Sailor Moon: Legend of the Woodstar

Lotus Crystal

Title: Sailor Moon: Legend of the Woodstar
By: JupiterThunderCrash
Rated: PG13
Fandom: Sailor Moon
Pairing: None that are the focus
Notes:
This story takes place a year or so after the Stars arc of the Manga and Anime canons, and sort of explores the nature of Sailor Crystals and the potential for other reincarnated senshi from the past. It's also the original story my Otaku senshi came from before I started RPing with them. I've done a whole outline, but I'm still working on the little details
Story Summary: Long ago, there was a gem that held the power of nature itself... When the Sailor Senshi visit the northern city of Sapporo on winter break, they discover the existence of another group of guardians. And with them comes a new enemy bent on finding unlimited energy, along with the keys to Sailor Jupiter's past life. Takes place after the Stars arc of the anime and manga.
Comments allowed:Yes!

Chapter 1:

"Another dead end…" A dark haired man dressed in a white lab coat glared at his computer monitor, the only light in his shadowed study. "All I can find are dead ends!" With a frustrated sound, he stood up and swiped the files off his desk. Stacks of papers recording data from multiple tests fell to the floor and he stared at them, breathing heavily. He'd been at this for years, trying to find the perfect solution to what plagued Japanese society-no, the world's society for generations.

Energy. Everyone needed a source of power, but it was a proven fact that Earth only had so many sources to offer. Eventually, conventional ones would run dry, and the population would turn to riskier things. Wind, water, thermal heat, nuclear... Japan had already suffered enough from unstable energy. They needed something reliable, but still endless.

Dr. Isamu Kimura had researched and tried every possible method he could dig up, but his projections all failed or proved too finicky to be trusted. Was it possible that today's science did not hold the answer? Maybe it was time to look in a more unorthodox place…

Calming down, he ignored the mess on the floor and walked over to a large bookshelf. The texts lined up on it were mostly various chemistry, natural science, and physics books, but the very top row was different. Dusty from lack of use, this set of leather bound pages held a different kind of knowledge. They were all over old legends from ancient people, and they often held accounts of things more amazing than tangible science of this age. They spoke of magic.

Ten years ago, Isamu would have never believed such a thing, but with that he had seen recently, he was starting to open up to the idea. Monsters stealing the life forces of the innocent, people mutating into beasts, and nightmares come to life had plagued Japan as of late, and all of these threats were neutralized by a group of young girls who referred to themselves as Sailor Senshi. What other explanation could make sense of their incredible feats than magic? That was the kind of thing he needed.

He was lucky his partner had always enjoyed those kind of mythical stories outside of work. Isamu grabbed one at random, blew the dust off it, and cracked it open.

Silver and Gold: Tales of Two Kingdoms

He skimmed the novel, reading bits and pieces of old legends about the Earth and Moon during the time before things were recorded. Were there really such powerful civilizations that long ago? The beginning of one chapter caught his attention, and he stopped to read it in full.

The Energy Within

Every living being in existence has a spirit, an energy within them that defines who and what they are. They are considered the seeds of life, and they are rumored to be birthed from a central point in space, the shared origin of all. Even the stars grew from these seeds. Some seeds are brighter than others, and some grow stronger with time, but they all share the quality of never truly dying. Even if the body holding it decays with age, the seed will return to its origin to rest, and then create a new body to be housed in. Flesh is fallible, but these shining beacons are everlasting.

"An interesting theory…" This society's explanation of souls was something to think about. They seemed to believe that energy simply existed within everything, like precharged batteries. Marking the section, he flipped through it again until he came upon another chapter.

Legend of the Woodstar

In a distant Kingdom, there was a gem that held the power of nature itself. Born from the will of a great Thundergod, it fell from the sky and into the hands of a maiden. This child became the favored one of her people's god, and with that blessing commanded both the gentle woods to grow and the ruthless lighting to smite. That gem was called the Woodstar, as the green jewel glowed and pulsed with power and life.

She guarded the gem in a beautiful temple deep in the forest, and many made pilgrimages to seek her help and advice. But as with any bright light, shadows were formed behind it. Ones with darker intentions appeared to take the Woodstar for themselves, and the maiden pleaded for help to keep it safe. Her Thundergod relented, and made four smaller gems that took the form of humans. They held their own power, but their destinies were tied to the Woodstar forever. With her four new guardians, the maiden was able to repel any twisted foes that dared to take her gem. But as the years faded, so did she, as she was only mortal.

Eventually she died, and the Woodstar disappeared with her. Her guard faded as well, and her people waited with baited breath to see what would happen next. Soon after her death, a new child was born, and on her brow was the sign of their god. She had been reborn, and within her lived the Woodstar, now a part of her very spirit. Her four guardians reawakened and resumed their positions, though they too had different forms. And so the cycle continued, generation after generation. The maiden's purposed changed slowly but surely, until she was just as much of a warrior as her guardians, and she could finally take an active role in protecting her kingdom of thunder and oak.

"The Woodstar…" Isamu muttered, absorbed in his thoughts. It was a vague story, but the object it described sounded amazing, and very similar to the seeds he had read about just before. If it could create life and summon lightning with no repercussions, then it would theoretically be an amazing energy source. But did it exist? Was a living thing capable of carrying around all that power? Taking the book, he sat down as his cleared desk and started looking up more sources. With each new story that complimented the theory, his eyes grew brighter.

"I can work with this…But how to find this fabled object?" He needed defined characteristics to look for, quantifiable things to track.

Excited now, Isamu started building a virtual model of a theoretical Woodstar, and estimating the readings it would give off. Once he had that completed, a tracking program could be created, and he could start scanning for what he was looking for, though he already had a certain starting point in line. The only beings on Earth that had ever displayed anything near that kind of power were those Sailor Senshi and the things they fought. He had a feeling in his gut that they were linked to this in some way. It was only a matter of time before he could find that connection…

Isamu picked up a small wooden picture frame and moved it closer to his workspace, smiling. The photo inside was of a young, redhaired woman and himself standing together.

"We're so close to what we've dreamed of now, Chiyo, I know it…"

Lotus Crystal

Chapter 2:

"We will arrive at Sapporo Station in approximately 2 hours. Thank you for choosing Japan Rail."

Usagi jerked awake at the announcement, and lifted her head from Mamoru's shoulder. She yawned and stretched her arms, regaining her bearings. They were on a train again, still moving north towards the biggest city in Hokkaido. They had just passed under the Tsugaru Strait from the bigger island of Honshu. What had Ami called the tunnel again? Right, the Seikan Tunnel…

"Glad to see you're awake," Mamoru said, lowering the vacation pamphlet he was reading. He smiled when he saw her still half asleep expression. "Well, almost…" Usagi stuck her tongue at him, and he laughed.

"Give me break, you meanie! I had to wake up at six AM today…" she said, wiping the side of her mouth. "The sun wasn't even up!"

"You're right, we did have to be at the station by 8 to catch the first train…" For this year's winter break from high school, Usagi had brought up the idea of going on a group vacation. After a long debate at the Hikawa shrine with the other girls, they had decided that a trip to Sapporo would be fun. Mamoru's university schedule happened to coincide with their off week, and so he joined their plans as well.

Ami had worked out the cheapest and most efficient route to their destination, securing the train tickets ahead of time. The real trouble was getting everyone together to board the train so early, and then making sure everyone caught the right train at the two change offs. But now that they were on the last leg of the trip, they could finally relax.

"I can't believe you brought all that luggage for a week long trip…" Rei said to Minako. They were sitting across the train aisle from Usagi, since the entire group had chosen tickets that placed them in the same car. Minako slipped her headphones off, and Rei could hear the faint sound of pop music playing from them.

"Sorry, what'd you say?" she asked. Rei's eye twitched.

"I said that you need to learn to pack more efficiently. Did you really need three suitcases? We were almost late for the train trying to drag those around…"

"Oh Rei, maybe you can take only one suitcase and still wake up as beautiful as ever, but the rest of us can't. All the stuff I packed is important, I like being prepared for anything," Minako said. Rei rolled her eyes and sat back.

"Sapporo better be worth the ten hour ride there…" she said under her breath.

"Of course it will! I heard the hot springs outside of the city are the best in Japan. As soon as we get unpacked, I'm gonna soak in them the rest of the night!" Rei reluctantly nodded.

"I heard they were pretty good too. Don't they have special health benefits because of the minerals in the water?" Maybe she should bring her grandfather next time to fix his ailing back…

"Yeah, there was this rumor about a guy breaking his leg in a sports accident…" Minako leaned in closer to Rei's ear. "And then he soaked it in the Hokkaido Hot Springs, and he healed twice as fast as the doctors thought he would!" Rei scoffed, and Minako narrowed her eyes at her. "You don't believe it, do you?"

"A person's attitude has influence on how fast they recover from injuries. The mind is powerful. If he thought the hot springs helped, of course he healed more quickly."

"For a miko, you sure don't believe in many miracles…"

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

Closer to the front of the car were Ami and Makoto. Mako had gotten the window seat and was currently staring out at the snowy scenery, deep in thought. Ami flipped through a tour book of Sapporo, marking some of the more interesting sections to read later. Out of the corner of her eye, she checked on her friend.

Mako had been acting subdued for most of the day, though she had still helped move the luggage (and occasionally Usagi) around between train stops. Ami had first thought that she was sick and just didn't want to tell anyone, but she hadn't gotten worse over the last few hours. Still concerned, Ami decided to be direct and just ask what the problem was.

"Mako…" Makoto looked away from the window, eyes dimmer than usual.

"Hm?"

"Is there something bothering you?" Ami tried to sound neutral as she spoke.

"What? No, nothing really…" Makoto looked away from her again, as if embarrassed to meet her eyes. "I'm just not used to long trips like this."

"I thought you were as excited about going to Sapporo as the rest of us."

"I am, I just…" Mako struggled to find the words, and then gave up with a sigh. "I'm sorry I didn't want to go on a plane like the rest of you. We'd have saved a lot of time and hassle if we weren't using trains to get around…" she admitted with a blush. "I just need to...get over it, you know?"

"Is that why you kept insisting on moving the suitcases?" Mako nodded.

"I wanted to at least help out, since I'm dragging you"- Ami cut her off by grabbing her hand and giving it a small squeeze.

"Mako, you're not dragging anyone down. None of us mind taking the train if you're more comfortable that way." Ami smiled at her. "This is a vacation for all of us, remember?" Hesitantly, Makoto smiled back.

"You're right, it is. I guess I was worrying over nothing all day. I probably wasn't very fun to sit next to today, sorry about that." She'd been ignoring Ami's presence almost the entire ride, too absorbed with her own doubts to realize it.

"Don't worry about it, I had some reading material…" Ami held up the tour book, and Mako stifled a laugh.

"Of course you did..." Leave it to Ami to have something to read at all times. She leaned over her armrest to see the pages better. "Is that Sapporo cuisine? I've always wanted to try Hokkaido seafood!" Ami moved the book closer, relieved that Mako sounded like she was back to normal.

Two hours later, just as the automated message had promised, the train slowed to a halt at Sapporo Station to unload. After stepping out onto the platform and retrieving everyone's bags, Mamoru pulled out his cell phone and called for a van to transport the group to their hotel.

"It's so cold here!" Usagi shivered even under her thick jacket,I thought all the hot springs would make it warm…" She moved closer to Rei, who decided to tolerate the breach of personal space for the moment.

"Usagi, the springs are in the mountains. We're in the city right now. Of course it's cold, that's why we all told you to pack winter clothing too!" Rei said to her.

"That doesn't mean I have to like it…" One of the bags next to them wriggled, and a muffled voice came out of it.

"Are we there yet?" it said.

"We just got off the train, the coast is clear," Minako said, after looking around. The voice sighed in relief and the bag's zipper undid itself. Both a black and white cat popped their heads out, each one with a crescent moon symbol on their forehead.

"I want to have my own seat next time, being luggage is uncomfortable…" Luna said, jumping out onto the sidewalk to stretch. Artemis followed suit, shaking his fur out.

"I had no idea trains were that bumpy," he commented, before sniffing the air. "Hey, is that ramen I'm smelling?"

"Ramen?" Usagi looked around. "I don't see any stalls…" Ami flipped through her tour book, sitting on a larger suitcase.

"It says here that the tenth floor of Sapporo Station has a large restaurant area dedicated to serving different kinds of ramen," Ami said.

"Oooh, we should go!" Mamoru finished his call and rejoined the group.

"Sorry, Usako. The taxi should be here in about ten minutes, I don't think we have time for dinner at the station."

"Aw…"

"Wait until we get to the hotel, Usagi. I'm sure we can get ramen there," Makoto said.

"Ramen's really popular around here anyway." Usagi brightened up again in an instant.

"When's the taxi coming again?"

After being driven about half an hour through the crowded city, the taxi went into the nearby mountains to reach its destination, the smaller hot springs town of Noboribetsu. The taxi slowed and stopped in front of one of the many hotels in the area.

"Kagome Bath House…" Mamoru compared his papers to the hotel's sign. "This should be it then." The building looked like a modern resort on the outside, but the inside decor was far more traditional, with wooden walls and floors. Small fountains and potted plants filled the lobby as the walked in, and traditional ink paintings were hung up.
As the others dragged the luggage in and looked around, Mamoru went ahead to the front desk to get their rooms set up. Usagi followed him, leaving the others to themselves.

"It's definitely...authentic," Rei said, taking her hat and scarf off. Beyond the automatic front doors, all of the rooms seemed to be separated by the sliding paper kind, like back at the shrine. "I'll give it credit for that."

"That was one of its features listed in the brochure," Ami said. "Not many resorts go to this length to maintain the traditional theme anymore." Minako joined them, dragging two of her suitcases at once while Makoto helped with her third one.

"Maybe I did bring too many things…" Minako panted. Makoto stopped next to her and grinned.

"You think so?" She looked around the lobby with a more critical eye. "The wood they
used is nice," Makoto said, letting go of the bag to rest for a moment. "And the bamboo is really well taken care of. Usually, people just let it grow freely and cut it if it gets too long, but you can tell someone thought this out more."

The woman at the front desk slid six cards over to Mamoru. "Here are your keys, sir. I'll get someone to show you to your rooms in a few minutes, we're a bit understaffed today..."

"Thank you." Mamoru turned to Usagi as they walked away to where everyone else was standing. "Are you sure you're alright with sharing rooms with me? I can go buy a fourth one if"-

"Of course I'm alright. Don't worry about it, Mamo!" She grabbed his arm and hooked it with hers, smiling up at him. He smiled back, grabbing her hand as well

"As long as you're comfortable." Minako silently gagged before they could spot her.

"There's three rooms with two beds in each. Is everyone still fine with splitting into pairs?" Mamoru asked them.

"You still up for being room partners?" Minako asked Rei, nudging her.

"If you can contain yourself…"

"I'm taking that as a yes!"

"And I think that sticks us together by default," Mako said to Ami.

"Excuse me, are you the group that just checked in?" Usagi turned around to see who it was, and had to look a little higher up than usual to meet her eyes. "I apologize for the wait. My name is Fuyuko, and I'll be taking you to your rooms."

The girl looked to be around Usagi's age, and wore a light blue and yellow yukata as her uniform. Her long green hair was pinned into a bun at the back of her head, and her eyes were a deep blue.

"So tall…" Usagi said, a little stunned. "Uh, I mean...Yeah, that's us!" If Usagi hadn't seen Makoto first, then she'd have definitely felt intimidated by how tall Fuyuko was. Rei facepalmed behind her. Leave it to her to insult their host five seconds in. Fuyuko looked surprised for a few seconds, but then started giggling instead, to the relief of everyone else.

"Don't worry about it, I get that reaction often. I think you're the first person to come right out and say it though," she said, smiling. Usagi gave a relieved sigh. As Fuyuko guided them to their rooms, Makoto kept glancing at her. Not only because she didn't see many girls that close to her height, but there was something else familiar about her. She'd seen her before, she was sure of it. But where? Her eyes narrowed a few centimeters as she looked a little harder at their host.

"Is there something wrong?" Fuyuko asked, snapping Makoto out of it. She blinked a few times and realized that they were already at their rooms. And everyone was looking at her now for some reason. Wait, had she been staring this entire time?

"Ah, sorry! I think I spaced out…" She rubbed the back of her head and laughed. The other senshi looked less inclined to believe her, but Fuyuko appeared to be fine with it.

"No problem, you're probably all tired from the trip to Sapporo. You're from...Tokyo, right?" she asked.

"How'd you figure that out so quickly?" Minako asked.

"Your accents. We get a lot of visitors from the main island, so I've learned to tell the difference between the regions," she said. "And if you need any more help settling into your rooms, just ask the front desk. Dinner should be ready in the dining room in an hour, so I hope you enjoy it." Fuyuko bowed at the waist and walked back down the hallway, leaving the group to unpack by themselves.

"So...spacing out, huh?" Minako asked, side eyeing Makoto. "What was really going on there?"

"Nothing, I swear! I just wasn't paying attention."

"You and Usagi are really acting weird today. You're lucky she didn't get offended," Rei added.

"Hey, it wasn't that bad!" Usagi said. Mamoru sighed and opened up their room before a fight could start.

"How about we unload the suitcases before dinner, Usako?" he asked.

"Okay!"

The bath house's dining area was a large, open room filled with medium sized circular table that were low to the ground. Pillows served as the chairs, and large windows lined the wooden walls, creating a view of the snowy mountains and hot springs outside. Off in the distance, the lights of Sapporo could be seen in the darkness.

"This Miso Ramen is so good!" Usagi said through a mouthful of noodles.

"I told you they'd have some here," Makoto said, before sampling her fish topped rice bowl. "This seafood is amazing too! All those books weren't lying after all." When the group had come down for dinner, the tables were filled with a variety of seafood, meat, soups, and stews to try out.

"I always wanted to try a crab, and look how big this one is!" Minako picked one up by the claw and dropped it on her plate. "I think it's bigger than my head."

"I've never seen so much seafood in one place," Rei said, before grabbing a shrimp with her chopsticks. "But then again, this is a big fishing city."

"Speaking of the city…" Ami placed her own chopsticks down for the moment. "What do we plan on doing tomorrow? We're only staying for a week, so we should try to make the most of our time." Mamoru set his bowl of stew on the table, thinking.

"I remember reading about some of the sights earlier…" he said. "I think there was a chocolate factory I was interested in. Or maybe it was a theme park…" Usagi immediately stopped eating after hearing the word chocolate.

"I'll go with you!" she said.

"I wanted to visit one of the art museums, or maybe one of the parks," Rei said. "After I try the hot springs, anyway."

"No one wants to check out the outlet malls with me? Think of all the shopping!" Minako said.

"I'll go if we stop at the restaurants too," Mako said. "I'm not missing out on the local cuisine here."

"Deal." Minako offered her half of the crab she was eating to shake, and Mako grinned and took the other half.

"Then I think if we take one of the buses down to Sapporo tomorrow morning, we can split up and do all of those things before it gets dark," Ami declared. "We might have to get up early again to catch the first bus though, but not as early as we did today."

"At least we can sleep in a little…" Rei muttered.

"So I guess we should go to bed early tonight?" Makoto asked. The idea of sleep was starting to grow appealing to her. She had wanted to maybe try the hot springs out tonight, but that could wait for another day. That train ride really was exhausting…

"That sounds like a good idea." Mamoru stood up and stretched. "I think I'll call it a night and go back to the room…"

Usagi looked up at him, and then back at the food laden table. "I'll go with you in a few minutes. I wanna try everything here first!" she said.

"To no one's surprise…" Rei sipped her tea as Usagi glared at her.

"We're on vacation, so I'm gonna enjoy it, if that's alright with you!"

"Fine, fine…"

After dinner was cleaned up, the majority of the guests went back to their rooms, either to retire for the night or to get ready to soak in the warm waters. The cats had come out of their luggage again to relax out in the open, and after room service was called to give them something to eat, Luna decided to stay with Usagi and Mamoru. Artemis was with Minako and Rei.

In their room, Ami was reading a novel on her bed, while Makoto laid down on her own, doing nothing in particular. She could hear the faint sounds of Minako groaning about eating too much and Artemis reprimanding her for it, so she assumed that Rei had left again to see the baths. She covered her mouth to stifle a yawn, drawing Ami's attention.

"If you want to sleep, I can turn the lights off," she offered. Makoto sat up and shook her head.

"No, it's fine. The lights don't bother me." Ami stuck a paper in her book to mark her place and placed it on the nightstand.

"...Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm just not used to long train rides, that's all," Mako said. "I'm not sick or anything, just tired."

"And when you were staring at Fuyuko?" Ami asked. "That didn't seem like daydreaming to me." Makoto sighed.

"Alright, maybe that wasn't just me spacing out. I thought I recognized her from somewhere, that's all," she admitted.

"But you haven't been here before...right?"

"Not that I know about. I'm probably just mixing her up with someone else…" Mako yawned again, and Ami gave her a long look before seeming to give up on her questioning.

"If you say so…" she said. "I think I'll go to sleep too." Ami took off her glasses and turned off the lamps completely, so that the only light was coming from the partially open curtains. Makoto could hear her moving around until she eventually settled under the sheets, even though she couldn't see her very well.

"Good night…" Makoto said, already halfway to sleep. She just barely caught Ami returning it before she drifted off.

In Dr. Isamu's lab, a faint signal was detected by one of his newly built devices, a scanner made to sense a certain frequency of energy. He looked up from his current task to check the reading, and laughed for the first time in a month. There was a powerful seed in Sapporo somewhere, one that could potentially be the very one he was looking for.

Isamu typed in a command for the computer to keep track of the unsteady signal, and went back to his earlier work. Whoever had that seed would most likely not give it up without a fight, and he would need a way to subdue them without injury to himself or his equipment. Hopefully, his prototypes would be usable by tomorrow, so he could start searching for that signal's origin.

"Just a few more adjustments and they should be ready to go…" The mechanical limb on his desk twitched as he tightened a bolt.

Makoto turned around in her bed again, unable to get comfortable in her sleep. The covers had already been kicked off of her, and her expression was far from calm as her nightmare continued undeterred. Her mouth parted, and a quiet groan escaped her, along with a few indistinguishable words. The sheets crackled with static.

On her forehead, the symbol for Jupiter burned and flickered green until she settled down again, her breathing returning to normal.

Lotus Crystal

Chapter 3:

"Do you want to see Odori Park first?" Rei asked Ami as the taxi took the group away from the hotel. That morning at breakfast, Ami had decided to pair with Rei for their first trip into the city. They had the same ideas of where to go in Sapporo, that they might as well go together.

"Sure, I don't think it's very far from the shrine either." Ami checked the guide book again. "The Hokkaido Jingu shrine closes at exactly 4 PM, but we should have enough time to get there before then."

"So I heard that that Daimaru Sapporo's a really big department store, and it's got food at the top floors. You think we should start there and work our way back to the train station?" Minako asked. "Makoto?" Minako poked her arm, to no response. She frowned and leaned over to look at her. "Earth to Mako!" She snapped her fingers in front of Mako's face, and she snapped awake, hitting her head on the window she was leaning on.

"Ow! What? I wasn't sleeping!" Minako looked unamused, and Makoto gave her a nervous grin.

"Here, take this." Minako handed her a brown can. "You probably need it more than me."

"Uh...what is it?"

"It's coffee. You know, so you don't pass out on the sidewalk somewhere. I'm not dragging you back to the hotel if you do." Makoto shrugged and opened the drink with a soft hiss. "So what's up with you being so tired anyway? I thought we all agreed to go to bed early last night."

"I had some weird dreams that kept waking me up," she said, before taking a sip.

"Oh yeah, I had weird dreams too! I was fighting this huge crab as Sailor V!" Minako said.

"That might be because you ate five pounds of shellfish before bed," Mako suggested. Minako shoved her, and she laughed.

"Alright then, what was yours about?" Mako rubbed the back of her neck and looked away from Minako.

"...I can't really remember it." she said.

"Aw come on! I told you about the crab dream. I bet it was embarrassing…" Minako grinned at her.

"It wasn't really…."

"Did it involve your old sempai? Or maybe Motoki? Share with the class..." Makoto almost choked on her next sip of coffee. She blushed and refused to meet Minako's eyes.

"What? N-no, of course not! It was more of a nightmare, really."

"Did the dream date go bad?"

"Minako! I'm being serious. I woke up, and my bed was full of static." Minako scooted away from her a little. "I'm not charged now…"

"Well...either a storm passed by in the middle of the night, or you're coming down with a cold like last time. Or maybe there was a power outage and you were picking up on that," Minako said. "If you're fine now, I wouldn't worry about it."

"It did kind of go away by itself this morning. I probably just scared myself last night…"

"That's the spirit!" Minako slapped her on the back. "Now let's go buy a bunch of souvenirs and food!"

"So we're meeting back up at Sapporo Station by 6, right?" Minako asked. She and Makoto were walking down the street, a few shopping bags in hand. After they had all been dropped off in the middle of Sapporo, the girls and Mamoru split into groups to explore what they were most interested in. Minako and Makoto had gone to explore the more commercialized side of the city, heading straight for the mall as Minako had planned. They had mostly window shopped, but a few blouses and accessories had grabbed their attention, along with potential souvenirs.

"That's what Ami said to us." Mako had bought a few less things than Minako, saving up her money for lunch later. "But it's not even 12 yet, so we don't have to worry about being late yet."

"Oooh! Mako, check out that store!" Minako pulled her over to one end of the sidewalk and pointed out a window. It was plastered with posters for various manga and anime, and a few figurines were visible from the street. "It's a comic shop! I wonder if they have the new Sailor V issue here…"

"I still can't believe you read about your own alter ego," Makoto said.

"They have stuff on you too, you know. There's comics for the Sailor Senshi as a group. Aren't you interested in what people think we act like?"

"...I guess. It just feels weird seeing yourself in print."

"Come on, let's see what this one has!" Mako shrugged and followed her in, the door's bell ringing to mark their arrival. The cashier looked up from his magazine, his face brightening at the potential customers.

"Welcome to Sapporo Manga! May I find something for you?" he asked, standing up. As Minako questioned him to see if the store had what she wanted, Makoto looked around at the different merchandise. Beyond manga volumes, dvds, and magazines, they also stocked a variety of figures, clothing, posters, and school supplies sorted by franchises.

The section that caught her eye was in the back corner, where all of the Sailor Senshi items were kept. Judging by the size, it must have been fairly popular here.

"I didn't think anyone paid us any attention outside of Tokyo…" she murmured, moving closer. She picked up a manga book and flipped through it, stopping to look at certain pictures. "Whoever drew this made us look a lot more mature. And Ami's hair isn't that blue..." Or was that what people saw through whatever magical defense protected their identities? Rei's dark hair looked like a vivid purple according to this artist, and her own hair was almost flaming red. And she wasn't that tall, right?

"I'll take two, please!" she heard Minako say. She turned back to the front desk and saw her walking over with her purchase in a bag. "I got a second copy so Usagi doesn't have to borrow mine," she explained.

"Oh, are you interested in the Sailor Senshi series?" the cashier asked.

"I was mostly looking," Makoto answered, placing the manga back. On a higher shelf, she saw a set of poseable senshi figurines, and a few monsters to go with them. But beside them were another set of figurines, though she didn't recognize them at all. "Who are these supposed to be?" she asked, taking one of them down to look at more closely. The cashier gasped.

"You've never heard of the Galilean Moon Senshi?" Both Makoto and Minako gave him blank looks. "Not at all?"

"Should we have?" Minako asked. The cashier scratched the back of his head.

"You two aren't from Sapporo then, are you? You know how the Sailor Senshi show up in Tokyo all the time?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, our city has its own mysterious senshi, but I guess they're not very popular outside of Hokkaido… Anyway, the figure you're holding is of Sailor Io. She's the leader."

Makoto looked down at it. The senshi wore an orange helmet that covered the entire top of her head, and a visor blocked out the top half of her face. An antenna stuck out from either side of the helmet, and her color scheme seemed to be orange, white and gold, judging by her skirt, and the armored chestpiece and boots. The detail that grabbed her attention the most though was the symbol of Jupiter on the helmet. Minako looked over her shoulder at it.

"Hey, do you think they're the real deal, or just kids dressing up like senshi?" Minako said quietly.

"They could just be a way to bring in tourists…" Mako said. Something about this outfit was nagging her though. Where had she seen this design before? She placed it back on the shelf with the other three posed senshi. "What are the rest of them?"

"The biggest one in the full armor is Ganymede Knight. I don't think anyone's seen what's under all that metal, or what he looks like under the helmet," the cashier said. The figure was indeed covered in green and white plate mail, with a set of bronze wings on its back. An axe was in its hand, and the helmet was shaped like an eagle's head with a pair of glowing eyes.

"The cloaked one with the scythe is Sailor Europa." Europa's defining feature was her long blue cape over her senshi uniform, connecting to the hood she wore over her head that half covered her long green hair. The scythe blade looked shiny, but different from a regular metal.

"And the last one is Sailor Callisto, the youngest." The shortest figure was dressed like a Roman soldier, with a bear head shaped helmet that showed her face, and leather and metal bots of protection over her uniform. Her gloves and boots were tipped with metal claws, and one hand had a small shield in it. Just like the first figure, the other three had the symbol of Jupiter on them somewhere.

"You sure you have no idea who these guys are?" Minako asked Makoto. "You have any fanclubs you've been keeping secret from us?" Mako gently shoved her away, getting a laugh from her.

"You're the one that keeps track of all the fanclubs, not me. Come on, let's go get something to eat." Makoto took one last look at the shelf of figurines before they departed. Why were they connected to her out of all the senshi?

"Minako, if you order any more crab after what you ate yesterday, I'll be sick to my stomach for you."

"Aw, you're no fun Mako…" Minako pouted as they stood in line at a small restaurant they found in the Nijo Fish Market district. It was supposed to be one of the better places to try the fresh seafood, according to multiple guides.

"You'll thank me when you're not dreaming of them again tonight. I wonder what we should try…" They both looked at the selection of fish on display, stuck on which to choose. All of the different kinds were laid flat on open ice filled crates, and once a customer chose one, a chef sliced it up, prepared it, and used it to top off a bowl of rice and vegetables.

"Hi, are you stuck on what to order?" The two jumped at the sudden intrusion, and turned to see a young girl standing behind them. She looked to be around late elementary, or early middle school aged, and she had a square shaped case hanging off of a shoulder strap. Her dark brown hair was slightly curled and pulled into a small ponytail, and her eyes were bright green.

"Uh, yeah, I guess we are," Makoto said, recovering first. Knowing Minako, she'd be so focused on not getting crab that she'd have trouble picking another item, and Mako was simply overwhelmed by the huge selection. "Do you have any recommendations? We're kind of tourists, so…"

"Oh, I can help!" The girl said with an almost infectious grin. She grabbed their hands and led them over to the counter, the two older girls too stunned to resist her. "The shrimp and scallop dishes are really good here, but the octopus is my favorite!"

"Let's order all three then!' Minako said. Makoto grinned too.

"Yeah, that sounds good." Ten minutes later, they were all sitting outside with two bowls of rice and fish, and a large platter of squid taking up the table.

"So what's you're name?" Minako asked after trying her shrimp bowl.

"Oh yeah, I forgot…" The girl scratched her cheek, her legs swinging back and forth under the table. "I'm Kumoka!"

"Well, it's nice to meet you! I'm Minako, and this is my friend Makoto."

"You must come here a lot to know exactly what to order," Makoto said. Kumoka nodded, having just grabbed a piece of octopus.

"My cousin and I eat here after school sometimes," she said. "But the family inn is really busy this season, so I've been coming here alone for a while when she has to help them."

"Aw, that's too bad." Minako glanced at the case Kumoka had placed on the table beside her.

"Hey, what's in that thing anyway?" Kumoka perked up again.

"That's my camera! I like taking pictures, so I carry it around when I go out in case I see something cool." She unzipped the case, and inside were separate pieces of an older looking camera model. Kumoka snapped the larger lens into place and held it up. "I usually develop my shots in a darkroom, but this one lets me see the picture faster when I'm taking random ones."

"Hey, do you think you can take a picture of us with that?" Minako asked.

"Sure!" Mako looked at Minako in confusion.

"I thought we had our own camera? You know, the disposable one."

"I may have...forgotten it in my room. Sorry…" Mako sighed.

"Oh well, at least we'll get one picture today." She placed a hand on Kumoka's shoulder. "Sorry about her, she's a ditz sometimes."

"Hey, I resent that! Stop being so mean, Mako…" Kumoka laughed as Minako stuck her tongue out at them. After they finished eating, Kumoka followed them to a spot outside the restaurant, near the docks to take the photo. After it developed, she handed it over to them and waved as they left for their next destination

"Thanks for spending lunch with me!" she called. The two waved back before disappearing into the growing crowd.

"You know...that kid looked a lot like you," Minako said after a few minutes.

"What?" Makoto looked genuinely confused.

"Yeah, you didn't notice? She's basically you but smaller and more hyper. It was kind of cute, actually…"

"...I'm not seeing it. There aren't exactly a lot of people in Japan that match my description."

"Well, go look in the mirror sometime. You sure you don't have a time travelling kid running around?"

"Are you accusing me of having a love-child?" Makoto asked.

"Maybe…Nah, you'd tell us if you were seeing a guy, right?" Mako shrugged, and Minako's face fell. "Wait, is that a yes or no?"

"I could have a boyfriend right now, who knows?" she teased.

"But that's not true...right? Mako, I need to know this stuff!"

"I guess that's too bad, because I'm not telling!" Makoto laughed as Minako chased her down the street, begging for some kind of answer.

Lotus Crystal

Chapter 4:

"That was a great tour, it's too bad my grandfather couldn't see it…" Rei said to Ami. They were walking around Odori Park now, having just come back from their visit to the local shrine. "At least he can look at the photos." Unlike Minako, Rei had not forgotten her disposable camera and had been making full use of it for the last two hours.

"I'm sure he'll be happy with those," Ami said. The ground, including the pathway they walked on, was covered in a thin layer of snow. Farther off the path, a few people were walking around a designated space, sketchbooks in hand as they discussed something intently. "I wonder if those people are preparing for the Snow Festival?" Rei turned to look.

"This early? I thought that was in February?" she asked.

"Well, some of the ice sculptures are quite elaborate, and not to mention large, so they must take a while to plan their entries out." They passed a stone water fountain, and Rei stopped walking and looked away. Ami noticed and stopped as well.

"Rei..?"

"I thought I sensed something…" Rei's eyes scanned the park before they fell on a lone person in
front of an artist's easel. Though he didn't look like the artist type. He was at least 6 feet tall, with dirty blonde, shoulder-length hair that was tied into a thin braid in the back. The front of it made messy bangs that fell over his forehead, and it stuck up a little at the top of his head. He was also built like a refrigerator, with a broad chest and shoulders to go with his thick arms. His eyes were an unsettling blue and green, one of each color. She could only tell that he was a student because of his neatly pressed blue uniform and matching slacks.

Ami followed Rei's gaze and blinked in surprise at the high school boy's appearance.

"I-is that who you were sensing?" Rei nodded.

"There's just something about that guy that I'm picking up on..." Maybe he had a psychic ability like herself? No, he didn't seem like a deep and spiritual kind of person. He was more like the average bone headed athlete's build. But now she was curious as to why he was bent over a sketchbook. As if reacting to her thoughts, he stopped what he was doing and looked around his easel to see the two girls staring at him.

He frowned at them, and Ami and Rei paled before looking away as fast as they could.

"I think he just spotted us..." Ami said.

"Just act natural, maybe he'll ignore it…" Rei answered. "Is he still looking?"

"Hey, you two!" They both jumped as he called them out, and looked back at him. He had abandoned his easel completely and was walking over now, looking very determined to do something.

"Maybe we should run." Ami looked like she was about to bolt for it, whether Rei was following her or not.

"Don't be silly, w-we're senshi, remember? We can handle him if it comes to a fight, right? We'll just make a scene if we run away…" Rei hoped that she was right, at least. He stopped in front of them, and he looked even larger up close. "U-uh….Can we help you, sir?" His mismatched eyes moved from Rei to Ami, as if examining them.

"Yes, you can. Can I ask you both...to model for me?"

"Wait, model?" All the tension drained from them as they realized they weren't in deep trouble.

"As in, be your art subjects?" Ami asked. He nodded, before breaking eye contact to rub the back of his head.

"I'm sorry for being so sudden, but...I'm doing an assignment for my Art class, and I thought that you both would make amazing subjects for me to sketch," he said. Ami blushed at the compliment, and Rei was flattered as well, pushing her hair back behind her shoulder.

"Well, it'd be rude to refuse someone with such a good eye for aesthetic." she said. He gave them a crooked grin.

"Thank you, I really owe you for this," he said. "I'm Yuuta, by the way." He directed them to sit by the fountain, and then got them into the positions he wanted before returning to his canvas. "Try to stay as still as possible, it'll only take a few minutes for me to get the sketch done." He started drawing rapidly, glancing at Rei and Ami every once in a while before focusing on what he had done so far.

Rei resisted the urge to turn her head towards Yuuta to see what he was doing, but he had positioned her to look off into the distance, and she didn't want to ruin the image.

"And… I think I'm done now." Both girls relaxed and stood up.

"Would it be alright if we looked at it?" Ami asked. She didn't think of herself as much of an artist, but her father was a painter, and she did have an interest in the process of making a piece.

Yuuta put his pencil away and took a step back, examining his work. "It's mostly lines right now, but if you want to see it, you can."

"Wow…" Rei said, after walking over to the canvas. It was a rough sketch like he had said, but she could clearly see her and Ami in it, though they were drawn in a more stylized way.

"This isn't your first painting, is it?" Ami asked him. "It looks very professional." Yuuta scratched the back of his head.

"I actually draw and paint during a lot of my free time. It's a hobby of mine…" he said, before he started to pack his things away. "And since you both stopped to help me, did you need any help with something?"

"Well, we're actually just visiting Sapporo, so maybe you could give us a few tips about where to go?"

"Hm…how would you like a tour around the art museums? I know a few places with some interesting pieces." Yuuta folded up his easel and hung it over his shoulder, tucking his sketch pad under his arm.

"That'd be great!" Rei said. A Sapporo guide who liked art would surely know about the less known places to see. And maybe they'd be cheaper than regular museums too…

"Alright then! Uh… I'm sorry I didn't even ask your names." Yuuta laughed at himself. "I was so into painting that I forgot…"

"That's okay, we didn't stop to introduce ourselves either. My name is Rei, and this is my friend Ami. Our other friends are looking around Sapporo separately."

"Oh, so you came in a group," Yuuta said. "Well, I think the Art Park is the closest place to here, so we can start there..."

"Mamoru, are you sure we aren't lost?" Luna asked from her position on Usagi's shoulder. "I don't see that chocolate place anywhere…"

"Lost?" Usagi grabbed Mamoru's arm as they walked. "Does that mean we're going to be stuck in this city forever? You know where we are, right?"

"O-of course, Usako…" Mamoru turned the map around again, and squinted at the lines. "The theme park should be right around this corner." They turned right at the next intersection and found...a grocery store. "Or maybe not." He was usually pretty good with directions, but he wasn't used to navigating Sapporo.

"We are lost, aren't we?" Usagi sniffled. "I wanna go back to the hotel! What if we never see the other girls again because we can't find out way to the train station?" Luna sighed, and Mamoru struggled to find a way out of the situation. They weren't even in the city proper now, so they must have wandered into a suburban district. Small family stores and two story houses lined the streets, and traffic was much quieter. Not many people were out on the sidewalk either.

"It's okay, we can just ask for directions. I'm sure someone around here knows how to get there," he said. Usagi rubbed her eyes and squeezed his arm tighter before letting go.

"You promise?" she asked. Mamoru smiled at her.

"We'll get out of here somehow, okay?" he said, before lacing his fingers through her's. Usagi blushed and smiled back. Luna rolled her eyes and jumped down to the ground, walking ahead of them. She could barely stand them when they were like this.

"When you two are done staring into each other's eyes, I'll be looking for someone to get directions from," Luna said. Usagi looked away from Mamoru to glare at the black cat.

"Oh fine. Why are you so grumpy anyway? Is it because Artemis isn't here?" Usagi said, catching up with her.

"Where is Artemis anyway?" Mamoru asked. "I didn't see him with Minako either…" Luna snorted.

"He's bent on catching himself a fish, so he left the hotel earlier to go to the harbor. I don't know what's gotten into him…" Just who was that crazy Mau trying to impress now? Down the street, a bright splash of color on a store's sign caught their attentions. It was a repair shop with the name of Jishaku Garage. And next to the kanji was a cartoonish drawing of a volcano erupting. The two story building looked like it could use a fresh paint job, but the garage itself was open, and a few vehicles were parked in it.

"I'll see if anyone's here." Usagi and Luna waited outside while Mamoru walked into the garage. Music was playing from a computer set up on a desk, an English song blasting from the speakers. He looked around, only to see a brown cat with white paws and markings sitting on the hood of a tireless car.

The cat looked up at him with green eyes, and tilted its head. "Hello? Is this garage open?" The cat stood up and stretched itself out before meowing. Mamoru turned when he heard something moving around in the back, and a younger girl emerged from behind a shelf, her cheek stained with some motor oil.

"Hold on, I'm coming…" She grumbled and moved around the various junk strewn around the workshop area. Her hair was a bright red, and stopped at her shoulders. Her bangs covered her forehead and the rest of her hair was in a bun held by two chopsticks near the back of her head. Her eyes were a dark shade of green, half closed in irritation. She glared up at Mamoru, even though she was about 5 inches shorter than him.

"Did you need something?" she asked, putting an oil can down on the counter next to a wrench. The cat walked over to sit beside her, though its gaze had shifted from Mamoru to Usagi. She wasn't sure why, but it felt like the cat was analyzing her, and Usagi gulped. Luna stiffened next to her, biting back a hiss.

"We were just looking for help getting back into the city," Mamoru said, holding his hands up. "We were looking for the chocolate factory and got turned around, but it would really help if you could tell us how to get to Sapporo Station."

"... You're not from Sapporo then?" Her annoyed expression softened a little when she spotted Usagi outside. "Fine, I guess I can take you there…" she said. She stepped out into the open, and they could see her open black leather jacket and matching boots. A nametag pinned to her shirt said 'Kazaki' in simple lettering. The girl grabbed an orange bike helmet and walked over to a parked motorcycle, one that was painted green with a large lightning bolt decal on the side. The cat moved closer to inspect Usagi, and Luna swiped at it. The cat jumped back and looked at her instead, and this time Luna did hiss.

"L-luna, cut it out!" Usagi said, picking the black cat up. Luna bristled, but didn't fight back.

"Percy, leave them alone," Kazaki said, swinging her leg over the motorcycle. The cat looked at her, then turned and slunk back into the garage, though they could still make out a shining pair of green eyes in the shadows. She shook her head. "Ignore him, he's just nosy. You guys can follow me, alright?" She strapped her helmet on and revved the engine, lifting the kickstand and edging towards the garage door.

"But what about your shop?" Usagi asked. "If you leave, then who's running it?" The girl shrugged.

"My parents own it, not me. It can last on its own for an hour." She pushed off and rode out of the garage and onto the street, stopping to wait for the others to catch up. "Just follow me, I'll ride slowly. Driving a car would be faster, but I've only got this motorcycle and you both can't fit on it…"

"Hm…" Mamoru glanced at Usagi, and then back at the bike. "Could you fit one more person on, at least?" he asked.

An hour later, Kazaki smoothly pulled up to the curb near the busy trainstation, Usagi clinging to her waist to stay on. Mamoru and Luna caught up with them a minute later, a little more tired than before. Kazaki hadn't gone fast, but the distance had been much easier with a set of wheels than on foot.

"That was so cool!" Usagi said, almost falling as she dismounted the motorcycle. She hadn't ridden one since Haruka took her for a spin one day, and even though it was kind of scary to go fast, she found it exhilerating. "Thanks for letting me ride with you!" she continued, turning to face Kazaki. The other girl took her helmet off, blushing at Usagi's words despite her less than excited expression.

"Don't thank me, thank your boyfriend. He thought of it…" she said, looking away. Though she did smile when Usagi crashed into Mamoru for a hug, forcing him to catch her. What a strange girl… "Just try not to get lost again, or you might not find my garage this time." With a nod, kazaki put her helmet back on and twisted the throttle on her motorcycle. The wheels spun rapidly as she spun around to turn back down the street.

"Thank you for the help," Mamoru raised his voice to be heard over the engine, and the rider gave a short wave before driving off. They watched as the motorcycle disappeared in the distance, and then Mamoru gave a sigh. "I guess we can look for that theme park tomorrow, sorry for getting us lost…"

"That's okay! At least we know where we are now." Usagi gasped as she realized something. "We can get that ramen now!" Mamoru laughed.

"Well, I owe you after all that walking. We can sit down for a couple of bowls."

"Come on, let's go!" She grabbed his hand and started dragging him off, but Luna hesitated, still looking down the road.

"Luna…?" Usagi asked. Luna looked back at them.

"Hm? Oh, I just thought I was sensing something back at that garage. It was probably that brown cat messing with me." Her ears flattened at the memory.

"Forget about him then. Let's go eat!" Luna stood and followed them into the station, but her thoughts still lingered on what she had seen and felt.

____________________________________________________________

"There was a comic shop?" Usagi asked through a mouthful of her ice cream sundae, a few drops of it dripping on the table everyone was sitting at. The three groups ended up together at the station earlier than expected, so they had decided to go get some ice cream from a nearby dessert shop. Now they were sitting at an outdoor table, exchanging their first impressions of Sapporo.

"Yup!" Minako dug around in her shopping bags and pulle dout a brand new manga, "And I got this from it." Usagi gasped.

"Is that the newest Sailor V manga? No way, That didn't even come out yet! You've gotta lend it to me, Minako!"

"Sorry Usagi, this copy is mine!" she tucked it away again, and Usagi looked devastated. "But...I did buy a second one." Another copy was dropped on the table in front of them, and Usagi's eyes lit up.

"Minako, you're the best friend ever!"

"Well, I try my best." She grinned as she watched her immediately start reading it.

"So besides us getting lost, what did you all get to see?" Mamoru asked. He took advantage of Usagi's distraction to get a spoonful of her ice cream for himself.

"We went to the park after visiting a temple," Ami said.

"Aw, nothing more exciting?" Minako asked. Rei gave her a weary look.

"It was interesting enough for me," Rei said. "And we met a painter who used us for a project of his."

"Wait, you got someone to paint you? Ami, why didn't you mention that before?" Ami shrugged and took a sip of her milkshake.

"I just thought it was an interesting experience…"

"Alright, but was the artist cute? The creative guys always have that scruffy look."

"Um…I'm not sure how to answer that..." Ami looked away, and Minako pouted.

"I bet you're hogging him to yourselves…"

"Minako, I think only you would think of hogging guys to check out later," Makoto said.

"Hey, it's a legitimate strategy, I've seen it in action..." They continued to talk as they waited for the bus that would take them back to the hotel.

________________________________________________________________
Dr. Isamu turned away from fine tuning his latest batch of machines when his computer started to flash. It pulled up a map of Sapporo, and then zoomed in on a particular spot, focusing on a single street.

"Hm…" He spun his chair around and started typing in commands, pulling up the exact coordinates.
"That's a shop by Sapporo Station. What would the Woodstar be doing there?" This didn't make much sense. But the computer insisted that the signal he had been tracking was at that location, so it must be right. Isamu hesitated, and then typed in another set of commands, sending the signal coordinates to another program to handle.

"I'll send out the Hunters to confirm the signal, and if it's not a fluke, I'll retrieve it." He stood up and moved over to the desk he had been working at before. It was covered in smooth grey and green disc shaped machines, each one about as large as a dinner plate. They were covered in green grooves that showed where different metal panels connected. and a camera was attached to the front of each for visual feedback.

Isamu picked up a remote control and tapped a button. The machines gave a low hum and started to power on, their green lights flashing. One of the shifted, before starting to float upwards using hidden turbine. A smile formed on his face as he watched it steady in the air, hovering. They were working perfectly.

"Alright Hunters, here's your first mission…" Isamu started loading the coordinates into his small fleet of inventions. "Show me the source of that signal."

Mamoru looked up from his chocolate ice cream as he heard a low humming sound, like a very quiet jet.

"What was that?" He scanned the sky, and found nothing there.

"What was what?" Usagi asked him. Mamoru frowned and looked down again.

"Nothing, I thought I heard something." Usagi looked around too.

"I don't see anything."

"Maybe it was a passing train in the distance, or a helicopter," Ami suggested.

"Wait…" Luna emerged from under the table, her ear twitching. "I think I heard something too…"
And then dozens of strange metal discs descended into their view, like small invading UFOs. A few people at other tables gasped and screamed as they moved towards them. The Hunters scanned people with a green wave of light one table at a time, before moving on to another.

"What are those frisbee things!?" Usagi was already out of her seat, trying to put some distance between her and them. Mamoru stood protectively in front of her, and the other's were alert as well.

"Ami, what do you think they're doing?" Minako asked as she watched the discs move. Ami was typing on her Mercury computer, gathering data on the machines.

"They don't seem to be hostile, but they appear to be looking for something in particular. I can't tell if they're armed or not yet."

"Whatever they are, I think it's safe to say they're up to no good." Rei ducked as one passed by too close to her head, and gave it a hostile look. The disc abruptly turned back and flashed a light at their table, catching them all in it. It paused, and then turned to face Makoto.

"Signal found." Makoto's suspicious look turned into surprise.

"Wait, what?" One of the hatches on the disc opened up, and two small prongs extended from it, crackling with electricity. Her eyes widened, and she moved to the side just as it fired. The small bolt struck another table, setting it on fire. The rest of the people started running for their lives as the other machines turned their focus to Mako, and in turn, the rest of the group.

"I think now's a good time to transform," Luna said, standing on their table. "Preferably before those things adjust their aim!" Usagi stopped cowering and nodded, moving to stand beside her friends.

"Right, let's do this!" In a multicolored burst of light and energy, the Sailor Senshi and Tuxedo Mask were standing off against the small army of robots.

Picking up on the change that had just occurred, the machines all drew weapons and floated towards them, circling around to cover any possible escape. The senshi moved closer together, covering each other's backs as they waited for an opening to fight back. Unknown to them was the smaller, spherical robot purposefully keeping a distance from the battle. It simply adjusted its camera to get a better view of what was about to happen.

"Recording signal and energy output."

Lotus Crystal

Chapter 5:

The drones floated around the Sailor Senshi and Tuxedo Mask, not making any sudden movement as they orbited and shifted their viewing lenses. Eternal Sailor Moon folded her wings back to take up less space, still nervous even with the protection her form provided.

The other senshi were in their Super forms, wary of accidentally destroying the district if they fully powered up. The dessert stand and surrounding train station might not be able to withstand five Eternal Senshi and the future King of Earth fighting for their lives, and they didn't have the luxury to be careful around the buildings.

"Stay on your guard…" Luna said, her claws digging into the table in anticipation. "They seem to be attracted to us, so at least no one else should be in danger." Venus slowly nodded.

And then a drone opened up one of its metal hatches to draw a weapon, and chaos broke out. Venus ducked down under the laser blasts and summoned her Love-Me chain, whipping it into the nearest foe. It tumbled in the air before righting itself, but by then she had it wrapped up again. With a flick of her wrist, the drone was smashed against the pavement, in pieces. She rolled under another volley of lasers and stood again, lashing out once more and cutting another two in half with her Wink Chain Sword.

Mercury's visor continued to pick apart the robots as she moved to dodge the projectiles. At the same time, a bubble of concentrated water formed in her empty palm.

"Mercury Aqua Mirage!" She skidded to a stop and threw it on the ground, under a cluster of robots. The bubble burst into tendrils of water that reformed into an even larger sphere around them. The robots were immobilized as the sphere suddenly condensed, crushing them with pressure before the entire thing froze solid. The hunk of ice shattered as it fell, leaving only shards of frozen drones behind.

"Their outer shells are just average steel," Mercury said "They can be pierced or dented by our attacks easily."

"It doesn't matter how easy they are to break if they seem to never seem to run out of extras!" Mars said. She threw a few paper seals, a few of them sticking to the cameras the robots used to see. As they were forced to switch to radar to regain their bearings, Mars brought her hands together, focusing on her fingertips. "Fire Soul!" Fireballs engulfed them, having been drawn to the seals like targets, and they cracked under the heat before exploding into metal shreds.

Tuxedo Mask ducked behind his cloak to protect himself from the flaming aftermath, and then hopped back to gain some distance from the drones pursuing him. He held a single gloved hand out, and his palm glowed as the air rippled.

"Tuxedo La Smoking Bomber!" A widening beam of gold and blue energy exploded from his hand, pushing the drones into a wall before disintegrating them under its intensity. "She's right, we're barely pushing them back…" He turned to look at Sailor Moon, who was using her Eternal Tiare to take a large chunk of of the robotic swarm with waves of pink energy.

"On your left!" he said, before turning to fire a smaller version of his last attack. She yelped and moved to the right as the robot creeping up behind her was destroyed.

"They're everywhere!" She said, recovering from her close call. Tuxedo Mask moved closer to her her until they were almost back to back. Sailor Moon opened her hand, and a glowing white disc appeared and started to spin. "Moon Tiara Action!" She threw her makeshift frisbee and sliced through a whole row of drones before her attack dissipated. Five seconds later, more drones had flown in to take their places.

"How many more can there even be?" Jupiter made a frustrated noise and kicked one drone into another, knocking them both to the ground. Three more circled her, lasers warming up fire again. The antenna attached to her tiara crackled, and she crossed her arms as the electrical charge built up. Just as they were about to shoot, she unleashed a pulse of lighting, shocking them until they short circuited and crashed. Even more gravitated towards her, and Jupiter took a few steps back.

"Jupiter Coconut Cyclone!" A hurricane of wind and electricity spread from her, blowing the drones away again and shattering a nearby set of windows. She was left gasping at the effort she was exerting in such a short time, but they had to keep it up. Mercury stepped in front of her as another round of robots descended.

"Mercury Aqua Mist!" A cold fog fell over the battle, covering everyone from the view of the drones.

"Over here!" Invisible to the enemy, Luna led the rest of the group behind a low wall to recover. "I think it's safe to say that we're outnumbered," Luna said. "And we can't keep this fight going forever without hurting innocent people. We might have to retreat and hope the robots lose interest and leave."

"But they have scanners that can pick us up," Mercury said. "If we run away, they might just follow us and resume attacking. They could even regroup with more reinforcements if we leave them alone. It's too risky."

"So we're stuck between a rock and a boulder…" Venus said. Mercury looked at her.

"I think you mean 'between a rock and a hard place'," she corrected.

"But those are both the same thing, that doesn't make sense!"

"That's the point of the saying. Both choices are equally bad, so the objects are the same."

"Well it sounds dumb…" Venus muttered.

"Can we focus on our actual problem?" Jupiter asked. "Sometime before we get caught again would be
great."

"I'm not seeing much of a solution beyond destroying as many as we can…" Mars frowned. "But maybe if we became Eternal again, we could overpower them."

"That's risky too," Sailor Moon said. "I'm having trouble holding back Starlight Honeymoon Therapy Kiss so that it only destroys robots instead of everything around them too, and that's supposed to be healing energy."

"But that might be a risk we'll have to accept if there's no other answer…" Tuxedo Mask said. He hated to disagree with her, but if fully awakening for this fight would make them strong enough to finish it, that was a plan they could rely on.

The wall cracked and shook as a hail of lasers struck it.

"It's now or never…" he continued, ready to stand up and fight again. "There's nowhere else to hide."

"I guess...we'll try one more time." Sailor Moon said. They ran just as their cover broke apart, turning to face the mass of drones as they moved closer, weapons still warm. The senshi readied their own attacks, expecting a very uphill fight.

"Io Hertz Wave!" Luna looked up from behind a pile of rubble to see the air shimmer as a wave of invisible sound slammed into a whole group of robots. The impact was like a passing truck had gone by, and Luna covered her ears to protect them from the roaring engine sound that echoed. The robots shuddered as the vibrations ran through them, and they either fell apart or blew fuses and crashed.

The other senshi looked up to see an unfamiliar girl dressed in what looked like a modified version of their own outfits. Her motorcycle helmet and chest armor set her apart, and a visor shaded her eyes from view. The other robots stilled, unsure how to respond to a newcomer.

"Sapporo Station is meant to be a source of enjoyment for all the people of this city, not a war zone!" She said, before jumping off her perch on top of a nearby parked truck. Venus stared, not sure if she was really seeing what was approaching them. Was the comic book store cashier right after all?

"Jupiter, is that..?" She was cut off as the senshi spoke again.

"I am Sailor Io, General of Energy Waves! And in the name of the first moon, Io, I'll punish you!" Now that she was closer, Jupiter could clearly see Io's outfit, and the familiar symbol on the side of her helmet. She looked just like the figurine in the shop did, with red hair and dark green eyes. And once again she was hit with the feeling that she had seen this girl before.

"The first moon?" Sailor Moon frowned. "I thought I stood for the Moon.." She yelped and scrambled back as a robot decided to take a cheap shot at her while she was looking away.

"Just keep fighting, we can argue about it later!" Mars said, stepping in front of her to aim another blast of flames. Before the rest of the robots could join in, something spun through the air to strike one of them. A bronze handled hatchet, with the blade made of what looked like green lightning, was sunk halfway into one of the drones. The entire thing sparked and shuddered before an explosion destroyed it and the entire group of other drones surrounding it. The ax was thrown into the air by the blast, and caught by someone in a full suit of silver and green armor.

The knight wore a helmet designed to imitate an eagle's head, and the eye holes glowed green, disguising their eyes. The breastplate had the symbol of Jupiter on it, and a set of folded bronze wings were mounted on their back.

"I am Ganymede Knight, General of Thunder and Metal! And in the name of the Third Moon, I'll cut you in half!" The knight's voice was deep and masculine, most likely a male under the helmet.

"Does any other neighborhood senshi want to join in?" Mars asked, picking bits of metal out of her hair.

"No wait, this is a good thing!" Mercury's eyes flickered across the screen of her computer, deciphering the effectiveness of the new senshi' attacks compared to their own. At the rate that they were destroying robots, they could gain the upper hand if they worked together. "We need to switch to more spread out attack!"

"Jupiter Oak Evolution!" Sailor Jupiter spun on her heel, shooting electrified leaves around them. It wasn't that accurate, but enough lasers clipped some of the drones to slow them down. Mercury followed it with a Mercury Aqua Rhapsody, drenching them with geysers of water and pushing them back.

"Europa Cold Typhoon!" The wind howled, rustling the other senshis' clothes and hair as it built up to form a small twister of freezing air. The already wet robots froze over and were swept up in the gale, tossing them into a lifeless heap of scrap. What looked like a girl in a blue cloak was running from the opposite end of the street towards them, holding a long scythe with a blade of ice.

Most of her green hair was tucked into her hood, but her blue eyes were still visible even in the shadow it cast over her face. Underneath the cloak was a pale blue and green sailor suit, though she had no tiara, and wore metal shin guards that connected to her short green boots. A green chest plate and a matching set of gauntlet gloves served as extra protection.
"Crescent Beam Shower!" Taking any opportunity she could find, Venus attacked what seemed to be the last group of robots. A huge beam of light exploded from her fingertips, and then split into dozens of smaller, still deadly lasers. It was nearly impossible to get out of the way, and the battle was quickly over.
Still unnoticed, the spherical observation robot that had stayed away from the fight turned and floated off without a sound, its readings stored away for later review.

Mercury scanned the immediate area for any more movement. Her computer found no more activity. "I think they're all destroyed…" The rest of the senshi relaxed a little, including the newcomers who were now standing together in their own group. But despite the lack of immediate danger, there was tension in the air.

Mars was just about glaring at them, already wary of what their purpose for interfering in the fight was. Mercury was just as cautious, but much less hostile about it, using her visor to scan Sailor Io and what she assumed were her allies. Venus looked more surprised than suspicious, which then turned into curiosity. And after catching her breath and trying to wrap her head around the robot attack and the senshi that had appeared, Jupiter was...confused.

Who were these people and why did she feel like she should know the answer already? It was getting to the point where she wanted to demand that they tell her what they were hiding, but that might not get her anywhere. Sailor Io's eyes locked with her own gaze, and then looked away again. Jupiter grit her teeth in frustration, but said nothing.

Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask exchanged a look, and then she gave Sailor Io a tentative smile.

"Thanks for stepping in like that," she said. "We were really cornered there!" Maybe this wouldn't end up like their first meeting with the Outer Senshi and the Sailor Starlights… Sailor Io nodded curtly.

"We'll fight anyone that threatens this city," she answered. "But...we've never had to fight robotic enemies before. Why were they attacking you?"

"We're not sure ourselves, they just sort of...swarmed," Venus said, moving to stand beside Sailor Moon. If these senshi thought they were lying, they might decide to start another fight. "We've never seen them before either." The knight turned to Io.

"We should look around to see if they're gathering somewhere else, or if this is just a one time thing," he said. Io nodded again.

"You're right, we need to start checking everywhere. Ganymede, Europa, come on…" She jumped onto a rooftop, and then across to a higher building where a fourth senshi was waiting. This one was shorter and younger than the rest, and wore leather bits of armor with her bear shaped helmet. From a distance, it was hard to tell much about her beyond her brown hair and green eyes. There was a small animal standing beside her, and Luna hopped onto Sailor Moon's shoulder to see it better.

"It's that cat from the garage again…" she said to Sailor Moon in a whisper. "I knew there was something weird about him!" Ganymede Knight looked at the group for another moment, and then jumped after Io, spreading his wings a little to gain more height. The cloaked senshi that had been called Europa stayed put, watching them with a worried expression.

"... We can't tell you not to investigate, but...please be careful during your stay in Sapporo," she said. She followed after the others, and the four senshi quickly scattered. The brown and white cat ran behind them.

"We should follow them," Mars said, once she was sure they were out of earshot. "Maybe we'll figure out what their goal is. Who knows if they're real senshi or impostors, like Galaxia's soldiers."

"They could be real," Venus said. "Jupiter and I saw merchandise for them in that comic shop, so the people around here think they're heroes at least, and what Sailor Io said lines up with that. If they're lying, then they've been doing it for a long time now. And besides, we aren't in very good shape right now for investigating anything."

"Should we stay out of this then?" Mercury asked. "Those robots could track us down a second time, possibly with reinforcements."

"Maybe we should go back to Tokyo if it's this dangerous…" Sailor Moon said. They weren't the most terrifying things she'd ever faced, but people could get really hurt if they were caught in between them and the senshi.

"They could follow us to Tokyo if we leave," Tuxedo Mask said. "I think it's too late to pretend this didn't happen. We need to get to the bottom of it soon." Jupiter pushed the mysterious new senshi aside in her mind and focused on their current problem. She could worry about her weird deja vu later.

"I agree, we can't just sit around and wait for us to get attacked again. Is there a way we could figure out where the robots came from? Then we could get rid of the source."

"Hm...If only we didn't destroy all of them so thoroughly. I might have been able to hack into one and see if I could get any information," Mercury said. "But if they do find us a second time, maybe we could try to capture one." Now that they knew the robots were weak to area wide strikes, it would theoretically be easier to defend themselves.

"As much as I don't want to rely on strangers, we might have to approach those senshi again if we want to take on the drones," Luna said. "This city is massive, and we could never cover it all in a week. And that cat I saw with them...I'm almost positive that he was a Mauian. Planet Mau was destroyed, and I don't remember seeing him on the Moon in the Silver Millennium, so I have no idea who he is."

"So you think he's a potential enemy?" Mars asked. Luna shook her head.

"I'm hoping he's not. Mauians were often sent out to other planets to serve as companions and advisors, and if he's hanging around with a group of Sailor Senshi, it's possible that they could be reincarnated souls as well. They may not remember that they're on our side. If we can find that cat, I think we can get some solid answers about what's going on around here, and gain a few allies."

"There you are!" The group turned to see Artemis running towards them, breathing heavily. He skidded to a stop and panted. "I saw the fight on a television and got over here as fast as I could. What happened?"

"We're kind of still working out the details…" Jupiter said. Police sirens blared in the distance.

"Well, how about you guys explain it to me back at the hotel? I think you guys might be in trouble with the local authorities..." Artemis looked around the ruined patio, burnt and falling apart. "Unless you want to pick up the tab for this mess."

"I'll pass on that." Venus scooped him up, and the senshi ran to find a place to transform back so they could take the bus when it arrived.

Lotus Crystal

loving it so far. and why didn't ami and mamoru realize that the other senshi are named after jupiter's moons! are they that slow or is that the whole point that they don't get it til later on. cause its like i just wanna shake'em silly for not getting it lol

Lotus Crystal

Everyone was a little too shaken up to think very much about names, since they were just dragged out of a fight. Minako is definitely connecting the dots after what she learned in the comic book shop though, and I'll get into the group's speculation and theories next chapter. ^^ Thanks for reading!

Lotus Crystal

Chapter 6

The ride back to the hotel was silent on the crowded bus, no one willing to talk about what had just happened in public. Makoto had to make a conscious effort to sit still, finding the atmosphere too tense.

Rei appeared calm and controlled as she looked out the window at the mountainside, but her hands were squeezing her armrests, betraying her tension. Minako was deep in thought with Artemis sitting in her lap. Usagi had started reading her new manga, but in a quieter, subdued way. Ami clicked away on her computer, but instead of it being a comforting sound, Mako was still agitated. She didn't know exactly how, but that attack was her fault. That weird machine had scanned her and found something, and if she didn't figure out what it was, they could show up again.

She was supposed to protect her friends, but now they were almost hurt because of her, and there was nothing she could do about it. She wasn't even aware of how tightly wound up she was until her jaw started hurting from how hard she'd been clenching it.

As the bus let them out at the resort again, they could see that Fuyuko was waiting outside, still dressed in her work yukata.

"Welcome back to Kagome Hot Springs," she said, bowing to them. Her serene expression shifted into a slight frown. "I heard about the strange attack at the train station, is everyone alright? I know that the bus stop is near there…"

"Oh yeah, we were eating nearby when it happened, but we got out of the way," Minako said to her. "And then the Sailor Senshi took care of it!"

"Yes, that was fortunate of them to be there," Fuyuko said, smiling again. "Though I thought they only appeared in Tokyo…."

"Sailor Moon fights for love and justice all over Japan!" Usagi added. Rei shook her head.

"You sound like a little kid…" Usagi stuck her tongue out at her.

"It's true!" Fuyuko giggled and nodded.

"I suppose she can't be limited to just one city," she said. "Dinner should be ready in another two hours." The group thanked her and walked in, even as Usagi and Rei continued their argument. As soon as they were out of hearing range, the brown and white cat crept out from the nearby hedges to look at them better.

"I'll keep an eye on them if you're still suspicious," Fuyuko said to the cat. He nodded, and then started to innocuously clean his fur.

_____________________________________________________________

"So how should we track those other senshi down?" Usagi asked. They were all piled into her and Mamoru's bedroom, sitting at a low table to discuss their next move. Luna jumped up to sit on the tabletop, careful not to knock anyone's cups or food down in the process.

"We need to find that cat again," she said. "And the car repair shop is our best starting place. I bet he lives there."

"Repair shop?" Rei asked.

"Yeah, we went to one today to ask for directions!" Usagi said. Mamoru looked at the carpet, scratching the back of his head.

"We may have gotten a bit lost trying to find the factory."

"But we got a ride back, so it was okay!"

"You mean you got a ride back, Usagi," Luna said, ears folding back. "Some of us had to walk…"

"Luna, you said that the senshi we saw could be reincarnated souls, right?" Ami asked. "But...I don't remember seeing them during the Silver Millennium."

"A Mauian would have no other reason to be here other than to serve as a guardian for a senshi of the past," Luna insisted.

"It's possible that our memories had more holes in them than we thought they did," Artemis said. "Unless anyone here does recognize them, we're in the dark."

"Hm...I don't think we're quite blind yet. I was trying to compile all the information we have on them so far to try and better understand them." Ami placed her computer on the table. "For example, all of their names correlate to moons that revolve around Jupiter, specifically the four largest ones. And as for the abilities they used…" As Ami continued to explain what she had learned to the others, Makoto tried to pay attention, but her thoughts kept drifting back to her dream the night before. The senshi they saw today were connected to it, somehow. But she just couldn't remember what the dream was about anymore. It was so vivid the moment she woke up, but now it was gone.

But should she tell them about it? What use would her forgotten dream be to them if she had no solid information to go with it? And they were all still trying to wrap their heads around the robots attacking. She'd keep it to herself for now, at least until things started to make more sense. Knowing her friends, they'd drop everything to try to help her, and it would distract them from their new enemy.

"Mako, do you have anything to add?" Makoto realized that she was being stared at by the rest of the group, Ami having finished her summary.

"Uh…" Makoto scratched the back of her head. She hated lying, but...she didn't want anyone worrying over her either. "No, I think you covered it all. So are we going over to that garage tomorrow to find the Mauian?"

"Well we've got no other lead, unless you and Minako want to show us the comic shop you went to so we can question the cashier more…" Rei said. Artemis nodded.

"So it's settled then. We'll go to the garage as early as we can tomorrow." With everyone in agreement, the senshi left for their separate rooms for the night, leaving Luna, Usagi, and Mamoru alone to sleep.

________________________________________________

She was in a castle, a huge, towering structure made of stone and shining green crystal that appeared to have grown out of the thick forest surrounding it like a massive tree. Its very pinnacle seemed to scrape the rolling thunderclouds above it, connecting the ground to the sky like a lightning rod. As she walked through the long, wide halls, lined with windows, framed portraits, and tangled potted plants, her hand reached out to trace the wall. She laughed to herself as static crackled at her fingertips, the castle reacting to her own abilities.

"Princess?" A woman's voice called from around a corner, and she broke into a full run, laughing louder. Sailor Io chased after her, but was too far behind to catch up quickly, even if she was older and taller. "Slow down!" she yelled.

She was so focused on keeping away from Io that she almost slammed into a metal figure standing in her path. She gasped when the much larger knight scooped her up before she could change direction.

"Ha, there's no escape from me!" he said lifting her further off the ground.

"Noooo!" she yelled as she squirmed in his grip, playing along. Ganymede Knight let her sit on his shoulders, and she grabbed his helmet to steady herself as he started walking back down the hallway. Io slowed down to meet them.

"Did you lose something important?" he asked her, grinning under his visor at the exhausted senshi. Io narrowed her eyes at both of them.

"That's one way to put it. We were getting ready for dinner after her lesson until someone decided it was time for a game of tag instead!" She tried to look innocent, but Io's glare caused her to start stifling a giggle.

"Is that so? Well then…I guess I'll have to escort you over." He turned around and started heading back the way she had run from, much to her disappointment. They always had to stop and do something else when she was having fun...

"Makoto…." Something was shaking her, but she ignored it.

"Mako!" She was shaken again, rougher this time, and she finally jerked awake. Makoto sat up and inhaled sharply, heart still beating fast. The dream was already starting to fade again, replacing itself with a slight headache…

"Are you alright?" She turned to see Ami standing next to her, looking half asleep but still worried. "I heard you moving in your sleep, and then you started making sparks. Were you...having a nightmare?"

"Not exactly…" Makoto couldn't meet her eyes. Did she even want Ami to know? Ami blushed and looked down.

"If you don't want to talk about it, I understand but…" Ami hesitated. "Your planetary symbol appeared while you were sleeping."

"What?" On instinct, Mako went to touch her forehead. Maybe the dreams were more important than she thought.

"It disappeared again," she explained, and Makoto relaxed.

"I'm fine, I just…" She trailed off, a slight frown on her face. Was she really going to lie again?

"No, I'm not fine." Ami jumped at the sudden conviction in her voice. "I...think I remembered something from the past. In the Silver Millennium."

"And what was it about?"

"It's getting blurry again, but... I saw Castle Io." She'd drawn power from it before when she needed it, but she'd never seen it in her mind as clearly as then.

"But…why?" Ami knew that they only seemed to unlock memories as they needed the information, so why did Makoto need to see Castle Io?

"I think it's because my castle's connected to the senshi we saw," Makoto said. "Two of them appeared in my dream, but I don't exactly remember what they were doing. I had a feeling that I'd seen them before, but this made it clear."

"Is that why you didn't bring it up earlier at the meeting?" Ami asked. Makoto scratched the back of her head.

"Yeah, sorry for not saying anything… I didn't want to lead us on a fake trail." She looked embarrassed. "And I didn't want you guys to be worried about me either." Ami smiled at her, and took her free hand to hold.

"We're supposed to worry about each other, that's what friends do." Mako blinked in surprised and gave a tentative smile back.

"Right…" Satisfied that she had gotten her point across, Ami gave her hand a soft squeeze before letting go again.

"So you think they're allies then?" If they didn't have to worry about another set of enemies, that would take some of the pressure off their situation.

"I'm...not sure. I didn't feel like I was being warned about them though." The dream had given her a nostalgic feel, almost like homesickness.

"Well, it's a place to start at least. But...I think you should tell the others in the morning about this. I think they'd want to know about your memories returning."

"Really?"

"I'm sure that if we all put our heads together, we can make more sense of any dreams of the Silver Millennium that you have. Minako has more experience with that than anyone else." Ami covered her mouth to stifle a yawn. "S-sorry…" she said. Makoto smiled a little wider at seeing her struggle to stay awake.

"It's alright, Ami. I get what you're saying. I'll...think about bringing it up tomorrow, okay?" Ami nodded and went back to her own bed. Mako laid back down and stared at the ceiling, her mind still stuck on the past. What was her life like back then anyway? Was she the same person that she was now? Her fatigue eventually caught up with her, and she reluctantly slept as well, hoping to at least get no more dreams for one night.

____________________________________________

Dr. Kimura looked up from his computer to see his observation drone float in. The news was playing on a television in a corner, covering the battle between his creations and the Sailor Senshi. It seemed that all the other drones he sent out to find the signal were destroyed in the ensuing fight. But that didn't mean that all the data was gone as well…

"Now let's see what you picked up…" Isamu said as the drone hovered over his desk to land. He opened up its back hatch and plugged a wire in, connecting the drone to his computer. If his drones attacked the senshi, then that meant that the Woodstar was nearby. Or at least a similar signal was detected. He just needed the individual scan data and visual feed that corresponded to it.

"Here it is!" he said, eyes lighting up as the file loaded. Now who had the Woodstar? The video played with an eager click of his mouse, and a cafe table seating five girls and a young man appeared on his screen. Isamu's brow quirked. What did they have to do with anything?

And then the scan data overlayed the scene, and he saw his target. The one giving off the most similar energy signature was a brunette girl with green eyes. As the video continued, he realized that this group of girls were not as random as he had first pegged them as.

"They're senshi…" he whispered. It was unbelievable that he had just stumbled upon them. His instinct that they were connected to the Woodstar was right after all, and the one that he needed to target was the senshi in green: Sailor Jupiter.

Lotus Crystal

Chapter 7

"The bus is going to be here in half an hour…" Ami warned the rest of the group as they ate breakfast. The sun wasn't even up yet, and only a few sleepy eyed guests were in the dining room with them. Usagi was fighting an intense battle between wanting to eat and going right back to bed again. She was about to compromise by dozing off with her plate of eggs as a pillow, but Minako grabbed her as her head tipped forward.

"Let's hope we'll still all be awake by then…" Luna said, as Usagi struggled to keep her eyes open.

"You can sleep more on the way," Mamoru said to her. She mumbled something unintelligible and continued eating breakfast in a zombie-like state. Rei sighed, and Makoto wasn't sure whether to laugh or sigh with her. Ami caught her eye and tilted her head slightly, and Mako remembered their conversation from the night before. She should talk about her dream… She swallowed hard and set her chopsticks down, gathering up the nerve.

"Uh, before we go…I…" The rest of the table's occupant's looked at her, and it took a moment to keep going. "I think I figured something else out about the senshi we're looking for."

"Really? How so?" Artemis asked.

"Forget about how, what is it?" Minako said, cutting him off. He flattened his ears and glared at her.

"I think, no... I know I knew them in the past. Or at least Sailor Jupiter did," Makoto said.

"So Luna was right," Rei said. "They really are from the Silver Millennium, like we are." Artemis nodded for her to go on.

"Well… ever since we got to Sapporo a couple of days ago, I've been having dreams." It was like a huge weight had been taken off her shoulders after admitting her secret, and Mako felt herself untense. "At first I didn't remember what I saw, but last night, some of it stuck with me. And I think they're bits of my past life."

"So that was why you were so tired yesterday..." Minako said, as if she had just solved a deep mystery. "Then I guess you weren't hiding a naughty dream after all."

"Minako..." Mako said in a warning tone, though she still turned red at the accusation.

"What about a naughty dream?" Usagi asked, fully awake.

"I-it's nothing! It doesn't exist!"

"Er, how about we get back to the memories?" Ami said, blushing from second hand embarrassment. Did she even want to know where Minako got that from?

"Yes, let's!" Luna said.

"Anyway…" Makoto continued. "Last night, I ended up dreaming about Castle Io. I'm guessing that before we were together on the Moon, I used to live there… And that's where I saw two of the senshi we met yesterday."

"And what did they do?"

"Well, I can't say for sure, but….I think they were working there. That means they're allies, right?"

"That would make the most sense…" Luna looked deep in thought. "But...that would mean that there were more senshi loyal to the Moon Kingdom than just us and the Outer Planet guard. I don't recall anything like that. And if it's true, why didn't they contact us sooner?"

"Well we didn't exactly know what was going on at first either…" Ami said. "Perhaps they just didn't have all of their memories. What if they were as clueless as we were when we fought the Dark Kingdom?"

"That's a theory." Artemis stood up and hopped off the cushion he had been using. "And it would give us some leverage persuading them to work with us once we find them. We can tell them the whole story and hope that gets them on our side."

After finishing their meal, they headed back to the lobby to get to the station. But waiting just outside the door for them was Fuyuko. Unlike before, she wasn't dressed for work at the resort. Instead, she wore a far more casual set of clothes, though they looked like a designer brand. Her hair was down from the bun it had been pinned up in, and only a small clip held it out of her face.

"I'm sorry, but… do you mind not leaving just yet?" she asked as they stopped in front of her.

"Is something wrong?" Rei asked her.

"I think I can help you with what you're searching for. It was a cat like this, right?" The brown and white animal from the garage meowed and peeked out from behind Fuyuko's legs, rubbing against her.

"But how did it get here?" Usagi asked, Luna already giving the cat a rude look from her perch on her shoulder. Mamoru studied Fuyuko, trying to calculate what her motives were.

"And how did you know we were looking for that cat?" he asked. "Unless you were spying on our conversation last night."

"Your assumption is correct…" Fuyuko admitted, looking a little ashamed. "I apologize for ignoring your privacy, but-"

"But it was for security reasons," the cat said, his voice deeper than expected. "She only did so on my behalf when I realized you were staying here. If you are offended, please direct it at me."

"So you are a Mauian!" Luna said, jumping down to face him.

"More or less…" the cat responded with a small grin, before looking at the rest of the group. "I am called Perseus. I assume you are the Sailor Senshi then?"

"And what if we are?" Rei asked, recovering first.

"If that's true, then... we'll take you to see the Galilean Moon senshi. That was your intention, right?"

"Well...yeah…" Minako wasn't expecting their meetup to go this smoothly. "This isn't some kind of trick, right? No chains attached?"

"You mean no strings attached…" Artemis corrected when Fuyuko looked confused.

"No, we just wanted to try pooling our resources," Perseus said. "My team didn't find anything else of interest after that robot attack, so I thought that we would be more efficient if we worked together."

"Yes, please believe us, we just wanted to ask for your help." Fuyuko looked away. "Or at least half of us do…" she said with a sigh.

"Wait, so that means… you're a senshi?" Makoto asked. She nodded and held up her hand, showing off the blue and green ring on her finger.

"I didn't want to say anything until we were sure you were like us."

"Hm…" Minako was still apprehensive. "Mako, you were the one who had the gut feeling to trust them. You think they're lying?"

"Y-you want my opinion?" Mako asked, eyes wide.

"Yup! If there's anything I learned over the years, it's to believe in your instincts," Minako said.

"If you say so…" Considering how long Minako had been working alone as Sailor V, maybe she knew what she was talking about… Mako turned and studied Fuyuko and Perseus, remembering the time she had thought she recognized the other girl. Had that been her old memories resurfacing? Makoto nodded at them. "Let's give them a shot at least. I'll trust them." Both the girl and the cat seemed to relax after hearing her answer.

"Then we'll accompany you on the bus. I can take you to our garage from the train station," Fuyuko said, smiling once again.

_______________________________________________

Less than an hour and two bus trips later, the group was back in the same suburban neighborhood that Usagi, Mamoru, and Luna had wandered into. The larger crowd drew some more staring from the people that lived there this time, but Fuyuko seemed undeterred by it, leading the way down the sidewalk as if she belonged there.

"Here it is." Fuyuko stopped in front of the worn down looking auto repair shop, and Perseus hopped off her shoulder to climb up to a second story window, slipping inside. "They'll be down in a few minutes to open the door for us." The girls who hadn't been there before took the time to examine the building.

"Do you guys always meet here?" Makoto asked, looking at the cartoonish volcano on the sign.

"Our leader lives here, and her parents don't mind us using the garage as long as they aren't working in it," she answered. Ami pulled out her computer and typed in the business's name, getting a corresponding website and reviews after running her search.

"It comes up as legitimate…" Ami said, closing it again. After the various fake shops and stores created by their enemies they'd contended with over the years, she had learned to fact check before assuming anything was as it seemed. Jishaku Garage was definitely not a trick, to her relief.

"I'm not picking up any bad intentions either," Rei added, after closing her eyes to better focus on her sixth sense. Makoto frowned.

"I thought we were just going to trust my instincts..." she said, sounding a little hurt.

"Sorry, it's just habit, you know?" Rei said. Ami looked at Makoto's expression, and then slipped the computer away as a silent apology. They all looked back at the building as a low grinding sound started up, and one of the garage doors retracted into the ceiling at a steady pace.

"Ugh, we need a new door, this one's practically rusted shut…" a voice said, before they could see Kazaki standing behind it. She was dressed the same way she was last time, though now a gold and orange bracelet was prominent on her wrist.

"Hi again!" Usagi waved at her, and Kazaki's eyes widened as she recognized her and Mamoru. She sighed.

"Why am I not surprised…?"

Kazaki led the entire group up a set of metal stairs, and opened a door to a somewhat large room on the second story.

"This is where we tend to meet up if we want privacy," she said as she walked in. "The walls are soundproofed." There was a small bed at the far end of the room, but other than that, it looked more like a recording studio.

The walls were lined with shelves of CDs and Vinyl records, and there was even a cardboard box of cassette tapes shoved into a corner. Set up on a fold out table that served as a desk was a computer and a laptop, along with a set of large speakers and a plugged in headset. A turntable was on another desk, taking up the majority of it. Percy was curled up on Fuyuko's lap as she sat on the bed, watching them with bright green eyes while she ran a hand through his fur.

Sitting on the floor next to them was Kumoka, no longer dressed in her school uniform, but in more casual jeans and t-shirt as she looked through a manga book. She glanced up, and her face split into a grin as she recognized Makoto and Minako.

"Hi again!" she said, waving.

"W-wait, so you're a senshi too?" Minako asked. Fuyuko looked between them, not getting what was going on.

"Kumo, did you meet them before?" she asked. Kumoka nodded.

"Yeah, we ate lunch together!"

"So when I was working yesterday…" Fuyuko turned to the two girls, gratitude in her eyes. "You have my thanks, I'm not able to spend as much time with my cousin as I usually do with all the tourism this season…"

"No need to be that formal, she helped us more than we helped her," Makoto said, rubbing the back of her neck. It was a little embarrassing being thanked so sincerely. A taller, blonde haired boy stood up from his seat in a folding chair, his mismatched eyes falling on Ami and Rei.

"Ah, I didn't expect to see my two models again this soon," he said with a lopsided smile. It took Minako a moment to figure out what was going on, and then she gasped.

"So this is the guy who painted you in the park!" Rei rolled her eyes at Minako's theatrics.

"Yes, now can you pick up your jaw?" As Minako tried to look extra offended at being shut down so fast, Rei continued on. "This does explain what I was sensing in the park. You have some sort of power as well then." She didn't think there were others like Mamoru, men with similar abilities as senshi, but they had all learned that the galaxy was larger than they thought. He gave her a nod.

"Well it seems we all know each other, how useful!" Percy hopped onto the ground and looked at each of the Sailor Senshi, the cat's eyes looking deeper than usual. "But it's never too late for a formal introduction. These four are the Galilean Moon senshi, my charges. Sailor Callisto..." Kumoka stood up at her name being called, barely able to keep still with how excited she was.

"Sailor Europa…" Fuyuko stood by Kumoka's side, her calm demeanor a sharp contrast to the younger child.

"It's a pleasure to meet you properly," she said.

"Ganymede Knight…" Percy continued. Yuuta was noticeably taller than the others in the room as he got out of his chair, rivalling Mamoru, though he did look quite a bit rougher around the edges.

"And their leader, Sailor Io."

"You can all call me Kazaki, I guess…" she said in response, though the slight redness on her face weakened her aloof image to a degree. At the last two introductions, Makoto looked deep in thought. Ganymede, Io… Weren't they in her dream? And her castle was also called Io.

Usagi wasn't deterred in the slightest, staring at them in amazement.

"Wow, so you guys protect Sapporo and stuff, right? Luna said you guys might be from the past, like us! Is that true?" All four teenagers seemed clueless.

"Uh, the past? Like what?" Yuuta asked. Percy sighed.

"You're referring to the Silver Millennium, aren't you?" Luna approached him, blue eyes glaring.

"Yes, she is. And I don't remember any of you at all. Can you explain that?"

"...I can, but not very sufficiently. You see, I don't recall much either," Percy admitted. "And these four remember even less. I know I served a guardian in the past, one who was loyal to the Moon Kingdom." Makoto half listened, still trying to connect the dots.

"When I awoke on Earth, I tracked down whatever energy felt familiar, and I was led to Sailor Io. I awakened her, feeling like it was what I was meant to do, and it was just in time to fight off the creatures that appeared in this city. The other three were located soon after, and I told them what I could remember about the Silver Millennium, but all we had to work with were scraps. The details were always unclear, but over the past few days, I remember more and more. I don't know what triggered it, but after seeing her yesterday…" Percy turned to Usagi. "I assumed it was because she is, er, was the Moon Princess."

"You served me?" Usagi asked, pointing at herself.

"Er, not quite… I just assumed that these other girls are part of your original court. One of them may have triggered the rest of my memories, but it's impossible to tell who, because of your transformation magic. Your identities are cloaked to us. I could only tell that you were Princess Serenity because the Silver Crystal is so powerful."

As Luna, Artemis, and Percy continued to discuss possibilities, Makoto spotted the white mark on Percy's head. She had assumed it was just a meaningless shape, but now…

"You're from Jupiter..." she said suddenly. It had slipped out of her mouth before she could even process the thought, and now she had multiple eyes on her. Makoto swallowed and couldn't help but fidget.

"W..what?" Percy asked. Ami discreetly nudged her.

"The mark on your head, it's like mine," she continued. Percy took a few steps towards her, as if seeing her in a new light.

"Princess…" he said, before bowing as well as a cat could.

"Wait, what's going on?" Kazaki asked, looking between Makoto and Percy. "What do you mean, Princess? What does that make us?" Makoto was speechless. She knew she was technically royalty in the distant past, but it had never seemed as important in this life as her identity as Sailor Jupiter. Ruling things was Usagi and Mamoru's job… right? She wasn't cut out for it.

"I think… I think we need someplace bigger to talk," Artemis said, breaking the awkward silence. "There's too many of us in here, and I have a feeling this will take a while to sort out." Percy got up and blinked a few times.

"You're right, this is a long story."

"Uh," Yuuta cleared his throat. "I think I know a place we can sit for a while."

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