Forgotten Voices

Act Four

The heaviness in her feet vanished. The sounds of loons and croaks of frogs in the distanced echoed. Was she on Earth? In the future maybe? The ground below her felt cold and smelled like dirt, this had to be Earth! Usagi was shaken out of her daze as if she were pulled from one of her nightmares. Like waking up in her bedroom like she had so many times before, she pushed her torso upward and allowed her eyes to flutter open. Green smudges forced the princess to squint her lids. Soon the strange blotches took shape and formed familiar outlines. A forest? What the heck?

Still shaken, she moved her eyes away from the lush forest in front of her and she looked left, then right. Littered around her were her fellow soldiers. They had begun to groan and shift about in the dirt, almost like they were waking out of a deep sleep.

What the heck happened? First the there was a thunderstorm and they were at the shrine…Mamoru was there and then… this? All seated on the lush forest grass, confused and dazed.

After making sure all the older girls were in one piece, Usagi allowed her eyes to dart back and forth in search of Chibi-Usa. A small pink spot about a foot away caught in glance in an instant. The smallest girl had both legs tucked under her rump while her chin was turned up to the sky. Was she observing the area? There was no clear sign of fear on her face; instead the child wore a look of seriousness and caution. Her thin pink brows had come down low on her forehead while her jaw clenched tight. Wasn't she scared? Heck, she was scared! Ugh, leave it to the pink-haired devil to be stronger than her in this kind of situation!

Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as Makoto lifted her tall body off the grass. The brunette then approached the nearest female and began helping each girl to their feet.

"This area doesn't look familiar." She said before turning to the princess and helping her to her feet.

"Is it safe?" Ami cupped her hand to her chin.

"Not sure yet." Makoto replied in a low tone.

Usagi moved her head to the right and then seconds later to the left. It was no doubt a forest and yet there were no signs human life. No camp sight, lodge or even hiking trail. Perhaps they had been left off in a vacant area of the forest? No, this couldn't be happening! What were they going to do, out here all alone?! How would they eat?!

Why did they have to get dropped off just before dinner? Her stomach was growling already…

Between her mental rants, she looked to Makoto, who was standing in the front of the pack. Rei moved a few inches closer to the tallest brunette and together they whispered amongst each other. Were they worried? From her spot in the back of the group, she couldn't hear a word they muttered to each other, perhaps they were thinking of an escape plan?

Might as well ask the obvious question, "Are we still in Tokyo?" She whimpered in a small tone.

"I have no idea." Ami answered quickly as her eyes continued to scan the area.

"We have to be careful." Artemis spoke from the floor. "This could be a trap."

A trap? No, this couldn't be a trap. This had to be a dream! She was dreaming for sure, there was no way a pink bubble transported them to a dangerous area or booby trap. After all, what enemy was left to fight against? Surely Queen Metalia, Death Phantom or Pharaoh 90 had no chance of reappearing, right? There was no way!

Silence. Artemis was right; this had to be a trap. Usagi let out a small whine and clung to Ami. Her nerves were beginning to get the better of her. It was dark out and the cold was setting in. What were they supposed to do?

"We have to find shelter," Minako spoke in a soft tone, "Come on," She then walked forward, toward the end of the woods.

Still feeling on edge, the moon princess felt the blue-haired genius tug. She tagged along to Ami as she followed after their leader. Was Minako scared or nervous? She might be the leader but did that mean she couldn't be scared? She had never really shown any kind of weakness, even in the worst of situations. That's what separated Sailor Moon from Sailor Venus after all.

Minako came to the edge of the woods where she was faced with brush. She moved her hands forward and began to part the giant bushes before her. She then pushed herself through the brush. The others watched as the love goddess' image disappeared before them. They waited a moment, for a reassuring reply from the leader. Instead, they received a loud yowl from the blonde beauty. Her scream was loud at first then trailed off and faded.

"Minako!" Makoto sprang into action, tearing passed the bushes before her.

Makoto ran valiantly after the fallen female while the Ami stood strong. Usagi felt her fingers clasped to her even stronger to her taller friend as she anxiety in her belly grew. What the heck was going on?!

Seconds after the footsteps of Jupiter faded a second scream followed, only to fade moments later. At this Rei stepped forward, only glancing over her shoulder once to lock gazes with Ami.

The two girls nodded in unison. The shrine maiden made a mad dash for the moon princess and took her by one arm. "Let's go!" She shouted before pulling her along.

She gasped under Rei's strong grasp and released her hold on Ami. What was with the sudden jolt?! If there was a monster behind the bushes, they didn't need to charge in did they? Ugh! Before she lost sight, she looked over her shoulder to see Ami taking hold of Chibi-Usa's hand and moved forward with the group. Artemis and Luna were at their heels, no doubt just as confused as everyone else.

"Wait a minute, Rei!" Luna's high pitched voice echoed through the dense woods.

The four girls charged into the bush, coming out the other side at maximum speed. Coming out at full force and blinded by the branches and thick brush, Usagi released a squeal. Two seconds into their fierce charge, the sound of heels digging into the soil made the future queen raise a brow. Before she could bring herself to speak, the sensation of Rei's back slammed against her face forced a loud 'ooofh' out of her lungs. What the heck? Why did she stop? With the full weight of her body slammed against the woman in front of her, the two girls grinding forward several inches before coming to a screeching halt.

The words 'why did you stop' entered her mind and nearly passed her lips when a hard thump to her back pushed her forward even further. The sound of Ami and Chibi-Usa grunting and squealing followed a second thud. After all, what she assumed to be, four girls crashed into one another, the ground beneath her feet seemed to shift. What now? Unable to take a step backward or even to the side, the soil continued to move until it seemed to drop out from beneath her feet.

Screams and cries from her three friends and feline guardians made her ears ring as she felt her backside fall from the air and hit something hard. She released a grunt before she felt herself skidding along the dirt. Once at the bottom of whatever hill she was at, her torso flung forward and her stomach hit something soft and warm.

Did they really just fall off a hill? Usagi released a string of nervous giggles before allowing her eyes to open. She looked up to see more trees reaching out to the sky; that meant they were still somewhere in the forest. As she moved her two hands out in front of her body she pushed as if to stand up from the ground. She glanced downward to see Rei, Makoto and Minako beneath her.

"Get off of me!" Minako screamed, at the bottom of the pile.

Taking the leader's obvious hint, she rolled off her friends and moved to her knees a few inches away from the dogpile. She then turned her chin and looked over her shoulder to see Ami and Chibi-Usa picking their bodies off the dirt. Ah, at least the little bother was in once piece. Things couldn't be that bad if they were still okay, right?

"Are you all alright?"

Usagi turned to the sound of Artemis' voice. Standing alongside his mate, the two cats had landed on their feet. Lucky break. Either way the lone male didn't look happy. Ugh.

"Don't just go and run off like that again!" He hissed. "Like I said, this could be a trap!"

"Yes, you all should be more careful!" Luna was quick to add.

"Sorry…" Minako lowered her head in shame.

While the other girls were caught up in the midst of apologies, Usagi remained silent. Her baby blue eyes wandered the forest area until they landed on Chibi-Usa, who in the current moment had stood up on her feet and took several steps forward. Was she examining her surroundings or what? Better to follow than be left behind.

Pushing herself up onto her feet, Usagi repeated her future daughter's steps and took a spot at the pink hair girl's right side. The two figures of someday royalty stood on the edge of a hill that over saw a large, serene town. Similar in many ways to the Juban shopping center, it almost appeared like a normal place! Minus the unusual roundness of some of the builds and homes. But it was a city nonetheless; there had to be some humans around somewhere. Now it was just a matter of discovering what timeline they were in, after all this could very well be the past. Crystal Tokyo was far more advanced than this place; it couldn't be the future, right?

"Where are we?" She said under her breath.

"Luna," The sound of Ami's sweet voice just over her shoulder made the princess of the moon turn, "Do you know this place?"

The female feline paused, "No…it doesn't look familiar. But it does appear…human."

Just as the animal guardian finished her sentence, Chibi-Usa turned and gazed at Usagi. Her eyes spelled out fear. She was after all, still a child, although she acted the latter and denied it to the bitter end. And no doubt in this moment the image of Mamoru's frozen pose was caught up in her mind. More than ever she needed him by her side. Usagi felt her hands rise to her beating chest. If she felt lonely without Mamoru, how could the mini version of herself be dealing with this trauma?

"Come on," Mako stepped forward, obviously feeling Chibi-Usa's anxiety and stood by her side, "We need to find a place to stay."

"Even if there were any place around here we could stay," Rei said, stuffing her hands into her empty pockets. "We don't have any money to pay rent with."

"Looks like we're gonna have to improvise!" Minako's beautiful eyes came to a close and a smile spread wide on her face.

Taking the lead as usual, the alpha female of their group took a fair amount of steps to the left until her feet landed on a dirt path. The small well-walked through path moved down the hill and down the valley to where a few remote houses sat. She walked through the area with Usagi and the rest quick on her heels, the pride of girls only coming to a halt when Minako felt it fit to personally 'inspect' the first set of homes without an inch of privacy.

With her face planted on the window of the house furthest away from the rest, she gazed inside, blue eyes darting left then right. "This one looks pretty empty." She muttered, her hot breath leaving a tiny cloud of condensation on the glass.

"Minako…" Usagi placed her index finger to the bottom of her lip. "Are you sure—?"

"Ah-ha!" The sudden cheer from the original pretty soldier made the rest of the females jump. "Bingo! This is the one!" The girl spun around away from the window and gave the girls a confident thumbs up.

"And just what?" Rei narrowed her stare while attaching her right hand to her curvy hip. "Are you doing?"

"This house is empty!" Minako snapped her delicate fingers, her smile only growing. "It must be for sale or something. Lemme check the front!" Without waiting for any response from the others the tall blonde, made a rounded dash around the oddly shaped home.

"She's going to get us caught." Makoto shook her head, her face flush and temple sweating.

"Hey! It is a 'for sale' house!" Minako's high pitched voice called out from several feet away, the sound making the other girls shrink even further.

"It's an option." Ami gave a light shrug of her shoulders.

Just then the girl who had only disappeared for a few moments came running back around from the round house. "We can stay here."

"We can just invade on someone's property!" Artemis shouted at his owner, forcing said girl to roll her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah." The warrior of love proceeded to move her right hand up and down, promptly dismissing her guardian feline.

"We might not have much of a choice," Rei sighed as she moved from the group and alongside Minako.

Moving forward with her plan, the leader of five carried on with moving once again to the front of the home. Rei, of course was the first to follow then Usagi. The girl with pigtails watched with careful eyes and rounded the corner of the building. There she found Minako twisting and pulling at the (obviously) locked doorknob. Without any luck with a single hand the woman with the red bow growled before placing both hands on the knob. This time she, in a very animated manner pulled, twisted and clawed at the handle of the door.

"Excuse me." The sound of Makoto's voice soothed Mina for a moment and at request moved aside so the tallest member of the warriors could stand in.

Now with a clear shot, Mako lifted her right leg into the air and with a swift kick, slammed her well-angled foot just under the area of the doorknob. A solid crack made the entire building shutter and a second later, the wooden frame popped open.

"That's one way to open a door." Minako's cheeks puffed.

"Come on," Mako opened the wooden structure enough to allow the girls to enter. "I'll fix it later but for this will do for now. This is our home for the time being."

"But," Ami furrowed her brows in worry and clenched her hands to her chest. "How—?"

"This isn't permanent." Rei turned to the slender girl with the pixie-cut. "But it's getting dark and we have to make due. It's better than sleeping outside where who know what can attack us."

"But what if someone shows up? Like the owner?" Usagi yelped, her eyes shifting back and forth.

"Chibi-Usa," The sound of the girl's name on the fire spirit's lips made the group turn to the smallest member of the group. "Do you still have Luna-P?"

As if on cue the pink-headed girl blinked then nodded. Without any need to ask, she called forth the little futuristic device. Once in physical form, Chibi-Usa took hold of her old friend and held it tight to her flat chest.

"If someone, anyone comes for this house we can use Luna-P to hypnotize them. We can do the same to pay for food, clothes, and anything else we might need. Okay?" Rei eyed each female, her eyes stern and serious as ever.

Was it the best idea? No. but it was the only choice they had. Fact of the matter was, they needed to eat and have shelter! Usagi hated the idea of tricking anyone but there were things they were going to need to survive. And if she had to provide for Chibi-Usa, then she was prepared to do anything within her power to do so.

With one single wave of her hand, Mako led the girls into the small, two-bedroom home. One after the other the girls filed in, neither one being too wary of their new surroundings. Usagi walked in last, her eyes glued to the forest outside before she stepped in. Just where was she? This had to be Earth, she could feel it.

After moving into the home, Makoto walked over to the broken door and settled it as best as she could, given the small bit of damaged she had caused while breaking it open. "I hope this stays." She muttered to herself.

The moon princess moved into the living room with the Goddess of strength right at her heels. The rest of the group and bundled around in a tight circle on the freshly carpeted ground. Making sure to get in between Ami and Chibi-Usa, Usagi exhaled via her nose. Nerves had to be getting to everyone at this point, but just how much? If anyone knew how worried she really was, would it scare the others? Dare she tell them how scared she was? Then again, if she decided to panic, would the others panic too?

To combat the silence that filled the room, she finally spoke. "Do you think Sailor Pluto did this?" She said aloud, trying her best to withhold her anxiety.

"No," Luna replied, taking a seat along with her mate, in the center of the group.

"Puu." Chibi-Usa hugged her childhood friend and connection to the future to her center. "But she doesn't have a physical form anymore. How could she?"

True. Very true. After all that happened with Pharaoh 90…

This couldn't be Pluto. Could it? But then if it wasn't the guardian of time then who could possibly do this? Who would have the power to do such a thing? Only someone of Pluto, or even Neo Queen Serenity could conjure up such power to do this. But the original question still stood, why did this have to happen?

Act End.