Subspace, 2067 AD (Serenity Year -925, 2818 Years after the founding of Rome, Juraiian Year 22231, Federal Year -1917) Months of dreams and nightmares ended in an instant when a bright shining light cut through the void, which had been shaping and reshaping itself around a small glass orb. A soul lay exhausted within the sphere. It woke at the light's touch, and formed a body for itself as the laboratory around it evaporated. He had almost forgotten how to walk, although he wasn't sure why. The light was blinding, and he had to squint. A woman hung in the light. Or was it a man? He wasn't sure. Whatever it was, it had six shining wings and spoke with the voice of a rushing wind. {I HAVE COME FOR YOU.} "I can't go yet! I've seen...I've seen what's happened. I have to stop it. I have to fight her. I can't let Dr. Weissman destroy the world like this!" {THERE IS NOTHING LEFT OF DR. WEISSMAN. HER MISTRESS HAS DEVOURED HER. ONLY THE WINTER QUEEN REMAINS.} The figure reached out a hand. "It doesn't matter!" He held up the orb. "I can stop her with this. If nothing else, at least I'll be able to see what she plans to do." The orb flickered and they could both see the Winter Queen preparing to send an army after some place called Shamballa. "I have to go! To warn them. At least one place survived." {YOUR BATTLE WAS NOT IN VAIN. BECAUSE THE GATE WAS CLOSED, SOME PLACES SURVIVED.} The figure thrust out its hand again. {BUT YOUR PART OF THAT BATTLE IS OVER.} "I HAVE to go! I have to!" {YOU ARE DEAD. IT IS NOT MEET FOR THE DEAD TO WALK AMONG THE LIVING EXCEPT AT THE APPOINTED TIMES.} "I'm not dead! I have a body! I can breathe!" He paused. "I'm even getting hungry!" {KALI DEVOURED YOUR BODY. WHAT YOU POSSESS IS MERELY A SHADOW OF LIFE, TAINTED BY THE DARK POWER THAT REMAINS WITHIN THE ORB.} The figure held out a hand once more. {THIS IS THE LAST TIME I MAY ASK YOU. WILL YOU COME WITH ME TO THE REST YOU HAVE EARNED OR WILL YOU WALK YOUR OWN PATH?} "If I left now, I wouldn't be able to live with myself. Surely, you can understand that." {I ADMIRE YOUR SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY AND YOUR DETERMINATION TO ATONE FOR WHAT YOU FEEL YOU HAVE DONE, BUT I SAY TO YOU THAT YOU HAVE DONE MORE THAN ENOUGH.} For a moment, he was silent. {I HAVE NEVER BEEN A GOOD ARGUER. NORMALLY, IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO CONVINCE SOMEONE THEY ARE DEAD. YOU HAVE BEEN ASKED THRICE AND YOU HAVE REFUSED THRICE. I MUST DEPART.} The being turned to go. "Wait, can you take a message for me?" The figure nodded. "Tell my brother I'm sorry we never got over that big fight we had a few years ago. I don't think I've seen him in three years." He sighed. {I'M AFRAID I CAN'T DO THAT.} "Why?" The figure's head slumped. {WHEN I CAME FOR HIS SOUL, HE INFORMED ME THAT I WAS MERELY A MYTH MADE FLESH BY THE DELUSIONS OF HIS DYING MIND OR ELSE SOME KIND OF TRICK. HE TOLD ME TO GO AWAY, SO I GAVE HIM WHAT HE WANTED.} "So his soul is roaming the world as a ghost?" {THE FORCES OF HELL REAPED A RICH HARVEST OF PEOPLE WHO REFUSED TO GO WITH THOSE WHO CAME FOR THEM. IN THE END, THEY HAD ONE LAST CHANCE, AND MANY OF THEM THREW IT ALL AWAY BECAUSE THEY HAD DECIDED THAT SINCE SOME MYTHS WERE UNTRUE, THEY ALL WERE, OR BECAUSE THEY BELIEVED ONLY IN SOMETHING LIKE MONEY, WHICH COULD NOT SAVE THEM, OR BECAUSE THEY SOUGHT A VENGEANCE THEY COULD NOT HAVE.} The figure gave the soul it was confronting a pointed look, then turned and began to dwindle. {I SUGGEST YOU FIND YOUR WAY BACK TO THE PHYSICAL WORLD VERY QUICKLY. THEY CANNOT COME FOR YOU AGAINST YOUR WILL THERE.} The dwindling stopped, and a single tear fell from the figure's left eye, becoming a tiny crystal as it fell onto the being's palm. {I AM SORRY ABOUT YOUR BROTHER. TAKE THIS. MAYBE IT CAN HELP YOU.} It tossed the tiny crystal to the orb-bearing soul. "You let them take all those souls?" He was in shock. {NO ONE CAN BE SAVED AGAINST THEIR WILL. IF YOU TOSS A DROWNING MAN A LIFE PRESERVER AND HE ANNOUNCES IT IS A DONUT AND EATS IT...THE DEMONS DID NOT COME UNTIL I DEPARTED, BUT I COULD NOT STAY WITH THEM FOREVER. YET, IT MAY NOT BE The end...} The voice faded as the light dwindled, or perhaps drew further away. {i have never understood the need for a last judgement when all are judged upon death. perhaps, there is hope for those who refused this final call. there may yet be still more room for mercy in the great plan.} The light grew even fainter, and the shadows began to loom menacingly. {even such as i only glimpse the mind of The Most High dimly...fare you well, henry j. wise. i pray we meet again...} The Wiseman clutched his orb and the crystal for a moment, then took the being's advice and ran. ****************** Black Moon Rising Chapter 4: My Dinner at Serenity's By John Biles ****************** Earth, Crystal Tokyo, SY 68 (3060 AD, 3811 Years after the founding of Rome, Juraiian Year 23224, Federal Year -926) Queen Serenity, Endymion, Mars, Mercury, Uranus, and Neptune sat around a small round table in a conference room with Keiko Morisato. "So some of the tour group is missing?" Mercury asked. "We lost about ten people. I'm sure most of them will show up fairly quickly." Keiko sighed. "Luckily we didn't have any casualties. I was able to take it down fairly quickly, especially after Uranus and Neptune arrived." "We ought to keep an eye on the people who scattered, if we can find them. Some of them might be responsible," Uranus said. "I want to know how the thing got past the wards." "It turned into a gem when it died," Keiko said. "Probably was carried in like that." "Which means there could be more." "I'll need the ash to run a computer scan," Mercury said. "We can sweep the palace once the data comes in." They found three gems once the search was complete, which took less time than they expected. One was hidden in the chapel, one in the library, and one in a statue in an upstairs hallway. All three were disarmed and destroyed without any trouble. The question of who planted them remained unresolved. ******************** "So then Mindi asked John, the big blue boomer, to take her to the movies. She climbed up on his shoulder, and he flew across the city." Uriel read another story from 'Curious John Helps Out' to Ami-chan. She was sitting on his lap, reading along. She really didn't need it to be read to her, but she liked it. Hermes was sprawled out in a chair nearby, taking a nap. The door opened and a blue haired woman walked in. Uriel didn't even notice, until she said, "Hello?" He looked up. "Hello. Are you Sailor Mercury?" "Yes. And you are?" "I am Raguel, a devotee of your cult. Your sacred child commanded me to...uh...play with her." He didn't have to fake embarrassment. Ami pointed a finger at Ami-chan. "Now what did I tell you about this?" "No more making people do my bidding! No more telling cultists to clean my room for me! No more making them bark like dogs!" Ami-chan giggled. "You're going to be grounded for a week for this!" She walked over and picked up Ami-chan. "I'm really sorry about this. I keep telling her not to...uh...anyway." He bowed. "A pleasure to serve." He turned to the door. "I suppose my friends will be wondering where I am. The light of Serenity upon you, oh Sacred Mercury." Ami rolled her eyes. "Have a nice day." Uriel departed and Ami gave Ami-chan a proper chewing out. ******************** Arcadia sat on her bed and tried to figure out which of her new outfits to wear and where she was going to put them. She was afraid that the magical wardrobe would make them vanish if she used it. For that matter, why did I bother to buy clothing if I have this? Well, I guess I can take it back with me. She finally picked out an orange and blue dress that pleased her, with long pleated sleeves, a skirt that went down to about halfway down her calves, and a high embroidered neckline. She got up and looked in the mirror. "Well, I think I look pretty good." "Mommy says it's time to go eat!" Ami-chan stuck her head in the door. "C'mon!" She was wearing a fancy blue dress with golden trim. "Okay." Arcadia came out and joined the rest of her little group. Ryo was wearing a nice tuxedo, and Ami was wearing a long blue dress with ankle length skirts, but which dipped low in front and back and left her arms and shoulders bare. Arcadia concluded that it had to be held up by magic or invisible straps, since it didn't look very tight on top at all. Or glued on. Hermes was in his dwarf form, wearing a nice red and black silk shirt, a black vest, and black trousers. "Do I get to sit by Small Lady?" Ami-chan asked. "Small Lady?" Arcadia asked. Hermes laughed. "The Queen's daughter, Usagi, is also sometimes referred to as Small Lady Serenity or Small Lady of Serenity or various variations on that." Arcadia blinked. I was hanging out with the Queen's DAUGHTER? That would explain a few things. She felt nervous now. "Oh, right." "Let's go," Ami said. "We'll be dining in private with the Queen. Apparently, the formal dinner had to be cancelled after the Zentraedi ambassador accidentally crushed his micronization machine and no longer could fit into the palace." They walked through the palace to a small dining chamber. There was a long table, set for nine. The tablecloth was white with gold geometric patterns, and the fine china was a simple white with golden crescent moons. One of walls was full of windows showed a thick forest, which rather confused Arcadia, and the other three were covered with various portraits and paintings of pastoral scenes. Two women, two men, and one child were already there. It was easy to tell that one of them was the Queen. Arcadia recognized her from the statues all over town and the palace, as well as from historical records. Endymion was easy to place as well, and it was easy to tell the little pink-haired girl was probably the Queen's daughter. Arcadia was somewhat relieved that she hadn't been complaining about hearing about the Queen to her own daughter earlier. The Queen sat at the head of the table, with Endymion to the right and her daughter to Endymion's right. The other two, Arcadia didn't recognize. The woman had reddish- brown hair tied back in a pony-tail. Her dress was similar to Ami's, except a little higher in back and front, and cut so that it was clearly being held on by elastic around the top, or something similar. She wore a long gold necklace with an emerald mounted in silver which nestled on the exposed portion of her cleavage. She was very tall, and had a pleasant smile. The man was neither handsome, nor ugly, but he dressed well and had a very confident air to him. Short black hair complemented his grey eyes, and he was dressed in a dark blue tuxedo. They were seated with the man next to Serenity's daughter and the woman across from him, leaving three empty spaces at the far end of the table and one empty one to Serenity's left. Food occupied the middle of the table, heaped on plates in far greater quantities than nine people would normally need. Ami said, "Queen Serenity, I present to you, Arcadia N'goya of the Sixteenth Century. Arcadia, this is Queen Serenity, her husband Endymion, her daughter, Usagi..." Usagi-chan waved. "The Lady Jupiter and her husband, Lord Parias." "A pleasure to meet you," Lord Parias said. "I hope you've been enjoying your stay in our century." Arcadia bowed nervously. "It's been...surprising." Queen Serenity laughed. "I've been wanting to meet you, but being a Queen keeps me quite busy." She pointed to the open seat by her. "I would be grateful if you would sit by me." Arcadia gulped. "Okay." She walked around the table and sat down. I hope table manners haven't changed too much in 1500 years, or I'm going to be very embarrassed. When she noticed everyone bowing their heads for no discernable reason, she followed suit. "If you would give us a blessing, Lord Parias," Serenity said. Parias laughed faintly, then said, "Oh Lord of Heaven, we thank you for the blessings we have received this day and the meal we are about to eat. Guide us today and in the days to come. Amen." He looked over at Serenity. "Should I throw in a prayer to you as well?" He was grinning. For a moment, Arcadia thought Serenity was going to pick up her plate and hurl it at Parias. She certainly would have, in Serenity's place. Finally, Serenity simply laughed. "I'll smite you with divine wrath later." Everyone started passing the plates of food around, serving themselves, along with several mugs of a pleasant mint tea. There was a bottle of wine as well, but Parias and Jupiter were the only ones who took any of it. Arcadia would have, but she knew she got drunk easily and it wasn't worth the risk. "I understand that Ryo has been showing you around the city," Queen Serenity said. Arcadia nodded, shoveling mashed potatoes onto her plate. "Yeah. I wish I could take some stuff back with me. Dr. Anderson would probably kill for the chance to see all this stuff." "Feel free to take whatever you like with you," Serenity said. "Well, you can't have my husband, but..." She winked. Endymion laughed. "I suppose I shouldn't be getting out the turban, then?" Everyone except Arcadia and the two children laughed. "I...Thank you for the...Well, I went shopping today, and I discovered you'd given me an unlimited credit line. I...Thank you." The Queen nodded. "Try not to buy any battleships, okay?" She laughed and so did most of the others. "You are our responsibility until we can get you back to your own time." "So how long is it going to take the Junior Pluto? Shouldn't she be back by now?" Arcadia asked. "She will return when she's ready," Jupiter said. "Plutos are like that. She can take you back to right after you left, anyway, so it's no rush." She fell silent, plunging into her food. "Should your stay be too prolonged, I will see to a tutor for you," Parias said. "Or if you simply have an interest in studying on your own, I will be happy to help you." "Better be careful, or he'll put you to work teaching," Ryo said. "Parias is the minister of education." "Uncle Parias is a GENIUS!" Ami-chan announced. Parias laughed. "If only that was true. So how do the schools work in your century, Arcadia?" Arcadia paused in shoveling steak and corn and potatoes into her mouth. "Well, there's public schooling through fourteen grades, although some people go to private schools..." She launched into a long description of the education system, concluding with, "School was boring as hell, pretty much. My folks sent me to a private school, but it was run by a bunch of apathetic numbskulls. I did most of my learning at home with books and computer research." She took a break to shovel down more food. "It's supposed to be more interesting in the last few grades, but I had to run for my life before that happened." Parias nodded. "Run for your life?" "Buncha fruitcakes from the Black Moon Cult think I have to die." She shrugged and stuffed more food in her mouth, chewing quickly. "They blew up a bunch of my friends and killed my boyfriend." "That's awful!" Jupiter said. "Did he have purple hair too?" Usagi-chan asked. "No, he had green hair." Arcadia said. "His name was Tony, and we'd been going out forever." She sighed. "That was about seven months ago. Now I live in what used to be your palace with a bunch of scholars and merchants. They're really cool." "Did mommy get kicked out?" Usagi-chan asked. Arcadia laughed. "I'm from way, way in the future, kiddo." "Do they have giant robots?" Ami-chan asked. "Yeah. They use them in warfare a lot. Gundams, Veritechs, Robeasts, Stygian Knights, Battlemechs, etc. A lot of them are named after various legends." "Have you ever driven one?" Usagi-chan asked. "Yeah." Arcadia couldn't resist embroidering a bit. Okay, lying like a maniac. "We start learning at your age, so we fight all the giant monsters that rise out of the sea on Mondays." Soon, everyone was laughing, except the two kids, who listened attentively. ******************** Uriel sat down hard on his bed in the hotel room. "I got held hostage by Mercury's daughter. She forced me to read her stories and feed her ice cream." Gabrielle laughed. "Robbing the cradle, dear?" He stuck out his tongue at her. "I delivered the gem, then stumbled into her." "Well, we got in and got out alive, so now we celebrate," Michael said. "Let's go find somewhere, get drunk, and trash the place." "We have to stay here and wait for the droids to report in," Raphaelle said. "I'm not letting you get drunk until we're done." ************************ "So then, Endy-chan was talking to my father, and he got so nervous he put soy sauce in his tea, and tried to drink it." The dinner conversation had turned into a round of recounting embarrassing moments. Endymion laughed. "And then I almost spat it out on him. I've faced monsters less frightening than your Dad was." "Was your father a king too?" Arcadia asked. Serenity laughed. "My father was a photographer. He'd probably faint if he knew I had become a queen, even if he always called me his little princess." Arcadia couldn't really believe that. Serenity was very regal, every inch a queen. Not that Arcadia had met many queens. "Did he die in the Great Ice?" "He died long before the Great Ice. My father was born nearly a century before the Ice." She thought for a moment. "More than a century. My mother died long ago as well, and my brother. He died in the 2025 Kanto Quake. Mother cried for days." She sighed. "Almost everyone I grew up with is dead, except for my Senshi. I am very old, Arcadia, though I don't look it. I was born almost ninety years before the Great Ice. I slept through that, but I've been alive a hundred and fifty four years." Arcadia paused from stuffing more mashed potatoes into her mouth in order to focus on boggling. "You...you don't look that old." She must use a lot of aganathic magic. "Parias and Endymion are even older than that. The Silver Crystal has greatly lengthened our life spans. I will likely live several hundred more years. Everyone in our time has extended lifespans, but we have the longest ones, for we are tied most closely to the Silver Crystal." "I'd like to see it." Arcadia said. "It's vanished in our time." "We keep it locked away. The temptation to use it is too strong and too dangerous for us now for me to carry it constantly as I once did." She sighed. "It vanished?" Arcadia nodded. "Serenity X used it to get pregnant so she would have an heir, then after that, it disappeared." "Are there still Senshi in your time?" Jupiter asked. "I'd rather not discuss the future too much. It...It's not too pretty." Arcadia sighed. Ryo nodded. "I can appreciate that." Jupiter looked around. "Time for dessert. I'll go get the cake." She got up and left the room. "So who cooked all this?" Arcadia asked. "Jupiter did," Endymion said. "She's not just Serenity's bodyguard, she's also the best cook in the castle." This was proved to be true by the excellent chocolate cake. Arcadia was soon in chocolate heaven. *************** Jurai, Royal Palace, Juraiian Year 23224 (3060 AD, 3811 Years after the founding of Rome, SY 68, Federal Year -926) Celia sat at the computer and read through another intelligence report. Being the Juraiian spymaster had its good and bad side. The good side was knowing everything before anyone else, which was an advantage Celia greatly appreciated. The bad side was that no one in Jurai's intelligence service seemed to know how to write clearly and to the point. Florid language was a national tradition, and it drove her nuts at time. Still, the reports were accurate, if agonizing. She tapped a few keys and transferred the report to the battle front commanders along with a few recommendations. The Khund War wasn't any real threat, but the sooner they wrapped up this farce, the better. If it provided an excuse for wiping out House Flaem somehow, so much the better. She had reason to believe that House Flaem was secretly aiding the Khunds, but she couldn't prove it. I will break them, she thought, then laughed at herself. "I'm going to start talking to myself next," she muttered. "You already are," her mother-in-law said. It was Ryouko, who had apparently worked out how to bypass all the NEW security devices that Celia had installed since the last time she had done this. "Shouldn't you be at the Front with the Emperor?" Celia asked, a little worried. Ryouko handed Celia a data chip. "Had to deliver this. I'm the best person to get to you unseen. Besides, Tenchi has an entire battle fleet with him, plus Priss." She sat down on a nearby chair. "Go ahead and read this thing. I'm curious to see what's on it." "He didn't tell you?" She laughed. "Aeka rigged it to explode if I tried to read it. She is getting wiser." Ryouko laughed again. "I do know it's got some captured Khund intelligence on it." Celia slotted in the chip. The report came up on the screen. It detailed the sale of thirty warships to a world known as 'Nemesis'. Ryouko blinked. "They actually SOLD warships? The Khunds can't build them fast enough to sell them. They use them all themselves." The report continued with details of something called a 'Planet Smasher', whose location had been sold to them in return for the warships. Ryouko paled. "Shit! I thought all those things were destroyed!" Celia shook her head. "Some unknown civilization built them in another galaxy, and every once in a while, one turns up. I can't see what good knowing where to find one would be, though. There's no known means to control them, and very few to destroy them, given they have solid neutronium hulls." "I take it, I'm about to go do another mission, eh?" "See if Wasyuu knows anything useful, then get on it. If you want any backup, I'll supply it." "They'd only slow me down." She stared into space for a moment. "Anything else on that datchip?" The rest was more military intelligence reports, which failed to interest Ryouko, although they did interest Celia. "Looks like nothing you need to worry about." Ryouko got up and grinned. "I'm off to go see about that Planet Smasher, then." She took off and Celia got down to the business of deciding who should covertly follow Ryouko and bail her out when the trouble started. *************** Earth, Crystal Tokyo, SY 68 (3060 AD, 3811 Years after the founding of Rome, Juraiian Year 23224, Federal Year -926) Rubeus frowned as he crept through the palace. Eight of the best of Nemesis' warriors were with him, but he knew that if things went wrong, they would all die horribly. He had to succeed or die. Either of their objectives would suffice. They reached an intersection and he dispatched four of them to Objective S, while he headed on to Objective K. He sent the four he didn't like to S, for the simple reason that he knew they were virtually guaranteed to fail, but their failure would draw Serenity's fire, and if he was lucky, he would make off with their other objective while those four idiots died. Rubeus had known things were going to go badly from the moment that they had materialized under a damn bed instead of in an open space. The Senshi had been supposed to find the one under the bed and conclude the whole thing was an assault on their little guest, but no, that was the one they DIDN'T find. At least no one had been in the bed, or this would have swiftly turned into a bloodbath. The Weird Sisters weren't a big improvement on the cannon fodder brothers he had sent off to die, but despite being superficial twits, they did have some intelligence on the rare occasions they chose to use it. One of them had a crush on him, which made her easy to manipulate, as well. I wish I'd gotten to take my sister instead, he thought, but of course, Wiseman chooses NOW to send her off on some secret mission. He sighed. Catse said, "Is something wrong, Rubeus?" "I think your rouge is smeared, Catse," he replied, then smiled as she frantically tried to fix the problem without a mirror. Birdy returned from scouting ahead. "Uranus and Neptune are guarding the Great Vault." Rubeus paled. Shit. Normally, there's only a few troubleshooters guarding it. Serenity must be expecting an attempt to steal the key. Or someone's sold us down the river. "Anyone else?" "Ranko Fujisawa, Sailor Saturn, Meiko Morisato and Dan Hibiki were there, but they just headed out to search for trouble. Morisato sensed evil in the area." "But they're not coming right at us?" "Dan insisted on going this way, but the others wouldn't listen, so he tagged along after them." "All right. Here's the plan. Catse, Avery, you two will circle around and draw the Sailors fire. Birdy, you will circle around to cut off the route that Saturn went down. In fact, freeze that hallway solid. Prisma, you're with me. Our job is to blast open the vault with this." He held up a gem. "Then we get the key and anything else interesting, then RUN for our lives. Soon as we rendezvous, we head back to our ship and jump out of the system." They nodded and fanned out. *********** Among the lesser glories of the Royal Garden is a sandbox. Arcadia sat on a bench nearby with Jupiter and Parias and watched Ami-chan and Usagi-chan fight over who got to use the one shovel they had thought to bring. She laughed. "You'd think a suuuper- genius would have thought to bring her own shovel." After dinner was over, Serenity and her husband had retreated into seclusion with Ami and her husband to discuss some business, while the others had ended up in the garden. Parias laughed. "The real question is why Usagi-chan had brought a shovel to dinner with her." Smiling, Jupiter said, "Do you really have to ask?" He blinked, then started laughing. "So where is YOUR shovel?" They started tickling each other and generally acting ridiculous, so Arcadia got up and went over to the sandbox. She found a handy stick and started building a small sand-castle out of the multi-colored sand. Her hometown had an old castle that had supposedly been brought from Earth by some rich nutcase, so that was her model. She drew upon her magic to keep the sand in its shape, since she had no water with which to wet it down. The bickering on one side and the terms of endearment on the other blurred into the background as she worked. Tower by tower, wall by wall, her castle grew. She could feel the power of the place flowing through her as the image in her mind came to life. Normally, she would have been straining to keep so much sand together with her powers over Earth, but it was little more effort than that needed to flex a finger here. The outer bailey was complete, and she began work on the inside wall and the keep. The bickering faded, as did the terms of endearment, but she kept working. Somewhere along the line a shovel got into her hands, although she wasn't sure how. So did a scarf, which became the castle's banner. Finally, she shaped the last few windows, tiny indentations in the keep, and stepped back. She had taken over about two thirds of the sandbox. Jupiter applauded. "Planning to go into architecture?" Ami-chan said, "Is that your home back on your monster world?" Usagi-chan said, "Can I have my shovel back?" Arcadia handed the little hand shovel back to Usagi-chan, still not sure how she had gotten ahold of it. "Some rich nutcase owns this thing near my hometown. It's a pretty castle, though." "I take it you're good at Earth magic," Parias said. Arcadia nodded. "I didn't realize I was this good, though. I just wish I could keep it somehow." She sighed. "As soon as I leave, it's going to fall apart." Parias nodded. "Life is like that." He was about to continue when there were several explosions and shouts inside the palace. A few seconds later, a skimmer roared into the garden, full of all too familiar maniacs with black crescent moons on their foreheads. For a moment, Arcadia flashed back, losing her grip on reality, but the sound of music and a flash of light shook her out of it. Jupiter had shifted to her battle garb, as had her husband, who was now clad in grey armor and carrying a sword with strange sigils along the blade. Instead of opening fire, the skimmer crew started hurling gems everywhere. Every gem struck a tree, which twisted into a dark parody of itself, wrenching loose and beginning to close in on the little group by the sandbox. Jupiter and Parias looked around nervously. "Arcadia, get the kids behind us, and get them into the palace as soon as you can!" An ear-splitting scream cut through the night, as Usagi-chan panicked and began to howl. Ami-chan fell down, clutching her ears and beginning to cry. The skimmer nearly crashed into a tree when the driver tried to cover his ears. Arcadia fell to her knees. She couldn't think with that horrible screech. Parias and Jupiter seized the chance to take the war to the trees instead of vice versa, driving them back. Usagi-chan coughed and her screaming broke off. Arcadia jumped forward and picked them both up, which wasn't easy. She was strong, but trying to carry one with one arm was hard. She tried to break for the palace, but the skimmer had circled around and was in the way. "Give us the kids and we'll let you go. I don't know who you are, but we have no quarrel with you." They all were carrying various kinds of rods and wands, none of which looked very pretty. It would have been tempting, except that Arcadia didn't trust anyone with a black moon on their forehead any further than she could have thrown Crystal Tokyo. They'll just toast me if I hand over the kids, she thought. "Unfortunately for you, I have a big quarrel with you losers. I won't let you have them!" Ami-chan was still crying, and Usagi-chan was trying to howl, but was hyperventilating too much to scream. He shrugged. "Have it your way." He gestured to his men and women, and they raised their rods. Before they could do anything, Arcadia had an idea. She reached out with her power, drawing every drop she could pull out of the air. In the fringes of her vision, she could see she was glowing with power. Her power reached out and flowed into the skimmer. It was metal and ceramics, the stuff of the Earth, and her power was over the Earth. Back in her own time, she could have put dings in the door at best. Here, her strength was multiplied fifty-fold. The skimmer crunched up as if it was a little paper toy, then fell to the ground. The wreckage flowed like water, wrapping around the hapless goons, and she grinned. Three of them managed to raise their wands, and she folded the wands back into U shapes. Unnoticed, the castle she had made quietly crumbled, for her power had been withdrawn from it. She laughed, enjoying her revenge. "You bastards! You're all going to pay! ALL of you!" Ami-chan cried some more. Usagi-chan stared. "Did you do that?" The commander staggered out of the wreckage and levelled his rod. "You bitch!" Arcadia pointed. "Your engine block is exposed. Ever seen what happens when you compress a skimmer engine? How many different pieces do you want to bet you'll end up in?" She grinned and hoped he wouldn't surrender. The idea of blowing them all to tiny bits was very appealing. The man glanced at the block. "You're bluffing." She grinned ferally. "I'm going to bet you're in at least four pieces when I'm done with you." He gulped and dropped his rod. "Okay, you win. " Arcadia looked over. Jupiter and Parias were about to knock out the last tree. Trees were scattered everywhere, lying on their sides. The gardener is going to be pissed, she thought. ********************** "They found WHAT?" Arcadia boggled. "A teleportation foci under your bed. That's how they got into the palace." Ryo sighed. "They're going to be up all night discussing what to do next. The Time Key is gone too." "What, the one that brought me here?" Ryo nodded. "Uranus and Neptune beat up the thieves, but they managed to break into the vault, get the key, and teleported away. They might be dead, though." "Why?" "It's about eighty percent likely they teleported to a cloaked ship that gave itself away by activating its jump drives inside the atmosphere." Arcadia boggled. "They WHAT?" Ami-chan, who was putting on her pajamas nearby, said, "Is that bad?" "It's virtual suicide! Seven times out of ten, you'll end up in the bleeding core if you jump that close to a planet, and most of the other times, you'll probably be ripped apart." Ryo nodded. "Can you read Ami-chan a bedtime story, Arcadia? I have to go talk to Ranko and Dan. They'll be guarding the suite tonight, so if you need them, they'll be in the living room." Arcadia heard a burst of very loud male laughter in the living room, followed by an angry woman shouting. "Right. I hope they won't be that loud all night." He sighed. "Dan is an idiot, but that's why he gets guard duty instead of being out searching." He bent down and kissed Ami- chan on the head. "Good night, Ami-chan." "Mommy's okay, isn't she, daddy?" Ami-chan asked nervously. "Mommy is fine. She helped stop the bad people from stealing the Silver Crystal, and now she's going to find them with her computer so we can get the stuff that was stolen back." He hugged her. "Now, you be good and obey your big sister Arcadia, okay?" "Okay." Ryo said quietly to Arcadia, "She's going to wake up around 3 am and beg you to let her go have some cookies. Don't let her, okay?" Arcadia laughed. "Okay." Ryo left and Ami-chan ran over to her bookshelf. She pulled 'Ethel the Aardvaark goes Quantity Surveying' off the shelf. "Here, read me this one!" Arcadia stared. What kinda weird children's book is this? She read it to Ami-chan anyway. Ami-chan sat in her lap and read along silently. Finally, she was done, and she got up to go. "Goodnight, Ami- chan." "Can I sleep with you? I'm scared the bad people will come back." Arcadia stared at her for a moment, then smiled. "You're not afraid I'm going to eat you?" Ami-chan shook her head. "You saved me from the bad people. Please, oneechan?" "C'mon, then." They went back to Arcadia's room. Arcadia looked under the bed, but there weren't any gems or black mooners, so she relaxed, got some pajamas from the wardrobe, and clambered into bed. Ami-chan crawled into the bed as well. They had to snuggle up fairly closely, since the bed was really only designed for one person. "Do they have monsters in your century?" Ami-chan asked. "Only human ones, except on really high magic worlds." She sighed. "The human ones are worse than the ones that look like monsters. They trick you into trusting them, and then they turn on you." She sighed. "I guess that happened to you?" Arcadia nodded. "Too many times. They killed my old boyfriend, Tony." Ami-chan's eyes got big. "They killed your boyfriend?" "They tried to kill me too, but I got away." Ami-chan started to cry and hugged Arcadia. "I'm sorry." Arcadia laughed faintly. "Not as sorry as I am. You want some advice, Ami-chan?" "Sure." "Don't ever grow up. It sucks. I wish I was little like you again and didn't have to worry about the world." The sound of Dan laughing cut through the walls, followed by the sound of another argument. Arcadia sighed. Ami-chan said, "I want to be like you when I get big. You're so strong and brave. All I could do was cry when the bad people came." "You're too little to have to fight them. Don't worry. I'll protect you." I wish I'd been able to do that when they attacked my party, Arcadia thought. Then maybe Tony and everyone else would still be alive. "And your mommy and daddy will protect you too." Ami-chan yawned. "I'm gonna be Sailor Mercury when I get big. I gotta learn to..." Another yawn. "Be brave and strong and..." She yawned again. "sleepy." Thunk. Her eyes closed and her breathing changed to the steady rythm of a sleeper. Arcadia closed her eyes and let the steady breathing lull her to sleep as well. ****************** "I think she's a plant," Sailor Uranus said. "How else did the bleeding teleporter thing get under her bed?" The Senshi and miscellaneous others were all crammed around a large oval table, arguing over what had happened and what to do next. Mercury shook her head. "Why would they bother to give us the Time Key, then steal it back?" "They didn't just take the key. They carried off several other items as well," Neptune pointed out. "And stealing the key could be a bluff to make us trust her." Serenity shook her head. "I could sense no evil in my time with her. If she is one of them, she hides it very well." Mercury sighed. "I think one of them bluffed their way into our chambers somehow, disguised as one of...those who...uh...worship me." She blushed. "Although he did seem harmless." Uranus frowned. "That was brilliant." "This sort of idiocy happens all the time! Ami-chan really takes advantage of those people." "Well, she could still be a plant." "You don't hide your spy status by planting a teleporter under your bed," Venus pointed out. "I have a better reason for trusting in her," Jupiter said. "And that is?" Neptune asked. "She fought the Black Moon agents with us in the garden." She replied. "That could be a trick too," Uranus said. "And the sign of..." She turned to face Uranus. "Uranus blazoned itself upon her brow as she fought." Uranus boggled. "She WHAT?" Mercury blinked. "Hmm, but Titania should be the next..." Pluto said, "She is from the distant future. It is quite possible that she could be the Uranus of her time." Neptune smiled. "Earth magic and speed. Sounds like your abilities, Uranus." "Did you tell her?" Serenity asked. "I wasn't sure if she'd believe me," Jupiter said. "So I waited to talk to all of you first." Serenity nodded. "Uranus, it will be up to you to train her." "I'll want to see this sign for myself first." "As you wish." The conversation then turned to other matters. ****************** The living room was a disaster zone when Arcadia and Ami- chan emerged to eat breakfast. Dan Hibiki was sprawled out on the floor with a couch physically wrapped around him. Arcadia stared in awe. How do you bend wood like that without breaking it? Ranko Fujisawa, who was tall with long blue hair and a muscular figure, was sitting on one of the few still intact chairs, watching him. Ami-chan ran over and tugged Dan's moustache. "Good Morning, Uncle Dan!" Dan muttered, "Good morning, Ami-chan. I don't suppose you could get this couch off me, could you?" Ranko said, "Don't do it, Ami-chan. He's been bad." "I'm not strong enough, Uncle Dan, but I bet oneechan could do it." Arcadia said, "I have to make breakfast." She went into the kitchen and started trying to figure out what to make for breakfast. Dan snarled. "Ranko! I will not rest until you understand the true terror of the wrath of DAN HIBIKI!" Ranko twirled a finger in the air. "I howl in terror." "So you're the legendary Dan Hibiki?" Arcadia asked. Dan nodded and grinned. "In the flesh!" "Did you really fake your own death to avoid facing Ken in the Great Tournament of Mount Ichiro?" "That was some other Dan." Dan said confidently. "Why, if Ken was here, I'd CRUSH him even with this couch wrapped around me!" "Did you really run away from a ten year old in your first tournament?" "He only LOOKED like a ten year old! That was actually Kachagor, the Demon Prince!" Dan pronounced. Ranko laughed. "I think Dad has the whole thing on tape, Arcadia, if you're curious. If we can find something to play an old videotape, anyway. Uncle Soun was really humiliated when Dan ran away like that." "You're cousins?" Arcadia asked as she started mixing pancake batter. "Well, actually, Uncle Soun is my husband's grand-uncle-in- law. Frank's grandfather, Orlando, married Moemi Tendo. Moemi was Soun Hibiki's older sister. Soun married Yawara Kousaku II, and Dan is his child. Well, one of his kids. So technically, Dan is my Uncle once removed, I think. Something like that." Ranko was busily moving her arms around as if she was trying to point to a chart that only she could see. "But he's only four years older than me, so I usually think of him as an idiot older brother though." Dan fumed. "Hey!" Ranko said, "Oh, Arcadia, Haruka came by and wanted to know if you wanted to go jogging." "Yeah, that'd be great. I don't have any real plans for today." ******************* Haruka's definition of jogging was most people's definition of running full tilt. Arcadia didn't mind. She liked running. "You're a pretty good runner," Arcadia said. Haruka's lips quirked in a smile. "You too. So how fast CAN you go?" Arcadia grinned. "Faster than your motorcycle." "Shall we race?" "Yes." Arcadia was starting to really like her newfound speed, and she had always enjoyed showing off. She took off, pushing herself as hard as she could. The park became a blur. She wasn't alone. Haruka was fast too. They blurred past dozens of people who probably couldn't even tell what had just happened, except for a wind and a thunderclap. "Not bad," Haruka said. Arcadia laughed. "Yeah, you're not bad." Haruka grinned. "Match this, kid." Arcadia blinked as Haruka 'shifted up a gear', pulling ahead. She gritted her teeth and sped up, keeping up with Haruka, though it wasn't easy. Faster and faster they ran, the world a streak of colors around them. Haruka looked odd, Arcadia realized, but she wasn't sure why. There was something subtly different about him, almost like she was looking at a double. His features were a little more fine, his figure a little more slender, his body a little shorter. I must be imagining things, she thought. The city was blurring away, and now they were zooming across the countryside. ********* Michael moaned, waking up with a throbbing in his head, like a bongo drummer who just didn't know when to quit. He moaned loudly. "Pain..." "Not as much as you will feel if you mess this up." He recognized the voice. It was Jade, one of Prince Demand's cousins, who was ugly with green hair. She was also a skillful assassin, a common messenger, and a general pain in the posterior. "Hey, we SUCCEEDED in our part of the mission! I can't help it if Rubeus messed up and we didn't get the crystal." She smiled at him as if he was five and patted him on the head. "That's why you're still alive. Now, take this," she handed him a small green gem, " and go to Rinku. Go to the Ramen shop and buy a shrimp ramen. Leave it in the bowl after you eat half, then leave." He stared at the gem. "So I'm going to sabotage a ramen shop in the middle of nowhere?" She smiled. "Do as you are told, boy." He grumbled. "I suppose you have stupid missions for everyone?" "I have missions for everyone, yes." ********* Arcadia was starting to get tired now, but she wouldn't let him beat her. Haruka was grinning. "Wearing out?" "Not a chance, old man." Arcadia said. I'm going to win this if it kills me. That seemed a little too possible, now. She could feel power surging through her, feel strange vibrations. She wanted to run faster, further, harder, but at the same time, it was worrying her. Her stomach rumbled suddenly. It was her cue to begin to wear out. Exhaustion had been a lurking threat, now it was turning into reality. Haruka looked fresh as the day he was born, but he didn't pull ahead. She hoped that meant he was bluffing. He wasn't. Gradually, she had to slow down, dropping down to more normal running speeds. They were in the mountains by now. A cow blinked as they ran by it. Haruka gradually slowed down, still showing little sign of being tired. Only when she finally gave up and stopped, sitting on a rock, did he suddenly start breathing hard and showing at least some signs of being tired, if not exhausted. Haruka sat down on a nearby rock. "I hear you got caught in the fighting at the palace." Arcadia nodded. "It was kinda reassuring in a bad way." Haruka cocked his head, looking confused. "Huh?" "It was reassuring to see that this place wasn't utterly perfect. Nice to see I'm not the only person who isn't shiny happy all the time." She stretched. "And even better to see I could take care of myself for once." Her voice softened a bit. "And I'm glad Ami-chan and her royal munchkiness didn't get hurt." "I heard you took out an entire skimmer by yourself." The voice expressed a mild skepticism. "There's so much magic in this time...I can hardly believe it. If we had this much magic in my time...Well, it'd probably mostly get used to blow people up, but it would help a lot of people." Arcadia sighed. "If wishes were skimmers, beggars would ride." Haruka laughed. "Wishes are skimmers sometimes." He put his arms behind his head and stretched. For a moment, he looked like a woman, though a rather flat-chested one. Grinning for no apparent reason, he said, "So you know a thing or two about fighting with magic?" "I've studied a couple of martial arts, but mastered none. Anything I've learned about fighting with magic, though, I picked up here." Arcadia picked up a small rock and concentrated. It flowed like water, and formed into a small disc, then into a little face that looked like Michiru. She tossed it to Haruka. "Here, you can give this to your wife." Stretching again, she smiled and picked up a second rock, squeezing and shaping it into a little Marcus face. The trick came easily to her. Haruka looked over at the second head. "Who is that?" "A friend." Arcadia fought to keep her voice under control. I will not gush. "I...I hope he's okay." "Why wouldn't he be okay?" Haruka's voice was light and unconcerned. "The people who were after me might do something to him." Arcadia frowned. "Dammit, the mistress of Time shouldn't take this long to go run an errand." "You sent Pluto on an errand?" Haruka sounded genuinely surprised. Arcadia laughed. "She was trying to figure out why she didn't know there was a Sailor Saturn in my time." Haruka frowned. "She didn't know?" With just a touch of irritation, Arcadia said, "Yeah, she didn't know. I didn't think there were any Sailor Senshi anymore in my time either." "What happened to them?" "They died. Demand II killed most of them, and the last few got finished off by the Black Moon Cult after they blew up Nemesis with an N5 bomb. I think Mercury and Uranus were the last to go. They were lovers, or something." Arcadia scrunched her forehead, thinking hard. Haruka began to laugh and laugh and laugh. He fell off his rock and rolled around on the ground, getting dirt all over himself. for a moment, Arcadia thought he was having an epileptic fit. She stared, having rarely seen anyone laugh so hard. Finally, Haruka sat up, then stared down at himself, then began laughing again. If Arcadia hadn't known better, she would have definitely thought Haruka was female at this point. No man could have such a high pitched laugh. Finally, Haruka muttered something about self- control and his voice deepened again. The whole thing was rather surreal. "Are you okay?" Arcadia finally asked. "I'm fine." Haruka said. "Just...the mental image of kissing Mercury..." More laughter. "She would die. She'd explode. Then..." Arcadia blinked. "It's not that funny, but she does seem pretty devoted to her husband." "Oh yeah, you're living with her, aren't you?" Haruka grinned one of those annoying male, 'I know something you don't' grins. Arcadia nodded. Haruka smiled. "Ask her about Athena sometime. Film it for me if you can." He winked. "Athena?" "To say more would spoil the fun." Haruka grinned even more broadly. He got up and stretched. "Ready to run back?" Arcadia's stomach rumbled loudly. "I need food. Badly." "Purple jogger shot the food," Haruka whispered to himself, then grinned again. "Shots do not hurt other players...yet." He stretched. "I know a little village we can stop in." He turned and started down the road...away from the city. "You'd better know where you're going," Arcadia said, running after him. Arcadia and Haruka jogged over the next ridge, then down into a valley. Skimmers zoomed past them on the road, which was a large highway. A little off the highway, at the bottom of the valley, sat a small village of a few hundred houses and shops. Haruka led Arcadia to a small ramen shop, run by a smiling old lady, who had wrinkles on her wrinkles, and steel gray hair. Old mother Courage greeted Haruka hello and said, "The usual table for two?" Haruka nodded. They soon took a seat and looked at the menu, which of course, offered varieties of ramen. "Some of the best ramen on Earth here." There weren't too many people in the shop, but the customers all looked quite cheerful. Mother Courage knew them all by name. Arcadia noticed she was a lot more spry than most people her age. "You come here often?" "About once a month. Mother Courage has eidetic memory. She never forgets. She has some great stories about her youth, but I think they're all lies." Haruka laughed. "Unless she really grew up in a village cut off from the world by trolls." ********* Michael sat and quietly ate his shrimp ramen. Sweat was running down his forehead in a sheet. He'd already seen two senshi in this town, and where there were two, there would be more. The green-haired woman at the rug store with a scarf around her hair dressed in an odd blue and yellow dress that evoked earlier times in a vague sort of way probably thought her sunglasses made her unrecognizable, but Michael didn't have to see her eyes to feel her power. It was his knack, to find even the most hidden beings of power. He'd spotted the black haired girl dressed as a boy as well. She was probably twice as infatuated with her own cunning, although she might have realized that the trenchcoat in summer would likely attract more people's attention than it would fool anyone. She had the 'magic glasses of disguise' too. Ridiculous people, he thought. At least the owner of the ramen shop wasn't a Senshi, which he had suspected would be the case, given his orders. He had almost gotten to the halfway point and was palming the gem when he spotted two more beings of power eating lunch. How did Jade know they would be here? Unless...maybe she's selling me out. More sweat. He gulped his tea, starting to feel dehydrated and terrified at the same time. The gem felt like a lead weight in his hand. Neither of them was looking at him, but either one could look up and see him. They might just see an initiate of the cult of Serenity...or they might transform and blow his head off. He recognized one of them now, from the descriptions he'd been given. The time traveller. Wiseman had emphasized that she should not be killed, that if she was even scratched, Michael and his friends would suffer endlessly. Is this a trap for me? Or are Demand and Wiseman playing two different games? He frowned. If I don't do this, Jade will have my head. If I do and she gets hurt...feh. He had no choice and usually didn't, so this wasn't a new experience. He slipped the gem into his food, took a last tasty slurp, got up, and walked out. ********* Lunch was excellent, well-spiced pork ramen for Arcadia and beef ramen for Haruka. Not a high class meal, but quite filling. A little blue-haired boy ran up to the table. "I'm looking for Mrs. Haruka! Are either of you her?" Arcadia laughed. "Can't you recognize a boy when you see one?" The boy stared at her. "You don't look like a boy." "I meant Haruka." "That's a girl." The boy said. Arcadia blinked. Haruka laughed and said, "You're a clever one. So what's the message?" "Your wife said to pick up milk on the way home. She said you'd give me a cookie." Haruka laughed and waved to Mother Courage to bring the boy a fortune cookie. She dragged the boy off, telling him a story about how she found a cow that gave chocolate milk. "What a weird little boy," Arcadia said. "I like him." Haruka cracked open her own fortune cookie, which said, 'A green-haired girl is thinking of you.' Arcadia did likewise. Hers said, 'You will be attacked by a demon today.' "Geez, what a lousy fortune." A few seconds later, an abandoned bowl of ramen erupted in a spray of green and purple light, a whirlwind of ramen swiftly spinning, then collapsing to reveal a remarkably ridiculous looking humanoid female clad in multi-colored noodles with strange pulsing purple shrimp in her hands. "RAMEN!" the woman shouted. Haruka stared mindlessly for a second, then started to laugh, falling down. Arcadia stared at her fortune cookie, then hopped over the table to Haruka, helping him up. Haruka was still laughing. "I'd think Minako was responsible if I didn't know better," Haruka said. "Run! I'll try and slow the thing down. Get help! Go find a wandering Senshi or something." Arcadia turned to the monster, which she now noticed had a green gem in its forehead. A weakpoint, she hoped. It was hurling exploding shrimp everywhere, sending customers running. Haruka stared at Arcadia for a moment, his face a blank mask, then nodded and ran out the door. She turned to face the creature. Anger was welling up in her. She was getting sick of this. "Damn you people! I AM TIRED OF YOUR STUPID ATTACKS!" The monster turned, then gestured and five shrimp appeared in its hand. It hurled them too late. Arcadia was already halfway across the room. The speed magic was coming easier and easier to her, she realized. A chair fit her hands well, but shattered harmlessly over the creature's head. It got her attention, though. "RAMEN!" She leapt at Arcadia, sprouting claws. Arcadia sidestepped, hefted the table, and smacked 'RAMEN' with it as she went by. She couldn't hurt the monster too much, but it couldn't hit her. The world seemed to slow down, luckily including the monster, as Arcadia blurred about. Her stomach was starting to rumble again, though. I needed to finish lunch before I fight monsters, she thought, then laughed. An idea struck her. She grabbed RAMEN's hand as she went by and started pushing her speed, simply letting RAMEN trail out behind her on the ground, bouncing off the ground. Soon, they were out of the town and amidst the boulders that littered the countryside. She smacked RAMEN into one of them and let go. RAMEN staggered to her feet and screamed, "RAMEN!" Arcadia screamed, "DIE!" and pumped every ounce of power she could grab into exploding all the boulders. Light exploded in front of Arcadia, nearly blinding her. Fragments of rock battered the confused droid, which fell down, howling, then got back up, hurling more exploding shrimp. Arcadia barely dodged the shrimp. She was too exhausted to fight much more. Exhaustion was a pair of icy hands dragging her down. The droid charged her and she managed to roll and flip it, slamming it into four people she hadn't noticed before. She yelled at them to run, then realized who they were. Pluto, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. The droid knew it was outmatched, but it gamely raised its hand, summoning more exploding shrimp. Uranus smiled and raised her sword in a salute, then shouted, "EARTH ENVELOPMENT!" The ground ripped open and swallowed up the droid, closing with a crunch. A howl faintly rose from the buried droid, then silence. Arcadia slumped to the ground. "I don't see how you people can fight monsters all day. I'm worn out and I didn't even win." "You did better than most people," Saturn said. "Very clever use of your abilities. With a little more training and practice, you would have won, I think." Uranus turned to Neptune, "Okay, now I'm convinced." Neptune smiled silently. They both looked familiar to Arcadia, who was then reminded of... "Did Haruka find you people? How'd you get here so fast?" "We can teleport," Saturn said. Uranus grinned. "Haruka didn't have any trouble finding me, and how could I resist a request from such a handsome fellow?" Saturn made gagging noises, and Pluto laughed. Neptune said, "Indeed. A handsome fellow. You'd best be careful he doesn't steal me away from you. I find him a likely lad." Her voice was teasing in a very playful way. Arcadia laughed. "He's married." Neptune purred. "That won't stop a sufficiently determined woman. I'm sure she won't mind, her husband with a Senshi." Arcadia blinked. I wonder if she uses that line often? They're probably just teasing me. "What were you guys doing out in this sleepy little town?" "They used the bat-signal," Saturn said, laughing. "The what?" "I foresaw the droid attack," Pluto said. "So we came out to be ready for it." She turned and looked at Uranus. "And someone else apparently decided to test something." "Hey, I didn't think it would happen until later! You told me you didn't see her being around when it happened!" "I also saw you destroying it in the Ramen store." Pluto frowned and looked at Arcadia. "My future sight cannot see you. Now we have seen that you can change what would be as well." "I WHAT?" Arcadia couldn't believe it. "The train of fate jumps off the rails in your presence. Perhaps not in major ways, but it means that changes are possible. Changes I cannot foresee. Now I understand certain things I was taught long ago." She sighed. "I am sorry for you, child. If our enemies know of this, it will become dangerous for you, though not as dangerous as it would be for some people." Arcadia frowned. "Why not for me?" Uranus said, "You are one of us, part of my line. You are the Senshi of Uranus of your time." Arcadia shook her head. "No way! The Senshi are dead in my time!" "There have been many to wield the power, those before me and those after," Uranus said. "Titania will wield this power one day, and you are its bearer in your time, though you had not awakened to your power." "No way!" Me...a Senshi? Arcadia denied it. It couldn't be. "Just because I fought that thing doesn't..." she began. "We all saw the sigil of Uranus upon your brow," Pluto said. Uranus reached behind herself and pulled out a short rod with a bright yellow star in a circle on it, with the sigil of Uranus emblazoned in silver on the star. "Take this and say, Uranus Planet Power, Make up." She handed it to Arcadia who stared at it. That sounds ridiculous, Arcadia thought, but if it'll convince them they've screwed up. "URANUS PLANET POWER, MAKE UP!" she shouted. To her mind it was silly, but in her heart, the words struck a chord of power. Her whole body quivered, and she felt energy rushing into herself. Power took her and for a moment, she blanked out, revelling in the rush of energy. Light and matter whipped about, as clothing became a uniform, a headband a tiara, running shoes became boots. Neptune handed Arcadia a mirror and she looked at herself. She had become Sailor Uranus. She fainted, of course. ************** Nemesis, Royal Palace, DY (Demand Year 305) The Wiseman sat in his chamber and gazed into his crystal ball. All was going well. Pluto would be too busy worrying about the girl to notice anything until it was too late. All that remained was to put the last few diversions in place, and then...they could strike. He had regrets of course. There were others who must suffer beyond that wretched, interfering Serenity and her warriors, but once she was disposed of, the weaklings of Jurai would be easily dealt with. A tiny voice howled in his mind, condemning his actions, telling him he was a fool, but he shoved it aside. He had not been able to destroy Wise, although he was not sure why. No matter what he did, the tiny voice always survived. Even the Orb could only silence him. Still, Wise had not been able to destroy him either, when he had held the upper hand. He had been far more subtle than Wise, a serpent in his ear, rather than a lecturing moralist, and far more effective. The Wiseman wasn't sure where he came from, or how long he and Wise had been bound together as one. They had struggled for longer than he remembered, and for most of that time, Wise had the upper hand, though not by much. Wise's guilt had driven him on and given him strength, but it had proved his undoing as well. The fall of Shamballa had been the key. ************** Earth, Shamballa, 2976 AD (Serenity Year -15, 3728 Years after the founding of Rome, Juraiian Year 23140, Federal Year -1010) The Winter Queen's armies stormed through Shamballa, burning and looting. Once, the gates of Shamballa had repelled every assault, but the coming of the refugees, mother and child, five years ago, had destroyed those gates, and the hidden realm lay bare. Its armies were strong, but the Winter Queen's armies were stronger. A voice was laughing in the Wiseman's head. It was growing stronger as the years passed, but it had long haunted him. He had been trying to defend Seafor from another attack, one he had foreseen in his orb, when he received the call for help from the Mistress of Shamballa, the Sorceress Supreme, who had retreated to that hidden realm centuries ago, when they had made their plans. As he stalked through the wreckage and slew whatever still living monsters he found, the voice mocked him. Your chosen one has fallen, it said. Not only is he dead, but your ancient ally has fallen as well. Look upon your work and despair. Because you sent him here, all have died together. Only a lack of tear glands kept him from crying and mourning the dead. It had been centuries since he walked these halls, for all had been denied entrance since the day he himself had helped to seal the gates. Yet, it was for this that they had made Shamballa. Here, the boy for whom they had waited could be raised safely to maturity. Here the ancient wisdom could be preserved that he would need. It was to be the seed corn from which he could sow his crop when the new spring came. Now the birds had stolen the corn. He stalked and he slew, crushing the monsters with their own dark power. The voice mocked him, telling him he was closing the barn door after the horses had escaped. Deeper into the complex he went, crying inside, for his body, such as it was, could not cry on the outside. He tired of his mockery of human form. Sometimes, increasingly, he wished he had taken the angel's offer. He reached one of his objectives. It was a great vaulted chamber with a fountain. Once, it had been used by the Mistress of Shamballa to grant audience. Now, she was about to grant her last audience. She lay at the foot of her throne, atop a pile of dead, twisted beasts. Her eyes still shone and her chest rose and fell, though she was not long for this world. A hand feebly called the Wiseman hither. He knelt by her side. "Catherine!" She laughed faintly, her hair, still green with yellow and orange streaks despite centuries of life, bobbing as she laughed. "Not even my husband calls me that anymore, Henry." She emphasized the name as best she could with her rasping breath. "The children...they got away. We saw the army coming, and I managed to send them with a few guardians to Logres. The Fisher- King will watch over them. I hope." He took her hand. "Let me help you, Catherine. You must go to join them." "It...It's too dangerous, Henry. The danger I warned you of so long ago...it grows closer, Henry. You are shadowed, and it grows stronger the more you use its power." His hand snaked into his pocket and he drew forth a small crystal, shaped like a tear and placed it in her hand. "I do not know what power it may bear, but I think it can help you." He closed her hand around it. "An angel gave it to me." "I...I can't take this." "Take it." He looked around. "This was my fault." "It was not your fault, Henry! I knew the risk when this place was created. You're not God. You can't try to carry all the weight of mankind on your shoulders. It will only break you." She tried to hand back the tear, but he wouldn't take it. He held up his orb. "Invoke the tear, and then I'll use this to send you to Logres." To his surprise, the orb suddenly flickered to life. He saw the future, but it was not the future he had always seen within the orb. It was a different future, in which salvation came from a mountain of crystal. Warriors came from the mountain and drove back the darkness. The queen of light for whom the boy was destined...but she already had a king. Bitter, he sought to destroy the king, to cast him down and take his place, and in his efforts, he destroyed all they had built. The boy he had raised up would cast all down that he sought to save. He cast back his head and howled with despair. All had been for nothing, his centuries of effort futile. His will, his purpose, which had driven him forward slipped, and his shadow surged forward. It had mastered the orb long ago, deceiving him, luring him on, inch by inch. The shadow surged forward, his body-sharing brother who he had once defeated and cast down hundreds of years ago. It seized the heights of power, and threw him down into the abyss within which he had trapped it. It laughed with his throat now, and played its hand just a moment too soon. Catherine had feared this would happen, and while Henry's face had been taken first by horror, then by evil, she had cocked back her arm. With the last of her power, she hurled the angel's tear at the Wiseman, and it struck him full in the brow. It could not slay him, but it stunned him, and flowed into him, descending into the abyss, where it found Dr. Wise, screaming and tumbling in despair. It shone with the light of hope. All was not yet doomed. The vision of the future had held much truth, but it was not all there was. The many paths the future could hold opened unto him, and for the first time in nearly a millennia, Dr. Wise saw the truth. He clung to the tear, and it gave him strength, strength to wait, to survive, to prepare for the day when perhaps he could do unto the Wiseman as had been done unto him. The road to the day of Decision would be long and hard, but he was used to long, hard roads. Time passed, and so did the Sorceress Supreme. The Wiseman stalked the hallways when he rose, slaying all life and revelling in his freedom. Having satiated his instincts, he set out to lay the groundwork for his vision. Serenity would bring only a false Spring, followed by a Winter without end for a dead world.