Author's Note: I got a comment, a little while back, asking where the Slayers were during the Trothanian War. The Story of the Seventh Seo goes some way towards answering that. The Trothanian War was fought when Earth was only beginning to go out into space and colonize planets, and it wasn't a major player, yet. However, the Trothanian War probably wound up creating a power vacuum in the Mutter's Spiral, which resulted in Earth (and the Slayers) being able to take a prominent position in the galaxy.

Can you tell that I did history in college?

Enjoy!


They were big.

Really big.

Moment Jenny stepped out wearing a new outfit, millions across Mutter's Spiral would purchase the same outfit. Countless yo-yo enthusiast societies were set up because of Seo's 7th incarnation's love for yo-yo tricks.

Young girls tried to be like Seo and Jenny. Wrote long essays and stories on how those two were their role models.

Older girls — and older boys — fawned over them as sex-icons.

The ones who were of legal age… Seo snogged.

The gossip-o-sphere thought-transmission-network had fun with that particular little hobby of Seo's. It seemed to always be abuzz with the latest on the two sisters.

"I think I should leave this century," Jenny said, one day, after she'd tried to leave Jack's new home and wound up mobbed. "This is just… madness!"

Seo bounced over, wearing official-looking robes. "Why?" she asked. "We've got so much to do!" She brought out a 21st century 'to do' pad, which was filled to bursting with hand-scrawled notes. Waved it in Jenny's face. "You know how many planets out there want our help, now? They're asking for us, specifically!"

"You're just happy because you can snog lots of people, and the paparazzi can't get pictures of you doing it," Jenny muttered. Gestured at Seo's outfit. "And what's that all about?"

"Jack's going to some great big peace negotiation!" Seo explained. "We're coming along as his seconds!" She raised up another set of robes for Jenny. "Here!"

Jenny took the robes. But didn't seem inclined to put them on.

It was always like that, in those early days of Jenny's celebrity status.

The more she was out in the public eye, the more twitchy she became.

"Don't you love having people always watching you and asking you what to do?" Seo said, a month later, when they had just saved a planet on the other end of Mutter's Spiral. "It makes things so much easier! We can skip the whole getting-locked-up-and-nearly-killed part, and get down to saving people!"

As if to prove it was wonderful, Seo turned a cartwheel.

Everyone around them applauded.

Seo spun around and blew them a kiss. Waving at a gorgeous blond guy in the front.

Jenny dragged Seo away. "I just… need some privacy," she said. "It's…" She gritted her teeth, rubbed her temples.

Seo caught the unease. "Oh," she realized. "You don't like it."

Jenny didn't answer.

"So why are you staying, then?" Seo asked. "You have a ship. You could leave any time."

"I just… it's complicated," Jenny argued.

Seo's current incarnation was an attention-magnet, though. She loved it. Loved having everyone look at her and fawn over her and tell her how impressive she was. Loved going out and foiling a villain with her yo-yo, and seconds later, it was all over the gossip-o-sphere. Loved the snogs, loved that people knew her by sight, loved that she could get into any club at any time without having to lie or trick or deceive. Loved having the kids all know her name, and come up with shy smiles and ask for her autograph.

Maybe that was what she loved best about it.

Being able to make children smile.

Of course, most of the attention was on Jack. Boe, as he was now called. Seo and Jenny were nicknamed, "the Inspirations of Boe", and "the Guiding Lights of Boe," and — Seo's personal favorite — "the Boe-lings".

One time they were even called, "Daughters of Boe".

Seo thought that was hysterical.

Jenny just muttered that it was a little creepy. And disrespectful to their real father.

"And you'd know all about that," Seo pointed out to Jenny, after getting more than a little fed up with Jenny's whining. "After what you did in your last life. The CIA — the people who stopped that second regeneration cycle from reaching Trenzalore Fields. And you had the nerve to actually work for…!"

"But…! But…!" Jenny seemed flustered. "Dad would have…!"

"If he'd still been alive, he'd have been ashamed of you," Seo told her. Turned away. "We're just lucky you saw reason and quit when you did. Before you disgraced his memory even more!"

Seo had said it to Jenny often enough, in the past.

But somehow… Jenny took it far harder, now, than she ever had before.

Perhaps Seo should have recognized the warning signs. Perhaps it should have been obvious. But Seo didn't notice. Not any of it. She was far too preoccupied with her adoring fans.

She didn't have time for Jenny.

Barely even gave it a second thought when Jenny took Seo aside to say, "Please. Leave with me. Get away from here. Please, I'm begging you!"

"You can leave," Seo said. "I'm staying." She beamed. "I like it!"

"Please!" Jenny said, grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her. "Please! Please! Please!"

"Quit it!" Seo said, squirming out of Jenny's grip. "Go leave, then! Do what you want! It doesn't have anything to do with me."

Seo didn't know it, yet. Wouldn't, until the very end of her seventh incarnation. But ignoring Jenny, at these moments, and reprimanding her for insulting Father's memory — would be one of the worst mistakes Seo had ever made in all her lives.

At the time, it seemed unimportant.

After all.

The two sisters had always reprimanded one another for doing what — they believed — was the 'wrong thing'. All the way back to their first incarnations, when they'd been young and wandering around the universe, fighting monsters without having a clue what they were doing.

And Jenny didn't seem too hurt, anyways — or at least, it didn't make her leave. Nope. Jenny stayed. And eventually, Jenny embraced the crowds. Embraced the celebrity and the majesty of being famous.

Jenny grew to accept her new life. And her celebrity.

That was how it started.


"Oh, it's… you," said the President of Riegel. He forced a smile. "We were expecting… but, no! That's very considerate of you to come and save us."

Seo stared at them. Then gave an uneasy laugh, figuring this was some kind of joke she'd missed.

"Good for you, downplaying the rescue," Seo agreed, clapping the President on the back. "Tell you what? How about I save your world, and you can stand up and seem all impressive, at the end?"

The President extricated himself from Seo's grip. Then looked around, expectantly. "Your sister isn't anywhere nearby, right?" he checked. "Just… to save us, instead?"

It had stung, that first time Seo had heard it.

But she decided to brush it off. "Nope!" Seo told herself, in her ship. "Not getting jealous. Jenny's a planet-saving superhero, too, and… well… some people are just more inclined to like her than they are to like me! That's all right. We're different! Everyone loves being different!"

The second time it happened, Seo had a much harder time keeping her emotions in check.

The third time, Seo broke down right in the middle of the Council of the Esteemed Government of Oitor. And began shouting.

"What is it with Jenny these days?" she demanded. "You lot are about to be annihilated, here! Does it matter who actually does the saving?!"

"Well, it's just… with your reputation and all," said the Esteemed High Governor, "we thought we might have a better chance handling this… alone."

"Unless Jenny's around," the Second High Governor piped in. "Then we'd be happy for a rescue!"

"My… reputation?" Seo checked.

The moment after she'd finished saving the ungrateful, miserable planet, she'd raced back to Oliver. Started intercepting all the gossip-o-sphere's information on her. Seo hadn't really been following it — she didn't have the necessary implants to pick it up, and even if she'd been fitted with an implant, the interface wouldn't have worked with her brain.

But it worked with Oliver's.

Seo stared. Just under the headlines for "Most Popular Baby Names this year: Steva and Steven!" and "Ninth Planet Renamed 'Planet Ianto' after Fallen Hero", Seo found an exposé… on her.

"Seo: the Bungler of STP," Seo read aloud.

She couldn't believe it. Some nosy journalist had gone out and tracked down all mentions of her. Taken the time to note every way in which Seo had managed to — in the midst of saving a planet — accidentally wind up making things temporarily worse.

Before, of course, she'd saved the day.

"But everyone makes mistakes!" Seo insisted to no one in particular. "And some of those things weren't even my fault!"