Yes yes, i know, i haven't updated in months. Had real problems with this one for some reason. I'd like to thank my Ruka-onee-chan for giving me a name and an idea and my boyfriend for bearing with my terrible angst and hair-tearing episodes over this chapter ;)
Also, thanks to Stratalight for her reviews and helpful ideas and comments, darling you are one in a million and i adore you. Thanks to you this chapter turned out like this so hopefully you enjoy it. I hope the rest of you do too. Tough if you don't though, my story lolz. Unless it's really terrible, which i don't think it is. :D Luv you all still!
And now, on with the show! STAGE ON! ~Eb~ x x x
Luna woke feeling groggy and uncertain of where she was. It took her several minutes to remember that she was back in the Tsukino household and curled up on a chair in the corner of Serena's room instead of her usual position on a corner of the bed. She wondered what had awoken her and how long she had been sleeping.
Yawning quietly the black cat stretched and jumped from cushion to floor, stretched again, then looked at the faintly glowing face of a clock on the bedside table opposite her. 01:49. She hadn't been back and asleep very long. She and Artemis had only returned from their little quest roughly an hour ago and she had probably been asleep for a little less than that time.
So what had woken her?
Looking around now, nothing struck the feline guardian as being out of the ordinary. Moonlight fell in pale beams through the window, illuminating bed and floor and various objects littering the floor. Serena lay asleep in bed, turning and mumbling something.
Luna frowned. Why was the girl so restless again?
Padding silently across the room she hopped up onto the bed and crept closer, leaning down to hear better.
"Wha . . . wass hap'nin?" was the faint murmur escaping the blonde's lips.
Silently, thoughtfully, the small black feline sat up again, her frown deepening. She hadn't seen Serena this restless since . . .
Turning big brown eyes to the view of the night sky on the other side of the window, Luna recalled a period several years ago where Serena had been this restless, when she had been tormented by depression and dreams. But surely that hadn't happened again? Had it?
The brown eyes returned to the blonde's troubled face.
Serena looked all around her. There was nothing. Nothing but mist. Pearly white and eerily ghosting around, covering everything.
"Where am I?" her voice echoed through the misty veils, surprising her for the voice that called back wasn't the one she had spoken with, though it was one she knew.
She took several small, slow, tentative steps forwards. "What is this place?" again, that voice that was hers yet wasn't echoed her words and tones.
Looking around gave her no answers; she could only see a swirling waist-high wall of white, and there was no sky above, only darkness, a void. Carefully, unsure of whether there was really solid ground beneath the mists and beneath her bare feet, she moved forward a little more.
A noise.
"Who's there?" by now she was used to her voice echoing, and that the echo was her own voice and yet not quite the same.
Nothing.
She looked around her some more, and it was then that she saw the outline, greyer than the mist that shrouded it, a little way off. Serena got the feeling that the figure was watching her.
"Who are you?" she called out, moving more quickly now and towards this stranger.
The figure retreated into the mist.
"Wait! I only want to ask you some questions!" She moved faster, jogging now. Still the wraith moved, always staying just within her sights, seeming to wish to lead her somewhere. Then, with such suddenness that she doubted that it was ever there, the form vanished.
Halfway through wondering where it had gone, she suddenly realised that she had no idea what she was wearing. Looking down hastily, she saw that she wore her Eternal Senshi uniform but without the gloves, the boots or wings. She felt a little odd to be wearing the incomplete fuku.
She looked up again to see another shadow through the pearly white, this time not human-shaped but squarer. Curious, she moved closer. It didn't move away, becoming clearer and more defined as she came nearer.
Finally she stopped and stared at it, wondering how in the universe it could have gotten there. It was a mirror. An ornate, full-sized mirror.
Cautious now, she moved so that she could look into the reflective glass. The image portrayed brought a gasp to her lips and widened her crystal blue eyes.
She saw herself as Serena Tsukino, then the image morphed into her first senshi form as Sailor Moon, then into her second, then Super, then Eternal. Then two more appeared, one on either side of her.
The one to her right was Kakyuu, wearing a short red skirt that appeared to be made of satiny petals, a red version of the top the Starlights wore and translucent red puffs on her upper arms, and on her feet were pixie slippers. Around her throat was a thin blue ribbon tied in her signature style, upon her scarlet hair her usual headdress, upon her forehead a golden star.
The one to her left was a girl she barely remembered, wearing a bodice and skirt similar to her own scouts' uniforms but in soft, shadowy black. The band connecting the sleeveless bodice to skirt was pure white, the skirt more flowing than the sharp edges of the Sol Senshi fukus though just as short. An oval black jewel glinted on her forehead, and two more were melded to the flesh of her inner wrists. She wore silver bands around her upper arms and mid-calf-high boots of shimmering black edged in silver.
As she watched the girl's form melted into that of another, the dark auburn hair turning black with crimson ends, the brown eyes becoming red, the outfit changing into smoke, a familiar semblance that inspired a thrill of fear and, oddly, concern in Serena.
Then almost immediately her image transformed again, becoming a senshi with a white sleeveless bodice edged at the top with dark grey, with dark silvery grey banding connecting it to the black skirt, a translucent underskirt of silver. The boots were now thigh-high, the silver edging now tracing it's way in a shimmering path of shadowy swirls. Black gloves came up as far as Serena's in her Eternal form, but held in place with silver bands. The collar had lengthened into a cape that reached her waist, the choker dark silver-grey with a symbol of a circle cut through with a horizontal line with a vertical one perpendicular to each end. The same symbol glowed with power on her forehead, metallic black again. The bow at the back was thin ribbons now and silvery-grey.
Serena watched all this with wide, confused eyes. Why would the mirror show her this? But it had not finished with her yet.
Slowly Kakyuu transformed back into her royal form, the black-clad senshi faded into a similar girl in a long black gown, and then the gown changed slightly, became more regal and mature than princess-like and a circlet appeared on her hair. The reflection of Eternal Sailor Moon transformed into Princess Serenity.
At that instant Serena became aware of folds of material falling down softly about her and looked down sharply to find herself dressed in her old gown of white silken folds and gold decoration, the gold bead bracelet around her slim pale wrist, the two trios of pearls in her hair, but no sign of the shoulder puffs she had normally worn, and where once there had been golden rings decorating the top edge of her dress now there were crescent moons on their sides.
She looked up to find that her reflection now matched her appearance, with no sign of the other two members of the Trinity Alliance. But the reflection showed a ruined city behind her, and turning revealed her ancient home.
The capital of the Moon Kingdom.
Serenity ran through the deserted streets, ignoring shadows that moved and whispers that could have been a non-existent breeze. Abruptly, without being aware that she had been headed there, she found herself passing through the gates of the old Moon Palace. Turning back to look down the causeway that connected the palace to the city she saw only mist. The only way to go now was onward.
She blinked and now she was walking down corridors of luminescent white stone.
Blinked again and she stood before two great, silvery double doors.
Two doors that she recognised, for they were the entrance to the grand ballroom.
Slowly she approached these doors, and as she approached they opened of their own accord. The ballroom beyond was empty and dark but for a single shaft of earth-light that fell upon the twin thrones at the far end, and another that fell onto the highly polished floor in the middle of the dance floor.
She could hear faint murmurings from the shadows around her, but she couldn't make out any words or voices. Cautiously she made her way into the room, lifting the long white skirts so that she could walk down the stair without treading on the delicate material. She walked with a grace she hadn't known for a thousand years.
As she walked down the stairs she was aware of her senshi appearing one either side of her as she passed, Inner Court on the one side and the Outer Court on the other. Uranus and Jupiter bowed first as she passed, then Neptune and Mercury, then Saturn and Mars, finally Venus. Pluto was oddly absent, and her absence troubled Serenity for some reason. She walked on past them, not noticing them fade back into shadows when she stepped onto the floor.
She was possibly halfway to the shaft of light in the centre when somebody stepped out into it. Somebody with dark hair and eyes, dressed in navy and black.
"Darien!" Serenity ran to him. He led her into a dance, in and out of small pools of light within a sea of shadows. Finally they stepped into shadows and she felt the figure she held on to ripple, and when they stepped out into the next pool of light she was twirled and came face to face not with Darien, but instead with . . .
"Seiya?" the name escaped her in a breath. He was not dressed as the Seiya she knew, nor was he in female form as Fighter. Instead he was dressed in red and black, royal looking clothing, with a gold circlet around his head, a many-pointed star at the centre of his forehead inside of a ring. Though it looked like her Seiya, some part of her told her that this was not the Seiya she knew, but another form.
They danced into the next patch of liquid darkness, and she emerged into the light alone.
"Darien? Seiya?" She looked all around but could neither see nor hear anything.
A noise behind her, and she no longer stood in the middle of a darkened ballroom but in the palace gardens. Behind her, in shadows, stood her senshi in their royal forms. Off to one side stood Endymion, his face also a shadow like that of his generals who stood behind him. And off to yet another side stood four people she recognised. Galaxia in her royal form, her long orange hair darkening to crimson and burgundy; a young man with long auburn hair dressed in deep, dark violet and indigo, rich clothing and armour; another shorter young man with long silvery hair wearing dark and lighter green of a very similar style; another with raven-blue hair in red and black clothing she recognised from the ballroom dance.
"Seiya?" The question was in her voice. She blinked and the mist was back. Blinked and she stood in a large room, ornate, familiar but one she didn't recognise. Three doors faced her. Black, silver and gold. The black door was centred in the wall, directly in front of her. The golden door was to the left, the silver door to the right. All three were tightly shut.
A flash of a memory. Serenity calling out her prince's name, stretching out a hand to reach him before she lost him forever.
A tear rolled down her cheek as the images continued. Images she couldn't possibly have seen but still they passed before her eyes.
A pool of orange and yellow silks and gauzes in the throne room, dead blue eyes listless and staring, pale face streaked with tears.
Red satin on a staircase, indigo hair over pale features, red-tipped nails, the red gown stained ominously darker by blood.
Green silks lying amidst dying grass, stained red, the crackle of energy in the air. Lips that had whispered a name with their dying breath.
Blue velvet and silk beside a destroyed fountain, something sparkling on the frozen ground beside her, tears caught on dark lashes.
"No more." she whispered to the room around her.
Another kingdom in ruins, two women calling out a name while a third wept within the ruins of the palace.
Dark energy surrounding a young woman her own age with auburn hair. A scream and the energy pulsed and the woman was changed, her soul warped and her heart blackened by the evil power that had surrounded her.
Her senshi dying for her against Galaxia, protecting her and the Starlights.
Kakyuu dying.
Chibi Chibi dying.
Three strange women in Starlight uniforms, the two on either side fading and the third stepping back into shadows.
"Please, no more." Serenity clutched her head between her hands. "No more." she wept.
"Serenity."
She turned at the sound of her own name, startled by the female voice. Out of the shadows stepped a woman she knew.
"Serenity, my daughter, it has been a long time."
"Mother." she ran to the silver-haired Moon Queen and into her waiting arms.
"My beautiful daughter, why are you so distressed?" Selenity's blue-grey eyes looked down on her, tender and concerned.
"The city . . ." Serenity gasped. "Is it really still there? Or am I only dreaming? I know I'm dreaming but I don't know what's real!"
The Moon Queen watched her daughter with soft eyes as she listened. "Of course you are dreaming, but that doesn't make this any less real, does it?"
"Then the city?"
"Is as real as the day you were born in it. The other eight kingdoms are as real, only on some of the planets they are more hidden away and harder to see. On Neptune it is deep below the sea."
Calmer now, Serenity's eyes lost the urgent shine and softened with relief, although the sadness still lingered. "It's dead."
Selenity smiled softly, sadly. "All the kingdoms of the Silver Alliance are dead in appearance, but they are only sleeping. They await the return of their true rulers. They await the return of their senshi, for the day they walk on the planets' surfaces once more and bring life back with them."
Serenity sighed with relief, and now noticed her hair with a shocked gasp.
A chuckle escaped the ancient Lunarian. "When you saw your past it was with illusions of the modern day printed over some of the images, to make it easier for you to understand." Another small chuckle. "Your hair was really silver, Serenity. Serena."
The crystal blue eyes looked into the pair of eyes an older, greyer version of her own. "I always did wonder . . ."
Another chuckle. "Now you know. Mars' hair was really deep indigo, Mercury's was a brighter blue and Venus' more golden, while Jupiter's was auburn, not merely brown." the sad smile returned. "There is so much you do not recall even now."
"Why? Why can I not remember it? Why, mother?" Serenity demanded, barely preventing herself from stomping her foot.
Grey-blue eyes looked over her head, at something in the shadows that Serenity couldn't see or sense, and the sadness doubled. "For the protection of the ones your memories hold, for your own protection, simply because you cannot remember them for the moment for whatever reason, be it an unimportant memory or simply the wrong time." she looked back at her daughter and fondness entered her eyes. "A mixture of them all and many more, my daughter, it is nothing to be frightened of or resentful for. All your memories will return in time. They are trying to resurface even now."
"Where are you? On the moon? What do all these images mean? And the doors?"
Selenity smiled gently. "You always were full of questions, Serenity. This is a dream. The images are mixed together, turbulent, because you yourself feel confused. Past mixed with present and possible future, with your rather vivid imagination adding to the effect." this elicited a smile from the princess and her mother continued. "The doors are symbolic of the choice you face. You have three possibilities, but you can only have one. You must choose, and do so soon."
"But the past . . ."
"Only controls the past." Selenity frowned. "You control your future. Or at least, I hope you control your future. You must choose, Serenity, and the choice must be made. Soon. As fast as possible. Or the choice will be made for you. I chose for you before, and I have regretted it. Now the choice is yours unless you give it away to another. Unless you give the choice to another and allow them to choose for you, you can decide which door to open. None will open until you are ready. You will return here at that time."
"Where are you?" Serenity asked, pleaded. "Mother I need you. Please."
Tears marred the perfect colour of those older eyes. "I am here in your mind, for right now I cannot be with you in body." she embraced Serenity before drawing away slightly, her form misting." I am not so far away that I cannot hear you. Never forget that. I am here and the choice is yours."
Serenity closed her eyes, tears falling down her cheeks.
Serena awoke with a start.
"About time Serena, I've been trying to wake you for the past hour or more."
"Luna!" Serena caught up the black cat and hugged her tightly. "Oh Luna I've missed you."
The cat submitted to the tight embrace quietly, sensing that her princess was deeply troubled. "You were tossing in your sleep, crying out. I'm amazed your family didn't come in to see what the matter was! You were having such an awful nightmare."
"Oh Luna, it was awful. Everything was misty, and the mirror, and then the city and the ballroom, and the flashbacks . . . but I spoke to mother." the embrace by now had softened, and the touch told Luna just how upset the girl was. "At least, I think I spoke to Selenity."
"The Moon Queen?" When Serena placed her back on the quilt and nodded she sighed. "I think you need to tell me everything."
Serena opened her mouth to speak.
"Everything, Serena." Luna said firmly. "From the beginning. Queen Selenity would not give you nightmares. And you've changed since I saw you last. What's happened to you?"
Slowly, and with many pauses, Serena told Luna everything that had happened.
By the time she had finished, the first streaks of colour were brushing into the sky on the horizon. Luna sat deep in thought.
"I admit, things did feel a little odd while we were away, but we put it down to worrying about you girls in case another enemy came during our absence. We had no idea that it might be real trouble at home."
"Luna, do you think I should ask Pluto about Thuraya?" the thought had just struck her and she had been meaning to ask for a while now.
Yawning, the cat looked out the window. "I was advisor to your mother during the Silver Age." she began quietly. "It would be my honour if you would allow me to be one of your advisers now."
"Of course." Serena sounded surprised that Luna would ask so formally." I treasure your advice, even if I don't always follow it. You know that. Besides, I thought you already were."
"Then my advice is to go see Rei and talk to her about this. Find out which of the Outer Senshi is betraying you, because what they are doing is nothing short of a betrayal." Upon seeing Serena's eyes widen she nodded. "Oh yes, and as princess it is up to you to bring them back into line. You won't have the full respect of your senshi unless you prove to them that you mean business, Serena. You have grown up a lot since the Starlights left us, and even more since Artemis and I left, but you still have much to do."
"Will you help me?" the tears were back in her eyes. "I can't do this alone."
Luna gave her a level stare. "If I can promise you one thing, Serena," she told her gently but firmly, "It is that you are far from alone."