Sailor Moon Aeons.
Book 2: Rebirth.
Act 5: Labyrinth of Mirrors.
Episode 77: Dreams and reality.

By Razor Knight
Last update: February 11, 2014
Last edited: June 10, 2017

"Mom, wake up."

Usagi opened her eyes and yawned, her mind quickly leaving the land of dreams, and looked at the young girl standing besides the bed "Chibi, it's Saturday."

"She still likes to sleep more than she needs to."

"And you still wake up earlier than you should," she countered, looking to the side. Wait, was Mamoru supposed to be- Oh, what was she thinking, of course he was.

She still remembered how things used to be when she was a teenage girl. Ten years had passed since then, but she didn't miss the constant fighting. Sure, she had met her friends thanks to it, but she was glad it was, apparently, over.

ChibiUsa looked at her quizzically. "Mom, you okay?"

"Uh, yeah, got lost in the past for a bit," Usagi smiled. Her daughter was mature for her age, but she sometimes wondered... What about that other 'version' of ChibiUsa? She hadn't seen her again since...

She froze. She couldn't remember exactly when ChibiUsa had gone back to Crystal Tokyo. Well, she hadn't thought about it for a long time, so maybe she forgot the exact date...

"Okay, I'll go get breakfast ready," she said, then the phone rang. "Uh, wonder who it is?"

"Good morning, Miss Chiba."

"I take it you wanted to talk about the last book."

The man shook his head. "It's actually about the next book. Your current story's sales are soaring high, but some fear your next book will not be as popular."

Usagi smiled. Her publishers were still handling her with care, and she knew why. She was young, but she had shown them she could write good stories. It had been a surprise even to her friends, that someone who didn't like to study would become a writer.

She froze again. She couldn't remember when, exactly, she had started writing. Just like she couldn't remember the last time she saw ChibiMoon. What was going on?

There were shouts outside, and a sensation of dread started crawling into Usagi's minds. As she walked to the window, she had already guessed what she would find. There was a monster out there, as tall as a building, and it was apparently destroying things randomly, and attacking people.

"Strange, I've never seen anything like that before," the man besides her said. Wait, what?

"No offense, Mr. Takahiro, but you're old enough to remember those wars the Senshi used to have, fighting monsters like that one."

"Senshi? Fighting monsters? That sounds like something from your book, miss."

Usagi sighed. "Nevermind. I- I have to go, my husband's in the area and I want to make sure he's okay." That was a lie, but she didn't mind lying right now. Her mind was a mess. This life... Deep in her mind, she had wanted this, back when she was a teen. Wanted a peaceful life, a normal job, not being forced to fight monsters.

She didn't have Ami or Terry close to figure things out for her, but she didn't need them. It all added up. She couldn't remember how some things had happened in the past, because they had never happened. She was still a teenager, and this was just a dream. In a way, this made her sad, but she couldn't focus on that now. If this was a dream, a dream about a perfect life, then why was a monster attacking the city? Perhaps her mind was trying to tell her to stop dreaming and accept her life as it was. And she couldn't argue with that.

Usagi looked at the monster. It was a reptilian creature, with cyan skin and four arms. For some reason, that sounded familiar, but she had no time to worry about that now. "Since this is a dream, I can have some fun before I wake up. Moon Eternal Power!"

She looked at her suit. Three white skirts, each with a golden trim at the bottom, white boots and gloves, trimmed just like the skirts, and her bow had been replaced by a brooch which looked like a pair of small wings. And speaking of wings, she had white, bird-like (angel-like?) wings on her back now. "Hey, if this is how Eternal Senshi look, I can't wait to get to that level." Also, even though it was all her imagination, she could feel the power she had now. Was it really her imagination, or a phantom memory of her past life, when she had reached this level?

She would think about that later. The monster had noticed her, and it moved quick. Quicker than something that size should, even. Moon tried to leap aside as the monster stomped the ground, but it corrected its aim and still stomped on her. Moon had instinctively raised her arms, and realized that the monster seemed as light as a feather. "Heh, I'm going to be a bit sad when this is over," she mused as she flew up, delivering a powerful uppercut at the surprised monster, who staggered back. "Time for you to say goodbye. Moon Eternal Storm!"

As Moon shouted that, several magic beams shot from above the creature, piercing through it and causing it to explode in seconds. Moon looked at the large craters her attack left and let out a chuckle. "If I had told myself, a few years ago, that I would have fun in a battle, I wouldn't have believed it."

But it was time to wake up. Moon saw everything around her blur as light enveloped her, and she closed her eyes.

Usagi woke up, and looked around. This was her reality, she was still a teenage girl, and she didn't quite know when - or if - enemies would stop attacking. She saw ChibiUsa sleeping in the only other bed in the room, and noticed there was a faint green glow coming from her. "What is going on?" She stopped as she sensed something, and summoned her communicator. "Aiko, what-"

"Usagi, I'm glad at least one of you is awake."

Aiko looked worried, so Usagi could guess ChibiUsa wasn't the only one affected. "I can see something is wrong with ChibiUsa, what about the others?"

"Everyone's asleep," Aiko explained, "and by this I mean, the whole planet. I've been trying to find a way to wake someone up for the last two days-"

"Two days?" Usagi almost shouted.

"How did you wake up?" Aiko asked.

"I'm not sure, I was having this dream about a life without battles, everything was okay and I almost bought the lie, but then... A monster appeared, and that made me remember who I am."

Aiko thought about it for a few seconds. "Of course, if no option seems right, you should use a wild card."

Usagi blinked at that. "I don't get it."

"The Ginzuishou. It probably helped you wake up."

Usagi summoned her crystal and looked at it. With all that crystal had shown her in the past, being able to break someone out of dream land was something she could believe it would be able to do. "I see... But if I woke up, then what about Chibi?"

"No idea. Perhaps her connection to her crystal is different, or her crystal hasn't fully matured yet. I have no clue on how those crystals work. Sorry..."

"No need to apologize," Usagi said with a smile, "I'll try to wake up my daughter, and then I'll see if the same method can be used on everyone else. Have any idea who's attacking us yet?"

"I have not detected any activity anywhere on Earth," Aiko noted.

"Have you tried looking outside... I mean, perhaps they're in orbit or something."

Aiko felt like slapping herself. "No, I haven't. I'll scan the sky while you wake your daughter up."

"Good, we need to know where the enemy is."

Usagi looked around in awe. She recognized this city, Crystal Tokyo, but she had never seen it like this. Back when she visited it, the crystals were dull, and the streets empty, but she was seeing a living city, and the crystals seemed to shine on their own. She had expected ChibiUsa's dream to be like this, of course, but the city was more amazing than she thought.

And speaking of ChibiUsa, she was now walking through a busy street, along with Hotaru (an adult Hotaru, which meant it was the Crystal Tokyo version of her.) People nodded politely at them as they walked, and the two smiled back just as politely, althought Usagi could see ChibiUsa's smile was one of someone who didn't care much about protocol.

Suddenly, the ground shook, and Usagi turned to see a large monster. It was a large, tapeworm-like monster with a mouth full of sharp-looking teeth. Was this her Ginzuishou's way of waking her up, like in Usagi's dream?

"Finally, something fun to do."

"Why, am I not fun enough?"

"You know what I meant."

"Sure. Let me take care of this one. Death Legion."

Usagi gasped. The creature was suddenly surrounded by hundreds of ghastly figures, which held it still, and then zapped it with death magic. The creature, however, wasn't quite affected by that.

"Pink Sugar Heart Crusher!" The heart fell on the monster, crushing it and killing it instantly. However, ChibiMoon looked at the results of her attack, a worried look in her face. "Wait, how-"

Usagi decided it was time to act, and walked to her. "I know what you're thinking, 'How is it possible for a Star level attack to kill something an Eternal level attack couldn't even scratch?'"

"Mom, what are you doing in those clothes?"

"I know you're already trying to figure this out, ChibiUsa. Remember. Remember where you're supposed to be right now."

"What do you mean? Crystal Tokyo is-" Suddenly, the girl looked at Hotaru, who had remained silent since Usagi appeared, and the truth finally became clear. "I'm training in Tokyo. I shouldn't be here in Crystal Tokyo. This is just a dream, right?"

Usagi nodded as the city around them started vanishing, and a white emptiness replaced it. She saw ChibiUsa flinch as Hotaru vanished, and smiled. "I know you were having fun here, but wouldn't it be better to be with the real Hotaru?"

ChibiUsa realized that this was the real Usagi, not an illusion like everything else "What's going on?"

"Wake up and I'll tell you what I know."

ChibiUsa looked around, then yawned. "Damn, I feel like I've slept for three days."

"Two days, actually," Usagi mused.

"So, what's going on?"

"I was having a dream about a life without battles, but the Ginzuishou... It made me remember who I was by sending a monster at me, within my dream. It seems that whoever is doing this doesn't want us to wake up."

"What about the others?"

Usagi sighed. "As far as I know, you and me are the only two humans not sleeping." She looked to the side and noticed something. "And it's not just humans."

ChibiUsa looked at what Usagi was staring at, and nodded. Luna and Diana were sleeping on the ground near their beds, and had a thin green aura around them. "Who is doing this?"

"Aiko was trying to find out," Usagi explained, then summoned her communicator. "Speak of the devil... Hi Aiko."

"I'm no devil," Aiko said with a smile, "anyhow, I've found their base. There seems to be a... Floating castle, in a low orbit around the Earth."

"A floating castle," Usagi repeated. She had seen enough strange things to not be surprised by that. "We'll try to wake everyone up, keep me informed if you detect anything strange."

"Will do."

Vadianne was surprised at how much energy she was getting, this world had many living beings, it was a perfect feeding ground for her. And after this planet was dry, she would just have to search for another world. It was the only way for her to exist. Eternally young. Eternally beautiful.

A figure appeared in front of her. To a casual observer, he would have looked like a young human child, but Vadianne knew it was just an outer shell. "My Queen, I have some bad news."

"What is it?"

"We detected one of the humans waking up. And soon after that, another one did, close to it."

"What? But these humans would never be able to-"

"They're Senshi," the boy noted.

Vadianne cringed. She had, in a way, met the Senshi in the past, in other worlds. If they were half as strong in reality as they were in their dreams, then they could mean trouble. "Send the Nightmare down to Earth, and give it as much energy as possible. We can't have any interferences."

Ami was quite happy with her life. True, her job as a surgeon wasn't always fun, but she was saving lives - in a different way than she had when she was young. She stopped walking as she was, once again, hit by a sense of dread. Something wasn't right, but what was it?

She summoned her communicator, something she knew she hadn't used in years (how many years, she couldn't remember, and that added to her worry,) and smiled as a familiar face appeared in it. "Aiko, sorry to call you like this-"

Aiko smiled back. "It's been years since the last time any of your friends used these."

"I know. But this can't wait until I get home."

"What's the matter, mom?"

"Can you tell me what our last enemy was? Their goals, their methods... Can you search for it in your memory?"

Aiko blinked. "I-"

"She can't tell you."

Ami turned to the side. "Usagi, what do you..." She trailed off as she saw her friend. Usagi was using her Senshi suit, did this mean there was an emergency? No, something was wrong, her friend looked younger than she should. "What's going on here?"

"I was fooled by them too," Moon explained, "but I know you, Ami. I know you're smart enough to see through the gaps in their plan, just like I did." Well, she had a little help with that, but Ami didn't need to know that.

"The gaps-" Ami flinched. She could almost see the whole picture now, but it was impossible. Yet, her faulty memory, this being a way too perfect life, and the fact a younger Usagi was there. No, Usagi wasn't 'younger' than her, Ami realized. "I understand. This is just a dream."

Ami sat up and shivered. "Damn it, who did that?"

Moon didn't understand why, but Ami's mood was sour. "What-"

"You didn't see all of that dream, I guess. I- My father was back with my mother, out of nowhere. I thought I had stopped hoping for that."

Usagi knew enough about Ami's family to know the situation was similar to Rei's. "I'm sorry about that, but I needed to wake you up."

Ami suddenly summoned her communicator. "Aiko?"

"Mom, you need to get out of there. I'm sensing a powerful creature heading your way."

"What about ChibiMoon?" Moon asked.

"She's still trying to wake Rei up, apparently. It isn't as easy as we thought."

Ami sighed and looked at Moon. "Let's go, but I'll need to know all you know about this enemy." An enemy which put them to sleep? What for? For some reason, Ami felt like she was better off not knowing the answer to that question.

It was only a couple minutes later that they found their target. After hearing what Moon knew - which wasn't, admittedly, a lot - Mercury decided that they should intercept their foe, try and sneak upon it. And sneak on it they did, but what they saw wasn't something they were ready for. She had her back turned to them, but it was clear from the suit and the hairdo that this was, somehow, Sailor Moon.

The fake Moon turned around, smiling. "There you are."

"She's an exact replica of you," Mercury commented.

The fake chuckled. "Exact? No, I'm better than her."

"Who, or what, are you really?"

The evil Moon looked at her foes. "I am the Nightmare, and I'm here to kill every Senshi."

"I won't let you do that!" Moon snapped.

The clone smiled sinisterly as a pair of wings appeared, and noticed Moon's shocked stare. "Play the brave leader all you want, but deep inside, you're still a lazy girl who's scared of fighting."

"Tell me something I don't know," Moon snapped back. "But someone told me that facing my fears and defeating them is what courage is about."

"Hmph. I'll humor you, then. Let's see what the mighty Sailor Moon can do against someone much stronger than her."

Mercury was slightly worried, but still... If this enemy had somehow read Moon's mind, it should know that many foes had made a similar boast in the past, and they were all dust in the wind. "Power is only one factor in a battle. If you're blinded by your ego, then we already have this battle half won."

A/N: For those wondering why the dream monster Usagi fought seemed familiar to her, I'll give you a hint: Kh'Sun.