Author's Note: I am working through and editing every chapter of each of the stories in this series (which is a LOT of work) and am thinking of releasing a slightly altered version for teens. As I am going through however, I have been adding and editing scenes, and there will likely be some changes soon, so if you want to re-read the series before starting book four, I will be implementing my updates on the same day I release it. I've been at this now for five days, and I've added more than 30,000 words already.

There is only one chapter, and then the epilogue, left of Makaiju. As soon as you see the epilogue, you will know the prologue of book four is out. PLEASE SEE THE BOTTOM FOR A READER RESPONSE.

Trigger Warning: Ronnie's section - Teen Dating Violence and abuse

Makaiju
The Promise of the Rose
Chapter Sixteen
Daughters of Xenian

February 26 - Wednesday
continued

***Mamoru***

"I'm so happy to see you!" Usagi was saying, for what had to be the fifth time since he'd been home. She was hugging both the twins, tears streaking her face, and smiling such a big smile he wouldn't be surprised if her cheeks started hurting.

"We missed you too," Chibi-Usa said. "We were very busy, but Auntie Puu said it would be a good time to visit, since she had to come anyway."

"Why did she have to come? And why isn't she here?"

"She's busy," Chibi-Mamo said, shrugging his shoulders.

Mamoru chuckled and picked up his future son. "You've grown." He had gained at least an inch, and weighed a little more."

"We have grown," Chibi-Usa said, holding her arms up. He bent and caught her in his free hand, lifting her up beside her brother. "We have sponsitilities now."

"Responsibilities," Mamoru corrected, grinning.

"Yeah, that's what I said," Chibi-Usa snuggled against him. "Lots and lots of em."

"Like what?"

Chibi-Usa yawned. "Can't tell you. Helios keeps saying it's important though." She let out another yawn, snuggling deeper into him, and her eyes closed.

"I think she's tired," Chibi-Mamo said. "When Helios comes and talks to her in dreams she always gets like this. His sisters get really mad too, because then he's tired and doesn't do his lessons either."

"I can imagine," Usagi said, then patted the cushion on the couch next to her. "Come sit down and talk to me."

"Is Takeo coming?"

"Yes, and Yuzuki."

"Yuzuki?" Chibi-Mamo asked, his eyes wide. "Who's that?"

"She's a little girl who lost her family," Mamoru explained, settling in the chair with Chibi-Usa seeping on his shoulder. "She is staying with Haruki and Setsuna."

"Ohhh," Chibi-Mamo said, then gulped. "Okay."

"What's the matter?" Mamoru asked, worried about his reaction.

Chibi-Mamo frowned. "I heard her name before."

"And?"

"And I don't know," he frowned, squirming a bit. "It sounded like she was special."

"Special?" Usagi asked, grinning at their blushing future son, who was still squirming around.

"I don't know," he answered, in hardly a whisper. "Like Helios."

Mamoru remembered a conversation he'd once had with Maboroshi. Helios had come running up to Usagi and patted her belly calling for "Mine Usa." His mother had explained Helios and Chibi-Usa were soulmates. He frowned. Was Yuzuki Chibi-Mamo's soulmate? Were both his children lost to him to another before they were even born?

::Stop that!::

Startled, Mamoru looked over at Usagi, who was frowning at him. ::What?::

::We aren't losing them silly. We're just gaining more family. Don't look so forlorn. You already love Zuki, and Helios is a delight. Besides, even over a thousand years into the future, they are still children. We have time.:: Usagi gave him a soft smile. ::And remember, four others, at least.:: She rolled her eyes.

Mamoru grinned. "Chibi-Mamo, has your mother already had the baby in your time?"

"Kousagi? Yeah. She's cute and all, but she doesn't really do anything yet. I want more brothers. Daddy says the twins are going to be boys though."

"Twins?" Usagi asked, glaring at Mamoru now. "More twins?"

Mamoru chuckled when Chibi-Mamo nodded and she let out a strangled sound. "Daddy says he's gonna win." Chibi-Mamo shrugged. "I don't know why though."

"Apparently he figures out how to go through labor for me," Usagi grumbled under her breath.

There was a knock at the door. "It's just me!" Naru called, sliding the key into the lock. "I've got Takeo and Zuki."

"Where's Umino?" Mamoru asked, worried.

Naru rolled her eyes. "He totally freaked when I said I was craving coffeebeat and decided to run to the konbini and get some."

Usagi giggled. "He just wants you to be happy. I was talking to him the other day about how Mamo-chan and I are always finding little things for each other. He likes those too though, and I think we have about a dozen rolls of them in one of our stashes."

"Hey!" Mamoru scolded. "No fair telling people about the chocolate stashes."

"Naru isn't people. She's Naru," Usagi argued, sticking out her tongue and grinning.

Mamoru had to smile back at her. He shifted Chibi-Usa, who was leaning heavily on one arm, putting it to sleep. "Zuki, Takeo, come and say hi to Chibi-Mamo."

"Hey!" Takeo said, grinning when he saw his friend. He grabbed Yuzuki's hand and pulled her out of the genkan, where she had been hiding behind him, and brought her to where Usagi and Chibi-Mamo were sitting. "What have you been doing? This is Zuki. Why is Chibi-Usa sleeping? When did you get here?"

Mamoru had to laugh. Takeo wasn't giving the boy time to answer one question before asking another. He reminded Mamoru a bit of Haruki like that. Or Usagi for that matter."

"We've been busy," Chibi-Mamo answered. It looked like he was choosing his words carefully. "Auntie Puu brought us about an hour ago. Chibi-Usa is just over tired because Helios talks a lot. Hi Zuki." He blushed when he said the last, looking at his feet rather than the girl.

Yuzuki reached out and touched his hand, then covered her mouth and stared at him, her green eyes huge in her face. "Hi," she squeaked.

Umino rushed into the apartment with a plastic bag in one hand and a newspaper in the other. He handed both to Naru, kissed her cheek, and left the room headed down the hallway. Mamoru had to chuckle. It was obvious he had run the entire way to the store and back and was overheated.

"I want to know what Future Sets is doing," he heard Usagi mutter.

Mamoru wanted to know as well. He frowned, thinking about all the things that could possibly go wrong, then sighed. If she hadn't told them, there was probably a good reason.

Chibi-Mamo and Yuzuki were still staring at one another, silently, with Takeo looking on in obvious confusion. If Chibi-Mamo had guessed correctly, it was possible they were soulmates. He looked to Usagi and she nodded slowly. Mamoru sighed again. It looked like there wasn't anything he could do to slow down the process of growing up.

***General Inoue***

Pacing from one side of his office to the other, General Inoue Shiro fingered the stars on his uniform that indicated his rank. He had been dressed down by both the Emperor and the Prime Minister, which meant the two were in agreement. That was never a good thing. The truth was, keeping them on opposite sides of any conflict gave others power. Power Inoue Shiro wanted for himself.

Power he could take if he only had those Senshi. He wanted them. Especially Moon. Her he wanted most of all. With that one he could take over the entire planet for Japan, destroying any opposition. And since he wanted her, he would have her, no matter what it took to do it.

What did it matter that people loved the girl. And girl she was. He shook his head. Her parents thought they could fool him by parading her imposter on the television. They didn't know who they were dealing with. Shiro was better informed than any of them. He had seen when the two girls had switched places in the past, and knew all of their tricks.

He turned at a knock on the door. "Your four o'clock is here," the man who peeked into the room told him.

"Send her in."

"Hai." The young man bowed and backed away. Good. He was working out better than the last two had. He never asked questions and obeyed orders instantly. That was the sort of obedience he could accept. A moment later a young woman with long green hair and red eyes stepped into the room. She wore a grey pant suit and a pair of glasses that slipped slightly down her nose when she nodded respectfully.

"Sit." He ordered.

He heard the creaking of the chair as she sat across from his desk. Only when she was down did he walk behind it, placing his hands on the back of his tall leather chair. He wouldn't sit. That would take away the power he gained from looming over her. He didn't know exactly who she was. The name wasn't important. He only knew she wanted an interview. Any favors he granted could be used later for an equal return, so he attempted a gracious tone.

"What is it you wanted to talk about?" he asked.

"The Senshi."

Anger washed over him. Focused on keeping his breathing even and his tone calm, he asked her to continue. His fingers clenched slightly on the back of his chair, but he thought he did well hiding his irritation at the impertinent woman. "Exactly what about the Senshi do you wish to discuss?"

"I come with a warning," the woman said.

"Oho! Are the Senshi threatening me then?" he asked, delighted. With such a threat he could turn all of Tokyo against them.

"No. They have no idea I'm here. And if my plan succeeds, they will never learn."

"And why is that?" Shiro asked.

The woman stood and held up what looked like a pen. In the space of a heartbeat she had changed. Now, standing in his office, was a Senshi. And not just any Senshi. He recognized her as the one they called Pluto. But she was changed. Her fuku was black on white, no sparkles to be seen and that stupid crescent wasn't on her belly.

"I am the guardian of Time, Sailor Pluto," the woman said, her tone soft and low. "And I've come to show you what will happen should your plan succeed." She held a long staff and rapped it on the floor three times.

General Inoue blinked. Then blinked again. They were no longer in his office. Instead they were standing in the shell of a building. A fierce wind was blowing sand and grit in his face, and overhead the sky was a mix of red and purple. He could hardly see the sun through the haze of it, but he could see the moon. And it was wrong. So very wrong. It was closer to the earth and it looked as though someone had taken a sledgehammer to it. Chunks were torn out of the surface and spun drunkenly around the remnants of the once bright and shining orb.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"Earth. A different timeline." Pluto frowned. "One of them."

"Explain," he demanded.

"This timeline is due to the death of Sailor Moon. You were the cause of that death, and the death of her unborn children. You attempted to turn her into a weapon, took her from her husband. She died in childbirth, and the shock of it, of the shift in time, threw the moon out of orbit, causing severe storms. Storms that were made worse when Tuxedo Kamen lost himself. When he took too much power into the Golden Crystal, attempting to rewrite history and bring her back from the dead, the earth shook and burned."

She swept her arm out and General Inoue looked at the barren landscape. "This is what your plans bring."

"You lie," he hissed. "You are trying to trick me."

"I do not lie," she said primly. "I am telling exactly the truth. No more, and no less." Pluto sighed and shook her head. "Come then. I will show you another."

***Ronnie***
Trigger Warning: Teen Dating Violence

"What did you think? That I wouldn't find out?" James screamed, his face only inches from her own.

"W-what are you talking about?" she asked, confused and afraid. He pulled his arm back and Ronnie flinched, hands coming up to cover her face.

"You stupid worthless bitch!" he raged. "You think you can leave me?"

"I didn't," Ronnie protested, more terrified than ever.

"I'll show you! You belong to me!"

He suddenly reached out and grabbed a fistful of her hair and began dragging her across his bedroom floor. Ronnie struggled but he was far too strong for her. Reaching out he grabbed something that clanged metallically and before she knew what was happening Ronnie had been cuffed to the metal bars at the foot of the bed. She pulled at the cuffs on her wrists, sobbing, and looked up at him.

"What did I do?" she cried. "What did I do wrong?"

"I won't let you leave me Ronnie. Not now. Not ever. You belong to me."

Ronnie nodded slowly, wishing she knew a way to escape. "I won't leave you," she pleaded. "Please let me go. These are hurting me." She lifted her wrists to show the cuffs were already making her skin raw. "Please."

"I'll show you, and the whole world, that you belong to me," James said, glaring at her. He turned away from her and reached into a small box on his shelf, pulling out what looked like small metal rod, about five inches long. Bringing it closer he showed his initials, which stood out in stark relief on end of the metal. "This is a brand. They use one just like this on my parents farm. I had my brother send it. Don't you think this would look pretty on you delicate skin?" he asked.

Ronnie only screamed.

***Fiore***

He wasn't entirely sure where he was, or what he was looking for. Fiore only knew something was desperately wrong. Though he didn't understand it, he didn't question. He was far from the apartment, the park, and the Crown, in a part of the Azabu-Juuban district he had never seen before. Above him loomed a skyrise apartment building, like Mamoru's though it seemed slightly shorter.

"Why am I here?" he wondered aloud, then looked around to make sure no one had heard. During his long time alone in space it had become habit to think aloud, just to hear the sound of a voice. Any voice. Though he was no longer alone, it would take time to retrain himself. In the meantime, he didn't want people to think him crazy.

Whatever the fear was that had drawn him to this building, it was only growing worse. He didn't understand it in the slightest. Until he felt a flicker of... something familiar. "Mother?" he whispered. Was Mother in this very building, calling to him?

***General Inoue***

"What will it take for you to understand I don't believe you," General Inoue asked, looking at the impertinent girl who thought she could outwit him. She had shown him several others of what she called 'possible futures.' Places where death and destruction covered the face of the planet. Times where there were no people left, or where the only ones left were hidden in a pocket universe. Worlds where Sailor Moon had died, or where he had succeeded in turning her into a weapon and turned her against the people of the earth.

"I know you don't believe." She let out a soft sigh. "I really had hoped it wouldn't come to this."

"Come to what?" he demanded. "You should learn to respect your elders. Stop this foolishness and take me back to my office."

"If this is about respecting our elders, then you should be the one respecting me sir," she said, her voice whisper-soft.

He laughed. "You can count what, eighteen years?"

"One-thousand-two-hundred-and twenty-eight, actually." Pluto looked directly into his eyes as she spoke and he swallowed heavily. "I have lived longer than any ten of your possible lifetimes, seen possible futures for millions of events much worse than you could think up. In some of those I am forever alone, my Soulmate gone before he could do more than walk, or he never existed at all. In some I lay down my life for my Princess. In others I am doomed to watch the world destroyed. I have seen battles the likes of which you could never imagine, and I have known the bitter sting of betrayal. The truth is, general, you are not a threat."

"If my actions cause this, then why do you say that?"

"Because this is only one possible timeline. This is a timeline where I didn't go back, much further back, and prevent you from acting."

"Prevent me?" he asked, angry now. "You say it like you know." The stupid girl was getting on his last nerve.

Pluto frowned. "I didn't know they would do it, when I set them on their task. I didn't know they considered taking a life an acceptable outcome to stop something like this from happening. I didn't even show them these futures. I only showed futures where the American government, or the Russian, or the English, tried to control Sailor Moon or one of her companions. These I thought unimportant as they were less likely to happen. She is already Bonded to her mate. Can you feel how fragile this reality is? We are standing in a world that is nearly unable to sustain itself."

"Stop speaking in riddles girl!" he huffed, frustrated. "Speak plainly."

Pluto turned back to look in his eyes again. "Let me put this as bluntly as possible then. Because Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen have Soul-Bonded, and because they have already linked the others to themselves, there is no chance for your plan to succeed. Should you take her, the worst that would happen is the destruction of whatever base you carried her off to, and your imprisonment." She waved her hand at the world around them, which was littered with the charred bones of humans. "All this, was only a possibility before she was Bonded. This future is no longer possible."

"Then why show me?" Inoue asked, curious now rather than angry. "Why show me something that could never be?"

"Because if I don't stop you from your plan to kidnap Sailor Moon, you will be assassinated. Since I set this in motion many, many years ago, I am trying to avoid that outcome and save your life."

"Assassinated?" he asked, worried in spite of his resolve not to believe her.

"Come. I will show you."

***Natsume (An)***

"They're so adorable," Natsume whispered, holding the three tiny flower people in her hand.

"They are," Seijoru answered. "They're so tiny. I wonder what sort of creatures they are." The three tiny women watched them both, none of them speaking. "I didn't know this planet had anything like this."

"Maybe they aren't from here," Natsume suggested. "We've seen Fiore. Maybe he knows who they are." She felt something in the back of her mind, as though someone was trying to speak at the edge of her hearing. Turning, she looked around. The tree was the only other life form in the room. And she no longer spoke. She hadn't in years. Shrugging, she turned back to the tiny girls in her hand. "We should name them."

"What sort of name do you give a flower woman?" he asked.

There was a small huff from one of the three in her hand and Natsume started as she began to speak. "We are the daughters of Xenian," the woman said. "We are not pets. You would do well to listen and obey."

"We are wise beyond your understanding," the second one said. "Do not trifle with us."

"We could help you in your quest to rule this world," said the third, a sly tone in her voice.

"We don't want to rule it," Seijoru said. Natsume frowned at him, but he continued. "We're only trying to survive and heal the Tree."

"I doubt that tree will last a week," one of the three flower women said. "She looks wilted."

Natsume turned. The Tree looked better than it had only the day before. Seijoru had been talking to it almost constantly since he'd received the advice from that... girl. She shook her head. "It's looked worse. This planet seems better able to sustain it than some."

"Then take the planet for yourselves, so she can stay where she will grow," the female said, tossing her green hair. "I care not if she lives."

"If she dies, we die," Seijoru said sadly. "We cannot survive without the energy she provides."

"We can show you other ways to take energy," one of the others answered haughtily. "Simply destroy her and we will teach you everything you know."

Natsume became An in an instant, putting the three flower woman down on the table and backing away to stand in front of the tree. There was something wrong with them if they thought they would hurt the one who had given them life. The tree was like a mother, and she loved it. She noticed Ail was standing beside her, also in a defensive position.

"We wont hurt Mother," he said.

Startled, she looked over at him. The word sounded different on his lips. Mother. Not a mother. Their Mother. Memories flooded her mind then, of Mother speaking to them when they were children. Telling them stories of their own world, and of her hopes to find a new one for them. When had she stopped speaking to them? And why?

"She's not worth it," one of the flower women said. "She'll only cause trouble. Hear me."

An felt something brush at her thoughts, and backed away. Something was wrong. Those flowers were trying to control them. Trying to make them hurt Mother.

"We need help," she whispered, turning to look at the Tree of Life. The Makai. Mother. The tree started to glow softly, rocking her branches from side to side.

At the same time a series of tiny vines shot out from the hands of the three flower woman and caught Ail and An. An screamed, or tried to, as one of the vines wrapped around her throat. She saw Ail struggling beside her and then there was darkness.

***Future Setsuna***

"Where are we now?" the general asked, looking around at the graveyard she had brought him too.

Pluto sighed and pointed to one of the stones. "Your grave," she answered, keeping her voice soft. She had not known, all those years ago, that her warnings to the governments of the world would lead to deaths like his. "This future is possible. If you do not let go of your mission to take Sailor Moon there are people who will kill you."

"You dare threaten me?" His face was turning red with anger and she noticed he was no longer trying to hide it. Good. Once he gave up the ridiculous idea of trying to prove himself the best of them, maybe he would listen.

"In four days time you have your strike team break into Tsukino Usagi's apartment in the middle of the night. One of your men shoots Tsukino Kenji, nearly killing him. Another strikes Tsukino Ikuko, causing her to fall and hit the edge of a table, where she also nearly dies because they knock out the person who could save them both with gas, and steal his pregnant wife."

General Inoue smiled at that.

Pluto shook her head sadly. "Unfortunately, this is the only thing that was needed for the Team to gain authorization to take you out. Your own government signed off on your assassination and before your men could reach you with Usagi you were shot in the back of the head."

"Knowing that gives me the power to change events," General Inoue said, looking smug. "You've just given me the knowledge I need to succeed in my mission."

"No actually, I haven't." Pluto frowned down at the grave. "No matter what you try from this point on, how you attempt to take her, or to expose her, it ends with your death. The Team is the most likely avenue for this," she added, trying to make him truly understand. "But they are not the only possible source of your death. It could be a mob, a Cardian, a Youma, A Daimon, which haven't appeared yet. In one possible future you die from an earthquake that Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Kamen could have stopped." She shook her head.

"Speak plainly girl," the general said.

Pluto wanted to scream. How much more obvious could she get. "No matter what you do to try and take Sailor Moon or one of the other Senshi, it leads to your death."

"So you are threatening me. I knew you were weapons."

Laughing now, Pluto turned and stared at him. The man was a moron. "Don't you get what I didn't say?" she asked. "Don't you realize that not once, in all of the timelines I've shown you or told you of, has your death come directly from the Senshi or their counterparts. They never, in all those scenarios, strike out at you in anger or revenge. Even in one timeline where you kill both Usagi's parents, she still forgives you in the end. Though it is too late because you are dying from a bullet a sniper sent into the back of your neck. The Senshi are not weapons. They are people. And Usagi is the kindest, sweetest, most loving person I've ever known. I've lived well over a thousand years. That should tell you something."

"I think you're trying to play me again girl."

Pluto was getting a little tired of his disrespectful attitude. Still, she swallowed back her frustration and tried one last time. "You have three choices before you," she said. "One, I can take you back to your office, where you can ignore my warnings and go through with one of your plans. It will lead to your death. Two, I can take you back to your office and you can sit and seriously consider what I have said. If you decide you want to forget your plan, do nothing and nothing will be done to you. Third, you can join the Team. They work to protect the identities of the Senshi and make sure no one, like you, decides to turn them into a weapon."

"These are my only options then?" the general asked, with a sneer.

"Yes."

"Then you've wasted your time. Now that I know their plans, this Team will never reach me, and I will bring about their destruction. I will take the Senshi, one by one, and use them to set Japan up as the empire it should be, under my rule. And I will destroy you for your trouble."

"I'm sorry," Pluto said, sad now. "I am truly sorry."

The man sneered at her again. "Don't bother. I am a wise man. I can bide my time."

Pluto only shook her head sadly and knocked her staff on the ground three times. They reappeared in his office. "I do wish you had made another choice," she said softly.

"Akiyama!" General Inoue shouted. "Get in here!" The door opened and the young man who had ushered her into the room appeared. "Take this Senshi into custody."

Instead of obeying, the young man lifted a gun and pointed it at the General. Pluto moved quickly, getting between them. "Don't," she begged.

"I'm sorry," the young man said. "He's not the first, and he won't be the last to think he can use the Senshi. I've been on the Tsukino girl since she met the cat. I've watched her suffer, watched her be harmed brutally, and I did nothing, could do nothing. I will not let him take her. None of us will."

"She wouldn't want this," Pluto pleaded, looking the young man in the eye. Then she felt a sharp pain in her back, saw the man's eyes widen and a flash of light as a shot echoed in the room. Looking down, Pluto saw blood marring her fuku and the edge of an ancient ceremonial sword sticking out of her shoulder. "Damn," she muttered. "I didn't see this coming."

Blackness edged her vision and she hit her knees.

SORRY!

I am so sorry about giving you three cliffhangers at once, but I had to! I promise the new chapter will be out rather soon, but in the meantime I still have a few more stories to update. I plan to update every single one before the end of January... and after this one there are only five left. Then I will come right back to this and give you the last chapter, which is already partially written.

Reader Response: Can you believe how far this series has come? We are almost at the end of book three! Don't worry too much. Book Four will be started very soon! There are plenty more adventures awaiting us as Hotaru's father begins his downward spiral. This one will more heavily feature the Outers as well as Shingo. However, I am struggling with the title... and I want your help!

A) Apocalypse
B) Search for the Holy Grail
C) The Messiah of Silence
D) ... write your own title in a review or private message...

I am going to take all of your opinions into account, tally any votes, and let you know in the Epilogue