(no subject)
*gives Ree a sheepish look* Misc. comments removed and a bit of polishing done. Could probably use more, as usual, but hopefully what I did helps.
Title: Golden Portals
Author: Raya
Medium: Fanfic
Theme: Mamoru / “There are things known and things unknown and in between are the doors.” - Jim Morrison
Genre: General / Suspense / Humor
Version: Sera Myu (post SuperS: Yume Senshi * Ai * Eien ni... (SuperS: Dream Soldiers * Love * To Eternity...)
Rating: PG
Word Count: ~2,050
Disclaimer: The prince and the senshi belong to Takeuchi Naoko and Bandai Entertainment as does the universe in which this story takes place. All rights belong to them.
Canon, spelling, grammar, and punctuation corrections are appreciated. So is constructive criticism and general comments. Please let me know if you see something that you like or that should be corrected. Thanks! - Raya
A/N: Background Information from the Myu - In the first Sailor Moon SuperS Musical, Yume Senshi * Ai * Eien ni, Mamoru recognizes that Nehelenia is Serenity in the future. When she uses Hotaru to channel her pain and sadness to the senshi in the past, he bravely steps in front of Sailor Moon and absorbs it. He also saves Hotaru, drawing all of Nehelenia's power and sorrow out of the young girl's body. And then, mortally wounded, he makes his way back to Sailor Moon and dies in her arms. The Ginzuishou does not bring him back to life. Instead, he fulfills his wish to become a “Hot Wind” (atsui kaze) blowing across the face of the earth. He speaks to Moon and her friends, saying that he is going forward to the future to be with Serenity so that she will not be lonely any more. Thus, the Myu ends with Usagi alone with her friends, sad, but hopeful that she will be reunited with her love one day. The story I have written below takes place after the events in the Myu.
Torn Apart
Breaking Point
The Golden Rose
Golden Portals
Mamoru bent over his favorite red rosebush and took a deep breath of its heavy, intoxicating scent. A grin of delight lit his five year old face as a warm breeze made the blossom's velvety petals tickle his small nose. High overhead, a bird sang a sweet serenade to the warm sun while around the corner a large fountain babbled merrily.
It was just as he always imagined it would be: lush, verdant, and filled with color. Gone were the brambles that poked even the wariest of fingers. Gone were the choking weeds that tried to smother the last of the life out of the flowering bushes. Gone were the rocks and roots that clogged the paths and tripped his feet. Instead, the garden was filled with mulched paths, graceful gazebos, and the most heavenly scents he could imagine. It was a scene fit for a princess.
At that thought, he lifted his head and looked searchingly around. Would she come today? The mysterious blonde haired princess that wandered his garden's paths? He hoped so. He hoped that today he would have the courage to look at her face, the courage to speak to her.
A sparkle caught his attention, and he focused his gaze on a particularly large rosebush filled with bright white flowers. Was there something behind the bush? He did not remember seeing anything there before. Curious, he went to investigate.
Wary of the thorns, Mamoru carefully wormed his way between the rosebush and the sandy colored stone wall that suddenly appeared to run around his garden. As the sun glinted off the mysterious object again, he flinched away and raised an arm to protect his eyes. He stopped and stared in surprise at the golden door that appeared in front of him. He did not remember seeing any doors in his garden before.
He studied the door for several long moments, his eyes tracing its graceful rose motifs, and then straightened up as a thought occurred to him. Maybe this was where the mysterious princess lived. Maybe this was the door to her kingdom or palace. Without a second thought, he stepped forward and turned the golden knob.
The five year old jumped and looked around wildly in shock. Gone was his garden full of light and joy. Gone was the bright sunshine and the warm breeze that tickled his skin. Now, he was surrounded by tall, oddly shaped trees. The light was dim and murky making it hard to see, and the breeze was cold.
All thoughts of princesses and adventure gone, Mamoru turned around to go back through the door. But, it had vanished as mysteriously as it had appeared. The door... His garden... Gone. All he could see wherever he looked was the dim, grey world. He stood there shivering and tried to figure out what to do next.
Finally, seeing no other option, he began to walk through the strange forest. It was an odd place, filled with thorny vines that covered most of the hard ground and twined up and around glassy tree trunks. The only sound he heard was the faint tinkling of crystal as the wind blew through leaves.
A twisting path appeared in front of him, and he stepped onto it gratefully. He did his best not to touch anything as he crept through the silent forest. He did not like the look of the vines, especially the large, dark flowers that sprinkled their surface. They looked like they wanted to wrap around him and squeeze him to death.
Suddenly, the silence was shattered by a soft, childish voice. "Ara? What is this? PallaPalla found something interesting!"
Mamoru froze, wide eyed, in the middle of the path.
"Oh-ho? What did you find?" another voice called curiously.
"Looks like a boy," a third voice, slightly gruffer than the first two, replied.
"A boy? Where? Where?" a fourth voice asked eagerly. "Oh there! It is! A boy!"
Mamoru spun rapidly to and fro, searching for the four mysterious girls.
"Wonder how he got here..." the second girl said thoughtfully from behind him and to the right.
"Who cares," the fourth girl replied excitedly. She sounded as if she were directly over his head.
"Maybe Nehelenia-sama sent him," the third girl said. Her gruff voice sounded very close to him, slightly to his left and up. Turning his eyes in that direction, he finally found her standing on a glassy branch with one foot propped up on a thick vine. She was dressed in an odd green suit like the Arabian princesses in his story book, and her long green braids were gathered up to a point above her head. He didn't know how he had missed her before. She was the only bright spot of color in this world of grey, black, and white.
"Ah!" the first voice said happily from somewhere on his right. "That means we can play with him!" Mamoru didn't like the emphasis she put on the word play. He looked to his right and spotted a girl with powder blue braids bouncing around her as she jumped up and down on a large boulder.
"Oh?" the girl behind him said. Whirling around, Mamoru finally spotted a tall girl with bright red hair standing on the path blocking the way he had come. "What shall we play?" she asked with a smirk as she lifted a finger to the side of her chin.
Her cold red eyes sent a shiver down Mamoru's back, and he abruptly decided that running sounded like a very good idea. Turning, he dashed as fast as he could down the path in front of him.
Behind him, he heard the girls giggle. "Looks like it's Chase," the green haired girl said as she jumped down from the tree.
"Yeah! Chase! PallaPalla likes Chase!" the blue haired girl cheered, still bouncing on her boulder.
"Should we give him a head start?" The voices behind him were faint now, so Mamoru could not tell which of them asked the question. Panting, he hoped that the answer was yes. He pelted down the path looking desperately for a place to hide.
A few moments later, Mamoru stumbled to a halt and bent over with his hands on his knees. He gasped for breath as he stared at the three huge vines that crossed the path in front of him. The only way to keep moving forward was to crawl over them.
He looked around, desperately hoping for another path to appear, and then jumped in surprise as a mocking giggle sounded behind him. Quickly, he scampered forward and climbed up the first vine.
"My, he's fast," one of the girls said appreciatively.
"Huh. You're just slow, CereCere," the gruff voiced one replied as Mamoru slid down into the dark area between two vines.
"I am not!"
"Where'd he go?"
"You are, too. And he's right over..."
Mamoru sat straight up, clutching the light blanket to his heaving chest as he looked wildly around the room. A bright shaft of moonlight cut across the foot of his futon, giving him just enough light to see that he was safe in his own room. The song of chirping crickets was the only thing his straining ears heard.
Finally, his breathing slowed and he lay back down. "Just a dream," he whispered as he stared at the nearest wall. "It was just a dream..."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Haha! Found you! PallaPalla found you!"
Mamoru ducked under a small vine and dashed for a nearby set of boulders before it could entwine around him. It felt like he had been running from these girls and dodging their tricks and traps forever. Ever since that night four months ago, whenever he fell asleep he came to this strange world. And always, these four girls would find and chase him.
"PallaPalla likes this one," the blue-haired girl said happily as she danced from limb to limb over his head. Almost carelessly, she tossed a small ball of magic towards him. "Can we keep him?" she asked hopefully as Mamoru gave a short cry of pain. The small boy dove behind the sheltering rocks and out of sight.
"We already have a tiger, a hawk, and a fish," VesVes replied. "What would this one be?"
"A bunny!" PallaPalla exclaimed as she came to a stop in front of the boulders. "Little bunny FooFoo, hopping through the forest..." she sang as she spun around on one foot and bounced her left hand.
"I don't think bunnies are a good idea," JunJun called from a nearby branch. "She doesn't like them."
PallaPalla's face fell as she stopped spinning and stared at her friend. "But... But... Bunnies are cute! Especially when you bop them on the head!" she cried, slapping her hands together to emphasize the bopping.
"Silly," CereCere called merrily from her swinging vine off to the right. "You bop field mice on the head, not bunnies."
"Oh." PallaPalla spun around to look at her, ignoring VesVes as the redhead poked a stick into the hole Mamoru had hidden himself in. She looked thoughtful for a moment, and then smiled. "PallaPalla thinks mice are cute, too. He can be a mouse." Her smile became a grin as she spotted the little boy sneaking cautiously around a tree on the other side of the boulders. "And PallaPalla can be the bunny! Little bunny FooFoo, hopping through the forest," she sang as she bounced after him. "Picking up the field mice and bopping them on the head!"
Mamoru cried out, and then coughed as another little magical ball hit his head and burst into a grey cloud. This one felt harder than the other ones the girl had tossed at him in the past. And it stank when it broke! He rubbed at his watering eyes, peeked behind him, and then decided to take to the path. They were much faster than him in the forest itself, but sometimes he was faster on the path if he could run all out.
"Bop!" PallaPalla cried out as she tossed another ball of magic at him. Mamoru swerved a little to the right, and the ball fell harmlessly to the path beside him. "Bop!" Shifting to the left, he managed to avoid that one, too. "Bop, bop, bop!" Lifting his arms over his head, he ran as fast as he could, wishing that there was some way out of this cursed forest.
He cried out in shock as he raced around a curve in the path and ran into a tall, golden door. The six year old fell to his back and stared up at it in shock. It looked like the same door as before, all covered with rose motifs. Only this time instead of being part of a wall, the door stood by itself in the middle of the path.
"Bop!" PallaPalla cried as a magical ball exploded beside him. Mamoru scrambled to his feet, gasping and choking on the foul stench of the grey gas, and dove for the door. His left hand worked desperately at the knob as he used his whole body to push at its hard, warm surface.
Finally, the portal opened soundlessly and he stumbled into a blindingly bright area. He cried out in surprise and threw his right arm up to protect his eyes as the door closed silently behind him and vanished.
"Mah...," a husky voice breathed. "What do we have here?"
Blinking against the glare, Mamoru peered at the slim woman in front of him. Her long, golden hair spilled like a curtain down to her knees, hiding her clothing entirely. She was turned away, looking back at him over one shoulder with one brilliantly blue eye.
"Interesting that you should fall into my dreams," the woman murmured as she turned around. Mamoru felt his knees give out, and he sank to the ground staring in awe at her beautiful face. "You should be careful, young Prince. Elysian is a dangerous world these days."
It was not his mysterious princess, but the strange woman he had seen in the garden earlier in the evening. Staring up at her, Mamoru wished desperately to wake up. He had felt safer in the Crystal Forest with the four girls chasing after him.
Yeah! The end! It's finished! *dances for joy and deliberately tries not to look at the clock on the wall*
Title: Golden Portals
Author: Raya
Medium: Fanfic
Theme: Mamoru / “There are things known and things unknown and in between are the doors.” - Jim Morrison
Genre: General / Suspense / Humor
Version: Sera Myu (post SuperS: Yume Senshi * Ai * Eien ni... (SuperS: Dream Soldiers * Love * To Eternity...)
Rating: PG
Word Count: ~2,050
Disclaimer: The prince and the senshi belong to Takeuchi Naoko and Bandai Entertainment as does the universe in which this story takes place. All rights belong to them.
Canon, spelling, grammar, and punctuation corrections are appreciated. So is constructive criticism and general comments. Please let me know if you see something that you like or that should be corrected. Thanks! - Raya
A/N: Background Information from the Myu - In the first Sailor Moon SuperS Musical, Yume Senshi * Ai * Eien ni, Mamoru recognizes that Nehelenia is Serenity in the future. When she uses Hotaru to channel her pain and sadness to the senshi in the past, he bravely steps in front of Sailor Moon and absorbs it. He also saves Hotaru, drawing all of Nehelenia's power and sorrow out of the young girl's body. And then, mortally wounded, he makes his way back to Sailor Moon and dies in her arms. The Ginzuishou does not bring him back to life. Instead, he fulfills his wish to become a “Hot Wind” (atsui kaze) blowing across the face of the earth. He speaks to Moon and her friends, saying that he is going forward to the future to be with Serenity so that she will not be lonely any more. Thus, the Myu ends with Usagi alone with her friends, sad, but hopeful that she will be reunited with her love one day. The story I have written below takes place after the events in the Myu.
Torn Apart
Breaking Point
The Golden Rose
Golden Portals
Mamoru bent over his favorite red rosebush and took a deep breath of its heavy, intoxicating scent. A grin of delight lit his five year old face as a warm breeze made the blossom's velvety petals tickle his small nose. High overhead, a bird sang a sweet serenade to the warm sun while around the corner a large fountain babbled merrily.
It was just as he always imagined it would be: lush, verdant, and filled with color. Gone were the brambles that poked even the wariest of fingers. Gone were the choking weeds that tried to smother the last of the life out of the flowering bushes. Gone were the rocks and roots that clogged the paths and tripped his feet. Instead, the garden was filled with mulched paths, graceful gazebos, and the most heavenly scents he could imagine. It was a scene fit for a princess.
At that thought, he lifted his head and looked searchingly around. Would she come today? The mysterious blonde haired princess that wandered his garden's paths? He hoped so. He hoped that today he would have the courage to look at her face, the courage to speak to her.
A sparkle caught his attention, and he focused his gaze on a particularly large rosebush filled with bright white flowers. Was there something behind the bush? He did not remember seeing anything there before. Curious, he went to investigate.
Wary of the thorns, Mamoru carefully wormed his way between the rosebush and the sandy colored stone wall that suddenly appeared to run around his garden. As the sun glinted off the mysterious object again, he flinched away and raised an arm to protect his eyes. He stopped and stared in surprise at the golden door that appeared in front of him. He did not remember seeing any doors in his garden before.
He studied the door for several long moments, his eyes tracing its graceful rose motifs, and then straightened up as a thought occurred to him. Maybe this was where the mysterious princess lived. Maybe this was the door to her kingdom or palace. Without a second thought, he stepped forward and turned the golden knob.
The five year old jumped and looked around wildly in shock. Gone was his garden full of light and joy. Gone was the bright sunshine and the warm breeze that tickled his skin. Now, he was surrounded by tall, oddly shaped trees. The light was dim and murky making it hard to see, and the breeze was cold.
All thoughts of princesses and adventure gone, Mamoru turned around to go back through the door. But, it had vanished as mysteriously as it had appeared. The door... His garden... Gone. All he could see wherever he looked was the dim, grey world. He stood there shivering and tried to figure out what to do next.
Finally, seeing no other option, he began to walk through the strange forest. It was an odd place, filled with thorny vines that covered most of the hard ground and twined up and around glassy tree trunks. The only sound he heard was the faint tinkling of crystal as the wind blew through leaves.
A twisting path appeared in front of him, and he stepped onto it gratefully. He did his best not to touch anything as he crept through the silent forest. He did not like the look of the vines, especially the large, dark flowers that sprinkled their surface. They looked like they wanted to wrap around him and squeeze him to death.
Suddenly, the silence was shattered by a soft, childish voice. "Ara? What is this? PallaPalla found something interesting!"
Mamoru froze, wide eyed, in the middle of the path.
"Oh-ho? What did you find?" another voice called curiously.
"Looks like a boy," a third voice, slightly gruffer than the first two, replied.
"A boy? Where? Where?" a fourth voice asked eagerly. "Oh there! It is! A boy!"
Mamoru spun rapidly to and fro, searching for the four mysterious girls.
"Wonder how he got here..." the second girl said thoughtfully from behind him and to the right.
"Who cares," the fourth girl replied excitedly. She sounded as if she were directly over his head.
"Maybe Nehelenia-sama sent him," the third girl said. Her gruff voice sounded very close to him, slightly to his left and up. Turning his eyes in that direction, he finally found her standing on a glassy branch with one foot propped up on a thick vine. She was dressed in an odd green suit like the Arabian princesses in his story book, and her long green braids were gathered up to a point above her head. He didn't know how he had missed her before. She was the only bright spot of color in this world of grey, black, and white.
"Ah!" the first voice said happily from somewhere on his right. "That means we can play with him!" Mamoru didn't like the emphasis she put on the word play. He looked to his right and spotted a girl with powder blue braids bouncing around her as she jumped up and down on a large boulder.
"Oh?" the girl behind him said. Whirling around, Mamoru finally spotted a tall girl with bright red hair standing on the path blocking the way he had come. "What shall we play?" she asked with a smirk as she lifted a finger to the side of her chin.
Her cold red eyes sent a shiver down Mamoru's back, and he abruptly decided that running sounded like a very good idea. Turning, he dashed as fast as he could down the path in front of him.
Behind him, he heard the girls giggle. "Looks like it's Chase," the green haired girl said as she jumped down from the tree.
"Yeah! Chase! PallaPalla likes Chase!" the blue haired girl cheered, still bouncing on her boulder.
"Should we give him a head start?" The voices behind him were faint now, so Mamoru could not tell which of them asked the question. Panting, he hoped that the answer was yes. He pelted down the path looking desperately for a place to hide.
A few moments later, Mamoru stumbled to a halt and bent over with his hands on his knees. He gasped for breath as he stared at the three huge vines that crossed the path in front of him. The only way to keep moving forward was to crawl over them.
He looked around, desperately hoping for another path to appear, and then jumped in surprise as a mocking giggle sounded behind him. Quickly, he scampered forward and climbed up the first vine.
"My, he's fast," one of the girls said appreciatively.
"Huh. You're just slow, CereCere," the gruff voiced one replied as Mamoru slid down into the dark area between two vines.
"I am not!"
"Where'd he go?"
"You are, too. And he's right over..."
Mamoru sat straight up, clutching the light blanket to his heaving chest as he looked wildly around the room. A bright shaft of moonlight cut across the foot of his futon, giving him just enough light to see that he was safe in his own room. The song of chirping crickets was the only thing his straining ears heard.
Finally, his breathing slowed and he lay back down. "Just a dream," he whispered as he stared at the nearest wall. "It was just a dream..."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Haha! Found you! PallaPalla found you!"
Mamoru ducked under a small vine and dashed for a nearby set of boulders before it could entwine around him. It felt like he had been running from these girls and dodging their tricks and traps forever. Ever since that night four months ago, whenever he fell asleep he came to this strange world. And always, these four girls would find and chase him.
"PallaPalla likes this one," the blue-haired girl said happily as she danced from limb to limb over his head. Almost carelessly, she tossed a small ball of magic towards him. "Can we keep him?" she asked hopefully as Mamoru gave a short cry of pain. The small boy dove behind the sheltering rocks and out of sight.
"We already have a tiger, a hawk, and a fish," VesVes replied. "What would this one be?"
"A bunny!" PallaPalla exclaimed as she came to a stop in front of the boulders. "Little bunny FooFoo, hopping through the forest..." she sang as she spun around on one foot and bounced her left hand.
"I don't think bunnies are a good idea," JunJun called from a nearby branch. "She doesn't like them."
PallaPalla's face fell as she stopped spinning and stared at her friend. "But... But... Bunnies are cute! Especially when you bop them on the head!" she cried, slapping her hands together to emphasize the bopping.
"Silly," CereCere called merrily from her swinging vine off to the right. "You bop field mice on the head, not bunnies."
"Oh." PallaPalla spun around to look at her, ignoring VesVes as the redhead poked a stick into the hole Mamoru had hidden himself in. She looked thoughtful for a moment, and then smiled. "PallaPalla thinks mice are cute, too. He can be a mouse." Her smile became a grin as she spotted the little boy sneaking cautiously around a tree on the other side of the boulders. "And PallaPalla can be the bunny! Little bunny FooFoo, hopping through the forest," she sang as she bounced after him. "Picking up the field mice and bopping them on the head!"
Mamoru cried out, and then coughed as another little magical ball hit his head and burst into a grey cloud. This one felt harder than the other ones the girl had tossed at him in the past. And it stank when it broke! He rubbed at his watering eyes, peeked behind him, and then decided to take to the path. They were much faster than him in the forest itself, but sometimes he was faster on the path if he could run all out.
"Bop!" PallaPalla cried out as she tossed another ball of magic at him. Mamoru swerved a little to the right, and the ball fell harmlessly to the path beside him. "Bop!" Shifting to the left, he managed to avoid that one, too. "Bop, bop, bop!" Lifting his arms over his head, he ran as fast as he could, wishing that there was some way out of this cursed forest.
He cried out in shock as he raced around a curve in the path and ran into a tall, golden door. The six year old fell to his back and stared up at it in shock. It looked like the same door as before, all covered with rose motifs. Only this time instead of being part of a wall, the door stood by itself in the middle of the path.
"Bop!" PallaPalla cried as a magical ball exploded beside him. Mamoru scrambled to his feet, gasping and choking on the foul stench of the grey gas, and dove for the door. His left hand worked desperately at the knob as he used his whole body to push at its hard, warm surface.
Finally, the portal opened soundlessly and he stumbled into a blindingly bright area. He cried out in surprise and threw his right arm up to protect his eyes as the door closed silently behind him and vanished.
"Mah...," a husky voice breathed. "What do we have here?"
Blinking against the glare, Mamoru peered at the slim woman in front of him. Her long, golden hair spilled like a curtain down to her knees, hiding her clothing entirely. She was turned away, looking back at him over one shoulder with one brilliantly blue eye.
"Interesting that you should fall into my dreams," the woman murmured as she turned around. Mamoru felt his knees give out, and he sank to the ground staring in awe at her beautiful face. "You should be careful, young Prince. Elysian is a dangerous world these days."
It was not his mysterious princess, but the strange woman he had seen in the garden earlier in the evening. Staring up at her, Mamoru wished desperately to wake up. He had felt safer in the Crystal Forest with the four girls chasing after him.
Yeah! The end! It's finished! *dances for joy and deliberately tries not to look at the clock on the wall*