Sailormoon Neo: #13 - Fushigi na Kako to no Deai, Soshite Rage-jouou no Fushigi na Nazonazo - The Strange Encounter with the Past and the Strange Riddle of Queen Rage - By: Janelle Jimenez (miaka@bishounen.org) Official Webpage: http://www.sailormoon-millennia.net/ [http://bishounen.org/smmillennia/] (If you haven't gone there yet, WHAT are you waiting for?!) Note: Those who still haven't finished Sailormoon Zodiac, I warned you. Don't email me asking who characters are, because if you had read Zodiac like I recommended, then you'd know what all these events and who all these people were. :P "For Love and Justice, I am the Beautiful Sailor Soldier of the Star! I shall smite those who dare disturb the Opaque Prism, and my friends, I never lose." the Senshi of Star exclaimed holding up her Staff. Neo Sailormars suddenly blanched and grasped Neo Sailormoon's arm, "Oh my god.." she whispered, "Usa-chan...This aura...it's..your mother's aura." Neo Sailormoon's jaw dropped and she stared at Neo Mars in disbelief, "What are you saying?" she demanded. Neo Sailormars shook her head violently and gazed around at the rest of the Neo Senshi. They all wore looks of speculation and wariness on their face. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard you say. Neo-Queen Serenity is back on Earth." Neo Sailormercury muttered. "I don't want to believe it either...but it IS! It is the exact same aura that Neo-Queen Serenity and even you, Neo Sailormoon, emits!" Neo Mars cried. "What are you talking about?" the Sailor of Star demanded. "Who are you? How can you possibly have the same aura as me?!" Neo Sailormoon exclaimed. The Snake-Haired Guardian of the Opaque Prism looked confused for a moment, then she shook her head, "I see what you're doing. You're trying to confuse and distract me from my duty, well, it will not be done!" she shouted. She raised the Star Staff to the sky, the silver star charging with light blue energy. She was still cloaked by the darkness of the shadows, the snake eyes on her head gleamed green and as a wind picked up around her, the snakes began to writhe. "STAR GOLDEN ELIMINATION!" the Sailor shouted, the Heaven Wand quickly appeared in Neo Sailormoon's hands and she raised it to the sky just as the blue energy began to surge forward, "ANGEL MOON HEART BREAK!" she cried, a blast of pink energy raced to counter the blue energy. As they came in contact, a huge blast of energy and light sent the Neo Sailor Senshi reeling. Neo Sailormoon fell to her knees, the Silver Crystal in her brooch reacted and created a protecting shield around her. She slowly opened her eyes, finding herself unscathed. On the outside of the bubble, she could see her fellow teammates either unconscious, or in pain. She looked ahead and saw that the Snake-Haired Senshi was also protected by a bubble of light. Neo Moon stood up slowly, clutching the Heaven Wand tightly in her hands. Worries filled her mind, there was no way they'd be able to Sailor Teleport away now. They'd have to stay in the Aurora Galaxy until everyone healed--judging on the previous display of strength, it didn't look likely that anyone would heal before they were killed. "So you see, you cannot defeat me. Now, leave this place." the Guardian of the Opaque Prism ordered. Neo Moon glared her red eyes at the woman defiantly, "We can't leave, one way or another we'll get the Opaque Prism. Either we can work this out diplomatically, or we'll destroy you." she replied. The Snake-Haired Senshi didn't seem angered by Moon's statement, instead, she appeared saddened. She drew back into the shadows once more, the little they could see of her face cloaked by darkness once more. "Why..why can't..why can't I sense the evil in her?" Neo Sailormars whispered. "Maybe she's not evil." Neo Sailormercury said sarcastically as she stood up. Neo Sailormoon turned around and looked at Neo Mercury curiously, "Not..evil?" "You know, I've had about enough of this. Just give us the damn Opaque Prism." Neo Sailormercury said coldly, she brought her hands together, a blue ball of ice quickly began to form, "Aqua Ice Purification!" she shouted, the ball lept from her hands and struck the ground leaving a trail of frost as it raced towards the Guardian. "NO! STOP!" Neo Sailormoon screamed, however it seemed like everyone was deaf to her cries. "Crescent Eclipse!" "Chronos Shatter!" "Fire Bomb!" cried Neo Sailor V, Neo Sailorpluto, and Neo Sailormars almost in unison. The three added attacks raced towards the Senshi of Star. Neo Sailormoon ran in front of the Sailor of Star and held out her arms, "NO!" she screamed. "GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Neo Sailormercury shouted. Jupiter Kamen sprung into action and shoved Neo Moon out of the way, right before the attacks could hit her. Being unprotected, and unready, the attacks hit the Guardian of the Opaque Prism with full force. She cried out in pain and fell forward. "Chikuso! What were you doing?!" Neo Sailoruranus demanded. Neo Moon shook her head, "Why are you all so irrational?!" she cried, tears began to form in her eyes. "We were doing our job. She is the enemy." Neo Mercury replied coldly. "No, she isn't the enemy. She is just Guarding the Opaque Prism... it's her duty. We are the enemy, the intruders. Karei-chan didn't feel evil in her, because there isn't any. She has the aura of my mother and me!" Neo Sailormoon exclaimed. "I didn't say she was a good person like you and your mother. I said I couldn't sense the evil in her." Neo Sailormars answered, but nonetheless, she looked ashamed. Neo Sailormoon stared at the rest of the Neo Sailor Senshi in disbelief, she couldn't believe how heartless everyone seemed to be. She moved towards the fallen body of the Guardian of the Opaque Prism. She was lying on her side, her face and half her body still enveloped in shadows. The only thing visible was her arms and the bow on her sailorfuku. Neo Sailormoon kneeled down a few feet away from the girl, "Are you alright?" she asked gently. Neo Sailormercury shook her head in disbelief at Neo Moon's actions, "You're so weak." she muttered. Neo Sailormoon ignored Neo Mercury's words, the girl opened her eyes slowly and moved into the shadows. "Come out of the darkness, so we can see how badly you're hurt." Neo Moon coaxed soothingly. With much effort, the girl stood up and walked out of the darkness towards Neo Sailormoon. There was a gasp from behind Neo Moon. The girl was young, very young, perhaps only fourteen years old. They were previously unable to guess her age since she was hidden by the shadows and since they were too far away to decipher her age from her height. Her skin was somewhat pale, but her face was even more lovely in the light than in semi-darkness. Her eyes were a vibrant blue and in the middle of her forehead was a silver star. She was dressed in a fuku very different than theirs. The skirt was pleated, unlike theirs, dark blue with a silver stripe at the bottom. Her darkblue collar was also interuppted by a silver stripe. What was thought to be as snakes was actually her wavy dark blue hair in two odango at the side of her head. They were shaped in an elliptical fashion, the "eyes" were actually two emerald gems which were embedded in her hair. A slight breeze was what caused the tails to undulate, giving it the illusion of writhing snakes. "You're...you're just a little girl!" Neo Sailorpluto said incredulously. The girl stared at her, the look on her face was a cross between sadness and anger, "I...I guess you've won then." she whispered. "The Opaque Prism is yours, if you can pass the tests." she added. Gone was the adult-like arrogance she had earlier, it was replaced with a childlike disappointment. "Who are you?" asked Neo Sailorneptune, she knelt down to be at eye level with the child. Neo Neptune was only three years older, but this girl was very small. Her features were ancient, but undeniably human. Her eyes told the story of sadness and maturity, also of loneliness. "Are you here alone?" Neo Sailormars questioned. "My sister...and my protectors...they used to live here also. But they went away." the girl replied quietly. "Who was your sister?" Neo Mars asked. "Princess Solana." the girl answered. Neo Sailormoon dropped the Heaven Wand, her body began to shake. Neo Sailormercury's eyes widened, she was very informed on the history of Royal Family and the name definately rang a bell. "You're...you're my Grandmother Selenity's sister...from the Golden Millennium.." Neo Sailormoon whispered, she sunk down on her knees, "You're Princess Stella..." * * * * Red blood trickled out of the wound, seconds later the bleeding ceased and the blood vanished. The skin was once again unbroken and perfect. "I don't even feel the pain." Seishi whispered. The bloodied shard of glass fell from her fingers and back onto the broken picture frame. Droplets of blood marred the photo of herself, her mother, and her father. She was in a strange, psychotic daze. In a fit of anger, she had hurled the picture frame to her wall where it shattered. As she leaned over to clean up the mess, she was drawn to a sharp piece of glass and tried to cut herself with it. Seishi gazed at her arm--not a scar, not a mark, no indication was left from her masochistic test. "Am I still human?" she asked aloud. She felt a cold breeze against her neck as a prescence filled her room, "It is mere proof that the Mistress 9 rests dormant in you and that you are the Silent Angel." a feminine voice said in her mind. Seishi shut her eyes and ran her finger against the skin of her arm, cold and smooth. If I were normal, then I'd be feeling blood and broken skin...and pain, she thought. She opened her eyes and stared at her right palm, a hexagram shined on her skin. With her index finger on her left palm she gently traced it. In a trance, she reached for the shard of glass and held it in her left hand. She positioned it with the sharpest side facing downward. Blood trickled down the glass as she cut her fingers from the pressure of gripping the shard. With crude precision, she attempted to cut into her skin in the shape of the hexagram. To her surprise, not only did her attempts fail, but the glass disintegrated as it came in contact with the violet light. "It's unhuman...Unnatural..." she murmured, with glassy eyes of disbelief and horror, she looked at her fingers. Any evidence that it had been cut had been erased. Tears formed in her purple eyes as brought her legs up to her and curled into a ball in the corner of her bed. "I'm not real anymore.." she whispered. "Shino Seishi..." a voice said in the air, a slight wind ruffled the curtains. The evil in the room was thick enough to be felt. Seishi shuddered uncontrollably and her father's words came to her lips, "You murderer. You unnatural demoness. You killed your mother, you inhuman monster." she murmured, "Murderer...Unnatural...Inhuman..." she chanted. She rocked gently and dazed off into space, murmuring her chant. Lady 9 materialized beside Seishi and wrapped her arms around her, stroking her hair gently and motherly, "Perhaps you are, my child.." she said lovingly, "Okaa-sama..?" Seishi whispered staring at Lady 9. With her own distorted, tormented eyes, she saw her dead mother. Seishi rested her head against the unreal flesh of Lady 9, "Am I evil, Okaa-sama?" "Perhaps so...but you will be the Silent Angel, and everything will be alright then, my daughter.." Lady 9 replied playing up to Seishi's delusions. With a hidden evil smile, Lady 9 continued to stroke Seishi's hair, telling of things to come, cruelly shoving a girl already on sanity's edge... * * * * "Yes, I am Stella. Daughter of Queen Selestia of the Golden Millennium." said the girl as she gazed at Neo Sailormoon, "I'm also Sailor Star. People thought the name of this planet was Star, this is not the case." she added. Neo Sailormoon tried to think back to her history lessons. She knew very little about that time period for it was not spoken about much in her household. She knew it came before the Silver Millennium, she knew about the people who lived there, and that it was were her Grandmother Queen Selenity of the Silver Millennium was born and raised. However, she didn't know what happened to it...everytime she tried to ask her mother, Neo-Queen Serenity would get sad and upset. "You are the daughter of the daughter of my sister." Princess Stella said as she kept her eyes locked on Neo Moon. "You were there when the Golden Millennium was destroyed. You helped." "The Opaque Prism is yours, if you really are who you say you are and if you're heart is pure. Only if you trust in the power of the Prism will you be able to take it without being destroyed." Princess Stella said, ignoring Neo Moon's plea for innocence. Neo Moon nodded and looked towards the darkness that was just through the doorway of the palace. Neo Moon stood up off her knees and gripped the Heaven Wand in her hands and started towards the door. "You have nothing to fear, if you are pure of heart and pure of evil." Stella commented almost accusingly. Neo Sailormoon's heart iced over. She was sick of the accusations, she threw a cold glance over her shoulder, "I don't like to take chances with people I don't trust." * * * * Neo Sailormoon looked cautiously around her. The walls surrounding her were made of blue crystal. The hall looked so much like the main hall of the Crystal Palace in Crystal Tokyo that it was uncanny. She quickly concluded that the Opaque Prism was in the center of the Palace, just like the Silver Crystal was kept in the center of the Palace. "So that's Princess Stella..." Neo Moon said to herself as she expertly manuvered her way through the Prism Palace. "My great-aunt, but why is it that I can't trust her? What was she talking about too..about the Golden Millennium..." she wondered aloud. Neo Sailormoon stopped in midstep and looked up. Before her was a deep gaping hole, in the center was a floating crystal with a green pillow on top. Resting on the pillow was a very beautiful prism. It shimmered from green to blue. The effect was amazing. Although opaque, the crystal still refracted light and cast blue and green rainbows on the crystal walls of the Palace. Neo Moon furrowed her brows and looked around, "How am I supposed to get that?!" she demanded from the air, nothing answered her. She peered down the hole, it seemed bottomless. "This is a test...nothing more than a test. If I'm pure of heart and evil, and trully from the line of Selestia, then I'll be able to get this." she said to herself reassuringly. However, she doubted it would work. She didn't trust the words of Princess Stella. "Maybe I can will it to fly towards me." Neo Moon whispered, she concentrated on the Opaque Prism, "Come to me, Prism, come to Usa-chan." she coaxed. Nothing happened. "I command you to come to your new mistress, Princess Usagi Lady Serenity of Crystal Tokyo!" she shouted. Once again, nothing happened. Neo Moon lowered her head in shame. I can't believe I just did that, she thought. Neo Sailormoon sighed, she knew what she had to do, she had to trust in Princess Stella and in the Opaque Prism. She had to trust also that the Silver Crystal wouldn't let her die. Neo Sailormoon closed her eyes and took a deep breath and took a step near the edge of the hole. Sucking in her breath, and putting all her faith into the beautiful prism in the center of the room, she took a step forward. Solid. In amazement, Neo Moon opened her eyes. She was standing over the abyss, that was for sure. She bent down and lowered her hand to the floor and tapped on it. Glass. From her old location, it was impossible to tell that the hole was covered. It was a test...no one in their right mind would step into a bottomless pit. Neo Sailormoon giggled slightly as she walked slowly towards the floating crystal that held the Opaque Prism. "It was all a psychological test. Those who weren't pure or evil or pure of heart would know it, and would be afraid to step forward. Those who didn't really believe in the power of the Opaque Prism wouldn't trust that it would save them enough to step forward either...it's brilliant." she said to herself. She moved her fingers towards the Opaque Prism, she could feel it's light and warmth. Carefully, she ran a gloved finger against one of it's beautiful shimmering facets. Carefully, her fingers surrounded the Opaque Prism and lifted it off the green velvet pillow. Triumphantly, Neo Sailormoon marched out of the room and headed towards the entrance to the Prism Palace, where all her friends were waiting. On her way out, Neo Moon breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank god. We can go home, destroy the Dark Side of the Moon, and save Seishi from Lady 9...and we can live normal lives again." * * * * Queen Rage stared at her reflection in her glass of wine, still a very beautiful woman even afterall these years. She saw the same features she had when she was her normal self, however, now they were shadowed with darkness and evil. "I must get the Opaque Prism, it's the only way." she whispered to her reflection. She had forgotten much of her life before the transformation, but recently, twinges of her past revealed themselves to her dreams. She had been having constant blackouts where she would carry out actions she could not control. "Queen Rage-sama, I have news for you." Gallium said interrupting Rage's thought processes. Rage looked up slowly from her glass, "What is it now?" she asked crossly. Gallium gazed at her carefully, trying to fully understand her nature. Even after all this time, he was clueless. She was dynamic, always shifting thoughts and emotions. It was confusing and almost frightening--like she had two personalities. "I'm sorry if I have interruppted you, Your Highness, but this is news you've been wanting to hear for months. The Opaque Prism, the Neo Sailor Senshi have acquired it and have returned to Crystal Tokyo." Gallium reported. Queen Rage remained emotionless, "It took the deaths of two of my greatest generals and my the only relic I had from my world to get that damned thing." she said finally. "Not that I'm ungrateful, it just makes me wonder if there was perhaps another way." she added quickly. Gallium nodded politely. Queen Rage waved her hand apathetically, "At any rate, prepare yourself for a trip to Earth. You and I shall be going, but this time we shall be successful and I will be able to cure myself and return to my World." "Your Highness, if you will allow me to speak so freely.." Gallium began, seeing no objection he continued, "Where are you from? Even after all this time, none of us know." Queen Rage was silent for a moment then looked off to the left, she then gazed directly at him. Her eyes flashed for a moment and a very cold look came over her face, "Gallium, solve this riddle. My body was born over 3000 years ago, but only 2000 years from now. My soul was born 2000 years ago, but only 13 days from today."