Chaotic Waters Act 1, Chapter 6: Rage of the Guardian.
"You look like hell." Tenoh bluntly said after classes ended for the day, giving Michiru an odd look that she couldn't quite place. He'd been late, only showing up after gym class for fourth period much to the annoyance of their sensei.
"Thanks." She muttered in reply, glaring at the teenage boy for his faux pas. "That's just the sort of thing a girl wants to hear from someone."
"Sorry, had a long night and an early morning. I got stuck in a meeting with my sponsors."
"...sponsors?" She asked, giving him a look of confusion.
"Yeah, my sponsors. I'm a professional race car driver." He explained, picking up his bag and standing up from his desk next to hers.
"A...wait how old are you?"
He seemed amused by her question, like it wasn't something he expected people to ask, or that it was rude somehow. "I'm seventeen."
"But you need to be eighteen to get a license, so how could you...?" The cursed girl asked, standing up from her own desk and following the taller boy out of the classroom.
"I compete outside of Japan. Mexico and Europe for the most part, NASCAR and Formula Renault."
"...I have no idea what those are." She admitted, making the taller boy stumble, much to her amusement.
"You don't-how can you not know what NASCAR is?!" He seemed almost offended that she hadn't heard of it, like it was unheard of for someone to not know what it was.
"I had a rather...sheltered childhood." That was one way to describe thirteen years of being on the road with little human contact, aside from the one year her father had put her in that all boy's school where she'd met Ryoga. Actually, counting Juban High, she'd only actually been enrolled in school three times and even then she'd only spent a year each in the other two. It really was a miracle that she did as well as she did in school, well that and the excessive amounts of studying she did hen she wasn't being hit with a mallet, dodging knives and training toilets, or being tackled by crazed amazons.
"Apparently." Tenoh muttered. "Okay, so NASCAR or the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, is one of, if not the, top ranked motorsports organizations in the world." He said as the two of them walked to the shoe locker by the school's front doors. "They have events all over, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Europe, and the United States."
"Wait, is that the thing where drivers see who can make right turns the fastest?" She asked, tilting her head just slightly. Half a second later Ukyo and Konatsu no longer held the honor of the greatest facefault Michiru had ever seen. "Are, are you alright down there?" She asked with more than a little amusement, her shoulders shaking with mirth.
She watched as Tenoh picked himself up, quietly muttering to himself if his moving lips were anything to go by. "It isnotjust drivers making fast right turns." He grumbled. "You don't eventakeright turns in NASCAR races."
"So it's drivers taking fastleft-"
"You finish that sentence and Iwillthrow my bag at you." Tenoh growled, giving Michiru a lighthearted glare much to her amusement.
"But then what would your sponsors think? Assaulting a classmate with your bag?" She asked innocently, shaking her head and making a tsking sound with her tongue.
"...I think they'll forgive me for smiting a blasphemer." He grumbled, only getting a giggle from the cursed girl in response.
"How generous of them."
"So what about you?" Tenoh asked after they swapped their indoor shoes for their outdoor ones.
"Me?"
"Yeah, why are you..." He paused, gesturing awkwardly at her. "...so out of sorts?"
"...It's nothing, just a bad nightmare." She said, not wanting to get into the logistics of her weird dreams of another life as an alien princess."Jeez, if Akane heard me talk about that she'd pound me into the ground."She thought in amusement.
"Do you...want to talk about it?"
"Not really no. To be honest, I'd rather not even think about it." That was an understatement. Seeing people killed in such gruesome ways wasn't something normal people could handle, it wasn't even something people from Nerima could handle, the Amazons aside. Even she was having a hard time with it, despite what she had done at Jusendo, though what she did to Saffron couldn't compare to the sheer brutality of the victims in the dreams. She shuddered as the memory of the girl her dream self had called Galyna flashed through her mind. No, Jusendo didn't compare at all.
"That bad?" Her classmate asked seriously, getting a small nod in reply. "Jeez, sorry about that."
"It's okay, nightmares aren't anything new for me." She said absently, glancing at the watch on Tenoh's wrist. "Hey, can you tell me the time?"
"Huh? Oh sure, it's...16:24." He answered before wincing. "Sorry, 4:24."
"Crap." She muttered under her breath. "Sorry, but I have to head out, I need to get to work."
"Oh, no problem, I'll see you tomorrow at school then." Her classmate said, watching as the cursed girl ran off to her job, wherever that was. Absently, he reached up to his neck and pulled a yin-yang charm attached to a delicate chain out from under his shirt, running his thumb over it repeatedly. "Is it you?" He wondered, his eyes not leaving the spot where Michiru had been. At that moment a breeze brushed against him gently, almost lovingly, and made him sigh. "I suppose I'll find out eventually. For now, I should make sure those girls don't get themselves killed, again."
"Well, what did you think of your first day?" The priest asked at just past nine after Michiru's shift.
"Nothing too hard." She replied easily, stretching her arms above her head. "I've done this before at another shrine, so it's nothing new."
"And I suppose the physical work isn't hard for someone as versed in the martial arts as you." The priest remarked.
"Pretty mu-" She froze, giving the priest a wide eyed look." How...?"
"You pick up a few things when you get to be my age." The priest laughed as he turned to leave the room for her to change in privacy.
"What is it with old people and being perceptive about things I don't want people to know? Am I that easy to read?" She muttered as she untied the ribbon from her hair. She grabbed her school uniform from her bag, having not brought another change of clothes with her."I'll need to keep another set of clothes in my bag, either that or make a quick stop at the apartment after class."She frowned as removed and folded up her work outfit, thinking about her new school."I'm going to need to manage my sleep carefully once club activities start otherwise I'm going to burn out."It wasn't like she was unfamiliar with burnout, she'd experienced it time and time again on her training journey and in Nerima. She had even considered not joining a club at all, but she needed something to keep herself in shape, the few kata she could do in her apartment weren't going to do much in that regard. Maybe Hikawa-san would let her practice on the grounds? Deciding it was something she would think about the next day, she finished getting dressed hearing a slight commotion outside.
"Like I said Bun-head, Grandpa hired someone to help out at the Shrine, we can't have our meeting yet." Came the voice of Rei from the other side of the door.
"But whhyyyy?" A voice responded, followed by a loud thunk and a small yelp of pain.
"Becauseshe's still here." The shrine maiden hissed.
"A meeting?"Michiru wondered before shaking her head."Nope, not getting involved, whatever this is has nothing to do with me."
All across the multiverse, several versions of Kaioh Michiru sneezed. For one in particular, sneezing caused her to lose her balance and fall, her head slamming into her universe's version of Tenoh Haruka. Unfortunately for that version of Sailor Uranus, she was a trans woman and had just had her girlfriend's skull impact her groin painfully. Funnily enough, this was not the first nor was it the last time such an event happened.
Opening the door into the main room Michiru did a double take, finding far more people in the room than she was expecting.
There was Rei of course, who was glaring at a blonde girl even shorter than Michiru, with blue eyes and long blonde hair that she had styled in odango, a tall girl with green eyes and long reddish brown hair kept in a ponytail with a slight muscular build, a girl with blue eyes and straight blonde hair, this one with a red ribbon tied in a bow, and finally a girl Michiru swore was Akane for a moment, with short dark blue hair and aqua blue eyes.
Aside from Rei, she didn't know their names, she'd never met them before after all, but sheknewthem. Names sprung to her mind, names that couldn't belong to these girls in reality. Four of the names belonged to her students in the dream world, only the second name was the outliner, belonging to someone from the dream world that was important somehow.,
{"Andronika, Eirene, Kapheira, Aglaia, Galyna."} She muttered in a daze, her head spinning as pressure built in her skull. She gripped her head as a spike of pain shot through her brain, like someone had shoved an ice pick into it. It was due to this that she missed the girl with the red ribbon start and stare at her with wide eyes for a second before they narrowed sharply.
"Kaioh-san!" Rei called out as Michiru stumbled back, and leaned against the doorframe. "Are you okay?!"
"Y-yeah." The cursed girl shakingly replied, taking deep breathes until the throbbing her head became manageable. "I'm okay...I think it's because I didn't sleep too well last night." She shook her head and looked at the five girls in the room with her, rubbing her eyes when, just for a moment, she swore she saw translucent doubles of each of them, each in a different colored dress with glowing symbols on each of their foreheads save for the girl with the odango who had a golden crescent on hers.{"Mars, Luna, Jupiter, Venus, Mercury."}
"Rei...who's this?" The girl with the red ribbon asked. Had Michiru not been dealing with a throbbing head and double vision she would have heard the suspicion practically dripping from the girl's words, something that caught the attention of the others. Of course, what she was dealing with wasn't due to sleep deprivation, but something far more mystical. Manymanyyears ago what she was dealing with had a name, Anaxagoras' Second Law of Magic. While it had a rather long and drawn out phrasing it could be summarized into four simple words. "Magic calls to Magic." For years now magic had played a role in her life, the Dragon Whisker, the Nanban Mirror, Jusenkyō, the Chiisuiton, the Kaisuifuu, and countless others all leading to Jusendo, and most importantly, the Kinjakan and the Gekkaja. Two artifacts dating back long before the Phoenix People, before Jusenkyō, even before the oldest record of human history. Two artifacts dating back to the Nine Planetary Reams, known then as the Staves of Sol and Luna. Ever since then that magic had awakened something within the cursed girl, calling out to her like a siren's song...or rather it would have had something not been blocking the call. The clash between the Call and what was blocking it had manifested as her dreams, memories of her old life, every dream the result of the Call pushing against the block, growing stronger and stronger with each night.
"This is Kaioh-san, sh...they're the person Grandpa hired to help out here at the Shrine." Rei answered, giving her fellow Senshi a questioning look. "Minako?" The girl, Minako according to Rei, glanced at the shrine maiden for half a second before turning her eyes back to the cursed girl, her posture defensive.
"I see." was all she said, her eyes narrowing even more till she was almost glaring at the cursed girl.
With a quiet grunt of effort Michiru used the doorframe to stand up, rubbing her temples to get her migraine to fade. "I should really be going." She said shakily. "I still have to make dinner tonight."
"Are you sure you'll be alright walking home? I can call a taxi for you." Rei offered, holding her hand out to help the cursed girl.
"I'll be fine." She responded with a pained smile. "This isn't the first time I've walked home with a migraine." She could thank Akane for that one. As she walked out the front door to the temple she turned and gave the five girls a polite smile. "Maybe next time you could introduce me to your friends."
As she disappeared down the stairs, The Inner Senshi all looked at the Senshi of Venus curiously. "What was that about?" The Senshi of Jupiter, Makoto, asked.
"You didn't notice? When she came out of that room she said something. Andronika, Eirene, Kapheira, Aglaia, and Galyna."
"Is that what she said?" Usagi, the girl with the odango hair style, asked. "I couldn't hear her clearly."
"So what if she did? She was pretty out of it." Makoto remarked rubbing the back of her neck. "I wouldn't be surprised if it was just some nonsense."
"Except they weren't nonsense, they're ." The Senshi of Venus said firmly, much to the confusion of the others.
"Are you ok Mina?" Usagi asked, putting her hand on the taller blonde's forehead. "You don't have a fever do you? You don't normally mess up people's names, usually it's just proverbs."
The Senshi of Venus rolled her eyes and gently moved the Moon Princess' hand off of her forehead. "I don't have a fever Usagi, I meant they were our names before, in theold days." At this new information, every single one of the other girl's eyes widened in shock before snapping to the door where the cursed girl had left, almost in unison.
"Quit joking around Minako, we all know my name was Serenity back then." Usagi laughed, feeling like the Senshi of Venus had told her that the sky was made of cheese.
"Weeelllll...not exactly. Youwerecalled Princess Serenity, but that was your title, not your name." The Senshi of Venus explained, lightly fiddling with her long hair. "To be specific, you were "Princess Eirene of the Sea of Serenity."
"What?" The blue haired girl, Ami, asked in surprise. "But how could she know that,wedidn't even know that." She blinked before looking at Minako in curiosity. "Wait... how did you know?"
"I...know a bit more about the old days than you all, thanks to my time as Sailor V." Was Minako's response, her eyes growing dull for a moment. "I don't like thinking about back then, it didn't exactly end well."
"That's an understatement." Muttered the Senshi of Mars. "So you think she's an enemy from the old days?"
"...no." The Senshi of Venus pursed her lips, like the words tasted sour in her mouth. "I think she might have been an ally from back then."
"Wouldn't that be a good thing?" Usagi asked, tilting her head in confusion.
"If I'm right about who sheusedto be than even if she was an ally back then, we can't trust her now." Minako stated firmly. "Not whentheyweren't there when we needed them."
Her migraine was back.
Michiru groaned, clutching her head as the agony built in her skull. Why? Why was her head splitting open? Why was the world spinning? And why did she feel soright?
Â̸͔̬̿́͑̀̾̓̊̍͛̚͘ẁ̷̧͖͈̲̹͊͂a̵̺̬̮̪̒ͅͅk̸̯̠͖̗̲̳̼̺̝̓́͌͜͝é̸͎̯̀̽̓̈́̀n̷̟̞̥̠̰̩̪̻̦͖̰͖͐̾̌̆̽̌̈́̇̾̔͂̎̕͜͝,̶̘̽̀̌̈̿͌́̇͜ ̷͚͈̫̙͎͚̤̞̾̽́̋ǒ̴̧͙̤̮̼̱̪̠̯͕͕͙̻̳̄̅̾͛̑̕͘ḩ̷̩̰̩̜͖͒̓̍̍͋́̒͝ ̶̨̡͉̣̜͚̭̲̥̉͗̿b̵̧̢̧̨͙̟̘͎̣̝͒͒̽͛́͘͝ę̶̧̝̗̻̻̹̠̎ͅả̶̡̛͇̜̗̼̹́̌̀͌́́̕r̶̭͈͎̒e̸̲̭̬͚̪̫͈͚͍̒͂̍͊̃̔̈́̅̈́͒ŗ̶̬͖̬̲͎̬̹̲̘̠͐̄̒ ̴͓͆͒̀̔̈́̀̚ő̴̠̲̒̂̈́͆̏̇̾̓͘͝f̷̡̳̖̻̱̐͊ ̴̯͉̐̌̀m̴̨͉̥̜̞̜͕̜͐͗̍̄̓̏̄̉̈́̏̄̕͝i̶̠̥̱͙͍̗̦̜͂͌͂̎̊́̍̄̕̚̚͜͠ñ̸̡͌ę̴̼̦̻̩̩͑̈́͂̀͑͛̓͘̕͘ ̴̰͝s̴̰͚̒͌̒͊̏̑̃̉͋͆̈͘ͅò̸̢̟̼̙͍̻̘͇̙͚̲̗͋̾ư̶̢̠̜͙͓̝͙̽̊̇̓͂͒̈́͒̎̅̕͠l̸̬̪̱̩̜̣͍͎͓͗͌̂̓͛͒̀͝.̴̗̬̫̮̝̫̿͆̌̇̇̕ͅ"̴͕̼̩͙͓̘͍̰̖̳̖͔́̐͆͌͗̌
She stumbled as she felt something hit her in the chest, like someone had launched one of Ryoga's punches out of a cannon right at her."What now?!"She screamed internally as pressure built inside her, like something was trying to break out.
"̸̨̡̡̧̡̮̮͕̱͍̤͈̾̄̚ͅT̴͙͐́̂̎́̏́̄̀̊͑̒͊͘͠h̵̳̯̜̱͕̼̺̹̟͓͈̲̘̹̺̊͛̈͋̉̿̐̓̀̑͊̇̈́͝e̶̩̳͈͋̓̄r̵̖͊̆͘e̸̬̣͔̟̤̊̆͑̐̓̍̓͛͐͋̋͜͠ ̶̢̜̞̀͜i̶̛̙̣͙̭̋̍̅̔͂̈́͒̑̍̏̂̉͘͘s̶̝̞̩͈̟̟̜͌̎͛̔̐̅̏̈́̈́̽̐̄̓̕ͅ ̷̨͓̖͚̦̜̈̃̀͜͜ͅņ̸̛̱͚͙̩̞̻̭͙̪̰̎̔ơ̶̳̼̝̻̥͚͇̖̥̍̉̇͑́͐̇͂̚͠͝ ̷̰͋͂̋͋̂͂̈́͘ț̴̡̨̙̭͇͔͙͓̗̆́̽̋͜ḯ̷̢̢̢̛͈͙̪̥͎͈̫̣̽́̀͛̔ṁ̴͙̝̬͚̓͗͐̋̏̃̀͝͝ͅḛ̶͚̳͖̮̺̀̿̑̍̚͘,̵̨͍̳̭̲̫͓̙̼̞̔͝ ̶̢̫̰͉͇͍̣̗̪̮̟͕́͗̏̎͋̂͌͂̓̊̽̿̔̈́͠ͅt̸̺̬̣̩̝͓̦̮̲̘̜́̾̔̀̃̂͊͘͜͝͝ͅh̷̥̖̘͔͇̲̹̟̦̮̊̌̍̅̊̔̇͂̂̿̚͝ḙ̷͕̞̲̟̥̮̤̲̯͛y̵̡͕͔̯͈̺̰̳̮͕̓͂̏̾̓͜ ̶̨̢̬̘̙̗͈̩̞͍̠̣͚͑̓̈̀a̶̫͓͗͋͊̊̕ṟ̴̡̨̨̟͔̥̤͔͉̝̤̝̮̓́̀̽̃̕͝ͅẹ̴̡̧͔̟̮̟̰͑́ ̷͎̥̔̃̿̃̈́̈́͋a̴̖̪͐͒͋̈́͛̽̓̈́͂͛̂ͅḽ̷̢̧͍̰͉̲̔̔̄͑̾̚ͅr̴͖͌e̶̡̖̮̝̣̩̞̯̯̟͓͍̓̂͗͛͛́̏̎̚͠ͅå̸̡̫̳̬̖̘ͅd̵̡̳̒y̸̢̢̤͎͝͠͝ ̸̙̣̠͙͑̇̑͆̃̽̍̿̚͘h̷̭̖̣̦̝̳͎̑͂̑̔̐͆̉̈́͠ȩ̷̪̼̳̻̝͕̥͖̦͊͑͗̉̊͘͜r̶̢͈̥̞̦̠̻̼͕̹̟͊̐̋͐̾͆̂̓͘̚͝e̸̳̠͋̅.̴̧̟̳͔͉̙̳̥̱̖͎̤̪̒͛͐̂͗̆̒͆̌̊͒̏̌ͅ"̴̨̛̣͔͔̘̭̟̳͙͆̎̈́̈́͑͊̋
Another blow, this one even heavier crashed into her, making her fall to her knees. It was as if the world around her was gone, replaced by the pain in her chest and the pressure slowly destroying her. She didn't feel the gravel underneath her or the breeze gently caress her hair. None of it registered to her. She couldn't even feel her heart beating faster and faster, harder and harder, increasing in speed and strength with each beat. Slowly, a symbol of a trident started to form on her forehead, flickering like static on a tv.
"̶̧̡̫͍͎̼̣͖̪̲̼̜̓̾̑̂̊͠A̶̝̹̗̙̻̖͍̖̲̰͇͑̓͋̀̀̎̒̑́͌͂͛͋̕̚ẇ̷̖͙͖̰͙̖͔̲̯͙̃̇ͅą̶̜̘̱̥̿̀̍̐́͌̓̓̾̾̂̓͆̚̕ķ̴̡̧̪̘̻͔̹̱̜͎̪̒̒̊̆̋͊̚̚͜ͅè̵̥͙͍̭̯̕ņ̷͈̱̊̽̏̐͗̎͋̒͑̑͠͝ ̴͚͖̠̹̹͇̦͝o̴̧̖̟͓̮̮̗̰͑́̿̎͊̀͐̃̃̈́ḫ̵͑ ̸͙̖̦̻̤̻̮͉̭̻̰̬̒͐̉̂̾̈͠ḓ̴̨̣̠̰̝͙̈́̑̓͌̈́̋ę̶͇͓͓̪̗̀̓̇̉̈͐̅͗͘s̶̨͖̪̹͎͙̤̻̭̔́̽ç̶̢̳̱̰͈̙̩͍͍̞̒̒̂̉̓̏̕͜͝ͅͅę̶̲͇̖̥̹̘͚̩͎́̔̾̕ͅṇ̶̒̂̋́ď̸̨̧͕͕͙͍̞͚͎̜a̶̰̮̞̯̖̰̼̞͚̼̻̭̬̋̋͌͜͜n̷̨̛̬̮͚̗̣̺͇̎̑̈͆̈̈́͒t̸͕̮͓͚̤̯̞̘̳̭͎̱͉̖́͛̒͌̔̀̇͒̇̓͘̕͝͝ ̶̨̮̲̝̪̙͐̄́̈́̅̾̎́͗̉͋ȍ̷̢̰͖͍͍̟̳͓͇f̶̲̊̇̈́̑͘ ̶̧̦̻̪̠̱̝̝̰̐T̸͉̪̫̦̺̞͉͇̖̣̀͋͂́̄͜͜ͅi̴̞͙͂̀̋̈͌̈́̐̒͑̑̎̓͂̕ạ̸̛̦̐͋̍͐̀̏̽̀͛̈̚͝m̶̳̪͓̱͈̃́̐̀͒̽̃̐̕̕͝͠a̶̛̩͚̪͒̆͛̀̌̅̃̈́̽̈̑̂t̶̗̄̉̈͊̊͛̑̕̚͘̚,̶͓̰̭̪̲̘̙̤̦̯̥͗̀̏̏̐̑̍̚ ̵̨̡̪͍̭͛̔͜F̴̡̢̢̛͕̲͔̲͓̰̠̬͕̘̟͒͒̉̍̋͗̔̚̕̚̕͜ị̵̭͈͒̒́̔̊͘̕͘͜ŗ̷͚͍̘͕̗̙̮̬̦̱̭̱̥̥͘s̷̻̪̅̅͐̀͌̏͒̎̑͆ṭ̴̿͊͒̒̏ ̶̡̛͙̠̻̞̦͉̺͓̰̅́͒̾̾͌̈́̾́̉̀͗͋͜͝ỏ̷̡̦̺̹̰̗͚̥̼̼̫̥̪̓̿͂͗̇͂̿̐̾͝f̷̨̧͙̻̻͔̘̳͓̹̳͍̾ ̴̺̝͉̟̖͕̘̓̆̊͘͜m̷̧̢̹̤͇̯̘͔̺͍̲͈̌i̶͎͎̤͍͎͎̩̭̘̺͒͜ͅn̴̨͎͚̣͉̩̂̇̌͐̽͐̌̈́̌͂̏͂͐͋͝e̴̡̛͕͓͈̲͉͇̱̳̼͒͐͂̆͐̊͠ ̷̨̺̖̻̻̣͉̪̩̬͓͔̟̉̃͐̈́̋̓̓͌̇̂̏͛̕͘s̴̨̹͚̮̖͔͚͎̽͜e̸̛͔̘͕̳̞̞̍̈́̐̋͗͋̚̚a̸̢̤̹̯͙̞̞̻̭̍́͛̄̅̌͆͂̍̉͝s̴̨͈̰͕̲̹̫͙̠̱̯̣̺̐̒̾̎̀͋̎̈̕̚͠.̸̨͍̜͔͙̟̗̬͙̃̅̍́͋̈́͌͌͌̄͘͝͝ͅ ̸̲̹̩̪͉̙̩̓̚ͅT̶̘̫̮̐̋͌̍̽̉̍͒͑̚h̴̼̗̮̦̱͚̹̯͇̺̭̱̭̟͑o̴̯͈͈͍͉̯̰̪̺̯̠̘̞̾͒̏̾́͗̚͘͜͝u̵̧̯͚̝̜̎̓̎͆̉͛͑͘ ̴̧̡̘̞̜̙̤̞̘͕̝̜͙̀͒͋̇̕ͅă̴̡̡̞̜̮̤̥̞̭r̵̢̳̩̖̻̹͇̥͎͓̦̲͒̂̽̈̓͑t̴̨̧͓̦̥͎͉̪̯͉̠̀̀͆̔͋́̕͘̕͠͠ ̵̯̠̟̭̦͙̬̱̱̝̗̭̻͊͂́̄̃̉͌͊͘̕ͅņ̵̠͎͙͈͖̹̑̋͊͐̈́͋̑͋̽̍̚͠e̵̢̡̝̲͖̱͓̠̘̳̩̍͒͂̊͒̏̈͘͜e̷̡̙͎͚̫͊̈͑̔̿̃͗́͌̑̀̚͘͜͠͠d̶̨̡̫̬̣̲̹͖̩̬̗̫̹̤̑̋ͅe̴̤̐ḏ̸̱̦͈̣͒̿͂̅̋̎̀̽̆͂͌͋̚͜ ̶̢͈͙̮͈͖̬̲̯̽́͛̄̆̓̀͠o̸̡̨̢̧̻̟̭̤͈̤̯̜̭̒̀͛̃͂͝n̴̜͉̰̈́̓̀̀̎̒͋͜c̵̖̟͇͔̫͓̜͇̓̓̅̀̅̕͠e̶͍͌͌͌̊̔̌̀̾̈́̂͘͝ ̵̧̼͙̰̜̉̿̑͆̂͋̍̎̏͠͝m̴͖̅͗̄̽̓̎̍͒̿̏̀ö̵̰̖͎̙́̐̌̂͝ŕ̴̛̞̱̯͇̩̠̝̻̹̊ê̴̯̤̪̬̞̜̺͈̙̳̒̒̆̽̿̈͌̚.̸̢̛͓̙̼̟͇̱̺̠͍͈͆̉̂̇͂͒̔̔̆̒͊́͂̚͜"̵̡̜͔̥̳̗͈̹̦̰̻̺̙̐͂̉̉͆̋̓́̋̓͆̚
She was being consumed by the weight pressing down on her and the building pain in her chest, more and more and more they built until she could no longer breathe. Her throat clenched painfully as her lungs screamed for air the pressure was denying her. Numbness formed in her chest, spreading across her body quickly, faster and faster until nearly her entire body was without feeling. Opening her mouth, she lifted her head and let out a wordless scream as the pressure consumed her.
"̴̯͉͍̝͓̩̤̼̙̤͌̀͆́͆̈́͛̍͘͜͠͝Ä̴̧͙̞̬͉͓̦͈̠̲̤̌̆̏Ẅ̷̨̧̞͎̟͍̮̳͖̃̀̚A̵̢̧͚̺̜͉͍̫͍̖͓̞̤̱̋̽K̵̩͛̊̀̐͑̋͒̋̉̏E̷̢̡̨̙͎̜̠̩̺̙̱̼̬͒͛͋̀̔̈́̑͘Ņ̵̧̪̣̤̫͙̥̀͑̈́̿̈̇̿̃̔̈͝ͅ ̵̼͙̱̘͉͑ͅO̵̡̳̟̭̣̎͊H̸̖̙͇̫̪͐̽͊͋̉̈̉̓̋͆̎ͅ ̷̡̨̟̲̦̖͙͔̗̦͂ͅḎ̸̡̱̘̰̘̬͚̼̜̭̰͌̉̆͆͋̈́͝͝A̸̫̙̯͍̟͕̤̼̠̫͔͖̦͊̊͛̔͜Ų̵͙͈̫̺̼̣̞͖͔͖̙̫͙͖͒̑̆̊̈̾̄̂̐̑̋͌͠͠͠G̷̪͕͍̜͍̦̭̤̪̥̰̮͓̻̩̋̃͌͘H̴̛̳̗͕̜̲̀̏̾̂̉̈̈̈́͂͐́̃̅͜T̷̛͖̘̂̾̓̈͆͐̀͛̿̂̃̀͘͠Ë̸̢̯̖̖̥͓́̃R̷̢̨̙̲͖̦͖̲̬̺̥̱̮̂̋̊̂́͘͜͝ͅ ̷͓͓̭̪͕̫̜͔̼̃̂̌̊́̈́̔̅̒͘͠Ơ̷̡͙̟͎̩͎̙̩͇͎̞͍͕͓͛́̈́̓͋̂̄̒̿͛̒̚͠F̵̩̮̥͛̍͂͐͑̍̽̿̈́̓͒̋͠ ̸̲͓̮̩̦̖͐̈́̎̓͒̃̉͑̐͂̕͜͠M̸̛̰̜͔̗̮̜̥̾̀̓̒͒̔̏̒͋͘͝Ȋ̶͓̩̰͇̬͖̱̩͚̏N̶̡̨͈͔̳̼͚̠͈̝̜̝͕̰̅̃͋̍́͂͐̚͝É̷̡̧͇͎̻̠̾̀̈̚ ̸̦̪͎͌̎̋͌̚Ş̴̢̳͍̣͈̄̎͆͑̔̏̕Ȩ̴̦̼̲̞̬̙̯̱̐̔͘Ḁ̷̪̦̤̭̓̈̈́͗Ṣ̶̨̦͔̲̯̦͇̠̪̘͎̀́̅̅̀̕̕͜͜,̸̢̣͙̖̹̣̟̼̠̙̹̩̦͑̈̿͆̊͗̈̒̅̀͗̓̐͘͝ ̷̨̨̨̨̫̮̜̘͓̥̰͎̇̄̇̀͛͑̑̑͒̄̚͝A̶̫̦͓͇͉͎̺͚̫͉̟̞̖̰̅͒̎̎̓̀̑̇͊̉̋̋̕W̴̢̛͕͓̬͎̲̺̮̓̒̿́̒̎͒͊̍͆͜͝ͅÁ̵̼̣̥̠̦͎̤͎͎̟̬̯͙̹̟̂͋̏͋͆͘͝K̴͓̥̎̈́͒͒͆̈́͛̈́̊E̴͇̘̦̲͔̗̿͆͒̓̃͛̈́̂̍̓̇̽̕͝ͅŅ̵̙͔͕͖͌̔̍͂̿̌̈́̂̊̿͑͛̊͠͝ ̴̢̡̨̢̘̺̝͇̮̺̠͌̽͋̑̇̐̐̓̌͋̈́̚͝Ő̴͈̦͇̮̙͖̱̦͕̻̠̅̉͝H̴͓͈̜̎̄̑͐̽̌̇͐̍̚͝G̴̢̛͔̼̘̥̻̳͔̲̀̽̽͛́̿̑́͌́̉̚͠͠U̷͎̤̜͚̙̔̂̈́͝Â̶̧̘̣͚̓͒͂͌̽̃͝͝͝Ȓ̶̟̹̤̮͈̂́́̈́̉Ḍ̵̡̧̢̼̙̖̼͓̟͕͍̥̦̏̋͆̑̅̒̐̇̅̀̒͛͝I̷͈̹̗̥̥͖̘̝͓͎̫̪͕͍̩̒̑̎̾̐̃̇̅̋̐Ȧ̸̧̧̱̳̦̘̘̯͖̟̞̟̯͠N̴̩̞̙̳̜̺͗̈́̽ ̵̧̹̥͖̫̰̗̦̐̂̓̄̃̃̈́̽͛̿͌̅͘͝O̸͚̖̞̓͛̆̔͒͋͠F̴̫̪̣͚̩̌͋̿̊̋͛́̍̿͒̊̚͜͠͠ ̴̭͑T̷̛̹̝̄̏̀̈̓̆̇͑̚H̶͇̼͉̯̙̭̲͕̔̈Ė̸̥̗̬̥͙̱͖̼͇̊̔̃͘͝͝ ̶̡̹̹̖̭̻̜͙͍̖̮͖͉̎Ḑ̷̛̛͎̙͖͈̅̀̈̌̋͊E̵͕̫̥͈͉̬̥̎͠P̵̧̧̡̢̘̹̦̱͉̲͈̱̪̟̦͋́̍Ť̷̟̔̉̊̑́̏͝Ȟ̸̲̱̤̫̜͓̖̣͚͎̺̈͝ͅS̶̡̹̖̮͍͖͇͖̖͈͔̝̗̅̒͒̾̐̈́͂́͜.̷̨̰̰̘͓͎͐"̵͔̪̫̹͕̙̅͂̎̽̑͠
With an explosion of pain, something within her mind, her body, and her soul shattered sending a mint green light, the color of the Great Sea of Neptune, erupting from her eyes and mouth into the sky. The light grew wider and wider until it completely engulfed Michiru, utterly obliterating everything it touched, save Michiru herself, from the sheer intensity of the energy coming from within the cursed girl. Had this happened during the time of the Planetary Realms, nearly two and a half million years ago, it would have been celebrated for what it was. The moment one of the Nine Royal bloodlines heard the words of their planet and gained the full scope of their powers as a protector of the Realm.
The Awakening of the Guardian.
-Outside Hikawa Shrine-
Sailor Uranus knelt on a tree branch as she watched over the Inner Senshi. As much as she had wanted to follow Kaioh and ask her the question that had been burning inside of her since they had met, she had stayed where she was. Her duty as a Senshi came before her civilian life. It was annoying enough that she had had to attend school as a boy during one of her girl moods, her dysphoria had been a bitch to deal with all day. If she heard one more person call her him or a boy she was going to shove her fist down their throat. She wouldn't evenbein this mess if her mother hadn't convinced her to hide the fact she was, physically, a girl at the track. On top of everything her mother had told her that if she got caught, she wouldn't let her race! It was so fucking stupid, all she wanted to do was scream most days!
Her internal rant was interrupted by a pillar of green light in the distance catching her attention out the corner of her eye. Her mouth opened slightly in wonder before settling in a soft smile. "Welcome back Beautiful." She whispered.
-Nerima-
A sudden crash of shattering ceramic interrupted the sounds of cooking in the Nekohanten as Ku Lon, matriarch of the Chinese Amazons dropped a full cup of her favorite tea.
["Grandmother?"] Shan Pu, her great-granddaughter asked in their native language.
"Such power, it rivals that of Saffron, no it's even greater!"She frowned deeply, spreading her ki out to trace the location of such a powerful magical disturbance, flinching back when she found the source."Blast! Of course it's in Juban, the one place I CAN'T go."She growled internally. ["It's nothing child, I simply remembered something for the council I forgot to take care of."] She lied smoothly, relaxing when her great-granddaughter shrugged and returned to sweeping the restaurant. She would have to find some other way to figure out what that was, she knew that if she went there, Shan Pu would follow and she mustneverset even a toe in that accursed district.
It wouldn't do for her heir to find out about her family there after all.
-Juban-
As the last of the mint green light faded away, a woman in her early twenties was revealed, wearing an outfit most residents of Juban would be able to recognize in an instant. An outfit consisting of a white leotard, two layered sea-green skirt, navy-blue front bow, and a navy-blue back bow, the tails of which thinned and stretched down past her knees, and sea-green knee-high boots. In modern times it was known as the outfit the Senshi wore, but in ancient times it was called the Guardian's garb.
The woman slowly opened her eyes, frowning at the unfamiliar terrain. Where was she? This wasn't the Lunar kingdom. Where was Ziaza? Carefully, with a gentleness that belied the strength to crush entire asteroids with her bare hands, she laid her hand on the ground and closed her eyes. It was faint, but she could sense the familiar magical energy of one of the Nine Realms...but which one? The energy was subdued, like it had been suppressed until it was nearly impossible to sense. Her brow furrowed as she tugged slightly on the magical energy, a bright golden light entering her mind's eye in response. She flinched back and glared at the ground, Terra, of course she had to be on Terra.
"Hey! You alright?" A voice spoke in an unfamiliar language as a young man ran up to her. He was tall, with short black hair and blue eyes, wearing odd clothes.
She frowned, he seemed familiar though she couldn't place the man.
Upon getting a closer look at her the man froze, looking her up and down. It didn't seem like he was doing it for her appearance, more like he was trying to place her. "A new Senshi? Which one are you?" He asked.
{"Stop speaking nonsense and talk normally."} She stated, getting annoyed by the unfamiliar language. Why couldn't this Terran speak Solarin like the rest of the system?
He seemed surprised by her use of the only language used in the system, much to her further annoyance. Was she in some back-water part of Terra that didn't know how to speak normally? That would be just her luck. Having enough of this Terran's nonsense she turned away, pushing her mana out of her and having it surround her. It was a trick she had learned from Ziaza so long ago, useful for traveling. Using her mana as a medium, she picked up her body off of the ground, giving the illusion of flight as she slowly drifted up into to the sky.
"Wait!" The man said in a panicked tone, making her roll her eyes. He was lucky she hadn't eviscerated him for what his people had done to her students, did he really intend to annoy her further. "Did we meet before, in the Silver Millennium? I was Endymion back then!"
She froze in place, no longer ascending into the sky, looking sharply at the man. {"...Endymion?"}
"Yes." The man said, sighing in relief now that she had stopped trying to leave. He placed his palm over his chest, gesturing to himself. "I was Endymion back then."
She drifted down to the ground and looked up into his eyes, brow furrowing. Why was this boy, barely a man talking about the Guardian of Terra? She supposed it was possible he was saying the name to keep her here...then again hedidseem familiar, and Terra's Magical Energywasbeing suppressed for some reason. She closed her eyes, extending her senses just enough to reach the strange man, recoiling in shock when the same golden light as the planet flashed through her mind. {"Endymion?!"} She exclaimed, pointing at him.
"Yes, Endymion." The young man responded, giving her a friendly smile.
He never saw the blow coming.
With a screech of righteous fury she sent a blast of sea water into the traitor's chest, gritting her teeth hard enough to shatter diamond. The young man flew back and crashed into the wall of a nearby building, groaning in pain. {"You traitor! How could you and your people do it?! Destroy the peace our system had for thousands of years?!"} She hissed, summoning a ringed orb of compressed sea water. With nothing but a mental command she sent it flying at the traitor, growling in fury when the young man stumbled away from the blast. {"I'm going to kill you."} She whispered as she stalked towards her prey. {"You and your wretched people will all die for what you've done."}
The traitor coughed and pulled himself to his feet, his hand on his chest. "Why are you attacking me?!" More nonsense words, when would this Terran quit playing the fool?!
Growling she held up her hand, summoning another ringed orb of her power. {"Deep Submerge."} She hissed. Unlike before when the attack was unnamed, this time the orb shot away from her at an insane speed, nearly breaking the sound barrier in her attempt to turn the Guardian of Terra into a bloody smear on the ground. He had just enough time to pull out a rose from somewhere on his person before the attack hit him, exploding with nearly five times the force of her previous attack. {"Fool. You should have stopped playing games and taken me seriously."} She muttered, once more pushing mana out of her body as she slowly turned away.
It nearly cost her the fight.
Startled, she saw something flying at her out of the corner of her eye, shifting out of the way just in time for something to fly past where her left shoulder had been not a second before. She glanced behind her, not surprised to see a red rose pierced into the wall of a building almost to the flower petals. The Guardian of Terra always did love to utilize plants in interesting ways when he fought. Her eyes snapped back to her opponent, expecting to see her opponent in his version of the Guardian's garb, the dark blue, almost black bodysuit and armor that was unique to the sole male member of the Guardians. What she saw instead just infuriated her more.
An open black tuxedo, black vest, a white dress shirt, and a black cape lined with red. To top it off the fool was wearing some kind of inane hat on his head and a ridiculous mask across his eyes, like that would hide who he was from her.
Enough was enough.
Once more she fired off a Deep Submerge, not surprised in the least when the traitor summoned a barrier around himself to guard against her attack. It would avail him none. Instead of exploding in force as was usual for her attack, the orb kept it's form, grinding against the Terran's shield in an attempt to break through. She doubted it would, the Guardian of Terra had always been good with barriers...unfortunately for him, she wasn't done. With a flick of her index finger she summoned six more orbs of power, sending them flying through the air until they converged on the Terran from all directions. She smiled a bloodthirsty grin, this would end it. {"Charybdis Geyser."} She snarled as the six other orbs slammed into her opponent's shield shattering it and crashing into him. Upon impact each orb exploded outwards and upwards, forming a geyser of high pressure sea water nearly three hundred feet tall, sending the Terran flying. With a sickening crunch he landed on his right leg, possibly breaking it, she couldn't be sure, after all the Guardians always were more durable than most people.
Holding out her hand she called out to the water she had summoned with her mind, forming it into her preferred weapon of choice when she needed to fight in close combat, a trident. She gave the traitor a frigid glare, savoring his groans of pain. Right here, right now, she would avenge her students. Without a word she thrust her weapon at his heart, intending to carve it out of the traitor and end him for good.
-Translations-
"Awaken oh bearer of mine soul."
"There is no time, they are already here."
"Awaken oh descendant of Tiamat, First of mine seas. Thou art needed once more."
"Awaken oh daughter of mine seas, awaken oh Guardian of the Depths."