“Hanami?” Ail asked, lowering his flute and glancing toward Ann. She was seated behind him on a different root of the Doom Tree.
“It is a festival of the planet’s natives at this time of the year,” she replied. “I hear humans use up a tremendous amount of energy for this celebration of the blooming of their cherry blossom trees which usually lasts the whole night.”
“It is said that when our people were at the height of their glory, the Doom Tree blossomed with beautiful flowers,” he said, closing his eyes contemplatively.
Ann glanced thoughtfully toward the Doom Tree, taking in the tree’s appearance. She could imagine how the tree would look: its branches straight and strong; the leaves colored a healthy shade of red, not its present sickly shade of pink; and beautiful red and pink blossoms adorning every single branch and leaf. She gave a wistful sigh toward the wizened tree and turned back toward Ail.
“So, Hanami…,” he said, lifting his head with an eager expression spread on his face. “We can collect a good deal of human energy.” Ann smiled and nodded in agreement.
“Oh, what a beautiful day to be outta school!” Usagi cheered as she skipped along in front of the others. The park was a good a place as any to celebrate Hanami, and the fact that Haruna had managed to get the principal to agree to letting the students out for the day made it even better.
Luna was hanging onto Usagi’s shoulder for dear life, wishing she had decided to ride on Ami’s shoulder, or Makoto’s, or even Ryoku’s. If it were only Usagi, Ami, Rei, Makoto, Minako, and Ryoku, she would have a great deal to say to her for this rough treatment she was getting. Artemis had it easy: Minako wasn’t bouncing around like she was.
Naru was walking beside Usagi, while carrying a lunch basket in her right hand. She was glancing around as if she was looking for something. Behind them, Ami, Minako and Haruna were following, with Haruna carrying another basket in her left hand. Behind them, Makoto, Rei and Ryoku followed as well. Both Makoto and Ryoku were carrying baskets with Ryoku was carrying the largest one of all. Makoto and Rei were having a little discussion while Ryoku was staring off to the side with a contemplative look on his face. Natsumi brought up the rear, walking a short distance away as if she wanted to pretend that she wasn’t part of the group, yet didn’t want to appear to be alone, either. She was busy glancing up at the cherry blossom trees in wonder.
I wonder if Makaiju ever looked like this before…? she thought to herself, lost in the beauty of the trees.
After speaking with Makoto, Rei glanced over toward Ryoku and frowned slightly, noting his expression. “Something wrong, Ryo-kun?” she asked, moving closer to him and speaking in a whisper so no one else could hear.
“Hmm? Wrong?” he asked as he turned to look at her, also speaking in a whisper. “No, nothing’s wrong. I was just thinking about what happened a few days ago. You know, at the Virtual Reality theater?”
Rei nodded, a thoughtful look crossing her face as well. A few days ago, another Cardian attacked the Virtual Reality theater, where they had all decided to go to brush up on their fighting skills. They had all seen the Moonlight Knight, who they had heard of from Usagi, but the biggest surprise was that he was there at the same time as Mamoru. Needless to say, that shocked Usagi, who was sure that they were the same person. The question of who he was still ran through their minds, but they had more important things to worry about.
“No… forget it,” he continued, shaking his head, then giving her a half-grin. “We should save that problem for later. For now, we should enjoy today.”
“Right,” Rei replied with a nod and a smile.
“I’m very grateful you allowed students from other schools like mine to come,” Minako told Haruna.
“Wasn’t it hard to get permission from the principal to hold this party, Sakurada-sensei?” Ami asked.
“Don’t worry about it,” Haruna replied dismissively with a grin.
“I guess the principal just wanted a day off as well,” Ryoku commented wryly. “Right, Sakurada-sensei?”
Haruna laughed and shook her head. “It doesn’t really matter, does it? For today, let’s just forget that we’re students and teachers.”
“That’s right,” Makoto added with a wide grin. “Let’s just say that this is a gathering of Hanami addicts.”
Umino sat underneath one of the park’s cherry trees with a blanket spread over a wide area and waited. The wall coming down from the second level served as a nice barrier against strong breezes and the tree behind him was just large enough to provide enough shade without completely blocking out the sun. All in all, it was the perfect spot for a picnic lunch.
“Hey everybody!” he suddenly called out, waving his arms wildly as he spotted the others coming that way. They all gave him a return greeting as they walked up to his blanket.
“Thank you for securing this space, Umino-kun,” Ami said.
“I’m impressed you found space,” Usagi commented.
“And a good one at that,” Ryoku added appreciatively.
“How long have you been here?” Naru asked.
Umino adjusted his glasses and gave them a knowing look. “Since last night.”
“What?!?” came the unanimous cry of shocked disbelief.
“Didn’t it get cold at night?” Ami asked.
“No problem,” Umino replied, adjusting his glasses and giving them that same knowing grin as before. “I have a secret weapon.” He pulled out a large sleeping bag, zipped it open, climbed in and zipped it behind him so that only his face remained exposed. “Thanks to this, I spent the night comfortably.”
“You didn’t have to go that far…,” Haruna told him.
“For the sake of everybody, especially for Naru, I have a duty to do so,” he replied matter-of-factly.
“For me?” Naru asked as she knelt down beside him.
“Yes, for you,” he replied.
She blushed slightly as she gave him a warm smile. Then, she turned toward the others. “All right, everyone, let’s eat!”
“You can’t do that, Naru-chan!” he blurted out in a hurt tone as he climbed out of his sleeping bag. “I did it all for you! How could you…?”
“I’m sorry,” she apologized, giving him an abashed look. “It was supposed to be a joke.”
Some time – and four unpacked baskets – later, everybody was seated in a ring around all the food everybody had brought. A good deal of it was prepared by Makoto, with Ryoku’s help. Usagi sat to Haruna’s left, followed by Minako, Natsumi, Naru, Umino, Makoto, Rei, Ami and finally, Ryoku on Haruna’s right.
“Oh, wow!” Usagi exclaimed looking around at all the food. “Everybody’s lunches look delicious!”
“Meanwhile,” Rei countered, gesturing toward Usagi’s lunch, “yours is….”
“What’s your problem?” Usagi fired back. “I made this with my best effort!”
“Oh, really?” Rei said with a smirk.
Usagi frowned at her lunch. She had tried her best to make the food, but nothing seemed to come out right. Her rice balls looked the worst of all, blackened and charred – she thought she had put in more water than that – and totally inedible. Nothing else even looked appetizing and some tasted horrible – sugar… salt… why do they have to look so similar?
She hungrily glanced over toward Makoto’s food. “Mako-chan’s lunch looks so delicious….”
“Go ahead,” she replied, gesturing toward the food. “Help yourself.”
“Really?” Usagi asked and wasted no time helping herself. Makoto and Ryoku exchanged an amused glance. They knew this would happen, which was why they had made extra.
“There you go,” Naru said as she handed Umino his lunch. “That’s yours.”
“All this is mine?” he asked glancing over his lunch, and even bending down to smell it.
“Sorry if it isn’t good,” she began with a modest smile.
“It’s gotta be the best in the universe!” he exclaimed as he suddenly straightened, startling Naru.
“Don’t blow it out of proportion,” she replied with a chagrined look on her face.
Usagi glanced over toward Ami’s and Minako’s lunches. Both of their lunches contained mostly sandwiches. “Ami’s and Minako’s sandwiches look delicious, too….”
Ami and Minako shared a look. “Go ahead…,” Minako began, gesturing toward her sandwiches.
“Feel free to…,” Ami also began, mirroring Minako’s gesture.
“Lucky!” Usagi exclaimed cheerily as she took one sandwich each. As she was eating the sandwiches, she glanced over toward Ryoku’s lunch, which was mostly Chinese food he had prepared for himself.
“I wouldn’t if I were you,” he warned with an amused half-grin. “Go ahead, if you want, but I must warn you that the orange chicken is especially spicy. I’ve even added some extra spice to the gyoza, Szechwan chicken and lo mein. Eat at your own risk.”
She gave him a disbelieving look as she tried a piece of his Szechwan chicken. It was hot! Her throat and tongue were burning! She quickly grabbed the thermos of water he was holding out to her and drank almost all of it before the burning subsided.
“Told you so,” he chuckled softly as he took the thermos back. She just glared at him as she continued to eat her two sandwiches.
While she was finishing the sandwiches, she glanced over toward Natsumi, who was just glancing over at the cherry trees and not eating anything. “Didn’t you bring anything, Natsumi-san?” she asked.
“I’ll just have energy,” she replied. When Usagi gave her a confused look, she realized her slip. She was about to explain what she meant to say when Usagi spoke again.
“I know. You’re counting on everyone else, right?”
“That’s you,” Rei remarked.
“Oh yeah?” Usagi retorted. “And you’re leeching off Mako-chan.”
Rei’s hand paused as it was drawing back with one of Makoto’s rice balls. She grimaced as she realized that Usagi had scored a hit. “Shut up,” she muttered sourly. “Why don’t you eat your own ugly rice ball?”
“What?” Usagi retorted. “No way! What if that thing blew up my appendix?”
Haruna sighed as she put a hand to her hand. She probably had a headache from listening to Usagi and Rei argue. “Calm down, you two. We aren’t in school. Now,” she continued as she got to her feet after clearing her space, “you’re free to wander about for an hour.”
The others had just finished cleaning up as well and were now just getting to their feet. “Sensei,” Usagi muttered, “we aren’t in school now, remember?”
Haruna put a hand to her mouth in surprise as she realized what she had just said. Her mind must’ve drifted back into teacher-mode for a moment. “You’re right,” she said with a small embarrassed laugh. “Oopsie.” Everyone else soon joined in on the laughter.
From within the trees, Seijuro stood, watching the others, or rather, watching Usagi.
“Hey, that booth over there was selling dumplings, right?” Usagi asked, pointing toward one the booths selling prepared food nearby.
“What’s the use of a dumpling-head eating dumplings?” Rei commented dryly.
Usagi blinked for a moment. ‘Meatball-head’ she was getting used to, but dumpling-head? That was new. “Quit picking on me!” she snapped back as she pointed an accusing finger at her.
“So beautiful,” Seijuro murmured as he continued to gaze at Usagi.
“Is she that beautiful?” Natsumi asked flatly as she walked up behind him.
“Don’t misunderstand me,” he replied, unruffled by her sudden appearance. “I wasn’t gazing at Tsukino-san.”
“How could I trust you?” she replied coolly as she indignantly walked away.
“I was admiring the beauty of these cherry flowers,” he continued to explain.
“Doesn’t matter,” she stated indifferently as she leaned back against one of the trees. She then ducked around the tree and reappeared at the other side as Ann. “I’d rather have the fresh energy of junior high students.”
Seijuro grinned as he shed his disguise as well. “To be honest,” Ail replied, “I was thinking of the same thing.”
They quickly vanished and reappeared back with the Doom Tree. Ail reached behind his back and pulled out a hand of seven cards. “Ready, Ann?” he asked, holding up the hand for her to pick one.
Ann raised a finger, causing the middle card to float up out of Ail’s hand and into the air. He then began to play the same melody he used to summon each of his Cardians, while she watched. The card began to glow as it stretched to many times its size, displaying a picture of a lanky, sinuous creature entwined around a plant vine. The summoned Cardian’s eyes glowed red as it vanished and was sent on its way.
A breeze suddenly picked up, gently shaking the branches of the cherry blossom trees. Some loose petals from each tree managed to break free; dancing upon the winds to create a beautiful show of nature. The sky seemed to be alive with pink blossoms as the gentle winds blew past. As the breeze continued on its way, the shower of cherry blossom petals slowly glided earthward, spinning and fluttering as the dance slowly came to an end.
Naru watched the spectacle in amazement. As she held out her right hand, a single petal gently came to rest in the palm of her hand. “It’s so pretty,” she murmured, gazing down at the petal in awe.
“The cherry blossoms are beautiful, but you are even more beautiful,” Umino replied in a matter-of-fact tone. He was standing to one side, watching the spectacle with her. She was currently turned so that he was facing her side.
Her cheeks reddened at his words, but there was something about the way he said it that upset her. Her eyes closed and her right hand clenched unconsciously around the petal as she frowned. “Have you ever realized how corny some of the things you say are?” she asked in a slightly irritated voice.
“No,” he stated simply. “I only speak what’s on my mind.”
She opened one eye to consider the boy standing across from her. At first, she thought that what he said was just the same old clichéd tripe, but maybe those hackneyed words were really all he knew. At least he was honest. “Oh… okay, then,” she replied with a smile as she continued to blush.
Her smile turned into a frown of confusion as something behind him caught her eye. Curious, Umino turned around as well, looking for what caught her attention. In the clearing behind them, a withered skeleton of a tree stood alone among all the blooming trees. Ordinarily, something like that would only invoke minor curiosity, but the dark glow that surrounded the tree was more than enough to catch the eye.
There was something else, though. Something that turned their perplexity into fear. Umino warily backed away, toward Naru. As soon as he put his arms protectively around her, a circle of ghostly pale light suddenly flashed beneath their feet, paralyzing them. Their screams of fright pierced the air for only a short time until they were suddenly silenced.
Haruna weaved her way around one tree after another, looking for the clearing where she had left Naru and Umino. She had wanted to get a few snacks for herself. Sensing that the two wanted to be alone for a little bit, she told them that she was going to get something and asked if they wanted anything while she was gone. She had already eaten her snacks – to give them a little more time to themselves – and was now bringing them their items.
“Sorry to keep you waiting,” she said as she came into view of the clearing. She stopped dead, dropping everything in her hands as her gaze fell upon the two comatose figures before her. “Umino-kun, Osaka-san, what happened?” she called out as she rushed to their sides. She tried to shake them awake, but neither one was responding to her frantic shaking.
“What’s going on?” she asked despondently, tears of worry slowly seeping out of her eyes. They needed help. Now.
A shadow that wasn’t there before suddenly caught her attention. Somebody else was standing behind her. She whirled around to see a woman standing before her. Her face – and apparently the rest of her skin – was seemingly painted a snowy white, except for her lips, which was a bright red. Her long bluish hair fell around her shoulders and onto the white, red-laced robes she was wearing. She looked as though she had just finished some sort of ceremony, but had not bothered to change back into normal clothes. None of this really seemed to matter, though, as this woman meant that she had found help.
“Please, go get somebody,” she begged, grasping urgently onto the woman’s robes. She was about to say more when a faint blue glow suddenly surrounded the woman and was gone. It was there for so short a time that she blinked in confusion, unsure that she had really seen what she thought she saw.
The sudden smile the woman gave her – a smile that never touched her eyes – wasn’t what made her eyes widen and made her scream in fear. It was the red flickering glow her eyes were giving off which continued even as her scream was abruptly silenced.
Usagi watched over her teacher with concern evident on her face. Haruna was lying down on a couch with a blanket covering her to her chin. Luna and Artemis were watching the medic look over Naru and Umino, who were both leaning against each other and covered with the same blanket on the other side of the room. The man was frowning as if seeing something he didn’t understand, which worried the two cats. Usagi was worried just seeing two of her friends and her teacher lying unconscious in the park’s medical facility.
Ryoku was the one who had found them unconscious and rushed to get help. He had carried Haruna here as the medic and one of the nurses carried Naru and Umino. He then went to go get Usagi and inform her of what happened, telling her that he was going to go get the others and check out the area where he found them.
“A bit of rest should do,” the medic said finally as he stood up from examining Naru and walked over toward his desk and sat down in his chair. “But, what’s going on here?” he asked in a bewildered voice. His hands rested on a pile of papers: reports of others with the same conditions as Naru, Umino and Haruna were showing. The others were in a different room, being tended to by a couple of volunteer nurses. “This is the tenth emergency I’ve got.”
Usagi’s eyes widened in surprise. “That many?”
He nodded. “It’s still too early in the season for heat stroke.” He shook his head worriedly, trying to puzzle out the enigma displayed before him. “What’s going on?” he murmured, putting his head into his hands and thinking hard.
Luna and Artemis exchanged a look and nodded. They left the room, but not before Luna turned to Usagi and meowed, then jerking her head toward the door as a signal that she needed to talk to her. Usagi nodded and followed them out.
“What’s wrong?” Usagi asked as soon as they were outside.
“We think their energy has been completely drained from them,” Luna informed her.
“Their energy’s drained?” she repeated questioningly.
“The way they’re worn out,” Artemis replied. “They’ve gotta be.”
“Let’s join everybody else,” Luna suggested. “Ryo-kun said he was going to get the others and look around that area. They should be there by now.”
Usagi nodded. “Right.” They quickly headed off toward the direction Ryoku gave them earlier.
“So, Sakurada-sensei and everybody else were found unconscious around here, right?” Makoto asked, her arms crossed over chest as she gazed around the place. She and the others were all looking in different directions, in case whoever or whatever attacked those people should come after them.
“Yes,” Ryoku simply replied. Most of his attention was going toward watching for any sign of attack.
“Nothing unusual,” Ami observed.
“Everybody, be on your guard,” Minako advised.
Rei closed her eyes and began to focus on searching for any dark forces. She could feel… something. “I feel….” Something close by. “…a demonic presence.” It was… behind them?!?
She whirled around staring in the direction she had sensed the presence. “Look!” The others followed her gaze toward a wizened tree standing in a clearing. As soon as their gazes rested on the tree, a dark glow surrounded the tree. A white-skinned figure could be seen embedded in the trunk of the tree, her head hanging limply and her eyes closed.
The figure lifted her head and opened her eyes. Her grin was as cold as the flickering red glow in her eyes. Each of the Scouts wore an expression of shock on their faces as they realized what it was they were looking at. Before any of them could reach for their transformation items, circles of ghostly pale light appeared under each of their feet, paralyzing them.
Several screams yelled at once pulled at Usagi, making her run faster. Luna and Artemis quickened their steps as well.
“That’s them!” Artemis exclaimed.
“Usagi-chan!” Luna urged.
Usagi nodded as she raised her hand skyward. “Moon prism power, make up!” Within moments, she had transformed into Sailor Moon.
When she arrived at the place Ryoku had told her they were going to, she stopped dead in her tracks. Ryoku and the other girls were in a line in front of her, all surrounded by columns of light. The looks on each of their faces appeared as though they were suffering from something and trying to fight back. The source of those columns appeared to be….
“The cherry tree is absorbing their energy!” Artemis shouted. As soon as he spoke, a white robed figure slowly began to emerge from within the tree. Sailor Moon grimaced as the figure moved away from the tree and fixed her gaze on her. Moments later, she was rushing toward Sailor Moon, moving so fast that a shallow furrow was dug into the ground by her passing, kicking up dirt and dust in her wake. Sailor Moon managed to throw herself out of the way before it was too late, hitting the ground hard.
She got on her hands and knees and glanced behind her at the robed figure behind her. She had her back turned toward Sailor Moon and hadn’t moved yet, as if she were resting from that last attack. The figure began to laugh ominously as she turned toward Sailor Moon.
“Sailor Moon, fight!” Luna shouted, egging her on from her vantage point with Artemis away from the fight.
“I know,” Sailor Moon replied as she got up and reached for her tiara. “Moon tiara action!” she shouted as she flung it at her attacker. In mid-flight, the tiara reverted back from the discus it usually became into the tiara again. The robed figure backhanded the tiara, easily knocking it away from her.
Sailor Moon gasped as she saw her attack fail again. It was just like the last time, at the Virtual Reality theater. Her tiara failed, just like it did now. It worked when she used it again, but the fact that it had failed had shaken her a bit. Now, the same thing had happened again.
“It’s still not working,” she told the cats worriedly.
“Sailor Moon, be careful!” Ami shouted in a strained voice.
“Don’t look into its eyes!” Rei warned.
“What…?” Sailor Moon began.
“Look out!” Luna warned, cutting her off.
Sailor Moon quickly spun around to see what Luna was warning her about, but it was too late. Her attacker had taken her by surprise and slammed into her at full speed. Hands clasped around her arms as she was carried forward. Her eyes clenched shut from the force of the blow. A short leap ended with her being shoved into the ground and being ground in as their momentum continued to pull them forward. Slightly dazed, Sailor Moon opened her eyes to get her bearings. She reminded herself not to look into her attacker’s eyes, but it was already too late. The first thing she saw upon opening her eyes was the flickering red glow of another pair of eyes, followed by a column of light, similar to the ones around her friends, encircling her.
“No!” Sailor Moon exclaimed.
“Sailor Moon!” Luna cried out worriedly, echoed by the other Scouts.
As the light intensified around Sailor Moon, her transformation brooch glowed as well. The woman’s face altered into a feline face, fangs reflecting the light surrounding them. Suddenly, the brooch burst, causing her transformation to reverse. “What? I’m changing back?” she gasped as her normal clothes reappeared.
The creature leaped off Usagi and hovered over her; her legs changing into roots and her arms into branches spread out from her sides. Usagi pushed herself up off of her back and onto her hands and knees. “I gotta save my friends,” she said as she tried to force herself forward, fighting the paralysis that tried to keep her from moving. Before she could move forward even one centimeter, her right hand suddenly sank into the ground as if she were on top of thick mud.
“Usagi-chan!” each of her friends cried out, desperately urging her not to give up.
She struggled to pull herself out of the ground, having already sunk in to her waist, but the pull on her was too strong. “I’m sorry,” she cried out as she was pulled in even further. “I can’t save you!”
“Usagi-chan!” Luna shouted as she rushed to help her, leaving Artemis behind.
“Luna, no!” Artemis shouted, but she wasn’t listening. She leaped at Usagi’s right arm, clamped her jaws shut on her sleeve, and started pulling with all her might. Unfortunately, that was not enough to save her.
“Don’t!” Usagi cried out, urging her feline friend to leave her to her fate. “Luna, go!” She had now sunk in to her shoulders, with only her head and her right arm sticking out of the ground. Luna could feel herself being pulled along with Usagi, but she refused to give up. Even when Usagi was finally pulled under, she still had her teeth clamped firmly on her right coat sleeve. The last thing that the others saw was Luna’s tail as she, too, sank into the ground.
Artemis and the Scouts stared at the ground where Usagi disappeared in disbelief. “Usagi! Luna!” Artemis shouted after them, but they could no longer hear him. When the column of light disappeared, they all let of a gasp of horror, seeing that their friend and leader was gone.
“Usagi-chan!” each Scout called out, hoping that they were wrong and she was all right even thought they knew that they’d get no answer. Sure enough, silence was all that answered them.
“Damn!” Ryoku growled as he pounded the ground with a clenched fist in frustration. “Damn! Damn!! DAMN!!!” Each curse was followed by a subsequent pounding of the ground in front of him. “No,” he murmured as his frustrated outburst had subsided. “This can’t be how it ends. It can’t be….”
Ail and Ann watched in satisfaction as energy flowed into the Doom Tree, revitalizing it. Once again, pink, shriveled leaves became healthy, red leaves as the tree regained its life.
“I see that we’re getting quite a lot of energy into the Doom Tree,” Ail commented.
“It’s only a matter of time before the tree begins to look as young as it used to,” Ann added.
“Good,” he replied. “Lacy, continue to collect more energy.”
It was silent. There was light; so much light that she had to keep her eyes shut or be blinded. Even with her eyes closed, she could still see light. There was a sensation of falling, as well, but how fast and how far was impossible to determine. She could feel wind whispering past her, causing her ponytails and skirt to flutter gently around her legs. She must be falling headfirst, then. She could feel something in her arms, as well. Must be Luna; she fell in with her.
“What do we do, Luna?” Usagi asked desperately. “The transformation reversed.”
“Well, you may’ve gotten your memories back as Sailor Moon, but you didn’t really want to become Sailor Moon again, did you?” Luna chided softly.
“No,” she admitted. “I still want to stay as an ordinary junior high student.”
“As long as you have that in mind, you can’t transform or use any of your other powers.”
“Then, how can I save everybody?”
The light grew brighter for a moment, then was suddenly replaced by darkness. The falling sensation was gone, too; replaced by a sensation of floating. She felt herself curled up in a fetal position, as if trying to comfort, or calm, herself. The darkness was just as unnerving as the intense light, but only until she remembered that her eyes were still closed. Upon opening her eyes, she discovered herself suspended… somewhere. A quick glance left and right showed herself surrounded by darkness punctuated by several points of bright light scattered everywhere at random. This place had the appearance of outer space, but she knew that that was not where she was.
“Where are we?” she murmured into the dim emptiness, not entirely expecting any answer. She glanced down at the small body in her arms, only dimly aware that she was completely unclothed. Luna lay completely unconscious, unaffected by the slight shaking she gave her.
“You’re so small,” she whispered to the black cat, as if only now noticing that fact, “and I made you go through all that. I’m sorry I got you into this.” She hugged Luna sadly, trying to console herself.
She gasped as a thought sudden flashed through her mind. “Are we dead?” she asked in a distressed voice.
“Princess.” The voice seemed to boom throughout the darkness, although it was spoken in a calm, assured tone. The voice was familiar and so was the title used to address her. Usagi glanced in the direction the voice came from – she couldn’t tell from the sound of the voice where it came from, but she could sense where it came from – and gave a start at what she saw. A gathering of lights coruscated before her, slowly condensing into a very familiar figure.
“Queen Serenity,” she breathed softly in amazement.
“We are inside your mind,” Serenity explained. She then gave her a fond smile. “You still need me, do you not?”
In her mind. That would explain some things. She had no idea that her mind would look like this. Does everyone’s mind look this way, or is it just hers? No matter. It was unimportant and she had more important things to do.
“Queen Serenity, I have to save my friends!” In the corner of her mind, she realized that she was now speaking with the regal timbre and inflection that she used during her incarnation as Princess Serenity.
“May I have the brooch?” Serenity asked calmly. Usagi held out her hand with the broken transformation brooch in the palm of her hand.
A flash of light filled her vision. When the light faded, she was standing in front of Queen Serenity holding the brooch out to her in the middle of one of the many rooms in the Moon Palace. She was dressed in the gown she usually preferred during the time of the Silver Millennium, with Luna standing by her side, fully awake.
A coruscating light flickered above them and was slowly descending toward the brooch in her hand. “The Silver Crystal?” Usagi asked questioningly.
“Your wish to save your friends has nurtured the Silver Crystal,” Serenity explained as the Silver Crystal slowly began to merge with the brooch. A soft light washed over the brooch, changing it from golden to pink laced with gold. A golden five-pointed star with a golden waxing crescent moon with its points up lying in the star’s center was visible on the top half of the new brooch. The five colored stones that had bordered her old brooch – blue for Mercury, red for Mars, green for Jupiter, orange for Venus, and tan for Earth – were now placed in the hollows surrounding the five-pointed star.
“How beautiful,” Usagi breathed in awe.
Serenity grinned at her daughter and turned her gaze toward Luna. “Luna, she still needs your help.”
“Yes,” Luna agreed with a respectful nod.
“Now that I have the Silver Crystal, I can save my friends,” Usagi stated, staring down at the new brooch in her hand.
“Princess, the Silver Crystal cannot draw out the power that it has once possessed,” Serenity advised. “However, your wish to protect your friends and everybody else will surely bring the crystal’s power back.”
Usagi nodded as she turned around and walked toward the other side of the room, with Luna following her. “Thank you, Queen Serenity…. Mother,” she added with tears in her eyes. Although she had a different mother in this life, she would always consider the beautiful, elegant, serene woman standing across the room from her as her mother.
Serenity nodded and smiled fondly at her daughter. “Now, say ‘Moon crystal power, make up!’”
“Right,” Usagi nodded and held the new brooch up over her head. “Moon crystal power, make up!” The top half of her brooch opened and vanished, displaying the Silver Crystal resting inside. When she waved her hand over the crystal, her transformation began.
Night had fallen during the time after Sailor Moon had vanished into the column of light. After having been drained of their energy, the five Scouts were now partially embedded into the trunk of the tree Lacy had previously inhabited. Artemis was looking ragged and beaten, after trying to defeat her all by himself. The Cardian was now staring down at him, getting ready to strike again.
“No good,” Artemis muttered tiredly. “I’m not strong enough.”
A bright light shining from above caught their attention. As they stared skyward, the Moon began to rapidly go through its phases, from waning crescent, to new, to waxing crescent, to full.
“The Moon…,” Artemis murmured incredulously.
“Nobody’s gonna mess around with the champion of the seasonal festivity, Hanami,” Sailor Moon’s voice stated from behind. Artemis gratefully turned around to see a column of light appear and Sailor Moon rising up from beneath the ground, with Luna beside her.
“I’m the Sailor Warrior fighting for love and justice, Sailor Moon!” she continued. “On behalf of the Moon, I’ll punish you!”
“I’m glad you two are okay,” Artemis said in a relieved tone.
“Artemis, I’m glad you held out by yourself,” Luna replied with a grin.
Lacy quickly recovered from her surprise at seeing Sailor Moon return and rushed at her again. This time, she fired several energy-charged petals from her tree branch hands at her. Sailor Moon deftly evaded each attack just moments before they could hit her.
As she was dodging one of Lacy’s attacks, she leaped aside a little too hard and hit the back of her head against one of the trees surrounding the clearing. Lacy took advantage of her dazed state and aimed for her head. Sailor Moon snapped out of her daze just in time to duck. The blast hit the tree trunk mere millimeters away from the top of her head. When she glanced back at the damage done to the tree, she gave a start. It looked as though a giant mouth took a huge bite out of the tree, then burnt the exposed area, leaving the inside of the tree charred black.
“Sailor Moon, fight on!” Luna shouted. “You’re the only one who can save your friends!”
“I know,” Sailor Moon replied.
Lacy leaped up into the air and extended her hands forward. The branches and leaves burst, leaving five petal-shaped claws on each hand. The Cardian then began to rapidly descend toward Sailor Moon. Sailor Moon took one glance at the claws on each hand and began to scream as she flung her arms protectively around her head and face and clenched her eyes shut.
A startled yowl caused her to warily glance upward. A white rose had struck the Cardian blossom-first in her face, causing her to halt her attack before it could reach her. She glanced toward where the rose had to have came from and saw him there, standing on one of the branches of a nearby tree.
“Tonight is a night quite suited to adore the beauty of flowers,” Moonlight Knight stated calmly to the fallen Cardian. “It is intolerable to have the flowers tarnished by such a filth as you.”
“Moonlight Knight-sama…,” Sailor Moon said.
“Sailor Moon, you’re the only one who can save your friends,” he told her.
Sailor Moon blinked in surprise for a second. That was the same thing Luna had just said a short while ago.
“Princess,” Queen Serenity’s voice called from above. As Sailor Moon glanced upward, the Moon flashed brightly for a second and a scepter flickering with a faint coruscating glow dropped from the sky and came to hover a small distance above her lap. It was pink with a red top. A miniature crown tipped the scepter, with a small pair of white wings attached at the joint between the top and the handle.
“What…?”
“Use this Moon Scepter to light the future,” Serenity’s voice told her.
“Right,” Sailor Moon said as she took the scepter in her hands and stood up. She raised the scepter over her head, then waved it in front of her and to her sides, powering up for her attack. When she was ready, she waved it in front of her again and over her head, ending with the scepter pointing straight at the Cardian. “Moon princess halation!” she shouted as a blast of energy issued forth from the scepter. The blast struck Lacy, destroying her. All that was left was a smoldering card stuck into the ground, its face pitch black.
Ail and Ann frowned as the energy flowing into the Doom Tree abruptly ceased.
“Lacy must have…,” Ail began.
“…failed,” Ann finished.
When Lacy vanished, the tree she was holding the others in vanished as well, dropping them onto the ground. Sailor Moon quickly rushed to their sides to check on them. Moonlight Knight followed as well, but stayed a short distance away and just watched.
Ami was the first to wake followed closely by Ryoku. She helped them both to sit up, allowing them to lean on her. The others were rousing as well.
“You’re okay,” she murmured gratefully. “I’m glad.”
“Sailor Moon,” Moonlight Knight said suddenly, causing the three to stare up at him. “It was very courageous of you to fight by yourself. The beauty of a courageous maiden surpasses even the flowers. Farewell.”
“Moonlight Knight-sama…,” Sailor Moon sighed dreamily as she watched him go.
“Thank you, Sailor Moon,” Ami said, turning her.
“I owe you my thanks as well,” Ryoku added.
“Thank you,” Minako added.
“Thank you,” Makoto added.
“Thanks,” Rei added.
All the gratitude that her friends were giving her caused Sailor Moon to blush slightly and smile.
“Now, she has made one step forward,” Luna said.
“She’s got a long way to go, though,” Artemis added.
“But if I may say so,” Rei interjected as she, Makoto and Minako slowly got to their feet, “I wish you could’ve saved us a little sooner.” Makoto’s and Minako’s jaws dropped in shock at the ungratefulness Rei was suddenly displaying. Ami and Ryoku shared a look and shook their heads in exasperation. Another fight was coming; they could sense it.
“There you go again!” Sailor Moon retorted heatedly as she stood up and stalked toward her. When she let go of Ami and Ryoku without letting them adjust to not having any support to hold them up, they began to topple backward, banging the backs of their heads together before they landed on top of Artemis, squashing him flat.
“Ow…,” Ami, Ryoku and Artemis moaned painfully.
Minako, Makoto and Luna sighed tiredly and shook their heads as they watched Sailor Moon and Rei stick out their tongues at each other. Ryoku helped Ami get to her feet and was rubbing the back of his head where his head and Ami’s collided together. “It’s just one of those days,” he muttered as he turned back to Ami. She was holding Artemis in her arms and was trying to comfort his injury by petting him.
“And we thought she grew up a bit,” Luna muttered as the two girls continued their tongue duel.
“That’s a long time in coming, Luna,” Ryoku remarked dryly. “I suppose the same could be said for Rei-chan as well….”
Sailor Moon and Rei scowled as they indignantly turned their backs to each other and crossed their arms over their chests. Sailor Moon’s scowl faded as she glanced upward at the Moon and smiled. As she gazed up at the Moon, she could see the smiling face of her mother of the past.
Thank you, Queen Serenity.
To Chapter 47: Dating Disaster