Chapter 23: Hazy Maze Cave
Chibi-Usa blinked. What was that yellow light that surrounded her? A flash of a rainbow...who was it?
"Hello, Princess Usagi," said a girl's voice with a Mexican accent.
"Maria! So YOU were the weird glowy thing! I thought it might be Pegasus. Or else one of the Magic Knights...hey, I thought we were in the Crystal Palace! What is THIS place?" Chibi-Usa exclaimed as she looked around. She and Maria were in a cave, or at least a very rocky-looking room. She jumped out of the way as a gigantic orange spider crawled past.
"This looks like we're in a fantasy adventure story. I sometimes read those; but I don't really like the violent fighting parts," Maria observed.
"We're in a adventure story? My whole LIFE is an adventure story. Don't try too much time traveling; I have to wear glasses because it messed up my eyes. I'm probably lucky it didn't do anything else to me," sighed Chibi-Usa.
"I always heard that time travel made paradoxes, but I suppose it could also mess up your eyes. I've never done it, so I wouldn't know. Do you want to explore the cave? Or we could just sit here and talk." In response to Maria's question, a trail of colored light, pink swirled with yellow, grew out from the two girls and then split, one half heading down the area on the left and the other to the right. Chibi-Usa stared at her brooch; no, it wasn't glowing.
"How did THAT happen?" she asked.
"Maybe something, or someone, wants us to follow the trail. Or they want us to split up and get lost," Maria said.
"Then we'll both go right so that we can stick together if there's a problem," Chibi-Usa decided arbitrarily, and Maria didn't see any problem with going along, so they headed in that direction first. They crept carefully around the large firepit that lay on the side of the road, obviously put there as an obstacle.
"Is there someone who designed this place who wants to destroy us? Like the evil overlord in the scarier fantasy stories?" Maria whimpered.
"Well, maybe Sailor Nemesis created this dimension. Or else we're in a video game," Chibi-Usa suggested once they had passed to a safer spot, shuddering when she mentioned the name of the warrior from the evil planet.
"In a video game?"
"Yeah, it looks like something I saw Mama playing when I visited her in the past. Besides that, all I remember is that it was called something that's similar to your name and the guy on the video game had some funny accent," Chibi-Usa shrugged, "More like the way Mozzarella talks, though."
"So it was a video game from Italy?"
"Maybe. But I think the words in it were in Japanese," Chibi-Usa answered, "Well, should we jump over this big pit and see what's in that door on the other side?"
"Why not? Should we be transformed first? It might be better here, if there's someone out to get us."
"That's a good idea. Moon Prism Power, Make Up!" called Chibi-Usa.
"Butterscotch Power, Make Up!" added Maria. When the yellow and pink lights died down, the two Senshi leaped across the pit together, just barely missing the firespouts that erupted behind them.
"Yikes! What if the monster we're after is down there?" Sailor Chibi Moon wondered aloud, trying to peek into the pit without getting close enough to be possibly burned or fall in.
"Then we should go through the door. It could be safer," said Sailor Butterscotch nervously. She opened the door slowly. No monsters were on the other side, just a ledge and what looked like a pole from a fire station.
"Hey, do you want to play firewoman and slide down the pole?" Chibi Moon giggled. Sailor Butterscotch looked over the edge and nodded.
"That looks safer than jumping since there's a long drop."
"WEEEEEEE!!!!" squealed Chibi Moon as she impulsively jumped forward and slid down the metal pole, Sailor Butterscotch following more cautiously.
If the girls had gone left, they would've reached a room with a few platforms and a very large bottomless pit. It was from this pit that Fuu emerged, flying up to safety on a gust of wind. She stared across the pit in awe, amazed that she was able to land on the side that didn't have huge rocks tumbling down a hill. Turning back around, she went in search of the Sailor Senshi who she assumed would be in this other dimension.
"WOW! The ceiling here is so tall! It reminds me of the Crystal Palace, or maybe Makoto Kino's house," Chibi Moon exclaimed as she and Sailor Butterscotch gazed around at the new room they had slid into.
"Look out for that spider," warned Sailor Butterscotch, as one of those large orange arachnids was approaching them quickly.
"I'll take care of it! Pink Sugar Heart Attack!"
"Aurora Hypnosis!" The spider flipped over, squeaking when the first attack hit it but then it seemed to calm down under the influence of the golden Senshi's rainbow lights. The two girls breathed a sigh of relief, but then they heard an ominous "thump" sound. Chibi Moon was the one brave enough to turn around, and she saw Fuu standing at the base of the long metal pole.
"Hello, Sailor Senshi." Fuu spoke shyly, like she was scared of the girls too.
"Um...hi to you to, Fuu! Sorry I accidentally knocked out Hikaru at the school; I was just trying to get her distracted so I wouldn't have to hurt her," giggled Sailor Butterscotch nervously.
"You knocked out Hikaru?!" Fuu squeaked, terrified.
"It was just an accident. Please, um...you could roast marshmallows out there. There's a fire pit. You could cook something."
"Maria, stop babbling. She's the enemy," Chibi Moon hissed.
"But I don't want to fight. It's mean."
"I'm scared of you Senshi! You killed Hikaru!" Fuu whined.
"We did NOT kill Hikaru! Hikaru was still alive the last I heard," Chibi Moon snapped. Fuu began sobbing fearfully as her sword appeared in her hands.
"I...I'm supposed to kill you. Clef's orders. He said...Cephiro..." Fuu mumbled meekly, shaking.
"Same as us. Mrs. Hino had a psychic dream that it would save your lives if you were killed in a place that wasn't your world," agreed Maria, who had detransformed by now.
"EEEEYAAAAAH!!!" Fuu charged blindly past the other two girls, swinging her sword everywhere. She completely missed her targets and crashed through a door that was in the wall behind them. A rotten smell wafted out from it.
"Um, do you suppose she got a new stinky attack?" asked Chibi Moon, holding her nose.
"AAGGGHH!!! There's some kind of toxic stuff here!" screamed Fuu from in the smelly room.
"Umm...should we save her?" asked Maria.
"Emerald Typhoon!" Maria and Chibi Moon fell over, gagging as Fuu's wind powers blew a bunch of yellow gas at them.
"What is she trying to do?!" choked out Chibi Moon.
"She's...dead..." gasped Maria. She could see Fuu's body lying across the doorway that led to the stinky yellow gas room.
"Or just...fainted...I hope..." Chibi Moon managed to get out as she crawled towards Fuu's unmoving body, trying to ignore the fact that unconsciousness was threatening her.
"Cephiro...Hikaru...Clef...sorry..." Fuu whispered.
"Don't...say...we're dying too..." Maria whispered as she blacked out.
"Yeah..." That was the last thing Chibi Moon said as consciousness left her body at last. Green lights surrounded her, Maria, and Fuu, taking them away from the toxic gas smell and from the dimension.