Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Neptune: Year One ❯ Interlude IV ( Chapter 18 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
-Neptune: Year One-

Disclaimer: Sailor Moon is the property of Naoko Takeuchi, Toei and Kodansha.

--

-Interlude IV-

While Haruka tended to Michiru's injuries and Sailor Pluto stood at the Time Gate, in England Sailor V narrowed in on the leader of the Dark Agency. Elsewhere, as Queen Beryl marshaled her forces and the Death Busters continued to plot in the shadows, Queen Nehelenia raged impotently against the empty husk of Helios while Sailor Galaxia traveled amongst the stars with her Sailor Animamates.

And as the general population lived in blissful ignorance of such things, there was yet another actor in the unfolding drama waiting to step out onto the stage...

--

She somberly folded another blouse and placed it carefully into her suitcase. She didn't want to leave today to see her father. The man cared nothing for her, and he certainly showed little enough affection to her mother when she was alive, except for when the cameras were rolling and he needed his family around him for votes. The thought made her frown even harder as she continued packing.

"Rei-chan," her grandfather said as he came into the door frame, "Are you ready yet? Your father's limo will be here any minute."

Rei Hino turned to her grandfather with a piercing glare as she moved a strand of jet-black hair away from her eyes. "Why am I doing this again?"

"Rei-chan..."

"The shrine won't take care of itself, Ojii-san. I'm a miko. You need me to sweep the floor, rake the leaves and a dozen other things, not the least of which is keeping you out of trouble."

"Keep me out of... Rei-chan, I don't need a babysitter, I'm quite old enough to take care of myself, thank you."

"But..."

"And you're only going to be gone for the weekend. Two days, what's the worst that can happen?" Rai raised an eyebrow at that. "Don't you look at me in that tone of voice young lady."

"Excuse me," a middle aged man in a black suit and tie said as he respectfully entered the room and bowed. "Hino Rei-san, I am to drive you to meet your father."

Rei rolled her eyes, "You know," she grumbled as she clenched her fists, "The worst part of all this is that he's still going to want me to spend time with him on my birthday in a few weeks." ignoring the looks both her grandfather and her father's limo driver were giving her, she closed her suitcase and picked it up. "Well, what are we waiting for?" she asked acerbically as she stomped out of her room, "Daddy needs his photo ops."

--

She lay in a fetal position with her legs curled in and her head bent down, just as she had for thousands upon thousands of years. Monitors and circuits ceaselessly monitored her anabolic motor relays, as well as other biological functions, all slowed down to the point of near death. Advanced systems well beyond anything Earth had yet devised updated her every so often on man's progress through small electrodes connected directly into her cerebrum. She saw glimpses of the building of Stone Henge, watched silently as the Sumerians invented the wheel and, later, the Egyptians carved the Sphinx and built the pyramids. She saw an Athenian philosopher drink hemlock, Rome become a world power, a Judean prophet executed on a cross, as well as the rise and fall of one empire after another.

She saw these and many more bits of human history unfold as she continued her hyper sleep. Some of the images she understood, most she didn't, but she tried her best to make sense of it all as she waited for her time. She was given a most special commission, one which only she could carry out when the new age dawned upon the world. And as she slept in suspended animation while her life capsule continued to monitor her functions, the computers within her pod awaited the one thing that would cause all the systems to go online and awaken her.

That one thing being the near approach of a Senshi.

--

"Your father says he misses you," the driver said over his shoulder, trying to make small talk as he drove his boss' daughter into the city. Rei simply huffed and looked out the window at the buildings and people as they drove through one block after another. "Oh no," she heard just as the limo slowed down. Looking over, she saw a road crew working on the road ahead of them. A burly construction worker with a "Detour" sign was directing traffic to a small road on the left.

"That road will bring us to the Sumida-gawa bridge, won't it?" Rei asked.

"Hai, thirty minutes out of the way," the driver wined, "Your dad will have my hide."

"Don't worry," Rei answered absently as she looked back out the window, "I'll explain." She suddenly got a funny feeling as they reached the bridge, as if someone had just walked over her grave. She didn't know what it was, but something definitely felt off. Making a mental note of it, she resolved to check the flames back at the Hikawa Shrine when she returned after the weekend with her father.

--

The small life pod began to light up, neon blue and yellow lights blinking on and off as its sensors detected a Senshi's presence within 200 yards of its perimeter. An electric shock was administered directly into the sleeper's heart, followed by a second and a third. Electrodes and monitor relays slowly withdrew from her body as her circulatory system began once more to function. She grudgingly opened her eyes as a heart monitor displayed her blood pressure briefly before withdrawing from her forelimb. Still groggy and unable to move because of the confined area she found herself in, she looked out past the lights and displays of her capsule to see that she was currently buried underground.

The capsule shook, then glowed a bright gold as it started to rise out of the earth surrounding it. The earth finally gave way, and she saw a dark gray fish curiously swim up to the viewing window to look in at her. She blinked her eyes as it swam away, followed by several other small fish.

Suddenly, the capsule opened.

--

The little girl squealed with joy as she ran along the shore of the Sumida-gawa river. She held tightly onto the string of her new red balloon her papa bought her, with her mom and dad following close behind and her brown collie running merrily beside her.

With a start, the girl stopped. The water next to the shore glowed a bright golden orange just before a column of bubbles rose to the surface. Curious, she came closer, bending down as she looked into the murky water. She jumped back with a shriek as something larger than a fish came rapidly up to the surface towards her. It came out coughing and wheezing, crawling wearily onto the shore on all fours as it shook the water from it's fur.

"Mama, papa, look!" the amazed girl said, "A cat with a bald patch!"

Luna continued to cough out the water from the river as she looked curiously at the small child and loud barking collie. She didn't understand the girl's language, but that could be learned easily enough. She cautiously came closer.

"That's not a bald patch sweetheart," her mother said as she came closer for a better look, "It looks more like a patch of fur shaped like a crescent moon."

"Don't get too close to her, hon," her father admonished.

Luna opened herself mentally as she focused on the girl. No, she wasn't a Senshi. Nor was the older one she took to be the child's mother. As the dog continued its incessant barking, placing itself protectively between its young mistress and the strange cat, Luna turned and ran towards the city. The more populated the area, she reasoned, the more opportunities she'd have to hear and learn this foreign tongue. Then she could begin her task of locating the Senshi and their princess.

-End Fourth Interlude-