AUTHOR'S NOTE: I do know where I'm taking the story, but I can't tell you, sorry. Meanwhile, here's a keep-in-mind list of princesses and their respective guardians, with the names that are used in this story (some people said they were still confused...)
Neo Queen Serenity (Usagi, Eternal Sailor Moon) - Hino, Kino, Aino, Mizuno, Haruka, Setsuna, Michiru and Hotaru (Eternal Sailor Mars, Jupiter, Venus, Mercury, Uranus, Pluto, Neptune and Saturn)
Princess Small Lady Serenity (Chibi Usa, Sailor Chibi Moon, and sometimes I call her Usagi, but it is very clear that it is Chibi Usa) - Sailor Vesta, Pallas, Juno and Ceres (however I don't use "sailor" to refer to them most the time, but I think I make it clear when they are in uniform and when they are not... their names coincide with their titles: Juno, Vesta, Ceres and Pallas)
Princess Kousagi (Parallel Sailor Moon - Chibi Usa's younger sister) - Ami, Rei, Makoto and Minako (they were named after their mothers - Sailor Chibi Mercury, Mars, Jupiter and Venus)
Keep in mind that I base this fanfic on the manga, and so far there is no OC in it. All characters have been created by Naoko Takeuchi herself. Have fun, and send me some feedback! Hugs to all, dear readers!
Part Two - Vale of Tears
A large cup of sugar, three eggs, two cups of flour and then...
"Don't knock it like that after you add the flour! What are you trying to do, beat the soul out of the cupcakes?"
"Sorry, mum..."
Cooking for a hobby is fine, and the joy in little Makoto's eyes was almost palpable. She would spend her time walking around the kitchen, watching her mother turn flour and sugar into cakes, bread and whatever treat a child may ever desire. But her eagerness was not that of a kid foreseeing her next meal overcrowded with various sorts of candies; her uttermost wish was to come up with dishes filled with that special love that always delights those who are fortunate enough to try them. Nevertheless, disappointment not seldom overwhelmed her spirit... It was no easy business debating with her own mother for a chance to improve her cooking skills beyond the task of enhancing somebody else's dish outer appearance. And of course, her guests would usually compliment her out of politeness, for her lack of practice prevented her from cooking anything worth comparing with the legendary chef Kino Makoto; her own mom. Bearing the same name proved not much of an advantage when it came to the real thing...
Noticing the sadness in her daughter's eyes, Kino made an attempt to comfort her, "It's ok, darling, it takes time to learn. Why don't we try again tomorrow morning? It's not good for you to be up this late."
"Ok." , said Makoto, not very enthusiastically. As she approached the window near the staircase that led up to her room, sparks emerged from her little fingers reaching for the stormy night sky. She emitted a shriek as the bothersome chill went down her spine. "Oh, I hate these storms! They make me feel like a battery or something! Like I could electrocute some one!"
Kino, giggling at the quote, added, "You feel it too, don't you? Your father always said it was um...peculiar. Well, that comes along with being a Jupiter, my darling Sailor Chibi Jupiter. By the way, how's the rehearsal for the ball going?"
"Dumb Kousagi keeps whining all the time! If she were here now, I swear I would electrocute her!" she exclaimed, looking at the heavy rain pouring outside.
"Don't say that. You're all just children! It's just that she's more...immature than the rest of you. You'd be shocked at how much Neo Queen Serenity was like that when she was young."
"Oh, yeah, right. Good night mom."
Makoto hurried up the staircase trying to hold back the uncontrollable wave of laughter coming to her trembling lips. What her mother had just said was as outrageous as those silly legends about the Silver Millennium they taught her in school. Nothing but a kid's bedtime story... Sure there was a queen now, and the balls and her mum playing Jupiter Princess once a year, but that was too much. Which sane mind on dear Earth would believe the all-mighty Neo Serenity was once a clumsy girl? Kousagi must have been adopted, that had to be...
She stopped dead on her tracks, peering out the window sill... holding her breath, clasping a door knob to the point her delicate fingers soared with a stinging pain. Makoto didn't feel that. Some small amount of pain did not draw her bewildered eyes away from the ghostly figure forming in the stormy sky nigh above her head. She was unable perceive how such a thing could come to pass...
Makoto was so consumed by that vision that she did not even notice the sparks and warmth rising from her breast pocket and wrapping her entire body in a bright green light and leaving her other self standing there when it vanished. She transformed into Sailor Chibi Jupiter without invoking her planetary powers! It would have been alarming if not for the lightning tearing the clouds apart and exhibiting a gigantic portrait of a man through the gap in the heavens. A man she recognized from ancient history books. A man that belonged in fairy tales... A man that... should not exist at all!
Snapping out of her induced trance, Makoto dashed into her father's office, punching the keys on the videophone with unmeasured fury, capable of cracking the screen beyond repair. She paced a trail across the carped waiting for somebody to answer her call...
"Pick up, pick up, pick up, PICK UP!" she burst, when finally three well-known faces slid into view on a multi-speaker conference, "Ami, Rei, Mina, look out the window now!"
The sleepy girls mumbled incoherent groans before it dawned on them that this was no 3 AM joke by the exasperated feature on the other side of the 3D phone. "Whazup? It's late and..."
"I SAID NOW!"
Each, from their respective rooms, disappeared for brief seconds and came back wearing the same startled look Makoto had had a little while ago. She reckoned they might have understood the surrealism of the matter.
"So," she said, "Didyouseeit? Doyouknowwhothatis?" blurted Mako, inhaling great draughts of air for speaking too fast. For the first time she glanced at her senshi fuku and gazed at the others, also wearing uniforms.
"I..." gulped Ami, "It can't be...That's only an old legend..."
"Legend or no legend, I morphed without meaning to! Let's meet at Rei's in a quarter!" Mako was ready to hang up and get on the move when Mina, from the upper corner of the screen yelled...
"Wait! I don't recognize the guy in the sky! Who the heck is he!"
Rei shouted impatiently, "Don't you ever listen to history class? That man is the priest Helios!"
"No way!"
Book, book, books. That study could not withstand any other book being added to its collection. Over the years, Hotaru had gathered all her favorites in this place, though at some point she seemed to have forgotten she should have left room in there for actual human beings to come in and read. One precious spot was not invaded by the tide of knowledge and that was the desk Michiru-mama had bought for her back in a distant childhood she could barely recall...
On top of it she now lay asleep and smashed her pretty face against her cram school notepads. Must study hard to be a good doctor someday, she kept in mind, though the truth was, she did not need to go though medical school to heal people. At any rate, not in conventional sense of healing.
A loud thunder struck the heavens and it was enough to wake her up. It was way past midnight, and certainly did not do any good to neglect her health so harshly...
Stretching out, feeling her now stiff neck, she considered going up to her bedroom when she spotted a figure out on the porch. That's strange, she pondered, sliding the curtains aside.
"Oh, it's you. You scared me...What are you doing here this late? And out there in the rain? " she said, as she let her four-pawed friend in. "Diana...you're aware you shouldn't be out there on a night like this, right?"
"Yes." smirked weakly the gray shivering cat.
"And you're here because..."
"Small Lady disappeared! I went to fetch her to show her the masquerade dress and she wasn't there! I wanted to cheer her up! And there was a broken mirror! And all that hair and blood and I though..."
"That she could be here? Why didn't you use the video phone?"
"I... I..." come to think of it, why didn't she use it?
Hotaru, a faint smile of kindness upon her, perceived that Diana panicked at the thought of her maiden being hurt and did not consider her actions beforehand. Um...that was not like the calm guardian Diana had always been... true, some riot was in the air. People and animals alike had been behaving so unlike themselves...
"I think you better spend the night." added Hotaru,"Dry up and call the palace. Leave a message so that they'll know you're ok." she pointed at the phone standing beyond a thick encyclopedia, dangerously hanging from the edge of her desk.
Diana followed her lead and stepped onto the chair, carefully avoiding getting any notebooks wet on her way up. Ready to dial the number to her home, the cat jumped back in surprise when the face on an unknown man flicked into view. A kind, welcoming smile much like Hotaru's, though she rarely showed it. Hazel eyes and a slack shining hair that almost fooled the ones that did not befriend him into believing him a teenager. He was in fact a grown man. A handsome man.
Facing the wall behind the desk, the face spoke before it could be restrained, "Hota-chan, I'm sorry, I know it's late and..."
He stopped when he got a glimpse of Diana coming up with a puzzled gaze and Hotaru, cheeks flushing red beside her. Diana did feel tension adding to the decor and excused herself in order to allow Hotaru a private conversation with whoever that man must be.
Sitting down, the warmth leaving her cheeks, she waited for the speaker to voice his mind again. "I'm so sorry." he said, "I always end up embarrassing you."
Bravely, she let out a small lie, "Not at all. I know you wouldn't call were it not important, Toshio-kun. Go on"
Another image replaced that of the bodiless head. A galatic chart it seemed. The voice explained, "See the flashing to the left? It indicates and absurd amount of power blocking the Worm Whole on sector B-12. I just spotted it while surveying the sky moments ago. I learned the Alpha Senshi princess would arrive through there. The Worn Whole has turned unstable and it is dangerous. I ask you to please report this to the Queen. It could mean disaster if a ship wrecked under her rule. And there has been some other power surges. An echo of this one, assuming this is not an echo on itself." Yet another star map came into view before the face could be seen once more, "Hotaru, I reckon Serenity will listen to you. Please warn her!"
An alarmed Hotaru stood still fixing the maps in her memory before daring to conjure an answer, "Of course, Toshio-kun. I myself felt something like this might be coming. I would like to take Sailor Pluto's advice before addressing the Queen..."
"And Hota-chan..." he hesitaded,"Are you sure you want me to be your escort to the masquerade? I'm your teacher, people will be gossiping... It would be bad for you. You're Sailor Saturn, Princess Saturn. And I..."
She interrupted quietly, facing the floor and blushing again, "...and you're the only one outside the circle that knows that." Hotaru was definitely behaving unlike herself...
Toshio was about to say something when all artificial light went down, and the videophone went blank...
A power surge?
Crystal Palace...such a quiet place at night... No boring diplomatic meeting being held, no servants walking around; only the cozy sound of the water touching the ground out in the gardens. That was it for the night, for that night. It was most unusual for the central nervous system of an entire planet to be left unguarded... But no one could resist the temptation to leave their watch posts when the weather called for a good rest, and a loved one beside you. After all, everybody agreed that no real threat would ever reach the glorious sacred refuge; who would dare do anything against their beloved queen?
Taking advantage of the lack of people peeking around where they were not always wanted, the royal couple enjoyed each other's company resting by the fireplace. Being there was enough to fill their hearts with soaring happiness. She, dressed in her delicate nightgown; her silvery hair spreading wide through the welcoming carpet; her head resting on her beloved's lap...He, gently caressing his maiden, admiring her timeless beauty... Being a ruler, dealing with all the bureaucratic work had done so much in the sense of preventing those two from simply being with one another. And they missed it so.
At that point a tiny figure appeared at the door, her silhouette framed by the fire light. Her lavender hair flying wild, her pink pajamas reaching the floor; her teddy bear strangled in between her arms...
"Mama," she said yawning, "there's a monster on my window..."
"Kousagi, darling," replied the queen, "I'm sure you just had a bad dream because of the storm. You know nothing bad would ever invade the palace."
"But he was there. I saw it. He had these eyes and a mouth and all the medals..."
"It was just a nightmare, sweetie. Now why don't you stay here with us until the monster goes away?"
The little girl walked forth to the edge of the fluffy carpet and laid down next to her mother, who held her close as if Kousagi were a teddy bear herself...
"Mama, where's oneechan? I wanted to show my drawings when I got home, but I not found her."
"Well, she...she'll be back soon."
"Think she's gonna like the trapeze thingy Pallas was teaching us for the..."
The tiny princess could not complete that sentence. She was fast asleep in her mother's arms... Neo Queen Serenity and King Endymion exchanged a smile at the sight of their daughter and carried her up to their bed. Kousagi wouldn't wake up before dawn...
After that, they returned to the fireplace and observed the fire creeping for some time, in a manner that made it clear that they shared one single thought at that moment...
"Usako," he whispered, "Where is Chibi Usa? There have been strange events taking place, it's dangerous for her..."
"Oh, you haven't called me that since high school...I miss it."
"Usako, this is serious. Our daughter may be ambushed."
"Don't worry. Small Lady is not in danger. She is a grown girl and can defend herself. I was not lying when I said she'll be back soon. I feel it. Let it be for now..."
There was no need for words; they could understand the other's thought without speech. A soft kiss to sign the peace under which that couple lived...
On the opposite end of the castle, however, four dear friends took turns telling jokes, laughing and singing for their companions. A night would not be whole without a pajama party and a pillow war. Merry as fools, or young children; though their wisdom was great and their age almost immeasurable. Life was good, so why worry about imaginary enemies? And a runaway princess that was likely to be out to visit her lover...
"Ok, ok!" exclaimed Ceres from underneath a pile of bed sheets, "I give up! Mercy on me! I lost the pillow war again!"
"I can't believe it." declared Pallas, "Our team always looses. I wanna change partners. It's not fair this way!"
"Not a chance. You two just don't know how to fight! Nah nah, you can't beat us!" giggled Juno, her green hair loose and getting messed up with everything in the room.
"Oh, really? Watch this: let's get them Pallas!" yelled Ceres, while she and Pallas jumped over the others, tickling them to exhaustion.
"Stop it, we surrender!" pleaded Vesta, not able to stop her own laughing.
Getting a hold of themselves, every one of them regaining composure after breathing hard for at least a couple minutes. Then, seriousness took over and they engaged in a talk that was not meant to cause joy...
"Ok, so where do you guys think she headed?" asked Juno.
"I bet it was Elysion. Isn't it where that Helios lives?" added Vesta.
"Oh, this is so Romantic!" sighed Ceres.
"I want one of those for me too!" dreamed Pallas.
"You two!" pointed both Juno and Vesta, blushing slightly.
Suddenly they got a glimpse of a person heading towards the outer gardens, coming from an open window to the sides of the palace.
"Hey, look, isn't that Kousagi's bedroom?"
"It is, but what was that um...man doing there?"
"A trespasser? In this storm? It's not possible!"
"Should we follow him?"
"Nah, I bet Kousagi-chan already has a boyfriend... after all who the heck would want to hurt the little princess?"
They could not guess the magnitude of their mistake... He was there to do harm, to slay his next prey... only an inch from succeeding; when higher forces made him leave, otherwise...
Beyond the mists of darkness and death, a shiny light of hope floated in the form of a sphere, dashing images alive all the way through the no longer green fields of Elysion. One last hope of reaching redemption beyond the bitterness of captivity. As it were, the glaive of merciless slaughter would drop much too soon. He could not allow for it. He would not allow for this. He had heard it. He had seen it in every detail. Desperation taking over such a marvelous soul...the bell begging for aid in the desolation of the night. He had seen it time and again. Not of his own free will, but either way his heart rebelled and screamed for mercy; if not for himself, for his maiden at the very least. And he sent out that small light, burning his last bit of vital energy. That was it. The bewildered end.
"So, my dearest priest. Have you enjoyed the show? I do hope a gentlemen such as yourself is quite aware that this foolish act of yours means destruction is inevitable. If not of the entire world, at least your own." A particularly calm voice reached the priest in the dungeons. A voice so calm...so cold...indeed, it would seem as if it belonged to death itself, was there any other creature in the universe as cruel. But the owner of such a voiced showed no cruelty in his features. On the contrary, a very welcoming expression assured that he was to be regarded as loyal, and all qualities of a true gentleman were visible. Elementary, one would say, how could a priest so highly esteemed as Helios be cruel?
Quite an eerie conversation took place amid the storm that did not reach this no longer beautiful reign. A high priest faced himself though the bars of a dirty cell while the same man protested and let out his pleas from inside this torture chamber.
"You do not realize your petty selfish motives will lead you to ruin? I cannot understand how an altruist such as yourself would turn against his own people. Or at least what was once his own plane of existence!" said Helios, trying to bring reason upon himself.
"As you once saved your people, I now save mine." stated the other Helios, a pitiful gaze aimed at the one inside the cell.
"Do you not think the price too high? Would you be willing to destroy your maiden in order to accomplish this? Would you truly sacrifice all things precious to you in the process?"
"You know the answer as well as I do, for it is in my head as much as it is in yours. As one, you cannot deny that a part of you; of me actually, would be more than willing to destroy her...again." He crossed the distance that kept him away from that prisoner for a chance of gazing into his own eyes. Not a clone, not a twin, just himself as it may seem...
"You cannot! It is not within your grasp to decide on the lives of these girls! She's MY MAIDEN!"
"It is not like you at all to loose control like this, my dear. As you said: she's my maiden. As much yours as she is mine, for we are but one. I fancy meeting her again, as you seemed to have abandoned her. It is most unfair for a damsel to suffer as much as she has."
"Do not dare! DO NOT DARE!"
"Stop me, I mean yourself if you can. I'm quite tired of this conversation. I shall tend to my maiden immediately, while you may keep on watching quietly through the bars." Helios kneed and focused his attention for transporting himself all the way to Crystal Tokyo. After all, his little princess was out there somewhere and she seemed to be so sad and hurt...she would need him by her side. He could not leave her in a time like this...
Through the bars, Helios watched himself vanish and pure desperation for not being able to aid his beloved. How could he be trapped like this? For Kami's sake, how unfair can destiny be? How unfair can it be?
"What right have you upon our lives? What right have you?" he whispered before collapsing on floor...holding out the faintest hope of his message reaching her before he did...
"Check the main power source! Instability in the warm whole. All personnel will be confined to their living quarters!"
This could not be. Not like this. Not Again. Not...
The commander and the entire crew grew weary as the hours passed and their joint effort to keep the ship on course and stable resulted in less quite a failure. The outer shields were crumbling. They would not hold out if this instability were to last much longer. They could not let this reach their princess. She would not withstand it again. This...phenomenon was too much like the one which brought their world to ruin...not again! Nevertheless, this was unusual...as much as it would resemble that harsh campaign pulled off by their one enemy, nothing ever came close to this sort of emergency since Alpha Senshi and the splendorous realm of Earth were rebuilt. Then why? Why were they suddenly thrown against this magnetic storm and torn apart like this...why...
"Commander, the worm whole is closing in all around us. Without the main shields to protect us, we won't reach Earth!" the girl shrieked and her trembling self could not hide the amount of concern in that statement.
"Get a hold of yourself, Lieutenant! We will overcome this little obstacle and complete this journey successfully. None of this should get to our majesty Kakyuu. This will be reported as a perfectly ordinary jump to Earth and that is it? Got it?" the commander, who happened to be a woman as the rest of the crew, had such an awkward and puzzling look upon his face that one could swear everything was going according to plan. And the plan, of course, ought to be a safe and perfectly calm trip to the planet called Earth. They were to take the princess to Crystal Tokyo's spaceport and then escort her to Neo Queen Serenity's palace. So, the question hovering over their minds was bound to be: what is going on?
"Ryokai, commander"
Though the commander's wishes proved to be for the princess' own sake, three senior officers, entitled to protect their majesty, gathered in her very own quarters as they thought reporting the current situation was in the princess's best interest. They were no less than the ones who had saved her in a past long gone, they were her best confidents, they were shouting on top of their lungs while Kakyuu had a nervous smile and a sweat drop over her head.
"Please, calm down. I do understand the emergency this ship is facing, but there is really no need to panic, is there?" the princess tried her best to keep that argument under control, though she could do very little to calm those three.
"My princess, we apologize for our misbehavior, but I do advise you to send a message requesting help for there cannot be a reason for this other than a very powerful entity distorting the time-space continuum!"
"That has already been arranged, Taiki. We had no response from Earth. All we can do is wait and pray that this is just a temporary instability."
Another one of the guardians exploded with rage, uncertain whether to be glad or absolutely disgusted at that statement. She had very little patience when it came to diplomatic business, and little tact in dealing with this kind of powerlessness as well. It certainly wasn't very pleasant to just sit around and do nothing while their lives, and most importantly, the life of their princess was in jeopardy. This was unacceptable. How could any respectable kingdom refuse to answer the... "How can the possibly refuse an SOS massage from a crumbling ship! Besides, the only reason we are here is to respond to the invitation placed by their Queen! How ca..."
"Please calm down, Yaten. It is not their fault. We have sent a message to Alpha Senshi as well, and we had no response either."
"Which means," interrupted Seya, "communications are down and we are trapped in this worm whole indefinitely, or just until it crushes our ship."
The red alert alarm went off all through the living quarters. A few seconds later, a power surge caused the light to go off just the same.
A sharp and deadly shriek and the last shield was destroyed. That was it. An overwhelming and uttermost darkness. In the void of space no one can hear you scream. But there were no screaming, only the silence. Worst than anything else, the silence. And the terrifying smell of blood...
"Seek you, seek you, this is Lieutenant Ark sending one last transmission requesting help from Earth space fleet. Is there anybody out there who can hear me?"
End of transmission.
Tokyo Bay. Nothing in it resembled that ugly, overcrowded with technology seashore of the XX century. Since space flight became a routine, the Bay had been cleared and one could easily spent their time admiring the beauty of this scenery. It did not possess the aggressive charm of the tropics, albeit it enclosed a mysterious peacefulness of its own. They baby blue sky that ever so gently bathed the pure white sand with a warm, welcoming light. The salty water caressing the sand with its waves. More than a perfect place for spending a lazy summer afternoon.
Details, one would say. This was high night, no stars in the sky, a revolving sea threatening to form a new tsunami anytime now and horrifying storm parting its heavens with lightning. Each would hit the land using every inch of strength the clouds could spare and thus chilling all joy from anyone who dared face its periloussness. And a girl faced it; she faced it with no fear or joy whatsoever. No emotion seemed to reach her strangled heart.
How long had she been lying there? How long would she remain there? Incoherent thoughts within her mind prevented from taking any course of action, or at least that's what she thought. She was inapt when it came to organizing her feelings. Her rational self would not quit the fight with her sentimental self. Maybe if she would just lye there, the pouring rain would wash the darkness away. Or maybe she would meet her death through the hands of electricity...both seemed fine to her. Or none of them, for that matter.
She recalled the outrageous conversation she had that evening. Was it a dream? A nightmare? The truth? She could not tell. She had not seen her reflection since, but it was not very hard to guess a princess with that short hair she had inflicted upon herself aught to be labeled as a rebel.
She laughed at that remark. A mad laughter reaching the depths of the ocean. And then she cried. She cried for herself, for her friends, for everything that ever went wrongs in this miserable life of hers... she cried for him as well. For the one who abandoned her, for the one who failed to fulfill their promise. For the one who should have been her King.
And she did not get up or leave that spot, waiting for something to embrace her gently, be it fate or else. And it came. Lighting struck the sand nearby and she could feel every Mhz of swift death running through her body, harming her tender skin...
"Helios..." she whispered, reaching out for the night, "...so much light...so much..." she did not complete that sentence before having her senses blocked and her little heart stopped.
And then there was darkness... thick, everlasting darkness...
Continues on Part Three - Land of Fire and Brimstone