Author's Note:For those of you who haven't read Light Fantastic, here is some information you might find useful for this chapter. In coming up with the Shitennou characters for this story and LF, I drew heavily from the original Buddhist mythology (which accounts for the weird names you will find in here) and also from Spirit Hime's amazing website Peppermint Storm. Just to give you an idea of what is going on in this chapter! Thanks.
Foreshadowing:
Chapter Four -
The intensity of light created a blindness like that of being in the womb.
"They're back!" a mellifluous voice above them yelled.
The leader squinted his eyes open, and found himself staring at a turquoise headed woman, dressed in a fuku, holding a mirror and watching him warily.
In a moment two men ran into the room, one with blond hair, the other with black hair, - the black haired man looked familiar.
"Endymion-sama." the white haired man breathed.
"Well," the blond man, who it seemed was actually a vaguely androgynous looking woman in a pant suit, commented, "It looks like they are cured."
"Yes, it would seem so," the turquoise haired woman replied, but she frowned as the other men sat up groggily rubbing their heads.
"Wh-where are we?" the blond man asked. He tried to focus on the room around him but as soon as he saw Mamoru he froze.
The other two came around a bit more slowly, but when the youngest of the men saw Mamoru he flung himself on top of him.
"You're alive!" he cried out joyfully, choking Mamoru in his death grip, "I missed you so much!"
"Uh, I...cant..." Mamoru struggled.
"Get a hold of yourself, Zochokuten," the white haired man commanded. The younger man released Mamoru instantly.
"Thanks!" Mamoru inhaled, rubbing his neck.
"What did you call him?" a tall, garnet eyed woman asked the white haired man.
"My name is Zochokuten," the young man replied instead, "I'm a Shitennou, the king of the West."
"Oh, no." Setsuna rolled her eyes.
"I knew this would happen," she muttered to herself, as the others watched her in astonishment, "I just hoped it wouldn't and now we're in this mess. This is ridiculous! I have half a mind to just age Hotaru and tell her to-"
She stopped as she realized everyone was watching her. She took a moment to compose herself.
"We have a problem," she spoke clearly, "the Shitennou, doubtless due to the number of times they've been brainwashed and un-brainwashed, have lost their memories yet again. Or at least," she added, doubtfully, "it seems they remember very little indeed."
"You mean, they don't know who they are?" Haruka asked.
"Not exactly," Setsuna answered in an exasperated tone, "As far as I can tell, they remember they are the last guard the prince had – which means they've reverted to their original personalities, but I don't think they have a clue about the silver millennium, not to mention the Dark Kingdom."
"Excuse me," the white-haired man interrupted, "but I'd like to know why we're here, and..." he looked around him, "where 'here' is."
"You're in the present day Tokyo, just before the Crystal era begins," Setsuna explained.
"Mamoru, that's Endymion's name," she added, "is the future king of Crystal Tokyo, and Usagi, princess Serenity, is his Queen. We are the future guardians of Crystal Tokyo."
"And we are the guardians of Endymion-sama," the blond man added.
"We know." the three women chorused.
Mamoru looked bewildered.
"I don't mean to interrupt, but," he looked at Setsuna worriedly, "where are the Senshi?"
Setsuna stared at him blankly.
"They didn't come back?" she asked in a quiet, dangerous tone.
"I don't think so."
Setsuan whirled on the men.
"What happened before you came here?" she demanded, "Tell me everything you remember!"
"Uh," the man formerly known as Jedite said, "I was...I think a girl dressed like her," he pointed at Michiru, "jumped on top of me."
The dark brown haired man sniggerd into his sleeve.
"And you?" Setsuna pinned him down with a glare.
"I don't know," he shrugged, "I think I got electrocuted. My hair's still frizzy."
"What about you?"
"Someone hit me in the face with a rock," Zochokuten, or whatever his name was, whined.
"And it better not leave a scar!" he added angrily.
Haruka gagged.
"And you?"
"I saw five women dressed like you," the leader pointed at Michiru, "throwing some kind of energy at me, then darkness overwhelmed me and I woke up here."
Setsuna sat down heavily on the chair in Michiru and Haruka's library and put a hand to her head.
Without opening her eyes and continuing to massage her temples she said:
"Listen, I'm going to go back to the past, just after they ended up here, and I'm going to see if I can find the Senshi -"
"I think we've got another problem!" Michiru said suddenly, she held her cell phone to her shoulder.
"I just got a call from Luna," she explained, "she said Usagi's disappearing."
There was a shocked silence.
"What!?" Mamoru shouted, jumping up out of his seat and sprinting toward the table with his phone.
"Hold on a minute," Haruka said, "what do you mean she's disappearing?"
Michiru listened to the voice on the other end for a tense moment then shook her head and replied:
"Luna says she's lying on the couch at Mamoru's apartment and that her fingers are becoming transparent...and that's not a figure of speech."
"I have to get over there right now," Mamoru worried as he turned toward the door.
The four men on the ground jumped up and ran after him.
"Wait!" they called.
"Come on, we're all going," Setsuna ordered. Haruka and Michiru looked at each other, shrugged, and went to get Hotaru.
"This day can't get any worse," Haruka commented. Michiru rolled her eyes.
Beryl surveyed her handiwork. For a whole night she'd kept the Senshi in glass cases that looked like coffins, pouring dark energy in a steady stream into their bodies and minds. It was a large amount of energy usage, but if her plan worked it would be worth the sacrifice.
She smiled as she considered how useful it would be to have her own army to countermand Sailor Moon's trick for trick. The brainwashing process was nearly complete, all she had to do was channel Metallia's power and create the stones that would allow her to control the Senshi. She didn't understand exactly how the process worked (since she herself had willingly undergone a similar operation) – but she didn't have to know the details to appreciate the results.
Stopping the flow of energy into the Senshi, she opened the first glass case, which happened to be Mercury's, and put her hand over the girl, summoning Metallia's power.
A dark blue stone appeared, with swirling tones inside it, just above the Senshi's forehead. With a flash of light the stone vanished above Mercury, and her dark blue eyes opened. They were a shade darker than before.
Beryl smiled and went to the next case. Above the figure of Mars a vibrant red stone appeared, smooth and clear, and vanished into the girl. When her eyes opened they were glazed over.
Beryl repeated this process with the other two Senshi, a pale green stone appeared above Jupiter and a bright yellow stone with swirling colors appeared above Venus.
When the process was done, Beryl leaned against the wall, catching her breath. It had taken more energy than she'd thought to force the Senshi's hearts and minds into submission, but the process was completed.
"Generals," she command in a raspy voice, "I command you to rise and do your mistress's bidding."
As one the Senshi sat up and climbed out of their coffins. Their uniforms had changed slightly, altered by the dark energy around them. The white of the uniforms was now a solid gray, though the bows and skirts remained the same. Mina's blue eyes had turned an odd golden color.
"Tell me your names," Beryl ordered.
"Azurite."
"Vanadinite."
"Amazonite."
"Atlantasite."
The Senshi's voices rang through the empty, dimly lit hall.
Beryl's smile grew.
"Whom do you serve?" she barked out.
"Her Majesty, Queen Beryl," they chorused.
"And what," Beryl asked, her eyes beginning to glow, "is your mission?"
"To destroy the Senshi," Amazonite said, stretching her fingers in anticipation as sparks of electricity tingled between them.
"To capture the Crystal," Azurite exclaimed, her eyes as cold as ice.
"To kill the Moon Princess," Vanadinite murmured while the gloves of her hands started to spark.
"To take the universe in Metallia's name!" Atlantisite finished, a flare of light glinting from her golden hair and eyes as she looked on Beryl.
"Servants," Beryl said softly, "It is time."
She opened a portal into Tokyo and the new Senshi disappeared through it with sound of her laughter echoing in their ears.
"Usa," Mamoru exclaimed as he bent over her where she lay weakly on his living room couch.
"How do you feel?"
"Shaky," Usagi replied, "I feel cold and shaky and...too light. Could you bring me plate of spaghetti or a cheeseburger?"
Mamoru bit down on the urger to smile and shook his head.
"I don't think you could eat it, even if I fed it to you. You're fading away, Usako." He tried to brush his fingers across her forehead but they passed alarmingly through her skull.
Usagi started to cry.
"I don't want to disappear," she sobbed, while her tears vanished on her cheeks.
"Don't cry, sweetheart," he murmured, "I'm here. I won't let you disappear."
"Who will rescue the Senshi?"
"Don't worry, we'll bring them back," he said soothingly, but he was close to breaking down himself. He moved aside to let Luna stand watch over Usagi and walked over to where Setsuna and the others were congregating in his living room.
He startled them by punching his kitchen wall.
"I can't stand this," he said in a barely restrained voice, "I can't stand my own uselessness."
"Endymion-sama," Tamoten - formerly Kunzite - began, "you musn't -"
"We have to do something, Setsuna," Mamoru ordered, "you must have some idea of why this is happening."
"I think I do," she replied, "and it may have to do with the Senshi themselves."
"Let's hear it," he replied. He and the Shitennou waited.
"The fact that Usagi is disappearing leads me to believe that something has occurred in the past that is altering events, in other words, a causality violation is about to take place – or, has already taken place."
"Come again?" Komokuten – Nephrite – asked.
"She means that something important has been changed in the past, and it's affecting the future." Zochokuten explained patiently.
"In light of the fact that the Senshi were somehow left behind, I can only assume the problem lies in their own disappearances, in fact, I'm afraid they may be in extreme danger."
"So, what do we do?" Mamoru pursued. He began to transform into his alter ego.
Setsuna eyed him squarely.
"Against my better judgment," she began, "I have no choice but to send you, Haruka and Michiru back to the moment I brought the Shitennou into the present, to find out what happened to the Senshi and to rescue them."
Mamoru nodded, determinedly.
"If I might make a suggestion," Tamoten spoke up, "there is no need for Endymion-sama's life to be put in danger, nor anyone else's'," he added, looking at Haruka and Michiru.
"We," he concluded, "are more than willing to rescue the Senshi by ourselves."
"But you don't know anything about the past," Michiru argued, "you won't know what to look for, or where to go."
"You can tell us."
"No," Mamoru said quietly, and they all turned to look at him. His demeanor had changed, he had a sudden air of command.
"I will go into the past to rescue the Senshi, accompanied by my Shitennou. The rest of you stay here and guard Usagi."
They recognized the order; the Outers looked mildly displeased while the Shitennou were nearly beside themselves with excitement.
"Are you sure about this, Mamoru-sama," Setsuna asked, respectfully, "we cannot afford to lose you."
She looked at him almost wistfully.
"We cannot afford to lose anyone, Setsuna," he answered quietly, "not if we want to save Crystal Tokyo."
She nodded.
"Get ready then," she said.
Mamoru went to the couch and brushed his lips against the air that was Usagi's cheek.
"Don't worry, we'll be back before you know it." he told her.
"Be careful," she whispered.
He nodded then went to take his place by the Shitennou. In a swift flash they were gone.