[ ] Act 47 - Stars 5 Originally appeared in Nakayoshi, October 1996. Translated by Alex Glover. Version 1.01, 3.97. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Usagi grips Chibi-Chibi in her arms as the storm blasts around them. "The city!" she thinks. "It's being blown away!" Buildings rip apart, pieces flying into the air. "It's too late! I can't last through it by myself! Such power! This is nothing like the enemies before! Uranus! Neptune!! Pluto!!" "They went to their castles themselves to investigate the invaders and the outskirts of the galaxy," said Luna. "I think they'll contact us soon." "Uranus! Neptune! Pluto! Answer me! An enemy has appeared! Please, give me strength!" She sees a vision of the three outer soldiers' bodies being torn to shreds. The woman before her chuckles. "This is... a hallucination!" Usagi thinks. "Those three must be safe!" She raises her chalice into the air. "We'll get everyone's crystals back! We'll get them back to their original forms! Right away, we will become one and defend this planet!" The woman floats toward her. "Is that so...?" she says. "Really, if your allies really all gather again, will your friends' bodies return to normal?" The chalice glows. "But... Whenever we always become one... We'll continue the fight through the future..." The chalice turns to nothing before her. "The holy chalice...!" "Is the future you know, really the future?" The woman presses a finger to Usagi's forehead. "Will the future you know, really come?" She presses lightly, and Usagi tumbles backward, pulling Chibi-Chibi and the three helpless cats with her. "What's wrong? Is this the end? With this, this planet will be no more." As Usagi falls, Chibi-Chibi glares at the woman. The chalice reappears, shining brightly. As the Three Lights run toward the park, the buildings of the city come back together. The woman gasps. She vanishes in the wind. The sky calms. The city is dark. "Sailor Moon!!" Seiya calls. "Chibi-Chibi!!" Chibi-Chibi holds the three cats, sitting in front of the unconscious Usagi. "It's all right," she says. "The enemy attacked, then disappeared!" "The city is back to normal...!" says Yaten. Taiki holds Usagi. "Without transforming, she has such re-creation power!" "She held her own fighting against Galaxia," says Seiya. "So this is the power of the Silver Moon Crystal." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Galaxia sips a drink in a crowded bar. "Do you know the place where stars are born?" she says. "Strong stars, weak stars, their light, their power, all of it is born from there." "Where is that!?" says the man, holding a bottle and glass. "So if I took that place, I could run stars freely! And if I can rule stars, space will belong to me!" Galaxia puts her drink down. "Trash," she says, "will be as trash until its death." She stands up and leaves. "Wherever I go," she thinks, "only trash. Only stars of trash. This wasn't my planet either. All the power I have, I am the one who has been chosen by god. I want greater power. It must be somewhere. The bright star that will give me more power, suitable for me." A cloaked figure in black sits on the ground, a glowing ball before him. "The place where stars are born?" he says. "Yes, I know it, certainly. The home of the galaxy. The place where stars gush out as if from a fountain. Zero Star of Sagittarius. That is the center of the galaxy." "The center of the galaxy," thinks Galaxia. She floats in space, staring at the stars. "Come, come, my pretty little children. Where is the true star you desire? Tell your mother. Tell me, Chaos, and it will all be yours." Galaxia's eyes open, and she finds herself lying in bed. "A dream...!" She gets up. "A dream let loose from long ago, of the wandering in search of home." She approaches the steps in front of the large crystal held in the air. "Before long, Sailor Moon will come here. I can call upon Chaos for her to come here. So you can know the truth, come quickly, Sailor Moon. Such a tiny planet, it's not suitable as the stage for our battle, not even for you. Come quickly, to where I stand, so you and I can release our true power!" Anima Mates kneels before her. "Galaxia-sama, my Tin Nyanko has..." "I apologize, Galaxia-sama!!" says Nyanko. "One more! Just give me one more chance! This time I'll do it!" "You shamelessly come back here after disgracing yourself?" says Galaxia. "Trash cannot be made into a star!" "Galaxia-sama!" The bracelets on Nyanko's wrists unclasp, and fall to the ground. Nyanko cries out as her body disintegrates. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Usagi floats through empty space. "Where am I...?" She hears a noise. "The sound of water?" She approaches a giant light. "This is..." "The Galaxy Cauldron, of Zero Star of Sagittarius." Galaxia pulls down at Usagi's ankle from below. "It is your grave." Usagi's eyes open. "Usagi!!" says Chibi-Chibi. She sees the Three Lights and Princess Kakyuu looking down at her. "A dream!?" she thinks. "I thought I was being pulled, into that dark consciousness. The Galaxy Cauldron, what on earth...!?" She feels a hand holding hers. "Chibi-Chibi... You saved me, didn't you. I always felt it, the strength of your hand pulling mine. Thank you, Chibi-Chibi. Amazing, that I can have such faith in you. Could it be because you're a sailor soldier? Because you're an ally? Maybe you're an angel sent to me from everyone in the future. That's right... When I wake up, there are always friends watching over me." "I'm glad you're all right," says Seiya. "In every time," Usagi thinks, "my friends devote their lives to protecting me. But still, even though I'm grateful that I'm the soldier with the Silver Moon Crystal..." "Sailor Moon..." says Yaten. "Put together, it's all up to me. And so now, I want to devote my life to restoring all my friends. Seiya-kun, Yaten-kun, Taiki-kun... We aren't the only ones worthy of sailor crystals. These bodies, too, are us. We are ourselves, body and all. They give us support, we live together. We look at them, call to them, embrace them. Our power is amplified by these bodies. Being with everyone, using strong power, that is a sailor soldier." "Will your friends' bodies really return to normal?" Galaxia said. "Will the future you know, really come?" "It will come," Usagi thinks. "I believe! They aren't all dead! Our future will surely come! I'll use all the power I can, and I will rescue everyone! I'll bring back peace! I'll put everything back to normal! Surely! Sailor Galaxia, what are you!? Why have you started this fight!? I must go, right away, to the place where Sailor Galaxia stands!" --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ikuko gasps. "Good morning, mom," says Usagi. "Usagi!? What's wrong? You're up so early!" "Say, mom, is it all right if we keep some cats besides Luna?" "Well now!" Ikuko says. "You got up early to ask me that? What can I do. I guess we can talk about it. Are they friends of Luna-chan?" "Her husband and child," says Usagi, holding the three cats. "The damage to their forehead crescent moons is greater than I thought," said Princess Kakyuu. "The injuries to their crescent moons aren't healing at all," thinks Usagi. "Because of that, they can't talk at all. If they're at home, I can leave without worrying about them." She shows her mom. "The gray one is Diana, Luna's child. The white kitty is Artemis, Luna's husband. Something happened, it'll just be for a little while..." "Okay," Ikuko says. "Great, mom." Usagi gives the three cats to her. "Give them lots of food." She runs out the door with a smile. "Goodbye!" Kenji sees Ikuko staring after her. "Honey?" "Strange," she says. "I don't think Usagi will be coming home..." --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "So, now those three are at the respective castles of their home planets?" "Hey, Hotaru-chan too!" says Chibi-Chibi. "She went after them." "Oh, Chibi-Coro," says Yaten. "You're talking normally." "It's not Chibi-Coro," she says. "I'm Chibi-Chibi!" "Have you gone to their castles often?" asks Taiki. "No..." says Usagi. "I've never been to their planets. Since everyone has always protected me and this planet here. I'm protected by them, so I should have just been protecting this planet. They must have reached the outer solar system by now. We haven't gotten any contact from them. I think something happened. I want to find them soon." "If you want to go to the planets Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, leave it to me," says Princess Kakyuu. Wings arch out from her back. "Your hand," says Seiya. "That's all right!" says Usagi. "I don't want to be a burden, I'll manage." "It's okay," says Seiya. "You're a princess. You should be protected." They leap into the air. "Let's go, to their castles!" --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The six of them arrive at Miranda Castle. "Uranus!" Usagi calls. "Uranus!?" She sees the viewscreen on the wall, filled with static. "Uranus!? Guardian Uranus!? Nobody's here!?" She sees a pile of dust spread on the floor. "Uranus!?" She goes to the viewscreen. "Neptune!? Pluto!? Saturn!? Where are they!?" "Let's go to planet Neptune!" says Kakyuu. They reach Tritan Castle. "Neptune!!" Usagi calls. "Guardian Neptune!?" She sees the static viewscreen, and dust on the floor. "Crashed comm system, nobody here. It's just like Uranus's castle. Oh no... They can't all be...!" They go to Charon Castle. "Pluto!! Guardian Pluto! Saturn!?" A burst of light appears, and she sees Galaxia confronting Setsuna and Hotaru. Galaxia thrusts her arm out, and Setsuna and Hotaru's bodies are ripped apart. "Pluto!? Saturn!?" Usagi cries. "Nooooo!" Seiya grabs her. "Sailor Moon!! This is a replay system! It's a playback from the visual recorder!" "Galaxia was here too...!" Usagi drops to her knees. "Galaxia, she... Uranus and Neptune... Pluto and Saturn... If she's after my crystal, why is she doing this to my allies...! I won't let her! Take me, Princess Kakyuu! To Zero Star of Sagittarius!" "Sailor Moon!?" says Kakyuu. "You know of Zero Star of Sagittarius!?" "Galaxia told me. I'm going now! Galaxia! I'm going to you!" - "Come quickly, Sailor Moon, to the place where I am. I'll knock down more and more, I'll take more and more. Then with your one last remaining piece, I will show you the truth!" --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Original manga copyright © 1996 Takeuchi Naoko. English translation copyright © 1997 Alex Glover. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sailor Moon Translations | Sailor Moon Volume 17