1476/Dimension Past: Questions of the Moon

Dimension Past: Questions of the Moon
Date of Scene:	24 April 2024
Location:	Silver Millennium
Synopsis:	Queen Serenity seeks to enjoy a moment of peace on yet another beautiful day in the Capital City of the Moon. Sunbreaker seeks knowledge. Maybe at least one of them will get what they want?
Cast of Characters:	Usagi Tsukino, Hinoiri Kirara

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Usagi Tsukino has posed:
It is mid-day in the Capital City, and the amount of light and heat allowed through the city's dome protection is at it's designated peak for the week. Nestled within the aptly named Sea of Serenity, the heart of the Capital City is the Moon Palace. The home of Queen Serenity, her daughter, Princess Serenity, and the four Inner Senshi among others, to modern eyes, it greatly resembles the Taj Mahal, with pillared buildings with rounded rooftops and long buildings. In the interior walls of the palace are a structured moat of straight lines, dividing a colorful flower garden into neat paths.

In the actual interior of the palace are many rooms, libraries, and even grand banquet halls where balls and parties to celebrate accomplishments and holidays take place, all decorated in an understated but nonetheless expensive style, with pale shades dominating the color scheme. It is in one of the tall, rounded towers that Queen Serenity stands, looking down upon the city. From this vantage point, she can observe the daily lives of those who dwell within Capital City, and in particularly, an ornate building in the distance, where peace talks will be held later, two nearby planets, both allied with Silver Millennium, having requested to broker their peace with the famed diplomats of the Lunar Capital on hand, to smoothe over any bumps in the road of diplomacy.

It will be a long and arduous day, once she arrives - she knows this to be true. So for now... she breathes, enjoying the moment.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunbreaker appeared in the interior of the palace, and...

She looked different. While normally she was on fire, leather jacket, all of that... today? She'd changed it up. A nice, royal dress. When one was going to meet royalty... But it wasn't a moon dress. Or an earth dress. It was something more similiar to Kirakirafantastica in style. Burning reds and blacks, flowing along her. Long boots.

Magic was BS, deal with it.

She appeared in the room, glancing around until her eyes fell on the queen... And she walked towards her. She didn't say anything, yet. Instead looking out over the city... and...

What was it Takashi said that one time?

'Rules were for lesser people'. She preferred to think of it as 'Rules were created by those with the strength and will to enforce them'. Beryl had the strength, but her will was pathetic. She'd brought them here to dishearten them? But... it wasn't enough. All this did was make her more determined than ever to ascend and defeat that woman. She glanced towards Serenity. What were the rules here?

If she bucked it up, teleport away, come back in five minutes or so and it'd all reset? She couldn't do it forever, though. She didn't want to end up fighting the woman and everyone else. So it had to be while she was alone. And who knew? Maybe she'd get it in one.

"Hello, your highness. Sorry to ruin this moment, I know how rare it can be for good rulers to find a moment of relaxation. But I need your help so I can help Serenity and, frankly, let me tell you. That girl? Needs all the help she can get. Absolutely terrible judge of character."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
The Moon Palace had stood for thousands upon thousands of years, being remodeled, restored, refurbished, but always inhabited, always known. Serenity had not always dwelled within this palace, but it had been generations of her people's lifetimes since she last dwelled elsewhere. She knew the palace as no one, even her most loyal and devoted of guards, did. All of which is to say: it was impossible for her to be snuck up on in her palace, particularly by a off-worlder, as this girl so clearly was.

And she was a girl, that much was clear, not much older than her own daughter. This, and a love of peace and a hatred of war fostered over milennia, were the chief reasons the Silver Crystal did not so much as brighten as Serenity, first of her name, ruler of Silver Millennium, the queen revered as a goddess on multiple worlds, turned to face the intruder.

"It can certainly be a challenge to find a moment of calm, in a busy world," Queen Serenity acknowledges. In facing Sunbreaker, it is impossible to miss how alike she is to her daughter - taller, older, and certainly wiser, but it was as though Princess Serenity were simply a smaller, cuter version of the woman who faces her now, silver hair trailing behind her as she moves, the pale glow of her skin as gentle as her daughters. There is no smile on her face, but a neutral expression.

"I am curious as to how you would have come to speak so casually of my daughter, where you gained such knowledge of her that you would so brazenly assess her character."

There's no anger in her voice, no signs of violence in her body language, but a sense of guarded curioisity, and a hint of parental warning in her eyes.

Her daughter is many things, wonderful and good, and a keen judge of character was indeed one of them, if Queen Serenity was to have any say in it.

"And further more, I am curious as to your own identity, visitor from a far off land."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunbreaker sighed and glanced over to her. "Well... I'll be honest. Oh, huh. I actually mean it this time, neat. So... hear me out. And if you want to throw a fit? I'll leave. You'll never think of me again."

Until the next time she tried.

"My name is Hinoiri Kirara. I'm from the future. Despite how I look, I'm a unicorn. I don't know if you know what that is, but think of it like... a magic pony. A magic horse." She turned to face her.

"I'm from a place called Kirakirafantastica. It's another dimension, time kind of moves... weirdly between them. As far as I could guess, it's only when the time moves at the same pace that the portals connect. And now, the truth."

Deep, slow breath.

"Your kingdom falls. Everyone here dies and is reborn in the future. Serenity is reborn as Usagi. Great kid, likes me for some reason I can't begin to imagine. Saved my life. Real annoying, you know? Here I was trying to prove I was better than her and then three of these stupid scouts, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, just decide to off me. And she stands in their way. Can you believe it? Half a dozen people show up to save her, and they finally have the chance to off me... and she... protects me. Saves my life. Real... obnoxious kid, that one. Heart like gold, skull like lead."

"None of this is real, it's a weird time distortion thing. Think of it like a closed time loop. Nothing we do can affect it. All we can do is see it. As soon as I leave, you'll start to forget me. Everything will reset. But what we can do is gather information."

"Serenity's enemy, the one responsible for this world falling apart? Is a woman named Beryl. She's pathetic and weak. But she makes a pact with something she calls the goddess that fell from the sun. Now... where I come from, there's Sora. She raises the sun. I'm her student. Was... her student. I know the sun better than anyone. But that... thing? That was horrific. But it makes her powerful. So I have two choices here. Sever Beryl's connection to it in our time so she can't do... any of what she plans to there, or destroy it. Which... I mean, might be feasible once I ascend? But even I can't guarantee that. The Serenity of this time doesn't know what it is."

"So... there it was. Attempt one. Telling you the truth. And... yeah. If you tell me to beat it, get lost, all of that, I understand. I'll just... go. Until all of this resets or whatever and try a different approach. Sorry if this is a bit harsh. Just..."

"It has been *such* a week and I am *so* tired you have no idea. You know, I saw her fall. Beryl's, right? I watched her. And I was actually starting to freak out. I thought I might be like her! Can you believe it? Me. Like.... they say the path to Tartarus is paved with good intentions, right? And... I know my goals are right. I know it's my destiny. But for a little bit I was kind of scared. I thought I really might be... I thought I might really be that monster. I mean, Beryl was some kind of prodigy and all of that. I was a prodigy, they said. But... but when the moment came? She had a choice. She'd rather have destroyed everything. Made everyone suffer. Just... for vengeance. People who had nothing to do with any of this. She just..."

"... How can someone just... kill... how can they watch... how can they make people fight and die like that and just... feel... nothing? How can someone revel in it? What kind of... thing... do you have to become? To want that? To crave that? To--" She shook her head and lightly tapped her cheeks, reaching out to wipe her eyes. "Sorry, sorry, I'm wasting time. Ugh. I'm probably going to have to reset this whole thing anyway. Should I just... go? You can be honest. Buck, at least nobody else will ever know I just drama dumped to Usagi's past mom..."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"I will hear you out," Queen Serenity promises, though it is not a promising sign that this stranger so readily admits to her own proclivity towards deceit. Still - it was necessary for any ruler to observe and learn from what they could of any potential threat, and this girl is most certainly a threat. Anyone, who could make their way into her own palace, unnoticed and unchallenged, was.

Her willingness - or at least, her proclaimed willingness - to depart if she was not heard was an interesting tactic, particularly framed such that it would be Serenity herself acting inappropriately, rather than the intruder herself. The girl certainly had a way with words.

And then the story unfolds - first, with an introduction of a being that Serenity has never heard of - unicorn, pony, horse. She nods silently, not betraying her confusion - she has never heard of any of those beings, though she will certainly be investigating them, once this Hinoiri Kirara has departed, along with this Kirakkirafantastica. What a strange name.

"A fascinating place," she murmurs, thinking of the oddities of a neighboring dimension, time flowingly unnaturally between the two. Would Chronos know of the place, given his connection to time -

And then Hinoiri takes a deep breath, and plunges into what she calls the truth. Queen Serenity goes still, truly still, as everyone here dies reverberates through her mind. Her daughter. Her daughter. There is the urge, distant and strange and foreign, to strike her for daring to say such a thing, but it is steamrolled by the horror of Uranus, Neptune, Pluto.

The existence of those three soldiers is a myth, a rarely spoken of legend, by her own decree. The Outer Guardians who protect the border of their kingdom, the two in their distant castles, the one in her lonely post at the Gates of Time. There is only one thing that could have shocked her more, and that the name Saturn goes unuttered is a point of believability.

She should be scrambling to think of a way to avoid the future - but it is no easy feat to travel through time. Such things are made difficult for a reason, for changing the course of things -

"Ah," she utters, quiet, and it is realization, grief, and hurt. "I know of what you speak." The time distortion. The bubble of history, that formed when a disaster was of such magnitude that magic and the world itself were scarred over. It was a dramatic thing, to be sure, but far from well-known to the public. They were matters of academics, for the most part, used by archaeologists, anthropologists, and historians to better understand the nature of the past and the people who lived within it. There is a sick feeling in her stomach, to know that she is one of those beings, an echo of herself, lost to the world but not to time itself - but she cannot deny the truth. It is too coincidental, for this girl, so unknown to her, too speak of the Outer Senshi and to know of this phenomenon, and to know of the creature from the Sun, as well.

Oh, child, she thinks, and it is an effort of monstrous proportion that there are no tears in her eyes. It will sound in her voice, but the hot swelling behind her eyes will obey. She will not fall to pieces now, when this -

When she is but a memory and her daughter, her greatest joy, her treasure and her hope and her peace, is gone from this world, but still lives, in another. Her heart, still open and warm, still loving. Saving the lives of those who would see her fall.

Oh, Serenity.

"Oh, child," she breathes, and it is not for her own child, now. She is a queen, but she is a mother, too, and it is the mother in her that opens her arm in a silent gesture, an offer that need not be taken, but if this Hinoiri Kirara wishes for a hug - she will have it.

And whether the hug is taken or not, she continues on.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"I believe you," is the first thing, she says, and pauses, letting the words hang there. And before she addresses the enemy, before she qualifies her answer, she says - "For those who have given their hearts to cruelty, there can never be enough. I do not know the woman you speak of, but there are those for whom no is not an answer, for whom the pain of others is unreal. To harden your heart to the end of all things - "

She closes her eyes, breathing slow and deep.

"It is the true birthplace of monstrosity. For you to have seen yourself within that woman, and still been able to understand where you must step back - that is a sign of maturity. To see one's limits and accept them... the path to evil is paved with good intentions, is marked by well-wishes and justifications. You are wise to question yourself. It is the fool who believes they have finally understood the nature of all things, and captured the truth. But child - for you to see death and know horror, is a sign that you are not akin to your enemy."

Queen Serenity is silent for a moment, and then, when she speaks, it is with a tone of authority.

"What you say carries too many hidden truths, and speaks to too much detail to be a lie. The darkness that dwells within the sun has been known to my people for two Terran years, and has been the subject of much study and debate. I do not know, precisely, what it is, besides a being of consumption. The activity on the sun that our researchers have observed correlates with an acceleration of activity, an additional burning of resources unseen in all our years of observation. For it to be harnessed by a mage... this Beryl, do you know from where she hails? If I understand her magic, I may be able to understand what she has done."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunbreaker blinked and... oddly... she moved towards the queen, only to pull back. Her breath was quick, a little... torn. Sharp. "No," she finally said. "I... appreciate the gesture... but no. I'm not... I'm not one of the good guys. Don't... mistake this for... don't mistake me for a good person. I'm... not." She looked around.

"I'm not as bad as Beryl, but that's only because I know better. I know there are things that can't be taken back. Beryl is a monster. She tortured me. She's... she's my enemy." She gave a soft, gentle sigh. "And Usagi is my friend. I don't know why, I never really had friends back home. But... but this is just our truce. I'm helping her because I'm smart enough to. They're just going to... frolic here, probably. It's what they do. They just assume everything is going to work out, but well... I guess it always does, for them. Just... trust me. I don't deserve a hug. All I want is knowledge on how to stop this crazy bitch."

"... Thanks... though. For saying I'm not like her. Heh. I just... there has to be limits, you know? Rules? Otherwise what's the point? It's just... so much harder to fix something once it's broken..." She wrapped her arms around herself. She'd like a hug... but no. She didn't deserve it. Not for the things she'd done. Planned to do. Would do.

"Sage Beryl. She summoned what she called monsters, in our time we call them youma. She slew one with a sword. She made the deal through a dark cauldron. She summoned monsters, in order to bind and control them. She is from earth. She burned everything, your worlds, out of jealousy and anger. All because she had a crush on some boy."

"... She's no better in the future. But she *will* be stopped. She has no allies. She has no friends. All she has is her power that she gained by making a deal with a demon. And when I find a way to severe that, she won't even have that. Then your daughter and the rest of her sparkle friends will stop her just like they do everyone else."

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"Do you think it is possible to be a queen, and remain one of the 'good guys'?" But Queen Serenity's tone is neither condescending nor belittling, only a genuine curiosity.

"Goodness is not a matter of nature, but of behavior. You are acting for the betterment of yourself, yes, but also, the betterment of others. You are horrified by the thought of death and slaughter, and understand the importance of limits, of lines between that which is acceptable and not. I will not force you, child. There is limited time and I would rather you not have to persuade me again and again to obtain what I can share. But consider, that goodness is a matter of doing, not of being."

But that's the mother in her, again, and it is time for the queen. This child who was tortured, who is so reluctant to see her deeds as good, but who embraces her daughter as a friend, is someone she will help to the extent of her ability, limited as she is now by the nature of this time, this place, this being.

"If she is of Earth, then her magic is truly foreign to me. Earth is a world unto itself, it's people and magic grown in the light of its own star seed..." But still. Even if Beryl's magic is of a different sort, there are only so many things that can be done. She summons monsters, she slays them with weaponry, she made the deal through a -

"Her soul," Queen Serenity ponders, "It is possible that she has promised the creature her very being. If that is the case, it would have a tether to the world through her, and to severe her connection to it, she would need to be killed, before the creature could seize control through her and grow further. A creature of such evil would be further strengthened by acts of evil - the taking of energy, of lives, or souls."

For a boy. All of this, for a boy -

And she thinks of her daughter, so prone to day dreaming these days, and the way she argues for them to make contact with Earth, to open channels of diplomacy, and she wonders -

"That is the most likely way."

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunbreaker gave a small nod. "I think it is. Sora... she's one of the good guys. But sometimes good people have to do bad things. That's just... life. It's not fair. It's not innately good. I just... I just do hope one day I can be a good guy. I really, desperately hope I can be a good guy."

The more she heard, the more she groaned and leaned back. "Great. So she sold her soul to the demons and now the only way to stop her is to kill her. Well, that makes it a lot harder, doesn't it? She's already more powerful than me and I'm worth like, five or six of those sparkles. It's not like I could..." She trailed off. "I wonder if I could make a reverse Eclipse Zone? One that was like... destroyed dark energy. If we could trap Beryl in it, then Sailor Moon could... no. That'd probably kill me, too. And even if I did it, Obsidian would likely kill me after. I guess Ascension really is the only way. Well, buck. It's not like I can just give Sailor Moon a bunch of dark energy and..." She hummed, considered it and... "Yeah, no, that's a dumb idea." Even for her.

"There are limits. So, really, the only thing you can tell me, now, is that... if I want to stop her from being powerful, I just need to kill her. You know... the thing I don't think we could do now even if we wanted to. I don't think you understand how..." She trailed off.

"... If I find you at the end of this time bubble, before the moon falls... what do I need to tell you to make you understand you can tell me what I need to know?" Slow, deep breath. "If... I go... to right before the end, maybe you can give me more info. But I might only have minutes. Seconds. But, ummm... you said... you've studied these before. Your people have. If I... if I get to the end... when it's all... when... everything is over? When it all falls. If I didn't get out in time... What... would happen? To me? Then?" She suspected she already knew the answer.

Usagi Tsukino has posed:
"I don't know you well enough to say that you are or are not a 'good guy'," Queen Serenity says gently, "Only you can know. But I have found that those who wish to be good, are those who are most willing to do good, when the time comes."

Perhaps not in every moment, perhaps not in every dire hour, but when it comes to the end? Hopefully, for a girl who desired such a thing -

"It isn't easy, to defeat those who have done such things. But to do what you describe - to destroy my empire - she would have to be more than human, sage or no. She would have to be something akin to a Sailor Soldier, something other, and she is not yet that - in my time, or in yours. If she had the power to do what she will to my daughter, my empire... she would not need to satisfy her petty desires, tormenting children. If she too was reborn when all else was, then it is likely her power is weaker."

Which may not be comforting, to one not yet strong enough to defeat -

"...Sailor Moon?"

Her voice is, for the first time, hesitant.

"Who - is my daughter - "

For who else could it be, but - Serenity had - how could her daughter, who was meant for finer things, who was meant to be safe and secure above all else, how could -

She swallows, regardless of the answer. She closes her eyes for a moment, before looking away, out the window. She looks to where the gardens lie, though the palace cannot see them properly, for her daughter is so often found there, in the gardens, watching the Earth.

"Beryl may be more powerful than you, but she is but one woman. If you can kill her, you will break the tie the demon has. It is the demon that is the greater threat, for without Beryl, it will be vessel-less once more. If... this Sailor Moon... is able to help you fight..."

Her daughter...

"If you come to the end, tell me that Silence will fall on Silver Millennium, but Serenity will persist, but only if I can help you."

It pains her to imagine. But if there is a chance...

"And if you don't get out in time... it differs, depending on the nature of the end of the echo. But if what I fear is coming were to occur, you would - you would not survive what is to come. At best, you be swept into our echo, becoming layers within a lost time."

At best.

Hinoiri Kirara has posed:
Sunbreaker gave a small nod. "Maybe. But... there's a lot going on as it is. Things aren't like this world. There are so many pieces moving about... but yeah. She's a real pain in the flank. We'll beat her. There's good people fighting her. Real good people. Who will do good. Who won't stop. Who'll support her. So..."

She paused and glanced to her. "... Silence will fall on the Silver Millennium, but Serenity will persist. But only if you can help me. I... I'll get out. We'll all get out. Those sparkles... they're... really sweet. Dumb, though. They'd be lost without me." She reached up and flipped her hair. She did, however, pause.

"... I... never... really had... a mother. But... I hear... parents... really... well. I mean... I guess you... I imagine you care about her, right? And want... her to be happy? So ummm... I just... I want you to know..."

Slow, deep breath. "I know it's meaningless. You won't remember this. But Usagi? She's happy. She's stressed. She's a barely passable student. Absolutely useless at so many things. Kind of just a disaster..."

"... She has a family who loves her. She has a boyfriend who sees her as the brightest star in the sky, she does the same. She has friends who'd move the stars for her. She's... one of the best friends even someone like me has. So... she's... she's not alone. And she's going to be fine this time. Thank you for your help. I'll... see you later, I guess."

Before the woman could object, she'd disappear in a small wave of fire. Time to find a portal... and find a later moon mama.