Point of view changes throughout this chapter, but they are self-evident, I think.
Blood on the Moon
Chapter XII
By Lydiby
The ground shook as another aftershock wave hit, but this one was stronger than the previous. Serenity-hime had disappeared into the void almost an hour ago. Hours didn't mean much to me after so many years, but this had been the longest I'd ever known. I knew she was still alive, but I could also see the void expanding. With the second wave in a minute, the moon stopped glowing and the void exploded forward. I lifted the Silence Glaive; Sailor Saturn would fully take over my body in a minute. I was only the vessel for a weapon. The ultimate weapon. Frantically, I searched for Serena, her life force was completely gone, but there was a trace of her left.
'Is it turning her? Is it completely mindless? Having blood lust, vampiric grace and the Silver Imperial Crystal will enable her to defeat to defeat Chaos.'
Sailor Saturn submerged again; "not yet, not yet," I whispered holding her back with centuries of discipline. I blacked out screaming, "Wait!" The Senshi of Destruction rose in my place.
"Wake up! Oh, please wake up!" someone cried pitifully. Grudgingly, I bestirred myself; the voice was plaintive. It seemed to me I had recently caused a lot of people a great deal of pain and didn't want to hurt anyone else. More stars filled the sky than I had ever seen. But there was no moon. Somehow it bothered me.
"What's wrong?" I whispered, staring at the sky.
"The sun has gone out. Chaos has swallowed it. You have to stop it, Serenity-hime," the childish voice said.
Groaning—hammered was not adequate, I felt like a sixteen wheeler had backed over me multiple times—I levered myself up, but I had been clutching something in my hand and a point on it broke the skin of my palm when I put my weight on it.
"Ouch," I hissed.
When I looked down, of course, I couldn't see anything but after a minute I was holding a glowing crystal. It had only drawn a minimal amount of blood and I realized how force chaos back to where I'd be able to seal it in the galaxy cauldron.
"Sailor Galaxia, Senshi of Hope, shine brightly my friend!" I cried, throwing her into the sky.
At first she was lost among the other stars, but gradually she began to brighten. Gingerly, I flexed my wings and listened for signs of the person who had woken me.
"Hello?" I called softly.
"Here, Serenity-hime," the voice answered as a tiny hand slipped into mine.
"Who are you?"
"Sailor Chibi Chibi," the voice replied with the insistence of a very young child. The light was growing by the minute and I could make out a small girl in fuku, with wings, like me. Wispy ringlets framed her cherubic face and bright blue eyes gazed at me imploringly. My first reaction told me that the last thing I wanted to do was take this child where I was going. But, young or not, she was a senshi.
"Come here, Chibi Chibi," I told her, bending down and opening my arms so she could wrap her arms around my neck. Rising up into the air, I surveyed the retreat of Chaos funneling back into the cauldron. With a tight feeling in my chest, I realized that if I really did this, there would be no chance of reviving the others. But there would be no chance of survival for anyone if I didn't seal the cauldron. And wasn't that what our purpose was? To defend earth, even at the cost of our own lives? We were soldiers; that is what we did. So I had to honor their sacrifice no matter how it hurt me personally to lose them. Tears streamed down my face and I found words tumbling from my mouth. Clumsy in speech, but elegant in meaning.
"I won't ever give up Chibi Chibi, and don't you ever give up either." I choked out. She stared at me for a moment and then in a burst of light I found myself facing…myself.
"I am the future Sailor Cosmos," she said, and then dropped her head in shame, "But I ran away. I thought if I could come back and destroy Chaos once and for all it would change the future. But you have shown me a courage that I had forgotten and I know that no matter what I will go back and finish the battle. Where there is light there must be darkness and where there is darkness there must be light." She kissed me. Then I called on the crystal and let it do what it was meant to.
Power tore through me and I lost all sense of self within it.
Landing on earth I fell asleep and when I woke the sun was shining brightly.
'Galaxia,'I thought absently asI squinted up at it.
I was at the base of Mt. Fuji overlooking Tokyo. Tokyo. Completelynormal. Just as it always had been.I was too tired to understand what it meant, except that it was good. Somehow, I made it down to the nearest suburb and made my way to the train station.
The station was packed with refugees, people sitting on suitcases, pets in carriers, and some truly strange objects. Family heirlooms, paintings, vases, even statues, like a living museum. Realizing that getting into Tokyo would be impossible, I found a spot to sit down just outside the doors in a patch of sunlight. Everyone was buzzing chaotically, infringing on my unbalanced state. Wearily, I concentrated and the crystal took shape in my hand.
'Calm down, be at peace,' I focused on eliminating the panic around me, 'all is well.'
The buzzing subsided and I eased the power of the crystal down to a trickle. Finally too tired to even maintain that, I let go. It hadserved its purpose.
"Princess!" a little girl with auburn hair cried. "I'm Kakyuu-hime! I'm a Princess too!"
"Mama!" another girl with pink hair cried in shock.
Wearily, I smiled at her, remembering Shingo when he was small. I wasn't thinking very clearly anymore. I wasn't really thinking at all. She had her hair up a lot like mine and Chibi Chibi's usually was. Except Chibi chibi was Sailor Cosmos and somehow me and had returned to the future to her own battle. Which I trusted was a damn long time away.
"Are you alright, Mama?"
I closed my eyes and she and the other girl sat in my lap. I wrapped my arms around them both, feeling so much better. It was warm, I was exhausted and safe.
"Rini? Kakyuu-hime? You know better then to run off like that! Don't do it again!" a female voice scolded.
"Demo, Yaten-chan," Kakyuu whined.
I raised my head to see what Kakyuu's Luna looked like. The young brown haired woman gasped at me and looked like she might fall over.
"Told you we'd find her," she chirruped.
The woman turn and gave an echoing whistle that reminded me of Makoto-chan. I winced, 'Don't think of that.'
My vision blurred and began to fade.
"It's alright, Mama. Sleep."
I did.
Slowly, I stretched out in the sunshine. It was so nice and warm and soft; I would have gone back to sleep if someone hadn't pounced on me.
"Rini!"
"Let her play," I said softly.
My eyes focused on the young girl watching me anxiously. Confused, I brushed a strand of hair out of her face. Her bright red eyes flooded and she buried her face in my neck sobbing. Uncertainly, I wrapped my arms around her and tried to sooth the poor girl. What on earth had upset her?
"Serenity-hime," a new woman said, "I am Sailor Star Healer, Taiki." She bowed formally
"Stop that, everyone calls me Usagi," I said, crossly. I'd just woken up in some strange place, with strange people, and a strange little girl bawling into my shoulder.
"The Queen, Kakyuu-hime's mother sent us to help you establish your court. I'm sorry we were not here sooner. Sailor Star Maker, Yaten and Sailor Star Fighter, Seiya, and I are sworn to protect Kakyuu above all. We only received clearance to land on earth an hour before Rini and Kakyuu found you."
"…Shingo, an Ilkuko-mama an Kenji-papa, day wuz a gowin to leave, but I han't found you, or papa. I was so scared…" the girl went on but, the rest was incoherent.
"Oh, shhhhh," I said, gently. While rubbing her back gently I looked at Taiki, "Her actual name isn't Rini, is it?"
"Serenity, or Small Lady."
"How does she know my family? Who is she?" I whispered.
"The daughter of Neo-Queen Serenity. She's been living with your parents."
'Neo-Queen...'
"What do you mean?" I cried.
"She's from the future. Specifically, your future."
"Oh, what, are you kidding me? This makes as much sense as a—a porcupine eating a hotdog at a ballpark," I sputtered, and then looked down at the sobbing pink bundle. The white tank I was sleeping in had become quite wet. Sighing, I propped her up and pulled a fistful of tissues out of a box on the nightstand.
"All right, sweetheart, Small Lady, here now," I said. "Enough of this. It's all over now. Alright, nothing's going to happen to you."
Surprised, she looked up at me and sniffled. I took advantage of it and wiped her nose and eyes. Her red eyes were still watering, so I said, "I promise."
She lunched herself at me in a ferocious hug, which felt wonderful. I looked up to see Taiki edging out of the room.
"Wait a minute," I called, "how long have I been asleep? Do you know where my family is? Where are we?"
Her eyes widened under the barrage.
"Four days, probably moved back into their house, in the Juuban district I believe? And we are in a beach house a few miles south of Tokyo. There is still a tremendous amount of...anarchy in the city, people trying to locate one another, most of the phone lines are jammed, but Seiya found your parents to let them know you were well. They send their love. I think, perhaps they are catching on to your dual identity; there has been a tremendous ruckus in the media about Sailor Moon. We will talk more once you have eaten, there is a bath drawn if you go through that door."
When I stepped out of the bath I was confronted with a full-length mirror. I had lost a terrific amount of weight throughout the last year, my hips jutted out from under my skin and my ribs could be counted. It scared me to see myself like that, so I turned my back only to find two angry pink scars stripping along my spin. It seemed funny, I couldn't remember the wings causing me any pain, but the marks were there.
I pulled a towel around me and found a soft white dress draped over a chair. My throat tightened, my mother must have sent it along with—I searched for the name—Seiya. The dress had been a gift from my father when I had been accepted into the five-year program. He had been so excited, so proud of me; we were just like two little kids running around and shouting. Seeing it here said they were still proud of me, no matter what. I owed them so much, and I had lied to them about so much more.
'Poor Shingo,' I thought. He was probably out of his mind. I didn't deserve the brother he had grown into. Slipping it on only made the weight loss seem more extreme; the dress was strapless with a green ribbon tied around an emperor waist. I tied the ribbon as tight as I could and studied my figure in the mirror. I looked anorexic, unattractive, and anemic. Sweeping my long, long silvery hair over my shoulders (there was no point in trying to comb it) I turned away and pushed my new self-images from my mind. Quickly I brushed my teeth with the toothbrush laid out for me and returned to the bedroom where Rini latched onto me once more. I didn't mind at all, I had lost so many people have her to hang onto was a simple and sweet solace. And I didn't think to hard about why she called me Mama or was so attached to a stranger or where she had come from either. For the moment I concentrated only on reversing my weight loss. The girl named Yaten had showed me the patio table out on the deck, set and generous spread in front of me, and left Rini and I alone. I ate slowly, knowing that if I ate too much now I would regret it very soon. Tiredly, I moved to a lounge chair in the morning sunshine and Rini curled up next to me. It seemed I had just drowsed off when a voice broke through the pleasant haze of sleep forming around me.
"Serenity-hime."
When my eyes adjusted I found another girl standing over me. She had black hair and sharp blue eyes that softened a bit when she saw I was awake. Slowly, I made the connections and eased up, trying to shift Rini without waking her.
"You must be Seiya," I said softly.
She nodded slightly.
"Thank you for finding my family. It was very considerate of you to keep them from worrying."
"If you'll forgive my saying so, it would seem that you had best come clean with them about everything as soon as you next see them. They are intelligent people and I expect they would be hurt if the media were the first ones to inform them of your…night job," her lips twisted wryly over her choice of words and I dredged up as best a smile as I could though I'm sure the result was atrocious.
"It seems there will only be a matter of time before you are discovered, but perhaps we can extend that time by keeping you out of public view."
"I would appreciate that, but what I would like most now is to go home," I said carefully.
She paused, seeming to think over her words as carefully as me.
"I'm afraid we would not be as useful to you, though I fully understand your sentiment. I cannot begin to imagine…" she shook her head.
Wearily, I smiled understanding what she was getting at. They were not willing to leave me unguarded and yet were too polite to intrude on my family's hospitality.
"Are you always so formal, where you come from?" I asked, hoping we could dismiss the political jargon.
"No," she replied after a moment's hesitation, "it is just that I have been sent here as an ambassador, a position generally requiring a great deal of formality."
"Well there is no need for it here. I have no court, indeed no kingdom, and although it will be crowded I am sure my mother will be happy to house all of you. I insist," I said cutting off her protest before it left her mouth.
"If you insist," she said looking distinctly uncomfortable.
"I do," I said. Almost happily, if it weren't for the lurking realization that I never would see any of the girls and had lost the love of my lives again.
