Sailor Moon Aeons.
Book 3: Crystal City.
Act 3: Wars of Future Past.
Episode 18: Dark Moon Risen.

By Razor Knight
Last update: August 28, 2020


Hotaru looked down at the city, as peaceful as always. Only a few months before peace was over. Chibi said everything was going as she remembered it, which meant it would be a matter of playing her part when the time came.

Winning the war wouldn't be a problem. Problem was that they would have to hold back. Make it look like a stalemate. Wait until their past selves won the war for them.

In a way, she missed the old days. Actually struggling to win a war. The universe had run out of things to throw at them several centuries ago.

"Oh, I didn't think there was anyone up here."

Hotaru smiled at the voice, and turned to look at the young girl. "Princess, you shouldn't come up here alone."

The girl walked to the half-wall of the spire and then climbed up in a way that made it clear that she had done it plenty of times already. "Mom always knows where I am."

"That... Is no reason to be reckless."

"She's been giving a certain power of mine a nice workout, but if I knew she was in danger, I would not let her out of my sight."

Hotaru saw Serenity was standing near them. Probably had been from the start. "You're spoiling her."

Serenity saw her daughter was staring at the city below, and smiled. "Maybe I am, but... You-know-who told me she was quite spoiled too, until she started her training, at least."

"I guess I can allow some spoiling, then."


Prime Huntress Calisto was, despite her looks, a very old woman, and one of the few non-Senshi who knew a few of their secrets. And one such secret was standing in front of her, smiling. "I assume this is not a social visit."

Usagi Tsukino the second nodded. "I wanted to check in on your group. Is everyone ready?"

"As ready as they can be to wage a war they don't know is going to happen, and help a group of Senshi who don't exist."

The other woman didn't mind her snark. "Good."

Calisto sighed. "Sorry if that sounded harsh. I'm just... I don't want any of my Hunters to die a worthless death."

"Maria, the Dark Moon's leaders are weak. Their ground troops may be as weak as the youma you helped mom fight."

"Easy kills, then."

The Princess winced. "That... I also came here to ask something of you, the Demon Hunters. The people of Nemesis are not evil at their core. They are just being led to slaughter by a group of puppets."

Calisto blinked at that. "So you want us to stay out of-"

"No, but I want you to capture, not kill. I know you Hunters can do that. Your group has captured plenty of Lesser Senshi alive."

"That will be no problem. As much as I hated it when younger, all the protocol and rules we have make it possible for us to have a 'no killing' policy that even the most blood-thirsty Hunters will follow."

"Make sure they know harming is... Allowed. Sometimes you have to break someone's wrist to stop them from shooting at innocents."

"Right. See you on the battlefield, then?"

"You won't see me. Any of us. We need to continue 'not existing' for a few more months. A whole decade, in my case."

"I'll start training the other 'you' in a couple years. Still a bit weird to know that."

"My own daughter is a teacher at the school the 'other me' goes. I've grown used to this kind of weird."


"Is everything ready?"

Dimando didn't turn to look at the cloaked figure who asked that. "Our diplomatic meeting will be held on neutral grounds, far from the city."

"I did not think Queen Serenity would be so gullible."

"We have given them no reason to suspect a thing. Our whole fleet is still in Nemesis, and we've been trading resources for years. We are just survivors, not warriors."

The fact Dimando could say all that without laughing was, even to one as old and powerful as Wiseman, impressive. "I see. Still, with all the Senshi there-"

"I told her that, as a show of trust, I was only bringing the Ayakashi along. She countered that by saying she would only bring her four 'Inner' Senshi along."

Wiseman was surprised by this. "Only four of them? This might be easier than I thought. Still, I will make sure the Ayakashi are ready to fight them."

"Good." Dimando sense the man leaving. This was it. All his groveling, all his acting, the mask was about to be discarded. Soon his people would have a new world, and he would have a queen.


"We're leaving for a diplomatic meeting near New Osaka," Serenity said.

Usagi nodded. "It starts today. We're ready."

"Are you going along with your plan?"

"I could choose to just blast their ships out of the sky, but that's the thing, I can choose, so I'll choose the path with less pointless deaths. The hard part will be to not break their will to fight too quickly."

Serenity couldn't help but chuckle at that. "And about your other plan..."

"I will tell you what it is, once I decide to go along with it."

"Fair enough. Good luck, daughter."


Dimando smiled as Serenity waled to them. One last fake smile. "Welcome, Serenity." Four Senshi and the king, this would be child's play.

Serenity saw Wiseman was there. But there was something wrong... Wiseman was much stronger than she remembered. She noticed Mercury was looking at her glove, so she had also noticed it.

"This is my advisor, Wiseman," Dimando continued. "See, we don't think we're getting a fair trade. We want your world."

Serenity saw the Ayakashi shoot at her friends. They were ready for it, and acted as planned, sounding both surprised and wounded. Still, she was worried about Wiseman. If he went back like that...

'Use your power, but only partially.'

Serenity sighed. Gin was right. "I will not let you hurt my friends!"

Dimando saw Wiseman taking a step back. "What..."

"That woman, she's that powerful?"

Dimando turned to glare at Serenity. "You kept your power hidden."

Good, Serenity thought, let them think this is as strong as a Serenity can be. "As did you, but we knew. I was just waiting to see how long it would take for you to drop the act."

"Lies!" Dimando shouted, shooting at Serenity as he did. Endymion jumped in front of the blast, shielding her. "Damn you, you puppet."

Endymion had to stop himself from laughing at that. Still, credit where credit's due, Dimando's blast would leave even a Cosmic Senshi heavily wounded. He looked at Serenity and smiled. "Beat them, Odango."

Serenity nodded, then turned to Dimando. "I am not a murderer, so if you leave this planet, I will let you go."

Wiseman rose his arms, as skeletal as she remembered. "This world belongs to us, Senshi Queen."

The blast was quite powerful, so powerful it could kill a Guardian Senshi if it hit. But still, his attack was a deadly mistake, for it made it much easier for Serenity to use her power in a way she had not used it before. Her magic needed no words or movement, so she was done in a blink, and as she fell to the ground, 'wounded' by his attack, she could sense the fear in Wiseman's mind. "This world was never yours, Wiseman. You already lost."

Wiseman saw the Queen was unconscious. "Lost? I've wounded the strongest warriors this world has. The Earth-"

"Is still off-limits for you, monster."

Wiseman turned to the woman. A Senshi outfit, wih dark green details, and the woman's hair was long, and the same color as her skirt. She was holding a long, key-shaped staff and glaring at him. "And who might you be?"

"Sailor Pluto, guardian of the Time Gates."

"One more worm, then. Ayakashi!"

The Ayakashi all attacked her, but saw the woman stand there, smiling coldly at them. "What are you?"

Pluto looked at Cooan. "A Senshi. Also, a very good distraction."

Dimando looked around, noticing the rest of their foes were gone. "What-"

"It is not yet your time to die, but I had to let the others leave."

"Die!" Dimando shouted as he shot at her.

Pluto looked at the attack. Dimando. Such a weak, self-centered fool. She could just take the hit, but her powers let her see an alternative outcome, one that would help the script better.

Dimando smiled as Pluto was hit, then vanished. "Hmph, so much boasting, just to die in one shot."

Wiseman looked around. "Prince, you have to give the order to start the invasion, before the Senshi can recover." His eyes shone briefly as he said that. That woman had done... Something to him. To all of them. He could feel it, his own power was greatly weakened. They would need a new plan to win the war.


Pluto was looking at the Nemesians from her post. It had all played as expected. Dimando thought she was dead, and her mentioning the Time Gates was also part of the deception. The Nemesians did not have means to travel through time, but had the right mix of magic and technology to allow for it. The Dark Moon clan would research and find a secret project from Sailor Mercury herself, which would allow them to quickly create a device to travel through time, and even enter the maze beyond the gates.

It was all happening as she had seen it before. And as she looked to the side, she saw another 'player' was about to enter the game. "I hate my job, sometimes," Pluto said.

Younger Pluto appeared near her. "So, you're going back too?"

"Yes. Keep this era in one piece for me."

"I will, mother."


Chibiusa was worried. She had been on the spire when they brought her parents back. The Senshi were carrying them in floating crystals, and both looked hurt. All the Senshi looked hurt. Her mother had told her they were going to meet that man, Dimando, but... Had he done that?

She hated this. They had hurt her mom. She wanted to help her, but how? The crystal! She was a Serenity too, she could heal her mom in no time!

The guards in front of the Shield Room would have politely told any child that walked to them to move along, but this 'child' was Princess Serenity. If the young princess wanted to walk into the shield room, stopping her from doing so was far above their paygrade.

Chibiusa looked at the crystal, sitting on top of a strange console. Her mom could use its power even if not touching it but... She climbed up on the console, careful to not touch a thing, then looked at the crystal.

'I can help you,' Gin said, knowing well the princess couldn't hear her words, but would still understand what she was trying to say. It was good she was not, technically, lying to the Princess. She was just not answering what was not asked.

Chibiusa reached for the crystal, slowly and cautiously. "You can help me save mom, right?"

'I will.' After one hell of a ride, Gin added to herself. And speaking of hellish rides...

The small girl finally touched the crystal, which shone for a few seconds... And then vanished. "What? Why did it-" Alarms started beeping, and she looked around in shock. "I... I didn't mean to..."

The guards noticed both the small girl dashing away (with a speed that made even an adult unable to catch her,) and the alarms at the same time. One of them walked into the room and grimaced as he saw the very obvious missing item. "The crystal is gone."

The other guard paled. She usually would complain about her boring job, but now she wished she never had. "The shield will vanish," she said, "we need to-"

The first guard walked out. "There's no 'we.' The Queen should already be here. I'll go-"

Pluto, that is, Younger Pluto, appeared near the doorway. "You will stay and guard this, as is your job."

"But the Princess-"

The woman shook her head as the alarms fell silent. "The Princess needs that crystal for the time being. A new shield will be in place soon."

The man had never seen this Senshi before, but knowing who she was was also, he guessed, way above his paygrade. "Is the Queen okay?"

"The Queen was injured by the Dark Moon, as was the King."

"Then-"

Pluto looked at the man, then vanished. The female guard frowned. "Who was that?"

The man shrugged. "No idea, but she is a Senshi. Her eyes are like those of the Queen, or the other Senshi I've met. Eyes that tell you they are far older than they look."

"Damn. So the Nemesian folks were evil after all? There goes boredom, I guess."


The girl stopped running. Where was she? Inside the palace, still, but the place was huge, and she had been too shocked to remember all the turns she took. Was she even on the same floor?

Normally, when she went exploring, her mother would show up and take her back to her room. But her mother was not coming for her this time. "Mom..."

"Don't cry, Small Lady."

Chibiusa looked at the woman. Sailor Pluto, the only one who called her that. "Puu, I'm sorry, I wanted to help mom but I-"

"You did nothing wrong," Pluto said calmly. "But we need a crystal, the Dark Moon was waiting for a chance to attack us. With the shield down, we-"

"But where can I find another crystal?"

Some days I hate my job, Pluto thought again. It would be easy to find a new crystal. There were three others in this era now, and she knew if told where the one 'missing' was, then Small Lady would figure out how to bring it back. But no, Pluto was supposed to play her role. To tell a girl to go back, alone, to an era strange to her.

She had to be the deceiver, even to someone who considered her a very close friend. A small girl who felt guilty of something she had no way of avoiding. So yes, Pluto was justified in hating her job at times. "You need to go back, to a time before Serenity became the queen, and get her help, or her crystal. But she can't be told who you are, or where you come from. At least until she's ready to know."

"I..." Chibiusa flinched. That sounded scary, but if she went to talk to the other Senshi right now... They would be mad at her, for sure. She wanted to help her mom, and if the only way was what Puu said, then... "Okay, I... I'll go."

"I will guide you back, but try to learn the path we'll take, you could need to use it to come back."

The girl nodded. "But how will I find mom back then?"

"You will be near her old house, in Juuban. But let's go, the sooner you get there, the sooner you'll be able to help your mom."

A second after the two vanished, an explosion was heard in the distance. The first of many in the next few minutes.


Sailor Mars had been in that room several times in the last few years. Ami and Aiko had been modifying the shield system, to allow for what they needed to do. "Usagi is still resting, so we need to get this shield up now."

A certain pink-haired woman appeared just then. "Not yet. You'll know when. We need to make it look like we were not expecting the shield to go down."

In their youth, Rei would have thought she was being heartless, but she knew her. She could tell she was not okay with letting people die. And if the Princess, no, if Chibiusa could play along despite how much it pained her to, then Rei would not complain. "Just try to not have much fun without us."

"I won't have any fun if I can help it," Moon said.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Venus asked.

"No use hiding it now. I can 'remember' things from this version of the future. I hated the idea of having to kill those who were just puppets to the Death Phantom. But I had to play along, right? It was then I noticed one set of memories from this era was one where the Nemesian army had minimal loses, some even said their only casualties were the ones we killed in the past."

Mercury was trying to figure things out. "Wait, so how-"

"Our past selves killed Dimando and Wiseman, but in the future, there were rumors of sabotage, of an unknown group disabling ships without bloodshed. I know we can do that."

"Winning a war without attacking..."

Moon nodded at Jupiter, then flinched as an explosion was heard. "Crap, I guess that's your cue. See you all later."

Nemesis smiled as she walked into the circle set around the shield generator, and energy started flowing out of her and the others. "This war's already over, we just have to wait for the Nemesians to realize that."

Moon watched as the five sat down, closing their eyes. Missing some of their strongest warriors, facing an invading fleet with just a handful of allies, that was how many old stories of heroism went. But Younger Moon did not feel heroic at all. To win this, she and her allies would not be heroes, but boogeymen.


"Aiko, how are things looking?"

"Less than a hundred casualties, as many injured. The underground shelters are working and shielded, as is the palace."

"Okay, it's time to play rogue," Younger Venus said.

"I always liked rangers more, but sure, rogues can use bows too."


The young girl looked up to the sky, filled with spaceships. She was sure the Senshi would take care of them, but it didn't matter now. They would be too late. Too late to save her parents. Too late to stop the first shot from those alien bastards. Too late. Too late...

"Sis, we shouldn't be out here."

"They won't notice two orphans missing. We're on our own now."

'You don't need to be alone, Sin.'

She looked around. "Who's there?"

'I am not inside the city. The Senshi would kill me if they knew I exist. But I can help you. You and a few others like you. We can destroy the Senshi.'

Destroy? "Killing them won't bring mom and dad back."

"Sis, who are you talking to?"

'Sin, I can sense your potential. You could become strong enough to kill the Senshi. To make them pay for not helping your parents. You and your brother are powerful. You just don't know it yet.'

The girl, Sin, sighed. She wouldn't lie, she used to admire the Senshi. She had dreamed of becoming one. But not now. Not for the last hour, not since this waking nightmare had begun. The Senshi had not helped her when she needed them most. They were useless, worthless. She hated them. If this voice could really give her the power to make them pay for what they did, or rather, for what they didn't do, then... "Okay, so how do we find you?"

'Don't worry, I can bring you to where I am.'

And the young girl and her brother were suddenly gone, but nobody alive would notice them missing for weeks. And if they did, they would file them as casualties of the Dark Moon wars.


A/N: No plan survives an encounter with an enemy that knew what you were up to beforehand.

In Cyber Moon, I made the Younger Senshi fight the Dark Moon troops in a rather... Bloody way. Looking back, it's one thing that I should have done different.

Also, yes, ending the episide with a nice, heart-warming scene which does not foreshadow a future arc at all. All the context needed to know what that was about (if 'Sin' wasn't a good enough clue,) is "Sailor Moon Another Story."