Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon, it belongs to Naoko Takeuchi. I fully own my original character Lucy.
Key
"Speaking"
Thoughts/Memories/Premonition/Dream
"Speaking in Another Language"
Thoughts in Another Language
Lunarian
"After nourishment, shelter, and companionship, stories are the things we need most in the world."
Phillip Pullman
~ Chapter 11 ~
~ All Lovely Tales ~
Lucy held Usagi to her, letting her sister's tears soak her bare shoulder, hot tears sliding down to dampen the soft cloth of her gown. Her sister's hitching sobs hurt her, and she felt far more empty than before from the blonde's sorrow.
Continuously, Lucy rubbed at her sister's back, humming a quiet tune to help sooth her. Soft tones left her, gentle lullabies pouring forth from the growing memories, most translated into Japanese loosely.
"Shh," Lucy cooed as her sister's sobs lessened, turning into soft cries, watching Ryū stepped foreword through half closed eyes and shaking her head. He lowered his head, stepping back, and instead Minako, Sailor Venus, stepped foreword, kneeling before them.
"Sa- Princess Serenity," Minako began, look sorrowful, "you remember, don't you? About your sister, the Senshi, and me, Sailor Venus, too?"
Usagi raised her head, tears slipping down her reddened cheeks. She leaned the slightest from Lucy, looking Minako in the eyes before, slowly, nodding her head.
"And you remember how Sailor Venus was the actual leader of the Sailor Senshi, assigned to protect the crown princess?" Minako went on, watching for any recognition in the princess's eyes. There was plenty, mixed was joy and sorrow, a near impossible mix. "And about our queendom, the Silver Millennium?"
"Yes, I remember," Usagi murmured, voice soft cracking on I. She inhaled deeply before continuing. "Back before we were reborn, in our time of peace and happiness, when the Earth was its on kingdom and the Moon its queendom. Our happiness taken from us when the Earth and Moon went to war, and the devastation it caused. And just like then–"
Usagi's words choked off, voice hitching multiple times before she buried her face into her sister's shoulder, sobs renewed. She hadn't needed to finished, they understood her next words. And just like then I couldn't save him.
Lucy hugged her close, letting Usagi's fingers dig into her back like knives. Lucy kissed the top of her sister's head, pressing her nose into the warm yellow strands, inhaling the flowered scent.
"I didn't suspect that Tuxedo Mask might be Endymion…" Luna mewed, steadily pacing. "I never imagined this would happen or that the enemy was never destroyed. That they still live on."
Usagi shuddered, Lucy hugged her tighter a mere second before letting go to cup Usagi's face in her hands. The blonde princess sniffled, moving to bury her face in her hands, but Lucy held her head firmly forward, staring her in the eyes. Her words were quiet, for their ears only, no one else's, not even the air between them was allowed to hear them. "Usa, Sere, we will save him. This time things will be different, we will all be happy."
Her sister's lower lip trembled, eyes glassy, and she nodded weakly, smile forced and watery.
"Don't do that, Sere." Lucy murmured. "Don't force yourself to be happy. It takes away the magic of when you really are."
Blue eyes glanced away, head nodding with a little more firmness this time. Lucy kissed her sister's cheek, letting go of her.
A soft clinking filled the room between the talking Senshi when Lucy slid away, their skirts shifting and separating. Each looked down, and Lucy reached out, picking up the Legendary Silver Crystal as it rolled in a circle. It was warm, just the slightest, like a small newborn kitten, but the gleam it gave as the light struck it appeared to look hallow as a glass bead.
Usagi held out her hand imploringly, to which Lucy handed it over, letting it settle into her sister's softer palm. Usagi turned it, letting the light catch and send fractured light all around them. When she raised it to her face, cheek brushing it gently, Lucy's heart skipped a beat.
Usagi's eyes, half open, fluttered shut. Lucy barely had time to catch her sister with a shouted, "Usagi!" The name was chorused by the Senshi, and Ryū, calling out.
The Legendary Silver Crystal pinged against the floor, rolling until it hit Lucy's foot, stopping amidst the chaos it had created.
Usagi let out a sharp cry, bolting up in bed. Lucy followed, wrapping her arms around her sister, holding her as the bunny cried. Luna sat up from the foot, distress clear, and she shifted in unpleasantness, letting out a quiet mew.
Lucy shook her head, and Luna leapt down, leaving the room with a shake of her head. The cat glanced back once, then was gone, the teens left on their own.
"Bee," Usagi hiccuped, eyes staring at her lap, "how long has it been? I feel like it's been years, but the pain hasn't lessened."
Lucy sighed quietly, "It's okay. It's only been a few days." She rubbed her sister's back, sliding off the bed. "I'll go get you some water, okay? If you didn't drink something you'll get a headache and dehydrated."
Lucy walked into their bathroom, filling up her sister's rinse cup with water. She had to wait for it to fill, and she caught her own reflection in the mirror over their sink, stopping herself dead in her tracks.
Her hair had grown out down her waist with frayed endings, a pale brown now, it tangled from several days worth of forgetting to brush. Dark circles were under her eyes from little sleep, skin a sickly pale pallor. Her sleep clothes were creased and messy. In all honesty, Lucy looked a mess. And Usagi didn't look much better.
It had been a week since Mamoru was taken, and her sister's sorrow had yet to lessen even a fraction, which, upon thinking about it, Lucy understood all too well when Ryū came to mind in this kind of situation.
Suddenly, as she leaned over the sink, watching the water overflow from the cup, her heart went hammering in her chest, like a distressed hummingbird. Lucy sat down heavily on the toilet lid, taking deep breaths as Usagi, gone back to sleep, tossed and turned in her nightmare.
Usagi cried out after five minutes, sitting up quickly. Her sobs were loud, probably heard all the way downstairs. Lucy shuddered, wrapping her arms around herself, fingers digging in until half-moon shapes were left.
The bed creaked as Usagi got out of bed, shuffling into the bathroom. She turned off the sink, setting the cup to the side. The blonde rabbit stared at the mirror, taking in her puffy eyes, poking one, a stuffed pink rabbit clutched to her side.
"I really do look like a bunny," Usagi commented off-handedly, the first words she had really spoken in a week.
A long silence settled in. The blonde shifted uncomfortably, waiting for a reply. As time began to drag, she turned to leave the bathroom.
"Actually," Lucy began, taking a steadying breath, tired smile in place when she lifted her head to catch Usagi's gaze, "you're eyes look more like Chinese Manju dumplings."
A watery grin cracked Usagi's face, laugh shaky. She looked in the mirror again. "I think you're right, Lu!"
Both devolved into laughs, unable to stop themselves. For nearly ten minutes, they did nothing but laugh and pick on their messy appearances. Ten minutes turned to twenty, then thirty, and soon they were leaning on each other, a pile of giggles, stomachs hurting.
"We should," Usagi wheezed, "actually get dressed."
"Y-yeah," Lucy nodded, breathless. "I'm tired of wearing these pajamas."
For the next hour, the two washed themselves and got dressed. Both let their hair dry naturally, brushing it out while chatting about whatever came to mind that wasn't close to their current predicament. At noon Usagi's stomach grumbled loudly, to which Lucy laughed so hard she fell off the bed.
Usagi scowled, grinning deviously a moment later. She pounced on her sister, tickling her, filling the air with shrieks and laughs of delight. Lucy fought back valiantly, slapping, pinching, pushing at Usagi, shrieking giggles escaping through the whole battle. They got tangled in the elder's long, now white hair, but it didn't seem to bother them.
"Give in?" Usagi demanded, straddling Lucy's legs, wiggling her fingers in preparation to strike.
Raising her chin high, Lucy replied, "Never!"
Her eyes widened when Usagi shifted to attack again, but a knock at the door startled them, cutting short their tickle war.
"Usagi-chan, are you alright? Lucy-chan?" Luna mewed. The two exchanged looks before Usagi was getting up to answer the door. "It's me, Luna! Open up."
Before Usagi could touch the handle, the door opened, knocking Usagi back into Lucy as she was getting up. Both fell, yelping in shock.
"Hey, get off!" Lucy puffed, pushing at the rabbit.
Usagi got up, pushing back her hair only to trip over Lucy's ankle and crash into Rei.
Everyone gawked, unsure of whether they were more surprised by the princess bring up and dressed, or the silver hair falling in tendrils over the floor. "Usagi-chan, your hair!"
Usagi looked down, turning and watching the hair move. She looked at Lucy who simply shrugged. "It started growing and changing color when we got up this morning," Usagi explained. "Lucy's has been at it since yesterday… I think."
"You're right," Lucy clambered to her feet successfully this time. Her skin was flushed from laughing, and she might have a bruise or two on her side from harsh jabs of Usagi's fingers. She brushed off her skirt, throwing fallen pillows on their bed. "C'mon in! We need to talk."
"Hold on, let me get some scissors from the bathroom," Minako stated, leaving to get them.
She returned a few moments later as the group had settled down on the soft carpet in a semi-circle, legs crossed or tucked under. Makoto grabbed a nearby mirror, and Lucy took the scissors, measuring length before snipping the edges. Rei passed Minako the pins for the princess's hair, pulling up the cut lengths to turn them into her telltale buns.
"My hair was long as a princess, huh?" Usagi murmured, brow furrowing.
"It's probably due to your memory returning so quickly that your body underwent a change." Minako explained, giving one last twist to the second bun. She looked over at Lucy and her hair, nodding. "The same goes for your body. Would you like your hair cut back to its length?"
Lucy lifted up the long strands, shaking her head. "No. Just trimmed." She said, dropping it, handing over the scissors. "I'd been growing it out to begin with."
Minako shrugged, sitting behind Lucy, cutting away the split ends, fingers slow, gentle against the brunette's scalp.
"Do you have the Legendary Silver Crystal?" Asked Luna, watching Usagi intently, worry still clear in her gaze.
Usagi nodded, pulling the gem from her pocket. Holding it to the light, right eye closed, lips opened slightly. "Yes, but it hasn't changed at all." She set it down in her lap, mirroring Luna's look. "Is it really the Legendary Silver Crystal?"
"Back then," Lucy murmured, mind wondering to a week previous, looking straight out the window at the tree and clear sky, "it was shining like the sun."
It was quiet, the sound of Minako's scissors snipping away as long, drawn out minutes stretch between them all. Minako finished, fluffing out the pale strands. The golden Senshi brushed off stray bits of hair, patting her back.
"Done!" Minako hummed, turning to the group, setting the scissors on the desk nearby. Lucy turned around with Minako, pulling the hair around her ears back, pinning it with the moon clip.
"Say, at the time didn't it lose whatever was inside it and get sucked up into the body of Tuxedo Mask?" Makoto questioned, missing how Usagi tensed up even as Lucy laid an arm over her sister's shoulders, trying to ground her in the here and now. "Isn't there a secret somehow connected to that?"
"Tuxedo Mask?" Usagi murmured, rising, demanding. "Where is he now?"
She turned, beginning to pace. Lucy stood up, reaching for her sister, who only backed further away. "We have to defeat the Dark Kingdom! We need to rescue him!"
"Usagi-chan?!" Ami followed the princess, grabbing one of her hands.
"If we don't, his body will continue to wither away…. No! No, Endymion!" Tears gathered, falling. Lucy grabbed Usqgi's shoulders, wrenching her back into the present.
"Stop it!" She shouted, reeling her in, shoulders tensed, gut tight with terror. "Stop it, please! This isn't like you, Usa. Please… stop…"
"We're right here with you," Minako joined in, hands clenched tight at her sides, own cornflower gaze shimmering with tears of worry. "Our lives are dedicated to serving you. We all," she motioned to the Senshi who had stood, arm arcing wide, "will help you get him out of there, so please–! Please, stop your crying!"
"Return to the bright, happy girl you were. Okay?" Finished the blonde Senshi, lowering her arm.
Lucy let go of Usagi, stepping back to join their friends. Her fingers clutched the hem of her skirt, rumbling the pale rose material. "Usa," Lucy began, shoulders trembling, heart twisting and loosening, as if at war with itself, "we are right here. For you. But we can't do anything if we don't have you, our leader and princess, to lead us."
"I…" Usagi fell silent, biting her lip, visibly trying to stem the flow of tears. The silence stretched out, heavy with unresolved tension. Her breath, let out slowly, heavily, broke the silence. "I need to know where the Dark Kingdom is," she began. "I also need to know the secret behind the Legendary Silver Crystal. But I don't know where to start! I don't know anything? What'll I do?!"
"Let us go to the Moon." Luna stated, firmness to her shoulders Lucy had sorely missed this past week. All attention changed to her, varying degrees of surprise on each visage. "Let's go to where our queendom used to be."
Lucy opened her mouth to ask how, cut off by a gentle knock on the door. A moment later, Ikuko cracked the door open, peering around the edge.
"Girls?" She smiled brightly at everyone, especially her children, relieved to see them- particularly Usagi- up after a week of distress and worry. "Oh, wonderful! How did you get Usagi up?"
"We didn't, Tsukino-san. She was up when we came in." Makoto explained. "It was all Lucy's doing."
Ikuko turned to Lucy, pride and relief clear in her eyes. "Thank you so much, dear. You're sister was worrying me most."
"You aren't alone in that." Lucy replied, wanting to hug Ikuko in comfort, only too unsure to do so. "I think all of us have been worried."
The mother nodded, looking back at the door. "Yes. Someone else came to check on you girls." She motioned in Ryū, which wasn't a possibility any of the Senshi had thought of.
Upon entering, Ryū looked directly to Lucy. His eyes lit up, dragon fire sparked to life in the depths. The fire made Lucy look away, cheeks warm.
"Since there are so many of you," Ikuko said, moving toward the door, "I'm sure nothing is going to happen. To keep Kenji's peace of mind when he gets home later, I'm leaving the door open."
"Thank you, Mama," both sisters said together. Usagi's eyes flickered to Lucy in surprise, a grin spreading as she looked back to Ikuko, their mother, who fumbled at the door a split moment, walking away unshaken the next.
Luna checked outside the door before returning to the group. She hopped onto the desk so she could be seen, eyes landing on Ryū.
"I came to check on them," he explained uncomfortably when her rose hued eyes didn't waver. "I was worried."
"I'm glad you came, Kazeno-san," Luna replied. "This is important to you, as well."
"What do you mean?" He questioned, slipping his hands into his pockets, seeming at ease. Lucy recognized the line in his shoulders, giving away his unrest and worry.
"We plan to go to the Moon. You have as much right to your past as the rest of us, so I would like you to join us."
"Luna, are you sure?" Minako glanced at Ryū. "This is more something best kept between us."
"Kazeno-san is one of us." Minako was still a moment, nodding slowly. "Before we go any further, is everyone in favor of this plan?" Everyone nodded. "Good, now that we've decided to do it, we can start planning. Let set it, hmmm… the night of the next full moon would be best."
"Yes, it'll be directly overhead," Ami agreed, heading to the window, looking at the low Moon in the distance. "I have a question, how are we getting to the Moon?"
"You will find out when the night we go there arrives." Mewed Luna, tail flicking once before settling over her front paws. "It isn't very hard to reach, if that helps set what worries you have at ease."
For Lucy, it didn't, but she remembered how to travel between planets without a portal. The way was kept between the royal families, words in Lunarian. She shivered at the click on her tongue, the soft hum vibrating deep in her vocal cords, waiting to be used. A warm arm wrapped around her, pulling her into Ryū's side.
She looked up at Ryū who's gray eyes watched her quietly. "You'll get your memories back, don't worry."
"I know," she murmured, "it's not my memories, or going to the Moon. I'm just…" Words decided right then to allude her, to play a game of hide-and-seek Lucy wasn't in the mood for. "Unsure. I want to know, I want everyone to know, but what if something goes wrong?"
"Nothing will."
Her lips pressed tightly together. "How do you know that, Ryū?"
"Because you wouldn't let anything go wrong."
Finally, Lucy looked away. She stared out the window at the low moon, it's golden crescent sharp as a knife. "I… I don't think I could though. I didn't last time. That's how we ended up here."
Ryū opened his mouth to speak, stopped by his own will. His eyes flashed with knowledge, of something far after, or maybe before, or during this single moment. The look was gone a moment later. His breathe was drawn out. "You," he breathed, "were not the cause of that. It was the Dark Kingdom's twisted followers and evil that caused it."
In his arms, she shivered again. This time, Lucy shoved down the cold, looking to her friends and sister, who had left the topic of the Moon and reaching it for the moment. They had a week until it was full again, giving them enough time to plan and… and…
Lucy grinned, slipping out of Ryū's arm. She tapped her sister on the shoulder. The blonde turned, looking up at the brunette curiously. "We have school work to catch up on."
Usagi froze like a frightened rabbit, eyes widening. "B-b-but," she whimpered as Ami zeroed in on them.
"You're right!" Ami nodded, grabbing the books she had set by the door. "We have the weekend to catch you up! Let's start now."
"Do we have to?" Usagi begged. "I don't want to!"
"You have to," Luna joined. Rei nodded, "You can't let your grades slip! You're a princess, after all."
Usagi looked to Makoto and Minako in desperation, both shrugging. "Sorry, Usagi-chan," Minako smiled, hands held up in a 'what can you do?' gesture, "my grades aren't much better."
"If you want summer school, or cram school, you can skip all your assignment," Makoto added, causing Usagi to wince.
"Oooooooh," Usagi groaned, taking the book Ami had patiently held out. "Fine!" She pointed an accusing finger at Lucy. "You're helping me! No arguing it!"
"Wasn't even going to." Lucy replied calmly, opening to the dogeared page in her English book. "We have the same classes, remember?"
Ryū was in the hall by the time Luna got his attention. "Why not stay, help Usagi-chan and Lucy-chan catch up?"
"I don't think I should."
"They could use another friend." Luna went on. "Especially Lucy-chan. Her main priority is Usagi-chan, and she will lean on no one, I remember that about her. Stay, help her."
Ryū held the cat's eyes, looking for a reason to say no. When a reason wasn't forth coming, he gave in, returning to the door, dropping his jacket on the back of the chair as he entered. He dropped down on Lucy's left, getting a small jump out of both young women. Glancing over the work Lucy was doing, Ami focusing on Usagi as she blundered through science, he noticed an error in her math.
"Here," he took the math paper out of her hand and pointed to where she did the problem wrong halfway through. "Start over here and your golden."
Looking scandalized, she snatched the paper back, narrowing her eyes at him then the paper. Her lips puckered. Then her cheeks colored and her eased shoulders hunched. Usagi glanced over at the paper, unable to see it as Lucy flipped the paper over to hide the problems. She wasn't fond of messing up her math work, it being one of her better subjects along with art and history.
"Thank you," Lucy mumbled, rewriting the equation on the back and redoing it, multiplying instead of dividing this time. The last two equations Lucy finished without help, picking up her own science work with a grimace. Lucy abhorred science. She wasn't terrible at science, just didn't like it.
"Think about it this way," Ryū recommended, watching how she struggled. "Science has math in it, and history, too. You just have to use it a little differently."
"But science." Lucy stressed, nose scrunching.
The blond rolled his eyes. "I'll help you through it, then. I've already learned about," he looked at the title of the chapter she had to read, "biology."
Her pale eyes narrowed, looking up at him wonderingly. Her voice came out slowly. "Alright."
Ryū grabbed the book from her, setting it across his legs. "Great!"
The clock read six-thirty, and so Lucy sat up, climbing down to shuffle into the bathroom. Usagi followed shortly after, brushing their teeth in sync, eyes glazed with sleep. They spit, and Lucy wrinkled her nose at the lingering paste, filling her cup to gurgle and spit out the rest.
"Good morning, girls!" Luna mewed, padding past the bathroom door, heading to the kitchen downstairs. "I will be seeing you all later."
Neither had time to reply, that cat gone before they could register the words, so instead focusing on getting dressed and down the stairs, glad to see their hair back to its natural color with their disguise items. Ikuko was pleased to see them up, giving each a hug that was returned warmly at they slowly awoke more and more. At the table, the sisters talked, pulling their mother into the conversation, eating breakfast.
Kanji came down, pulling from his pocket a delicate silver chain with a familiar gem that caught the light, refracting a rainbow of beauty as the rising sun struck it. "Usagi, you wanted this made into a pendant, right? Here it is."
"Thank you, Papa!" Usagi chirruped, hugging Kenji happily. Lucy looked over the gem as it spun slowly, hovering over her blonde counterpart's hand. It looked amazingly beautiful, more so than before, as if new life had been breathed into it.
"You're treating it like something precious. Did you get it from someone you're in love with?" Kenji questioned his eldest daughter, not really expecting a reply, and certainly not a sighed, half-distracted, "Yeah."
Kenji jerked, eyes wide and mouth opened in distress. "What? No!"
"Something like that, anyway," she added softly, letting Lucy take the necklace and link it around the blonde's neck. She took the crystal in hand, turning it left and right.
Lucy watched her sister, look outwardly calm though her eyes held worry beyond her years. She grabbed the hand on the table, blocking out Kenji's muttering of both his daughters growing up in the blink of an eye.
Soon, it was time to head to school, the moon still visible in the early morning sky.
School had been a blur, it gone so quickly. The group had said their goodbyes, promising to meet later in the park as planned. Ryū had been nowhere in sight that day, a surprising change from his meetings with the Senshi at lunch and walking the sisters home.
Upon getting home, the two nearly planted face first in the carpet. Instead, they sat on the stairs, back to back. When Luna appeared, she chased the pair upstairs. In their room, Lucy sat and began on her homework, talking Usagi into hers as well.
They braked for dinner and finished near nine. The two decided that staying in their uniform was also unhelpful, and changed. Lucy wore a beige dress with stockings and her brown flats while Usagi changed into a white skirt, her black school shoes, and a loose red-and-white plaid top with a red belt. When the clock in their room struck eleven-thirty, they opened the window, climbing out.
Ryū stood on the other side of the fence, waiting for them. He smiled at Lucy, elbow out to her, and she took it, all hesitation lost over the week. While Usagi had leaned on Lucy and their friends, Lucy had had Ryū to lean on. She admitted that she liked him, and he had his charm. He was also nice, and it took a certain type of man to stay good in the face of so much prejudice and destruction.
Lucy found herself falling for Ryū just as she had a millennium ago, only more willing this time.
A thousand years since we've been on the Moon... Lucy thought as the four entered the park. The other Senshi were there to meet them, and Lucy's slipped down, grabbing at Ryū's hand, lacing their digits together. How has it changed?
"Is everyone in top shape?" Luna asked soon as the two groups had become one. Everyone nodded, and Luna nodded. "Good. Everyone transform."
Minako and Rei hesitated, glancing at Ryū. When Lucy transformed along with Usagi, they felt more sure and joined Makoto and Ami is their change. Together, they stood in a circle as instructed, hands clasped. Artemis and Luna sat in the center, perched on Ryū's shoulders.
"Repeat after me," Artemis ordered, "Sailor Transport."
The language wasn't new to Lucy, the words were. For a moment, she was stunned, repeating in sync with the others just in time. Each of them became a column of light, each matching their respective fuku, save Lucy and Usagi who were a bright white. Gravity shut down in their circle, hair raising above them, skirts and collars defying gravity.
Everything went white, momentarily blinding everyone, and then they were touching down on uneven ground, a bubble of translucent air surrounding them in a warm glow. Usagi and Lucy still clasped hands, looking around in surprise.
"Where are we, Luna?" Lucy questioned, familiarity pulling at her conscious. It felt as if she had been here just yesterday, though the barren landscape was not what made up the memories of her previous incarnation.
"Mare Serenitatis, the 'Sea of Serenity'." Luna mewed softly, whiskers twitching.
"This is the Moon…?" Lucy trailed, eyes prickling with unshed tears at the barren wasteland that went on for miles before them. The memories of the Moon was full of life, color, people, not this land of dark nothing. Usagi wrapped her hands around her arm, leaning into her sister's cold arm.
"And not a sound! It's so strange." Minako sighed sadly, hands cupped around her ears in hope of hearing something, hair levitating around her body.
Makoto looked over at Lucy and Usagi. From where she stood, Usagi looked a little bit… "Hey, Ami, Minako," she called, motioning to Usagi, "a true moon bunny!"
A bark of laughter escaped Lucy at the joke, even as Minako tripped and Usagi gapped, Ami frozen in shock with wide eyes, mouth able to catch flies. Lucy and Makoto high-fixed and Usagi rolled her eyes, letting go of her sister's arm and beginning to walk north, away from Earth.
Pillars of a blue-white soon stood in the distance, and a courtyard full of flowers from far across the galaxy came to mind. There was a chamber only Queen Selenity was allowed in, where the Crystal Tower rose far into the sky from an opening in the Chamber of Prayer's ceiling.
"Look at all the broken columns," Ami murmured, as the stepped onto shattered, uneven stone of the Chamber of Prayer. Memories hung if the edge of the Water Senshi's eyes like a fog. "This area was where the temple was?"
"Yes," Lucy breathed, stepping with Luna, progressing deeper. She shivered, feeling herself step over the threshold from the main walkways into the Chamber. It felt wrong. "This was the Moon Castle."
Luna rubbed Lucy's ankles. "And these here are the remains of the Chamber of Prayer, where only the queen could enter. And here," Luna sat, eyes infinity sad, staring up at the pillar once made of a clear, glowing crystal, now hard and clear as stone, was the very heart of the Moon Castle, the Crystal Tower."
The teens looked around, at the fallen pillars, crumbling archways, decimated walkways, at the destruction of their once beautiful, thriving civilizations, the Moon Queendom just the heart of their vast knowledge and wealth. This was the beginning of what their previous lives, one thousand years later, looked liked, and each of the Senshi thought, What does my kingdom now look like? and their hearts cried at the thought, at the image provided.
Usagi had wandered closer to the Crystal Tower, curious to see what was coming from the dais. It looked to be a sword with a once elaborate hilt, but the rabbit wasn't sure. "What's that?"
Lucy picked up Luna, walking closer. Luna's brows arched, surprised by the handle sticking from the dais. Immediately, she called for the Senshi, ordering them to pull the sword. Rei tried first, positioned in front of the dais with her feet spread evenly apart, pulling and grunting. When her hand seized in a harsh cramp, Rei stepped back, wringing her tensed hand.
Ami tried next, both hands wrapped around the hilt. She stepped up into the lower tier and tugged, refusing to let go. Ten or so minutes passed, her tugging and wrenching before suddenly, "Ow!" She let go, falling back, Lucy catching her just before she fell. The older teen huffed, shaking out her hands as Makoto came up to bat.
"A sword in the stone?" She scoffed, kneeling on either side of the sword, grabbing the sword and pulling up instead of back. "The whole thing's fossilized! Not possible!"
"Put all your strength in!" Luna encouraged. "You should be able to do it!"
Makoto stepped back, rubbing her back with a look of unease, thinking the cat insane for having them come out here and start trying to pull a sword, obviously fossilized, out of this dais. Minako herself pulled her gloves on tighter, eyes narrowed in concentration, tongue sticking out the corner of her mouth.
"Right!" She marched over, climbing onto the dais. She stood, bending at the waist. Her hands clasped the hilt, pulling straight. It came out like a knife in warm butter, sparks flying. A low humming began, much like a computer hums, and the dais lit up, a small, fairy-like figure knelt in the center, surrounded by a pale blue-white light.
Her look was gentle, and her uncanny resemblance to Usagi was astounding, right down to the golden Lunar sigil in her brow, little gems reaching out under her bangs to look like a tiara. The only difference between them seem to be her soft, lilac hair and silver rimmed violet eyes. A small, ethereal beauty who only seemed to smile benevolently at the group. Her voice carried far though it was small.
"That is the sacred sword of legends that protects the princesses. Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus, this belongs to you." She looked directly to Luna and Artemis. "Luna, Artemis, thank you for bringing everybody here." She stood without aid, rising like the dawn. Her eyes laid on Lucy and Usagi, eyes twinkling with memory. "To the people of Terra, I am called the incarnation of my mother, the Moon goddess Selene. I am the former queen of Silver Millennium, Queen Selenity."
Queen Selenity walked close to the edge, reaching for the sisters. Lucy knelt on Usagi's left, hands clasped in her lap, dumbstruck. This was what their past mother, Queen Selenity, looked like? She was breathtaking, even if a pre-recording left for them.
"My cute little daughters, Serenity and Phoibe." Queen Selenity's smile widened a bit, eyes fond like only a mother's could be. Lucy blinked, at the fairy's next words. "I can see you well. You both appear a little different, but that is expected with rebirth."
Ami recoiled, shocked. "This isn't just a recording?"
Queen Selenity nodded, moving closer to where Ami stood. "This image is created through combining computers with my past memories," she explained calmly, given years to understand this about herself. "Using the Eternity Main System in the Moon Castle, my will lives on even though my body has long since turned to dust."
"Queen Selenity," Lucy spoke up, hesitant. "How did Luna and Artemis come to be here in the future?"
She nodded. "I put Luna and Artemis into a cold sleep then awakened them to watch over you all. I've been waiting a long time for this moment. It's all been turned to ruins now, but do you remember? When the Moon Castle was still beautiful?"
Lucy could, all of the teens could. The high domes and false winds and greenery, the gardens of flowers dutifully tended to keep alive. The memory of Serenity always trying to run off to Earth, to feel the cool grass between her toes, sweet smelling wind in her hair and along her arms, to let sunlight dapple her skin through waxy, breathing tree leaves.
Lucy, known as Phoibe, always tailing her sister to keep her safe when the Senshi could not, able to see through all tricks and even helping with some. How she, too, fell in love with the living life of Earth, all its flaws and beauties taking her in a whirlwind. The Senshi and their constant watch of Serenity, of protecting her and scolding her as she learned to rule Silver Millennium. Luna's own scolding of Phoibe, the aged Themis stopping the mau mid-tirade, and her slow learning of her healing abilities and duties as Serenity's future adviser.
How they found love. Serenity so willing and Phoibe initially reluctantly, how one went the honorable way and the other did not.
"We Lunarians are a long-lived race born on the Moon. We protect the sacred stone handed down the Moon's Royal family, the Legendary Silver Crystal." She continued to explain, pulling the group from their pasts. "Our mission is to remove the disturbing factors from Terra and instead encourage, provide rescue, and guide Terra to evolve in the best manner possible. Even now, after so long waiting for you, the memory is clear."
Above Queen Selenity, a hologram appeared, depicting the Galaxy from a long time ago. The Stars were numerous and young, bright as the sun. The sun in question was glowing strangely, black spots convulsing, bulging and sliding across the red-orange surface. It wasn't normal, for now or then.
"Father Sun at the time was wracked with extraordinary activity. The sun let out a strange glow that had never been seen before." An odd, blackish-green hue began to radiate from the sun, and Ryū pulled Lucy back in alarm. She glanced back at him, just remembering he was there. He smiled vaguely at her before looking to the hologram. The green-tinged sun pulled in the blackness, and seemed to almost spit the mess at the Earth. "That abnormal Sun brought disaster to the solar system. Alien creatures invaded Terra and tried to take the beautiful planet for their own. That alien life was humanity's enemy." She faltered, shaking her head, "No, the enemy of all that exists. Evil in its truest form. And they were not content with simply Terra."
Usagi's hand found Lucy's, clasping tightly, fingers interlocked. Ryū rested a hand on one of their shoulders, a weight of comfort, of protection without statement.
"They sought the Legendary Silver Crystal and its limitless power." Queen Selenity continued. "Making use of the dark places deep in the bottom of the human heart, they attacked the Moon. At the time, the young-yet-strong Prince Endymion and Lord Drakon and his family alone remained immune to the enemy's lies, and fought long and hard to protect their people. But Prince Endymion was too late and he fell protecting you, Serenity."
The image turned, reshaping to show as the people of Earth turned away from their Prince, going towards and doing battle against the unsuspecting Moon. The teens gasped in shock as Prince Endymion jumped before Princess Serenity, taking a killing blow. The screams of anguish and fury echoed in their ears as Serenity took up the sword Minako now held, running herself through. Phoibe came into the picture, crying over her sister before removing the sword and killing herself.
"In your despair, you decided to take your own life, and Phoibe followed suit, Serenity unable to live with the loss of Prince Endymion and Phoibe unable to live with the destruction of Serenity and Silver Millennium." Queen Selenity grew quiet, voice near silent as she asked, eyes glassy with sadness, "Do you remember that?"
Usagi was crying silently, her nod of affirmation jerky. Lucy clenched her eyes, hoping to stave off the memories. But she remembered, and it hurt. It hurt terribly, clenching and twisting her heart in her chest. Lucy squeezed Usagi's hand, Usagi returning the gesture.
"After that, I was able to finally seal it away. In the process, the Moon Castle was turned to stone entirely and crumbled into ruin." She sighed. "At the same time, the Terran kingdom fell as well, and once again, Terra was left to evolve. This time, alone." The small spirit walked the dais, look turning troubled as she spoke. Lucy couldn't recall Queen Selenity ever being so expressive. "That was a tale from the ancient past. The evil creatures have been revived. There is no telling where they are hiding, but they are at work in the deep recesses of Terra. Back then…"
The images returned to Serenity and her suicide. Queen Selenity pressed a hand to her collarbone, gaze troubled. "Back then, the shock of losing you, the despair and confusion with it, in my weakness, I could not use the complete power of the Legendary Silver Crystal. Because I could not use the crystal's full power the seal on that evil creature was imperfect. So this time," her eyes hardened, looking up at her reincarnated daughters with a surety and seriousness both remembered well, "we must make it vanish completely! We must use the true power of the Legendary Silver Crystal!"
Queen Selenity moved to the edge, reaching toward Usagi. "Crown Princess, only you have the power to wipe the evil from existence!"
"But Your Majesty, the Silver Crystal has been acting strangely!" Minako came forward, holding the sword close to her chest. "What was inside seemed to be sucked inside Prince Endymion and it lost its glow and has refused to work since!"
The queen was surprised, covering her mouth, thinking. "What was inside was sucked in…? Does that mean… you wanted to save him, Serenity, and in that moment, you exorcized your will? You were so worried, and the anxiousness showed in your eyes, didn't it, Serenity?" She nodded, understanding in her eyes. "It'll be fine. He's alive, I'm sure of it. Relax."
Usagi nodded, giving a watery smile. Queen Selenity looked proud of her eldest daughter, and Lucy smiled reassuringly at her sister. "Serenity, remember this well; the Legendary Silver Crystal depends on your heart, an iron will, strong determination, and deep feelings of love. Without all these, you cannot hope to eliminate the evil. You are a princess and the guardian of love and justice, Sailor Moon." She looked to Lucy, motioning her closer. "You, too, are a princess. Both of you have confidence and pride in these facts.
"Also never forget that you are normal girls too. The true reason why you were reborn is found there as well..." Her voice began to fade, body starting to glitch as her halo of light began to fade. "… rem… at…"
"Your Majesty?!" Lucy cried, reaching and pulling back in unsure.
"Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus, please combine your strength to protect the princesses and bring back this queendom and this Moon Castle. I'm almost… out of pow… er. I can only spe… speak for another moment or two." Queen Selenity began to fade, and Lucy reached as Usagi did. "My children… I wish you… all the happiness…"
"Wait, please!" Usagi cried, pulling the Legendary Silver Crystal from her neck and offering it as Queen Selenity disappeared in a small ball of light. "If you need power, this can–"
"Your Majesty?" Lucy murmured as her sister fell silent, tears finally falling. Her heart felt as if it hung on by a thread. Usagi buried her face in Lucy's shoulder, tears seeping through to her shoulder. Lucy turned, holding Usagi close, head bowed. Ryū had stepped back, allowing Minako and the other Senshi to step forward and comfort the two.
Luna looked out over the landscape in silence, at the slowly lightening land of nothing. "It appears morning will be coming to Earth soon. We have to go back."
Usgai nodded, standing. Though help was offered, she shook her head, rising in her own. Lucy followed suit, resting a hand on Usagi's shoulder. She looked to Lucy with a soft sadness, and Lucy felt her heart begin to ease.
"It'll be alright, Usa." Lucy promised, two following Luna back to where they'd landed. Usagi nodded, looking up into the stars to the distant Earth.
"Earth looks like a glass ball decoration that hands on a Christmas tree." She stated. "The stars millions of twinkling lights."
Lucy mulled over the rabbit's words, nodding. "Yeah. And we're the ones to make sure the decoration continues to shine."
Big blue eyes darted back to the brunette, surprise and hope there. Lucy shrugged quietly, taking her sister's hand as they formed the transportation circle. "We're sisters. I'll always be there for you. A thousand years wouldn't change that. Nothing would change that fact."
Opening her mouth to speak, Usagi was stopped by the others calling out, "Sailor Transport!"
Unlike with going to the Moon, returning to Earth was quick, a snap of light and they were touching down. The elder princess' lower lip trembled, her arms wrapping around Lucy's neck. She took a deep breath of the sweet air of Earth, let the sound of the distant crashing waves cover her, and laughed.
They weren't observing Earth like Queen Selenity had said. No, Usagi thought, releasing her sister and looking to the breathtaking sunrise of soft golds, pinks, yellows, and oranges, we constantly dreamed of this beautiful planet, we loved it, and watched over it.
Lucy yawned, exhaustion sweeping over her as her disguise melted away. In an instant, Usagi had changed back, pulling her sister close in another hug. At arms length, Lucy looked to Usagi in curiosity.
"You've changed." She stated, gaining a nod. "Yep! Now let's go home! I'm tired!"
Ryū coughed, covering a laugh, grin in place. Finally, he spoke. "Or maybe she really hasn't."
Rei looked at him, nodding. "I think you're onto something."
"Hey!"
A group of laughs filled the morning air, giving promise to a good future.
Words w/o Additional Script: 7,382
If you've noticed, instead of using kingdom, like in the manga, anime, and the rest of the fandom- and natural world- I instead used queendom, which is a monarchy where the queen holds the highest position of power, which is the Moon Queendom, or Silver Millennium. It is also, next to Venus, the only other queendom in my headcanon of Sailor Moon's past, seeing as we know very little about it and Naoko Takeuchi never expanded on it. I've decided that with them now aware of their pasts, the Silver Millennium will be called queendom.
Also, you may have noticed Queen Selenity saying Terra instead of Earth. This is because a thousand years ago Earth was Terra, not Earth.
This had a lot of heavy Usagi in it, which is why it was also heavily third person. I wanted this to be more Lucy and Usagi, but not everything goes the way a writer wants, does it?