So, guys I am back. Finally. Dreamers will continue, although it took me longer than promised to start posting the second part. Sorry for that and thank you for your patience. I hope the story still holds you captivated. For everyone new here I strongly recommand reading the first part Dreamers Awake first, because, yeah, obviously there will be spoilers ahead.
She was sure staring any longer at the offending item would not help at all to ease her worries. On the contrary: thinking more about everything only made it worse. It kind of resembled parachute jumping. From the ground, a safe distance, everything looked fine, but as soon as you went onto the plane, as soon as the moment you would finally do it came close, your perspective changed. And when you then had the first look out of that opened door, a vast sky right before with nothing to hold onto, you start questioning everything anew… The longer you took to prepare mentally for the jump the harder it got to execute that very motion. The longer you stood there, the more you consider yourself nuts for daring this endeavor. One step was suddenly one step too far. One step more would seal a point of no return.
She could not help it. She ended up at that very point. She was standing there imagining the vast sky and Earth beneath her so far away. And she just stared. She hesitated. She told herself it was her ritual of mental preparation to brace for what was about to come, for falling into the void. She told herself that she needed to savor these last seconds of controlled safety, before she plunged irrevocably into an uncertain truth that might end badly for them all. It wasn't easy to come to this point. Still, standing here was a decision taken by them all and the moment of truth was finally here.
It was time to jump.
Half of her wished it wasn't.
It wasn't as if there was no pretense to postpone this again.
When they decided to dive into Michiru's mirror to watch the memories of the Silver Millennium, Methys had prepared for them, they had also agreed not to rush it.
They took their time to get to this point. They slept over it. They caught up on some direly needed rest. They waited until all of their residual injuries were healed, which were not too severe anymore, yes, but still, they needed the time to mend. Rei's scratches had healed and Haruka's, Michiru's and Minako's frostbites as well. They moved to Haruka's and Michiru's beach house and settled in as best as they could. They tried to sort out their own worries and problems first, before they likely created new ones. They held countless of debates over the topic. They thought it through to the best of their knowledge. All things had been said, all opinions voiced, all worries considered. All of those preparations had been part of their agreement to take the time they needed and they helped to lessen their anxiety.
They truly did.
Yesterday, she had felt ready.
There was nothing else they could do, after all.
From a logical point of view, they could not postpone it any longer. It was time.
There was nothing else that could be done. Only this. This was the next step. A logical consequence.
And still, today Michiru felt not ready.
It's too late to chicken out. We are going to do this. We are going to look into these memories Methys recorded for us. And we are doing it, now.
To be honest, during all their endless discussions and speculations, she always felt torn about the whole thing. She had expected that feeling to lessen, but it never did. It persisted and evolved.
Were they doing the right thing?
After everything that went wrong lately, she was drowning in her doubts and worries.
Her self-confidence had taken several hits and she still felt the echoes of those impacts. On top of that there were the debates.
Talking about it was in general a good idea, but it also made more insecurities rise to the surface. Insecurities, you hadn't even thought of yourself, before someone else made a random comment that most of the time had not even anything to do with you. They went through possible scenarios, yes, but they also covered the worst ones and now she felt the lingering fear that those might be the truth at the end. Sometimes pushing aside certain fears had its advantages in comparison to analyzing them down to the slightest detail. The latter made them more likely. More of a reality. And that's the least they wanted them to be.
She has been always proud of her creative mind. Of her imagination skill. Those were to a great part what made her an excellent painter and musician. Right now, they went overboard in the worst possible way and she started to believe that she could accept any truth in comparison to this torturing uncertainty and the lingering doubts. She had grown restless and the others did, too. Impatient to get things going and especially Rei and Haruka could barely rein in their frustration anymore.
It was time to face the truth.
Discussions and debates had outlived their usefulness.
Words weren't enough anymore. They would just be a repetition of a repetition.
To sum it up, it was high time that finally some actions followed to their theoretical debates.
Michiru however feared that last step, although she knew it was absolutely necessary.
She knew they had stalled long enough.
And still it felt so different to when they first dived into Methys' memories and got to know about her shared past with Ami. All their lengthy discussions couldn't prepare her for this moment.
She was afraid.
Back then asking the mirror had only been a possible concept, a random idea that was not very likely to work, a shot into the dark. Now, it was … real, very real.
When they entered the mirror the first time they did not really know, what to expect. Like a small child that was innocently playing with a wasp and got stung. Now, after getting those glimpses about Ami's memories, they had an idea of the consequences more glimpses of that kind could cause. On the one hand, she was curious and on the other there was a feeling of dread looming on the horizon, that made her entirely uncomfortable about the whole matter. They would dive into an entirely different world and it frightened her. She knew she wasn't the only one feeling like this. They all did. And still they decided to do this.
Everything that happened before from Ami's unfortunate meeting with her father causing her to make a dash from Michiru's art exhibition, to the robbery she got involved in, up to the point of being severely injured because of it… it was all a passing blur. Her Senshi guardian making an appearance made it only worse. It came all out of the blue and it hit them pretty hard.
Everything had happened in such a quick succession that they had barely any time to breathe. One blow followed by another as if they were pommeled into the corner in a boxing match. And back then they hadn't even known that it was only the beginning. Their problems only quadrupled from that point and they were forced to fight at several fronts at the same time. Was it against the police that believed Ami to be responsible for the death of one of the robbers, against Mercury, who secretly harbored her own plans or against Ami's mother, whom they needed to heal Ami, but made no secret of disapproving Ami's newly discovered life style as Senshi. It had already been a huge mess at this point.
However, it turned out it was possible to make it even worse. They came to think Mercury was their enemy. In fact, all her actions made them doubt her intentions. She for sure wasn't the serene Senshi they expected, but rather a bossy pain in the ass that turned out to be using them to reach her own agendas. And not knowing what those were, made them even more suspicious of her. What sealed the death of her trustworthiness was her apparent intention to sacrifice Ami in the line of her plans, a suspicion that also resulted in a premature death of their brief alliance. From the moment they suspected her from not shying away from taking over Ami's body to live again, they labeled her as the biggest threat and whatever thin bond, they had formed, was lost in distrust, accusations and lies.
It turned out to be one of their greatest mistakes, albeit not the only one. Their obsession with her made them neglect the other aspects of the plight, they found themselves in. Admittedly, it had been just too much back then, so they focused on the one that was in their opinion the most immediate danger, the one they could see. It was the most logical approach. And the one that proved to be the worst pitfall.
In their eagerness to protect Ami from Mercury's dubious intentions, they forgot to consider that picking the obvious enemy to focus on, wasn't always the best choice, only the easiest.
In fact, things turned out to be way more complicated and they wasted their energy on working against the only one, who might have been their ally all along. To be fair, the animosity between them stemmed to a great part from Mercury herself. She could have handled the situation differently. She could have trusted them, she could have told them what she knew, she could have chosen a path that differed from her being the lone warrior to face down an ancient evil. She could have been less bitchy. Less secretive. However, that's not what she did. She chose the lone path and vacated any kind of teamwork, they might have been able to establish, would she have been honest with them from the start. She kept the threat looming at the horizon a secret, convinced she was obliged to deal with it on her own. However, while she might be blamed for the largest part of the fallout that awaited them, they could not deny, that they themselves, were also not completely innocent in the unfortunate outcome. They have been too focused on Ami's immediate well-being, too eager to blame tha late Sailor Mercury for everything, too unwilling to truly listen to her advice. Hell, they didn't even ask her for her name. She had been Ami's former Senshi self for them, but never an actual individual with her own identity and personality. A shadow, a figurehead, but never a real person. Only later they got to know her name. Methys. Later when it had almost been too late.
Both sides committed mistakes and at the end they barely survived the resulting catastrophe.
Everything they did or didn't do, had consequences and some of them only showed way later. While they have been busy with Methys as the primary target of their ire, other forces operated in the shadows against them, forces they were completely oblivious about.
Forces they did not take for real up to until it was almost too late.
The real danger came from a direction; they had the least experience with.
They were kinda accustomed to dealing with monsters or crazed despots who wanted to destroy the world, to things they could smash to bits or appease.
However, they were not accustomed to deal with federal law. Especially not when they were labeled as the bad guys.
They have never been accused to stand on the wrong side of justice before. It had been a first and it showed in how poorly the handled it.
They underestimated the police, foremost the Inspector leading Ami's case, Chen Hattorima. Too late they realized that his interest in the robbery case and particularly in Ami herself was way more than a veteran police officer doing his job. He was obsessed with her and determined to prove her guilty of orchestrating the whole robbery, murdering one of the robbers and beating up the rest of them. Admittedly, the last point had been true, but all the other accusations against her had been wrong and it took them quite some effort to cover for Ami. She had meant well. Ami just did what she always did: Protecting the innocent. She fulfilled the very purpose of being a Senshi.
It had never gone wrong like that… in plenty of other ways, yes, but never like that. It almost killed her with one of the thugs shooting her and the police got it entirely wrong, accusing her of heideous crimes. To protect their friend and their Senshi identities they had to get the poilice off her trail. In fact, they had gone to great lengths to achieve that aim, actions all of them were not proud off.
The line between Senshi duty and their civilian life had blurred and for the first time they had the police against them, the very executive arms of federal law, they would have considered their ally under normal circumstances.
In their goose chase to recover the lost Mercurian Henshin Stick, they required for healing Ami, they entered unknown territory. They sent in Rei disguised as Ami, curtesy to the transformation pen, to face a police interrogation in Ami's stead, while in the meantime Setsuna was supposed to hack Inspector Hattorima's computer to find Ami's Henshin Stick. The one, she had lost during the encounter with the robbers. Not only did they not find the Henshin Stick in the list of evidence, they also made Hattorima more suspicious of Ami and provided other inconsistencies he could use against her. They left traitorous traces and just provided more ammunition the police later on used against Ami. Still, they did their best to keep the police at bay, hiding Ami from them only to realize way too late that their greatest enemy was serving in their ranks, and to make it worse, it wasn't the one they expected.
It wasn't Inspector Hattorima, whom they should have worried about, but his charge Kato. All this time they believed him to be just tailing along his superior, a dutiful officer and partner whose presence was barely noticed. It turned out he had his own agenda, which he hid masterfully, until it was time to show his true colors.
He wasn't who they thought he was.
He was no normal police officer. At least not anymore.
He was a dark shadow of the past, a survivor of the Silver Millennium that came to haunt them.
A ghost that took over the body of the young police officer.
The police officer named Kato was gone. He was now Laertes, a demon hell-bent for destruction.
A demon of a past they did not remember.
And he was after Ami or rather the one she once was. Mercury.
They didn't know why. They knew nothing.
Was it initially Mercury they mistrusted due to her obnoxious behavior and her whole secretiveness about basically everything, they were blind for the far bigger threat looming on the horizon. They failed to see any connection to their past in the Silver Millennium because for them Mercury and the police being after Ami had been two separate problems, and the only one who knew otherwise, Mercury herself, failed to share that knowledge with them.
When he finally ambushed them with Hattorima in tow, they were completely unprepared. Soon, they realized he was not only a complete psycho, no; he also turned out to outclass them by far in terms of fighting capability.
He was so damn strong and he played his little games with them, boasting with knowledge about the Silver Millennium that rattled them to the bone.
His mere identity shocked them even more.
Laertes was the former Mercurian Senshi. That alone already came as a bombshell, because there had never been a male Senshi before. However, what made it even more traumatizing was that Methys had claimed the same about herself, which left them with two potential Mercurian Senshi. Who told the truth? Who was ally or foe? They didn't know what to believe anymore, and he only revealed more… things that did not go conform to what they have been told about the Silver Millennium: Two Mercurian Senshi, fighting against each other. The former Martian Senshi, Reina was named as the killer of Mercury's brother, Haruka's predecessor was accused to be ruthless bounty hunter out for the other Senshis' heads and the Lunarian Empire did neither lead the Silver Millennium, nor were all Senshi in service of Serenity. Rather they appeared to be busy beating each other's' heads in. The Silver Millenium turned out to be not the lost paradise, they always believed it to be.
A construct they had relied on for so long caved in on its own and they were left behind hanging at a gaping abyss.
Clueless and in danger.
At the mercy of a psychopath.
Laertes taunted and reveled in their confusion, but he came to kill the Senshi, most of all Methys, who had by that time taken complete command over Ami's body. The fight that broke out had been brutal, a battle executed by swords and tongue alike.
Methys fought tooth and nail against him while they… they simply stood no chance.
They were in the way, their attacks bounced off of him ineffectively and more than once they barely got away with their lives.
And despite all of her obnoxious behavior, despite her deception, Methys fought in their stead. For them. She defended them and even bled for them, when before she had stolen Ami out of their midst. Her taking of Ami's body had been equivalent with a death sentence for their beloved friend for all they knew and still she protected them. Her betrayal was followed by taking blows intended for them. Protecting the ones, she betrayed. An oxymoron indeed.
It had been so confusing.
She fought for them and still they despised her for what she did to Ami.
However, even all of her efforts were not enough to beat him. She lost, heavily injured and only Setsuna's time portals saved her form drowning in the pool Laertes had dropped her unconscious body into. In fact, the very same portals saved them all.
They fled to a place somewhere in space and time, where Laertes couldn't follow, a refugee provided by Setsuna's unique powers.
Methys barely survived her grave injuries and on top of that they had to deal with Ami's angry mother, who helped a great deal in saving her, but could barely fathom the fact that the true Ami was gone.
The aftermath had been chaotic and emotional.
They were left with the question what to do, how to beat an overpowered enemy like Laertes, who seemed to know more about them, than they apparently did.
Self-doubt, fear and blame had set in and instead of standing together, the pack of wolves had almost torn each other apart.
They didn't. At the end they didn't, but it was a close call. A barely obtained safe that had come with a cost. Their spats left hard feelings and opened old barely scabbed wounds.
For now, they might have pulled themselves together, but they all knew beneath the surface the volcano was still simmering, approaching eruption, in case the arising pressure proofed to be too much.
They had been lost, unsure what path to tread, unsure even of the paths they had treaded so far.
It was Methys, who gave them back a sense of direction in the strangest possible way. Although she was still unconscious and suffering from the consequences of her injuries, they had decided to use Michiru's mirror on her. The late Neptunian's talisman was supposed to answer their questions. It was supposed to show them Methys' memories upon asking her, what they wanted to know.
And they had a shitty catalogue of what they needed to know.
It was partly curiosity and to a greater deal desperate helplessness that drove them to give it a try.
And it backfired completely.
Instead of getting answers to their questions, they got to see memories; they did not expect to see at all.
Memories they did not even ask for, nor did they knew, they even existed in the first place.
They expected to see memories about the Silver Millennium, but got to know secrets about Ami and Methys.
Another eye-opener, that shook them again to the bones.
They already suspected that something was fishy about Ami's past and present alike. Some things just did not want to fit with what they knew about her. After the robbery Ami's bag had been recovered by the police and subsequently ended in their hands. Some of its contents left them completely mystified. Strange pills and an encoded book in particular. A book dated to a time when Ami was supposed to be dead just the same as all the Inner Senshi after their fight against Metallia.
They had not known what it meant and together with all the other things going on around them, they had not known where one problem started and the other ended.
And then witnessing Methys' memories first hand through the mirror finally revealed the truth.
They got to know things about Ami, things they hadn't known before, things she has kept secret. They more or less stumbled over them and when at the beginning nothing had made sense, things slowly started to unravel.
The wildest theories had formed when they first discovered the contents of her bag and only during the course of everything; they got to know the truth. The whole tangle finally unraveled and little by little a picture formed in front of their eyes. One they clearly hadn't expected. One that showed different parts of the story that had intertwined to form a huge confusing mess. Albeit a mess that finally made sense.
Ami's past was only one aspect of the whole picture. Before they have even met each other, she had already experienced rather unpleasant incidents in her life, the most impactful probably a rather unfortunate accident involving Ami's father, which not only resulted in Ami being bitten by a poisonous snake, but also in an estrangement between father and daughter that lasted until today.
Her injury had lasting effects as well. Ami got spasms whenever she exerted herself too much. Hence, she had to drop out of the swim club. Misplaced guilt, blame and hidden pain, probably on both sides, lead to Ami not seeing her father for years.
As if that wasn't enough, they got to know that Ami and Methys, as her Mercurian Senshi guardian, shared a close connection even from before she awakened as a Senshi. In fact, it had been Methys who saved her life, when she had been alone in the woods suffering from the snake poison and close to death.
From then on the two of them conversed regularly, a fact Ami kept hidden from everyone, even after she awakened as a Senshi and got to know all of them. She kept their relationship a secret all along and only Methys' recorded memory revealed that she had been planning to tell them about the hidden presence of her Mercurian guardian.
With the mess they have been in, it never was to be.
If the injuries Ami sustained during the robbery weren't already enough, the looming threat on the horizon drove Methys to drastic measures.
Knowing that Kato has awakened with the plan to kill all the Senshi, foremost Ami, Methys was forced to face that threat. And she could only do so with an actual body.
With them being clueless, it wasn't too surprising that they failed in protecting Ami from her. She took over, stole Ami from them and threw herself in a fight against Kato, she was doomed to lose.
And she lost.
However, unbeknownst to them she had also prepared for that scenario with Michiru's mirror as her key instrument. She had foreseen that they would use it. So, Methys manipulated the mirror to show them the things she couldn't tell them personally, while being unconscious and heavily injured.
They had consulted Michiru's mirror to get answers to their own questions and at the end it had shown them something completely different.
First, Ami's shared past with Methys.
Then, Methys had also made it show them her perspective from the things that happened, which made them finally understand all aspects and motivations behind her actions.
She was their ally. She had tried to save Ami and all of them.
Circumstances had forced her hand and still she had done her best to save Ami.
She told them that Ami's soul might have survived in the Mercurian Henshin Stick. Told them to retrieve it from Kato. And she also offered them glimpses into the past. Into the Silver Millennium. Into her own memories. She offered them insights that might help them to beat Kato. She left them a choice.
And they decided.
They decided to stand here, now.
It took them two days to get that far.
When they moved to Michiru's and Haruka's beach house, they hardly had a choice but to change location. Their own house had been compromised with Laertes knowing, where to find them. After all, he might be laying in wait for them, expecting their return. So, Setsuna had to redirect one of her portals to another place, where they could stay for the time being: their beach house. At the end, that part of the dilemma proved to be a godsend.
The beach house was beautiful, open and located at a magnificent coastline. It had given them a refugee, a safe haven and the opportunity to think things through in an environment that provided tranquility and peace.
They needed the time to become aware of the things that ailed them, to prepare for what was to come. To regain at least a semblance of inner balance.
To be as ready as they could be to see things through.
Each of them had their fair share of walks at the beach, sometimes alone, sometimes in pairs.
Michiru herself spent most of her time in the pool. Water always soothed her. Every morning she jumped into the cold floods of the Kashima Golf to do her morning laps, enjoying the refreshing exercise. For the time in between Haruka barely left her side and she openly welcomed her presence, showering her in affection as best as she could. She might tell herself her open tenderness was for Haruka's sake, but it was much the same for her own. In fact, the both of them felt as if they had to solidify something. Something Michiru wasn't sure she truly doubted, nor was she sure that it still was what she thought it to always be. It was complicated and made absolutely no sense. She knew that and she guessed Haruka did, too. Their bond was still there, it wasn't breaking. Of that she was sure and maybe that was exactly what astonished her so much. When you expect things to change and they just don't, you do not trust that lack of something happening. You just expect it to be the calm before the storm. You wait for a fallout. You brace yourself. She was still waiting and maybe she was waiting for something that would never come true. She direly hoped so.
Still, she felt the need to strengthen her bond with Haruka, to examine its foundation, to look at it from a perspective, they never felt they needed to. It was clear something had changed, but it didn't have to be for the worse. Maybe they could come out of it stronger than before. Maybe it was a good thing to realize that their love was still there, even without the reassurance that it was destined to be. Maybe she could even feel better about it, now, knowing, that it was her choice alone to be with Haruka and not one committed by their Silver Millennium counterparts.
Looking on the bright side of things, the two of them had not snogged that frequently for a long time and she secretly welcomed the wandering hands, appreciating looks and rushed make out sessions in every more or less secluded corner, they could find. She might feel like a horny teenager, but besides the embarrassment of being caught by a smirking Minako of all things right in the middle of a very intense snogging session in the storage room, she had to admit it felt damn good. Surprisingly, the blonde did not rat them out in front of the others, at least if you ignored the constant shit-eating grin, she sported during dinner and her rather suggestive question towards Michiru, whether she found the melons ripe enough to have a taste.
And the snogging was only part of their daytime activities. During nighttime things got admittedly steamier. They had already caught Setsuna's ire, since she had the room right next to them and one of the first things on the list for grocery shopping were ear plugs.
However, facing Setsuna's wrath paled in comparison to the embarrassment she felt, when Hotaru noted at one point during breakfast that she thinks they had a raccoon problem, since she heard strange noises at night. Michiru had almost choked on her morning coffee and Haruka's knife had made a treacherous screeching sound on her plate, missing her bacon altogether. At that point, Minako had already opened her mouth to offer a lascivious response, when she flinched with a grimace. The following accusing look to her left made it apparent that Rei had kicked her under the table to shut her up.
For the sake of sustaining Hotaru's innocence and the one point in her world-view that was still child-like as it should be, Minako had finally relented. However, Michiru suspected she would only spare them in Hotaru's presence from the rightful teasing, they apparently deserved in her eyes.
Yes, Haruka and she spent direly needed time together, but they were also aware not to seclude themselves too much. It was something they had done in the past way too often. She had to remind herself they were a team and as such they were supposed to deal with trouble together. They had to vacate those mindsets of having to do everything on their own. It barely did them any good in the past anyway. With this aim in mind, Michiru made sure that they at least saw each other during lunch and dinner and she always kept an eye open, whether her presence was required for one thing or another. For Haruka it was considerably harder to … mingle. She still wallowed in guilt and self-pity due to the outburst she had with Michiru and Makoto as the unjust recipients of her wrath. A blatant loss of control that could not be excused, she had termed it once. Michiru encouraged her whenever she could, even if she had to stage encounters with the others, which was luckily not too hard with the tight space the beach house provided and the number of people squeezed into it. For the most part, the others did let the matter slide, labeling it as a stress-induced venting mechanism to let loose the pent-up frustration all of them felt. Still, Haruka insisted that she had been the only one to lose her cool like that. Michiru knew, for her it was that weakness, she loathed the most, although the other unsolved issue hanging in the air came a close second place.
Said issue had a name.
And that was Makoto.
The person whose forgiveness Haruka needed the most, wasn't providing any of the sorts till now.
In fact, Makoto barely left Methys' sick bed, until Minako coaxed her into the kitchen with her open threats to cook herself. In fact, the blond whirlwind was more than eager to be wherever she was needed, be it simply as a shoulder to lean on, to talk or just to goof around pulling them out of their sometimes too morose thoughts. They all worried for Makoto the most. She was the quietest during their discussions and kept to herself the most. A constant frown never left her features and her brown eyes harbored so much pain and sadness. Whenever she talked, she had taken up a bitter and sarcastic attitude. She still did not talk to Haruka after their explosive fight that had ended in trading insults and actual hits with Haruka. The racer had tried to make some half-heartened amends. However, it became apparent that apologizing wasn't one of Haruka's strong suits and Makoto shot her down, before she got more than a few words over her lips. That way they wouldn't get far, that much was for sure. Michiru had tried to mediate between the two, but Makoto had made it clear that she didn't want to talk to Haruka right now and everyone who tried to encourage a discussion to resolve their issues got the same treatment. Firm refusal and relentless stubbornness.
Michiru had given it up for now, accepting that the two had to act in their own pace. Enforcing to talk things out just wasn't working with them. Maybe giving them some space would. Maybe they needed to bash each other's head in. Whatever was the case, as soon as the right time was right, Michiru was ready to lend a helping hand.
Setsuna spent a great deal of her time conversing with Ami's mother. There were still open questions and the time Senshi wanted to sort out their differences, before they evolved into something even more serious. They didn't want to have her against them. After all, they needed her help and they had enough fights on their platter without her as an additional adversary. They needed to assuage her rightful anger about what happened to her daughter and their role in it. For the time being things had gotten better between them and they had kept their sides of the bargain, they struck. Still, Setsuna was painfully aware, just as much as Michiru was, that Ami's mother could quickly turn into a loose cannon as soon as she saw her daughter threatened. Their truce had a thin fundament and still lacked a good deal of trust. They had to build that up, brick by brick if necessary.
Rei meditated frequently in front of a self-made fire at the beach for hours. Besides that, she took over watch duty, whenever they managed to convince Makoto to vacate her lone watch. Sometimes, she also kept her company. Her injuries were fully healed by now.
Hotaru had made it her personal agenda to cheer up Usagi. With Minako as happy collaborator they managed to get her into better spirits, typically with Rei suffering through their pranks and silly games. She did not mind too much, though, still a tad bit guilty about handling the leadership debate the wrong way and thereby causing Usagi more sorrow. They had not talked about it again and for now abided to Usagi's wishes, hoping she would come around in the future on her own. They wouldn't put more pressure on her though.
All in all, the situation had calmed down a tad bit, and the few days to de-stress had paid off tremendously for all of them. It might not solve any of their many problems, but it made them lighter.
However, nothing could gloss over the blatant hole in their circle. Ami's absence was more than apparent. When constructing their various theories about the Silver Millennium, her scientific input was desperately missed. During whatever crisis they faced so far, she had been a reliable constant, a source of knowledge, and a competent strategist, but most of all she had been a center of calm and reason. It was noticeable how much the Inners missed her presence by how often her name popped up in random conversations. It was always accompanied with a wave of sadness and still they refused to stop mentioning her, as if doing so would make her part of their little group. As if her physical absence meant less, when she was at least always in their thoughts. As if including her would make them miss her less. Michiru knew, it did not work very well and still the lot of them remained stubborn.
Methys had not awoken once in the time they had been here. Ami's mother assured them her condition was stable and improving, but only slowly. For a Senshi it could be even considered at a snail's pace. She must have been completely spent after her fight with Laertes. Their injuries typically healed faster, but it was as if she had barely any magical power left. And it did not help that she had plenty to heal. The stab through her shoulder had barely missed her lung and according to Dr. Mizuno it had damaged her collarbone and severed muscles and even tendons. The fact that it had been an ice spike caused even more damage to the surrounding tissue than a normal stab wound. It resulted in necrotic tissue comparable to a freezer burn. Healing would take its time. Compared to her other arm this injury however almost looked tame. That arm had been broken in two places, Radius and Ulna alike. Due to Kato twisting her arm the fractures had not been clean, but accompanied with splinters, which had been stuck in the tissue prone to wandering. The Doctor had done her best to remove them and set the bones right, but even Setsuna had looked almost greenish after assisting her during the surgery. The Doctor had also insisted to put the arm in a cast, afterwards. Her shoulder joint had been even worse. Since Kato had applied physical force after dislocating her shoulder, it had taken quite some damage and Dr. Mizuno's greatest worry had been that she would not be able to move it properly even after it healed. With a troubled expression she had told them only time would tell. Given Ami's previous problems with her arm due to the snakebite, that possible outcome had given Ami's mother the most trouble. After the surgery she had been barely responsive for over an hour. Usagi had finally dared to talk to her, trying to abate some of her fears. Senshi were after all very sturdy. As soon as she would have some magical power back, the injuries were likely to heal better than they would for every normal person.
They had to believe it and if they were entirely unlucky and it wasn't the case, they had to deal with it on a later time point. They could not worry about eventualities, when they already had their hands full with the realities. After all there were a lot of steps in between until they truly had to worry about that.
Her other injuries were rather minor in comparison, but still bothersome. Her mother had treated the scrapes and cuts carefully, applying bandages and plasters where needed to avoid any infections from spreading. All they could do now was waiting and having an eye on her.
It wasn't as if they hadn't already vast experience in that aspect.
Way too much to be honest.
It was as if they did nothing else in those last days than waiting for her to wake up.
It was frustrating and knowing that even if she woke up, it wouldn't be Ami anymore made it even more depressing.
Usagi had once even suggested to use the healing power of the Silver Crystal on her, but after the last disaster, they were not willing to risk an outcome like that again, at least not if her condition did not take a dire turn for the worse. Rei had commented rather bluntly: "I might burn her for real this time, if I have to thaw her out of another ice coffin." So, for the time being, they decided not to interfere in her healing process, hoping that time was all she needed.
However, they would not wait for her to wake up. That was clear from the beginning.
The mirror promised Intel and awake or not, they would use the opportunity Methys provided.
However, their plans harbored one fundamental flaw. One detail, that didn't sit right with any of them. One they couldn't change, no matter what they did. It was obvious. They would dive into those memories, while being one Senshi short. Whatever they would see in there, Ami wouldn't see it. Michiru considered it entirely unfair, since Methys was her Senshi guardian and she had been closest to her. The memories they had seen with the two of them together made it obvious, how much Ami wanted to know about Methys, how often she had pestered her about revealing her past. The fact that she was the only one, who wouldn't share that experience with them, was just not right.
She told herself that it might get terrible in there and that she would at least be spared from the more gruesome details.
She told herself, she couldn't change it.
She told herself that it shouldn't matter, when they did not even know for sure, whether Ami was still alive at all.
And still it mattered.
She deserved it more than anyone to be a part of this. And still she wouldn't be.
It was a fact, they had to accept.
They had to do this without her.
Michiru stood in the circle all attention focused on her. Instinctively, her left hand reached for Haruka's, squeezing hers gently while her other clammy one clenched on cold metal. Her Silver Mirror. Her talisman. She had never felt so nervous holding it. Well, to be honest she had never truly known what she was holding. Now, her feelings were mixed, whenever she touched the smooth and cool surface: something between awe-inspiring, reluctant and frightened. And she felt something else she had once taken for granted, something she might have registered but never truly understood. Power.
Am I worthy of that power? Will I do it right this time?
Haruka's hand squeezed hers a bit tighter, pulled her out of her dark musings as if she knew to what places her mind had wandered.
Well, she probably does know. Hers wanders there, too, way too frequently.
Michiru exhaled shakily. A soft hand touched the back of her hand, the one holding her mirror. She looked to her right and Hotaru's mesmerizing violet eyes gazed at her reassuringly.
Man, I still remember, when I had to reassure her. Kids grow so fast these days.
She didn't say that, but just smiled back at her gratefully.
Then, she lifted her talisman for everyone to see and her eyes strayed to every single Senshi standing their ground in the circle, transformed and as ready as they will ever be. Her comrades in arms. The ones she shared the same fate with. Her friends. Her family. Her beloved ones.
And in this moment, she vowed to herself, that whatever she would get to know, whatever would be revealed to them, they would always be that first and foremost.
"Ready?" She asked with a small smile just to make sure, knowing that whatever responses she got, would hardly be the truth.
Fittingly, nobody said a word.
She just got small smiles and nervous nods in return.
No one is ready, but here we go!
And then they joined the circle by putting their hands on the shoulders of the ones next to them. Only Haruka kept holding her hand, giving it another reassuring squeeze.
Michiru exhaled loudly and finally uttered the words that were the beginning in a literal and figurative sense: "How it all begun…"
Instantly, the mirror in her hand started to glow and the scenery started to blur into rainbow colors, just the same as it happened before. Michiru was prepared for it now, and she wasn't too astonished when the colors were replaced by a sea of pristine white.
The void. That's how Methys had called it.
The place they could return to when there were not directly experiencing a memory in the mirror, but decided against leaving it altogether. Michiru wasn't too fond of it and already vowed to herself that she would try her best to limit the time they had to spend here.
The others looked at her and Minako questioned a tad bit irritated. "That's it? I thought it was to start right away. Is there something else we are supposed to do?"
A good question. One she had no answer for. Methys had just told them the key sentence she repeated just now, nothing more. She had expected the same as Minako. To be thrown right away into the fray.
Hotaru shrugged. "Maybe repeat it?"
"Well, there won't be any harm in giving it another try… How it all begun…"
For a moment nothing happened and Michiru got a tad bit frustrated for building up such a tension for days for absolutely nothing.
Then the white suddenly got less dense and swirls of color took its place. The diffuse blurs took form and materialized to a familiar room. It was the Outers' living room and just like the last time they were here it was in the middle of the night, and Michiru's mirror was lying on the kitchen table emitting a cerulean glow. Methys sat right in front of it, her hands folded in front of her, just the same way the left her the last time they were here. She looked at the mirror which gave her aquamarine eyes an even eerier glint. The very mirror that was recording every word she said.
"So, you are back. I can't say I am surprised." She gave a small smile. "You are kinda predictable, but well, … at least I don't go through the hassle of doing this late-night shift and kinda depressing monologue for nothing."
She looked up and a reminiscent expression appeared on her face, that was still basked in blue lights and stark shadows. It made her look unreal, like a wooden puppet with sharp corners and edges. Like a haggard corpse with waxen skin. Her croaked smiled withered, betraying her mixed feelings and her whole body seemed to sag a bit.
"So, this is actually going to happen. You are going to listen to our story. To a story that has been lost in oblivion for millennia. This is… well to be honest I don't really know, what to think of it. On the one hand, I might not be too eager to tell you about everything, as I have already made clear abundantly. However, there is also a part of me that is … relieved. That relief stems from a simple fact: This might be my last chance to ever tell this to someone. And maybe I will feel better about some of it, when I finally do talk about it. Not, that this is really talking to someone, since it's just me here, but if nothing else it makes it easier to reminisce, when I don't have to look you into the face. And … it… there are also good things to remember. Plenty of them. That's what makes this so hard. The people involved in this story deserve more than being forgotten. For all their efforts and sacrifices, for everything they were, everything they fought for, they deserve to be remembered. So, it's maybe not all bad, if you finally get to know.
I thought for quite some time where to start. You probably think the beginning would be a good choice. The beginning of the Silver Millennium. Well, it's not so easy to define an exact time point, and although I have a pretty good idea when I want to start with this tale, you need more than that to understand the circumstances surrounding that very idea, that you call the Silver Millennium.
Not to boast, but I played a great part in it, so maybe it's best to start with myself. After all, you will see everything from my perspective, so I guess it's time to tell you who I truly am. My full name is Azkadelia Methys Ingui Kaveri, quite a tongue-twister, I know, but that's what royal traditions in naming their offspring come up with over the course of millennia. I was the Crown Princess of the Mercurian Empire born as the one and only daughter of King Zahander and Queen Anairin. Since the Mercurian Empire is a matriarchate, I was thought to be the next Queen in line and raised as such. From a very young age I was trained in well, basically everything you can think of: weaponry, science, diplomacy, history and politics. The Mercurian society was known for putting much value in education and skill and it was requested even more so from its future Queen. After all, we had a reputation to keep up, we had an image to uphold as the leading Empire of the ten worlds, we needed strong leadership to maintain that hard-earned status. In terms of technical and scientific advances we were respected, even feared and it guaranteed that no one dared to attack us.
You might ask of what attackers I speak of? Well, for once the other kingdoms. You have known only about the Lunarian Empire, but apparently there were others. You will get to know mostly about the Mercurian Empire, since it was, well… my home, but each world was ruled by an individual kingdom. And unfortunately, as it is often with neighboring countries, not all was well between the Empires. There was an active truce between us, but that didn't mean we had tranquil peace and fruitful collaborations. There were squabbles and rivalries, old enmities and resentments and each Empire cared first and foremost for their own people, working for their benefit alone. The Senshi thereby represented their greatest military asset; pillars of strength to serve as a warning to whoever considered pursuing their animosities on the battlefield. However, the pact held until I was about five. At that time an alien force invaded our galaxy and we had to stand together to hold them off. It was then that it got apparent how torn our alliance truly was. Being divided made us weak and we lost plenty of the initial battles for that very reason. However, with these losses it got clear that we needed to band together to survive and beat an enemy, we could not overcome on our own. So, that's what we did. Or at least we tried. It was the Plutonian Queen Setsna who called for a meeting to form a military alliance with enough striking power to beat our adversary. As to be expected it ended in quarrels, accusations and distrust. Not all were willing to participate in the fights to come. They used other excuses of course, but in the end the underlying motivations were not so much a secret. Some thought they might come out on top of the others exploiting advantages or gaining territory, when their rivals were weakened from engaging another enemy. Others were not willing to set aside their ambitions of leadership in this alliance and some considered it more feasible to sacrifice soldiers of the other Empires than their own. There were plenty of mostly selfish reasons playing their part in ensuring that we didn't find common ground even at the threat of being wiped out.
At the end only five Empires banded together to fend off the aggressors: The Mercurians, The Neptunians, The Lunarians, the Jovians and the Plutonians. A huge decisive battle took place and finally we defeated their leader. The Senshi at that time, as the most powerful fighters of their respective worlds played a great role in the win, earning their places as respected heroes. However, our triumph was paid in blood. Plenty of it. In that very same battle, my father died and with his death Mercury lost its King. Jupiter lost its Senshi and the Plutonian home world located in the farthest Outer Rim suffered tremendous damage and lots of civilian casualties. After that, so called victory, peace was installed back, but the outcome of the battle and the refusal of the other five nations to partake in it left even deeper rifts and opened the doors for further animosities between the Empires, even amongst the victors. When I grew up the situation was tense for plenty of years already. My mother was strict, preparing me for the role of being Queen, a role I was already aware early on, I was not eager to take. At that time most people believed war was unavoidable and only a matter of time. A powder keg waiting for the slightest spark. That's how I grew up.
The first memory I want to show you, took place on Mercury when I was seventeen. It's… well, I should rather let you watch it first, before I comment. I already said enough and it speaks for itself. That's why I chose it after all. We'll see each other afterwards…"
They didn't have to wait for long. Methys' sitting form blurred again and was replaced by a strange scenery. For a moment, they thought to be back in the void but instead of white wavering blue surrounded them. Their forms floated again and they turned to find out, where they ended up.
Then they discovered another floating form. One that actually truly floated. Short blueish hair and a few of thin braids seemed to defy gravity. It was a young Methys and her body looked as if she was frozen in the midst of falling. Only when some air bubbles left her mouth they realized where they truly were.
In the midst of water.
They were under water.
Methys dived right through their group and they followed her swimming form.
Finally, she broke through the water surface and took a deep breath.
She looked at her wrist where a strange technical device was attached. "Seven minutes, forty-six." She sighed. "Not long enough. I need to get better."
The same device started beeping and she made a face. "Well, apparently not today."
"Stop timer!" She commanded in a rather neutral voice, and the beeping ceased immediately.
She started to swim to the bank. And for the first time they got a look at their surroundings. They were in a large lake, which was surrounded by the weirdest greenery they have ever seen. From the layout the plants seemed to be arranged, like in a park, but the trees and bushes looked nothing like what they knew. The greenery was not really green; in fact, the strange plants sported purple or red leaves, trees with roots that seemed to stem from the branches, connecting each tree with the next. Plenty of these air roots drifted in the water looking like snakes curling around each other in the stream. It almost looked like a tangled bawl of wool. In between grew some strange bushes which sported blossoms that seemed to glow.
Diverse little streams, canals and larger waterways connected the lake to other ponds and lakes of various sizes. It was a maze-like network of water streets and myriads of little islands, peppered with all kind of bridges that connected the dot-like soil to paths.
The sun shone above them a tad bit larger than they were used to and low on the horizon. In fact, it almost looked like a blood moon on Earth, since the color was a tad bit off. On second glance something else was weird with it, well entirely weird with the sky as a whole. It seemed to flicker. They could also spot some strange technical platforms floating in the sky.
Were those satellites?
However, the most astonishing fact about their surroundings were the waterways itself. Some of them flowed upwards and with upwards vertically into the sky was meant. The element seemed to annul gravity completely, like a waterfall that had forgotten that it was supposed to flow the other way around.
How the hell was that even possible?
While all of them stared at it with open mouths, Methys acted as if nothing was amiss. She reached the bank of the lake and then left the water at a point that wasn't completely covered by air and water roots. She drunk some sips of water out of a bottle, and stretched, some of her joints popping with the languid motion. Then she yawned lazily, blinking into the dimmed sun. It was now, that they got a good look at her. She wore something that resembled a surfing suit in faded blue and silver colors, only that arms and legs were bare. It looked used as if she had worn it a thousand times already and in some areas it even had small holes. When she turned, they saw that a great deal of her back was bare though, revealing lean muscles under pale skin. Her short wet hair dripped onto her shoulders and they noticed that only the left side of her head sported hair equal to Ami's length. The hair on the right side was way longer and braided along the skin of her head messily. The end of the braid reached down to her shoulder blades. She looked younger than the Methys they knew and even more like Ami, at least if you ignored the different hair style.
She was the only one around. Otherwise, the exotic park-like area seemed vacated.
Methys grabbed a towel lying on the ground and started to dry her hair which made it stand in all directions as if electrified. Longer strands came loose and touched her right shoulder. Right next to it on the ground was a worn gray robe. There were no shoes.
Suddenly, her wrist device gave another signal, a short piece of music that sounded similar to a ringtone. Methys pressed a bottom, before she spoke. "Yes?"
"Where are you?" A male and melodious voice asked.
"On my way. You didn't have to remind me." Was her short reply, while she grabbed the robe.
The guy on the other line grunted approvingly. "That's not why I am calling. Take the west wall at the Rubrum tree. The Jovian delegation just arrived. Everyone will be at the main entrance."
A small smile appeared on her lips. "Will do. Thanks for the notification, Natai."
The voice continued. "Just a warning. Krana is already looking for you."
Methys groaned. "She has four hours left. That's more than enough. There is absolutely no reason to panic."
"You know her. For her there is always a reason to panic, even if she had 24 hours at her disposal."
"True. She can wait a bit longer and torture someone else in the meantime."
"Are you trying to throw me under the bus?" He asked mockingly.
"Depends. If you find no one else, that would be acceptable." She joked.
"Fine, I play the distraction, but you owe me."
"You mean more than I already do? Obviously. The rest went smoothly?"
There was an offended huff on the other end that sounded equally playful. "Of course, it did. You are not doubting me, are you?"
Methys smirked. "Never."
"Then move your ass here. Uncle Altan destroyed me the third time in Amaralian chess just now. It's time somebody shows him the error in his ways of not letting the host win like a polite guest should do. That way you can already start repaying your depts."
Methys laughed out loud. "Don't worry, dear brother, I will restore your honor."
"You better do…" Then the line clicked and he was gone.
Methys smiled a dorky smile, then shook her head briefly and started to walk through the park, still completely drenched after her swimming endeavor. Her pace was quick and single-minded. In the mace of bridges and small paths she knew exactly, which one to take. When she rounded a small copse with more of these strange silver-barked trees with the air roots, she suddenly halted.
A confused frown appeared on her face and one astonished eyebrow vanished in her hairline. "What the…"
Still a bit in the distance was a small bridge made of a whitish glittering substance that might be something in the middle of glass and marble. On the opposite end of the bridge there was another person, the first one they have seen here. Methys appeared to be astonished by her mere presence, observing her from afar. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously.
The woman was clad in multiple layers of fleeting gown-like robes, a richly ornamented mantle draped over her shoulders like a cape, but what made all of them gasp was her long hair.
It was blond and bound to two very familiar pigtails.
That…
All eyes darted immediately to Usagi, who had her hand in front of her mouth in shock.
Her hairstyle.
Serenity. That must be Serenity.
AN: So, that's it for now. I thought including a small summary of what happened in Part 1 in such a manner might be useful and only then I noticed how much really happened. It was actually harder to put it altogether than I thought. In the last part I kept you waiting long enough for them to finally watch the memories Methys provided, so we will dive straight into the fray this time. As always I am happy to read your thoughts. Until next time (and I promise it won't be that long again. In fact, I plan to return to my monthly schedule).