Disclaimer: This story is mine, so don't copy. If you want to use something in my story in your own fic, please make sure you have my permission first. Sailor Moon & Co. belongs only to the people making money off of its existence. I'm not one of those people.

Side Note: To everyone who read the last chapter and had to put up with my stupidity, I'm really sorry! jokersgirl (thanks loads!) pointed out in her review that the e-mail scene was a bit awkward and I really had no idea why until I went back and reread the e-mails for this chapter and realized that ffnet screwed up everything, as per usual. I completely forgot that the site removes symbols like the asterisk in e-mails so the exchange between Mamoru and Usagi was really difficult to understand because the site not only took out their e-mail addresses (which I had fun making up—brownie points to anybody who can tell me why Mamo-chan's sn is anonymous83), but screwed up my formatting as well. I went back and fixed it if anybody's interested in rereading.

OOOPS!
Chapter Eight
—Things Unravel—

-Unknown
Whereabouts: Not Available-

"Just out of curiosity now, are you trying to get him killed?" The words were meant lightly, but the annoyance of the speaker permeated the air.

"Now why would I go and do a thing like that?" The reply mirrored the earlier sentiment but also resonated frustration.

The two disembodied voices once again echoed through the mist of an unknown location, both impressing onto everyone in the vicinity the sheer enormity of their power. If one wasn't sure before, it was unmistakable now, as the authority of royalty resounded through the unobstructed emptiness, that creatures of importance were holding conference.

"And I suppose that his latest actions have nothing to do with you."

"Precisely, my dear."

"Oh Selene," the more feminine voice of the two murmured faintly in realization. "You've corrupted him. He was such a nice boy, and you…you've turned him into a stalker that can't get his head out of his trousers for longer than two minutes."

"You always did know how to flatter me, darling," her companion replied dryly.

"You have to fix this," she said vaguely, seemingly ignoring his remark. "Do you know, he's been sending her all sorts of frightening e-mails, and he doesn't leave her side for more than a few minutes?"

"Yes, dear, I know. I live inside his head, remember?" His voice dripped with unconcealed sarcasm.

"Oh, stop being a prick and start thinking of a solution," she snapped suddenly, regaining full control of herself once again. "She is not happy with him, and our plan requires for her to be happy with him if it's going to work."

He groaned at the thought. "Have I mentioned lately that I really don't like your mother?"

"Yes, well, I'm not particularly fond of her at the moment either, but there's really nothing we can do about it now, so there's no sense in crying over spilt milk."

"You forgot to chastise me for speaking ill of the dead."

"No, I didn't."

"Ah. Do you suppose she's up there somewhere, in some sort of afterlife dimension, looking down on us and laughing?"

"No; that wouldn't be proper, would it? She's smiling elegantly."

"We should have eloped when we had the chance."

"My thoughts exactly."

"Where's Setsuna when you need her?"

"On vacation in Tahiti, no doubt. I have to go; she needs me. Try and talk some sense into him, will you?"

"I'll try," came the wry answer, but it fell upon deaf ears.

(X)(X)(X)

-Tsukino Usagi
2:05 pm; The Library-

Having following his gaze reluctantly, I now found myself wishing that I hadn't chosen that particular Sunday to do my book report. Really, I'm sure the sensei wouldn't have minded if I handed it in a week or so later. Of course, doing that would only serve to become yet another reason for Takahashi-sensei to lower my already failing mark…but hey, after spending a couple of hours in a flying library only to find myself literally in the middle of nowhere, suspecting wholeheartedly that Beryl was to blame for the whole mess, I would have rather taken English over again every year for the rest of my life…

Yeah okay, I'm lying. But wherever it was we were, I was seriously wishing I wasn't there. As Mamoru had kindly pointed out, we weren't in Tokyo, anymore. Nor were we in Japan, as far as I could gather, which actually wasn't quite far at all considering that I'd been sleeping through geography for the past year. But I digress. If I wasn't still breathing without any particular difficulty, I would have been wondering if we hadn't left Earth altogether.

"It's snow," Mamoru whispered in disbelief, his eyes moving over the endless expanse that surrounded us.

Our earlier disagreement forgotten for the moment, I followed his example and examined the terrain more carefully. Before, all I had been able to see was a blinding whiteness. Now, I was able to discern more blinding whiteness.

I sighed and looked away, my mind racing. I had to get in touch with the other Senshi. The Dark Kingdom was involved; there was no question about it. Libraries didn't just up and fly away of their own accord.

In truth, I knew that I should have contacted the Senshi much earlier, but Mamoru had done an impeccable job of making that impossible for me, not giving me more than a few minutes to myself and always showing up just when he'd been gone long enough for me to entertain the possibility that he'd fallen out of a window…or at least found himself someone else to bother.

Now I had to go somewhere he couldn't follow. A few seconds of worrying my lower lip gave me the perfect solution. I could only marvel at how simple it was and wonder how I could possibly have missed it earlier. It was moments like this that gave the Dark Kingdom the upper hand. Rolling my eyes at my own stupidity, I turned on my heel and made as if to walk away, but before I could go more than a few meters, Mamoru tore himself away from the window and grabbed my hand.

"Where are you going?" I wondered how to best answer that. "Away from you" came to mind but I didn't think that would go over too well, so I settled for the truth.

"I need to use the restroom," I mumbled, pulling my hand out of his grasp.

"I'll go with you," he said quickly.

I inhaled exaggeratedly and made a big show of blowing the air out of my mouth. "Gee, stalker much?" I bit out. "I wonder how much trouble it will be to get a restraining order."

"I'll wait outside if that will make you more comfortable," he elaborated, making it sound as if he was doing me a favor. I resisted the urge to wrap my fingers around his neck and squeeze. Arrogant jerk. "Buildings don't up and fly away of their own accord," he continued, echoing my earlier sentiments, "and with all the youma attacks lately, I wouldn't be surprised if this had something to do with the Dark Kingdom. It's a dangerous time for anyone to be alone."

I silently cursed him for being so persistent but agreed, knowing that arguing with him would be a waste of time, and set off to find a bathroom, vaguely aware that I had missed something, yet without any clue as to what it was.

Once I had found both the key and the bathroom, I wasted no time in disappearing behind the thick, metal door and locking it firmly behind me. I was a little surprised to find that this bathroom consisted of a single toilet and a sink, unlike the rows of stalls and sinks I was accustomed to seeing in public restrooms. Perhaps people weren't expected to remain in a library long enough to have to use the facilities.

Shrugging, I reached into my subspace pocket and pulled out my communicator. After pressing the buttons that were decorated with the signs of the Senshi, I found the button that initiated the four-way call and pressed it. Almost simultaneously, the familiar faces of my friends appeared on the screen.

"Usagi, what's up?" Makoto, as enthusiastic as ever, was perfectly content to spend the next five minutes telling me all about that day's romantic escapades.

"Hey Usagi, what's going on?" Mina's blue eyes crinkled in concern.

"Is everything all right?" Ami's eyes followed me carefully as I paced around the small room, waiting for Rei to answer the call.

"Okay," she said the moment she saw my face, "who died?"

"We've got a problem," I answered cautiously, not wanting to alarm them. When their silence urged me to continue, I decided to take a minute to explain just what the problem was. "I went to the library today and—"

"A flying pig knocked you on your bum as you exited the building?" Rei suggested sarcastically.

"No, the building picked itself up and flew away."

"Cute, Tsukino."

"I'm serious, Pyro," I snapped.

Rei's eyes widened. "You can't possibly be."

"Well, I am, and we've just landed in the middle of nowhere. It's freezing, and all I can see when I look out the window is snow. I'm pretty sure Beryl's behind the whole thing, but it would help to know where I am. Ami?"

"Are you still on Earth?"

"I think so. Would I be able to talk to you guys if I wasn't?"

She twisted her earring in reply. A blue visor appeared over her eyes, and a small computer decorated by the sign of Mercury, popped open in her hand. For about a minute, I watched Ami chew on her bottom lip thoughtfully, the numbers flitting over the screen reflected in her glasses. Finally, she released the abused lower lip, gave a small nod of understanding, and closed the computer with an audible snap. As if it was a signal known only to it, the visor disappeared, and the mini-laptop immediately followed suit.

"Well, the good news is that I've been able to considerably narrow down the question of your location, within a radius of…hmm…there really isn't a radius is there?" she trailed off, looking slightly puzzled. "But that's really beside the point. According to my computer, you are somewhere within the Arctic Circle."

I scrunched up my nose, momentarily confused. "You mean the North Pole?"

"No, of course not." She gave me a slightly annoyed look. "The North Pole is the northernmost point in the Earth's axis, but there's no actual land there. It's simply a point in the Arctic Ocean. The Arctic Circle, on the other hand, while also being an imaginary line of latitude near but south of the North Pole and marking the northernmost point at which the sun is visible on the northern winter solstice and the southernmost point at which the midnight sun can be seen on the northern summer solstice, actually contains land within it. Most of Greenland, some of northern Canada, and the northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia can be found inside it."

I blinked. I could usually count on Ami's explanations to further confuse me, so it wasn't surprising that I felt a headache coming on and was still none the wiser for it. Still, the part of the short encyclopedia excerpt that I did understand was the thing that most worried me. According to Ami, the only information she knew about my location was that I was somewhere far north, and by the sound of things, that didn't limit our options as much as I'd hoped it would.

"Couldn't that be narrowed down a little more?" Ami sighed and swiped her hand across her eyes.

"I don't know. According to the Mercury computer, there's a web of dark energy inside the Arctic Circle, and it's wreaking havoc with its sensors. It's picking up your energy signature somewhere inside, but it can't get an exact location. As far as I could tell from the readouts, the energy was most abundant in northern Russia, which means that's where it originated. Usually, we would be able to tell the exact point of origin going by where the negative energy was most plentiful, but it's been there so long that it's spread evenly to most of the Arctic Circle." She paused for a moment to take a breath and I, sensing another long, migraine-inducing explanation coming on, quickly jumped in.

"So you think that if you could find the origin of the energy you'd be able to find me?"

"Well, the idea is that if we can locate the place the energy originated, that's where we'll find Beryl's stronghold and by association, you. However, we have no way of knowing if she's moved her headquarters lately, so it's really not a sure thing." I dropped my head into my hands.

"I'm screwed, aren't I?" I mumbled.

"I'm sure you'll survive this, Odango," said Rei. "You might have a knack for getting yourself into trouble, but you also have a knack for wriggling out of it at the last possible minute. There is still something I don't understand though—why didn't you call us earlier? Surely you realized something was wrong when the library flew into the air. Things like that are kind of hard to miss, even if you are Tsukino Usagi and prone to flights of fancy at all hours of the day."

I almost smiled when I heard the bite resurface in her words. If Rei was still being sarcastic, I still had a chance of getting out of this alive.

"I've been a little preoccupied with other things," I replied. Rei snorted.

"Like what? Your book report?"

"I wish. I think I've got a stalker."

Rei burst out laughing, Mina raised her eyebrows, Ami looked at me worriedly, and Makoto took it upon herself to voice what they were all undoubtedly thinking. "Um…Usagi, why would someone stalk you?"

I shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine, but I've gotten several e-mails from someone called anonymous83 and I think he knows I'm Sailor Moon."

"What makes you say that?" Mina asked.

"Said he knows my secret and called me princess."

"Well here's a thought: maybe it's because your e-mail is tsukinohime!" I glared daggers at Rei.

"Whatever." She rolled her eyes in response.

"Anything else we should know?"

"Yeah, Mamoru-baka has taken an unhealthy interest in me."

"What?"

"He's practically attached himself to my hip; hasn't left me alone for more than a couple of minutes a time. It's driving me nuts!"

A dangerous gleam appeared in Mina's eyes. "You don't say," she murmured, looking for all the world like the cat that just swallowed the canary.

"Aino Minako, is there something I should know about?" I asked, trying to sound stern and failing miserably.

"Nope!" she said cheerfully. "So, how'd you manage to get away?"

"I told him I needed to use the bathroom," I replied, grudgingly allowing her to change the subject.

"Well, that means you have to be getting back," observed Ami carefully. "We can't have him getting suspicious."

I reluctantly agreed and reached for the button that would end the transmission.

"We'll do everything we can to find you," Makoto assured me.

"Yeah," Mina chimed in. "You just keep Beryl busy 'till we get there, and then we'll take her out once and for all."

I nodded silently, trying hard not to burst into tears and revert back to the person I was a year ago. I didn't want to go back to Mamoru. If it was up to me, I'd stay locked up in that little bathroom until all my problems died of old age.

'Well it's not up to you,' Serenity snapped. Her voice sounded hard and bitter and jaded. It reminded me frighteningly of Mamoru. I thought back to what he told me about his parents' death and wondered how much I really knew about Serenity and her, or rather my, past. 'It stopped being up to you when my mother activated that stupid crystal and landed you in this living hell where your only choice is to keep fighting and die later or to stop fighting and die now, just like it stopped being up to me when she forbade me to see Endymion and brought around the destruction of the Moon Kingdom and the Silver Alliance.'

What?

'Surprised?'

I've never heard you speak ill of your mother before.

'Don't you mean our mother?'

I don't know anymore. This is all so confusing! I mean, I'm supposed to be the reincarnation of the Crown Princess of the Moon, but I'm just a girl who runs around in a really short skirt and throws tiaras at monsters while the Princess, you, lives as a separate entity inside my head. Technically, Queen Serenity is your mother. Mine is currently at home, making lunch.

'Good point.'

So…um…what really happened during the Silver Millennium?

'It doesn't matter now,' Serenity replied sharply. 'But maybe I'll tell you when all this is over. It's time to go back to him.'

(X)(X)(X)

-Chiba Mamoru
2:05 pm; The Library-

'Can I ask you a question?' The annoyingly familiar voice made its presence known in my head once more.

Do I have a choice? I replied curtly.

'What the hell are you doing?'

Excuse me?

'What. The. Hell. Are. You. Doing.?' Endymion repeated, pronouncing each word carefully, as if talking to a five-year-old.

I'm leaning against a wall, idiot.

'You'd be better off having your head knocked against it a couple of times; maybe you'd get some sense in that useless brain of yours.'

Are you going to tell me what has set you off, you bipolar, prehistoric ape, or are you going to keep insulting my intelligence?

'Your deluded quest to prove that Usagi is Sailor Moon.'

I don't see how that has anything to do with you.

'You're crossing the line—the creepy e-mails, the stalking—you're going to scare the poor girl out of her mind.'

If it helps her confess, then I don't see anything wrong with it.

'You're impossible, do you know that?'

I'm a man on a mission.

'You're an idiot—something you'll undoubtedly regret a decade from now when she remembers this occasion during an argument and condemns you to the couch.'

What?

'Never mind—you'll figure it out someday.'

(X)(X)(X)

-Tsukino Usagi
2:15 pm; The Library-

I was still frowning at the mystery behind Serenity's words when I closed the door behind me as I exited the claustrophobia-inducing room. As promised, Mamoru was waiting for me outside, casually leaning against the adjoining wall. With his hands in the pockets of his jeans and his ankles crossed, he watched the unfortunate people trapped with us moving around through half-lidded eyes.

"Took you long enough," he informed me, pushing himself into a more upright position. He pulled his hands out of his pockets and began to methodically adjust his long-sleeved, button-up shirt, but it only ended up looking even more of a mess; it was only partially tucked in, and the sleeves were rolled up rather carelessly, and the top three buttons had come undone.

"You were better off leaving it be," I told him as he ran a hand through his hair, apparently realizing at the same time as I that his efforts were fruitless.

"We have to get out of here before Beryl gets any more bright ideas."

I was about to agree when the tiled floor shook again, and I found myself pressed up against a warm body. Sighing, I pushed him away. I had to stop doing that. There was another tremor, but I was ready for it this time, tensing my legs and keeping my balance with little difficulty. Easy enough, I decided, getting ready for another quake. But what came next I could never in a million years have prepared myself for.

A gust of cold wind blew in through a window, and the temperature noticeably dropped. The daylight that had been streaming through the windows disappeared, and an eerie grey color filled the building. These changes were accompanied by the unmistakable sensation of moving downwards, as if in an elevator. Following a few minutes of such a course, the building stopped and lurched forward and soon afterwards, up. When it stopped moving, five minutes later, it had gotten considerably warmer, and the greyness that had permeated the building was replaced by multicolored lights.

"Oh shit," Mamoru muttered.

The main doors swung open, and a pale-skinned, cruel-looking woman in a revealing violet dress stepped through. Her earthly-looking, curly red hair and chartreuse eyes did nothing to diminish the demonic effect years of evil had had on her.

"Beryl," I whispered.

Standing erect and proud, she surveyed us slowly, almost lazily. And then she smiled, a cold, calculating smile that revealed her pointed teeth and silently promised all that she had in store for the lambs that had so foolishly wandered into her cave.

"You did well, Kunzite. It was a capital idea to bring the Terrans here instead of wasting countless warriors in collecting energy only to lose it when the Sailor Senshi became involved. Take them to the dungeons, and have them secured. Then, you can do as you like. Perhaps you'll reward one of the youma I've assigned to do your bidding, or perhaps you'll play a bit yourself. It matters not to me as long as there's plenty of energy left for when I need it," Beryl commanded imperially to the invisible general.

"Yes, my Queen."

Satisfied with the words of acquiescence, she disappeared, and the man she had been talking to emerged from the shadows. Dressed in dark grey armor that brought attention to his long, silver hair and his pale blue eyes, he was familiar to me, for he was the last of the four generals, and the strongest. We had encountered him in battle several times and had not yet emerged victorious, for he was still standing and perfectly capable of serving his mistress.

"You have a choice," he called out, "you can follow me or die." I had to hand it to the guy—he sure knew how to organize a crowd.

No one dared to protest.

"Come on," I grabbed Mamoru's arm. "Stay towards the back of the line. He'll be up front, leading."

Within minutes, we had left the library and were making our way through Beryl's stronghold, youma leering at us at every turn.

A little girl, her brown hair pulled into two messy pigtails, was trudging along in front of us, her left arm wrapped protectively around a clean, but worn teddy bear and her right hand vainly wiping tears from her face. She tripped over a rock and fell, sobs erupting from her mouth. A few stopped to help her but the youma, seeing a weakness, threw themselves at her, driving her protectors away and escaping with their intended prize.

"What's the hold-up back there?" Kunzite called.

"It's nothing of importance, my Lord," the victorious demon answered slyly.

"You tell me what it is, and I'll decide if it's important," Kunzite snarled.

"'Tis just a lost child, my Lord. I was kindly taking her off your hands; she won't have much energy to give, but she'll be screaming like a stuck pig for hours to come—useless and painful."

"Fine, take her. The rest of you, keep moving."

This time, not a muscle was moved.

"I said KEEP MOVING," he roared, enraged.

No one complied.

With a smooth motion of his hand, Kunzite produced a knife and threw it at a tall, red-haired man, who was trying to tug the little girl out of the youma's grasp. When it connected with his back, he crumpled without a sound. Someone in the crowd screamed.

"For every minute that you don't move, I'll kill a person in the crowd," thundered Kunzite. He grabbed an elderly woman and pulled her to him. "She's next."

"We have to do something," Mamoru whispered, his breath tickling my ear.

"No shit, Sherlock," I hissed, a little miffed, as it was obvious that I would be the one doing the aforementioned something and in the process, revealing my alter ego. I pulled my brooch out of my subspace pocket.

'Are you crazy?' Serenity exclaimed as I thrust it into the air, resolve hardening my features, 'you can't henshin in front of all those people!'

Innocents do not get hurt on my watch.

"Moon Crystal Power, Make-Up!" I called loudly, easily diverting Kunzite's attention from his newest victim.

I was lifted into the air, and after a few minutes of bright lights that successfully disguised my lack of clothing, my feet hit the ground, this time in red, high-heeled boots, not white sneakers.

"It's Sailor Moon!" someone cried out.

"Oh you are!" Mamoru crowed most immaturely, "I knew it!"

"Yes, you're quite the genius, now would you do me a favor and shut up?"

(X)(X)(X)

-Chiba Mamoru
2:30 pm; Beryl's Stronghold-

"Touchy, aren't you?" I teased.

She rolled her eyes at me and pulled off her tiara. "Moon Tiara, Action," she cried, throwing it at the youma who held the little girl and narrowly missing the child. The youma turned to dust, leaving the little girl, who apparently held no grudges, to run into Usagi's arms.

Usagi held her and moved her hand in small circles over the little girl's back, making quiet soothing noises all the while.

"Shh, sweetie, don't cry, it's going to be okay."

The girl continued to sniffle.

"Can you tell me your name?" she tried again.

"Akemi."

"That's a pretty name. Where are your parents, Akemi-chan?"

But instead of answering, Akemi shrieked and pointed behind Usagi, where Kunzite was advancing on her steadily. Usagi rose to her feet and handed the small girl to me.

"What am I—?" I began.

"If she gets hurt, it's your ass," Usagi hissed in English and turned to face Kunzite.

I sighed and turned to Akemi, who I now held in my arms. I was ashamed to say that I had absolutely no idea what to do. There had been little children at the orphanage, of course, but I had always distanced myself from people, and now all I had to show for it was absolutely no baby-sitting experience.

"Hi." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Usagi dodge a well-aimed dagger.

"Hello," Akemi mumbled, still a little tearful.

"It's Akemi, right?" I asked, starting to bounce her on my hip as I had done seen in the occasional movie.

"Yes."

"How old are you?"

"Five." She held out five chubby fingers to help me understand. "How old are you?"

"I'm seventeen."

"That's very old," she told me solemnly.

I smiled. "So, where are your parents?"

"At work." I knitted my brows together in confusion.

"Who were you at the library with, then?"

"My baby-sitter; she's old too, but you're older."

"Uh, thanks. Do you know where she went?"

"Nope," Akemi told me almost brightly, her bottom lip no longer trembling.

(X)(X)(X)

-Tsukino Usagi
2:40 pm; Beryl's Stronghold-

"You have interfered with my plans for the last time, Sailor Moon," Kunzite told me, producing several energy knives out of thin air and throwing them at me in quick succession.

That's strange, I thought, gazing the hilt of the solid knife that now decorated my side. It was engraved with a circle upon which an equal-length cross was super imposed. Isn't that the sign of Earth?

'I'll tell you about it later, if you stay alive long enough,' Serenity hissed.

"Right," I mumbled, shaking my head and dodging yet another energy knife. Several had already sliced me, but I couldn't exactly block them with my hands. Summoning my strength, I pulled my moon wand out of my subspace pocket and pointed it at Kunzite, ignoring the knives that were tearing open my flesh.

"Moon Healing, Escalation!" I called out and let the power of the ginzuishou fall on my enemy.

In response, he sent another energy knife at me (the nerve!). I thrust the moon wand at it and hit it away. Deflected from its target, the knife fell upon its master.

I could have sworn I saw something akin to gratitude in Kunzite's eyes as he flew backwards and disappeared before hitting the wall of the cave.

TBC

A/N # 2: Wow…so…I'm back, and it's been a pretty hectic five weeks. (I actually had to reread chapter seven before I remembered where I was trying to go with the fic.) There was no internet access, as I'm pretty sure everyone's guessed by now, from the lack of updates, and even if there had been, I doubt I would have been able to get out more than a chapter. See, I had intended to finish Ooops! by hand and then type the remaining chapters up when I got back, but I had no idea just how busy I'd be. If you care, go check out my lj (link in profile). Camp is the first entry.

Please leave a review, it's the right thing to do.

/You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, we will supply you with the stupidest, first year law student, dumb-ass slacker we can find on the continent./ - Lethal Weapon 4