-7-
Usagi woke with a
start, Pluto's last words reverberating in her ears. Adrenaline surged through her as Pluto's urgency, coming
so soon after the enforced lassitude of her dreams, drove her to her feet and into a whirlwind of activity that unfortunately did very little. Packing and then unpacking then repacking a single satchel of clothing, Usagi dithered as to what to do. Seeking to calm herself, she wrote down a quick note to her parents.
"To their Divine Majesties, Serenity and Endymion,
celestial rulers of the Holy Empire of Humanity, lords of all creation, beloved of heaven, et cetera, greetings," it began, "I have been sent on a
singular mission of universal importance by the unseen, silent one, the daughter of Chronos, Dis Mater. Unfortunately
she has informed me that neither of your Majesties nor the guardian deities should assist me. Further, the importance
of this mission was such that I have only time enough to write this brief missive. Please accept my
apologies. I am now on my way to Nemesis, that planet which once made blasphemous war against your rightful supreme
dominion. Where I am to go from there is unknown, as is my time of return.
"It is my fondest wish that I shall be able to return
to your empyrean realm anon.
"From her highness, Serenity, Crown Princess of the
Holy Empire of Humanity, Heir to the Electrum Throne of Crystal Tokyo, Princess of the Moon, Duchess of Asia and Marchioness of the Asteroid Belt of the Solar
System.
"Post-Script: Please keep Mamoru out of my room as he
is horrible."
Enclosing the letter in an envelope and sealing it, she
left it on her table above her unfinished papers and stopped. What to do next, what to do next. Suddenly, inspiration struck, followed by a knuckle to her skull. Idiot that she was, she
had forgotten two of the most important things she would need. Usagi closed her eyes and searched her soul. Light flowed between her hands and her chest, forming a ball of light that condensed quickly into a golden brooch inscribed with a
crescent moon within a heart. This was the fetish of her identity, the outward and physical manifestation of the
sacrifice of self to self that empowered her and recast her into her war aspect. She stared down at it, knowing that it
had changed since the last time she had summoned it. If she were to look within, she would find it empty except for a
silver glow that shifted into a rose red, pregnant with promise.
Nodding with satisfaction, glad that she hadn't
forgotten how to do that, Usagi hooked her brooch onto her shirt. She then called up the second thing she had thought
of. "Luna-P, come!"
From the depths of her closet there was a terrible crash,
as something barreled its way out from behind piles of dresses, shoes and boxes of forgotten knick-knacks. A black blur
zoomed towards Usagi and then suddenly stopped, hovering inches away from her face. It was a black sphere, about the
size of a basketball and shaped like a cat's head, complete with triangle ears on top and a golden crescent moon on its forehead. This was Luna-P, a device capable of transforming into nearly anything, from an umbrella that could rewrite memories to a house
and anything in between. She had had it with her on previous adventures, particularly when she was very young, but for
the last few years had kept it inside her closet. A rush of fondness and nostalgia filled Usagi as she looked at her
old friend.
"Luna-P, follow," she commanded, even as she made
her way out of her room, Luna-P trailing behind her, hovering silently. Taking a quick peak into the hallway, Usagi
found it empty. Quietly walking on her tiptoes, she walked down the hall and up three flights of stairs. Stopping and massaging her feet, Usagi decided that going en pointe all that way was a really bad idea. Walking, or rather hobbling, up more stairs, she finally made it to the royal transport terminal.
The terminal was quite small, as it was purely for the
personal use of the royal family. Only about a square mile, it held the many vehicles that they used on a daily
basis. Replicas of ancient vehicles, chariots, helicopters, things of that nature, stood next to more modern means of
transport. As speed was the essence, she decided to take the fastest space-capable ship there was in the hangar: a
Swan. It took only a minute or so for the terminal director to bring the Swan over to her, driven by one of the
orange-clad servants that worked to maintain the vehicles.
The Swan was one of the newest model space vehicles, made
just in the last year. Shaped similarly to its avian namesake, if stylized, the Swan was an iridescent pearl white,
reflecting even the slightest bit of light with a cocky glint. Its long, red-tipped wings were kept folded in the
atmosphere but came free in the vacuum of space. There was room for only three people, if that, in the
Swan. Its small interior space meant that, despite the speeds it could attain it was pushing it to go interplanetary,
let alone interstellar, as there was little room for provender. As the bubble shimmered into place, sealing her in,
Usagi settled for a moment, twiddling with the controls and settings until she had it to her satisfaction. Submitting a
flight plan and a request for a launch window, both of which were approved summarily, Usagi launched out of the Crystal Palace with a jaunty wave to the
terminal director.
The Swan was new, it was fast, it was magic, but that
didn't mean that it was perfect. It handled like an iron brick in the atmosphere, despite the only demands put on
it were to go near on straight up. The wind outside swirled and screamed at her, and the pressure of her speed was
painful. Yet the Swan soon adjusted, especially once they left behind the gravity well of the planet. Its wings unfurled, spreading wide. Usagi wasn't sure what the wings actually did but
they sure looked nice. Switching over to autopilot, she settled back into her seat.
It would take a few hours to get to Nemesis, which was time enough to take a much needed, uneventful nap.
Changing the interiors so that the seats reconfigured into
a bed, Usagi lay against the newly produced pillow and closed her eyes. This time she dreamt of nothing in
particular.
-8-
Hours later, Usagi woke to the sound of beeping; someone
from Nemesis was calling her. Rubbing her face and looking in a mirror with distaste, she woke herself up as properly
as she could and readjusted her bed back into seats before answering.
"H-hello?" she said, trying to talk through a
very dry throat and acidic mouth.
"This is Nemesis Orbital Traffic to incoming Swan,
please identify," said a melodious voice that still managed to sound officious.
"Ah, this is Vehicle Registry . . .
." And here Usagi glanced quickly at the dash of the Swan, looking for its ID.
"Lambda Sigma Mu Lambda One Nine Seven Three; request permission for landing as soon as possible."
"Okay, Lambda Sigma Mu Lambda One Nine Seven
Three," said the same voice. "I see you're registered under the Royal family. Do you request honors?"
"No, no, goodness no," said Usagi
hastily. It was her right, and occasional burden, to have parades and fanfare and local leaders come give her honors
whenever she left Earth. People seemed to genuinely enjoy it, if only because it made for a good excuse for a street
party, but having to spend hours with a smile plastered on her face and her neck aching from all the regally superior nods that she had to give were almost
enough to make her regret her status. It would be doubly disastrous here, as she needed to move with speed and freedom
on Nemesis, not be hampered by diplomacy and fanfare.
"Very well, Lambda Sigma Lambda." The melodious voice paused for a moment, and then said, "I have a descent window opening up in five minutes over Mohs
City."
"Thank you, Nemesis Orbital," said Usagi, seeing
the specific data come up on her dashboard.
"Good day, Lambda Sigma Lambda."
As she approached Nemesis, she appreciated it
anew. The picture that Pluto had shown was accurate, in its way. It was indeed
an irregular rock, much like an asteroid. Yet its size was greater than that of any other object outside of
Neptune's orbit. Its own orbit took it from into the range of Pluto and then deep into the Oort cloud. Long before, when it had been used as the planet of exile, it had been nearly impossible to track save for set times when its
orbit took it closer, relatively, to Earth. Then, with the rise of the Black Moon Clan, it had disappeared completely,
under the dark power of the malevolent being that lived deep within it and permeated it. Now, with the defeat of the
Wiseman, it was possible to find it much like any other planet. The electric lines of its cities glowed like cold fire
across the face of the planet, making it magical and mysterious as well as welcoming.
As Usagi took her Swan closer, the details of Mohs City,
the capital of Nemesis, became clearer. The architecture of Mohs was very traditional Nemesis, given over to smooth
skyscrapers that would have seemed almost organic if not for their cruciform shapes. When not jutting into the air, the
buildings were low and fluting. It all made it seem as if the entire city had been made from one giant piece of blown
glass and then lit by fireflies, laid out on grids of similarly glowing giant panes of glass. However, breaking this
were grasslands and forests, vibrant and living even in the night light, that were spreading outward from the city's center. Instead of marveling at this, however, Usagi drafted a message to an old friend and sent it, before taking manual control of her
ship and bringing it safely down to cruising height.
The first step of her quest had begun.
Usagi woke with a
start, Pluto's last words reverberating in her ears. Adrenaline surged through her as Pluto's urgency, coming
so soon after the enforced lassitude of her dreams, drove her to her feet and into a whirlwind of activity that unfortunately did very little. Packing and then unpacking then repacking a single satchel of clothing, Usagi dithered as to what to do. Seeking to calm herself, she wrote down a quick note to her parents.
"To their Divine Majesties, Serenity and Endymion,
celestial rulers of the Holy Empire of Humanity, lords of all creation, beloved of heaven, et cetera, greetings," it began, "I have been sent on a
singular mission of universal importance by the unseen, silent one, the daughter of Chronos, Dis Mater. Unfortunately
she has informed me that neither of your Majesties nor the guardian deities should assist me. Further, the importance
of this mission was such that I have only time enough to write this brief missive. Please accept my
apologies. I am now on my way to Nemesis, that planet which once made blasphemous war against your rightful supreme
dominion. Where I am to go from there is unknown, as is my time of return.
"It is my fondest wish that I shall be able to return
to your empyrean realm anon.
"From her highness, Serenity, Crown Princess of the
Holy Empire of Humanity, Heir to the Electrum Throne of Crystal Tokyo, Princess of the Moon, Duchess of Asia and Marchioness of the Asteroid Belt of the Solar
System.
"Post-Script: Please keep Mamoru out of my room as he
is horrible."
Enclosing the letter in an envelope and sealing it, she
left it on her table above her unfinished papers and stopped. What to do next, what to do next. Suddenly, inspiration struck, followed by a knuckle to her skull. Idiot that she was, she
had forgotten two of the most important things she would need. Usagi closed her eyes and searched her soul. Light flowed between her hands and her chest, forming a ball of light that condensed quickly into a golden brooch inscribed with a
crescent moon within a heart. This was the fetish of her identity, the outward and physical manifestation of the
sacrifice of self to self that empowered her and recast her into her war aspect. She stared down at it, knowing that it
had changed since the last time she had summoned it. If she were to look within, she would find it empty except for a
silver glow that shifted into a rose red, pregnant with promise.
Nodding with satisfaction, glad that she hadn't
forgotten how to do that, Usagi hooked her brooch onto her shirt. She then called up the second thing she had thought
of. "Luna-P, come!"
From the depths of her closet there was a terrible crash,
as something barreled its way out from behind piles of dresses, shoes and boxes of forgotten knick-knacks. A black blur
zoomed towards Usagi and then suddenly stopped, hovering inches away from her face. It was a black sphere, about the
size of a basketball and shaped like a cat's head, complete with triangle ears on top and a golden crescent moon on its forehead. This was Luna-P, a device capable of transforming into nearly anything, from an umbrella that could rewrite memories to a house
and anything in between. She had had it with her on previous adventures, particularly when she was very young, but for
the last few years had kept it inside her closet. A rush of fondness and nostalgia filled Usagi as she looked at her
old friend.
"Luna-P, follow," she commanded, even as she made
her way out of her room, Luna-P trailing behind her, hovering silently. Taking a quick peak into the hallway, Usagi
found it empty. Quietly walking on her tiptoes, she walked down the hall and up three flights of stairs. Stopping and massaging her feet, Usagi decided that going en pointe all that way was a really bad idea. Walking, or rather hobbling, up more stairs, she finally made it to the royal transport terminal.
The terminal was quite small, as it was purely for the
personal use of the royal family. Only about a square mile, it held the many vehicles that they used on a daily
basis. Replicas of ancient vehicles, chariots, helicopters, things of that nature, stood next to more modern means of
transport. As speed was the essence, she decided to take the fastest space-capable ship there was in the hangar: a
Swan. It took only a minute or so for the terminal director to bring the Swan over to her, driven by one of the
orange-clad servants that worked to maintain the vehicles.
The Swan was one of the newest model space vehicles, made
just in the last year. Shaped similarly to its avian namesake, if stylized, the Swan was an iridescent pearl white,
reflecting even the slightest bit of light with a cocky glint. Its long, red-tipped wings were kept folded in the
atmosphere but came free in the vacuum of space. There was room for only three people, if that, in the
Swan. Its small interior space meant that, despite the speeds it could attain it was pushing it to go interplanetary,
let alone interstellar, as there was little room for provender. As the bubble shimmered into place, sealing her in,
Usagi settled for a moment, twiddling with the controls and settings until she had it to her satisfaction. Submitting a
flight plan and a request for a launch window, both of which were approved summarily, Usagi launched out of the Crystal Palace with a jaunty wave to the
terminal director.
The Swan was new, it was fast, it was magic, but that
didn't mean that it was perfect. It handled like an iron brick in the atmosphere, despite the only demands put on
it were to go near on straight up. The wind outside swirled and screamed at her, and the pressure of her speed was
painful. Yet the Swan soon adjusted, especially once they left behind the gravity well of the planet. Its wings unfurled, spreading wide. Usagi wasn't sure what the wings actually did but
they sure looked nice. Switching over to autopilot, she settled back into her seat.
It would take a few hours to get to Nemesis, which was time enough to take a much needed, uneventful nap.
Changing the interiors so that the seats reconfigured into
a bed, Usagi lay against the newly produced pillow and closed her eyes. This time she dreamt of nothing in
particular.
-8-
Hours later, Usagi woke to the sound of beeping; someone
from Nemesis was calling her. Rubbing her face and looking in a mirror with distaste, she woke herself up as properly
as she could and readjusted her bed back into seats before answering.
"H-hello?" she said, trying to talk through a
very dry throat and acidic mouth.
"This is Nemesis Orbital Traffic to incoming Swan,
please identify," said a melodious voice that still managed to sound officious.
"Ah, this is Vehicle Registry . . .
." And here Usagi glanced quickly at the dash of the Swan, looking for its ID.
"Lambda Sigma Mu Lambda One Nine Seven Three; request permission for landing as soon as possible."
"Okay, Lambda Sigma Mu Lambda One Nine Seven
Three," said the same voice. "I see you're registered under the Royal family. Do you request honors?"
"No, no, goodness no," said Usagi
hastily. It was her right, and occasional burden, to have parades and fanfare and local leaders come give her honors
whenever she left Earth. People seemed to genuinely enjoy it, if only because it made for a good excuse for a street
party, but having to spend hours with a smile plastered on her face and her neck aching from all the regally superior nods that she had to give were almost
enough to make her regret her status. It would be doubly disastrous here, as she needed to move with speed and freedom
on Nemesis, not be hampered by diplomacy and fanfare.
"Very well, Lambda Sigma Lambda." The melodious voice paused for a moment, and then said, "I have a descent window opening up in five minutes over Mohs
City."
"Thank you, Nemesis Orbital," said Usagi, seeing
the specific data come up on her dashboard.
"Good day, Lambda Sigma Lambda."
As she approached Nemesis, she appreciated it
anew. The picture that Pluto had shown was accurate, in its way. It was indeed
an irregular rock, much like an asteroid. Yet its size was greater than that of any other object outside of
Neptune's orbit. Its own orbit took it from into the range of Pluto and then deep into the Oort cloud. Long before, when it had been used as the planet of exile, it had been nearly impossible to track save for set times when its
orbit took it closer, relatively, to Earth. Then, with the rise of the Black Moon Clan, it had disappeared completely,
under the dark power of the malevolent being that lived deep within it and permeated it. Now, with the defeat of the
Wiseman, it was possible to find it much like any other planet. The electric lines of its cities glowed like cold fire
across the face of the planet, making it magical and mysterious as well as welcoming.
As Usagi took her Swan closer, the details of Mohs City,
the capital of Nemesis, became clearer. The architecture of Mohs was very traditional Nemesis, given over to smooth
skyscrapers that would have seemed almost organic if not for their cruciform shapes. When not jutting into the air, the
buildings were low and fluting. It all made it seem as if the entire city had been made from one giant piece of blown
glass and then lit by fireflies, laid out on grids of similarly glowing giant panes of glass. However, breaking this
were grasslands and forests, vibrant and living even in the night light, that were spreading outward from the city's center. Instead of marveling at this, however, Usagi drafted a message to an old friend and sent it, before taking manual control of her
ship and bringing it safely down to cruising height.
The first step of her quest had begun.