Episode Two: The Judgement of Shizuki

Fuuno Seira tried to look composed as she pushed her cart of meal trays from the kitchen around the high security ward of the Crystal Tokyo Institute for Mental Health. Outwardly, it worked. Seira glanced at herself in a nearby mirror as she walked by it, making sure that she showed no fear. At least that's what she told herself. Every single time she looked, she wondered exactly why she resembled Aunt Himeko so much. They weren't related by blood at all. Her pale blonde hair, tucked away into a bun at the nape of her neck, combined with her bright green eyes puzzled her too much. Neither of her parents had that colouring, only her aunt Himeko had it and they weren't related at all by blood. Seira was very fond of her aunt though, she was like a mother to Seira after the deaths of her parents.

"Quit worrying about that," Seira muttered to herself. She had work to do. Uncle Akio had gotten her this job and she'd be damned if she goofed around on it. Being an orderly wasn't her ultimate goal, but it would help her get there. Seira got back to work, delivering meals to the inmates. It wasn't the best pay, but it'd do.

She stopped outside the room of Umino Megami. The woman gave Seira the creeps, with her constant stares and mutterings of the Heaven King Star. Seira unlocked the small slot where she would insert the tray. "Dinner time," she said into it, bracing herself for that creepy hag's hoarse whispers.

"Tenousei," that creepy whisper came. Seira tried not to shudder. Umino Megami's voice was colder than the depths of the sea. What exactly had driven her insane? Seira wasn't sure she wanted to know. It was rather like Aunt Himeko's amnesia. The cause of it must have been very bad indeed. "Join me. We must talk."

"Enjoy your dinner." Seira moved her hand to shut the slot, but something made her stop. Even if she was creeped out, Seira wanted to know why she was treated differently by that hag. "Why do you keep mentioning Tenousei to me?" she whispered. She didn't want anyone to hear her talking to her the looniest loon in the loony bin. That'd be bad for her reputation.

"You don't know how similar we both are," the whisper came again. "Goodbye Tenousei."

Seira shuddered as she closed the slot. Every day, she came in swearing she wouldn't let that woman get under her skin. No matter how much she swore, she just couldn't avoid it. Hopefully one day she'd be used to it.

"That'll be the day she becomes sane," Seira muttered as she continued on her rounds. Time was money and money had to be made after all.

****

Minako tapped her pencil against her notepad as she listened to the speaker. "It is unnecessary that people should die," the girl went on. She was the current speaker for Juuban at the debate between the Debate Clubs of Juuban and Shin Mugen Gakuen. Minako knew she should have been paying attention, but she detested the blind idealism of the current speaker. It was just like Aaron's, except Aaron was different in Minako's eyes. He wouldn't hope for the best, he'd work for it. That was the problem, every time she paid attention to the girl, her thoughts turned to Aaron. "It only leads to destruction. The war between the Queen Beryl and the Silver Millennium led to its destruction, which only led to pain and suffering. It was unnecessary to go from a utopia to utter disorder. War should be unnecessary." The girl sat down, completely sure that she had won her arguments. Minako tried not to roll her eyes in disbelief. Blind idealism led to nothing good at all, but it would make Minako's job easier.

"Shin Mugen Gakuen has the rebuttal," the moderator said, not looking up from his own notepad. He was obviously bored by all this.

"Get her good," Reiko muttered to Minako as she stood up. Of course Reiko was only pretending to be nice to Minako now that it was to her advantage to have her around. "Use that doom and gloom for good."

"You brought up the destruction of the Silver Millennium," Minako started. She tried not to look back at the audience. Aiko had silently slipped in earlier, leaning against a wall as she watched the debate. Before, Minako wouldn't have cared. But now she was talking about a subject which they both knew more about than everyone else in the room. Her mother and grandmother had both been part of the events she was using, and it felt a little uncomfortable. "While I don't know the motives behind it, I do know that the war was continued later on. If that war had never happened, Sailormoon never would have been reawakened. Without that war, the Crystal Millennium would never have started. While it was unnecessary for that war to have been fought, it did bring about many changes to how we live our lives. One of them is that we do live longer lives. While peace is a concept that seems acceptable to strive for, it only leads to stagnation. There is no change to be had. The destruction of the Silver Millennium brought about change and allowed us to grow. War brings change, therefore it is necessary."

Aiko walked over to the judge and whispered a few words that Minako strained to hear. The judge looked over at her and nodded. Aiko leaned over to talk to Minako. "We need to leave now," she whispered. Minako stood up, avoiding the stares of Reiko and all the other students. It didn't help that they knew her mother was the principal of the school. Minako walked with her mother out of the room.

"I thought we talked about talking while I'm at school," Minako said, crossing her arms. She had that debate almost wrapped up and now Reiko was going to pissed at her. She could almost hear the taunts of being principal's pet in Reiko's eyes. "You know how they all talk about it. Maybe I should've gone to a different school."

"Please, not now," Aiko said, looking a little haggard from her day at school. She sighed slightly before going on. "Shizuki wants you to go to the Moon immediately. You're travelling to the Andromeda system to attend the wedding and coronation of Queen Uni."

"She couldn't have given me a little advanced notice." Minako raised her eyebrow at her mother. "It would've helped."

"Be grateful that this is the only time you have to act as a senshi. It could be worse, you're not going to have to face Tau Ceti or Solana. They're both far worse than a simple wedding. I'd take a wedding any day over those two."

"If she knew in advance that she was going to take us to this wedding, then she should have given advanced warning. Telling us at the last minute isn't good, even if it's only a wedding." There was something about Shizuki's actions that bothered Minako. Something wasn't right with how that girl acted and treated the whole senshi business.

"Kasumi already gave her a piece of her mind." Aiko shook her head, obviously feeling a bit sorry for Shizuki. "Oh, Kasumi also asked me to go with Utako and Aya. She thinks they'd kill each other if they went together."

"No problem." Minako tried to hide her sighs as she walked away. Hopefully this would be the only time that being a senshi interfered. But she doubted it like she doubted happy endings. They just never happened.

****

"I don't want to go to that wedding!" Hitomi said as Karei stood in front of her. As soon as Karei had mentioned the wedding of Queen Uni, Hitomi had immediately known that it would only bring disaster on everything. "I have too much to do, Father wants me in the studios. There's such a tight deadline on the album, we're running close on it." That was true at least. Hitomi was following in the family tradition and was all set to become an idol faster than her parents. That was her source of pride, and she wouldn't have that because of that damn wedding.

"Then you'll have to work harder when you get back," Karei said gently. Hitomi tried not to cringe. She couldn't explain it rationally, she only had a feeling that this would not turn out well. That was stupid, there was no way Hitomi was going to tell her mother the truth. "It's the only interruption you'll have to deal with." Karei patted Hitomi on the shoulder before leaving.

"That's not going to happen," Hitomi said after Karei had left. She trembled slightly as she touched the red diamond shaped brooch in her pocket. Disaster was going to come, and Hitomi knew deep down that there was no way anyone was going to be convinced of that until it was too late.

****

Shizuki tried not to fidget as she waited for the ceremony to begin. They were seated in a large stone temple, apparently only used for this wedding ceremony. On her right side were Kalon Sailormercury and Kalon Sailorvenus. They were talking quietly to each other, ignoring the others. Shizuki hoped that that meant they were friends. She liked the idea that she'd brought them all together and they were all going to become best friends for life like Mother had said about the original senshi. Shizuki quickly glanced over at Kalon Jupiter and Kalon Mars. Jupiter was glaring at everyone she laid eyes on, with her arms crossed across her chest. Mars, on the other hand, was glaring at... Shizuki? No, Shizuki shook her head to herself. None of them really had any reason to hate her.

Her four senshi, her honour guard as Turan called it, were all dressed far more differently than their predecessors. Their fuku consisted of a solid coloured dress with a belt around their waists. From the belt came a panel at the front, bearing the symbol of their planet on it. Their brooches were all diamond shaped, and the front bow was forked with no tails. Instead of a tiara, they all wore a diamond shaped gem on their forehead.

The lights dimmed, and Shizuki's eyes automatically went to the front of the temple. An old woman hobbled to the dais, her hair in the similar buns as Turan, but with a silver crown in front of them. Centred on it was a purple gem, and that was all that she wore. Shizuki tried to accept cultural differences, but she still felt a little uncomfortable with the Queen's nudity. "My time has passed," the woman said, managing to speak louder than Shizuki would have thought possible. "Who will help me? Which child will ensure that the line continues?"

"I will." A tall woman, with ragged pink hair stepped up onto the dais. She was wearing clothes, a strange sort of yellow and royal blue fuku. Her yellow skirt was sheer and ragged over the royal blue bottom, while her top was small and royal blue with a yellow collar over it. "Veive, daughter of Uni, will do her duty as both daughter and protector of the kingdom. Who will take my mother's place? Atunis, my brother, who do you choose?"

The eyes of everyone turned to the entrance of the temple. Shizuki turned her head and turned red as a tomato when she saw Atunis standing there, stark naked. Their eyes met, and Atunis seemed to look shamed at his display for a second before turning to look at Veive. "Sister and protector, the fates have spoken to me. Turan is who I am fated to wed. It is she who is fated to continue the line of Uni."

Queen Uni spoke next. "Turan step forward to take your rightful place." Turan, as naked as Atunis, was beside him immediately. They walked up to the dais together, Atunis following behind Turan. Atunis stopped to stand beside Veive while Turan stood in front of Uni. "From this day forth, you are no longer Turan. You are now Queen Uni of the Andromeda system." The old Queen removed her crown and knelt down, holding it up for the new Queen to take. "I am your humble servant." The new Queen took the crown and placed it on her head, in the same manner as the old Queen had worn her's. The old Queen collapsed. Shizuki stopped herself from getting up to see what it was as a flash of silver light overtook the new Queen. She couldn't see, but she swore the old Queen was dead now.

Queen Uni stood in front of the crowd, now dressed in a purple fuku that had a bodysuit made of silver armour. "I am now Queen Uni, ruler and protector of the Andromeda system. I am now married to Atunis. I promise another thousand years of peace and prosperity for all!"

Everyone clapped at that. Shizuki joined in a bit reluctantly. She had to keep reminding herself that this was a completely different culture than her own. Using the morals that she'd been brought up with to judge the Andromeda Kingdom was wrong, but it was hard to stop from doing that.

Everyone began to stand up and began dispersing. Shizuki stood as well, and walked out towards to the reception area. It was then that she saw the black stone slab in the middle, high so that anyone who was on it would be seen by everyone. It took a few seconds for Shizuki to realize the purpose of it. "Excuse me," she said to the other senshi. "I'm going to get some fresh air for a few seconds."

"Go for it," Kalon Mercury said, dismissing Shizuki with a wave of her hand. "I don't think you'll be attacked here."

Shizuki smiled briefly and exited the temple. She sighed as she looked up into the night sky, so different from the one on the Moon. "What do I do?" she asked herself as she searched the sky for the star that she called home. "How can I pretend to continue relationships with them? I don't know."

"It is your choice." Shizuki jumped out of her skin as she turned around to see Atunis standing there. He was wearing a toga-like outfit at least, although it looked as though it could be taken off very easily. He smiled gently as he looked at her. "I rather like your own culture. It is much less stagnant than my own."

"Is the ceremony always the same?" Atunis was so beautiful and married. Shizuki tried to put romantic thoughts of him out of her head, but it was hard. The way his eyes kept looking at her, like they were caressing her face... "I shouldn't judge your culture. It's how you do things, and I'm sure Uni isn't used to how things are done in the Neo Millennium."

"I have been reborn so many times, it is all blurred together." Atunis sighed as he looked upwards. "I want change. Uni is a good person, always she is, but I do not love her. I can not love her, I do not choose to love her."

"Then who do you choose?" Shizuki tried to quash that aching hope in her heart. She wanted Atunis more than anything in the world right now. She wanted him to be with her, not Uni, and to have whatever his heart desired. She wanted him to desire her. "How can I help you?"

Atunis leaned down, placing his arms on Shizuki's shoulders gently as he whispered into her ear. "I want to leave with you." He glanced back at the temple quickly. "Now, before the ceremony finishes. You are a light of hope in my world, and I want to be with you."

"Yes," Shizuki whispered. She looked up at Atunis' beautiful gold eyes. There was no way she could say no to him. "You will come with me."

"Atunis, come!" Shizuki looked to see Uni standing near them, not suspecting anything. Why should she? She believed that Shizuki accepted their culture absolutely. "We must finish the ceremony."

"No," Atunis said, moving a bit away from Shizuki to face Uni. He still stood with her though, not with his new wife. "We will not. I am leaving this kingdom."

"You can not leave!" Uni's eyes were violently angry as she regarded Atunis. "You will not, I forbid it! We must complete the ceremony."

"If he doesn't want to, he won't!" Shizuki said. "He is under the protection of the Neo Millennium now!" She held her brooch up. "Kalon Moon Power!" A swirl of white light overtook her, transforming her into Kalon Sailormoon, with her white and dark blue fuku. She stood in front of Atunis and held her hands up above her head. No gloves covered them, instead a set of dark blue rings were on her fingers. "Noble Moon Strike!" she shouted. White energy swirled up from her brooch to settle in the rings. She brought her arms down, letting the white energy strike Uni before she had a chance to retaliate. Uni collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

"We must go now!" Atunis said, taking Kalon Moon's hand. Quickly, they ran before anyone could realize what happened. It would only be a matter of time before they did and tried to retaliate.

****

Kalon Mercury looked up at the slab of stone, knowing full well what it was supposed to be there for. It didn't take a genius to figure that out. "I know they're going to do something on it," Kalon Jupiter said from beside her. "What are they going to do? Aya, you're supposed to be smart! Tell me!" If she had known any of the others at this gathering, Mercury would've been talking to them rather than that idiot that was her sister. Mercury kept her mouth shut. Her sister needed to learn about the birds and the bees sometime, this seemed like a ripe opportunity. "Tell me now!"

"That is where the Queen will consummate her relationship with Atunis in front of all the attendees." Kalon Mercury looked to the tall woman standing beside the Kalon senshi. Her pale face regarded them all coldly. Her dark red hair was long and tightly pulled back into a ponytail while her gold eyes were cold. She was dressed in a purple jumpsuit with a dark purple belt around her waist. At the centre of the belt was a gold star, with a similar gold star at the centre of the neckline of her suit. A dark purple collar with matching boots and gloves completed her fuku. "I am Sailormenrva."

"Consummate?" Kalon Venus glanced up at the slab. She looked to be feigning surprise, at least Mercury hoped so. "Why would they do that? Wouldn't they want some privacy?"

"This is so gross," Jupiter muttered. Kalon Mercury gave her a quick glare. Jupiter looked back at her sister sulkily. "Well it is!"

"This is how it is done with the Queen and Atunis," Menrva said to Venus, completely ignoring Jupiter. "Love should not exist between them, and this way it is kept as a duty to be done, rather than the passion that you humans believe in. That is how it should all be."

"Love is good," Venus muttered, crossing her arms as she stared up at Menrva. "Our concept of being a senshi involves love a good deal. It gives us strength to do what needs to be done. We do our duties out of love rather than seeing it merely as one duty that must be done."

"That does not make your way of viewing your duties any better than our own," Menrva said, crossing her arms as she stared down at Venus. "We do our own out of protection for our people. It is out of tradition that we do this. We have suffered none of the major periods of chaos that occurred between the Golden Millennium and the Silver Millennium or between the Silver Millennium and the Crystal Millennium. We have kept the peace much better than your own society. There is value to tradition."

"And there is value to love," Venus said. "One day you'll see that there is."

It was then that Mercury noticed that Kalon Mars was looking ill. "Are you going to be sick?" she asked Mars. She was utterly pale as she stared at the stone slab.

"Destruction," Mars muttered as she looked at it. "All that there is coming from that is destruction."

"Kalon senshi!" The four Kalon senshi turned around in unison as they saw Queen Uni stumbling into the room. Her violet eyes were murderous as she looked at them. "Your Princess has stolen away my husband! If he is not returned soon, there will be war! This offence will not be treated lightly at all. Believe me, I will not stop even if it means the destruction of the Neo Silver Millennium!"

"We're leaving now!" Kalon Mercury whispered to the others. They all nodded in unison, even Jupiter, agreeing with her judgement. Of course they wouldn't have done anything else, not with the breach of good judgement that their leader had just shown. Mercury felt the stares of everyone as they walked out of the room. Mercury presented a cold exterior, but inside she was boiling with rage. That idiot of a princess was almost causing a war because of some cute guy! Mercury swore that she would throttle some sense into her when they all arrived back on the Moon.

Still, as much as she hated to admit it, the prospect of an all out war excited her a bit. She enjoyed reading about ancient history, especially the great generals. Scipio Africanus had done away with tradition and finished a war that would've continued longer if no one else had had his boldness. His counterpart Hannibal excited Mercury greatly as the Kalon senshi formed a circle to teleport back to the Moon kingdom. Would Mercury have a similar counterpart on the Andromeda Kingdom? She hoped so greatly.

As they began to teleport, Mercury didn't know whether she wanted the war to happen or to avoid it. Either way, the decision wouldn't be in her hands. No, that'd be the smart thing to do. Instead, fate had left their fates in the hands of someone else, which angered Mercury even more.

It would be in the hands of that idiot Shizuki. That meant that it wouldn't be a good judgement at all.