ALL THAT GLITTERS

Chapter 9: "Quest For A Princess"
A Neo-Sailor Moon fanfic

By Bill K.

"A skeleton?" gasped Ceres. Juno could feel everyone's tension rachet up.

"It might not be her," Juno cautioned.

"I don't think we can wait any longer," Saturn said.

"But what about you?" Juno asked.

"IT DOESN'T MATTER ABOUT ME!" Saturn barked. Instantly her cheeks colored and her gaze dropped to the ground. "We need to go. I'll - - keep up somehow."

"But how do we know where we're headed?" Juno persisted. "What if we head for what looks like Vesta and we only end up walking into the grip of some of those plants? How do we know what's real and what's not?"

"They can't fool me," Ceres scowled. "I'll lead us." Then her courage flagged a little. "Just - - keep an eye out for anything else that might be a threat. I'm still pretty wiped and the plants around here fight my power." Juno nodded.

"We're all coming to you, Vesta!" Pallas told her sister senshi through their telepathic link. "Please be careful. Please don't let the bad flowers eat you!"

"Got it," Pallas 'heard' back. "You four be careful, too."

The four senshi ventured through the fields of predatory stalks with cautious haste. Ceres took the lead, guiding the others through the fields. As they walked, illusions would spring up on all sides of them, gesturing for them to come closer. Queen Serenity appeared, as did Sailor Moon and all the original senshi. Images of relatives dead and alive waved to entice them - -
Palla-Palla's mother, Professor Tomoe, Haruka and Michiru all materialized where they couldn't possibly be. Other things would appear: piles of candy, sumptuous feasts, pristine pools of water. They all refused to believe any of what they saw was real. When it became too hard to doubt, one of them would ask Ceres and she would set them right, for she could see through the illusions where the others could only see.

"Ahhhhh!" Pallas squealed in alarm. The others turned with alarm to her, but it was just a case of a leaf brushing against her arm.

"It's OK, Pallas," Ceres told her. "They're not grabbers. They're luring plants. Sort of like the Venus Flytrap, you know?"

"And we're the flies," Saturn sighed.

Juno looked back at her. Saturn was struggling, but she was keeping up. She looked a little pale and haggard and Juno worried about her health. But then she reminded herself that Saturn always looked like she was two steps from dying after their senshi workouts. The girl was just so slight that physical exertion seemed to be twice the chore for her as it did for everyone else.

Saturn spotted her looking. Her eyes dropped down, but she made an effort to quicken her pace. Realizing she was making her friend uncomfortable, Juno looked away.

"Pallas doesn't like these plants," the senshi scowled. "They're mean."

"They're just doing what comes naturally to them," Ceres replied, her lips thin.

"They lied to Pallas!" fumed the small, blue-haired senshi. "And they wanted to eat her!"

"Yeah, and when you eat a burger, are you any different?" Ceres shot back.

Juno's foot kicked an old bone as she walked.

"So if they're - - um, carnivores - - of a sort, I guess - - what are they subsisting on?" Juno asked. Ceres glanced back at her curiously. "Have you seen anything else on this planet besides us and these plants?"

"Just these bones," Saturn said, continuing her line of reasoning. "Which means there was other life here once."

"That would explain some things," Ceres said ruefully.

"Such as?"

"You don't hear it," Ceres glanced at her. "These plants are all starving. They're desperate. A lot of them are barely hanging on. Something happened here - - something catastrophic. Either their animal food source was destroyed by some accident or disease . . ."

"Or they ate it faster than it could reproduce," Juno added.

"Or that. But now they've got nothing left to live on, unless one of them can lure someone from outer space," Ceres concluded. "And how often does that opportunity occur?"

The four walked on in silence.

"That's what happens when you go messing with an eco-system," Ceres muttered.

"Pallas still doesn't like them," Pallas proclaimed.

"Yeah?" Ceres asked, glancing maliciously back at her. "Well, they think you're delicious."

The lower lip of Sailor Pallas began to quiver. Her eyes welled up with tears.

"That was uncalled for," Juno scowled, punching her sister's arm.

"Ow! All right!" Ceres fumed. "I'm sorry, squirt."

"Pallas doesn't like you, either," Pallas frowned.

"Ceres picking on you, again?"

"Vesta!" Pallas exclaimed excitedly. The others looked around. Then Saturn pointed to the sky.

"Is that her?" Saturn inquired.

"Yeah, that's her," Ceres nodded. "Come on!"

The four jogged a few yards as the hawk swooped down to meet them. But at the last moment, it veered off. Juno and Saturn looked around to see if they were being attacked, but saw nothing.

"How do I know you're not an illusion?" the hawk called down to them. "Tell me something only you'd know!"

"How about you have a big mouth and a pea brain!" Ceres growled. "Oh wait, that's something EVERYBODY knows!"

"It's you," the hawk said. It swooped down and morphed into Sailor Vesta. "Even these plants couldn't make Ceres sound that lame."

"Where's this skeleton?" Juno prodded before a fight could break out.

"Over here."

Vesta and Ceres led the others through a row of stalks, ignoring the visions thrown at them. When they caught sight of what Vesta had found, Pallas let out a gasp of shock.

A skeleton sat at the foot of a stalk, its limbs at angles that indicated it had slid down - - as if dropped by the stalk once it had been consumed. Pallas reflexively clung to Vesta and the redhead draped an arm over her shoulders for security.

"It looks humanoid," Ceres whispered.

"Yeah, and it can't be native to this planet," Vesta observed. "These other bones are all from smaller animals, probably rodents or small mammals. I haven't seen any evidence of humans ever being on this planet."

"Is it the Princess?" whimpered Pallas.

"I don't think so," Juno announced.

"What makes you so sure?" Ceres asked.

"Look at how bleached the bones are. They've been here for months. And I doubt these plants can consume inorganic matter, can they?"

"I doubt it," Ceres replied.

"Then where's her tiara?" Juno asked. "Where's her brooch? They'd still be here. Even if she transformed back into Usa, there'd be metal on her clothing that would still be here."

"She's right," Saturn nodded, daring to hope. "It can't be Sailor Moon."

"Then who was it?" Ceres asked with clear distaste.

They all wondered in silence.

"Probably some poor soul who was lured down here," Saturn said. "This isn't finding Sailor Moon. Let's go."

"Pallas, honey," Juno said. "Those thoughts you were sensing earlier - - can you hear them now?"

Pallas grew far away for a moment. "No, Juno. Pallas doesn't hear anything."

"Well can you at least sense which direction they came from?"

"Over there," Pallas said, pointing in the direction they were all headed.

"Want me to do another flyover?" Vesta asked.

"You feel up to it?" Juno asked. "Don't push yourself in this thin air."

"I'm good for it," Vesta scowled. "Stop worrying. Fauna Assimilation - - Red-Tailed Hawk!"

Hoisted up into the sky again by Juno, Vesta the hawk soared off ahead of the group. They watched her fly with a mixture of hope and anxiety. Juno turned and nodded to the others.

"We'd better get going," she said. "I feel a storm coming."

Knowing Juno's affinity for water, the others knew her prediction would come true. They began walking in the direction Vesta flew.

"Pallas, has Vesta found anything yet?" Saturn inquired.

"No, Miss Saturn Ma'am," Pallas replied. "Pallas is talking to Vesta with her head and Vesta says she hasn't seen anything."

Unseen by the others, Saturn bit her lower lip.

"Usa, where are you?" the violet senshi fretted.

Juno looked back at Saturn. The senshi was struggling to keep up. Sweat drenched her face and she breathed heavily - - but she didn't complain, not once. A pang of sympathy struck Juno's heart.

"We can take a couple of minutes," Juno offered, "if you need them."

Saturn shook her head. "I can keep going. We have to find Sailor Moon. Every second might be critical."

Juno nodded solemnly.

"But thanks," Saturn added, smiling shyly.

"It's OK," Juno told her. "Um, maybe this isn't the right place to say this, but - - I'm really glad you're my friend."

Saturn's cheeks colored.

"I know we're not as close as you and The Princess, but you've really made life in the palace a lot easier since you got here. You're a real nice person and you helped ease things between us and The Princess. I'm really glad I met you."

"Pallas is very glad she met you too, Miss Saturn Ma'am," Pallas chimed in.

"Private conversation, Baby," Ceres fussed.

"Smack!" Pallas replied, striking Ceres on the arm with her fist.

"OW! What is this, beat on Ceres day?"

Just then, all three Asteroids realized that Saturn had stopped a few paces behind them. When they looked back, they saw she had a far away look on her face. It seemed to grow more distressed by the moment.

"Hey, Stupid! I found her!" Pallas 'heard' Vesta think.

"Vesta found The Princess!" cried Pallas. Just then Sailor Saturn went tearing past them all, headed forward at her top speed.

"Tell them about sixty meters straight ahead!" Vesta thought to Pallas. "And tell them to hurry!"

By the time Juno arrived, Saturn was already there. She was just staring ahead in numb shock. Vesta was landing, in the process of returning to her human form as she neared the ground. Ceres and Pallas were approaching. She couldn't see anything yet, but could tell from the vibes from Saturn that it wasn't good.

Then she saw it. A cadaverous body, little more than skin and shriveled muscle draped on a skeletal frame with sunken eyes and withered features, held in the grasp of one of the alien stalks. It wore a sailor fuku of pink and white with a crown of dry, brittle, straw-like graying pink hair done up in rabbit-ear gathers. Juno felt like she wanted to vomit.

And then it spoke. It was just a whisper, barely audible. And it almost sounded like "I love you, Helios."


The trail Endymion followed threatened to drive him to frustration from the sheer tedium of its sameness. The Prince of Earth traveled the inter-dimensional space doggedly pursuing the faint aura trace his daughter had left behind on her journey to Elysian. It continued unwaveringly toward Elysian, with no hint of deviation, with no clue as to her current whereabouts. Again he ground his teeth.

Where was she? Yet again he felt along the mental sense he had, looking for some sign of distress. If she was in trouble, he would know. Yet he felt nothing. All he sensed was his daughter's happiness. It was so intense. Lately the only time he could sense her in this exaggerated state of happiness was when she was with - - Helios.

"He said she wasn't there," Endymion scowled, shaking his head. "I trust his word. But she's not in any distress. I don't understand!"

"Endymion," he heard his wife's voice in his mind. Endymion realized that she had sensed his turmoil across space and for a moment was embarrassed. "Please don't. It's not your fault."

"I'm sorry for disturbing you, Serenity," he thought back.

"The only time you disturb me is when you won't take my advice," he felt her reply. "I have faith in you, Endymion."

"You're faith may be misplaced."

"Listen to me, Endymion," she thought. Endymion clung to his frustration. "I'll use my shoe!" Serenity warned him. That brought a smile to his face.

"What kind of an ungraceful girl did I marry?" he taunted and felt her burn across the heavens.

It was during this moment of distraction that the path veered. So intent on the puzzle before him, Endymion nearly missed it. It took him a few moments to recognize his daughter's aura trail had vanished. Backtracking, he caught the trail again.

"Endymion, what is it?" Serenity thought, sensing his change in mood.

"The trail has turned," he reported, dropping out of the inter-dimensional space into normal space. "It's headed down to a strange planet. I'm going in."

"Maybe you've found her at last!" Serenity hoped.

"I have!" he thought excitedly. "I sense her, Serenity! She's here!"

"Thank the gods."

Endymion touched down on the surface of the planet. Immediately he noticed the thin air. Looking around, all he could see was thin green stalks with blade leaves. They seemed to quiver in the slight breeze. There wasn't any immediate sign of Sailor Moon, or for that matter of any other life other than these stalks. At once he noticed the small bones around the bases of the stalks.

"Pop! You came!"

Turning to the sound of the voice, Endymion saw her. It was his daughter in her Sailor Moon uniform. Her hands were held nervously behind her. Her red eyes were cast to the ground, avoiding his gaze in shame. Her pink trails of hair came down almost to her knees as her emerging woman's body assumed a contrite pose that he recognized was hers since she was old enough to incur his wrath.

"I'm sorry, Pop," she mumbled, dragging the words past her pride. "I should have listened to you. I went and let my-my dumb old pride take charge and ended up . . ." The girl choked up, but continued on. "Ended up - - disgracing the name - - of Sailor Moon."

"We'll talk about it later," Endymion smiled warmly as he stepped toward his girl. "I'm just so relieved you're not hurt. Your mother and I have both been worried sick.

"I know," Sailor Moon whimpered. "I'm - - just such a brat sometimes. Please forgive me."

"Of course," he told her as he approached. "I couldn't do anything else, honey. I love you."

"Oh Pop," she squeaked, her eyes flooding and her lower lip trembling. Sailor Moon spread out her arms and waited for her father's embrace.

But she didn't move from where she was.

Continued in Chapter 10