Disclaimer: I do not own anyone from "CardCaptor Sakura". They are all owned by the ladies of CLAMP who are much more talented than I. (smile) I also do not own anyone from "Sailor Moon". They are all owned by Takeuchi Naoko whose vision will live eternally. (smile) (Much to Elflina's dismay...) All other characters are my own. Feel free to steal them.

I do not hold chapters ransom for reviews, but I sure appreciate compliments, constructive criticism, and grammatical corrections. So if you feel like it, please press that little review button, and let me know what you think.

Hahaha, I'm going to go through so much withdrawal in a few weeks. Six reviews again! Hurray! Greetings to Sakura Blossom-Cilla-85, Taeniaea (MS's 100th review, yeah!), aserene, Mangaka-chan (Barney? And I've never even seen it, hahaha...), animegurl709 (I'm glad you found the description so vivid), and Miss Takin (welcome back! smile). I'm glad no one was ready to kill me for letting the villains play for a while. For those who are interested and have not read it yet, Empress Night, King Arashi, King Necro, Queen Yeti and Maat are the villains in The Sleeper. You don't need to know anything about that story for this one, but I thought I'd mention it (again?) in case anyone was interested.

(str-e-tch) Two completed stories in three days... One done all in one sitting. Oh, I'm so tired of sitting in front of this computer. But I'm glad they're done. (wink) Ree has already reviewed one and pronounced it acceptable. Maybe better than acceptable because she didn't have nearly the patience she usually does for updates, hahaha. Hopefully, she'll have time to read the other one either Sunday or Monday. Since that one (Phantoms) was written in response to a challenge on pgsm-fanfiction dot net, it will be posted there first, but it will be over here by Halloween.

And now, time to end long author ramble. (grin) Was anyone wondering what happened back in Crystal Tokyo? (cheerfully plug ears) Then enjoy, minna! - Raya

Moonlit Sakura

Chapter 36 – Silenced Jungle

Sailor Ceres struggled to keep her mind focused on Super Sailor Mercury's cues and commands, but it was very difficult. Deep inside, the guilt still remained. Yes, she had done her best to protect her friend, but she had left out one detail. One very important detail…

FLASHBACK

A young teenager looked out of her second story window towards the Crystal Palace. With a smile and a dreamy sigh, she leaned her head against the window frame and watched the distant spires twinkle in the moonlight. Suddenly, a bright light filled the quiet little suburb of Crystal Tokyo. The girl raised her hands to block out the light with a cry of shock.

Quickly, the light concentrated in the Tsukimine Shrine, and then disappeared. The girl peered nervously in the direction of the shrine, and then looked once more towards the distant Palace as if looking for reassurance. The spires seemed a little dimmer and a little further away.

A little fearfully, the girl pulled her window shut and closed her curtains. She walked across the room and lay down in her bed. A moment later, she hopped back up again, and quickly retrieved an old, battered teddy bear from the shelves near her desk. She squeezed it tightly to her chest as she lay back down under the covers and stared at the closed window.

King Necro jumped slightly as the sky above him flooded with rainbow colored light. Quickly, he opened a small bottle and gulped down its contents. 'Here they come,' he thought calmly to himself. 'Took them long enough…'

The light quickly concentrated into five different colored beams that pierced the ground a few feet away from him. He watched as the beams slowly shrank and became the five senshi that always seemed to work against him as a team.

The dark aqua beam resolved itself into the girl with the pale blue hair that he had almost caught that time in the aviary. The dark greenish-yellow beam became the tall girl with lime green hair that liked to tumble and use vine attacks. The deep magenta beam collected into the girl with bright red hair that liked to summon flaming animals while the dark yellowish-orange light glowed around the pink haired girl that couldn't seem to get her attacks to work at all. And the brightest light, a pale pink shot through with silver sparkles slowly revealed the pink haired girl he had started calling the Princess' Personal Protector.

As he watched the last senshi take form, his eyes suddenly narrowed. 'If all of the guardians, including the Princess' Personal Protector, are here, that means the Princess is…' he thought with a bit of excitement. 'All I have to do is defeat HER, and then the Princess will be mine. Silly brats! This is it!' He clenched his fist tightly around his wand and brought it up to chest height. Quickly, he threw the paralyzation spell at them hoping to catch them off guard.

As she felt the teleportation end, Sailor Ceres began to focus her energy into a protective shield for Super Sailor Moon. Through her psychic link with her teammates, she felt them do the same. She smiled a little, triumphantly, as she felt the enemy's attack hit the shield and dissipate harmlessly. Beside her, Sailor Pallas gave a small exclamation of surprise, but held strong.

King Necro grimaced as his spell bounced harmlessly off of the glow around the girls. 'Too quick,' he thought to himself. 'Catch them again as soon as that light fades.' He prepared the spell again and held it at the tip of his wand. He frowned as he realized that the remaining light was not fading but concentrating in a sphere around the girls.

Sailor Pallas looked across the circle to Sailor Juno. Lime green eyes caught periwinkle blue, and the two girls nodded simultaneously. Moving as one, they dropped Super Sailor Moon's hands and smoothly caught each others. The light around them did not falter.

As a group, the Asteroid Senshi took two steps away from Super Sailor Moon, and then smoothed the shield from a sphere around the joined group to a curved wall that stood between them and their enemy.

King Necro studied the shield a moment then narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. 'That's a good shield. A very good shield," he thought to himself. He released the paralyzation spell and moved his wand aimlessly, using it to trace random sparkling runes in the air in an effort to distract the girls and buy himself some time. 'And quick, too.' He began to smile a little in anticipation. 'Why… These girls might even be worth my time!'

Super Sailor Moon watched the sparkling figures in front of her enemy for a moment, and then shook her head abruptly. "You won't hypnotize us that easily," she said in a determined voice. She lifted her hand as if to reach for something. Instantly, her Spiral Heart Moon Rod materialized and settled into her grip. "I am the pretty sailor-suited soldier of Hope and Justice, Sailor Moon! You have banished many of my friends and fellow protectors of Earth. I will not allow this any more. In the name of the Moon, I will punish you!" Quickly, she spun her Moon Rod in a complex pattern, and then fell into her pose: Moon Rod held diagonally in front of her with her left hand, legs spread shoulder width apart, right hand forming a V in front on her head.

"Sailor Moon, huh. Interesting. I would have thought that the Princess of Earth would have been protected by Sailor Earth," King Necro said in a bored voice.

The five senshi looked at him with puzzled faces. "The Princess of Earth?" Sailor Juno asked as she looked at her friends.

"Who's that?" Sailor Vesta echoed still looking confused.

"Is she around here, too?" Sailor Pallas asked as she looked around curiously.

"I don't see anybody else…" Sailor Ceres said as she looked around also.

Super Sailor Moon just shook her head. "The Moon protects the Earth, and always has. And I will protect the Princess of "Earth". You will not stop me."

King Necro just snorted and began to move his wand jerkily. "Skish tkla epgrtkil mro hap!" He chanted as he traced more runes into the air. The black figures were edged with a burning orange light. As he finished, they hung in front of him for a heartbeat, and then swirled together to form a ball of power. The glowing ball flew through the air, hit the shield, and splattered like a liquid. It began to try to eat its way in like acid.

Four sets of eyes widened in shock as the Asteroid senshi felt the strength of the blow. Once again, Sailor Pallas cried out in surprise. Sailor Ceres snapped her head around to face the center of the circle and concentrated frantically on holding the shield. Her squeezing hands reminded Sailor Vesta and Sailor Pallas to do the same. Slowly, the black power was overcome by the shining light of the shield. It began to evaporate, and finally disappeared.

Sailor Ceres smiled triumphantly at Super Sailor Moon who had dropped her pose and was watching them with bated breath. Super Sailor Moon smiled back tentatively.

"Not bad," King Necro said sounding a little amused. "Not bad at all. But can you block this?"

As he gestured, Super Sailor Moon's gaze snapped back towards him. Her eyes narrowed as she brought her Moon Rod up once more and spun it through its energy gathering pattern. As she reached the peak of her power up, she leapt up into the air. "Moon Spiral Heart… ATTACK!" she cried as she aimed the Rod directly at him.

"Kragt Xtrek Skish Mro!" he shouted simultaneously aiming his wand at Sailor Ceres' back. Super Sailor Moon's pink colored attack fought against his electric orange one for a few moments, and then faded. His severely weakened ball of electricity then hit the shield and dissipated harmlessly.

For several minutes, the battle raged back and forth. The two rivals tried to outpace each other, each racing to get their attack off first. Gradually, King Necro's focus shifted from the shield around the Quartet to Super Sailor Moon. Sailor Juno frowned anxiously as she noticed this, and tightened her grip on Sailor Vesta and Sailor Pallas.

"We've got to extend the shield," she said quietly but urgently as she watched her pink-haired friend land, spin around and leap again. "He's going to get her soon!"

Just as she said this, King Necro grazed Super Sailor Moon's right arm with a fireball. She cried out in pain and shock, and stumbled on her landing behind her friends.

"Watch out!" Sailor Pallas yelled a few seconds too late.

"Lady-chan!" Sailor Ceres cried out unthinkingly. "Are you okay?"

"Lady-chan!" Sailor Juno exclaimed as she craned her neck around in an attempt to see behind her.

"Are you okay, Lady-chan? Pull yourself together!" Sailor Vesta called as she threw a little more energy into the shield.

"Lady-chan?" King Necro asked. His voice sounded a little surprised. "Now where have I heard that name before...?"

Sailor Ceres' eyes widened in shock as what he said registered. "Sacre…" she whispered, feeling as if someone had punched her in the stomach. The feeling did not abate any as she saw Super Sailor Moon's pained smile.

"I'm fine," the wounded girl called reassuringly to her friends. "Just startled." She turned her arm little so that they would not be able to see the burnt skin showing through the glove.

"Thank heavens," Sailor Pallas sighed, closing her eyes briefly with relief.

Sailor Ceres closed her eyes and threw all of her strength into the shield. The sudden power surge surprised her teammates although their hold on the shield did not falter. "Ceres?" Sailor Pallas asked uncertainly as they turned to look at her.

King Necro's eyes narrowed as he searched his memory for the tantalizing clue. "Where have I heard it…" he mumbled to himself. His eyes flew open wide as the memory finally surfaced.

…"Oh, what a quaint sentiment. So sweet. So saintly," he said as he appeared beside them. "I bet she died an early death."

"You!" the princess hissed angrily.

"Lady!" the golden-haired woman cried, pulling roughly on the girl's arm...

…King Necro and Queen Fey suddenly appeared in the aviary on the path between the senshi and their princess. With a triumphant grin, King Necro raised his wand and aimed it at the two unsuspecting teenagers on the bench.

"LADY!" the golden senshi screamed, rushing forward. Queen Fey smiled evilly as she reached out and took control of her body.

The princess and her friend turned to see what the commotion was about, and found themselves frozen by King Necro's spell.

"Lady-chan!" the older blue haired senshi cried…

…"Lady-chan! Where's the Princess?" the red-headed senshi cried as she saw senshi with light blue hair.

"Gone. Safe. Sailor Moon will be with her by now," the girl replied with a triumphant smile towards her enemy…

"Lady… is the… You are… YOU are the PRINCESS!" he exclaimed, stuttering in shock.

Everyone but Sailor Ceres snapped around to stare at him in shock. "Uh-oh…" Sailor Pallas moaned.

Other memories surfaced in his shocked mind. The tall, brown-haired senshi stepping in front of Super Sailor Moon to protect her as the golden haired senshi practically threw her out of the path of his spell and into this same group of girls. The group of girls instantly forming a shield around her, ignoring the rest of the fight. The panic on the faces of all the senshi as Super Sailor Moon stepped forward in the aviary to challenge him directly. The pain and anger on her face as she screamed at him to return the Queen during that first attack in Egypt. "You are the Princess," he said again his feelings of disbelief and wonder melting into triumph.

Suddenly, the triumph became anger. "All those times… All those times I could have had you easily...!" he growled, raising his wand. "Make a mockery of ME will you? I'll show you!" Quickly, deliberately, he began to wave his wand and chant the death spell.

The girls all paled as they heard the horrible words begin. From somewhere, Sailor Ceres drug up additional energy to throw into the shield. Beside her, she felt her partners do the same. The shield began to blaze brightly. Super Sailor Moon cried out in surprise, threw up her left arm, and turned her face away from the powerful light.

King Necro's spell hit the shield squarely and he concentrated all his power on breaking through to the five girls it protected. For a long moment, the two powers balanced… And then the shield shattered into billions of tiny sparkling lights. Sailor Ceres's scream was cut off almost instantly as the four girls vanished from sight.

Super Sailor Moon screamed as she was hurled backwards into an old sakura tree by the explosion. She crumpled down to the ground, her transformation broken, her clothes torn and dirty, and her pink hair in messy disarray.

King Necro crumpled to the ground also as he reached the limits of his energy. All around them, the sparkling lights from the shield fell like a gentle rain and slowly faded away.

END FLASHBACK

'My fault,' Sailor Ceres thought as she blinked back tears. 'All my fault. If I had just remembered to call her Moon instead of Lady… Lady-chan… Ah, ma Princesse, please hold on. We're coming. Please, please be all right!'