Chapter 11-Neo Queen Serenity

I didn't know where I was. Time felt slow. I floated around in the clouds, carefree. Everything was nice and peaceful. There was no pain. There was no doubt. Even though I was alone, I wasn't afraid.

Something started to blink. A light break through the surface of the clouds. Curious, I floated closer.

The light blinked again. A familiar warmth radiating out of it, embracing my incorporeal body. I felt its familiar power. It was calling me. It was drawing me closer.

I didn't understand it. Why was the light breaking my peacefulness? Curiosity got the better of me, so I looked down.

Earth was beautiful from where I stood. Yet it didn't look right. Instead of staring back at a blue planet, the Earth was white.

For the first time in a long time, I felt sadness. I reached up and found a single tear floating out of my eyes.

"Usagi. Usagi. Please wake up. Please." A voice came through the clouds.

What was that? I looked around, searching for that voice.

"Usagi. The world needs you. Please wake up. Please come back." More desperate now, the voice begged.

Just then, I felt something in my hands. It was starting to glow. I opened my palms and stared at the beautiful silver crystal. The glow shimmered and then sent a beam of light to my head….and then it all came rushing back…

The ice queen attacked. The new ice age had started and the world fell into a deep slumber. The scouts and I decided to "lose". It was risky but we had to follow the timeline. We needed to make sure the future was safe.

Sailor Neptune, Sailor Uranus, and Sailor Saturn fought their way into the palace. They thought they could come and save us. They fought till the end, like true warriors.

The scouts and I just stood there, waiting. Sailor Uranus kept yelling at us, to fight back, to help them. We stared back coldly. Finally, the ice queen came.

Sailor Saturn was frozen first. That little soldier fought bravely but was quickly overpowered by ten snow dancers. With a powerful blast from the ice queen, she was turned.

Sailor Neptune and Uranus shrieked and tried to fight their way through their own opponents. It was futile. They were only a few feet from their daughter. So close but not close enough. They stood frozen in time, still in their fighting stance. Their last wish to protect their daughter was suspended in time.

I stood and watched it all happened. My heart was crying out, screaming, but I didn't let it show. I stared bravely at the ice queen, daring her to finish her job.

"Queen Serenity. You don't deserve that throne. You don't deserve this palace." The ice queen waved her hands and the palace was turned into ice.

I stood, unwavering. Usagi would have raised that crystal and healed this place by now. She would have saved everyone. The queen, however, needed to do this. As difficult as it was, the alternative was worse. The queen understood the consequences. So I stood and watched as Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter, and Sailor Venus screamed out in pain. The ice queen toyed with them a bit. A small blast here. A small blast there. The scouts stood their ground, protecting me.

Finally bored, the ice queen froze them completely in one sweeping blast. Then she floated up and looked down on me. As per our plan, I raised my silver crystal at the exact moment I was frozen. Sailor Mercury said it was important.

The light beam from the silver crystal stopped. I slowly descended at first, as I felt my heart started to beat. Then whoosh I was pulled back into my body. My eyes opened.

Sailor Chibi Moon was standing in front of me and she had her silver crystal held out on her open palms. It was her voice that brought me back. There were four new scouts fighting fiercely in the background, fighting off the snow dancers so that Chibiusa could wake me up.

My ice started to thaw as my silver crystal responded to the other silver crystal. Chibiusa looked up, her eyes widen in disbelief and then happiness.

"Timing would be critical". Sailor Mercury had said when she was formulating our attack plan.

It was Ami that came up with this crazy idea. If the timeline said we had to lose, then fine we would lose, but strategically.

"According to the timeline, Pluto said something would wake the Queen from the deep slumber and then the queen would bring Earth back to life. My computer had calculated a 96% probability that it would be the silver crystal from the future. It would be our best scenario. Either Chibiusa or the future Queen would come and save the day when the time was right. When we had been frozen long enough."

"The other 4% probability would be us being waken up by something evil. Maybe Chaos. Maybe other threats we had yet encountered. So we need to make sure we are not defenseless the moment we wake up. Also, the ice queen might be around still, admiring her work probably."

"Are we sharing this plan with the outers?" Rei asked.

Ami had thought about it but decided not to. So she sent them oversea to look for Wiseman instead. She recruited Hotaru to her science lab, hoping that the little one would be far far away from the center of the battlefield when this went down.

I never understood why. However, I trust Ami implicitly. Whatever doubt she had, whatever scenario she had considered, she would work through it eventually.

I started channeling my energy into the silver crystal, as I watched the scouts slowly thaw.

"Sailor Planet Attack!" They uttered their first words after the long slumber.

The ice queen and the snow dancers were distracted. They looked up in shock but it was too late. The silver crystal merged with the planet attack power and our enemies were obliterated.

Sailor Chibimoon ran straight toward me, crying with tears of joy. The four new scouts walked up, obviously protective of Small Lady.

"Amazoness Quartets?" I thought they looked familiar but I wasn't sure.

"They are Sailor Quartets now. Their senshi power were awaken in the future and they had protected me ever since." Chibimoon explained. "Usagi, I am sorry I caused all of this."

I put one hand on her head and patted gently. How could I blame a four-year-old for wanting to save her mother? Me in the future?

"There is no need to apologize. It's okay now, everything is okay now." I stood up and raised my silver crystal. "Now help me, Small Lady. Use yours. We will wish for a new beginning for Earth."

Together, the brilliant light from the crystals radiated out. Sailor Neptune, Sailor Uranus and Sailor Saturn drew their first breath. The light continued to travel out and around the world. Snow melted and flowers bloomed. Everyone felt their hearts beat for the first time in years. Everyone looked up and basked in the warm light of the crystals. In that moment, there was no doubt anymore.

I felt connected to everyone. I could see their sorrows and panic from before. I replaced them with love and hope…..Then, I felt Mamo-chan's energy. He was frozen in the middle of a battlefield. He too fought till the end, protecting a group of citizens. "My King, wake up. Mamo-chan…" He opened his eyes and looked right into my soul….

A month later

The world had accepted me as their queen. Wiseman and the Dark Moon clan had no place to hide. Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune picked up their mission right where they left off. Along with the scouts, Wiseman was defeated.

I looked at them and offered them a second chance. I could heal all of them. Some from the Dark Moon army came forward and accepted my gift of life. The rest, they were exiled. It wasn't my choice, but it already happened. I watched sadly as they were exiled from Earth.

In a few hundred years, they would come back and try again. I put a hand on my belly, feeling a little life kicking inside. Oh, my Small Lady. In the future, she would have to wander through time and space, all alone, in order to save me. Her small soul would be tortured by the horrors of the war. But I had to believe, this was the way it was supposed to be.

That night, the world celebrated. The ice age was over. Wiseman was gone, along with his army. Earth was peaceful again.

I finally felt like a queen. I finally felt I had the wisdom to protect this beautiful planet. I missed being Sailor Moon. After the ice age, I realized I could no longer transform. But I know, my duty was different now. What was that line I used to say? "In the name of the moon, I will punish you!" Now, I had the duty as the sovereign of Earth. "In the name of Earth and the moon, I will guide all the lost souls back to the light."

Hi, my name is Neo Queen Serenity. I am 122 years old.

~The End~