The Shadow Galactica, led by Sailor Galaxia, once scoured the Milky Way seeking Sailor Crystals. Amongst its ranks were five young women who became pretenders to the sacred title of Sailor Senshi. But what became of these women when the shadow of Galaxia was lifted? Manga canon. Written for the 25th Anniversary of the Sailor Animamates.
Rated: T - Spiritual/Hurt/Comfort - Words: 2,305 - Sailor Lead Crow/Akane K., Sailor Aluminum Seiren/Reiko A., Sailor Tin Nyanko/Nyanko S., Sailor Heavy Metal Papillon
A/N: This fic is a gift for Tuxedo Rick.
"Alright, let's begin," said the arbiter. "Why don't you go first?"
In a high pitched voice, Tetzumi began. "Allmylifepeoplelookeddownonme, pushedmearound, mademefeelhelpless. Theymademefeelsosmall. WhenGalaxiacametoPlanetChuu, sheseemednodifferent, exceptshesaidshecouldgivemethechancetopusheveryoneelsearound. Ididn'thavetofeelsosmallanymore!"
"Um… Thank you for that Tetzumi… would anyone else like to go next?"
"The Sailor Senshi were my idols growing up, Sailor Mermaid most of all. I wanted to be just as famous and glamorous as them. But when I found out I couldn't be a Senshi because I didn't have a Sailor Crystal, it was like my whole body had turned to ice. The next day though I cried enough tears to fill an ocean," Arumisairen blubbered. "I tried to be famous some other way, I got into singing. I was real good at it too, a rising star. But I always knew I'd never be able to outshine Sailor Mermaid or any other Senshi. When Sailor Phi found me and offered me my very own Sailor Crystal, it was like a dream come true."
"Ha," chided a low, husky voice. "You never had a Sailor Crystal. None of us did! We were all just channelling the power of one through those bracelets."
"Same difference. I was the one controlling the power," retorted Arumisairen.
"Lady Galaxia and Sailor Phi decided what power, and how much of it, you got. Besides, if you really had your own crystal it would have existed inside of you."
"Since you seem so keen Karido," interjected the arbiter, "perhaps, you should go next?"
"Tch. Like most everyone else on my planet, Sailor Koronis was the source of my pride. I held no ambitions of being a Senshi myself back then, but her example inspired me to join the military. Alongside my fellow recruits I trained hard and aspired to the highest of honours."
"Which was?" Asked the arbiter.
"Being assigned as partner to the Princess of Mars, guardian of the red planet of war within the most powerful solar system in the galaxy. I gave it my all to earn such an honour, but, on Sailor Koronis' recommendation, two of my fellow soldiers were promoted above me. To add insult to injury, the twin moons of Mars were gifted to my former comrades and named in their honour."
"And that made you angry?"
"Of course! They and Koronis had utterly betrayed me! From then on, I vowed to surpass all three of them. I craved the status of Sailor Senshi myself and all that came with it! As you can imagine, when Sailor Phi presented me with a stepping stone towards that dream it wasn't a hard sell."
"Hmm, alright thank you Karido." The arbiter's tone was calm, but her tone implied she was less than pleased with what she had heard. "Let's move onto you Suzu."
"Oh, well…" Suzu's voice was laced with hesitancy.
"It's alright," assured the arbiter, "No one is going to attack you no matter what you say."
Suzu let out a soft sigh. "Not many people know this, but us Mautians possess a regenerative ability. Whenever our bodies grow too old or are mortally injured, so long as enough of our bodies are intact we can heal ourselves. The trade-off is that we revert back to mere kittens and don't fully retain all our memories. But we can only do this about eight times."
"WhoayoumeanMautianshaveNINElives!?"
"Tetzumi, please don't interrupt," cautioned the arbiter.
"My first eight lives were safe and content. But in my ninth and final, I began feeling like I had wasted the opportunities life had presented me. I wondered if I could ever be more than just safe and content. If I could perhaps in my last life actually achieve something important, like the two Mautians who had gone to serve in the Lunarian court in their own final lives."
"Oh, let me guess, then Galaxia or Sailor Phi showed up and presented you with the puuuuurrrrfect chance to fulfil your ambition right?"
"Karido!?" chastised Arumisairen.
"No," replied Suzu quietly. "I hadn't committed to anything before Galaxia showed up. But watching her tear apart the 'safe and content' life I had known made a lot of things very clear to me."
"What things?" pressed the arbiter.
"Firstly, neither the Mautians nor their Lunarian masters were going to be coming to help; they left Mau to die. Secondly, that safety and contentment are illusions for everyone who doesn't have real power. Thirdly, only those with real power in this universe are true Sailor Senshi."
For half a minute, Suzu's last sentence seemed to hang in the air between them all.
"I realised all that as I lay dying in the dirt, my body damaged beyond all repair. Well, almost all repair. It was those gold bracelets. They healed me, transformed me into my humanoid form and almost gave me the power of a Senshi. And all it cost was my Star Seed. I never stopped being at Galaxia's mercy. But I thought, if I just did her bidding dutifully, I'd get my body back, I'd become a real Sailor Senshi and then I'd be able to build a new world where I could make sure everyone lived out all their lives in the tranquillity I had once known."
"But… Even if you'd gotten all that, wouldn't you have still been at Galaxia's mercy?" Inquired a new voice.
"I was scared, desperate!" Protested Suzu.
"Well… I know a thing or two about that."
"Well then Pupe, perhaps you'd like to share?"
"Sure, why not," Pupe groaned. "As a teenager I was an aspiring samba dancer. My performances used to drive the guys wild. Then one day, one of them said the right words the right way and the next thing I knew I was a single teen mother. I did my best for my girl Chenille, giving up samba dancing to work in the funeral industry. At first, as a junior staff member it was my job to bring in new clients. Turns out even the dying and grieving can still appreciate a pretty face. I drummed up so much business my bosses called me the 'Hunter of Souls'. I hated it. The job ate away at me. I became emotionally fragile and cried at the smallest of things. The only thing keeping my own soul together was my little girl. Reading her stories about our planet's holy saviour Sailor Cocoon renewed me every night and gave me the strength to face the next day. Chenille, she used to say…" Pupe's voice seemed to break up. "… She used to say I was her saviour. Sometimes she'd call me Sailor Mama…"
Pupe gulped before pressed on.
"A-a-anyway," she continued, clearly trying to collect herself. "Eventually I began getting promoted. I started out organising burials and funeral services before I was trusted with our real money: cremations. I didn't like my work, but the money was good and I was providing more for Chenille. I just wished I could give her more, give her the best of everything like she deserved. Obviously that stopped being an option when… when…"
"… When Galaxia attacked." the arbiter finished.
"She struck so fast I don't think any of us knew what was really happening. All I can really remember is gripping Chenille as we fled our ravaged neighbourhood. She was screaming and I kept trying to tell her Sailor Mama would look after her. And I kept telling myself Sailor Cocoon would look after me along with everyone else… I'll never forget seeing her hit by the second blast. I don't think she knew what had happened either. She just burnt up right there in the sky. And then, with the third blast, it seemed everything else was burning too… even Chenille…"
"… I'm sorry…"
"… So was I," said Pupe quietly. "I didn't cry though. I think I was beyond tears at that point. I just knelt there gripping her ashes, wishing I could bring her back. That's how she got me. Galaxia said if I served her, when the time came for her to remake the universe, she'd bring my baby girl back, give her a planet of her own and grant me the power to always protect her. What would you have done? What would any of you have done?"
For what seemed like an eternity, nobody said anything.
"Pupe, you don't need to defend yourself. None of you do really," assured the arbiter. "Galaxia's bracelets were psychically attuned to young, ambitious people at their most vulnerable. She knew what buttons to press to tempt you all. And once shackled, the worst parts of yourself became magnified, your true selves contorted in Galaxia's image. Many true Sailor Senshi would have struggled to keep a hold of their rational minds under such circumstances."
"You say that," said Karido, "but those 'worst parts' of ourselves still had to be inside us to begin with." There was a note of resignation and self-loathing beneath her voice.
"Perhaps you are right," agreed the arbiter, "but then again, the fact that any of you survived the transition into Animamates speaks to an inner strength within each of you. Inner strength that could make you worthy of being true Senshi… next time."
"... Wh-what?..." Pupe stammered.
The arbiter smiled. "Within this place it is not usual to converse as we are now, especially not without bodies. I held you back and empowered you with speech so I could learn more about you. And determine if you might be suitable to be reborn as Sailor Senshi."
"But we…" Suzu gave up on her sentence.
"...we failed didn't we?" finished Arumisairen.
"Not exactly," assured the arbiter. "You have proven to me you each possess potential. As such, I have decided that you will all be reborn as you were before Galaxia targeted your worlds. If you prove yourselves worthy before your Star Seeds return to this place, then in your next life, you shall indeed be reborn as true Sailor Senshi."
"Butthere'snothingtogobackto, Galaxiaravagedourworlds!" squawked Tetzumi.
"Oh, your worlds have been restored… along with everyone from them."
Pupe let out a soft gasp.
The arbiter gave a serene nod. "Fly now each of you. Fly back to your home stars and become your best selves."
With a wave of her staff the five shining Star Seeds shot up and out of sight. She watched after them for a while, a warm smile upon her face.
It soon faded however, when she sensed the faintest of faint murmurs across the primordial ether. The murmur felt cold, dark… and hauntingly familiar.
She knew she ought to investigate. But she dreaded what she would find. She dreaded the idea of what else within this primordial realm might someday become a Sailor Senshi…
A/N: As you might have been able to tell, the civilian names for Crow, Siren and Mouse were pretty much just me combining the literal Japanese translations of their names. I know it doesn't mechanically work within the context of the Japanese language, but these are aliens after all. Oh, and in case you didn't speak French, 'Chenille' and 'Pupe' literally translates to caterpillar and pupa.
This chapter was originally going to include Sailors Lethe, Mnemosyne, Phi, Chi and even Galaxia herself. I was going to have them all attend a kind of holographic group therapy session, beaming in from their home worlds to the remains of the Galactica Palace.
I changed that Idea as I couldn't think of a good way to integrate the happy ending for Lethe and Mnemosyne and had NO IDEA of what to do with Chi and Phi until I came up with the concept for 'Confessions of a Gardner'.
I infinitely prefer what I wound up with as it let me have my cake and eat it too. The whole idea behind this multi chapter story is what happened after Stars ended, but to address that with the Animamates kind of meant exploring their origins. Plus, I felt it was a bit unfair that they get to outright become bona fide Senshi after they had done bad things.
Also, I know I didn't mention the idea that the Animamates killed their native Sailor Senshi. From all my research, the ONLY places that explicitly make that claim are Wikipedia, Wikimoon and the Sailor Moon wiki. There are plenty of fans who agree with that interpretation but many who do not. Scouring two different English translations of the manga I confess that the idea is never made completely clear. There are arguments for and against it so I opted to just sort of dance around it, exempting in the case of Pupe/Papillion, who's backstory I was simply fond of.
Now, the next fic in both my 'Anniversaries Anthology' and 'The Days Thereafter' series actually follows on a little from the ending of this one but can still be read on its own (and in fact was written as a one shot long before I did this). It will also be included in 'The End' too and is not MANDATORY reading for that series but kind of 'heavily advised'.
Also just to let you know I am involved in a discord called 'Moonlight Legends' which is dedicated to sharing all sorts of Sailor Moon fanworks, including other fanfics. If you would like to join so you can share your own work, get help with your current projects or just connect to other fan creators shoot me a PM and I'll send you an invite. All are welcome!