Obligations {1/3}

A Sailor Moon story by Tim Nolan in three parts.
e-mail: nomad@cyberverse.com

Please see comments following the story.

Obligations.

" Duty is heavier than a mountain,
  death is lighter than a feather."   - Japanese proverb.

Prologue.

        A hollow, booming sound resounded through the castle,
and the cracking sound from the gates brought cheers from
the attackers outside. He had just enough time to grab the
woman he came for and pull them into an alcove. The gates
finally were thrown open by the mass of troops that
spilled into the courtyard, searching for any survivors
of the choking, poisonous cloud of sickly green smoke
that was finally dissipating.
        He had shielded the two of them from the spell that
had lain low the defenders after their commander, one of
his apprentices, had fallen with an arrow through his
chest. The fool hadn't even kept himself properly
protected from mundane weapons. Another spell hid them
from the view of the attackers, who fanned out to search
and pillage the richly furnished keep.
        It didn't take long for the troops to force the
doors to the main keep, where he and the woman hid behind
a statue of Hermes in the entrance hall. With all the
efficiency that the Atlanteans were famed for, they checked
the hall for dangers and then let their king and his
retinue in.
        " Now, my dear, look upon the one that you love.
This was a result of his infatuation with that little
brat on the moon. As long as she has his heart in her
hand, you'll never have a chance to get him," he
whispered in her ear. She had stiffened when the royalty
had walked in, but her eyes ignored the finery of the
king or his four generals. She was captivated by the
sight of the young prince, who stood with the four
Warlords of Atlantis.
        The young man wore dark colors to set him off
from the clashing hues worn by his father. His uniform
was almost as drab as the gray tunics worn by the
Warlords, the actual leaders of the troops. The generals,
resplendent in their parade ground finery, were little
more than cronies of the king. The five old men reminded
him of a pack of old peacocks trying in vain to impress
each other.
        He glanced at the woman for a moment. She had been
part of a low ranking noble family that had fallen on
hard times. She wore a long black dress that was in
shreds that would have revealed much except for the
cloak her long, red hair made around her body. Her
features were pretty enough that she could have captured
the young man's heart if she would have learned to be
patient in her pursuit of her prey. Instead, she had
rushed in and was rebuffed by the young prince.
        Her love had turned to hatred and ate away at her
soul like a cancer. She fled from the court on the Moon
and been recruited by his apprentice at this castle. He
had arrived just in time to rescue her, for he could
make good use of her pain and anger. She will be an
excellent tool in time.
        " I'll show you how to get him. All you need is
a little training in the arts and politics. Do you see
the four men in the gray tunics? They are the key to
the military, which is the key to Atlantis. Their power
comes from their armies, which are aided by the Moon
Kingdom.
        " Those four old men, over there by the king,
they're his appointees. They don't have the support
of the troops, only that of the crown. They're nominally
in charge of the armies and the Warlords, but it's a very
unsteady command. All we need to do is to give it a
little push..." he said while a ball of chill, white
energy formed in his hand.
        " ...and it will all come tumbling down. ICE
BOLT!" he cried out and flung it at the king. One of
the warlords, the one with long, white hair, had
sensed something and had leaped to place himself
in the line of fire to shield the king.
        It was done in vain. The glowing ball curved
up and over his diving body and slammed into the chest
of the king, knocking the old man to the ground. The
young prince charged towards the statue he hid behind
with the other three warlords in his wake, but he had
prepared for this. The gate he had used to come here
was still there, and he simply grabbed the woman and
stepped backwards into the cool darkness of his
study. He slashed out with his hand to break the
gate spell to prevent pursuit and walked to the table
to pour himself a glass of wine. He took a drink, and
then poured one for the woman.
        She took it and drank while sitting on one of
the chairs in the room. He could almost see her mind
at work. He'd have to teach her some subtlety in her
expressions.
        " I'll head off the inevitable questions, my dear.
The king isn't dead, but he'll be next to useless for
the rest of his life. The generals and the warlords will
be at each others throats for several months while the
power is re-distributed. Your prince will have to take
on more and more responsibilities and that will leave him
wide open for all the nobles to try to manipulate him to
their own ends. That will leave him little time to see
the princess and give you the opening you need."
        " Why did you save me?" she asked. That, at least,
was a good sign. She was thinking about the situation. It
was a good start.
        " I have my own score to settle with Atlantis and
the Moon Kingdom, my dear Beryl. After I train you for
the task at hand, you'll be able to walk in and take both
him and Atlantis. After that, we'll take the Moon
Kingdom. I hope the idea of betraying your home doesn't
upset you."
        The memories came back to her, despite all her
efforts to stop them. She had been able to coax the
prince into a few conversations and was so close to
catching him she could almost taste him. Then, one
afternoon, all her dreams fell apart. The little witch
was the source of all her problems. She wanted that
blonde head on a silver tray.
        " No, it doesn't. Not at all."

End - Prologue

******************************************************

Obligations

Part 1

        A soft, spring rain had just finished falling. There
hadn't been a lot of precipitation, just a light, even
downpour that made the streets glow from the reflected
lights of the city. The rain had cooled the air slightly,
bringing the temperature down to where it was just
tolerable when compared to the heat of the day. The
clouds were clearing away to the east, allowing the
light from the gibbous moon to bathe in soft silver
the areas where the neon did not hold sway over the
city.
        It was in one of the fields of silver among the
fences of streetlights that a figure crept through a
house, carefully trying to avoid making a sound. She
had thought her hunger had awoken her, but even the
ice cream in the freezer didn't ease what she was
feeling. The container was put back in the freezer
after only a single spoonful, surely a record for her.
Thanks were quietly given to the designers who decided
the freezer didn't need a light like the refrigerator
did.
        The young woman slipped around the spot in the
hallway by the stairs that always creaked when weight
was placed upon it. She had learned that one some time
ago. The same long years of experience at nocturnal
raids on the kitchen allowed her to move to the stairs
without awakening her brother, who now slept in the
downstairs room right by the stairs and doorway. He'd
make a ruckus if he heard her, just to get her in
trouble.
        The sleeping arrangements had been changed a few
months ago, after it became clear their visitor would
be here a while this time. Shingo had been put in what
was her mother's sewing room, and his old room now
housed the person she decided was the source of what
troubled her tonight. She crept silently up the stairs,
avoiding the slightly loose fifth step, and stopped just
outside the room next to hers. Her ears strained to hear
any noise from inside, and a few moments holding her breath
allowed her to hear the faint whimper from inside. She
exhaled quietly and weighed her feelings in her mind.
        Most sixteen year old girls didn't have this kind
of problem, she thought to herself while faintly smiling.
At least she would have the advantage of having gotten
through many of the worst problems she would have had in
the future with her daughter. Knowing who her daughter
was and having the chance to help raise her before she
was born was confusing, to say the least, but it also
gave her hope that it would get better. Chibi-usa always
commented on how close she was to her mother, and sometimes
that was the only thing she could cling to in order to
make it through the nights of the last few months.
        The most recent threat they had faced had nearly
removed any chance of her having her family. Queen
Nephrenia had nearly destroyed them, and Chibi-usa had
faded from sight as the probability of her existing
became more and more remote. She and the Sailor Senshi
had defeated Nephrenia, and restored her chance of
having the little girl, who reappeared as soon as Mamoru
had been freed from the Queen's influence. She hadn't
fully realized how much the little girl had come to mean
to her. It had taken her all this time since then to
come to this conclusion.
        Another whimper from inside the room brought her
abruptly to the present and  action. She carefully turned
the knob, opened the door and slipped into the room. The
sheets on the bed were tangled around the girl, who
twisted again and again in an effort to move while she
cried out once from some nightmare.
        " Chibi-usa-chan?" she said softly, laying her
hand on the girl's cheek. The girl woke with a start,
still obviously caught in the throes of the dream.
        " Mama?" she said in her clear, high pitched
voice as Usagi's heart broke from
the pain in her daughter's voice. She could never
remember her calling her own mother that. It was always
Mommy, or when she was older, Mom. The only person she
could ever remember calling that was a vague recollection
of her other mother that was more emotions than images.
It was probably just the dream, but Chibi-usa had never
called her that before, and to her surprise, she liked
it.
        " It's all right, Chibi-usa-chan, I'm here. It's
only a bad dream," she said soothingly to the young girl
while freeing her from the tangle of blankets and then
scooping her up into a hug. " It's all right, honey. I'll
stay with you, O.K.?"
        The little girl wiped away a few tears from her
eyes as she nodded her assent while Usagi covered her
with the pink heart and white rabbit sheets and lay down
next to her. The young girl squirmed around so that her
head rested on Usagi's shoulder. She gave her daughter
a reassuring squeeze and cradled her in the embrace of
her left arm.
        " Do you want to talk about it, Chibi-usa-chan?" she
said, watching her eyes slide closed as sleep once more
began to exert it's hold on the young girl.
        " No, " the young girl mumbled. " I've already
forgotten about it. Thank you for coming in and...
checking... on... ." The girl fell silent as she went
once more to sleep, her breathing a soft, slow cadence
that set Usagi's heart at rest. Somehow, she must have
felt the fears the girl was having and had woken up.
        She lay there a long time, trying to sleep, but
her thoughts kept her wide awake as her mind raced. She
tried counting sheep, but kept on losing track in the
several hundreds and finally gave up. Fortunately, it
was not a school night and she could sleep in, assuming
she ever went back to sleep.
        " Thank you, Mama." the little girl whispered aloud,
lost in some dream of a happy time. The tears came to her
eyes, finally, and she lay there and let them spill down
her face for several long minutes. She glanced down at
the sleeping girl, studying her face. She was so cute
when she was like this. Far too often, they were arguing
with each other and it was twisted up in anger at her. It
had to change, she decided.
        " Chibi-usa-chan?" she said softly to the little
girl. There was no response, but that didn't matter to
her right now. She would have to learn to say this to
herself, and to believe it in the times to come, if she
really wanted it to change. Like any journey, it would
begin with the first step, and that was admitting the
problem was there.
        " I'm tired of all of this fighting, Chibi-usa-chan. I
want to be more like the mother that you need. I won't be
able to change overnight, but I will try to be different
towards you. This time, when I thought I lost you, I
realized how much you mean to me. I want us to be happy
together here, you and I and Mamo-ch -... your father.
        " Please be patient with me, Small Lady. I 'm not
yet Neo-Queen Serenity, but I'll try to be like her for
you. I'll try harder to be the mama that you need here,"
she said as she stretched her neck down, kissed the
sleeping child and brushed her hand over the pink hair.
        Her guilt assuaged, sleep finally came to her and
she joined her daughter in dreamland. Neither of the
sleepers heard the faint sound of a set of paws landing
on the windowsill. The black cat settled there, the
golden crescent on her forehead glowing in the moonlight,
and looked at the young woman, clearly startled by this
unseen side of her charge and the speech she had just
heard.

*******************************************************

        " Thank you, Ami-chan. This means a lot to me. I'm
glad you're willing to help me on this," the blonde girl
said, giving the other a quick, impulsive hug. They both
turned and walked up the long set of steps to the temple.
At the top, they were greeted by another girl, who had
just finished sweeping the courtyard and stood beneath
one of the large trees while feeding a pair of crows.
        " Good morning, Rei-chan," the girl with the short,
blue hair said with a small bow in deference to the
priestess-in-training. Minako, remembering her manners,
also sketched a bow at Rei. Leave it to Ami to give her
a lesson in manners, even in dealing with an old friend.
        " I'm still not sure this will work, Minako," said
the girl with the raven hair as they filed up the stairs
to her room in the temple. " I thought we would need to
have Sailor Moon for this. We've never tried it without
her."
        " It should work, Rei-chan. Thank you for agreeing
to help." the blonde girl said as she sat in a chair by a
small desk while Rei began to change out of the traditional
robes she wore. Ami blushed slightly and looked out the
window at the sunrise, squinting slightly to let her eyes
adjust to the brightness.
        " Why is it just the three of us, Minako?" she
said as she pulled on her jeans and a sweater. " What
about Mako-chan? Why didn't you ask her?" Minako sighed
once before answering.
        " If we are successful, I may not want Usagi
knowing what we did. I trust Mako-chan with her life,
but I'm afraid that she might say something about this
accidentally. I hate to slight her, but I trust you two
more to keep it a secret if need be."
        " I'm not sure I appreciate such a compliment,
Minako-chan," Ami said after a few moments of silence,
" Not at the expense of a friend."
        " I'm sorry, Ami-chan," the blonde girl said, coolly
meeting the gazes from the other two. " If this didn't
concern Usagi, I would have never brought that up. Let's
go downstairs, into the courtyard. I'll explain everything
there."
        They went down to the courtyard, the stiff breeze
sending their hair flying to one side as they walked. By
some inner understanding, they ended up standing around a
patch of new stones in the walkway, their color slightly
paler than the others. They had used this exact spot several
times before as a starting point. That was one of the
factors that had led the blonde girl to decide to try
this at the temple.
        Minako looked at them, studying her friends. She
was about to ask them to face something they all had an
unspoken agreement to not discuss. It wouldn't be an easy
thing to ask of them, and she would probably be as hurt
as much as they would be if her plan was successful today.
        Ami had her normal, slightly determined look on her
face as she blinked a few times at the rising sun in the
east. She wore, at Minako's request, a good, tough pair
of jeans and a warm sweater. Her boots were more for
walking then hiking, but they would suffice.
        Rei had on the same type of clothes as Ami, and
was patiently waiting for Minako to begin. She wished
she had that patience to call upon. If it came down to it,
she could spend hours at a single task if it concerned their
duties as a Senshi, but Rei could do the same thing in her
normal life. If she could do that, her grades would be more
like Ami's as opposed to Usagi's.
        " Again, thank you very much for helping me on this,"
she began, looking at both of them. " I know it's a lot to
ask of you to do something like this without knowing
everything, but I can't tell you everything just yet. It'll
all be clear when we get there. I know we never did this
without Sailor Moon, but we've gone to this place before,
and that should help. We've also done things without her
before, like the barrier we put up around Mugen Gakuen
High School.
        " Do you remember when we went to that asteroid that
Fiore was on?" She waited for both of them to nod in
reply. " I was the one who called out the orders to attack
that first seed when we used the Planet power, so I think
I can get us started. I don't think that we have to have
Usagi."
        Ami nodded, her mind racing through the
possibilities. " It's a sound theory, Minako-chan. I'll
help you," she said, smiling at the other two.
        " I'm in as well, Minako. I trust you on this," Rei
replied.
        They looked again at each other, then Rei and Ami
reached into their dimensional pockets to take out their
transformation wands.
        " Mercury Crystal Power, Make-up!"
        " Mars Crystal Power, Make-up!"
        In a flash of red and blue light, the two girls
were gone. In their place stood two of the Sailor Senshi,
the wind causing the longer bows on the back of their
skirts to flutter wildly. Minako looked at them again,
hefted her backpack onto one shoulder and pulled out
her wand.
        " Venus Crystal Power, Make-up!"
        When the orange light subsided and she was Sailor
Venus, she reached out her hands to her friends. They
took hers, and each others, forming a small circle
around the new and often-replaced stones of the walkway.
Eyes closed, they concentrated as they began to faintly
glow in the same colors of their tiara stones while Rei
and Minako's hair drifted up above them.
        " Sailor Teleport!" Minako cried out, thinking
with everything she had of that one place they did not
discuss. I'm sorry to do this, my friends. Please don't
think I love you less because of this. I never wanted to
harm you, but I have to go there. My dreams don't leave
me any choice.
        The bone-chilling cold was the first thing they
noticed. Rei muttered a curse under her breath that a
Catholic school girl had no business knowing while Minako
changed back to her normal self and started handing out
parkas and pants to the others from her backpack.
        " What is this place, Minako?" Ami said as she pulled
on the cold weather gear. " I don't think we've been here
before." She continued to look around her, waiting for a
snow flurry to clear so she could see around her. Minako
and Rei pulled theirs on, with Minako turning back into
Venus before getting dressed, but leaving the backpack off.
The cold usually wouldn't bother them when they were the
Senshi, but the cold here was as much of the spirit as
that of the flesh, and the parkas would help ease the
mind.
        " Minako!" Rei suddenly screamed at her in rage and
pain as she realized where they were. Ami turned at the
outburst and got a look at the terrain as the snow cleared
behind them. Her face went as white as the snow, and then
she ran off to be violently sick, leaning against a small
boulder as she retched.
        " What the hell were you thinking, you fool! You're
as scatter-brained as Usagi,  you blonde ditz!" she yelled
as she slapped Minako across the face, a red welt coming
instantly to the girl's cheek. She hadn't even moved to
avoid it, and the fact that there were tears rolling down
her face before she was slapped made Rei stop her tirade
a few moments later as her anger faded.
        " I'm sorry, Rei. I had to come here, and this is
the only way I could think of getting here." Minako said,
her voice close to breaking while she looked down and
refused to meet her eyes. " I didn't want to hurt you like
this, but I was afraid that you'd say no if I asked
beforehand."
        Rei reached out and pulled the sobbing blonde into
an embrace. Minako was very much like Usagi in that both
hated to see anyone hurt. It must have been very difficult
for her to do this.
        " I forgive you, Minako-chan. Please forgive my
outburst. That was my anger speaking, and my pain. It
wasn't my heart."
        The blonde stepped back, wiping away the tears. She
went to her backpack and pulled out a bottle of mineral
water and some towels.
        " I thought this might happen," she said softly
to Rei, and went over to Ami, who has just finishing the
last of her dry heaves. She nudged the shorter girl slightly
and held out the water and towels with a sad smile.
        " I'm sorry, Ami," she said to her, smiling
tentatively. " I knew it would be worst for you, as you
were one of the first." After Ami had cleaned herself up,
they turned to go back to Rei, but the slight wail of the
wind kept them from hearing a whispered chant.
        An ofuda struck Minako squarely between the eyes,
causing her to fall in surprise, landing on her backside,
and Ami to burst out in laughter at the sight.
        " We're even, Minako." Rei said with a glint in her
eye before all three started laughing together. Ami helped
Minako to her feet while Rei attached an ofuda to Ami and
herself.
        " It pays to be careful in a place like this," the
black haired girl said, looking about uneasily. She could
feel the evil in this place, the residue was so strong. " Let's
get this over with."
        They started retracing their steps from that fateful
day long ago. The first sign that they were on the right
path was a patch of reddish snow that almost made Ami
lose it again. She forced herself to stop trembling and
looked around her.
        " This was where I died." she said. " That shouldn't
be here. The snow should have covered it or been blown
away by now."
        " I can still feel the evil here," Rei replied. " It's
like a smell that has gotten
into a place after a long time. Let's hurry, everybody."
        They detoured around the place where Ami had fallen
and made a direct course to where Minako had her last
moments. It wasn't easy for her to see the place either,
due to the memories it stirred, but she seemed to know
exactly where to go and was determined to go there.
         It took several minutes to reach the pile of ice
and rocks that marked the spot. Minako began to look
around and talk to Ami about what to scan for while Rei
leaped to the top of a large boulder and looked to the
north, where a small crater could still be made out, the
edges blackened and burnt.
        They wouldn't go there, thankfully, but she had to
look at it while she was here. How could Usagi have done
it, she thought to herself. How could she have continued
on after watching them die, one by one? At the time, she
had been yelling and screaming at the poor girl. Now that
it was in the past and she was not hurt herself by
watching what had occurred, she could appreciate Usagi's
strength even more. The princess didn't act very strong
in everyday life, but she always came through when the
chips were down.
        It took Ami several minutes to find what they sought
as she walked around with her computer scanning and showing
the results on her visor. Minako's instructions weren't
that precise, thanks to her poor grades in her science
classes and a lack of solid information, so it took a while
to find. Eventually, she had to search in reverse, scanning
for what wasn't there as opposed to trying to find something
that was.
        Rei was called over to free the sword from a layer of
ice, and she carefully melted it loose of the icy grasp.
It was made of a silvery, metallic substance that Ami
could not identify. Her computer didn't even have a match
for whatever it was made of.
        " Don't touch it," Minako warned the others.
        " I didn't get it hot, Minako-chan," Rei said,
protesting.
        " It's not the heat, Rei-chan." The blonde replied,
steeling herself for the attempt to take it. " It may be
harmful to the touch if you aren't the one it's meant for."
        She reached out, grasped the hilt and hefted it.
It was a heavy one, designed for someone bigger than
her and far stronger. Mako-chan probably couldn't even
use it properly, but Haruka just might be able to. The
hilt was almost too big for her to hold on to properly,
and she used her other hand to steady her grip. It had
twin crescents for a guard, one opening towards the tip
and one towards the pommel.
        After cautioning them to stand back, she walked
over to a large rock and took a two-handed swing at it.
The lack of resistance as it cut through the stone
caused her to lose her feet, falling on her rear for the
second time today. Ami and Rei were so impressed by the
halved boulder that they didn't even laugh at her plight
or her pout.
        " Minako-chan, what is that thing?" Rei said, surprised
at the result. Ami
looked at her as well, her eyes betraying her eagerness
for the information to help her solve this new puzzle.
        " It's the Silver Crescent Sword, the twin to the
Silver Moon Sword that the Commander of the Guard on the
Moon carried." The names seemed familiar to both Rei and
Ami, even if they couldn't figure out why, so they didn't
have any questions or comments. This often happened with
the fragmented memories of their past life. Minako's
next statement was the bombshell, however.
        " This sword is the symbol of the leader of the
Sailor Senshi."
        " What?" Ami and Rei said in unison. Minako smiled
gently at them.
        " Usagi was never one of us in the past as a
Sailor Senshi. There was no Sailor Moon in the Moon
Kingdom. She's still our leader now, Rei-chan, but I
was the leader in the past." she said. Her eyes lost
focus and her voice dropped so the other two had to
listen carefully to hear the rest. " My dreams were
right. It was here all this time."
        " Dreams, Minako? What kind of dreams?" the
priestess said softly, half to the others and half to
herself. What if this was some kind of trap by some new
enemy? Minako blinked twice, and seemed to come back to
the present. She could see the concerned look that was
clearly written in Rei's eyes.
        " I'm all right, Rei-chan. Thank you for caring." She
gave her a warm smile before continuing. " They started
when we first began seeing the talismans. The sight of
Haruka's Space Sword made me realize that something was
missing.
        " The first dream happened a few nights after that.
I had a flashback to when we were preparing for the last
battle at the Moon Kingdom, just before Queen Beryl's
armies attacked. I remembered drawing it to emphasize to
someone the point that I was the one to make the decision,
not her. Queen Serenity agreed with me, and she backed me
up with her own decree. I figured that if I didn't have it
with me, it could only be here."
        Ami and Rei were quiet for several moments while they
tried to see if this disclosure brought any new memories to
them. All of their recollections of the Moon Kingdom and
the last days of the Silver Millennium were vague and hazy
due to their re-incarnation in the present. Even Luna and
Artemis didn't have many clear memories of the past. All
they had to go on was scraps and fragments that fell far
short of satisfying their curiosity.
        " She was so beautiful," Minako whispered. " Now I
know where Usagi gets it from. She's just like her mother.
You see her and you just have to love her. You don't have
any choice in the matter."
        Rei was still searching inside of herself, so Ami
was the only one to see the mischievous twinkle appear in
Minako's eyes.
        " You'd better be careful, Rei. You can push Usagi
around, but she'll be more than your match if she takes
after her mother," the blonde girl said while smiling
sweetly at her intended target. Rei looked up sharply, the
color rising on her face until she realized she
was starting to fall into Minako's trap. She liked gently
teasing the others, and the easy banter put her mind at
rest about this journey being a plot by some unknown enemy
that had ensnared the blonde.
        " I do not push her around, Minako. She-"
        " Is that what we came for, Minako-chan?" Ami said
softly, interrupting the others and their 'discussion' that
was about to start. At Minako's nod, she went on. " Let's
get going. I'm even starting to feel the evil here."
        They turned back to trudge through the knee deep
snow towards the spot they arrived at. Ami weighed the
ramifications and considered the possible responses for
a few moments before asking a question when they stopped
to get their bearings.
        " What do you want us to tell Usagi-chan and Mako-chan,
Minako-chan?"
        " I'd like to keep her from knowing about this, at
least for a while. I don't want her to think that I'm
trying to undermine her position as the leader of the
Senshi."
        " What if something happens to her?" Rei said
quietly. " What happens then, Minako-chan?"
        " I hope it never comes to that, Rei-chan. I hope
it never does," she replied, sighing and turning back to
take the lead for the first leg through the drifts of snow.
        On the way back, Minako fell slightly behind the
others when her turn at the front was done. She didn't
want them to know of this one thing, at least not yet. She
hated keeping these secrets, but sometimes surprise was
the best weapon of all. A secret was only safe when one
person knows of it.
        She grasped the lower crescent on the sword, willing
it to come off. It did so with a slight, metallic click.
There was no sign of change to the rest of the sword. It
now looked like the lower crescent had never been there
before. Her fingers found the catch as quickly as if she
had used it this morning, and it opened up like a crescent
shaped compact, complete down to a mirror in the lid.
        The big difference, however, was the face of Sailor V
looking back from where the reflection of Sailor Venus
should be.

***********************************************************

        The limousine pulled up to a stop in front of the
gates to an old, deserted cathedral. It had been a busy
place when the driver was younger, but that was a long
time ago. A shift away from Catholicism many years back
had doomed the building to a slow fall from grace.
        A man was waiting there, dressed in a sharp, European
styled suit. Like his passenger, this man at the curb was
also a foreigner. The difference was that he could tell
the man at the curb was from Europe just by looking at
him and listening to this voice. He could narrow it down
to the exact country in a few minutes of talking to him.
The driver's gift with languages was one of the keys to
his success.
        His passenger was altogether another story. They
had talked at the start of the trip from the airport, a
short exchange of mindless pleasantries until the man
had indicated he wished to think for a short time. They
hadn't said another word. It was as if the passenger was
from another planet. His voice and speech didn't give him
any idea of where this man was from. His appearance vaguely
hinted at Mediterranean, with short, black hair and a
matching, closely cut beard and mustache, but his skin
color was a shade too pale an olive for that.
        The man at the curb paid him, including a generous
tip, and sent him on his way back to his garage. They
wouldn't require him to return, and the tip was good enough
for him to decide to take off early and spend some time
drinking sake at his favorite spot. He might even call his
wife later on and invite her down for a few.
        " How did the title search go, Matthew?" the older
of the two said. He looked to be in his mid thirties, or
a very well preserved forty, and wore a well-tailored
gray suit
with a white carnation in the lapel.
        " Well, Archmage-" he said, but was cut off by a
slight wave of the other's hand.
        " Please, Matthew, we've known each other far too
long for titles. Besides which, the organization that
we earned them in is long gone," the older man said as
they started up the steps.
        " The owner before the last one was the Catholic
church, Jason. About two years ago, a gentleman appeared
out of nowhere according to the records that I have
access to and bought it with cash from that organization." He
paused to hand a photo to the older man. " The gentleman is
one Sanjouin Masato. There is no information on him that I
can find, so it's obviously a fake identity."
        The older man studied the picture as they walked to
the top of the steps, avoiding the ivy that had overgrown
and covered some of the stairway. The man in the picture
had a good, strong face and brown hair that was at least
down to his shoulders. The only thing that he recalled
being different from the last time he had seen this man,
aside from the clothes, was the slightly twisted, diabolic
cast to his features. He was at some type of athletic
facility in this picture, and it was a shot of him standing
among the small crowd watching a tennis match that was the
photographer's primary objective.
        They walked in through the doors that Matthew swung
open with a minor spell. He was rewarded with a slightly
disapproving look, but let that slide by him. It was an old
difference of opinion between them regarding the conservation
of energy and when to make use of the power.
         The inside of the cathedral had long been stripped of
valuables by the Church before they had let it lapse into
disuse. It had been restored recently, although not expertly.
Both had studied and visited the great cathedrals of the
world and could tell the difference.
        The object of their visit lay on the floor of the
main section of the cathedral. The inside of the arching
ceiling had been modified into a hemisphere and was painted
flat black. There was a wall built so as to block the light
from entering that portion of the cathedral, except that
which spilled in from two small doors. A slab of white marble
lay there, directly under the center of the ceiling, glowing
a pale white in the darkness of the room.
        Matthew concentrated for the brief moment it took
him to invoke his mage-sight while realizing that Jason
was already finishing his preliminary examination of their
subject. He would never be the equal of the Archmage in
the field of analysis. Jason rightly acknowledged no
equal in that area.
        " It's what you suspected, Matthew," the older man
said. " The energy pattern is coalescing here, although
it's very slow. It would normally take a few more years
for it to finish, but I think that we can change that
without any problems.
        " I'm going to check on the progress of the golems
and the decoys that Gabriel is working on placing. I want
you to bring in four... no, make that six of the captives
from the main fortress. Use the gate to get them here and
put their life-energy into this pattern. That should give
us another tool to use against them. The reappearance of
an old enemy should make them go in circles for a while,
and that will give us the time to finish the plan
properly. "
        Matthew watched the Archmage turn and leave through
the front door of the cathedral. He still had work to do
here, and he began to compose a list of what he would have
to do and what materials he would need for the gate and
removing the life from a half-dozen people. He had long
ago gotten over having any remorse about their innocence.

*********************************************************

        There were several open windows to the large room at
this end of the building, with soft light and fast paced music
pouring out into the night air. He could make out the sounds
of the piano easily, although the one playing the violin was
truly exceptional. At some points, it almost sounded like he
was hearing two violins due to the complexity of the melody
she wove.
        This must be the place, if he was hearing these two
instruments, not to mention the way they wound around each
other in a complicated dance, alternating between working
with and challenging the other. There were only two people
he knew of with that kind of teamwork, even in their music.
        The drapes were pulled back to let in the breeze, so
he lightly jumped up onto a low branch to plan his movement
from the cover of the leaves. In the room, the only light was
several candles that rested near the grand piano. A young
woman sat on the bench, keeping pace with the violinist who
sat on top of the piano while occasionally adjusting a small
synthesizer that rested on the top of the piano.
        The violinist was a young woman with turquoise hair that
was partially bound with a red ribbon. She wore a soft yellow
dress that nicely complemented her hair, and she had her eyes
closed while she played. A small white pad of cloth between
her chin and the violin was the only item she that didn't
blend in with what she wore.
        She was an epitome of feminine grace, and that made the
contrast between her and the pianist all the greater. It
looked like a young man accompanied her, but he knew the
difference. The girl was tall enough that, with her short,
sandy blonde hair and deep voice, she could pass for a man.
Even now, she wore the men's clothing she preferred. Tonight,
it was a medium blue shirt and white slacks. A nearby chair
had a pale yellow jacket draped over it that would complete
her ensemble.
        The gold cross she wore flashed in the candlelight when
the pianist reached up to tap a key on the synthesizer and she
slowed the pace down. He realized the playing would shortly end,
so it was time for him to get in position. The other side of
the house would be the best place for his entrance, so he
slipped out of the tree and quickly ran around the corner
without making a noise.
        Once there, he listened to make sure they were still where
they had been when he moved. The violin had just stopped, and the
piano was on the last notes, so he leaped up onto the windowsill
and balanced there, his long tail stretched out behind him as a
counterweight. The violinist finally opened her eyes to smile at
her partner and congratulated her on the composition when he
decided to speak.
        " I'd applaud, but that's a little bit difficult for me. May
I come in?"
        " Certainly, Artemis," the violinist replied. She and her
partner relaxed a bit as the intruder turned out to be friendly.
He leaned forward, gathering his muscles and judging the distances.
At the right moment, he launched into an arc that brought him to a
landing next to the two on the piano, and he didn't even have to
use his claws to stop. Thankfully, they didn't use too much polish
on the piano or he would have been embarrassed.
        " I believe it's customary to give flowers after a fine
performance, isn't it?" he asked rhetorically as he closed his
eyes and concentrated. There was no way he'd do that silly back
flip for this like Luna would. A pair of roses came into existence
at his feet, and he carefully scooped one up in a claw to hold
out towards Michiru, who took it with a slight smile on her face.
He repeated the gesture to Haruka, who took it but didn't smile.
        " You two are as good as the girls have been saying. That
was very well done."
        Michiru inhaled the delicate aroma before responding.
        " These had better not have been from my garden, Artemis.
I'm really trying hard to get my roses growing properly again
after that sudden chill we had a few months ago."
        He smiled, or at least as much as a cat can be considered
smiling, at the jest and her carefully neutral way of describing
the fact that the Earth was nearly frozen over by an attacker
from outer space in that 'sudden chill.'
        " You should talk to Mamoru then. He's surprisingly good
at growing flowers, and he's a genius with roses. I'm sure he
would be happy to help you."
        " How did you find us, Artemis? Why are you here?" the
other woman interrupted, her voice low and eyes flashing. She
wasn't amused by his presence here, he was certain about that.
        " And make me reveal my sources? Please, Haruka, I couldn't
do that," he replied, keeping his voice light and sweet.
        " Artemis," she growled.
        " All right, Haruka, I'll tell you," he said, and walked
over by one edge of the piano so that he wasn't standing in
between the two of them. He sat down and carefully curled his
tail around his feet as Michiru swung around to face him, sitting
cross-legged on the piano with her violin in her lap.
        " I'm a cat, Haruka. We're very social animals, and once
I can explain that I'm not moving in on their territory, I can
get a lot of information from them. You two aren't very subtle
about your wealth, so your descriptions and the comparatively
small geographic area of the really nice areas of town make it
pretty easy. I just narrowed it down to the right areas, and
then I hit the streets.
        " Your violin work is pretty noticeable to a cat's ears,
Michiru, and they say that you're very kind to all the animals
here. That means it's a popular place for the cats. There
aren't that many kind violinists with turquoise hair, so I
figured I had the right place."
        " Cut the bullshit, Artemis. Cats are color-blind. Stop
flirting and tell the truth,"
Haruka said, her voice milder than it had been. She had relaxed
somewhat, however, so she was getting over her anger at being
discovered. Her joking was a good sign.
        " It was pretty much just like that, except that you had
better tell Setsuna to start changing her tactics on the
computer. She really doesn't have any idea how good Ami is
with them, or how determined she can be. Ami found a trace
of a back door of hers in the school system, and was able to
get part of a street name off of a fragment of data. That's
what I used to find out your neighborhood, and then I just hit
up the local cats. I deleted the information from her computer,
by the way, so you should be safe from her finding you, at
least for a while."
        " Thank you, Artemis," Michiru said after she and Haruka
glanced briefly at each other and sighed inside. The cat seemed
to understand that they didn't want to be traced, at least not
now, and was trying to make sure he didn't intrude on their
life any more than he had to.
        " What brings you here tonight?" she continued, reaching
over to a table near the piano for her drink and handing Haruka's
to her. " This obviously isn't just a social call, or you
wouldn't have done this here. We're out in public enough, so
you would have done it at a neutral place if that was the
case."
        " Actually, it is sort of a social call," the cat
replied. " I want to see if we could form the basis for a
relationship between the two teams. I think that we can both
offer the other a great deal of help."
        " Relationship?" Haruka questioned him, a hint of sarcasm
in her voice. " With the Inner Senshi?"
        " Haruka," the cat said, the anguish clear in his
voice. " Don't do this to yourselves; it's just a lot of
unnecessary pain. You were closer than sisters back on the
Moon. Surely you remember that, don't you? You can't stay
alone forever. You can have that bond, that closeness, with
them again. They aren't your enemy just because their beliefs
are a little different."
        " Different, Artemis? Giving up is not just a ' difference
of beliefs'. I don't believe in victory through surrender," she
snapped at him, her voice rising slightly.
        " Haruka is right," the other woman said, her voice
still the same, but her anger was in her eyes. " She gave up
and surrendered the grail to Mistress 9, and if it wasn't
for Hotaru, we'd all be dead right now.  She got lucky. We're
grateful to her, but we can't work like that, Artemis. We've
given up too much to surrender and hope it works out for the
best."
        He sighed and waited a few moments to gather his thoughts
and let them cool off a little. He'd have to be very careful in
his choice of words here. After looking at one, and then the
other, he responded.
        " That's one of the main reasons I'm here. I want your
help in showing her that there is a different way of doing
things. Your presence alone can do that. She may not like your
approach, but at least there will be another viewpoint for her
to see."
        " Can't one of the others do this, Artemis?" Haruka said
after a few moments. Her voice had softened somewhat again, and
he could see she was relaxing and considering his words, as was
Michiru. " We'll hold to our vow, Artemis. We'll protect her.
There's no question about that. What about Luna? Usagi will
listen to her, won't she?"
        " I'm afraid she won't listen, even if I could get Luna's
help. She won't hurt the princess, and this may end up being
painful for her. I had hoped Minako could do it, since Usagi
still looks up to her for being Sailor V."
        " Minako?" interjected Haruka, clearly surprised. " She's
as gentle as Usagi."
        " I'm sorry, Haruka," Michiru said, looking at her partner,
and then at the cat, who seemed to be bothered by bringing this
part up. " I don't agree with you on that. She's been doing
this on her own for some time now. She's not a lamb, but she's
not a wolf, either. Why are you doubting her, Artemis?"
        Artemis sighed again, and when he spoke, his voice was
sad.
        " You're too perceptive, Michiru. Some days, I think
that the mirror is rubbing off on you. It hurts me to think
of it, but I've started wondering if she's lost that edge
she had when she was Sailor V. I thought that she could be
the contrast that Usagi needs around her, but it's like she's
been someone else ever since she meet the others."
        The cat stopped to compose himself, as his voice had
thickened slightly while he spoke of his charge. The two
woman looked at each other, and then excused themselves for
a few minutes. He lay down to await their return, stretching
his paws out in front of him, sitting still and regal enough
to be a replica of the British lions he had seen all those
many years ago in Trafalgar Square, when it was a simpler
time. All he had known at that time was the driving need that
he couldn't yet understand, and it was the only thing that
had guided him.
        In the small kitchen, the two woman spoke while running
the espresso machine to cover their conversation from the
sharp ears of their guest.
        " What do you think, Haruka?"
        " He's right, I think. She needs us around, Michiru.
And,..." the taller one's voice trailed off as she lost
herself in thought while getting a pair of cups and three
saucers. The other, sensing the pause and some unease, came
over to put her hand on the other's shoulder to comfort her
friend.
        " And what?" she said softly.
        " I miss it, Michiru. Remember what it was like, back
on the moon? I miss that sense of belonging we had. They're
more like our sisters than if they were our own blood
relatives. I'd like to feel that again, if you would also."
        " What about all those times where you said that I
was the only person that you ever needed, hmmhhh?" she
replied in a sweet, dangerous tone of voice. She kept her
face straight for a few more moments to tease Haruka before
they both smiled and laughed together. She finished putting
the service onto the tray while Haruka poured a cup of
cappuccino and one of espresso. She still couldn't drink
the thick, heavy brew that Haruka preferred.
        " I think it would be a good idea, Haruka. I'm afraid
that most of it still isn't very clear, but I do miss that
feeling of belonging. That's a good name for it. Shall we
tell him?"
        They went back into the conservatory, with Michiru
carrying the tray with the drinks. She set it down on a table
in the far corner, near a pair of couches. They sat down, and
after she poured some cream into hers, the rest in the small
silver pitcher went into the third saucer, which she put out
on the table for their guest.
        " I think we can agree to this, Artemis, although we'll
still have to discuss it with Setsuna. I don't know if she'll
have any objections, so it's tentative for now."
        The cat rose, stretched hard enough to shake, and went
from the piano to a couch to the table in two easy leaps and
settled down in front of the saucer. He took a few quick laps
at the liquid, and then sat up, licking his whiskers briefly.
        " I don't think that she will have any problems, nor do
I think that Hotaru will either. Both will be glad of the
opportunity to see Chibi-usa more, and Hotaru has started
spending some time with Usagi as well. They aren't the ones
that I was worried about."
        Haruka grinned ruefully at his summary.
        " That's sound thinking, kitty. What else can you
offer, besides the company?"
        " Well," he said, taking another lick of cream. " We
can also help with your watch over Hotaru. I still spend a
lot of time near Usagi and Chibi-usa, and every time I've
seen them with Hotaru, I've seen one of the three of you
lurking around somewhere. We can help keep an eye on her,
since you're still so worried about her."
        Michiru was quiet for a moment, considering the
implications, but she also saw an opening in his remark
to tease him in return for his recognizing their
surveillance. She got a little gleam in her eyes that
Haruka noticed and smiled at seeing, as she wasn't going
to be the target.
        " Don't you mean spending time with Luna, Artemis?" she
said in a sweet tone of voice, enjoying the blush that hit
his nose and ears, turning them an even darker pink.
They had a good-natured laugh at his expense, which he
suffered in relative silence as he lapped up more of
the cream.
        " It has certainly been a change in our relationship,"
he said when they stopped their laughter. " Now that we know
we are going to have a child some day, it certainly has been
different with Luna. I guess it's sort of like what Usagi
and Mamoru have gone through, in some ways, with Chibi-usa.
        " That's enough about me, however. The world won't
end due to how she and I are getting along. I'd like you
to tell me how it's been going with Hotaru, right after I
amend our little agreement."
        " Amend?" Michiru questioned him.
        " Yes. I want to add a clause where you give Minako
lessons in how to properly care for her guardian and
mentor. I could get used to that cream every night."

*******************************************************

        He exhaled loudly, allowing the weight to come down
to just above his chest. Only three more. Gathering
himself for the effort, he slowly and deeply inhaled, and
somehow managed to force his arms straight. They trembled
from the effort, but they stayed there.
        Two more. The weight came down, the bar touching
his chest this time. He was keenly aware of the weight,
this time. C'mon, he yelled at himself. It's only two
more. You've done ten already. What's another two? Once
again, although it felt more like his mind had lifted it
rather than his arms, he raised the bar again.
        This time, the bar struck his chest on the way down
before he could stop it. The green shirt he wore left a
mark on the bar from his sweat, and from somewhere, he
found the strength to push the bar up enough to afford
him the extra breaths he needed.
        One more. Only one more. Teeth clenched, he focused
himself on the bar. That was the only thing in his world
right now. Just the bar, and the need to raise it one more
time. Snarling at himself, and the shape he was in compared
to where he should have been, he prepared for one more. The
strain in his arms and chest was bad, but nothing compared
to the strain on his heart. There was no way he'd fail her
by not protecting her, he had decided. Never again.
        Another inhale, long, slow and steady. At the end of
it, his whole being went into lifting the weight with a
soft cry of rage. It moved up just a little bit, and he
redoubled his efforts, closing his eyes to help him focus
on this one thing. Again, unbidden, the image came to him,
that of his Usagi standing up against the attack by
Nephrenia as bolt after bolt of blackness slammed into her
when all he could do was sit there and watch.
        To his surprise, his elbows were locked, and he was
done for the day. He relaxed a little at the thought, and
the bar, still slippery from his perspiration, slid from
his grasp. He didn't even have time to do anything, even if
his overworked muscles could-
        " I've got it!" a voice rang out behind him, grunting
at the end from the pressure of catching the bar before it
hit him. He focused his eyes and let himself acknowledge the
rest of the gym around him.
        " Makoto!" he said in surprise, looking up at the girl
who stood over him, the muscles and tendons standing out on
her arms and shoulders. A lock of brown hair, one of the ones
at her temple that wasn't caught back in her ponytail, was
brushing back and forth across his face. Realizing his
predicament, he quickly slithered out from underneath the
weight, which she let fall on the bench.
        He turned to look at the tall girl, and realized that
she was slow in straightening up from the bent-over position
that she had been in.
        " Makoto, are you all right?" he said, his voice full
of concern. She'd saved him from serious injury there, if
not his life. He silently cursed himself for his stupidity.
        " I think so, Mamoru. I did feel a little twinge,
though. Fortunately, it doesn't feel too bad, but that's
it for today for me." She looked around to see if anybody
was close to them, and when she decided they weren't, she
turned the full force of the anger she was feeling on him.
        " What were you doing?!?" she hissed at him. " You could
have been killed pushing yourself like that. That's way over
your normal weight."
        He hung his head for a moment, and then sheepishly met
her gaze.
        " You were right, Makoto. I was wrong to do that."
        Surprised by his agreement that he was in error, Makoto
realized that something serious had to be bothering him. This
wasn't like him at all. Normally, he was careful to a fault,
and had even scaled back his motorcycle driving because Usagi
had been worried about him.
        " Do you want to talk about it, Mamoru?" she asked
quietly. He looked like he needed it, she thought. At his nod,
she continued. " O.K., then. The sauna in ten minutes, you
pick up the juice today."
        They parted, and he went to the locker room to shower
off and put on a pair of swimming trunks. After draping a
white towel around his neck, he went to the juice bar that
was the latest addition to this athletic club. It was tricky,
balancing a pitcher of apple juice and two glasses, but he
managed to carry them, open the door and sit down in the
sauna without mishap.
        The pitcher and glasses were both made of plastic,
with a reservoir of liquid inside that, when allowed to
freeze, did a far better job than ice at cooling a drink.
When he poured himself a glass, as the heat and steam began
to make him sweat, the juice turned briefly into a slush in
the glass. He squinted as the door opened, allowing light to
spill into the dimly lit, wooden paneled room.
        As his eyes adjusted to the darkness again, he saw
Makoto take a dipperful of water from a pail by the heated
rocks and pour it on them, sending steam billowing up into
the air. All she wore was a towel wrapped around her, to his
consternation. This might be a short conversation, followed
by a quick exit.
        She must have seen a funny look on his face, for she
burst into gentle laughter as she approached him and sat
down on the bench near him.
        " Please, Mamoru, don't think anything like that. Usagi-chan
is like a little sister to me, and I would never do anything to
hurt her." She reached up and took off the towel, revealing, to
his relief, a green one-piece with a bit of pink ribbon on the
thankfully high neckline.
        " That's a real... original choice of colors, Makoto,"
he said with a smile as he poured her a glass, which she
accepted and drank from. " Of course, I'm not doing much
better," he laughed, indicating the black trunks he wore
and the white towel he brought with him.
        " You know," he said after a moment, still smiling. " If
you're not going to act like that, then I must not remind you
of your old boyfriend anymore."
         "Mamoru!" she giggled, and flicked some of the
condensation on her glass at him, the cool water a brief
shock to his skin. She was right, however. He did feel like
he could be comfortable with her here, just like she was
indeed Usagi's sister.
         " I didn't know you were a member here, Makoto," he
continued after a drink. " I haven't seen you around here
before."
        " Ami's mom is a member here, and Ami comes down to
use the pool. She's up in the pool right now, swimming
laps. I came as a guest of hers today."
        " Ami's here? Should we invite her to join us?"
        Makoto found this to be incredibly funny, to his
surprise, and barely kept herself from laughing out loud.
        " Ami won't come in here. She couldn't sneak in a
book, because the steam is bad for them." she finally said
when she caught her breath. " Now, I've got a valid reason
for being here. I've been working out more ever since loosing
that fight I had with Uranus, just after we first started
encountering the daemon eggs. What's your excuse for trying
to kill yourself?"
        He sighed deeply, and drank from the glass, as if trying
to work up the nerve to speak about this.
        " I started really pushing it after this last encounter
with Queen Nephrenia. I wasn't there to protect her, like I
usually am. I just was left feeling... inadequate after that
fight against her. Usagi was so strong, standing up against
her like that, and all I could do was sit there and watch her
get hurt."
        " Mamoru, that wasn't your fault. She had bewitched
your mind. She captured all the Senshi. It's not like you're
the only one who failed. We all did, as much as I hate to
say it. Don't blame it all on yourself."
        " I know, Makoto. But, what if the next time isn't
like that? What if it's something that I could have stopped
if I had done a better job of preparation? What if I fail
her again?"
        " You're getting paranoid, Mamoru. Putting on all that
muscle isn't going to help you in this. You're tall and lean,
and if you try to bulk up it will just slow you down. That's
just one thing that you will have to accept. You can't change
your body like that."
        " What do you suggest I do, Makoto?" he said, taking
another drink.
        " Learn to live with it, Mamoru. You can't change much
about what kind of body you have. I've just about given up
being able to buy anything off the rack in most of the styles
I like. I'm too tall for most of the brands to fit me well."
        " I'm not just concerned about what shape I'm in."
        " I know. As to the other things, well... " her voice
trailed off. She was quiet for a few minutes, and he could
tell she was thinking about his question.
        " Back when we first found out who we were, Mamoru,
it was a real shock to all of us. We dealt with it in
different ways. I was having a real tough time with it one
night, so I went to Rei-chan's to ask her about it. This
was just after Minako had found us, so I ended up talking
with them about it that night because she was at Rei's.
        " The reason why I'm saying this is because I have a
question that I want you to think about. Rei asked me this
same one. Who are you?"
        " Who am I," he said in surprise. He laughed at the
question. " Makoto, that's not a hard question. I'm Mamoru
Chiba."
        He could make out her features when she turned towards
him, the glow from the rocks illuminating her face and
showing the disappointment there.
        " Are you really just Mamoru Chiba? Is that who you
really are?"
        He opened his mouth to defend his answer, and the
words died on his lips. He wasn't just Mamoru. Come to
think of it, it was pretty crowded up in his mind.
        " I think I see your point, Makoto."
        " Rei saw my problem right away. She didn't have
any problem understanding this new side of herself. She
accepted it right away, just as easily as if she had found
out she liked a new kind of food. Minako told me she had
the same kind of problem that I did when she first learned
who she was. She said it was a problem until she decided it
was just too big for her to deal with and she accepted it.
        " After that, after I accepted the fact that I wasn't
just Makoto Kino, but also Sailor Jupiter, it went a lot
easier for me. I had tried to keep myself as two 'different'
people, but that isn't true. I'm one person."
        She paused to refill her glass, and he could see that
she was correct. He had been too many people, and he was
trying to keep them apart from each other.
        " I think that you're right, Makoto. I've been holding
onto Mamoru Chiba just a little too hard. I don't know why,
since I don't even know if it's really my name here. How
should I go about convincing myself that I'm Endymion?"
        She smiled back at him before responding.
        " You just started, your majesty. According to our
priestess-in-training, acknowledging that there is a problem
is the first step. I think that all you have to do is be
yourself, but also, remember that one thing. Remember who
you really are.
        " You've protected her this far, Mamoru. I think that
you'll get the rest of the way without any problems. All the
princess wants is for you to love her. After that, she'll be
all right."
        " Thank you, Makot... Mako-chan. I think that this will
help." He reached out, draping his arm around her shoulders
and gave her a brief, friendly squeeze. " I already feel
better just by talking about it. I was letting all these
things get to me."
        " Do you promise not to kill yourself out there?"
        " Yes, I promise."
        " Good. My fee for counseling services and saving
your life out there is a back rub, since I'm just starting
to loosen up from the heat. Usagi says you're pretty good
at them."
        He chuckled as she turned to face away from him and
he started working over her shoulders. The muscles there
were tight, but they quickly relaxed as he worked down her
back, taking the extra time and effort to loosed one knotted
muscle that she must have gotten today as she caught the
bar he had dropped.
        " You are pretty good," she said, sighing as he worked
out some of the pain she felt. " It's no wonder she likes
them. I think I just may have to have you do this on a
regular basis."
        " And why would I be doing it on a regular basis,
Makoto? I did promise that I'd take it easy out there. I
won't need a rescue every day."
        " I could tell her about this."
        " Makoto, that's not a very nice thing to threaten
me with." he replied, grinning at the picture his Usako's
face would make if she saw this. " Since you just might
decide to have me killed, can I make one final request of
my executioner?"
        " What, a request for a last meal if she does try to
kill you?"
        " No, Makoto, although it's a good thought. I was
wondering, since you've taken some martial arts classes, if
you know of any instructors who will give lessons in a
European style sword. I've tried looking around here, but
I haven't had any luck."
        I'm sorry, Mamoru," she said, turning around to face
him again now that he was done. " I don't know any for that
style. There are kendo masters all over the place, but I
don't think anyone would want to study that style around
here. Why do you ask?"
        " One of my costumes comes with one as standard
equipment. I wanted to find someone to study under, or at
least practice with. Do you know anyone who might be able
to give me a lead?"
        " I'd suggest Rei's grandfather, as he knows a lot of
the old masters around here, and he could probably point you
in the right direction. It's a long shot, but you could also
try Umino at our school. He knows a lot about anything that's
unusual or different, and he was talking to Usagi last year
about these people who dress up in armor like they did in
Europe in the 'Dark Ages', from what I gathered as she
complained to me about it as she stole my lunch."
        " She stole your lunch? That doesn't sound like her.
Doesn't she bring her own?"
        " Well, not really stole. She eats her own by the first
break, usually. I've gotten used to her doing it, so I always
put together an extra couple of bento to take with me for
when she shows up at lunch. I have one, and she usually
finishes the others. "
        " Now that sounds like Usagi."

********************************************************

        The being stirred to awareness as it floated in the
perpetual darkness that was the only thing it had known for
what seemed to be so long. There was no way to record the
passage of time, so it could have been millennia or minutes
since it had last been fully alive. It knew that it was
probably more than minutes, however, as the process that
was bringing him back to life would not be a quick one.
        Him was correct, he decided after considering the
problem of his identity for several minutes, or hours, or
years. He didn't know, and there was no business in driving
himself mad, if he wasn't already, by trying to keep track
of time here. If he could see his beloved stars here in this
prison, he could see what had been happening.
        The same stars had told him of the possibility of his
death, and he had prepared for the eventuality. As long as
the stone that was buried deep underneath his stronghold was
not disturbed, he would live again at some point. He had
safely tucked away a small portion of energy that would power
the spell of return that was now bringing him back.
        Time passed, and he became aware of something hastening
the process. Something or someone was adding energy to his
spell. His bet was on someone. Energy like this wasn't natural,
like the power of the stars. It galled him to think of using
energy from this source, as it had the taint of blood magic,
but he didn't have a choice. It was this or wait for the
additional time for his spell to work, and he had been here
for what seemed so, so long.
        At this rate, he would return in a very short period
of time. It was a gamble, but he let loose the spell that
he had cast, and trusted this new energy to revive him. This
way, the source for his spell would not be drained anymore
by him, nor would this new source have anyway to track her.
He owed her that much, at least.
        His memories weren't very clear about the manner of his
death, but there was one thing that he remembered very clearly.
It was the one memory that he had clung to in order to keep
his sanity in the blackness. He could still remember her
red-brown hair, her blue eyes, and the look of grief on her
face that tugged at his heart.

**********************************************************

        The walk down to a street where he could flag down a
taxi gave him a few minutes to consider the final pieces of
his plans. After getting in the car and giving an address
to an apartment building, he sat back and looked around
him at the city for the first time today. On his earlier
ride to the cathedral, he had been thinking of possible
changes that could be the result of what he would learn at
that place, and the sights of the city had gone past him,
unnoticed.
        He stepped out in front of a luxurious high-rise in
a fashionable area when the driver finally reached his
destination. Aside from the traffic, this was much like
any of the large cities in Europe, but the people were
much friendlier. If there was anything left of the place
after the events he sent in motion, he'd consider getting
a residence here.
        Gabriel was certainly doing well for himself, he thought
as he went into the lobby and took a lift to the top floor.
'Lift', he smiled to himself. He'd just spent several weeks
in England, and he had picked up some of the slang.
        As the doors opened at the top, he could hear the
blaring noise that composed the music that Gabriel preferred.
It was either an American or British band, from what he could
make out of the singing, and the style was distinctively
heavy metal, although the singer's references to heaven and
hell were ironical if you considered the resident of this
penthouse suite. Gabriel looked like a denizen of the former,
although he had morals that were solely the province of the
latter.
        He opened the door with a key that had been sent to
him previously, and winced at the sudden increase in the
volume. Fortunately, the source of the music was close at
hand, and he reached over to turn down the volume on the
sound system.
        " Hi, Boss!" a young man said as he came out to
investigate the change while wiping clay from his
hands. " How are you, today? I'd shake, but..." he glanced
down at his hands and shrugged his shoulders.
        " Hello, Gabriel. How has your progress been?"
        The young man grinned, one of those movie star quality
smiles that lit up a room like the sun. He motioned for the
older man to follow him into another room, this one clearly
an artisan's workplace.
        " They're almost complete," he said, indicating a
shelf with a dozen squat figures on it. " I just put the
finishing touches on the last batch and put them in the
kiln. Those should be ready for the painting and touch-up
work tomorrow, assuming that the crystals took properly. The
first one, the initial test, is working fine."
        " That's good, Gabriel, but did you have to use the
David as your model?" Jason asked with a grin. " You're
still the best I've seen at golems for a century. I'm sure
that the crystals won't give us any problems. What about the
other matter I mentioned?"
        " I've been investigating the new group," the younger
man said while washing the clay from his hands and drying
them on a towel. " I haven't gotten much until just
recently, but it turns out I met one of them a few weeks
ago."
        " That can be dangerous, Gabriel. We don't know
much of them or their abilities or plans. That's why we're
doing this," Jason said, frowning slightly as they returned
to the spacious living room. Gabriel led him to an
astronomical telescope that was near one of the large
windows by a balcony. There was a motorized control
system rigged to it that had three default locations by
the tracking controls for the gears that controlled the
movements of the reflecting telescope.
        " I know, Boss. I haven't used anything more
powerful than a cantrip outside of the shields that
you put up in here, and even then I go to at least
about a 100 kilometers out of the area before using
anything that isn't an absolute emergency. I'm following
your orders to the letter. I do remember what happened to
Marcus, after all.
        " Her name here is Michiru Kaioh. She's a painter,
among other things. Quite good, as well. She plays the
violin, also well, and the envelope on the hall table has
two tickets for a performance tonight. Keep an eye out for
a blonde  following her around. I think that she may be
one of the others, but I haven't been able to confirm it
as of yet.
        " Do you see those three skyscrapers by the waterfront?"
he questioned the other, and continued after getting a
nod. " They are part of the Mugen Project, a recently
built combination business and housing project that was
built on reclaimed land and finished about four years
ago. There used to be a school called the Infinity
Academy at the center of those three. It was part of a
high school complex there, but the academy was for the
privileged students among the children in the project.
The academy building itself was the center of the
disturbance several months ago and was destroyed.
        " The three settings are for three units, one in
each tower. I've spotted her at the third unit a few
times in the last several weeks, so I'd say they're
moving back into this area. I haven't been able to determine
if that's a real name or not, by the way. Michiru Kaioh
was the name on her paintings at a show, however. The
rental records and what I have access to on the government
files don't have anything on her."
        The older man mused on this for several minutes
while using the telescope to look at each unit in turn.
He turned and took a seat on an overstuffed gray couch
that blended well with the rest of the decor.
        " Please get some tea, Gabriel. Oolong, If you
have a good one. This needs some thinking. Obviously,
they're pretty good." The younger man nodded and went
to start brewing some. When he returned several minutes
later, Jason was in the same position as he was when he
left. Someday, he'd manage to reach that same inhuman
level of concentration that the Archmage did.
        " Do you mind a question, Boss?" he ventured as
he poured two cups of the steaming liquid. " I can
understand the level of caution due to the new threat,
but why the business with these golems? The first group
has been relatively powerful, but they aren't that tough
from what I've seen."
        " Thank you, Gabriel," Jason said while taking a
sip. He didn't use a spell to determine if it was poisoned.
This was one of the few people, along with Matthew, that
he could trust with his life. With Matthew, it was honor
and loyalty, but Gabriel had long ago learned not to
cross him. A week as a frog can do wonders.
        " I'm always cautious, and that's why you're
building the golems, since we have very little on the
second group. They're a decoy, just like the artifacts
that the golems will be chasing. The targets will destroy
them, but it will take them a while to do it, and those
crystals will be sending us information all the while. Both
groups seem to have undergone some changes recently, and
I want to know what we're dealing with."
        " That's a lot of power to use up, Boss."
        " It's worth it for the information. By the way,
speaking of power, the node at Stonehenge is still
closed to us. I've spent the better part of the last
year trying to access it, and still it refuses to allow
a tap. Someone closed it, Gabriel. It's the only rational
explanation. We've had to switch to utilizing blood magic
to keep up our energy levels."
        " Don't you think that many losses might be
noticed?"
        " No, it won't be. That's why I built the tower
where I did. What's a few hundred more people a year
compared to the normal amount of deaths each year in
that part of the world? I don't like doing it this way,
Gabriel. It's so... inefficient," he finished with a
shudder at the crude methods that they had to employ,
and not at the price.
        " A few hundred a year? That's an awful lot of
energy. As I said, they're not that powerful, according
to what I've seen around here."
        " The rest of the Inner Senshi don't bother me,
Gabriel, but the princess does. She dealt with Beryl
and Metallia, so we need to be careful."
         " From what I recall of the records, those two
were also banished at the time of the fall of the Moon
Kingdom. I've summoned a few demons, Boss. They aren't
that difficult to banish. Once Metallia was out of the
picture, Beryl would have been pretty easy to deal with."
        " Metallia wasn't banished, Gabriel. You know how
easy it is to break the spell that forces a demon to
this plane. The princess destroyed all traces of Metallia,
even on the infernal planes. She is permanently gone."
        A low whistle escaped from the younger man, a
sure sign of his surprise. He took a drink of the now
cooled tea to cover his embarrassment at his reaction.
        " Gone? Now I understand the need for caution.
Jesus, the amount of energy needed to do something
like that would be staggering."
        They were both quiet for several more minutes,
with the younger man letting this new information sink
in.
        " Jason," the younger man started to speak. The
use of his given name and not the familiar title was a
sure sign that he was affected by this revelation. " If
the records aren't accurate in what happened to Metallia,
what else isn't correct in them about this? How did Beryl
manage to control her? You never mentioned her having
that kind of power."
        " She had the power, Gabriel, but not the
concentration and the training. I had saved her from
being killed by the Atlanteans in order to use her as
a pawn to take over Atlantis. She was infatuated with
the prince of that land, and he had rejected her.
        " I showed her how to affect the political situation
there in order to soften them up as part of my campaign
against the Moon Kingdom. I had been training her in some
of the basic spells, but there was nothing about
demonology in her lessons. Somehow, she got into my
study, got into my records, and attracted the attention
of Metallia."
        " She was no slouch as demons go. How did Beryl
do it?"
        " I don't think that Beryl summoned her, Gabriel.
I think that Metallia took her over, or offered her a
deal, and jumped the gun in order to have a go at the
crystal. You know what that kind of power would mean to
a demon?"
        " Yes, I do. She'd be crazy not to try. With the
crystal, she would have been able to control the infernal
planes. Why were the records false?"
        " I don't like mentioning that I got caught with my
pants down that day, Gabriel. I thought I had everything
in control, and the next thing I know, Beryl has all my
armies in motion, sacks Atlantis and then hits the moon. I
spent years getting that final strike ready for my attack.
        " Queen Serenity saved me that day. I had almost all
of my resources tied up in moving the troops and readying
the sacrifice spells. If Metallia had succeeded, I don't
think I could have withstood her if she also had the crystal.
The whole planet would be dead if it wasn't for Serenity
sealing away Beryl and Metallia."
        " I can see why you don't want that in there, Boss.
The apprentices would get awfully eager to try their hand
against you if they read that you failed somewhere."
        " I know, Gabriel. I know all too well. I was so
close to it that I could almost feel the crystal in my
grasp. If Beryl hadn't done that, I would have been able
to keep Queen Serenity from using the crystal for her
defense. The rest would have been a simple matter of
numbers. Her Guard and the Sailor Senshi would have taken
out most of my troops, but the numbers would have prevailed
in the end."
        " I thought the crystal was tied into their line,
Boss? Doesn't it take a person with royal blood to use it?"
        " That's their propaganda, Gabriel. I was one of the
members of the group that cast the original spell that
created the crystal. My access to it is at least the equal
of the royal bloodline, if not greater. I would have been
able to keep her from doing anything constructive, and that
would remove most of their defenses."
        " You were close, all right. I don't see how it could
have gone wrong, except for Beryl and her interference."
        " You're right, Gabriel, It would have been mine, but
that's the way it goes, sometimes. You can't sit around and
wish it turned out some other way. ' If wishes were
fishes...'," he said, bringing up part of an old
saying. " Anyway, I had better get moving if I want
to make it to that concert on time. I'll be in touch,
Gabriel."

*****************************************************

        " Hi, Rei-chan!" Usagi cried out as she came up the steps
and saw her friend in the courtyard. She tried to sound cheerful,
but her heart just wasn't in it at this hour of the morning.
        " Good morning, Usagi-chan. Are you sure you still want

to try this?" the dark haired girl replied, smiling at the
sight her friend made. Usagi was not a morning person.
        " Yes, but why does it have to be so early?"
        " That's the only time the grounds are clear. In a few
hours, when we open up, there will be people up here, and it
would be too dangerous." She motioned towards the short skirt
and blouse her friend wore.
        " That won't do, Usagi. If a string breaks, it'll hurt
if you're not wearing something heavier. I have one of my
sets of robes on my bed in my room that should fit you. Go
change into it and meet me around the back. I'll get the
things set up."
        Usagi left to comply with her request with a yawn and
without any protests. She'd have to remember this tactic if
there was going to be an important argument in the near
future. She went to the storage shed and pulled open the
doors. They still dragged at one point, and she's have to
remind her grandfather to fix it again.
        The hay bales were already in place, as she had been
practicing for a while now, ever since she found out what
her most recent attack was. It only took a few moments to
set up the targets, and the bright colors contrasted well
with the drab brown-gray of the small hill behind the
temple. It made for a very effective backstop.
        Usagi stumbled out the back door and made her way over. Rei
took one look at her hair and pulled a red ribbon out of the bag
she had put there earlier this morning, along with a can of milk
tea and a straw.
        " Here, drink this. It will help get you going," Rei said
as she undid the odango her friend wore and began to put her
hair in a loose braid.
        " Rei," Usagi began to protest, but gave up as her long
hair showered down around her. " Now I'll have to put it up
again later... Oohhh, the tea is still hot, Rei-chan. That's
just how I like it. Thank you for remembering."
        After she finished, Rei took a long, black plastic case
out of the shed and opened it up. Usagi came around behind
her, curious at what was in the case. It was about six feet
long, and had black foam rubber inside of it to protect the
contents.
        " Here's the one that I'll start you on, Usagi," she
said, taking a relatively short, light weight bow from one
of several there. " It doesn't have too heavy of a pull, so
you should be fine."
        She slung the strap of the quiver around her shoulder
and flipped her braided hair to the side to avoid entangling
it. It had a score of arrows that were for the bow she had
chosen inside of it. Beckoning Usagi closer, she started to
explain it.
        " This is a recurve style bow. The ones with all the
cables and pulleys, like that one there, are called compound
bows. You hold onto it with your left hand here, and the right
hand pulls back the string. I'm left handed at this, so
remember that when I show you something." Rei handed it
to the blonde so she could get used to the feel, while she
took the string out of the case.
        " Now, it's tough to string one of these, Usagi, so
let me do it," she said, taking the bow and hooking the
bottom limb around her leg while holding onto the string.
With a grunt, she leaned against the top limb and forced
it back, in the opposite direction that Usagi had thought
it would go, and slipped the loop on the string into the
notches at the top.
        " That's why it's called a recurve, because you bend
it back like that. The other type is called a longbow. That's
the type you see in the old Robin Hood movies, like the one
with Errol Flynn."
        " Oh, I loved that movie, Rei-chan. Wasn't he just so
dreamy?"
        Rei laughed in response, not at her friend's tastes,
but at the far-away look that was suddenly in Usagi's eyes.
The actor was certainly handsome, she had thought when she
first saw that movie.
        " That's off the point, Usagi-chan. Now, here's how
you hold the arrow and nock it," she said, showing her as
she spoke. " To aim it, just look down the shaft for now.
You'll learn how to do the rest of it as you go on. Just yourself relax and shoot."
        Usagi took a breath, and pulled back the string. As
Rei had said, it wasn't too hard, so it went easier than
she thought it would. On her first attempt, she decided
that just getting it to the target would be good enough.
Rei had been in a good mood so far, so she probably wouldn't
tease her too much when she missed. There, that felt right.
She released the string.
        " Rei, you're going to catch a fly like that," she
said, a little bit of the whine coming into her voice. It
must have been awfully bad for her to react like that as
she looked at the target through a small pair of binoculars.
She couldn't even make out the arrow.
        " Usagi, what were you aiming at?" the girl said
softly.
        " The center one. Did I kill the hill or something?"
        Rei took the glasses away from her eyes, and the
look on her face was one of surprise, and not scorn.
        " Bulls-eye, Usagi-chan. Dead center."

*******************************************************

        He had just pulled to a stop, turned off the engine
and taken off his helmet when a joyous shriek echoed
through the air. Several birds, startled by the sounds,
took to the sky in protest and flew away to the south.
He still couldn't figure out what it was, but it was in
the direction of the temple, so he took off at a quick
walk.
        The parking space he used was a few blocks away from
his destination, in order to not disturb the tranquillity
of the region this early in the morning. There were several
small shrines in the area, and he tried to be considerate
of the worshippers there. He wasn't very religious, himself,
but he respected those who were. The sound of prayers and
chants were just audible as a buzz in the background.
        The sound still had not been repeated, so he had pushed
it from his mind as he came to the base of the stairs and
started up. Hopefully, this would solve one of his problems.
Unfortunately, this was one of his easier ones. The courtyard
was deserted, but he could just make out a pair of voices to
the rear of the building.
        " Watch it, Rei! I'll just have to beat you again if
you hit the bulls-eye!"
        A soft, twanging sound was heard, followed by a
muffled thump and a sharp, victorious exclamation.
        " Top that, Usagi-chan!"
        " All right, watch this one."
        Another twanging sound, sharper this time, and
it was followed by a wail of grief.
        " You know the rules. You get to recover the
arrows. Start walking, girl."
        As he rounded the corner, he could see Usagi at
the back of the property, right by the small hill at
the back. Rei was putting down a complex looking compound
bow on a portable table by a shed. The girls both wore the
traditional robes that Rei usually wore at the temple.
        " Hi, Mamoru." she said, smiling at him.
        " Good morning, Rei," he replied, bowing slightly. " I
knew you had gotten into archery, but I'm surprised at your
partner."
        " It's part of my training, both with my grandfather
and being one of the Senshi. I've been doing it every
morning since we got our new attacks. It really helps me"
        He turned and waved at the blonde girl in response
to her happy greeting at seeing him. Rei looked downrange
to make sure Usagi was still at the other end before
speaking again, this time in a serious voice.
        " It's sort of scary, Mamoru. She's amazing at this
if she doesn't concentrate on what she is doing. If she
thinks about it, she'll miss, but every shot were she just
shoots without concentrating on the act of shooting is a
perfect bulls-eye."
        " Huh?" he responded, shocked at what he had heard. He
would have continued,
but Usagi came running up with a handful of arrows.
        " Mamo-chan! Mamo-chan!" she cried as she rushed into
his arms for a hug.
        " Good morning, Usako," he replied, giving her a quick
kiss and letting go of her. He didn't feel too comfortable
carrying on like this in front of Rei, as he knew she had
been enamored of him for a while and he didn't want to bring
up any painful memories for the girl. He had liked her well
enough, and still did, but not in the way she had wanted.
        " I was beating Rei, Mamo-chan," she said excitedly.
        " You were not beating me, Usagi," the other girl
replied. " You hit the bulls-eye more often than I did,
but none of your other shots hit anything but the hill. I
was always right by the center if I didn't hit it. I have
more points."
        " Hold it," Mamoru interjected, hoping to avoid
another friendly argument between the two girls. " How
about you two getting changed and we do breakfast, my treat?"
        They both agreed and ran off to clean up and change.
He went to the front steps and sat down to think about the
package that had been delivered to him last night. The
letter was in his pocket, and while the words were innocent
enough, the motivations concerned him. It was just a set of
seven tickets for a concert tomorrow night, along with a
dinner invitation for the group. Why were they back? What
did they want this time?

*********************************************************

        " A thirteen year-old!" the girl exclaimed in disgust
as she stormed into the main sitting room of the suite she
shared with the room's other occupant, who was reading a
book while curled up on the sofa in a corner. " I was
already thirteen once, Setsuna. I don't want to have to go
through it again. He even said I was short for my age."
        The woman put a marker in the book and gently put it
down on the glass coffee table in front of the couch. It
was an edition of the book that was far too valuable to
not treat it carefully. She turned to face the younger girl,
who was pacing back and forth, her blue-black hair swinging
around just above her shoulders at each turn.
        " I assume that you didn't like what the doctor had
to say, Hotaru-chan. Why don't you sit down and we'll talk
about it, all right?"
        " I don't want to talk about it, Setsuna. I want to
change it," the girl said as she flopped down onto a chair. " It's
not fair. I'm going to have to go through everything all over.
I'm probably even going to be short again. Haruka's tall, you're
tall, Michiru is relatively tall, and I'm stuck being the
shrimp. God, I'm even acting like a petulant thirteen year-old,
Setsuna. It's not fair."
        " I'm sorry, Hotaru-chan, but we don't really know what
is happening with you and these changes," she said soothingly,
trying to calm down the younger girl. " You still can't
remember when you were first possessed, right? Maybe you've
reached that point now. At least you're getting a second
chance, Hotaru, and you don't have to grow up again."
        The girl was quiet for a few minutes, thinking it over.
The anger on her face slowly cleared away, to the dark green
haired woman's carefully hidden relief. When the girl spoke
again, her voice had returned to it's normally calm tone.
        " I know. I just don't like the thought of going through
growing up again. I remember everything about it, and I'm not
looking forward to it. Is that the only doctor you need me to
see for everything?"
        " Yes, that's the only one. I needed someone who couldn't
be traced back to us. When we get the letter from his office,
I'll be able to finish all the documents and you'll legally
be Hotaru Tomoe again. I've got the information on you and
your father ready to go, and all the accounts are set up."
        " Thank you for taking care of him, Setsuna." the girl
said, a happy smile finally coming to her face. Hotaru didn't
do that enough, in her opinion. " He always liked going up to
Hokkaido in the winter when I was young, before all the
troubles. Teaching again up there will give him the time to
heal and get over all of this."
        " Please, Hotaru-chan, it was my pleasure. We're like
sisters, and we're supposed to help each other out with things.
I'm glad that he will be all right, as he's suffered as much as,
if not more, than any of the rest of us. He was possessed for a
very long time, but it doesn't seem to have any lasting effects."
        " I glad also, Setsuna. I haven't seen anything that would
indicate him having problems, except the look on his face when
he saw me all grown up again. I only saw the tears of pain
when my mother died. I never saw him cry from being happy. "
        They shared a smile at the recent, happy memory. Professor
Tomoe had been very shocked when the infant daughter Setsuna
had taken away several days before walked in as a teen-ager to
see him. She had only stayed long enough to make sure that
they were all right, and then had left them alone so they
could have some privacy at the convalescent hospital he had
just been released from a few weeks ago. They had a lot of
time to catch up on, for he had been possessed by their enemies
when she was still quite young.
        " I'm going to make some tea, Hotaru. Would you please
join me in having some? I'd like to discuss a few things with
you," she asked the younger girl.
        " Certainly. No milk, though. You know how I get from
it," the girl replied, reminding her of her intolerance with
a wistful smile. " I wish I could drink it, though. It just
doesn't taste right without the milk and the sugar."
        Setsuna left the room with a laugh and went into the
kitchen to start the water boiling. She got down one of the
silver services and a set of cups and saucers for four
people. Michiru and Haruka would be stopping by on their way
to Michiru's concert this evening, and there was a bottle of
an exquisite champagne in the refrigerator for the occasion
tonight.
        Hotaru had changed out of the school uniform while she
made the tea, she saw when she took the tray into the sitting
room. The young girl had worn it to the doctor's office in
order to help alleviate any concerns he might have had at the
unusual request to do a physical on such short notice, and on
what could be a very unusual patient. She herself had not been
able to find anything physically wrong with the girl, but she
was not a trained practitioner. Fortunately, the only thing he
had thought was unusual was the color of  Hotaru's eyes, as
dark purple was a unique color.
        The girl now wore a simple, knee length knit dress, gray
with a black belt. Spending some time with Michiru had done
wonders for her fashion sense and she was learning what colors
complemented her. Setsuna went over to the table near her, set
down the tray and took a seat next to the girl, who poured for
both of them.
        " How have you been feeling, Hotaru-chan? Are you still
having any of those weak spells?" she led off.
        " No, I haven't had any of those for a while. I think
that was a consequence of my possession." The girl smiled
briefly, took a knife from the tray, and drew it along the back
of her arm, making a shallow cut a few inches long. A small
amount of blood welled up in the knife's wake. She didn't even
wince at the pain, but instead, closed her eyes in
concentration, and the cut and the blood faded away,
leaving her arm looking like it had never been touched.
        " I don't even get tired from healing like I used
to," she said while she wiped off the knife, wrapped it
in a napkin and put it on the tray.
        " That's good. How do you feel, inside? Has there
been anything that's been bothering you?"
        The girl smiled at the question. So far, this had
been a repeat of several different conversations she had
with the other two. They were concerned about her, but
sometimes the inquisition got to her.
        " I'm fine, Setsuna-mama," she said with a smile,
teasing the woman with the pet name she had given her
three caretakers when she was quite younger a few months
ago.
        Setsuna laughed for several moments before speaking. The
response from the girl had set her mind at ease, for the
humor was a good sign.
        " I guess I deserved that," she said, still smiling
for a few moments before getting serious. " Hotaru, I wanted
to try and explain a few things to you, and it's going to be
tough because you don't know some things yet. Please, just
hear me out on this.
        " I haven't told you much of our past, and I still
don't plan to. It's best that the memories come back to
you on their own, which they will over time. Michiru, Haruka
and I have a very important job to do, and sometimes it has
to take precedence over everything we want to do. When we
first found you, when you were still in the hands of our
enemies, we couldn't afford to let them use your powers.
        " As Sailor Saturn, you have the power to destroy
the world. We couldn't sit by and let them make you do
that. Don't get mad at them...  I mean us, because of this,
but Haruka and Michiru and I were in favor of killing you
if it came down to that. It's not because we didn't care
for you, Hotaru, but because the consequences could be too
high."
        " Kill me?" the girl said in a surprised tone,
sounding much more like the little girl she was a few
months ago. " Michiru-mama and Haruka-papa?"
        " Yes, Hotaru. We considered it. We had to consider
it, and that decision is part of what we do and the
dedication we have for it. They didn't want to, but they
would have if it came to that. Fortunately, it didn't.
After it was over, we swore an oath to raise you as if you
were our own."
        She held up her right hand, indicating the ring she
wore there. It was a silvery metal, set with a piece of
polished gray stone, and it was nothing like the fine
jewelry that Hotaru had seen them wear on many occasions.
        " These rings are a symbol of that oath. Now, you've
gotten past the point where you need us as parents. We were
like sisters once, a long time ago on the moon. We want you
to be part of that again, Hotaru."
        Setsuna reached into a pocket and took out a small,
jewel encrusted box that was pure gold, from the weight,
and was set with a pattern of jet and amethysts on the
top that resembled a purple ringed sphere floating in
darkness. She placed it in Hotaru's hand, and closed her
fingers over the box.
        " We would have done that to you because we cared
about you, Hotaru. That's the kind of dedication that you
need in order to be with us. You'll need to be willing to
abandon everything if it's required, even your sisters, and
even your life. Do you think that you can do that, Hotaru?"
        She smiled in response to the questions, as they had
brought back some painful memories of things that she might
have chosen to forget, but the pain reinforced her
determination. This was what she was supposed to be doing,
and despite the pain, she would gladly do it.
        " Yes, Setsuna. I can do that. I remember our duty.
I've done it once already, when I stopped Pharaoh Ninety,
and I'm ready to do it again."
        She opened the box, revealing a ring just like the
one that Setsuna wore, and she put it on the ring finger
of her right hand, where it fit like it was made for her.
        " I'm one of the Outer Senshi. It may not be easy,
and I may not like it, but I will do my duty, Setsuna," she
said with a look of determination on her face.
        The woman pulled her into a brief embrace, and she
felt the tension that had been in her heart slip away.
        " It's good to have you back, little sister," Setsuna
said, wiping away a tear so the girl would not see her
crying. She gently smiled as Hotaru started to stiffen at
her last words. She laughed, and gave her another squeeze
before letting her go.
        " It's not a joke about your height, Hotaru. You're
all my little sisters, really. I've been doing this for a
long time, you know."
        " How old are you, Setsuna?" the young girl asked,
curious to find out more about this mysterious person. She
usually wasn't around as much as the others were.
        " Hotaru-chan, you know better than to ask a lady her
age," she replied with a laugh. " Besides, I'd lie like
crazy to you on that one. Let's just say the Moon Kingdom
passed about a thousand years ago, and I'm older that ."
        Hotaru giggled at the joke, which set both of them
off laughing again. As they finally stopped, a buzzer
sounded to indicate that someone was on their way up from
the garage beneath the building.
        " That must be Michiru and Haruka," the young girl
said. " They said they'd be stopping by tonight. What else
do you need to tell me about what we do?"
        " I'll show you the safe houses in the next few days,
and explain the security systems to you. When I get your
papers finished, I'll set you up with a bank account.
There's more than enough in there to get you anything
you need."
        " I always knew that you three were rich, Setsuna,
but I never thought it was that much. How much do we
have?" the girl asked.
        " How much do you need?" was Setsuna's reply.
        " That doesn't answer my question," Hotaru stated,
her mind running to work on the possible implications
of the cryptic answer.
        " It does answer your question, Hotaru-chan, but
not the way you want. I've been around for a while, and
I knew where the wealth of the Moon Kingdom was hidden
away on Earth. I've been in real estate for a while, and
I've been watching how cities grow for a long time. If I
pooled everything together, we could have a good spot
towards the top of the Forbes 500 list. Money isn't a
concern."
        The door opened to admit the other two of the Outer
Senshi. They were dressed up for a concert later on, and
as Hotaru ran over to embrace them, Setsuna caught their
eyes and nodded. After swinging Hotaru around in the air
like she did when the girl was younger, Haruka went into
the kitchen and returned with a bottle and four glasses
while Michiru teased Hotaru about her new ring.
        " To our new sister!" the turquoise haired woman
said, and they tapped their glasses together in a toast
before drinking, and the chiming sound hung in the air as
Hotaru laughed at the taste and the tickling sensation
from the bubbles, but decided that she sort of liked it.
        " Let's get you two dressed," Haruka said after
taking another sip and savoring the taste of the rare
vintage. " We were able to swing some extra seats and
we'll be meeting the other girls after the show for
dinner. We're celebrating tonight!"

****************************************************

        The place was deserted this night, unlike the time
he came here a few years ago. He didn't have the energy to
spare that time to spell the guards into a sleep, like he
had done a few minutes ago. His energy reserves were full,
and he wouldn't have to do anything to replenish them,
unlike the last night he spent in this land.
        The man stopped for a few moments to let the wave of
pain wash over him before he continued. He'd suffered with
the knowledge of what he had done to the small family that
night at the Abbey for two long years, and tonight, finally,
he could begin to atone for his sins in the past. They
didn't have the chance to live a full life, but this may
help others have what they deserved.
        Gravel crunched under his boots as he slipped
under a gate that was manned by a snoring security guard.
She, like the others, would wake up in a few minutes,
and none would know what transpired here. The last
barricade, a metal fence, stretched all around this
place in an attempt to conserve it from the many tourists
who came here over the years to admire it, and virtually
none knew of the power under their feet.
        A moment of concentration and a murmured word
activated the spell, and with the grace of a cat, he
leapt over the ten foot fence to land without a sound
on the other side. He brushed a bit of dirt from his
jeans and rose, straightening his shirt. Before him stood
his objective, a collection of gray stones that befuddled
the scientists of the day because they refused to believe
the kernel of truth at the core of the old stories.
        Stonehenge was a mystery to them, but it was an open
book to him. The node seethed with power to his mage-sight.
Fully tapping this would make him like a god, but he

companion of the last two years had shown him the errors his earlier ways, and the adage about the corrupting
effects of power were all too true.
        No, he'd just use a tiny amount of the energy there.
He sat on the ground, legs crossed, facing north and began
the spells he would need. The first was a ward against the
possibility of a wave of power from the node itself as he
tapped it. The second would allow another to hear him a
world away.
        " I'm ready."
        The defenses peeled away under his scrutiny like the
layers of an onion until he had open access to the power
within. Carefully, he channeled a small amount into him and
wove it into a portal before him. Far away, another was
making sure he went to the correct destination. As soon as
he was done, and he felt the opening before him actually
going somewhere, he rose, took several steps forward, and
then restored the defensive barriers that had thwarted him
before.
        The world he had stepped into was much like his home
had been all those years ago, but there was little sign of
the intrusion of man. He stood on a game trail, and there
were heavier tracks to his left. That was the direction he
had been told to go, so he followed as it meandered towards
the setting sun. A few hours later, he came to a clearing
near a low hill. Time and space were different here, as it
would have taken him a few days to walk between the place
he left from and where he now was in the other world.
        There was a small, well-made stone building near
the base of the hill, and several gardens surrounded it.
A simple, wooden cross was at the head of a mound of dirt,
and the farmer in him long ago could see that the grass
had not fully grown back over it. The size and shape of
the mound made his heart sink. Someone was buried there.
        A movement caught his eye, and he was halfway into
a defensive crouch before he stopped and stood straight,
with his arms held out.
        " I'm sorry, it's a habit," he said to the giant
of a man who stepped out the bushes, lochaber axe at the
ready. " Hello, Percival."
        "  I see he let you out after all," the big man
replied, putting the weapon over his shoulder as he
recognized the intruder.
        " He says you needed my help. What can I do?"

****************************************************

        " It's so nice to have you around during the day,
Ami-chan," the blonde girl said as she finished putting
most of her hair up into her customary odango and looked
at her friend standing behind her. " How did your mom
take it when you told her that you wouldn't be taking
summer courses this year?"
        The other girl smiled in response, and resumed
weaving the long strands into a thin braid and secured
them with a black ribbon that was tied in a bow.
        " Not too well, I'm afraid, but she came around
eventually," the girl replied. Unlike her friend, she
matched the color of her dress to her blue hair. She
wished she could wear black as well as Usagi. The dark
color was a good contrast to her blonde hair. She thought
she looked like a bruise when she wore black.
        " There you go, Usagi. How does that look to you?"
        Usagi looked at her hair and her friend in the mirror.
The two braids were certainly a different approach for her,
and made a nice, albeit different look. The rest of her
hair was in it's two usual long streams that reached
almost to the ground.
        " You're pretty good at that, Ami-chan. I'm surprised,
because you said you always had short hair."
        " I usually practiced on my mom's. I always wanted
long, black hair like hers, but I could never figure out
where my color came from. I used to do hers when we were
together, when she had the time."
        Usagi saw the brief flash of pain in Ami's eyes,
got up, and hugged the girl. She forced her to sit down
in the chair and began to run a brush through the other's
short, blue hair in an attempt to get Ami's mind off of
a painful subject.
        " C'mon, Ami-chan, don't let it get to you. It's
supposed to be a happy night, and I don't want you to
be sad."
        " Thank you, Usagi-chan," she said, patting the
other's arm and wiping away a tear that was threatening
to run down her face. " Thank you for caring. I'm all
right, but it gets to me some days. I don't know how I
would have made it if I hadn't met you and all the
others."
        " But you did, Ami-chan, right?" the blonde said
with a smile and infectious charm that lifted her spirits.
Ami felt herself laugh in response and the sorrow went
away. That was the one thing that made Usagi such a good
friend. She always wanted everyone to be happy, and she
treasured that side of the girl.
        " Maybe I'll challenge Michiru to a rematch,
Usagi," she said. " I've been practicing my swimming
and I'm faster than before."
        " That's the spirit, Ami-chan," a voice said
from behind them, startling the two girls at the table.
        " Luna," they both said. The black cat avoided
the attempt by Ami to pick her up and she leapt up to
the table.
        " I'm sorry, Ami, but you do look lovely tonight
and I'd hate to shed all over your clothes," the cat
said, but leaned into the scratching Ami gave the side
of her head so hard that she was looking at them upside
down. " I'm glad that you're getting over it, Ami. Do
you have any ideas why they might be back?"
        Ami was about to respond when a loud wolf-whistle
was heard from someone downstairs. Makoto's voice called
up to them, " Hey, Usagi! You've got some serious
competition down here. I bet she'll spend more time
with Mamoru-san than you will."
        Ami and Luna blinked as Usagi moved so quickly as
to practically disappear from the room and rush down the
stairs. She was confronted with Makoto, wearing a long,
sleeveless, burgundy dress, and an embarrassed Chibi-usa,
who was blushing enough make her cheeks  match her pink
hair.
        " Doesn't she look great, Usagi-chan? She's getting
taller every time I see her," the tall girl said with a
broad smile on her face. She was enjoying teasing the
young girl, especially as Chibi-usa had been several inches
taller and at least a year or two older when she reappeared
after leaving shortly after the encounter with Nephrenia.
She was also quite self-conscious of it.
         As Makoto had said, Chibi-usa did look incredible in
a long black dress that fell to her ankles, and the crush
top boots were just visible. It would have been an
off-the-shoulder type, except for the thin, spaghetti
strap around her neck. She and her future husband were
going to be in a tough spot when the girl wanted to start
dating later on, and she was thankful that it wouldn't be
for a while yet.
        " Chibi-usa-chan," she gasped in surprise. " Where
on earth did you get that? You look wonderful." The little
girl smiled happily, glad that they liked it.
        " Pu and I saw it when we where shopping a few weeks
ago. She dropped it off for me while you were in the bath.
I like your braids, Usagi." They smiled at each other,
enjoying the warmth that was starting to occasionally
replace the bickering that had been the hallmark of
their relationship.
        " Hi, everybody!" Rei and Minako said in unison as
they came through the door together, with Artemis in their
wake. The priestess wore a smart-looking red dress with a
red ribbon as a choker, and her black hair was worn long.
The blonde was sporting a lace covered, white affair that
must have cost her a fortune, and her tresses were piled
up on her head.
        " I'm sorry we're a little late. I had to drag Minako
out of the salon. She couldn't make up her mind on a new
style."
        " Rei-chan," the blonde said in protest, but they
all had a good laugh at her. Minako was as fond of trying
new hairstyles as she was of trying new clothes. The cats
excused themselves to go have a quiet evening while the
girls finished touching up their faces and complimenting
each other on their outfits upstairs in Usagi's room. Chibi-usa
heard the door bell over their voices and rushed out the room.
        " That's Mamo-chan," the girl cried out as she went down

the stairs two at a time, forgetting she was wearing the
low-heeled boots. She slipped on the sixth step, stumbled
down the rest, and was caught by a tall, young man just
before falling to the ground.
        " Be careful, Chibi-usa-chan. We want to go to the
concert, little lady, not the doctor's."
        " Mamoru-san!" the girls called out in greeting from
upstairs as they came out, and Usagi ran down for a hug.
Chibi-usa squirmed out of the three way embrace to carefully
run up the stairs, and came back down with Luna-P in tow at
a more sedate walk.
        " Chibi-usa-chan," Usagi called out from the confines
of Mamoru's embrace. " Do you want to take Luna-P?"
        " Yes, Usagi, but not like this," the girl said with
an impish smile. " Luna-P, change!" she called out, bouncing
her spherical companion like a ball. In a puff of smoke, it
changed into a small, black handbag with a golden crescent.
        " Is everyone ready?" Mamoru asked. At their nods, he
ushered them outside with a small grin on his face. There
were gasps of surprise and delight at the stretch limousine
waiting outside, and the driver holding open the doors.
        " Mamo-chan! This is so thoughtful of you," Usagi
said happily as they got in.
        " I can't take credit, I'm afraid," he replied, settling
down with her at his side and Chibi-usa climbing up on his
lap. " The reservation was part of the tickets and everything."
        " Mamoru, did she say anything about why they were
doing this?" Rei asked him. He shook his head.
        " No, there was just a package in my apartment with
the tickets and all the information and a note that Michiru
had signed. I don't even know how she got in, because there
wasn't anything broken."
        " The type of lock you have on your door isn't too
hard, Mamoru-san. If I could pick it, I'm sure one of them
could have also," Minako said quietly.
        " Are you sure it was her, Mamoru?" Ami asked, voicing
a concern about the safety of this meeting, which she had
brought up yesterday when he told them of it.
        " Yes, Ami-chan, I'm sure. The letter described a
meeting that we had just after we found out who they were,
when we discussed who they were and what they were doing."
        " What meeting was that, Mamo-chan? I don't remember
them saying anything about that?" Usagi said, trying to
recall such an event.
        " I'm sorry, Usako. They met me when I was alone,
just before that one fight where I was saying to them that
we were strong because we were a team, even though they
might be stronger individually. I didn't want to worry
you then with their knowing who I was."
        " I don't like their knowing all this about us," Rei
grumbled. " I haven't felt anything unusual or had any
premonitions about this, but I still don't like it. Why
are they so secretive?"
        " Maybe they're changing, Rei-chan, and this is the
start of their trying to get closer," Usagi said hopefully.
        " Hotaru and Pu have been saying they wanted to
see me more often," Chibi-usa responded. " Maybe Usagi
is right, Rei-chan."
        " I hope she is, also, Chibi-usa," Rei said after
a few moments.
        " Are you feeling all right, Rei," Makoto said
with a grin. " You're agreeing with Usagi on something."

******************************************************

        The two men went into building through a side
entrance, with Percival ducking under the doorway. He
smiled a little at the sight. It did remind him of someone
he knew.
        " You're a big one, Percival. I had a... an associate
who would have loved to fight you. He was as big as you are,
and he was constantly complaining about not having anyone to
practice against who could challenge him."
        " Big kid, red hair?" he replied. At the other's nod,
he continued as they went through what appeared to be a
kitchen. " I saw what she left of him. He was good sized,
but he needed more practice."
        " 'Left of him' ?" he questioned the bigger man.
         " As I said, he needed the practice. She took his
head off," Percival said while putting a finger to his
lips to silence the reply. " He's in here. Try to be
quiet if he's asleep."
        The only light inside was from a fireplace in the
back wall, and he could see an old man lying on a straw
mattress that was moved close to it for warmth, even
though it was pleasant outside. A young boy sat in one
corner and glared at him. A dagger sat in his lap in an
obvious, but unspoken statement of distrust.
        " I was worried when I saw the grave out there,
Merlin. I thought I might have been too late," he said
while sitting down at the spot that Percival had indicated.
It put him in a position that allowed the old man to see
him easily, and he and the boy to be able to cut him off
if he tried something. He sighed to himself. He deserved
this, even though it hurt a bit. It would take some work
to fully win their trust.
        " I'll live on a while longer," the old man rasped
out. " At least long enough to see this one here is
trained properly."
        The old man looked at the scowl on the boy's face
and frowned. " Trust your king, lad. If he released him,
we can trust him. There's no way he could get out from
the king's reach in that place."
        The boy scowled for a few moments longer, defying
his mentor, and then sheathed the dagger with a petulant
sigh.
        " I don't like this, master. He was the bad guy. Why
do we need his help?"
        " Hush, boy!" Percival rumbled from his spot in the
corner. " If Arthur say that you can trust him, you can
trust him."
        " What did you speak of when you were with him?" the
old man asked, turning his attention onto him.
        " Everything, Merlin. All we could do in there was
talk, and he was lonely. We went over everything I had
done in my life, and he showed me were I went wrong in
all these things, and why. He did a good job of teaching
me about it. In turn, I was able to teach him about the
depths of the evil mankind is capable of. He's almost
like a child in that he can't even conceive of how
someone could do things like that."
        " 'He is what is best in men' ," the older man
replied, quoting a predecessor. " I'm glad the sleep
hasn't affected him."
        " What do you need, Merlin?" he said after a few
minutes. " He said it was important."
        " We have to repay a debt, and that is important
to him as well as us. I'm too old to travel, and Percival
can't leave here. I won't risk the boy, either. That leaves
us with you, I'm afraid, although I think that you'll be a
great help in the days to come. I need you to take a
warning to Minako Aino in Japan."
        " I'm sorry, I don't know the name."
        " Azarite, she's the one who you fought that
night. She's Sailor Venus."

*****************************************************

        There was something in the air, he thought as he
took his seat in the auditorium. A very strange feel,
indeed. He glanced briefly at his companion, a young
lady the escort service had sent over. She was very
pretty, although younger than he preferred, and she
seemed to lack the intelligence and maturity that he
found attractive in a woman. He should have expected
that from a service that Gabriel frequented.
        She was not the source of it, that much he was
certain of. The auditorium had several sections of box
seats along the walls, and he was able to make out the
one that Gabriel said the girl sometimes sat in. He'd
keep an eye out for anyone in there, just to be careful.
He was dealing with an unknown, after all.
        He passed the time with some small talk with the
girl in order to keep up appearances to anyone who might
have been watching. Let them think he was just some
dirty old man out for an evening with a pretty girl.
He didn't mind the scorn if it kept him from being
noticed. Another wave of that strange sensation swept
over him, but stronger this time.
        He looked around quickly, hoping to catch the
source. A slight commotion several rows ahead of him
caught his attention. A young man, five young ladies,
and a girl had reached their seats and there was a
disagreement between the girl and one of the two blondes
over who would sit with the young man, who had claimed
the aisle seat to give him some room for his legs.
        " In all the Nine Hells..." he whispered to himself
under his breath. The hairstyles of the two arguing had
caught his attention and kept it from the young man, and
it took him a moment to place him. After all, it had been
just over a thousand years ago when he had all but killed
the young man's father. The recent pictures always had
him wearing a mask, but it wasn't too hard to make the
connection.
        Despite his best efforts, the color drained from
his face. If this was Endymion, that would make the blonde
girl with the hair just like the Queen... He looked
carefully at her, using his mage-sight at a tiny fraction
of his capability to verify his hunch. The bonfire of
energy he saw confirmed his wildest hopes and worst fears.
With a cautious thought, he unwove every protective spell
on him as quietly as he could, and all the others, save one
very old enchantment. He wouldn't take any chance of being
discovered when he was this close to his quarry.
        It was her. The others sitting with her would be
the rest of her court, and that would mean that the others
should be here as well. A quick glance up to the box
confirmed it. Two women and a young girl had just sat
down. His blood froze as he recognized one of them. The
green haired woman was there, sitting next to a woman
with short, golden-brown hair.
        " Excuse me, dear," he said to the girl. " I'll be
back in a few moments. I just need to make a quick call." He
got up and went to the lobby, where the last stragglers were
just coming in, and he hurried to a bank of phones. Choosing
one at random, he entered the cubicle, closed the door behind
him, pulled out a small cellular phone, and stabbed at a
button for a pre-set number.
        " Gabriel, listen to me. This is vitally important," he
started speaking, cutting off the greeting on the other
end. " She's here, six rows in front of me, and she has
the crystal with her."
        " What?" the younger man said in shock, and then
continued in a more excited tone. " I'll be there in
five minutes to back you up. Is Matthew still in-"
        " Her whole court is here, and even the prince. I'm
not stupid, Gabriel. I could never beat all of them
together like this, not without preparation and luck.
Don't do anything except the following, and then take
everything important and clear out of that place in case
she tries tracking us. Burn the place if you have to, but
destroy anything that could give her a clue to trace us.
        " Take the test golem. I know it's not as strong, but
send it over here with the instructions to go after the most
powerful thing at this place. It won't have any problem
finding her. She doesn't have a clue as to using it, and
she's leaking power all over the place."
        " Boss, that one doesn't have a chance of hurting her
or the others. Are you sure that's the one? The real ones
should be all right to send."
        " I'm not interested in taking her out right now,
Gabriel. If I can just get her to try and use it, I can
tap it without her knowing. Give the thing a dagger, or
something like that. It's more threatening that way, and
get it moving as soon as possible."
        The younger man agreed and hung up. Jason folded up
the phone and put it in his inside coat pocket. This would
require a great amount of skill and cunning, but the power
requirement wasn't too bad. He reached out with his mind
and wove a complex web around his crystal that the girl
carried, but never let the two meet, and he took his time so
that there was little disturbance. Satisfied with his trap,
and that he had not been detected, he returned to his seat
just in time for the show to begin. This could prove to be
a very interesting performance.

********************************************************

        " Thanks for the vote of confidence, Percival," he
said as they walked up the small hill behind the stone
house. " I'm glad that you're willing to give me the
chance."
        " The boy will come around, given time. He's young,
and he doesn't understand the gray area between the black
and the white."
        From their vantage point, he could see the gardens
below him, and he decided to satisfy his curiosity about
something. " Who's buried down there? When I first saw the
grave, I thought it was the old man."
        " A couple of old friends, Azarite. They're finally
resting in the peace they deserved, all that time ago."
Percival replied as they came to the top of the hill and
took a seat to catch their breaths. " After the battle at
Camlaan, Gwen and Lance lost the will to live after Arthur
fell. They lived a few more years, but their heart wasn't
in it. When it was obvious that they were going to die, I
had the Merlin put them in the sleep, just like the others.
They couldn't stop me at that point.
        " After Arthur forgave them and took you with him, I
had the old man wake them up. At least they were able to
hear that he had forgiven them, and were able to die happy,
if there is such a thing."
        " So," he replied. " The story has a happier ending
after all. I'm glad about that."
        " Are you ready, Azarite? I'd better show you the way
to use the entrance through the tor. It's a bit rougher than
the node at Stonehenge, but it's a lot more private. And,
one more thing.
        " Tell her the offer of sanctuary still stands."

****************************************************

        Usagi was wrapped up in the music as Michiru began
playing when someone walked across her grave. A cold chill
swept through her, and she shivered for a moment. Chibi-usa
was looking around, and she seemed as startled as she was.
        " Did you feel that, Usagi?" the girl whispered up at
her from her spot between herself and Mamoru. Usagi nodded
in response and looked over at her love. He hadn't seemed
to notice anything amiss, but he caught her looking at him,
leaned over a bit and put his arm around her.
        That made her feel much better. He always knew when
she was in danger, and if he hadn't felt anything, she
probably wasn't. She turned her attention back to the
music and the wonderful mood it put her in.

******************************************************

        He came to in a darkened room. He couldn't make
anything out, but the aches and pains he felt were a
good sign at the moment. It meant he now had a body,
and was no longer adrift in the void.
        " By the stars," he whispered in gratitude. It had
worked. He was alive again.
        " Hello, General," a voice said cordially as several
dim lights came on and he could make out his surroundings
and the man who leaned against the wall by a door. Above
him were the stars of his planetarium he had built in the
cathedral on earth. Just seeing them opened up the channels
to the powers he had been blocked off from for so very long,
and he sprang to his feet. Energy crackled at his fingertips
to lance out in a bolt of starlight at the source of the
tainted energy that had revived him. He could smell the
blood on this one's hands.
        " I'll permit that as a display of futility," the man
said, wincing slightly at the pain of blocking the attack.
He wore a black suit, impeccably cut, and had his hair
slicked back from his forehead. A cold expression was on
his face, and he knew he was in for trouble. This man was
confident of himself.
        " You see, General-"
        " Don't call me that!" he interrupted the other. " I
renounced any association with her a long time ago."
        " All right, Nephrite. I won't call you that if you
don't like it," the man replied with a small smile. " I
knew Beryl, not well, but enough to not like her. I think
I can understand how you feel about her. All that time
with her must have been intolerable."
        " Who are you, and what do you want of me? You
brought me back for something, so please tell me what
it is."
        " We discovered that you were coming back on your
own, and decided to help you out in exchange for your
help in a matter. My name is Matthew. We want you to
complete the work that Beryl set out for you, and capture
the Silver Crystal. I think that you can do it, now that
the constraints Beryl put upon you have been removed."
        " What makes you think I would do that for you?"
he sneered at the man. " You don't have any wards up.
I could be gone from here in a moment."
        " That's true, Nephrite," Matthew smiled and held
up his hand. He slowly squeezed it into a fist, and
Nephrite dropped to the ground in agony. " You see, I
control the energy that keeps you alive. If you don't
do as I say, I'll simply turn it off."
        The pain receded as he sat up and the man walked
over to him, and put several photos on the ground next
to him. Three of the five were familiar to him, but one
of the other two that he couldn't place seemed to be of
someone he should recognize. He reached out and picked up
the one of the blonde girl he did remember.
        " That's the one, Nephrite. Sailor Moon has the
Crystal, and we want it. If you get it for us, we'll
use it to give you
back your life. I assume that we have a bargain?"

****************************************************

        The curtain came down after the encore, and the
house lights came up, causing them to blink their eyes.
        " She's as good as ever," Makoto said as she
stood and stretched her arms up over her head to help
alleviate some of the stiffness she had from sitting for
so long. The others had also been similarly captivated,
and were also standing up and noticing the slight
discomfort.
        " This place has great sound," Rei commented, " But
the seats need to be replaced before I see another show
here." There was a chorus of agreement from her friends.
        " We're sorry to have sentenced you to sitting down
here, Rei-chan," a young girl called from the aisle as
she wove through the departing crowd. " It was a last
minute arrangement, however. We'll get a new, larger box
if we're going to do this more often."
        " Hotaru-chan!" Chibi-usa cried and ran over to hug
her friend, who she had not seen for a while.
        " You've gotten taller, Hotaru," Mamoru said. " You're
as tall now as you were when we first saw you."
        " I don't want to talk about that, Mamoru," the
girl said as a dark look crossed her face for a moment. " I'm
still the short one. Anyway, would you please join us in the
lounge upstairs? Michiru will be up in a few minutes, and
we can talk a bit before dinner."
        They agreed, and followed the girl to a cozy room
upstairs. It was a small lounge that Michiru had purchased
the rights to, Hotaru explained. She did concerts there on
a semi-regular basis, and liked the room as a place to
relax in after doing a show. It was clearly not designed
for that many people, but they were friends and didn't
mind squeezing in on a few couches.
        Usagi had commandeered a chair to the left of the
door and pulled Mamoru over to stand by her, while Chibi-usa
and Hotaru took a bench on the other side of the door. Haruka
was in the far corner with Michiru, who was sitting on the
arm of a couch with her hair tied up in a red ribbon to let
her cool off. Rei and Minako sat down next to her, and Ami
and Makoto took the other couch by Setsuna.
        " You were very good tonight, Michiru." Chibi-usa
said, smiling at the violinist.
        " She's right," Usagi chipped in. " You did a wonderful
job out there."
        Michiru smiled back at them and held up her hand to
forestall the rest of the compliments. " Thank you, but that's
not why we're together tonight."
        " We were wondering about that," Ami said. " You
vanished on us again, just after that run-in with Nephrenia.
Why are you back this time, and why are you trying to get
closer to us?"
        " I'm sorry, Ami-chan," Haruka replied, her voice
surprisingly tender. " It had to be that way when we first
met. We only had the mission, and that was all we were
concerned about. Everything else was secondary to that."
        " We're sorry if we hurt you, everybody," Michiru
continued. " I think it kept us from getting close back
then, even when we remembered more about who we were back
on the moon."
        " What do you remember about the past?" questioned
Makoto. " We don't have anything that's clear."
        " It's the same for us," Hotaru replied sadly. " Everything
is a bunch of little fragments that don't really seem to fit
together. Pluto says it will all come together after a
while." All eyes fell on Setsuna, who looked a little
uneasy at the stares.
        " I'm sorry, but I won't tell you about the past,"
she said firmly.
        " ' Won't ', or ' can't ' ?" Rei challenged the dark
green haired woman.
        " I won't, Rei-chan. It's best if it comes back to you
on your own, without my interference-"
        " That's not fair, Setsuna!" Minako protested. " We
have a right to know about our past, don't we?" she pleaded,
when a sudden, loud thud cut off her appeal.
        " That's enough, everyone!" Haruka growled, staring
at the original Inner Senshi until they looked away from
her gaze, and she put the hand that had struck the wall
back in her pocket. " She has her reasons for not telling
us, and I trust her enough to accept that they're valid." She
took a deep breath, and visibly tried to calm herself before
continuing.
        " We asked you here tonight because we do remember
one, very important thing about ourselves from back on the
moon, and we wanted to talk to you about it."
        " I'll tell them, Haruka," Michiru cut in as the
taller girl searched for the right words. " There is one
thing that we remember, and it was difficult for us to
treat you the way that we did when we first met because of
this. We were all sisters at one time. I mean, not from
the same families, but we were that close back on the moon.
        " Artemis came and visited us about a week ago to ask
that we try and get together. He thought that we were all
missing out on that same friendship, and we think that he
was right."
        " So that's where he was that night," Minako
exclaimed. " He refused to tell me what he was up to."
        " What we're trying to say," Haruka said, her voice
slightly thickened from the emotion she was feeling, " Is
that we want to be like that again. I remember some of what
it felt to be that close to you all, and I want that feeling
again."
        " We miss you," Setsuna continued, and they could see
the tears in her eyes. " It's been so long since we were
together. I miss having all my little sisters. It doesn't
have to be right away, but could we start being friends with
each other again like we used to be?"
        Ami put her arm around the woman and hugged her, tears
in her eyes as well.
        " I'm sorry to have doubted you, Setsuna. I thought it
was a trick of some sorts, or a trap. I never knew that you
felt that way."
        " Of course we will," Usagi said as she wiped away a
tear, as did some of the others. " We'd be glad to." Hotaru
laughed suddenly, and got a mischievous look to her.
        " I'm sorry, Your Majesties, but this doesn't include
you. This is just for the hired help, I'm afraid," she said
happily, but kept her face straight long enough for Chibi-usa
to realize what she was saying and the impact of it. The look
of happiness faded away to the point just before the flood of
tears came before Hotaru finally smiled at her.
        " It's all right, Chibi-usa-chan. I was just teasing
you."
        " Don't worry, Chibi-usa-chan," Michiru called to her
from the other side of the room. " You're part of this as
well. We wouldn't think of excluding you." Chibi-usa brightened
up at this news and soon was smiling and happy like the rest
of them. Haruka turned to a small refrigerator and took out
a bottle.
        " We'll have a special toast tonight, then," she said,
her voice cheerful again. The bottle was presented with a
flourish before she put it down on the coffee table next to
a tall, slender vase that held a yellow rose. " That's a very
special bottle, according to Setsuna."
        " I think you're a lush, Haruka," Michiru teased her
friend. " That's the third time you've come up with an
excuse for a drink today."
        A chill ran down Rei's spine as she realized something
as horribly wrong near them, and it's attention was focused
on Usagi. She surged to her feet to begin to a headlong dive
to cover her dear friend.
        Haruka noticed the change in Rei's face and rushed
forward as the door handle began to turn. It burst open as
Mamoru felt the danger as well and he shifted into his
'other' tuxedo in a flurry of rose petals.
        It appeared to be a pale skinned, naked man, and
he was carrying a knife as he headed for Usagi.
        " Ecchi!" Ami cried in shock, not realizing the
threat. She hadn't seen the knife.
        " Moon..."
        She couldn't get to him in time, she decided. Damn
it, what was I thinking, she yelled at herself, letting
her sit by the door like that. The cloud of rose petals
around the young man gave her the idea. The vase, of
course.
        " ...Eternal... "
        On the run, she grabbed it by the neck and flung it
at the intruder in a desperate, side-armed throw that sent
the knife flying out of his hand in a cloud of dust as the
hand shattered when the white and yellow streak hit it.
        My god, he thought to himself. This thing isn't
human. There was no way a cane or a rose could hurt what
appeared to be stone. Even as he moved, a shimmer swept
over him from front to back as his armor appeared. More
importantly, his sword, as well.
        " ...Make..."
        The Space Sword suddenly in hand, she leaped over
the diving priestess who would land on top of the
princess to shield her with her body. This should do it,
she said to herself with a grim smile. This can cut
through anything.
        "...Up!"

*****************************************************

        " Can we go now?", the girl exclaimed, a slight
whine in her voice. He ignored her and concentrated on
the feel of the energies in the room above, where his
crystal had gone along with his enemies. It had been
quiet to his sight, and he wished he could use a scrying
spell to see what really was going on.
        There! he almost shouted aloud, and a look of
exultation appeared on his face. He yanked the shimmering
lattice of energy tightly about the crystal, and slammed
a spear of force into it, guided by the old spell of
control he had helped create almost twenty-five hundred
years ago.
        A surge of power filled him, and a sense of pleasure.
After so long, I have a hold on it, and no matter what the
Princess of the Moon does, I'm not letting go. I have her
now. It's just a matter of time.
        He looked again at the girl. She would do nicely
for this, he thought. Pulling out his wallet, he took out
a stack of bills and handed them to her. She gasped at the
sight, for there must have been a few hundred thousand yen
in the stack.
        " Go back to your agency, and bring back a couple of
your girl friends to my room at the hotel. They'll all get
an equivalent amount, and there will be more for you. I'm
suddenly in the mood for a little party tonight."

****************************************************

        Her sword bounced off of it, and only gouged
out a small chunk, to her dismay as the sense of fear
within her grew. Her landing was thrown off by the
unplanned recoil, and she sprawled at the thing's feet.
Abandoning the sword for now, she hit the ground and
grasped at it's legs, hoping to throw it off balance.
        Fear gripped his heart as he saw her sword barely
affect it. He had seen her cut through solid steel with
it on one occasion. What could his plain old sword do to
it if hers had failed? His fear and desperation channeled
every last bit of energy he had into the blade, which
began to glow with a yellow light as it started to swing
down towards the thing. He was going to be too late, he
thought. It was so close to reaching her neck with it's
one good hand...
        A loud, ringing tone came from his sword as it
cleaved the thing in two from his overhand stroke, and
the blade wedged itself into the floor beneath him. The
statue began to decompose at once, but not before he
could see a round, shining stone the size of an apple
in the middle of it that glowed a sickly yellow color.
It, too, had been cut in half, and was dissolving. The
feel he got from it sickened him. It felt like something
that should have been pure and natural that had been...
corrupted.
        Lights flashed in the room as the others finished
their transformations. With the exception of Rei,
Haruka, Usagi, and Chibi-usa, the others now wore
their Senshi uniforms.
        Usagi? he said to himself. He had heard her
saying the words. He looked at her to see if she was
all right. She hadn't been touched, but the tears
flowed down her face.
        " It didn't work!" she whispered, shocking the
others with the raw agony  in her voice. " It didn't
work. I tried, and it didn't work. I can't feel the
crystal."

******************************************************

to be continued in part 2.

end. Obligations {1/3}