Solitary
Solitary
By: Tuxedo Rainbow
Twenty years had passed since the Black Moon had invaded Crystal Tokyo, and today, I, Tuxedo Rainbow and my wife, Sailor Terra, have gone to Nemesis to find out what has happened since then. This is not a request from the Queen, no, this is a personal thing. I’ve always wondered what happened to those who did not follow the Death Phantom, if there were any, and so, we left to find out if there was anything we could do.
Nemesis is a prison moon, of sorts, dark, foreboding, mysterious, but we have to know what is left of those who are still there. No plants, no animals, just people… and it’s a wonder why people left the Earth when the Queen purified it.
We landed, and looked around.
“Anyone here?” I asked.
“No response,” Terra responded, “Looks like all that was here was the Black Moon.”
“Wait,” a figure responded, “there is more than the Black Moon, more than the Death Phantom here.”
I introduced ourselves to the figure.
“Garnet is my name, leader of this planet,” the figure responded, “and there are still those who do not follow the Death Phantom here. Demando, Rubeus, Safir, Esmeraude…they were destroyed for following him. Wicked Lady was just a pawn…”
We knew of what happened to Wicked Lady, but we continued to listen.
“Our people are at peace now, and have been ever since the war ended,” Garnet continued,” and Neo-Queen Serenity has allowed us to live in peace. Only those who do not want to be purified are here.”
A young lady arrived next.
“My name is Opal,” she responded, “and, as you can see, we have tried to recover as best we can, considering the damage that was caused. There are very few plants here, and no animals. What little we have was nearly destroyed by the Death Phantom.”
Garnet then continued, “Thanks to Demando, we are at peace. All we ask is to live in peace, without interference from the Queen.”
I nodded.
“We should not tell her why we were here,” Terra told me, and I nodded.
As we toured the planet, Garnet showed us how those that remained on Nemesis struggled.
“We work hard to try to get anything to grow,” Garnet responded, “and what little we do grow, we share with those of the neighboring areas.”
Opal continued, “Onyx, a leader of another village, gives us water, and Pearl, his wife, makes blankets. We all do what we can to survive.”
I nodded.
“We still have a few of the crystal UFOs left, abandoned after the war ended,” Garnet told us, “and Quartz has seen to it that they are in working order. We have yet to decide what to do with them.”
“Perhaps we will explore the galaxy,” Opal remarked, “and find our own home, away from the Sailor Senshi, where no senshi will boss us, where no Queen will tell us what to do.”
“It is a great idea, Opal,” Garnet replied, “we should talk with the others.”
We decided to stay, to see what would happen. We were offered what little food they could spare, and we ate, we were given what little water they had, and we drank it.
It was hard to tell day from night on that moon, but Garnet told us that that night (or what he called the night), the leaders of the villages would gather to discuss the future of Nemesis.
In the center of the village, Opal told the tribal leaders about her plan.
“An excellent idea,” Onyx responded.
“Worthy of Demando, rest his soul,” Pearl added.
“We have rebuilt from nothing, come back from the edge, and now, we sit at the precipice,” Quartz remarked, “we have the ships at ready, and the supplies are near capacity. I say we vote.”
“What will they decide?” Terra asked me.
“I think I know,” I responded.
Hours later, Garnet woke us up.
“It has been decided,” he told us,” we have decided to look for a new home, away from the Queen, away from the Senshi, where we can finally live in peace.”
“Good luck,” I responded, as I watched the first of the ships, the Black Moon Crystal ships, take off, away from the Earth.
“So?” Terra asked me, “was that what you thought they would decide?”
“I knew they would choose their own path,” I responded, “they are alone, away from the Queen, away from the Senshi. They have the right to go where they wish, and be alone, if they wish. Telling the Queen would do us no good.”
“Solitary people on a solitary mission,” Terra responded, “and long ago, hundreds would have joined them, looking for a new place to call their own.”
I looked back on the Earth and nodded.
“I guess we leave these people to whatever the future has in store for them,” I responded.
Terra nodded.
“They are no longer confined, no longer in solitary,” she remarked, “for today, they join a greater quest.”
And somehow, I knew that they would find their new home, in time, where they could be alone.</span></td></tr>
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Tux and Terra - The senshi of light and her knight of Time...
Together always.