[ ] Act 45 - Stars 3 Originally appeared in Nakayoshi, June and July 1996. Translated by Alex Glover. Version 1.0, 3.97. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rei gasps. Her necklace breaks, and the pendant falls to the floor. She drops her set of cards on the ground. Crows fly into the air, cawing. Ami and Makoto's bodies are torn apart as they clutch their chests. Hotaru runs to Setsuna's arms. All that remains are two lights. "Mercury!? Jupiter!?" --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Sailor Starlights!?" says Haruka. "Sailor soldiers!? It can't be!!" "That's it!" cries Minako. "You took them, didn't you! Where did you take them!? Give those two back!! Where are they!?" Usagi stares ahead blankly. "Mercury!! Jupiter!!" Michiru grabs her. "Sailor Moon! Get a hold of yourself!" Haruka smacks Minako across the face. "Venus!" "Look," says Yaten. "Sailor Mercury and Sailor Jupiter's bodies have been destroyed." "The source of their power, in their hearts," says Seiya, "their sailor crystals have been stolen." "Their bodies... have been destroyed!?" the soldiers think. "The sailor crystals...! The sailor crystals, together with their hearts... Stolen!?" Seiya steps forward. "Sailor Moon. We..." "Don't come any closer!" says Haruka, standing in front of Usagi. She pulls out her space sword. "If you want to get to her, you'll have to kill me first! Who are you, and what do you want!?" "I understand how hurt you must feel," says Taiki. "But if you're as lacking in composure and confused as you are now, you won't be able to win against the Shadow Galactica where Sailor Galaxia rules." "Sailor Galaxia!?" thinks Usagi. "Shadow Galactica!?" "They will attack you without mercy," says Seiya. "You don't have time to worry about us. Seriously, you must fight them! If you don't..." The three Starlights jump off the roof of the school. "Wait!" Michiru calls. "Are Mercury and Jupiter really..." They run to the edge, and see the three turn into balls of light, and disappear. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Sailor Starlights..." says Rei. "The Three Lights are sailor soldiers...!" "The ones who attacked us at the concert, and then today," says Michiru. "They also had sailor soldier names. Said they were sailor soldiers, carrying sailor crystals... and that they wanted our sailor crystals!" "The Shadow Galactica where Sailor Galaxia rules," says Setsuna. "That is the new enemy...!" "The enemy this time," says Haruka, "is a sailor soldier...?" "The Sailor Starlights," thinks Usagi. "They're sailor soldiers...! And the the enemy, too!? No! In the moment when I was attacked by Sailor Aluminum Siren, they guarded me. It seems like everyone is protecting me..." "The Shadow Galactica!" says Minako. "Mercury and Jupiter are there! They must be alive there! We have to go save them!" "Mercury, Jupiter..." thinks Usagi. "Torn to pieces, right before our eyes... But, they shouldn't have been able to be killed so easily!" "Just what is this Shadow Galactica!?" says Artemis. "When did they invade this planet? I'm checking all the invasion routes. Invaders from outside, after the Dead Moon..." "Last month there was an enormous meteor shower," says Luna. "They could have been Sagittarius Alpha shooting stars," says Artemis. "But there is also evidence of real shooting stars." "The invaders are nothing but shooting stars," says Luna. "Making sure of everything is only the routes of outer space." "There is no distortion in the space-time continuum," says Setsuna. "They are not invaders from outer space." "So, those shooting stars are the invaders," says Haruka. "They have come to Earth as stars." "Well," says Michiru. "I'm going to take Usagi home. Call if anything happens. You too, Rei." "Right." "Be careful." "I'll continue keeping an eye on those three," says Haruka. "I'll look for the enemies' invasion route and headquarters with Luna and Artemis," says Setsuna. They all leave. Rei grabs Minako. "Mina!" she says. "Tomorrow I'm going to Juuban High. Together we'll contact the Three Lights." "What!?" says Minako. "Shh!" Rei says. "We're going to find out if those three are really sailor soldiers." "And what if they're enemies?" says Minako. "There's no smoke without fire. If the Three Lights are, we'll have to fight them." "If they are enemies, we'll fight them and find the location of the Shadow Galactica! Mercury and Jupiter can't be dead! They're together with the crystals in the Shadow Galactica! We'll recover the crystals and rescue them! And then, we'll protect Usagi and this planet." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "My body's heavy..." thinks Usagi. "It's like there's a fog before my eyes. Going ahead is scary... Why do I feel that way?" She looks up. "I just remembered a promise I made." "Usagi?" says Michiru. "I'm just meeting a friend of Mamo-chan's. I'll contact you if anything happens." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Huh?" Asanuma says. "The telephone number of Mamoru-senpai's apartment in America? I don't know it. It's been nearly a month since he went over there. I call him senpai, but he hasn't even called or written. Usagi-senpai, have you gotten a letter or anything? If so..." "He hasn't written me," says Usagi. "I've only gotten a postcard from him by airmail, but there was nothing on it... No message, no address, no phone number, not even the sender's name." "I'll go to the university tomorrow and ask his friends," says Asanuma. "Mamoru-senpai isn't heartless, he'll contact you. He's probably just busy studying." "Thanks, Asanuma-kun." Michiru watches the two from a distance. "Usagi...!" --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Usagi picks up the phone at home and dials it. "Calling Mamo-chan's place..." she thinks. "I know it won't pick up, but... I'm forgetting something important. I just can't remember what. I'm confused... I'm afraid... that if I go out for a walk, everything will disappear..." A hand pulls at her skirt. Usagi looks down and sees the small girl with red hair. "Chibi-Chibi... Are you coming to cheer me up?" She hugs her. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Mercury! Jupiter!" Usagi stares out from atop the roof of the school. "It's all right, Usagi!" she thinks to herself. "If you get back their crystals, they'll be okay!" She looks at the ring on her finger. "Right, Mamo-chan...? I want to see you. Hug me tightly and call my name... Mamo-chan!" "Seriously, you must fight them! If you don't..." "I have to stay strong! But, I feel it. Because of the dear existence of Mamo-chan and everyone, I know. I sense Jupiter and Mercury. I'm uneasy... The same discomfort... as when Mamo-chan..." "Watch out!!" A hand grabs her as she leans out over the railing. She turns around. "Seiya-kun!" - Haruka and Michiru run up the stairs to the roof. Taiki and Yaten stand at the door. "You two!?" Haruka says. "What the--" Taiki holds out a card, and energy envelops them. "I... I can't move my body!? What... There's something on the card. That's...!" The picture shows Mamoru holding his suitcase at the airport. - "Remember!" Seiya says. "We don't have time! You have to hold on, or you'll lose this battle! Remember what happened to Jupiter and Mercury! What happened to your Mamoru!" "Mamo-chan..." - The card shows Mamoru's body glowing. - "No!" Usagi cries. "I don't want to see that!" Seiya pulls her close and kisses her. - Mamoru's body disappears, leaving a ball of light. "Prince!?" Haruka thinks. - "I'm sorry," Seiya says. "I didn't want to hurt you..." - As his body fades away, a hand appears and grabs the Golden Crystal. The hand of a woman in a golden, metallic sailor suit. "That woman!?" thinks Haruka. "This is Sailor Galaxia," says Taiki. Usagi comes running through the door. She charges past them down the stairs. "Usagi!!" The Three Lights disappear, leaving the card lying on the ground. "Sailor Galaxia...!" --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Usagi runs through the street, breathing hard. "Remember." Tears well up in her eyes. "What happened to your Mamoru!" "Mamoru!" "Quit it!" she cries, holding her head. "It's stuck in my ears... Seiya-kun's low voice... The pupils that seem to draw me in... I remember. He looks like... Mamo-chan." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Why do you care about that girl?" Yaten asks. "Because," says Seiya. "She reminds me of her..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Usagi opens the mailbox and sees an envelope addressed to her. "Airmail from Mamo-chan! It's come again!" She holds it. "Mamo-chan? There is never a return address on the letter. Is it really from Mamo-chan?" She opens it, and takes out the postcard inside. It has a picture of the Milky Way. "The galaxy..." Usagi thinks. "Shadow Galactica... The shadow of the galaxy..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- A woman kneels on the steps of the palace, before the golden-suited woman standing underneath a large crystal held in the air. "Galaxia-sama," the kneeling woman says. "Sailor Aluminum Siren has failed just as Sailor Iron Mouse did. I request your forgiveness. I will take all of the responsibility for this." "But she did obtain two of the sailor crystals," says the woman in the golden sailor suit. "She has done well in that." "Galaxia-sama, give the assignment to your underling, Sailor Anima Mates," says the kneeling woman. "And I will get the remaining sailor crystals as well." "Heh heh," says Galaxia. "It is obvious that you, Sailor Anima Mates, are not the enemy of the Sailor Starlights and the sailor soldiers of the solar system." "Galaxia-sama, you can take as much pleasure as you like in this highest climax." "Before they truly step up into the battle ring," says Galaxia, "we must have the rest of the sailor crystals! If we cling to the fragile starseeds as humans, carrying the unparalleled sailor crystals, the starseeds of the humans will be like dust in the wind." Another woman approaches them, with dark hair and wings arching from her back. "Galaxia-sama," she says. "I am the third soldier of Sailor Anima Mates, Sailor Lead Crow. I will drag Sailor Moon out to our beautiful stage." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- A flock of crows storm up into the air. Hotaru stares into the sky. "We might not be able to stop it anymore..." "Hotaru?" says Setsuna --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rei walks up to Juuban High, wearing a white and blue Juuban uniform. "Rei-chaaan!" says Minako. "That looks good on you! Reminds me of the time I snuck into T-A Girls School." "Where's Usagi?" "She's having lunch with Naru-chan and Haruka-san," says Minako. "Kind of like she's pretending to feel all right." "So, what about those idols everyone's talking about?" Minako thrusts out a memo pad. "What's this?" says Rei. "My super-private Three Lights notebook!" Minako looks through it. "Since it's not Wednesday when they have P.E., they must be eating lunch on the roof of the main building. This is top-secret data! Let's go!" --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Well?" Rei says. Minako looks around at the empty roof. "But--! Why is nobody here!?" "Well, lunch has just started," says Rei, "so let's wait." "Damnit," says Minako. "I'm hungry! What will I do without lunch? They better show up soon!" "It would have been nice if I had picked Juuban High, too," says Rei. "If I did that, I could live high school life together with all of you, but..." "What?" Minako asks. "All of a sudden?" "I was using the tarot cards this morning, and I drew this one..." She holds out the card of Death. "I know," Rei says. "This is not like our battles of before. There's no turning back..." "Stop," says Minako. She presses her finger to Rei's lips. "We promised that we would rescue those two. For us, it is always the same... Save our friends! Defeat the enemies! Protect those important to us! It's the same this time. They must be alive, and they will come home! Then we'll return to high school life! We'll get boyfriends! Those are the rules!" Rei grimaces. "That's right, boys!" continues Minako. "In junior high, too, we couldn't get along by ourselves! We didn't have time for that! So this time, we'll get hot sweethearts like the Three Lights! We'll work as hard as we can to get dates to go on, like ordinary high school girls! That's our ultimate dream! Nothing but that!" "You're fooling yourself," a voice says. Minako and Rei turn to it, startled. "There is someone following their heart," says Yaten. "You have decided to live for that person." "You know... I guess that's it," says Minako. "You're right. There has always been just one person to whom we have devoted our lives..." "Mina...!" says Rei. They think of Usagi. "That's right. We don't need boys. Is that wrong?" "No," says Yaten. "We are the true sailor soldiers!!" says Rei. "So, who are you!?" "Well," Yaten says, "what if we were impostors?" "That would make you our enemies!!" says Minako. "We defeat our enemies!! Venus Crystal Power!" "Mars Crystal Power!" "Make Up!!" They transform into their super sailor suits. "We don't intend to pick fights indiscriminately!" they say. "We just want to know who you really are. If you have sailor soldier names, transform right here and show us! Come on, now!" Yaten, Seiya, and Taiki each hold up a winged star emblem. "Healer Star Power!" "Fighter Star Power!" "Maker Star Power!" "Make Up!!" Rei and Minako stare at the flash of bright light. "I can feel it..." Rei says. "The power of stars. There's no mistaking it, those are crystals with star power! There's no mistaking it, it's the same sailor make up as our crystal powers!" The Sailor Starlights stand before them. "We, and the enemy sailor soldiers," says Seiya. "We are not just impostors, sailor soldiers in name only." "But!" says Minako. "If you're real sailor soldiers...!" "Sailor Mars," says Taiki, lifting a tarot card from Rei's blouse. "The card after Death!" The three Starlights jump from the roof of the school. Rei stares at the tarot card. "The Milky Way...!" Minako runs to the edge of the roof and looks down. "The Sailor Starlights!!" The three, in their school uniforms, walk calmly away from the building, soon attracting a crowd of admirers. "Did you come from the Milky Way!?" thinks Rei. "Are there other sailor soldiers besides us in this galaxy...!?" A strong wind blows through the air, and crows soar in the sky. "Such a torrent of evil spirit...! That direction... Toward the Hikawa Shrine!?" --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rei's grandpa lies unconscious on the ground as crows flock overhead. "The light of your starseeds is nearly mine," says Sailor Lead Crow. "What if you were to show yourselves to me? Phobos! Deimos!" Two crows transform into raven-haired sprites and descend to the ground. "Phobos, Deimos, it's been a while, hasn't it." "Lead Crow...!" "Phobos, Deimos," she says. "The divine, radiant princess of Mars in this solar system of the Milky Way was chosen for that power. She was given that name and the planet to go with it. You lucky twins became the princess' partners. You were training soldiers, watching each other dream. But it's not like that anymore! I am Sailor Lead Crow, a sailor soldier!" "A sailor soldier!?" "Living things in this galaxy all carry a starseed," Lead Crow says. "And among them are chosen starseeds. Those with sailor crystals can take the name of a sailor soldier!" "Someone has become a sailor soldier on the planet Coronis," Phobos and Deimos say, "and taken the protection of our planet Coronis, and that's Sailor Coronis!" "Galactica Tornado!" The two sprites dodge out of the way, as a blast shoots past them and destroys the Hikawa Shrine. "That power!?" "Heh heh heh! Yes!" says Lead Crow. "I have obtained the power of a sailor crystal from Galaxia-sama! And in exchange for the crystals of this solar system's sailor soldiers, I will become a real sailor soldier, and be resurrected! Galaxia-sama has promised that I will have a planet all to myself! I swear my loyalty to Galaxia-sama!" "You've betrayed our mother star and our allies, and Sailor Coronis!?" "Our allies and Sailor Coronis are no more! Our mother star is no more!" She thrusts her arm out, and Phobos and Deimos are disintegrated. "Phobos! Deimos!" Rei calls. She rushes toward the shrine with Minako. "Mars Flame Sniper!!" Lead Crow takes the two crystals from the sprites, and counters Rei's attack. She grabs Rei around the throat. "Mars!!" Minako calls. "Hold it!" yells Lead Crow. "If you move, I'll be sending her to join Phobos and Deimos! Ahahaha!" The two crystals vanish. "Damnit!" Minako says. "Sailor Moon!!" - Usagi looks up from her book at school. "Venus!?" - "Shall I take it from the princess of Mars first..." says Lead Crow. "Or how about the princess of Venus?" "No!" says Usagi. "You're next! Starlight Honeymoon Therapy Kiss!!" Lead Crow is destroyed. "Sailor Moon!!" Rei and Minako say. They run toward Usagi. A bright light flashes between them. Galaxia appears through the light. Rei and Minako's bodies are torn apart. Usagi stares ahead blankly. Ami and Makoto's bodies are torn apart as they clutch their chests. "Usa," says Mamoru. "I love you." He jerks back. His body begins to glow. - Seiya, Yaten, and Taiki look up. - Haruka, Michiru, and Setsuna gasp as they reach the shrine. "Heh heh heh..." says Galaxia, holding two more sailor crystals. She fades away. "Ahahahaha!" Usagi reaches out. "Venus...? Mars? Jupiter... Mercury... Mamo-chan...! She loses consciousness and falls backwards. "Sailor Moon!!" --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The placid lake reflects the moonlight from the clear sky onto the Crystal Palace. "A toast!" "A toast to Princess Small-Lady Selenity!" "Welcome home, Princess!" Chibi-Usa stands in a white gown holding a glass, with Diana sitting on her shoulder. "Small Lady," says King Endymion, holding out a bouquet of flowers. "The heroine at tonight's party is you." "Welcome back, wondrous Princess," says Neo-Queen Selenity. "Thanks, mom, dad!" Lightning strikes outside. "Thunderclouds? It was clear until a moment ago..." - Chibi-Usa sits on her bed, staring outside. "Since I returned to the 30th century," she thinks, "the sky has been unstable." She looks at the flowers sitting in vase beside her. "I know. Tomorrow I'll take these flowers to Pluto. I'll ask her and see if nothing's changed..." - She carries the flowers through the halls of the palace. She approaches a door. She peeks through it. "Space-time is beginning to distort!?" says Neo-Queen Selenity. "Very far away in space-time," says Pluto, "an enormous maelstrom is emitting power. Disturbances are occurring in the past. If things continue like this... history might change!" "What is happening in the past?" asks the Queen. "I'm afraid that..." They hear a noise and turn to the door, and see Chibi-Usa running away. "Disturbances in the past!?" Chibi-Usa thinks. "History might change!? When in the past!? Oh no, has something happened to Sailor Moon and the others...!? Are they okay? Do they know? I have to go back to them!" - "Small Lady," says the Queen. "Your training has been completed. You gave the space-time key back to Pluto. Now you must study many things here in the 30th century." "But-!" "Now, good night. Tomorrow you will begin your curriculum of education at the remote palace on the moon." "Yes, mom," Chibi-Usa says. Her mother leaves. "But!" she thinks. "Can't I go back to the past anymore!? An enormous maelstrom!? What is it? An enemy!? Just what is happening in the past!? What did she mean by 'change history'!? I want to go back to them. I have a bad feeling about this." "Small Lady..." thinks Diana. "I want to go back!" --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Usagi lies in bed. "Let's go back to our castles," says Haruka. "We'll put up a shield inside the solar system." "With just our power, a shield would be useless!" says Michiru. "There's a risk it might break down the balance of the star system!" says Setsuna. "We'll borrow the power of the sailor power guardians. That's all we can do to keep out any more invaders. And let's get the cooperation of the Sailor Starlights. We'll get data on the sailor soldiers throughout the galaxy. We will find out what's going on. The next battle will show how strong we really are. Luna, Artemis, take care of Hotaru and the Princess for a little while." Hotaru holds the two cats. "Be careful." Haruka, Michiru, and Setsuna disappear. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Now, this way," Usagi's mom says. She shows Seiya, Yaten, and Taiki into the house. "I think she'll be awake soon. I wonder what's wrong with her. She fell ill quite suddenly." She opens the door to Usagi's room. Chibi-Chibi is sitting on her knees at Usagi's bedside. She turns to them. Seiya's eyes meet with hers. "Oh, Chibi-Chibi-chan," says Ikuko. "You were in Usagi's room. Want a snack?" "All right!" She gets up and runs to Ikuko. "That girl...?" Seiya thinks. Usagi slowly opens her eyes. The three approach her. "I remember," she says. "At the airport, Mamo-chan, right before my eyes... I didn't want to believe it, my- my own memory... That woman, she smiled, as Mamo-chan... Venus and Mars... So that's Galaxia?" "Yes, it is," says Seiya. "She is your strongest enemy." "Where is she?" Seiya pauses. "Is she a sailor soldier too?" Usagi asks. "If she's a sailor soldier, why is she attacking us!? Does she want a fight!?" "It's not only you," says Taiki. "Galaxia is attacking all the sailor soldiers in the galaxy. Perhaps to stand at the top of all sailor soldiers." "All the sailor soldiers in the galaxy? There are sailor soldiers besides us in the galaxy?" "Yes. Like us. And on our planet, too, our princess has been attacked by Galaxia." "Attacked..." says Usagi. "Tell me, are Mamo-chan, Venus and the others, are all their bodies destroyed? What's going on?" "...Death, as a human," says Yaten. "Death? They're dead...?" "Only their flesh is destroyed, Sailor Moon. All that is a sailor soldier is inside the sailor crystals. The crystals of unknown power, the sailor crystals, won't disappear! And so, Galaxia is only coming after the sailor crystals!" "That's enough for now," says Luna. "You should be going home." The three go to leave Usagi's room. As Seiya reaches the door, he notices an incense burner on Usagi's dresser. "Sailor Moon." He tosses a tarot card to her. "Galaxia is in there." They leave. Usagi looks at the picture on the card. "Looks like a large, blazing star. Is this... the galaxy? The center of the galaxy...? The cards I've been getting, they weren't Mamo-chan, they were Seiya-kun...?" - The three stare at Usagi's house from outside. "Are you certain?" "There was a faint remnant of fragrant olive scent..." says Seiya. "And that incense burner. I'm certain." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I'm taking roll," the teacher says. "Aikawa!" "Here." "Aino!" Usagi gasps. "Aino?" "Sh- she's absent!" Usagi says. "I see. Iida!" "Here!" Usagi looks down. "Mina-P... Ami-chan...! Mako-chan...! Rei-chan...!" "I know it's sudden," says the teacher, "but I have a transfer student to introduce. She's from Libya." "I'm Suzu Nyanko!" says the girl with two points of black hair shaped like cat ears. "Nice to meet you all!" "Transfer student?" thinks Seiya. "Suzu lived for three years in Libya at a foreign trader's. Please tell her all about this school and our classes." The girl runs over to Usagi. "Hey! Hey!" she says. "That dumpling head is cute! I'd like to have that too, mew. You've got to tell me how to braid that sometime, Usagi-chan." "Uh... Sure, okay." She sees all the girls gathering around Seiya, Yaten, and Taiki. "What the-? They're loud, meeew." "Don't you know?" one of the girls says. "They're the Three Lights! They're mega-popular idols. You must have just transferred here recently." "Hmph." "Hey there, Suzu-san," says a boy. "Nyanko, that's a cute name! Do you like cats?" She turns away from him coolly. "The only ones you can believe in are your fellow girls, I think," she says to Usagi. "But, Usagi-chan..." She glances at the Three Lights. "Those who wear boys clothes despite being girls... You shouldn't trust what they say, mew." "Suzu-san?" - "That transfer student," says Seiya. "She smells strong of alien pheromones." "So they've even slipped into the school," says Taiki. "Well then," says Seiya. "Right!" says Yaten. "Let's go!" says Taiki. They disappear. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The three outer soldiers descend to their castles, orbiting their respective planets. "This brings back memories," Setsuna says. "The day has come that I've come again to Charon Castle. Slipping from this solar system, the ruler of the Silver Millennium, Queen Selenity, gave us at the time of our birth these castles." A miniature version of herself appears in a ball of light. "I have been waiting, Princess Pluto." "Guardian Pluto," says Setsuna. "A call from Princess Uranus has arrived." They go to a large viewscreen. "Pluto, we'll prepare the shield soon," says Haruka. "Wait," says Setsuna. "I want to investigate the meteor data." "Meteors?" "For several months, meteors have been raining hard on Earth. That abnormal Sagittarius Alpha meteor shower." She begins typing into the computer. "All the meteors have exceeded escape speed from the solar system. The power of these stars, it's power not of this solar system. It can't be... Stars from space far beyond our solar system? Then... They're invading Earth posing as meteor showers...!" "So, Pluto?" says Haruka. "Where are the soldiers of the Shadow Galactica from?" "The Milky Way," says Setsuna. "From the Milky Way." Galaxia appears behind Setsuna. "Who's there!?" Setsuna fades away. "Princess!?" Guardian Pluto calls. She disappears. Haruka stares at the blank viewscreen. "Pluto!?" --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chibi-Chibi plays in the sand with Hotaru and Luna. Hotaru gets up, and vanishes. "Hotaru!?" says Luna. "Has something happened to Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto!?" --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Usagi stares out from the roof of Juuban High. "Death, as a human." "They're dead," she thinks. "Mamo-chan, Ami-chan, Mako-chan, Rei-chan, Mina-P... I can't believe it." "Only their flesh is destroyed." "Does death call so quickly and abruptly? "All that is a sailor soldier is inside the sailor crystals," Yaten said. "Were bodies not essential for us? I'm scared... What's going to happen to us now...?" --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The two cats rush to the school. "Artemis!" "Luna...!" "I feel it. It can't be, but... Why would someone with the same power as us be here?" - "Usaaagi-chan!" Nyanko says, hugging her tightly. "Nyanko-chan?" "Say, today let's go to your place. I want to go hang out with you, mew. Sparrows would be nice for dinner, mew..." "No!!" call the two cats. "Artemis!? Luna!?" "Show your true form! You fake cat!" --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chibi-Chibi sleeps by the table. "Give us that incense burner." She looks up and sees the Three Lights appear. "Come on," says Seiya. Chibi-Chibi stands up between them and the burner and holds her arms out. "No!" she says. "No! No! Nooo!" Mist begins to seep out from the incense burner, and a woman appears, veiled in the mist. "It's all right, Chibi-Chibi-chan," the woman says. "These people are my special friends." She becomes solid, wearing an exotic red dress and a silver headpiece. A red flower shape appears on her forehead beneath her red hair. The Three Lights gasp. "Princess!" --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Original manga copyright © 1996 Takeuchi Naoko. English translation copyright © 1997 Alex Glover. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sailor Moon Translations | Sailor Moon Volume 16