THE PROGENY
Chapter 7: "The Separated Ones"
A Neo-Sailor Moon fanfiction

By Bill K.


Rustling through the brush, unconcerned now about stealth, came five young men. They each had black or dark brown hair, lean hard bodies from life in the mountains, and a familiarity with the rugged terrain that was as sure as most people had with walking on flat ground. Only one was different from them, different in that he had no hair atop his head, and different in that his skull was nearly twice the size of a normal human's. His neck and shoulders were thick in order to hold his head up, and his legs were trunks hewed by a physical life. Brown eyes skulking beneath the enlarged cranium peered out sharply and saw everything. He was older by a few years than most of the others and definitely wiser.

Suddenly the bald youth halted the procession, his hand shooting out. The others looked inquiringly at him.

["One of them is still conscious,"] he said in Spanish.

["Did you miss her, Miguel?"] one of the youths asked.

["No, it's the one with the elevated PKE ability,"] Miguel replied calmly.

["Maybe we should go back,"] another in his party suggested.

["She's no match for the five of us,"] Miguel countered. ["Come on."]

["Miguel,"] the youth continued. ["Do we have to confront them? Maybe they'll leave now."]

["No, they won't, Antonio,"] Miguel told him. ["I've seen into this Princess Usagi's mind. She's determined to see this through. And several of her party agree with her, for various reasons. They're not going to leave us alone."]

["Is that bad?"] Antonio asked. He had pale eyes and soft lips and could have been a model in another set of circumstances. ["Do we still have to hide up here? Almonte's gone. He's been gone."]

["We've been through this,"] Miguel sighed. ["We have special abilities and someone is going to want to exploit those abilities. Whether it's the government or some private interest, someone is going to want to use us as a weapon."] He focused his penetrating brown eyes on Antonio. ["Nobody's keeping you here, Antonio. You're free to leave whenever you want to. But you're safer here. We're all safer here."] He continued down the trail. ["And we're safer still when nobody else knows we're here."]

Two of the youths fell in behind Miguel as he continued his descent down the mountain. One, Luis, a short teen with green eyes and fine black hair, stopped and put his hand on Antonio's shoulder.

["I know you don't like it,"] Luis told him. ["But they came looking for us. And unless we deal with this, they may be back and they may bring help. And pretty soon everybody will be up here. It's like Miguel says."]

Antonio scowled, but he fell in behind them. The group reached the clearing where Usa and her party were. Boldly Miguel emerged from the bushes. It was all as he expected it to be. Sailor Pallas was the only one awake, standing in front of the unconscious forms of her party. Pallas was waiting for him, her telepathy warning her of his approach. Miguel looked her over. He'd never met a fellow ESPer before. He'd like to question her. Maybe he would. Maybe he'd keep her alive for a little longer after dealing with the others, just to satisfy his curiosity.

"You stop right there!" Pallas barked, her face colored with her belligerence. "If you try to hurt Pallas or her friends, she'll make you sorry!"

"What an interesting dichotomy you are," Miguel said in perfect Japanese. "So much PKE ability - - it's as if your brain were compensating for the defective parts by heightening your ESP. I must . . ."

Miguel stopped when he noticed for the first time the being on his right. It was a man with white hair and the palest skin he'd ever seen. A crystal horn rose from his forehead. There was a gentle aura to the man, and yet as much a hint of physical strength and speed to him. And all of that paled before the fact that he was awake and that Miguel was unable to get any psychic sense of him at all. He was like an empty space in Miguel's psychic senses. It was the first time he'd ever experienced that and Miguel wasn't certain how to handle it.

"Who are you?" Miguel demanded, his party gathering behind him and just as surprised by this new element. "How did you get here?"

"I am Helios," the being answered in a voice that was like a dream. "I came with these women. And you are Miguel. I would request of you that you bring these women out of the sleep you have put them in."

"How do you know me?" Miguel demanded, his calm veneer falling away.

"We have met before," Helios answered, "though I doubt you will remember."

"Where? Were you one of Almonte's men?" Miguel roared. His sudden agitation was making his companions nervous. Since they didn't speak Japanese, they didn't know what was happening to upset him.

"Not there," Helios replied. "I have no connection with either the current or former rulers. I mean you no harm." The man's mouth thinned. "But I must insist that you awaken my companions.

["What does he want?"] Luis prodded.

["We have come in peace,"] Helios said in Spanish. ["We have come seeking you, in fact, Luis."]

["Why? What do you want with me?"] Luis asked suspiciously. ["How do you even know me?"]

["It doesn't matter!"] bellowed Miguel. ["Go! Go and take your women with you! You are not welcomed here! And if you return, or if you refuse to leave, you will die here!"]

["And I propose that first you awaken these women, and then allow us to speak with Luis,"] Helios countered calmly. ["If after hearing us out he chooses to remain with you, we will leave in peace."]

There was no reply from Miguel. But Santos, another of the teens with a lean wiry body and thick brown hair, suddenly sprang from the group.

"Prince Horsie-Man, look out!" Pallas shouted.

Santo rocketed from the group, bounding at Helios with twice the speed of a great cat. His hands flexed and the muscles in his arms knotted, radiating deadly efficiency. Helios stood his ground. His horn began to glow silver. Then an energy blast shot out and struck Santos squarely in the chest, despite his efforts to dodge. The blast threw him in the opposite direction and he landed on his back, skidding to a stop by the group of teens.

"You told him to attack!" Pallas snapped, glaring at Miguel. "BAD MAN!" Pallas's hands shot out from her sides. "Beautiful Incantation!"

To the surprise of everyone save Helios and Miguel, five large stones shot up into the air. They hovered behind Sailor Pallas for a moment, then shot forward, each one aimed at Miguel. Miguel brought up his hands, as if to ward off the stones, but they were clearly too big for a normal human hand to catch or deflect.

Just then, one of the group behind Miguel stepped in front of him. He was a stocky youth of nineteen with a squat face, ragged black hair and a barrel chest. The youth, Carlos by name, stood his ground as the stones shot for him. Pallas tried to alter their course, but there was no time left. Yet the stones struck Carlos square in the chest and face and bounced harmlessly away. One stone even broke into three pieces.

Luis stepped forward, his eyes and his hands glowing with an unnatural brilliance. Energy coalesced around his hands, then shot out at Pallas. It would have struck home with deadly efficiency, but for the intervention of Helios. Another discharge from his crystal horn struck the beam of solar energy. The two energies merged and then deflected wildly away, leaving Pallas unharmed. Pallas was glaring at Luis and Carlos the entire time. But suddenly her attention turned with a start to Miguel. Her eyes grew wide with alarm and anger.

"FIERY INCANTATION!" Pallas bellowed, gesturing at the collection of young men.

Instantly the ground and flora in front of them burst into flame. Startled, the five fell back as the flames leaped up into the air. Within seconds there was a blazing wall of fire between them and the senshi. With no way to penetrate the barrier before the senshi could mount a counterattack, Miguel nodded to the others. The five refugees withdrew back up the mountain, leaving Pallas and Helios behind. Pallas glared up after them, her lips drawn thin and her chin jutting out, even after Helios put a calming hand on her shoulder.

"Pallas doesn't like that Mister Miguel-Sir!" Pallas growled. "He's mean!"

"Yes, Sailor Pallas," Helios said with a soothing manner. "But there are more important matters. We must wake the others, and I fear only our combined abilities can do so."

Nodding, Pallas accompanied Helios. Using the small senshi's telepathy and the dream guardian's knowledge of the intricacies of the sleeping mind, they were able to rouse Sailor Juno. While Juno worked with her command over water to douse the fire wall quickly spreading over the side of the mountain, they set about waking the others. By the time Juno had the fire out, the others were awake again.

"OH NO!" wailed Sailor Ceres after regaining her senses. "Look at all of those burned plants and trees!" Tears welled in her eyes.

"Pallas is sorry!" Sailor Pallas offered, tears of her own collecting in her eyes. "But she had to do it to keep the bad man away from everybody!"

Struggling to keep her composure, Ceres nodded, then got to her feet and stumbled over to the roughly ten foot expanse of charred trees and burned plants lining both sides of the mountain path.

"What are you doing, Ceres?" Pallas whimpered.

"Apologizing," Ceres said hoarsely, walking past Juno to the dead vegetation. "We may need their help in this before we're done. And besides - - I owe them that much."

"It's just a bunch of flowers," grumbled Vesta. Usa silently shook her head at Vesta, then signaled the others over.

"OK, what happened?" Usa asked.

"Mister Miguel-Sir," Pallas told her. "He made you all go beddy-bye with his head. He tried to make Pallas go beddy-bye, too, but Pallas wouldn't listen."

"He's a telepath?" Saturn inquired.

Pallas nodded. "And he can move things with his head like Pallas can. And he can see things far away with his head, too. And Pallas thinks he can start fires with his head like she can, too, but she's not sure." The senshi frowned. "And he doesn't try as hard as Pallas does to do it."

"Did you see the others?" Juno asked excitedly. "Did you see my brother?"

"There was one named Luis," Helios related. "I recognize him by that name from his dreams. If he is your brother, he is alive and among them. But he is under the sway of this Miguel. Miguel seems to be the de facto leader of the group, and he fears and mistrusts contact with the outside world. Contacting him will be extremely difficult with Miguel around, for Miguel is a very powerful psycho-kinetic." Helios looked at Juno gravely. "And Luis may not wish contact with you regardless."

The news hit Juno hard. She rocked back onto her bottom and just stared into the ground. Vesta and Pallas looked on sympathetically at Juno, while Saturn turned inquiringly to Usa.

"So, is there a way to neutralize this Miguel?" Usa asked. "So we can at least talk to Juno's brother?"

"Not that I am aware of, Maiden," Helios responded. "Perhaps Sailor Pallas could, were she stronger. But I do not think she is up to the task."

Usa's brow furrowed. "So what do we do?"

"I don't know. But we better decide soon," Vesta said, then nodded to the darkening late afternoon sky. "It's going to be dark real soon."


Makoto scanned the skies from her hotel room. They were colored with the approaching night. Nervously the woman paced, mentally struggling with her situation.

"Should have went after them the moment I found out they left," Makoto fumed silently. "But if you had and everything was fine, it would be telling her you don't trust her. You've raised enough kids and grand-kids and such to know how sensitive they are about that at this age."

She paced over and looked out the window again. Night was approaching.

"But if they ran into something they couldn't handle," Makoto told herself. Then she shook her head. "She's not out chasing butterflies. She's not! The kid's got a good head on her shoulders. And so do the others. Hell, Ves probably knows more about surviving by her wits than the rest of them put together. Those four asteroids survived in the Amazon jungle for months before Neherenia found them. They're OK."

Makoto stared at the approaching night. Then she pulled up her senshi communicator and engaged it.

"Still no signal," she thought. "They'restill out of range, wherever they are." The woman mulled her next action over, agonizing over it.

Then she crossed over to the desk next to the bed and engaged the Video Communications Terminal. Her hand danced over the keypad, inputting the number for King Endymion's office line.

"I'm sorry I've got to rat you out, Hon'," Makoto whispered absently. "But I have to know where you are. And I have to know you're all right. And this little wrist communicator might not be able to pick up your com-link signal, but your dad's computer probably can."


"Say, what if," Juno brightened, "Pallas can plant a suggestion in our minds to ignore when Miguel tries to put us to sleep? I mean, Pallas and Helios resisted it, so it is possible."

"I am immune because my mind is above the reach of human telepathy," Helios explained.

"He said modestly," Usa added with a sly grin. Helios quelled a smile and glanced at her with a nod. She responded by cuddling up to his arm.

"Sailor Pallas has the skill to resist his attempts to implant suggestion into her mind," Helios continued. "But I do not think she has the skill to implant such abilities into your minds."

"What if you helped?" Usa asked. They all saw she was earnest in what she asked.

"I," Helios hesitated, "cannot guarantee we can achieve success even acting together. But I am willing to try."

"Fine, we'll start with me," Usa stated.

"No, we'll start with me," Vesta interjected. She locked eyes with Usa. "It's our job to take the risks, Princess."

"How about we start with me?" Juno argued. "The only reason we're up here is because of me."

"Well SOMEBODY do it," huffed Ceres. "It's getting really creepy up here."

"OK, Juno, you're elected," Vesta said, standing up. "I'll guard the perimeter. Fauna Assimilation - - Timber Wolf!"

With that, Vesta transformed into a full grown Timber Wolf. Focusing her keen senses on the trail leading up the mountain, she paced off.

Helios gestured Pallas over and directed her to sit before Juno. Gracefully, he knelt down behind Pallas. His hands came up and lightly touched the girl on each temple. His head lowered to his chest and his eyes closed. At the same time, Sailor Pallas seemed to stare through Juno rather than past her. Absently her hands came up and pressed lightly to the center of Juno's forehead. Her hands brushed out from the center over Juno's forehead and then down the sides of her face. Immediately Pallas dropped her hands limply to her sides. Her chest was heaving. Helios came out of his trance and began panting as well.

"Are you two OK?" Usa asked anxiously.

"It is," breathed Helios, "fatiguing, Maiden."

"Did it work? I don't feel any different," Juno inquired.

"We were successful," Helios confirmed. "You will still be vulnerable to Miguel reading your thoughts and memories, but he cannot plant suggestions or illusions into your mind."

"Please pardon Pallas," Pallas murmured, half-asleep. "She's very tired." With that, she seemed to go nearly limp and oozed onto the ground, curling up between Juno and Helios.

"She has exerted herself a great deal," Helios explained. "She will be stronger after she rests."

"Well, I guess she's made the decision for us," Usa surmised. "We're spending the night here."

"Where?" Saturn goggled. "There's nothing but rocks and bushes."

"Pallas is done in and Helios isn't much better," Usa countered. "I wouldn't want him taking the chance of flying us down to the base of the mountain in his condition."

"Besides," Ceres said, rising to her feet with a smile, "who says it's just rocks and bushes?" She walked over to a small collection of trees on the far right of the small plateau they were on. "Floral Stimulation."

Instantly vines began growing up the trunks of the trees. When they reached a certain height, they extended out until they reached the next nearest trunk. Weaving themselves as they grew, the vines knitted into hammocks.

"One of you put Pallas in one of those. They'll hold you," Ceres said. Laying some seeds on the ground, Ceres waved her hand over them. "Floral Animation." More plants burst forth, their shafts shooting up and weaving themselves into four plant humanoids.

"What are those for?" Saturn asked.

"To help out Vesta," Ceres replied. "That telepath won't be able to put my plant humanoids to sleep."

"Sounds good," Usa nodded. "Well, let's try to get some sleep before something else happens."

"What about Kino-Sensei?" Saturn reminded her. "She's going to be worried, isn't she?"

"Yeah, I guess she will," Usa frowned. "I wish our communicator signals went that far. If you want, you and Vesta can fly back to the village and send her a vid-message."

"I don't know if we should leave you," Saturn grimaced.

"We'll be all right," Usa smiled. "And it isn't that long of a trip back to Belan de los Andaquies. Go ahead."

"If you're sure," Saturn replied doubtfully. Usa nodded her encouragement.

Walking over to the perimeter of the plateau, Saturn signaled Vesta over. After a short conversation, the wolf glared sourly at Usa for a moment, then transformed into a winged equine again. With Saturn astride her, Vesta took off into the night.

As they climbed into their hammocks, the senshi were unaware that a pair of eyes watched their every movement from above them.

Continued in Chapter 8