This is the next-to-last chapter of this story. By the end of it, only those native to the late 10th Century AD will still be present in the globe that will return them to their proper time period, including both cats, when and where the need arises for them to do so for each being still in it. And they will arrive back in it at the proper times and in the proper places, as well, for that matter, when they each leave that globe as they ultimately will be leaving it.
With no further ado, then, I'll close this. Until later, TUS out.
Outside The Future Crystal Palace's Future Walls
Moon City, Moon Kingdom, Moon
September 15, 174 BC
Sometime later, and about an hour or two before local dawn, then, all the necessary people began assembling in the necessary areas on and around the grounds of the future Crystal Palace. All the necessary people were in each of their respective Scout states, as was appropriate for each of them at that particular time. If they had any at all, of course. As they began taking their proper positions on and around the grounds of the future Crystal Palace, several nearby birds and animals began making certain sounds or noises that were appropriate for each of them, if they didn't do anything else at all at the current time. Some of the people that might now be where they were each taking certain positions had not actually been around in them at the same time that the Scouts first appeared in their current time period. But they'd need to be around in order for the beings who were actually alien to this time period to be able to somehow return to each of their own time periods, as a matter of fact.
If things worked out well enough, then, just as time had reversed for the members of Serenity's current traveling party when they'd left Tarokauni III behind, time would reverse enough to allow them all to return to the exact same times in each of their time periods that they'd been carried away from them in. First by bringing them backwards in time to the date of August 7, 174 BC, and then forward or backward in time again, until they were each able to return to the exact same moments in each of their time periods from which they'd been carried away earlier. They'd be returned in reverse order of their respective capturings by the phenomenon or phenomena that had carried them away from each of their respective time periods, in fact. This would be for all the obvious reasons, of course, if not for any other reasons as well at the exact same time here.
It took every single one of the necessary beings at least a little while, if not a long while, for them to each take the necessary positions on or around the future Crystal Palace's grounds. But eventually, they all did so, in fact, before it was somehow then too late for any or all of them to do so at all.
Eventually, everyone now present began doing whatever else they then had to do, as they also awaited their expected departures from the year 174 BC. Supposing, of course, that they weren't actually from this particular year in the Universe's history, quite naturally. Even if they had to stay quite still as they did so, as well. Like Serena, for instance. She really wasn't liking the fact that she had to stay rather still for at least ten minutes at a time, if not even longer, while she also waited to be brought back to her own particular time period in the Universe's history.
But she still stood as still as she could, just the same, no matter what her feelings actually were, as of the current time. Other members of her current traveling group also had to do the same thing periodically as well. Which then lessened the feelings of boredom, at least, that she was often feeling whenever she had to stay quite still in her current location, wherever it might actually be on or around the future Crystal Palace's very own grounds, for all the obvious reasons.
Local dawn eventually came and went, and yet, the aforementioned period of three complete days since the flying away of the necessary eagle had not totally elapsed. Time was still passing, but it wasn't necessarily passing as quickly as Serena and other members of her own crowd might often prefer it to do then. For they were still at least a little ways from the end of that period of exactly 72 hours in duration, which would end exactly three days after the plaque they'd all left marks on had disappeared from view, in fact.
Amy had also somehow been able to get at least one, if not more than one, scroll at least partially filled with the names of various members of their traveling party, if not completely. And just before she and so many others had needed to come to the places where they now were on or around the future Crystal Palace's grounds, she and at least a few others had actually buried them exactly where she'd earlier suggested to Serena some time before. She and the rest of those other people, whoever they might actually have been then, had somehow been able to do just that well enough, in fact. And to hide them all in the necessary enough manners as well, for all the obvious reasons, of course.
Finally, though, all the necessary crystals were linked together in the required way or ways. And all the Sailor Scouts and their current associates assumed their appropriate positions again, if they'd not already done so to a sufficient enough degree here.
Five to ten minutes, then, before the end of the aforementioned period of 72 hours in duration was to end, King Jason and all the other necessary people did all the things that they had to do by then. When they did so, the visitors to the present time period began de-materializing once again. And they'd have to remain in such a state at least until it was again August 7, 174 BC, and they'd have to briefly reappear again, if not even longer than that. As time reversed its normal direction of flow, all the members of Serenity's current traveling party vanished from the view of all the other people that'd been around them at the same time they'd started to vanish to those very same people.
All of the members of Serenity's current traveling party stayed invisible to all other beings around them, at least until it was the proper time for them to once again appear for a brief enough period of time. As they began appearing briefly, they also found themselves exactly where they'd been right after being deposited in their pasts. Time froze briefly, just after that point of time. But only briefly, so it would appear to those outside the area in which they now were, and once had been, that they were winking into existence out of thin air. And the same thing that'd brought them there in the first place reversed its previous actions, and grabbed them up again, while time was again running in reverse from its normal direction of flow.
The phenomenon or phenomena that had earlier carried them away from their respective time periods in history then eventually caught them up again in it or them, and they were no longer on the Moon of 174 BC. Starting with the very last of the people and/or animals that it or they had earlier captured, each of the necessary sentients were deposited back in their own time periods in the reverse order of their having been caught up originally in it or them.
The first of the Scouts to be deposited in her proper time period, and at the exact same moment she'd been taken away from it, was Super Sailor Rainbow, when she was dropped off in that time period. The next ones of them to be carried out of the globe were Sailor Bellasina and Clarissa, as the need arose for them both to each be expelled out of it, in fact. Sailor Jasmine soon enough was dropped back into her own time period at the appropriate time and place in it. After Sailor Jasmine, the next one to leave the globe in question at the current time was Sailor Cinnamon, when her own proper time and place came for her to be expelled from the vortex's interior globe.
Sailor Chrysalis soon followed, as did Sailor Calypso. After Sailor Calypso, the next one to be kicked out, so to speak, of the present globe was Sailor Bamboo. Sailor Bamboo dropped out of the globe by the time that the year AD 750 came and went, most likely, if not even sooner than that. As each of the other Scouts then eventually were expelled from the vortex, Moon and the rest of her current crowd continued to watch and wait for their turns to come to them, for all the obvious reasons, of course.
Skyhorse said to Serenity, just before her very own turn to leave eventually came to her as well, "It's been nice to know you to at least some degree, Serenity. Please try to make sure that the next Skyhorse does at least half as well, if not actually as well, that I'll have done before I quit being Skyhorse for any reason whatsoever. Whatever I leave behind, you're to give to her, if at all possible, Serenity, whenever you possibly can. It may not necessarily be my Imperium Silver Crystal. But it may happen to be my Skyhorse Crystal, just the same. Please try to do all you can to make sure that she'll be a rather good Scout for you and your daughters to fight alongside with when you have to fight the Negaverse again at least once more in all your lives, if she is around in your own time period."
"You can count on me trying to do all that to the best of my own abilities to do so, Skyhorse. Jostara, I wish I could get to know you at least a little bit better, and I'm sure that a lot of others with me do too. This, of course, is for all the obvious reasons."
"Well, I don't know if we'll ever meet again in our own mortal lives, Serenity, in fact. But if we do, and we remember this shared adventure of ours well enough, Serenity, I would be honored to fight alongside you and all your Scouts, if possible, in the future. I hope that the future that you will be part of will be rather peaceful, at least for a sufficient enough period of time. I realize that it may not always be so for you and all of our people and animals who may then be with you in your life. But I still trust that you will always do the right thing, whenever possible, for our Moon Kingdom's various inhabitants. Even if it actually does mean that you'll have to sacrifice our Moon Kingdom and your life to save as many of our Kingdom's inhabitants and things as you possibly can, I still trust that you'll always do the right thing, whenever possible, in your very own mortal life. My time for returning to my own time period is almost here now. Fare thee and thy Moon Kingdom well, God willing, then, Serenity."
Just then, and mere moments before she'd have to leave the globe for her own time and place in the Moon Kingdom's history, everyone else who was still in the globe with her said, "Jostara Wallace, who is and was the original Sailor Skyhorse in any possible power level, fare thee well. And we shall always remember you, if at all possible, in each of our lives, for as long as we possibly can. May God bless you quite abundantly, whether or not you ever are quite often in your Scout state, Jostara Wallace, the once and future Skyhorse of the original variety. Fare thee well, for as long as possible. And may God always walk quite closely with you in your own mortal life."
"You're welcome, Scouts. I wish the same for all of you as much as I possibly can in my own mortal life. If we ever do meet again, so be it. But if not, always try to enjoy your lives as much as you all possibly can, whenever you possibly can. And always trust in the One True God of the Universe with all of your hearts. Fare thee all well, Scouts, and may He always walk with you, even through the darkest times that are yet to come for many, if not all, of you in each of your lives." She could, and did, say no more before the vortex's globe then ejected her from it in very short order.
The end of the Ninth Century AD soon passed by, as well. It wasn't too much longer before Peppermint would have to leave the globe herself. The last five or ten minutes, at the very most, before she'd actually have to do so, were mainly spent by her, Serenity, Serena, and Rini, at least, in a more secluded part of the globe that had just appeared moments before. And this was where they all eventually said their respective goodbyes to each other as best as they possibly could say them to each other right here and right now.
Serenity, for instance, said to Peppermint, "I will miss being with you like this, if we never meet again like this. Granted, I am older than you apparently are, right now. But you are still actually my very own mother, and I will always consider you that. Even if I may now look like I'm your mother, and not now your daughter, I still will consider you that. I also wish I could actually know you enough like this when I am, and was still, a young girl. But I don't think that I'll ever be able to do that well enough, Mother, in my very own life."
"Some people say that the Imperium Silver Crystal can actually slow the aging process for those who may possess it, Serenity."
"Maybe so, but I still think that I might remember you better as an adult than I might remember you as a young girl, for all the obvious reasons, Mother. I really don't know how much, if any, of this particular adventure of ours that we'll each remember, once we finally return to our respective time periods. I hope that in time, you actually will remember at least enough to remind me of this adventure of ours, if at all possible, in your own life, at least, Mother."
"So do I, Serenity. And I really wish that I could actually know your children better than I do now know them. Or at least those of them who I know that I've somehow met during this adventure of ours, of course. But if I must go to the Celestial Palace and City before any or all of them are actually born, so be it. I really do hope that I won't have to. But I may still do so, just the same." She said this as she also briefly enough looked at her once and future daughter Serenity Louise Caranski Moon. The once and future Queen Serenity said very little, if anything, more to her mother at the current time.
After looking for a long enough time at her daughter Serenity, Peppermint continued to speak, "Serena Ruth Teresa Hope Rose Moon, if indeed you do have Rini in the future, please try to treat her reasonably well, whenever possible. And try to uphold the honor and the dignity of the blood that will always run within your own veins. You yourself will always have the blood of Moon Kingdom royalty in them. Even if you do actually marry a Terran male named Prince Darien. If Prince Darien is at least half as good as your own Mother and you seem to think, if not also Rini as well, then I have absolutely no doubt that your shared love will last for quite a very long time, if not forever." She paused yet again, so that she could look over her future granddaughter at least a little bit. And she also did that here just so that Serena could say whatever she wanted to say to her own grandmother, before it was too late for her to do so at all. As her own mother had done not too long before here, Serena didn't say much of anything, if anything at all, to Sailor Peppermint, also for all the obvious reasons, at least, if not any others as well, of course.
"As for you, Miss Serena Abigail Shields, please do all that you possibly can do to make as sure as you can that your people are taken care of as best as they possibly can be, at least while you still live your life. Whether you spend them on the Moon, the Earth, or anywhere else in the Universe, Rini, please really try to do that somehow in your own life. And please do really try to remember that within your very own veins will flow the blood of at least two worlds, if not even more than just two worlds, for as long as you actually do live, and exist, in your very own mortal life, at least, Rini. For you'll actually unite at least two worlds at some yet-undetermined time, under the perfect guidance of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, if it's truly God's will that you'll actually do so someday in your life, Rini. Whether it's your mortal one or your immortal one, you'll actually do so, if it's actually God's will that you ever do so someday." Of course, Peppermint said all these things to Rini, before she quite soon afterward quit speaking as well.
Rini said her farewells to Peppermint not too much later, if she'd not already done so by then, at least well enough to suit her to a sufficient enough degree. And as her future mother Serena and her future grandmother Serenity had both done, she had very little, if anything, more at all to currently say to Sailor Peppermint, prior to the time that Sailor Peppermint would have to leave the globe. As soon as everyone that was still in that rather secluded part of the globe realized that it was very unlikely that they'd say anything more to each other at the current time, they left that very same part of the globe as quickly as they could do so.
Then, within another minute or so, at most, Peppermint had to leave the vortex's globe for her own time and place in the Moon Kingdom's history. Serenity said, "I hope that we'll always remember enough of this adventure, people, so that, if possible, we can eventually tell our children about it, in each of our lives and theirs."
"Queen Serenity, is your heart quite sorrowful at the current time?" asked Mercury.
"At least part of it is, Amy. But I'll still adjust to this absence of hers from me, just the same, somehow, if I can. I've missed her before, and I undoubtedly will do so again, Amy. But I will still adjust to her being away from me again, at least to some degree, as long as I possibly can do so in my life."
"You're talking about when you lost her because of the explosion of her spaceship, aren't you?" asked Mars and Mercury together.
"Yes, Scouts, I am. But life quite often doesn't necessarily go as well as someone might actually want it to go in their lives. It'll probably quite seriously break my heart to send those of you away that I can possibly send away from the Moon Kingdom. But I'll still do it to the best of my ability to do so, if and whenever the need actually arises for me to do just that somehow."
As they awaited the eventual departures of Mini Moon and the rest of the Scouts who were from the area of the 30th Century AD, everyone spent most of at least the next several minutes, if not even longer than that, in relative silence. The first of them to disappear again would most likely be Mini Moon, as a matter of fact. For she was apparently the youngest of all the remaining occupants of the globe now in question here. And her specific time was sometime later than the time period that Twilight, Starhawk, and Nightwalker would have to drop back into, at the necessary time here.
Mini Moon gathered all her things closer to her quite quickly, then, if she'd not already done so by then. No more than just a few minutes before she'd have to leave the globe as well, she said, "Mother, please take care of yourself really good, and please don't let Daddy ever get too far away from you for a long enough time, if you can possibly avoid it at all."
"Oh, Rini, you have my word, and I am sure that you also will have the word of any other people that'll be with me at whatever time or times that you may be speaking of here, that we'll do all we can to make sure that he won't ever get too far away from me for too long a time. I may not actually be your mother yet, but I still love you just the same. As I am quite sure that your own mother actually does, in your own particular time period." Just after she said this to her future daughter, both she and Mini Moon suddenly ran into each other's arms while both of them began crying at full blast, just as Serena Moon had quite often been known to do in her very own life back on the Moon. Both of them cried quite intensely in each other's arms as everyone else watched and tried to cover their ears as best as they all possibly could cover them.
But eventually, the crying had to stop, for Mini Moon was going to have to leave the globe too, of course. Then Mini Moon released Moon, and went back to where her things were all collected in a suitably-sized pile of items. Just seconds before she was ejected, she suddenly gave a final salute to all of the Moon-born Scouts that still remained in it, most especially to her future mother, in fact. Less than five seconds after she finished doing so, the part of the globe that she and her things were all either sitting or standing on dropped out from under her and her things. A rather small plume of mostly pink smoke of sorts very briefly appeared, near where she'd just been. And then no further sign that she'd ever really been in the globe remained visible to anyone else who was actually still in the globe.
Moon almost burst out crying again, but Mars said, "God willing, Moon, you'll see her again in time. This I'm totally sure of. I don't know how many of us will ever see her again at least once more. But I do know that you still will do that again, in fact."
"Are you sure, Mars?"
"Count on it, Moon. Count on it very much, I believe, Moon. If any of us ever see her again, you and Darien most certainly will, if none of the rest of us ever do again."
"I'll try to do that, Mars. Thanks for cheering me up again, here!"
"Friends are supposed to do that for each other, whenever possible, in each of their lives. And even if we may fight with each other, I still consider you one of my very best friends ever, Moon."
Not too much later, then, Twilight, Starhawk, and Nightwalker, at least, eventually began collecting their things as well, and putting them exactly where they'd then need to put them around themselves. Whether those things had to be on their person, or they didn't have to be, they still did so, just the same. Finally, with wisps of smoke that were of the appropriate enough colors for each of them, all three of them were ejected as well from the globe, when their time or times for them to be ejected from it came to them again, if they'd done so at least once before in each of their lives. Which was most likely not actually the case for any or all of them, here.
That then left only sentients in the globe who were actually from Serena's time period back on the Moon, quite naturally. Specifically, only about two dozen of them, as a matter of fact. Those sentients were eight Peruvian Monitors who were also Scouts, two cats, all four of the Beta-level Scouts of Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, and eight Scouts that could then be considered to be Inner Scouts, in fact. Meaning, specifically, for those Inner Scouts, at least, Serenity, Moon, Corona, Eclipse, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus.
All of them quite soon afterward then got themselves in the exact same positions relative to each other that they'd been in earlier, when the time vortex had earlier captured them all. Or if they couldn't yet do so well enough at the current time, they all got themselves as much as they then could get into those positions, and waited for their eventual ejections from the globe now in question here, of course.
The date that they'd have to get back to would be June 10, 987, and the place would be somewhere sufficiently close to the Double Earth Palace of Crescent, back on the Moon. For that was when and where they were when they were all earlier captured by the time vortex that actually had whisked them out of their own time period. The Scouts had been patrolling in the area of Crescent for some time, while the cats had hid as best as they could when the vortex had appeared close enough to the aforementioned Moon Kingdom palace. But neither of the cats were actually able to keep themselves from being sucked into the same vortex that'd also just captured all the Scouts that'd been patrolling in the Crescent area of the Moon.
About five minutes or so before they were due to leave the globe, then, they were all just as ready as they possibly could be to leave it, in fact. Even Moon was as ready as she could be for whatever might happen next here, as well.
Most, if not all, of the remaining time that they had left to them before they were due to be ejected out of the globe now in question, they basically spent in relative silence, whenever possible. Even if a lot of things might have actually been on their minds as they awaited their eventual dismissals from the globe, they basically were quite silent while they did so, just the same.
This story ends with the next chapter. I will start posting Operation Cocoon One's text very soon. Maybe even sometime tomorrow or Friday, at that, at the latest. I hope you all have enjoyed and been entertained by this story at least a little bit, though, folks. But if not, then so be it. I will likely begin editing and/or revising it once I am done doing the same with the rest of Book III and all of book IV for this story series, of course. I do not know yet just how long it will take to edit and revise those two stories, for sure. But I still do hope to have Book VI up completely by no later than the end of this month, if at all possible, in any case, to be completely honest with you all here.
As for book VII, it is yet-unknown just how long it will take to completely write and post it, but I'm hoping to finish doing so by no later than the end of June, at this point, if I can. I may not be able to complete it until fall 2019 comes, though, folks.
Until next time, then, I'll close this, but not before reminding you all as seriously as I can that if you haven't read all existing chapters by now for this story series, even for Book III, that you all really DO need to try and do so, just as soon and as well as you possibly can, folks. That's so that you may be better able to follow along with future events and existing or new characters as this story series continues to develop as necessary and all, for sure. TUS out.