It was hours later, and long past dark, before they all managed to catch up with each other at the Hikawa Shrine. Usagi was the last to arrive, having wanted to make sure that Chibusa was safe at home before she did anything else. Her mind was still reeling from the earlier events of the evening and worry about her daughter dogged her every step.
Although worry was a fairly mild term for what raced through her heart. Out-and-out terror would not be too far off the mark. Once again Chibiusa's powers had failed her in the middle of a fight. Fortunately she hadn't collapsed like the first time, but there had still been a moment of absolute horror for her mother as she watched attacks fail and finally Chibiusa's transformation had disappeared, leaving her vulnerable.
The explosion outside the Crown Fruit Parlor had been caused by an uncontrolled burst of Daimon energy in the nearby transit station, resulting in numerous injuries and every single newspaper and magazine in the station's kiosk coming to life and attacking people. When she had arrived on the scene with Ami and Makoto Minako and Mizuki had already transformed and were fighting, but they were on the verge of being overwhelmed.
Usagi didn't remember much about the fight that ensued once they were all together; her attention had been focused on her daughter's difficulties and on protecting Chibiusa as best as she could. But one thing she did remember, vividly. Rei had used her ofuda attack to good effect, but it wasn't enough to stop the mass of Daimon-controlled items in the station. The other senshi were preparing to combine their powers when a burst of purple-ish fire had filled the station, incinerating everything but the people inside.
When the smoke had cleared the first sight that met Usagi's eyes was Rei, on her knees and looking towards the station's exit with a shocked expression on her face. When Usagi looked the same way she had seen the same purple fire, only it seemed to be retreating. It had shifted and curled, wrapping around something unseen. Then, with a last flash of light it disappeared, sinking into the person who had been at the center of the firestorm.
It was Rio, taking her place as a new Sailor Mars.
And now it's time to find out how Rio is reacting to what happened, Usagi thought to herself as she reached the top of the steps. She paused for a moment to appreciate the peaceful silence that always seemed to be a part of the shrine, for she was fairly certain there'd be little peace once she was inside the house. Rei and Rio were a combustible mixture at the best of times, which this assuredly was not.
So when she slid open the door of the hallway that led to the bedrooms Usagi was surprised at the silence that greeted her. For a moment she wondered if anyone was there, but then she heard muffled voices coming from the end of the hall. She had taken a couple of tentative steps in that direction when a hand came out of a door, grabbed her, and pulled her inside. She swallowed her instinctive cry when she saw Makoto's grin.
Usagi tugged her arm free of her friend's grip. "Okay, I get the hint," she said, smiling. "But I still want to know what's going on!"
"The girls are all together in Rio's bedroom," Ami explained. "We thought it best to leave the four of them to hash it out."
Usagi nodded in agreement. Right now it was probably best if Mizuki did whatever explaining was necessary. She glanced across the room to where Rei sat, her tense posture at odds with the calm expression on her face. "How's Rio?" she asked.
Rei started out of her thoughts when Usagi spoke to her. "She's fine, physically." She stood up and moved across the room, resting her hands on the back of the desk chair. "Emotionally exhausted and confused, of course." Rei's grip on the chair tightened, the flesh across her knuckles turning white.
Usagi looked to Minako, who shook her head slightly. They all held their tongues, knowing that whatever battle was going on in Rei's heart and mind was one that their friend needed to fight on her own. The silence lengthened and deepened, and Usagi was on the verge of breaking it when with a shudder Rei released her grip on the chair and abandoned all pretense of calm.
"What do I do now?" she asked, her voice rising, the growing panic unmistakable.. "What do I say? How do I justify keeping this a secret from her for so long?"
Ami and Makoto both looked away, and Usagi could see a flush creeping across Ami's face. She knew that the two of them had the same dilemma; explaining to their daughters why the truth had been kept from them. When she spoke she was answering the question in all of their minds.
"You can't justify it," Usagi said, aware that her reply sounded harsh but unwilling to sugarcoat the reality. "None of you can. You can only apologize and go forward from here." She moved across the room and laid a hand on Rei's shoulder. "Now is the time for all of you to have a little faith in your daughters."
Are you sure you feel up to this, Rio?" Mizuki asked, concerned for her friend's welfare. "I don't want to do anything to make you feel worse.
Rio grinned ruefully and shifted position, settling the pillows more comfortably against her back. "The only thing that will make me feel worse right now is not getting answers to my questions. So spill."
Mizuki glanced at Akemi and Mariko but knew she'd get no support from them. And in all honesty she didn't expect it, as the three girls deserved every answer she could provide them. For a moment she wished Chibiusa was there to help her tell the story, but then she remembered the troubles the other girl was having with her powers and had to suppress a shiver. Usa has enough on her mind right now, she told herself. The least I can do is take this concern off of her shoulders.
Her other three friends were looking at her expectantly, so with a shake of her head and a deep breath Mizuki launched into the long story of the Moon Kingdom, the Sailor Guardians, the past battles to protect the Earth, and the current struggle that was still unfolding. By the time she was finished the hour was late and her voice was hoarse from all of the talking. Neither Rio, Mariko, nor Akemi had interrupted her once. She closed her eyes and waited for the storm of questions that was certain to strike.
But no one's voice sounded, and after a long moment Mizuki cautiously opened one eye. None of her three friends was looking at her; Rio was still on her bed but had swung her feet to the floor and she sat in silence, turning her transformation pen over and over in her hands. Akemi and Mariko were both staring at the floor, not meeting anyone's eyes. Mizuki was too surprised to speak.
Finally, after what felt like hours Mariko raised her head and looked directly at Mizuki. "We're meant to fight also, aren't we?" she asked, pulling the green and gold transformation pen that her mother had given her from her pocket and holding it lightly in the palm of her hand. "All of us - the daughters of the five Guardians - follow our mothers and will, eventually, take their places. Right?"
Mizuki nodded in response, not trusting herself to speak in a moment that was fraught with emotion. As she watched Mariko slowly clenched her fist around the pen until her knuckles whitened. A breathless moment passed as all four girls waited for something - anything - to happen. Then Mariko opened her hand and the pen fell to the floor with a clatter. She raised stricken eyes to Mizuki.
"Why?" she whispered. "Why didn't anything happen?"
Mizuki shrugged. "I don't know," she replied in all honesty. "Perhaps you need the stress of a fight. . ." Her voice trailed off.
"Or getting pissed off at your mother," Rio put in. When everyone looked at her she blushed and shrugged her shoulders. "It worked for me."
Mizuki shot Rio a glare but didn't pursue the issue any further. She only hoped that the strained relationship between Rio and her mother would not make things worse for the rest of them now that Rio had her powers. Things were bad enough with the uncertainty about Chibiusa.
Chibiusa was just as concerned as her friend and her mother. Probably more so. Unlike the previous incident, when she had been unconscious, this time she remembered the entire thing; how her powers had faltered and eventually failed, how her mother had protected her when she was vulnerable. And, most especially, how Rio had burst onto the scene in an appropriate blaze of glory.
Even with everything else weighing on her mind that memory made Chibiusa smile. She knew that the difficult relationship between mother and daughter could still cause problems, but it was hard to dwell on that after having seen Rio awaken as Sailor Mars. And her power had been a sight to behold. She was so pleased at how that part had worked out that she even, for a while, forgot the still lingering concerns of Akemi and Mariko.
Chibiusa slipped out of her bedroom shortly after her mother left her alone, thankful that Usagi had gone. Her mother's worries were doing nothing but increasing her own, and she wanted time alone to think. She paused at the top of the stairs, listening intently. She heard her father's voice, and then Seiya replying. They were both downstairs and likely to stay there for some time, so with a sigh of relief she made her way to the window at the end of the hall, the only place in the house that gave access to the roof. And above that window was a small ledge, just large enough for one person.
She sat on the ledge, hugging her knees to her chest, and looked up at the moon. It was approaching full and seemed to fill the night sky. Or maybe it was just her awareness of what she might be losing. Not just her powers as Sailor Moon, but her place as the heiress of the Moon Kingdom. Without that who and what was she expected to be?
You are just as much, if not more, your father's daughter.
Artemis' voice sounded in her head, repeating the words he had spoken to her earlier that day. It was a timely reminder; she had been on the verge of sinking into a morass of self-pity. She dropped her eyes from where the moon hung in the sky and gasped in shock.
She was no longer sitting on the roof of her parents' house, but in a garden surrounded by red roses. The pathway beneath where she sat was paved in pale stone that gave off a faint golden glow. In the distance she could see a building with a domed roof and a colonnade of sorts across the front. It looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn't have said why.
"Welcome, Princess."
Chibiusa started and surged to her feet, stumbling slightly. She stood for a moment, gathering her wits, before she turned to face the source of that comment.
She wasn't surprised to see the young man from her previous vision standing before her, but on this occasion she took her time and studied him, committing everything she could about the experience to her memory. He was taller than her by a few inches, but at a guess her age or not very much older. In a striking contrast to his apparent youth was the stark white hair that covered his head and fell in a wave across his forehead. She took a deep breath.
"Welcome to where, exactly?" she asked, pleased that her voice sounded perfectly normal.
Her companion smiled slightly. "To Elysion, of course," he replied with a bow. "The temple of the Earth."
Chibiusa nodded as if the answer was exactly what she expected, but her mind was racing. The temple of the Earth? And he had addressed her as "princess". Was Artemis right? Was she more her father's daughter than anyone had imagined?
"Elysion," she repeated, looking about her before returning her gaze to the young man beside her. "And you are?" she asked with a lift of an eyebrow.
The slight smile from before turned into an all out grin, and then he started to laugh. "I knew that things had changed outside my little world," he said. "That destiny had been altered. But I didn't think it would be so bad as to eliminate me completely!" His grin faded as he took a step closer to her, took her hand and went down on one knee in reverence. "I am Helios, the guardian priest of Elysion, and therefore of the Earth Kingdom." He touched his forehead to her hand for a brief moment, then rose to his feet.
"I am pleased we have this opportunity to talk," Helios went on, moving past Chibiusa and walking toward the building she had noticed. "I imagine you have dozens, if not hundreds, of questions."
Chibiusa jogged a couple of steps to catch up with him. "Of course I have questions!" she exclaimed. "You probably won't be allowed to answer most of them, though."
"What makes you say that?"
Chibiusa snorted. "That's always how this sort of thing works. 'I know you have questions, but I just can't answer any of them. When the time comes you'll learn the truth, but that time isn't now.' Something like that."
Helios laughed again, and Chibiusa was struck by the sense of calmness that grew in her at the sound. "I promise you that I'll do my best to answer any question you might have," he said. "I'd hardly be playing fair otherwise."
"Playing fair? What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means that I know considerably more about this entire mess of altered and tangled destinies than you do," Helios replied, turning suddenly serious. "It wouldn't be fair for me to keep all of that knowledge to myself, now would it?"
"I suppose not." They walked in silence for a moment before Chibiusa spoke again, asking the question that pushed itself to the forefront of her thoughts. "Am I destined to give over my place as Sailor Moon and become the Sailor Guardian of Earth?"
Helios' mouth twisted in a rueful smile. "I just finished promising I would do my best to answer your questions and the first one you ask is one I can't answer." He held up a hand to forestall Chibiusa's indignant reply. "Can't because I don't know the answer. I said I know more about the altered destinies than you do. I don't know everything."
"Fat lot of good that is," Chibiusa said, sounding disgusted.
"It can't be helped," Helios replied. "When the outcome can be effected by other people's decisions or actions things get a little blurry, and what your brother chooses will have a large impact on what happens to you."
"So basically what you're telling me is I need to wait and see."
"Trite, but correct." Helios took her hand in his and they walked on in silence. Dozens of thoughts and questions were boiling in her brain, but Chibiusa felt the same calmness overtake her that she had felt when Helios had first laughed. His hand was warm where it clasped hers, and her awareness of that fact caused a blush to steal across her cheeks. She remembered her previous vision, and the bond between them that he had spoken of. Was this feeling a part of that?
Helios heard his companion swallow with an audible gulp and suppressed the urge to smile. He had a feeling as to what was causing her nervousness, and could have predicted the next question she would ask to the letter.
"I. . ." Chibiusa coughed and started again. "I had a vision, before. Of this place, and of you." She glanced at the young man beside her and caught the expression on his face. She snorted. "You know all of that, of course. You gave me that vision, didn't you?" When he nodded she half turned away from him, tugging her hand free and crossing her arms defensively across her chest. "So you know what I'm going to ask about. Why not just answer it?"
He stepped closer to her and took her chin in a gentle grasp, turning her face so their eyes met. "Come with me," he whispered.
Chibiusa let him take her hand again and followed as he led they way to the temple. It was cool inside the structure, but not dark. The stones that made up the walls seemed to glow with light from within, but as they walked deeper into that sacred place Chibiusa realized that the golden glow was coming from only one source. She dropped Helios' hand and stepped forward, rapt.
The Golden Crystal floated about three inches above the pedestal . A snowdrift of red and white rose petals surrounded the base, their scent hanging heavy in the air. The light from the crystal waxed and waned, and it took Chibiusa a moment to realize that it was pulsing in rhythm with her heart.
"Why the white rose petals?" she whispered, voicing the first question that entered her head.
Helios rested his hands on her shoulders and drew her back, holding her against his solid warmth. "The white roses are an expression of you," he answered, his voice soft, maintaining the spell of the moment. "They only appear when you are within the temple. When you leave they'll go back to red, symbolic of your father's power."
"How do you know that? I've never been in this temple before."
"Not in your life as you know it, no. But in other lives, other worlds, you've been here many times." His grip on her shoulders tightened slightly as he turned her to face him. "This place, indeed all of Elysion, recognizes you, no matter what has changed in the outside world. You are bonded to it, and it to you. Can't you feel it?"
Chibiusa closed her eyes and focused inward, on the place in her soul that held a shadow of her father's power and strength. She knelt and spread her hands inches above the temple floor. Visions flashed through her mind, of Earth and its people. She lowered her hands further and saw all those that she cared about; her father and brother laughing together, her mother, serene and beautiful. Her four best friends, all awoken to their powers and ready to stand and fight with her.
Helios knelt on the floor in front of her and covered her hands with his. "You hold the entire Earth in your hands right now," he whispered. "Everyone and everything."
Chibusa's eyes opened and she grasped Helios' hands. The visions faded. "Everyone and everything?" she repeated. "Even you?"
Helios leaned closer and brushed her forehead with his lips. "Especially me. When the time comes that you are in great need I will come."