Epilogue
In the days and weeks that followed the exile of Aldrich Reid and the creation of the kingdom's newest guardian, known as Hybrid, the realm of Crystal Tokyo began to slowly return to its usual daily activities and began to prosper and flourish once again. Travelling nomads and people seeking sanctuary and protection continued to migrate into the kingdom's domain as the rumours and stories of the peaceful haven it provided kept on spreading throughout the land.
The physical damage to the buildings caused by Carnage and the Sailors' valiant efforts to subdue him had been quickly repaired by the numerous civilian contractors and builders during the three weeks that he had imprisoned himself down in the detention area beneath the Crystal Palace. Across the city, the emotional scars left by the destruction however were taking far longer to heal. Not surprisingly, the feeling of safety and sense of protection that the citizens had once enjoyed within the kingdom's boundaries had been seemingly shattered forever as they all now lived with the constant fear that another monster would find its way into their city and bring death and suffering along with it. It would take many more months to pass by with no threat appearing before the majority of the people would able to let themselves relax and finally let go of that concern which allowed them to live in complete peace once again.
Hybrid had remained true to his vow to do whatever was necessary to redeem himself in the eyes of the people that he had pledged to protect. Every chance he got in the weeks and months following the grand assembly at the palace, he would offer his assistance in whatever way he could for the betterment of the city's population.
One of the first things he had done was to initiate the cleanup and the eventual re-opening of the convenience store that had been the site of the most horrific of his recent crimes. During his three week self-imposed imprisonment the bodies of the unfortunate victims that had fallen during that incident had been removed and given proper burials by their family members but nothing else had occurred at the location since then. None of the owner's surviving kin had been able to go inside the store without breaking down into fits of intense fits of sadness or anger as the memories and thoughts of their fallen father, uncle, brother and husband overwhelmed them every single time.
As Hybrid had been expecting there had been significant reluctance and even more than a little animosity from the victims' families and the civilians of the surrounding neighbourhood when he first appeared in the area and began the physically and emotionally taxing task of personally cleaning up the interior of the store by himself in order to bring it back to where it had been before he had defiled it with his evil actions.
At first it had just been him working from dawn to dusk using basic tools and cleaning agents to sterilize the store's interior. Over time Sailor Jupiter and/or other Sailor team members began to pitch in to assist him with the restoration process.
Eventually the civilians began to see the depth and level of his commitment to undoing what he had been done and repairing the legacy that the fallen storeowner had created for his family and the people in the neighbourhood. Seeing this person who had been pardoned by the queen of the kingdom slave day after day with no complaining or personal reward caused the general population's reactions to soften as they saw that he was honestly seeking penance for what he had done and was living up to the promise he had made to all of them when King Endyimon and Neo-Queen Serenity spared his life by not exiling him to die on the Dark Moon.
When the store was finally refurbished and the store contents restocked with unspoiled produce and items Hybrid, Sailor Jupiter and the rest of the Sailor team returned it to family members of the owner. On that day, the storekeeper's widow shook his hand as he passed the keys to the front and back doors of the shop to her. It was a powerful symbolic gesture that showed to everyone that Hybrid was not the same entity that had killed her husband and the others. It also showed to Hybrid that the people were willing to forgive him and put their trust in him again.
Approximately two years after the exile of Aldrich and on her 22nd birthday Neo-Queen Serenity was finally able to unite the entire Earth into one single kingdom again under her and King Endyimon's benevolent rule. However that was not the end of the great news for the citizens of the Crystal Kingdom.
On the very same day that the Earth became whole once again the queen gave birth to her first and only daughter Usagi Tsukino. Even though the new princess of Crystal Tokyo may have been given the same name of her mother's former civilian identity but she would soon be known by the informal monikers 'Small Lady' or 'Chibiusa' depending on who was addressing her at the time.
As a birthday present and ultimate reward to Neo-Queen Serenity for accomplishing the fabled prophecy of reuniting the Earth Kingdom the Silver Moon Crystal granted every current and future citizen of the Crystal Kingdom the remarkable gift of a Lunarian lifespan. In the distant past, the Lunarians were what the ancient people of Earth had named the beings that had lived on the moon during the time of the Silver Millennium. This meant that everyone that was living or would be living under the rule of Neo-Queen Serenity and King Endyimon would have their lifespans extended so that they would now last one thousand years. As an extension of that this also meant that the Earth's population would essentially stop at their current age and mature at an extremely slow rate.
It was discovered that the way the crystal's gift worked with any children born after the fact or children that were under the age of eighteen at the time of the gift's inception was to have them continue to age normally until they reached the age of maturity. Once that occurred they would become like their parents and be eternally young and strong for the reminder of their life.
While the kingdom's historians would consider the birth of Small Lady and the ultimate unification of the Earth into one collective kingdom as the official starting points of the Crystal Millennium it was the birth of Hybrid and Sailor Jupiter's daughter that marked the beginning of the next generation of Sailor warriors for the Milky Way galaxy. She was born six months after Aldrich's attempted take-over of Crystal Tokyo and the corruption of the hero, Carnage. Sailor Mercury had been the one to deliver the child with Hybrid and Sailor Neptune looking on and coaching Sailor Jupiter.
They named her Tera Estmund which roughly translated to Earth protector of beauty. Everyone who met her fell in love with her as she loved people and would laugh and smile whenever she heard a voice or met someone new. As she grew older and more into her body she became the splitting image of her mother by inheriting her dark brown hair, bright green eyes and uncommon height as she reached 5'8 by the age of thirteen.
She also became an exceptional athlete by participating in some of activities that her 'aunts' excelled in. These included sports such as skiing which Sailor Mars taught her, Sailor Venus' former hobby of volleyball and figure skating which was her mother's hidden passion. Her natural athletic ability and grace made it easy for her to perfect and honed the specific skills required in each of these activities to near-Olympic caliber which combined with the expert coaching of her older mentors.
When Chibiusa was born about a year and a half after her Tera took an intense shine to her and simply loved being around her. She would spend any of her free time that wasn't already committed to family or other activities and quietly watch her sleep or play with her if she was awake. Chibiusa in turn enjoyed being with Tera as well as her rose coloured eyes would light up when she saw Tera or heard her voice. As both of them got older their friendship continued to mature and they became best friends along with Sailor Saturn who was the youngest of the original Sailor soldiers and who Chibiusa had befriended during her original time-travelling adventure to the 21st century during the events of the Black Moon war which hadn't occurred yet in this time period. Later on, the three of them would add Chibiusa's personal guardians the Sailor Quartet to their close knit circle of friends when the princess of Crystal Tokyo became the new Sailor Moon, to form the next generation of Sailor warriors.
When Tera turned fourteen she told her parents about her deep desire to become a Sailor warrior like her friends, her 'aunts' and especially, her mother. She wanted the chance to have an audience with Neo-Queen Serenity and King Endyimon to see if it was her destiny to be like them as her birthday present. Her parents could not say no to her and passed on her request to the royal couple. To no one's surprise her petition was accepted as they could not deny her either.
A few days later Tera stood before Neo-Queen Serenity and King Endyimon with her mother and father standing beside her and her best friends a short distance behind her. Up in front of them, the rest of the Sailors except Sailor Pluto stood on the first platform and silently watched with pride as their 'adopted niece' prepared to take the first steps towards her destiny. Tera dropped down to one knee and lowered her head so that she was looking down at the ground in front of her. Her action mirrored what her father had done several years before when he had knelt before the king and queen following the 'Aldrich Crisis'. She was silent for several seconds before slowly lifting her head and looking up at the royal couple.
"My Queen and King. I have come here today to ask you to allow me the chance to become the first ever Sailor representative for the planet Earth. It is known that the laws of the universe had decreed that only women can become Sailor warriors and that each planet or astral body can have only one such representative.
Those same laws have also declared that the crystals that give a Sailor warrior her powers will be forever tied to the planet or stellar mass that they were born on and that Sailor star crystals can only be passed down from mother to daughter. Since my mother is a Sailor warrior there is a strong possibility that I have a star seed inside me and since I was born on Earth my crystal would be bound to this planet and thus make me the only person who could become Sailor Earth."
Above her and beside her the older Sailors and her mother each silently remembered when they had first become Sailor warriors back during their previous lives in the time of the Silver Millennium. What Tera had said had been accurate as each of their biological mothers had once been the Sailor advocate of their respective planet before passing the duty onto them just as their grandmother had decades earlier. Each of them had been born on their individual home world so their crystals were forever bound to them but any future offspring that they had would be like Tera as they would be born on Earth. It was unclear to them, even to Sailor Mercury, whether any Sailor crystals passed down to any future daughters would be forever tied to the Earth if Tera did become the Sailor Warrior for the planet and remained so at the time of their respective births.
"It is public record that my father the guardian known as Hybrid, was bestowed with a partial transfer of power from you, King Endyimon, during his identity reinvention. It is also openly known that Chibiusa was born in the new Moon Castle on the moon so that is why she is able to be the new Sailor Moon. Therefore it stands to reason that your Sailor crystal, Neo-Queen Serenity, has evolved to a higher level in your current role which allowed Chibiusa to become the Sailor advocate for the moon. By that same token the golden crystal that King Endyimon possesses which is tied to this planet might have also similar advanced and allow for someone like myself to become its new chosen warrior."
Tera finished her petition and waited for the response from the ruling couple of the Crystal Kingdom. She had said everything that she had wanted to say and it was now up to them.
High above her King Endyimon and Neo-Queen Serenity remained silent as they thought about her request and what it would mean for the future of their kingdom. They were understandably reluctant at first because they didn't want to burden someone that they loved dearly with the responsibilities that being a Sailor warrior would entail especially when they knew that dangerous threats like the Black Moon War were coming. However neither of them could find any fault in her reasoning. They both looked down at the young girl kneeling before them and saw the intense determination in her young eyes staring back at them. They both mentally noted how much her eyes looked just like her mother's and they simply couldn't bring themselves to deny her application when they considered her impressive qualifications and the fact that she was after all, the prodigy of two physically exceptional warriors and had demonstrated on numerous occasions that she possessed a level of maturity and compassion that would make her an excellent example for the people of Earth.
"Very well… we will grant you your request. Let us first see if you do indeed possess a star seed with an eternal shine."
Neo-Queen Serenity stood up from her throne and raised her hands above her head. She silently called out to the Silver Moon Crystal and summoned it to her from its place in the Chamber of Prayer. In the span of a few seconds the tiny spherical crystal appeared in the open space between her hands and filled the throne room with its impossibly bright radiance.
Almost the crystal's power began to react to the Sailor crystals in all of the Sailor guardians, including the ones in Chibiusa and her guardians. Each of them became surrounded by an aura of light that was shaded with their dominant colour. Tera turned her head to the right and looked at her mother as she became bathed in the light green glow of her star seed.
Her emerald eyes locked with her mother's and there was a moment of awe on her part as she looked upon at what she desperately wanted to become a Sailor warrior like her. Sailor Jupiter looked at her daughter and saw the profound desire and admiration that filled her young eyes. She smiled at her and silently mouthed a single word to her.
"Look…"
Tera saw her mother say the word but was confused by it at first. What was she supposed to look at? She had not indicted any direction for her to look in and the room was deathly silent except for the breathing of everyone present and the dull sounds of people moving around outside the throne room.
She started to move her right hand to make a subtle physical gesture to tell her that she did not understand her simple message when her eyes caught something. She tilted her head down and stared at both of her hands and the rest of her body. It took a few seconds for her brain to register what she was seeing but when it finally did a loud gasp escaped her lips.
Her entire body was engulfed in a white light that was pure as new fallen snow and almost perfectly matched the colour of Neo-Queen Serenity's dress. It took her a few seconds to understand what the realization of what this meant. It rapidly warmed the insides of her body as it confirmed what she had so feverishly hoped for. She had indeed been gifted with an eternal Sailor crystal and thus could become a Sailor warrior like the others.
Neo-Queen Serenity and King Endyimon both smiled at her as they like everyone else took in the sight. Behind her she heard Chibiusa clap her hands together and loudly squeal with glee. Beside her Sailor Pallas cooed in awe as the other members of the Sailor quartet watched on in silence. Their faces were reflections of the pride and happiness they felt for their best friend at achieving her dream.
In a ceremony that dated back to a time that far pre-dated the ancient Moon Kingdom of the Silver Millennium Neo-Queen Serenity used the Silver Moon Crystal to activate the Sailor crystal inside Tera. As the crystal powered up, the white glow that surrounded her became brighter as she felt new surges of power and energy course through her as she gained the enhanced speed agility, strength and accelerated healing ability that her mother and 'aunts' had been granted quite literally, a lifetime ago.
Once that was completed it was time for the last part of the ceremony. Unlike her mother and 'aunts' this was something that they had not experienced before but was necessary as there was no pre-existing history for a Sailor representative of the planet Earth. That historical gap required Tera to choose the colours that would be designated to her uniform and the future Sailor representatives of Earth after her.
Tera was well aware of her father's dark history after having been teased for several years as a young child by some of her nastier school classmates. However she also knew about and had seen his numerous efforts to redeem his honour and the honour of his family in the eyes of the people of Crystal Tokyo as she had grown up. She couldn't imagine the strength and commitment he had to undertake such a burden after what he had done. But it was something that she couldn't properly put into words as to the level of admiration she had for him.
As she stood there surrounded by her parents, best friends and older mentors, she recalled the thousands of fond memories of her father and her playing together, going out on hikes through the forests and rolling hills around the kingdom and the overall bond that had developed between them through their mutual love of being physically active and playing sports.
It was because of those memories and her deep love for him that she decided to make red and black her official colours as homage to him and the hero that she saw him as. She closed her eyes and silently wished upon the love and warmth inside her heart to the Silver Moon Crystal to accept her decision. The tiny white stone that was floating above Neo-Queen Serenity flared out with a bright flash of light and quickly proceeded to completely engulf her in a wave of lustrous silvery light that was almost as intense as the aura surrounding the Silver Moon Crystal itself. Inside the vast open space of the throne room, the vivid display of magical energy lasted for about fifteen seconds before quickly fading away. When the blinding glare from crystal had dimmed down enough so that everyone present could see the epicenter of the supernatural demonstration Hybrid, Sailor Jupiter and everyone else either gasped loudly or silently stared as each them took in the sight of the newest member of the Sailor team and the very first Sailor Earth.
Tera's long brown hair remained tied back into a ponytail in exactly the same manner that her mother often wore hers. Seemingly untouched, the dark green hair ribbon that was also her trademark remained woven in her dark locks as her subtle way of honouring her mother who she idolized. She was now wearing knee high red boots that had a black rim at the top and another black line that ran from one side of the boot down to the top of her foot and back up the other side which gave it the appearance of the letter 'V'.
Her skirt now had a two tier colour pattern with red being the first layer and a pair of thin black and yellow stripes running along the bottom border of it. Under that layer was the second layer of her skirt. It was white which visually enhanced the bold red colour of the skirt's first level. On each arm she wore a long white glove that completely covered her forearms and were topped with red padding at the elbows. A thin red line encircled the gloves at her wrists like a bracelet.
Her chest and back bows were solid black and matched belt that she wore around her waist. The thin piece of solid leather had a gold brooch that was shaped like a crescent moon on the front of it. Her square shaped neck collar was red and had three white lines that ran along the outer edges of it. Her shoulders were covered with a short red sleeve with three folds that were similar to an accordion's.
Around her neck she wore a black choker with a red crescent moon on the front and a pair of silver star-shaped earrings that hung from her ears. A gold tiara with a bright red jewel that was partially covered by her brown hair completed the outfit. When compared to her "aunt", the shade of red that her uniform possessed was a lighter colour than the tint that was Sailor Mars' primary colour.
The other thing that caught the attention of everyone in the throne room was the accessory she was wielding. In her right hand was a medium sized sceptre that was red and black with a pair of white wings that extended out from the shaft near the top of it. For the Inner Sailors it looked very similar to the Moon sceptre that Neo-Queen Serenity had once used as Sailor Moon when they battled against first the Doom Tree and later the Black Moon clan.
"It is done. You are now the Sailor warrior for the planet Earth."
With the ceremony completed the Silver Moon Crystal disappeared and returned to its place in the Chamber of Prayer. Neo-Queen Serenity lowered her arms and sat back down upon her throne. She smiled as she watched her daughter rush towards and embrace her best friend with an enthusiastic hug as their other friends crowded around them. Sailor Jupiter and Hybrid took a few steps back to join up with the other Sailors as they all watched the young group of girls congratulate their friend and now fellow warrior. After a few minutes the girls' excitement began to die down. Neo-Queen Serenity cleared her throat to re-gain the attention of everyone in the throne room. In response, the older Sailors and Hybrid turned and looked up at her while the younger Sailors took a few more seconds to calm down and get into a line that faced her.
"Sailor Jupiter … Hybrid… It will be your responsible to train and guide her so that she can become a proper guardian of our kingdom and this planet that is duty to protect."
"I understand and accept those responsibilities, my queen."
"I agree with my husband and also accept that."
In the months that followed they fulfilled that duty by intensely training their daughter as well as Chibiusa in her identity as Sailor Moon and her four guardians, the Sailor Quartet. Through the different styles of instruction provided by them and the other Sailor team members each of the young warriors individually developed into a mature woman as well as a cohesive group of formidable warriors that would ensure the safety and prosperity of Crystal Tokyo for the centuries yet to come.
The End!