luna aka moon: Thanks!
IsadoraKayStone: I hated Ace, too. He is- my bad, was- such a (censored).
little princess of mercury: Thanks. I can't really remember how I came up with it exactly, but I think it had something to do with me feeling like there were too many questions left once the senshi left the future in SMR.
PriestessHelene: Thanks. I really wanted Usagi to have some sort of character development, instead of her just accepting being the princess and living happily ever after.
Usagi ran into the Crystal Palace, soon meeting up with Luna. The black cat had a worried expression on her face, mostly due to Usagi's panting and rather disgruntled appearance. "Usagi-chan, what happened?" she asked. "Are you okay?"
"You... won't... believe this," Usagi panted. "A man got shot... and I healed him. I don't even know how."
"Oh, Usagi-chan, I knew you could do it!" Luna cheered, jumping up on her charge's shoulder. "You're unlocking your powers. This is great! So how did it feel to save that man?"
"It felt... different," Usagi confessed. "It was different than when I heal a youma. This felt... sort of sweet." She wasn't quite sure how to explain it. "But it helped me realize something: if I can heal one man, then why can't I protect the galaxy?"
"That's the spirit, Usagi-chan!" Luna cheered. "I'll go tell Artemis and Minako-chan your decision. Mako-chan is out at the store right now, and Ami-chan and Rei-chan have elected not to move in yet."
Usagi paled slightly, a realization hitting her. "Move in?" she squeaked.
"Of course, Usagi-chan," Luna replied. "You have to move in eventually. How else are you supposed to rule? You can't exactly work out of your bedroom at home."
"Right..." Usagi replied, seeming a little bit shaken by the idea. "Uh... I'm gonna go read." With that, Usagi darted off to the library to read the Book of Solaria, trying to find something to distract her from the obvious fact that she'd have to tell her parents what was going on sometime soon.
Many hours later, Usagi found herself looking at a picture of the last senshi of Solaria. She had golden-colored hair, much like Usagi's, but she had it pulled up in a ponytail like Makoto. Her uniform was comprised mostly of yellow with an occassional hint of red, and she was smiling in the picture. That was the last page in the book before it got to the point where the next senshi could write about herself and the enemies and trials she'd faced.
She placed the book back on the shelf and reached for the Book of Mercury, but it was gone, as were the books for all the inner senshi. Usagi couldn't help but crack a smile as she picked up the next available book, the Book of Terra- Rei had taken the books for Phobos and Deimos as well.
She plopped down on one of the sofas in the library and began to read.
It was nearly seven when she realized she had to go home, and she decided to leave the book there. However, what she didn't know was that if she merely turned the page, she would see a clear picture of the Terran prince, Endymion.
Her parents were in a panic. Mamoru was at the house. She was so screwed.
"Tsukino Usagi, where have you been?" Ikuko demanded, hugging her daughter tightly.
"Mamoru-san told us you just ran off!" Kenji continued.
"What were you thinking, Odango?" Mamoru asked. Then the realization hit him. He gave her a small nod and said, "Going off to see your friends after I specifically told you it was too dangerous?"
Usagi caught on to Mamoru's sudden cover for her and said, "Well, I haven't seen them in a while, so I dropped by the shrine to say hello. Then we kind of got caught up in talking and lost track of time."
Her ever-forgiving mother just sighed and said, "Don't do it again, okay, Usagi? If you want to go somewhere or do something, tell Mamoru-san and make sure he's okay with it."
"Hai, Mama," Usagi agreed, allowing Mamoru to leave, giving Usagi a wink as he left.
It was only the next day that Usagi got to go back to school, where people were- what else?- gossipping about the Crystal Palace.
"I heard that they're going to annhilate us because their home planet was destroyed, and they want our planet because the atmosphere is similar," Umino claimed, causing raised eyebrows from everyone.
"I heard there's a princess that's locked in there, not allowed to leave!" Naru exclaimed.
"Wouldn't it be amazing to be a princess?" another girl asked.
"No, not really," Usagi grumbled so no one else could hear.
The bell rang, signaling everyone to go to their seats. Haruna-sensei came in, looking rather excited. "Well, class, today we've managed to get a special treat. One of the people working at the palace has offered to show three high school classes from Tokyo around the palace, and we were lucky enough to be picked!" she exclaimed, the enthusiasm evident in her voice.
If Usagi had been drinking anything, she would have choked. Or done a spit take. Or both. It's a toss-up.
"Now, the offer was for today and today only, so all of you get in a single-file line, and we'll head out to the bus," Haruna explained.
What, no permission slips? Usagi thought. I am going to kill Minako-chan. She's probably the one who set this up.
The bus was filled with chatter on the way there, and Usagi was glancing over to Ami and Makoto, though they were 'cool as cantalope', as Minako would say. Clearly they were in on Minako's little plan.
The bus slowed to a stop outside the gates, and the gate opened to allow them in. Somehow, Usagi wasn't sure how, but the castle had managed to gain an iron gate with a brick wall surrounding the palace since its construction.
Either way, they were inside the gate. There was no going back.
When the kids departed the bus, all seemed a bit apprehensive, like they expected to be blown up or something of the type. Haruna-sensei led them inside, and Usagi saw the main hall for the second time in her life. Sailor Venus was standing in the middle of the room in a military manner, but as the group approached, her expression softened.
"Ohayo," she smiled. "My name is Sailor Venus, and I am the head guard here. I've invited you all here today so people won't be scared. The other guards and I figured who better to explain things to the people than a small group about our age? You're going to get a tour of most of the palace, save a few private bedrooms and living areas that only the senshi have access to. Before we begin, are there any questions?"
One shy kid raised his hand. "Do you live here?" he asked.
Venus smiled. "As a matter of fact, I do," she replied. "I and Sailor Jupiter have moved in along with the advisors, but the other senshi have yet to move in. This should be happening soon, though.
"Why is this place here? What is this place?" another kid asked.
"You are in the Crystal Palace, a place designed to be the central hub of good and light in the world," Venus informed them. "Any other questions?"
"Are there a prince and princess who live here, too?" a third teen asked skeptically.
"As a matter of fact, Sailor Moon, the Princess of the Moon, is getting ready to move in soon," Venus told him, causing the teens' jaws to drop. "After all, what's a palace without a princess? Any more questions?" Silence. "Good, now if you'll follow me, you'll find that this is the main hall. I wish I had some cool, historical fact to say about it, but it was just created on Monday. The most history it has is when we first entered the palace."
There was a bit of laughter from the students on that one.
"Next we'll head into the library, which contains refrences on... well, pretty much everything," Venus stated, opening a set of double doors to reveal the giant library. If anyone looked closely enough, they would have seen that the Books of Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter had been put back while the Books of Phobos, Deimos, and Ganymede were missing, along with the Book of Terra, which was lying on the sofa Usagi had been sitting on the day prior.
Minako continued to lead the shocked and awed students around the palace, showing them the kitchen, the dining room, the gym, the indoor pool, the ballroom... everything. And that was just the first floor!
The second floor contained mainly quarters for people working there as well as living there, which currently added to zero. The next floor was mostly for guest bedrooms, the fourth for mostly classrooms and school-related things once the palace got a large number of people living there, the fifth was a place dedicated to all sports, whereas the first only had a pool and a gym. The sixth held a theatre, a pool table, and other general stuff for hanging out and having fun- even a music room. The seventh floor was a collection of a place for all religions. There were large rooms for Shintoism, African Animism, Christianity (Catholocism and Protestants alike), Islam, and Judaism.
The eighth floor is where it got serious. The entire eighth floor was just a training room, the walls padded, the elevator consealed in an iron box to avoid it taking any damage, weapons hidden behind the walls... the works. The room was so big, seeing as it was the entire floor, that if Usagi was at one end of the room and Venus was at the other, the orange-clad girl would be just a speck in the distance. Venus then told them of a strict 'look, don't touch' policy on the room. The ninth floor held a fair amount of diplomatic information, consisting of a giant room with a giant, floating globe in it, another room holding books on all the countries of the world, written in the country it described, and various rooms for diplomatic meetings. The tenth floor was a set of rooms designed specifically for senshi meetings- Venus had denied them access to that floor.
The eleventh floor was a bit like the first floor with the dining room and the kitchen, but it was smaller, clearly meant for only the senshi and their families. The floor itself was a bit like a house within the palace, meant just for them.
The twelth floor went right back to business, containing planetary relics and henshin wands for all the unawakened senshi in the world who had died that fateful night at the ball on the moon. That was sort of a way to keep track of who had been awakened. Usagi noticed that Venus was watching everyone like hawks on that floor to be sure no one stole anything.
Lucky thirteen had doors all around leading to the outside, where there was an observation deck. Inside, there were computers tracking negative energy and Dark Kingdom activity.
The fourteenth floor was where the rooms of the Outer senshi were located for when they eventually joined the gang- though Usagi was not sure why Uranus and Neptune were contained in one room. There was also a room for each of the outer planets that simulated that environment while incorporating something that senshi loved. Like the separate room for Neptune was a giant aquariam with musical instruments around.
The fifteenth floor was the same as the fourteenth, but for the Inners and Luna and Artemis. Oddly enough, they found the two cats lying in their room, snuggled up under the covers of a king sized bed. The class couldn't help but giggle upon seeing the small felines in said king-sized bed. Venus had absolutely forbade them from going into her room or the rooms of any other senshi, including the outers. The rooms gave away too much personality, made it too obvious who lived there.
The final floor Venus went as far as to refuse to take them up. She explained that it was the princess's room and not only did they have to have a key to go up there, the computer had to analyze your DNA and state that you were okay to be up there, which it did for only the solar system senshi, and even then, the planetary ones, not the ones from the moons of the other planets.
After that, they went back downstairs, and Venus led them around the grounds, showing them the gardens, the stables, the prison (everyone gulped nervously at that one), and the outdoor pool.
"If the grounds are so big, why don't you just have the riding trail lead around the palace?" one girl asked curiously, referring to the trails the horses went on.
"Because we don't want the horses to get too tired," was all Venus replied.
Usagi looked back at the palace and realized that any horses would, in fact, tire due to the large perimeter of the palace and the utter lack of shade.
When they arrived back at the bus, it was almost dark. However, Venus wasn't quite done with her little tour. "Now," she concluded, "I'm not going to lie; I do have a bit of an alterior motive for bringing you all here today." The students and Haruna-sensei waited with bated breath. "We obviously have no staff here, and we're looking to hire some people to work here. I assure you the pay is excellent, and we have jobs for adults and teens alike. If you or your parents want a job here, feel free to send a résumé to the palace. Thanks, and I'll let you get back to your day."
With that, the students and teacher boarded the bus and drove back to school.
Hehe. I liked writing about the palace and its awesomeness. What about you? What do you think of the palace? If you have any suggestions on things I should add, please tell me. It's fun imagining this place up in my head.
It would also be awesome if you could check out my poll on my profile and go to my web site: squirrelholdingabazooka. webs. com
And remember, if you want to create a character, you can! Just ask and I'll send you the template.
Thanks everyone! I feel honored to have so many awesome readers out there!
P.S. There was a hint in here about what the plot of my Minako-centric fic will be. Let's see who can find it first!