Sailor Moon Aeons.
Book 2: Rebirth.
Act 5: Labyrinth of Mirrors.
Episode 83: Dream Senshi.

By Razor Knight
Last update: October 6, 2014
Last edited: June 10, 2017

As Ami and the others appeared inside the base, she could see something missing. "Uhm, Aiko didn't come back yet?"

"I still have one more thing I want to do," Aiko's voice said from the speakers around the room. "It will take a while."

One more thing? Ami thought about it for a few seconds then smiled. "Good luck."

"Thanks."

Terry looked at Ami. "Uh, what was that about?"

"I'll tell you later," Ami noted.

Usagi sighed. "Aiko telling us about these attacks is a bit pointless, though. They're usually over too fast."

"That's a good thing, you know?" Rei noted.

Minako smiled at them. "I think we could have used the help, but then again, I can do this now. Venus Cosmic Power!"

"Wow, another one," Terry said. "How did you get it, though?"

"I saw the others get punched around effortlessly by two of those evil guys, then I... I remember thinking that I wanted to protect my friends no matter what, and then this thing appeared." As she said that last part, her new sword appeared in her hand.

Terry blinked at it. "That's not just a sword, those incisions make it look like..."

Venus nodded as the sword extended. "A chain sword, Brad called it."

Ami noticed something and shook her head. "Okay, that's a new one."

"What do you-" Usagi started, then saw Terry was staring at the whip-like sword. "Terry?"

Terry shrugged. "You know I have quite a collection of weapons, guys. But I was never able to find a sword like that one."

"It's not for sale," Venus muttered.

Terry chuckled. "I know. Guess I'll have to be happy with the usual 'look but not touch' policy."

Venus nodded, then remembered something. "Oh, I also can do this now," she said and was suddenly on the other side of the room.

"What the heck... She teleported?" Rei asked.

"No," Terry said, "she moved. She moved too damn fast." In fact, he was only barely able to see her move.

Venus smiled, and then 'vanished' again, appearing next to Brad. "I can't do this a lot because it tires me down fast, but isn't it cool?"

Terry snorted. "It sure is." He did his usual stunt, but... By the time he reached the point where Venus had been, the blonde was a few meters away from him. "Well, shit."

"I don't get it, though. I'm not that fast, and Uranus and Neptune didn't seem to be that fast either," Usagi commented.

Ami had been typing in her computer, but shook her head. "There's nothing in the database about that kind of special powers - at least nothing I can access yet."

Yukiko opened the door, not hiding her surprise. "Aiko? I thought you couldn't-"

"I can be outside now," Aiko said with a smile.

"Wow, that's nice. Uhm, want to come in?"

"Are you alone?"

Yukiko shook her head as her friend walked in. "Mom is in the kitchen."

"Oh."

"You seem disappointed."

Aiko sighed. "Well, I wanted to talk to you in private."

"Don't worry, then, when mom is cooking she's in a world of her own."

"Okay." Aiko looked at the other girl for a few seconds and could feel her cheeks heating up. And for some reason, her ability to speak was suddenly gone.

Yukiko was wondering exactly what she wanted to talk about, but her body language was giving her some clues. It was a bit of a shock, but... "I think I know what you're trying to tell me."

That gave Aiko a bit of courage. "I've only been 'alive' for a short while, but I- I'm always confused lately, when you're around. I don't even know how to explain it, but it doesn't happen with anyone else. I think- no, I'm sure about it. I like you, Yuki."

"That's..." Yukiko stared at her for a few seconds. "Thank you for telling me that, but..."

Aiko sighed. "It's okay if you don't-"

"No, I don't want you to take this as a no, but as a 'maybe.' I consider you my friend and don't want to lose that, but I don't know if I'll ever be able to return your feelings."

"I see."

Yukiko saw her friend sigh again, and that worried her a bit. "I mean it when I say thank you. It's the first time someone..."

A woman walked into the room, and Aiko could see she was almost like an older version of Yukiko. "You must be Yuki's mother."

"Yuki, you didn't tell me you were going to invite a friend."

Yukiko sighed. "Mom, this is Aiko."

Aiko bowed corteously. "Nice to meet you, miss Hokuge. I'll be taking my leave now."

Yukiko saw the face her mother was making, once her friend was gone. "What?"

"She's quite a polite girl. Is she the one you-"

"Uh, no. In fact I think I just rejected her confession," Yukiko noted. "Hope she doesn't hate me for that."

"Why was Venus able to hurt those two?"

'Her attack is both physical and magical, so while they're immune to her magic, her weapon did serious damage to them.'

ChibiUsa smiled at Helios' words. "I guess it's good that plain old fists to the face work against these guys."

'I wish I could be of help in your battles.'

"I'm the only one who can magically beat them around, so I would say you are helping."

'But there's a saying in your world, "the more the merrier," right?'

"That's also true," ChibiUsa admitted. Though, in a way, it did feel good to be the only one with that power.

'You love showing off.'

"Ugh. Forgot you can very literally read my thoughts."

'Sorry.'

"It's okay. And you're right, I do have a bit of an ego."

Ami was worried, it had been many hours and Aiko was still outside. "She's taking too long."

Terry was the only other person in the base. "Care telling me why she's not responding to us?"

Ami sighed. "Would you be surprised if I told you Aiko likes someone?"

"Not really, but what does it have to do- Oh, so it wasn't only curiosity leading her to go outside, then."

Ami nodded slowly. "Yes, and perhaps she-"

Aiko walked out of the elevator right then. "Hi, mom."

Terry was surprised. Even when clearly upset, she was apparently still quite polite. "Are you okay? Ami was telling me about-"

"I was an idiot. I was right all along, who would love a machine?"

"You're not-"

"She said she only likes me as a friend. I'm not angry at her, but at myself. So angry I could cry, if I had already emulated that function."

"Did she reject you just like that?" Ami asked, "that doesn't sound like Yuki."

"She told me it wasn't a 'no' but a 'maybe.'"

Terry smiled at that. "I felt the same way about your mother, for a while."

"You did?"

"And Hotaru and Kage were a bit like that, too," Ami admitted. "See, Yukiko isn't sure about what she feels right now. You need to give her time and hope for the best."

"It's strange," Aiko commented, "I thought one needed to have a heart to be heartbroken."

Terry couldn't help but laugh at that. "The 'heart' people talks about in that case is not the one pumping blood, but... One could say that you feel something wrong in your soul, your very core."

"Still, I'm not sure where you got that courage from," Ami noted.

"Courage?"

"Yes. Both me and your father were avoiding talking about what we felt for each other, for months."

"Oh, I didn't know that."

Terry noticed her looking down. "Are you okay?"

"I... When I left, she walked with me to the door, and I- I know I glared at her, for a second. I'm such an idiot."

"You're not."

Aiko saw Yukiko was there. "Uh... Hi."

"Listen, I can't return your feelings, at least not yet," Yukiko said, "but I'll let you know that I'm willing to let you show me I'm wrong."

Aiko smiled at that. "Thanks."

Yukiko nodded. "I wish I could stay, but I gotta go back home before mom notices I'm not in my room."

"I'm growing tired of your failures."

Hawk Eye looked at their leader, Zirconia. The woman was as ugly as she was powerful, so they knew talking back to her was a bad idea. "We will get Helios, just let us try again."

"I'll give you another chance, here are your targets."

Hawk Eye smiled as he took the two pictures. "This one... Is one of those girls who's always butting in."

"Yes, Neherenia wants no interferences. If she's not Helios' carrier, kill her."

"We will," Hawk Eye said and vanished.

"Hey old woman, when will we get our chance?"

Zirconia glared at the shadows. "Don't test my patience. You may be Neherenia's favorite soldiers, but I will not tolerate any disrespect."

"Yeah, yeah. I just hope we find that stupid horse soon and leave. This planet is hideous."

Zirconia smiled as she heard that. "I agree."

Next morning, after school, Ami and Usagi were heading to Crown, talking about what had happened the day before.

Usagi was surprised. "So she went to Yuki's house? Wow."

"I know, I'm surprised about that too."

"What I'm more surprised about is Yuki's answer, though."

"You mean-"

"She likes Aiko. Perhaps she's not sure about falling in love with..." Usagi stopped and smiled. "I can't even think of Aiko as a 'program.' Weird isn't it?"

Ami nodded. "So what you're saying is, perhaps a part of Yuki's mind still considers Aiko nothing but a program."

"Or she's just being shy and making excuses not to confess," Usagi guessed, her smile a sound effect away from a chuckle.

"Won't deny I was like that," Ami admitted. "In any case, we-" She saw Usagi was looking in all directions, as if she had lost something. "What's wrong?"

"What is this?" Usagi muttered then blinked in shock. "Ami, I can sense them."

"Sense who?"

"The enemy," Usagi said, then took off running.

"Wait!" Ami shouted as she run after her friend, summoning her communicator. "There's a possible attack, we're heading towards it."

"A possible attack?" Aiko asked through the comm.

"I'll explain later, wait for us to-" She heard an explosion and flinched, then noticed whose house was close. "Tell everyone to go to Mamoru's building as soon as possible."

Dragon Earth was furious. These guys had used stealth this time, and it was only due to Karin's help that he was still standing, but his sister was out cold after taking a hit for him. They hadn't checked on her, so why were there two of them attacking? He decided he would ask them after he had punched them around for a while. "Stone Spear Trap."

He hadn't trained as hard as others did, but it still didn't mean he hadn't picked up some tricks along the way. Being able to create new attacks on the spot was a good thing, and this one was fun to watch in action. A cluster of stone spikes rose from the ground, hitting the two men, who didn't seem to notice. He had expected that, he was just trying to buy the others time.

"Moon Dream Wave!"

Fish Eye lashed out with his whip, splitting the wave in half, and avoiding any damage from it. "The brat is here."

Hawk Eye smiled. "Excellent."

"Death Mark."

Hawk Eye leapt right through the attack, surprising Saturn. And that split second of confusion is just what he needed. "One, two, three!"

ChibiMoon had been trying to slash Fish Eye in half, along with Dragon Earth, but sensed something and turned to the side. "Hotaru!"

The distraction helped Fish Eye, as he kicked ChibiMoon down, then turned to the Dragon. "Okay tough guy, I'm tired of playing with you. One, two, three!"

ChibiMoon stood up and grimaced. She wouldn't be able to help both of them in time, but she couldn't choose to only save one of them, either. "Damn it, you bastards-"

'I think I can help you save both of them.'

She was about to ask, but then saw it in her mind. "Oh, now this will be fun. Moon Dream Power!"

The two Eyes froze and turned to her. "Damn it, could she be the one?"

Fish Eye shrugged, checking the girl's outfit. It didn't look too different, other than the small wings on her boots and gloves. "Who knows? Let's knock her out so we can check on her."

ChibiMoon smiled. "That's amusing, but I'm not the one who's going to be knocked out." She took off her tiara, which started glowing. "Dream Tiara..." The tiara didn't shoot at her foes, but flew up, then vanished. The girl saw her foes' confusion and smiled as she completed the spell. "... Attack!"

Moon and Mercury reached the scene right in time to see the attack. A dozen light discs appeared all around the two Eyes, shooting at them from all sides, and hitting them several times. When the discs vanished, the two villains weren't up to a fight anymore. "Awesome."

Hawk Eye saw Fish Eye was out cold, and noticed two more Senshi in the area. And Earth was staggering up, as well. "At least we've found Helios now," he muttered before he and his ally vanished.

"What did he mean?" Mercury asked.

ChibiMoon fell on her back. "Damn it, that attack drained me." She looked at Saturn, who was walking to her, and smiled, then turned to Mercury. "I transformed into a Dream Senshi."

Mercury thought about it for a few seconds then nodded. "That would be, a Senshi who can use dream magic. But weren't you using it before?"

"I was just using Helios' power, but now my own power also feeds this form."

"And that's why you could kick their ass," Saturn noted.

"Yes, but the problem is, they now know I'm most likely the one Helios is hiding in."

"So they'll come after you," Moon said. "We'll just have to protect you."

"Yeah." ChibiMoon finally realized something. "How did you two get here so fast?"

"I felt the enemy's presence," Moon said.

"Huh? How did you-" Saturn asked, then heard ChibiMoon chuckle.

ChibiMoon stood up, noticing everyone was looking at her. "Sorry, it's just one of those things I know about but didn't know I would see happen."

"What does that mean?"

"Queen Serenity could sense any magical being anywhere in the solar system. It was a passive skill but if she focused, she could know where any given magical being was."

"Big Sister Serenity," Saturn mused.

Moon sighed. "So it's not just Minako getting the weird powers."

"That's true."

"Anyone else will get such a thing?"

ChibiMoon looked at Mercury. "Sorry, I can't tell you."

"Okay. But... What's the deal with Helios?"

ChibiMoon looked at her mother. "What do you mean?"

"He can give you access to that magic, and now you've turned into a..."

"Dream Senshi," ChibiMoon noted. "I'm not sure, I need to ask him a few things."

"Why not ask him now?" Saturn asked.

"He... I suppose giving me this new power tired him down, he's asleep."

"Let sleeping horses lie, huh?" Saturn mused.

"Hotaru, don't go and turn into Minako," Mercury muttered, causing the others to laugh.

"Anyhow, are you free right now?"

Saturn smiled at her girlfriend. "Sure."

Mercury saw ChibiMoon and Saturn leave, and noticed the way Moon was looking at them. "Usagi?"

"It's nothing."

"You don't usually make that face over nothing," Dragon Earth commented. Mercury had almost forgotten the other two were still there.

Moon let out a long sigh. "I'm glad they're happy together, but sometimes I wonder if either of them is really conscious of what will eventually happen."

"If I was in their place, I would also try to make as many happy memories as possible," Earth admitted.

"Failures! You are all failures!"

"But now we know who the carrier is."

Zirconia frowned. They had failed time and again, but Fish Eye did have a point. "Hmph. Fine, I'm going to give you one more chance. You already know the target. Attack her, and bring a few lemures along."

Tiger Eye smiled. "We will make her pay for all the times she and her friends ridiculed us."

"If you don't, I will leave things to the Quartet."

A/N: Yeah, things are about to get complicated for the Senshi. Will the circus guys manage to check any other mirror before the arc is done? Wait and see.

As for Aiko and Yukiko: In Cyber Moon, they only got together during the Crystal Tokyo era. I guess I started working on that 'a bit' earlier this time around.