The First Senshi
Part 3
It did not take Sailor Mahou-Henshin long to discover how to plant the starseeds. Her first was in a soldier that drew her power from and represented the home of the Galaxy Caldron: Sagittarius Zero Star. As she floated around the Caldron, she discovered the brightest starseed near the center of the garden. Near it floated nine others shining brighter than much of the rest of the Caldron. Taking them with her, she searched for the perfect system to cast these seeds, to make the most pure and powerful of her soldiers.
Floating in the darkness among the stars, one star caught her attention. "What is that?" she murmured to herself. The planets encircling it each had great power at their centers as well as the star itself. "The Sol System..." she realized, "I've heard rumors of this place. It would be perfect for these seeds!" She first produced the most powerful and sent it towards the star, the Sun. Somehow, something went wrong, and instead of it reaching the sun, the single silver satellite around the third planet caught it. "No! It's not supposed to do that!" she cried.
In her exasperation, she sent off the second most powerful of the starseeds, again towards the sun. This time, the blue planet itself caught the crystalline seed. "What? No!" she yelled again, practically screaming at the starseed as it veered in its course. "The sun needs a powerful protector but none of these other eight seeds are right for it," she mumbled. Dividing up the remaining seeds, she sent each to the other eight innermost planets. Each of the starseeds landed in a princess of the planets, giving the royalty more power. One day, those girls would discover their powers and use them to defend their worlds against invasion.
Later Mahou-Henshin returned to the system and sprinkled each of the satellites of the planets with sailor starseeds, to make protectors for each of the princesses. At last she found a powerful prism-like starseed that was perfect for the Sun and the sun at last took it. The system was complete. Next she moved on to a near-by system of just five planets and two suns to give them starseeds. Their powers were far from as strong as those of the Sol System. The Sol System senshi would always remain among her favorites. Time and time again she returned to it to plant a few more protectors here and there for when they were needed most.
By the time Sailor Moon, Mercury, and Neptune had returned, Minako, Rei, and Makoto had all come to, but all three were aching.
"So is it true that we can't henshin?" Makoto asked, after Ami carefully explained their findings.
"Haruka told you, didn't she?" Sailor Saturn asked sharply. "If she couldn't, I can't see how you could."
"Did you try?" Sailor Moon asked anxiously.
Makoto glanced at Minako and Rei and the two nodded.
"Jupiter Crystal Power!"
"Venus Crystal Power!"
"Mars Crystal Power!"
"Makeup!" After their last unison yell, there was dead silence once again. As they feared, nothing happened.
"So it is true," Rei said quietly.
"There's a battle going on and we can't help!" Minako hit her fist on the table she knelt by. "There has to be a way!"
"But you can't henshin, and you are all very weak!" Pluto protested.
"There are ways," Haruka said quietly from where she sat on the couch. The Space Sword rested lightly on her lap.
Everyone gasped.
"How did you-?" Sailor Moon stuttered.
"It's still inside of me, all I had to do was call it," she explained, "I doubt I can do any attacks with it though."
Rei had the idea. In one hand she held a white ofuda scroll, "I could use a good bow and some arrows as well."
"Ami," Minako asked, catching the idea, "Do you still have that sword we got a long time ago?"
"Oh!" Mercury exclaimed and hurried into another room, returning moments later with a large rock sword, "Here you go Minako."
As the blond took the sword, Pluto asked, "When did you get that? Where is it from?"
"It came from the moon when we went there during Beryl's reign to talk to Queen Serenity's ghost," Minako explained as she weighed the blade in her hands. "It's made of some poisonous stone that is even harder than diamonds. Her highness said it was meant for me, the leader of the princess's protectors."
"Huh," Haruka commented, "It's strange that we never heard about this before."
Minako just blushed and lowered her eyes.
Makoto laughed, "I guess you never needed to know about it, right? At any rate, I don't think I need any weapons to help me out. I can fight with my bare hands!"
"Then we're set," Rei nodded, "I just need to get my bow and arrows from home."
"So we have weapons and we know that where we have to go," Minako summed up, "But how do we get there?"
"We could use 'Sailor Teleport'. I mean, we've done it with Chibiusa before she could transform," Sailor Moon suggested.
"That's true," Sailor Pluto nodded, "But that was just one tiny girl for you five, not four girls for five again."
"We're stronger now," Sailor Moon protested.
"Plus we could use the full moon to power up," Mercury suggested, "We did that when we went to the Moon. If we hurry to get ready, we can do it. The full moon is tonight, after all."
"I'm not sure if that's lucky or not," Saturn commented darkly, "We might not be ready by then. We just know that Epsilon and Theta went to another universe, but if it's anything like our universe, it's huge! How can we find them?"
"Maybe I can search using my Aqua Mirror," Neptune suggested, holding out the mirror in front of her. "I could look for Epsilon and Theta, or better yet 'Mahou-Henshin', after all, she's the one we're supposed to be rescuing."
Mercury nodded, "You both have a point. Michiru, do you need the data I collected about the other universe?"
Sailor Neptune gently shook her head, staring into the glassy surface of her mirror and mouthing the words 'Mahou-Henshin' silently to herself. A few moments later, her aqua eyes widened and she looked slowly up towards the window across the room from her. Ami and Minako, who stood near her, were also wearing stunned expressions. "It's you!" she whispered, in awe.
Everyone else in the room immediately turned their attention to near the window. There stood a tiny girl, a noticeably shorter than even Usagi. Strangely, she looked just as old as, or older than any of the other girls there. Her feet were bare and she wore a short magenta dress that looked like it was from a time past, with an ornate gold belt. Her hair was fluffy and dark blond, hanging just down to her mid-back. Beneath the curved bangs, her vibrant blue eyes sparkled playfully. "I could tell you the way," she said in a sweet voice.
"Who-?" Sailor Mercury stammered.
"I am Mahousama Aihime, but I rarely use that name," the small girl answered, "I am usually called Sailor Mahou-Henshin."
Several of the girls gasped and Saturn's eyes narrowed. "Something is strange about you," She observed skeptically.
Aihime giggled, "You've always been an observant one. It's true. I'm not really tangible, nor do I have a shadow. I suppose that's because I'm not really here. But that's enough of that."
"Was that you that we heard calling for help?" Makoto asked.
The tiny figure nodded, "Fortunately Seishou-Yami didn't feel the need to watch me too closely or kill me like I thought she would yet." Aihime's complete calmness about her situation was stunning.
"It seems a little ironic," Haruka commented, "That you're standing here in front of us and telling us how to rescue you."
Giggling again, Mahou-Henshin replied, "I suppose that's true, but you were just discussing how to come to find me, weren't you? The real key is to stop Sailor Seishou-Yami. She doesn't understand what she is doing will wind up worse for her as well."
"Oh?" Pluto asked, but Aihime just continued on.
"You are correct about the second universe that Sailor Epsilon and Sailor Theta went to, however, is it is just a small alternate dimension. Seishou-Yami created it for her headquarters. Her soldiers are all over this universe just as mine are. To accomplish what you wish, however, you will need to go to that parallel universe," she explained calmly, "As you were saying about using Sailor Teleport, that would work to get you there to get you there."
"Even though four of us can't henshin?" Minako asked.
Before Aihime could answer, Rei interrupted, "Why is that anyway, does that have anything to do with you?"
The small woman hung her head, "Unfortunately it does. I made a mistake long ago..." She trailed off then looked up sharply, glancing wildly about her. "Oh no!" she gasped, "Sailor Sigma! She's back!" Not a moment later, her figure was gone from Ami's apartment.
"I think our job just got even more urgent," Makoto commented, "Let's get going."
The other girls nodded in agreement and started heading for the door. Usagi lingered slightly. She found it strange how Aihime had called them all her soldiers. Why was that? They had never even seen her before.
"You coming Usagi?" Sailor Mercury asked, when she noticed her leader falling behind.
"Mhm!" Sailor Moon nodded and put a smile on her face, hurrying out after them.
Five senshi and four girls stood in the middle of a park, the same place just five of them had stood shortly after they first became Sailor Senshi. Those five couldn't help but feel a strange déjà vu sensation at it.
Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Pluto, Sailor Neptune, and Sailor Saturn stood in a ring holding hands, surrounding the other ring of girls: Makoto, Minako, Rei, and Haruka. Minako, Rei, and Haruka each carried their weapons; ready to fight the instant they arrived in the dark universe. Makoto, on the other hand, stood casually, staring up at the full moon and stars.
"Ready?" Sailor Moon asked finally.
No one spoke, but everyone nodded solemnly.
"Okay," she responded, closing her eyes, "Moon Eternal Power!"
"Mercury Planet Power!"
"Neptune Planet Power!"
"Saturn Planet Power!"
"Pluto Planet Power!"
Pink, blue, teal, violet, and indigo light exploded around them, reaching to the sky like Northern lights.
"Sailor Teleport!" all nine girls yelled, even those who were not transformed. In an instant, they were gone, but their colored lights lingered dancing in the sky a while longer.
It did not take Sailor Mahou-Henshin long to discover how to plant the starseeds. Her first was in a soldier that drew her power from and represented the home of the Galaxy Caldron: Sagittarius Zero Star. As she floated around the Caldron, she discovered the brightest starseed near the center of the garden. Near it floated nine others shining brighter than much of the rest of the Caldron. Taking them with her, she searched for the perfect system to cast these seeds, to make the most pure and powerful of her soldiers.
Floating in the darkness among the stars, one star caught her attention. "What is that?" she murmured to herself. The planets encircling it each had great power at their centers as well as the star itself. "The Sol System..." she realized, "I've heard rumors of this place. It would be perfect for these seeds!" She first produced the most powerful and sent it towards the star, the Sun. Somehow, something went wrong, and instead of it reaching the sun, the single silver satellite around the third planet caught it. "No! It's not supposed to do that!" she cried.
In her exasperation, she sent off the second most powerful of the starseeds, again towards the sun. This time, the blue planet itself caught the crystalline seed. "What? No!" she yelled again, practically screaming at the starseed as it veered in its course. "The sun needs a powerful protector but none of these other eight seeds are right for it," she mumbled. Dividing up the remaining seeds, she sent each to the other eight innermost planets. Each of the starseeds landed in a princess of the planets, giving the royalty more power. One day, those girls would discover their powers and use them to defend their worlds against invasion.
Later Mahou-Henshin returned to the system and sprinkled each of the satellites of the planets with sailor starseeds, to make protectors for each of the princesses. At last she found a powerful prism-like starseed that was perfect for the Sun and the sun at last took it. The system was complete. Next she moved on to a near-by system of just five planets and two suns to give them starseeds. Their powers were far from as strong as those of the Sol System. The Sol System senshi would always remain among her favorites. Time and time again she returned to it to plant a few more protectors here and there for when they were needed most.
By the time Sailor Moon, Mercury, and Neptune had returned, Minako, Rei, and Makoto had all come to, but all three were aching.
"So is it true that we can't henshin?" Makoto asked, after Ami carefully explained their findings.
"Haruka told you, didn't she?" Sailor Saturn asked sharply. "If she couldn't, I can't see how you could."
"Did you try?" Sailor Moon asked anxiously.
Makoto glanced at Minako and Rei and the two nodded.
"Jupiter Crystal Power!"
"Venus Crystal Power!"
"Mars Crystal Power!"
"Makeup!" After their last unison yell, there was dead silence once again. As they feared, nothing happened.
"So it is true," Rei said quietly.
"There's a battle going on and we can't help!" Minako hit her fist on the table she knelt by. "There has to be a way!"
"But you can't henshin, and you are all very weak!" Pluto protested.
"There are ways," Haruka said quietly from where she sat on the couch. The Space Sword rested lightly on her lap.
Everyone gasped.
"How did you-?" Sailor Moon stuttered.
"It's still inside of me, all I had to do was call it," she explained, "I doubt I can do any attacks with it though."
Rei had the idea. In one hand she held a white ofuda scroll, "I could use a good bow and some arrows as well."
"Ami," Minako asked, catching the idea, "Do you still have that sword we got a long time ago?"
"Oh!" Mercury exclaimed and hurried into another room, returning moments later with a large rock sword, "Here you go Minako."
As the blond took the sword, Pluto asked, "When did you get that? Where is it from?"
"It came from the moon when we went there during Beryl's reign to talk to Queen Serenity's ghost," Minako explained as she weighed the blade in her hands. "It's made of some poisonous stone that is even harder than diamonds. Her highness said it was meant for me, the leader of the princess's protectors."
"Huh," Haruka commented, "It's strange that we never heard about this before."
Minako just blushed and lowered her eyes.
Makoto laughed, "I guess you never needed to know about it, right? At any rate, I don't think I need any weapons to help me out. I can fight with my bare hands!"
"Then we're set," Rei nodded, "I just need to get my bow and arrows from home."
"So we have weapons and we know that where we have to go," Minako summed up, "But how do we get there?"
"We could use 'Sailor Teleport'. I mean, we've done it with Chibiusa before she could transform," Sailor Moon suggested.
"That's true," Sailor Pluto nodded, "But that was just one tiny girl for you five, not four girls for five again."
"We're stronger now," Sailor Moon protested.
"Plus we could use the full moon to power up," Mercury suggested, "We did that when we went to the Moon. If we hurry to get ready, we can do it. The full moon is tonight, after all."
"I'm not sure if that's lucky or not," Saturn commented darkly, "We might not be ready by then. We just know that Epsilon and Theta went to another universe, but if it's anything like our universe, it's huge! How can we find them?"
"Maybe I can search using my Aqua Mirror," Neptune suggested, holding out the mirror in front of her. "I could look for Epsilon and Theta, or better yet 'Mahou-Henshin', after all, she's the one we're supposed to be rescuing."
Mercury nodded, "You both have a point. Michiru, do you need the data I collected about the other universe?"
Sailor Neptune gently shook her head, staring into the glassy surface of her mirror and mouthing the words 'Mahou-Henshin' silently to herself. A few moments later, her aqua eyes widened and she looked slowly up towards the window across the room from her. Ami and Minako, who stood near her, were also wearing stunned expressions. "It's you!" she whispered, in awe.
Everyone else in the room immediately turned their attention to near the window. There stood a tiny girl, a noticeably shorter than even Usagi. Strangely, she looked just as old as, or older than any of the other girls there. Her feet were bare and she wore a short magenta dress that looked like it was from a time past, with an ornate gold belt. Her hair was fluffy and dark blond, hanging just down to her mid-back. Beneath the curved bangs, her vibrant blue eyes sparkled playfully. "I could tell you the way," she said in a sweet voice.
"Who-?" Sailor Mercury stammered.
"I am Mahousama Aihime, but I rarely use that name," the small girl answered, "I am usually called Sailor Mahou-Henshin."
Several of the girls gasped and Saturn's eyes narrowed. "Something is strange about you," She observed skeptically.
Aihime giggled, "You've always been an observant one. It's true. I'm not really tangible, nor do I have a shadow. I suppose that's because I'm not really here. But that's enough of that."
"Was that you that we heard calling for help?" Makoto asked.
The tiny figure nodded, "Fortunately Seishou-Yami didn't feel the need to watch me too closely or kill me like I thought she would yet." Aihime's complete calmness about her situation was stunning.
"It seems a little ironic," Haruka commented, "That you're standing here in front of us and telling us how to rescue you."
Giggling again, Mahou-Henshin replied, "I suppose that's true, but you were just discussing how to come to find me, weren't you? The real key is to stop Sailor Seishou-Yami. She doesn't understand what she is doing will wind up worse for her as well."
"Oh?" Pluto asked, but Aihime just continued on.
"You are correct about the second universe that Sailor Epsilon and Sailor Theta went to, however, is it is just a small alternate dimension. Seishou-Yami created it for her headquarters. Her soldiers are all over this universe just as mine are. To accomplish what you wish, however, you will need to go to that parallel universe," she explained calmly, "As you were saying about using Sailor Teleport, that would work to get you there to get you there."
"Even though four of us can't henshin?" Minako asked.
Before Aihime could answer, Rei interrupted, "Why is that anyway, does that have anything to do with you?"
The small woman hung her head, "Unfortunately it does. I made a mistake long ago..." She trailed off then looked up sharply, glancing wildly about her. "Oh no!" she gasped, "Sailor Sigma! She's back!" Not a moment later, her figure was gone from Ami's apartment.
"I think our job just got even more urgent," Makoto commented, "Let's get going."
The other girls nodded in agreement and started heading for the door. Usagi lingered slightly. She found it strange how Aihime had called them all her soldiers. Why was that? They had never even seen her before.
"You coming Usagi?" Sailor Mercury asked, when she noticed her leader falling behind.
"Mhm!" Sailor Moon nodded and put a smile on her face, hurrying out after them.
Five senshi and four girls stood in the middle of a park, the same place just five of them had stood shortly after they first became Sailor Senshi. Those five couldn't help but feel a strange déjà vu sensation at it.
Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Pluto, Sailor Neptune, and Sailor Saturn stood in a ring holding hands, surrounding the other ring of girls: Makoto, Minako, Rei, and Haruka. Minako, Rei, and Haruka each carried their weapons; ready to fight the instant they arrived in the dark universe. Makoto, on the other hand, stood casually, staring up at the full moon and stars.
"Ready?" Sailor Moon asked finally.
No one spoke, but everyone nodded solemnly.
"Okay," she responded, closing her eyes, "Moon Eternal Power!"
"Mercury Planet Power!"
"Neptune Planet Power!"
"Saturn Planet Power!"
"Pluto Planet Power!"
Pink, blue, teal, violet, and indigo light exploded around them, reaching to the sky like Northern lights.
"Sailor Teleport!" all nine girls yelled, even those who were not transformed. In an instant, they were gone, but their colored lights lingered dancing in the sky a while longer.