Sailor Moon Aeons.
Book 3: Crystal City.
Act 3: Wars of Future Past.
Episode 20: War's end.
By Razor Knight
Last update: September 3, 2020
Aiko looked up at the ships. The Nemesians were really trying their best, sending ships to every major city in the world. Still, the Senshi were not playing fair. They didn't need to. Younger Pluto could see their targets days before they arrived there. Wherever the Nemesians struck, there were as many defenders as needed. In this case, two ships were planning to attack London. And those two ships were now unarmed, unshielded, and flying up to escape the atmosphere and teleport back to their home world.
"At this point, this isn't even a war. We're just waiting for them to grow a brain and figure out they can't win."
Aiko smiled at her wife. "Wiseman's influence keeps them going. Once Wiseman gets killed, they will be able to think about how bad this war is going for them and how pointless it would be to keep trying. Finding out their leaders are gone may also tell them how badly they lost."
"I'm curious about something... That phrase we're leaving in each ship sounds familiar, but..."
"It was Hisako's idea, the phrase itself comes from a videogame from the twenty-first century. The player kept hearing that phrase when told about mission objectives, but the phrase itself was a weird mind control trigger, 'forcing' the player's character to do things as if it was an order."
"Oh. Not likely the Nemesians will get that reference."
"When have either Hisako or Hikaru ever cared if people don't get their references? I only remember that game because I am still a walking database, amongst many other, cooler things."
Yukiko gave her wife a half-smile. "Would you kindly curb that ego of yours?"
"It's one of my best traits."
"... Yeah, let's go with that."
"Lady Opal, we are not having any success at all. If I didn't know any better, I would think these Senshi know about our attacks before we even plan them."
"That would be ridiculous," Opal said. "I will go talk to Dimando, General. If these Neo Senshi are just playing with us, we need a way to up our own game."
As she walked out of the room, however, Opal let out a long sigh. Dimando was someone she respected, bit frankly, she was not happy with her current job.
She tried to use her communicator, but got nothing. Dimando, Saffir, the Ayakashi... No response. Were they all in the past? After Rubeus and Esmeraude's deaths, she knew Dimando was focusing in the past, but why go back there himself?
She took another device from her pocket. Dimando gave this to her in case she ever needed to use it, and this was one such time. She pressed a button and her vision went dark for an instant, but then she was somewhere else.
An abandoned warehouse, in Crystal Tokyo- No, just 'Tokyo.' Opal realized she could not sense the rest of the clan. Were they not in the past? Were they... No, she couldn't assume the worst. Not yet.
She looked around the room. The few windows the building had were boarded, so it waa dark, but Nemesians were used to darkness. In her world, the brightest day was darker than any night on Earth could be. She found the computer Saffir had installed in that place - more advanced in both technology and magic than most computers of the era she was in - and turned it on. A quick browse through the files told her a lot more than she was expecting. Saffir had never trusted Wiseman, that was clear to her now. However, the newest file was a video one, the name was "Last stand."
"Well, that doesn't sound ominous at all," Opal muttered.
"You have no idea how right you are."
Opal turned around, color leaving her face as she saw who this was. Saffir had mentioned her. Sailor Pluto. A warrior who could take one of Esmeraude's blasts and not even bother wincing. Opal was no weakling, but she was no warrior, either. "What are you here for? Finishing the job?"
"I did not kill any of your clanmates. If I were here to kill you, I would not have spoken. Just hear Saffir's words, and then you can decide if the war is worth anything."
Opal looked at the screen. "Guess I will. But why-" she looked around. Pluto was gone. But that woman was probably not bluffing. Opal opened the file, and each word spoken by Saffir in it made her heart sink a bit.
"If you are seeing this, then I'm gone. We are gone. Wiseman was using us all along. His goals are not ours. He does not care about our world, or this one. We know Wiseman sent Black Lady to kill the Senshi, and I... I sent the Ayakashi to stop her. I sent them to their deaths. But it was not the Senshi who did it. It was that Black Lady pet Wiseman has. But if the Senshi die, if even one of the Senshi is killed, then future will change."
Opal knew what that meant. And she knew she - no, all of them - should have seen the logic there. If the Senshi died, there wouldn't be a Crystal Tokyo, which meant Dimando would never have set his eyes on it, which... What exactly was Wiseman doing?
Saffir's recording continued. "Wiseman's goal seems to be to destroy everything. If time itself is changed, it could mean both the past and our era will be gone. However... If we are watching this, whoever you are, it means we won. Our last stand was not in vain. Do not hate the Senshi, or Crystal Tokyo. It was our own weakness that led to our death. Wiseman used us, clouded our minds. Whoever you are, please copy this file and bring it to Opal. She needs to know what happened here. She has to stop the war. Goodbye."
Opal was staring at the screen for minutes, speechless. Dimando, Saffir, the sisters... All dead? Killed by who, Wiseman or the Senshi?
"I know what you're wondering and you may not believe me, but the Ayakashi died by Black Lady's hand. The Princess will remember this and will regret it for a long while, but... Just like your clan, she's not to blame, Wiseman's corruption was too strong."
Opal turned to look at Pluto. "And what about my two leaders, oh mighty Time Senshi?"
Pluto did not care about the tone, that was grief speaking. "Saffir died stopping one of Wiseman's blasts, one meant for Dimando, and Dimando... He shot a very strong blast at Wiseman, but at that point his foe was too strong, and tried to use Dimando's own attack to kill Sailor Moon. Dimando acted before anyone could react, taking his own blast and dying from it."
Opal was surprised. Pluto sounded actually mournful while telling her this. "You sound like you didn't see it coming."
"I can see multiple possible futures, but never know which one is the one that will happen. I can try and make it so the future I feel best is the one... But Dimando had no bright future. Either protecting or attacking Sailor Moon, or being killed by Wiseman... I'm sorry, Lady Opal."
That last bit shocked Opal. Not hearing Pluto say sorry, but... "You know me. I mean, of course you do, but you know who I am, my position.-"
"I know you are the last of the Dark Moon, and I know your clan earned its place not through conquest, but respect. You are the leader of the Nemesian army now, and pretty much an equal to Serenity, in position at least."
Opal let out a sigh. "I guess I am. Lucky me, huh?"
Pluto saw the woman was fighting back tears. "That depends on what you decide next. I hope you choose what's best for your people. For both our worlds."
Opal saw Pluto was, again, gone. She looked around, closed her eyes for a few seconds, then walked to the computer. She would have time for crying later, right now she had a war to end.
Sailor Mars looked at the woman standing right outside the city's shield. "Lady Opal, it is good to finally meet you."
Opal looked at her. "Likewise... Mars, I suppose?"
Mars nodded. "That's me. You may walk in, but I need to warn you about something. This shield reacts to Serenity's will. Should you try anything. The shield will become an impassable barrier, at least for you."
Opal walked through the barrier. "I see. Thanks for the warning."
Mars smiled. "Don't get me wrong, I want the war to be over. I am just doing my job."
"Being the 'bad cop,' as humans say?"
Mars chuckled. "Probably, though Serenity doesn't need protection."
"Is she stronger than you?"
"She's our leader because she is a kind, brave, and forgiving person. But she can be fearsome when she has to, and yes, she's far more powerful than me. You may realize this when you see her."
Opal noticed her surroundings had changed, they were now in front of large,crystal doors inside a crystalline building. "I could have walked here."
"The sooner you're done here, the sooner I can stop keeping an eye on you."
"... Fair enough." She noticed Mars turning to leave. "Not coming in?"
"I wasn't bluffing, Serenity does not need my protection. I don't fully trust you yet, but I trust her to take care of you if you betray her trust."
"..." Opal watched Mars walk away and let out a long sigh. Time to make things official."
"Welcome, Lady Opal."
Opal was no coward, but this woman... The magic she was sensing all around her, was more than she had ever imagined possible. "It is... My pleasure to meet you... Queen Serenity."
"Usagi, you're scaring the poor girl witless."
Only then did Opal notice the small, black cat standing next to the throne. As she looked back at Serenity, however, she noticed the magic was mostly gone. "How...?"
"I apologize, I was not aware you could sense magic. Is this good enough?"
"Yes... So you can cloak your magic."
"As can you, unless you became ten times stronger since I last sensed you in the city."
"Yes. Anyhow, I came here to inform you that the war is over, as far as our people is concerned. We are aware - well, I am, at least, that your 'Neo Senshi' could have destroyed each and every one of our ships easily."
"I won't deny that. We had reasons to want your spaceships, your army, to be busy in this era."
Opal flinched. "So I was right. You knew. All along, you knew and still you..."
Serenity could feel the woman's temper darkening. "I played my part. I was informed Saffir left you a message. Can you not see why stopping this war before it started was never an option I would take?"
Opal's sudden rage died out as those words sank in. "To do so, you would need to change the present. Make it so your daughter never had a reason to go back. Which meant you would not know..."
"Time loops are annoying, I know. I can say if I could have saved Dimando, I would have. But I am far too old and, some say, wise, to take such a gamble."
"Still, it's annoying you knew all along. But why didn't your people destroy any of our ships?"
Serenity looked to the side. "I guess that's your cue."
Opal saw a woman appear next to Serenity. Her pink hair, her face, her apparent age... "Black Lady?"
Usagi (the younger) sighed. "I was, for a while."
"But how can you-"
"I may tell you that later on. Just know that I am a consequence of time being not as linear as most think."
Opal shook her head. "Seen lots of impossibles, so I'll take a guess. You are Princess Serenity, but not from this era."
"... And you are as good at wild guessing as I remember you, Opal. Just a friendly warning, the 'me' of this era does not know of me, and must remain blissfully unaware I exist."
"Right. Anyhow, how did you manage to teleport in at the right time?"
"I was here before you arrived. You just could not see, or sense me. Is this a good enough clue?"
"An enemy that can become invisible to all forms of detection, be right there and not seen. We really had no chance to win this war."
Usagi smiled. "To be fair, we cheated. But yes, it would have been easier to destroy those ships. But only if you look at raw numbers. I already have killed a lot of things, of people, in my life. If I can, I will make sure to win without killing anyone. And this time around, we managed to minimize deaths on both fronts."
Opal nodded at that. "A little over a hundred deaths, on either side. It's both impressive and frightening."
Serenity looked at Opal. "We are not kicking you out. Our world is still rather crowded, but we still have tourists from all other planets. And the trading was not just a part of our plans. We can continue trading as we were before things went sour."
"I'll give my people the good news, then." She looked at Usagi, then frowned. "I can't help it, I am too curious. Are the rest of the 'Neo Senshi' children of Senshi?"
"Yes and no. There are Senshi for each planet, and many of us had children who also helped-" She noticed Opal's face at that. "Yes, my daughter is a Senshi, and so is her daughter."
Opal tried to figure that out, but came up with blanks. "How?"
"I know I can tell you this, because I don't remember you ever mentioning it to the other 'me.' I am not from this era, so you may have assumed I am from the future."
"So you... For some reason, went to the past and stayed there."
"Good guess. I may tell you, later on. The 'other me' will be gone, in one decade."
"Back to the past."
"Yes, and for the first time in my life, I will not know what to expect from the future. That will be a most welcome change. I used to think Pluto's powers were cool, when I was young. But no, knowing the future is not fun at all."
The six teenagers looked around. A purple mass of clouds, as far as they could see, in all directions. Even the ground seemed to be made of that same purple mist. They had been here plenty of times already. "We are ready, Lady Apsu."
"Good. The time for revenge is near. Continue training, do not let your skills dull. The Senshi will soon know our pain."
Sin smiled at the voice coming from the clouds. Apsu really loved those theatrics. "I can hardly wait to go back to that rotten city."
A/N: Aiko was talking about Bioshock, just in case... The first Bioshock is the kind of game I can see people still remembering centiries from now, even if only as ancient, useless lore. Two and Infinite? Not quite memorable for me. Hardly remember Bioshock 2 except for "you're the prototype all Big Daddies were made from, but you're more advanced than them, and that makes sense because reasons, shut up and go drill people's faces in." Yeah.
And yes, I know in the translated versions of Sailor Moon AS (at least the ones I saw,) Sin's crew called their boss "Lord Apsu." I assume that was due to poor QA/proofreading (fanmade translations with errors? That never happens!) as the Japanese version itself had Apsu adressed as "Apsu-sama." That's a gender neutral term, and since Apsu has rather prominent female traits, I have never seen her as "Lord."
But maybe I'm wrong and it's really "Lord Trapsu" after all...
