BISHOUJO SENSHI SAILORMOON
~MIRAI~
PART X: VISIONS
by: Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)
Disclaimer: Sailormoon belongs to Takeuchi Naoko and Kodansha, not me.
Although most of the characters in this fanfiction are original and
created by me.
Note: This part and the next one will be shorter than the ones before
since the most important part of the parts are the battle. And we all
know how good/bad I am at writing battle scenes...
Some Japanese words I use:
fuku = uniform
kami-sama = god
minna-san = everyone
* * * *
She was floating. Floating in pure light and warm energy. There wasn't
a single care on her mind. All problems in the world were gone. Her
father, her mother, NSS, demons, Senshi, the Moon Kingdom, the Earth
and other things. She couldn't think about them. She didn't want to
think about them. All that she could think of was the peace that she
felt inside herself. There was a peace that she hadn't achieved in a
long time.
"Arise, saviour of the galaxy, our healer, our Messiah."
Curious about where the voice was coming from, Princess Tsukino Usagi
Lady Serenity opened her reddish eyes. When she did that, she found
out that she was no longer floating. She was lying on the cold ground,
surrounded by a dead and dark landscape. There were crushed buildings
are debrises as far as her eyes could see. The full moon shone down
from the starry nightsky. The whole thing gave Usagi a feeling of
uncanniness. Usagi sat up and gasped at what she saw. She saw Ishtar,
Odin and the many other Senshi lying spread out the area. Dead. None
of them were awake, somehow Usagi knew that none of them had a beating
heart. They were all dead.
"What is this...?" Usagi whispered and felt the coldness in
her heart. She stood up but her knees were shaking. "Chie-san?
Kenji-san?"
She stumbled over to Triton's cold body and pulled up her friend's
head in her lap. At first she touched Triton's cheek. Her skin was so
cold. While whispering: "Misao-chan, wake up..." she shook Triton
carefully hoping that there would be some life sign. When she finally
realized that there was nothing to do, Usagi put down Triton with
shaking arms.
"It's too late for you to save them now. There is nothing that
you can do."
There it was, the voice that she had heard before. The voice that had
awakened her from the peaceful slumber and lead her to this dead
world. Usagi stood up and turned around. She found herself face to
face with a young woman, hardly twenty years old. The young woman had
long, wavy hair with a bright, purple colour. Her dress was the same
colour as her hair and was made of soft silk. Though the woman was
very beautiful her eyes were very sad. There was something about those
eyes that made the woman seem like a reminder of ancient times even
though she physically looked very young.
"Who are you?" Usagi demanded. "What has happened to my
friends? They are not supposed to... to... to be like this!"
"This will happen..." the woman answered calmly. "You are the
only one who can stop this danger and this evil. You are the saviour,
you will start the progress of purifying this galaxy once again."
"What are you talking about?" Usagi asked. "My mother was the
saviour, only she could purify the Earth. And I... I can't do
anything... I don't have my powers, I can't fight along with my
friends... I can't do anything..."
"If you do not stop the evil and darkness from flowing, you
will spend eternities witnessing deaths of innocent people and the
ones you care about," the young woman replied calmly.
"How can I do that?"
The young woman looked at Usagi straight into her eyes. There was
something familiar with those eyes, but Usagi didn't know what it was.
The young woman's eyes... there was sadness, nothing but pure sadness.
Who was she? How did she know everything. Then the young woman finally
opened her mouth and answered Usagi's question.
"Free me..."
* * * *
"It wasn't strong enough, try again."
Archangel sat down on the lawn, breathing hard. She looked at Akira
who stood before her with his usual calm gaze. Archangel's eyes
narrowed. She didn't know what was with her, but lately those calm
gazes were getting pretty annoying. She was getting annoyed at
everyone and everything lately. But eight hours of nothing but
training was adding to her temper. Chie had wanted her to train with
Akira in the outer part gardens everyday and honestly Archangel was
getting sick of it. She took a deep breath and tried to say the words
calmly and repressing her anger at the same time.
"Akira-san, we've been doing this for eight hours non-stop,"
Archangel pointed out. "Can't I just take a few minutes to recover?"
"No," Akira answered firmly. "Your life may depend on your
training. Get up and use your attack again. Try to concentrate more
this time and aim more precisely."
Archangel clenched her fist when she heard that. That was it. She
couldn't take it anymore. Akira had said the same thing each time she
used her attack. Why couldn't he realize that she was doing her best?
Why couldn't anyone see that she was doing her best? Her grades were
beginning to slip because she was too tired to study, she hadn't seen
Miyazawa outside school for ages. Monday to Saturday she went to
school where she struggled to keep up with the others. When she got
home and until it got dark she was forced to do training with Akira or
someone else. On Sundays she got an even more severe and longer
training.
What kind of life was this?
To Akira's surprise Archangel stood up, but she looked at him. The
usual calm look in her eyes was replaced with a rebellious and mostely
an angry look.
"I'm tired of this," she hissed. Her tone also surprised Misao
and Usagi who had just come out to the gardens. "I'm tired of everyone
ordering me to do things all the time. Everyone else gets to do
whatever they want on Sundays but I'm the only one who's stuck here
all the time."
"It is for your own good," Akira replied. "You know that your
training is important."
"I don't care!" Archangel yelled. "I may be the youngest here
but I'm not a child! Stop treating me like one!"
Her wings started to flap and moments afterwards she took off by air.
Misao and Usagi ran over to the spot where Archangel had stood before
and looked upwards. Akira stood silent and didn't even watch Archangel
leaving.
"Tomo-chan, wait!" Usagi called, but it was like Archangel
didn't hear her. As moments passed Archangel eventually flew further
and further away.
"She'll calm down," Akira stated coldly. Misao turned to Akira
with an angry glare. She hated when Akira sounded that cold, it was as
if he didn't care whether Archangel came back or not. She knew that he
cared about Archangel, but the tone in his voice angered her.
"Couldn't you have handled it better?" she asked with a strong
hint of anger in her loud voice. "Who knows where she's going?!"
"She'll calm down," Akira repeated like some kind of robot
without emotions. Misao put her hands on her hips and looked she
really wanted to punsh him. But for some reason she didn't.
"Why are you so sure?" she asked instead. "You know how easily
hurt Tomo can get. The only good way for us to keep her here is to be
nice and gentle with her."
"I can't say that I blame her for being upset."
Both Akira and Misao looked at Usagi who was still gazing at the blue
sky. They couldn't tell if she was still gazing after Archangel or if
she was just gazing at the sky. A gust of wind blew past the garden,
causing Usagi's hair to look like two pink clouds. Her eyes had a
dreaming look, she could might as well been talking to herself than to
Misao and Akira.
"Being stucked here all the time, not being able to go out and
fight..." Usagi said softly still with her eyes locked on the sky.
"I... kind of feel the same way. The only difference between us is
that I have gotten used to it."
* * * *
"You've let them be too long."
Tiamat stopped brushing her dark red hair when she heard her sister's
voice. With an angry look in her eyes she tossed the hair brush over
her shoulder. Hecate caught the hair brush with a mocking smile on her
face. When she released it simply disappeared just moments before it
was going to touch the floor.
"Don't you ever get tired of pestering me?" Tiamat asked
without looking at Hecate. She picked up a ribbon and then started
braiding her hair. Hecate just shrugged. She walked over to Tiamat and
place her head at Tiamat's shoulder so that they could see each
other's faces in the mirror that Tiamat sat in front of. Both had
similar appearance, the only difference was that Hecate's hair was
curly and more red. Once they had been close sisters and best friends,
now they were nothing more but rivals. The only thing that they had in
common was their loyalty to Hel.
"That comes with the part of being a sister," Hecate replied
and then stood up straight again. "What have you done about those Shin
Senshi the last few weeks? Hel-sama is going to be upset with you if
you don't get rid of them."
"The time to strike is now," Tiamat answered, still with her
eyes fixed on the mirror on the wall. "One of them has been forbidden
to fight and the princess can't. They are weaker now and I will take
them all out in one final assault. I don't know why I even bother to
explain it to you. You will probably just use my plan and tell
Hel-sama that it is yours."
Hecate turned away from Tiamat and crossed her arms. Her mocking tone
turned ice cold. "Unlike some I know, I don't go behind people's
backs."
Tiamat suddenly stopped braiding her hair and looked at Hecate,
surprised. She opened her mouth to say something but she couldn't.
[She's still mad about that?] she thought. [No, it was so long
ago. But it would explain her behaviour the last decades.]
"Reed Maxwell was a traitor," Tiamat reminded. "Whether we
liked him or not. He is dead now, accept it."
Hecate shut her eyes and her fist was shaking with anger. But Tiamat
couldn't see that since Hecate had turned her back to her. All of the
sudden Hecate let go of the anger and regained her cold voice.
"You better not fail this time," Hecate said suddenly and
started walking. "Hel-sama has been kind to us. At least one of us
should finish those Shin Senshi off. We own Hel-sama that much."
* * * *
When Akira and Misao had gone inside Usagi had stayed outside. She had
said that she wanted to see if Archangel was coming back but it was a
lie. She knew that Archangel was going to come back sooner or later
but Archangel wasn't the reason why Usagi wanted to stay outside. She
remembered the dream, other dreams would have been forgotten, but the
latest one was special. Ever since she had woken up she hadn't been
able to forget about it. She hadn't known why, it was just a silly
dream.
[I do wish that someone would call me a saviour... if only I
could have to power to fight, that is,] Usagi thought. She bent down
and inhaled the fragnance of one of Chie's flowers. It smelled lovely,
just like all the other flowers in the garden. [Chie must have spent a
lot of time with this garden.]
"Do you seek the power?"
Usagi looked up, only to see someone sneaking behind a tree. "Who's
there?" she demanded but there was no answer. She waited for a while
but it was like she had just imagined the voice. The voice she had
just heard... it sounded a little like the voice that she had heard in
her dream. Usagi shook her head when she realized what she was
thinking.
[It's ridicolous. But nonetheless, if there's someone there I
must see who it is.]
She left the flower plants and walked over to the wall of trees that
led to another part of the garden. There was a huge lawn there, it was
where Akira and Archangel had been training before. But when Usagi
came there she couldn't see anyone. She turned around but saw that the
only place that the person could have gone was behind the trees and to
the lawn. And there was no place to hide. Usagi took a deep breath.
[I guess that was just imagining it.]
She turned around and was just about to go back when she thought that
she heard something again. This time it wasn't a voice. It was more
like a noise. Like something was being digged up. Usagi turned around
and faced the army of unwanted visitors.
* * * *
There was something that was bothering her. Lately she hadn't been
able to sleep or concentrate on anything, not even things that she was
so good at lately. School and Senshi training for an example. She was
so sick of it, so sick of trying to be Miss Perfect so that everyone
was going to be pleased with her. No one was ever pleased with her. No
matter how well she did people always wanted her to do better. Now her
Senshi powers were failing her.
[What would I do without my Senshi powers?] Archangel asked
herself when she was flying around in the sky. She had chosen a place
where no one would see her and flied around there. The only thing
about her that hadn't weaken was her flight ability.
[What if I wasn't a Senshi...] Archangel thought and started
to fly towards a tree. She soon reached the tree and sat down on one
of it's most stable branches. She looked down and saw how high it was.
[I wouldn't be able to fly... What would that be like? It's been two
years since I got my powers. Now I can't imagine what it would be like
without them. What if... what if I loose them?]
Archangel took a deep breath and leaned backwards. She fell from the
branch but the wings prevented her from falling further down. She
stayed in mid-air, looking at the brooch that was placed in the middle
of the angel wings on her chest.
[What would I do if I lost my powers?]
She suddenly realized that she had been gone for a long time now.
Deciding that it was time to return and apologize to Akira for her
behaviour, she took off in the air and back towards the Sakura
Mansion. When she saw the mansion covered by it's trees, she felt
something in her heart. Relief? Yeah, she was happy to return home.
After all, the Sakura Mansion was her home. But as she came closer,
there was also strange feeling in her heart.
[Something's not right...] Archangel thought. She flew faster
and eventually came through the trees. From where she was she could
see the entire garden. But she wished that she hadn't returned. The
garden wasn't the garden she had left an hour ago. The flowers had
been destroyed, the decorations had been smashed, there were piles of
dirt everywhere, even on the lawn. But that wasn't the worst part. The
worst part was that the demons and the Shin Senshi were fighting. She
could see everyone except for Usagi and demons were everywhere. Even
more than that time when Yasha had been injured. Archangel clenched
her fist and dove towards battle.
* * * *
It had all happened so sudden. One minute Chie was putting away the
groceries she had just bought and the other she was trying to fight
off the demons on her own as Ishtar. She had no idea how they had
appeared, she had heard Usagi's scream and ran outside.
"Usagi, get inside!" Ishtar ordered and raised her arm. "Tell
everyone to come out here, now!"
Usagi nodded and managed to run inside without any problems. Ishtar
was just about to shout Energy Beam when she saw what the demons had
turned her precious garden into. Everything, everything was destroyed.
Her work, her garden...
"Energy Beam!" Ishtar yelled with anger in her voice. She
aimed for a group of demons, knowing that they were more vulnerable
when they stood together. But this time several of them jumped out of
the way and only one of them was hit. Ishtar looked at them in shock,
but then used her attack to strike them again. This time she hit two
of them but some still jumped out of the way.
[It's like they're smarter...] Ishtar thought. [Or do they
know our strategy?]
She had no time to think. Three demons jumped after her at the same
time. She jumped aside, but one of the demons landed on the top of
her. Ishtar's eyes narrowed and grabbed the demon's hands in order to
stop it from using it's claws on her.
"Energy Beam!" she called again and destructive energy shot
from her fingers and into the demon. The demon exploded and left a
cover of dust right on her. Ishtar got up before the other demons
could jump on her. She backed and looked around. There were at least
fifty, perhaps sixty. But the garden was so huge, the demons she saw
didn't have to be all of them.
"Need some help, dusty?" Medusa joked as she joined Ishtar's
side. Ishtar made a face and brushed the dust off her Sailor fuku.
"Very funny. I hope the others are coming, we need to destroy
them all before they get to Usagi."
"Fine. Where's Archangel?"
Ishtar frowned at the question. "What do you mean..." she began but
ducked when a demon came flying right over her. She held out both
hands and a sphere of light appeared like magic. The question still
bothered her. Wasn't Tomo somewhere around the house? According to
Akira the training session had ended over an hour ago.
[What if she somewhere out here? Kami-sama, what if she's
hurt?!]
"Flash!" she called and tossed the ball towards the demons. It
would explode in less then a second, but still several jumped aside
just before it emploded. These demons were different, the ones that
Ishtar usually fought were more... stupid. Before Ishtar could react
she felt a strong force push her to the ground and then something
landing on her. She looked over her shoulder and saw a demon raising
it's claw.
"Poison Arrow!"
An arrow came from no where and stabbed the demon from the back. The
demon stood still for a split second, then exploded. Again, dust was
showered over Ishtar. This time she couldn't care less. When she got
up she saw that all the Senshi in the house were out fighting. All
except for Archangel. There was a chance that she was with Usagi, but
Ishtar doubted it. Her worry grew for each second. But there was no
time looking for Archangel. The demons had to go first.
In another part of the garden Triton struggled with her
trident. It was a heavy weapon but she had to use it. If she used her
power all the time she would eventually be exhausted.
[If someone told me a year ago that I would be viciously
fighting off creepy demons with a trident covered in demon dust I
would have given them the number to my cousin's shrink...] Triton
thought dryly. She stabbed the trident into a demon's chest and then
use the trident to toss the demon aside. Where was the next one?
Triton turned around and discovered that there was no "next one", at
least not in the place where she was. She ran to the other side of the
lawn and saw Hermes fighting off demons with his sword.
She froze, she was unable to do but to watch Hermes. What was
it with her? She watched Hermes fight...
And she remembered.
* * * *
It was already dark. She ran and ran. She had to find him, she
wouldn't give up or die until she found him. The Dark Kingdom could
prevail, the Silver Millenium could fall. But she had to find him, no
matter what. Suddenly she stopped running and turned around. Her face
didn't reveal fear, but anger. She saw a former general of the Earth,
Jadeite, standing there.
"Well, look who's here?" he said with a mocking tone. "The
little lady Triton of Neptune."
Triton grip on her pendant tightened a little when she looked at that
man. Though she had to use all time to find *him*, she couldn't help
getting angry at the sight of Jadeite and answering him.
"You traitor," she hissed. "How dare you betray your lord and
kingdom?"
The pendant she wore suddenly shone and something inside her told her
where *he* was. All angry thoughts on Jadeite suddenly disappeared,
all that was left was one thought: She had to find him. She turned
around and ran once again, promising herself not to stop until she
found him. Finally she stopped and he was in sight. Like the loyal
knight he was, he fought against the demon soldiers of the Dark
Kingdom with his shining white sword. Triton could hear his only
thought. It was the same as her.
They had to find and reach each other.
* * * *
"Triton, look out!"
Someone's call awakened Triton from the memories she had just seen.
She turned around and held out her trident. The demon who had been
running towards her ran right into the sharp trident. Triton backed
and pulled out the trident. Then she looked at Hermes Knight, he had
been the one who had warned her. He finished off the demon he was
fighting, then ran over to her side.
"What were you doing?!" he demanded. "You could have gotten
killed, you need to pay attention!"
What was he hiding? What was it that he didn't want her to know?
Perhaps, it had something to do with what Triton had just seen. But
she could ask him about that later. These demons were already doing
serious damage to the garden, it was lucky that no one had gotten
hurt yet.
"I understand," Triton simply replied and then left Hermes to
continue her work. She looked up at the sky for a moment and saw
Archangel flying down towards them. As much as she knew that it was
best for Archangel to stay inside because of her weakening powers but
decided to let her be. They needed all the help that they could get.
* * * *
Usagi watched it all from inside. She stood close to the window, eager
to see everything that happened. She saw Archangel coming from the
sky, but one more wasn't really going to help much. From what Usagi
could see it could be an entire army of demons and somehow more seemed
to appear. Ishtar looked tired but was still fighting like she was
possessed. The same thing with the others. Ares and Medusa protected
each other when one of them got tired and covered each other's backs.
Those two would be a good team when they weren't so busy picking on
each other.
But it angered Usagi so much to see everyone fighting and
struggling so hard while she couldn't do anything but to wait inside
and watch. She leaned her head on the window and shut her eyes
tightly.
[If only I could fight... I only I could do something... Then
they didn't have to protect me!]
"Do you seek the power?"
There it was the voice again. Usagi quickly opened her eyes and looked
over her shoulder. The young woman in her dreams was standing there.
She looked so real compared to the dream. Her skin was a little pale,
her dress was old fashioned, her eyes were sad, her hair was still
long and wavy but this was a real person. A person of flesh and blood
and not some imaginary person in Usagi's dream.
"Who are you?" Usagi whispered.
"I'm Shanti," the woman replied. "I can help you, I can show
you where to find the power."
"How?"
"Follow me."
Without waiting for an answer, Shanti turned around and left the
hallway. Usagi followed her as Shanti walked up to the second floor
and then opened the door to the balcony. They both stepped out. From
where they were standing they could see all the Shin Senshi fighting
to prevent the demons from reaching the house.
"They are all fighting to protect you and themselves," Shanti
said with her sad voice. "Saviour of the galaxy, the power that you
are seeking... What will you use it for?"
Usagi turned to Shanti. "To help my friends. I don't want them to risk
their lives to protect me because I'm the princess."
"Have it not crossed your mind that they protect you because
you are dear to them and not because you are the princess? Perhaps
they want to risk their lives."
"If that's the way they feel, I want to be able to do the same
thing for them," Usagi replied. "I am the princess of this Solar
System, one day I will be the queen and rule it. How could I protect
the people in this Solar System if I can't even help and fight
alongside my friends?"
Shanti smiled faintly. "The power you seek is already within you," she
told. "You do not need my help, saviour of the galaxy."
Shanti gently took Usagi's hands and closed her eyes. A magenta aura
surrounded them both and a heart shaped brooch began to materialize in
Usagi's hand. Usagi watched in fascination as the brooch became real
and that she could actually feel the power coming from in. Shanti
released Usagi's hands and opened her eyes.
"Go and help your friends. One day, you can help me as well."
Those were Shanti's last words before disappearing. Usagi looked at
the brooch for a while but then she heard a scream. She turned around
and saw Ishtar being hit by an enemy attack. She clutched the brooch
and held it near her heart.
[Don't worry... minna-san. I'll help you win this battle.]
"MOON CRYSTAL POWER! MAKE UP!!"
As she shouted those words, a bright light came from the brooch. It
spread out, blinding Senshi as well as demons.
* * * *
[Is it all over?] Ishtar thought with her eyes closed and arm
covering them. The light was so strong, she could feel the warmth in
her fingertips. The light made her forget the bleeding wound on her
leg and other pains in her body. She had never experienced such light
before. But when it eventually faded away, Ishtar became aware of the
pain again and sank down since it was too painful to stand up. She
opened her eyes and for some reason she, and everyone else, looked
upwards.
Standing on the balcony was a mysterious figure. Ishtar
couldn't see much, but she could guess that the person was wearing a
Sailor fuku. There was something familiar about the hair too, it was
pink... Ishtar's eyes widened. Usagi? No, it couldn't be.
"Demons of darkness, you will be punished for your actions!"
the person called. Ishtar and the other Senshi stared at the person
in shock. The voice, it belonged to Usagi! It was her! "For love and
justice, I am the new Sailormoon! In the name of the Moon, you will
be punished!"
As she finished her speech she jumped down from the balcony and
miracously landed gracefully on the ground. Ishtar looked at her. She
was indeed Sailormoon, not the legendary one, but the new one. Her
fuku was mostely pink and white but unlike the others she didn't have
a tiara. Instead she had the sign of the Moon on her forehead. Her
back bows were transparent, like the ones Super Sailormoon had had.
At least according to the illustration in one of Ishtar's books.
Sailormoon calmly gazed around the gardens and then raised
both hands. A light from her hands, but it wasn't nearly as strong as
the one before. A long, white staff appeared in her hands. The entire
staff was decorated with jewels of different color. On the top was a
golden, crescent moon, also decorated with jewels. Sailormoon lowered
the staff and then let her gaze lay on the groups of demons in the
garden.
The crescent moon began to glow brightly, along with it's
jewels. Sailormoon pointed the staff forwards and closed her eyes. She
could feel a huge amount of energy and power inside her being
extracted to the staff. Not everything, but a huge amount. She opened
her eyes and saw that the crescent moon was glowing even stronger.
"SHINING MOONLIGHT!"
Yay, Usagi finally got to transform and be Sailormoon!! :D I had
planned this from the beginning and was a little eager to write this
part. Because, as you may have noticed, this story doesn't have that
much Usagi in it. So, now she's Sailormoon and everything's alright.
Or is it? Anyway, This part took me exactly three days to write,
unlike part 9 that took two and a half months. I hope that I'll be
writing the other parts at my normal pace, since writing something in
three days doesn't guarantee that it turns out well. By the way, did
you know that it's Friday the 13th today?
Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)
13 April, 2001
Next:
Sailormoon Mirai Part XI: Angel of mine
Has everything really turned out okay since the last battle? While the
others start to repair Chie's garden Tomo becomes depressed. She
remembers her parents, who both are gone, and is sad because her
powers are getting weaker. Will Tomo lose her happiness as well as
her powers?
~MIRAI~
PART X: VISIONS
by: Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)
Disclaimer: Sailormoon belongs to Takeuchi Naoko and Kodansha, not me.
Although most of the characters in this fanfiction are original and
created by me.
Note: This part and the next one will be shorter than the ones before
since the most important part of the parts are the battle. And we all
know how good/bad I am at writing battle scenes...
Some Japanese words I use:
fuku = uniform
kami-sama = god
minna-san = everyone
* * * *
She was floating. Floating in pure light and warm energy. There wasn't
a single care on her mind. All problems in the world were gone. Her
father, her mother, NSS, demons, Senshi, the Moon Kingdom, the Earth
and other things. She couldn't think about them. She didn't want to
think about them. All that she could think of was the peace that she
felt inside herself. There was a peace that she hadn't achieved in a
long time.
"Arise, saviour of the galaxy, our healer, our Messiah."
Curious about where the voice was coming from, Princess Tsukino Usagi
Lady Serenity opened her reddish eyes. When she did that, she found
out that she was no longer floating. She was lying on the cold ground,
surrounded by a dead and dark landscape. There were crushed buildings
are debrises as far as her eyes could see. The full moon shone down
from the starry nightsky. The whole thing gave Usagi a feeling of
uncanniness. Usagi sat up and gasped at what she saw. She saw Ishtar,
Odin and the many other Senshi lying spread out the area. Dead. None
of them were awake, somehow Usagi knew that none of them had a beating
heart. They were all dead.
"What is this...?" Usagi whispered and felt the coldness in
her heart. She stood up but her knees were shaking. "Chie-san?
Kenji-san?"
She stumbled over to Triton's cold body and pulled up her friend's
head in her lap. At first she touched Triton's cheek. Her skin was so
cold. While whispering: "Misao-chan, wake up..." she shook Triton
carefully hoping that there would be some life sign. When she finally
realized that there was nothing to do, Usagi put down Triton with
shaking arms.
"It's too late for you to save them now. There is nothing that
you can do."
There it was, the voice that she had heard before. The voice that had
awakened her from the peaceful slumber and lead her to this dead
world. Usagi stood up and turned around. She found herself face to
face with a young woman, hardly twenty years old. The young woman had
long, wavy hair with a bright, purple colour. Her dress was the same
colour as her hair and was made of soft silk. Though the woman was
very beautiful her eyes were very sad. There was something about those
eyes that made the woman seem like a reminder of ancient times even
though she physically looked very young.
"Who are you?" Usagi demanded. "What has happened to my
friends? They are not supposed to... to... to be like this!"
"This will happen..." the woman answered calmly. "You are the
only one who can stop this danger and this evil. You are the saviour,
you will start the progress of purifying this galaxy once again."
"What are you talking about?" Usagi asked. "My mother was the
saviour, only she could purify the Earth. And I... I can't do
anything... I don't have my powers, I can't fight along with my
friends... I can't do anything..."
"If you do not stop the evil and darkness from flowing, you
will spend eternities witnessing deaths of innocent people and the
ones you care about," the young woman replied calmly.
"How can I do that?"
The young woman looked at Usagi straight into her eyes. There was
something familiar with those eyes, but Usagi didn't know what it was.
The young woman's eyes... there was sadness, nothing but pure sadness.
Who was she? How did she know everything. Then the young woman finally
opened her mouth and answered Usagi's question.
"Free me..."
* * * *
"It wasn't strong enough, try again."
Archangel sat down on the lawn, breathing hard. She looked at Akira
who stood before her with his usual calm gaze. Archangel's eyes
narrowed. She didn't know what was with her, but lately those calm
gazes were getting pretty annoying. She was getting annoyed at
everyone and everything lately. But eight hours of nothing but
training was adding to her temper. Chie had wanted her to train with
Akira in the outer part gardens everyday and honestly Archangel was
getting sick of it. She took a deep breath and tried to say the words
calmly and repressing her anger at the same time.
"Akira-san, we've been doing this for eight hours non-stop,"
Archangel pointed out. "Can't I just take a few minutes to recover?"
"No," Akira answered firmly. "Your life may depend on your
training. Get up and use your attack again. Try to concentrate more
this time and aim more precisely."
Archangel clenched her fist when she heard that. That was it. She
couldn't take it anymore. Akira had said the same thing each time she
used her attack. Why couldn't he realize that she was doing her best?
Why couldn't anyone see that she was doing her best? Her grades were
beginning to slip because she was too tired to study, she hadn't seen
Miyazawa outside school for ages. Monday to Saturday she went to
school where she struggled to keep up with the others. When she got
home and until it got dark she was forced to do training with Akira or
someone else. On Sundays she got an even more severe and longer
training.
What kind of life was this?
To Akira's surprise Archangel stood up, but she looked at him. The
usual calm look in her eyes was replaced with a rebellious and mostely
an angry look.
"I'm tired of this," she hissed. Her tone also surprised Misao
and Usagi who had just come out to the gardens. "I'm tired of everyone
ordering me to do things all the time. Everyone else gets to do
whatever they want on Sundays but I'm the only one who's stuck here
all the time."
"It is for your own good," Akira replied. "You know that your
training is important."
"I don't care!" Archangel yelled. "I may be the youngest here
but I'm not a child! Stop treating me like one!"
Her wings started to flap and moments afterwards she took off by air.
Misao and Usagi ran over to the spot where Archangel had stood before
and looked upwards. Akira stood silent and didn't even watch Archangel
leaving.
"Tomo-chan, wait!" Usagi called, but it was like Archangel
didn't hear her. As moments passed Archangel eventually flew further
and further away.
"She'll calm down," Akira stated coldly. Misao turned to Akira
with an angry glare. She hated when Akira sounded that cold, it was as
if he didn't care whether Archangel came back or not. She knew that he
cared about Archangel, but the tone in his voice angered her.
"Couldn't you have handled it better?" she asked with a strong
hint of anger in her loud voice. "Who knows where she's going?!"
"She'll calm down," Akira repeated like some kind of robot
without emotions. Misao put her hands on her hips and looked she
really wanted to punsh him. But for some reason she didn't.
"Why are you so sure?" she asked instead. "You know how easily
hurt Tomo can get. The only good way for us to keep her here is to be
nice and gentle with her."
"I can't say that I blame her for being upset."
Both Akira and Misao looked at Usagi who was still gazing at the blue
sky. They couldn't tell if she was still gazing after Archangel or if
she was just gazing at the sky. A gust of wind blew past the garden,
causing Usagi's hair to look like two pink clouds. Her eyes had a
dreaming look, she could might as well been talking to herself than to
Misao and Akira.
"Being stucked here all the time, not being able to go out and
fight..." Usagi said softly still with her eyes locked on the sky.
"I... kind of feel the same way. The only difference between us is
that I have gotten used to it."
* * * *
"You've let them be too long."
Tiamat stopped brushing her dark red hair when she heard her sister's
voice. With an angry look in her eyes she tossed the hair brush over
her shoulder. Hecate caught the hair brush with a mocking smile on her
face. When she released it simply disappeared just moments before it
was going to touch the floor.
"Don't you ever get tired of pestering me?" Tiamat asked
without looking at Hecate. She picked up a ribbon and then started
braiding her hair. Hecate just shrugged. She walked over to Tiamat and
place her head at Tiamat's shoulder so that they could see each
other's faces in the mirror that Tiamat sat in front of. Both had
similar appearance, the only difference was that Hecate's hair was
curly and more red. Once they had been close sisters and best friends,
now they were nothing more but rivals. The only thing that they had in
common was their loyalty to Hel.
"That comes with the part of being a sister," Hecate replied
and then stood up straight again. "What have you done about those Shin
Senshi the last few weeks? Hel-sama is going to be upset with you if
you don't get rid of them."
"The time to strike is now," Tiamat answered, still with her
eyes fixed on the mirror on the wall. "One of them has been forbidden
to fight and the princess can't. They are weaker now and I will take
them all out in one final assault. I don't know why I even bother to
explain it to you. You will probably just use my plan and tell
Hel-sama that it is yours."
Hecate turned away from Tiamat and crossed her arms. Her mocking tone
turned ice cold. "Unlike some I know, I don't go behind people's
backs."
Tiamat suddenly stopped braiding her hair and looked at Hecate,
surprised. She opened her mouth to say something but she couldn't.
[She's still mad about that?] she thought. [No, it was so long
ago. But it would explain her behaviour the last decades.]
"Reed Maxwell was a traitor," Tiamat reminded. "Whether we
liked him or not. He is dead now, accept it."
Hecate shut her eyes and her fist was shaking with anger. But Tiamat
couldn't see that since Hecate had turned her back to her. All of the
sudden Hecate let go of the anger and regained her cold voice.
"You better not fail this time," Hecate said suddenly and
started walking. "Hel-sama has been kind to us. At least one of us
should finish those Shin Senshi off. We own Hel-sama that much."
* * * *
When Akira and Misao had gone inside Usagi had stayed outside. She had
said that she wanted to see if Archangel was coming back but it was a
lie. She knew that Archangel was going to come back sooner or later
but Archangel wasn't the reason why Usagi wanted to stay outside. She
remembered the dream, other dreams would have been forgotten, but the
latest one was special. Ever since she had woken up she hadn't been
able to forget about it. She hadn't known why, it was just a silly
dream.
[I do wish that someone would call me a saviour... if only I
could have to power to fight, that is,] Usagi thought. She bent down
and inhaled the fragnance of one of Chie's flowers. It smelled lovely,
just like all the other flowers in the garden. [Chie must have spent a
lot of time with this garden.]
"Do you seek the power?"
Usagi looked up, only to see someone sneaking behind a tree. "Who's
there?" she demanded but there was no answer. She waited for a while
but it was like she had just imagined the voice. The voice she had
just heard... it sounded a little like the voice that she had heard in
her dream. Usagi shook her head when she realized what she was
thinking.
[It's ridicolous. But nonetheless, if there's someone there I
must see who it is.]
She left the flower plants and walked over to the wall of trees that
led to another part of the garden. There was a huge lawn there, it was
where Akira and Archangel had been training before. But when Usagi
came there she couldn't see anyone. She turned around but saw that the
only place that the person could have gone was behind the trees and to
the lawn. And there was no place to hide. Usagi took a deep breath.
[I guess that was just imagining it.]
She turned around and was just about to go back when she thought that
she heard something again. This time it wasn't a voice. It was more
like a noise. Like something was being digged up. Usagi turned around
and faced the army of unwanted visitors.
* * * *
There was something that was bothering her. Lately she hadn't been
able to sleep or concentrate on anything, not even things that she was
so good at lately. School and Senshi training for an example. She was
so sick of it, so sick of trying to be Miss Perfect so that everyone
was going to be pleased with her. No one was ever pleased with her. No
matter how well she did people always wanted her to do better. Now her
Senshi powers were failing her.
[What would I do without my Senshi powers?] Archangel asked
herself when she was flying around in the sky. She had chosen a place
where no one would see her and flied around there. The only thing
about her that hadn't weaken was her flight ability.
[What if I wasn't a Senshi...] Archangel thought and started
to fly towards a tree. She soon reached the tree and sat down on one
of it's most stable branches. She looked down and saw how high it was.
[I wouldn't be able to fly... What would that be like? It's been two
years since I got my powers. Now I can't imagine what it would be like
without them. What if... what if I loose them?]
Archangel took a deep breath and leaned backwards. She fell from the
branch but the wings prevented her from falling further down. She
stayed in mid-air, looking at the brooch that was placed in the middle
of the angel wings on her chest.
[What would I do if I lost my powers?]
She suddenly realized that she had been gone for a long time now.
Deciding that it was time to return and apologize to Akira for her
behaviour, she took off in the air and back towards the Sakura
Mansion. When she saw the mansion covered by it's trees, she felt
something in her heart. Relief? Yeah, she was happy to return home.
After all, the Sakura Mansion was her home. But as she came closer,
there was also strange feeling in her heart.
[Something's not right...] Archangel thought. She flew faster
and eventually came through the trees. From where she was she could
see the entire garden. But she wished that she hadn't returned. The
garden wasn't the garden she had left an hour ago. The flowers had
been destroyed, the decorations had been smashed, there were piles of
dirt everywhere, even on the lawn. But that wasn't the worst part. The
worst part was that the demons and the Shin Senshi were fighting. She
could see everyone except for Usagi and demons were everywhere. Even
more than that time when Yasha had been injured. Archangel clenched
her fist and dove towards battle.
* * * *
It had all happened so sudden. One minute Chie was putting away the
groceries she had just bought and the other she was trying to fight
off the demons on her own as Ishtar. She had no idea how they had
appeared, she had heard Usagi's scream and ran outside.
"Usagi, get inside!" Ishtar ordered and raised her arm. "Tell
everyone to come out here, now!"
Usagi nodded and managed to run inside without any problems. Ishtar
was just about to shout Energy Beam when she saw what the demons had
turned her precious garden into. Everything, everything was destroyed.
Her work, her garden...
"Energy Beam!" Ishtar yelled with anger in her voice. She
aimed for a group of demons, knowing that they were more vulnerable
when they stood together. But this time several of them jumped out of
the way and only one of them was hit. Ishtar looked at them in shock,
but then used her attack to strike them again. This time she hit two
of them but some still jumped out of the way.
[It's like they're smarter...] Ishtar thought. [Or do they
know our strategy?]
She had no time to think. Three demons jumped after her at the same
time. She jumped aside, but one of the demons landed on the top of
her. Ishtar's eyes narrowed and grabbed the demon's hands in order to
stop it from using it's claws on her.
"Energy Beam!" she called again and destructive energy shot
from her fingers and into the demon. The demon exploded and left a
cover of dust right on her. Ishtar got up before the other demons
could jump on her. She backed and looked around. There were at least
fifty, perhaps sixty. But the garden was so huge, the demons she saw
didn't have to be all of them.
"Need some help, dusty?" Medusa joked as she joined Ishtar's
side. Ishtar made a face and brushed the dust off her Sailor fuku.
"Very funny. I hope the others are coming, we need to destroy
them all before they get to Usagi."
"Fine. Where's Archangel?"
Ishtar frowned at the question. "What do you mean..." she began but
ducked when a demon came flying right over her. She held out both
hands and a sphere of light appeared like magic. The question still
bothered her. Wasn't Tomo somewhere around the house? According to
Akira the training session had ended over an hour ago.
[What if she somewhere out here? Kami-sama, what if she's
hurt?!]
"Flash!" she called and tossed the ball towards the demons. It
would explode in less then a second, but still several jumped aside
just before it emploded. These demons were different, the ones that
Ishtar usually fought were more... stupid. Before Ishtar could react
she felt a strong force push her to the ground and then something
landing on her. She looked over her shoulder and saw a demon raising
it's claw.
"Poison Arrow!"
An arrow came from no where and stabbed the demon from the back. The
demon stood still for a split second, then exploded. Again, dust was
showered over Ishtar. This time she couldn't care less. When she got
up she saw that all the Senshi in the house were out fighting. All
except for Archangel. There was a chance that she was with Usagi, but
Ishtar doubted it. Her worry grew for each second. But there was no
time looking for Archangel. The demons had to go first.
In another part of the garden Triton struggled with her
trident. It was a heavy weapon but she had to use it. If she used her
power all the time she would eventually be exhausted.
[If someone told me a year ago that I would be viciously
fighting off creepy demons with a trident covered in demon dust I
would have given them the number to my cousin's shrink...] Triton
thought dryly. She stabbed the trident into a demon's chest and then
use the trident to toss the demon aside. Where was the next one?
Triton turned around and discovered that there was no "next one", at
least not in the place where she was. She ran to the other side of the
lawn and saw Hermes fighting off demons with his sword.
She froze, she was unable to do but to watch Hermes. What was
it with her? She watched Hermes fight...
And she remembered.
* * * *
It was already dark. She ran and ran. She had to find him, she
wouldn't give up or die until she found him. The Dark Kingdom could
prevail, the Silver Millenium could fall. But she had to find him, no
matter what. Suddenly she stopped running and turned around. Her face
didn't reveal fear, but anger. She saw a former general of the Earth,
Jadeite, standing there.
"Well, look who's here?" he said with a mocking tone. "The
little lady Triton of Neptune."
Triton grip on her pendant tightened a little when she looked at that
man. Though she had to use all time to find *him*, she couldn't help
getting angry at the sight of Jadeite and answering him.
"You traitor," she hissed. "How dare you betray your lord and
kingdom?"
The pendant she wore suddenly shone and something inside her told her
where *he* was. All angry thoughts on Jadeite suddenly disappeared,
all that was left was one thought: She had to find him. She turned
around and ran once again, promising herself not to stop until she
found him. Finally she stopped and he was in sight. Like the loyal
knight he was, he fought against the demon soldiers of the Dark
Kingdom with his shining white sword. Triton could hear his only
thought. It was the same as her.
They had to find and reach each other.
* * * *
"Triton, look out!"
Someone's call awakened Triton from the memories she had just seen.
She turned around and held out her trident. The demon who had been
running towards her ran right into the sharp trident. Triton backed
and pulled out the trident. Then she looked at Hermes Knight, he had
been the one who had warned her. He finished off the demon he was
fighting, then ran over to her side.
"What were you doing?!" he demanded. "You could have gotten
killed, you need to pay attention!"
What was he hiding? What was it that he didn't want her to know?
Perhaps, it had something to do with what Triton had just seen. But
she could ask him about that later. These demons were already doing
serious damage to the garden, it was lucky that no one had gotten
hurt yet.
"I understand," Triton simply replied and then left Hermes to
continue her work. She looked up at the sky for a moment and saw
Archangel flying down towards them. As much as she knew that it was
best for Archangel to stay inside because of her weakening powers but
decided to let her be. They needed all the help that they could get.
* * * *
Usagi watched it all from inside. She stood close to the window, eager
to see everything that happened. She saw Archangel coming from the
sky, but one more wasn't really going to help much. From what Usagi
could see it could be an entire army of demons and somehow more seemed
to appear. Ishtar looked tired but was still fighting like she was
possessed. The same thing with the others. Ares and Medusa protected
each other when one of them got tired and covered each other's backs.
Those two would be a good team when they weren't so busy picking on
each other.
But it angered Usagi so much to see everyone fighting and
struggling so hard while she couldn't do anything but to wait inside
and watch. She leaned her head on the window and shut her eyes
tightly.
[If only I could fight... I only I could do something... Then
they didn't have to protect me!]
"Do you seek the power?"
There it was the voice again. Usagi quickly opened her eyes and looked
over her shoulder. The young woman in her dreams was standing there.
She looked so real compared to the dream. Her skin was a little pale,
her dress was old fashioned, her eyes were sad, her hair was still
long and wavy but this was a real person. A person of flesh and blood
and not some imaginary person in Usagi's dream.
"Who are you?" Usagi whispered.
"I'm Shanti," the woman replied. "I can help you, I can show
you where to find the power."
"How?"
"Follow me."
Without waiting for an answer, Shanti turned around and left the
hallway. Usagi followed her as Shanti walked up to the second floor
and then opened the door to the balcony. They both stepped out. From
where they were standing they could see all the Shin Senshi fighting
to prevent the demons from reaching the house.
"They are all fighting to protect you and themselves," Shanti
said with her sad voice. "Saviour of the galaxy, the power that you
are seeking... What will you use it for?"
Usagi turned to Shanti. "To help my friends. I don't want them to risk
their lives to protect me because I'm the princess."
"Have it not crossed your mind that they protect you because
you are dear to them and not because you are the princess? Perhaps
they want to risk their lives."
"If that's the way they feel, I want to be able to do the same
thing for them," Usagi replied. "I am the princess of this Solar
System, one day I will be the queen and rule it. How could I protect
the people in this Solar System if I can't even help and fight
alongside my friends?"
Shanti smiled faintly. "The power you seek is already within you," she
told. "You do not need my help, saviour of the galaxy."
Shanti gently took Usagi's hands and closed her eyes. A magenta aura
surrounded them both and a heart shaped brooch began to materialize in
Usagi's hand. Usagi watched in fascination as the brooch became real
and that she could actually feel the power coming from in. Shanti
released Usagi's hands and opened her eyes.
"Go and help your friends. One day, you can help me as well."
Those were Shanti's last words before disappearing. Usagi looked at
the brooch for a while but then she heard a scream. She turned around
and saw Ishtar being hit by an enemy attack. She clutched the brooch
and held it near her heart.
[Don't worry... minna-san. I'll help you win this battle.]
"MOON CRYSTAL POWER! MAKE UP!!"
As she shouted those words, a bright light came from the brooch. It
spread out, blinding Senshi as well as demons.
* * * *
[Is it all over?] Ishtar thought with her eyes closed and arm
covering them. The light was so strong, she could feel the warmth in
her fingertips. The light made her forget the bleeding wound on her
leg and other pains in her body. She had never experienced such light
before. But when it eventually faded away, Ishtar became aware of the
pain again and sank down since it was too painful to stand up. She
opened her eyes and for some reason she, and everyone else, looked
upwards.
Standing on the balcony was a mysterious figure. Ishtar
couldn't see much, but she could guess that the person was wearing a
Sailor fuku. There was something familiar about the hair too, it was
pink... Ishtar's eyes widened. Usagi? No, it couldn't be.
"Demons of darkness, you will be punished for your actions!"
the person called. Ishtar and the other Senshi stared at the person
in shock. The voice, it belonged to Usagi! It was her! "For love and
justice, I am the new Sailormoon! In the name of the Moon, you will
be punished!"
As she finished her speech she jumped down from the balcony and
miracously landed gracefully on the ground. Ishtar looked at her. She
was indeed Sailormoon, not the legendary one, but the new one. Her
fuku was mostely pink and white but unlike the others she didn't have
a tiara. Instead she had the sign of the Moon on her forehead. Her
back bows were transparent, like the ones Super Sailormoon had had.
At least according to the illustration in one of Ishtar's books.
Sailormoon calmly gazed around the gardens and then raised
both hands. A light from her hands, but it wasn't nearly as strong as
the one before. A long, white staff appeared in her hands. The entire
staff was decorated with jewels of different color. On the top was a
golden, crescent moon, also decorated with jewels. Sailormoon lowered
the staff and then let her gaze lay on the groups of demons in the
garden.
The crescent moon began to glow brightly, along with it's
jewels. Sailormoon pointed the staff forwards and closed her eyes. She
could feel a huge amount of energy and power inside her being
extracted to the staff. Not everything, but a huge amount. She opened
her eyes and saw that the crescent moon was glowing even stronger.
"SHINING MOONLIGHT!"
Yay, Usagi finally got to transform and be Sailormoon!! :D I had
planned this from the beginning and was a little eager to write this
part. Because, as you may have noticed, this story doesn't have that
much Usagi in it. So, now she's Sailormoon and everything's alright.
Or is it? Anyway, This part took me exactly three days to write,
unlike part 9 that took two and a half months. I hope that I'll be
writing the other parts at my normal pace, since writing something in
three days doesn't guarantee that it turns out well. By the way, did
you know that it's Friday the 13th today?
Komillia (komillia@hotmail.com)
13 April, 2001
Next:
Sailormoon Mirai Part XI: Angel of mine
Has everything really turned out okay since the last battle? While the
others start to repair Chie's garden Tomo becomes depressed. She
remembers her parents, who both are gone, and is sad because her
powers are getting weaker. Will Tomo lose her happiness as well as
her powers?