{ Changing of the Guard  1/1 }



Changing of the Guard


A Sailor Moon fanfic by Tim Nolan.
e-mail: nomad@cyberverse.com
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Ginza/7876/


********


	It was mercifully cooler out on the balcony 
overlooking the central garden of the Palace Minor, 
and when Serenity was out there she didn't have to be 
inside and hear one of her best friends cry as her 
mother slowly died.
	What nearly made her go back inside was that she 
could still see the portion of the city where the sick 
were under quarantine. The houses she'd ordered 
destroyed were an ugly scar marking a boundary where 
her beautiful home turned into a burial ground.
	Serenity leaned heavily on the marble railing. She 
woke this morning a princess, heir to the throne of 
the Moon Kingdom. Before she could even break her fast, 
she had been crowned its queen. Fatigue bowed her 
shoulders, and her eyes were red and puffy from all 
the tears shed last night and this morning. There 
would be more reasons to cry later on, she knew all 
too well. Her reserves of strength and patience were 
long exhausted, and there would be so much more for 
her to endure.
	In the distance, a shimmering haze surrounded 
what remained of the Foreign Quarter and the Merchant's 
Quarter. This told her that Venus had finished 
restoring the barrier which had fallen that morning. 
The death of the queen earlier, along with the fact 
that the old Jupiter and Mercury would follow her 
minutes from now, had shattered their protection 
against the plague.
	The Guard had tried to the best of their 
ability to keep the sick and the desperate caught 
up in the area where they were quarantined. Without 
the magical barrier, however, the Guard was being 
pressed back. Once the Guard unit fell, the people 
would escape and the plague would be spread to the 
rest of the city. There would be no more Moon Kingdom. 
	Seizing a pair of horses, the young queen 
and Sailor Venus raced to the barrier, and arrived 
just in time. The Guard detachment had finally 
broke, fear of the mob and plague on their faces. The 
throng surged forward, but then stopped as they 
realized who was standing in front of them, blocking 
the only path through the rubble. It was a single 
young woman, but the dress and hairstyle were 
unmistakable. The new queen was clutching her scepter 
and bathed in the light of the Silver Crystal.
	" Go back," she'd pleaded. Serenity was all too 
aware it was her people who were suffering, and she was 
unable to help them. Mothers and fathers, boys and 
girls, small children and infants. Most of them were 
sick and dying, and all of them were terrified.
	With a cry of despair, she did the only thing 
she knew how to do with the Crystal: its light went 
out and then flared brighter than before. Her mother 
never let her hold it, let alone had the chance to 
teach her how to use its power.
	This was enough, though. Her people stepped back, 
and Venus seized the chance. 
	A wall of gold and orange energy rose up between 
the queen and her people. A heartbeat later, the 
wall stretched and expanded along the field of 
rubble until the entire area was surrounded. The 
people inside screamed in rage or betrayal, but 
the barrier was strong enough to contain them. They 
tried, but fists and improvised battering rams where 
no match for the magical barrier.
	The queen trembled and somehow kept her feet. Venus 
ordered a pair of Guards to take her back to the 
castle. The Senshi herself had to stay to finalize 
the process of setting up the barrier, but the hard 
part was done. The current Mercury and Jupiter would 
be dead soon, and the new ones could add their strength 
once they'd learned to do it in a few days.
	Serenity pulled a chair over by the railing and 
sat. A renewed wail of grief from behind her caught her 
attention. That would mark Mercury's passing, she decided, 
if the same thing that had happened to Venus a month 
before held true, or Mars two days ago.
	" When do I get to have a chance to cry?" she 
wondered aloud, luxuriating in thinking only herself 
for a few minutes, but then turned her thoughts to a 
more productive line of reasoning. There was no time 
for self pity right now. The Earthers brought the plague 
here with them. Serenity had a very good idea of just 
what part of Earth was responsible, and what part she 
would punish. 
	History, at least how her teacher had taught her, 
was one of her studies she'd actually looked forward 
to. The old man almost made it seem like he spun a 
story from a book of dry, dusty facts. However, what 
used to entertain was now looking more like a tragedy. 
There had once just been the Golden Kingdom, but that 
changed after Serenity I came into her power.	
	Serenity I had been born in the Golden Kingdom 
during a time of great turmoil, and decided that a 
change was needed. She spent years in prayer, meditation 
and study in preparation for the day she would make a 
difference. It was during this same time that Serenity I 
found or created the Silver Crystal, and while the origin 
of the Silver Crystal can be debated, nobody could 
disagree that Queen Serenity I used it to make a 
difference. 
	In protest against a round of bloody factional 
disputes during which the entire population of a 
city-state near her home was massacred, Serenity I 
created the Moon Kingdom and a city on the Moon. Then 
she selectively transported thousands of people from 
Earth and the Golden Kingdom to this new city 
	A state of war had existed ever since the 
founding of the Moon Kingdom. The war between the 
two kingdoms started when Serenity I allowed people 
in the Golden Kingdom to emigrate after the founding 
of the Moon Kingdom, and the discovery of the 
knowledge of magical power that Serenity I exclusively 
controlled. The balance of political power was altered, 
starting another series of civil wars in the Golden 
Kingdom. These wars were complicated by the damage 
to the economy of the Golden Kingdom as many wealthy 
nobles were among the people who left, taking their 
wealth with them.
	The Golden Kingdom quickly learned they could 
not fight the Moon Kingdom, who they had labeled as 
rebels. Other nations welcomed the trade enclaves set 
up by the new country, and helped defend them. When 
the soldiers of the Golden Kingdom were able to 
capture one of these enclaves, they found that they 
could not use whatever magic allowed travel to and 
from the moon.
	The Golden Kingdom finally tired of their 
losses after a decade of warfare, it seemed. An 
uneasy, unofficial peace followed, lasting just 
over two centuries. A hundred years ago, that changed 
when a strong, reform-minded dynasty was able to 
take control of the Golden Kingdom. What had once 
been an alliance of small kingdoms and city-states, 
often racked by dynastic wars and political turmoil, 
was now a much more cohesive whole with only a small 
number of fringe groups. Indirect trade started 
between the two kingdoms.
	However, peace was never officially declared. A 
year ago, on the day marking the celebration of a 
century of improved relations, on a festive and 
hope-filled day the new queen remembered so fondly, 
envoys of the Golden Kingdom officially proposed it. 
Queen Serenity supported the idea, and approved the 
concession of allowing traders from Earth to come 
directly to the Moon as well. All seemed well for 
several months until Venus fell ill after a visit 
to the Foreign Quarter.

****

	Serenity sighed, leaning back in a chair in her 
quarters. Her shoulders were tight with tension and 
her feet hurt. One of her maids entered the room, 
carrying a serving tray with soup, bread, an apple 
and a glass of watered-down wine.
	" Thank you," the queen murmured and mechanically 
set to eating. Her own hunger was something that she 
could at least deal with.
	Ironically, it would be her first meal as Queen 
Serenity. No sooner than she'd been told her mother 
had died than she and Venus had to ride out. Upon her 
return to the Palace Minor there had been tasks that 
she needed to do, and receive oaths of service from 
her friends who were now Jupiter and Mercury in fact.   
	The Venus she was most familiar with, a short 
and cheerful woman with a braid of glossy black hair 
that reached the floor, was the first to die from 
the plague when it started a month ago. Her replacement 
was the current Venus, a brunette of the same age 
as the Princess, who solemnly walked into the palace 
two days after her predecessor's death with the 
mark of her position shining on her forehead.
	Serenity felt like a ghoul for thinking it, 
but it was fortunate that the Venus she grew up with 
died when she did, a day after getting sick. Her 
successor was the only one who could use her powers 
as a Senshi right now. The queen and Mars fell ill 
later that day as reports began to come in detailing 
how bad the plague was.  
	" Mother," she whispered and shivered at the 
pain of the memory. Serenity had been there to see 
her mother slide into a fever that she would never 
recover from. Open sores would appear the next day, 
according to the reports, followed by a rapid wasting 
and death several days later. Ruler and Senshi were 
quarantined in an unused wing of the Palace Major, 
and Princess Serenity was suddenly the queen in all 
but name.
	Her mother's Senshi were a great help to her 
at first. They were the ones who trained the new Venus. 
Jupiter had noticed how the center of the problem 
seemed to be the Foreign Quarter, and suggested a 
quarantine. Serenity had not wanted to do it, but 
they had no alternative. Their own healers could not 
cure the plague, or even slow it down. Reluctantly, 
Serenity ordered it done.
	The two older Senshi were the ones who performed 
that hardest task, and drove everyone in the Foreign 
Quarter and Merchant's Quarter out of their houses 
and into the quarantine zone at the center of the 
two. They then created a swath of destruction around 
it a hundred yards deep, and set up a barrier with 
their powers.
	" Keeps them and the plague in there," Jupiter 
had said, trying to grin and lighten the mood. Soon 
after, any smiles faded from the faces of she and 
Mercury. They did not have the plague, but were 
weakening as Queen Serenity did. Their daughters would 
be their successors. The new Senshi would be powerless 
until their mothers passed away, however, and for 
several days after becoming Senshi.
	That left Serenity to be the one to deal with 
the people. The citizens of the Moon Kingdom were 
desperate, and acted accordingly. Everyone wanted 
audiences with her, and she could not tell all of them 
no. She was obligated by Serenity I's edicts to spend 
part of her day receiving petitions from all the 
citizens. During this time of crisis, what was 
normally a purely ceremonial occasion became a 
torment. Along with that, many of the nobles were 
of a rank higher than her advisors, and loudly 
demanded that they would only deal with the Queen or 
a Senshi. Venus was rarely available to help her, as 
the new Senshi was the only one holding up the 
barrier around the quarantined quarters.
	Get my family or loved ones out, the honest 
ones begged or demanded. This person has the plague 
and should be forced into the quarantine, the crafty 
ones said, conveniently avoiding any mention that 
the person they accused was their enemy or rival. Murderer, 
shouted others. She was of the Royal blood, and had the 
Silver Crystal. She should have cured the plague and 
saved them all by now, and the fact that she was 
hesitating only meant that she was using the plague to 
her own advantage somehow.
	Day in and day out, over the course of a month, 
her people came to her to plead for help that she could 
not give as more of them died.
	Day in and day out, her people blamed her for 
the deaths of their loved ones.
	Day in and day out, she faced the living and 
their pain.
	Night after night, the faces of the victims 
haunted her when she tried to sleep.

****


	Serenity woke with a start, raising her head from 
where it was pillowed on her arms. She was still at the 
table, the half-eaten meal pushed away to make room for 
her arms. All she'd done was put her head down for a moment...
	" Only a few minutes," she whispered, lightly 
touching the soup bowl. The silver was warm. The memories 
of last night, what she had been dreaming of while she 
drowsed, were anything but.
	Mercifully, after a month of fever-induced 
hallucinations, Mars had succumbed to the plague the 
evening before. Her successor was already chosen and 
swore her oath to Princess Serenity shortly afterwards.
	Her own mother would be the next to die, Serenity 
knew. Jupiter and Mercury were comatose and would not 
survive another day.  They had still not caught the 
plague, but their deaths were expected. When a new 
queen ascended the throne, the previous queen's Senshi 
generally would not outlive her by any great degree; 
balancing out their slightly longer lives and apparent 
youthfulness.
	This still did not make anything easier for the 
princesses' two closest friends. She had grown up with 
the two girls who would be her own Jupiter and Mercury. 
The new Mars was also close, coming from a family that 
lived near the palace and was known to the princess.
	Serenity spent many hours that night consoling 
the two girls. First, she was with Jupiter and her 
daughter, holding her friend as she trembled. The poor 
girl had cried so much she couldn't anymore. The prospect 
of losing her mother was bad enough, but with Senshihood 
pending and the pressures of the plague as well, the 
young girl was nearly paralyzed with despair.
	After that, she went to see Mercury. The next 
Mercury was not giving in to anything, and was 
attacking her feelings, the furnishings in her rooms, 
and anyone who came near in a vain attempt to hold her 
feelings at bay. Serenity weathered the storm and 
stayed there with her until her best friend had broke 
down and cried herself to sleep. 
	Lastly, despite the crushing fatigue, Serenity 
had climbed the stairs of the tallest tower of the 
Palace Major, and went all the way to the highest room. 
That was followed by ascending a ladder which took her 
to a tiny platform on the roof.
	The member of the Guard who was posted here used 
to be here because of some punishment. The weather on 
the moon was mild, but this post was far enough up 
for it to be cold and windy compared to the ground 
below. Now, there was always a lieutenant or captain.
	" Your Majesty," the officer said softly, 
taking her hand to help her come through the trapdoor 
and to her feet. Without being asked, he handed her 
the telescope that was part of the equipment at this 
post. The guards had learned the routine quickly 
since Serenity was often there several times during 
the day or night.
	Serenity extended the tube and looked down to 
the east wing. Through an open window, she could see 
her mother, attended to by only a single elderly 
servant who had volunteered to look after the Queen 
despite the risk of the plague.
	" I would be with you if I could, Mother," she 
had whispered. For the last month, this was all she 
had seen of her mother, a frail figure covered with 
a blanket. Each time, she said the same thing. Each 
time, the guard at his post said nothing, knowing 
that the young ruler would not forgive herself for 
a very long time.

****


	The monarch's hands trembled, making the parchment 
she held rustle.
	" They brought this plague with them, and now they 
ask for reparations for their dead?" Serenity fell back 
onto her throne, unbelieving and angered at the news 
delivered by an envoy of the Golden Kingdom.
	" They killed my mother!" 
	The young queen sobbed out the accusation to her 
startled council. For several minutes, the only sounds 
that broke the uncomfortable silence in the enormous 
throne room were the muted coughs of one of the guards 
in the antechamber, and more muffled sobs from the queen 
as she regained her composure. 
	Serenity flung aside the document and rose to her 
feet. The Chamberlain opened his mouth to begin to speak, 
but remained silent due to the level stare directed at 
him by the Queen. A pang of loss went through him at the 
reminder that the previous morning he had been like a 
favorite uncle to the princess, but that relationship 
was now gone. 
	" I don't care what their experts have to say," 
she spat, her mocking voice clearly showing her poor 
opinion of the Earth's healers, as she glared down at 
the assembled advisors of her recently deceased mother.   
	" They will be the ones to pay," she pronounced, 
drawing herself to her full height and subtly altering 
her grip on the crescent-shaped scepter to remind them 
of who she now was. She looked at each of them in turn, 
daring them to defy her. None did. 
	" Venus." One of the Senshi standing behind the 
throne, a slender brunette the same age as the Queen, 
stepped forward and nodded.
	" Make sure all of the Earthers are removed from 
my kingdom at once. Tonight, expel any of their spies 
who choose to remain behind. We begin mobilizing at dawn." 
	" Yes, Your Majesty," she hesitantly replied. 
	" The Council will prepare plans for the 
attack for my consideration," Serenity went on. " For 
now, you are dismissed." They did not look pleased, 
but they did leave, and the Queen sat down again after 
the doors closed behind them, leaving her with her Senshi.
	" Are you sure this is wise, Serenity?" the 
brunette asked, stepping forward and facing her ruler 
with a worried look on her face.
	" Aside from it being poor tactics to announce 
the attack by expelling diplomats," Mercury insolently 
added with a toss of her head to get her unruly blond 
hair away from her eyes. " What good is it to declare 
war on a plague?"
	" They brought it here!" the Queen cried. " Do 
you want me to overlook the fact that they've attacked 
us by bringing it here, and that they killed my mother?"
	" Don't you think I know that fact all too 
well?" Mercury heatedly replied in a shrill 
voice. " You're not the only one whose predecessor was 
also their mother. My mother and Jupiter's both died 
this morning, you know, and simply because your mother 
did. You're being an idiot, Serenity, and it is our 
duty to remind you of that."
	" Your duty is to obey me!" Serenity screamed. " Get 
out, all of you. Go!"
	Stunned and looking hurt, they complied, leaving 
the queen alone with her thoughts. The guards left as 
well. Some time passed as she grieved at the loss of 
her mother, and remembrances of better times.
	The firm tap of booted feet walking towards her 
down the length of the marble floor brought her back 
from her reverie. 
	" I don't want to be bothered, Mercury," she 
sighed, knowing that only one of her Senshi would 
disturb her at a time like this. " Go away."
	" You have made an interesting beginning of your 
first day as queen, it seems," a rich, low voice wryly 
observed. The queen looked around wildly, staring into 
the shadows at the sides of the throne room, and 
started in surprise as a tall woman stepped out from 
behind a pillar to her left.
	" Who... " the queen asked, her voice trailing off 
as she looked at the newcomer, easily recognizing the 
uniform that the woman wore as being similar to what her 
own Senshi wore, but not the pattern of colors.
	" I am Sailor Pluto," the Senshi replied, inclining 
her head to the monarch.
	" A Sailor Senshi? I've never heard of you."
	" Yes, Your Majesty," the Senshi confirmed. " I am 
quite real."
	The queen took a long moment to consider the 
statement and its implications before coming to a decision 
and standing up to try to bring herself on a more equal 
level with the tall woman. 
	" Then you will join us in the attack upon the 
Earth in the morning," the blonde announced. 
	Pluto shook her head. " No."
	"No?" the queen snapped, her face flushing in anger 
as she brought up her scepter and brandished it at the 
Senshi. " I am your queen, and your duty is to obey me!"
	" You are my queen," the dark-haired woman 
explained. " It is not, however, my duty to obey you. I 
have other responsibilities."
	" If I am your queen, then I can still order you 
to join us," Serenity retorted, smiling as she thought 
she claimed the upper hand. " You will do as I say."
	" No," Pluto simply said, shaking her head in 
sorrow at the behavior of the young woman.
	" You may be able to use that line with your 
Senshi and your court, or coerce them with a reminder 
of the scepter you hold," Pluto explained. " That has 
no hold over me, nor can you command me or hurt me with 
it. If you believe that much in the power of your 
scepter, use it to make me join you."
	Serenity's eyes grew hard and she tightened her 
grip as if she was about to do just that. A bright, 
unwavering light spilled forth from the Silver Crystal 
and gathered around the young woman. 
	Suddenly, Serenity felt something inside her 
shift in response to her anger. Energy from the Silver 
Crystal poured into her in a mad rush, filling her until 
she thought she would burst from it. No longer was the 
power unreachable, like this morning when she faced the 
mob in the quarantine zone. Somehow, now, for some 
reason, she could control it and she would put this 
upstart Senshi in her place. 
	A dozen heartbeats later the accumulated power 
vanished. The scepter slid from her fingers while the 
color drained from her face, and Serenity fell back 
into a graceless sprawl on her throne.
	" What have I done today, Pluto?" the queen asked 
softly, beginning to noticeably tremble. " I was about 
to try and force you to obey me. What kind of monster 
have I become?" 
	" Not a monster," Pluto replied, the slight 
shake of her head making her long dark hair sway as 
she walked down the steps to pick up the royal 
scepter and return it to the queen. " Not a monster 
at all, but a young girl who's had too much pain and 
responsibility thrust upon her in one day for anyone 
to expect her to bear it alone."
	Serenity smiled gratefully through the tears 
which began to gather in her blue eyes, and then buried 
her head in her hands. She began to cry silently, 
letting go of much of the pain, anger and frustration 
that had accumulated over the past month of her 
mother's illness. 
	Pluto's first impulse was to comfort the young 
woman, and she even began to raise her hands to 
embrace Serenity, remembering what it had been like 
to do that for her own sisters almost three hundred 
years ago. Instead, she waited and let the worst of 
the crying and sniffling pass. The young woman was 
a queen, and needed to learn to act like one.
	" Serenity, you do have friends here," Pluto 
finally said, gently pushing the girl back into a 
more dignified position on the throne. " You have the 
Inner Senshi to help you, to be your friends, but 
they won't want to help if you keep ordering them 
around like you've done today. You can't win their 
respect with threats."
	Serenity nodded mutely and felt her cheeks flush 
with shame as she remembered what she had said to her 
close friends not minutes ago. They had grown up 
together; she, Mercury, Jupiter and Mars. Venus had 
become close in the last month, as well. She'd just 
treated her closest friends like they were servants. 
Her advisors, too, she remembered.
	" Thank you, Pluto," she said minutes later with 
a rueful smile as she thought of how much she had hurt 
so many people who were close to her. " You've been a 
great help to me today, and kept me from making many 
grave mistakes." The Queen slipped her hand into a 
fold of her gown, and pulled out a kerchief which she 
used to dab at her eyes and cheek.
	" Hardly anybody ever calls them the Inner 
Senshi anymore, you know, aside from references to 
old stories," she went on, directing a sly look at 
the Senshi. " I take it that there are other Senshi, 
then?"
	" I imagine your mother never had the chance 
to tell you about us," Pluto gently responded. " The 
queens only passed down the information verbally, as 
far as I know."
	" As far as you know? You're not that much older 
than me, and my mother was queen for fifty-two years."
	" The Outer Senshi have different duties than 
the Inner, Serenity. We have different powers, and 
there are different restrictions upon us," the tall 
woman began to explain. " The Inners protect you, and 
the Moon Kingdom, from threats inside your realm. We 
protect the Moon Kingdom from dangers outside of it, 
and it's one of those dangers that I've come to you 
about."
	" Is anything wrong? Are we being invaded?" Serenity 
quickly asked, beginning to look alarmed.
	" No, it's a minor matter," Pluto said, shaking 
her head and keeping her voice even to keep from 
alarming the young girl. " We need your permission to 
send Neptune and Uranus to Mars. There's a threat to 
the settlement there."
	" You're not sending Sailor Saturn as well?"
	" There is no Sailor Saturn, Your Majesty. Saturn 
is the only planet to not have its own Senshi to 
help protect it."
	Inwardly, she winced, hating the necessity to 
tell the lie, but she also knew it was for the best 
in the long run. All of the ruling queens were very 
likable and personable, which made it hard to lie to 
them, just like it was hard to lie to the current 
Serenity, but that did not make them perfect. Only 
the first Serenity had known of Sailor Saturn, and 
that was the way it was going to stay, at that 
monarch's own orders. Saturn's power was too great 
a temptation. 
	" The Guard can handle it, couldn't it? I could 
reinforce the detachment there," the girl asked.
	" That would not be wise, Serenity. The Guard 
has never faced this, and we have. It was only your 
mother's illness that kept us from dealing with it 
beforehand, I'm sorry to say, not to mention you're 
going to need all of your Guard units in the near future."   
	" Please don't remind me," Serenity groaned, 
rising to her feet. " I've probably started a war 
with the Earth already, and I'd better stop it soon. We 
can't risk straining the relations with the Golden 
Kingdom, not so soon after we've established something 
other than a state of war. The two kingdoms need each 
other, need the trade if we're to survive.
	" Go ahead and do what you must, Pluto. Send them 
to Mars," she said, then stopped to nod gratefully at the 
woman. " Thank you. You've kept me from making a complete 
fool of myself, and starting a war which would have hurt 
countless innocent people in the process. Is there 
anything I can do to repay you?"
	The Senshi of the outermost planet looked the 
young queen straight in the eye as a staff made of a 
gray metal, topped by the Garnet Orb, appeared in her 
hand. " Forget about us. To everyone else, your Senshi 
included, we don't exist."
	" But.... I was hoping we could talk again," Serenity 
said, her voice thick with a pang of loss at not seeing 
this woman who reminded her of the strength her own 
mother had, and not being able to feel that same sense 
of security from that strength anymore. The throne was 
a lonely place, she was rapidly understanding.
	" Give us our secrecy, Serenity," Pluto coolly 
replied. " Secrecy will let us fall upon your enemies 
unaware when they think they have bested the Inner 
Senshi and have the upper hand. We'll never give up 
our watch over you. Neptune and Uranus will be there 
if the Moon Kingdom truly needs help, as will I.
	" We can't fulfill our duties if everyone knows 
of us and is looking for us," the tall woman went 
on. " Allow us to stay legends, and tell only your 
daughter about us."
	The Senshi nodded once, tapped the butt of the 
staff on the ground, and melted away into the gray 
mist which swirled up from around her feet. The fog 
rapidly dissipated into the dimness of the throne 
room as the young queen leaned back in her throne, 
beginning to contemplate how to put her life back 
together again and restore the trust and faith of 
her friends that she had lost that day.

****


	Castle Charon was cold, as always, when she 
returned to it, but little else could be expected 
this far away from the sun. Despite the power of the 
Silver Crystal allowing colonies to be constructed on 
the other planets, she doubted that there would ever 
be settlements on any of the outer planets. It would 
be too dark for most people on the moons of Jupiter, 
let alone her cold and distant world.
	She had arrived in the large, vaulted chamber 
that was the center of her castle. The sigil of Pluto 
shone faintly beneath her feet, fading to a faint 
luminescence as the extra energies she had used to 
return from the moon dissipated. The transit also held 
none of the side effects Uranus and Neptune would have 
to deal with, however. The palace had a dedicated focal 
point for a gate, as did all of the Senshi's castles, 
but the settlement on Mars had none.
	" Welcome back, Sailor Pluto," an ethereal voice 
said as a mote of light appeared directly in front of 
her, and coalesced into a tiny replica of herself. 
	" Thank you, Guardian," she replied, nodding 
politely to the apparition. " Please send a message 
to Neptune and Uranus that I will be contacting them 
shortly." 
	" It will take over an hour to synchronize without 
undue risk of detection at present planetary positions, 
Sailor Pluto," the Guardian replied, causing the silk 
drapes covering two large mirrors set into one end of 
the chamber to part, and the mirrors themselves to 
glow. " Would you like to use the imagers here?"
	The woman thought a moment, then shook her 
head. " No, I'll handle the images myself via the Gates 
at the top of the tower. It's not too much trouble, 
and I need the practice."
	" The Gates are wherever you wish them to be, 
Sailor Pluto. They are not restricted to any one 
location," her Guardian chided her softly, using the 
same tone it used to when she was still learning her 
powers under its tutelage after she took her oath. 
	" I know, Guardian," the Senshi responded, 
smiling softly at the memory. " I simply prefer to 
have them in one location."	
	The lights in the room began to fade, followed 
by the tiny apparition. " As you wish, Sailor Pluto," 
it said and vanished, leaving the room lit only by 
the soft glow of the sigil in the floor.  
	One hour would give her a chance to prepare 
herself for contact using the Gates of Time. All of 
the functions of the Gates weren't yet second nature 
to her, so she preferred to use them, despite the 
difficulty of some of the more advanced abilities.
	She'd been waiting in the Palace Minor for many 
hours starting the day before, watching and mourning 
the passing of the Queen. She'd also been waiting for 
a chance to talk privately with the new one, so she'd 
missed a number of meals. A quick stop in her own 
pantry would take care of that, and she picked up a 
jug of freshly pressed cider, a wedge of cheese, and 
bread for a light meal afterwards, and hoped that 
there would be more of the cider next morning. The crop 
of apples on the Moon this year was delicious, and 
nobody on the Moon had yet realized that the Senshi's 
castles were the explanation for the occasional 
discrepancies in the tallies in the kitchens.
	The mental image of a disgruntled cook made her 
laugh, recalling what she used to think when her 
Guardian told her where her meals came from. Pluto took 
a drink from the jug, savored the taste, and longed for 
an afternoon in spring under a blossoming apple tree to 
properly appreciate it as she began to climb up the 
stairs to the top of her castle.    
	At the top of the stairs, she asked herself again 
if she wasn't a fool for doing it this way, but quietly 
laughed at herself for even asking. If she needed them, 
as the Guardian had said, the Gates were a thought away. 
Keeping them up in the uppermost room of the castle 
lent more credence to the illusion that the rest of 
the castle was hers alone, and not just part of her 
duties. Over the course of three centuries of duty, 
she'd learned the value of making the distinction 
quite clear.
	She sat in one of the four chairs at the table, 
closest to the stairs and facing the furthest wall of 
the rectangular shaped room. The two ornate wooden 
doors that compromised the far wall, filling it from 
stone floor to ceiling, were the cause of her primary 
duty, and a great aid in performing that duty.
	In some way she still did not fully understand, 
time flowed through them like a river through the 
banks of a riverbed. Her task was to learn of it, but 
not disrupt that flow in any way. To do so was fatal, 
she'd been told, and she agreed it probably would be 
fatal. 
	At her mental command, her staff appeared and 
was set to rest against the arm of the chair that 
Saturn would likely never sit in again. After another 
drink, she turned her attention towards the matters 
at hand.
	Pluto then looked at the row of statues along 
the long wall to her right, opposite the window that 
ran almost the length of the left wall. There were 
seven statues, one for each of the rest of the Senshi, 
standing in front of a long red tapestry. The Inner 
Senshi looked nothing like the ones she had seen 
earlier, of course. The statues were of the first 
Senshi, and only those of the Outers looked liked the 
ones who were in service now.
	She looked carefully at Saturn, and gravely 
nodded at the statue in respect. Her duty may not 
be easy, but was nothing like the sacrifice that 
this young girl had made for her kingdom. Pluto 
remembered her, and would never forget her. She spent 
the rest of the hour thinking of the caring, inquisitive 
spirit who had freely chosen such a burden, and 
reflecting upon the cost of her decision. 
	The original Serenity had, as far as Pluto 
knew from having lived in that time, and what she 
had been able to determine over the years since, 
imparted their powers to the Senshi at the founding 
of the Moon Kingdom. Serenity I had also been the 
one who saw the need for protectors who not only 
protected the Queen and her court, but also ones 
dedicated to protecting the kingdom, over and above 
all else. 	
	Thus, the two different group of Senshi.   
	And perhaps that difference was why, ultimately, 
there were such startling differences between the two 
groups of Senshi, and why such a level of secrecy was 
needed when it came to her existence.
	The various nations on the Earth could not 
substantially threaten the Moon Kingdom in a military 
manner. It was too prohibitive in costs to get troops 
to the Moon to mount an attack, especially when the 
gates that allowed such travel were all controlled by 
the Moon Kingdom, and heavily guarded.
	What the Moon Kingdom had needed at that time 
was more protection from the dissidents from the 
various nations of Earth, and among its own people. The 
Inner Senshi filled that purpose, guarding the Queen 
and her kingdom. They also were ambassadors and 
emissaries, symbols of the power and majesty of the 
kingdom in the skies above the Earth. 
	And since it was still not in human nature to 
trust anything that was not human, the Inners lived 
lives much like the ordinary humans who made up the 
populace of both the Moon and Earth. They lived longer 
lives, granted, as did their ruler, but nothing so 
long or unusual as to make them seem unapproachable.  
	There still remained a need for a defense 
against an attack from the outside, and it was this 
need that the founder of the Moon Kingdom had met 
when she chose the four young women who became the 
Outer Senshi. 
	In spirit, the Outers were much more the actual 
military of the Moon Kingdom than the Inners or Royal 
Guard were. Their longer lives gave them a more constant 
attitude, much more like the traditional mindset that 
most military forces developed, and the four women were 
much easier to hide than an army. The stated purpose 
of the Moon Kingdom, that of peacefully guiding the 
people of Earth, would not be accepted or believed if 
there was a large standing army in the heavens, waiting 
to descend upon the Earth.
	Pluto sighed, shaking her head a moment. Serenity I 
had said they would live long lives, and had held true 
to her word. The Inners lived only as long as their 
Queen. The Outers seemed destined to live as long as 
the kingdom.
	She remembered sitting here, in this very room, 
scant hours after she and the three other Outers had 
sworn their oath of loyalty to Queen and country in 
a private ceremony witnessed only by the first group 
of the Inner Senshi. That morning, Serenity I had 
announced her intent to establish a realm upon the 
moon, away from the influences of the nations of 
the Earth. Earlier that evening, Serenity I had in 
fact created her kingdom, both figuratively and 
literally, in a show of power that left nobody on 
the Earth doubting her or her kingdom's power. The 
Inners, sworn in only moments before, had then been 
instructed to never reveal their knowledge of the 
other Senshi.  
	It was when Serenity I told them of their task, 
that Saturn volunteered to be the one who slept. The 
first queen's plan was to have more than one line of 
defense. Neptune and Uranus became the first defenders, 
the ones who would initially attack. Pluto herself was 
the second, guarding the Gates of Time and using them to 
gain information about any foe, and would also fight 
alongside the other two as needed.
	Saturn, though, would sleep in secrecy, eternally 
ready to deny a final victory to any who might try to take 
away the treasures of the Moon Kingdom. The libraries and 
storehouses of the Moon Kingdom were extensive, and obvious 
targets. Serenity I had blatantly stolen much of the 
knowledge of magic from the Golden Kingdom at the founding 
of the Moon Kingdom. This was one of the major reasons for 
the state of war that existed for so long between the two 
kingdoms. 
	In the case of the Earthers, it would be millennia 
before they were deemed ready for that kind of knowledge, 
explained Serenity I. It would be too easy to misuse 
such things for power or tyranny. The Moon Kingdom could 
not risk hurting the people of the Earth by letting 
such information be spread, especially not after 
declaring that it was going to look out for the welfare 
of all of the people on the earth. The kingdom devoted 
to peace and equality would not be allowed to become 
an instrument of oppression.    
	Again, Pluto sighed, and sifted through her 
accumulated memories for what she could recall of 
the girl with the violet eyes. She had been kind-hearted, 
so full of life and energy that it was unthinkable the 
girl would want to spend what could be an eternity 
waiting only to destroy. 
	And then the girl was gone, asleep, unreachable. 
Saturn had a castle, and Pluto herself had been there 
in search of some sign of the Senshi, but if there was 
a Guardian for Saturn, it never replied to her call. 
Perhaps the Guardian slept, like the young girl did.
	A soft chime sounded, bringing her out of her 
recollection of walking through the silent halls of 
a dark, dead castle which floated above the ringed 
planet.
	" Open," she whispered, conscious of the appointed 
hour, and Gates of Time swung wide, letting a cool, 
damp fog roll into the room. Two eddies of the fog 
swirled around the statues of Neptune and Uranus, 
and when the mist cleared away, it was like the two 
women stood there in person.

****


	Neptune folded her arms in front of her as she 
looked at Pluto, her firm resolve hidden behind the 
cool exterior along with a more caring side. Pluto 
had seen Neptune in battle, and knew the truth. There 
was steel deep inside of her, deep under the surface, 
something that her refined and gentle look did not 
hint at. Blue eyes, a blue that matched a patch of 
sky seen through a rift in the clouds of a storm, 
watched and measured everything around her, reminding 
Pluto of the oceans themselves, powerful and implacable 
in her resolve.
	Uranus was hiding her feelings behind a front 
of disdain as she stood with hands on her hips. Three 
hundred years had allowed Pluto to be one of two who 
saw the woman behind it, and her anger at the 
invading monsters threatening what she swore to 
protect. Uranus' eyes, the dark green of a troubled 
sea, hinted at an unstoppable force, like a wind 
howling unchecked across a plain.
	" She has given her permission," Pluto simply 
said. " You may begin."
	" The queen is dead," Neptune murmured, 
bowing her head slightly in respect to their 
deceased monarch. " Long live the queen."
	" Long live the queen," Uranus echoed. " We'll 
begin at once, Pluto. We can live off of the land 
well enough near the settlement to avoid detection 
by the settlers."	
	" At least until we encounter the fog hunters," 
Neptune added. " There may be no way of concealing the 
fact that Senshi were there after that. The fog hunter 
has had plenty of time to build a nest, or perhaps 
several. We'll probably need to use our powers at 
that point."
	Pluto nodded in agreement, and caught the look 
on Uranus' face. " That is understandable, Neptune. I 
also understand and agree, Uranus, that it would be 
better to deal with this at the source, but Nemesis 
is strictly off limits. Serenity I was very clear 
on that point. We cannot go there under any 
circumstances."
	" I still don't like it, Pluto," the blonde 
replied. Her voice and attitude were surly, but 
both Pluto and Neptune knew it was due to 
frustration. " We're supposed to be stopping 
invasions, not let them happen. We each have to 
fight several fog hunters a year, and we've known 
it's only a matter of time until one or more gets 
past us."
	" Not to mention the damage it could do if 
it reached the Earth or Moon," Neptune said. " With all 
the people and animals, there would be dozens if not 
hundreds of adult hunters in a few days."
	" The three of us would be hard pressed to stop 
them at that point," Pluto agreed to the point that 
Neptune hadn't wanted to bring up. " Also, the Inners 
would not be in any shape to help at the moment, and will 
not be for a few weeks at best. Only one has come into her 
power, and the queen is as powerless as the new Senshi. I 
don't think her attack would have tickled me if she'd been 
able to use it."
	" She did what?" Uranus interrupted, her voice low 
and dangerous. " Do you mean to tell me that the little 
fool tried using the Crystal on you?"
	" That's reprehensible," Neptune softly echoed. 
	" She's been under tremendous pressure, Uranus," Pluto 
said carefully, looking Uranus straight in the eyes. She 
did not blink until Uranus looked away. " I was in no 
danger, and Serenity did not actually attack me. I think 
we can forgive her for her emotions at a time like this."
	" I guess we can," the blonde sighed.
	" How are they going to stop the plague?" Neptune 
asked, changing the subject in an attempt to lessen 
the tension between the two others. " And are we at 
risk on Mars from it?"
	Pluto took a drink from the jug while thinking 
over what she had seen. " There are still people 
under quarantine who are getting sick each day. Their 
best bet would be to keep up the barrier for another 
year or more to be safe. Let anything in there die 
along with the plague. As for us, we're immune to 
it, so there is no danger on Mars except for how 
it will affect the people there."
	" The trade treaty set up a permanent gate into 
the Foreign Quarter, if I recall," Neptune interrupted, 
remembering the layout of the city on the moon. She'd 
only been there once, for a few minutes, but had 
studied it often over the years. " If there is only 
one effective Senshi, and they were responsible for this 
like Queen Serenity believes, wouldn't it be a good time 
for the Golden Kingdom to make a push, regardless of 
the plague?"
	" It would be a good time," Uranus murmured 
thoughtfully. " A suicide strike would just have to 

bring down the barrier to let the plague do the rest. 
Venus is young and inexperienced with her power. One 
desperate magician could break her defenses down."
	" I agree," Pluto said. " There is a danger of 
that. The previous Senshi were able to stop it from 
spreading, but if plague carriers get out of the 
quarantined areas the city would be decimated in 
a day."
	" And then the enemy would just wait it out," 
Neptune sighed. " The permanent gate gives them 
all the time they need, and they can come in and 
occupy the city at their leisure. There would be 
nobody left to fight them."
	" I'll watch the situation and make sure 
that it does not happen," Pluto quickly 
interjected. " I've no desire to summon Saturn, 
either.
	" As for the fog hunter on Mars," she went on, 
looking at the two others with a look of concern on 
her face. " You'd best get started. I know it is 
just another fog hunter, but we've never fought 
them in this kind of environment before. There's 
no way to know how they will be affected."
	" Any thoughts on how they might act differently?" 
Neptune softly asked the other two. All three of them 
were quiet for several seconds, and thinking much 
the same things as the other as they remembered 
their experiences with this enemy.
	Pluto had been the first to encounter one, 
almost two years after the founding of the Moon 
Kingdom. She'd just arrived at the planet Saturn, 
having taken up the chore of looking after it as 
part of her attempts at finding out what happened 
to the planet's Senshi when the creature attacked her.
	New to the use of her powers and the idea of 
a life and death struggle, Pluto had a very difficult 
fight. The monster would attack her, and then move 
away before she could counterattack. Later, she'd 
told the other two woman that she wasn't quite sure 
of who was hunting whom in the dark, gaseous 
atmosphere of the ringed planet. Her comparing it 
to thick fog led to the name they used for the 
creatures.
	After it was over, a worried and badly 
injured Pluto made real use of the Gates for the 
first time. She tracked the path of what she had 
fought, through the present and what she could 
reach of the past, and discovered it was from a 
yet unknown planet. Nothing should have been alive 
there, she knew by now. It was too cold and dark on 
her world, and this was even further out from the sun.
	Fearing invasion, Pluto ignored the pain of her 
injuries and scoured all of the space she could sense, 
trying to find any more of the creatures. Around the 
new planet, which she called Nemesis as she considered 
it the home of an enemy, she was able to find the 
trail of other creatures like what had attacked her. 
There was no sign of any civilization or inhabitants 
that she could see. Her attacker had been cunning, 
but not intelligent like a person. To it, she had 
been a threat and food. She'd been able to sense 
that much from it.
	The three of them contacted the queen that 
night, and met briefly in the main chamber of Charon 
Castle. With the help of her Guardian, Pluto showed 
them what she'd seen via the Gates. They watched how 
the creatures rose up from the planet by some unknown 
means, and drifted in towards the sun to be caught by 
the outer planets and flung inward towards the sun by 
the gravity of the large planets.
	Uranus emphasized how it was only a matter of 
time until one of them reached the Earth as she suggested 
an attack as soon as Pluto recovered. Neptune was in 
agreement, as was Pluto. Even if it proved impossible
to destroy all of the creatures, at least they could 
discover how the fog hunters left the planet and get 
a better idea of how much a threat they were.
	Serenity I had to agree, they thought. The duty 
of the Outer Senshi was to fight threats like this. The 
queen closed her eyes for a few moments, either in 
thought or communing with some higher power. Nemesis 
had a purpose to serve, she proclaimed when she opened 
her eyes minutes later. One day, it would be vital for 
the distant planet to be like it was now. They were 
ordered to stay away from it, and let the fog hunters 
come. 
	" No, no idea. They've never reached a planet 
this close to the sun before," Pluto 
murmured. " Shall I begin?" 
	Both Neptune and Uranus nodded, and indicated 
their readiness. Pluto summoned her own Guardian and 
authorized it to override the normal restrictions 
upon instantaneous communications. Both Senshi and 
Guardian knew this was an emergency. An expenditure 
of this much arcane energy could be noticed if someone 
was looking for it, so they did not talk like this 
unless it was an emergency.
	 A will-o-wisp, shaded in red, appeared over 
the statue of the first Mars, indicating to Pluto 
that they had established contact with the Guardian 
of the Senshi of the fourth planet as she steeled 
herself for the sorrow she would feel momentarily.
	" Yes, Pluto?" a weak, tremulous voice 
whispered, the Guardian unable to manifest more 
than the pinprick of red light. The Guardians 
needed contact with their Senshi, and the intervening 
three centuries since their creation had been hard 
on the constructs. Since the Guardians knew of both 
groups of Senshi, regular contact between they and 
the Inners could not be allowed. In particular for 
the Guardians right now, the passing of their 
Senshi recently, from either the same illness 
that felled the queen or simply dying when the 
monarch did, was even more of a burden to bear. Soon, 
however, the guardians could establish enough of a 
contact with their new Senshi as she slept, giving 
her the knowledge she needed to be a Senshi, and 
letting the guardian survive long enough to do 
this again the next time. 
	The lack of contact was also part of the 
reason in the differences in their powers, as well. More 
contact with their own guardians made them far more 
powerful than the current Inners. Also, just as the 
Outers would gain in power if they ever dealt with 
Saturn and her Guardian on a regular basis, so would 
the Inners benefit from the same contact among 
themselves with their own Guardians.     
	" We need your help, Guardian Mars," Pluto said, 
reminded once again of how important her Guardian was 
to her. " Uranus and Neptune are to go to Mars, and 
must need make use of the focal point in Phobos Deimos 
Castle."
	" This is normally not allowed," the mote of 
light replied long moments later. " Has the queen 
given her permission?"
	" Yes, this mission is authorized by Queen 
Serenity."
	" Very well," Guardian Mars responded, barely 
a whisper, and its light began to fade away. " A group 
of immigrants arrived just before the outbreak of 
the plague. It would be best to pretend to be one 
of those people," the guardian added before the 
light went away. Pluto's own Guardian, and she 
imagined Uranus and Neptune's doing so as well, 
also faded away in salute to their sister. Or, 
perhaps, they had difficulty seeing the fate of 
others like themselves.  
	All three Senshi knew that the Guardians were 
not fully aware intelligences, like people. Serenity I 
had created them along with the castles, and, in a 
rare showing that for all her power the first Serenity 
was not infallible, mistakes like this had happened. The 
Guardians suffered where clearly they were not 
intended to.
	" The actual settlement does not have a focal 
point for a gate," Pluto said, looking at the other 
two Senshi. " I can use the one in Phobos Deimos Castle 
as a reference, but I'm still going to be anywhere up 
to a dozen or more miles and hours off target, so be 
prepared."
	Neptune nodded, as did Uranus, so Pluto reached 
out, took hold of her staff, and reached out with 
her mind, creating the spell that would be sending 
her two fellow Senshi on their way to the red planet.
	" Be successful, and be safe," she whispered, 
well after any chance for them to hear her words 
was gone. This was not the first time they had to 
deal with the fog hunters, but the hunters were still 
very dangerous. They're half reptile, half insect and 
half nightmare, Uranus had wryly observed after an 
early fight while nursing a broken leg and ribs. A 
momentary lapse in caution could kill any of the three 
Senshi. Their first several fights had been close calls, 
and all three of them had the scars to prove it.
	" I couldn't bear to do this all alone."
		 
****


	" If it hurts this much to gate, what in all 
the hells was Serenity I thinking by giving us the 
ability in the first place?" the tall woman grumbled, 
moaning and trying to rise to her feet again. All she 
was able to do was to rise up enough to make it hurt 
when she fell, just like the previous two times. She 
settled for looking at the dirt caked on the bottom 
of the barrel next to her, hoping her sense of 
balance and equilibrium would return. Next time, 
she'd use the barrel as support, but for now her 
ears still rang, and her stomach was still churning. 
	A loud, booming impact made her look up, and 
regret the sudden movement as she tried to focus her 
eyes on the shapes that had just come out of the door 
of the building to her left. The noises from inside 
the building already made her assume it was a tavern of 
some sort, and the three who came into the dark alley 
confirmed her guess. 
	" She looked like she might be willing to buy us 
another round," one of them announced in a high-pitched 
giggle, as sure a sign of his drunken state as his 
inability to stand without the aid of one of his 
companions.
	" Or at least not mind our checking her purse 
for ourselves," the third, a thickset man with dark 
hair, added pragmatically in a deep rumble. He knelt 
next to the woman and roughly slid his large hands over 
her waist, then turned to the other two. " Keep an eye 
out for the watch." 
	" She looked rich to me," the drunk explained 
loudly. " Look at the fabric of that dress."
	" Good fabric won't get us any gold," he said, 
and then leveled a look of disgust at the drunken man 
as he began to stand. " It's too plain to be worth 
stealing. She doesn't have a coin on her, or a speck 
of jewelry."
	" The watch should be the least of your concerns," 
a second woman added, stepping around the corner and 
into the mouth of the alley. The dark-haired man 
finished standing, staring appreciatively at the 
gentle curves under the yellow gown. This one 
certainly wasn't all muscle and bone like the woman 
on the ground. He took a half-step forward, and 
began to smile as she merely raised a hand above 
her head.
	In an instant, before he could complete the 
step, the roar of the oceans that the red planet 
had not known for eons was heard once more. A wave 
twice the height of a grown man rose up behind the 
woman, passed over her without a ripple, and crashed 
into the three men, dashing them against the wall 
where the alley ended.
	" Neptune," the first woman managed to nod in 
greeting, reaching for the top of the barrel. This 
time, she was able to pull herself up to her knees.
	" Hello, Uranus," the other replied, taking the 
blonde's arm, bringing her to her feet, and then 
grimaced at the mud caked on the dress. " We'll have 
to get you some new clothes. You look like a mess."
	" You should try how I feel on the inside," Uranus 
replied, trying to smile and sound flippant. " I've 
never had a gate that was so bad."
	She looked around again, and then caught 
Neptune's attention and motioned upwards. " The roof. I 
need some fresh air."
	The other Senshi nodded, looking around to 
make sure the men were still unconscious and nobody 
else was able to see them. She took Uranus into her 
arms and jumped up to the roof of the tavern, landing 
lightly on the edge and helping Uranus to step down, 
and then across the roofs of three more buildings 
before stopping. The taller woman sighed audibly and 
lay down on her back, taking deep breaths of the 
cleaner, cooler air.
	" The sickness will pass," Neptune said and 
sat cross-legged near the other woman. " It took 
about an hour for me to recover."
	" An hour? You've been here that long?"
	" Several, actually," Neptune said, and then 
blushed. " I landed next to a hog wallow on a farm on 
the outskirts, so I think you did fairly well, considering the circumstances."
	Uranus chuckled softly. " A hog wallow? And here I 
thought that alley was fragrant. Neither of us are used 
to the smell of cities anymore."
	" We're not used to a lot of things,"  Neptune 
agreed, nodding. " Like thieves stalking the alleys of 
a part of the Moon Kingdom."
	" This is the frontier, so it's going to be a lot 
like Earth in many ways," Uranus commented. " There's no 
way to spare enough of the Guard to police this place."
	" Earth," Neptune sighed. " It's been so long 
since I've seen a real ocean, or breathed salt air." 
	" Three hundred and twenty-seven years," Uranus 
said. " I still remember the blue skies, and the feel 
of the winds. Perhaps one day, we'll go there again."
	Neptune nodded, and brushed her turquoise hair back 
off of her forehead as she looked about at the settlement, 
and suddenly laughed as Uranus' stomach growled loudly.
	" We need to get you some food, and a change of 
clothing before we start looking for signs of the nest," 
Neptune said, standing and helping Uranus to her 
feet. " A tavern I saw on the way here looked to have 
far a better clientele than the one we just left.
	" And," she added slyly, seeing the look of hunger 
on her companion's face, and remembering her tastes in 
food. " The smells coming out of there were just 
wonderful... meat pies, I think, and a stew."

****


  	The tavern turned out to also be an inn, and 
Neptune's old coins gained them a room, bed, and a 
hot bath without a second look.
	" Silver is silver, no matter if it's on 
Earth, the Moon, or Mars," Neptune commented after 
the servants brought in the last of the buckets 
of steaming water, and poured them into the wooden tub.
	" That food was worth its weight in gold," 
Uranus replied, pulling her dress over her head 
and stepping into the water. 
	" It must have been, considering how much 
of it you ate," Neptune teased, and took the 
dress over to a separate basin to soak it in 
an attempt to save it from being permanently 
stained.
	" You grew up in a palace, practically," the blonde 
parried as she sank down into the water until it was at 
her chin. " I'm not used to all that finery we get for 
food." 
	" I grew up next to a palace, Uranus, and you 
know that as well as I. Saturn was the only one of 
us of even close to royal birth."
	" Royalty misses out on the good food, then. Did 
you know it has been over two hundred years since I 
had a piece of sausage?"
	" No wonder you ate three of those meat pies, 
then," Neptune smiled, than moved over to lay down 
on the bed, on her back, looking up at the ceiling 
and the smoke-darkened wooden beams. " Do you miss 
it?"
	" The food, the Moon, or the Earth?"
	"The Earth, of course," she smiled again, 
liking the feeling of doing it, and having someone 
to smile at. " Food is merely food, and we hardly 
had a chance to see what they've done on the Moon 
with our own eyes."
	" How could I not miss it, Neptune?" Uranus 
asked in reply, dunked her head under the water, sat 
up, and began to scrub at her shoulders with soap 
and a rag. " It was home, after all. I miss it 
everyday."
	" I'm glad I'm not the only one," Neptune 
whispered, her voice just audible to the other 
woman. " When is it going to end, Uranus? Will we 
be doing this forever?"   
	" Nothing lasts forever, Neptune," she 
responded after a few moments. She stood and upended 
the last bucket over herself, washing away the soap 
and began to dry herself with a towel. " Not even 
our duty, I don't think."
	" It's so hard right now, though," Neptune 
went on, still whispering. " Everything I see here 
reminds me of all I've lost. My family is gone, and 
all my friends. Only you and Pluto even know I ever 
existed."
	Oh, Serenity, Uranus sighed inside, offering up 
a prayer to the first Queen as Neptune rolled over on 
her side and began to quietly cry, the tears streaming 
down her face. She'd never had to deal with this. She 
was an only child. Why couldn't this be Pluto who 
Neptune was opening up to, the one who had more 
siblings than she herself had cousins? 
	Uranus quickly pulled on a clean robe and 
walked over to the bed, and sat down next to Neptune. 
Not knowing what else to do, she put her hand over 
one of Neptune's and stayed there until the other 
woman cried herself to sleep.

****

	The blonde smiled to herself, looking at her 
reflection in a sheet of polished brass that was 
taller than she, reaching all the way up to the 
ceiling. The gown she wore may not have been as 
fine as some of the ones in her closets back in 
her castle, but it was beautifully, gloriously 
different from anything she had. 
	The hem swept around and brushed the floor 
as she twirled, admiring how it looked on her. She'd 
worn far simpler things when she was younger, or a 
man's clothes when needed for dirty work, but that 
hadn't meant she didn't like dressing up.   
	" Isn't this just wonderful?" she almost 
gushed. Neptune came across the shop to see her 
while the tailor's daughter sat at a table and 
altered a seam in a dress to properly fit Neptune.
	" It is," Neptune agreed, smiling at the 
sight of the other woman being happy, almost 
exuberant. The letters they usually used to 
correspond with couldn't convey too much of how 
the other person was feeling, and the times they 
actually had talked were emergencies, during which 
it was time to be deadly serious. " If we can, 
we'll stop back after we're done here."
	In a more serious and softer voice, she 
went on, picking up a carefully folded outfit 
and handing it to the blonde. " The only people 
who have been openly wearing weapons have been 
the Guard and the nobility. You'll never pass 
yourself off as a Guardsman since they know one 
another. The detachment here is too small."
	" I know," Uranus replied, equally soft-spoken, 
and then sighed. " Still... "
	" We can't be found out. Two new Senshi would 
create quite a stir in the Moon Kingdom," Neptune 
replied with a glance towards the shopkeeper, and 
gestured towards a curtain separating off one corner 
of the room. The blonde went behind it and began to 
change, and Neptune looked around the shop, hungrily 
drinking in the feel of it.
	Thankfully, Uranus hadn't said a word about 
her crying the previous night. After being away 
from people for so long, coming back to a city was 
overwhelming. Her family life had been very urban, 
which was to be expected from a girl who grew up in 
the capital of the fledgling Golden Kingdom. 
	Her father had been a groundskeeper who oversaw 
the design and care of the gardens of the King, and 
was often commissioned to do the same by a number of 
nobles. While technically, she was part of the lower 
class, the King's gratitude for her father's skill 
earned them a higher rank in society, and those of 
the higher ranks simply didn't move too far away 
from the seat of power. She'd never been outside 
the capital, save for visits to estates that were 
perched on the hills around the capital overlooking 
nearby farms and the ocean. 
	Therefore, the isolation since she made her 
vow to Serenity I was especially hard on her, since 
she was used to being constantly around people. Last 
night, her feelings had overwhelmed her; the delight 
of seeing other people again, and the sense of dread 
of knowing that she'd have to go back to being alone.
	" How's this?" Uranus asked, stepping back into 
view. To Neptune, the high black boots, white trousers, 
and a blue jacket with gold embroidery on the shoulders 
made her not only look like she had a military background, 
but also looked like a nobleman's costume as well. Add 
in a sword, and people would think twice before 
questioning Uranus' right to carry one.
	" Perfect," she replied with a small, tight 
smile so as to not let the other woman see what she 
was feeling. If the fog hunters weren't well-established, 
they could be done with their mission shortly. Did 
it really have to end so soon?

****


	They made two circuits of the settlement, staying 
to the outskirts at first. They had no idea of their 
enemies' plans or strength, so they kept their eyes open, 
enjoying the sights and sounds of the city as best they 
could while they searched. Their disguises must have 
worked, as nobody spared them more than a second look 
save for admiring glances drawn by their looks.
	The town itself was very much like a small town 
on Earth, with the exception of the magic that let it 
survive. The farms around the town provided food for 
the settlement, but more importantly would begin to 
turn the air of the planet from the poison it currently 
was into something breathable. Hundreds if not thousands 
of years would be required, but with the aid of the 
Silver Crystal anything was possible, and many people 
were here to get a foothold on the new world.
	A central market ruled the middle of town, and 
was a hotbed of commercial ventures. Most of the people 
were from the Moon Kingdom, with the light skin and 
light hair that was the norm for the people on the Moon. 
Scattered among them like ravens among doves were a 
small number of merchants from the Golden Kingdom, with 
their wily looks, dark hair and more olive complexions. 
Even their tents were colorful, bright silks standing 
out from white canvas.
	" I'm almost surprised they're here, given what's 
happening with the plague," Neptune quietly murmured 
to Uranus and motioning towards the people from Earth 
with a nod of her head.
	" It's not like they can go home, either," Uranus 
softly replied. " The gates between here and Moon are 
down, and the plague hasn't spread to the settlement." 
	There were craftsmen's shops near the central 
square, still an easy walk for shoppers, and then a 
ring of inns and taverns before one got to the houses. 
The newness of the settlement and need for importing 
much of the materials led to small houses. Few houses 
were of any size, and those that were obviously 
belonged to the rich.
	It was while walking down one of the two broad 
avenues that cut the town into quarters that Neptune 
stopped suddenly and looked around wildly, eyes 
unfocused on the buildings around them.
	" Larva," she whispered in response to Uranus 
tightly taking her arm. The blonde scowled and looked 
around her.
	" No wonder we couldn't find nests. There's 
enough people here that they just started," Uranus 
grumbled, trying to cover up a pang of worry. The 
only time a fog hunter had started laying eggs 
directly into prey before building a nest was when 
one reached Neptune and drifted into a group of 
floaters. The large, balloonlike creatures were 
gathered around a rich cluster of the gases they 
fed off of, and were not fast movers in any case. The 
fog hunter went into a feeding frenzy on the first 
floater, and then started laying eggs into the others.  
	Sailor Neptune arrived shortly after the fog 
hunter, but the eggs had quickly hatched and grown 
into a larval form. The larva would merge with and 
mutate the host for survivability until it could further 
grow into a mature fog hunter. Despite the monster's 
youth,  the result was thoroughly malevolent. Neptune 
spent almost two weeks constantly chasing down and 
killing the warped creatures.
	" In there," Neptune said, gesturing with a hand 
as she shook her head to clear it from the shock of 
sensing the larva. The use of one of her new powers, 
an ability to sense an enemy, was also a strain. She'd 
manifest a focus for those abilities shortly, much like 
Pluto had her staff, but for now it was still taxing. 
	Uranus scowled, turned to face the tavern, and 
loosened her sword in its sheath.

****     


	Inside the tavern, it was warm and noisy despite 
only being the early evening. The main room was packed 
full, and a half-dozen serving girls were briskly moving 
back and forth with steaming platters of food and foaming 
pitchers of ale. An elderly woman, her silver hair shining 
in the light, was singing a lively folk song in a 
still-strong voice, with most of the people joining 
in on the refrains.
	The barkeep waved them over to a table wedged 
into a corner near a group of blacksmiths, their trade 
clearly evident due to spark-scarred leather aprons and 
large shoulders and arms. The men were loud, used to 
talking over the noise in their shop, and were discussing 
the latest news from the Moon and their opinions on the 
efforts by the Golden Kingdom to help stop the plague.
	" Ale?" Uranus asked impulsively of one of the 
girls as she came to their table, and smiled when the 
girl nodded. " Supper, as well," Uranus added. She met 
Neptune's eyes for a moment, and chuckled at the look 
in them.
	" I see," Neptune commented in an amused 
voice. " Enjoying yourself while you can, aren't 
you?"
	" I might as well," the blonde quipped, 
smiling broadly and leaning back in her chair. 
Outwardly, she looked like she was just resting 
and glancing around, but was actually looking 
closely at the people she could see. Neptune was 
doing the same, she knew, trying to find the host 
by the signs of acute distress that would be the 
first part of the larva changing the host. The 
important part was to not seem to be a threat. Until 
they knew how far along the incubation was, neither 
wanted to chance making the host nervous enough to 
flee. The larva's survival instincts were strong.
	Minutes later, the food arrived. Uranus reached 
for her tankard of ale like she was thirsty. She 
pretended to take a sip, and peered over the rim at 
one of the patrons sitting near the door to her left. As 
she put the tankard down, she tapped Neptune's leg with 
one of her boots, and motioned that way with her eyes 
when Neptune looked up.
	" Mmm hmmm," the woman murmured in agreement. He 
did seem to be a likely suspect. His slight flush 
could have been the heat of the crowded room or a 
fever, but she had an instinctive reaction just from 
looking at him; a feeling of wrongness.
	They ate and drank sparingly as the evening wore 
on, and they carefully watched the man. New singers 
took the woman's place. Many of the songs were new and 
eagerly listened to. Some, however, were familiar 
songs which they joined in on the refrains, or listened 
to the new words matched with tunes they knew. 
	At last, the man they were watching rose to his
feet, left some coins on the table, and swayed to the 
door. The two women followed, Neptune pausing only a 
moment to take a large woolen cloak from a peg by the 
door where its owner had left it.
	" Keep an eye out," Uranus whispered to Neptune, 
her hand on hilt of her sword as they walked after him. As 
hoped, he soon left the more crowded main street, and 
moved off onto a smaller lane that was empty for the 
moment.
	Neptune quickly grabbed Uranus' arm. Now that 
they were away from the crowd in the tavern, she could 
clearly tell the man was a host to a fog hunter larva. 
Uranus looked at her, nodded, and eased her arm from 
Neptune's grasp. Neither liked what was going to happen, 
but both knew the necessity. He was no longer a man, 
and would soon be a monster.
	As Neptune averted her eyes, Uranus carefully 
drew her blade, and then dashed forward. The man was 
run through before he even had time to react, and 
Uranus clamped her arm around his head to muffle any 
cry he might make. His frame stiffened, muscles 
straining against the inevitable for a moment, and 
then he slumped lifeless to the ground.
	" Let's get out of here," Uranus said, wiping 
blood from her blade on the dead man's tunic. Her own 
clothes were stained red on the front as well, and she 
accepted the cloak that Neptune silently handed her.

****


	Three more days had passed, and they had found 
four more hosts.
	The settlement was rife with rumors and accusations 
about the five deaths, and one not of their doing. A 
man accused of being the killer had been torn apart by 
a mob before the Guard could stop the angry crowd.
	No blame fell on the two Senshi, however. It 
seemed the Guard felt it was the work of the lower 
classes, as the two had previously expected. Their 
clothes and bearing kept them from being suspects 
for now.
	" You're thinking the same thing I'm thinking," 
Neptune said to Uranus on their fourth morning in the 
settlement as she joined her for breakfast. This 
tavern was not as much to her liking as the first 
they stayed in, and not as busy as she'd prefer, but 
they had to keep moving. They were not residents, and 
eventually would be noticed as such.
	The tall woman mumbled her agreement around a 
cold leg of a chicken from last night's dinner. " It's 
not in the settlement itself," she went on after a 
drink of water.
	" They've always been drawn to life forms before," 
Neptune quietly agreed. " It's time to widen our search. 
We'll be found out if we keep chasing larva, or they'll 
be a horde of full adults on our hands."
	" Root of the problem, after all," Uranus sourly 
added, reminded of her desire to take the fight to 
Nemesis, and her inability to do it. Uranus finished 
the last of the chicken before standing and buckling 
on her sword belt.
	The two women left, and headed out to the farms, 
starting in the direction opposite from where Neptune 
had arrived at, reasoning that she would have sensed 
the fog hunter if it was there. 
	Away from the houses, shops and inns, it was much 
quieter. There was little breeze and the temperature 
was always the same thanks to the Queen's enchantment, 
but few people were about in the area they were in 
despite it's beauty and tranquillity. The settlement 
was packed full of people, but perhaps it was the 
dividing line that kept people from staying too close 
to the edge. Most of the farmers, they'd found out, 
would return to the settlement each night.
	In the distance to their right as they walked 
to the top of a low rise, they could see the green of 
the farms turn into the red sands of the planet. Every 
day, the barrier would move out another foot or two, 
and eventually the new land would be plowed and 
planted. Another row of hedges would be planted, and 
beyond that another, resulting in a narrow lane such 
as the one they were on now.
	" This is a lot like home," Uranus said, looking 
at the fields and farms. " We had a small farm, just 
like that one." She motioned towards the buildings on 
her left, three barns and a smaller building which 
looked like living quarters. There was still no sign 
of anyone.
	" It was up in a valley. Father said it was 
useless for growing crops, but it was good grazing 
land, so he raised cattle and hogs."
	" How did he ever make it work?" Neptune asked. Her 
father had been involved in farming, but for a very 
different purpose. 
	" Cheese and hams," Uranus explained, and carefully 
put a hand on Neptune's shoulder, turning her to face 
the buildings she'd indicated. " We'd get up every morning 
to milk the cows to make cheese, and have four wheels of 
cheese started each day.
	" We'd make a hard white cheese that was aged for a 
long time, so the big barn was where we'd store them on 
racks to age. The hogs were fed grass and the curds that 
were leftover from the cheese, and we'd smoke the hams in 
the smaller barn."
	Uranus stopped, seemingly reminiscing, and 
tightened her grip on Neptune's shoulder. " The 
middle one was special, though," the tall woman 
went on." My mother had a garden right behind it, 
and I'd go out to it each morning with a cup of tea 
when I could to see the fog clear away from the valley 
each morning."	
	" Fog?" Neptune asked, puzzled at the unusual 
emphasis Uranus put on the word, and then realized what 
Uranus was carefully hinting at. She'd been so caught 
up in being here that she hadn't been paying attention 
to anything but that, and a fog hunter had an uncanny 
ability to sense fear. Between themselves, they'd often 
suspected that the fog hunters were empathic due to how 
they reacted to the terror the mere sight of one would 
cause in their prey. If the other woman hadn't been so 
careful, Neptune knew she might have reacted strongly 
enough to draw a hunter's attention.
	Just as she started to open her mind to see if 
she could find any traces, Uranus shoved her hard, 
making her stumble to her right and fall. A long, massive 
reptilian-looking head with razor-sharp, barbed horns 
flashed through the spot where they'd been standing. The 
fog hunter!
	Uranus was already in motion, having jumped up and 
to the left. Clothing blurred into her uniform as a 
cascade of golden light gushed from her fingertips, 
washing over the serpentine head of the beast to distract 
it.
	" The barns! Get the barns!" Uranus yelled as she 
landed in a defensive crouch with sword drawn. Neptune 
gulped, and mustered her will. A towering wall of water 
rose up in response to her command, and smashed all four 
buildings into kindling.
	The beast hissed, enraged, and turned towards 
Neptune. Both Senshi could hear the high pitched wailing 
inside as hundreds of larva were suddenly exposed to 
Earth intensity sunlight that was utterly foreign to their
kind, and died from the shock of it. Their distant home 
of Nemesis was a dark place, and only an adult hunter 
could survive it without a host.
	" I didn't feel a thing from it!" Neptune gasped, 
scrambling to her feet and edging backwards as she 
manifested her uniform. The mottled light and dark 
gray bulk of the fog hunter, over thirty feet of scale 
and malevolence, shifted as it tracked her with cold,
black eyes.
	" Neither did I," Uranus replied in a low voice, 
breathing deeply from the sudden, reflexive use of her 
power. " But I've never been on a farm which was that 
quiet."
	" The light gives us an advantage," Neptune said, 
remembering her experiences with the monsters she'd 
fought before on her namesake planet. There, she'd 
been closer to the fog hunter's natural environment, 
but now they had an advantage. However, even if 
partially blinded, the fog hunter was still stronger 
than both of them, swift as a snake when it attacked, 
and emitted a deadly poison from the barbed horns. 
	" I'll stand still," she said, moving her lips 
as little as possible. The hunters were intelligent, 
the two knew from experience, but not to what extent, 
and often would not attack right away if the target 
didn't move. The two women had often used the tactic 
before to sneak up on the hunters.
	However, they also had never been this close to 
one at the start of a fight before. Both normally 
would chose to begin to attack from afar when they had 
to deal with the fog hunters, and by carefully stalking 
could achieve the best position. Also, while they had 
never used it, their ability to transport themselves with 
their castles had made an escape route available. On Mars, 
without easy access to their castles, they had no such 
fall-back position.	
	" I trust you, Neptune," Uranus said, not moving 
either. " I'll distract it by attacking, and you can 
get in the first blow as you pull back. On three... "
	Yelling as she started forward, Uranus rushed at 
the fog hunter. It turned and lashed forward much like 
the snake it seemed. The woman braced her hand against 
the flat of her sword blade as she tried to dodge to the 
side. Fangs bigger than her sword snapped shut next to her, 
narrowly missing, but she blocked one of the horns with 
the sword. The blade was dented, and she was flung to the 
ground by the impact but rolled and came up to one knee.
	As soon as the hunter moved, Neptune clenched her 
fists and thrust them forwards at the beast. Foregoing 
manifesting her power as water, she instead released raw 
power in a torrent of blue energy. She couldn't do this for 
very long, but they could not afford a long battle. Neptune's 
attack washed over the fog hunter, dazing it for the fraction 
of a second that Uranus needed. 
	Seeing her chance, the sword was dropped. She made a 
fist, golden light crackling and seething around it as she 
surged to her feet and slammed her fist into a coil of the 
fog hunter's long body. At that range, it did not matter 
how resistant the creature normally was to their 
attacks. It's mouth gaped open in pain as it was nearly 
severed. 
	" Get clear!" Neptune yelled, raising both hands 
above her head to summon a flood of water. It was too 
injured to move quickly in the resulting mud, and they 
would be able to finish it with ranged attacks. Uranus 
complied, leaping away before the mud was too thick to 
leap out of.  
	Both Senshi concentrated their most powerful 
attacks on their immobilized foe, and soon the creature's 
body was a charred, burnt pile of ash. The two women were 
sweating heavily and trembling from their exertions and 
fading adrenaline. Far away, they could hear shouts as 
people from other farms were making their way to the 
scene of the battle.
	" Blast it, they'll be here in a few minutes," 
Uranus growled, taking a deep breath and using the 
last of her strength to brush her power over the 
buildings, starting fires with the raw energy alone. " We 
need to go, and now. I'd liked to have stayed, but 
there'll be too many questions to avoid now."
	The tall woman turned to Neptune, and suddenly 
stepped forward to awkwardly hug her. Neptune stiffened 
at first, then returned the embrace, just as 
self-conscious as the other woman about how to hug 
her, but not the hug itself. They separated reluctantly.
	" I'm sorry, Neptune," Uranus murmured. " I 
was woolgathering and didn't realize what was 
happening until we were too close. The hosts were 
the farmhands, and it killed the animals."
	" I'm glad you're all right," Neptune 
replied. " I wanted to stay here with you, too... even 
if it was just a few days."
	" Maybe next time," Uranus replied, blushing, 
and then her expression became grim. " But it's the 
last time for Serenity; for any of them."
	Her fists were clenched, and Uranus' voice 
was low and thick with frustration and controlled 
fury. " There will be no more of this. I won't go 
back on my oath, and I won't stop fighting to protect 
the Moon Kingdom, but this is the last time I will 
fight like this. It's been three hundred and 
twenty-seven years, Neptune, and we still have 
to fight like this, fight in reaction to the fog 
hunters rather than attacking them on their own 
planet."
	Neptune nodded. This had been a subject they'd 
corresponded about far more than once over the years, 
and while she was not as vocal as Uranus about it, 
she felt much the same. The handicap they were under 
wasn't fair, nor right.
	Another shout came, closer than the rest. Uranus 
glanced over to see a young boy, just approaching his 
teens, running along the lane to the farm. 
	" The next time," she said to Neptune, knowing 
she had to hurry. " The next time, we do things our 
way, and we'll do it right. I'm not going to risk 
losing again."
	" We will," Neptune replied, nodding. She had 
heard the catch in Uranus' voice and was certain she 
knew what it meant. Uranus meant she didn't want to 
risk losing her again, like what had almost happened 
today.
	What made her certain was that she was thinking 
the same thing about Uranus.
	" Guardian, contact Pluto and tell her now," 
Neptune said firmly, looking into the sea-green eyes 
of the other woman. Hesitantly, she raised a hand as 
if to reach out. Uranus did the same, almost touching 
Neptune's as Pluto's spell carried them away.  


The End.

********

Sailor Moon created by Naoko Takeuchi.

All characters are copyrights of the respective holders.
Please send all comments, etc. to the above e-mail address.

Author's notes.

1. This is a manga based story that came about from some 
discussions in the past with Sailor Skuld regarding the 
past and the duties of the Senshi over the history of the 
Moon Kingdom. In what for me is an unusual approach, this 
time I had the details and crafted a story around them. 
Normally, I write in the opposite manner.

2. The term 'Silver Millennium' is often used in the 
manga to describe the realm on the Moon founded by Queen 
Serenity I. However, it seemed to me to be an odd way 
for a person to refer to the time they are living in, 
and more appropriate to a historian looking back on 
events. Therefore, I have changed the name to the Moon 
Kingdom in this story. I hope that this does not cause
 any confusion for the reader.


****

Special thanks to the following:

Pandora Diane MacMillan, for being both a wonderful 
person and a wonderful writer. Thank you for making me 
laugh and for making me think. Oh, yeah... and she's 
also a wonderful mother as well. 
http://webhome.idirect.com/~pwaldron/

Myrna Waldron, for her putting together a web page 
for me. It's not much now, but knowing her and her 
skills with html, look out. Her own page is at the 
following.
http://sera-muun.tripod.com

Sailor Skuld, for being one of the most important 
people in SM fanfiction. Thank you so much for all 
the effort and inspiration, Skuld. Your fanfic 
archive was the biggest and best for SM fanfic, 
and simply cannot be the same without you.
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/9897/	

Greenbeans, for being a fellow Outers fan, 
co-conspirator on the OST, and all-around nice 
person.	
http://www.tyrlen.org/gbeans/homepage/

Jackie Chiang, for being a fellow Outer fan, 
co-conspirator on the OST, and for always being 
so wonderfully silly on-line.
http://sailorsoldier.cjb.net/	

Alex Glover, for all his work and kindness in 
translating the manga.
http://www.nwlink.com/~kurozuki/manga.htm





{ Changing of the Guard 1/1 }