Chapter 26-Sailor Wars

Princess Kakyuu, the one the Sailor Starlights had been searching for, finally showed herself. She was beautiful and majestic, and incredibly powerful. I could sense the energy within her.

"I am sorry to have worried you, but I have a mission of my own," She apologized to her people. She then turned to Usagi. "Sailor Moon, I was watching you for some time through that burner. Let me tell you a story of the Holy War from a long time ago that engulfed the galaxy. The Sailor Wars. Sailor Soldiers are born of stars and planets. They've been fighting since the creation of the galaxy against those who infringe on peace. Until at last, the origin of evil throughout the galaxy, Chaos, was defeated and sealed by the legendary strongest soldier. However, after a long time, Chaos appeared again in the galaxy. She called herself Sailor Galaxia. She is trying to steal all the star seeds and bring the whole galaxy back to chaos. The only way is to find the Light of Hope that the legendary soldier left. "

"Fighter, Healer, Maker, that's why I left home after I was severely wounded by Galaxia. I followed the Light of Hope through the galaxy and that's when I found Earth. Galaxia was still looking for me so I decided to hide inside the burner. Chibi Chibi picked it up one day and I was protected by her since."

The scouts and I stood in silence. Chaos! Our enemy's true identity. The first evil in the universe is here on Earth. Usagi spoke up, "Where is the light of hope? What is the light of hope?" The other princess shook her head, "I haven't found it yet. All I know is, it landed on Earth."

Princess Kakyuu approached Usagi and clasp her hands around Usagi's. "If we can't find it, we can't seal Chaos. Please, Sailor Moon, I need your help. Together, let's find the Light of Hope."

Before Usagi could say yes, Uranus spoke up. "What you are asking is selfish. If anything, it was you that brought the evil here. If your princess didn't escape, if you guys didn't abandon your duty and ran, Galaxia wouldn't have found Earth. " I understood why they did what they did, but I couldn't help but agree with Haruka on this one.

The other princess smiled sadly. As she was turning to leave, she looked at Usagi one last time and said: "I believe in you." Seiya took one last look at Usagi and then she turned and followed her princess.

The sun was starting to set. Unaware of almost been swallowed by a black hole, the students were still happily celebrating inside the building. Their laughter was a dark contrast to what we were all feeling. A great sense of doom. We all walked back to the building. Usagi and the others still had to finish cleaning up once the festival was done. Haruka and I decided to stay. The enemy knew Usagi's real identity now. That was the scariest part.

"I am going to call Hotaru and let her know we won't be going home tonight," Haruka got out her communicator. I got up and bought more coffee from the "coffee shop". We were going to need that.

"I can stay with Hotaru at night if you like," Ami offered. She quickly figured out our plan. At this point, Usagi needed to be protected around the clock. "If you guys don't mind taking the night shifts. Tomorrow, Mako, Mina and I would protect Usagi during the school hours. Rei would join us after school." We all looked over at the lonely princess.

Usagi was sitting at a table and she was eating all the leftover cakes. Expressionless, she stuffed bite after bite into her mouth. Her eyes were blank and staring into space. Things had been escalating lately and our princess had suffered so much. I told the others to keep the night shifts a secret from Usagi. I didn't want her to feel guilty on top of that.

So that night, after we dropped off Usagi, we parked our car in the alleyway behind her house. The night was slightly chilly but the coffee kept us warm. Usagi went to bed around eleven am. Then the lights were turned back on at three am. The lonely princess woke and poke her head out the window. She looked up at the moon and her hands clasped in a prayer. After a long while, she closed the window again and turned off the lights. I sighed as I watched her. We knew Usagi would help the other princess. She would order us to stand down if she needed to. But in the end, it would be her that get hurt.

Just then, our communicators beeped. It was Setsuna. "Where are you guys? I am back."

We quickly filled her in on the situation. Setsuna was quiet when we finished. Then, her next line filled us with dread.

"The timeline has changed. I went to the future and Crystal Tokyo was different. Small Lady was erased from existence. That could only mean one thing. King Endymion, Mamoru, must be dead…."

How are we going to let Usagi know? After all this?

"I just contacted Ami. She was able to pull the manifest from the flight. Records showed that Mamoru boarded the plane in Toyko, but there were no records of his landing. All passengers were accounted for except him. People from the flight had reported seeing weird lights during midflight before passing out. Then when they came to, they were landed safely. Someone, or something, managed to kidnap him midflight. What was also weird was, no one could remember seeing him. Ami tracked down the passenger that was supposed to be sitting next to Mamoru. He claimed the seat next to him was empty but he also said he didn't remember anything from the flight, besides the strange light. "

Mamoru's star seed must be the target from the beginning. He was the protector of Earth after all. This Small Lady Setsuna kept mentioning, the one we forgot, must be the future princess. "How are we going to tell Usagi that she just lost the love of her life and her child? Again?" Haruka hit the steering wheel hard and groaned in frustration.

The hours seemed to stretch until finally, morning came. We stayed until Mina and Rei showed up to walk Usagi to school. When we got home, Hotaru ran up to us and gave us each a plate of food. Funny shaped pancakes. "This one is Neptune. This one is Uranus. I already ate the Saturn one," Hotaru explained. I patted her on the head and I quickly turned away before she could see the tears in my eyes. Haruka was doing a better job at hiding her feelings than me. She picked up Hotaru and was doing the airplane routine with her, "flying" her around the living room while making engine noises. "Papa put me down. I am not three anymore. I am a big girl now." She used to enjoy this when she was younger. I missed those times.

We ate the pancakes and we drank a tall glass of milk each. Imitating me, Hotaru instructed me to finish all my food and then brush my teeth. When we retired to bed, Hotaru came in and tucked us in. When she closed the door, I pulled the blanket over my head and tried to stifle my sobs. Haruka squeezed my hands. I cried myself to sleep, worrying that the end of the world meant sacrificing my daughter once again. If everything else failed, Sailor Saturn would have to do her duty and killed the enemy before the entire Galaxy was ruined. She would have to die. As Sailor Senshi, we were all prepared to die each time we walked into a battle. As a mother, I wished my daughter would live on….