Alternate Millennium (Title in Progress)
By Chmia
Beta-Readers:
Author’s Notes: This fan-fiction takes place after Sailor Moon Stars, but it will not concern the formation of Crystal Tokyo. There will be a little bit of time-travel, but don’t worry too much about that. I’ll try to keep it minimal and I will always tell you what the setting is, so you know what time period you are in.
On a completely unrelated side-note, I will not be using random Japanese words in this story. I do not claim to know Japanese at all, so it would be ridiculous if I attempted to use “baka” or whatever every now and then. However, I will use the Japanese version, when I know them, of the names of the characters.
Sorry for taking so long to upload the next chapter. My computer unexpectedly crashed and deleted a huge part of chapter four. I wanted to recover that chapter before posting chapter two. Just trying to stay ahead and prepared.
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A Brief Look Into Chapter One
Sailor Moon found it very uncomfortable that Sailor Pluto did not speak at first, but she wasn’t about to question the senshi of time. After a minute or so of walking, Sailor Pluto had led her to an area of the moon that had not suffered any visible damage or at least nothing involving blood and corpses. For the first time since she had arrived, Sailor Moon allowed herself to relax a little. “Sailor Moon, I never meant for you to see any of this. This time was not meant for you.”
Regret was abound, but in truth, there was no one else that would be able to make things right, despite what Pluto had said. The time was not supposed to have happened, but Sailor Moon was needed to correct the wrongs. “I don’t understand, Pluto.”
“This,” Sailor Pluto said, indicating the wide expanse around them with her hand, “is the end of the Silver Millennium.”
~~~~~
Chapter Two: The Destruction of the Silver Millennium
First Setting: The Silver Millennium
Wide, cerulean eyes followed the motions of Sailor Pluto’s hands with a growing uncomfortable realization of when and where she was within time. If Sailor Moon had continued to wander around the ruins, there would have been a possibility of stumbling upon her past self, Princess Serenity, laying dead in the arms of her lover, Prince Endymion, and yet here she, Sailor Moon, was alive to witness the destruction and death of her own kingdom in the far gone past. It would almost be like looking at your own tombstone before you died (or after you died and were reincarnated, in this special case). All of a sudden, she was confused and very grateful the Sailor Pluto had found her before she could have wandered further into the ruins. It was not something she wanted to see, ever.
The Senshi of Time placed a hand upon Sailor Moon’s shoulder before the blonde could frighten herself with the intricacies and knowledge of traveling through time and the perception of time. “Sailor Moon, the seal your mother, Queen Serenity, intended for Beryl was not successfully completed and she is currently extending her rule on Earth.”
Sailor Moon was startled as her understanding of the Silver Millennium was changed by Sailor Pluto’s statement. The blonde looked up at her fellow senshi with the same questioning and fearful eyes as doubts and uncertainties about the future took hold in her mind. Would her daughter and Mamoru… Would she … What about her friends… And Crystal Tokyo? Stifling a breathless gasp with her hand, she felt as if someone had punched her in the stomach.
“The Golden Kingdom on Earth has been severely weakened by the destruction of the moon, which watched over them from afar. Beryl had manipulated the Earth’s peoples and governments to destroy the largest threat, the Silver Millennium. Now, the Golden Kingdom has lost its only heir, Prince Endymion, and its King and Queen, who had been pregnant with their second child. Many of the relatives of the royal family and the Golden Kingdom’s government officials also lost their lives and, as such, no clear successor could be found. ”
As she spoke, Sailor Pluto’s hand guided Sailor Moon’s fearful and shocked eyes to the once beautiful blue and green orb scarred by destruction. Fires, wars, earthquakes, anarchy, chaos, and devastating magic had marred the beauty of Earth so fiercely that it was possible to see the scorched earth from the moon.
“As we speak, Beryl and her Generals are conquering the rebellious territories and quickly gaining control of the remaining populations on Earth.” Tears had been brimming in Sailor Moon’s eyes as she listened to the unfolding story of devastation and catastrophe she had strove to prevent ever since she became a senshi. For years, she and her senshi had fought to protect friends, family, and the future. To discover that all of their efforts had been for nothing, because the past had been changed, was devastating. The Earth look so scarred and destroyed, almost pitiful.
A great pain rose in her chest as she imagined the pain, loss of hope, and despair felt by the people on Earth who wanted nothing to do with Beryl’s terror. The red-haired witch had slaughtered so many helpless people on the moon and it physically pained Sailor Moon to know the same slaughter was happening on the Earth.
“What can I do?” Sailor Moon begged. Her hands were clasped tightly around the Moon Power Tiare. She was visibly shaken by the destruction and the devastation, but her fear was controlled by her determination to change what was happening and aid the humans on Earth before Beryl destroyed all of their dreams and wishes.
As if she had already known that Sailor Moon would beg for the chance to aid the people of Earth, a small smile flitted across Sailor Pluto’s lips. “First, listen further,” she said, raising a hand to silence the blonde woman. “There will be no one from the Silver Millennium you are familiar with that will be able to help you during your journey. The senshi, including Princess Serenity, are dead and in the processes of reincarnation. During this time period, you are not Princess Serenity nor are you Sailor Moon. For your own safety and the safety of this timeline, you cannot be recognized as Princess Serenity or as her reincarnation. Due to the circumstances, you cannot be recognized as a Lunarian, neither.”
Looking determinedly at the Earth with a sense of longing, Sailor Moon listened intently to Sailor Pluto’s words and warnings. However, she was worried about journeying to Earth. Her memories of the Silver Millennium and her knowledge of what happened after the fall of the Silver Millennium was very limited. There would be no one there to help her and it sounded like Earth was very dangerous and unpredictable right now. “Would you be able to help me?” Sailor Moon asked of Sailor Pluto.
“Sometimes I may be allowed to aid you during your journey.”
The blonde senshi’s shoulders slumped with disappointment. The Time Gate required Sailor Pluto’s attention, especially if this timeline was disrupted and distorted. Sailor Moon knew this very well, so the answer and resulting disappointment had been expected.
“For now, Sailor Moon, you will be on your own.”
~~~~~
Second Setting: The Present
The warm rays and bright sunlight seeped through the light, green curtains bordering the windows in Makoto’s apartment. The sunlight did not touch the farthest corners of the room, which were instead lit by a lamp and the dim light from a laptop computer. Sitting next to the laptop was a small, handheld blue computer and on its screen flashed strange, foreign images and text. Dark, blue hair shrouded Ami’s face as her fingers quickly scurried across the keys of both computers in a desperate search for an answer or a clue.
The young woman’s mind focused so intently on her desperate search that the opening of the door startled her. Ami hit her knees and the chair against the desk and jolted a sandwich, causing the food to tumble onto the ground. “Ami?” Minako peeked her head around the door. “Oh, sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Ami sighed deeply, “It is alright. You just startled me.” Pushing away from the table she had stationed herself for the past two hours, she bent over to retrieve the half-eaten sandwich Makoto had brought to her an hour ago. From across the room, Rei awoke from a light slumber when Minako entered the room.
“No wonder the mood in here sucks. Let’s let in some light!” Minako hurried across the room and flung open the curtains. Artemis dutifully padded across the carpet behind Minako. “Minako,” he started in an admonishing tone.
Rei winced and shielded her eyes as the room was bathed in sunlight, “That is not exactly the reason for the mood, Minako.”
Minako paused with her hand on the curtains when Rei reminded her. “I’m trying to be positive,” she whispered, staring out of the window at nothing in particular. Sighing, she let her eyes linger on the windowsill before she gently sat on the edge of the bed with Artemis in her lap.
Despite the cheery sunlight, the mood in the bedroom continued to be tense and depressing while the three girls did not speak to each other. Mamoru shifted in his chair before grabbing a pool of blonde hair that hung off the bed. The reflection of the sunlight imbued the hair with a sense of liveliness and beauty that were strangely absent in the young woman’s face. Mamoru’s chest tightened as he held the soft locks in his hand and the feelings of helplessness and guilt overwhelmed him, “Usagi, please,” he whispered.
Only a few hours had passed since the large group had returned from the beach. The group had taken turns getting cleaned up and taking a shower while Makoto made food and tea. “Mamoru, I’ll watch her while you clean up.” Rei whispered from her place on the floor next to the bed and his chair. She knew that the man, at the expense of his own physical and mental health, would stay by his fiancée’s side until she awoke. Mamoru shook his head even when Rei placed an urging hand on his leg. “No,” he whispered adamantly. “It won’t take very long,” she urged, “just fifteen minutes.”
Mamoru gently ran his fingers through Usagi’s hair as she lay prone on the bed. His fingers traveled downward until his hand rested on her hand. Sighing, he gripped her limp hand in his own before gently resting it alongside her body on the bed. “I won’t be long,” he said, more for his own peace of mind rather than for Rei or even for Usagi.
Usagi had been unconscious ever since Mamoru had rescued her body from the rubble of the broken seawall at the beach. Despite having searched after the authorities left the area, Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Mars were unable to find the youma or figure out where it had come from. For hours, Ami had been diligently monitoring Usagi and simultaneously running several searches to understand where the youma had come from and if there were more to be found. Minako called all of the parents and had told them that she and the other girls had decided to rent a beach house and were staying for a few more nights outside of the city.
“Have you found anything yet, Ami?” Minako questioned, getting up from the foot of the bed. Artemis leapt from his senshi’s arms and landed softly on the computer desk to offer his assistance.
“No, not yet. Thank you, Artemis.” Ami muttered, intently staring at the computers. The blonde gripped the back of Ami’s chair and peered over her friend’s shoulder to look at the two computer screens. She blanched when she tried to read the writing on either of the two screens. “But,” Ami said, whirling around in the chair and throwing Minako off-balance. “Someone needs to contact Michiru and Haruka to alert them to the new presence of youma and of Usagi’s current condition.”
Minako grinned and pulled out her senshi communicator, “I’ll do it.” She was discouraged from calling either woman when Rei stood up and crossed the room. “Don’t bother,” the brunette said, “I already tried after we got back from the beach.” This caused Minako to pout slightly as she turned her communicator off. “The call was not able to go through,” the brunette continued to speak.
“Maybe they will call back later?” Minako asked uncertainly, fiddling with the senshi communicator on her wrist. Rei paused, as if to consider what Minako said, but shook her head after a moment of consideration. “It does not even work. The screen was blank, at first, but after a minute all I could hear was static,” Rei said, as she pulled out her communicator to demonstrate. Ami and Minako looked at the communicator in Rei’s hands as it tried to connect to Michiru’s senshi communicator. Just as she had said, the screen of the communicator remained blank for a long moment before it shrilly squealed with static.
The girls flinched in response to the high-pitched squealing before Rei turned the communicator off and returned it to her wrist. Ami looked contemplative for a moment before she turned to her computer as she pulled out her own senshi communicator. “It is unusual, but Michiru and Haruka must be out of the service area. The extent of the service area has not been previously tested, but based upon previous experiences the service area must be large enough to cover the entire country. I would suggest contacting Hotaru, if possible,” Ami said. “Perhaps she is aware of where they are.”
Grinning, Minako made eye contact with Rei and quickly offered, “I’ll do it.” Neither Rei nor Ami argued with Minako as the blonde woman left the room to make a call to the youngest senshi. As the door opened, a small, black cat darted through the opening before her tail was squished by Minako slamming the door. Without saying a word, Luna jumped to Ami’s lap and then onto the table in front of the laptop computer next to Artemis.
“Do you have a picture and statistics on the youma we battled at the beach? I may have remembered something very important,” Luna said, pointing toward the smaller Mercury Computer with a paw. Ami nodded and pulled the computer closer as she searched for the information. The door opened again and Makoto walked in with a tray with small bowls of rice and soup, and a plate of sandwiches and rice balls.
Rei came forward to take her share of the food while Makoto placed Minako’s share aside and handed the remaining bowl of rice and soup to Ami. Leaning over to look at the computer screen, Makoto handed the tray of sandwiches and rice balls to Rei.
Luna said, “I think we’ve seen that youma before. It looked familiar, for some reason.”
All three girls and two cats peered intently at the screen of the Mercury Computer as an image of the youma uploaded. Makoto’s eyes squinted as she tried to remember one specific youma out of the hundreds she and the other senshi had fought over the years. After a couple moments of silence, the tall brunette shook her head. “I don’t remember this one. Is it one of the earlier youma from before I became Sailor Jupiter?”
Ami shook her head, “I have never fought this youma before, either. There are no previous statistics or images recorded on my Mercury Computer. If the senshi have fought against this youma, than it was either Usagi or Minako.” The three girls looked back to the unconscious young woman lying on Makoto’s bed. Artemis shook his head in response, “Minako has never fought this youma, either.”
Luna quirked her head to the side, placed a paw on the screen, and then yowled in recognition. “This was one of the first youma Sailor Moon ever fought!” Her tail began to twitch as she talked, “But that means...” Luna’s voice trailed off as she looked behind her at Ami to confirm a startling and previously unthinkable conclusion.
“Hold it,” Rei snapped, holding up a hand to stop Luna or Ami from speaking further. “Are you telling me that we just fought one of Beryl’s youma at the beach? That cannot be possible! We defeated her years ago and I seriously doubt that one of her youma survived, even if it was one of the first youma Sailor Moon ever fought.”
Ami furiously began to type on her Mercury Computer as Luna tried to calm the other girls down and prevent anyone from making hasty conclusions. “I am not saying it is exactly the same youma, but the resemblance is truly remarkable. It is worth further exploration to see if perhaps some portion of Beryl’s army survived or if her influence spread to a different faction. I was not yet awakened as Sailor Mercury when Sailor Moon first began fighting, so my computer does not have any records that would allow for an adequate comparison.”
Rei simmered in her own thoughts. Years ago, she and the other senshi had defeated Beryl and, later on, Metallia. There should not be any sort of “influence” left to corrupt people and produce youma. It deeply hurt her pride and she wondered if she had failed all those years ago, which put Usagi in danger today.
Luna continued to talk, “It could be possible that it has taken so many years for “them,” whomever that may be, to appear because they have been gathering strength and waiting for us to grow lax.”
Makoto crossed her arms over her chest and shrugged at Luna’s statement. “That is sort of a long time to stay quiet.”
A short, dismissive sound from the back of Ami’s throat caused Luna to pause and turn to look at the senshi of Mercury. “No?” The black cat questioned. The small screen of the computer was held in front of the group for everyone to see. The statistical figures and symbols were almost meaningless to Makoto and Rei, but Ami quickly explained what she had found. “I’m not quite certain, especially without previous data to serve as a comparison, but I think the youma signals a disruption in the timeline. We need to contact Sailor Pluto as soon as possible.”
“Crap,” Makoto muttered. “This could be really bad.” Rei immediately turned on her wristwatch communicator and walked toward the window to seclude herself from the murmuring and hushed voices. As Rei attempted to contact Sailor Pluto, the others quietly debated, with interspersed exclamations, the data on the computers, the absence of Michiru and Haruka, and Usagi’s condition. Makoto’s ideas were all loosely connected, but she was quickly jumping to conclusions. The ideas, which seemed plausible, scared Luna, who tried to calm herself and Makoto down. Artemis had left the room to tell Minako of the latest developments. On the other hand, Ami used the little factual data she did have to illustrate that only tenable conclusions could be drawn until they talked with Sailor Pluto. “I doubt we can even contact her,” Makoto sighed in exasperation.
“Is it really a surprise?” Rei said perturbed as she walked back toward the group. “And no, I can’t get a hold of her, either. Hopefully, Minako contacted Hotaru, but I would not be surprised if we are unable to contact any of them.”
“We could try going over to their house,” Makoto suggested half-heartedly. “I’ll see if Minako found anything or if she wants to go over there.” She took one last look at the image of the youma on the computer before leaving the room to find Minako and, hopefully, Hotaru. Not even a minute had passed before both Makoto and Minako walked back into the room. Minako no longer looked very excited and instead a look of worry had plastered itself to her features.
Minako smiled half-heartedly, “I could not get a hold of Hotaru, either. The communicator was all static, just like when Rei tried to call Michiru.” She slumped down onto the foot of the bed, “I’m worried that something is wrong. A new enemy or one of Beryl’s leftovers just appeared and we can’t get a hold of the other senshi. They did not even tell us there were going... somewhere.” Shrugging, she floundered to find the right word, but in the end she had no idea where the other senshi could possibly be. The blonde woman looked behind her at Usagi lying prone and unconscious on the bed. “We are really vulnerable right now.”
The women stayed quiet for a few minutes as all of the news and questions sunk in. The silence was broken when Mamoru came back into the room with a towel hung over his shoulders. With one end of the towel, he dried his hair as he asked expectantly, “Did you find anything new?”
~~~~~
Third Setting: The Silver Millennium
A cloaked woman stood over the destruction and anarchy of a small city nestled in between a once, fertile valley. The city was pockmarked by burning houses and ransacked buildings with intermittent throngs of people running rampant through the streets and alleyways. The cloaked woman sadly looked upon the city and tears flowed freely down her cheeks, as she stood immobile. “This is horrible,” she whispered, tears choking in her throat.
The cloak lifted upon the breeze as she turned around to look at her companion behind her. The soft breeze parted the cloak and the hood fell backwards upon her shoulders to let long, blonde hair mingle freely with the wind. “How could this have happened?” Usagi whispered. However, she was startled to discover that she was now alone. “Sailor Pluto?”
After leading Usagi to the closest settlement upon the Earth, Sailor Pluto left the young woman with a repeat of her warnings and directions, a change of clothes, a cloak, and a small purse of money. She was not to be associated with Princess Serenity or the moon nor was she to be recognized as Princess Serenity’s reincarnation nor was she to transform into Sailor Moon, unless in dire circumstances. The cloak and change of clothes would help to hide her appearance and disguise where she had really come from, the distant future.
Never before had she confronted such a large undertaking all on her own. When she first became a senshi, Luna had been there to guide her and all of her friends offered their support soon after. Of course, there had been battles in which she had been on her own, but nothing like this. The blonde woman was terrified and, despite Sailor Pluto’s instructions, she had no idea what to do. The task seemed simple enough: find Beryl and seal her, but she could not just find Beryl’s lair, barge in and do that on her own without some sort of prior planning. For one, she had no idea where Beryl was, except that she was somewhere on Earth. Hopefully, she was somewhere nearby.
Even though Usagi had defeated Beryl a couple of years ago, she was still nervous now about fighting and sealing Beryl on her own. Her memories of the Silver Millennium were incomplete and she knew almost nothing about what happened afterwards. The senshi were not here with her, so she knew no one; there was no one here to help her, unless she made some new friends. The destruction, anarchy, and chaos below her would truly test her faith and belief in the good of humanity.
Sighing, the moon princess tried to gather all of her courage before going down into the small city. There had to be someone down there who would help her. Perhaps, he or she, her future friend, was hiding? Flipping the hood to cover her long, golden hair, Usagi began to step down into the valley to enter the city.
~~~~~
Poised at the edge of the city, the raucous screams of terror or illusory joy became deafening. The blonde woman stood immobile at the edge of the city with wide, terrified eyes. Her heart began to beat faster and her breath caught in her throat as the shrieks grew louder. From where she stood, she saw rubble surrounding partially burned or still burning houses and buildings. Filth-covered people dashed in between and around the burned debris with stolen objects stuffed in their arms and clothing. Some of their clothing was hanging precariously off their bodies after having been torn during fights and struggles.
Usagi gasped in horror when she saw a man, dazed and in a state of shock, drag himself and a charred bundle out of a still-burning building. “Oh my god!” She gasped, seeing him drop to the ground screaming in horror and pain. His right leg had somehow been horribly mangled during the fire for the remnants of his soot-covered clothing were burned into the wounds while blood and pus ran freely down his leg. The bundle he had been caring, perhaps a small child, tumbled to the ground and rolled away from its owner.
Usagi’s hand reached out toward the man and she began to run toward him, but stopped herself short when another man dashed from behind the building. “I have found him!” the other man screamed joyously. For a brief moment, she hoped that the other man would help the poor, burned man with his tossed bundle, but her hopes were quickly and abruptly dashed. The other man raised a broken piece of timber high above his head and brought it down repeatedly upon the burned man’s head. Usagi was unable to stop her shrill scream of terror.
Her hand quickly covered her mouth to stilt the screams when the other man stopped his brutal actions to look at the pretty, cloaked blonde woman not far away from him. “Shh, lady of beauty. Soon you shall experience my touch.” He chuckled, obviously pleased by her reaction. There was nothing she could do for the poor man now and she did not felt confident she could do any good against a murder if she did not become Sailor Moon. Whirling around quickly, she stumbled forward before quickly regaining her feet and dashing far, far away from the frightening, lecherous man.
“Oh god, oh god,” she gasped, unaware of where she was running to; all that mattered was that she was not being followed. More horrifying scenes whizzed past her vision as she ran as quickly as she could. Frantic people, who viciously protected their loot, were stealing from shops and markets while the frightened owners of houses and shops were assaulted while they valiantly attempted to protect his or her livelihood. Children hid or ran screaming for their parents and parents hid or ran screaming for their children. Feral dogs and cats were feasting on edible debris and drunken men and drunken women stumbled through the street carrying alcohol.
Looking behind her to see if her purser was gone, Usagi accidentally stumbled into a small, drunken mob. A tumbler of alcohol drenched the front of her cloak as she gasped in horrified surprise. The drunken woman leaned forward and leered closely at Usagi’s cloaked face before reaching out and roughly grabbing Usagi’s chest. “It’s a female!” The drunken woman slurred, leaning further forward for a long sniff. “Smells too good, too. You pretty and rich?” Usagi pulled the cloak tighter around her body and quickly looked away in response to the woman’s advances. “No,” Usagi choked, “Please stop.”
Another man wrapped his arm around Usagi’s waist and pulled her closely into his embrace. Her chest tightened and she began to feel light-headed as she felt his hands roam across her waist. The man’s hand tried to reach into her cloak, but he quickly pulled back with a yowl of pain when he was slapped roughly. “She’s got some fire, this bitch!” The man reached into her cloak again and roughly pushed Usagi to the ground.
Falling to the ground and splattering in the mud, Usagi felt her hope fall when she saw the small pouch of money Sailor Pluto had given her in the man’s hands. Chuckling, he waved it back and forth in the air before throwing it to another person in the raucous, drunken mob. Yelling with joy, the drunken mob stumbled away, most likely with the plan of purchasing more alcohol with Usagi’s money.
Usagi, alone and terrified, sat in the mud and wept.
End Chapter Two
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Author’s Notes: Oh, no, the Earth is not a happy place after the destruction of the Silver Millennium.
