Thanks go to Angel-Goddess for proof reading and encouraging me to write this chapter, huggles to you for all your help!!
Chapter Four
"What do you mean, you don't know how we will get there? We'll teleport of course! We've done it once, I'm sure we can do it again…" Rei stated in disbelief. "Honestly, and you're meant to be the brains of our group."
"Say whatever you will Rei, but you are forgetting one little key factor." Ami replied calmly, knowing that the fiery priestess would kick herself when she remembered.
"And that would be…"
"That we had Usagi with us on that occasion and it was mainly her power which pulled us through" Minako answered, for once her bubbly attitude being suppressed by her need to be the leader. After all she was head of the Princess's guards in the Silver Millennium, and it was obvious those qualities were needed now, so she gave in to the wiser presence of her older self. There would be time to joke and muck around when Usagi-chan was safely with them once more.
Ami nodded gratefully in Minako's direction and gave a half smile, "Yes, for once Minako you have the right answer. It is Usagi's power which supplies our teleport with most of its power, I am afraid to transfer all of us to Usagi and Motoki would be impossible. But…"
"But you think we could have enough power to see one of us make it there safely, right?" Makoto questioned.
"Precisely, the only question left is, who gets to go? We all have reasons that put us at the top of the list. Minako, you are the leader of the Senshi in Usagi's absence and by rights of that role should be the one to find her. Rei, you are her best and dearest friend, and the one with the best connection to her, which would make you easiest to transport. But on the other hand Makoto is the strongest amongst us and therefore more likely to be able to stand up to what ever threat she encounters in the other world."
"But you skipped yourself, Ami" Minako put in with a slight frown marring her face. "What about your special attributes that would make you a likely candidate? Besides I can't go for precisely the reason you think I should. I am leader in Usagi's stead, and as such am needed here to look after things, no matter how much I want to be the one to find Usagi-chan and Motoki, I can't."
" Yes, you are right, but as to myself going, why it's out of the question! I am the only one who knows the exact co-ordinates of this world and the only one able to work the Mercury Computer, it would be a disastrous choice for me to go as I am needed here to track you guys once in the different world. Besides, my attacks and abilities won't be much use in a fight with just myself and Usagi-chan, it would be better for one of you to go, as all your attacks are offensive and none defensive."
"But…" Rei started.
Ami just held up a hand, demanding silence. "But nothing, I have already told Luna and Artemis of this development, and they have agreed to choose one of you between the two of them, of which Luna shall accompany. She knows the most about the other worlds currently occupied, and with any luck, once on this planet that Usagi and Motoki have been sent to, might be able to identify it and help the chosen one in the customs of the land; so that they do not get into any sticky situations."
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'Why? Why is this happening now? As if my life was not already in turmoil, it just had to add some icing to the cake, and strand me with one friend in the middle of a strange world with dragons that seem almost human. Selene this is not good… How am I supposed to explain this to Motoki with out him thinking me crazy? Oh by the way Motoki, you know how I'm Sailor Moon? Yes well somehow those powers went a little haywire and we ended up on this planet, and here's the best part! I have no idea how to return us home… Yeah like he'll really buy that without a screaming fit! This just couldn't get any worse' Standing slowly from the dewy grass, Usagi lifted her gaze just in time to see a scaly claw come out of the clouds, and if she didn't know better she would have sworn it was directed at her. Shrugging off her fog of thoughts, she turned around and started out for the house, mind busy trying to work out how to tell Motoki with out him fainting and planing what she would have for breakfast.
But Usagi did not make it back in the house, the strange creature coming from the clouds made sure of that. With one swoop of its wings it landed infront of the blonde, blocking her path easily with its bulk.
Usagi started as she saw the strange dragon like creature land in her eyeline. What had that man called it? Azalie, that was it, Azalie, and for some reason with a name the creature appeared in her mind as being closer to human than she first suspected. Usagi shuddered as the creature reached one scaly claw out to her and grasped her round the waist effortlessly lifting her of the ground like a pebble. Gulping and stifling a scream from coming from deep in her throat, Usagi shuddered once more as the dragon thing took her into a tear in the sky.
Sulfur assaulted her nasal passage and clogged her throat, and the last sight Usagi glimpsed before fading into unconsciousness was that of a big mountain with smoke rising out of it, which her hazy mind registered as an active volcano before blacking out.
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Orphen stopped in his tracks, his gaze steadily taking in the surrounding horizon and trees. For a moment, just a fleeting second, he could have sworn he felt Azalie's power. But that was impossible, she'd been injured pretty badly due to Childman's attack that broke his binding. She should not have been able to move after only three day's rest, it should have taken a week at least. And that week was what Orphen had been counting on. He needed that time to find Majic and Cleao, and hopefully an explanation as to why they had disappeared so suddenly and those two strangers had shown up.
It had to have something to do with the blonde girl's strange power. What had the boy said her name was? Usagi, that was it. Some how Usagi had managed to harness a power that was meant to be lost, the holders of that power being wiped out a millennia ago when their home was attacked and the monarchy slaughtered. So how had she learned it? The only really logical explanation was time travel, but to go that far back or forward in time was highly improbable. If she had, her powers were immense indeed, but to harness all that magic at such a young age was unheard of. How then had it been done? He needed an answer, and needed it quickly, his gut instinct said that her power was most likely the cause of his apprentice and Cleao's disappearance and her coming to this world.
Orphen swore, punching his hand into a nearby tree, leaving a memorable impression in the bark. He'd have to risk the Tower's resources. There was no other possible way to gather the information he needed. If there was a spell to bring his friend and his companion back, it would be there, the Tower had the most renowned collection of magic books and scrolls on record, and unless he could find an ancients' site that was undisturbed, he was unlikely of finding a better candidate for what he needed. And if luck was with him, he might, just might, find a vital piece of information he had overlooked that could help his Azalie…
Sighing and rubbing his grazed and bruised hand absently, Orphen set off once more down the dirt road he'd been previously traveling.
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Motoki sat groggily on the couch, absently rubbing the sleep from his eye's that had accumulated there over night. Looking around he noticed a young woman at the other end of the room sitting doing some sort of needlepoint, Usagi was no where to be seen. No matter if he knew her, he'd bet a hundred yen that she was currently on a quest to find, or had found the kitchen and was probably stuffing her face with goodies at this very moment.
As his gaze turned to the opened window, he heard a soft gasp and light padded feet walking across the carpeted floor. "Thank goodness you are up! Your friend and yourself gave me and my mother quite a scare. You were out for three days!"
Motoki turned his head to see the girl who was doing needlepoint, now standing beside him, her hands clasped together neatly infront of herself. "Usagi?" he croaked, the question coming out harshly from a disused voice box.
"She was up and about an hour ago. From Volcan's and Dortin's grumbling I'm guessing she did an early morning raid on the kitchen. By the way, I'm Mariabella, and you're Motoki right?" to which an outstretched hand was accompanied.
Motoki nodded slightly and clasped the girl's hand in his own, shaking it slightly. "Yes, thank you for letting Usagi-chan and myself stay here, we are very grateful."
"Don't mention it. It was better than having you wondering round an unfamiliar land. So where exactly are you from? From what Orphen alluded to you are definitely not from around here or anywhere close."
"Ever heard of Tokyo?" silence answered his question. "I guess not." Motoki finished scratching his head in a befuddled gesture, unsure of how to describe his home in a satisfying way. "Well Tokyo is…."
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"This place is horrible!" Cleao raged stalking backwards and forwards, her hands thrown in the air in exasperation. "We've been here three days. Three Days! And it hasn't stopped raining once. Hasn't even slowed to a drizzle! No instead we have had to put up with a constant downpour of rain and nowhere warm to stay and catch a little rest for a full twenty-four hours! Is it too much to ask for even a short reprieve so that we can at least dry a little?"
"Oh stop your belly aching Cleao!" Majic snapped, having had enough of the older blonde's rantings. She'd been carrying on in this manner for well over an hour, and it was tiring having to listen to her and her screeching voice of complaints. Okay, so the situation they were in allowed for a fair bit of complaining, but no where near as much as what she had taken liberty to verbalise. Besides they had found somewhere safe to hole up, pity it was only open at night. From what he could see it was a place that catered for people with no homes and no where to sleep. So it wasn't a nice roomy tavern room, but beggars' can't be choosers…
Anyway, as far as he was concerned they had bigger problems then that to face. Like customs, and laws, heck even the lingo here was definitely different to how they talked back home… What on earth was a Sheila? And G'day? But then that probably didn't matter, as the people who had greeted and spoken to them in that, that vernacular were the opposite to what they saw nine times out of ten, most likely travellers from another town. Sighing, Majic looked at his moody companion and suppresses a shudder, if he had to spend another day with her… by God's would he crack! "Come on Cleao, let's go this way. It looks like a temple up there, maybe they can offer us some answers" but he wasn't sure even if he himself believed this optimistic remark, it seemed to much to hope for.
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"So what are we going to do? How are we going to decide who we should send?" Artemis questioned.
"But do we really have to? After all, we can always awaken and send the outer senshi, they would have enough power to send all three of themselves to this other world… Then again it could just be a simple matter of asking Pluto the loan of her time gates for one quick trip in the best interests of all time streams and possible outcomes for this world."
"But would she agree to it? After all you know how forceful she is when in regards to the time gates, Luna. She only lets people through when the gates show her to, and never at any other time."
"Yes, but isn't this one of those times? The future of this world depends on Serenity being brought back safely and maturing to become our Queen. Without her this world has no possible future, we will be conquered and war ridden, refugees will be everywhere and the amount of orphanages needed to cope with the orphaned children will escalate. Epidemic diseases will become a common occurrences, it will be the Black Death all over again, or if you need a recent event, take SARS on a ten times greater level. There is no way people would survive and live a healthy life, the quality of life would be below zero, and as the great philosopher kings said, 'life can only be judged by the quality, not the quantity'"
"Don't you think I know that Luna? But what if this was meant to be and us sending one of our senshi over there changes all future events? What if Serenity's going there was necessary? For all we know this event could be part of the sequence that actually brings Crystal Tokyo into reality! For Selene's sake, stop and think, if you really wish to act on Ami's plan and send some one through a time stream, then check with Pluto first, for I will only agree to this plan being activated if she says it was meant to be, but if not, we leave things to take their natural course, I will not be none as the one who brought the downfall of the future as we knew it was meant to be." This said Artemis stood haughtily, and tail raised, walked calmly to the window of Usagi's room and jumped out.
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Oh my head Usagi thought as she gazed groggily at the green foliage above her. Staring at her surroundings a frown appeared, where on earth am I? This definitely is not that huge house from earlier… and why can I smell sulphur? And where's Motoki, geeze he must be wondering where I am, maybe even going crazy…Her thoughts crashed to a stop when she saw the youma like dragon lying on its belly, head lazily stretched on its paws, gazing at her intently.
So you have awoken, was wondering if you'd ever wake up, you're only of use to me conscious, and even that won't be for much longer…
Usagi stared at the beast in amazement, it wasn't possible and yet after all the things she'd faced as a senshi and Serenity, she should believe it without question. Still that didn't make it any more likely that the dragon had spoken then before, but it should. Never the less, it had spoken, just not out loud, somehow it had managed to contact her through her mind. It was starting to get a little like one of those crazy T.V shows where they tested people live for ESP or other such nonsense…
I see you find my presence in your mind confusing, never mind, you shan't feel it for much longer. Besides, if the spell I've prepared works, by tapping into your power to perform it, it should burn out your magic and life force all in one go, whilst effectively giving me back my original body!
Usagi's nerves couldn't take anymore, she stared at the creature in horror before her eyes rolled to the back of her head once more and she fell heavily to the ground.
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Well, what do you guys think of this chappie, I'm dying to know!! Please R&R with critical or helpful remarks, all reviews are greatly appreciated.
Raye-chan