Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon.
"Hey, watch where you throw that!" a rather indignant voice squawked from on top of the bed.
Usa screamed.
"Shh, keep it down!" the voice hissed, a sense of urgency hidden in its—well, her, considering the voice sounded very female—tone. "We can't have anyone notice us! This information I'm about to give you is top secret!"
It was at this point when Usa wondered exactly what was going on with her brain. She could have been dreaming…but then again, this felt all too real to be a dream.
Just like the one with the knights, Pegasus, and Silent Warrior.
She considered this for a second. Maybe this disembodied voice, as crazy as it sounded, held an answer to that. Perhaps this was the start of something greater than she could ever fathom. Hey, it happened to the Silent Warrior in the comics! And besides, if that wasn't the case, then if she had one very vivid dream, she could have another. This thought was what prompted Usa to slowly close the bedroom door behind you.
"So…" Usa began rather slowly. "Why don't you show yourself, then, if you want to share something with me?"
The backpack shuffled, before a paw poked its way out from under it. Following the paw was a lithe gray shape, small but graceful with shining ruby-colored eyes.
It was the cat from last week.
Usa stared at it, not daring to say a word. Her mouth simply hung open, while her crimson-colored eyes seemed to bulge out of their sockets. A talking cat? Out of all the things the voice could have belonged to?
I thought there was something odd about those cafeteria mashed potatoes, she thought.
Paying no attention to her incredulous expression, the cat cleared her throat, and continued speaking. "Sorry to give you such a scare, but it is imperative that I reach you. My name is Diana, and I've been watching you for the past week. And now, there is no doubt in my mind that you are the one I have been searching for."
"The one…" Usa repeated, dumbfounded. "You've…been…searching…"
Diana nodded, giving Usa a catlike smile before sitting down in a refined manner, wrapping her tail around her paws. "Indeed. Now, you can stop gaping at me, for I'm the least of your worries. But I do have something for you."
The crescent-shaped mark on Diana's forehead began to glow, causing Usa to back up a few paces. A talking magical cat that glows? Yes, this was definitely a cafeteria-food-induced dream.
Finally, after a final burst of light, something appeared in front of Diana and on Usa's bed.
Usa blinked, then stepped closer to the object, which appeared to be a necklace. Upon closer inspection, the necklace was a brown leather cord with a single pendant and a few small, round, silver beads on each side. The pendant was rather small, and resembled something of a padlock in shape. The metal was copper, and while it was mostly bronze in color, it has begun to take somewhat of a silvery glow upon Usa coming closer. Sealed onto the middle of the ancient pendant was a small, white, round stone. A moonstone, she realized.
"Is this…mine?" she asked hesitantly.
Diana nodded, though her smile had vanished. "It is yours…yet there seems to be something missing. There's supposed to be a silver crystal protruding out of the bottom."
Usa picked up the pendant. It felt very warm, and filled the pinkette with a feeling that felt comforting at the same time as energizing. She turned it over, and sure enough, there was a hole at the bottom. She presumed that this was where the silver crystal was supposed to go.
"So what does it do?" she questioned. "I mean, I like the necklace and all…but I'm not so sure why you'd just randomly give me a necklace."
"It's not just any necklace," Diana explained. "It's both an amulet made to protect and to link the soldier of the moon to her power."
"Whoa, whoa, wait," Usa cut in, not quite daring to believe what she had just heard. "Soldier of the moon? And you're giving this to me…why?"
Diana's smile returned to her face. "That soldier of the moon is you. You see, there's a group of knights hidden among today's society, unaware of their true powers. After watching you for the past week, I have come to the conclusion that you are one of these."
Usa stared at the amulet, then back at Diana. Then, with a sudden glint in her red eyes, a rather steely expression settled on her face. "Prove it."
"Certainly," replied Diana. "There is one way to find out for sure. Just clasp the amulet in your hands, and in your mind, connect with the power held within it. If my hypothesis is correct, then you will transform, even without the power of the Silver Crystal."
Usa nodded, and cupped the pendant in her hands, figuring that if nothing happened then she could always just shoo the cat and live on from there, for by now she wasn't sure whether this was a dream or reality. She closed her eyes and tried her best to reach her mind out to this power, even though she had no idea how to do so. Come to me, power of the moon, she thought, trying her best to speed up the process or even get a result.
But then, all of a sudden, Usa felt herself being enveloped by a warm light, the same sort of comforting warm as the temperature of the amulet. This happened for a few short seconds before the amulet shot out of her hand, the warmth ceased, and Usa fell to the ground with a thud. Gingerly, she stood up, but nothing could prepare her for what she saw.
She was wearing a suit of armor.
However, as if the sudden wardrobe change wasn't enough, this wasn't just any suit of armor that she'd find in a fairytale. First of all, the silver chest plate seemed to shimmer with the light of the moon—in fact, there was a crescent moon carved on the right side. Carved on the left side was what looked like a tree*, with tiny dots that resembled stars spread across the chest plate. The stomach was segmented, silver, and was also adorned with stars. The shoulder pads were golden and triple-layered**, while the golden gauntlets acted quite a bit like gloves, segmented at her knuckles and wrists and extending all the way to right below her elbow. These were decorated with the same carving of the tree that was on her chest plate. Meanwhile, the boots were also golden, as was the tiara that glimmered on her forehead, with a pink jewel at the center. The skirt was double-layered; the bottom layer being golden panels and the top being smaller cloth panels of light pink. However, the curious thing about this suit of armor was the pink cloth "sailor kerchief", giving the whole look the appearance of a fuku. It was fastened together by a golden crescent moon-shaped clip, and as it extended over her shoulders, it became a cape, with shimmering silver-colored runes on the back. Underneath it all was a layer of light pink padding, the parts of which not covered with anything else being covered with silver chain mail. She also wore a brown leather belt, with a shining silver scabbard attached, with yet more runes carved into it. It lacked a sword.
"Forged for the castor of divine light," Usa read, not even sure how she was able to translate the ancient runes. "She who sails the Sea of Serenity."
Diana smiled, looking at the newfound warrior like a mother whose child had just learned how to walk.
"That is you," she said, ruby-red eyes gleaming with wonder. "You are Sailor Moon, the leader of the Sailor Warriors, an elite force of female knights specifically chosen for the task at hand—to fight evil and protect the world."
"But I…what about my life?" Usa blurted out. "Friends, school…I'm only fifteen!"
"You can still live like a normal girl," Diana reassured her. "You just have a special task that you must fulfill. I shall help you along the way, and in addition, you are not alone. There are other Sailor Warriors out there, and they will be your allies. I already have suspects for at least three, while the last two either remain under my radar or live in another part of the world.
"But why today?" Usa inquired. "Why not wait until I'm older or something?"
"Because the enemy has already made its first strike," Diana replied grimly. "The mall is in grave danger."
She thought about this for a minute. She had no idea how to fight. She could possibly even get killed. Yet so could hundreds of people if she did not step in. Usa—no, Sailor Moon's—face was set. "What do I need to do?"
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Fueled by an unusually high amount of adrenaline, presumably a side effect of being a Sailor Warrior, Sailor Moon reached the mall in less than five minutes and, incredibly, was not tired out from excess running. This was a good thing, for from the instance the newfound Warrior stepped in the mall, she could see the problem.
It looked like a giant bull—at first. But this bull was obviously not normal. For one, it seemed to be made almost entirely out of silver sheet metal, with bolts and gears for joints. But when really caught Sailor Moon's attention was the numerous bodies littered around the floor she and the bull were on. This made Moon feel sick. People had died, and this thing was to blame.
"Hey! Leave those innocent people alone!" she shouted. The bull, whose attention was previously directed towards a terrified family cowering in a corner, turned to face Moon.
And that's when she remembered that she had no sword.
Shit! she thought. Why give me a scabbard but forget the sword?
Sensing her moment of weakness, the bull opened its metal jaws wide and blasted a column of fire at her like a dragon would. Moon screamed and dived out of the way just in time.
I can't just keep dodging it, she thought, dodging again as the bull opened fire on her a second time. But then, she was seized by a mad idea. She reached behind her and grabbed her cape, and then waved it at the bull like a matador would. It wasn't red, but it was the closest thing.
And sure enough, it worked. The bull screeched angrily like an owl, then charged at the cape. Moon sidestepped the creature, and as a result, it crashed into the wall. Using this moment as an advantage, she grabbed for the first thing she could use as a possible weapon—her tiara. To her complete and utter surprise, the tiara took on a silvery glow, and instantly started to heat up in her hand. Not knowing what else to do, Sailor Moon threw it like a Frisbee right at the metal bull, using its non-attentiveness to her advantage.
There was a colossal explosion. Moon felt herself being thrown back, her hands instinctively covering her ears. Several people screamed and also dived out of the way from the explosion.
After the initial shock, Moon slowly rose to her feet, and looked at the scene before her. The bull was gone. I did that, she realized, subconsciously holding her hand out as her tiara came whizzing back into her grasp. She was a superhero, and that was the reality. She was definitely not dreaming, and as she brushed the dust off the armor, she just so happened to look up. About twenty or so golden orbs floated in midair. No one else seemed to notice them. In a sort of wondrous state, she reached up to grab them in midair. But just as she did so, they faded.
The sound of sirens jerked Sailor Moon back to the present. No doubt it was the police coming to investigate the situation, as well as several ambulances and quite possibly the media as well. Quickly, she turned and sped out of the mall, right before the first wave of police officers and fire fighters came rushing in.
"Well done, fair maiden," a voice whispered in the Warrior's ear. She jumped, before glancing behind her and finding no one. Perhaps she imagined that?
Meanwhile, a dark figure watched the entire scene unfold from a distance. She said nothing, only observing as the fight ensued and the bull exploded.
Then the figure smiled and vanished.
Author's Note: Finally, another chapter and our first taste of action! Sailor Moon has her first battle, and already there are two mysterious people! Well, you can probably guess one, if not both.
* The tree I'm referring to is a willow tree, a tree that symbolizes the moon.
** Think Sailor Moon's shoulder guards in their Super form in the anime, except metal, gold, and nontransparent.