On one hand, she really didn't want to use any of the Silver Crystal's energy on a wild goose chase. Oh, it was slowly repowering itself, drawing energy from her own "overflow", "pocketspace", and other sources she wasn't quite sure of, but that was really slow going, and she sure as heck didn't want to it to be maxed out when the really major Enemies came a-calling.
On the other hand...this was the "shadow" or "imprint" of the last (to this point in time, anyway) Queen of the Moon Kingdom. If her (it's?) not-really-existing brains weren't worth picking, nobody's were. That was assuming that the "shadow" actually had all or most of the original's memories and data, of course, but it still was worth a shot. Not to mention that there might be databanks or something like that...
OK, then...she'd do it.
First, she transformed. OK, now to set up the "beacons"... This wasn't like a group transport, when a group could share the 'porting and navigating functions. She had to make sure she wouldn't get lost in subspace or materialized someplace nasty, and that all cost energy, dear energy...
Here, it was done. Now to send up some kind of signal, so she wouldn't have to wait around for ever and a day for her "Queen Mother" to come out of "sleep mode"...OK, done. Check to make sure that the magitech environmental controls around the ruins of the palace were still working...Yep, OK.
...Now what? She had this odd feeling that she was missing something...
Aaaah, of course.
3 hours later, Sailor Moon was eating some onigiri on one of the overturned statures in which what used to be the Royal Star Gardens.
"My dearest daughter. It is good to see you."
"And you too, Mother."
It was also good that she'd thought to bring lunch. She would have been famished, otherwise...
They pantomimed hugging. It was nice, even if she couldn't really touch her "Mother", projections generally not being touchable.
"And what brings you here today, Sailor Moon?"
OK, then...
"Have you ever heard of a "Pharoah 90", Mother? From the Tau Sector?"
"Hmmmm."
Her "Mother" looked pensive.
"Not offhand, I'm afraid, and most of the Castle's memory banks are either damaged or in "sleep mode", now, so... There are many Enemies after the Solar System's energies and worse, after all - and they aren't always called by the same name, either."
Oh. Usagi sighed. Well, it couldn't be helped, she supposed.
"Alright... Could you tell me about the "Outers", then?"
"...The "Outers"...ahh, the Senshi who guard the Outer reaches, yes. Pluto, Uranus, Neptune, and Saturn."
"...Saturn?"
She'd never met a "Saturn", had she?
"Mmmmmmm... I'm not sure how much memories of the Moon Kingdom you have, child -"
"Not much, I'm afraid, Mother. ...Sorry."
"Do not be, my dearest. But anyway - even if you did remember, I don't think you'll remember Saturn. Not in person, anyway. - She hadn't come out of statis in generations."
Sailor Moon blinked.
"Statis?"
"It's a sad story, dearest - Uranus and Neptune guard the Outreaches in general, and Pluto is usually stationed at the Time Gate, but Saturn had - has - well, particularly strong powers, in certain areas - destructive ones in particular. ... Saturn is called the Senshi of "Destruction and Rebirth", that should tell you something. And so destruction followed wherever she pointed her Glaive, and - one day, after a especially taxing battle against a Major Enemy - in which we won, I don't have to say, I hope, but oh my universe, the costs were high, it was remembered in ballards even to my day - she simply went into statis with instructions not to wake her unless the need was dire. This was, well, 6 or 7 generations ago, and the Moon Queen of the time tried to get her to come out of it, but the, ah, remaining "Outers" of the time were adamant - if Saturn wanted to sleep, then sleep she would. The Queen seemed to have decided to leave them alone for a few years or decades or centuries or something, then try to convince them to try to wake Saturn againt, but then there was some other major ruckus, and - well, to make a long story short, by the time I became Queen, Saturn had long before become a legendary figure of death and destruction, and I don't think even my generation's "Outers" had any real idea of how to awaken her any more. Well, maybe Pluto did, but not the other two. And of course her heirs never got born, as she was always in statis - she never grew old, so there was no need, it seemed..."
"Oh... Um. That is sad, right."
And it really was, but...
So...maybe this "Saturn" was still in "statis", someplace? Hmmmmmmm...
The final weapon Senshi, eh? Well, she'll have to think about that some more...
"Oh, um, Mother?"
"Mmmmmm?"
"Thank you. Just one more question, through... Have you ever heard of a "Nepherenia"?
Her "Mother" blinked.
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(Posted Mon, 22 May 2006 14:48)
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