June, 2001, by Sailor GlitterGirl & Rose Aquarius

 

                                                  

                                 The Universal Galaxy Saga

                                                                          Book One:

                    The Light Never Fades

 

 

 

 

Chapter Two: Family Tree

Rated: G

By: Sailor GlitterGirl and Rose-chan

 

 

 

 

     The two 'cousins' smiled at the conversation that

had gone from them to the ever popular argument between

Mars and the moon princess.

 

            Ali looked and Alex looked at each other out of the corner

of their eyes, sad remembrance sparkling in their depths.

Turning back to their meal, they couldn't help but think

how much alike some of the senshi of this generation were

like their mother's, and yet how widely different others

were.

 

            "Are you ok?" Serena asked, suddenly, noticing

suppressed tears in the eyes of the two new girls.

 

            *Gosh! She even sounds like her Mother!* Ali

thought, suddenly on the verge of a nervous breakdown

again as a wave of longing for her favorite cousin, Queen

Serenity, came over her. Faintly, through her own pain, she

Sensed Alex in emotional turmoil over knowing that their

beloved friend and queen was... dead.

 

            "I'm fine." Ali covered, but Serena knew people

and she wouldn't stop at an 'I'm fine.'

 

            "No, you're not, now what's wrong?" She asked,

her voice determined yet still kind. Then her eyes

became full with sympathy.

 

            *They're homesick, I'll bet.* The former moon

princess thought.

 

            "Just homesick I guess," Ali echoed Serena's

thoughts, forcing a smile, and Serena nodded an

understanding.

 

            <More like best friend sick,> She heard Alex's

dull thoughts in her mind. <I sympathize, sister, but we

can't let it all get to us now. You have to be happy

around her or she'll know something is up. We can't have

them know who we are. We have to find out if she even

remembers the legends about us before telling that those

legends are real! Remember; we promised Queen Serenity

that if anything ever happened to her, we would protect and

befriend her daughter, to keep her from falling into

sadness. I know you miss Rena, but->

 

            <Don't you?> Ali shot back.

 

            <Yes, every bit as much as you do.> She sighed

mentally. <We'll talk later, okay?>

 

            <Okay…>

 

 

 

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*

 

 

 

            *Who's Rena?* Raye thought. Either she was

insane or some more of her powers from her life as the

Princess of Mars had come back to her. She was discovering

more and more of herself lately. Had she just overheard

a TELEPATHIC conversation? Of the two cousins -no,

sisters, they had called each other.

 

            Yes she heard them. And now all of the other 9

people at the enlarged table were staring at the three

people that were in some trance- the two cousins looked

like they were talking to each other and Raye looked as

if she was eaves-dropping.

 

            Finally, they came back to earth with a loud

booming from a masculine voice.

 

            "HELLO?!" Amara boomed at them and they came out

of the trance dazed with a start.

 

            "Thank you." Serena said, and blushed as they

all looked at her strangely. They all thought the same

thing; she'd sounded like a princess just then. Ignoring

them, Serena looked at Raye and the two girls.

 

            "Um...are you guys...okay?" She asked.

 

            "Uh...Yeah, fine. Oh, dear! Ali, we're late!" Alex

said, hastily standing and grabbing Ali's wrist.

 

            "Late? Late for wh-ouch!" Ali hissed as Alex

stomped on her foot under the table.

 

            <We need to get out of here before they start

asking questions!> Alex hissed. <Plus, we HAVE to talk.

I think Raye may have heard us!> Alex sensed Ali's

surprise and sudden alarm, and the raven haired girl

agreed mentally, then they fled the arcade in a flurry

of good-byes and silken hair.

 

            "Scout meeting, now!" Raye hissed as soon as

they were gone, and they left the arcade.

 

 

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*

 

 

            "What's wrong?" Serena asked as she watched her

fiery friend pace along the floor of the temple.

 

            "Luna, do you know a 'Rena' other than Serena?"

Raye finally demanded of the confused black cat. If the

feline had had normal human skin it would have paled.

 

            "Quee...Queen Serenity was often called that,

but only to her family or very close friends." The cat

finally answered. "Or...or her own Senshi..."

 

            "We'll ask about that later," Raye held up a

hand against the girls who were about to pounce on Luna

about what she had just said.

 

            "Luna," Raye continued. "I need to know; what

actual family did the Queen have?"

 

            "Do I really need to say it here?" Luna glanced

at Serena wistfully.

 

            "I need to know. Now."

 

            "Can I whisper it-"

 

            "LUNA!"

       

            "Not in front of Serena!" Luna screamed. Serena

simply stared on in shocked silence.

 

            "Fine. Tell me in my ear." Luna scurried up

Raye's shoulder and started talking. And with every name

the priestess got whiter.

 

            "Ok..." Raye whispered, her voice somewhat

shaky. "Did she have any children?""

 

            "Two girls, sisters, but besides that not that I recall."

 

            "Someone tell me what was so secret that I

couldn't know!" Serena demanded.

 

            "Well..." Luna started, her eyes downcast. "I

didn't want to mention your father." Serena got white

with the comment but continued.

 

            "Raye, what's wrong that you need to know my

family tree?" Serena was a little confused.

 

            "Well," Raye started. "You know how I said I

was getting more powers? That I was regaining some of my

abilities from the Silver Millennium?"

 

            "Yes."

 

            "Well, those friends you brought to the arcade...

they were talking-"

 

            "So?"

           

            Raye glared at Mina, who had interrupted. "They

were using TELEPATHY! Mind speak!"

 

            "What?!?!" Amara screeched.

 

            "Oh..." Mina whispered. Serena paled, and

Darien pulled her close, kissing the top of her head

gently.

 

            "That's not all; Ali said she missed 'Rena' and,

from what Alex said, and from what I gather from Luna, I

think that 'Rena' was Queen Serenity.

 

            "And Alex said something about that they pledged

that they were to protect her daughter and befriend

her." She looked at Serena, whose eyes widened.

 

            "Plus they were both mourning Queen Serenity as

if she had just died yesterday, and not over a thousand

years ago, and Alex was trying to console Ali and said

that she missed their ‘cousin’ too. And she reminded

Ali that they had to be happy around Serena so they

wouldn't be found out. Something about a legend, and

remembering." Raye was pacing again, walking back and

forth.

 

            "What...Luna, what does this all mean?" Lita

demanded of the cat. Luna opened her jaw to reply, when

a knock at the door disturbed the contents of the room.

           

            "Heeeellooooo?" A familiar voice called in

singsong tone. Gentle footsteps were heard padding

outside.

 

            "Anyone here?" A second voice called. It, too,

sounded familiar, and everyone froze as they realized

who it was.

 

            Alex and Ali

 

 

 

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*

 

 

 

            "No one's here, Laxa." Ali sighed, ignoring

Alex's glare at her true name. "We'll just have to get

an apartment. Anyway, I can make-mmm?!!!!" Alex covered

up Ali's mouth as the door opened before them to see eleven

people with expressions like a combination of having

just seen a ghost and having just been told their dog

died.

 

            "Hi guys!" Alex said cheerfully, releasing a

struggling Ali, the black haired girl gasping for

breath as she glared at her companion.

 

            "Glad to see you again!" Alex continued. "Sorry

to interrupt, but there's a job posting outside that

includes room and board. Is there a priestess here we

can talk to?"

 

            *Hopefully they didn't hear us talking.* She

thought wistfully.

 

            "I'm the caretaker of the shrine," Raye said,

her voice tinted with sadness. Her Grandfather had died

not long ago, leaving her the shrine to take care of.

 

            "Well, you're obviously busy so we'll just

leave," Alex said, catching the tone of Raye's voice,

and the two were gone before Raye could stop them.

 

            "Well, that was freaky." Ali laughed as they

trotted down the may steps leading up to the shrine.

"You know, I'm getting us an apartment!" Ali said with

a move of her arm. "I know just the one; I saw an

advertisement on the way over to the shrine. Let's go!"

Ali said.

 

            "We're in sooo much trouble." Alex muttered,

half to herself, not hearing her sister's enthusiasm.

"Puu was there!"

 

            "I know, that was bad." Ali answered as they

came to an apartment building. She sighed. "Well,

nothing we can do now. Just hope that Guardian doesn't

come after us and bonk us on the head with her oversized

key!" Alex chuckled at Ali's attempts to cheer her.

 

            "Well, this is the best apartment building as

far as getting to all of the senshi," Ali announced as

they stood before a tall, very classy looking apartment

complex. "It's the same distance from them all, and only

a five minute walk from the shrine. Room 220, 10th

floor."

 

            "All except the Prince, that is," Alex

corrected. "We still don't know where he lives."

 

            "True," Ali shrugged, and they went to the

building not knowing that they were very close to one

of the people they were keeping an eye on.

 

 

 

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*              

 

 

 

            Unknown to the Sailor Guardians, a group of eleven

had followed the two from the shrine and heard

everything. At one point Amara clamped a hand over

Darien's mouth after he heard that their apartment was

next to his. And everyone looked at Setsuna, after

Alex said the name 'Puu.'

 

            "Setsuna." Amara said lowly. "Care to explain?"

 

 

 

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*

 

 

 

            "Nice, very nice," Alex observed as she dropped

her carry-on bag -which she still had with her from the

plane- onto a hook by the door.

 

            "Yes, I think this will do nicely." Ali agreed.

"But..."

 

            "But what?"

 

            "It needs something..." Ali narrowed her eyes in

concentration, eyeing the living room. "Ah-hah!" She

exclaimed finally, snapping her fingers. "I know!" And

with that, ignoring Alex's warning glares, she pulled

out her gold Light Crystal from underneath her shirt,

and, gripping it firmly in her left hand, closed her eyes

and waved her right arm in a full sweep around the room.

Golden, glittering light with flecks of opalescent black

filled the room.

 

            When the light faded, the living room was

decorated with expert, and expensive taste. Plush oriental

rugs covered the bare gray carpet. A couch and a love

seat that were a deep, dark red velvet were across from a

large fireplace, and to the left of it. Cream velvet

brocade pillows with soft, downy throw blankets littered

the couches, as well as two polished mahogany, red plush

covered chairs.

 

            Thick, wine red drapes were pulled back over the

windows by gold tassels. Thin, white gauzy curtains were

over the windows, under the drapes. The same applied to

the French double doors that lead out onto the balcony,

the balcony of which had been turned into a garden. Red,

white, and yellow roses climbed all around, with a very

nice porch set with a table.

 

            <Versia.> Came Laxa's cool voice in her head.

 

            <What?> Versia laughed. <We're gonna be here a

while, why not live like the goddesses we are?>

 

            <We're immortal, Versia, not goddesses.> Laxa

corrected with a mental sigh, giving in and smiling

slightly as she plopped down onto the couch and laid

down. <And even then I'm not sure. Remember, Cousin

Beryl just trapped us in the Third Dimension -which we

named the Light Dimension, from where we could see all-

but she didn't trap us there for all eternity, which

WOULD have made us immortal.>

 

            <But it's a good thing she didn't.> Versia

added. <If she had trapped us there for all eternity,

it's doubtful that Rena would have been able to

eventually find a way to make it so that we could

leave.>

 

            <True.> Laxa acknowledged. <But even then, she

wasn't able to do it until she became Queen.>

 

            <But by then the people had forgotten about us,

and simply turned our memory into a legend.> Versia

finished with a sigh as she laid back on the love seat,

propping her head up with pillows and her feet over the

arm rest.

 

            <Still, I wish she could have visited more.>

Versia said sadly after a moment. <I mean, I know with

the death our step-cousin -Rena's husband- and then the

birth of the Princess on top of that->

 

            <Plus trying to pull the Universe back together

after Beryl's first defeat, it's no wonder she was only

able to visit twice.> Laxa finished.

 

            Suddenly, a wave of sadness overcame them both

as they remembered how they had both failed and yet

succeeded in their time as the guardians of the late

Queen Serenity. Versia thought of how she, her sister Laxa,

and nine others -one from every planet, including Earth,,

the mothers of the current Senshi- had once, over a

thousand years ago, sworn to protect the Moon Queen, who

had still been a princess at the time herself.

 

            Then, the -past- Moon Princess's sister, jealous

of her sibling's beauty and goodness, but most of all

that she would be queen, and not her, had turned to the

dark arts, becoming the dark ward of Metallia.

 

            The senshi, all nine of them, including the  younger

Universia and Galaxcia, had managed to force them back,

shoving them into an un-populated, and -up till then- unknown

parallel dimension; The Negaverse.

 

            But, their victory had not come without a price.

In a last, desperate attempt to destroy her own sister,

Beryl had thrown the last of her power at the young

princess as she was being sucked into the Negaverse

through a portal opened by the planetary senshi.

Sailors Universe and Galaxy had to sit that one out,

as they didn't have the right type of power.

 

            But, it turned out the be a good thing, if

they had been assisting at the portal, they wouldn't

have been close enough to stop the oncoming attack. As

it was, they were just barely able to push the princess

out of the way, taking the blow for themselves.

 

            But because of the unusual structure of their

power, when their magics tried to shield them, instead

of them either being killed or saved by their own

shields, they were tossed into a rip in time and space,

and into yet another dimension. There was the Universe, the

Negaverse, and the Lightverse. They were trapped in the

Lightverse, and it was only because of Queen Serenity and

Sailor Pluto that it was made possible for them to

travel between dimensions when necessary.

 

            In time, the stories of their deeds became mere

legends, and they became the legendary Guardian Senshi,

only appearing when fate itself was in danger.

 

            <That was a long, long time ago.> Laxa

whispered, mentally, sensing that her sister was

remembering the same as she. <We'd do best to forget

it for now, and move on.>

 

            <I know, but I still miss-> Versia suddenly

bolted up, jumping up and gasping, her eyes wide.

<Sister!> Versia cried.

 

            "What?" Laxa asked anxiously, aloud.

 

            <Do you feel that?> Versia asked, her voice

still remaining telepathic.

 

            <No...> Laxa answered in mind speak. <Do you

sense something? I don't.>

 

            <Yes, I do and we have got to prepare for a

battle.> Versia's eyes hardened, and suddenly Laxa felt

it too as she reached out, probing with her mind.

 

            <Mars will feel something,> Versia thought to

her sister, confidently. <The Senshi will handle it,

most likely. It's good that they're all here.>

 

            <Maybe that's why Puu was here.> Laxa commented.

<Still, if this evil is from the new enemy, we should be

there, just in case they need our help.>

 

            <Agreed.> Versia walked towards the door,

determination in her eyes. <Let's go.> Nodding, her own

features set grimly, Laxa followed.

 

 

 

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