Sailormoon Neo: #16 - Rage-joou no Himitsu, Sailor Senshi no Hokori - The Secret of Queen Rage, the Spirit of the Sailor Senshi is Within Her - By: Janelle Jimenez (miaka@bishounen.org) Official Webpage: http://www.sailormoon-millennia.net/ [http://bishounen.org/smmillennia/] Note: This episode is full of Japanese that I felt had to be kept because it just wouldn't sound right in English. I didn't want to translate after the phrases because that'd REALLY destroy the mood. So, here's a little translation: Onore - (oh-noh-reh) it literally means 'you' in a REALLY rough way. This is best translated as 'bitch.' Yamete - (Yah-meh-teh) stop Note 2: This is a REALLY short episode because I can't make it a long episode, or else there'd be too much action in it. "This can't be.." Neo Sailorneptune whispered, covering her mouth with her hands. "Queen Rage is dead! Lady 9 is dead! Who are you that's inside of Usa-chan?!" Neo Sailor V cried backing away fearfully. Queen Rage smiled cruelly and coldly and slinked gracefully across the floor towards Jupiter Kamen who held the dead body of Seishi in his arms. Queen Rage bent down and stroked Seishi's cheek, "Poor Lord 9. Poor soul indeed. It's a shame he didn't escape from Shino Seishi's body when he saw that sword coming towards her. Absolutely no sense. He knew he'd expire if he was in a host body when it dies. No matter. I always felt that two entities in one body was a crowd." she purred to Jupiter Kamen, whose hand quickly moved to his sword. Queen Rage stood up and backed away, "Now now, Morino Ryuu. If you try and destroy me, you'll destroy the Princess of Earth as well." she replied. "What do you want from us, Lady 9?" Neo Sailormercury demanded, keeping her cold blue eyes locked on the woman. She kept the Opaque Prism protectively in her hands. "I want to Silence this pathetic planet. Although I think it's a worthless planet, it would please the Master. It has been the goal of many entities before even Mistress 9 to give this planet to him as a gift. It could never be done before due to the fact that there was never a vessel powerful enough. However, then Mistress 9 discovered a dynasty of females: they who carry the protection of Saturn. To Silence Earth, is what I want." Lady 9 began from within Usa-chan, "Now, if you were asking what poor Princess Usagi Lady Serenity wants...Well, she desperately wants to be free. Our minds will merge years from now, but somewhere in her mind she'll always remember how much happier she was before. In fact, thousands of years from now she'll so desperately want to be free that she'll travel to the past and try to write a new future. Unfortunately, she's destroyed by those who truly loved her...the only ones who could have helped her, if they had only knew. Isn't it ironic? I find it tragic that you killed your Princess. Interesting paradox, don't you agree?" Lady 9 asked with a smirk. She turned away from Jupiter Kamen and walked towards the the pillar in the center of the room that had contained the Opaque Prism. She trailed her finger along the velvet pillow, "Tragic indeed, but this time I won't fail. Queen Rage won't even live long enough to return to the past. After I Silence the world, I'll be sure that this time I Silence the Dynasty of the Moon." * * * * "Princess Stella-sama, where are you?" a voice called. The girl peered around Stella's empty bedroom in confusion. She annoyedly brushed a stand of white hair out of her grey eyes. "Winter, she there?" another girl asked, walking in after her. She tossed her purple hair over her shoulder as she scanned the room. "No, she isn't...and I haven't the faintest clue where she might have ran off to." Winter replied with a frown. "Well, Summer and Spring are out checking Star to see if she's in the playing in woods or something." the girl with the purple hair said. Winter's frown grew, "It's not just that, haven't you noticed something strange about the Palace?" she asked. Autumn, the girl with the purple hair, cocked her head to the left. "Now that you mention it, the balance is off." she murmured after a moment. Winter nodded and closed her eyes, "Alot of other things have changed. The garden has turned into a jungle of weeds, the pathway has deteriorated almost beyond repair. Someone has been here. I'm really worried. Stella is missing, and the grounds are in shambles." Winter added. Just then, the sisters heard footsteps behind them. They turned to see their sisters, Summer and Spring, both had disturbed looks on their faces. "What's the matter?" Autumn asked. "Princess Stella is nowhere on the planet...and the plants tell me that she hasn't been here for a week and a half." Summer said quietly. "But...we left last week and she was here. I just saw her. They've got to be wrong." Autumn wailed. Spring lowered her head and shook it gently, "We haven't been gone for a week." she whispered. Winter stared at her little sister, "What?" she asked. "The life on Star...everything says that we've been gone for almost a thousand years." Spring answered, chocking back a sob. "WHAT?!" Winter shouted. Spring burst into tears and shook her head violently, "It's not my fault! I swear, that's just what they told me! Plants don't lie, they can't lie!" she cried. Winter's face softened and she hugged her sister tightly, "I know it's not your fault. I'm sorry for yelling at you." she soothed. Summer glanced uneasily at Winter, "This is just a few of our problems. Princess Stella has been alone for a millennia and now she's missing and for some reason our minds tell us that we've only been gone for a week. We'll figure that out later, but our first priority is finding Stella. We shouldn't have helped the Sun Senshi look for Solana, she wasn't our duty. Stella and the Opaque Prism are. And now they're both missing." Summer said. "The Opaque Prism? That's why the balance is thrown off.." Autumn murmured. "I only hope that the Opaque Prism isn't anywhere near the Silver Crystal." Summer replied as she began to walk out of the room. Her sisters followed her down the hall and out of the Palace. "Unfortunately, I *KNOW* the Opaque Prism is on Earth. We've got to get there now." Summer said as they stood in a circle outside the Palace with their hands linked. "What's going on, Summer?" Winter asked as the wind began to pick up around them, "If the Opaque Prism, the Silver Crystal, and the Iridescent Jewel are brought together, terrible things will happen. We cannot let this occur." Summer shouted, making sure she was heard over the sound of the wind. "But the Iridescent Jewel has been destroyed!" Spring cried. The four sisters began to feel an upward pulling on their bodies, "No it hasn't...and I can guess who has it. They're most likely headed to Earth this very minute." Summer answered, as the four girls teleported off Star, a thought raced through Summer's mind, We shouldn't have trusted Princess Solana and Prince Trent. * * * * Neo Sailormercury stared coldly at what was no longer sweet, hyper, Usa-chan, but the evil Queen Rage. The pieces fit together perfectly now. Her mind raced back to the day of Usa-chan's Coming of Age ball, when Queen Rage first made her appearance...there was a reason why she was so familiar looking. "So, you're going to kill Usa-chan..." she murmured, taking a step towards Queen Rage, her blue eyes locked on Rage's red ones. "If you're going to kill her anyways..." she whispered. With lightning speed she created a ball of ice in her hands, with equal speed Neo Sailorneptune rushed to Mercury's side and struck her down, "WHAT are you DOING?!" she shouted, her eyes filled with confusion and rage. "Are you insane? This has to be done. Usa-chan would want it this way. It's the only way to save Earth!" Neo Sailormercury shot back. "Where's your loyalty to your friends?" Neo Neptune cried. "This goes beyond loyalty to your friends. If Lady 9 isn't destroyed now, then this world will be. There is no point in saving the Princess if she has nothing to rule." Neo Mercury replied turning away. "Stop trying to be so heroic." Neo Neptune snapped. "Stop being so weak. You're a soldier, Usa-chan's a soldier, and soldiers die." Neo Mercury said coldly. Queen Rage smirked at the girls, "You are wasting precious time arguing." she yawned, her eyes glanced to Neo Sailorneptune. "You should have listened to your sister, she's wiser and stronger than you. But now it's too late, isn't it?" she asked. She laughed musically and slowly levitated, with lightning speed she flew towards Neo Sailorneptune and grabbed her by the neck. Jupiter Kamen rose to his feet, entirely forgetting he was holding Seishi. She shivered as her pale body fell to the cold floor. Jupiter Kamen picked up his sword, his eyes were full of rage and bitter hatred. "Onore..." he spat, turning his sword as he stepped slowly towards Queen Rage. "You're the one who made Hotaru die, you're the one who made Seishi die...and you're the one who'll make Usa-chan kill everyone she loves.." he said, there wasn't a part of his being that wasn't angered. "You can't be allowed to live any longer. I don't care how much Usa-chan meant to me in the past, because she isn't truly alive anymore. Nothing and no one can keep me from destroying you." he whispered. Queen Rage released her grip on Neo Neptune who slid to the floor, gasping for air, "Go ahead, Chibi Ryuu-chan, you don't have the nerve." she laughed. For a moment torment filled his eyes, as if he knew it were true. But then memories flooded his mind, of his prior cowardice and it's effects. Seishi's death...without ever knowing how he felt about her. Hatred clouded Jupiter Kamen's mind again, deadly, violent wrath. He closed his eyes and screamed as he lunged towards Queen Rage, his sword pointed out. "Yamete." whispered a quiet voice. Jupiter Kamen's eyes widened, as the gentle voice reached his ears. Silent as it was, it overpowered his cries. He stopped and turned around slowly, trembling, "Sei.." he murmured, a cry getting caught in his throat. And there she was. Her hair hung down upon her shoulders like black water, she was dressed in a beautiful gown of dark purple that perfectly matched her eyes. She didn't look like a ghost, but she didn't look entirely alive either. Jupiter Kamen's sword fell from his hands as he staggered towards Seishi. He brought his shaking hands to her face. Flesh. Warmth. "Sei-chan...how?" he whispered. Neo-Queen Serenity stepped forward from behind her, Jupiter Kamen didn't even notice she was there until now. Serenity placed her hand upon Seishi's shoulder, "Seishi was blessed with a very special gift of rebirth and regeneration. She died, but because her body was not totally destroyed, I was able to revive her with the Silver Crystal, without her returning to an infant state." Serenity explained, "However, this is her last battle. After this, her memory will fade away so that the Destructive Soldier of Silence may be put to sleep again." she paused and looked back at Jupiter Kamen, "Please don't kill my daughter, Ryuu. Save her instead." she said quietly. Queen Rage yawned and rolled her eyes, "Save her? You assume that she'll be alive that long." she smirked. Seishi stared at Rage with silent wrath, she raised her right hand into the air, the tip of the Silence Glaive materialized and a wash of purple light transformed Seishi into Neo Sailorsaturn, "I am Saturn. Silent Saturn, Destructive Saturn. The Third Generation Soldier of the Family Dosei, Shino Seishi." she replied, expertly manuevering the blade of the Silence Glaive along Queen Rage's neck. Rage glanced nervously at the blade with fear in her eyes. Neo Saturn turned her head, with a threatening whisper, and gazed directly into Rage's eyes, "Chinmoku no hoshi Dosei o shugo ni motsu. Hametsu to tanjou no Senshi, Sailorsaturn!" Note 3: I didn't want to put this at the top, to risk spoiling the episode. Chinmoku no hoshi Dosei o shugo ni motsu. Hametsu to tanjou no Senshi, Sailorsaturn! means "The Silent Planet Saturn is my Guardian deity, the Soldier of Birth and Destruction, Sailorsaturn!" Also, the whole speech thing might have sounded a little weird to you, but it follows in the trend of the ancient Japanese Samurai who, before battle, used to call out what family they were from and stuff like that to show that they were good enough to fight.