Garnet's Travel Journal Blooming 18, 25,994 GY I remember now why I had chosen to stay outside of time where Banality could not touch me. It grows stronger every year. The Winter is coming, and I can see no end to it in this millenium. The best we can do is to stave it off as we did with Hotaru. She has been reborn, and she is happier that way. I will miss her father; he was a good man before he was forced to become one of the Nephandi to save her. Now that he is free of them, he will keep her safe in one of their Horizon Realms. I wish I could go with them, but the power he and his brothers in the Sons of Ether wield, since they are mages of technology, is too dangerous for my kind. Hotaru's faerie self may never awaken again while she is with them, and while I hate to say it, she's better off that way. Princess Amethyst was cursed even more than her kith normally is, and every time she awakens, she suffers. Perhaps she will awaken as a mage like her father this time; she might finally find peace. Or it may be that her destiny is inescapable. Diamond would not tell me of what she saw when she confronted the great Nightmare Lord, Master Pharoah 90. I should have gone with her, but I...I dared not. The Lords of the Deep Dreaming possess power before which the mightiest of our kind is but a speck. Yet somehow...she destroyed him. I both expected it and feared it would not happen. Her mother had possessed the power long ago, but Serenity had been one of the Tuatha de Danaan, who stood to us as the Umbrood Lords stand to a pebble spirit. And if the rumors were true, Serenity's mother was Luna, one of the mightiest of the Spirit Lords. In my youth, the legends said that Serenity was one of five sisters, each of whom bore a sign of one of the phases of the moon upon her brow. If it is true, I never met the other sisters, though I heard legends of them. Those were the days when we travelled freely between Arcadia and Earth. We still had dealings with all the other races as well. That is how Princess Diamond, a Sidhe, came to love Prince Onyx, a human magus. But our dealings were not always friendly, for there have always been those among our kind who abused their superior powers to take advantage of humanity. And thus Beryl was able to exploit the resentments to take control of Onyx's kingdom, claiming he was bewitched by the faeries, who had to be destroyed. And so there was war between our kinds, and in the end, Serenity was forced to show her true might, devastating both kingdoms to stop Beryl's army before the dark mistress she served could be unleashed upon the world. Only I escaped the holocaust. But I digress...why am I explaining all this to myself? I know this. Perhaps I am growing senile. I pray that is not the case. Yet with all her power, even Diamond cannot escape Banality's icy grip. Indeed, I fear it is worse because she has so much power and has seen so much. I know I would wish to forget whatever she saw in the foul realm Master Pharoah Ninety called his own. If I cannot convince her to withdraw into the freehold for a time, to abandon the mortal life she clings to, it will strip her of her memory of her true self bit by bit. And I cannot allow that. She must not forget, or she will never be able to fulfil her destiny. Not only Winter, but the darkness which howls in the void, hungering to devour everything, is coming. And her fate, which I have seen with my arts, is to do battle with one of the many heads of the hydra that drives the darkness on. But I cannot force her. If I was to kidnap her, her resentment would destroy her, robbing her of her power. And she is my friend and my queen. It would be betrayal. And yet, if she stays, she will wither and forget and dwindle away. I wish I knew what to do, but my visions of the future are too distant to guide my present choices. Such is the danger of my Art. --From Volume 50,667 of Garnet's Travel Journal ************** Chasing the Moon and the Sun A Sailor Moon Elseworlds Chapter Two: Week Two by John Biles ************** Rei's Deep Thoughts For December 8, 2000 We had a war council today. We needed to get ahold of Makoto and Usagi and awaken them. Also, Ryo had several visions when we reawakened him the previous day; today, we were going to discuss them in detail. One part of it got a lot easier; the second we sat down, Makoto called, and by the time I finished talking to her, I knew that she had awakened as well, so we called her to come on over. When she arrived, we got Ryo to start talking. He pulled out his diary and quoted it. "I was in a cave, deep beneath the surface. Some sort of huge black furred thing, an animal, was wrapped in chains and straining to be free. It was chewing on a huge hand, or something. Then the chains snapped, one by one." "The ground ripped open and it tore loose, climbing the Milky Way into the sky. It charged across the sky, and began to pursue the Moon and ate it, then turned on the Sun. It ate the Sun too, and then the world froze over." He closed the diary. "And then I woke up. I've had several similar dreams. And one where Tokyo Tower got angry from being destroyed in various anime and summoned Godzilla, but I think that one was just a normal dream." "Fenris Wolf," Sapphire said. "He's supposed to kill Odin and eat the Sun during the Fimbulwinter. Well, he kills Odin at Ragnarok. In fact, the Norse used to say that eclipses were when Fenris tried to eat the Sun, but it burned his mouth so he had to let it out." She's the smart one, but I'm the one with a concert scheduled for the lunar eclipse on the winter solstice. I didn't need a cute little Sidhe brain to tell me what was going to happen. "In other words, Fenris is gonna fucking eat the sun during our goddamn concert and then we're all gonna end up dying horribly when Surtur burns reality to the ground." I like fire, but not that much. A second later, I slammed a hand over my mouth. Dammit, I hate it when I fu...when I curse. It's the flaw of being a nocker. Well, one of them. We all curse like sailors. Usually, I can keep it under control, and I just get harsh instead of vulgar. But if I get really mad or worried, I turn into a toilet mouth. Which drives me nuts. Most nockers revel in it, but I go...hate it. "That about sums it up," Sapphire said faintly. "Oh man, Mom's gonna get pissed if she finally comes to one of my concerts and reality gets destroyed!" Tourmaline said. Leave it to Minako to bring the pointless human interest angle into any discussion. From Rei's Deep Thoughts, the Journal of Rei Hino, Songwriter and Singer for 'Light for the Nations'. **************** FROM: "Eagle Eye" TO: "Hamster" DATE: 120800 TIME: 11:23:34 PM SUBJECT: SERIOUS BAD NEWS See the attached email...I told you ghouling the webmaster for Shonen Sunday would pay off. And you thought I just wanted free manga. Either this is one big coincidence, or this woman KNOWS SOMETHING. Youji Hakano o/~ Ding Dong, the Bitch is Dead o/~ ----Attachment #1----- FROM: "Usagi Chiba" TO: "Keiichi Taimoto" DATE: 120800 TIME: 8:13:34 PM SUBJECT: Next Big Story Here's the big picture on what I'm planning for the next major plotline; it came to me in a dream. Cool, eh? Karnak will be an interlude before this with a few hints of what is to come. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& TITLE: "ETERNAL NIGHT" THEME: The Quest for Power Without Thought for Consequences SUMMARY: Once every seven years, representatives of the Nine Houses of Vampires meet in the city of Ecinev in the Kingdom of Amethyst, a dark, haunted city of islands connected by bridges at the mouth of the Praline River, which turns into a huge marsh where it meets the sea. There, they resolve disputes and deal with problems like how best to fight the werefoxes, how to deal with the groups that hunt them like the Shaolin, and who gets to prey on which cities. The Nine Houses: Giovanni--Necromancers Soprano--Gangster Vampires Brouhaha--'Gangsta' and 'Rebel' Vampires Picador--Entertainer/Artist Vampires Adams--Spooky shapechangers Mongrel--Wilderness, Friendly to Animals Vampires Riceanne--Pretentious, Angst-ridden Vampires Raistlin--Mage vampires Carey--Crazy vampires The Nine Houses share a holy book, the Book of Rod (named after the city in which they were created by Dracula). They argue endlessly over the meaning of the book, which is full of cryptic passages, such as 'The city of Angels will be plagued by smoke which kills', which no one really understands. However, one of the passages becomes the focus of the meeting, brought up by House Giovanni. 'On the Day when the Sun Dies And Is Reborn, then shall the rulers of the rainbow cast down one of the Nine Houses into the abyss that waits for it.' Prince Augustus, head of House Giovanni, argues that the 'rulers of the rainbow' is a reference to the Gemstone Warriors. He tells the other Princes he believes that the Gemstone Warriors will attack one of the Houses on the Winter Solstice that is coming up, for it will coincide with an eclipse, and thus truly be 'the day when the Sun Dies And Is Reborn'. Everyone panics and they start to bicker over how to prevent this. They can't agree on what to do, and so they all send a series of discoordinated seperate attacks on the Gemstone Warriors, trying to preempt the assault. This, of course, has the effect of attracting the Gemstone Warriors' attention, and causing them to investigate. They travel around, and have to break into a few Vampire bases to find out what's going on. What even the Vampires don't know is that House Giovanni is actually planning to conduct a secret ritual on that day, one they've prepared for a thousand years. They hope the war with the Gemstone Warriors will keep them too busy to notice their plan. What they want to do is to rip the 'Curtain of Night', the barrier between the worlds of the living and the dead. They've snuck agents to each of the nine Cities of Power, and during the Eclipse, they will shatter the curtain by unleashing their carefully built up army of ghosts, zombies, skeletons, and ghouls to slay enough people to taint each of the Cities. Then they can use the Power of the Cities to shatter the Curtain in a great rite. With the Curtain destroyed, they will be able to enslave all the ghosts with ease, and use them to take over the world, destroying all the other Vampires and ruling as gods over the dead and a small body of the living kept as a herd for them to get the blood they need from them. However, Amethyst (because of her powers), starts to have visions of this happening, and her visions guide them to Giovanni's base in the catacombs under the City of Holy Power, Reme. They have to fight their way through legions of the dead (including everyone who ever died in the series) to the tomb where Augustus Giovanni is conducting his part of the ritual with his five 'Children' (the vampires he has made himself). I'm thinking I'll model them after the Evangelion characters as a tribute. Massive fight. The ritual is disrupted, and the the holes in the Curtain only open enough for the dead to drag Augustus through, then they haul him off to hurl him into the Vortex of Despair and Agony. The catacombs collapse, and our heroines only narrowly escape. They emerge just as the Eclipse ends; I've already done a sketch for the big splash page it will end with. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& This should run for the next year or so. Tell the animators they can breathe easy now :) Usagi Chiba Creator of 'Legend of the Five Kingdoms' A Legend in her Own Mind UChiba@Bozo.TENDOM.net http://www.TENDOM.net/~UChiba/FiveKingdoms/index.ht ml **************** December 8, 2000 Dear Diary, I am, to say the least, scared out of my mind. I can definitely say vampires are real. I met up with Ayaka Kisaragi, the exorcist, and her friend the vampire bartender. Kisaragi was the most gorgeous exorcist I've ever seen. She has red hair like me, but her hair is just twenty times better than mine has ever been. She has a disgustingly good figure, and she wears such elegant clothing, I couldn't believe she was who I was supposed to meet at first. She also drinks like a fish; luckily, she was only on her second drink when I arrived. She knew me on sight. "Hello, Officer Umino. I understand you had a little run in with the local vampire community." I nodded quietly, coming over and sitting by her. "Rum and Coke please," I said to the bartender, who brought me a glass. I don't drink often, but this seemed like the time. "Are they that common?" "There's two dozen in Tokyo," she said. "Maybe more now. Guns won't kill them, so the one you went up against is probably out there looking for you." I wished again that my husband had come with me. He refuses to believe in anything supernatural, so he had stayed home. "What will?" "Burn them to ash. Sever their head. Acid. Magic. Feed them to something. Prolonged exposure to sunlight. If they don't feed for long enough, they go into torpor and can't wake up, but it won't kill them." I nodded. "Where do they come from?" "There's a dozen or so different tribes, but they're all basically the same except for attitude. They all make someone a vampire by sucking their blood and then giving the victim a bit of their blood. If they don't give their blood, the victim simply dies. If they give you blood without taking yours, you turn into a superstrong blood addict, usually called a ghoul." The woman, I thought. "Delightful. Anything that wards them off?" "It varies a lot. Truly holy people can ward them off with their faith. Some vampires are afraid of garlic or mirrors or whatever, but you can't count on it. Open flame usually scares them, and enough fire will make them run screaming." Can't just set my house on fire, I thought. "If I kill this one, will the others come after me?" "Depends on which Clan he's from," the bartender said. "His friends likely will, but he'll probably have enemies who are glad someone shot him." "Do you have any idea who this guy is?" I asked. "I'll look into it," he said. "Are you going to help her, Kisaragi-san?" "If she can get rid of these parking tickets for me..." Ayaka said, smiling. She's running around the house right now, putting up some evil wards, which makes me feel a little safer, but still... --From the Diary of Officer Naru Umino, Tokyo Metropolitan Police, Juuban District **************** FROM: "Daisuke Ozaka" TO: "Youji Hakano" DATE: 120900 TIME: 12:34:56 AM SUBJECT: Re: SERIOUS BAD NEWS >See the attached email...I told you ghouling the webmaster for >Shonen Sunday would pay off. And you thought I just wanted free >manga. Either this is one big coincidence, or this woman KNOWS >SOMETHING. Our superiors are not going to be pleased. I have forwarded the information to them; I think we're likely going to be told to arrange an accident soon. And the man I ghouled is not a 'webmaster'. He's the 'Information Services Coordinator'. Then again, you call all sodas 'Coke', so I shouldn't expect any better than...anyway, thanks for the info; get ready for action. Daisuke Ozaka Hamster@Necros.net **************** FROM: "Keiichi Taimoto" TO: "Usagi Chiba" DATE: 120900 TIME: 9:05:22 AM SUBJECT: Re: Legend of the Five Kingdoms Summary This looks pretty good, although I think we need to change a few names, unless you enjoy lawsuits. Come in this afternoon, and we can discuss it. Keiichi Taimoto Editor of Shojo Sunday Look for the frazzled guy on the left. That's me. KeiichiT@SSunday.com http://www.SSunday.com/~KeiichiT/index.html http://www.SSunday.com/ **************** December 9, 2000 Dear Diary Ami had to work today and so did Makoto, so it was up to me and Rei to go tell Usagi she's Princess Diamond and it's time to save the world again. We brought a box of glamour-infused donuts, I was pretty sure that and Artemis talking to her would be enough. So, we go and knock on her apartment door. No one is home. We call her husband at work, and he tells us he has no clue where she is, but he'll tell her to call us if she calls him. So, I'm thinking I should go apologize to Taiki about the nachoes things, but of course Rei won't let me go take care of that, because she wants me to be alone for the rest of my life and slowly wither away into a small blue plushie. Okay, she didn't SAY that, but...or maybe she's just jealous because she hasn't had a boyfriend since Makoto dumped her for that Lost One, Frito, or whatever her name was. Boy Makoto, that is. If she and girl Makoto ever got it on, they sure didn't let us know. Hmmm... Anyway, so we go down to this little park near Usagi's apartments and start playing with some local kids because we're bored. Some of them could even see my fur. I got a lot of compliments, though they kept thinking Artemis was my boyfriend. As if. --The Diary of Minako Aino, Lead Singer for 'Lights to the Nations' *********** December 9, 2000 Dear Diary: Wise people thank heaven for every small blessing. My daughter was a perfect angel today when I dressed her up and took her with me to my conference with Keiichi. I even got to spend a while dressing myself up properly and doing my hair like I like. So, we both looked good when we arrived there. I went straight to Keiichi's office. Everyone there knows me. "No, Shirow, I can't help it if your girlfriend dumped you. Well, maybe if she actually STUDIED, she wouldn't have failed, left school, and left you!" Keiichi was on the phone with another one of Shojo Sunday's writer-artists. Not too many men do Shojo style manga. Then again, not many claim to be a cyborg from the future to get women to date them either. I hope. "Look, just get the next episode of 'Peachcore' done, okay?" Pause. "Goodbye, Shirow." He slammed down the phone and began to bang his head on the desk. "I hate artists. I hate them. I hate..." He noticed me. "Oh, hi, Usagi!" I sat down. "Is there anyone you don't hate?" "I'm just frustrated. You're the only sane artist I have. No imaginary girlfriends who come out of TV sets. No claiming you're here to save humanity just to pick up women. No writing manga attacking people for making the paper it's printed on." He sighed. "I'm getting too old for this." Keiichi isn't that old; he's only about forty, with short black hair, bright green eyes, and a perpetual look of harrassment. "So which names do I need to change?" "All the ones that lead to lawsuits." "Got any suggestions?" The door opened, and three men came in. They were tall and strong, all with short black hair. "We're here to arrest you for copyright infringement," one of them said. "Hey! We haven't published anything like that!" I said. "Sorry, Ma'am. You'll get a trial, of course. You'd best give your baby to the editor. She's innocent." I protested futilely, but they led me away in handcuffs. I guessed they must have been spying on my email. "I demand to see a lawyer!" "All in due time." --From the Diary of Usagi Chiba, Creator of 'Legend of the Five Kingdoms' *************** December 9, 2000 Dear Diary, Today was only the third time I've ever seen Mamoru panic. The first time was when we were trying to move his couch up the stairs and it toppled back on top of him. The second time was when Usagi and her daughter started vomiting in unison in a posh restaurant. And the third time was today when he called me. I got woken up from sleeping; Since I'm on the night shift, I sleep a large chunk of the day. "Huh?" I said onto the phone. "The copyright police arrested Usagi! You've got to do something! Our lawyer went on vacation to the Carribean this week." Copyright police? I tried to think of who would actually enforce copyright law. It wasn't something a beat cop like myself ever thought about, really. I was pretty sure we didn't have a special police force for it, though. "I'll make some enquiries and call you back, okay? Are you at home?" "I'm at work, but I'll probably head home soon to make calls. And go pick up my daughter from Keiichi. You have my cellular number, right?" "Right." "Okay, give me a call when you find something out." I spent an hour on the phone, calling everyone and their dog. If any police force in Tokyo had arrested Usagi, they wouldn't admit to it. Kidnapping, I thought. Boldly done. I called Mamoru and told him that, then got my gun and went to rendevous with him to wait for the inevitable ransom demand. --From the Diary of Officer Naru Umino, Tokyo Metropolitan Police, Juuban District **************** From The Exciting Saga of Makoto Kino, Volume 12: December 9, 2000 AD. I got over to Usagi and Mamoru's place as fast as I could once Rei called me. Rei was sure this was some kind of trick; there's no such thing as 'The Copyright Police'. And they wouldn't hold Usagi without allowing any outside contact. Naru had tried to find out who was holding Usagi where, and she'd just vanished off the face of the Earth. So it had to be some kind of cover. But who could have taken Usagi? The Shadow Court? They'd never forgiven us for what happened to Beryl, the Black Moon Family, and Nephrenia, but why would they wait so long? The vampires? We'd slain a few in our time, but again, why had they waited? The Nephandi were a possiblity, but impersonating the Copyright Police just isn't their style. Evil mages like them tend to send tentacular monstrosities and chop your friends and neighbors into meat statues, just to make a fashion statement. I just couldn't think of who it might be...none of our old enemies would have waited years to get even. A thought suddenly struck me. Mamoru wasn't a changeling like us...he was a human. A magus. So why had he forgotten like the rest of us? Mages don't get worn down by banality like we do...they blow up instead. I could remember that now. If they go around breaking the laws of nature too much, nature kicks them in the head. Maybe something like that had made him forget everything. Everyone was there when I arrived. As I got there, Naru said, "I bet it's the same damn vampires I ran into before. I'll try and get ahold of Ayaka to come put up wards on your house." I blinked. "Hi, everyone!" Naru looked at me, blinked, then said simply, "I know." I blinked back, then understood. "You can see us?" She nodded. "I'm not sure how, but..." "She can see us without being Enchanted," Rei said. Faeries enchant mortals by giving them something glamour infused, often food. Then, for a day or so, they can see changelings and interact with all the things faeries see that no one else does...like stygian vorgols. A few mages can see us without being Enchanted, but most can't. Mamoru can, but he's unusual. I guessed from his lack of reaction to all this that they'd already awakened him. "Vampires can't go out in sunlight, though," Mamoru pointed out. "Yeah, but they have servants and junk," Minako said. "If they're after Naru, they might have kidnapped Usagi to give them an angle to move Naru with." Whatever that meant. I turned to Ami. "Can you find her with the Orb?" "I'm working on it," she said. "But it's slow work, searching an entire city." She was seated in the corner with her Orb in her lap and her Lens in place over one eye. Images swam at high speed through the Orb. "We need Princess Diamond." "Has anyone tried to go out to Garnet's Freehold and see if they can help us?" I asked. A Freehold is a faerie stronghold, where all the glamour of the Dreaming, our true home, is still strong. From the outside, it might look like a shack, but sometimes entire kingdoms can be found on the inside. Garnet, Topaz, and Aquamarine had withdrawn to Garnet's Freehold after we had our big battle with Master Pharoah Ninety, warning us we would forget our true selves if we stayed out in the world, for Winter, the end of dreams and Faeries, was drawing nigh. We didn't listen. They were right. "The path is gone. Professor Tomoe's house has vanished, the freehold has disappeared, it's like they never existed," Rei said somberly. "Perhaps Banality destroyed them." "Or perhaps we did not want to be found," Garnet said from behind me. I nearly fell down from shock; I hate it when she does that. Garnet, Topaz, and Aquamarine stood in the doorway behind me, dressed in the full regalia of our long passed away Queendom of Serenity, the land of the Crescent Moon. None of them had aged a day since last I saw them. Garnet's hair was still long and green-black, flowing down in a great sheet. Her skin remained dark, and her eyes a reddish violet. In her hands, she still clasped her staff, with its power to open Trods into the Dreaming, and to show her the past and future. It was said that once, when the Tuatha de Danaan still strode across the world in glory, that whoever held her staff could actually travel through time, but with the coming of Winter, our power fades. Topaz and Aquamarine stood behind her, next to each other, still lovers I could easily see. Topaz is a blonde satyr, passionate, strong, hardy, and fast, while Aquamarine is a blue-green haired sidhe, graceful and powerful with controlled passion. Topaz wore her Topaz Sword on her belt, while Aquamarine carried the Aqua Mirror in her right hand. They have always followed where Garnet led, sometimes into clashes with the rest of us, but I have missed them a lot. They came in now; I got out of their way. Garnet said, "We have held ourselves in reserve, waiting for the appointed time. The Day When the Sun Dies is coming, and on that day, we must fight the battle for which we were born. The Fimbulwinter is upon us, and Great Fenris stirs. And when he wakes, he shall rise and strive to devour the sun." "The eclipse," Rei said. "I know not for sure who seeks to unleash him, only that they have chosen Tokyo because the combination of eclipse and solstice is ideal for such a task. Yet, he is not the only threat we face." "Just frigging great," Rei spat out. "Another group hopes to use our city as a sacrifice, along with six other cities, in order to rend the shroud between the lands of the dead and the living, in order to rule over both. I do not know their name, only that I have seen their leader sleeping on a black bier, surrounded by his 'children' waiting for him to arise and lead them. How they will sacrifice this city, I do not yet know." She came over to a chair and sat down. "But first we must find Diamond. Only she can stop the Fenris Wolf." "Is he another Lord of the Deep Dreaming like Master Pharoah Ninety?" Minako asked. "He is vastly powerful and worshipped by an entire tribe of werewolves." "Ahah! Maybe that's what that thing was," Naru said. "That thing?" Garnet asked. Naru launched into a lengthy explanation of the encounter which had started her down the path of weirdness a week and a half ago. "Perhaps," Garnet said. "Or a chimera of some kind." "I will help you, Sapphire," Aquamarine said, going over to her. "My mirror can aid your search." The baby began to howl, and Mamoru sprinted over to her crib, picking her up and making soothing noises. Little Usagi wanted her mama, though, and refused to be comforted. Soon, a horde of would be helpers crowded around him, trying to cheer up the baby. Topaz, on the other hand, came over to me. "How ya' been doing?" "Pretty good," I said. We've always gotten along because we both prefer action to yakking. "Been teaching martial arts." "Heh. I bet I could still kick your butt." "Oh yeah? Let's see you put your money where your mouth is!" Topaz and I have done this a million times. Sometimes I win, but usually, she kicks my butt. This was one of those times. --from The Exciting Saga of Makoto Kino, Volume 12, by Kino Makoto, Owner and Chief Instructor at the Kino Self-Defense Academy *********** Rei's Deep Thoughts For December 9, 2000 Of course Topaz and Emerald had to go kick each other's ass just before we were all going to go hunting for the forces of evil who had kidnapped Princess Diamond. Why, any rational person would go and get themselves massively pummeled before going into a fight, and of course it should be our two best fighters who do this. It's a good thing we don't count on them to do the thinking. Then again, I suppose you have to expect people with goat horns to butt heads when they meet. I sat and fretted while Aquamarine and Sapphire worked out where Usagi was being held. It was, of course, an abandoned warehouse. I immediately knew it had to be vampires; they just can't resist hauling people off to warehouses to interrogate them. I think it's an instinctual drive like salmon going upstream to spawn. Minako said, "How about if we all dress up as vampires and bluff our way in?" when I pointed this out. Many foreheads were slapped. "It's not that easy." Garnet said. "Vampires are not complete fools. I suggest we head over there, then scout out the site and decide on a plan. Perhaps you can sneak in and scout around with your changing talent, Tourmaline." Minako, like any phooka, can assume an animal form; she turns into a white furred cat that looks rather like a female Artemis. But she can only make the change when no one is looking. "Sounds good to me!" Minako said. I prayed I wouldn't have to go get her out of the animal shelter again. From Rei's Deep Thoughts, the Journal of Rei Hino, Songwriter and Singer for 'Light for the Nations'. **************** December 9, 2000 Dear Diary, So, like, we got over to the warehouse, and I managed to squeeze through a hole in the wall, though I got tiny metal bits all in my fur. It was seriously nasty. Anyway, it's pretty dimly lit in the warehouse, which has a big crane at one end and some lifting stuff, and boxes EVERYWHERE. You'd think they'd remember to empty out an abandoned warehouse, but then you'd think I had time to clean my room and it's a total mess. So, I go wandering around, and I hear people talking. "Where are the rebel tapes?" they were asking over and over. Okay, I made that up. Actually, they were asking, "How did you find out about our plans?" And Usagi replied, "What plans?" I heard a slapping noise and tried to home in, but of course, I couldn't find them; the place was a maze, and I was trapped like a rat in a cage, with Usagi as the cheese. Or something. I finally found them. Four thugs in suits, and a pale old man dressed in a nice suit. He looked kind of sad, and if he hadn't been slapping Usagi, I would have probably tried rubbing against his legs to comfort him. He said, "Don't play dumb with me. We intercepted your little communique to your editor in which you pretty much laid out a thinly disguised version of the Great Work. A clever way to try and pass it around, I have to admit. So how did you find out?" "I don't know what you're talking about! I just had a dream, and I thought it would make a good story, so I changed it a little to add my characters to it!" "If it was just a dream, how did you end up using the name Giovanni?" I looked at the old man again; he certainly didn't look Italian. Although maybe he just worked for some. "It was in my dream! I can't help what I dream. I didn't mean to do whatever you think I've done! I'm just a cartoonist!" Usagi was starting to panic. "Don't hurt me!" I turned to go; time to get the others before the vampire and his goons did something horrible to her. Unfortunately, one of his goons, who had short brown hair, spotted me. "Hey, boss, it's a cat!" Another one of the goons laughed. "Taiki, you're a freak." This fellow was short and thin and a little androgynous with silver hair despite a youthful face. "It's a cat. What's a cat going to do to us? Now if it was a dog, it could be a werewolf, but it's just a cute kitty." I paused and licked my paws, doing my best to look innocent. The old man looked over at me assessingly, then did his best to smile. He patted his lap and made sort of...cooing noises. To my horror, I found myself padding over to him, leaping up into his lap, and curling up against his chest. He petted me with cold hands, and said, "I like cats. Do you like cats, Mrs. Chiba?" "Yeah," she said. "That...hey, he looks like Artemis." I twitched despite having very little control of my own body. I do NOT look like Artemis. I was wishing we hadn't left him with Naru to guard the baby, though. The old man blinked. "Artemis?" "Yeah, a friend of mine used to have a cat that looked like that, but he ran away years ago," Usagi said. "I suppose he could still be alive." "And who did he belong to?" The old man asked, his voice dropped to a very soft level. "My friend Minako Aino. She's in a band now; they have a concert on the Solstice. I suppose I won't be making it to their performance." Usagi sounded somewhat distracted, and looked a little dazed. "Now, now, if I wanted you dead, I would simply kill you and interrogate your ghost. But unlike some of my relatives, I prefer some degree of subtlety. Most of them seem to believe one should perform surgery with chainsaws and weave lace by shooting bullets through cloth. They seem to forget the necessity of keeping ourselves unseen. I have not; perhaps it is because I am from a different land with different ways. Now, you want to tell me how you found out about the Great Work, don't you?" Her voice was subdued now. "I dreamed it. All my best stories come from dreams." "Do you often dream true things?" "Yes. I dreamed about my husband before I ever met him. I woke up the morning after my daughter was concieved and knew I was pregnant. I made five million yen on a stock deal after I dreamed it would triple in value in a month. I dreamed that Star Trek V would suck, but I stupidly went to it anyway, because I didn't think anything could really be that bad." The old man frowned, and petted me while he thought. I tried to regain control of my limbs, but I couldn't. Finally, he said, "Are you a mage, Mrs. Chiba?" "Only in Umino's D&D game." The old man laughed at that, as did the thugs. So did I. "Are you a werewolf or other werecreature?" "No." "A faerie?" "Only in my dreams." He smiled a bit at that, and leaned forward slightly. "So, you remember having been one, at one time, but now you see it only as a dream?" "There are no such thing as faeries. I wish there were." "And no such thing as vampires either, I suppose." "Of course not." He scratched his chin for a moment. "Fascinating. I had heard this happened, but I had never seen it. It would be tempting to embrace you and see what the result would be." "My husband would beat you up. And he wouldn't be happy with me either." The old man laughed loudly. "I believe your husband would have a hard time beating me up. Is he like you?" "Yes, he likes me." The old man blinked, and the silver-haired thug snickered. Then the old man said, "Is he a faerie?" "Not as far as I know." "I am tempted to see if I could evoke your other personality, but since I now know what is going on, there are better options. Bring me a knife, Taiki," he said to the dimmest looking of the thugs. Taiki nodded and pulled out a switchblade, popped it open, and handed it to his boss, who handed me over to Taiki. Taiki held me clumsily while the old man walked over to Usagi, who now looked thoroughly glazed over. "You're going to forget our entire conversation, but the next time you hear my voice, you will return here with your husband. Do you understand?" "Yes." He took the knife, and I suddenly realized what he was going to do. Drink the blood of a vampire, and it puts you partly under his control. Drink it three times, and you become his slave until he either dies or manages to abuse you to the point where the bond snaps. Makoto's old boyfriend she was obsessed with turned out to be a vampire who had done that to her. I killed him for that. I...but that's another story. I had to do something, but much as I struggled, I couldn't move. Running through my magical talents in my mind, I couldn't think of any useful. I can't do ninety percent of my tricks when I'm in cat form, and I can't do ANY of them while my body won't take marching orders. Instead, I had to watch as the knife slowly slid across the old man's wrist, as beads of red slowly formed, then became a slow drip. He held his wrist up to her mouth, and her eyes closed. She lapped at his wrist, then began to suck on it in a manner I found entirely disgusting. Unfortunately, I couldn't even close my eyes. And then she began to convulse. The old man lept back in shock, and Taiki dropped me. I slammed into the floor painfully, unable to land on my feet. The other two goons drew their guns. Usagi screamed like a lost soul, and I heard the glass of the windows shatter. The goons dropped their guns and put their hands to their ears, while the old man tried to move back to her, looking like he was walking into a stiff wind. I could feel her shouting pushing me along the floor, and suddenly, my limbs were my own. I ducked out of sight between two boxes and assumed my humanoid body, drawing an arrow from my quiver and nocking it. Then I called upon the Wyrd, the power of Fate, so that I could force my foes to percieve me as I truly am for a short time. Normally, no one can see faeries as they truly are, unless we enchant them, but by spending a bit of our Glamour, we can shove it down people's throats briefly, for a few minutes. Which was all I would need. Across the warehouse, there was a boom of thunder and two loud thumps followed by metallic vibrations as the loading dock doors slammed to the ground. Everyone else surged in. Usagi was...it's hard to describe. It was like the inside of her body had turned into a liquid and was surging in places against her skin, trying to burst loose. Makoto never mentioned anything like THIS happening when she drank vampire blood. For a moment, I could have sworn she had fangs, then that her skin turned red like a redcap or a knocker, then she sprouted bunny ears for just a moment, and then her she suddenly went limp and almost...oozed out of her bonds onto the floor...like Sluagh do. Her skin flashed blue, and for a second hair sprouted through her pantyhose. And then the gem set into the brooch she always wears shone like a beacon, drawing all eyes to it. Our friends froze just inside the door in mid-attack, the goons took their hands away from their ears, Usagi ceased to scream, and the old man stared as if he didn't know whether salvation or damnation was staring him in the face. She stood, her eyes closed, and a heavenly choir sang a tune I had heard before only on the handful of occasions when desperation had bade us call upon the Crescent Moon Crystal, said by legend to have been forged from a teardrop of Luna, goddess of the Moon. The light flowed over her clothing, washing it away. For a moment, she stood before us naked, and then I saw her clad in white fur like my own fur when I'm in my faerie seeming, although she had rabbit ears, instead of cat ears like me. And upon her brow, a yellow crescent moon shone like a beacon. Then clothing returned to her; she wore a long white dress with a broad but shallow neckline fringed with elaborate lace, and her seeming assumed its true form, that of a Sidhe, beautiful and terrible beyond measure, her natural beauty raised to a height that could inspire both rapture and terror. The old man fell to his knees before her, staring at her feet. "I...I did not understand. Forgive me. I never...believed in anything, but..." He tried to look up at her, and failed. "I just...I never..." Her eyes snapped open, and she smiled at him with the compassion which I think is her greatest weapon. "I know. How long has your family served the Giovanni?" "Since the aftermath of World War II when we needed money to help rebuild our home. I didn't realize what my family was getting into when I went to them for help...I just thought they were like European Yakuza, not...creatures of the night. Kuei. I have done...so many horrible things. I never...Forgive me, Amaterasu. I have betrayed my nation and our gods." He began to cry tears of blood. "I am not Amaterasu, for my power is that of the Moon, not the sun. I am Tsukui-Yomi's granddaughter, Diamond, the leader of the Gemstone Warriors of the Kingdom of Serenity. But I do wield some power. Would you be free of your curse?" He stared in shock. "That's not possible." "All things are possible to those who believe," she replied, lifting the crystal, and closing her eyes once more. I could feel its power; the Crescent Moon Crystal wields vast power, but it works by taking part of your life force and magnifying it. If your own life force isn't enough, it sucks it out of the surrounding area too, and kills you in the process. Anyone could use it, but it would be pretty dangerous for them. The music rose to a crescendo, and the old man howled in agony, his back arching, and then a blackness erupted from his chest, forming a dark black ghost carrying a scythe which struck at Diamond, but evaporated in another blaze of light. The old man fell to the ground breathing heavily, then laughed. "I...it's over," he said. "I'm...human again." Diamond smiled at him. "You must go to your family and get them to safety." The nimbus of light around her faded, and the three goons simply collapsed. She held out a hand and helped the old man up. "The Giovanni will not be pleased with you. But we can help you protect them." He nodded dumbly as everyone else rushed over, and then the happy reunion began. --The Diary of Minako Aino, Lead Singer for 'Lights to the Nations' *********** December 9, 2000 Dear Diary: I remember now. I remember everything. I remember standing on the palace balcony with my love, watching the Earth hanging just above the Horizon. It was the springtime of the world, when the Tuatha de Danaan still walked among us, when the war with the Fomorians had yet to begin. I remember death, the shattering of hope. Queen Beryl sold herself to the Nightmare Lords and led an army of Fomorians along the Golden Path into our Kingdom, and tarnished it behind her. We saw her army coming, for the ground burned, and the sky filled with smoke, and one by one, my Gemstone Warriors perished trying to stop her. I remember rebirth, the rekindling of fire. The Chrysalis came upon me when my friend Naru and I both nearly fell victim to a Ravaging, an attempt to steal our Glamour by crushing out the spark of hope and faith within us, carried out by one of the servants of the Tokyo Shadow Court, which Beryl led. I remember battles which forged me into a weapon. Princess Diamond had been a peaceful, gentle soul in her first life. I became a weapon and a warrior in my second life, though I sought to always temper the wrath of my guardians with mercy. And it was through that mercy and love that I redeemed Amethyst from the Lords of Nightmare and laid Master Pharoah Ninety to rest. But it drained me, for his realm contained horrors that even now haunt me. I remember dwindling, wishing to forget what I had seen, being consumed by the responsibilities of my mortal life. The threats that had kept me actively engaged in my shadow life faded away as our enemies all perished, reformed, or fled. And so my second life as Princess Diamond became only memory, and then only a dream. One by one, Banality claimed us all, shrouding our memories with the very same Mists that help to protect us from our enemies. Now I am thrice-born. They say third time's the charm. I suppose I shall find out. --From the Diary of Usagi Chiba, Creator of 'Legend of the Five Kingdoms' *************** My Diary Date: 12/10/00 Time: 11:20 AM I've arranged for some leave time from the hospital. It was running me ragged...I don't want to abandon being a doctor, but I never realized how entirely drained I was until now. I don't know what I'm going to do about that. Mr. Ozaka told us quite a bit. His superiors are a clan of vampires known as the Giovanni. They were founded by Venetian necromancers who stole the power of a 'Clan' of vampires that had necromancy based powers. They mostly use their powers to control people's minds, make lots of money, talk to and control ghosts, and plan for their 'Great Work'. They plan to tear down the Shroud that seperates the living and the dead in a way that will make most people dead. They'll keep a herd of mortals to feed on, and let everyone else die so they will be able to weild god-like power over them. I never thought I'd meet people who made Beryl and Nephrenia look nice, but I see I was simply running in the wrong circles. Apparently, they plan to somehow massacre a huge number of people in various cities which contain important nexi of power. This will weaken the Shroud enough to let them rip it apart completely with some sort of massive ritual. We haven't figured out yet how this connects to Ryo's dreams, or if there's more than one disaster coming down the road. Or, for that matter, how we can stop them. Nine Gemstone warriors, Naru, and Mamoru isn't enough to fight a clan of hundreds of Vampires and their ghoul minions. It's like fighting a hydra...you have to kill all the heads. And their leader, according to Mr. Ozaka, is something called an 'Antediluvian', a vampire who has been around since before the Flood. I'm not sure how this squares with their Clan coming into existence in the Middle Ages, though. But I gather that the Antediluvians stand to Vampires as the Tuatha de Danaan stand to the faeries. With the Silver Crystal, Diamond might be able to slay one...she did defeat Metallia and Master Pharoah Ninety. One of these days, I need to ask Garnet what happened to Master Pharaohs One through Eighty- Nine. But I digress. Garnet says she has an idea; she's closeted with Diamond and Mamoru right now, while the rest of us mill about their apartment and play with Chibi-Usagi. I suppose I'll go check my email while I wait. Bye for now. --From Ami Mizuno's On-line Personal Journal ************** Garnet's Travel Journal Snow 16, 26,000 GY "We will deal with Augustus Giovanni," I said. "You will be needed here. Fenris dwarfs Giovanni's power and threat. Their ritual may or may not work, but if Fenris is free to swallow the Sun...we will all perish." Prince Onyx laughed at me. "You'll deal with Augustus Giovanni just like that. We'll leave out his army of minions and the fact that his fortress will be heavily warded. The Antediluvians wield godlike power. If half the stories in the Hermetic archives are true, they could easily go toe to toe with the Oracles and win, for their magick is free of the shackles that chain both Magi and Fae. That is why the Tremere betrayed my Order to join the Vampires. If the stories are true, he could go toe to toe with the Lords of the Deep Dreaming and win. Still, I might be able to gain enough help from the Order to enable us to defeat him. But whether we would have the resources to deal with him and recover in time to return and deal with Fenris...If only we'd had more warning." "Even the Antediluvians must sleep during the day, and if they do not, like any Vampire, they become groggy and have a harder time functioning," I said. "But I do not plan to simply walk into his house and beat him to death with my staff. That is how Topaz or Emerald would solve this problem. I plan to travel to Hyperion's court and ask his aid with both our problems." "Yeah!" Princess Diamond said. "He needs to know that Fenris is planning to eat him. I'm sure he wouldn't like that. When do we leave?" "Topaz, Aquamarine, and I will depart at dawn tomorrow," I said. "But you will have the harder task. I pray Hyperion will be able to send you some aid, but it will be up to you and your warriors to battle Fenris when he comes forth. I would suggest that you try to contact your Order for help, Prince Onyx. The Houses of Hermes want to see this world survive as much as we do, and you will need help. And I would advise contacting as many of the Changeling Courts as you can find that have survived the onset of Winter. And..." I paused, reluctant to say it. "The gates of Arcadia must be opened. By force, if necessary. If the Shining Host does not come forth, then all shall perish." Princess Diamond frowned, as I knew she would. "We cannot force those who hide within Arcadia to help us. If we batter down the gates, they will turn and flee from us. As if such a thing could even be done. This battle cannot be won by force, we must persuade them somehow to come forth." "So be it. I am not apt to that task by either approach, I fear. Whatever you choose to do, you must begin soon. Unless you command otherwise, I shall set forth at dawn to seek Hyperion and bring what aid he can, then I will go forth with my squires to do battle with Augustus. It is my fate; I have seen it." I knew she would say yes, for I had seen that as well, and I knew what is to come. I will sacrifice myself; I must, for I am the only one who can stop him. Perhaps it is vanity to think that, but I know only what I have seen. And it is only my Queen who can stop Fenris, though I fear she will not like the cost, and most of all I fear whether she will be willing to pay it. "But before we depart, there is something else which must be done first." "What?" Princess Diamond asked. "You must be crowned. Only my freehold remains of the glory that once was the Moon Kingdom of Serenity, but it shall have to do. While we waited for this day, I searched the Deep Dreaming and found your mother's crown. Your reign may not be very long if all turns to ill, but I know you are worthy of it." "We shall do it this evening. I want to spend the afternoon making plans and trying to figure out how best to quickly alert as many other Courts as possible. If any survive." She frowned. "Why can't the forces of Evil schedule disasters for when my schedule is less busy?" I laughed, as did Prince Onyx. "They must all work for your business rivals." "That would explain a lot," she replied. --From Volume 50,673 of Garnet's Travel Journal **************** Rei's Deep Thoughts For December 10, 2000 Usagi made a beeline for me the instant she came out of the conference with Setsuna. I could tell from the look on her face that I wasn't going to like whatever she was about to ask me to do; Usagi has a really hard time asking anyone to do something she knows they won't like, so she shakes and contorts and tends to act like something's chewing on her when she tries. When she took me by the hand and took me into the sewing room, I knew I was in serious trouble. If the others couldn't even be allowed to hear her ask it... I cut to the chase. "So, what horrible task have I been assigned? Do I have to turn a GMC Van into a tank or something?" I still have nightmare flashbacks to that incident, especially when the A- Team chimera showed up and...let's not think about that. "Hmm...maybe I should have you armor our Toyota. But that's not it. I need you...to...ahh...umm...deliver a message and ask...ummm...some people...for our help. I mean to help us." She shifted back and forth, and focused her gaze intently on the sewing machine off to one side of us. I couldn't see why, though. Well, besides wondering why she chose ME to be the emmisary. After a little thought, I concluded she was probably going to send each of us to try to rally our kin to the cause. And since only Nockers can really handle other knockers, I was the natural choice. But why was she so embarrassed about it? "You want me to round up a Nocker army?" "IneedyoutogotoElHazardandgettheirhelp!" she shouted. I literally frothed, though I didn't plan to. "You WANT ME TO WHAT? They #$%$$^$#^ cut out my heart with an axe the last time I went! That #$%$#^!@#@!^$#^ Makoto dumped me for a fergulckin golem! And they're a bunch of Lost Ones! They'll evaporate like a snowball in Hell if they come out because they never learned how to deal with Banality! Even if I didn't want to kill them all, I can't...I mean...they'll die. Well, Makoto won't, even though she should, the little..." I got a grip on myself. "I can't do this." "You have to. You're the only one of us, and the Lost Ones of El Hazard know enough about technology that they can help us deal with..." She looked around, and whispered, "The nuke." My eyes widened. "The....The Giovanni have a NUKE?" "That's what Ozaka thinks. Not just a normal one, but a spiritual one. It's part magickal, which is why we can't just call the government or something. We need Makoto." "Because he can control machines." I said. "Dammit, I'll find a way to bind some FUBARS into some kinda nuke-dearming gizmo..." I started thinking about how it could be done. FUBARS, for any bastards who might be READING MY DIARY, are a kind of...energy critter made out of raw Glamour that we Nockers use to power our devices. They're sort of like super-economy sized living quarks. Sort of. It would take too long to explain, and anyone who is reading my diary without permission deserves a beating, not an explanation, you dirty little sneak. "Rei, you have no experience with that, and we can't take any chances." Her voice had turned serious, and I knew I'd already lost, that I was going to end up going back to El Hazard if it killed me. And I had the nervous feeling that it probably would. "I can't," I said. "I can't face him again." "Rei, you need to get over him, and you never will if you don't face him. I'd send one of the others if I could, but you're the only one who has a chance to get them to come out." Now I was the one staring at the ground. "She'll laugh at me." "I can say from experience that won't kill you." She put a hand on my shoulder. "I believe in you, Rei. And I know you can do this." I sighed, and shrank in on myself. "I'll do it. I've been needing to kick his ass," I said, mostly trying to persuade myself. "Thanks, Rei," she said, smiling that horrible Sidhe smile that makes you willing to do things like hurl yourself into a blast furnace to see it again. "Garnet found the Crown of Serenity. I'm going to be crowned this evening." "Congratulations," I said. "Not that there's much for you to rule, but I think you're ready for it. You're not half the ungainly klutz you used to be." I didn't mean to put it that way...it just slipped out. But she knew what I really meant, and she smiled more brightly. "I'll try not to collapse under its weight," she replied. "Or lose my grip on the royal sceptre and hit you in the head. Oh...I have something for you." She took me by the hand and dragged me halfway across the apartment to the disaster zone that doubles as her office. The carpet is covered with a tarp to keep paint off it, and the walls should have been covered with tarps, as they used to be salmon, but now they're polka- dot. Chibi-Usagi got into the paints once, when Usagi was fool enough to bring her in here. I'd seen it before, drawing desk, paints, and a million sketches scattered all over, including one tacked to the middle of the ceiling for no apparent reason. However, there was something new. A painting hung on the wall over the desk. It was done with oil paints, and must have taken her quite a while to do. It was a painting of the nine of us in our mundane forms, along with Mamoru and Artemis in front of Grandpa's temple. Most of us were in our school uniforms, except for Hotaru, who was a baby held by Michiru, and Setsuna and Mamoru. Well, and Artemis. It was a stunning piece of work; Usagi had managed to capture a little bit of everyone's personalities in their poses, right down to Minako holding up one hand to make 'bunny ears' behind Usagi's head. "When did you do this?" "I finished it about two weeks ago after puttering away at it for close to three months." She started digging through the drawers under her drawing desk. "Ahh, here we go." She pulled out a small velvet pouch with golden runes on it, with a dark black, thick drawstring. She pulled it open and poured out a handful of glittering silver and gold dust. "What are you going to do?" I asked; I could feel the power of the Glamour in the dust. "The final touch I couldn't do before." She raised her hand to her lips and blew, and the dust whirled off her palm in a cloud of sparkles, settling onto the painting, which shifted visibily. Now it showed all of us in our court finery in our faerie visages. The temple behind us stood revealed in its full majesty, a place of peace and comfort, as only the fae can see it. Tourmaline was still making those bunny ears, though. "You ought to bring the others in to see this," I said faintly. "It's for you," she said, then clambered up on the desk and took it off the wall. "Put it somewhere Minako won't accidentally destroy it." "I...for me?" She nodded. "I was saving it to give you as a Christmas present, but we can't be sure we'll make it to Christmas." I took it from her. "I'll put it in our living room. I'm afraid I don't have your Christmas present yet." I hadn't even thought about it. "Don't worry about it. We've got more important stuff to do than shop. Although I'd certainly RATHER be shopping." She jumped off the desk, landing as gracefully as such a thing can be done. Back when we first learned who we were, she would have slammed face first into the ground if she had tried that. For a moment, I was back in junior high, battling the Shadow Court. I wonder if the Shadow Court even still exists...they used to claim they would handle the coming of Winter with ease, but I suspect they're all working at the grocery store, and dimly remembering how they used to pretend to be Elves and Trolls and Goblins...But enough of that. Time to think about how I'm going to face Makoto. From Rei's Deep Thoughts, the Journal of Rei Hino, Songwriter and Singer for 'Light for the Nations'. **************** Personal Journal Date: 12/10/00 Time: 11:45 PM Garnet's freehold was as beautiful as I remembered it being. On the outside, it looks like a normal two-story suburban house, complete with mailbox and white picket fence. And if you enter through the front door, you enter a perfectly normal house. The back door, however, opens into a three hundred foot long marble collonade, the ceiling a good hundred feet above with inlaid mosaics showing the foundation of the Moon Kingdom. That's just the foyer. Garnet says that her freehold's faerie aspect is on the planet Pluto's faerie aspect. I can believe it; when you look through the crystalline windows, you can see bright stars that don't twinkle against a totally black background. It perches atop a mountain peak, and you can see a vast range of spires which would dwarf Mount Fuji spreading out north and south of it, all coated with white ice through which strange flourescent violet and blue fungi poke up in forests around the bases. Strange pinkish beings, like crustaceans with wings, flit about the forests, and you can see a city built of basalt and the various kinds of fungi at the base of a huge mountain to the north. Garnet forged an alliance with them long ago, I've been told. I can't understand how anything could survive on Pluto, but this is its magical aspect, so I suppose they feed on magic, somehow. The coronation was held in Garnet's throne room; she's technically the Duchess of Pluto, although there's not much here to rule but herself and her house. Garnet claims stories about Santa's workshop at the North Pole is faded memories of the boggans and nockers who once dwelt in this realm, but I sometimes wonder if she makes things up to amuse herself if she knows we can't check on them. Everyone was dressed up in court finery, a plethora of styles even among such a small group, as we all have rather different tastes in clothing. I was simply wearing my suit, which looked rather out of place among brightly colored Renaissance clothing. I could spend forever describing everyone, so I'll stick to Ami. She wore one of those jeweled hairnets, with several sapphires set in it, along with a silver tiara with a huge sapphire set right upon her brow, her symbol inlaid in the sapphire with gold. She wore a long midnight blue blouse, with poufy sleeves that were tied shut at the wrist with a silver cord, and over that, a sky blue bodice edged with gold. There were several layers of skirts, all of them going most of the way down to the ankles, but layered so as to show the bottom fringe of each. She wore light blue slippers over dark blue stockings. Her engagement ring, a simple silver band, dominated her left hand, while a golden band carved like an owl with sapphire eyes rested upon her right ring finger. I basically stood to one side and watched the whole thing, while everyone else stumbled through the rite, since they had never done it before, not even Garnet. It began with Ami reciting Diamond's lineage. "I call forth Princess Diamond, Daughter of Serenity, Daughter of Luna, Sister of Gaea." In full royal regalia, which really wasn't a whole lot of regalia, especially since most of it was lost, Diamond strode in. While I knew this was Usagi at an intellectual level, at the gut level, there was no one present but a queen of the Sidhe, in all her glory. I had to fight not to sink to my knees, and I could see a few of the others struggling as well. "I have come." Rei spoke next, a quick prayer to the spirits and gods that they would bless what was about to take place, and that they might show their displeasure if this coronation displeased them. They remained silent. Garnet spoke next, as the Chamberlain of the court. "Is there any present who would dispute her claim to the throne of the Moon Kingdom?" No one said anything, of course, although I could see Minako mouth something and giggle. "As Chamberlain, and Regent, I call upon the heir to come forward and recieve the Crown of Serenity, to take up her title and rule wisely and well." Diamond strode forward. "I will accept this task, and take up this burden. If I fail in my duties, may I be cast down into the Nightmare Realms to gnash my teeth and be tormented." Her voice was serene; Usagi is never serene. She knealt, and Setsuna placed the crown upon her head. "Then I crown thee Queen of the Moon Kingdom of Serenity. Long may you reign in peace and plenty. Rise now and take your throne." Diamond stood, and sat upon the throne, and turned to smile at us. Topaz stepped forward now, clad in shining silver armor, and bearing in her hands the Topaz Sword, carven from a huge topaz that fell from space long ago. Topaz claims it can cut through anything. It was sheathed in a bronze sheath that is one of the gaudiest things I've ever seen, covered with dozens of tiny gems, apparently on the 'add more gems to add more beauty' principle. She knelt before Diamond and laid the sword across Diamond's lap. "The power of my sword is yours to command." She lifted the sword, and tapped each of Topaz's shoulders with it, then returned it to her. "Bear it well in my service, Marshall." Aquamarine was next, kneeling down and holding out her Mirror. "My second sight and my song is yours to command." Diamond took the mirror and gazed into it, then turned and held it in such a way that only Aquamarine could see what it showed. For a moment, they both looked very sad, then Diamond brightened and said, "I accept your gift, and I return it to you that you might use it to guide hearts and lighten them, for you are my Oracle and Bard, a kindler of the fires of the soul. Use your talents wisely and well." Emerald was next. She stepped forward and knelt before Diamond, stripping off her gauntlets and laying them in Diamond's lap, with her great emerald hammer atop them. She bowed her head, and said, "I place my strength at your service, my Queen, for it is all that I have." Diamond smiled, and put on the gauntlets, then placed her hand upon Emerald's brow, and gently lifted Emerald's head to gaze into her eyes. "You forget your greatest talent, for it is the strength of your heart I will most need in the days to come. Tools and weapons can boost anyone's might, but what lies within is beyond any artifact of man's making to enhance. I accept your strength, and I pray you wield it in my service, for I shall have need of you, my Champion." She took off the gauntlets, and put them onto Emerald's hands, one by one, then handed her the hammer. "Use it wisely and well." Ami was next, stepping forward and putting her Orb and Lens in Diamond's lap, and kneeling. "I place my knowledge in your hands, my queen. Whatever you need to know, I shall learn. Accept my tools of learning." Diamond smiled and picked up the Orb, then whispered something to Ami, who later told me she asked Ami if the Orb could pick up television stations. Then she said more loudly, "I accept your gift, and I return it to you, my Sage. Advise me well in the days to come, for I shall have need of your shining mind," and she handed them back to Ami. Minako was next. She came over, dressed like a gypsy woman, and knealt before Diamond, placing her bow and arrows in Diamond's lap. "I place my tools of the hunt in your hands, my Queen. Command me and I shall chivvy your foes, driving them before you." Diamond placed her hands on the bow. "I accept your offer, my Huntress, and I return to you the tools of your trade. May you never hunt in vain. Soon, there will be much for you to do." She handed the bow and arrows back to Minako. "For winter is upon us, the Season of the Wolf." Ruby was next, bearing her own Hammer, not a weapon, but a tool for forging. She laid it in Diamond's lap. "The power of the forge is mine to command, and now my forge is yours to command. Whatsoever you need, I shall make, or break myself in the forging." I could see Topaz and Aquamarine whispering back and forth to each other, and Diamond smiled a radiant smile. "All my making is but the shadow of your gift, Ruby, my Smith. Take this hammer, and wield it well in the battle called creation. And may all your dreams be forged into truth, for I know you will wield it wisely and well." Garnet was the last, stepping around the throne, and passing her staff into Diamond's hands. She knealt, her forehead touching Diamond's knees. "And finally, I, the Chamberlain and Regent, I lay down my burden into your hands. The Staff of Chronos is yours, with which you may turn the wheel forward, so that Spring may come and Winter not last eternally." "Noble Garnet, I know your suffering and pain, all you have given up. But I must regretfully ask more of you. The burdens which lie before us, neither of us can avoid or abandon, else all shall perish beneath the ice. Will you take up your staff and continue your service, knowing what is to come?" Her face was troubled now, and I had the definite feeling something was going on I didn't know about. Garnet raised her head and stared into Diamond's eyes. "You know what must be?" "I know the price to turn the wheel," Diamond replied, "Though I know not what lies beyond that price. Only you can do what must be done, Setsuna." Garnet began to cry, and everyone of us watching literally jumped. I've never seen her cry; I didn't think it was possible. But now her tears poured forth, staining Diamond's skirt. For several minutes, we all simply stared in shock while Diamond held Garnet...no, held Setsuna's head in her lap, as Setsuna cried and babbled things I couldn't hear clearly enough to understand. I think it was the first time I've ever seen her be...Setsuna in truth. It had always been a mask before, behind which the ancient one, Garnet, had been hidden. Ami reached over and took my hand, and we tried to turn our gaze away from her. Finally, the tears ceased, and Setsuna said, "There must be another way." Few words have terrified me so much. It was as if the world had reversed itself, and now Setsuna was the child Diamond once had been, and Diamond was the messenger of Fate. If what was to come was so horrible that Garnet could not bear it... "We shall see. Perhaps we will find another way, but I will not run from my destiny if what we fear comes to pass. And even if it comes to the worst, know that I will never hate you for it." They stared at each other, then Diamond kissed Setsuna's brow, and for a moment, Garnet's Sigil flared there. "You have been my strength, my guide, and the shepherd that has kept me to my path. Accept this gift from me, for you will need it when you face the one who would break the Law of Death. It is but a meagre return for what you have given me." "I have given you nothing but trouble and pain," Setsuna whispered. Diamond lifted the staff, and the orb at its top began to glow. "You have opened my eyes to the glories of the universe and called me back to my true self. There is no life without pain, we cannot grasp the rose without being pricked by the thorns. I do not hate you for what you have done and what you must do. I love you and all my friends." She held out the staff. "Take now the badge of your office, that it may aid you on your final quest, and take with it all the joy I can give you." Setsuna nodded, and stood, and took it. "I will not waver or falter until all is done, and Spring comes again." "Do not fear to waver or falter, for only a fool is without fear, as I well know," Diamond said. "But I know you will not fail." Garnet turned, her composure returned, though tear streaks still marked her face. "All hail Queen Diamond the Thrice-Born!" And our shouts rose up to heaven, but my heart was heavy, for I feared the future. --From Urawa Ryo's On-line Personal Journal ************** Aquamarine's Book of Remembrances Snow 17, 26,000 GY It drives me insane when Garnet knows something and won't talk about it. I tried to ask her after the coronation what she was so worried about, but she wouldn't say. She's doing the 'I will nobly sacrifice myself' thing again, now. I suppose I shouldn't complain, since I've done that myself, but I never felt it necessary to hide WHY I was being noble. So, instead, I went for a drive with Topaz. I was a little worried at first; neither of us has driven in years, since we've been living in the Dreaming in a Freehold without any cars. I should have known better; she was born to drive. Indeed, I could tell she was seriously enjoying this, speeding through the streets as if traffic laws didn't exist. Maybe for her they don't. Certainly no cops stopped us. We drove in silence for a while until we got out into the countryside on a highway, and then Topaz really opened up, pouring it on at a good 160 KPH, then faster than that. She said, "I wish it was warmer so we could put the top down." I laughed. "I think our heads would blow off." "Yeah, but what a way to go." "I think we may be going soon enough," I said a little too somberly. Topaz glanced over at me. "Worried about the new mission?" "Aren't you?" "Naah. Garnet's never steered us wrong before." I twitched. Sometimes Topaz has only marginally better perception abilities than a tomato. "Did you see her begging Diamond not to have to do this?" "I assumed that was just an act. I mean, c'mon, she doesn't do the weepy female thing." He zoomed past a highway patrol car, then grinned. "Now the real fun starts." The real fun was going to be when I made her sleep in the snow once we got home. --From Volume 12 of Aquamarine's Book of Remembrances **************** 'The Unauthorized Autobiography of the Mysterious Saint Tail', chapter 7, section III. I had thought Sister had been joking about vampires having the book I was looking for. Of course not. Luckily, vampires don't look up any more often than normal people do, so they couldn't spot me up in the third story window of the warehouse. I briefly wondered why warehouses have windows up where no one can see through them unless they're as good at climbing as me, then decided not to worry about it. The first thing I asked myself was why all the vampires were dressed as if they were living in the eighteenth century, then suddenly realized that maybe they HAD lived in the eighteenth century, even if they did look like teenagers. They were both male and female, but they all wore what looked sort of like eighteenth century officer uniforms, brightly colored but with no obvious national insignia. And they all had swords. Seriously weird. Most of them looked Japanese, except for one girl who had purple hair and dark skin. She was wearing a beautiful red dress and had flowers in her hair. She was also the only person to be wearing glasses; I'd always thought becoming a vampire cleared up your vision, but I guess I was wrong. Her eyes were closed, and everyone was gathered around her in a circle. There was a red haired woman, a guy with long green hair, a shorter guy with very short blue hair, a woman with long pink hair, and a guy with red hair as well. Fairly normal Japanese hair colors, in other words, nothing to mark them as particularly distinctive. Or even as vampires. I was starting to wonder if I'd gone to the wrong warehouse, and had stumbled onto some sort of weird club; they were all about the right age to be in high school. Sister had been pretty insistent this was where the vampires who had stolen the National Library's copy of 'The Book of Nod' hung out, though. I resolved to sit and observe for a while; there was no way I could fight them; my powers are mostly souped up conjuring tricks, although I could count on getting away with my balloons. I'd already done a little test to make sure I could outrun bats. The pink haired woman spoke. "You don't have to do this if you don't want to." "I must," she said. "It calls to me." The pink haired woman sighed and picked up a huge leatherbound book off the ground where it had laid by the purple haired girl's feet. "Here you go." Then she took her sword, and winced, and cut her own wrist. I stared in shock as the girl in the red dress leaned up on her tip toes and drank from the pink haired one's vein, slurping like a baby at a nipple. I closed my eyes; the whole thing was just too disturbring. Then I half-slitted them open; I had to watch. Soon enough, the girl finished drinking, and licked the wrist; there was no trace of a wound left. I shuddered again, and nearly fell. The purple haired girl stared at the pink haired one with worshipful eyes, while the pink haired one looked like she wished she was somewhere else. Then the red haired woman produced a cup, which they passed around solemnly, and each of them slit their wrist with their own sword and bled into it (including the pink haired woman, but not the red dress one). They handed the golden goblet to the woman in the middle, and she placed it on top of the book, then closed her eyes. She let go of the book, and it floated in the air with the goblet on top of it. Then she herself began to float into the air, and she spoke with a strangely deep voice. "Let all come to the feast and be sated, let the blood of our Father that flows within our veins sustain us. Let all who would do his will come forward and drink." They passed the cup around the circle, and each of them drank from it, and finally they passed the cup to her, and she took the deepest draught of all. Then she leaned back. And back. And finally, she was floating horizontally to the ground. The book floated out of the way, and the pink haired girl...okay, you're not gonna believe this. Well, maybe if you believed everything so far you will, but...it was just weird. She pulled a sword out of the purple haired girl's stomach. And a long wand of rowan wood as well. They put both of those on the floating book, and she returned to standing up, although she was still floating. "You have done well," she said in the strange deep voice. "But there is more to be done to bring about the World Revolution. She is born." The blue haired boy said, "Who? Who is born?" "The one of prophecy." The deep voice took on a chanting tone. "When the snows consume the earth and the sun gutters like a cndle in the wind, then, and only then will there be born a woman, the last Daughter of Eve, and in her there will be decided the fate of all. And you will not know this woman, except by the mark of the Moon on her, and she will face treachery, hatred, and pain, but in her is the last hope." "How is a BABY supposed to make a difference?" the red haired woman snarled, then paled for no discernable reason. "She walks among the Wild Ones, where even a baby can make a difference, but she is no infant. You must find her, and aid her, or the sun and the moon will be blotted out, and all shall be cast into Gehenna to be burnt." And then the voice faded, and the woman settled to the ground, and her eyes opened. She slumped and the pink haired woman and the blue haired boy caught her. I could see this was going to be one of my harder cases. --From 'The Unauthorized Autobiography of the Mysterious Saint Tail' *************** Garnet's Travel Journal Snow 18, 26,000 GY I had to get everyone out of bed early so we wouldn't miss our departure; Topaz was not amused, and Aquamarine didn't seem too pleased, either. They'd had some sort of argument the previous night and hadn't gotten much sleep. But they were ready in time, and that was what was important. Aquamarine was giving me funny looks; she knew too much and not enough, I was sure. No time to worry about that. The sun came up, first a glow on the horizon, and then the shadows took on definition. You can see Tokyo Bay and the ocean from the roof of my house; which is why it was built where it was. I needed this view. As the sun crept above the horizon, its rays formed a golden highway into the sky that rose from my rooftop. I uttered the words of power to unlock the Trod and the sunlight solidified. Praying no one would be watching for the few seconds it would take us to pass into the Dreaming, I stepped onto the Trod and began to walk along it. Topaz followed me confidently, while Aquamarine was a little more hesitant; she took a nasty fall on one of these a few years ago when our enemies managed to briefly block out the sun; thankfully, the sky was nearly cloudless, except at the far southeastern horizon. That wouldn't last long, I knew. "It's been a while since I've been to Hyperion's court," I said. "But I'm sure you'll like it." "I brought my sunglasses, just to be sure," Topaz said, taking them out and putting them on. Aquamarine and I both laughed, and we were on our way. --From Volume 50,673 of Garnet's Travel Journal *************** December 11, 2000 Dear Diary, Everyone's scattered to the winds, leaving me to babysit little Usagi and pray the vampire who may be looking for me doesn't find me. There's nothing more aggravating than sitting around the house waiting for an attack which might never come. I'm still not sure what Umino thinks of all this. The faerie horde came over and sort of shoved a reality check down his throat yesterday, but...He still wishes it wasn't true. So do I. But wishing won't make it so. I'll do my part and keep baby Usagi safe while everyone else rallies the troops. Noa came over for a while, and we talked about all this; it's good to have a partner I can talk to. We got the silver bullets made, and some stakes and mallets and crosses, and anything else that might help stop a vampire. I've been eating so much garlic I could probably kill real people with my breath, let along vampires. Oh great, Chibi-Usagi's crying again...I'm starting to understand why she's been driving her mother insane. That's all for now. --From the Diary of Officer Naru Umino, Tokyo Metropolitan Police, Juuban District *******************