Meiko Miyamoto slinked down the street towards her apartment building. Dad's going to kill me, she thought. It was nearly three AM, but he would still be up, waiting for her. I'm gonna die, she thought. She could almost feel the heat of his glare, even though she was still a half block away. Smoke began to pour out of an open window on the fifth floor, and then she faintly heard the tinny buzz of a fire alarm. Lights began to dance behind more windows of the Kappabungi building, and more alarms went off. Meiko ran to the front door of the building, where the pay phone was. There was nothing but a twisted hunk of metal there. The lobby was starting to burn, forcing her back out. There were four more apartment buildings nearby, but their pay phones were all slag as well. Love of family warred with self-preservation. She didn't want to run into a flaming building, but... Then she remembered her father had a cell phone. Surely he would be up. He could call the fire department. In the distance, she heard the sirens of fire trucks and gave a great sigh of relief. Father had called them, she thought. I really need to learn where there's pay phones around here. She backed up to a safe distance and watched the two fire trucks roar down the street. They're here awfully quickly, she thought. Not that I should complain. Oh wait, the fire probably started a while ago, and now it's spread. Although it does seem an awful lot of the building is on fire...what happened? The first fire truck roared round the corner, lights flashing and sirens blaring, beginning to slow down as the building came into sight. Then there was a flash of orange light from the gap between two buildings, and the fire truck's engine exploded in flames. It turned wildly and rolled over. Unable to stop in time, the second truck slammed into it, and then another flash of orange light flared and its engine went up as well. Firemen leaped out of the flaming vehicles, and then Meiko heard a horrible sound for the first time in real life -- the chunk-chunk-chunk of a machine gun opening fire. Firemen began dropping; those not killed by the barrage took cover as best they can, but flaming vehicles don't make a good shield. The killer moved into sight, armed with an automatic rifle, and grenades on a bandolier over red clothing that complemented his coppery hair. Meiko was sure he couldn't be Japanese; he was too pale. The man removed two grenades and tossed them over the flaming fire trucks, then laughed at the resulting screams. Meiko decided to simply run for it. Explosions and machine gun fire punctuated her every footstep as she ran like she'd never run before. Silence settled over the sleeping city once more, interrupted only by the crackling of flame. ***** Naru: I'm tired of always running I've grown tired of the night I wish I had some cunning, Had some power, had some might. We see a collage of Naru running from monsters, grabbed by monsters, trapped inside big moss balls by monsters, etc. Sailors: You don't need to keep on running. You don't need to fear the night. We can save you with our cunning, With our power, with our might. We see a collage of images of Usagi and the other Sailors saving Naru and many other people from monster attacks. Naru: I don't want someone to save me; I'd just like to save myself I don't want to be a helpless doll That must sit upon the shelf. We see Naru sitting at her window, looking out on the starry night sky of the city. One by one, lines trace the constellations. Pluto: If you want to have the power You must reach into your heart Look inside to find your strength For that's where power starts We see Pluto holding out an eight-pointed star, which hovers just above her hand. ***** Sailor Moon Z: Series Concept by Jeff Hosmer and John Biles Primary Writer this Episode: John Biles Based on the Series Sailor Moon, copyrighted by a whole lot of people who aren't us. Episode 19 "The Final Talisman Quest. Are Two Senshi Twice the Fun?" ***** Noriko walked quietly around the lab, feeling restless and nervous. Tethys watched her pace. "Testing to see if your legs still work?" Tethys asked. "I just feel cooped up." And worried about what all this may do to my friendship with Ami, she thought. She says it doesn't bother her, but... Noriko just couldn't shake the feeling that nothing could be the same again. "I know the feeling," Tethys said, glancing at the door. "I have to admit Sensei is a good golem-maker; I would never guess you weren't a pathetic normal human. I don't think even Vulcan could have made a golem that could pass as the real thing." "I AM a human," Noriko protested. "Well, I have a human brain and soul, even if most of my body is...metal." Tethys looked dubious. "You're a True Golem? And Sensei made you without an Icon?" "I'm not a golem, I'm a cyborg." "Same difference," Tethys said. "Human soul in an artifical body, right?" "Right." "Then you're a True Golem. I'm starting to wonder if your 'grandfather' is Vulcan reborn or something." She shook her head. "So, what's bothering you?" "I...Ami didn't know I was a cyborg until recently, and now I'm worried she won't like me any more because she knows. I feel like a freak." Noriko wouldn't normally have poured out her troubles to Tethys of all people, but she didn't really have anyone else she felt she could talk to about this...few people knew her secret. "Who cares if people call us monsters? Being 'normal' just means you're weak and pathetic. Being a Golem means you're stronger, faster, and tougher than an ordinary human. It means you're better. Why should you care what they think?" Tethys shrugged, then went and got herself an apple to eat. "You always act like you're an idiot, some sort of cutesy bubble-head, in order to get people to like you; most people aren't worth the bother." "I do NOT act like a cutesy bubble-head. Much." Noriko sagged a bit, then rallied. "I just want to have friends!" "Who can't handle that you're stronger, tougher, faster, and smarter? Who don't like you for what you are? Who make you put up a false front? Everybody here hates me for being a youma...well, except for your Grandfather and Horus...but you don't see me prancing around pretending to be good. I am what I am, and I'm proud of it. And if you don't want to be a loser, then you should be proud of what you are. I know a lot of weak, sickly youma back home who would KILL to have your body." Tethys' voice started to get louder, "You have a body which will not age, which won't die of disease, which can't get fat, which can do things most 'normal humans' only dream of! And you want to whine and act like you're going to die because you can't lie to your roommate any more! I've seen babies born with three arms and no mouth! I've seen mothers die when their infants ate their way out of them and then had to be put down like mad beasts. You think you know what pain is? You don't know ANYTHING about suffering!" Her fist clenched, and the apple squeezed tight in her hand and began to squish between her fingers. Noriko backed up nervously, waving her hands in front of her in a vaguely defensive way. She tried to protest, but Tethys overrode her. "I spent over a year, barely alive, hardly able to think or see or anything, after the Sailor Senshi defeated me and wrecked my plans! And my friend left me to DIE! I'd have been damn well jumping for joy if someone had put me back together out of the goodness of their heart! Your grandfather gave up everything he had so that YOU COULD LIVE! And now you're going to sit around and whine about it because you can't be 'normal'. You don't even KNOW Ami won't like you; didn't she fucking TELL you it didn't bother her?" The remains of the apple, now reduced to gooey pulp, oozed off Tethys' hand and dripped to the ground. "Tethys, you need to calm down," Horus said levelly. "I want to beat you down for being an idiot," Tethys said. "But you're not worth it. Snap out of it, girl, before you make everyone around you so miserable that everyone really does hate you." She spun on her heel and stalked off to one of the computer terminals. Electronic explosion noises started up a few seconds later; Tethys seemed to favor several shooter games Sensei had installed for her. Noriko just stared at her thoughtfully, then quietly went over to another terminal to check her e-mail and wait for her grandfather to get back. ***** "Dad's got a new case," Daichi said to Himeko at lunch. "Biggest mess he's ever seen. Some terrorist nutjob managed to burn down an entire apartment building, killing almost everyone. Those who got out, he shot. Then he wiped out two fire trucks and blew up three police cars. They had to call in the riot cops, but he got away." She nodded and sighed. "I saw it on the news. I thought things like that only happened in the US." "Might be some lunatic US soldier, they're thinking, or a JSDF guy gone nuts. The man had military hardware, apparently." "Your dad told you all that?" Naru asked. "I thought most cops didn't like to give out details of investigations in progress." "Well, I don't think he realizes I read his initial report," Daichi said, grinning. "I just couldn't help myself. Curiosity was too much for me." "Maybe we should look into this," Himeko said to Naru. She shook her head. "Doesn't sound like Sailor business to me. I'm sure the police would do a better job than us, anyway. And we need to be working on finding our talismans." "That would require us to have a clue as to where to look," Himeko replied. "At least with this, we have somewhere to start. And maybe I could actually make my time powers work well enough to get a clue or two." "You'd have to sneak in at night to get past the cops. They're still checking out the site," Daichi said. "Although maybe I could get Dad to show you around." Naru raised an eyebrow. "You really think he would?" "No, not really. But it wouldn't hurt to ask." "Ask him," Himeko said. "We can sneak in later if he says no." "But..." Umino came and sat down with them, laying out his lunch. "Did you hear? Some maniac burned down Meiko's apartment building and opened fire on the firemen and police officers who came to investigate." Naru's eyes widened. "That was Meiko-chan's apartment building?" He nodded. "She's not at school today; I assume she's probably staying with relatives." "Maybe Hecate came back for revenge somehow," Naru speculated. "With a rocket launcher?" Umino asked. "No, it's got to be just some nut. Magical monsters don't use machine guns and grenades and burn down buildings by igniting the gas lines." Daichi blinked. "How did you know about that?" "Some people have vast power over time, and others fire energy beams. I just have an ear to the ground and a lot of online contacts with big mouths." Umino grinned. "Just call me a console cowboy." "Find where Meiko is staying; I want to go visit her," Naru said to Umino. "Daichi, get us on that site, or guide us there tonight...ahah! Hime-chan could become a police detective and let us in if Daichi's father shoots us down. Now, let's see, the next step is..." Hime-chan and Daichi looked at each other. "Changes her mind as quickly as you," Daichi said. She gave him a friendly whack in the head. "She's worried about her friend. I'd do the same if Icchan or Manami-chan was in danger." "You wanted to check this out before, though," he replied. Naru continued talking, failed to notice that only Umino was listening. "Well, she was right, we don't have time to check out every disaster in Tokyo, especially when we need to be looking for our talismans. But I just have a feeling down in my gut that there's more to this." "You think it's a time power inkling?" he asked, sounding just a little nervous. "Could be," she replied. "I'm not used to how it works." "And you were bored." She frowned at him. "I don't normally rush off to crime sites, you know. I had a _feeling_." "Sure you weren't just passing gas or something?" he asked teasingly. Naru looked up as Himeko chased Daichi off across the school yard. "What is it with those two? They seem to fight half the time." "And even the rest, they're more like a married couple than boyfriend and girlfriend," Umino said. "Ever seen them kiss?" "Well, they've never seen us kiss either. It's not something you do for company," Naru replied. "True. So the search for your talismans isn't going well?" "We have no idea where to look." "A pity there isn't a library you could look it up in." Naru's eyes widened. "A library...I bet the Star Kingdom had a...I suppose it wouldn't be around any more, though." "Ask Pluto," he said, picking up his box of rice and pickled vegetables. "She'd know." "But will she tell me?" **************** "Yes, there is a library. Yes, you can Sailor Teleport to it. And yes, you should take Himeko with you." Setsuna said. Naru blinked from the doorway. "..." Setsuna laughed. "Come in." She came in and closed the door. "So, where is it?" "It's on one of the larger asteroids that used to be part of the Star Kingdom. However, it isn't undefended, so you should be prepared for a fight to get into it." "Guarded by the Zodiac?" Setsuna nodded. "Yes." She turned to the aquarium by her desk, and watched a patch of fungus flash colored lights at her. "I was going to tell her that. Be quiet." Naru blinked. "The fungus was talking?" "They duplicated most of the books from it for their own library, but the old magics have prevented them destroying it, so they simply put up guardians to keep anyone else from using it," Setsuna said. "As I discovered when I tried to use it one time." "They kept you out?" Naru asked. Then we don't have much of a chance, she thought. "I didn't say that. But they've likely improved the security. It will prove a good test for you and Hime- chan, I think. We can go this weekend." She idly began twisting her engagement ring round her finger. "But it will be dangerous. Best if you have no 'accidents' like Ami and Urawa had." "Umino would love to see it, I think, but I know what you mean," Naru said. "He's gotten in enough danger for me for several lifetimes. Like the time he tried to guard my home from Zoicite, or the..." She shook her head at the memory. "I won't put him in danger." A thought struck her. "Do you know if the destruction of that apartment building had anything to do with the Zodiac or Jadeite?" "It doesn't strike me as the sort of thing that either group would do. If they'd done it to a building one of us lived in, I could see it as a blow at us, but instead it was just some random place. Also, it didn't strike me as the methodology of either group. Do you have a reason to believe otherwise?" "Just a feeling Hime-chan has." "Well, it wouldn't hurt for you to look into it. Just be discreet. And don't forget, we'll be heading for the library this weekend." "I won't forget." Naru got up. "I'd better get to class." "Yes, you're already going to be late." Naru took off like a rocket. ************ Clark watched Makoto walk into the room and tried to figure out what to say. She smiled at him, and his knees wobbled slightly. Their dream tryst had been one of the most intense experiences of his entire life, and it had opened huge cans of worms he didn't know what to do with. She'd missed three days of school after that, which given her injuries and state of mind before the injuries, didn't surprise him. This was the first time they'd seen each other since the meeting in their dreams. "Hello, Maguson-sensei," she said, then went and sat down. He was simultaneously relieved and disappointed. We have to talk, he thought. Not that I have any clue what to say. "Hello, Kino-san." I will not watch her behind move as she walks, he told himself, even if it reminds me of... He shook his head and turned to the chalkboard, beginning to write on it, just to distract himself. Let's not do anything foolish, he told himself as he wrote. "Maguson-sensei, I have a question," Minako said in excellent English. He turned and focused his attention on her. She was one of his best students, although she apparently was doing poorly in most of her others, which he thought was a shame. "Yes, Minako?" he replied in English. "For the short story assignment...are there any limitations on the topics we can choose from?" "It has to fit in four to six pages," he replied. "And I'd prefer nothing pornographic, but other than that, whatever you like. And it has to be in English, of course." Many students groaned. "So, it would be okay if I wrote a story about the forbidden love between a student and a teacher that saves the student from getting involved in girl gangs and ending up dead by twenty?" Minako's eyes sparkled in the way that Clark had learned usually meant certain doom. Makoto glared at Minako, and Clark tried to use magic to suddenly be working at a different school. Sadly, his new powers, whatever exactly they were, didn't include this one. "If you can fit it into the page limit, that's fine," he said. "Although it sounds like you're copying an idea from a shoujo manga." Several students suddenly brightened up, and Clark got a sinking feeling. "So you don't disapprove of the love between teacher and student?" Minako asked. The entire class stared at Clark, their gaze boring into him like a drill, making him suddenly wish he'd taken up dentistry instead. He could almost feel the weight of Makoto's gaze. "It's quite forbidden at Tsunami," he said. "But you can write whatever you like in your story." "Good, good," she said. "I'm sure you'll enjoy it." Almost as much as I enjoy falling off bridges, he thought. "Does anyone else have any questions about the story assignment?" "Can I write a story where the vice-principal is eaten by one of those monster attacks?" 'Detention' Dan asked. "Well, keep in mind he already defeated one attack by himself. I saw it." "That was Sailor Venus who defeated it!" Minako protested. "Oh, it was Venus' fault the monster got loose in the first place," Makoto replied. "Probably while Venus was off running around with that 'girl gang' of Sailors she's in." "They're not a girl gang!" Minako protested. Makoto stuck out her tongue at Minako. "They're girls who fight together. Girl gang?" "Traitor!" The class broke up into bickering, and just this once, Clark didn't mind. ************ A shadow fell across Pokota as he sat at Hime-chan's desk, trying to use her computer. It wasn't easy for him, as he was only the size of a plushie, and thus had a hard time reaching all the keys. "I see you finally woke up, Cassandra," he said to Hime-chan's new guardian cat. He couldn't see why Hime-chan would need a cat when she had a lion like him, but as far as he could tell, Queen Hecate had gotten an economy pack of guardian cats somewhere. She's the sort of person who gives everyone the same tie for Christmas, he thought. "Artemis is still asleep," she replied. "That's just normal," Pokota said, and returned to his typing. "What are you working on?" Cassandra had a silky smooth voice that made Pokota nervous; she always sounded like she was plotting something, in his opinion. "Trying to see if I can find anything out about the attack on that apartment building. Hime-chan's not very good with this computer like I am." Cassandra looked him up and down. "I suspect she can type faster than you, though." "Yes, but she's in class right now. Do you think you could do better?" he asked huffily. "No," Cassandra said. "But I think perhaps I'll go take a look at the site and see what I can see. Want to come along?" He glanced at the computer, then said, "I can only move if no one normal sees me." "Then we'll make sure you aren't seen. Hop on." Pokota nervously climbed onto Cassandra's back. "Do you even know where we're going?" "I have an infallible direction sense," she said. We're doomed, he thought. ************* "Dad said no," Daichi said to Himeko later in the day, after classes were over, but before dinner. He looked around her room. "Hey, where'd Pokota go?" Artemis slipped out from under Minako's bed. "He was gone when I woke up." "Maybe he and Cassandra went on a date," Himeko said. "I don't see here around here either." "..." Daichi just stared at her. "Hey, it could happen. Although Pink-chan wouldn't be very happy if they are on a date." "Well, after we have dinner, I guess we'll go round up the others and go take a look at the site." "Naru's gone to visit Meiko, so we'll have to wait until she gets back," Himeko replied. "I'm gonna go work on homework, then. See you at dinner!" "See ya!" Himeko replied. He punched her shoulder and left. Artemis looked up at her. "No kiss goodbye?" "It's kind of embarrassing to kiss with someone watching you," Himeko said. She plopped down on the bed. "This should be fun." "It could be dangerous," Artemis replied. "Hey, I've faced down the Yakuza before I had Pluto powers," Hime-chan replied. "This is nothing. Well, they were terrorists, not Yakuza. But I just have a feeling there's something more to this." "How's your training coming?" "Pretty well. Pluto's a good teacher, when you actually manage to squeeze anything out of her. She hasn't been able to help Naru too much, though; her powers are too different." She rolled over to look down at the floor where Artemis was. "How did you go about training Venus when you've never had Venus powers?" "I spent a long time learning all the theoretical stuff. And a lot of it was simply helping her regain her past life's skills. It's different for you, though; this is your first time to be a Senshi. In fact, you're only the second Pluto EVER." Himeko nodded, then blinked. "Hey, doesn't that mean there wouldn't BE a talisman for me, yet? Or do I have to wait and inherit one from Pluto?" "You'll have to make it," Artemis replied. "I don't know anything about making magical items, though. That..." She sat up. "Erica! I bet she could make me a talisman." "Good idea," Artemis said. Himeko opened her desk drawer, rooted around for a few seconds, then pulled out what looked like an exchange diary. It was, but not a mundane one; this one was part of a pair, and if you wrote in one, the writing also appeared on the other one. Its mate was in the possession of Erica, the princess of a magical kingdom in another dimension who had long ago gotten Himeko to field test several magical items for her. Everyone in that dimension was a double of someone on Earth (or perhaps it was the Earthlings who were doubles of them), and Erika was Himeko's double. She scribbled a quick note, then put the diary aside; Erica might not see it for hours, depending on what she was doing. "And now homework until dinner." "Want some help? I'm bored," Artemis said. "You could do Minako's homework for her; I see she's run off with her boyfriend instead of doing it." Himeko pointed to the opened books on Minako's desk and a half- finished poem. "I'm only good at fish poems." "Okay, then you can help drill me for Earth Science," Himeko replied. "Test's coming up." "Let's get started." ************ Pokota and Cassandra stared up at the burnt out wreckage of the apartment building. The upper stories had collapsed, but most of the frame of the building was intact. Pokota helped Cassandra drag some of the wreckage and ashes into a small circle, which she then arranged into a pattern and began to chant over, while he tried to stay out of sight. There weren't many people around; the street was blocked off and the cops had finished poking around, except inside the building where some investigation continued. While she chanted, Pokota looked up at the building. Why would anyone want to slaughter the inhabitants of an apartment building? It just didn't make... Something caught his eye. He wandered over to one of the corners of the building and stared at the brick down at ground level. There was some character carved into the corner bricks. "Hey, Cassandra, any idea what this is?" She kept chanting, so he wandered around to take a look at the other corner. All four corners had it; it had been filled in with red paint...no, with blood. He shuddered a bit at that and went back to Cassandra. "Done yet?" She looked up at him. "There's some lingering magic here which was done to the building, but I think the devastation was done by mundane means." He drew the character in the dirt. "Any idea what this is? It's not Japanese." Her eyes widened. "We need to talk to Isis, but I think that's a magical symbol meaning 'Life-in-death'. Used for necromancy." "So it could be the Dark Kingdom." "Or a human sorceror. Maybe he wanted some freshly dead people." "But can he used burned up bodies?" She frowned. "Maybe he needs burned up bodies. Anyway, we need to talk to Isis; she knows more of such things." "Let's go, then," he said, mounting up. ************* Usagi finished off her ice cream sundae. "I'm glad to see you're looking a lot better, Mako-chan!" "Yeah. I was in pretty bad shape," she said, then took another bite of her triple-scoop bowl of strawberry, chocolate, and lemon ice cream. Once she finished that, she said, "But now I have my talisman and a new boyfriend and everything is good." Usagi's eyes widened. "A new boyfriend? Who?" "Umm, well, maybe that's not quite the right thing to call him," Makoto said nervously. "But I mean, we did have...you know...although it was just in a dream. I wish I'd realized earlier that he cared, but I was too frazzled to think straight and..." "Have...you know?" Then Usagi's eyes widened. "You already...with your new boyfriend? But...but... are you sure you didn't, umm, rush things?" "Well, Juno was in love with him, but it was one of those things that fate just never let it happen; by the time she understood, she was already seeing someone else she loved too, and..." Makoto stared at her ice cream. "When I try to explain it, it all unravels. I just... I haven't been this in love since Gendo. Maybe I am rushing it, but I mean, it was as much Juno and Parias as it was me and..." She stared at the table. "Parias? The cleric? He's been reborn and he's your new boyfriend? Who is he?" Then her eyes widened. "Oh, wait, he's...he's...MAKO-CHAN, YOU'RE IN LOVE WITH A..." Makoto's hand closed over Usagi's mouth. "Don't shout it to the world," she hissed. Usagi finally calmed down. "He's a teacher. I mean, the age thing too, but..." "And who's dating a guy older than her by many years?" Makoto asked irritatedly. "Yes, but our love was destined and...okay, you win on that. But he could get fired or worse!" "I know. That's why I haven't...I mean, we had a dream together, but I didn't know for sure what to do about him, so I didn't answer his phone calls...well, also because I pretty much passed out for about a day after all that." She frowned. "Well, if our love is really destined, we can wait to, like, publicly date and stuff. He'd better not start getting brainwashed all the time like Mamoru does, though." "He isn't brainwashed ALL the time!" Usagi protested. "Now I just have to figure out what my talisman actually DOES." "You don't know?" Makoto looked embarrassed. "I forgot to ask Queen Serenity. It does some sort of energy thing, I think." "Well, why don't we go practice some and you can find out!" She nodded. "Right. We are supposed to train together, after all." She got up. "Let's do it." "Lemme get some ice cream for the road." "You'll get sick to your stomach." "It's worth it." Makoto laughed. "Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you." ***************** "No, I haven't told them yet," Ami said. "Although explaining how I beat the youma without mentioning about you was kind of difficult." Noriko nodded, tapping her pencil on her desk. She was 'back to normal', such as that was. It had been fairly easy for her grandfather to repair her, since she'd only lost an arm. "You didn't have to lie to them, did you?" "Not...much," Ami said guiltily. It had been very much of a no-win scenario for her. "Everyone was too worried about Makoto to really ask me. Although I think Setsuna suspected." "She already knows about me, I think," Noriko said. "I know Tomoe-san does." "Should I not tell the others? I know we could use your help." Noriko slumped in her chair and stared at the ceiling. "I'd like to help, but I...the last person I told about all this just totally freaked out. A guy I knew in junior high. I had a massive crush on him, and we started going out, and he dumped me when I told him." Her voice was faint and loaded with strangled pain. "But they'd want to know where I got my power from, I suppose. I mean, I'm just not ready to tell a lot of people, 'mi- chan." Ami thought a moment. "I'll talk to Setsuna, and see what she thinks about it. But for now, I won't tell anyone." "Okay," Noriko said hesitantly. **************** Wood and gaudy metal clashed again and again, with the gaudy metal weapon's owner being gradually forced back. "En guarde, servant of the Cardinal!" Jupiter said as she brought the Lightning Staff around for a chest-level blow which Sailor Moon only barely parried. "You cannot defeat the Queen's musketeers!" "You can be the evil bird's guard!" Moon said. "I am the Queen, after all." She tried to sweep Jupiter's legs with her rod, but Jupiter leaped over it and kicked her in the chest at the same time, sending her sprawling. Then Jupiter struck Moon's wrist, causing her to lose her grip on the Spiral Moon Heart Rod. "Well, now we know it's good for staff fighting," Jupiter said. She pointed it at a rock and waited to see if any command words popped into her head, but they didn't. "But not much else, it seems like." "It absorbs energy," Tuxedo Mask said. They both jumped, then Sailor Moon ran over and hugged him. "How'd you know we were here?" He pointed to the edge of the park. "I live in the apartment building right over there, you know." She blinked. "Oh yeah." "What can I do with the energy?" Jupiter asked. "Augment your powers or use the staff's special attack." "Cool. What's that?" "I have absolutely no idea." Two sailors facefaulted in unison. "Well, I never got to see you actually use it in the Silver Millennium," Tuxedo Mask said. "But I can help you with staff fighting, if you like." "Sure. Most of what I know about it comes from movies." After about two minutes of cane versus staff, the staff went flying. "Not very good movies." She laughed nervously. "They tended to involve things like Mountain-fu." "I think I saw that one," he said. "Let's start with some stances..." ***************** Isis looked at the sigil, then paused to lick her paws thoughtfully. "Flame Warriors." "Which are?" Naru asked. Naru, Himeko, Hotaru, Daichi, Umino, Setsuna, Pokota, Cassandra, Augur, and Isis were all in the Tomoe household living room. Hotaru was busily serving everyone tea, except for the cats, who got milk. "You burn people to death in a ritually prepared space, then at the next sunset, they rise as flaming zombie warriors under your control." Isis paused to have a little milk. "I think the local crypt keeper is going to have an unpleasant surprise soon." "I know where the morgue is," Daichi said. "We're going to have to hurry." "Tell me," Setsuna said, rising from her chair. "You'd best not go with us. Too dangerous." "Hey, but I can..." he began. Himeko cut in. "Daichi, Umino, we need you to go over the site and see if you can find any more clues. Isis, you'd best come with us to advise us. Pokota, Cassandra, I suggest you help Daichi and Umino. Augur...you're good at divinations, right?" "The skeins of destiny are mine to pull and read," Augur replied. "You'd best help them, then. Maybe you can figure out what exactly he did and who it is. Unless you want him along to advise you with your powers, Naru?" She shook her head. Setsuna pursed her lips and looked thoughtfully at Himeko. "Hotaru, Naru, you're with our strike team. We'd better call the others as well; we can't afford to let this get out of hand. Hotaru, go find Haruka and Michiru. Naru, you and I had better start calling everyone." Himeko paused to think for a few seconds. "We need not call everyone yet," Setsuna began. "We do if we want them to show up on time," Himeko said. "I know I don't feel up to fighting hundreds of flame warriors by myself." "Three hundred and twenty eight if every dead person rises," Umino said helpfully. "Exactly." "They won't rise if we hurry," Setsuna said. "But if we wait for everyone, we..." "Sun sets in five minutes. Unless we sailor teleport, we can't get there faster than that." Himeko said. "Then we had best teleport," Setsuna said, pulling out her transformation pen. "I think Setsuna-mama is right," Hotaru said. "We can call everyone from there." Naru nodded. "Any idea how to prevent them rising, Isis?" "Douse them in water before they rise. Water is bad for them for obvious reasons." "Let's go," Setsuna said. Himeko looked frustrated, then pulled out her transformation pen. "Go check out the site," she said to Daichi. "Tell Ami and Michiru we're going to need them. And make sure the others get contacted in case we're jumping into an ambush." "He can't possibly know we're coming," Setsuna said just before she transformed. I bet Custer thought that, Himeko thought. ************ Saturn, Pluto, the Junior Pluto, Odysseus, and Isis appeared in the morgue, standing in a circle with Isis up on Saturn's shoulder, clinging desperately. The morgue had several fresh bodies--dead staff members were scattered about. Five men in gray uniforms trimmed in red were positioned around the room; four of them looked bored, while the fifth one paced about impatiently, his red hair shining in the yellowish light. They all had shouldered rifles. He looked up in surprise at them, as did the others. "How did you know I was going to be here? I made sure to..." They ignored him and launched into their obligatory speeches, during which he paced about more impatiently, waiting for them to shut up. Finally, he said, "Well, I can summon up your ghosts and ask them. KILL THEM ALL!" he shouted. Five rifles came up. "Dead scream," two women whispered in unison. Purple energy rushed across the room in a wave. Bullets melted, followed by the rifles being bent and melted into slag. Only the red-haired man still had his; he had generated a field which had shielded him. But the attack had still consumed his shots. "I suppose sometimes old ways are best," he said, raising a hand to point at them. "SOLAR FLARE!" The four subordinates staggered back blinded, and then Saturn was on them, glaive flashing. One lost his head in the first few seconds, and the second lost an arm, screamed, and dissolved away. She chased after the third one, who summoned an energy blade and began to fight back with it, though he had to give ground. Creating his own energy blade, the leader leapt at Pluto, pressing her back in a staff to sword battle. He was clearly more skillful, and his rapid blows pressed her back. This left the fourth of the underlings to face Odysseus and the Junior Pluto. This was, simply put, not a fair fight. He hurled a blast of flame at them, and they dodged. Then he got hit by a combined Dead Scream and Star Bolt. Limned in fire for a few seconds, he burned away into ashes. They hi-fived, then the Junior Pluto said, "Well, I have good news and bad news." "Good news first," Odysseus said. "The good news is that Saturn will beat her opponent in a few seconds, and return to help out Pluto." "The bad news?" "The Flame Warriors are going to erupt out before any of our water people arrive. And the really bad news is that not all of the enchanted corpses were sent to this morgue." There was a howl, and Saturn ran past them from the direction of the howl towards where Pluto had been forced back into a corner by the leader of the youma. "Fools!" the leader shouted. "Only half of them are here! The rest are at another morgue because this one was full! And you can't possibly stop them in time!" "Call Umino, see if he can find out," the Junior Pluto said to Odysseus. "I'm going to see about breaking a water line or something." "Right," Odysseus said. Pluto shook her head. "The sprinkler system will kick in as soon as the Flame Warriors emerge." Right as Saturn brought down the Silence Glaive at him, the youma leader vanished in a burst of flame. The last thing he said was, "Have fun with my little experiment! Wait, did you say..." He vanished before he could finish. "I should have been faster," Saturn said. The morgue caskets all began to shake. Several charred bodies on tables burst into flames. A few seconds later, the sprinkler system kicked in. The ones on the tables began to shrink, but it was clear they wouldn't die fast enough to keep them from escaping the morgue. The Silence Glaive came down, slaying one of the ones on a table as the caskets slid open and many humanoid figures made of flame began to crawl out of them. In the face of the onslaught from the sprinklers, most of them hesitated, while some began to plow forward, heedless of the danger. Over the next few seconds, the other sailors appeared in twos and threes, then paused to catch their breath. "Geez, how many of these things...hey, it's raining!" Sailor Moon said. "These are in your court," Pluto said to Mercury and Neptune. "Isis said water kills them." "For obvious reasons," Isis said, hiding under a table to get out of the rain. "Everyone back them up," Sailor Moon said. "SHINY AQUA ILLUSION!" "DEEP SUBMERGE!" Backed up by the power of all the others, water and ice rushed over the flame warriors, extinguishing them. Some dissolved away into ashes, while others returned to being wet corpses and fell over. Sailor Moon and several of the others gagged at the sight. "We're not done yet," the Junior Pluto said. "He claimed there's more of these bodies at another morgue. Hopefully, the sprinklers there will slow them down enough for us to find them before they escape." "Which one?" Mercury asked. "Don't know yet," the Junior Pluto said. Odysseus finished her communicator conversation. "Umino didn't know, but Daichi said the most likely morgue is the one at station 12, which is the next closest." The Junior Pluto smiled faintly, then said, "Let's go, then." **************** Everyone was exhausted after they took care of the second batch, so they went back to the Tomoe house to discuss what was going on and take advantage of having Tomoe-san handy to bring them snacks. They quickly determined they didn't know why the Dark Kingdom had done that, other than apparently as an experiment. "The whole use of guns makes me nervous," Odysseus said. "We're not bullet proof. I mean, we beat these ones easily, but still..." Daichi, Umino, Pokota, and the cats came in. "Well, we've got some news," Daichi said. "Sock it to us," Minako replied. "I was able to determine that the man responsible is named 'Pyroxenite', although I have no idea who he is," Augur said. "He seems to have a fair amount of knowledge of modern technology, as well as magic. He's not a very talented necromancer yet; I was able to predict the flame warriors would only have lasted a few days. Lots of power, but not a lot of fine control. That's about all the divinations yielded." "And traces of dimensional travel," Umino said. "You said it meant he probably went back to the Dark Kingdom afterwards." "Oh, right," Augur said. "Although I wouldn't swear to that; not my area of expertise." "Well, we'd best keep an eye out for him in the future," Usagi said. "But not much we can do about him now. Keep an ear out for anything else like this, okay, Daichi?" He nodded. "I will. Dad usually knows all the cop stuff going on around town, and I can usually pry the goods out of him." "Then let's all go get some rest. All that teleporting wears me out," Usagi said. "Getting out of bed wears you out most days," Rei replied. "Rei-chan!!!!" ************* Himeko and Minako slumped back into their room, cats and Pokota in tow. "I feel like I could outsleep a dead horse," Minako said. "We really had to give them a lot of energy," Himeko replied, falling face down on her bed. "And all that teleporting didn't help. But it would have helped if Setsuna hadn't decided to run off half-assed without waiting for everyone else." "Well, there was the time pressure thing," Minako said. "And I guess she's not used to working with more than a few people at once." She staggered to her closet to find her pajamas. "So you're going to go talisman hunting this weekend?" "We're going to the Library of the Star Kingdom to find clues to Naru's," Himeko replied. "And I need to...check my exchange diary!" She got off the bed and ran over to her desk. Erica had written back. 'I would be honored to assist you,' Erica said. 'I will drop by tomorrow around five your time and we can discuss it.' "Cool," Himeko said. She wrote in the diary, 'See you then!' "Good news?" "One less problem in my world, I hope," she replied. "And now I will pass out." *************** Hikaru picked at her lunch. "Manami-chan, can I ask you a question?" "Sure," Manami replied, pausing from stuffing rice and carrot strips into her mouth. She followed Hikaru's gaze across the grounds to Tsunami to the benches near one of the fountains, where Daichi, Umino, Naru and Himeko were eating lunch together. "Thinking about Daichi again?" "Sometimes I wonder if I'm just insane. I just can't get him out of my head. Even Mei'ou-san tells me I'm a fool. In fact, she basically called me in to tell me that." Hikaru picked at her squid with her chopsticks, forcing herself to not look at him. "Nonohara-san has his heart. I should give up. I just...I've never really lost at anything before." Manami nodded. "You are pretty stubborn." "Manami-chan!" Hikaru frowned at her. "Friends aren't supposed to say such things!" \Sometimes a friend has to be a surgeon,/ Manami said. \Inflicting a little pain to spare you worse./ Her voice had a slightly stilted quality to it, the sound of someone reciting, rather than speaking. Hikaru blinked. "Was that French or something?" Manami blinked. Oops, I'm speaking in that language Obsidian spoke again. Ever since I met him, I keep dreaming about some medieval place where everyone speaks that way, and now... She sighed. "Sorry, I shouldn't show off. You've got to face facts. Daichi isn't yours and he won't ever be. Why don't you let me fix you up with someone to help you forget him?" Hikaru looked over at Daichi, then nodded, raising her fist. "I can, I WILL get over him!" The bushes nearby rustled, and Minako stepped out. "You need a boyfriend? I, the goddess of love, will find you one or die trying!" Manami blinked. "Were you spying on us from the bushes?" "No, I was keeping watch to make sure one of Jadeite's minions doesn't kidnap Hikaru to try to see what she know...no, wait, I didn't say that." Minako began to back up, looking around. Manami noticed another foot slide out of sight. "Minako, is this one of your weird games?" "Yes, yes, it's a scavenger hunt. Our next item is to find Hikaru a boyfriend. So what sort of guy do you like?" Minako turned to Hikaru. "Tall, handsome, athletic, brave, cool. Rich would be nice, but I'm already rich. He ought to have a motorcycle and be good at soccer." "Oh, I know the perfect...no, wait, I'm already dating him. And you can't have him!" Minako struck a pose, then started to pace back and forth. "Aburatsubo- kun is tall and handsome and...no, wait, he's gay. Morisato-san is handsome, and kind of...no, actually, he's short, and not athletic, and poor." An endless gusher of names poured from her lips, but she shot each one down, often not even finishing her sentences. Yuki ran up to her. "There you are! We were supposed to go have another practice session once you ate your lunch! C'mon, or we won't have time to shoot at all." "Hold on, I have to find Hikaru a new boyfriend!" Minako said. "Looking for a new guy?" Yuki asked Hikaru. "It's time for me to get over Daichi," she said more firmly than she felt. "Good for you. I think I know someone you'd like. I'll talk to you about it later, 'kay?" She grabbed Minako by the arm. "C'mon, goddess of love. It's time for you to make war, not love." Sputtering, Minako was dragged away. So why was she spying on Hikaru, Manami asked herself. Or was she spying on me? Unless Himeko asked her to keep an eye on Hikaru...or maybe she really was worried about the enemies of the Sailors coming after Hikaru. Not that Hikaru knew anything. Yuki on the other hand... Manami frowned and watched them go. Either Yuki was a genius of gathering information, or she had to be one of the sailors herself. She does her hair like Sailor Jupiter, but she's too short. Of course, no one would guess I'm Idol Angel Mami from looking at me either. They probably look completely different. The bushes rustled. The other person was still there, watching them. Hikaru was staring at Daichi again; she wouldn't notice unless the bush attacked them. "She is right, you know, Hikaru. You might be in danger." Hikaru turned back to Manami. "Danger?" "From the enemies of the Senshi. They may think you know things you don't." "They'd have tried something by now if they were going to," Hikaru said. "And Yuki's a more obvious target than I am for something like that." "Yuki didn't get her name broadcast all over Tokyo on the news." Hikaru shivered a little. "You really think I could be in danger?" \By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes,/ Manami said, this time in English. "What about your thumbs? They're going somewhere?" Hikaru asked. Manami sighed. Sometimes being good with languages just makes it easier for me to confuse people, she thought. **************** Erica hugged Himeko. "How are you today?" "I'm fine," she said. "Still a little worn out from all those flame warriors." Erica sat down on her bed, while she sat at her desk. Pokota jumped up on Himeko's shoulder. "Hi, Erica-sama!" Erica petted Cassandra. "You're a lovely cat." "Thank you, your highness," Cassandra replied. "So, do you think you can make me a talisman?" "Yes, but it won't be easy." She got out a piece of paper. "You'll have to collect all these things, then alert me with our exchange diary. Then I can come take you to the Kingdom of Magic and we can make your talisman." Himeko looked at the list. [Valued possession from childhood. Valued possession from the present. Liquid moonlight. An amethyst. A staff of lilandror wood. A Europan star rose. Three drops of blood from yourself. Three drops of blood from someone you love. A gold pocket watch. An hourglass. A water clock] "This looks like a list for a scavenger hunt." "It's what the divination spell told me I would need. Collecting it will serve the quest portion of the creation spell. I'm not even sure what some of that stuff is, though." Erica made apologetic gestures. "Well, I'll get cracking on it." She thought a moment. "Should I ask Rei to loan you the Hammer of Vulcan? I know it was used to make Talismans." "Hmm, that would probably help, although she'd have to use it herself. But her assistance would be welcome." "Shouldn't this say 'European'?" Himeko asked, pointing to one word. "As in Europa, the moon of...Jupiter?" "But Europa doesn't have any roses. It's a desolate wasteland!" Erica cocked her head. "That could be a problem." "You could say that." ************** Setsuna looked at the list. "Well, this will give us a chance for you to work with the Gate of Time. We'll have to travel through time for some of these items, since both of the plants are extinct. As for liquid moonlight..." She pursed her lips. "I'll talk to Souichi-kun. That sort of thing was never my specialty. If we have to, we can go to a Silver Millennium alchemist, but it would be best to avoid any unnecessary contact with people in the past. The plants can be harvested without direct interaction." "But doesn't even that risk changing the past?" Naru asked. Setsuna shook her head. "Some past events are crucial, but the time stream can absorb many minor changes with no major effects. Butterfly effects are rare. Plus, Himeko needs to learn how to judge the likely consequences of actions." She turned to Himeko. "With practice, you'll become good at telling if some action is likely to have wide-ranging consequences or minor ones. This is a good way to learn." "I guess we'll be hitting the stores Friday, then," Himeko said. "To get some of this stuff. Although..." She looked at the list again. Treasured possessions...this could be hard. What if I pick something not treasured enough? And what do I still have? "This is going to take some thought. What did you have to put into making your talisman, Setsuna?" Setsuna frowned. "Mine was...it was made by Vulcan without my participation. I see your friend Erica seems to be taking more of a sympathetic magic approach. Are you sure she's up to this?" "She's made lots of magic items," Himeko fired back. "Which worked pretty well. I trust her to do this." They stared at each other while Naru watched them nervously, then Setsuna softened. "It is your decision. I pray she is up to the challenge. Tomorrow evening, the three of us will go to the past and collect the things which cannot be found in this time so you can give them to Erica to work on while we're at to the Library of the Zodiac this weekend." "Okay." ************* Clark gathered his wits for the eighth time. This time, I really am going to drive over to her apartment and talk to her about this, he thought. There's no reason for me to be so rattled. No reason at all except for my entire view of the universe plunging off a cliff while on fire and di... He shook his head. Let's not go round the mulberry bush again. The doorbell rang, so he got up and went to it. "Come in," he said as he opened the door. A tall woman, her auburn hair done up into a bun and wrapped round with a scarf, wearing sunglasses, a navy blue suit-dress, and dark blue pumps stood in the doorway. She carried a briefcase clenched by her slightly twitching right hand. "Hello, Maguson-san," she said, then quickly darted in, closing the door behind her. When he heard her voice, he realized it was Makoto. She took off the glasses and the scarf, opened the briefcase, and put them in. "So, how was my disguise?" "Very good," he said, locking the door. "Would you...like some tea?" "Yes, I would," she said. She followed him to the kitchen, looking around his living room, which was full of miscellaneous knicknacks he had acquired, along with a long blue couch, a coffee table, a reclining chair, and a tv/vcr up on top of a mostly empty video cabinet. Quietus hung up on the wall behind the couch. The kitchen was mostly empty; he hadn't acquired much in the way of utensils as of yet, she could tell. I'll have to fix that, she thought. Clark went to the refrigerator and got out a pitcher, then paused. "Ever had iced tea?" "No," Makoto said, "But I'm always willing to try something new." He poured two glasses, passing one to her, then got out a bag of potato chips and poured some into a large bowl, largely operating on host autopilot. They went out to the living room, and then he sat down on the couch, putting the bowl down on the table. She sat down next to him, then leaned over and kissed him. He wasn't sure how long that lasted, but eventually his conscience defeated his pleasure in hard fought mental combat and made him break it off. The fact that he'd spilled his tea on the floor while kissing helped. "Makoto, we need to talk," he said. She lay on top of him, smiling. "I'm listening." "Makoto, if Yamamoto-san learns about this, I'll lose my job." "So don't tell him," she said, grinning. He twitched. "These sort of things get out, sooner or later. And you know how strict Yamamoto-san is." She sighed, turning her head to one side to lay her cheek upon his shoulder. "I know. That's why I disguised myself and haven't said or done anything in school. I just...I'm sorry I was so rude to you when you came to see me before...everything. I was a mess, and somehow I couldn't talk about it. I'm not sure why. It was like some kind of mental wall." "You haven't had any more nightmares, have you?" he asked. "No, I've been fine," she replied, running a finger along the edge of his jaw. "Just some very pleasant dreams. And having Raiden around the house is very nice; I don't get lonely at night like I used to. Although..." she blushed. "No, I know I can't ask for that, or even dream of it." She sighed. "So what are we going to do?" "We have to wait until you graduate," he said. "And be very careful. I know I must sound selfish, but I need this job, and something like this could destroy my career as a teacher; in this day and age, that sort of thing follows you everywhere. I know it isn't reasonable of me to expect you to wait, but..." She put a finger to his lips, and he felt a nervous thrill, remembering what had come next the last time she'd done that. "I understand. It won't be easy for me, but I can do it. Clark and Makoto will have to wait, but at least when we're Sailor Jupiter and...hmm, you're going to need a good action name." "Action...oh," he said, then laughed. "So what exactly...is all this? I remember things from the past, but I don't really understand it all." "Well, it's a long story, but we have plenty of time," she said. "It all started long ago in the Moon Kingdom..." *********** "Ami is here to see you," Hotaru said to Setsuna, who was relaxing on the back porch with a novel she'd been meaning to read for weeks, but had never quite been able to find the time. Setsuna nodded and put the book aside. "Bring her on out. And can you get us some tea, Hotaru-chan?" "Sure," Hotaru said. She vanished into the house, and soon returned with a pitcher of tea, two glasses, and Ami. Ami sat down in another one of the deck chairs, while Hotaru poured them two glasses of tea and went back inside. "I need to ask you about some things," Ami said. Setsuna nodded as she sipped her tea. "You know about Noriko, right?" "Yes. Udaigaku-san is quite ingenious. I take it that's what you were evading talking about when you reported on your droid battle." Ami looked embarrassed. "Yes." "I take it she's asked you not to tell anyone?" "She'd like to help with our fighting, but at the same time, she doesn't really want more people to know she's a robot." Ami picked her tea and tried it, then pursed her lips; it was a little too bitter. "Not a blend to your liking?" Setsuna asked, putting down her cup. "Not really." "Tea is quite subjective," Setsuna said, turning in her chair to face Ami more directly. "As to Noriko, best to let her simply keep as normal a life as she can. If we grow desperate, we can ask her for help, but her destiny, for the most part, lies in other directions." "Will she be able to have a normal life?" "Depends on whether you define politics as a normal life," Setsuna said, smiling. She took another sip of tea. "She is a forerunner of things to come, and when those things come to be more accepted, she will be in the brunt of the problems and solutions which result. Perhaps she may even be mayor of Tokyo one day. But that is a problem for another time." A lone dog barking and cats yowling suddenly erupted through the house, and Ami winced. "I'll go get Hermes," she said. The sliding door opened, and Hermes sprinted out, having assumed his human form--in his case more of a dwarf form--then slammed the glass door in the face of Go and Isis, who slammed into the glass, looking fairly foolish. They glared at him, then slinked off. He resumed his miniature collie form. "Never, ever, have a theological debate with cats." "Hermes..." Ami said warningly. "Anyway, I needed to ask some advice of you, Pluto. I've been trying to teach Mercury to do her super attack and assume her super form, but we've been having problems," Hermes said, plopping down at the foot of her deck chair. "I can't figure out why, because she's got her talisman, and she's got the experience. But she can't always transform to super mode, and her Mercury Aqua Rhapsodies keep coming out no stronger than her Shine Aqua Illusions. Go and Uranus seem to be having the same problem, but Go's too stubborn to tell anyone." "Well, we've all traditionally focused more on refining our original attacks than on learning new attack powers," Setsuna said, "So it's probably just going to take time for them. If it drags on too long, I might poke my nose in, but I think it best to wait until they come to me. But as for you, Ami, I have a theory." "Yes?" she asked. "You've been struggling with Athena quite a bit of late, correct?" Ami nodded. "She comes, and she goes. Right now I'm not hearing her." "Would she really have anything different to say about this? Than you?" "Umm...I guess not. Did she have trouble with her powers? Or are you thinking she's having something to do with my problem?" Ami put her tea down. "For each of you, part of preparing yourself for the talisman quest was getting more in touch with what your old self was like. Until you reach the point where you surpass your old selves, your growth in power will be linked to a greater or lesser extent to the recovery of your memories of what you were like the last time you wielded those powers." Setsuna paused to take another sip of tea. "For most of us, this is not a problem. Haruka and Michiru are both comfortable with what they were, and while Usagi struggles at times with her heritage, she has come to accept it. So far as I can tell, Makoto and Minako seem at peace with their pasts. Rei seems to have some problems with Aurora, but deep down, Aurora and Rei are much the same; the only difference is where they put their faith. Aurora was as much a true believer as Rei. But for you, it's different." Ami stared down at Hermes, then at her cup of tea. She frowned at it. "She wasn't like me at all." "So long as you deny her, you will only make her stronger, for she holds every part of yourself you wish to deny. Athena is dead; there is only Mizuno Ami--but Athena is part of Mizuno Ami. If there was not a part of you that wanted to be wild and free, you would not put her voice on those impulses, in order to deny any responsibility for them." Setsuna's voice was firm. "What, you're saying I'm crazy?" Ami demanded, half angry and half-scared. "Everyone talks to themselves; that's perfectly normal. But when you try to deny it's you that answers back, it's not good for you. And since Athena is tied to the same set of memories your powers are tied to, your fear of becoming her is holding you back from expanding your abilities." Setsuna gazed into her tea, then plucked out a leaf and tossed it off the porch. "To grow in your powers, you must open yourself to your memories of their use. But that also opens you to other memories of her. Am I wrong?" Ami sighed and nodded. "The first time I tried to use Mercury Aqua Rhapsody, I got a sudden flash of a time she'd used it to save someone, and then they..." She shook her head. "It wasn't something I needed to be fantasizing about in the middle of a fight." Hermes coughed. "You didn't tell me about that!" "And then Athena lectured me for being self- righteous. I'm just sick of her, Setsuna." "Being 'sick' of her won't help. You have to understand her," Setsuna said. "And you have to understand yourself to do that. Athena had the same problem as you when she was young--her parents fought constantly, so she dealt with it by losing herself in others. You dealt with it by withdrawing into your books. She gave herself to her desires in order to forget her pain, while you tried to deny your desires existed." Setsuna's voice was coolly analytical; Ami felt like a butterfly pinned to a card as someone carefully wrote down her scientific name and habitat. "I can appreciate why you did what you did; I did the same thing myself. Not at first, but when I discovered all the ways the world could hurt, the way loving hurt when love faded or when people died, I tried to seal myself off." The coolness of Setsuna's voice faded, replaced by sorrow. "I have buried many people I cared about. I had to stand by while evil was done, in order to prevent worse evils. So I tried to seal off my emotions, to treat no one and nothing as dear, to avoid life's pleasures to avoid the pain, in order to better do my duty. It was necessary. It was horrible." "A few months ago, I would have given you different advice." She twirled the ring she now wore round her finger. "But I am coming to see some things differently. It is not easy for me...it will not be easy for you. If you try to repress all your desires, you will eventually break, or at best live a life without joy. When you hear Athena urging you to do something, it's because part of you wants to do it." "But the things she tries to make me do are..." Ami began. "Things that anyone your age thinks about a lot. It's part of growing up," Setsuna said. "That's not to say everything you'll feel the impulse to do is wise, mind you. When you were Athena, you were far too profligate with...your favors, you were often too lazy to study, and you had less of a sense of responsibility than a fair number of babies. I'm not telling you to run wild. But a lot of what may scare you about Athena is perfectly good for you. I always...admired her ability to have fun, to relax, to make people feel good about themselves by giving them affection. When she was at her best, she did for people's souls and self-esteem what you hope to do for their bodies as a doctor; she could be a healer. At her best. But I think you already know about her worst." Ami sighed and nodded. "I read her diary." "Athena spent her life looking for love, and when she found it, he turned evil and killed her. I'm not surprised you were shy in this life after an experience like that." Ami winced. "You put it so bluntly." Setsuna finished off her glass of tea. "But that's just another defense against the pain and the fear of loneliness. It's hard to steer a middle course between being too shy and being too..." She paused, not sure of the best word. "Too quick to jump into relationships?" Hermes offered. "Thank you, Hermes," she replied. "I'm sure you've thought about sex with Ryo, but you're holding back because you're afraid of becoming like Athena." Ami blushed. "I have had sex with him." She squirmed and stared off at the garden, unable to meet Setsuna's gaze. A memory of it tried to surface, but she tamped it down. {Don't pretend you didn't like it,} Athena said. Ami jumped. [Have you been listening?] {How could I not?} Athena replied. Setsuna blinked, then continued, "Did it turn you instantly into an insatiable love machine?" Hermes blinked. Ami turned and stared at her. "Well, did it?" "Well, no. That's just a strange way of putting it," Ami said. "Isn't that what you think of Athena as?" Setsuna's face presented her usual mask of calm, making it hard for Ami to try to read what Setsuna expected as a reply. {There's nothing wrong with enjoying sex. If it was supposed to make you miserable, it would feel bad,} Athena said to Ami. {And there was far more to me than sex, thank you. I liked to write poetry and ride and sing...well, I didn't sing very well. And I was good at alchemy and magical engineering as well.} She sounded irritated. "I...uh..." Ami wanted to run away and not have to deal with this, but she couldn't bring herself to humiliate herself by doing it. "I'm scared." She said very faintly. "I don't want to lose myself in her. And sometimes I'm scared of how I feel around men. I'll just think about kissing some guy or have a daydream that I shouldn't, or..." She squeezed up into something approximating a ball. "The way to deal with these feelings is to not feel guilty for having them; just don't act on the ones you think are stupid or wrong. But at the same time, you have to admit to yourself what you want. With time, your body will sort itself out, and you'll have an easier time of it. But you can't just hold them all in, or you'll drive yourself nuts. Sometimes, it IS good to indulge yourself." She turned to Hermes. "Can you take the tea in and bring us some lemonade? And bring Souichi-kun?" They traded a look, and he nodded and headed into the house. Seconds later, the yowling and barking began again. Setsuna sighed. "Anyway, in order to 'be free of Athena', you're going to have to listen to what she tells you. Not do it, necessarily, but you shouldn't simply reject anything because she tells it to you. Because it's a part of you trying to tell another part of you something. There's no magic whammy I can give you to fix this problem--it would only make matters worse, probably. What I recommend is that when you feel like her presence is too strong, you ask yourself what you're afraid of and why. Sometimes, it may be wise to be afraid. But sometimes, you should listen. She's given you good advice at times, hasn't she?" Ami nodded. "She knows a lot about our powers and other things." "Because she's your memories of those things; you've assigned them to her. Also, I recommend finding some ways to...release your tensions. Don't be afraid to tell your boyfriend what you want." Ami blushed at that. "And just remember, your feelings can't MAKE you do anything. It's up to you to decide if you act on them." Tomoe-san came out on the deck. "Hermes said you wanted me?" Setsuna stood up, embraced him, and kissed him passionately. He went stiff for a few seconds from shock, then relaxed. Then again to his shock, she let go and sat back down. "You ever think about doing that when you see Ryo?" I've wandered into something, Tomoe-san thought. Ami finished staring in shock. "Sometimes." "The next time you think about it, do it. It'll help." "You really think so?" I can't believe I'm having this conversation, Ami thought. "Should I ask what's going on?" Tomoe-san asked. "Can you get us some lemonade, dear? Hermes seems to have gotten distracted playing with Go and Isis." Setsuna flashed him a bright smile. "You should be more subtle, dear," he said, then leaned down and kissed the top of her head. "I'll be right back." He went back inside. "Some thoughts are just because the mind wanders. But if thoughts recur, its because we want something we're not getting. If it's something okay to get, then it's a good idea to get it," Setsuna said. "There may be a few rare occasions where Athena comes out because something surfaces from the past that triggers passions or fears you've long forgotten, but mostly it's just because you're feeling pointlessly guilty over perfectly healthy feelings." "Like when Dia tried to seduce me, and Athena came out and..." Ami tried to calm herself. "I lost control completely." Setsuna frowned. "Hmm. Athena may have some unfinished business that I am not aware of. Or it may have been Elven magic at work." "Or it may shoot your theory to pieces," Ami said. Setsuna laughed very faintly. "Now who is being blunt? In the end, you are the mistress of your destiny, Ami. Did Athena really take control of you? Did she make you do anything?" "She...I felt...I wanted her. But I don't like women like that, and I hardly knew her!" Ami squirmed, uncomfortable again. "Elves have glamor. You would likely have felt infatuated with her even if you had never heard of Athena, once she set her sights on seducing you. Has anyone else besides the elf ever made you feel so strongly in danger of losing control to Athena?" Setsuna asked. "No," Ami said after a little thought. "Well, now you know what glamour is like. As I discovered in my first encounter with Elves." For a moment, she glanced away at the garden, then turned her gaze back to Ami. "We can never become exactly what we once were in the past, whether we fear that or long for it. Athena cannot control you unless you shut away everything she represents for you so firmly that eventually you explode. And I think you have more common sense than that. You have to control your impulses, but you also have to acknowledge they're yours, and sometimes, you just might enjoy acting on the better ones." Ami nodded. "I..." She paused and stared at the ground for a few seconds, then looked up. "Do you think I'll be able to do my super attack soon?" "To one who has lived to my age, soon is a relative term." "Days? Weeks? Months?" "That is not set in stone. But the sooner you come to terms with yourself, the sooner you'll be able to move on to the next stage of your powers. Just keep working on it." Ami nodded. "I will." Hotaru came out with the lemonade, Hermes tagging along after her. "You shouldn't tease Isis, Hermes," Hotaru said. "She tried to bite me!" "It's how she shows affection, I think," Hotaru replied. "Maybe she likes you." Hermes visibly boggled at the thought. *********** Himeko sat on her bed and stared at all her various possessions, trying to decide what would be appropriate to use for the talisman. An idea struck her, and she got up and went to the closet, getting out the soccer ball that was sitting on top of her shoes. Daichi had given it to her for her sixteenth birthday. She began to kick it around the room, smiling at various memories that came back to her, like the time Hikaru had believed she had a 'magic soccer kick', thanks to two meddling fox faeries from the Kingdom of Magic. Giving me something like this was so utterly Daichi-like, she thought. He didn't understand why I hit him in the head with it after I unwrapped it. As she kicked it about the room, she imagined she was playing soccer with Daichi; she'd done that once, and he'd kicked her butt. She'd been totally surprised. Most guys would hold back on their girlfriends, but not Daichi. After she got over the shock, she'd appreciated it. Daichi loved soccer, so to him, giving a soccer ball was giving something special. At least she hoped that was what he was thinking. Yes, this will be my treasured possession of the present, she thought. But what about the past? She'd thrown out or given away a lot of her old possessions. Only Pokota was really important to her these days of her old possessions, but she couldn't sacrifice him like that. She flopped down on her bed. "I don't know what to do, Pokota." He woke up from his nap. "What?" "I don't have much in the way of really treasured old possessions. I mean, I have a lot of my old dolls, but..." "For the talisman?" he said. She nodded. "How about the ribbon memento Erica gave you in place of the changing ribbon after she had to take it back at the end of the testing period?" Pokota asked. "Or maybe the globe keychain?" "Ooh, the globe would be good," she said. "What do you think, Cassandra?" "I don't know enough about your past to tell you, but I'd suggest the ribbon memento. It's symbolic of your first brush with magic, which fits with this." Himeko nodded. "Good. Now, I guess I ought to do my homework. Stupid history class." Cassandra and Pokota both began to laugh. "This would be a lot easier if I could just go time travel and watch, but I can't do that yet. Hmm, this should make finals a lot easier..." "Abusing your powers to get A's is bad," Cassandra said firmly. "Hime-chan has a lot of experience with abusing her powers," Pokota said. "Like the time she turned into her principal to try to delay the school festival." "Hey, it was important!" They set to bickering, while Cassandra listened, learned, and laughed. *********** Naru read over the poem and sighed. Her boyfriend was brilliant at most subjects, but Japanese language and literature generally killed him. He couldn't write poetry to save his life. 'Big blue sky is up/Dark green grass is down below/This is a haiku' "Well, you did follow the format," she said. "But this..." She tried to think of a kind, loving way to hint and failed. "It's wretched." He winced. "But I...how can you say anything meaningful with so little space?" "You have to make allusions to other things." "Like 'Ronald is a clown/I see him on my new TV/he sells hamburgers'?" "Uh, sort of," she said. "I just can't see the point." "Neither can I, but the teacher will crucify you again." She put a hand on his shoulder. "I don't want to be mean, but..." "I'm awful at poems. I know." He glanced over at his bookbag. "Oh, I have something for you. I did a little digging, and I found twelve murders in the last few months that our new enemy may have had something to do with. It may just be a coincidence, but they all involved various kinds of military style weaponry." He pulled out the list and passed it to her. "No real pattern in who he killed, except for the four civil servants in the department of Health and Welfare." "Thanks, Gurio-kun," she said. "We'll have to look into this. If we can find time." She sighed. "Being a sailor makes keeping up with homework hard." He nodded. "I can't help you with the fighting part, but I'll do my best to help you with the homework and with gathering information." She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. "Thanks." He blushed. "I just wish I could protect you myself." You died the last time you tried that, she thought guiltily. "Don't feel bad about it. We all have different things we're good at. I could never be as good at science as you are." "You can be good at anything, if you put your mind to it, Naru-chan." "Then let's see you put your mind to this poetry." He groaned. "Do I have to?" "I can't write it for you, so unless you want another D from Ashikaga-sensei..." He picked up his pen, then said, "But she's so boring she falls asleep during her own lectures. She hasn't taught us anything. She just gives out assignments, rambles on, and gives people Ds." "She gave me a B, and I don't like her either. Just do your best, Gurio-kun." After a moment of silence, he stood up and lifted his pen to the skies. "I, Umino Gurio, do swear I will defeat Ashikaga-sensei in poetry combat!" Augur, who had been drowsing on Naru's bed, snorted. "Dream on." Umino visibly wilted. "Augur!" Naru snapped. "Don't be mean." He stood up and stretched. "Just being honest. Better to accept your D and expend your energies where they're useful, getting an A+ in your science classes, or even helping Naru with her homework so she passes math." "I'm not failing math!" she protested. "A C is not failure." "It's not good either, but you could do better with help. But the only way you could help with his poem would be to write it for him." Augur shrugged. "Or we could go work on your powers some more, which is something else you might want to do, since we are going to the Library of the Star Kingdom, which will likely be dangerous." Naru nodded. "Good point. Once we finish our homework, I'll go practice with you, Augur." He began to lick his paws. In between licks, he said, "Good. Big things are coming, and you'll need to be ready for them." *********** Pyroxenite fired another rocket down the range, but watching the crystal pillar be blown to bits brought him no satisfaction. He wanted to destroy the Senshi for meddling with his business. How had they found out? It had been supposed to look like the sort of mundane crime he knew they generally ignored. Perhaps I simply killed too many people at once, he thought. That might be a more rare event than he had thought from studying their 'films'. Buildings blew up all the time in those, but perhaps the storytellers had been bragging. Hematite said, "Well, I see you've prevented that pillar menacing our fair kingdom." Pyroxenite jumped. "Don't EVER sneak up on me!" "As you like. I understand you've had some trouble with the Sailor Senshi of late." "Yes! I want to kill the bastards! It took forever to set that experiment up, and now I know if I do it again, they'll just stick their noses in. Have you made any progress on trying to find them?" "There is a woman named Hibino Hikaru who filmed them. Perhaps she would know more. Would you like first crack at her?" "Yes! I'll rip their hiding place from her, then force them to eat her HEAD!" Pyroxenite stopped and shook his head. "Sorry. I'm just worked up about this." "Of course you are. If you find out where they're hiding, please let me know. I've been watching her, but haven't learned anything. I think perhaps a more direct approach would be best." "Of course," Pyroxenite replied. "It's always the best. I was wondering when you'd figure that out. Where do I find her?" "Tsunami High School." Pyroxenite nodded. "Time to do some scouting then," he said. "Thank you, Hematite." "Glad to be of service." Pyroxenite vanished in a puff of flame. Hematite turned to Crysalite, his blue-haired assistant. "The watchers are in place?" "Yes," Crysalite replied. "Good. Everything should go according to plan." *********** "How did it go?" Raiden asked much later when Makoto got home. "It went okay, but it could have gone better," she said. "This isn't going to be easy for me. I'm not good at hiding my affection." She sat down on her couch. "I mean, I know why we have to do it, but I don't like it." Raiden jumped up onto the couch, then clambered onto her lap. She started to pet him, and he purred. "It's how it has to be. Two and a half years won't be too long." "It feels like it. Have you ever been in love, Raiden?" "I still have the scars," Raiden said. Makoto winced. "It went really badly?" "She tried to bite my tail off." Makoto laughed, then said, "I shouldn't laugh at you for that." "The important thing is that he didn't say it was impossible. And you'll get to be more open with each other when you're your other selves," Raiden replied. "And in dreams." "I hope I dream a lot," she said, rubbing Raiden's belly. "It just makes me feel jealous of Usagi and Mamoru. Clark's hardly any older than Mamoru, but she can date him, and I'm gonna have to hide it." "Well, at least you don't have hostile parents hanging over your head. I feel sorry for Luna; her mother hates Artemis. He's a good guy. I just don't understand why Queen Hecate can't see that." "Well, I don't really know her very well," Makoto said, not sure how to respond to that. "She worries too much about good bloodlines instead of whether someone is a decent cat," Raiden said. "Although Augur is a pretty decent guy." "Eh?" "Oh, right, you wouldn't know. I think Queen Hecate has him sort of picked out to be Luna's husband. He's studied the Star Kingdom's lore, and he's quite smart. He can be a little snooty at times, but not half so bad as the Queen. She's a good Queen, she is, but not a very good mother." He gave a cat shrug. "You'd better get to bed. It's getting late, and you've got school tomorrow." "I'm too nervous to sleep," she said, but she got up anyway. "I just...I haven't felt this way since Gendo dumped me. It's like...I feel like this sometimes when I'm Sailor Jupiter. I just want to go to the rooftop and shout about being in love." "Shout into your pillow," he said, curling up where she'd been sitting. "Goodnight, Makoto." "G'night, Raiden." ************* Two Plutos and the only Odysseus stood in the backyard of the Tomoe house. The senior Pluto lifted her staff and gestured, and the door of time appeared before them. They stepped through it into the time tunnel, an endless gray hallway shrouded in mist. Pluto handed her staff to the junior Pluto. "Now, take us to the right time." "When are we going to?" "The moon, Dream City, circa 930 SM." The junior Pluto nodded and tried to fix the date in her mind as the senior Pluto had taught her. She held up the time staff, and felt the energy flow through it. She felt a slight tug, and then the door began to open. "It worked!" "Very good," Pluto said. "You did well. Let's go." They stepped through the gate, passing out of swirling mists into a beautiful marble building that was in the process of shaking, developing large cracks through the floor, and falling over amidst clouds of dust and flame and a lot of screaming. A tall, thin boy in blue and green livery ran past them screaming. The cause of his screams soon came into sight, a three foot long rat with a human-like face and stubby bat wings. For a moment, Odysseus and the Junior Pluto simply stared at it, and it at them. Then it lept for the Junior Pluto's throat. She batted it aside with the Staff of Time. "Star Bolt!" A lance of white hot light erupted from Odysseus' fingertips, vaporizing the creature. "What's going on here?" The junior Pluto paused and held the Time Staff, concentrating, then slapped her forehead. "We went to the wrong place! We're on Odysseus, in the year 984 of the Silver Millennium." Odysseus' eyes widened. "But that's the year it was...destroyed." The junior Pluto turned to the senior Pluto, only to see she wasn't there. "What the...hey, where did she go?" "Maybe the Gate closed in her face. She needs the staff to open it, right?" "You're right. I'd better reopen it. We have to get out of here!" The junior Pluto closed her eyes and began to concentrate. The Gate swum into existence as a fresh crack opened in the floor and black smokey tendrils reached up through it like fingers, beginning to pull it open wider. A small, terrified child ran into the room, then saw the tendrils. "Nooooooo!!!!!" he shouted, and turned to run. He had short red hair and dark brown eyes; he was dressed in what were clearly silk pajamas. A name swum into Odysseus' mind. "Demetrius!" In seeming slow motion, the tendrils reached for the boy, who blundered into a pillar. In that instant, Odysseus launched herself over the crack; she couldn't let her brother die. He got up just in time to be grabbed by a tendril. "SOLAR FLARE!" Odysseus shouted, firing the burst of light into the crack as she leaped over it. The tendrils dissipated, but by the time she landed by the terrified boy, the smoke was rising up again. The junior Pluto felt a jolt up her spine, and didn't know exactly what it was for a few seconds. Her time vision fuzzed slightly, then cleared, just in time to give her a warning. "There's another tendril coming from a crack down the hallway!" Odysseus spun and fired another Solar Flare, dissipating it. "Demetrius, why are you running around by yourself?" "One of the rat things ate Uncle Antigonus!" he replied. "Who are you? You sound like my big sister, but you don't look like her." "I'm Sailor Odysseus, and this is Sailor Pluto," Odysseus said. "She's not Sailor Pluto! She's a fake!" the child announced. "dead scream," the junior Pluto said, firing a blast down the crack again. The bad feeling was getting worse. Something is very wrong, she thought. But I don't know what. "We'd best get away from this crack; we can't keep blasting whatever is down there forever." "Okay, she's a good fake," the kid said. "But Pluto is tall with green hair. She's not ugly, short, and blond." "Ugly? You're calling me UGLY?" the Junior Pluto frothed. "You've got a big nose yourself, kid!" "Ugly!" "Brat!" "Umm, we'd better get going like you said," Odysseus said. She picked up Demetrius. "Let's see, this looks like the hallway near our bedrooms, so Mother and Father's chambers are that way." She took off running, with the junior Pluto running after her. "Where are we going? We need to get back to Pluto!" the junior Pluto said. "First we have to get my brother to safety," Odysseus said. She couldn't argue with that, but her gut was telling her this was a mistake. Well, if it's a mistake, it's too late to undo it, the junior Pluto thought. I can't just leave him to die. "Is there anywhere safe in this place? Doesn't the whole planet get destroyed?" Odysseus stopped running. "The ethership port. We have to get there." "Do you remember how to get there?" "Yes. And the garden's on the way there. Maybe we can find some of what we came for." The junior Pluto laughed. "Maybe the Gate planned that. Setsuna told me it sometimes has a mind of its own." "Who's Setsuna?" Demetrius asked. "The senior Pluto. I'm her apprentice." "Oh. Why isn't she here?" "I have no idea," the junior Pluto said. "Why hasn't anyone sent us help?" he asked desperately. "Do they not like us?" Odysseus patted his head as she started running again. "We're here to help." They sprinted down a staircase past three corpses, then round a corner into one of the great halls, which was full of smoke and flashes of light. Four rat things leapt at them, only to be turned into more smoke by another dead scream. "At least they're flimsy," the junior Pluto said. Then four six foot long version of the rats lunged out of the smoke. One was charred on one side. Odysseus and the junior Pluto both leaped to the side, up onto some debris, and the creatures turned to attack. Then a tall man blond man, highly muscled, dressed in a simple golden tunic and brown leggings, strode out of the smoke and grabbed one of the rat things by its hind legs. He swung it as club into a second one, and the creatures' spines snapped loudly. The other two turned on him, only to be nailed by a star bolt and a dead scream which wounded both of them. The man hefted what had once been a statue and pounded both of them flat with the pedestal. "I still can't figure out why a smoke creature is spawning these damnable rat t...Pluto?" He stared at the junior Pluto and rubbed his eyes. "You shrank, cut your hair, and dyed it?" The junior Pluto rapped the ground with her staff in irritation. "No, you're going blind. Who are you?" "I am Leo of the Zodiac," he said. "We're trying to evacuate as many people as possible. Unfortunately, the idiots that rule this country decided to ignore our warnings, which means that probably almost everyone will die horribly." He idly broke the head off the statue, then punted the head across the room. "So much for the wisdom of the Star Kingdom." "If you hadn't been trying to subvert the government, it wouldn't have been necessary to exile you!" Odysseus shouted out in irritation. "And if you knew it was coming, you should have done more!" "We were in exile! There was nothing we COULD do! Everyone we told thought it was a trick!" He clenched his fists. "Technically, we could all be executed for treason for coming back and trying to help! I don't have to justify myself to..." Pausing, he rubbed his eyes again. "Who are you?" "Yeah, who are you? You sound sorta like big sister, but you're too old," Demetrius said. "I'm..." she began. Hoofbeats rang through the smoke, and from it emerged the White Knight, much to the surprise of everyone present but Demetrius. "Demetrius, there you are," he said. "I'll take you to the royal yacht. Everyone else is waiting for..." He looked down at Sailor Odysseus. "Princess Astra? But how did you get back here so quickly? And you look...older." "I...uh..." Odysseus began to shrink back under the weight of the gazes. "This is her future self," the junior Pluto said. "I brought her to help me with my work here." She did her best to draw herself up and look dignified. "And yes, I did cut my hair. If you don't like it, you can just throw yourself in the sun." She pointed her staff at Leo. "You, get back to work rescuing people. I'm glad to see you had enough sense to get over your wounded pride and come to the aid of the Star Kingdom. Without the Zodiac's efforts, virtually everyone would have perished. White Knight, take Demetrius to his family. Odysseus, come with me." She did her best to imitate her Mom when it was time for Mom to give orders. Leo nodded. "Good luck, Pluto." He turned and ran off into the mist. The White Knight helped Demetrius up onto his horse, which looked just like the one he rode in the distant future. He turned and looked at Odysseus. "I see you'll grow up into a fine young woman," he said. "So Serenity will make her one of her Senshi?" he asked Pluto. "Yes," the junior Pluto said. "The Star Kingdom is doomed, but a remnant will be saved. She is among that remnant." "Good." He saluted them and turned to go. "Wait!" Odysseus said. This is my chance to find out who he is, she thought. But how do I ask without revealing I don't know? He'd expect me to know. "I'd like...to see your face one more time." "I take it that means I'm not long for this world if you have to ask me to see it now," he said quietly. The junior Pluto whacked Odysseus in the head with the Time Staff. "We're not supposed to reveal stuff about the future!" "Hey, you're the one who started it!" They bickered for a few minutes, until the White Knight interrupted them, pulling off his helm. "I suppose you've hardly ever actually seen me wearing the armor, now that I think about it," he said. "I haven't had to do this except for court occasions for years." His face was mature, somewhere in the range of forty to fifty, with wrinkles starting to form upon his brow, a thick red moustache starting to turn grey, and dark brown eyes under thick eyebrows. Uncle Seleucus, she thought. He was the White Knight for my mother, Queen Astra. It was usually the Queen's eldest brother...but I don't HAVE a brother. I'm an only child. So who is my White Knight? "Expecting someone else?" he asked with a twinkle in his eye. "You look confused." "It's nothing. I'm just tired," she said. "Well, it looks like you'll do your mother proud. And I must be going," he said, lowering the helm. "May the Lady of Light guide your path." "May the seven virtues ward your passage," she replied, bowing. He rode off, and Odysseus turned to the junior Pluto. "Let's see if we can get those plants from the garden...if anything is left of it." The feeling of impending doom had faded, so the junior Pluto nodded. "Shouldn't be too hard." ***************** Sailor Pluto paced back and forth, trying to deduce what had gone wrong. I must have picked a time when I was already present at our destination, she decided. I can't travel twice to the same space/time area. I could have sworn I'd never been to Dream City around that time, though. The Gate opened and the Junior Pluto and Odysseus stepped through. Odysseus was carrying a long silvery stick and a bouquet of white and red roses with a strong, pleasant smell. The white petals ringed round the red ones, forming a double rose. "Two of three down," the Junior Pluto said, then gave a sigh of relief. "I was half worried you'd been stranded in time somewhere." "Did you have any trouble?" "Besides ending up in the Star Palace during the fall of the Star Kingdom? No," the Junior Pluto said, handing the staff to Pluto. "I'm not so sure I want one of these things now." She took the plants from Odysseus, who looked rather downcast. "They all died," Odysseus said. "Even the ones who got away from the palace died for some reason. Except for me, they all wasted away. And I was there, and there wasn't anything I could do! It was too late, and I couldn't fight Drachicanar by myself and..." She clenched her fists. "And the Zodiac didn't lie about how they'd tried to warn them and help when it happened," she said quietly. "Like most humans, the Zodiac have always been a mixture of good and bad elements," Pluto said. "Their past misdeeds had made them mistrusted, rather like the story of the boy who cried wolf. It led to tragedy." "Why didn't you tell them?" Odysseus demanded. "You must have known!" "It was my duty to watch over the Moon, not every planet. That is why every world had its own defenders. I did not learn of its doom until it was too late to stop it, and I am forbidden to travel back in time to alter destiny. As it was, I came to their aid when I learned the catastrophe had begun, but I was only able to save you from Drachicanar's influence. The rest of your family was tainted by his power and withered away, even the White Knight." "He was my uncle," Odysseus said. "Brother to the Queen. But then...who is he now?" "Soon, you will learn the secret of the White Knight," Pluto said. "And then you will understand." "Why can't you just tell me?" Odysseus demanded. "Some truths must be experienced to be believed," Pluto replied. "Can we have this argument later?" the junior Pluto asked. "I have homework to do tonight." "We'll return a second after we left," Pluto replied. "You can go get the liquid moonlight while we finish this discussion." She gestured and the Gate of Time opened. The junior Pluto sighed and stepped through it, then it closed. "Experienced? What, I have to turn into him?" Odysseus asked dubiously. "It is part of your heritage of power. When you are ready, you will understand. Until then, simply telling you would be of no avail." "I can't see how telling me who he is could be something I'm not ready for! I sure FEEL ready! So what else aren't you telling me?" She crossed her arms under her breasts. "My secret chocolate cake recipe." Odysseus blinked, then began to laugh. "Is it magical?" "It tastes magical." Pluto smiled a little, then said, "My apprentice should have returned by now." "You didn't give her the time staff so she could come back," Odysseus pointed out. "..." Odysseus began to laugh. "Didn't see that future, eh?" Pluto sighed and opened the Gate of Time. The junior Pluto stepped through holding a small vial of silver liquid. She was covered with dirt and sweating. "I didn't have any money, so I had to do fieldwork for the damn alchemist." "..." Odysseus laughed more. "And he thought I was an imposter, too. I HATE THE PAST! I hate it!" "My apologies," the senior Pluto said. "I should have thought of that. I'm too used to being able to requisition things and have Serenity pay for them when I'm in the Silver Millennium. Well, let's go home. And tomorrow, we leave for the Library of the Zodiac." "Kumiko had better not have shed all over the showers again," the junior Pluto muttered. "She leaves long blond hairs everywhere every time she showers. She ought to be bald by now." "I'm glad I don't live in the dorms," Naru said. "I wish I could have stayed at home and commuted, although this does make it easy to see Daichi whenever I like," the junior Pluto replied. Then Pluto opened the Gate of Time and they went home. ************ The boat jerked again under the moonlight as two oars beat against the water in completely different rhythms. Ever so slowly it was tending to drift left, although every once in a while, that rower would lose his beat and it would turn right. "I'm pretty sure this isn't how it works," Minako said. "Are you sure you two don't want to just take turns rowing?" "We're fine," Steven said stubbornly. He and Ryo were trying to row Mina and Ami around in a boat on a lake in the park. It wasn't quite going like it should. "Your turn," Ryo said, handing his oar to Steven. "I can't row as fast as you." Steven snorted, but then started rowing more quickly and smoothly with both oars. "Good job, Steven!" Minako announced. "Have a chocolate." She tossed him a small candy bar from her purse. It landed between his legs. "Your aim is bad, and your turn is next." "Row? Row? The husband rows, the wife rides along. It's tradition," Minako said. "Well, it would be fair," Ami said. "I'll row next if Minako won't." "I'll go next, then you can," Ryo said. "Lazy Minako can go last." "Lazy? LAZY? I'll show you lazy! Move over bacon, here comes Minako the Goddess of the Oars!" She shoved Steven aside, nearly tipping the boat over, and took his place, beginning to row fanatically. The boat zoomed along. "Very good," Ami said. "Except that she's going to hit a buried log and flip the boat," Ryo said, then took Ami's hand. A few seconds later, the boat rose up, then tipped over as it struck underwater branches. Everyone went toppling. "You could have warned us!" Minako shouted as she went under. "It was fate," he replied. "My visions always come true." "We wouldn't have let Minako row," Steven said. "Wouldn't have had it if it wasn't going to happen." Ami frowned irritably as she treaded water. "It's not going to be easy cleaning the algae off this dress, Ryo-kun." He wilted slightly under her gaze. "Sorry, Ami. My Dad lives near this place; we can go there and dry off. He's been wanting to meet you anyway." Oh, yes, I want to meet your father in a ruined, drenched dress, Ami thought. {Look on the bright side, we'll get to see the others mostly naked,} Athena pointed out helpfully, breaking her silence that evening. [But I don't WANT to see Minako and Steven naked! Or half-naked,] Ami said back. {Thou liest with thine lips, but I know thine heart,} Athena said. {Thou ist curious about thine old lover and her new love, I know it.} [No, no, no!] Ami replied. [And even if I was, I don't want to meet Ryo's father like this, dripping wet and covered with algae!] Ryo squeezed Ami's hand. "Ami, is something wrong?" She sighed. "Nothing. Just not the way I wanted to end our evening." "We can tell ghost stories around the dryer!" Minako said. "It'll be just like camping!" Steven laughed. "I know a good one about a dryer ghost." Ryo leaned over and whispered, "Athena?" into Ami's ear. She nodded. {Hello, Ryo,} Athena said. {Tell him he's cute naked.} [I will not!] Ami replied. {Don't you agree?} [Well, yes, but I'm not going to say that in public!] {You're ashamed to say he's cute?} [I am NOT going to argue with you. Not tonight. Okay, he is cute, but I'm not going to do anything crazy with him like you want.] "Let's get the boat turned over," Ami said. "Good idea," Steven said, and helped her turn it over. "Lead us on, Ryo." *************** Hotaru was not having fun. She and Minako had been assigned to keep an eye on Hikaru, in case the Dark Kingdom attacked. Since neither of them wanted to devote their Friday night to watching Hikaru when they could be doing something more enjoyable like chewing off their left arm, they'd drawn straws to see who had gotten stuck. Minako won, leaving Hotaru to try to trail around after Hikaru, who was out on a date with a dark haired, green eyed boy. Hikaru was having a disgusting amount of fun, which made this even less pleasant for Hotaru, who was bored out of her mind. At least the movie the two had gone to had been okay. Crouching behind a bush, she watched the two walk hand in hand through the park. That guy moves fast, Hotaru thought. And for someone who's been proclaiming her eternal devotion to Daichi for years, Hikaru sure seems to have forgotten all about him. For a moment, Hotaru wondered if 'Yamato Gendo' was really a youma, then shook her head. Some guys are disgustingly good at getting women to fall for them, she thought, without needing evil magic. She had to admit he was pretty good looking. She strained her ears, trying to hear what he was saying, but his voice was too soft. Hikaru clearly liked it, and turned to face him. Oh great, they're going to kiss, Hotaru thought. I'm going to be sick. The moon hung over them in the sky in the sort of romantic moment Hotaru had always hoped for, but had yet to experience. She relieved her stress by breaking a stick into small pieces and pretending it was Hikaru. This made her feel much better. It also distracted her long enough that she lost track of what Hikaru and Gendo were doing, until Hikaru screamed and caught her attention. He must have gone too far, Hotaru thought. Her eyes informed her otherwise. Three mauve youma armed with long chains with handcuffs on the ends, had emerged from the direction of the gazebo, and now were rapidly crossing the open ground towards the couple. As Hotaru reached for her transformation pen, one of them hurled his chain at Hikaru. The handcuffs clamped around her wrists, and the youma began to drag her towards them. A second youma snagged Gendo and strung him up from a tree. The third one grabbed an unfortunate squirrel, then got hit in the head by the second one. "SATURN PLANET POWER!!!!" Hotaru shouted. Three youma heads spun about, as did the hapless teens. "Saturn? SATURN? Boil me raw!" the third youma shouted. The other two took a second to look at him dubiously and shake their heads. They turned back to face Saturn, both visibly shaking, then took the other end of their chains and hurled them at Saturn. She leapt skywards, dodging the attacks, only to have the third youma nail her with his chain. He quickly ran about, and had her hanging upside down from a tree limb. The first two lashed out with their chains again and pulled her glaive out of her hands. I don't believe this, Saturn thought. What is with me today? The first youma began dancing around with her glaive, slicing and dicing imaginary foes. "Hah! Look at me! I'm Sailor Saturn!" The second dove away from him. "Hey, watch where you're pointing that thing! One touch and you're dead!" "Really?" "Give me back my glaive!" Saturn shouted, more from a sense of duty than any hope they'd give it to her. "No dice, Saturn," the first one said, then looked at her assessingly. "Hmm, I bet I could kill you with this. That would make my reputation." "Hey, I wanna be the one who kills her," the second one said. "I'm the one who caught her when you guys screwed it up," the third replied. "I should get the kill!" "Maybe Jadeite would want her alive," the second one said. "Can we go now?" Hikaru asked, sounding just a little hysterical. "We haven't finished our date yet, and I see you got who you came for." The second one turned to her. "Actually, we were after you; grabbing Saturn was just a pleasant surprise." The first one strode over to her. "We know you know about the Sailor Senshi. We saw that film you made. So you're going to tell us where to find them." "We could just ask Saturn," the third one said. "You know how made Pyroxenite gets if we don't obey his orders to the letter," the second one replied. Saturn suddenly realized her arms were free. While there wasn't too much she could do with them, there was one thing she could manage. She quietly slipped a hand into her 'pocket', and extracted her communicator. Talking would draw attention, but she could and did hit the panic button, then put it back. "I don't know where to find them! I just got lucky and caught two of them on film at our school! Maybe some of them attend there or something!" "And I'm just her date, I don't know ANYTHING," Gendo said. The first one turned back to Hikaru. "You're lying, obviously." The tip of the Silence Glaive danced a few inches from Hikaru's neck. "No one else has EVER gotten them on film. I can't believe you were just lucky." "I was just lucky!" Hikaru said. "Well, you'd better get lucky quick." He moved around and hooked the ribbon she had bound up her hair with, slicing it neatly. "Or it won't be cloth getting cut." "Do something!!!" Gendo shouted at Saturn. I need to learn an attack I don't need my glaive for, Saturn thought. Besides punching people, which doesn't work when you're strung up. "Well?" the first youma asked Hikaru. "Unless Nonohara or Yuki is one of them, I have no idea who they are or where they live! And Nonohara is far too ugly and stupid to be one of the Sailor Senshi," Hikaru said. "I just can't see what Daichi-kun sees in the little tomboy. She has no sense of fashion, her haircut is ugly, her voice sounds like a horse," she continued, getting louder and louder as she spoke. "She failed home economics, half the guys in school thought she was a cross-dressing boy, she's flat as a board, she's violent and..." Her voice wavered, and anger fell down the stairs, becoming pain. "And he loves her anyway. Why? WHY? Why couldn't he love me?" "Now, now," the third youma said, clumsily patting her on the head. "It looks like you've found yourself a new boyfriend who's probably much better looking than he was." "We're not here to play to her neuroses," the first youma said. "I could care less about your old boyfriend and how he dumped you for some tomboy." He sounded fairly irritated. "So, you think this Yuki might be one of the Sailor Senshi?" "I've been faithful to him for so long, and he just doesn't even notice," Hikaru whined, not even noticing the first youma was talking to her. He slapped her. "GET OVER IT! I want to know where the Sailors are; I could care less about your stupid Daichi!" Tears faded, and now she looked angry. "Take that back! He's not stupid!" Gendo glanced over at Saturn with a desperate look. She tried to look reassuring. "He's a stupid little bink that I could care less about! Now, tell me where the Sailors are, or I'll kill your new boyfriend!" He held the tip of the Silence Glaive near Gendo's throat. Gendo looked abjectly terrified. Hikaru tried unsuccessfully to fold her handcuffed arms. "I'm not telling you anything until you take that back!" The second youma sweatdropped. "He's serious! He'll kill the guy!" "Kill who?" she looked over. "Yamato-san, what are you still doing here?" "They chained me up like you, you..." Gendo visibly struggled to restrain himself. "Tell them or we'll both die!" Reality finally fully sank in. "You...you'd really kill us." "Hell yes!" the first youma shouted. "What'd you think, this was some sort of publicity stunt?" Her face went hard like steel, and she said, "You have to let them go before I'll tell you." "There's no way we're untying Saturn," the second one said. "We want to live!" Saturn looked around, trying to figure out what was taking everyone so long. The park was deserted except for a few squirrels and a bored looking hound dog which had given up chasing squirrels and was now slumped at the bottom of a bush, drowsing. "Let Gendo go, then." They released him, and he ran for his life. "Now, tell us." "Alright. The Sailor Senshi have a secret base inside Tokyo Tower. Magical beings who enter the elevators find a special button that takes them to the magically hidden base. They all report to an artificial intelligence named 'Xander', who gives them their missions." Saturn blinked in confusion, while the three youma nodded and listened avidly as Hikaru began to spin the biggest pile of garbage Saturn had ever heard, even worse than the time Haruka had tried to make excuses for disassembling the engine of her father's car and leaving it that way. Around the time when Hikaru was explaining how Mercury had taught Bill Gates everything he knew, a female voice cut in over Hikaru's voice. "Tying up young girls and holding them at glaive point is a violation of Park Regulation 45-B, Section three! Stand, stand and deliver!" A somewhat damp Sailor Venus had arrived. "Get back or I'll slit her throat!" the first youma shouted, holding the tip only a few milimeters from Hikaru's throat. "Shabon Spray!" Mist suddenly settled over the area, and then a blue streak moved out of the mist, kicking the first youma in the stomach and knocking him back away from Hikaru. He lost his grip on the Silence Glaive, and then Mercury wrested it away from him. She bashed in his face with the butt, then stabbed him through the heart. He burst into black flame and burned away. The other two youma tried to find their enemies, but Mercury freed Saturn, and Venus strung up the third one with her love-me-chain, leaving him hanging from a tree. The second youma backed up through the mist, only to find himself backing into Hikaru, who began to whip him with the chain connected to her handcuffs, shouting something incoherent about Daichi. The Silence Glaive flashed through the mist, and Saturn impaled him. He burned away, and Hikaru jumped backwards, shouting in terror. Saturn advanced on her relentlessly, and Hikaru began to whimper, until Saturn cut the handcuffs off. The mist faded, leaving two youma dead, and one strung up. Venus stood next to the captured one, saying, "Which general sent you and why?" "Pyroxenite's mad because you people wrecked his experiment, so now he wants to find you all and kill you." "I'm going to let you live because you've got a cute nose," Venus said. "And you're going to tell your boss that Hiyama Hikaru..." "My name is Hibino Hikaru," Hikaru said faintly. "That Hibino Hikaru is under OUR protection, and that if he sends more Youma, we'll toilet paper his house!" The youma stared at her in confusion. "He doesn't have a house." "We'll give his phone number to telemarketers!" The youma shuddered at the invocation of that great evil. "You wouldn't dare!" "And I'll spraypaint 'For a good time call' with his number in every bathroom in Tokyo!" Saturn said, "If he does not go away and leave her alone, he will be Silenced." Mercury sat down with her computer and began quickly punching in a program. "Okay, okay, I'll tell him!" the third youma said. "Just let me go!" Venus released him, and he dropped to the ground, then turned to Hikaru. "You really need to give up on that Daichi guy. Ranting about how great he is in front of your new boyfriend probably is going to make him dump you." She sighed and stared at the ground. "You don't think I'm ugly, do you?" "No, you're kind of cute. You just need to move on." He looked over at the three sailors. "And I think I'd better be moving on." He teleported away. "Do you think he'll back off?" Venus asked Saturn. "Unfortunately, no, I don't think he will." "Well, I hoped I could trace that youma back to Pyroxenite's base, but it looks like he went straight to the Dark Kingdom." Mercury sighed. "I wish I had a Mercury Hair Dryer. My head's cold." "Did you fall in the lake on the way here?" Hikaru asked. Looking past Venus, she saw two guys hidden in some bushes a ways away, watching them. "Someone's watching us." "Don't mind them; they're just groupies," Venus said. "I have a lot of them. Want to be my groupie?" "I'm already someone else's groupie, but I'm trying to quit," Hikaru replied. "Good idea. Daichi's taken and you'd be better off dating someone else. Just don't go after my boyfriend." Hikaru glanced off in the direction Gendo had run. "That wasn't him, was it?" "No, he's..." Venus got cut off by Saturn's hand. "It's just best you move on, Hibino-san," Saturn said. "I suggest you go find your date." "Do you think they'll come back tonight?" "Not if they know what's good for them!" Venus proclaimed. "Saturn will keep you safe!" "Saturn got beaten by them," Hikaru said dubiously. "Possibly because my partner decided to skip out to go date her BOYFRIEND," Saturn said. "And then took a million years to get here!" She put her hands on her hips and glared at Venus. "Well, if you'd stop pretending Derith isn't your boyfriend, you wouldn't have had to be alone here! And Steven isn't just my boyfriend, he's my HUSBAND! So there!" Venus struck the same pose as Hotaru, but in a triumphal mode. "Husband?" Mercury asked in surprise. "Yes, we took the Oath and got married so we could never be parted! Unless he gets old and dies while I stay young forever and slowly waste away without him, but I'll burn that bridge when I cross it with Caesar!" "You're too young to get married!" Saturn said. "I'm the goddess of love! I can get married whenever I please! It's fun, free, and easy!" Venus proclaimed. "Why didn't you tell anyone?" Mercury asked. "I forgot," Venus said. "And...hey, Steven still hasn't gotten me a ring!" She turned and shook her fist at the bushes. "Where's my ring, buster?" The two guys in the bushes tried to pretend they didn't exist. Hibino Hikaru was not the most perceptive person alive. In fact, she was fairly well suited to qualify as one of the least perceptive. But she was smart enough to put two and two together when the two kept being pounded into her head over and over again. "You're Minako," she said firmly. "You don't quite look like her, but you act like her." Venus froze up like a deer in headlights. "Who, me? No, no, I'm not Minako at all." "You are," Hikaru said. "You and that dark haired girl were watching me earlier, and you said you were trying to make sure I didn't get kidnapped. And I know Minako's dating a guy named Steven. There's not exactly a lot of Stevens in Tokyo, you know." "There's millions of them! It's a very common Japanese name, you know," Venus babbled. "Back me up, Mercury!" She shook her head. "You're on your own on this one." "And you..." Hikaru turned to Mercury looking her up and down. "Noriko?" Mercury laughed. "Her hair is three times as long as mine, you know." "And I'm not Minako!" Venus said. Saturn looked around. "It's a good thing I didn't need everyone, because they're taking their own sweet time showing up." She was sounding rather irritated. As if on cue, the remaining Sailors, Tuxedo Mask, Parias, and about thirty traffic cops cleared the rise to the south and came running. The reason they were running was that Tuxedo Kamen had been chased to the park after breaking multiple traffic laws in his hurry to arrive. "You're all under arrest for traffic violations!" one of the cops shouted. "..." Saturn picked up Hikaru and ran instinctively, as did Mercury and Venus. A few minutes later, all concerned had run off out of sight, leaving only the bored dog, who yapped loudly three times. Then the Gate of Time opened, and Odysseus, Pluto and the junior Pluto stepped out. "Look at all these footprints," Odysseus said. "Looks like there was a fight or something." "Nothing worth worrying about, I think," Pluto said. "The others would be calling us if they needed help. Let's go home." The junior Pluto nodded. "I'll contact Erica tonight, and then tomorrow, we head to the Library of the Star Kingdom." She turned and looked the direction in which everyone had run. "I just have this feeling something is happening." "It's too peaceful a night for anything bad to happen," Odysseus said. "See you all tomorrow!" ***************** Much later, Minako, Steven, Hotaru, Isis, Artemis, Rei, Usagi, and Mamoru sat on several benches on the grounds of Tsunami. "Minako, you shouldn't have ditched Hotaru to go out. She could have gotten hurt," Usagi said. "Well, I have to admit we both decided only one of us would watch tonight. We were just getting bored spending all our time keeping an eye on her." Hotaru said. "You should have gotten me to come with you," Isis said. "Instead of leaving me napping." "We can help watch over her," Artemis said. "But still, it's going to be just about impossible for us to keep a twenty four hour watch over Hikaru. We have to do something, but I don't know what." "Plus 'the goddess of love' blew her secret identity to Hikaru," Hotaru said. "I did not! I never admitted it." Usagi sighed and slapped her forehead. Rei said, "You bonehead! What were you thinking?" "Thinking had nothing to do with it," Hotaru said sourly. "Hey, who crawled up your bee's bonnet?" Minako snapped. "Okay, I screwed up! I'm sorry! I just...hey, I still don't have a ring from Steven!" "A ring?" Usagi asked. "Yeah, we got married, and..." "Married? And you didn't invite me? When did this happen?" Usagi began to babble. Everyone else stared at her in shock. Steven said, "Well, technically, it's only an engagement because a marriage needs witnesses." "We said the oath, we're married! That's how it works!" Minako said, hands on her hips and glaring suspiciously at Steven. "No, you need a minister or a judge or a king or something," Mamoru said. "Also, for it to count as a civil marriage, you'd have to go to a judge. Since you're a minor, you'd need parental consent, and I think both sets of parents wouldn't consent at your age." Minako fumed. "Okay, so we have a forbidden marriage. But that just makes it all the sweeter, right, Steven?" The last two words were emphasized in a way that made the correct response clear. "Well, I thought once we turn 18, then we can get the civil marriage too," he said. "My dad will probably be stationed out here in Asia that long. I hope. But Mamoru's right. We're not legally married, and I'm not sure if the Oath even counts for a religious marriage." "Rei, you can witness our Oath, right?" Minako asked Rei. "You're a priestess and stuff!" "No, no, we have to have everyone present if you're going to do that," Usagi said, then yawned. "Anyway, everyone, try and think of a better way for us to protect Hikaru, okay? And Minako, don't slack off." "Oh, like you're in any position to tell ME about slacking off!" Minako fired back. "I hate to say it, but Minako's right," Rei said, sighing. "But I'm tired too." "Right. We can discuss this before the TORG game tomorrow, while we're all waiting around to see if the Plutos and Naru-chan need us," Usagi said. "Good night, everyone." The group soon dispersed, leaving only Minako and Steven. They sat together on the bench, looking at the nearby flowers. Finally, Minako said, "I didn't mean to screw up. I just wanted to spend some time with my husband instead of having to watch Hikaru ALL the time. And I didn't mean to blow my secret identity. I just got distracted and..." He put an arm around her shoulders. "We'll find a way to take care of that." "Why haven't you bought me a ring, Steven?" she asked plaintively. "Am I too much of a bother for you?" He'd rarely heard her sound so miserable, and it startled him. "It's more a matter of me being a poor high school student who doesn't have a job," he said. "It's going to have to wait until I can get the money." She turned and looked at him, abjectly miserable. There are few things more pathetic than a miserable elf. He could feel the pain wash over him, a side effect of her glamour, and it became hard to focus through the emotional turmoil he now felt. "Are we really not married, Steve-kun?" she asked. "Not legally. Maybe not even by Silver Millennium standards. But I love you anyway," he said. "Then why do you look so miserable?" she asked. "Because you're making me miserable with your glamour," he replied, starting to cry due to that factor. She paused and closed her eyes and concentrated. The emotional pain faded much to his relief. "Mina-chan, you've GOT to learn to keep that under control." "I want to scream and smash things!" she shouted. "I can't just turn my emotions on and off like I had a clapper on my soul!" "Minako, get a GRIP!" he shouted back, having finally had enough. "You've got to calm down!" "I can't calm down with someone yelling at me!" They glared at each other, then Minako collapsed weeping. "You hate me now." "I don't hate you!" "You were yelling at me! I know anger when I see it!" Having tranquilizing powers would be really good right about now, he thought. He lifted her up off the bench and hugged her standing up. "I don't hate you. Just calm down, Minako. So we can talk about all this rationally." "I don't want to be rational." "Now, when we get married, don't you want to have a nice big wedding everyone can come to? Something you'll remember for the rest of your life?" His voice was as soothing as he could make it while choking down irritation. It isn't all her fault she's being such a maniac about this, he thought, then cursed the Elves for doing this to her, though he had to admit it had only amplified tendencies she'd already had. She nodded. "It would be nice." "Then we'll have to wait, because we can't pay for one, and our folks won't until we're older." "You're right," she said. "I just...I'm scared something's going to happen to separate us, Steve-kun. But if we're married, nothing can put us asunder." "Nothing will," he said. "The oath may not make us married without any witnesses and I can't buy you a ring and our parents will likely freak, and I don't know if I'll be able to stay in Japan or...I guess I should quit listing obstacles." "Uh huh." "But we swore the Oath, and nothing will part us. I won't let it." "Good, you can stay with me tonight," she said. "Umm, I think Himeko-san wouldn't like that." "I'll tell her to invite her boyfriend to stay with us too. That would be fair." "I suppose you'll be inviting Ami and Ryo too, then." "Hey, we could have everybody in one big Senshi sleepover! That would be great!" Minako began counting off couples on her fingers, then paused. "Should we invite Yuuichiro for Rei? And how do we get ahold of Derith for Hotaru? You know, it's going to get pretty crowded in my room." No more suggestions, Steven told himself. "I'd better just go home." Minako pouted. "I don't want to sleep by myself." She thought for a minute. "Ryo's roommate is usually gone on weekends, right?" "I think so," Steven said. "You and me and him and Ami could share a room then," she said. "I remember what happened the last time that idea was bandied about," he said. "Hey, now I know the right room," she said. "And it's not like the four of us haven't done it before." He blinked. "Mina-chan, you're remembering imaginary things again. Like when you started talking about dating Aragorn." "I am not. Me and Athena and you and Ryo used to...no, wait, that was Kunzite and Zoicite." She slapped her forehead. "Okay, I'm officially too tired to think." No time like the present to try to get the complete scoop on this, he decided. He sat back down, and Minako sat down in his lap. "Now, what exactly went on with the four of you?" he asked. "Well, I don't remember everything," she said. "In fact, I don't remember a lot of it. But Inanna and Athena both hit it off pretty well when they met. Inanna had always wanted to be sophisticated like Athena, and Athena...well, I don't know what she was thinking, but she and Inanna has the same sense of fun." She tapped her cheek thoughtfully, trying to shake memories loose. "So we both cut a romantic swathe through the ranks of the court nobility. Jupiter and Aurora were a lot more restrained, although in Aurora's case, it was because she had the most massive crush on Prince Endymion. It looked like they'd get together, but then Jadeite stole her from him. I just about died of shock." Her voice began to alter; she sounded older, and the Elven lilt her recent changes had caused now faded away, replaced by an accent that reminded him of a Yorkshire collier trying to sound like a BBC announcer--a parody of an upper class accent. "Jadeite and Aurora were lovers the longest of us. Then Kunzite and I fell in love somewhat later. That's when I found out Zoicite had been pining away for Athena for quite a while, but he hadn't had the courage to try anything. Also, he was afraid she'd see him for a while, then break his heart. You know, I always wondered how Athena kept her sanity when she was studying with those overly serious dwarves." "Stay on target, Red Nine," Steven said, smiling. She laughed. "Right. Anyway, it took us forever to get him to try anything with Athena; Kunzite and I had to hide in some bushes and feed him his lines, the first time. Finally, we got them hooked up, and the four of us started doing things together whenever we met. Which wasn't as often as we would have liked, since Endymion had to spend most of his time on Earth for obvious reasons, and they went where he did. As a result, when we did get together, things tended to get rather passionate, as you'd expect." Steven nodded. "Absence actually making the heart grow fonder rather than absentminded." "Exactly. Anyway, the first foursome was Athena's idea, facilitated by a howling storm that trapped us all in a hunting lodge. It was..." She shivered. "Incredible. Bizarre. Fun. Of course, afterwards, I didn't know how to approach Athena. We never did... that...on our own; it was always with Zoicite and Kunzite. Although I certainly thought about it a lot. I think it even scared Athena a bit, although she'd never admit it." "Anyway, usually about once per visit, we'd do that, and the rest of the time, it was just normal couple stuff between me and Kunzite and Athena and Zoicite. Gradually, Kunzite and I got more and more serious, and finally, we got engaged. I was very happy for a while, and..." Her cheerful voice turned gloomy. "He tried to get me to join Beryl during the assault on the Moon Kingdom. I refused, so he killed me." She sank back against him, shuddering. "I'm not sure how; I don't really WANT to remember how. I just remember the fear I felt when I looked into his warm eyes and they'd turned cold like glittering diamonds. I couldn't fight him, not my love Kunzite. And so it was easy for him to kill me." Her head rested against his shoulder, and she drew his arms tighter around her. "You're not going to turn evil and kill me, are you?" "If I turned evil and tried to kill you, I'd have a hard time of it," Steven said. "Maybe if I ran you over with my motorcycle, but really, I wouldn't stand a chance." "Steve-kun, there has to be something we can do. I just...I need you with me." She ran a finger across his cheek again. "We don't have to do anything, but I need you." "Unless you shoot Himeko-san with your bow so she wouldn't object to me staying with you, I don't think we can do that tonight." As soon as Steven said that, he regretted it. "Yeah! I can get her hyped up wanting Daichi, and they'll run off together. Then we'll have the room to ourselves!" She leaped off his lap and took off running. He ran after her. "Mina-chan, I was JOKING!" It was too late to stop her with just words. ***************** "Your father is very quiet," Ami said, seated on her bed. She was still dressed in a light blue buttoned shirt borrowed from Ryo's house, although she'd switched the ill-fitting shorts for a knee-length skirt when she got back to the school. "Dad never was very talkative," Ryo replied, sitting on Noriko's bed. "But I think he liked you." "I'm probably going to have to have that dress dry- cleaned," Ami said. "Or something. Whatever is good for algae." "I'm sorry," Ryo said, staring at the floor. "There was..." "You certainly could," she snapped. "If you'd told us,