"So, what is your choice, Usagi?"
Sitting on her bed, Tsukino Usagi sniffed back fresh tears as she reached up to wipe her face dry. They were alone in the Tsukino house this day: Usagi's father Kenji was at work and her mother Ikuko was out shopping with her brother Shingo. Luna herself was visiting Artemis at Aino Minako's home. "There's only one real choice," she quietly stated as she looked at the older man standing before her. "The choice of life and freedom. But . . . " Here, she shook her head. "To believe that . . . "
"They would gladly participate in whatever Setsuna might suggest they do?" the Doctor finished. "That is hard to debate, especially when it comes to Ami, Rei, Makoto and Minako. Their support and love for you are quite profound, Usagi. But given that in comparison to Haruka, Michiru and Hotaru . . . "
"If it came to a fight between the 'inners' and the 'outers' . . .?"
"Yes."
Silence fell as Usagi considered that, and then she gazed into her guest's burning eyes. "Why? Why would she actually allow . . .?"
"Setsuna believes her loyalty must first and foremost reside with the kingdom she served a thousand years ago, Usagi," the Doctor stated. "To her, its restoration, regardless of the physical or emotional cost, is the ultimate goal. Granted, the whole 'Crystal Tokyo' and 'New Silver Millennium' concepts could be of benefit for all of humankind. But who gave Setsuna the right to influence the destiny on the human race? Even if she hasn't gone father than what I've described to you, the potential is there . . . "
"For it to become a lot worse," she finished.
A nod. "Exactly."
Usagi seemed to deflate as she stared at the object in her hand. The compact Luna had given her at a time that, right now, seemed so long ago. An innocent time that was shattered when a black cat with a crescent moon shape on her forehead revealed the existence of other-dimensional monsters that threatened all of humanity. The second stage of an intergalactic war whose opening act had reached its climax a thousand years before on the Moon, when a beautiful civilization was wiped out by the forces of evil and darkness.
There was now only one living survivor of that awful holocaust.
Meiou Setsuna.
Sailor Pluto.
"Survivor's guilt."
Usagi looked up at the Doctor. "Survivor's guilt?" she asked.
"Yes," he replied. "For a thousand years, she -- answering the duty that had been forced on her by the last Queen Serenity -- remained locked to the Gates of Time. Isolated. Shunning contact with others. Alone. Driven by her sense of duty (which is admirable in its own way) . . . but to the point where she lost track of how she came to be where she was. The Moon Kingdom and the original Silver Millennium developed in a manner much like Yiziba had done, but with less freedom allowed to its citizens. Despite the glaring weaknesses that allowed the forces of Metaria and Beryl to conquer it in the end, Setsuna believes that is the best way for the new Millennium to develop."
"And she wants it to develop now because I was so enchanted by what I saw when we travelled to the future when we were fighting Prince Demand and Wiseman."
"Exactly. You are her leader, Usagi. It is your wishes that drive her in the end. Because of that, especially in the wake of your battle with the Black Moon Clan, she has begun making the necessary preparations. Using her ability to shift through time and space to influence events. Such incidents are quite small now. But it is almost a certainty that soon . . . "
"She could go all the way to killing people who might 'oppose' me."
"Yes."
Usagi shuddered as that ugly possibility sank into her heart. In that sort of situation, Setsuna would have two guaranteed allies: Haruka and Michiru. And with their influence over Hotaru now, the two allies would become three. And with their greater willingness to fight rather than talk it over, it could spell a lot of trouble if they got it into their heads that the inner Senshi and their "princess" had been "brainwashed" by an alien power (which the Doctor truthfully represented, but that was beside the point).
Having friends was one thing.
Having emotional SLAVES was a whole different matter.
And if it led to innocent people DYING because they didn't follow the "party" line Setsuna was hoping to impose on humanity as a WHOLE . . .?
Was being Sailor Moon ultimately worth THIS?!
"So what is your decision, Usagi?" the Doctor asked.
Usagi stared at him.
A glance to the compact.
She could reject the offer . . .
Or she could take it.
Stop being Sailor Moon . . .
And become something much more.
A deep breath.
"I'm just one person. And no matter what, they're all my friends."
The Doctor nodded as he raised his cape to open a portal . . .
"Eh?!"
Ten'ou Haruka perked on hearing her housemate gasp, and then she looked up to see Meiou Setsuna gaze off somewhere in the distance. "What is it, Setsuna?" the race car driver asked after swallowing a bite of her hoagie.
Setsuna shook her head. "It's something . . . "
The Crystal of Power blazed to life as the newest one gifted by it emerged. "Behold!" the Conservator declared as the light faded. "The Crystal of Power has given you the power of Moonrise! No longer will the past dominate your future, child! You are the mistress of your destiny!"
The woman standing there now was in solid, blue-hued black from neck to toe. She had white boots and gauntlets. The only symbol on her fighting uniform was a silver crescent moon on her chest. Not with points up as the Moon Kingdom had worn it, or points down as the Black Moon Clan displayed, but to her left side, as if to protect her heart underneath her breast. Furthermore, her hair was now loose and flowing to well past her knees, no longer tied in the dango-like buns she often wore on her forehead. "That I am, Conservator!" the transformed Usagi asserted with a wave of a hand before she leaned over to kiss the Doctor's cheek. "You go find someone else to help out, Sensei."
"That, my dear, I shall," he vowed.
And with that, she flew out of the Cave of Power into the sky over Yiziba . . .
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(Posted Mon, 08 Oct 2007 05:01)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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