Sailor Moon Aeons.
Book 2: Rebirth.
Act 1: Dark Kingdom.
Episode 15: Use your illusion.

By Razor Knight
Last update: December 14, 2011
Last edited: May 24, 2017

"This is the crystal? It's so small..."

"Usagi, remember the crystal's been broken into several pieces," Luna noted.

Terry was looking at the crystal being held by Naru, and frowned. "Okay, if all shards have the same kind of energy, I can track it down. But there's something off here. Can you transform?"

"Why?"

"Just a theory I have," Terry said.

"Okay. Nemesis Planet Power!" As the transformation ended, Nemesis looked at him, then the crystal. "So?"

Terry nodded "Your readings are much higher than last time I checked them. Give the crystal to someone else."

Nemesis passed the crystal to Usagi, then frowned. "What's all this about?" She blinked in surprise. "No, wait, I can feel it."

Ami had been using her computer to scan the crystals, but she looked up. "I know what Terry saw. The crystals apparently give a boost to the person holding it."

Terry looked at Usagi then at his watch. "It's noticeable even in normal form," he commented, then saw the crystal vanish. "Hey, what..."

Usagi smiled. "The numbers didn't change, did they?"

Terry was surprised by her guess. "No, they didn't."

Rei chuckled. "So that means, if we get one of those, whoever gets it will be much stronger, and it works even if we put the crystal away."

Terry nodded. "Problem is, the same could happen with the Generals. Let's hope they don't keep the crystals for themselves if they ever manage to get one."

Mako shook her head. "We'll just beat them down until they give them back."

"Sounds like a plan."

"Seven," Ami said.

"Huh?"

"I've made a three-dimensional model of what the crystal looks like in my computer, based on the shape and size of this shard. If the shards are even, then there's seven of them."

"Six to go," Terry said.

"About those 'Nijiyouma' creeps, how many were there?"

"If I had to make a guess, I'd say seven," Terry mused.

"And you're right," Luna said.

"The Nijiyouma, the strongest youma ever created by Beryl before she found her Generals," Shade noted.

"They sound strong," Terry admitted, "but Rainbow youma?"

"The name comes from them being seven, and each of them takes after one color of the rainbow," Shade explained.

"And as we gather all the crystals, we'll awaken them," Mako guessed.

"That's right, too," Luna said, "I guess that was the work of the Queen. Locking up the strongest youma in the shards of the Ginzuishou."

"So that the youma couldn't find them," Rei noted, "it doesn't seem to be working as intended."

Luna walked up to Rei. "If those youma were at full power, or even half power, you and Naru wouldn't be standing here right now, Rei."

"So being inside the crystal weakened them?"

"That seems to be the case, and I can bet the Queen knew about that."

"Why did you call me back?"

Beryl smiled. "Because Luminite's made a wonderful discovery." As she said that, Luminite walked in, followed by a mermaid-like youma. "Do you recognize her?"

Nephrite was quite surprised to see this creature alive. "Arieru?"

"Apparently, the old Moon Queen planned things in advance," Luminite explained, "the Ginzuishou is split in shards, and I can bet that one of the Nijiyouma will be in each of those shards."

"So, you got one of those shards?"

"No, the Senshi managed to take it from me," Luminite said with a scowl.

Beryl nodded, "As long as we gather at least one shard, they won't be able to restore the Ginzuishou, and their Princess will be powerless to stop us."

"I'll get the next one for sure."

"You will, because Nephrite will be joining forces with you."

Luminite looked at Nephrite and then bowed to the Queen. "As you wish, we will start planning our next move immediately."

Beryl saw the two vanish, and scanned the crowd of youma gathering around her throne, in the shadows. "Kunzite, Aurite, come forth!"

The two Generals appeared and bowed to her. "What is the problem, my Queen?" Kunzite asked.

"The problem is, that you should have already taken care of Sailor V and Sailor Saturn."

Kunzite nodded. "V is not the Princess, I know that much... But she's a strong Senshi. I'm trying to come up with a plan to defeat her for good."

"I could help you with that," Zoicite noted.

Kunzite smiled. "Of course, any help would be appreciated, and if it's yours, even more."

"What about you, Aurite?"

"If I could keep Pluto busy, I'm sure I would defeat the other two easily. Pluto keeps on showing up and stopping me when I'm about to kill them." Truth was, Saturn and her friend Orion had come close to killing her a couple times, too, but she wasn't going to bore Beryl with such useless details.

"I see. Jadeite can help you with that."

"Pluto is too strong for a single General to handle."

Beryl thought about it for a moment, then nodded. "If it must come to that, I will go personally and take care of Pluto."

"But Queen Beryl, the risk..."

"Don't forget who I am. I won't underestimate Pluto's power, but I may be the only one strong enough to take on a Senshi of her level and have a small chance of winning. And with you and Jadeite fighting Pluto's pets together, things should go smoothly."

It had looked pretty simple at first to her. Okay, not quite simple, but much simple than things were now. A part of her wanted that Princess girl to show up already, so they could defeat the youma and go back to living normal lives.

"Everything okay, Usagi?"

She looked down at the cat. Luna could be harsh at times, but the Mooncat honestly worried about her. "I'm okay, just thinking about how complicated this war is."

"Can't say you're wrong about that," Luna admitted.

"Can we really win, Luna?"

"If we find the Princess, then..."

"Who is she?"

Luna shook her head. "I don't remember. I know it would make our fight easier, but I..."

Usagi nodded. "She's only going to show up if we gather the parts of that crystal, I understood as much."

"I haven't told the others this, Usagi... But it's a bit more complicated than that. The Princess would be the only one who could fix the crystal."

"Why tell me this, Ami's the smart one."

"Because... Well, I find this hard to believe, myself, but I remembered something else from the past after we got that first shard. Sailor Moon was the strongest Senshi even in the past. You were..."

"I was the strongest," Usagi said, then stopped walking. "I'm quite useless now."

"You lack experience. Sailor Moon also, if I remember correctly, had others to teach her how to be as good as she was."

"Awesome, maybe one of them was revived?"

"Unfortunately... Only a Senshi of your same planet can teach you how to use your magic to its fullest."

"Well, life just isn't fair, right Luna?" Usagi said, then noticed the Mooncat was in 'cat mode.' As she looked down the street, she saw... "Oh, not you again!"

Mamoru looked at her dismissively. "Oh, it's you, odango."

"I told you to not call me that!"

"You know, you look better when you're angry than when you're sad."

Usagi stood there, confused, as the man walked down the street. "What the heck was that..."

Luna frowned. There was something strange about that man. She felt like she had seen him elsewhere before. "Don't mind him, Usagi, let's..."

A shout from a nearby building interrupted Luna. "That sounded close to Naru's house."

"Again?" Luna mused.

"I know. Let's go."

Naru just couldn't help but hate her luck. She had been talking to Umino minutes earlier, but Luminite and Nephrite appeared inside the jewelry and things got hectic pretty fast. She had seen Umino fall down, and a shard coming out of him, so she knew what was going to happen next. She run out of the store, and luckily the two Generals thought she was running away and ignored her.

The bad thing was, Luminite had taken the shard while she transformed, but she would get it back once she beat the two Generals. Or at least try to. She had only managed to drag them out of the store, but that hadn't helped her much.

"Come on, Nemesis, I know you're there."

Nemesis scowled. Umino was still turning into whatever he would turn, but she couldn't handle two Generals at the same time by herself. She noticed something out of the corner of her eye, however, and smiled. "I think you should be worrying about other things, Nephrite."

"Firefly!" Nephrite staggered back as a barrage of small fireballs hit him. "What in darkness..."

"Spark!"

A lightning bolt hit Luminite, sending her down to the ground. "More Senshi?"

"I thought you would remember us from last time, but that would require intelligence."

Luminite growled. "Oh, those three runts."

"Dark Core!"

Luminite was sent flying into a car and sank down. Nephrite sighed. "Are you really going to fight me, Nadia?"

"Don't call me that. Nadia is dead, you killed her."

"You never understood the greatness of our-"

"Moon Tiara Action!"

Nemesis saw Nephrite fall and winced. "Moon?"

"I had to attack while he hadn't seen me. Are you..."

Nemesis saw someone walking to them and paled. "Umino?"

Moon looked at their new foe. An orange-skinned man, who seemed to have no legs and instead had orange smoke trailing after him. "What is that?"

"A Djinni," Mira noted, "Mythical creatures known for granting wishes to people."

"Dejin, show them what you can do!" Luminite said as she staggered up.

"By opposing the youma," the 'djinni' said, "you wish for death... And that wish shall be granted!"

As the creature said that, ghastly figures appeared around the two Senshi, they looked just like Mars, Mercury and Jupiter. "Wait, what is..."

"Fire Soul!"

"Shabon Spray!"

"Supreme Thunder!"

Moon tried to stand up, but fell on her knees. The three attacks had focused on her, and they were nothing like the few times a youma had hit her. Her friend were this strong? How could she compare?

No, she could not give up. Umino and Naru had been her friends since they were in kinder, and she knew Naru could not defeat these enemies alone. She felt something inside of her and smiled. No, she would not give up yet.

"Dark Core!"

"Supreme Thunder!"

The attacks cancelled each other, and Nemesis knew things had turned even worse. She didn't know if Usagi could fight after getting hit like that, but there was no way Nemesis would be able to take on these illusionary Senshi, even with the three...

"This... Those are not my friends. They may have their face and their attacks, but they're fake. How dare you force me to fight them!"

Nemesis took a step back. Moon had stood up and was glaring at the two Generals. "Moon?"

"Moon Tiara... Flight!"

The tiara shot as usual, piercing through Mars' clone and causing it to vanish, but instead of returning to Moon's hand, it corrected its course, shooting straight through Mercury and Jupiter's clones before they could react. It then kept going, punching Dejin into a wall, and then knocking both Generals back.

"That blonde kid is really asking for it now," Luminite snapped as she stood up. She noticed Dejin's form was fading, and sighed. "Return to me, Dejin!"

"Firefly!"

"Wisp!"

"Gust!"

The three blasts knocked Luminite back, and this time she couldn't stand up.

Nephrite growled at the three Hunters, seeing that Moon was now kneeling on the ground, and Nemesis was not attacking him. "You should have left while you had a chance, brats."

"Same could be said about you. Supreme Thunder!"

"Shabon Spray!"

"Fire Soul!"

Nemesis looked back as Nephrite was sent crashing into a building. "Guys..."

Zero looked at Moon. "What happened to her?"

Luna, who had watched everything from atop a truck's roof, decided to explain. "She was forced to use an upgraded version of her attack. It was strong enough to take down several foes, but her body's not used to it yet."

Moon smiled weakly. "I'll be okay, guys."

Zero was checking his watch. "What the heck... Her power's grown by fifty percent?"

Luna looked at Moon, then smiled. "Sailor Moon was the strongest Senshi in the past, so I'm not surprised."

Mars noticed Nephrite and Luminite (and the three Hunters) had left, and Umino was standing up. "So basically, you took on two Generals and one of those strong youma on your own, and won?"

Nemesis sighed. "The youma Umino turned into summoned replicas of Mars, Jupiter and Mercury. Those three attacked Moon before she upgraded."

Mars looked at Moon. "That's impressive."

Zero nodded. "You know, at first I didn't think highly of you, but you've got courage, girl."

"Courage? Me?" Moon asked.

"Courage's not about not being afraid, but about fighting your fear and defeating it."

"That sounds... Wise," Mars said, looking at Zero.

"Yeah, Hakko told me that once. I now know what he meant."

Umino finally stood up, and looked around. "Where's Naru?"

"She's safe, don't worry," Nemesis said, "we told her to stay out of the area until the fight ended."

"Oh... Tell her I'll see her tomorrow at school. I feel quite tired right now."

Nemesis watched him go and smiled. "I'll tell her that, yeah."

"Is that guy your boyfriend?" Zero asked.

"The three of us have been friends since we were small kids," Moon explained, knowing well what Nemesis would say. "They do look cute together, though..."

"Let's just get out of here," Nemesis muttered and walked away.

Zero nodded. "I have something to do, so I'll see you at school."

Mars watched Zero go. "What's he up to?"

"No idea," Usagi admitted, "hope he's not chasing after the youma on his own..."

"It can't be that, the youma left," Mercury noted pointing at her visor. "Though I detect a few relatively strong magic beings in the direction he's heading..."

Nemesis stopped as she heard that. "The Demon Hunters?" But why was Zero chasing them?

"What the heck did Moon do back there?"

Calisto looked at Circe. "She powered up. I had heard some legends about how Senshi could do that if they felt threatened, instead of through training. I guess they weren't just legends."

"It's a good thing we're on their side, then."

Calisto nodded. "Right now, Moon could take on the strongest spell I know, and still be able to fight back."

They were now far from where the youma had attacked, so their disguises vanished. "At least we know we can help them fight those Generals."

"If you let yourselves be caught this easily, you won't be a lot of help."

Mira looked up and gasped. Zero? "What the heck..."

"Let's say we're even now," Zero noted, "I have no ulterior motives, really, I was just curious."

"Curiosity killed the ninja."

Terry looked at the red-haired girl, who he knew was Calisto. "I'm no ninja, really. I would have never expected you to be one of the mages, though. Maria Diaz, from South America, transfered to Juuban High a week before I did."

"How the heck..."

"I know all three of you, you're studying in my school."

"Emi, what do we do..."

"Aki, I don't think this guy's lying. We would probably tell the Senshi who we were, anyhow..."

"Never said I was going to tell my friends," Zero noted.

"Why not?"

"They would gain nothing from that knowledge."

"And what do you gain from it?"

"I'm not as trusty as the Senshi, and I really am not going to trust incomplete memories from two talking cats and lower my guard to people I still don't know well enough."

"Hmph, as expected from you," Circe, or rather Aki, said. "We're not going to hurt your friends, don't worry."

Zero laughed at that. "Of course you won't. You already saw what happens when you mess with a Senshi today. But I'm not so sure about your bosses' true intentions yet."

As Zero left, the three girls looked at each other. "Well, that went nicely."

"Could have been one of the Generals following us," Emi noted.

"You're right. We really need to be more careful."

He had been late to help the Senshi, again, but he had been right in time to see Sailor Moon's display of power. It was good they could take care of themselves, because he was, right now, interested in something else. The crystal shards, fragments of the Ginzuishou.

The same dream had been haunting him for a while. He could always see the figure of a woman, in the distance, but darkness didn't let him see her face. "You must help the Senshi. Find the Ginzuishou."

He had heard himself asking the same question once and again. Why should he help them?

"Because if you do, you will find what you've been looking for."

He knew what that woman meant. He had lost his memory at a very young age, the day his parents died... The day he woke up in a hospital bed, not knowing even his own name. He couldn't even remember his own sister.

"Mamoru? What are you doing still up?"

"I don't feel like going to sleep yet, Karin."

"Just don't stay too late, brother."

"Right." Mamoru looked at the full moon, high up in the sky. The Moon, the place he always was at in his dream. He needed to find answers. Why did he have his powers? His powers weren't enough to fight the youma on his own. He was a protector, not a warrior.

But if finding the Ginzuishou could help him remember the past, he would help the Senshi to the best of his abilities. He had always wanted to see it with his own eyes. He wanted to remember his parents, not just from pictures, but from his own memories.

He knew these youma were planning something, something big, but he would let the Senshi figure that out. His mission was to help them recover that crystal, once that was done... Well, he would think about what to do after that, when the time came.

A/N: This chapter shows Umino is indeed a genius. Or at least a genie.

I'll be writing more of books one and two of this fic whenever I can, but I won't promise a swift update schedule for the time being.