Chapter Text
The night was restless.
Usagi tossed beneath her sheets, silver hair spilling across the pillow. Her breathing came shallow, her body trembling as if it still carried wounds that had long since healed. Her hands clutched at the blanket as though it might anchor her, but the dream would not release her.
Chaos’ shadow towered over her, claws slashing through the void.
Pain seared her side as she staggered back, Artemis’ sword shaking in her hands.
“You cannot escape me,” the darkness hissed. “Light breaks. Hope falters. All you cling to will be mine.”
Usagi bolted upright, her breath ragged. Her silver hair fell on her face. Her hand was gripping onto her Cosmos brooch, still from when she fell asleep earlier in the night.
The brooch in her hand pulsed violently, its glow flickering once in a quick, urgent shimmer.
A faint aura rippled from it, brushing against her skin like static, sending a shiver down her spine.
A scream split the night.
Outside, the familiar glow of energy lit the dark sky. A monster’s roar followed, echoing through the streets.
She threw back the covers and staggered to her feet.
“I can fight,” she whispered. “Even if they don’t remember, even if I’m alone…” Usagi trailed off.
She raced into the night, her legs carrying her as though no time had passed.
The power stirred inside her, the eternal strength of Cosmos humming at her fingertips.
She kept to the shadows as she raced towards the danger.
-x-x-x-
As she arrived where the youma attack was occurring, the scene before her stopped her cold in an alley nearby.
In the center of the street, under the harsh glow of streetlamps, stood Sailor Moon. Yet, to Usagi, it was like she was staring at an impostor. As if the girl was wearing a costume that she didn’t fully understand.
The girl raised her hand high, her voice pitched too sweetly as she called out, “In the name of the Moon, I will punish you!”
Usagi’s chest hollowed out.
“No…” she whispered, clutching the brooch so tightly it bit into her palm. “That’s not me. That can’t be me.”
The girl’s chestnut hair reminded her of Hikari from earlier. The girl’s hair was arranged almost like her odango style, but instead of long, flowing twin tails, short locks framed her chin past her shoulder.
“It couldn’t be…? Could it?” Usagi mumbled out.
All signs pointed to it being her classmate who was with her friends and fellow senshi earlier that day.
The girl wore a senshi fuku that looked recognizable, but only in silhouette. Her fuku looked right in shape but wrong in spirit. The skirt and collar were crimson instead of blue, her bow a deep navy instead of red, and the bodice was a faint cream shade rather than white.
To the untrained eye, she could pass. But to Usagi, the imbalance was glaring. The tiara’s crescent moon gleamed weakly, almost colorless.
Her stance mimicked Usagi’s old, clumsy posture.
Sailor Moon plucked the tiara from her forehead and hurled it forward. It spun through the air, glowing weakly before striking the monster’s chest. The creature staggered back, more startled than harmed.
Sailor Moon stomped her foot, whining under her breath like a petulant child. “Why didn’t that work? Ugh, this isn’t fair!”
Sailor Moon tried again, throwing her tiara once more, but the monster batted it aside with a swipe of its claw. The weapon clattered uselessly across the pavement before reforming in her hand.
“Stop moving!” the girl cried, her voice cracking with frustration. “You’re supposed to be defeated already!”
The monster roared, crouching low as it lunged.
Without any hesitation, Usagi pulled the brooch free and leapt forward, raising her brooch, which flared with power.
“Cosmos Eternal Power! Make Up!”
Light erupted around her, fierce yet cloaked by the night. A cape shimmered into existence first, unfurling across her shoulders in a cascade of silver white. Her hair lifted, twisting into odango shaped like perfect hearts, each adorned with a gleaming pearl at the front. Small pearls traced above her bangs, a delicate crown of light.
Her fuku formed — a short skirt edged in silver, and a silver collar gleaming in starlight. At her chest, her Cosmos brooch glowed. At her waist, another brooch anchored the square plate of her skirt, its surface shimmering faintly with the hues of her Senshi — red, blue, green, orange, violet, turquoise, navy blue, and pink. From that waist brooch flowed two long ribbons, trailing forward across her skirt, glowing softly with silver light.
A silver choker clasped around her throat, the eight-point golden star burning at its center, mirrored by the same star blazing on her brow. Three small pearls lined each ear, and pearls gleamed at the front of her odango. Silver rings glinted faintly on her fingers.
Then, with a shimmer of light, the Cosmos Staff materialized in her hand — tall and elegant, its crystal orb pulsing with the same power as the Silver Crystal itself. The staff felt familiar and foreign all at once, as though it had always belonged to her.
Her heels struck the ground with a soft chime, her every step commanding, her cape rippling behind her.
Sailor Cosmos stood where Usagi Tsukino was once.
The monster shrieked, reeling back from the new senshi’s sudden arrival.
Sailor Moon stood frozen, wide-eyed, staring at her as though she had seen a ghost.
Cosmos hadn’t realized it, but another figure was near the alley that she was in. One that was too small to see at first.
From the edge of the alley, Luna crouched in the shadows, tail stiff, eyes wide. Her crescent mark gleamed faintly as she whispered to herself: “A… new senshi?”
The street fell silent. The youma kept staring at the new senshi that appeared, unsure of what to do.
It was Cosmos' voice that broke through the silent haze.
Cosmos raised her staff, her voice ringing steadily.
“Moonlight…” Her voice trembled but grew firm, resonant across the street. “Eternal…”
She lifted her hand, power spiraling into her palm. “…Justice!”
The blast erupted, tearing through the shadow. Light wrapped around the youma, burning away its form until nothing remained but sparks that rained harmlessly onto the pavement.
When the light faded, silence remained.
From the shadows, Luna’s tail flicked. A new Sailor Senshi had appeared in Tokyo. But who was she? And why now? Luna thought, watching the scene in front of her take place between her charge and the silver-clothed sailor senshi.
Sailor Moon staggered, staring at Cosmos wide-eyed.
She pressed a hand to her chest, her tone soft and fragile as if she wasn’t just whining not too long ago. “I… I don’t understand. Who… who are you?”
Cosmos’ chest heaved. The brooch pulsed hot on her chest, the truth heavy within her.
She locked her gaze on Sailor Moon, fury simmering.
“You’re not Sailor Moon,” she said, her voice low and unshaking. “I am.”
For a heartbeat, Sailor Moon faltered. Unsure of how to take such a response.
And in that moment, Cosmos knew: this was only the beginning.