Sailor Moon Aeons.
Book 3: Crystal City.
Act 1: Generations.
Episode 8: The calm before the storm.

By Razor Knight
Last update: March 18, 2019


"Usagi, you've tried this before, but our answer is still the same."

It wasn't often, nowadays, that Serenity could be seen wearing civilian clothing, but she had made it a habit to not be Queen Serenity of Crystal Tokyo, but Usagi Tsukino, when she visited her parents. However, she knew soon those visits would be over.

Her friends had all avoided death's favorite method, but it only worked with Senshi without her meddling. Gin had confirmed it a decade ago, thanks to exposure to 'her,' all the 'old' Senshi stopped aging at around their thirties, and the Younger, being around the younger Usagi, would also stop aging eventually.

But other persons they cared about were not affected. Sure, Hana and Yukiko had wanted it, but others had refused politely. Her friends were in their late fourties now, and had begun to see the bad side of their immortality.

And that was why she had, once again, gone back to her old home, or at least the exact replica of it she had created along with the rest of the city. "Mom, why?"

Ikuko smiled at her. "We were born knowing our lives were not eternal. Humans learn to live with that."

Usagi grimaced. "Sorry for not being human."

Kenji looked at his daughter. "Don't say that, you know your mother didn't mean it that way."

"I... Don't want to lose you."

Ikuko looked at her. "It's good to know you're kind enough to ask. You are the most powerful being in this world, and I doubt you need our permision."

Usagi walked to the door. "I'm not selfish enough to force immortality into others. It's your decision to make. I just... I don't know if I can stand losing you both."

"We're still here."

"I know. I'll visit as often as I can. And please, think about what I told you."

Ikuko saw her daughter about to leave and sighed. "Usagi, immortality... For us, it sounds like a curse. We can't see it as anything else. Sorry."

Usagi turned to her as her clothes morphed into her royal gown. "Don't apologize. Lately, I've started to see it as a curse, too."


The younger Usagi had inherited her mother's skill at reading people. Which was probably why her mother had not bothered hiding the fact she had been crying for a while when she went to see her. "Mom, what happened?"

"My parents, they don't want immortality. They say to them it would be a curse. I..."

"... So that's why you never talked about them."

"Huh?"

"In the future. I rarely, if ever, saw you angry. But one time I was curious, and asked why your parents weren't around. Your tone was quite cold, and your words clear. 'I don't want to talk about that.'"

"So they weren't around..." Serenity smiled sadly.

"Still, you weren't a sobbing mess, so I think you'll find a way to live on."

"Yeah..." Serenity frowned. "Did you come here just to chat?"

"No, I... Kyouko says she's hearing voices, in her mind. Since I cannot speak directly to Gin, I thought I would ask you."

Gin appeared near them. "If I knew what exactly makes it possible for your mother to hear me, I would tell you. However... Yes, the voice she hears is mine. Don't worry, I'm not whispering evil thoughts to her."

"Why can't she listen to you clearly?"

"This here," Gin said pointing at Serenity," is one hundred percent Moon Senshi. You and your daughter are not, and in theory that would make you both not able to listen to me. I don't know why I can talk to Kyouko, but maybe she's too young to listen as clearly as her grandma does."

Usagi nodded. "Even though I hear no voice, several times in the past, I felt like I could feel the crystal's intent."

"All Serenity can feel that," Gin said. "But yes, that happens when I try to help one who is in danger."

Usagi shrugged. "Yeah, I know, I'm not special enough for you."

Gin smiled. "Not special enough? A Senshi at six, who was also using a borrowed Ginzuishou for that, a dual Senshi at the age of nine, a time traveler, first Serenity to fall in love with a girl, and first case in human history of two women having a biological child. If I may be blunt, you're too damn special already."

"... Okay, a lot of good points there. Anyhow, don't pester my daughter too much, okay?"

"A direct request from a Serenity? I could never refuse it."

Usagi smiled, and looked at Serenity, who nodded. Despite her usual cynicism and sarcastic tone, one thing was painfully clear about Gin: She couldn't lie. It was like she was programmed to never lie to a Serenity. "Good, that's all I ask."

Gin frowned. "I shouldn't stay in this form much longer, so can I make a suggestion about Kyouko?"

"Yes?"

"Let me try to talk to her this way. Maybe that will let her 'hear me' better."

"Okay, we can try that."


Haruka was almost bored enough to go back to Tokyo. Their crusade had worked better than expected, and there were comparatively few terrorist groups still active. The threar of having two 'invincible' rogue Senshi pay them a visit was one not many were brave - or stupid - enough to ignore. Of course, that was affecting more than just the surface. One too many 'respectable' weapon factories had to shut down, and governments which had their economies reinforced by warmongering were forced to slowly, but surely, revise their finances and come up with other, less bloody ways to keep running.

Serenity had started the rumors of Senshi being invincible, but it was the two "rogues" who had confirmed it. One year ago, a group of 'honest businessmen' had sold a nuclear warhead to a group of 'freedom fighters' and convinced them to use it on the two Senshi. Of course, they were not Serenity. They didn't have a clue on how to drain such a weapon. So they took the best next option. They let it hit, after going far enough away from the ground. A satellite had filmed it, the bomb exploding a few meters away from them, and them not even flinching.

But that had also made their foes realize how pointless it was to fight. In the many years of fighting, they had caused no deaths, dodged no bullets. Their enemies seemed to have given up fighting. That, really, was the reason why they were bored.

They were also tired of being away from home. They had both grown close to the other Senshi, and while their role as "rogues" was their idea, perhaps it was time to give up the charade.


Kyouko looked at the woman. "Who are you?"

Gin smiled. "I know you can keep secrets, because I've been with you for a while... Even though you rarely use me in battle."

"Use you?" Kyouko turned to her mother and grandmother, who were both smiling as well. She was too used to what normal humans would call 'weird' to consider the obvious answers to her previous question impossible. "So she's either a Senshi I've never seen before, or... My Ginzuishou."

"Correction, I'm 'the' Ginzuishou. All Ginzuishou are me."

"... Uh, nice to meet you, I guess?"

Gin smiled. "I've known you for your whole life, but it's good to finally speak to you in person. I am Gin."

Kyouko looked at her, then summoned her crystal. "The voice I've been hearing..."

"It's me. The 'me' you are linked to."

Serenity nodded. "I found out about Gin many years before you were born. Since Chibi couldn't speak to her directly, we thought it was something only I could do, but..."

"I think in a few years I'll be giving you advice too."

"And pestering you," Serenity added.

"That honesty is your most annoying trait," Gin muttered.

"Okay. This is good, I'll have to tell Tsuki I'm not crazy." She stopped and looked at Gin. "... Can I do that?"

"I'm no secret to the Elders, so I don't see a reason to hide it from your generation. Just be careful of not talking about me around civilians."

"Gotcha."


"It's not fair."

Yukiko smiled at her son. "I know how you feel. I've felt that way too. Neither of us is a Senshi, so you could blame us for it."

Aiko shrugged. "Or suck it up and be happy to have the potential to be one of the strongest non-Senshi mages in the world."

Fubuki chuckled at that. "Big deal."

Yukiko sighed. "They might have been just training fights, but both me and Aiko managed to beat some of the Senshi. I beat Usagi a few times."

"You beat Serenity?"

"Not at her current level, but that's because we haven't fought in more than one decade. I think I could still keep up with her. Maybe even win."

"Wow. So even if I'm not a Senshi, I could still be as strong as one?"

Aiko nodded. "You'll have to train much harder than them."

Fubuki smiled. "I won't let Taka and the others leave me behind."


It wasn't often that the citizens of Crystal Tokyo saw danger. In fact, ever since the day the shield around the city rose, nothing life-threatening had happened inside the city itself.

Which was why, to the civilians, seeing a column of dark energy rise from one of the Senshi residences was more strange than frightening.

That was, until the house was quite rapidly vaporized by said energy. By the time Serenity reached the area, the citizens of Crystal Tokyo were already doing what they could do in such a situation: Try to put as much distance between themselves and danger as possible.

Serenity noticed something and grimaced. "Hotaru, Shingo is down."

Saturn appeared next to her. "Can't get to him with that storm."

Serenity nodded. "On it." She had never used this technique, but she had known it was there for a long time. She looked at the woman floating in mid-air, in the center of the dark beam, and shook her head. "Sorry, I can't let you do this, Hana."

Hana was confused. Her rage was still there, but her powers... They weren't there anymore? She looked at Serenity, then at Shingo, who was being healed by Hotaru, and winced. "I'm sorry, I couldn't-"

"Your powers aren't gone permanently, but I need to know what made you do this before I decide to unlock them again."

"My powers... What's the point in having them if I can't protect those I love?"

Terry and Ami appeared right then, followed a second later by Aiko and Yukiko. "Hana, what happened?"

"My parents... Some scumbag had been casing the mansion for a while, managed to get in and... Apparently he didn't mind shooting them on the way out, even if he got a lot of money off them."

Serenity paled. "That's..."

Hana looked Shingo, who was already up and looking at her. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine, you can still protect those you love from your rage."

Serenity nodded at that. It had not been a bubble of psichic power, like decades ago. Hana had managed to channel the energy upwards, to where it wouldn't hurt anyone. "I see no reason to keep your powers sealed."

"Please, keep them that way. A part of me wants to go search for thar scumbag and... No, I don't even know what I'll do when I see him. Can't decide which punishment would be good enough."

Serenity looked up to the sky, then at her. "What you do with your power is your responsibility. You're my friend, and a part of me wants to stop you, but... I am not hypocritical enough to tell you not to try avenging your parents. Just... Make sure you won't regret whatever you choose to do next."

Hana looked at her, then at Shingo, then shrugged as she felt her powers return. "What I'll do? I'll go back to the States and hunt that asshole down. Maybe I'll stay and go on a hunting season."

Shingo looked at her. "I'm coming with you."

"Shingo, I don't want you to hate me, if you see what I-"

"I love all you are, both the light and the darkness. Nothing could change that."

"... Thanks." She looked back and saw the house was back to normal, as if nothing had happened. "That-"

"Not trying to gloat, but doing that kind of things takes less effort to me, nowadays, than blinking."

"Thank you, Usagi."

"You're welcome."


Days later, Haruka and Michiru were looking at the cityscape from atop the palace's tallest spire. "I can almost see why some people call this a utopia. Almost zero crimes, clean air and water, a shield that can shrug off our own attacks..."

Michiru nodded. "As boring as I remember it."

Haruka noticed something in the distance. "Oh, the kids are training today."

"Yeah." Although not as frequent as years eariler, there was sometimes action outside the city, and since most of the Youngers were at Eternal level, their training could be quite a show. "Think they'll mind if we take a closer look?"

"Let's go ask them," Haruka said, then the two women vanished.


Younger Mars could still remember back when she was the only one of the Youngers. Fifteen years had passed since then, and while training had slowed down, she never lost sight of her goal. Eternal level wasn't enough, specially when the youngest Younger could outgun her even as a Guardian Senshi.

"Triple Storm." Younger Saturn had not made a lot of changes to her attack as she 'leveled up.' It was always either a large ball of Death, Earth and Moon mana, or a barrage of smaller blasts. Still, getting hit by either was bad.

Moon saw two figures appear just as Mars barely dodged the barrage. "Oh, we've got tourists today."

Haruka shook her head at that. "I see you haven't changed." She looked at the two who were right now fighting. "Is that Kyouko? Damn, it's really been a long time since we last were here."

Younger Saturn was using one of her talismans (her staff) for support, as her triple form still drained her stamina quickly. "I... Gotta work on my endurance. Your win, Hisa."

Younger Mars frowned. "Stop showing off and you'll last longer."

"You know me."

Haruka looked at Moon. "She is a lot like you back then..."

"Yeah."

Kyouko walked to them as Younger Venus and Younger Lilith started their own mock battle. "Who is- Oh, Uranus and Neptune? Nice to finally meet you."

Michiru smiled at her as she bowed politely. "We saw you once when you were a toddler, but you've grown into quite a warrior."

"A warrior who can't last long in battle is useless," Kyouko said with a sigh.

Moon saw Haruka and Michiru's questioning faces. "Her powers stacking up can make her powerful enough to be a threat to a Holy Senshi, but even after training for years, her body can't keep up with that. She's too stubborn to give up, though."

"Like mothers, like daughter," Haruka mused.

Michiru looked at Kyouko. "You know, if your powers only let you fight for a short time, then you should try to make the most of that. In a real battle, it could take a second to change a loss into a win."

Haruka nodded. "And there's no way a Sailor Moon can be 'useless.'"

Kyouko smiled. "Thanks." She looked at the mock battle and saw it was already over. "Oh, Tsuki lost."

Younger Lilith walked to her, clutching her left arm, which had a nasty cut near the elbow. "I got careless."

Kyouko hugged her. "We'll beat those two one day."

The others noticed the cut in Lilith's arm closing, and Moon smiled. "Yeah, she likes to show off, just like me."

Michiru finally noticed something. "Where's Hotaru?"

"Taking care of a 'fan' of hers in Kyoto."

"Alone?"

"No, Aiko and Yukiko tagged along."


Phase was upset. Whoever it was that was causing trouble in this city, they covered their tracks well. "Still no clues on the whereabouts of the 'Soul Harvester.'"

Saturn nodded. "We need to find him, her, or it, and deal with them as soon as possible."

Warwitch could understand Saturn's eagerness to find that... That monster. There was no other way to describe it. Whatever the 'Soul Harvester' was, it left no traces of a soul in their victims, so not even Saturn's powers could bring them back. "This job may be too big for us."

Phase looked at the data they had again. "Since the city of Kyoto asked for our help, I don't think they'll have a problem if we bring more Senshi here."


Elsewhere in the city, a different group was also busy planning. "The Senshi are here, we should lay low for a while."

"Lay low?" The only woman in the room almost shouted, causing the man to step back in fear. "Those utopian bitches are after me, but I will not hide like a coward. You can all stay hidden if you want, but I will show those freaks why they call me the Soul Harvester."

"Alma, be careful, they are said to be very powerful."

The woman smiled at the second man. "I just need to attack first. Don't worry, they won't stop me."


A/N: This 'Soul Harvester' girl is a new twist on an old plot device. Her name means "soul" in Spanish.