TropicalRemix: Well, first off, thanks for being the first to review this fic with corrections. As for the whole Moon Princess/Mamoru thing... well, you'll just have to find out (evil grin).
The people didn't know what to do. Some of the people walking by or living nearer to the park watched on in shock as the crystal rose right out of the ground. It was like something out of Superman. The Fortress of Solitude just rose out of nothing, right in Tokyo.
Some people were scared. What was going on? Was a hostile takeover occurring? Who was going to die from this?
Others were excited. A whole new world was coming to Tokyo. What exciting new things would happen? Who would come into luck with this new development?
But, for sure, everyone was confused. No one knew exactly what was going on. A whole new world was, in fact, coming to Tokyo, and no one could say that a hostile takeover wouldn't result in the end of many lives. All they could do was wait.
The Tsukino parents were fast asleep when the palace rose. They felt the 'earthquake' and got out of bed, rushing into Shingo's room. How had no one known? The bells weren't ringing, and Japan, Tokyo especially, was known for its early-warning system of earthquakes and tsunamis. Shingo, however, was looking out his window. The two parents approached the window their son was staring out of so intently and gasped. There, they saw the palace rising up in the distance.
Mizuno Saeko had been operating on a patient that had been the unfortunate victim of a drunk driver when the earthquake hit. She let out a few... choice words as the lights flickered and the room shook, but it soon ended, allowing her to get back to work. Once she finished the operation, however, the victim safe and sound, she noticed some nurses excitedly rushing to the room. Confused, Saeko followed, resulting in her seeing the bright palace rather nearby in the park.
Grandpa Hino smiled as he walked through the shrine, ignoring the panicked Yuuichirou's attempt to get him to safety. Grandpa, on the other hand, merely asked the boy to get him some rice from the grocery store. "Rice?" Yuuichirou asked in shock. "At one in the morning?"
Poor Makoto had no family to worry for her, to panic about the rising.
And Minako... her parents weren't even in Japan. They had sent their daughter back to Japan on her own.
Usagi still felt horribly weak as she and the other senshi made their way into the palace. They walked into the palace, and a pink light washed over them.
"Tsukino Usagi, Mizuno Ami, Aino Minako, Hino Rei, Kino Makoto, Luna, and Artemis," an automated voice stated blandly. "DNA accepted." The door behind them closed, and the door in front of them opened. They walked inside, surprised by what had just occurred. The girls and Artemis almost screamed when a blueprint hologram appeared in front of them. The robotic voice began speaking again. "Sorry for the surprise. These are the blueprints for the castle. In the case that you get lost, just call out the word 'blueprints', and a copy will appear before you." The blueprints disappeared, and the girls walked off to where Ami had noted the infirmary was.
Usagi sat down and patiently waited for Ami to stitch up her wound. "So," she began as Ami cut the string tying her wound together, "did anyone else feel something... change? Not just the palace rising, but something else."
"I felt it, too," Luna agreed. "It was like all the severe negative energy in the country vanished."
"Your attack might have destroyed the Dark Kingdom," Artemis continued. "Luna and I will go out searching for anything strange tomorrow-"
"You mean other than a crystal palace rising out of nothing?" Sailor Venus asked, eyebrow raised.
"You know what I mean, Minako-chan," Artemis scolded.
"Yes, well, it seems that you five have some time to rest and get to know each other," Luna informed them. After all, you were great friends in the Silver Millennium."
The girls looked at each other with paranoia, but Usagi was the first to break the ice by detransforming. "I'm Tsukino Usagi," she smiled, giving a polite bow to Sailor Venus. Slowly, one by one, each of the senshi detransformed, ending with the still-hesitant Rei.
"So..." the blonde now known as Aino Minako began. "I think we should come here every day after school to train and learn more about our jobs."
"Yes, because that will work," Rei replied sarcastically. Imitating a passerby, she said, "Hm, five girls and two cats repeatedly coming in and out of a magical palace shortly after the senshi and their cats come into the palace. No, there's no possible way those could be connected."
"Blueprints!" Minako called to nothing, and the 3D image appeared before them. "Locate escape tunnels." The blueprints separated into many smaller blueprints, and each one started showing a path to a different escape tunnel.
"This is so cool," Makoto whispered.
"It's far beyond anything I've seen on the Mercury computer," Ami agreed. "The artificial inteligence it must require..."
"What about our families?" Usagi asked. The other four turned to her in surprise. "My parents... what will they think? Are they even my parents?"
"Usagi-chan, of course they're your parents," Luna promised. "They're just your parents from this time. You are their daughter as much as you were Queen Serenity's daughter."
"Promise?" Usagi asked hesitantly.
"Of course," Luna replied. "...But they can't know about this. No one can know your true identities. Not yet."
"Well when can we tell people?" Makoto asked. "We can't keep this a secret forever. People are going to be asking questions, you know. And they have a right to know the truth."
"We will tell them once we have established a strong government and do not have any interfering conflicts," Artemis explained. "Perhaps when you girls are on a school break."
"Okay..." Usagi agreed hesitantly. "That's two months. Plenty of time to settle in. Right? But... I want people to know who is governing them. They don't have to know it's Tsukino Usagi and her friends, but Mako-chan is right. They have a right to know who Neo-Queen Serenity is, why she's here, and what her plans are. I don't care if I have an interview with a reporter or a press confrence or whatever, but I want everyone to know that I'm here to bring peace."
The others nodded in agreement.
"We should meet back here after school tomorrow," Minako decided. "It seems there is an escape route near a few schools. I'm presuming they are yours?"
The girls nodded in response.
"Good," Artemis continued. "Meet back here. Four o' five. Don't be late."
"Until then, you should all get plently of sleep," Luna agreed. "You're going to be very busy from now on."
Using the blueprints, each girl got back to their homes. Usagi was in the middle of taking a bath when she realized something. "HOLY CRAP!" she yelled, not really caring who heard.
"What?" Luna asked, suddenly alarmed.
Usagi's heart was about to thump-thump-thump its way out of her chest. "I'm the Moon Princess. How did this happen? I thought the princess wasn't supposed to be a senshi."
"Hm..." Luna mused, thinking back. "Well, it's still a bit fuzzy, but I think Queen Serenity used her power to make you a senshi so Earth would stand a better chance against the Dark Kingdom. I promise I'll explain everything once I get all my memories back. And you might want to stop and think every once in a while, too. Your memories should be coming back as well."
"Great," Usagi replied sarcastically. "One day I'm failing bio, the next I'm destined to rule Japan."
"Uh... Usagi-chan?"
"Yes, Luna?"
"It's not just Japan," the black feline explained. "...You're going to rule the world."
The color drained out of Usagi's face faster than a rabbit ran across the road. "I need to go to bed," she decided in a whimpering voice. She got out of the bathtub and wrapped a towel around her body before heading into the hallway, where she was promptly met by her worried parents.
"Oh, Usagi, where have you been?" Ikuko asked. "We thought you might have gotten hurt when that... whatever-it-is appeared. You weren't in your room. Where have you been?"
"Were you with a boy?" Kenji demanded. "You were with a boy; I know it! Where'd I put my shotgun...?"
Usagi only smiled and hugged her parents tightly. "Oh, I'm so glad you're my parents. I couldn't have possibly gotten better parents to prepare me!"
"Prepare you?" Ikuko asked. "Prepare you for what?"
No one saw it, but at that point, Luna facepalmed.
"Uh... for... university," Usagi lied. "Yeah, that's it... university. Only a few more years... until... university... Goodnight!" With that, Usagi ran into her room and shut the door, Luna just barely making it in with her.
"That was close, Usagi-chan," Luna repremanded. "You're going to need to learn to better control your tongue. You're also going to have to learn the history of each of the planets, moons, stars, and dwarf planets in this and the neighboring galaxies." Luna did a backflip, much like she had when she had first given Usagi her henshin brooch, and when she landed, she was standing on a stack of eight thick books. Usagi looked at the books in shock. It easily went up far above her head, even when she was standing.
"And this is for ours and the neighboring galaxies?" Usagi asked in shock.
Luna looked at her strangely in an expression akin to confusion. "Oh, no," Luna replied. "This is just for the sun and the inner planets, not even counting Jupiter."
Usagi's eyes widened further, and before she knew it, she had passed out on her bed from shock.
Well, looks like Usagi's got some reading to do. I looked it up, and to cover the sun, planets, dwarf planets, and moons of our solar system would require 188 books, seeing as I'm separating it by each of the stars, planets, dwarf planets, and moons having their own book. Poor Usagi's gonna have an aneurysm by the time she's finished reading... the first book. Heck, I think I'm gonna have an aneurysm by the time I'm finished researching this stuff. It's too bad astronomy got cut from the curriculum this year. Then again, what the heck does astronomy have to do with biology? Seriously, someone please answer that, because up until this year, it was considered the most important part of the bio curriculum.
And just for your entertainment/information:
Sun: zero moons
Mercury: zero moons
Venus: zero moons
Earth: 1 moon
Mars: 2 moons
Jupiter: 63 moons (Usagi's gonna have fun reading those ones)
Saturn: 62 moons
Uranus: 27 moons
Neptune: 13 moons
Ceres: zero moons
Pluto: 3 moons
Haumea: 2 moons
Makemake (no, I did not make that up... please pardon the horrible pun): zero moons
Eris: 1 moon
And how about Usagi's explanation/avoidance to her parents? Who doesn't love seeing confused parents in a fic?
Please review!
P.S.: Sorry again about the pun. I think this fic brings out the worst of my punning.