First I wanna say sorry to my readers, been so busy and I'm sooooo... easily sidetracked, and some of these scenes I needed to rewrite like 6-8 times, completely trashing some parts, and I know some of it feels sloppily written and thrown together. So bear with me. This chapter is going to be a bit of a changing point. Feel free to give me ideas to go along with this and any pointers on my mistakes (I know there are quite a bit of them. L), and fill free to ask questions! Anyway… on with the program….. (Also did I mention that I don't own Sailor Moon?)
Chapter 8
Sailor Ceres Frustration
Hotaru, Diana, and I walked in a hurried pace. Hotaru had contacted Venus and informed her that she had found me and that we were on our way there. With each step I was feeling more and more dread filling my heart. Kaden was there, and I was not eager to be coming in contact with him again, especially since our last encounter. Not that I should have been thinking about that now. There was a threat and now was time to take action.
As we entered the surveillance room, Ami was frantically taping away at the computer in the room with Sailor Pallas watching the screen intently, Rei was meditating, on her knees and fingers entwined and Sailor Venus was pacing in deep thought, Mako and the other three members of the Quartet were absent. Prince Kaden glanced in my general direction and then went back to watching the various screens from the security cameras.
Venus looked up at me as I walked over to her, relief evident on her features, her blue eyes silently scolding. "Lady Serenity, please never turn off your communicator. It is essential to your well-being. That being said, I'm glad to see that you are safe."
"I'm sorry, Venus," I said eyes downcast, "I just wanted some time to think to myself… I have things I need to sort out is all."
Venus nodded in understanding. "I know it is a confusing time for you, but we are guardians, and right now it is up to us to make sure that life here on earth continues to stay peaceful. Ami have you gathered any information on that boy? Are Jupiter and the girls holding up okay?"
Ami shook her head. "The only thing I can get on him is that he has unusual energy pattern, that is similar to another that we have encountered before but what that specifically is I cannot say for sure. As for the girls, Jupiter keeps trying to talking to him but, so far hasn't made any progress with him."
Venus's blue eyes returned to me. "Lady Serenity, we need you to transform, your crystal is the only thing that can probably help us at this point. I think that if you were to try to use healing power on him that his heart will become less malevolent. Pallas, go with her, your skills should no doubt be useful, try to stay out of battle if possible, your aunt would not be happy with me if that leg were to get worse.."
"Right," I nodded. Glancing at Kaden one last time, though he avoided my quick glance, I ran out of the security room, transforming as I ran, Sailor Pallas and Saturn just behind my heels.
It seemed to take a while to get to the palace's main entrance, although I kept having a feeling that I could not place, as if in foreboding. As we neared to doors that led to outside we heard shouting and angry remarks. The three of us stepped out and I noticed that Sailor Vista was being held up by Sailor Juno, favoring a leg, it looked oddly twisted, and Sailor Pallas went over to her, staying out of the fight due to her previous injury. Saturn watched the fight, as if analyzing the movements of the ones fighting, waiting to see if she needed to interfere. Jupiter and Sailor Ceres were in combat with a boy and a freakishly large hairy green thing that roughly looked like a housefly. Jupiter was trying to blast it out of the air with her lighting like powers and Ceres was taking on the boy trying to stay calm as she fought him and trying to, unsuccessfully, talk to him.
It was the same boy from yesterday, and he was stilling wearing the mask that hid most of his face except his mouth and his eyes. Judging by the look in his eyes, from the way he was glaring at Ceres, he was out for blood. When he finally noticed me, he scowled and stopped looking at my fellow guardian. I kept my expression guarded and tried my best to remain unreadable.
"The princess decides to grace us with her presence!" he announced mockingly.
"This fighting will get you nowhere, and your princess is never going to harm our queen," I nearly shouted at him. "Who is your princess and why does she wish to kill Neo Queen Serenity?"
"My nightmare princess does not wish me to repeat her words to the likes of you and those traitors," he spat. He suddenly threw a small dagger at me.
I barely had the time to react to dodge it, and it left a cut in my arm as it grazed me, letting loose a small trickle of blood. I looked at my opponent wide eyed in shock. I had not expected this boy to know how to use actual weapons. The boy grinned at his well-aimed attack.
"Why can't you just die, Princess," he spat again.
"I have to protect this world from evil like you," I shot back.
"Depends on who you see as evil," he replied.
His words reminded me of my question I had asked Kaden yesterday; can one person think that their way is right and the other is wrong, while the other person see it as reverse, which one is correct? I shook my head feeling unnerved. Was I in the wrong? Had my mother been wrong all of my life?
It was Sailor Ceres who then spoke to the boy. "Evil is considered to be thus when one has a desire to do things that would truly hurt others in the end result, the Queen loves this world in which she tries to protect time and time again. Even if our peace is destroyed, her love and the love of her daughter will prevail, as it always has!"
I smiled inwardly. My mother never gave up, keeping her faith in the world and her friends. She always fought for peace. 'Thank you for that reminder,' I thought.
He charged at me then with another dagger in hand, but he didn't reach me when suddenly he was hit with electricity and then fell. Ceres caught the boy, quickly lying him down on the pavement. He was trying to catch his breath, obviously seriously injured by Jupiter's attack.
"I have failed my princess," he said in a whisper. His mask had come off and his face had some freckles and was slightly pale and his eyes were nearly a green as Jupiter's. "Just kill me now, Sailor Moon. If I go back to my princess in defeat, I am as good as dead anyway."
I took the boy's hand in comfort. "Maybe I can help her," I said gently.
He glared at me, not able to move his hand. "There is no saving her," he whispered, "She is too set on revenge and…"
We didn't get to hear the rest of what he wanted to say when Ceres suddenly pushed me back and Saturn shouted "Silence Wall!" and a jet of black like energy came seemly out of nowhere at the boy, ultimately killing him.
"She told you to stay quiet, Rowan," a new female voice said, almost in a scolding tone. Everyone looked up at the newcomer. She stood on a building in front the palace. She had dark green like hair and her eyes were brown-green. Her skin was nearly tan but she was lighter than Setsuna. She wore a cloak of similar fashion as the one called Rowan. A frown upon her smooth dark lips, and a gloved hand on her hip.
"Who are you," I heard Jupiter ask.
"My name is not important, but I shall grace you with it," she replied. "My name is Midori, and I am here to deliver a message. My princess tells me that she had misjudged you and your guardians' strength, but believe me, she will discover your weakness, Sailor Moon. Of that, I can promise you. The next time we meet we will battle to the death." Then, as quickly as she appeared, she disappeared. I looked at the little boy lying seemingly peacefully. He was so young to have died so soon and early.
"We should try to give him a burial," Jupiter said quietly from behind me.
"Where do you think he came from," Ceres asked, her eyes looking elsewhere.
"No idea," she replied, "We could always ask Ami to look into the missing person's reports and see if he is registered anywhere."
Saturn then spoke. "Jupiter, what does this look like to you?"
We looked to where she was pointing, which was on the boys chest that appeared to be stabbed into where his heart would be, and I let out a small gasp as I realized what the object was. I suddenly felt fear that I hadn't felt in nearly three years. "Why? How?" I whispered in a near panic. Ceres placed a hand on my shoulder in comfort, which slightly calmed me.
"I think the question is more like who are we dealing with and how did our new enemy obtain this," Saturn said, picking up the black object.
Jupiter picked up the boy. When she spoke again, it was to my guardians. I was not able to speak, my mind was in a frenzy and in shock, 'they couldn't be back', I kept thinking. "Vista help get Juno get to Ami and get that checked out, we need to be in top form before the next attack. Ceres, I think you should take Sailor Moon to her parents. She will be needing their guidance in this matter."
"Will do," my leader guardian replied. When the two older senshi were gone, followed by Vista and Juno, she gave me full attention. I was looking at her too, but I was not actually seeing her, but I could tell that she was concerned. "Sailor Moon, do you want to talk about it? I can see that you're afraid and you're questioning something."
"Ceres, do you know what that thing was? That black thing Saturn picked up," I asked her still whispering, not wanting to actually say what it was, but hoping that she knew. When she shook her head I sighed, 'Of course she doesn't know, it was before she came to live here in the palace…' I thought sullenly. "That was a malefic black crystal shard, but it was different than I last remember it, but there is no mistaking its likeness."
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Both Cere and I dropped our transformation, and she led me back into the palace. I was quiet. Wrapped up in my thoughts and wondering who this enemy was. They kept throwing the words princess and nightmare. The boy had mentioned revenge too, and said something about traitors. This discovery about their use of the malefic black crystal was just another piece to add to the mystery.
It was almost as if it was a clear indication of them being a part of the Black Moon Clan. The Black Moon Clan were evil people whose leader, Prince Demande, who had been manipulated by a man that had been banished from Earth. With this evil man's influence, Prince Demande tried going back into the past in an attempt to rewrite history so that Crystal Tokyo would never happen. Fortunately Sailor Moon and I, as a newly awakened sailor guardian, was able to stop them. From what I recall, Ami was positive that all traces of the Malefic Black Crystal had been eradicated from Earth. My father had even done his search, and mom had guided me in the cleansing of Earth. Though the biggest mystery now was why do they call my guardians traitors? My four were not around at that time of Prince Demande's terror.
We arrived back into the control center where Ami was doing some test on the black crystal along with Palla as an assistant. Jupiter and Saturn was giving my parents a detail account of the battle. Venus was making calls, and seemed to be trying to find out any information on the boy we had fought. All I could do was stare at the crystal while everyone else talked around me. June was being looked over by Mars, Visa alongside them. Only Prince Kaden was no longer here, not that I cared much, but I wondered where he had went.
"We will find out what is going on, I promise." My dad was standing next to me comforting me in a half hug, I hadn't even noticed his presence until he spoke, and Cere had went to my mom giving her side of things. "Ami will find out all that she can, and your mom had placed all the guardians on alert."
"I'm not a little girl anymore, Dad."
He gave a small chuckle. "I am very well aware of that, Usagi. Even so, it's okay to be afraid."
"Fear can cloud judgment," I reminded him.
"True, but it can also be a way to for us to learn to be courageous," he countered. "When we stand up to what we fear, we sometimes find that it's not nearly as scary as we thought it might be."
I looked up at him. "Were you ever scared of anything?"
"I would like to say no, but I would be lying. There were many times I felt afraid, There were many times I was afraid that I would lose your mother to whatever enemy that came our way. I was scared of losing you. I feared you would never come back to us when you went back into the past."
"And what helped you though it all?"
"My faith in your mother."
I smiled.
"Rowan Carston," Venus suddenly announced loudly. "Ami search that name."
Ami quickly typed the name on the keyboard, and the name along with a picture of a smiling boy appeared on the main big screen of the monitor. Then she started reading aloud. "Apparently Rowan went missing nearly a year ago, and was almost seven when he was last seen. Last time he was seen was when he was going out with friends to go to a birthday party a block away from home, but his friends were all positive that he made it home."
"It's possible that he was taken over by this person they call the nightmare princess," my mother remarked.
"It is highly suggested, Majesty," Ami answered. "His family lives just outside of Crystal Tokyo… Do you want me to send word to them about their son, or do you want me to invite them here for you to inform them of this?"
"I wish to tell them, and I do not want any of this information getting out. This is the first time our enemies have ever involved anyone whose origins have started on Earth. What about the crystal Saturn found? Any data to be found?"
"Its structure is similar to that of the Malefic Black Crystal, but it seems stronger and more powerful than the one we saw from the Black Moon Clan. The crystal that was seen then was bigger and emitted plenty of negative energy, but this one, though smaller, is putting out more energy than that one did."
Ami's words sent a shiver down my spine. Of all the things I had seen in the past two days, this was least expected. Something stronger than the Malefic Black Crystal? It was already hard enough fighting it once… but the second time? That was probably going to have to take a miracle. One I am unsure that we will get. Would thirteen guardians be enough for whatever threat came our way?
"This is not news I had wanted to hear," my mother admitted. "I was positive that we had ridded Earth of all of this."
"It is possible that someone may have escaped Earth to cultivate this crystal," Ami told her.
"What do you wish of us, Your Majesty?" Venus asked quietly as everyone turned to her.
"We must look for traces of these new dark Crystals, I leave that to Ami and Mars," she replied. "Minako, I want to know about anymore missing person reports. Jupiter, I want you to contact Neptune and Uranus, and along with Saturn I want you to train the girls. Now, more than ever we need their powers, we may lose without them. Endymion and Lady, I would like you to accompany me to let this boy's family know of what happened as soon as they come to the palace. Everyone, be on the lookout for anyone suspicious."
That meant meeting adjourned. My father stayed behind as my mom and I walked out together. The silence between us was more than frightening. Again I was feeling failure especially since I had not downed another enemy again. I wondered if she was disappointed with me this time. I stole a glance at her as I sulked in my mind, Neo-Queen Serenity's face, for the most part, was expressionless, but her worry reflected in her blue eyes like an open book.
"Mom, about today," I started, stopping for a moment, then continued. "Mom, I just want to say that…. I'm sorry I was unable to save Rowan today," I pursed my lips, unsure of where I was going with this. "I was so certain that I could help him and save him, and then that girl… she killed him in front of me and I was powerless to do anything as I watched him," I swallowed and lowered my voice just above a whisper, "as I watched him die. Then the thing with the-"
"I'm not upset about what happened," she interrupted quietly. I felt taken aback. Surely she was upset with me about my reaction to the crystal. I wasn't a child anymore! "Usagi, your role is new, and you are still a little bit in training. There is still much for you to learn and room for growth. Your time in the past never put you in the role of leader, which was left to Sailor Moon and Venus. I have faith that you will forage your path soon enough."
Then my mother took ahold of my shoulders, looking me in my eyes. "And about Rowan, not everyone can be saved," she told me gently. "There have been many in my life that I could not save, as much as it gave me sorrow. Each battle I have ever had gave me a reason to fight, to grieve those lost, good or evil, I had to continue on, and mourned them after the battle or war was over. I never forget those lost, but I had to continue forward."
Her words touched and comforted me, more than I could ever tell her. "I only worry about being strong enough, I want to be like you were, and still are." I explained, and then I sighed in relief, glad that my mother didn't blame me for the death of one so young. "And what about his parents?" I asked hesitantly.
She smiled warmly. "You are your own person, Usagi. Though you share my name, I expect different things from you. Amy says that you share my love for this world and my determination, you also share your father's silent nature when things are serious, but all in all you are Usagi Lady Serenity, crown princess of Crystal Tokyo." Her smile faded as she then replied to my question. "As stated earlier, I will inform them of what I know, they will want to know how he died, but I won't mention about the threat we are currently facing. We cannot do anything that can cause fear or widespread panic until we know what we are dealing with."
"Thank you, mom," I told her, fighting back tears of happiness. 'I really do have a pretty awesome mother,' I thought. "Is there anything I can do in the meantime?"
"You and your guardians must train and get stronger. Each of you must discover your own powers, as individuals and as a team," she replied. "In the days that follow I believe now more than ever you five must stay united against this threat."
"We will be here for you," my father added. "We will guide you as far as we can, as well as your mother's guardians."
"I will do all that I can to carry on the pride as a sailor senshi," I told them standing a little straighter.
"While we are alone for the moment, I wanted to know what you thought of Prince Kaden," she asked suddenly.
I smiled. "He is a good friend, and I am glad that we have finally set aside our past. Their Family has been our closest allies on Earth since the earlier days of Crystal Tokyo, My friendship with him needs to be there if it is to continue with my rule."
"I would you feel about him coming with us on our vacation?"
I was stunned by the question, and was unsure about how I felt about that. I decided to dodge her inquiry. "Is it really okay for us to still go with everything that is going on?"
"I don't see why not. Some if the guardians are staying back to watch over the palace for us. I have offered for Kaden to come with us, but he asked that I had your approval first before he made his decision."
I thought about what it would be like. My mind envisioned it for a moment. I pictured him coming to my room and kissing me... I gasped, feeling my face flush. 'Where exactly are these thoughts coming from!?'
"I… Um… I think that would be nice to have him along with us," I replied honestly. "Are his parents okay with him going?"
At this my mother actually laughed. "His mother was thrilled. Although, admittedly, her main purpose is for you two to become more than friends, but love does not always come as quickly as it does for your father and I."
"I will send a message to time when things start to settle down," my father told me, "In the meantime, it would be wise if you were to train with your fellow guardians."
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I left my parents to head to the special training gym, which was specially designed to prepare for all forms of combat. For those who liked to physically fight, there were objects that would fly around to test agility and reaction times, as well as hit things. One could train their magical attacks or abilities. There was also a robot that could be activated to be your opponent for sword play, fencing, staffs, daggers, and just about any other possible weapon imaginable.
Some of my mother's guardians knew some weapon techniques. Minako was decent with a sword, but Haruka was phenomenal. They often had a sparing competition, which often ended in a draw, but often times than not, Haruka won. Sometimes Father would join them, and he would overpower them in terms of physical strength, but they were both quick and clever, so it made for an even match and would also often end in a draw.
Rei was adept in archery, and Visa had learned a little from her and practiced as often as her schedule allowed. She was graceful but was still not fast enough to match her superior. Mako and Haruka would do various fighting styles. Haruka was almost always victorious, but Mako was stubborn and wouldn't give up until she could win at least a few points.
A rare fight to witness was Hotaru and Setsuna taking each other on with staffs. Their movements were flawless and quick; Setsuna had many years of experience, but Hotaru was good at reading her opponent and being swift. She had a surprising strength for her small stature, and it was clear that they were evenly matched. No one was sure who the victor was in their matches.
As for myself, I knew a little bit about everything, but I wasn't particularly skilled at one weapon, though I did the best at throwing shrunkins. My guardians told me that the skill would not be helpful against an enemy. My mother, on the other hand, mentioned how, with the second enemy that she ever came across, her two white hair pieces acted as shrunkins to pin down some paper that was being thrown at her. Mom told the memory to us in pride, though Luna told her that she was only lucky, to which her guardians would laugh.
As I neared the gym, I could hear shouts and clangs as metal hit metal, followed by curses and angered grunts. I could tell the voice belonged to Cere. I hid behind one of the equipment dummies to listen, not having the heart to interrupt her training.
"Ceres, you are useless," she shouted at the robot charging at her. "You can't even help your princess!" I noticed that she was holding the Moon Sword that Venus had given her at our official guardian ceremony.
There was a loud clang as Cere blocked the fully charged attack coming straight down at her head. The robot jumped back, swinging at her from the left, only for the pink haired girl to block that, too, and knocked it back a few inches. Another frontal attack came at her so fast that she barely dodged by quickly leaping backward.
From my hiding spot, I could see Cere breathing hard from the physical exertion. The robot wasn't giving her a break as it charged at her again. She jumped up, pushing off the ground as hard as her legs could, and managed to miss being stabbed where her stomach had been seconds before. She then quickly moved, cutting off the robots main sword hand, and landed on the ground just behind the robot with her back to it.
"If only this was that easy…" I heard her mutter as the robot took the sword from its useless hand on the ground. It rapidly swung around and slashed at Cere, managing to make a small cut on her back that began to ooze. Cere grunted but spun just in time to block another swipe at her side. I could tell that it was a powerful swing and that she was fighting hard to manage control of her opponent.
"It will take more than that, you fiend!" she half cried at the robot in frustration. I could tell that the swings of the robot were getting harder to fight off. Her vexation was making her form sloppy and her attacks not as powerful.
The robot kicked out, and she leapt up to dodge, but then it took aim at her leg, catching her right ankle. This caused her to land awkwardly on her opposite foot, hissing in pain. The next attack came at her for the left, and she went to block it, but her pain caused her a great deal of distraction. The robot kicked at her injured foot, and she lost her balance. She fell hard and cursed as the robot kicked away the Moon Sword. The robot held its sword to her neck, then backed off, knowing that she was defeated.
I could see her humiliation as she let out a string of curse words. She put her face in her knees, her fist hitting the ground with each sob. I started to go to her, but a firm hand held me back. I looked to see who it was, and it was Venus looking at me with an expression that I had not seen before. She put a finger to her lips and shook her head, indicating that I should stay where I am.
"Cere," she called, walking over to the sobbing girl sitting on the ground. "Stand up."
"I can't," she mumbled, though it was hard to tell if that was what she really said.
"I told you to stand," Venus told her in a firm voice.
"I can't!" Cere shouted. "I'm not meant to be a guardian, Mom. What is the point of me being a guardian if I can't make a simple attack like a leader is supposed to?"
"I will not help someone who has given up due to a minor setback," Venus told Cere, turning her back on her daughter and starting to leave. "You are no daughter of mine."
Shock and anger crossed Cere's face. She quickly got to her feet and snatched the Moon Sword off the ground, rushing at her mother. Venus spun and snatched the robot's weapon, blocking her daughter's frontal attack. A smirk clear on her face, and her bright blue eyes held Cere's pink determined and angry ones.
"There is the determination that I should see," Venus said proudly, then backed off. "A leader does what she can for her Princess, always! Never doubt that for one minute. It doesn't matter if you have powers, use everything that is available to you."
Cere pointed the sword downward on the ground, holding it with both hands at the hilt, and got down to her knees. "Mother, I am sorry for my behavior, and I will do as you have instructed. Please teach me to be better, I will do everything within my power to become the leader I need to be."
Staring at her daughter for a few minutes. "Arise, Cere, and face me." Her voice was no longer demanding or harsh. Cere did as her mother told her, though it seemed that standing was proving to be a bit hard to do with her right ankle starting to swell slightly.
"I will do all that I can to help you fight," she told her daughter, placing a hand on her shoulder, "however, your power is for you to discover for yourself. I cannot give you the power that lies sleeping dormant inside. Even the distant outer guardians had do discover theirs."
"Do you think that I will be able to soon?" My guardian inquired in low tones, sniffling as she wiped some remaining tears away from her face.
"I do not know, only time and training will tell," Venus answered.
"I will train with everything that I have!" There was determination in her eyes that I hadn't seen in a long time, not even with her talks about her boyfriend.
I was glad I had kept silent as I watched her mom and her talk, and I heard a little laughter as they talked a little bit about her temper. Soon I quietly left the gym as they started training together. It was good to see them spend some quality time together.
It wasn't until I was headed back to my room to change for lunch time that I realized that I had forgotten my main reason for going to the gym in the first time. 'Oh well, they need to talk things out anyway,' I thought with a smile upon my lips. 'I can just train later.'
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The girl named Midori appeared in front of her princess, who looked at her with a murderous glare, the girl's brown-green eyes were downcast as she half bowed at the waist to her princess. She had also lowered the hood of her cloak, so that her face could be seen. She tried to keep her expression in check, trying not to lick the dryness of her dark lips under her unforgiving gaze, and her gloved hands remained on her lap as the Nightmare Princess studied her subject.
"Speak." The command came from her loyal servant at her side.
"Sailor Moon is stronger than we had originally gave her credit for," the tan girl replied.
"What of the boy?"
"I dealt with him before he could reveal more than necessary," Midori told him.
"And what of the traitors?" This time it was the place princess who spoke.
A smile formed upon her lips for the first time under the red gaze. "They are not as powerful as they once were under the control of Nehelenia. As I was watching the fight between them and Rowan, I noticed that they don't use weapons or power attacks as the other guardians do. Though it will not be in our favor to underestimate them, but if given the right timing, I believe that it would easy to pick them off one by one. I also feel it would be in our best interest to find a way to… drive a wedge between them and their princess, that is, if we were to attempt that."
"Then I leave you and my most loyal servant in charge of making sure that it happens."
"Yes, my princess," both Midori and the boy bowed.