Chapter
Three: Senshi Reunite
Haruka knew for a fact that Hotaru would never go back to sleep until they did something. So she woke Mirchiru and the three of them gathered in the kitchen, talking about possible solutions. They mainly only went up dead end streets but kept trying.
“Hotaru, maybe-“
Mirchiru was cut off by an older voice saying, “She’s right.”
The three turned and a bright mauve glow appeared in the center of the room. It took on the shape of a tall woman with long hair. In her left hand was a long staff, which resembled a large skeleton key. There was a flash of mauve and the soldier of time stepped forward.
Hotaru leapt up and ran to her, leaping into her arms.
“Setsuna-mama!”
Mirchiru and Haruka got to their feet and gasped, fear in their eyes.
“Sailor Pluto…” Haruka managed to stammer.
“What’s happening?” Mirchiru asked, her heart pounding.
The senshi of time saw their fear and smiled in a futile effort to reassure them. Her deep red eyes were filled with worry even as she tried to assure the child in her arms. Hotaru had her face buried in the older woman’s dark green hair. She had wrapped her legs around the woman’s waist and her feet brushed her skirt, which was such a deep green it was nearly black. The soldier of time calmly walked over to the table and set the child down, gently.
“I saw twists and turns in the time strands I have never seen before.” She said calmly. “Twists that go beyond Earth’s time span. We’re dealing with strange powers here. Powers so great I’ve been granted leave of my post at the Gates of Time until they’re resolved.”
The two older soldiers looked at one another. The fact that Pluto was given leave of her post was something serious indeed. She had guarded them for centuries. From before the Silver Millennium, over one thousand years ago. She rarely left them.
“You’re right about another thing too, Hotaru,” the older woman continued. “The inner senshi and the Princess have a right to know. This is too much for either group, inner or outer, to handle alone. We need to team up.”
The three girls nodded.
As Mirchiru and Haruka went to call the inners, Mirchiru leaned against Haruka. The soldier of the sky rubbed her shoulder. Mirchiru sighed and let the strong hands of Haruka bring reassurance to her, if only temporarily. The communicators of the senshi were malfunctioning when the two last tried them so they went to the telephone. It was late, nearly two o’clock. The inners would not be pleased to be woken up on the first day of summer vacation. Everything had been peaceful as of late but it seemed that was over. Haruka lifted the phone from its cradle and punched in Usagi’s number.
* * *
“Usagi-chan!”
The Princess of the White Moon groaned as she felt her cat Luna clawing at her arm.
“Wwwhattt?” she moaned, barely opening her eyes.
“The phone’s ringing, Dumpling Hair!”
Usagi groaned. She thought the others and her cat would have forgotten that infernal nickname. But no. Just to stop her cat’s pestering; she fumbled on her dresser until she reached her phone.
“What?” she practically hissed.
“Well, hi to you too, Dumpling Hair.” A voice chuckled.
“What is it, Haruka-san?”
“Danger’s coming. I know it’s late but could you and the others possibly make it over here in the next hour?”
“Oh, Haruka-san. It’s summer.” She whined.
“I know. But Hotaru is having visions again and Setsuna came back.”
“Say WHAT!?”
That woke her up all the way. She sat up so fast that if Luna had still been sitting on her shoulder she’d have gotten whiplash. Luckily she had jumped down and was sitting by her Princess’ left arm. Usagi stopped to catch her breath before saying,
“Sailor Pluto left the Time Gates!?”
“Yeah. That’s one reason I’ve worried. From your tone of voice, you are too.”
“Of course I am! She NEVER leaves! We’ll be there as soon as we can.”
“Thanks. I’ll try and calm Hotaru down before you get here.”
“Okay,” she said seriously. “I’ll see you soon.”
“Okay, bye.”
Usagi hung up her phone and looked at her cat, fear in her eyes.
“What is it, Usagi-chan?”
“Pluto’s back and Hotaru is having visions of danger again.”
“Another enemy?”
“I hope not.” Usagi said slowly. “My broach was destroyed. Remember?”
“Yes. But don’t worry we’ll figure something out. The Silver Crystal is still intact, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. Don’t worry, Usagi-chan. Your mother is watching and she’ll guide you.”
The Princess of the White Moon shifted her eyes to look directly into her cat’s eyes. Tears filled her eyes and she gathered Luna into her lap.
“Thanks Luna. I needed that.”
* * *
Rei sat up suddenly. Sweat poured down her face. She had called the inners when she felt danger but whenever she tried to find out what it was, she sensed nothing. The others had convinced her she was being paranoid since Galaxia was defeated. At the time, it had made sense. But now the sense of danger came again, with intensity she had never felt before.
She almost went to the Fire Room to meditate but then her phone rang.
“Yes?”
“Rei-chan?”
“Usagi-chan?”
“Yeah it’s me. Listen, be at the outers’ house as soon as you can.”
“What? Why?”
“Haruka-san called me and said that Hotaru-chan is having visions again. And Pluto’s back.”
The soldier of fire swallowed hard. She nodded even though Usagi couldn’t see her. “Okay. Do you want me to call anyone else?”
“Just Makoto and Minako. I already called Ami.”
“Okay,” Rei almost hung up but then added. “Don’t worry, Usagi-chan. We’ll pull through this together.”
There was a pause and then a “Thanks. I really mean it. Thank you, Rei-chan.”
The warrior of the flames smiled and said, “You’re welcome. I’ll see you at Haruka-san’s house. Don’t be fashionably late like usual, okay?”
There was growl from Usagi at the teasing and then a laugh. “Don’t worry, I’ll be there.”
Rei nodded and hung up with a, “See ya soon.”
As soon as her phone hit the cradle she was up. She grabbed her priestess uniform and slipped some sandals on her feet. Running a brush through her black hair, she grabbed her hensin wand and tore outside. Grabbing her bike, she took off with a speed unknown to her.
* * *
Hotaru sat at the kitchen table, a glass of juice in her hand. Setsuna tried to get her to drink it since she hated milk with a passion. The child needed some kind of nourishment. Haruka and Mirchiru and disappeared to their own separate rooms while they waited for the inners. Mirchiru didn’t know what to do about her mirror. As long as the glass was cracked, she couldn’t use it.
Haruka on the other hand had been in her room examining her own talisman. She stared at remnants of the Space Sword. Galaxia had snapped the blade with two fingers. It couldn’t be used now but she couldn’t bring it upon herself to throw them away. As for Pluto and Saturn, their own sticks had been snapped but unlike the others they didn’t reveal their torment in it. Saturn was practically helpless now as her Silence Glaive had been her way of launching all her attacks, whether offensive or defensive. Still, she had a feeling that tonight something would happen that just might fix that. She wasn’t sure what but she knew something would happen.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Setsuna got up from her place at the counter and answered it.
“Hello, Princess.” She said softly. “Come in.”
Usagi normally would have said not to call her Princess but she had learned that it was habit the Soldier of Time was not likely to overcome. She merely nodded and followed the older woman inside. Setsuna kept the door open as she saw some others just coming up. In a few minutes, Ami, Makoto, Minako, and Rei were inside as well. Haruka and Mirchiru came downstairs and Hotaru joined them in the living room.
“Well,” Usagi stated. “What is it?”
“We’re not sure.” Mirchiru admitted. “We just know there is severe danger approaching. Pluto has been granted leave of her post until it’s resolved, Hotaru is having nightmares about death and darkness, and my mirror cracked.”
The inner senshi swallowed hard and nodded, fear building in their eyes. Hotaru spoke up.
“I think that I can help.”
Everyone turned to look at her. She sighed and threw her hensin wand to the ground. The others caught on and tossed their own wands into the mix. Only Usagi didn’t. She had no transformation device. The soldier of destruction smiled at her and said softly,
“The Silver Crystal, Princess.”
Very slowly, Usagi bent and laid the glimmering stone atop the pile of colored sticks.
Hotaru took Ami and Makoto’s hands. Makoto grabbed Haruka’s while Ami took Mirchiru. Mirchiru took Setsuna’s and Setsuna took Rei’s. Minako grabbed Haruka’s other hand and finally Rei and Minako grabbed Usagi’s.
Hotaru spoke softly.
“Close your eyes and draw on the full force of your planets.”
They did as asked. The mark of their respective planets appeared on their foreheads and the crescent moon on Usagi’s. The Silver Crystal began to glow brightly. Very slowly, each wand began to hum with power. Then suddenly, a bright flash of light nearly blinded them even with their eyes shut. As they opened them, their own respective wands appeared in front of them.
But they were changed.
Ami glanced at hers. It had turned into a solid white stick with a dark blue stone lodged on the top. Engraved in the stone was the mark of Mercury. Atop the beautiful stone was a small crescent moon, much brighter than the rest of the stick. Silver bands encircled the stick and came to a stop at the edge of points of the crescent moon. This showed that she was part of the Royal Court of Princess Serenity, the court that guarded the Moon Princess with their lives. She slowly grasped it and just gaped at its beauty.
Rei grabbed hers immediately. It was similar to Mercury’s. Her stick was white with the same silver bands intertwining it and joining at the points of a crescent moon. The difference was that her stone was deep red with the mark of Mars in the center. She stared at it and clutched it to her chest.
Makoto grasped her own and stared at it. It was white as were the others with the silver bands intertwining to meet the points of a crescent moon. Her own stone was a dark and cool green crystal with the symbol of Jupiter clearly visible in the center of it. She smiled and said gently, “Way cool.”
Minako had not touched hers yet. It still hovered in front of her. It was white with the same silver belts knitted over it to meet the points of the crescent moon. Her crystal sparkled with a bright yellow color and the mark of Venus gleamed from inside it. She took it and realized her hands were trembling. She swallowed hard and managed to say, “Pretty.”
Usagi looked at the broach hovering in from of her. It held the silver crystal but the crystal was now the shape of the same crescent moon as the one that gleamed atop her forehead. A star shaped case held it. The top was silver and had twin strips of white pearls draped in half loops over each point. She slowly took it and opened it.
Inside was the crescent shaped Silver Crystal. Half moons decorated the inside. Inside each was a mark of a planet. They were arranged around the Crystal. The three on one side were Neptune, Uranus, and Pluto. The three on the other side were Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter. At the top of the crystal in the direct center was the mark of Mars. On the botttom, in the direct center was the mark of Saturn. Usagi smiled. “It’s beautiful.”
The outers’ wands varied a tad from the inners’. Hotaru stared at her own. It was solid silver not white with golden bands twirling around it. Instead of a crescent moon, they met the edges of a star point embedded in a crescent moon. This proved that she was part of the Royal Court and the Royal Guard, which protected the solar system from invaders. Her gem was also in the shape of her planet. It was deep purple shade. In a bright white color engraved on it was the mark of Saturn.
Haruka looked at hers as soon as she could. Hers was silver and had the golden strips meeting the crescent moon and star. The gem was deep orange and in the shape of Uranus. On top of the gem’s surface in bright white script was the sign of Uranus.
Mirchiru did not remove hers from the air. It hovered in front of her. It was silver with the same golden stripes. The same crescent moon and star sat atop the gem. Her gem was in the shape of her home planet, Neptune. It gleamed a deep aqua green color. In the center, in pure white, was the mark of Neptune.
Setsuna let her own wand rest on her hand. It was silver like all the other outers and with the same shapes atop and the same golden bands. Her gem was a dark forest green in the shape of the smallest planet, Pluto. But it was the same size as the others. They all waited to see what would happen next.
Suddenly a bright purple flash lit up in front of Hotaru. She gasped and backed up. Everyone else turned their eyes and just stood speechless. They waited with Hotaru to see what was going on.
Hotaru’s jaw hit the floor.
Her Silence Glaive appeared in front of her. It was still in two pieces. But then, the pieces pressed against each other a bright purple glow slid up the whole of the weapon and when the glow disappeared, her glaive was completely whole again. The difference from this weapon and her old one was that the black body of the pole had bleached to deep violet. And fixed in the smaller of the two blades, in the dead center was a small, round, purple gem. The larger blade had taken on a purple glint on the edge of the hooked end. She grasped it tightly and knew that this blade was from her mother. When they called on their planets, their mothers from the Moon Kingdom had given them these new hensin wands and hers had given her another glaive with added power. She squeezed the blade tightly. She could fight again. Softly, she mumbled,
“Thank you, Mother.”
A similar glow had appeared in front of Setsuna. It took on the shape of her time key. She gasped and watched as a mauve glow spread over the shape. When the glow vanished, her time key was fully restored. The difference was that the red of the Sacred Gem atop it had dulled to a mauve color. She grasped it and thanked her mother, silently.
Mirchiru watched as her mirror appeared in front of her. An aqua green glow overtook the whole of it. With a bright flash, her mirror changed. The surface of the glass was entirely repaired and seemed to glow brighter. The deep green of the mirror had changed. Now it was a deep bluish shade and the mark of Neptune had switched from the back to the front, directly at the top, just before the glass started. Her smile was thanks enough.
Even with everything else that was happening, Haruka was still surprised when her space sword appeared before her. It lit up bright orange and then flashed. The glow disappeared and there hovered the sword, entirely whole again. The blade’s color had gone from a red to a deep orange. The hilt of the sword now held the mark of her planet at the edge. She grasped it and smiled. “Thanks.”
The soldiers looked at each other. Usagi smiled.
“I think we have a chance now.”
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