Sailor Moon Aeons.
Book 2: Rebirth.
Act 1: Dark Kingdom.
Episode 3: To where no Senshi has gone before.

By Razor Knight
Last update: January 4, 2010
Last edited: May 22, 2017

"I want a full report on the current crisis, Sigma."

Hunter Sigma looked at the woman talking to him. To those not trained in the magic arts, it would have seemed like the head of a woman floating in mid-air, and one would have almost expected it to be dripping blood down to the ground. But he knew the spell she was using to communicate through the countless miles that separated them, and thus wasn't surprised at all to be speaking to her in such a form. "I only managed to see one of the Senshi in Tokyo. If legends are to be trusted..."

"They are," the woman said, her tone showing no signs of doubt.

"... Then she's Sailor Venus. I can't tell whether she is a reborn Senshi or not, though, since she acts like a novice."

"Even a novice Senshi could outclass and outfight most of our clan," the woman said. "Make sure she understands you're an ally, or things could turn dangerous for you."

"I will, Huntress Hades."

The woman looked to the side, as if to make sure nobody else was listening, then smiled at Sigma. "Take care out there, son."

"Don't worry, mother, I'll be back home soon," Sigma said. He didn't doubt the statement he made, but he also didn't know just how soon he would be going back.

"What about the enemy?"

"Those 'youma' are relatively weak, but the one leading them is tough."

"What is the leader's name?"

"He calls himself Kunzite."

Hades' eyes widened as the man mentioned that name. "Then maybe I should send some backup."

"I take it this man is one of the strongest?"

"He was, from what legends say, the strongest of Beryl's generals."

"If that is the case, seeing how a novice Senshi and a mage can kick his rear, then all we have to do is wait for the other Senshi to awaken."

"That might not happen soon, son. Are you sure you need no help?"

"Trust me, I can handle this."

The woman took a minute to think about it, then nodded slowly. "I'll trust your judgement on this issue. But if you ever..."

"If I ever need someone to help me, I will let you know."

"Good, that's all I'm asking from you, Sigma. Prime Huntress Hades out."

Sigma looked at the spot where the 'floating head' had been and smiled. "So this Kunzite is the strongest, huh? Guess I'm lucky."

Things weren't progressing as she would have wanted them to. She hated this, her Generals should be far stronger than those Senshi, but the enemy still managed to stop their energy gathering. It was either how Zoicite had theorized, that the Senshi had means to detect the youma, or that they were always at the right place, at the right time. Or, Beryl thought, it could be a combination of both.

"Despite your lack of success, I'm still willing to give you both a chance to redeem yourselves. But I know as long as those Senshi stand in our way, then our energy gathering will go slowly."

"I've realized that too," Kunzite admitted, "and that's why I've made plans to take V out of our way, even without killing her."

"I'm listening."

"You see, there are three zones with active mana wells around the planet. One of those is right under Tokyo, the other one's in the city humans call London, and the third is in the city of New York."

"I think I know what you're planning," Beryl said, letting amusement creep into her face.

"I will move my operations to England, leaving clues on it for Sailor V to find. Once she's out of the way, it will mean the other Generals can go ahead with the draining. And, of course, I will be draining as much energy as I can from the humans in London."

Aurite smiled at that. "I like that plan. I think I will lead Pluto's group to New York. However, I have to admit I am outpowered by them."

"Then I can help you."

Aurite looked at the pale-skinned General that had appeared besides her. "I accept your offer, Luminite."

"Go ahead with both plans," Beryl said, and smiled as the two women left. "Jadeite!"

The blonde General walked out of the shadows, and bowed before looking up at the Queen. "At your command."

"You will be in charge of gathering energy in Tokyo after Kunzite and Aurite leave."

"I will not fail," Jadeite said with a smirk. It would be easy, after all, if all the Senshi were out of his way, chasing after the other Generals.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

Minako looked at the Mooncat and then sighed. "What exactly are the youma after?"

"My memory's a bit blurry about that, but from what I remember, they want to take over the world, as they did already in the past. The Senshi stopped them from expanding their domains."

"Expanding?" Minako asked. "Where would they expand to, if they already controlled the world?"

"There were humans living in all planets."

Minako looked at Artemis for a few seconds before whistling. "No way."

"It's true."

"But that means... I'm Sailor Venus, so I'm from Venus?"

Artemis was surprised she had made that connection so fast. "You were, in your past life."

"So, are all the Senshi like me?"

"They can use magic attacks, just like you," Artemis said.

Minako stood up from her bed and smiled. "Maybe we should contact those other Senshi who have been seen around the city lately."

"I'll try to find them," Artemis said, "but from what I could see, they are good at hiding."

After their initial failure against Aurite, the three girls had improved greatly. Two more times had Aurite appeared, and they hadn't needed Pluto's help at all.

It was good, though, since Setsuna had been watching over someone else, a person with powers like those they had. Only in this boy's case, the powers were still dormant, waiting for the right time to awaken.

"I was right, Moment, it was you after all."

Setsuna turned around to see the white Mooncat, Artemis, staring at her. "Been a long time since anyone adressed me by that name."

"Not surprising, you were never one to socialize."

Setsuna smiled at that. "Are you going to tell Venus about us?"

"If you didn't contact me, that means you know something I don't, and I shouldn't know about yet," Artemis noted. "So, how many Senshi have you found?"

"A few," Setsuna said.

Artemis knew Pluto wasn't going to give him a straight answer even before he asked, so he wasn't too surpised by that. "What about the other Mooncats, are they..."

"They're alive, but they have yet to awaken. Don't worry, they will be there when you need them."

"So, that boy you're watching, is he one of them?"

"If I told you, I would have to kill you," Setsuna said before vanishing.

Artemis stared at the spot where Pluto had last been in shock. From what little he could remember about her, she had never been one to joke about anything. "I better keep this meeting to myself," he noted before walking away.

"I will scout the city, just in case."

"All the Senshi are in Tokyo right now, Luminite."

"That's true, but there may be others waiting for us there. And even if there's no Senshi, maybe some lesser human warrior, like that Sigma man."

Aurite thought about this for a few seconds and couldn't help but agreeing. It was better to make sure no interferences would come, specially since they had to deal with more than one Senshi already. "Right, go to the city... What's its name again?"

"Some call it New York, but others refer to it as the 'big apple.' From what I could gather, 'apple' is a quite popular type of fruit."

"We'll be soon taking a bite off that big apple, then," Aurite joked.

Luminite decided not to comment on Aurite's attempt at humor. "I'm going now, you get everything ready for our little show."

Artemis looked at the small artifact. To anyone other than him, the now broken, crystalline capsule was not there, thanks to a spell imbued in it. However, this was the second capsule he had found, both broken, which meant at least two other Mooncats were awake.

That meant there would soon be other Senshi in Tokyo. If he could contact those cats, then maybe they could form a team, like the one Pluto was...

His thoughts were interrupted as he spotted something. A man with white, long hair, entering a book store. Even from a distance, there was no way he wouldn't know who this was. "Kunzite... What is he planning now?"

He considered following the man, but decided against it. He would be better off coming back with Venus, as she had already beaten Kunzite twice before.

What he didn't know, was that Kunzite had seen him, and had let him go. Killing the cat now would be of no use to him, as he wanted it and the girl to follow them out of the country. Yes, the bluff was ready, and both the cat and the girl would surely fall for it.

Things had been pretty normal in the city lately, and he couldn't complain. He needed only to wait, though, for he knew things couldn't remain calm. Something was bound to happen. Something like a van stopping in front of a bank, and several suspicious men walking out of it and into the bank.

He pressed his wristwatch's side and spoke to it. "Are you there?"

A female voice came from the watch. "Zero, what is it?"

"A bank robbery, from what I can see. Can you see where I am?"

"You don't need to ask that," the same voice said, but it wasn't coming from the watch, but from behind him.

He looked at the girl as he turned around. Her built made it easy to guess her age, and while she was by no mean someone who would stand out in a crowd, he knew her looks were deceiving.

"Stop staring," the girl snapped with a fake stern voice.

"Can't help it," the boy noted, causing her to giggle, and then they both turned to look at the blue van. "Should we wait for them to get out?"

"That wouldn't be any fun."

He smiled at that. "What are you planning?"

"I'm sure you'll love this."

The leader of the small gang of criminals couldn't help but smile as he walked out of the bank. The guards had been easy to deal with, and things were going smoothly. They only had to leave before the cops arrived. Yes, everything was perfect. Everything...

... Except that their van was somehow upside-down on top of a tree, and their driver was nowhere to be seen. The leader saw a girl standing in front of the tree where their van had been placed, and let out a snarl. "Oh great, it's that psycho bitch."

"Name's Nova," the girl said, glaring at them from behind the black mask she wore over her eyes. "Now if you would be kind enough to leave the money behind, I may consider not knocking you all out cold. "

The leader's answer was quick, he whipped his arm forwards, taking the shotgun he was hiding inside his coat out in one swift, practiced move, then fired it.

Nova simply stood there, as the many small pellets fell harmlessly to the ground, after hitting an invisible barrier in front of her. "Now, that wasn't a wise move."

"The fuck... She really is invincible!"

Nova let out a chuckle. "Maybe I am, but I don't say this was a dumb move because of what I can do."

"Then what the fuck you mean?" the boss snapped, but then grunted and fell to the ground, unconscious.

The rest of the gang saw someone standing right behind their boss. Much like the girl, he was wearing a black suit, but he also wore a black hood which only let his eyes visible. "Oh fuck," one of the thieves said, "it's that ninja kid!"

"You guys just love using that 'f' word, don't you?" the 'ninja' mused, then saw them all pointing handguns at him. He pulled out two swords and stared at them. "Go ahead, try your luck."

One of the men laughed at that. "You can't be serious... Swords can't stop bullets, boy, not in real life. Kill him!"

The man stood there, swinging his swords swiftly and in a seemingly random way at the incoming bullets, and still stood as the barrage ended, unharmed, while the bullets shot at him fell to the ground. "No luck," he said. "Time to go to sleep."

Nova walked to the 'ninja' as the thieves all fell to the ground, hit by her invisible attack. "You should stop showing off, specially since it's not you stopping those bullets, Zero."

Zero, the ninja, smiled at that, but then remembered she couldn't see his face. "It scares them and keeps them from aiming at you, so I will gladly 'show off' if I can."

"Let them fire at me, Zero. You know they won't get me."

"And then what would I do, sit and eat popcorn while you beat them down? That would be quite boring, Hana."

"Sometimes I wonder why I put up with you, Terry." Nova said sternly.

"Because of my charming personality, my incredible sense of humor and my looks?"

Nova shook her head at that and smiled. "Well, it surely isn't because of your modesty."

He looked at the tall woman he had met only minutes ago. It would have been quite hard for him to believe she was who she claimed to be, if not for the fact he could sense this woman's power. "I think mom's not going to believe this."

"What I've told you is true, Kage. There's a high chance you are one of us."

"If you are really Pluto, and I have no reason to doubt that, then you should know."

"That's an assumption I would be happy to do without. What I see are all possible futures, and not as clearly as I would want to, sometimes. I cannot tell which future will come to pass, but I can try to make certain futures happen. For example, I could have let you go on, unaware of what may come."

"But telling me what my future might bring steers me in the right direction," Kage said, following the woman's reasoning.

Setsuna smiled at that. "That's correct."

"I will have to tell my mother about..."

"Don't worry, I will speak to Prime Huntress Aries personally," Setsuna said.

"Shouldn't we inform the other clans?"

"They will become aware of our presence eventually, if they haven't already. But don't worry about that, go back home for the time being. We will soon have to move to the east."

"To Australia?" Kage guessed.

"No, further to the east. Much further."

"Oh," Kage said, realizing what she meant by that. "Good thing Ipaid attention to my English teacher."

"Here it is."

Sailor V looked at the book store and flinched. "I wonder what he's planning this time. That place looks empty."

"Only way to find out is going in," Artemis noted.

The two approached the building as stealthily as they could. Artemis had to admit that Minako, despite being quite carefree, was becoming more of a warrior with each battle. The process was slow, and sometimes painful, but he knew she'd eventually become a good fighter.

As they sneaked into the building, they could see Kunzite speaking to someone. A youma, they realized, and one that looked like a cross between a cat and a plant. Both the youma and the general knew V and her pet were there, but they both knew they had to make it look like they had not noticed them.

"I've grown tired of V's interference," Kunzite said, "so I've created this." He pointed at the large, ring-shaped artifact resting on the far wall. Small energy arcs shot through the center of the 'ring' every second, as the machine charged for whatever it was meant to do.

"What exactly is that machine?" the youma asked, fully knowing the machine was just for shows.

"This, Cattleus, is a long range teleporter. It will allow me to travel to a far away country, where I will continue draining energy for our Queen."

V decided to make her grand entrance right then. "Not if I can help it!"

"Damn it, she's already here," Kunzite exclaimed, sounding as surprised as he could. "Cattleus, kill her!"

The cat-like youma tackled V to the ground before she could react, and tried to slash at her face. V caught both her claws with her hands, but couldn't get the creature off her. "Damn it... Art, destroy that machine!"

Artemis sighed. "Easier said than done," he muttered, then noticed something moving in the shadows. "Or maybe it will be easy after all."

Kunzite was about to walk into the "ring" when he heard a shout of "Fireball" and something hit the machine. He laughed as he saw Sigma standing on top of a table. "Silly boy, you think I would make this machine weak enough to be destroyed by something like that? Sadly, I must take my leave, but I'll leave my youma here to keep your company." And with that, he walked through the ring, vanishing as he passed through. A second after he did, the ring turned into dust.

"Damn it, he escaped," Sigma muttered, then saw V was still struggling to keep the 'catgirl' from clawing her face off. "Need help, Venus?"

"She's stronger than she looks," V commented, not noticing just what he had called her.

Artemis leapt on the cat youma's back, digging his claws into her skin. The youma yelped in pain and stood up, trying to reach for her attacker, and failing to notice V was up and ready to finish her.

"I've got her, Art," V said, and the mooncat understood exactly what she meant, and leapt off the creature's back. The youma didn't quite get the meaning, until the shout of "Crescent Beam" and the light blast piercing through her made her realize her mistake.

Sigma smiled. "Guess my help wasn't needed after all. What was Kunzite planning?"

"He said something about going to a far away country," V commented, then looked around. "But what country?"

Artemis looked around and noticed a few books sitting close to where the machine had been. "I will make a wild guess and say it's England."

V looked at the books. They were all books about England and London, so she could only agree with her friend. "Damn it, how are we going to get there?"

"I'll find us a way," Artemis noted, then realized someone was missing. "Hey, where's Sigma?"

"Gone, as usual," V said, then her eyes widened as she realized something from the battle. "Wait a minute... Art, he called me Venus, not V! How does he know?"

"Either he's a youma spy, or he somehow knows about the Senshi," Artemis guessed. "Venus was the only Senshi with control over light, after all."

"I hope he's not a youma," V said, "I kinda like that guy."

Artemis smiled at that. Yes, Sigma had helped them in several battles, it would be a pity if he turned out to be just a youma in disguise.

"Sir, your father is back from his trip."

The boy was distracted by this, and the girl sparring with him took the chance to knock him down to the ground, straddling him before slapping him playfully on the forehead. "Don't get distracted, Terry."

"Not my fault," Terry muttered, then turned to the man who had interrupted their sparring. "Sam, is he coming home soon?"

"I believe so, sir," the man said. "Are you going out to play again?"

"We were planning to, yes," the girl said.

"Miss Hana, please take care of him."

"Don't worry, I'll bring him back in one piece, Sam."

Terry growled. "Hey now, I'm not a helpless little boy."

"You're a helpless big boy," Hana teased.

"Hmph. Let's just go out. I feel like punching out some more criminals."

Sam saw the couple walk out of the room and smiled. Those two were a strange duo, but considering what their lives were like, they were pretty normal. Neither fought criminals with their underwear over their pants, for starters.

"So the youma are coming here?"

"Unless it's just a bluff," Sigma said to the woman, "but I doubt it. I'll stay for a few more days, just in case."

"I will send some of our best Hunters to watch over the city. If we detect any youma activity, I'll let you know at once."

"Good," he looked to the side, then back to the woman. "Oh, and mom, I may have found out who Venus is. Her 'civilian' identity, I mean."

The woman seemed surprised. "From what legends said, they're hard to identify."

"Yes, but I have only seen one white cat with a moon-like spot on his forehead... And I've seen him enter a certain house, several times, in the last few days. I suspect that means Venus lives there."

"You should keep an eye on them."

"That's what I've been doing, and I learnt that she's taking an English crash course. She was also recently chosen to study overseas, in England. There's too many coincidences around her."

A/N: I took a "short" break from writing, since I was out of inspiration on how to write certain scenes. Besides this part of the story, I'm also working on the first two books, so there may be updates on them soon.