper..."
"Is the Star Seed of a friend of hers," Celeste said as Lady trailed off. "A very powerful friend." The Quartet watched closely for the Inners reaction, and was surprised to see it was exactly the same as the reaction of the Inners they knew.
"A powerful friend?" Rei asked in puzzlement, as Ami's face paled. "ChibiUSA's powerful friend," Ami said looking at her teammates significantly. The others looked at her a moment, then became pale and wide-eyed. "No," Minako whispered. "No, they can't have her."
"Please!" Pallas begged. "Please won't someone tell us who this powerful friend is? Everyone seems to know but US."
Mamoru and the older girls looked to Lady, eyes begging her to deny what they feared. "Saturn." she confirmed quietly.
"And we won't let them have her," Usagi said just as quietly. She looked at her friends a moment. "ChibiUsa has hidden her Star Seed as well as she can." "Where..." Minako began to interrupt, then stopped as Usagi raised her hand. "For the sake of... security, let's just say she has it with her. Unless she tells you to protect something else, just assume protecting her is enough."
The 20th century senshi nodded their acknowledgment, while the Quartet stared at Usagi in amazement. Gone was the bubbly, playful, energetic teenager they had seen up until now. In her place sat a calm, collected leader steadying her troops.
Usagi looked over to Haruka. Before she could speak, Haruka nodded her head. "Diana and Little One warned us yesterday," she said. "It is being taken care of."
"What?" asked Celeste. She tried her best to imitate the calm and control that Usagi and Minako were projecting. "Please, no more secrets. Why is everyone so scared of the enemy getting their hands on this Sailor Saturn? How powerful IS she? She is a Senshi, right? And what is being taken care of?"
No-one spoke for a moment, then Minako took a deep breath and looked at them. "Saturn is the Senshi of Destruction. Some call her the Goddess of Death. She quite literally has the power to destroy worlds, and has done so at least twice that we know of. The thought that someone may catch her completely helpless and corrupt her is what scares us so much. The fact that they will probably torture her in order to do so makes us angry. We all owe her a great deal. In fact, you four owe her at least as much as we do," she said in surprise as she remembered.
"Eh? We've never met her. What did she do?" Bessa asked.
Minako smiled. "Actually, you have. A long time ago. For us, it was just a few years ago, when the Dead Moon Circus attacked the Earth. They found your Star Seeds, and corrupted you into being their servants. Saturn was the one who rescued you, with the help of ChibiMoon."
The Quartet gave various exclamations of surprise and disbelief, and turned to Lady. She nodded. "Yes, it's true. The Dead Moon Circus used you to attack the Senshi. It was really Saturn who rescued you when Sailor Moon rescued us. She gathered up your Star Seeds and brought them with her. Then, she had Mama use her Silver Crystal to heal you." She smiled at the memory. "That was when I first met you. You told me that you would be waiting until the day I would stand as a fully fledged senshi and we met again. It was shortly after that that I returned home to find you waiting for me in the Palace."
"Hah!" Pallas exclaimed. "I always wondered how you knew who we were before we were introduced. I just figured that was one of your powers as the Princess or something."
"Haha, no. It was because we had just met."
"Wait a minute. Your MOTHER healed us? She's... she's here, too?" June burst out in surprise.
Lady and the 20th century senshi stared at her. Then, Lady began to laugh. "You don't believe it, do you? But really, she is. Aren't you Mama?" she asked, turning to Usagi. Usagi cocked her head to one side in consideration. "Well... That's what you claim," she said teasingly. "And Pluto and King Endymion say you're telling the truth, so I guess that means I really will be your mother."
"But... but... You don't ACT like the Queen. Your hair's not quite the right color. And they don't act like our Inner Senshi," Bessa protested as Pallas belatedly tried to hush her. Usagi and her friends just smiled. "We haven't had all of their experiences, yet," Ami said. "This is what we are like right now. What we will be in the future, remains to be seen."
"Anyway," Minako said, trying to bring the meeting back on track, "weren't Artemis and Diana going to be here to? I thought Artemis told me that he was going to give us an update on activity around the time stream."
"Setsuna says the ether is all riled up," Haruka reported. "Apparently, the Little Ones did a good job of covering their tracks. She is standing by the Door and keeping an eye out, just in case, but there's nothing out there yet that she can sense."
"Good. Can anyone think of anything else we can do?"
"Well, without any information on the enemy, we can't exactly plan on how to meet them," Ami said. "I say we just stay alert, and keep an eye out. If anyone notices anything strange, call the others. Do you girls have access to our signal band?"
"I think it's changed over time," Lady said, "but I still have the old frequency. Pallas-chan can program it into the other communicators pretty easily." Ami nodded.
"I'll keep an eye on the fire," Rei said. "It might be able to give us some warning."
Minako nodded. "And Michiru-san can keep watch with her mirror, right?" she asked Haruka, who nodded. "Ok, with Setsuna-san at the Doors, Rei-chan and Michiru-san watching mystically, and Ami-chan and the cats watching the sensors on the computer, that's about as good as we can do."
"Meeting adjourned?" Usagi asked with a hopeful expression. Minako laughed and nodded. Usagi then turned to Mamoru and held out her hand expectantly. "What?" he asked in confusion. "I'm taking our future daughter and her friends clothes shopping, remember? Credit cards, please." The senshi laughed at the look on his face.