CrystalMaker: The only things that I own in regards to Sailor Moon are a few mangas and a couple posters. That is all.
I should've probably mentioned this before, but this fic is based off of both the manga and the TV Sailor Moon storylines. Kind of a mix between the two. Just FYI.
And lastly I'd like to give a shout out to… Everyone who's reviewed! Allow me to express my deep love to you all, especially to Yami Hime Hikari, the wondrous being who has agreed to take on the arduous task of being my Beta-reader. Words cannot express the feelings I have for you. Again, just FYI.
Dream Sequence
Time Gates
The shifting forms of the fog swirled around her. It curled lazily about her legs as she slowly turned, looking out into the misty darkness of infinity.
Perhaps it took one a while to get used to the Time Gates. Surely more than a few spare visits to its doors were required before one grew accustomed to its foreboding setting and feel.
Makoto was not at that stage yet. She still found the Gates of Time far too intimidating to feel even the slightest bit of comfort when present. The fact that she had yet to encounter its resident Guardian made her all the more edgy.
Where was Setsuna?
A tingling at the base of her spine told her that she was being watched. The distinct sound of light breathing confirmed her suspicions and she could practically feel the person's gaze boring two holes into her back.
The knowing smirk on Makoto's face fell away as she turned to face the one behind her.
"I think you're starting to loose your touch…Mercury?"
She was completely floored to confront not Pluto, as she'd expected, but Ami outfitted in her planetary guise. The thousand-and-one questions that she had for her friend couldn't leave her mouth fast enough.
"Mercury, what are you doing here? Where have you been? Gods, I've been so worried! Are you alright? Are you—? Wait! No, come back! Ami!"
As quickly as she had appeared, the navy-haired warrior vanished. Her blue-clad figure fading as a thick cloud of fog rolled over her, achingly similar to her disappearing act not two days prior. This time though, her face was alight with her patented patient kindness, not anger or fury.
Makoto cried out in desperation as she reached for her comrade but, it was all for naught. The fog parted to reveal that Mercury was no longer there, if she'd ever truly been there before.
Oddly enough though, a strange object now replaced the spot where the Ice Warrior stood not seconds earlier. Curiosity overcoming her budding despair, the soldier of Jupiter approached for a better look.
Upon closer inspection the 'object' actually turned out to be similar to a well of sorts. The difference being that the 'well' could not have been any deeper than a few feet into the ground, as its bottom could easily be seen. That and the fact that the liquid the 'well' held within its stone structure was obviously not water.
Unless Makoto missed her guess, but she was sure that water wasn't supposed to produce its own illumination; which is just what the suspicious substance before her seemed to be doing. With every small ripple and wave that rocked its clear surface, a soft light emitted, producing a haunting glow that spanned into and around the 'well.'
Her body moved of its own accord, reaching out to touch the strange liquid, mesmerized by its movements. She had barely placed a fingertip to its surface before it began to react to the contact.
Her green eyes widened as the 'water' stilled and the infrequent glimmers of radiance converged over its entire expanse. Then the light grew brighter, so bright in fact, that Makoto was forced to look away.
Once the illumination faded she returned her gaze and gasped.
The 'well' had become its own version of a movie screen. Images flashed across the now-motionless liquid, playing through a familiar scene.
From the eyes of an unknown observer Mercury's Trial went through its predictable sequence, but when the fog rolled into the Throne Room and the commotion began, it did not stop there.
The scene flashed to another, showing the face of a handsome young man. Greg. He appeared to be in what must have been his home, and he looked absolutely miserable. But the misery changed as he whipped his head around. He had obviously heard something.
Apparently whatever this 'well' really was, it could only produce images, not sounds.
The close-up on Greg expanded and a frazzled Sailor Mercury entered the scene. Her eyes were wild with panic as she practically dragged Greg from his house. He stumbled in his haste to keep up with his lover and it was obvious he was confused. They passed the downed figures of two Royal Guards that had been stationed outside of his house and paused.
At this point Makoto had concluded that she was indeed watching the mysterious escape that her friend had orchestrated. She tried her damnedest to keep from blinking overly much; afraid she would miss something integral to the scenes. The 'well' had to be showing her this for a reason, after all.
A quick conversation between the two occurred before Mercury clasped onto her planet's crystal, the blue brooch upon her chest, and the source of all her power. Her cobalt eyes closed in concentration as she started to glow, the symbol of her birthright flaring to life upon her forehead.
The ice-blue aura began from where her hand covered her crystal, and expanded to surround her entire body. And as the frosty radiance spread it took with it her Senshi uniform, transforming it into a beautiful gown that fluttered in the wind.
Ami was now in her ultimate form as the Princess of Mercury. Greg stood in front of her and, though his face was not visible, it was easy to tell he was transfixed by the blue vision before him.
Ami's eyes opened once more and she smiled to her lover, offering him her hand. He took it without hesitation and moved to her side. The love the two shared for each other was so potent; a blind man could have seen it as they gazed at one another.
Their embrace had Ami's head turning to rest upon Greg's shoulder. She seemed so happy and yet tears glittered in her eyes. Then she looked up, and straight into the invisible camera that watched them.
Makoto heard another gasp escape her as she felt those navy orbs pierce right into her green ones. Ami's intense stare seemed to last for an eternity before her face broke into a soft smile and she mouthed one word. One very important word.
Then her aura flared to life again and she and Greg vanished in a swirling shimmer of snowflakes.
Having served its purpose, the glowing 'water' regained its hypnotic movements, breaking the image it cast apart, which was fading anyways. Its bright light leaked away and returned to emitting a softer flickering illumination.
"Ah, there you are, Jupiter," said a voice from behind, "I'd wondered where you'd gone off to."
Caught off guard, Makoto gave a small jump in reaction to the unexpected speaker.
"Damn!" she exclaimed, "Would it kill you to approach a person from their front once in a while?"
Turning, she gave Pluto her nastiest glare, which the green-haired warrior ignored completely. In fact, Setsuna did not seem in the best of moods either. A dark frown shadowed her face as she came closer to her visitor.
"Do you know how far into the Time Gates you are?" she demanded, "You're lucky I was able to track you down, otherwise you could have been wandering this place for the rest of eternity! What are you doing way out here?"
Makoto's face flushed a deep red in embarrassment at the taller Senshi's chastising. Though it may not have been her fault that she was where she was, the Time Guardian had a way of making you feel like you were 5 years old again.
"I- er," she tried to explain, "I didn't realize. I'm sorry, Pluto, but this is where I ended up when you sent for me."
She mentioned nothing about Mercury's apparition, nor did she say anything about what the curious 'well' had shown her. She would keep that a secret for now, until she could figure out what Ami had been trying to tell her.
Setsuna narrowed her garnet eyes at her, gauging the sincerity of her words. Satisfied that the Jovian girl was telling the truth, she let the subject drop with a simple "Odd," and proceeded to lead Makoto back to the Gates' entrance.
The only sounds to be heard were those of their footsteps, which echoed eerily before dying off. Makoto found it unbearable. Thus, she tried to fill the silence with conversation.
"So," she asked, "why am I here again? You've already told me about the approaching enemy; did you learn something else about it?"
"I've learned nothing new. You know as much about what's coming as I do, which is very little, I'll admit."
"Then why—?"
"I brought you here," the dark woman interrupted, "so that I may enforce the seriousness of this situation. What is coming is like nothing the Senshi have ever faced. You must be on your guard. You must be ready, Makoto."
Taken aback by the fierceness of Pluto's statement, it took her a moment to make a response. She placed a reassuring smile on her face, hoping to sooth the Guardian's agitation.
"I am ready Pluto. I'll always be ready for the enemy but," she tried to phrase this as delicately as possible, "our enemies, in the past, some seemed to be too much for our combined strength to handle, even with the aid of outsiders." An image of the Starlights flashed through her mind. "And yet, we always manage to defeat them in the end. Serenity—"
"I'm afraid even our Queen's great power will not be enough to save us this time."
The soldier of Jupiter found herself rendered speechless. Serenity's power wouldn't be enough? But the energy of her Silver Imperium Crystal was always enough! Surely Setsuna was mistaken. She was about to say just that when the woman in question cut her off before the words could leave her mouth.
"You must trust me on this, Makoto. I know it is hard to believe but…" Here she shook her head sadly. "We can no longer rely on the Queen or the Silver Crystal to bring the Sol Senshi to victory."
"But why not?" The question exploded out of her.
Pluto looked at her, an emotion akin to pity in her eyes.
"You truly don't know, Makoto? The Queen's might is nowhere near what it used to be. Endymion and Serenity," she sighed brokenly, "together, they have lost their way. The strength of their hearts, the true force behind their Crystals, has diminished, been weakened by their growing vanity and egotism.
"At first I did not want to believe this either, but we've both seen the extent of their conceit. The Trial against Mercury was quite the wake-up call to that. I'm just surprised that the others haven't recognized it as well."
Makoto stood there, absorbing the truth in all that Setsuna had to say. The King and Queen were indeed arrogant and selfish beyond words now, but it hadn't become clear to her until Mercury's sentencing at the Trial.
When Pluto mentioned the others, though, her head snapped up to stare at her taller comrade. She suddenly felt the need to ask a very foolish question.
"Pluto," she inquired, "have you told the other Senshi about the coming of this new enemy?"
The Time Guardian seemed to hesitate with an answer. Panic clenched tightly at Makoto's chest. She tried again.
"You have told them of the enemy, haven't you?"
Setsuna's jaw clenched and she scowled down at the fog-enshrouded floor before shaking her head no.
"A warning will do them no good," she said. "Their minds are too far gone. Only the sudden arrival of this unexpected power will truly spur them to action."
"So, besides you, I'm the only one who knows what's coming?"
Again, Setsuna shook her head in a negative response.
"Mercury is also aware of the impending danger and Saturn should be able to sense it as well, though she's given no outward indication of such."
The soldier of Pluto suddenly cocked her head to the side, as if she were listening to something. She nodded and turned back to her visitor.
"It's time you woke up now, Makoto. Venus wishes to speak with you, and she seems very upset. We'll continue this discussion later." An impish smile then graced the solemn warrior's face, a rare twinkle in her eyes as she continued; "Oh, and greetings are given to you from Mercury."
And before she could react the Time Scepter descended upon her head and Makoto was thrown back into the loving embrace of the dreamless void known as sleep… which lasted all of five seconds before she became aware of the harsh pounding at her door.
Still groggy and disoriented Makoto buried her face into a nearby pillow and groaned in dismay. Today was going to be a very long day.
CrystalMaker: Riiighht, this was more a filler chapter than anything else. Nevertheless, it should be taken with the utmost seriousness and deserves your praise or criticism, just like every chapter before it.
Let me know what you think. As I said before my friends, feedback is a good thing.
