Sailor Moon Aeons.
Book 3: Crystal City.
Act 2: Exploration.
Episode 16: The worlds of mankind, old and new.

By Razor Knight
Last update: February 23, 2019


She looked around and nodded. "Okay, this explains why Mercury is the Senshi of Ice."

Usagi smiled. Hotaru was right, the planet Mercury had been transformed into a quite different world. The 'sun' side of the planet was an ocean with small islands (the former mountains of the planet,) while the other side was an icy plain with few spots of solid ground scattered about. And yet the temperature on both sides was close to what they were used to. The 'dark side' was only slightly colder than the Earth's polar regions.

"This planet looks awesome now."

Once again, Kyouko had tagged along, but there was one more guest. Tsuki, the first Senshi of their civilization to ever set foot on most of the worlds of the Solar System. She was looking around in awe. "Won't the underground caves be flooded?"

Usagi shook her head. "Ami asked the Codex that same question. Many of the 'islands' on both sides have entrance tunnels, and the islands were built in a way which makes it virtually impossible for water to reach those tunnels."

Tsuki nodded. "I see. I wonder how they settled Jupiter and Saturn. Getting to the planet, the actual rock under all that gas, was tough for me."

"I asked Ami about that. Apparently the Jovians lived on the larger moons of the planet," Hotaru explained.


Hisako smiled as she watched the two kids play. Ten years ago, the two had decided to try something new. That something new was being parents, and Hisako couldn't complain about the results. The twins were a bit mischievous, but she knew they were just being kids.

Koichi, the (minutes) older boy, had inherited Hikaru's power. His sister, Homura, had Hisako's power. They were nine, and already training their magic. In fact Homura was almost up to the level of a Twilight Senshi, although her Senshi powers were still dormant. Ami had guessed the potential power of Senshi grew with each new generation - Kyouko and Junko being good examples of this, as they could both defeat any of the "Elders" if they got really serious.

"When is mom coming back?"

She looked at Koichi and smiled. "She'll be back soon, don't worry." She wanted to tag along, but had decided to keep an eye on the kids. This time around, Hikaru was going to be one step ahead, but... She didn't mind. She was guessing her turn would come soon.


The air pressure, the heat... She had heard Tsuki talk about this, but it was worse than she expected. It wasn't something immediately deadly for someone like her, but it was still mildly painful. "This place is bad."

Moon looked at her. "Yes, it is." She focused for a minute and frowned. "Can you sense that?"

Saturn nodded. She couldn't sense the 'Seed' but she could sense something else. "Hundreds of creatures, as strong as a Twilight Senshi. Some stronger."

Venus focused and flinched. "But what kind of creature could still be alive-"

"Humans," Saturn said.

Moon nodded. "I can sense other things. Let's get some fresh air. Follow me."


The three Senshi appeared inside a cave. No, this was no normal cave, Hikaru realized. The walls were smooth, and she could see a magical light source near them. "Amazing."

A group of six women were walking to them. They wore suits similar to their own. They all had whips and seemed, for a moment, eager to use them. "Fangirls?"

Moon shrugged. One of the women spoke, and the translator all Senshi carried with them nowadays made it possible to understand their language. "You are... Senshi?"

Moon nodded. "We are restoring the planets one by one. Didn't expect to find... Survivors."

The women visibly relaxed. The one who spoke first smiled. "Our ancestors fled to these caves and used a spell to keep the poisons of our atmosphere outside. We've been living underground ever since the Moon fell."

Venus decided to ask something that was nagging her. "Why do you all use whips?"

"It was the chosen weapon of several Venus Senshi of the past."

"Oh right, mom has something like that."

"So, are you here to drive the poison back?"

Moon nodded. "I don't think your ancestors knew what happened. Serenity and the evil Metallia clashed, and their magic was so strong, it created an energy ripple that caused all of the planets to die."

"It disabled the World Seeds," the woman said.

"Yes. How-"

"We know where the one of our world is. Our ancestors' stories tell us they discovered it and knew it was possible that whatever caused it to stop working had affected other worlds."

"It did. Most of mankind died that day. But us humans are not easy to get rid of - your group proves that. Mankind is much more numerous than ever before, and looking to expand to other worlds."

"So your civilization will-"

Moon smiled sadly. "Our civilization has a history of bloodshed and paying too much attention to arbitrary borders. We are... Getting better at avoiding either of those defects. Once I reactivate this planet, I will speak to my mother, the current Queen Serenity, and I know she will agree with me. I am neither an invader nor a conqueror. I didn't know this planet was taken."

The woman was shocked. Another woman, younger than her, frowned. "We just have your word-"

The first woman, who was clearly the leader, rose her hand to stop her. "The word of a Serenity. That is good enough for me. Besides, Saria, you can sense magic, we all can. If they wanted to get rid of us, they would have done so already."

Moon sighed. "I would like to say it's rare for people who can feel our power to be intimidated, but... I'm used to it."

Saria nodded slowly. "I meant no disrespect, Princess Serenity."

"We will be back once the planet returns to how it was, and I'll bring along at least one other Senshi."


Hours later, the Senshi were back on Earth, and each had gone back to their usual daily activities.

Hisako looked at her wife as she finished telling her about her trip to Venus. "So there were humans there."

"Yeah, I wasn't expecting that."

"At risk of sounding cold, leaving a whole planet to just a few humans seems like a waste."

"It's their planet. They were there first. Usagi is right, we are not conquerors."

"Think the rest of the world will agree?"

"Do we care?" Hikaru muttered. "If anything, this will be a chance to show them we are not like the old empires, always looking to expand even if it meant killing whoever was already living there. Set a good example for the rest of the world."

"Guess that's true."

"Anyways, did the little devils behave?"

"Surprisingly, yes."


Minako was, meanwhile, talking to the two Usagi. "So, what will be our... Official message to the world regarding the newest inhabitable planet?"

Serenity looked at her daughter, then back to Minako. "The planet Venus is under our protection, and we will treat any attempts at foreign settling as a breach in protocol. The settlers will be sent back to their country, and a warning issued to said country."

"What about any... Invasion attempts?"

"I would love to think this last half century shows mankind has learnt to share, but maybe it was the fact we Senshi are keeping peace. In any case, we will deal with any invasion forces ourselves. Magical weaponry can be disabled, and we will do just that. The people of Venus have warriors who could have defeated us back when we were an urban legend. They can defend themselves, but I hope they don't have to."

Moon nodded. "Of course, trading will be allowed, but monitored. The people of Venus has a magic-only civilization, and was isolated for a very long time, so I think they may have interesting artifacts to offer."

"Right. I'll go deal with the press now."

"Good luck. Mamoru is already on a tour to meet several country leaders and alliances. Hopefully they will get the message."


A week later, Hisako was somewhere new. And as she scanned the landscape with her eyes, one thing became clear to her. "Mars looks so damn boring."

Moon chuckled. "I guess that's one way to say it. Anyhow, I already found the Seed."

"No Martians?"

"No, Venus might be the only planet- Well, there's Nemesis, but we're not going anywhere near that one."

"Will this planet change?"

"Venus is still wrapped in a cloud of toxic gas - but the Seed's awakening pushed that gas up to the clouds, leaving an atmosphere similar to Earth's own. Also, the mana flowing around Venus cooled the air down a lot. It's still a hot planet, but no longer 'deadly for normal humans' hot."

"So this place will still be boring."

Hotaru looked up, seeing one of the planet's satellites (Phobos or Deimos? Hard to tell from that far.) "We made Venus a 'look but don't touch' planet, so I doubt Mars will stay boring for long."


Moon looked at the planet 'below.' Jupiter. For the last few centuries, she had observed the new worlds, watched the initial intake of colonizers - except for Venus - grow into its own brand of mankind. Mercury had, not surprisingly, the largest fish industry in the system, while Mars had many cities. The Moon was the smallest 'new world,' but also the first to be settled, and had its own thriving society. Venus... After the initial culture shock, which the Senshi had helped with, the Venusians had expanded, eventually accepting 'outsiders' and slowly became the world it was now.

Jupiter, however... The planet itself was not worth touching. A relatively small solid 'core' in the center of a hellish sea of gases. Awakening its Seed had not improved this at all, but... Most of the moons of Jupiter were linked to it. How, not even the Codex knew. But mankind had settled on Io, Europa and many other moons of the Jovian system.

She looked to the side. She could sense them, even from this far. Nemesians. Still unaware of the monster lurking in their world. She could sense him... It. Death Phantom. Wiseman. She remembered her youth. Even as she helped her mother kill it, she had still been terrified of it. And yet, to her present self, Death Phantom looked weak, pitiful. Easy to kill.

Yes, she could just go and destroy it right now. But she wouldn't. She knew time was far more malleable than Pluto had taught her - her own last trip through time was proof enough - but she still felt it could be a bad idea. Some would argue not killing that monster now, before it could cause pain to many, was 'taking the easy way out.' In her youth, she would have agreed. But she was many centuries old now. She had waited for Death Phantom to make the first move for centuries. It would be annoying to have waited for this long, and then give up with only a century left before that day.

She knew the day was coming, slowly but relentlessly. The day she - this reality's version of her, at least - would be born. The universe would have to deal with the 'impossible' facts. There would be two of her around for a while. One of them would be going back in time at least twice. And then...

It was a weird feeling. On one hand, she could not wait to be done, to see the Hunters come and go, to complete the 'loop.' But something in the back of her mind felt this was wrong. Would her parents and her friends fake their deaths? Would they send her - the young ChibiUsa - away with a lie?

Had they done that before, in her own timeline?

No, even back then, she knew what she had felt. There was no way to emulate that, the dreadful feelings a Senshi had when someone 'linked' to them died. Even now, centuries after that day, she could still remember that feeling. It had not been an act.

But that still meant... If they killed the Hunters, her 'other self' would have no reason to go back. And frankly, after knowing her friends for as long as she had, she couldn't see them losing against these morons. They were too weak.

Or, she thought, perhaps they were stronger. That could be it. Her being around had affected fate, changed things, made it so they all reached a level of power they had not reached in her version of the future.

But it was silly to try and guess. She would figure it out eventually. A century was still a long time, even to 'immortals' like her. She would have to wait and see.


"So, ten years until..."

Kyouko looked at her wife. "Yeah. Mom will be born in a few years. And that's a phrase I never expected to say before I knew of her... Circumstances."

Tsuki smiled. "Most people only get to see pictures of their parents as babies."

"Lucky me, huh?" She looked out the window for a minute. "Mom may not like me thinking this, or she may agree, but... In a way, I'm looking forwards to the Nemesian mess."

"I've known you for a very long time, so I know why. You're as much of a warrior as your mother and grandmother."

"Guilty as charged."


How could they become so dull, so boring? It was fun watching them struggle, at first, but this group was just like the ones before them. Growing too powerful made them boring. Maybe it was time for him to, once again, stop watching and start acting. Just a few pushes in the right direction, and maybe he could finally have fun.


A/N: The return of the mysterious unknown entity. It wouldn't be fun to just say who that entity is, as much as it wouldn't have been fun to reveal who 'A' was in the previous book before the point where I decided to reveal it.