------------------------------------------------------------------------
**DISCLAIMER: All characters from Sailor Moon are the property of Naoko
Takeuchi, Pioneer, Cloverway and any other companies holding rights.
All other characters are the property of the authors of this story and
may not be used or reproduced without consent.**
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fallen Stars
by
Lady Archanna & Archmage

~~~~~~~~~~
Part 2
Chapter 1
~~~~~~~~~~



The plaza was a mess. It might have been beautiful once, but now it was a
mass of shattered crystal and torn bodies. The screams of the injured mingled
with the wails of children had faded long before, falling slowly into the
eerie silence of a tomb. Only a handful of wounded still moaned in pain,
while citizens from the surrounding area struggled to find the source of
the sounds. In the heart of Crystal Tokyo, a new wound had blossomed. Only
twelve hours ago, the plaza had been filled with hundreds of people gathered
for an art festival and the streets had been lined with booths overflowing
with the works of artists from both within the city and around the world.
There had been so much beauty, such a feeling of peaceful enjoyment filling
the air before it so abruptly shattered. The end result of less than a quarter
of an hour of chaos was a nightmarish scene that bore no resemblance to that
other image of tranquility. The streets around the plaza were now slowly
emptying, save for those few stragglers still trying to gather their
belongings. Blank expressions marred their faces as they tried to block out
the devastation around them, the wreck of what had once been their aspirations
and dreams. Shelters had been set up near the Palace, and guards were now
patrolling the streets, desperately trying to give the citizens back the
sense of security that had been so brutally shattered.

Serenity sat alone in her chambers, a view screen open before her,
projecting the images of one nightmarish attack after another. Tears
shimmered in crystal eyes as they looked at each terrified expression,
each face frozen in a cry of pain. She could have looked away, could
have turned it off, but she didn't. Something in her made her watch,
made her burn the images into her mind, perhaps in hope that in doing
so she would prevent something like this from happening again. She could
feel the confusion and fear that blossomed in the hearts of her people
as they were faced with something they had not experienced in close to
a thousand years. Violence.

Sighing, she turned her eyes away from the screen and looked out at the
city through the crystal wall of the palace. It still looked the same;
it still shone with the same brightness and vitality it had just days
before. There was no ominous gray cloud, black spaceship or mysterious
circus tent hanging over it, nothing to indicate that any threat existed.
"But how long will it stay that way?" Serenity asked the empty room,
wishing for some answer to come to her.

Endymion entered, shoulders slumped slightly with exhaustion but still
moving with his customary energy. He paused on the threshold, sensing
his wife's thoughts. "I don't know, but so far they seem to be
restricting themselves to psychological targets instead of mass
destruction." He looked at the display, lips tightening. "If you can
call slaughtering over a hundred people to destroy the art festival
celebrating Crystal Tokyo's two thousand and five hundredth anniversary
restraining yourself."

"Mamo-chan, I just can't believe this is happening." Serenity kept her
eyes on the city beyond the glass wall, realizing for the first time how
fragile it all looked. "We can't let this continue; I won't let it continue!"

Endymion's lips tightened. "What do we do?"

Serenity turned to look at him, her mouth open to reply, but no words came;
she could only look at him. She wanted to say that they'd stop the attacker,
keep him or her from attacking, but how could they? They didn't know who the
enemy was or where he would attack next; his attacks hit randomly and seemed
utterly unpredictable. The only thing that appeared to be constant was the
desire to cause a tremendous amount of damage and ensure that it would have
a devastating impact on those that survived or saw the aftermath.

"I don't know." Serenity finally said, closing her eyes and shaking her head.

Endymion sighed, gently taking her in his arms. "You still want to go?"

Serenity looked up at him, her eyes firm. "It's not a question of wanting to,
Mamo-chan; I have to. Those are my people out there, this is my city. I will not
just sit here in my crystal cage and watch it fall apart."

Endymion's lips tightened, but he nodded. "All right. When do we leave?"

Serenity saw his expression and knew he wished she would just stay in the
safety of the Palace, but she couldn't; in the end, he knew that as well.
"We go now. I want to get this over and done with as quickly as possibly."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The King and Queen appeared in one of the handfuls of cleared spaces within
the smoking rubble. Around them, guardsmen slowly worked their way through
the wreckage in an attempt to reach the few wounded who had been trapped, yet
miraculously survived. Nearby, Venus was directing a pair of guards who were
pushing at a particularly stubborn piece of stone. Venus' voice was high and
impatient, tinged with fear. "There's someone alive under there!"

Uranus looked up from the scanner she held in her hand upon hearing Venus'
voice, glancing over at the straining guards. With a groan of frustration
she placed the small computer atop the remains of a nearby wall and picked her
way through the fallen rubble to see if she could help. She knelt down beside
the pile, seeing a face covered in dirt and blood; an expression of pain
fixed upon it. With a sigh, she reached out and felt for a pulse on the man's
neck. Nothing. "He's dead, leave him for later." Uranus said, not hiding the
disgust in her voice or in her eyes as she looked up at Venus.

Venus shook her head. "No, past him!"

Uranus got to her feet, walking around the pile of stones and glass that had
once been a small flower shop and shook her head. "There's no way anyone
survived that," Uranus said flatly.

Venus let out a hiss of annoyance and moved next to Uranus, pointing down to
where she'd seen the movement and heard cries for help.

Endymion grimaced in sudden apprehension, noting the way the rubble was
beginning to lean. "Careful, ladies!"

Neptune's head snapped up from where she was tending to an injured child at
the sound of creaking boards and scraping stones. "Uranus, look out!" she
cried as the building beginning to collapse with a shuddering crack.

"What in -!" Uranus looked up and saw the building falling, blocks of broken
stone shifting and beginning to tumble free. She grabbed Venus' hand and
pulled her out of the way fractions of a second before the remains of the
structure came crashing down in a screeching heap of metal and concrete.
Venus fell to the ground with a gasp, landing hard on her side with a stab
of pain. Looking back and seeing what had happened, she knew instantly that
there was no chance of there being any survivors.

Endymion's teeth gritted as he eyed the angle of the fallen girders. Someone
had positioned those rocks so that a rock slide would be inevitable.

"No! Gods..." Venus whispered, shaking her head as she stood. "I failed. I
couldn't help he-" Her words were cut off with a snap by Uranus' hand across
her face.

"There was nobody alive in there! That's the sad truth, and the sooner you
learn to accept it, the sooner we can try to help those people that are
actually still alive!" Uranus's words were harsh, but there was no apology
for them in her eyes.

Endymion's voice crackled with command as he moved between the two women
with a single quick step. "Enough." He looked from one to the other, voice
firm. "Apportioning blame will get us nowhere. There's work to be done and
no time in which to fight over this."

Uranus nodded, turning away from Venus, adding under her breath. "Who's
fighting? I'm just trying to introduce her to reality."

Serenity winced at the look of pain on her friend's face, and her eyes
regarded Uranus sadly, knowing that what she said was the truth, even if
accepting it was difficult. She moved to say something when she heard low
moans coming from just behind her. Whirling around her eyes fell upon the
wreckage of another small shop. Her eyes carefully scanned the debris, her
heart pounding in her chest. She was sure she'd heard something, but she
didn't want to say anything until she was sure. She was about to turn away
and give up when she saw fingers sticking out from between two large slabs
of rock, moving, trying to get someone's attention.

"Oh my gods! There's someone alive over here!" Serenity's voice rose as she
moved to the fallen building, her eyes focused on the hand. "We're coming,
just hang on."

Endymion moved fast, eyes tracking past Serenity to the hand. The motions
came swift and sure, without hesitation. In an instant he was between her
and the hand, kneeling down to push the rubble carefully aside. "Step back,
love. This pile may not be stable."

The Queen's eyes narrowed in an instant of annoyance, but then it was
overtaken by her desire to make sure that whoever it was that was trapped
made it out alive. She felt Uranus brush past her, and Venus standing beside
her motionless, just watching as the King and the guards made short work of
the stone slabs.

From beneath them rose an elderly woman, her tired face covered in dirt and
streaked with blood. The men helped her out, laying her carefully on a blanket
that Neptune had brought over the moment she'd heard Serenity's words. A sigh
of relief escaped the queen's lips when she saw that the woman seemed mostly
intact, save for some bruises and cuts.

"How do you feel?" Neptune asked, carefully taking the old woman's wrist and
checking her pulse.

"Like a building just fell on me." the old woman sneered, dull brown eyes
narrowing at the aqua-haired Senshi. "How do you think I feel?" Neptune
winced inside at the old woman's bitterness, but she smiled gently at her.
"Well, aside from some cuts and bruises you do appear to have survived, ma'am."

"Thanks for the newsflash, deary." The old woman pulled her wrist from
Neptune's grasp and began to stand on shaky feet.

"Maybe you shouldn't stand just yet-" Venus interjected, moving from beside
Serenity, her hands gently grabbing the woman's arms in an attempt to steady her.

"What's the matter? Afraid I might collapse on you? Afraid that your latest
survivor might keel over, leaving you short one trophy?" The muddy brown eyes
focused on shocked blue ones, smiling broadly when Venus winced.

"Trophy? What are you talking about? I just want to make sure you're okay."
Venus said, her voice shaking.

"Yes, of course that's all you want," the old woman rolled her eyes at the
blonde, easily escaping the Senshi's loosened hold on her.

"Ma'am I assure you that we all have your safety in mind." Serenity spoke up
as she moved in front of the woman, crystal blue eyes soft and gentle as always.

"Ah, so even the Queen has brought herself down here. What's the matter? Afraid
your guards aren't competent enough to handle the clean up?" The malice in the
woman's voice took Serenity by surprise, the coldness in her eyes frightening
the Queen.

"How dare you-!" Uranus moved to get between the Queen and the woman, but
Serenity held up a hand, stopping her.

"I am here because I'm concerned. I'm here because I want to make sure this
doesn't happen again." Serenity's voice was calm.

"And just what steps are you taking to ensure that? Have you found the monster
responsible for this? Have you taken measures to make sure he can't do this
again?" The old woman stepped closer to the Queen, a gnarled finger pointed
at her in accusation.

"We're handling that." Serenity answered, a knot forming in her stomach.

"Handling it?" The old woman laughed, a dry raspy sound. "In other words you
haven't got anything! You're lost, totally in the dark and praying that something
will reveal itself to you!"

"Your Majesty, I beg you, let me have the guards take this old woman away.
She's obviously not mentally sound." Uranus growled, hazel eyes pleading
with the Queen.

"Yes! Let them take me away! Let them silence me, because heaven forbid I
should speak the truth, and god help us if our almighty Queen not be able
to handle it." The woman's words were directed at the Senshi, but her gaze
never wavered from the Queen's.

"No one will be silenced," Serenity said simply, her words barely more than
a whisper. Her eyes searched the woman's, trying to find where this anger
was coming from, why there was so much malice directed toward her when she
was trying to do everything in her power to help.

The old woman moved closer to Serenity, a wrinkled hand grasping the Queen's
thin wrist and pulling her down so that her ear was beside the woman's mouth.
"Because you deserve it, Serenity. You deserve every last ounce of it because
you're nothing more than a coward with a crown and a pretty hunk of glass, not
a queen."

Serenity pulled back, wrenching her hand away as if the fingers that held it
had just burned her. She backed away a step, not stopping the guards as they
grabbed the old woman's arms and guided her away from the Queen toward the
makeshift hospital so her wounds could be tended to.

"Serenity?" Venus whispered, placing her hand on the friend's shoulder, seeing
the hurt in the woman's eyes.

"I-I'm fine." she replied, shaking her head and turning away from the group.
"I'm fine." A tear fell from Serenity's eye as she wondered what the woman
saw within her that lead her to believe she was a coward, and if perhaps
she was right.

Some time later, an old woman with eyes the color of dirt slowly walked
through the now totally deserted plaza, looking over the damage that the
attackers had caused. She stopped here and there to kick at a loose pieces
of stone, looking for anything worth taking or salvaging. As she turned a
corner she happened upon a small child, his sandy hair matted with blood,
small body shaking with sobs where he crouched over the body of a woman.
For a moment she just stood there watching him, then his eyes turned to
her, a spark of hope flashing in the green orbs.

"Please, help me. I-I need someone to help me," he sobbed, jumping to his
feet and running over to her to tugging on the tattered skirt of her dress.
"I-I can't wake her up, and all the guards are g-g-gone, and ... and...."

Brown eyes looked down at the child, as expressive as a twin pair of stones.
Slowly her hand raised from her side and rested on the boy's head, a small
smile playing at the corners of her mouth. As the boy looked up he gasped as
brown eyes suddenly flared golden, changing to a deep amber color. His mouth
opened in surprise, but any words that were on his tongue died a moment later.

There was the sound of a body hitting the ground, and the smile on the old
woman's lips blossomed into a self-satisfied grin. Slowly she stepped over
the twitching body of the boy, blood seeping slowly from his ears.

A laugh rose from the old woman's throat, a sound totally different from the
raspy cackle she'd tormented the Queen with. This was the deep, throaty laugh
of a woman, a young woman. Her eyes were no longer dull and brown, but vivid,
sparkling with undisguised pleasure.

"Things are turning out rather well." She laughed, taking one final look at
the wonderful piece of work around her, and then she was gone in a flash of
silver light.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The soft sound of rustling skirts filled the darkened hallway, amber eyes
piercing the darkness with certainty. A claw-like hand reached up and
brushed a strand of dull gray hair off of a wrinkled forehead, thin lips
fixed in a self-satisfied smile as she came to her destination. The pair
of large, ebony doors parted before her, opening into a void as dark
as midnight silk, lit only by a handful of glowing spheres of light which
drifted dimly about the entrance and led toward the obsidian throne that stood
in the heart of the darkness. On the throne a form sat in silence, a blot
of darkness somehow blacker than the eternal night that surrounded it. Red
eyes slid open to look down from the throne at the old woman as she entered.
The voice that echoed through the room was soft but laced with power. "Welcome.
What news?"

Amber eyes narrowed slightly at the cool reception. "Some rather interesting
developments, if I may say so." The old woman smiled secretively, her eyes
meeting the glowing red.

The shadow on the throne shifted. "I am most interested in your report. But
first, my dear, would you like to return to your usual form?"

"What's wrong? Doesn't my current look please you, my Lord?" Thin lips turned
into a mocking smile, amber eyes focusing on the shadows above.

"Perhaps." Red eyes narrowed. "But I doubt my Lady would wish to remain bound
in that form permanently."

Thin gray eyebrows rose in defiance. "I am bound to nothing, my Lord." With
that a gnarled hand reached into an unseen pocket, extracting a black amulet
dangling from a fine sliver chain. Amber eyes closed as she slid the pendant
over her head, allowing it to fall softly against her skin. Her head bowed as
black energy crackled around her, wrapping around her body. There was a flash
of silver light, and then amber eyes opened once more and flashed with anger.

"What the hell-!" She looked down at herself, seeing she was still clothed in
the matronly dress, her body still old and hunched. Her eyes darted up to his,
meeting his in a fiery glare. "I am not amused."

The voice remained soft, but there was a slight edge of mockery in it now. "As
I was saying? Unless you care to be trapped in that form."

"I don't, Lord. But if you care to know what I observed while down on that
miserable little planet, then I suggest we stop playing games!" Her eyes
challenged the figure on the throne, her voice dripping with displeasure.

The shadow shifted, red eyes narrowing. "Indeed." A flicker of red light
illuminated the wave of a gloved hand. "Very well. Transform if you wish."

A knot formed in her stomach, hearing in his tone that she'd perhaps pushed
a bit too far. Without another word she once again closed her eyes, allowing
the black energy to wash over her, rubbing out the effects of her disguise.
When the light dissipated, a vibrant young woman replaced the hunched old hag,
honey colored hair cascading in golden curls down her back, to just above her
knees. Amber eyes sparkled with youthful vitality, but held wisdom beyond the
twenty some years her body portrayed.

"This is much better," she said, her hands smoothing the soft fabric of her
dress over the gentle curve of her hips, ruby lips turning up in an enticing
smile. "Thank you, my Lord."

The red eyes fastened on hers, glittering coldly. "Now. Report."

The woman bit back the snide remark that played on her tongue, knowing better
than to push the limits any further. 'Damn him and his one track mind,' she
thought bitterly, the smile sliding from her lips.

"Our plans are working out perfectly. The citizens are scared, not knowing
how to handle the attacks," Golden eyes shimmered with dark amusement. "And
the royal guards aren't fairing much better in trying to figure out how to
handle the aftermath."

"Excellent. You see? A one track mind has its uses." Red eyes regarded her
with cool interest. "What of Serenity?"

Another biting remark screamed to be released, but she swallowed it, careful
to bury it deep within the recesses of her mind where even he could not reach.
With a sigh she looked at the man who ruled here, a mischievous smile creeping
onto her lips.

"Serenity is a coward, a weakling; she nearly fell apart at the mention of a
few innocent facts about the latest attack and the current state of her
precious city." Amber eyes shimmered with dark pleasure.

The shadow laughed, red eyes focusing on her. "Knowing you, my dear, your
comments were anything but innocent."

She smiled. "Perhaps not, but is it my fault this so-called monarch cannot
handle the reality of the current situation?" A deep laugh rose from her throat,
golden eyes fixing on his. "The poor thing was actually crying as I was
taken away. I could hear it in her voice." The woman paused for a moment.
"But what I heard is not as important as what I saw in her mind."

The shadows swirled, the voice dry. "Indeed."

The smile quickly slid from the woman's ruby lips, her eyes narrowing at
her shadowy watcher. Sighing, she resigned herself to accepting that this
would not go in the direction she wanted. Best to humor him before his
patience wore too thin.

"Put simply, the little twit is scared. She's torn, trying her best to
salvage the facade of peace that's she's constructed over her fair city.
On the one hand she wants to protect them from danger that seems to have
seeped into their midst, while at the same time wanting to keep things the
way they were, with no indications that things are less than perfect."
Thinking back to the look on the Queen's face, a smiled once again played
on the woman's lips. "I am going to enjoy watching the queen and her crystal
city fall apart at the seams."

The shadow rose slowly, the light growing around it just enough to
illuminate the flowing ebony robes that shrouded him and the golden
circlet that rested just above those shimmering red eyes. "Perhaps,
but underestimating this woman is a mistake I will not make. She has
bested too many enemies to be without courage or resources. She is off
balance now, and we will do well to keep her that way, but complacency is
not acceptable. I have not lived this long by considering my opponents less
capable than they are, or allowing others to do so. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal clear, my Lord." Amber eyes narrowed, mouth turning down in a frown
as a hundred biting remarks poised ready on her tongue, but looking up at him
she thought better of it. She could get away with a lot, but angering him was
not a good idea under any circumstances. "I didn't mean to imply that we should
let our guard down. I was simply sharing what I observed of her, nothing more
than that."

The man nodded, the glowing red eyes the only thing visible within the hood as
he stepped down from the throne's dais and looked down at her. Almost as an
afterthought, a gloved hand rose and stroked her cheek. The voice, when it spoke
again, had lost some of its edge. "Good. By the way, my love, it's good to see
you." Red eyes looked into amber, a gaze many would have flinched from. "Welcome
home."

The woman known as Siren smiled gently at him, her gaze meeting his without fear
or question. "Thank you, my Lord." She leaned in slightly, her eyes softening and
the smile returning to her lips. "I'm glad to be back. That planet does nothing
for me, although it does hold some beautiful treasures."

The red eyes glittered with amusement. "Indeed. I'll have to see about obtaining
some of them for you." With the ease of long familiarity, dark gloved hands slid
around her waist and pulled her gently into the folds of the dark, billowing robes.

Siren sighed happily as he embraced her, golden eyes sparkling. "I think I'd
like that very much, my Lord."

Soft laughter rippled over her, filled with dark promise. "Good."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The atmosphere of the briefing room was tense, filled with frustration and
questions best left unasked at the moment. The Senshi seated around the table
sat in near silence, watching the view screen at the head of the room. The
expressions on the faces of those gathered in the room ranged from utter disgust
to horrified shock.

As the images faded and the lights rose, bathing stressed faces in soft light,
all eyes turned expectantly toward Endymion for further details and instructions.
Rei noted with sadness the pained expression on his wife's face where she sat
beside him, her fingers playing idly with a pen.

Endymion leaned back in his chair, looking over the group as he gathered
himself to speak. "What you saw is just a sample." Reaching out, the King
lightly tapped the sheaf of reports in front of him. "In the past week,
we've had more crimes reported than even before the founding of Crystal
Tokyo. Murder. Arson. Theft. Fraud."

The King paused, and a voice spoke from the other end of the table, quiet
and calm. "You forgot rape, sire."

Ami scowled slightly at Mark's addition to the King's list of crimes,
remembering all too well the battered young woman she'd seen brought
into the palace infirmary just this morning; the make-shift hospitals
outside the palace were quickly overflowing with people seeking both
medical attention and shelter.

"Not to point out the obvious, but what are we supposed to do to stop this?"
Uranus asked, her tone filled with frustration. "The attacks, the bombings,
those we can find the cause of, but these are simple crimes! These are the
type of things the police are supposed to handle, not Senshi."

Rod cleared his throat gently. "Uranus, when was the last time you saw a
policeman?"

"That's not what I meant!" Uranus snapped, hazel eyes fixing on Rod. "What
I meant was that this is not something that we, as Senshi, are used to and
possibly even equipped to handle. When was the last time you saw one of us
fight against something that wasn't reeking with negative energy and bent
on destroying the world?"

Rod flinched, taken aback, but Mark's voice softly broke into the
confrontation. "Perhaps that has been your mistake, Lady Uranus."

"Our mistake-!"

"Haruka, stop." Neptune glared at the sandy haired woman whose words
immediately died on her tongue.

"Mark, what you don't seem to understand is we have no way to fight against
these type of crimes. Our powers are useless. I mean we can't very well go
and use them against humans; they'd die." Jupiter explained softly, emerald
eyes regarding the man with quiet patience.

Mark's eyes hardened. "I fail to see why you can't."

"Because, as she said, they would die." Rei repeated, shaking her head sadly.

"And if the other choice is allowing such events to continue unhindered?"

"We will not use our powers against humans, no matter what their crimes!"
The Queen's voice was firm, her gaze rising from the table before her. "I
will not allow it."

Mark leaned forward as though about to press the point, then sat back and
smiled grimly. "Very well, your majesty. Then perhaps you'd care to tell
us what you will do about this?"

Pluto's eyes turned to him, hard and warning. 'Watch it, Mark,' she
said in his mind, seeing the anger flashing in Uranus' eyes and the way
a few of the others shifted uncomfortably in their seats.

"Perhaps someone else has some more information for us first, before we
start proposing solutions." Setsuna spoke up, her eyes not leaving Mark's.

Mark's eyes were calm, but his voice in her mind was anything but. 'They
haven't the first clue how to deal with this. They'll cripple themselves
by their own morality, and what good will it do them then?' But he subsided,
leaning back in his chair with a quiet nod. "Very well."

Serenity's eyes regarded Mark, no anger in them, realizing for the first
time since he appeared that he was not like the rest of them, that he worked
with a different purpose and with different standards. She smiled weakly at
him, meeting his eyes. "I can understand your frustration, Mark. You're not
accustomed to how we deal with the problems we're presented with. After all,
you have been in a self-proclaimed isolation for nearly a millennia."

Serenity took a breath, her eyes hardening slightly, her tone taking on the
edge of a leader who will be heard. "I will urge you not to condemn us for
our reactions or our solutions. It is clear, to me at least, that we do not
all work under the same umbrella of morals and ethics, but we will have to
find a way to make our two different trains of thought, if not coincide, at
least able to work together. Without that unity, a unity upon which the very
heart of this group is based, we will truly have nothing."

The Queen felt all eyes in the room on her, all of them waiting for her to
continue, to lead them. Taking a deep breath she began. "One of our biggest
problems with the new threat is that it seems to be extremely widespread as
well as extremely varied, presenting us with several dilemmas with which we
must deal. Therefore, we will divide our forces to concentrate on smaller
portions of the problem, and in doing so they will become easier to handle
and, with any luck, easier to control."

"First and foremost is returning the sense of security that's been so rudely
ripped away from the city. In order to do that, we will have to retrain,
regroup and reassign the royal guards. They will once again return to patrolling
and protecting the streets of Crystal Tokyo as they did when the Black Moon
attacked nearly a millennia ago." Serenity's eyes met Jupiter's, Uranus', Rod's
and Nathan's. "You four will be in charge of reorganizing and retraining the
guard so that they will be prepared to handle the new threats, so that they
will be able to stop and detain the citizens guilty of committing crimes. I
will leave it up to your judgment whom will take on what tasks, but I urge
you do so wisely. Those of you that are strongest with weapons and combat
teach the guards, those of you that are better suited for organizing them,
for putting their services to the most efficient use focus on that. I know
that the King will make himself available for aid as you need it."

Serenity turned her gaze toward Rei, blue meeting violet. "Rei, you, Michiru,
Alexis and Ami will be in charge of making sure that Crystal Tokyo's defenses
and surveillance systems are far beyond our standard protocol. I don't want us
to be arriving on the scene after the crime has already occurred; I want us
there as it starts. I put my faith into the hands of our resident geniuses
and inventors to come up with state of the art equipment so that we will once
again be able to get this city under control. Rei and Michiru, I want the two
of you to assist, but your task is more far reaching. I want you two to be on
constant alert, using the innate powers you both possess to track those enemies
which technology cannot. I urge you to seek out the services of the other seers
within the walls of Crystal Tokyo as well as beyond if need be. I do not want
anything that is not human and that has an ounce of negative energy flowing
through it allowed with in the city without our full knowledge.

"Ami, while I want you and your husband to work on the surveillance systems,
I also have another task for you. I need you on top of organizing our medical
staff to handle the sudden surge of injuries they are facing. You are a superb
physician, and in a time like this your services needed. You have an affinity
for organization and getting things done efficiently, and I know you will be
able to accomplish the task before you. I am putting Saturn and the Princess
in your employ, both of them more than capable of helping you handle the
overflow of injured people."

Serenity's eyes moved to the pale Senshi of death and rebirth. "Hotaru,
I know you possess the power to heal physical wounds, and that is part
of the reason I am assigning you to handling the wounded. However, I do
not want you over-using your powers. I am putting the decision of when it
is necessary for you to intervene by anything other than conventional
means up to you and Ami. Only if it is necessary will you heal them, and
even then you will do enough so that traditional means will be able to
finish the job. Other than that I want you and Chibi-Usa to help take
care of and handle the scared and hurt people that have been flooding
our clinics. I know it will not be an easy task, but I trust that you
will be able to handle it."

"Now we are still faced with the task of calming the frayed and torn
nerves of those citizens that are watching the world around them go
completely mad. Most of these people were not alive for the attack
of the Black Moon and have not seen anything like this save for in
textbooks. Because of this, we need to reassure them by more than
just actions that we have everything under control, that their normal
lives will indeed be returned to them. Minako and Sol, I realize this
is a large task to set solely on your shoulders, but in my opinion you
are the two best able to handle it. You are both admired and trusted
among the citizens, and therefore have an advantage when it comes to
calming their fears. I expect you to observe, plan and institute
whatever you feel is necessary to keep our people calm in the midst
of everything that is happening around them. The King and I are at
your disposal for whatever appearances you feel would be helpful in
remedying things."

Serenity was silent for a moment and then she turned her gaze to the
Time Senshi and her lover. "Setsuna, you I have a special task for,
one which will blanket several different areas. I want you to assist
in setting up surveillance as much as you are able, watching is something
at which you've had many millennia of practice. I also want you to help
Minako and Sol in observing the people, once again your watcher skills
coming into play. Finally, you are often times able to see things that
we all miss, things we do not pick up on. I want you to keep your eyes
open and come to me with any suggestions or advice you feel would be
helpful in getting my city back under control."

Serenity paused for a moment, her eyes falling on the black knight whose
gray eyes pierced hers. "Mark, because your talents and specialties are
still something of a mystery to all of us, I ask you to lend your services
where you think they would be most helpful. I will not assign you to any
single task, mainly because I have the feeling that you have much to offer
us and I urge you to do so."

Mark rose with a liquid grace, nodding smoothly to the Queen. "Very well.
A pleasure as always, majesty." With a quick bow he strode swiftly from the
room, leaving the meeting without a glance to either side.

Nathan cast a look after him, leaning over to whisper to Minako softly.
"That is a man in a very bad mood."

"Sets, not to knock your choice in men or anything, but does he ever
lighten up? Is he always this rude?" Haruka asked, raising an eyebrow
in her friend's direction.

"Haruka!" Michiru snapped.

Alexis spoke from his seat, voice quiet. "He does have a point. He's
raised the question of what we do to stop criminals. Will we use lethal
force if necessary? Incarcerate them? These are questions with which we
will have to deal, and soon. Hell, we don't even have a court system
right now."

Rod snorted. "True, but the man has the subtlety of a gut-punch."

"That doesn't give him the right to act this way! He just walked out
of here. It's almost like he could care less if he worked with us or
not!" Makoto replied, shaking her head. "He just ... left."

Rod cocked his head at his soulmate, sudden realization flashing in
his eyes. "Makoto, what did you just say?"

"You heard me. I said he gives off the impression of not caring if
he works alongside us or not. If he's to be part of this court, part
of this team, that cannot be an issue." Makoto's voice was firm.

Endymion spoke up, voice soft. "Perhaps Makoto, you assume more loyalty
is needed than is truly there." The King turned, eyes meeting the Time
Senshi's across the table. "Am I right?"

"Hai, perhaps." Setsuna's eyes moved around the table, wondering how best
to explain her lover to them. "Mark has always been different-"

"You could say that again!" Haruka mumbled, drawing a burning glance from
Neptune.

"He has always been different," Setsuna continued, "from the rest of the
Knights and Senshi. He's a harsh realist; like myself he's seen too many
kingdoms rise and fall at the hand of evil to think that things could ever
be simple or predetermined." Setsuna paused for a moment, as if considering
whether or not to continue. "Also, unlike those of us now gathered in this
room, Mark is not bound by loyalty to the crown; his duty is not to serve
and protect the royal family."

Rod's eyebrows snapped up. "What?"

"What do you mean, Setsuna?" Rei asked, looking questioningly at the Time
Senshi's. "If his loyalty doesn't belong to Serenity, then where does it lie?"

Pluto sighed. "Mark's knighthood, his powers, were bestowed upon him long
before the rise of the Moon Kingdom, before there was a royal family for
him to pledge his loyalties to." Setsuna smiled. "To put it in perspective,
he knew me while I was still mortal, before I was handed the Key to the Gate
which I now guard."

Alexis's eyes widened. "That would make him ... ancient."

Setsuna raised an eyebrow. "And what would that make me?" she laughed, smiling.

"Timeless," Ami quickly answered, smiling slightly toward her husband.
Alexis blinked, hiding a small smile.

Setsuna's smile faded, once again focused on the task at hand. "In that
life we were lovers; we existed for each other and nothing more. Then I was
chosen, taken to the time Gate and introduced to my destiny." Setsuna paused,
sighing. "It wasn't long after that I was hurled headlong into my first battle,
the first test of my worth as the Time Senshi." Setsuna fell silent for a moment,
wondering if she should continue but knowing it was too late to stop. "To put it
simply, I was nearly killed. My skills were not what they needed to be to face a
monster of near god-like proportions. Somehow, to this day I'm not sure how, Mark
managed to get to me at the Time Gate and threw himself into the fight. He saved me.
In doing so, he lost his life.

"As I mourned over his death, and began to realize just what the title Eternal meant,
my creator, my father Chronos, came to me. I have a far reaching memory, but even I
cannot remember exactly what happened in those few moments while the god who came
with Chronos worked his magic on my lover. All I know is that when it was over, Mark
stood as you see him today. As we sat there in each other's arms, both shaken and
not quite sure what was going on, Pluto explained the method behind his madness.
Since Mark was so willing to sacrifice his life for me, willing to give up the
precious years he would walk as a mortal on Earth to save me, one who would live
until the end of time, he would make the perfect protector." Setsuna bit her lip.
"Mark's purpose, his sole purpose, the thing he was brought back to life for, is
me. Everything else is merely something he chooses to do to fill his time. He was
part of the Silver Millennium, the Moon Court, because I was. He helped to defend
the Moon because I fought with my every breath to protect it. He died at the Time
Gate because I would have given my life to keep it safe. He's here because I am,
and there's nothing more to it."

Silence fell around the table, eyes looking from one to another without finding
anything to say. Finally it was Endymion who broke the silence. "But he is
willing to help us now."

"He's never been unwilling, Majesty. He's just never cared much either way,"
Setsuna replied with near brutal honestly. "He will do it because he knows
that I will not allow this city to crumble; he will do it because he knows
that I have strong ties to the people in this room. He will do it because
he knows that I must keep the Time Stream secure, the future safe, and that
means the continuation of Crystal Tokyo as we know it."

"Setsuna, I think I speak for many people in here when I say it has been
apparent from the start that Mark works under a different set of morals,
and now motivations, than the rest of us here," Serenity's voice was soft,
her eyes regarding the green-haired woman. "However, we will work around
that, and I trust you enough to believe that when you say he will assist
us he will. I will say right now that we may not always like his methods,
or appreciate the ways in which he tries, but we will give him the
opportunity." Serenity smiled. "After all, if you trust him with your
life, then I am more than willing to trust him with protecting Crystal
Tokyo and the lives of those I love."

A heavy silence fell over the room, no one quite sure what to say. Setsuna
smiled, rising from her seat in a fluid movement oddly reminiscent of her
husband's silent grace. "I thank you for your trust, Majesty, and I hope that
the rest of you deem me worthy of your praise, because if not the loss will
be greater than you could imagine." Setsuna nodded and exited the room,
leaving behind a room of stunned faces much as her lover had.

"Of course we trust you, Puu," Chibi-Usa whispered, watching her friend leave.

"Hai, we do." Serenity confirmed, smiling at the Princess. The Queen's eyes
lingered on her daughter for a moment and then turned back to the awaiting
Senshi and Knights. "Now, if the King doesn't have anything more to add, I
suggest you go attend to the tasks I've presented you with so that we will
have things under control before they get any further out of hand."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Mark took the stairs down from the conference room three at a time, teeth
clenched in silent frustration. They just didn't see it. They couldn't
understand that the illusion they'd constructed was coming apart around
them and that there was nothing they could do to stop it, not any more
than they could stop the sun from rising.

Mark hit the bottom of the stairs at a brisk trot, heading out towards
the central courtyard. He turned the corner and found himself walking
into a small crowd of guardsmen that filled the plaza. The men turned
to look at him, noting the direction from which he'd come and his dress.
One of them grinned slightly. "So, what'd they tell you about the assembly?
Some new rebuilding project?"

Mark turned, eyes icy with restrained anger. "You haven't the first clue
about what you're going to be up against."

The big guardsman snorted, tapped the spear in his hand. "I'm a Lieutenant
in the Royal Guard. There's nothing we can't handle."

Mark's lips pulled back in a cold smile, temper slipping. "You couldn't
even handle me, fool, much less what you'll come up against."

The guardsman growled, voice hard. "Challenge!"

Setsuna had left the meeting with the sole purpose of tracking down her
husband and talking to him; she had sensed his frustration when he'd left
so abruptly and she didn't want to leave him like that for long. Rounding
the corner, magenta eyes scanning the yard she heard a low voice say
something. Stopping for a moment, she listened as things in the courtyard
grew steadily worse.

Mark's glaive flashed up, moving to guard him as his eyes sparked. Perhaps
a lesson was in order. "Acceptance."

"Shimatta!" Setsuna whispered, immediately recognizing Mark's harsh tone.
Moving closer, concealed by a high shrub, Setsuna watched as the men faced
off.

The guardsmen moved back around them, forming the traditional dueling circle
around the two men. Mark moved in a slow circle, watching the other man shift
and bring his spear up to guard. "Tell me about your family, guardsman. I want
to know who to send the doctor's bill to."

The guard snarled, then lunged forward with his spear in a brutal downward
swipe aimed to take Mark off his feet. Mark caught the guard's spear point
between his glaive blades, then slammed him in the face with the heel of his
hand. The guard staggered back, loosing his grip on the spear as he clutched
his now bleeding nose. Mark smiled grimly, sticking his glaive into the earth
as he advanced on the guardsman. The man went for the dagger at his side, and
Mark spun around in a roundhouse kick that sent the weapon flying. "Oh, I forgot
to mention. In some places, people fight with their feet too."

The man came up swinging, lunging at Mark with a devastating uppercut that hit
exactly nothing as Mark ducked in and hit him in the stomach with a series of
punches that folded him over like a puppet with its strings cut. "Hands, feet,
rocks, bottles, sheer damned will." He gave the guardsman a fraction of a second
to recover, then caught him in the side with a snap-kick that staggered the other
man. "You see, they're warriors. You? You're just a glorified security guard."

Mark stepped back from another combination of blows, leaving the other man
reeling. "I could be generous and knock you out with a real punch. Let you
brag to your drinking buddies about it. But, I'm not in a giving mood." With
a single swift motion, he backhanded the other man across the face. The
guardsman staggered backward, and then slowly toppled to the ground as his
eyes rolled up into his head. Mark snorted, pulling his glaive up and brushing
it off before stalking from the circle of stunned guards.

Setsuna watched for a moment as the guards first watched slack-jawed as Mark
walked away and then moved to their fallen comrade's side. Taking a second to
make sure the guard was indeed still alive and breathing Setsuna then blinked
out of existence, reappearing a moment later several feet in front of Mark.

Mark's lips pulled back in a slight smile. "Hello, love."

Her eyes met his from where she leaned against the trunk of a great oak.
"Hello. Keeping busy, I see?" Setsuna nodded in the direction of the guards.

Mark shrugged. "The guard needed a lesson in his own limitations."

"So that's what the point of that little exercise was," Setsuna raised an
eyebrow, her smile widening. "Did you have to be so ... harsh? Those men
aren't used to your form of constructive criticism or your teaching methods."

Mark shrugged. "He's not likely to forget anytime soon, now is he?"

Setsuna sighed, shaking her head. "True, perhaps, but instilling fear into
the guards' minds is not what Serenity had in mind when she asked for your
assistance."

Mark's lips twisted. "The guards need to have some fear instilled in them.
They're soft, convinced they can take anything and anyone. That attitude
will get them slaughtered against a real enemy." Meeting her eyes, Mark
pointed back to the man on the ground. "I could have killed him easily at
any time in that exchange. He needs to learn to respect the enemy or he'll
guarantee his own death and the deaths of those depending on him when he
comes up against someone who isn't interested in leaving him alive to learn.
Besides, I'm not responsible for what Queen Serenity had in mind."

Setsuna looked at him seriously, stepping forward and placing her hand
on his arm. "I'm sorry, dear. I know why you're doing it, and I know you're
right. It's just that these men, no matter how well trained, no matter how
elite, have never had to face true battle. They need to be trained, they
need your guidance; don't alienate them so much so that when it is time
for them to turn to you, they're too scared to do so."

Mark gave her a soft, almost sad smile. "I'm not the one they need to
turn to. Let them go to Nathan or Uranus if they wish. Me? I'm just a
walking lesson in reality."

Setsuna smiled. "You're also a better warrior than both of them put
together and you know it. The Queen did not ask you to assist because
she wanted to give you something to do; she did it because she can sense
your strength. I know working with others is not your strong point,
but I'm asking you not to shut them out because they're not up to par.
Instead, help get them to where they need to be, preferably without
killing them."

Mark gave her a half-smile, raising a hand in mock surrender. "All right,
all right. I get the point, Sets."

Setsuna smiled. "I knew you would, my dear." Setsuna's eyes were drawn
past him and toward the circle of guards, seeing Makoto, Haruka, Rod and
Nathan walking up with worried looks on their faces. "Oh dear." she
whispered, wincing as Haruka's eyes met hers.

Mark's lips curled slightly. "I think I may take my leave. Care to come with me?"

"I'd love to dear, but I've got some damage control to take care of first."
Setsuna said with disappointment, frowning slightly. "I'm going to stay here
and clean up some of this mess." Setsuna's lips curled into a smile. "When
I'm done, however, I'll find you so that you can thank me for my efforts."

Mark gave her a half-smile, nodding slightly. "I'll do my best. Later,
m'love." With a flicker of shadows, he was gone. Setsuna watched Mark
go and then turned back toward the group of guards only to see Haruka
marching toward her. Smiling gently at the blonde, she waited for her
to get closer before speaking.

"Something wrong?" she asked, meeting Haruka's hazel eyes.

"Where'd your coward of a husband go?" the blonde growled, meeting the
Time Senshi's gaze.

"Coward?" Setsuna raised an eyebrow, looking at Haruka with mild
amusement. "Mark is many things, but coward is not one of them."

"What do you call attacking one of our own men just to show his
superior fighting skills?" Haruka pressed, fuming.

"I call it doing what's necessary to show those boys over there that
they're not invincible just because they carry the title of Royal
Guard." Setsuna said, her voice calm but her eyes hard.

"Setsuna, he went beyond that." Haruka said, shaking her head. "He's
obviously not thrilled to be working with any of us."

"Perhaps, but I think it's more that his ways, his methods differ
greatly from yours, Haruka." Setsuna explained. "Your ways, your
methods seemed just as harsh and alien to the Inner Senshi when you
and Neptune first appeared to them."

"Hai, but...."

"But nothing. They felt much the same way about you as you do about
Mark. They didn't know if you could be trusted, but Sailor Moon was
willing to give you a chance. She saw past your talk of missions and
sacrificing the innocent, and saw that you were fighting for the same
thing. She's done the same with Mark, asking him to help where he feels
he can."

"Well you can tell him to stay away from the guards." Haruka mumbled,
turning away from Setsuna's gaze.

"I do that, and you might lose the most valuable asset you have."
Setsuna's tone was slightly annoyed, drawing Haruka's eyes back to
hers. "Give Mark a chance, don't shut him out just because you don't
agree with how he works. He didn't survive alongside me because he
was a fool; he survived because he is perhaps the best warrior we've
ever worked with, and I urge you not to forget that."

"Sets, I'm sorry. He's just-"

"If you won't trust him based on his merits, then trust him because I
am asking you to, as your fellow Senshi, as your friend. I would not
ask you to do anything that would place this city in danger."

Haruka looked at Setsuna nodding slowly. "Okay, Setsuna, you've made
your point. I'll try to see past his arrogant, frustrating and annoying
exterior, but only because I trust you. Not because I trust him."

"Haruka, for your sake I hope that changes," Setsuna said sadly. "I
hope for the sake of this city that you and the others learn to trust
him as I do." With that Setsuna turned and disappeared through a portal,
leaving Haruka to think about her parting words.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ami blew a strand of blue hair out of her face as she worked on stitching
up a boy's forehead. The child was part of the newest group of victims that
had been brought in to the clinic. He was one of the less injured, but she'd
already done all she could for the others.

"Ami-san, did you need any help?" Chibi-Usa asked, peeking around the curtain
of the cubicle.

Ami smiled up at the girl, her blue eyes weary. "That's okay, Princess,
I'm almost done here."

Chibi-Usa nodded quietly, leaving Ami to finish her task. As she made her
way through the hallways of the hospital she couldn't help but shudder.
There were so many people that had been hurt, so many they had tried to
help, and far too many that had died. She had yet to see any of the victims
die, but she could clearly hear the pained cries of their surviving family,
and that chilled her to the bone. She did not like seeing this many people
so horribly hurt.

"Chibi-Usa?" Hotaru smiled when she saw her friend round the corner, but the
smile was short lived when she saw the look on the girl's face. She could
tell this was hard for the girl, but she didn't know what to say to make it
better. 'I just hope there aren't any more attacks too soon We all need some
time to recover.'

The door of the hospital slammed open, a haggard orderly leading in a rush
of stretchers. "New arrivals! Critical injured!"

"Shimatta!" Hotaru whispered as the victims poured through the doors, her
violet eyes turning from the mass of injured people coming in to Chibi-Usa.
Chibi-Usa stood there with a look somewhere between denial and frustration
on her face as she watched the scene pass her by. She made no move to help,
her eyes riveted to the results of the latest attack on her city.

The first man in the door was dying on the stretcher, rent nearly in half by
the blow that had laid his chest open. Behind him came a woman, already dead,
who'd obviously bled to death in transit; the blood was running down her arm
and onto the floor in a steady stream. The next three in the door were all
writhing in pain, severely burned and shuddering uncontrollably from nerve
damage of some kind. The next woman in the door's neck hung at an unnatural
angle, obviously broken. The man who followed was gurgling through a crushed
throat, slowly drowning in his own blood. The medics carrying the next stretcher
began to move around the corner, and the man on it screamed in pure agony as his
shattered collarbone brushed the door. Everyone flinched, but there was no time
to tend to him now.

Ami hurriedly finished off the knot on the boy's stitches and came into the
hallway just in time to see the other doctors begin work on the newest delivery
of patients. She was about to go lend her assistance when she saw Chibi-Usa, her
face ghostly white, as she took in the nightmarish scene before her.

'Gods!' Ami cursed silently, remembering the Queen's orders to keep the Princess
as far away from this type of scene as possible. 'Damn it, this is a hospital and
we're in the middle of a war; how am I supposed to keep her away from this?'

Ami shook her head, knowing that the Queen had the Princess's best interests in
mind. "Chibi-Usa, I need you to go back there and stay with that young boy I was
with. He's had a knock to the head and I want you to make sure he stays conscious."

"But all these people..." Chibi-Usa looked at Ami uncertainly. She knew that the
medical staff would need help trying to save this number of wounded. "I want to
help!"

"Chibi-Usa, I am asking for your help," Ami said softly, her eyes locking onto
the girl's. "I need to go in there and can't stay with that boy. I need you to
watch him for me. Please, Chibi-Usa."

"Hai, I'll go sit with him." Chibi-Usa nodded slowly, her eyes going from Ami
to Hotaru. She felt like she was deserting them when they needed her help, but
Ami seemed so insistent.

"Thank the gods." Ami sighed as the girl went down the hallway.

"Ami?" Hotaru looked at the blue-haired woman questioningly.

"What?" Ami turned to Hotaru, then shook her head. "No time right now, there
are people in there that need our help."

Hotaru nodded, taking one last look as Chibi-Usa disappeared into the cubicle
before going to help the doctors save those that could be salvaged.

Three hours later, one of the doctors sagged against the table and looked up
at Ami from the patient they'd been working on. "She's gone. Vital signs
negative, brain activity flat-lined"

Ami nodded silently at the doctor, taking a moment to note the time of death
on the woman's chart. Raking her fingers through her hair, Ami sighed as she
added the woman's file to the pile of thirty other victims that had not made
it through the latest attack.

"Ami, how badly were we hit?" Hotaru asked, putting her hand on her friend's
shoulder. She'd seen so many victims that she'd lost track of who survived
and who lived.

"One survivor." Ami shook her head. "Only one, out of all those." Ami
motioned toward the gurneys lined up along the far wall, the blood stained
sheets covering the victim's faces. "I want to know what did this!"

Hotaru nodded, gently leading Ami out into the hallway for some air, to get
her away from the death. The two women stood there in silence for a few moments,
then Hotaru spoke.

"Ami, why didn't you allow Chibi-Usa to help? We probably could have used her -"

"Queen's orders, Hotaru-chan," Ami saw the confusion on the girl's face.
"Serenity doesn't want Chibi-Usa dealing with more death and destruction
than is absolutely necessary. She made me promise."

"So I'm here to be baby-sat?" Chibi-Usa's voice caused both women to turn
toward her, their mouths dropping in surprise.

"N-No, Chibi-Usa, that's not what I-" Ami started to protest but she was cut
off by anguished cries coming from the exam room. All three women rushed in,
their eyes falling on the lone person who had somehow survived the brutal attack.

The man was wild eyed and staring, scanning the room as though expecting to
be torn apart at any moment. His shattered arm and shoulder were in their
respective casts, but his multiple broken ribs creaked with his breath.
"Gods, where am I?"

"You're safe." Ami said quietly, moving beside the bed and checking the
man's vital signs carefully. "You're in the hospital right now."

The man's eyes fixed on her, calming a little. "An attack. I was
injured ... how badly?"

Ami frowned, looking seriously at the man, considering how to answer him.
She'd seen the scans and she knew he was slowly bleeding to death internally,
and there was nothing they could do to repair the amount of damage that he had
suffered. She sighed. "Your arm's broken in several places, most of your ribs
have been either broken or completely shattered, and there may be some internal
bleeding."

"But he's going to be okay, right?" Chibi-Usa asked, moving beside Ami and
taking the man's free hand gently in her own.

"We hope so." Ami replied, eyeing the Princess. "We're going to do our best
to make sure you pull through this, sir."

The man looked into her eyes, a faint smile on his face. "I'm dying, aren't
I?" It wasn't really a question.

Ami nodded sadly. "I'm sorry."

Chibi-Usa looked up at the water senshi, her eyes wide in disbelief.
"Can't … can't Hotaru help him? Can't we do anything?"

"I can't, Chibi-Usa." Hotaru said, grabbing her friend's arm and pulling
her away from the bed. "You have to understand that not everyone can be
saved." Hotaru whispered, her eyes focused on the Princess. 'Please forgive
me, Chibi-Usa.'

Ami closed her eyes. "Can you tell us what happened?" she asked, praying
that Hotaru could calm Chibi-Usa down.

The man gave her a sad smile. "If I'm going to die, I might as well give
you that much." He nodded toward the row of broken bodies shrouded in white.
"They deserve it, at least." Taking a deep breath, he leaned back and closed
his eyes.

"I was at the Night Star art gallery. I often go there on my lunch breaks;
it's something to settle your mind after working all morning. I was standing
there looking at paintings when the young woman and her daughter a few feet
away started to argue. I turned to look at them, and that's when it happened.
Space just seemed to tear open next to them, and maybe a dozen creatures came
boiling out of the gap.

"Most of them were small, about waist-height, but with massive jaws and huge
talons. They reminded me of some sort of attack dog. The woman and her daughter
were killed almost at once." The man's voice broke, and he paused for a moment
to gather himself before continuing. "The things literally ripped them to shreds."

"Then he came. A creature about man-height, perhaps a bit taller. Thin and long
limbed, but with this odd carapace sort of thing about him. I used to study
biology, and he reminded me of some of the beetles we used to dissect. He
blasted several of the people nearby with lightning bolts almost immediately;
you could smell their skin charring."

Chibi-Usa gasped, her head shaking, unable to comprehend the horror the man
spoke of; she could only see how horribly it affected him, and it scared her.
She made to move to his side, to offer him some sort of comfort or reassurance,
but Hotaru held her arm firmly and gently shook her head.

The man took a deep breath. "One of the creatures hit me about then; I think
that's when my arm broke. Everything after that is hazy, but I distinctly
remember him picking up art pieces in those clawed fingers of his, taking
or discarding them at a whim. The screaming went on for a long time. He
finally got tired of gloating, and the creatures seemed to gather when he
called them. He said it had been a good trip, and that the next one would
be even more enjoyable, and then they were gone. The wall exploded a few
moments later."

His voice finally began to fail, dropping to a blood-soaked whisper.
"I got hit by a piece of breaking podium early on. I think they assumed
I was dead." A half smile pulled up the corner of his lips. "They were
almost right. I am going to be dead, but now you know and I hope you can
pay them back for us." He looked up into the Princess's eyes, voice seeming
to draw strength from some inner reserve to force out the words. "Promise
that?"

"We'll do our be-" Ami began, trying move between the man and Chibi-Usa,
but she was pushed out of the way.

Chibi-Usa pulled away from Hotaru, moving once again to take the man's
hand. She felt like her heart was being shattered as she looked into his
eyes, eyes that had seen more horror than they deserved. "I promise we
will do everything in our power to make sure these monsters pay."

The man's eyes held hers, but they were empty now. He had died before
she had the chance to speak.

Hotaru's hand went to her mouth when she realized the Princess held the
hand of a dead man, her eyes darting to Ami looking for direction. Ami's
gently took the man's hand from Chibi-Usa's, laying it on his chest. When
she turned to look in the girl's eyes she saw tears shimmering within them,
looking to Ami for answers, for comfort.

"Oh, Chibi-Usa..." Ami whispered, taking the girl in her arms and holding
her tightly.

"We have to find out who's doing this!" Chibi-Usa sobbed, the image of the
man's blank stare burned into her memory. "We have to stop this before any
more die!"

Ami nodded. "We will, I promise." Ami carefully turned the Princess and
began to lead her from the room, planning on paying Makoto and the others
a visit. "We'll get the ball rolling immediately."

Hotaru stood there in the empty exam room for a few moments, her gaze
focused on the body of a man she could have saved. She knew it and Ami
knew it, and she feared with all her heart that Chibi-Usa knew it as
well. She could have healed him enough to stop the bleeding and give
him another chance at life, but the cold reality was she could not waste
the energy on him. She was working with the knowledge that things would
more than likely get worse before they got better, and she needed to have
the strength to heal those that could make a difference, those that could
have an impact on the battle ahead. She couldn't save them all, but gods
did she wish she could have saved this one, if only to save Chibi-Usa the
pain she'd just experienced.

"Sleep well, sir. May you find the light that awaits you," Hotaru whispered,
reaching out and closing the sightless eyes that still stared up at the ceiling.
Then with a small sigh she moved to follow Ami and Chibi-Usa.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Special thanks goes out to all those that have made this possible, including
Soul for doing the first round of edits and helping with our sometimes horrendous
spelling and typing skills, and Liz for doing the final round, making sure everything
fits and correcting the little mistakes we'd never pick up.

Additional thanks to my wonderful beta readers - Lena and Mako the 38th. Your
questions and feedback helped me make this even better. And of course, thanks
to all the readers that have writen and commented on Fallen Stars. You're part
of the reason we do this. ^.~

Fallen Stars has been a year in the making, hopefully it lives up to all expectations.
Feel free to contact us with any praise, comments, moans, groans or suggestions.
Feedback is a good thing. ^_^

Email: fallen_star715@yahoo.com
AIM sn: FallenStar715