A SAILOR MOON Story
by Ichinohei Hitomi
Strange things were happening in Juban once again, and unfortunately for Osaka Naru, it seemed she was once again caught in the middle.
Earlier that afternoon she had been attacked by a humanoid creature with insectoid eyes and a passion for kidnapping her. Naru didn’t know what is was about her that caused this to happen, but she was used to it; being attacked about once a month on average does that to a person. It was so frustrating! What was it about her that made monsters think that she was seemingly so delicious?
Sighing to herself, she thought back to the woman that had rescued her, a woman that was obviously a Senshi, and one that she knew very well. They had talked afterwards, although it was abrupt, and the Senshi seemed very nervous for some reason. Probably because she had revealed herself and was embarrassed over how she had handled the situation: By killing the creature that had attacked her in a slow, cruel, manner.
One of the problems was that the woman hadn’t used the name that Naru had been known by when she had known this particular Senshi. The woman had used her current name, Naru, to identify her. Somehow, somewhere, she had met this particular Senshi, and this woman always protected her friends in the same manner. It was one of the things that had always scared people about her.
There was more, however.
She refused to use her proper Senshi name, even refusing to acknowledge that she was a Senshi when Naru had blurted out the name she had been known by. Instead, she said to call her Silver. Not Sailor Silver, nor her proper identity, but just Silver, as though she did not deserve the love and respect her friend had for her. What had happened to send her friend, one of the best that she had ever had, into such a state?
However, how she knew the warrior was in itself unusual and unnerving, and indicated that her dreams were true. There was once a Moon Kingdom many, many millennia ago, and she was once part of Princess Selenity’s inner court. In that court, she was both a confidant of the Princess and served in two other functions. And she was one of only three people who knew the true secret of Princess Diana.
But with the return of her memories came something else, something more profound, and frightening. Naru remembered the vows that she had taken so many millennia ago, both to the Royal Family, and to those of the Moon Kingdom. Would she now be called upon to fulfill her duties?
WELL, THINGS ARE CERTAINLY GETING INTERESTING, Naru thought to herself as she wondered what to write in her diary of the day’s events. She had to record the events that happened earlier, the attack, the Senshi, and the fact that she recognized her. Unfortunately, writing it down would also mean revealing what she knew about her friends, and she was not ready to do that.
To say the members of the Inner and Outer Senshi were tired would have been an understatement.
They had just spent around an hour battling some of the most unusual beings they had ever come across. Wherever they had come from, these beings were not exactly a supernatural threat, especially since they used scientific devices in order to fight. In addition, these beings did not disintegrate or revert to another form as most of the enemies that they had faced had done.
It had been something none of them had been prepared for, especially since there wasn’t a real way to detect them. Haruka, ever the fighter, had thought that they had come from outside the solar system, which made sense, but how could they have gotten past the defenses of the outer Senshi was beyond her. After all, the detection grids were out at the position of the ninth, eighth, and seventh planets, and should have detected anything whether it be magical or non-magical. For the most part, all of their abilities were set to detect magical beings, since, with the exception of Ami, that is what they were most comfortable with.
Another mystery was the fact that they were not after Princess Selenity or Prince Endymion, or seemingly after the Silver Crystal. It was as if they did not care about the existence of the Prince and Princess or the greatest treasure on Earth, and had battled with only the idea of looting and plundering in mind. The organization was not what they were used to either, which was either a single entities or several going about it in disorganized chaos. They were very smooth, very professional, and very, very organized. While the Senshi had battled with a smooth determination and used their abilities well, these people were ready for them, as if they had been training for these situations all their lives. It was now an uncomfortable fact that they had an enemy that they were not ready for and had no previous fighting experience to use in the upcoming battles. An enemy that had left more dead in that single hour than they had seen in a long time.
While they had seen dead innocents caught in the middle of the battle before, this was the first time that they had seen wholesale human destruction, almost like one of the vid-files on the World Wars. There had been bodies in the street, some with blood slowly leaking and coagulating in a pool under them, others with body parts in all sorts of odd positions. The frightening ones had holes and no blood.
"The weapons were definitely a type of laser unit, one that used a very highly controlled beam in a much wider wavelength than we are used to. The ones that made those bloodless holes were caused by particle beams, something that is currently far beyond earth science," Ami said as she briefed everyone on the data recorded on her computer. "These beings behaved more like a military guerrilla unit, taking what they wanted and needed, ignoring money, and shooting anyone that got in their way before having an organized retreat when we arrived. Given that there are not many guns in Japan, and that besides the Self Defense Forces, we are the only thing that stand between Japan and being conquered, I’d say we got off lucky."
Usagi groaned from where she was sitting, in Makoto’s apartment where they had gathered after the battle, a wet towel over her eyes. "Lucky! Ami, do you know how many people are dead out there? People that we are responsible for? Our powers, our legacy from the Moon Kingdom, makes us responsible for defending everyone on this planet from any possible threat."
Minako, the meantime, had been quietly weighing everyone’s opinions as they discussed what had happened, and had subtly started to debrief everyone on their experiences. Mamoru, who’s powers of psychometry were the most useful in this case, had been able to get a few impressions from the relatively few pieces of equipment that had been left behind, all of which were now at headquarters or at Ami’s house for testing. From what she had been able to gather thus far, it was time to take her position as the leader of the Senshi. "OK. Now that everyone has pooled their knowledge, we have to come up with a plan of action."
Everyone in the room looked towards the young blond haired girl who looked so much like their Princess, and future Queen. While she did act like a ditz at times, or rather more like an ordinary young girl, she was also the Senshi with the most experience of them all in this particular lifetime. In addition, she was the only one who had experience with dealing with ordinary crimes and people without mystical powers. If she said the word, everyone there, including the Princess would listen in this latest crisis.
"Michiru, I want you to start scanning with the Aqua mirror, using any possible lead that you can think of, and I want you to take your cues from Mamoru and Rei. His powers and connection with the Earth will become useful since he can get an impression off of the equipment, and Rei’s abilities as a priestess will serve us by increasing her natural psychic abilities," She began, her face now looking older than she naturally was.
"Setsuna, I want you and Ami to start examining the equipment that we have from the battle scene. These are the points I want covered. One, what is their power source. Two, of what materials are they manufactured with. Three, is there a way to shield us from the effects of these weapons. Four, is there a way to short out these units before they are used on us. Additionally, I want you two to start work on some kind of detection grid, especially since they were using some kind of aircraft/ spacecraft. I know we have experience with such things, but unless we know where the threat is coming from, it’s useless to even try to teleport there."
Minako took a breath, "Makoto and Haruka, I want the two of you combining your martial arts skills and teaching each other techniques as well as starting classes for the rest of us. The two of you are the best of us in a hand to hand fight, and that may be what we need here. From now on, you are our Sensei in the Arts. Chibi-Usa, I want you and Hotaru to stick together, both at school and at training. You are not to involve yourselves in this anymore unless one of us falls or fails in some way. >From what Ami is saying, if those bolts of energy struck you, you would have been dead before you knew what happened."
She then looked at Usagi, one of her best friend, her Princess, and the one she had the greatest love for. "Usagi and I will be going over strategies as to how to co- ordinate everyone in a military manner. The two of us will be going over strategies, and from now on, we will also start looking very much alike. Sailor V is going to be coming back, and Usagi’s uniform is going to be reshaped much like her original one, which means that the two of us will be virtually identical in every respect. Whatever order either of us gives, you obey. Our similarities might be the only way to confuse whoever these beings are. Artemis, Luna, and Diana, I want you at the control room, helping to co-ordinate the attack. Find a way to include a transmitter- receiver set into the tiaras so that we can communicate with each other as necessary."
While everyone was somewhat startled at the long winded spiel by the usually happy-go-lucky girl, the most surprised was Artemis whose mouth had dropped open in awe. He recovered quickly and stated, "OK, who are you and what did you do with Minako?"
Minako looked at her guardian cat and companion, "What do you mean Artemis?"
Luna ahhemed and broke into the conversation, "What he is getting at Mina is that you giving a concise and determined part of what we need to do, and assigning work to people is something we haven’t seen in quite a while. It does take some getting used to given how you normally act."
Mina had the grace to blush a bit, "Well, I am the leader of the Senshi. Besides, I had to get that out of the way so that we can get on to a more important concern."
Artemis, who was now beaming with pride at his student, realized that if she was prioritizing like this then all of his hard work had not been for nothing. "What is this concern?"
Mina smiled broadly and said, "The party of course! We did plan one for tonight!"
The humans facefaulted, while the three cats hung their heads.
I knew it was too good to be true... Artemis thought to himself.
Relaxed, cleaned up, and refreshed after that small battle, the young woman with the powers given to her by the wand looked at the computer. While she couldn’t place what that being was, or the weapons and equipment he had, which she had brought back with her to examine, the tactics he used were familiar. Of course, the same could be said for anyone who was chasing a young school girl to try and capture her. It was obvious that Naru was required alive, and, given the reports on the news of the battle that the Senshi had fought, was the true target of these aliens.
They couldn’t have guessed who she really was, could they?
The young woman had observed the precise military tactics that
were used against the Senshi from the footage that survived the battle. They were hauntingly familiar, almost as if she had seen something similar before. Then again, most military companies had similarities in their movements, more out of necessity than anything else. As a student of the arts of war, she should be able to place what their training related to, and the types of abilities that they possibly had. It was one of the ways to start to figure out where they were from. Fortunately or not, such abilities were honed into her, but she still couldn’t figure it out. Still, it was too damn familiar. Perhaps it was something that she had faced back when she was alive the first time.
Silver was making too many damn mistakes to trust herself.
In any case, she should never have said hello to Naru.
Introducing herself had caused Naru’s memories to begin to return, and as Silver, she couldn’t risk the life of the only person who had ever been a close friend. Besides, it was just too dangerous for her to be involved, especially since Naru’s former identity had never really had any great powers.
Sighing, she switched on her main computer console and went back to recording everything she could about the Moon Kingdom:
"To most of the people in the Kingdoms that inhabited the solar system, the identities of the Senshi were usually as mysterious as the Senshi themselves. Most of the time, they were actually false, made in order to hide their lives before they took up their duties. It was extremely important, in order to protect their families from hostage-taking. Rarely was the true identity of any Senshi revealed outside of the Senshi themselves, their families, or members of the Grand System Council, which oversaw the peace.
"To understand, we have to take a look at some of the rumours and mysteries behind the Senshi and how they evolved into gossip, and then ‘Common Knowledge’ which was really a misinformation campaign used to keep the true powers of the Senshi hidden from those who would threaten the Kingdoms.
"For example, while most of the Senshi were female, from time to time, there were Senshi that were born male.
"Why was this?
"What was little understood at that time was the fact that although females were the only ones originally imbued with the powers of the Senshi, due to the fact that they were the most concerned with life, that being female, and thus able to nurture life, was only half the equation for true understanding. Since a Senshi, ANY Senshi, had to have a capacity to understand things beyond themselves, and given that they were reborn time and time again, the experiences they received in each of their lives were included in the new one, even if it was on an unconscious level. Those experiences that they had in the lifetimes that they were male were important to understanding the views of people.
"First, their physical forms were different, and the people around the male Senshi treated them differently, sometimes harsher, sometimes better. This in turn affected the attitudes of people around them. While they were viewed as being stronger, and better than others, they were also viewed as possibly being a lot more aggressive.
"One of the things that they quickly discovered was that as females they were constantly underestimated, which was a large advantage in battle. Women, even women who possessed magical powers, were not expected to be in battles or to wage wars, unless they were leaders of the kingdom or unusual in some way. In a lot of ways, being female also helped them to keep the peace by calming people down, and acting as an intermediary before things got out of hand. Rulers seemed to think that a woman was not vying for power as much as a man would.
"Of course, the fact that the Senshi were sometimes reborn as men was kept quiet, and those Senshi would be given the responsibilities, although not the titles. In many cases, since they did not interact much with the female Senshi, bodyguards or servants would be assigned to them in order to assist in information gathering. These retainers would be sworn to secrecy as to the true identity of the person they were assisting.
"As a matter of course, male and female Senshi would sometimes marry one another, and since they had similar traits and dispositions for the most part, got to know one another quite well. It was quite a celebration within the small community of Senshi when these individuals married. This made for some of the more interesting relationships in later centuries as the reincarnates noticed the intimacies of the souls of those they married before. From some of the relationships that developed, and the fact that the Senshi lived life apart from most of the people that inhabited the Kingdoms, led to some of the rumours about all of the Senshi being lesbians unless they met a man who was exceptional. Even then, rumour and innuendo had a tendency to go before the truth.
"But then, the Senshi were usually born of the Royal Family lines within the nobility of the planets, or asteroids of the various stellar bodies. While it wasn’t always a Prince or Princess of the house, and was more often one of the cousins within the noble lines, all of them had an overwhelming sense of duty that passed from one lifetime to the next. In addition, all of them had access to rather overwhelming powers through the Focusing Crystals that were tied to each of those stellar bodies.
Each of those Crystals, such as the Moon Crystal, Jupiter Crystal, Mars Crystal, or the Golden Crystal of Earth, were created along the lines of the famous Silver Crystal. Although not as powerful as the Silver Crystal, these tokens of power could provide the individual with abilities that would make them seem like miracle workers. Of course, given the lines of descent of the Royal Houses, it was more than possible.
"After all, the Moon Kingdom was descended from the Goddess Selene, which is why all females of that line inherited the name Selenity somewhere in there name. Pluto was descended from Chronos, although she is to stay outside of time if at all possible. Venus is descended from the Goddess of love, and so on. When you have that type of parentage, anything is possible."
The General reviewed the tapes of the situation that had occurred in Tokyo, and from what he saw, it was time to start reconsidering certain ‘official’ views as regards the famous ‘Sailor Senshi.’
For the last few years, with the appearance of ‘Sailor V’, the first of these warriors, government officials had been worried. The main one being how young these girls were who were battling monsters and beings that were far beyond anything that the Japanese government could competently handle with current technology. Technically, they were considered vigilantes to be brought in for questioning, and there was the possibility of extending them ‘official’ sanction if they were willing to follow certain rules. In reality, not much effort was made to find them, although many people in the police force did worry about the possibility of them being hurt or killed.
Here, at JSDF Headquarters in Tokyo, the various computers held the scant records that they had managed to collect on these ‘Senshi’, as they called themselves. As far as investigation showed, these girls had some sort of super powers, far beyond what could be accounted for by mere science. Because of this, and the possibility of danger to the public, the Warriors were classified as a L2 priority for the various services that were outside of the SDF; specifically, the Tokyo Police Special Investigations unit under the command of Sakurada Natsuna.
Although Sakurada had been trying, she hadn’t found out much about them. The lack of information on any of these warriors was frustrating to the usually cool officers in charge of information gathering. The only supposition that the strategist and intelligence section of SDF could come up with was that the Sailor Senshi, along with Tuxedo Kamen, had supernatural powers of some type.
Unfortunately, they were not the only ones to notice this.
The Islands of Japan were probably one of the few places on the planet with a surviving major religion that had many deities instead of only one. Under the Shinto Religion, the Emperor himself was descended from Amaterasu, the Goddess of the sun who was the daughter of the God of Life and the Goddess of Death. From many of the older temples, the Shinto Priests were saying that these beings were saviors of a sort, not only for all of Japan, but the world. If they could be believed, then reinstating the Divinity of the Emperor over the objections of the United States might well be worth it if these ‘mystical’ incursions continued.
But this most recent attack did not fit the normal pattern of incursions, and from the videos, was beyond what the Senshi could handle. The tactics that were used by these beings would require an army instead of individuals to take care of these invaders. Under agreements for the protection of the Japanese Islands, they had already informed the Americans of what had happened in order to find out where these forces were from, and even with the satellites and radar, no one could tell how they had arrived. Because of this, under the International Security Agreement, they had informed every government that had a military force of the possibility of world invasion and included all the information they had on what happened.
It was a contingency of the agreement that they never thought would be used.
But a compromise with the Sailor Warriors had to be reached, and reached soon, because the Senshi would definitely be there to protect the island, which had become a target of these several mysterious forces for the past few years. For the first time in the Modern Human History of Warfare, the Military Commanders of an entire country were willing to step aside into an advisory role and let the field commands go to the Senshi; virtual unknowns in handling a military foray instead of individual battle as the Samurai had done for centuries. It was a very uneasy and scary prospect, but one that had to be done, especially since the powers of the Senshi might be the only things to turn the tide of battle if it occurred again.
An entire country, possibly the planet, depending on the abilities of young girls. It was unheard of, and if any other military force than the Japanese Command had considered it, it would be laughed away as ridiculous. The difference in the Command structure of the Japanese, who were still basically a feudal society, had allowed them to contemplate such a radical idea.
The General then looked at the woman who was standing before him, the only one who might be able to contact the Senshi and convince them to work with the Military. Admittedly, they wouldn’t come in for a talk if all the information that was usually given was asked for, but a compromise on identity information could be reached, and that compromise was necessary. "Chief Sakurada, you have seen what has happened, and know what we are facing. A few years ago you were asked to bring in Sailor V, and were unsuccessful. Now it is more serious. In the entire country, you know more about these Senshi than anyone else, and that expertise is required to ask them to work with us. We are giving you complete and total discretion to arrange a meeting with them, and tell them our offer. Do you have any questions?"
Chief Sakurada looked straight ahead, "No sir. I will do my best to contact them immediately."
The General nodded, "Dismissed."
As she turned and left the presence of the Military High Command, Natsuna shuddered. As far as Sakurada knew, the person who was Sailor V, Aino Minako, was dead, having died in an explosion a few years ago. The trail there was cold, but perhaps she could call the family and ask to see any belongings of Mina’s. It was the only possibility of doing this quietly without panicking the public.
Shalayn was not very happy given that the commander that she had sent down to recover the key had not reported in.
"Damn it! Where is he?" She muttered while pacing back and forth, impatient to get back to the moon and to the information she required. That mystical computer held everything she needed, from what had happened in this solar system, to the planets and star systems that were inhabited throughout the galaxy. If she was to re- establish herself to the former position of power she held, it was necessary to find out everything, and only the stellar probes of the Moon Kingdom could inform her of that, if they were still operating that is.
As for the Senshi, they were remarkably ineffective. Despite the power they showed, her ground troops were able to carry back a significant amount of goods in fabrics, foods, jewelry, at least what passed for jewelry, precious metals, and some other interesting materials. Unless they reorganized to fight as a military group instead of individual warriors, it would be easy to defeat and destroy them.
It was, however, unlikely that would happen again, especially since there were ground troops that they could call upon to help them.
From a strategic point of view, it would be better to plan a few small skirmishes, and use the time to gather intelligence information by sending out small groups to study them. Get hard copies of their literature, connect and infiltrate their more secure computer cores, and scout out the city to find the key.
Unlikely as it seemed, perhaps her agent was dead, and that meant that something significant had gone wrong.
Turning to the screens, she looked at the various news reports that were being transmitted by the television stations in that area. As far as she could tell, there were a total of Eleven Senshi. There were eight named for a planet in the solar system, one male who’s name had nothing to do with any of the planets, and two Warriors with the name Moon. Apparently the younger one was in training, but both had significant powers.
In reviewing what had come back to her from her troopers, it was apparent that the two Sailor Moons had depended upon devices rather than relying on internal powers. However, this would still have to be confirmed with several more tests and information gathered from their archival systems. Despite the fact that a number of the troops, especially the more belligerent ones, were expendable, a good commander did not waste her resources. Such strikes would have to be carefully planed for individual and group combats in order to find out these latest protectors abilities.
It was sad really. She was so hoping that this Elder Sailor Moon had powers of her own as her distant counterpart had. It would have been satisfying to at least kill a worthy opponent whose name was the same as her most hated enemy. If she was using devices, then destroying this youngster would gain her nothing. The satisfaction of killing such a child would go to one of the troopers.
Taking a look at things she contacted the bridge and ordered them to cloak the vessel and land in the ocean. The energy costs of maintaining the ship would be significantly lower and the campaign could be conducted easier from a planetary site. "One more thing, Captain. Insure that all shore leave and landing parties are told to wear their contacts and not to create any trouble. The less these humans know, the better. Also make sure that they are posing as travelers since making a cultural mistake would be forgiven more readily."
Naru grimaced to herself and finally got out of her bed.
She had been lying down, trying to come to grips with everything that she had been, everything that she was, and everything that she could be. Naru had been a member of the royal court, a confidant of the Princess, who she now realized was her best friend Usagi, and one of the Senshi. If she so wished, all she had to do was to explain who she was, and how she knew what she knew, and she would once again be accepted to the inner circle once more.
But what would that do to her relationship to her boyfriend, Guiro Umino?
To be a warrior, to be beyond what is normal, would require friendships and relationships that were stronger than any a normal person would have. How could anyone be happy with someone who was on call all day, everyday, for the rest of their lives? To be a Senshi would mean giving up just about everything she knew.
Naru shook her head in wonder, *Can I do it? Could I even risk
becoming a Senshi once again, knowing that I could escape by remaining as
I am?*
Then again, even her Princess had taken up the mantle of a warrior.
Although she had some idea of why she could do so, what Princess Selenity was doing imitating Sailor Moon was a small mystery. The Princess controlled the Ginzuishou, not the Moon Crystal. Still, Selenity, or Usagi as she was now known, was apparently accepted by the others as a warrior in her own right. The good thing was that she wasn’t as violent as the last warrior to wear that mantle. A good thing too considering how blood thirsty the Sailor Moon of the Silver Millennium had been.
But that could not put off what Naru had to do.
No matter what else she did in her life, duty was the core of it.
"A warrior," Naru said quietly to herself as she left the apartment, "is always dedicated to the ideal of the lives of the people meaning more than their own life or well being. She must be strong, understanding, caring, and trustworthy. Place duty and honour before wants and needs. And most of all, place her word, and thus her bond, to the highest standard. This is most especially true of one who is also of Royal Blood, young Princess."
It was a saying that she had heard many times before from her father in the Silver Millennium, a saying that she had taken to heart as a child, and a saying she had never backed away from.
Of course, remembering one particular incident made her decision a lot easier...
Venus was gritting her teeth.
Not an unusual situation considering Princess Selenity, the Heir of Silver Millennium, otherwise known as the Moon Kingdom, had given her bodyguards the slip again. The Deities knew how frustrating it was keeping track of the youngster who represented the future and hope of humanity. Here they were, generations spent in trying to eliminate the evils that had been built up on Earth, and all the girl wanted to do was head down to that planet!
It was almost enough to make her yell in frustration at the guards!
Mars rolled her eyes as she looked over at Venus, "You know it won’t do any good to get angry at her. Oh, sure she’ll be good for a little while, and buckle down for a bit, but she’ll sneak away again. Besides, since Selenity fell in love with the High Prince of Earth, you know that she’ll just try to escape to that planet more often."
"The point is she shouldn’t even be down there in the first place!" Venus growled out, pacing angrily and wanting to strike out at something, "There’s a war going on, one which could end with her death if she happens to be at the wrong place at the wrong time."
Mars got up from where she was sitting, "Then make her pay attention! Do something to keep her here, like going and talking to Prince Endymion and convincing him to come here instead. That’s the real reason she’s been going to Earth for the past couple of years, to be with him."
Crystal sighed, "She’s right Venus. If we want to keep Selenity here on the Moon where it’s safe, then we’ve got to ask Endymion if he’ll spend more time here. The Prince is the only thing she thinks about."
Venus continued to pace, her steps becoming harder, "Hydra’s breath! The Prince should already realize that, especially since two of his advisors have been converted to evil by Beryl! If she wasn’t my..."
"Venus! Don’t say anymore, you never know who might be listening." Mars said suddenly, cutting the blond haired Senshi off.
Somebody laughed from behind a curtain, "You’ve got that right!"
All three girls turned towards the passageway as the hanging rug was tossed aside. "People are always listening to things going on in a palace, whether it is here at the Queen’s Castle, or at Crystal Keep. You know as well as I do how many people would like to know the truth about us, especially with this war going on. Although I doubt it, there could be a traitor somewhere in the Castle."
Crystal sighed in relief as Venus grunted out, "Moon. How was your mission?"
Sailor Moon’s eyes narrowed behind her mask, "No Venus. Not this time. Whenever things start touching on subjects you rather not talk about you change the subject or pull rank. Not this time."
Venus walked over to the masked Senshi, not the least bit afraid of the reputation that she had. "I am not changing the subject on purpose. You were supposed to try and take out that ground attack force that was nearing Olympus. Did you complete your mission?"
Moon grinned in her usual infuriating manner, "With my usual efficiency."
Mars shook her head, "In other words, they’re all dead. How you can enjoy killing so much is beyond me."
The black-haired girl turned to the sitting Senshi, "Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it my way Mars. It’s very satisfying to have your sword slip between an enemy’s ribs, and see it tear away the flesh and meat jaggedly."
Crystal’s stomach turned a bit, "You don’t have to be quite that descriptive Moon."
Sailor Moon turned around, "True. Anyway Venus, You know as well as I do how easy it is for that force that Beryl controls or is working with to convert people over to the enemies side. Jadeite and Zoisite were two of Endymion’s most trusted aids, and look what happened with them."
Venus nodded, "Which is why I’m more concerned than ever about Selenity. She shouldn’t be going down to that planet to see that, that commoner. Somehow I know that their love will bring about a disaster."
Moon looked Venus right in the eye, "Considering that only the people in this room know the truth about the two of us, I think we can cut Selenity some slack. Let’s be glad that she has some chance at a normal life."
Venus glanced at Moon, "She should be taking her responsibilities seriously!"
Sailor Moon looked at Venus, "She isn’t a warrior like us. We are sworn to defend and protect, even at the cost of our lives. That is our privilege, and our duty. I’ve never shirked my duty in my life."
Venus harumphed, "Exactly! She should be more careful about who she is with. Her duty as a Princess is to ensure the safety of her subjects!"
"And what about the continuation of the Royal Line? If she doesn’t marry and bear children, it could mean disaster for Silver Millennium!" Moon snarled.
Sailor Venus, leader of Senshi snarled back, "Her first duty is to Silver Millennium and the System."
Moon’s eyes started to become hard, "Her first duty is towards herself and the succession!"
Venus glared at Sailor Moon, "Love like this with one of Earth is always disastrous."
Moon glared back and shouted, "She’s still a young girl! Give her a break and allow her a chance at love you old bat!"
Venus shouted right back, "OLD BAT?! As if you are one to talk, Hag!"
Sailors Mars and Crystal hung their heads, a sweat bead going down the back of them. If things went as usual, then they would be arguing for the next two or three hours. It was a good thing that they forced the two of them to relinquish their weapons before entering the Senshi’s Sanctuary.
No matter what Naru did, she had to uphold her vows from the Moon Kingdom to her Princess, to the people she protected, and most of all to herself.
As she walked towards the game centre where she knew the Command Centre was, Naru held her hand out in front of her. In it, appeared a small broach which contained her crystal. It was a crystal that she did not need right now, but would require, probably in the near future.
It was the Crystal of a Senshi.
Chief Sakurada was looking over at the poster that she had kept on her office wall all these years. It was a little faded because of the light having hit it often, but well protected by the heavy plastic that covered the precious artifact. She had bought this so long ago, back when Minako had been alive, running around Tokyo catching all types of criminals in between the times she wasn’t catching and killing any of the super-powered and mystical threats that had been cropping up. It was a memory of THE idol warrior, a friend, and despite her age, someone to look up to.
For all intents and purposes, Aino Minako was her Sempai.
When Chief Sakurada Natsuna had heard about Mina’s death, she had
taken the news very badly, not that she could let it show, given that she was in charge of a fairly large division within the Tokyo Police Department. The person she looked up to, the one she hoped to emulate if at all possible, was now gone. Destroyed in the explosion of a warehouse on the other side of the world. In many ways, Natsuna had lived vicariously through her Idol’s exploits, wishing that she was the one who could so easily take care of trouble without having to worry so much about the legal aspects.
While there was the occasional rumour of a Sailor V sighting every now and then, she knew that Aino Minako, the idol warrior, was now with her ancestors.
The hardest thing she’d ever had to do was to accept that Minako was dead.
According to the police reports from England, which she received through Interpol and the discretion of the British Service MI7, which handled such unusual incidents, it was obvious that nothing could have survived that explosion. While no body parts were found, the few fragments of her uniform that had been found were indication enough that she was deceased. Natsuna, realizing the need for privacy and silence on this matter never said a word to the family or inquired as to visiting Minako’s shrine. If there wasn’t a body to recover, then it would be best if her family thought of her as having run away instead of having any inkling of the truth.
But now that was over.
Despite not wanting to disturb the family, she had no choice and reached into her coat pocket that held a single card that was kept in a plastic shell. A card that contained only a phone number that had been coded into hexadecimal. If it had ever been examined, it would show that it was made of ordinary photocopier paper, with the only hands that had ever touched it to be her own. If she died and it was found on her body, people would assume that it was some required code that Chief Sakurada had needed, and one that would be changed immediately upon her death.
No one would be able to connect it to the most important of all the Senshi.
Looking at the card, she brought out her calculator and punched in the number, pressed the conversion button, and then dialed the resulting digits...
Motoki looked at the news outwardly calm, but internally worried at what was happening. It wasn’t all that unusual to see the battles that the Sailor Senshi fought, especially with the growing interest in them in the last four years, but very few people knew who they really were despite the fact that their faces were unadorned by disguises. Motoki was one of the few that knew the truth despite the slight differences in the faces of the Senshi to their ordinary forms. Then again, he was also one of the few non-Senshi who were trusted with the knowledge.
Of all the people in Tokyo, he had been there from almost the very beginning, encountering all the girls who would eventually become Senshi. Of course, given that the business owned by his father, Crown Game Centre, was over the Command Centre of the Senshi, it had been only a matter of time before he learned the truth. Since then, he had made only the most oblique of references to their missions in public, and watched the people who played the ‘Sailor V’ video game in order to ensure that there was not a breach in security.
Motoki shook his head in wonder at how they had all survived without harm after such a devastating battle. He wasn’t really related, he did feel responsible for them and treated all of them as younger sisters. While they did have a huge amount of responsibility, they did need the time to relax and be treated as ordinary people once in a while. A feeling he well understood.
The door to the Game Centre opened, and he saw Osaka Naru, another of the young girls that he tended to look out for. Unfortunately, she had a very serious expression on her face, and he realized that it probably had something to do with the apparent terrorist attack that had occurred earlier in the day. With her being a very close friend of Usagi’s, she was probably on of the few that was trusted with the secret of who the Senshi were. "Hi Naru. Would you like to talk about anything?"
Naru looked up at Motoki with eyes that were now older and wiser than they had been a few hours ago. "Yes, I guess I should. Do you mind if we go into your office for a little while? There is something that I need to ask you to do."
Motoki signaled one of the game centres employees and took Naru back to his office, "What’s the matter, was someone you knew injured in the terrorist attack earlier today?"
Naru shook her head and waited until he closed the door. "Oniichan, you know what’s under the Game Centre, and I have to get in there now."
This was a surprise, and one that he was unprepared for. "I don’t know what you are talking about."
Naru sighed. It wasn’t unexpected that he would protect the centre, but she needed to convince him that she was serious. "I need to access the computers in the Command Centre, and I don’t want to do it publicly by opening up the area by the game. You know there’s another way in, and I need you to guide me in. It’s been a long time since I was last down there."
Motoki’s eyes narrowed a bit, "How do you know what’s under the centre, and why would you need access to such a place?"
Naru held up her broach and opened it, allowing Motoki to see the crystal. He was familiar with them, as he had seen similar crystals carried by the girls. "I’m a Senshi Oniichan. Something happened today to awaken me, and I’ve got to follow my duty."
"Yes...I mean thank you Aino-san. I’m quite sure that Minako-san is OK, it’s only that I wanted to talk with her about the possibility of singing some songs for the Tokyo Police Department given that she wants to be an Idol Singer. We need some publicity and I thought that if she had the time, she might be willing to use this opportunity as a break-in to the business." Sakurada said over the phone, completely unnerved at hearing the fact that Sailor V was still alive.
After hearing Mrs. Aino’s reply, she responded, "Well, do you know where she is? I would like to contact her as soon as possible, and talk to her about this."
After getting the address, name, and phone number of the person that her hero had gone to, and saying the appropriate good-byes, she hung up the phone and bonelessly fell back into her seat. Aino Minako, Sailor V, was still alive. What had happened, and why had she stopped being a Idol Warrior? DAMN IT! IT’S NO TIME FOR QUESTIONS ON WHY SHE...HAD...NOT...
For once in her life Chief Sakurada Natsuna had a burst of insight as to where her favorite warrior had gone. Sailor V, the Idol Warrior was Sailor Venus. Given the battle that occurred that afternoon, she had to hurry, and rushed out of her office to talk to her hero in person.
THE END
Anime Images Drawn by Charlotte Noble.