Sailor Moon: The New Order (RP)

I'm not ready for this.

Chibiusa had told herself this a grand total of twenty times that night. This repetition had cemented in the Pinkette's mind that there was no way she was ready to take on such a huge responsibility. She wasn't ready, she couldn't do it, she would fail.

But she had to. Neo-Queen Serenity had passed away five days ago, thankfully in her sleep, and was just entombed a day ago. Chibiusa had to admit, her father had taken the whole ceremony quite well. He went from being so broken over her body, to a stone, silent acceptance at her funeral. Perhaps he realized that Usagi would have wanted him to pull-through, or maybe he decided to be strong for his daughter. It certainly helped, as Chibiusa still wasn't done crying.

With that depressing thought in mind, the princess sunk lower on the railing of her balcony. With the passing of well-loved royalty came the expectations of many. As soon as her mother was gone, she was "informed" that she was to be the new ruler of the kingdom. She protested that her father was still alive, and still very capable of taking care of the kingdom, but was "informed again" that couldn't happen.

"The Kingdom must be protected by the Silver Ginzuishou," she repeated, "and the queen bequeathed it to you."

Thus, yet again, "I'm not ready for this."

She drew back up to her full height, similar to her mother as a teenager, and tugged at her long pink pigtails. Vaguely, she remembered that she wasn't the only one gaining a new title. Her good friends, a few years younger than her, would be given their mother's guardian powers today. The passing of such monumental abilities seemed like a bigger responsibility, or maybe on the exact level. It sounded heck'ov'a lot easier, either way.

Maybe I can check on them... She thought, a smile coming back to her lips, before she gathered her dress. She turned on her heels, and darted from her room, down the stairs. Thankfully, of all things she inherited from mama, clumsiness wasn't one of them.

Ouka wasn't sure if she was nervous, excited, panicked, or still sad about the passing of the queen. Maybe it was all of the above. At least one of those feelings was why she was currently avoiding her mother until the passing on of the powers.

She was to take her mother's place as Sailor Jupiter, and such a burden weighed heavily on her mind. Jupiter was the planet of might and protection. Ouka was very worried that she wouldn't be able to fill her mother's shoes. While well trained in the martial arts by her mother, Ouka was quite different from her mother in many ways. She didn't seem to inherit her mother's great stature, being quite short compared even to the other girls her age. While she did enjoy the training, and even combat to a certain extent, she didn't quite have her mother's ferocity and confidence... or at least she hadn't found that "fire" inside herself yet. Either way she was a great deal less confident than her mother. She had inherited her mother's great skills at cooking, but that was neither here nor there.

Ouka kept he brown, wavy hair at shoulder length, pulled back with a headband, the same green her mother often wore. She was dressed in a Light green, short sleeve shirt and black pants. While being a child of the planetary court she often had to wear fancy dresses and the like, she always preferred these more easy to move in cloths and wore then as often as she could. She would likely be asked to wear something for the coronation, so she wanted to get as much comfy clothing time as possible before then. She walked on with no real destination in mind, her hazel eyes drifting over her surroundings. She was just trying to kill time before the appointed moment when the powers were passed on to her, wondering if she would have to put on something more "formal" for when she received them.

"The planet of might and protection..." she murmured to herself.

That word, protection, really stuck with her. While all of the girls would be charged with the protection of the princess, her mother had explained that job of defending would belong chiefly to her. She was like the "goalie", and she was honestly not sure she was up for the challenge. And if she wasn't up to that challenge that could mean that a friend of hers would end up dead. There hadn't been any threats to the kingdom in a while, but her instincts told her that now that the queen had passed away, something would try take advantage of the absence.

She tried not to think about it but it was hard to push out of her mind.

*...thump-thump-thump-thump...* Her feet made a soft muffled sound as she ran along the crystal corridors. She had several routes, some routes passed through the heart of the palace, others skirted it's high balconies, she passed by the many fountains gardens and people at while keeping her breath steady and her eyes focused on the meandering path ahead. Today, she stuck to the more reclusive paths, which was easy, as most the population were secluding themselves in mourning.

It was a strange thing. Her mother, Ami, understood the medical details, but it was a troublesome thing to explain to her friends and her people. One does not simply explain how a Magical Queen fell ill and died in the Silver Millennium, a Utopia where none aged or died.

Quiet Hermia, who for all her wit did not understood it herself. She was glad to to step back and avoid these conversations. No one sought answers from quiet Hermia, it was always her mother they sought to solve problems.

Hermia barely understood herself. After her run she returned to her chambers and washed herself in lavender soaps while contemplating events of the past several days. She had never imagined that Neo-Queen Serenity would actually die. Hermia, like everyone else, had imagined the sickness was only a passing trouble. They were wrong. Hermia suspected that her mother knew before all the rest, the Princess of Mercury had attended her Queen's sickbed. She had pursed her lips often in the days before the death. It was a subtle thing, strangers would never see it, but her daughter had noticed, and foolishly thought nothing of it.

Hermia had never known death in her lifetime, she was born in the height of the Silver Millennium. All the battles had been fought and won. Good had triumphed over evil, joy over sorrow.

Chibiusa had left them for a time, she had gone to the past to fight the evil there. In the past she had experienced true darkness, battle, and death. Her peers had only heard of such things in their mother's stories. Chibiusa returned from the past, changed and stronger for it.

'Where is she now?' This was a question even her genius mother could not answer. 'Her body is still here, though her brain and heart have ceased function, but there was something else inside her, something not defined by her anatomy or chemistry. It has simply disappeared, where is it now?' She gently worked the suds through her dark blue hair.

Clean and dried she robed herself in a gown of dark blue. It fell loosely over her tall thin form, hidden pockets sewn were into its folds. The gown was plain yet elegant, befitting of her station. She placed two blue globules into her ears (Hermia was born deaf, with the magic and technology of the Silver Millennium this was barely a problem, she can hear perfectly fine with her aids in place.) With Chibiusa's coronation, her own responsibilities would grow, she would be the guardian of a queen, not the training partner of the planetary princesses. They knew they were heiresses somewhere in the backs of their minds, but never fathomed this loss.

She sought the princess now. She did not know how to cheer the sorrowful girl, the usual card and hand tricks seemed inappropriate at such a time. She knew that, beyond her duty as a guardian, as a friend, her place was beside the princess.

On her way up to see Chibiusa... She nearly ran into the girl who was fleeing down the crystal stairwell. She would put up her hands in a gesture of peace. If Chibiusa ignored Hermia and ran straight past, Hermia would follow the princess at a polite distance. (Chibiusa would not likely outpace or outlast swift Hermia.)

Meanwhile, in Hikawa Shrine, Mei was sitting alone by a kotatsu in the living room. She had her legs tugged under the kotatsu to keep her warm from the wintery cold. It was late December, only a few more days to go before Christmas, but the said girl was not feeling Christmassy at all. She was in her senior year of high school, meaning she would be sitting for university entrance examinations after the winter break. She did not feel like spending more time on things other than her studies after a long day. It had been incredibly busy at the shrine since the day of the queen’s passing. The local people had been coming in everyday to attend the memorial service of their beloved queen. Being the only priestess at the shrine as Grandpa Hino had long passed away before the age of Silver Millennium, it was Rei’s job to lead the mourning but the grief-stricken priestess was not in a state to do the job. She was devastated when her queen whom she very much cared for passed away. The strong Princess of Mars who always appeared so stoic had lost her composure several times at the queen’s dying bed. The grief of losing someone so dear was simply too hard to overcome. Mei felt sorry for her. She knew how much the priestess wanted to stay by her queen’s side than being at the memorial services. She put on her shrine maiden robe and took charge of leading the mourning so that the priestess could be freed off to her queen’s side. The young miko had received proper trainings after all. It was the best she could do to help Rei lessen some burden at this very difficult time.

All I did was chanting, purify this, purify that and the memorial service ran for hours. Seriously, I don’t have time for all these. Not when I have exams coming up in a month’s time. The girl stared at the maths problem in front of her. Her hand was busy scribbling down the steps to arrive at the solution. She was so engrossed in her revision that she did not realise time had passed so quickly. The moon had risen, casting its soft radiance through the window. The moon appeared even brighter than usual under the cold weather even Mei could not help noticing it. She rested her head on one palm as she gazed at the moon. It was full moon tonight, which reminded her that the transfer of powers would be taking place at midnight when the moon at its highest.

Something to do with gravity, huh? Physics was not her forte anyway. Why do I have to do this? Mei never felt that she was part of the group. She always thought she was forced to be friends with the girls because they were daughters of Rei’s best friends. She sighed at the thought of having to work with them from now on.

‘Tadaima!’ the father announced as he entered the house. Mei took a glance at the clock which said half past nine as she got up and went to greet her father in the hallway.

‘Okaerinasai, otousama,’ she replied. ‘You are late, father. Dinner had gone cold.’

‘Sorry, Mei. Business was slow the past few days. After yesterday’s day off, work got piled up and there was a huge traffic jam on the way back,’ he explained. She looked at her father’s weary face and took the suitcase off his hand. ‘Is your aunt home yet?’

‘She came back from the palace after you left this morning and has been in the fire reading room since afternoon, only came out once during dinner time.’

‘I’ll go check on her,’ he said.

‘No, I will do it, father. You are tired. You had a long day. Take a bath. I will heat up dinner as well.’

The father was too tired to protest. ‘Okay,’ he said and patted her head lightly.

Rei never got married. The fire soldier had made a vow of chastity to Princess Serenity in her previous life and decided that she would remain forever single. Mei was her brother’s daughter. Mei’s father, Souta, whom she rarely met in her childhood, was taken away to live with their politician father after their mother passed away when he was still a baby. When Souta grew older, he would always come to the shrine to visit Rei and grandpa when he felt lonely as the father seldom came home. Eventually he got married to Mei’s mother and moved into an apartment with his new family. Then on one day, Souta arrived at Rei’s doorstep with baby Mei in his arm. ‘My wife had left us,’ was all he said. Souta could not raise Mei on his own. Rei took them in and he sold his apartment. Mei was raised by Rei as her own daughter.

Unlike Rei, Mei did not have any psychic ability, which was evident when she performed a fire reading and only saw pitch black. The young miko lacked ‘the sense’ to see the vision in the fire. The shortcoming very much limited her potential as a priestess and disinterested her in succeeding Rei as the head priestess of the shrine.

‘Obasama?’ Mei stood at the entrance to the fire reading room looking into the dark room. In front of the fire was Rei, kneeling in her miko robe. Her body was leant forward, two hands on the floor holding her upper body up. Her shoulders were moving up and down sharply as she breathed heavily.

‘Obasama?’ Mei called again. She went in approached the miko. ‘Are you alright?’ She kneeled beside her, trying to help her up. The miko did not move, only turning her head to face Mei.

‘Mei…’ Her voice was weak and she looked pale with sweat covering her face. Mei leaned her back and wiped off the sweat with her long sleeve. The elder did not look good at all. Mei was getting worried that her auntie might fall sick anytime soon.

‘You pushed yourself too hard,' said Mei. She reached for the forehead to feel the temperature. Thud thud. Mei felt a pulse surged through and her body was drawn in by an unknown force that was suffocating her. She pulled back hard trying to resist it but found herself falling deeper and then a loud boom hit her. Her eyes snapped open to see a roaring giant ball of fire hurling down from the sky and a glaring light engulfing her and everything in sight. She snapped back to reality and instinctively retracted her hand, falling backwards. ‘What was that?’ she asked, trying to digest the strange sensation.

‘Y-you saw it?’ Rei was taken by surprise too.

‘WHAT was that?’ The youngster found it hard to stomach.

‘That would be the future…’ The skilled miko felt she was falling into spells of dizziness. She slowly explained, ‘If we don’t do anything soon, Crystal Tokyo will be in danger. We’ll all be in danger.’ She then suddenly recalled something. ‘What time is it now?’

‘T-ten?’ Mei was not sure what was going on anymore.

‘We’ve got to hurry!’ The miko pulled herself up.

Mei still sat on the floor dazzled. She could not believe what she just saw. Never once she could do a reading but she just had images of a giant fireball projected into her mind and it felt so real as if she was there herself. She stared at her hands. The vision flashed back to her. This… gonna happen?

Kazuki watched as everyone scurried to and fro in preparation for the ceremony. She was uneasy with the entire mess, but sometimes formalities were important. She was perched against one of the majestic windows viewing the courtyard below.

She continued strumming her acoustic guitar, a small bundle of papers beside her with a series of notes and lyrics on each page. She'd been intent on writing this song for the last month and it almost seemed complete. Then the Queen fell ill, and it meant that she'd be required to stand forth soon.

It's my time to fly...

Beside her, a small heart linked chain sat neatly wrapped beside her. She understood it's significance. Her mother's chain, the symbol of Love.

It would be her time to fly.

Her mother always talked about her time before joining with the others, that she'd chose to stand alone against the darkness. Yet, in the end she valued friendship and that saved her life. Now she'd be joining her friends soon, to their new roles. She was used to playing her music alone, of course there was when she worked with other musicians.

The music seemed to flow better on her own...

Guess it could be said about working on a team, she'd be assuming her mother's role soon.

A role set out for her. Protectors, guardians, warriors.

"I guess it's time to see if I can fly..." Kazuki said nervously to herself, finally coming down from her perch she decided to seek out the others. She tucked her long blonde hair behind her ears. She never truly understood why her mother always tried to keep her hair this long, tangles were a pain to comb out!

Chibusa was halfway down when she spotted Hermia. Her childhood friend, just by sight, brought a soft smile to the pinkette's face, making today's inevitable coronation seem just a tad less scary. The princess descended faster, eager to meet her, just as a hand found it's way to her shoulder.

Small Lady paused, turning around to see her father standing over her. Time had been kind to him, especially given the magical nature of their home. King Endymion still towered over her, having grown into more than an impressive figure over the years, and time hadn't touched him for over 20 years. But now, it was finally beginning to find him, as evidenced by the silver streaks beginning to form in his dark hair, and a small limp in his right leg. His hero days were definitly gone; maybe because his damsel was never to be in distress again.

But for now, he knew it was time to pass on to the next generation. So, with a comforting squeeze, Endymion nodded to his daughter. "It's time," he said quietly. Small Lady felt the color drain out of her face, and nodded all the same. She turned back around, allowing Endymion to lead her back down. She gave her friend a nod, indicating to follow. It was time for the future to slam into them, head on.

~~~~~~~~~~

And she had no idea how right she was .

At that moment, a dark, obsidian object was being hurtled toward the earth, shining with black glass. As it passed star after star, the figures locked inside of it wriggled in delight. From earth, they picked up signals from two, power-houses, feeding them like a mother to a babe.

One of them was a tall, thin male, waiting in the twon square, surrounded by mourners and various hopefuls. Male, tall, lean and mean, with a long face and short, red hair, spiked behind him. The man known as 'swift death' glanced around the square with dark orange eyes, rubbing a piercing around his eyebrow, one of many.

Sagitarius, Tarus... an ancient voice ordered in their minds, speaking in an old language. The time of submission is about upon us. When the vessel lands,begin purging the crowd of...undesirables. They'll only distract your equipment from finding the shards.

It didn't take long for Ouka's mother to find her, she knew all her normal wandering routes; Even with no really destination she automatically fell into one of more usual paths out of habit. They were the same as her running routes for her training. As soon as she turned the corner and saw her mother Ouka could tell it was time. A proud look rested gently on her mothers features, accented with sadness. "Come along little one." She called out, offering her daughter her hand, giving her the last moment as a child and mother. Ouka took the hand gratefully letting her mother lead her back home, savoring her last moment of true child hood. After tonight she, just like all her friends, would be more than just the Daughter of a senshi, she would be the senshi.

She sent a gentle prayer to Chibusa, who's burden would be greatest of all of them.

While it took Ouka's mother almost no time to find her It took slightly longer to coax the fidgety youth into the proper attire for such an important and formal ceremony. Wearing dresses always felt like lying to Ouka. Like she was wearing a mask to hid her identity. Mother informed hers that she was just young and rowdy, like she had been at her age. She assured her while that nature wouldn't leave her, she would probable learn to appreciate the more formal and elegant things in life as she grew.

Ouka was dressed in a sleeveless gown, it hugged tightly around her waist and fell elegantly to the ground, the long skirt of the dress pleated all around. Add that design with the dresses color, a green color that was lighter than the green that was her Mothers signature color, gave her a look a forest in spring sort of theme. Her Mother found it appreciated that, since her favorite nick-name for Ouka was 'her little sapling'

Together they made their way to the location of the ceremony

Chibiusa smiled, if only for a moment, but there was little time for the smile, and even less time for words to be exchanged.

The King found his daughter, time had caught them up, and the coronation was at hand. Hermia bowed her head and followed, wondering all the while how long it would be until she felt herself again. She felt strange and sad, she felt scared. I feel like someone else, like someone lost in a wood, and the sun has set, and I do not know how long the night will last. The nights are like that far in the north, or south, the sun is far away so the night becomes endless... After Chibiusa became the queen and herself a soldier, would they be able to relax and be themselves again? Could they put aside this sadness or would it always be so heavy? Perhaps Chibiusa's fleeting smile was the last their innocent childhood moments.

At the end of their journey was the great hall, Hermia quickly found her place beside her mother. Hermia was taller than her mother, they were dressed in similar colors, Ami's dress a darker shade of blue, it's style more elegant, it was tailored to her thin body down to her knees, where it flared out like a mermaids fin. Their relation was unmistakeable, their hair was the same shade of blue, though Hermia's was thicker and longer, the eyes matched as well, though Hermia's face was a bit more pointed.

Ami said nothing to her daughter, her eyes were glued to Chibiusa. Though Ami's face looked calm and passive, Hermia knew that the cogs and wheels were spinning madly within her mother's brilliant brain. Hermia wondered what her mother was thinking. Does she notice that I am here?

Ami gently slid her hand into Hermia's as if in reply. I wonder if I will be as good as mother was... as bright and brilliant...