Ch.3
Coming Home…
The silent steps through the tunnels made her back arch and her trigger finger itch. Diao Chan had made it more than half way to the main core of the hideout and yet she saw no one. This wasn't right. There should be guards, soldiers, or even Neo-Chaos herself!
She made herself come to a frightful calm as she tried to suppress the anger she felt. She was worried about the two people she left behind. She stopped in midst ride and stretched her neck. She spun around and in a blink of an eye, she was crouched by the nearest wall. Her gun was aimed on the shadow in the upper crevice of the tunnel.
"There you are!"
Diao Chan blinked.
"Jeez! Do you know what we've been through trying to find you!" Aikyo came out of the dark.
Diao Chan's hand didn't relax, as her gun was still honed on to her cousin—maybe it wasn't her cousin. Maybe that's why the tunnels were unprotected. When they were gone, the youja had attacked and killed them all. If that were the case, she'd kill them all before she allowed herself to die.
"Diao Chan…" Tanria slowly emerged, her eyes frowning, "Hey, it's us. Where's the duo?"
"Who are you?" Paranoia streaked Diao Chan's voice and her gun unwavered from the two girls.
"Diao Chan, calm down. It's us."
"How do I know that? Why aren't there any guards? Why wasn't anyone at the green post?!"
"Diao Chan! Everyone's been ordered out to look for you!"
"Me?"
"And the twins! You've all been gone for almost two days!"
Diao Chan's mind raced to register the information. Two days? No. Five maybe eight hours, but not two days.
"That's impossible."
"No it's not. We were sent to look for you after none of you showed up for guard duties and not to mention rations."
"No, you're lying." Diao Chan began to feel angry and more confused.
Aikyo looked at Tanria, her brow crossed in worry. "What's wrong with her?"
"Diao Chan, what can we do to prove that it's… us?"
The daughter of Kongo craned her neck, her unbelieving eyes looking over the two girls.
"When… I was 5-years old, you dared your brother to do something that I hit you for and made you swear never to tell anyone."
Aikyo gave Diao Chan a confused look, which turned thoughtful. Diao Chan knew this would be hard; five was a long, long time for any of them. A bright smile suddenly crossed the oldest Mouri child's lips.
"I dared Shinji to kiss you!" Aikyo giggled, "He was only 3 at the time."
Diao Chan smiled.
****
Shinji and Diao Chan were being escorted quickly to the meeting room since their injuries were less sever and the Sensei's wanted news now. A few other of their cousins followed silently. Half of them were mad for not being asked to go and the other half were mad because they had to go.
In both Shinji and Diao Chan's minds, they wondered who would be the worst one to face: Korin would most likely give them a cold expression of deep disapproval but no more. Rekka and Tenku would give similar looks and added beratement. But… Suiko and Kongo, their fathers—they would be the worse. Rajura-san would be there along with Anubisu-san but they would say very little as always. Of course Rajura-san had never been the same since he had gone blind and was now using one of Tenku's invention's to distinguish heat patterns at least and for the benefit of all had been restricted to last line defense.
Diao Chan gripped the small camera tightly, giving her a renewed sense of self-justice. What they did was right and the pictures would prove it.
The door gave way to a simple snapping hiss and they entered. The cool steel interior shined dully with the low artificial lighting. The seven men sat around the table silent.
"Everyone leave except for Diao Chan and Shinji," Rekka said from his chair at the head of the table.
There were a few hesitations but the rest complied and left without a grumble or a whisper.
Shinji cleared his throat and began to talk. "We…"
"I don't think you're in a position to speak," Suiko looked up from his hands at his son. "What you three did was irresponsible, threatening, and a danger."
"Suiko if you'd only listen to what we found!" Diao Chan growled out.
"I would be quiet young lady," Kong informed his daughter from his own seat, though he did not look at her. Diao Chan could read the facial expression on her father's face. She felt suddenly hurt because of that expression.
"No dammit! You will listen to me!"
Her fist came down at the end of the table, cracking the surface but not enough to break it. "You don't know what we saw or what we found! You're too damn busy thinking that we're children but we're not! What we did may have been dangerous but it was no less dangerous than what each of you have been through!"
"She's right," Shinji stepped in and stood closer beside her. "Besides I first mentioned the idea to Diao Chan. The reason Tan died was for this information. At least listen to us."
Diao Chan could feel Shinji trying to will tranquillity and reason into her mind but she would have none of it. She was tired, wet, bloody, upset, scared, and down right pissed. She knew she could work through tired, wet, and bloody and she would never admit to being scared. Yet she wouldn't hide her anger for the stupid way they were being treated.
"You've been gone for almost two days," Korin spoke first and evenly. "I hope what you say you have was worth the concern you put most of us through."
"It is," Diao Chan snapped and slapped her camera on top of the table. "I took pictures. It's a machine of some kind and they used it and it was guarded heavily and one of Neo-chaos's flunkies was there also."
The ending remark made all the men give either a raised eyebrow, chin, or stare.
"I'll look at the pictures," Tenku said standing up from the table and retrieving the camera.
Rekka rose from his seat and fixed his blue eyes at the two teenagers. "Till he can pick through what you took pictures of," he began, "I want each of you to tell us why you went where you went, where you went, what you saw, and what happened." Rekka paused before adding, "Step-by- step."
***
Drained and exhausted, Diao Chan collapsed on her bed. The last 4- hour interrogation was pointless and boring as hell. The last 2-hours she felt like she was repeating herself over and over again and at the same time defending what she did. The thing that bothered her the most was everyone's intent on convincing them that they had been gone for almost two days. She looked at her chronometer. It had stopped.
With an impatient growl she tore the thing off and threw it onto her small nightstand. As her eyes closed she realized she was sleeping on new bedding material. The bed was softer and she always insisted on being the last to accept any trivial things. Well that is only after everyone else had been treated to first.
"Diao Chan?"
She heard a small voice call out. She blinked and sat up in her bed. She gazed at the silhouette in the doorway.
"Rei Tsun." She frowned. "What is it?"
The younger boy slowly came into the room. "Did I disturb you?"
"Hmm, make it quick and you won't be."
He smiled and went over to her with something behind his back, "Well… tomorrow is your birthday…"
It is? She thought for a moment before looking back up at her brother. "Yeah, guess it is."
"I figured you may want a gift after having such a hard time. Besides everyone says that you took on Neo-Chaos yourself and came back! I'm so proud to say you're my sister!"
"Rei…" Daio shook her head. "I didn't take Neo-Chaos on by myself." She knew the words would do very little. Small hope and rumors ran through the colonies faster than the poison in the ground. And all three of her little siblings never listened much to her if someone was spreading a rumor about how great someone was.
In an odd sense, she thought, it's like they're trying to find heroes. She sighed. Some hero I am.
"Anyway," he said with a smile, "here." From his hands came forth a small box. She took it slowly and admired it.
"Where did…did you find the paper at?" she asked, amazed at the shiny appearance of the covering. She hadn't seen anything like it since she was very young. Shinning boxes under a large green tree. She suddenly felt sad inward...
"Momma! Can I open a present?" a child cried in shadows from red and green lights.
"Midori, Christmas is only two days away!"
"Aww, Momma!"
"Love, it's only two days. Let her open one."
"Please!"
"Oh fine, but only one!"
"Yay!"
"She reminds me so much of you, my houseki." A large hand surrounded the woman's waist and pulled her near. He smiled at her as he felt the small kick from her belly.
"It's a Usagi (Sailormoon) doll!" the child cried.
"You like it?"
"Oh it's the best, Momma! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" The small girl ran to the larger woman and buried her face into the long brown hair.
"You're welcome my little rock."
"Sis? Hey sis?"
Daio Chan looked up and brushed a stray tear away as she begun to open the box, "I'm going as fast as I can."
Rei Tsun scratched his head and sat down on the ground. "What's the hurry?" he inquired.
"Nothing. Just have to go see Rekka and the others soon so..." Her sentence trailed off as she found herself staring at an old ragged doll with dirty blonde hair, painted blue eyes, and wearing a sailor fuku. It was her Sailormoon doll from so long ago! It was amazing how 500-years did little to damage this precious childhood toy in which she thought was lost so long ago.
"Rei," she whispered as the tears fell down her cheeks, "how in the world...?"
The boy simply beamed. "Happy Birthday, Diao Chan."
The now 19-year old girl made her way over to her little brother and embraced him, careful not to crush him with her super strength. She then kissed his forehead and smiled happily at her doll. Memories of her mother and her father, before she became a big sister, appeared in brief, happy images.
"Thank you, Rei Tsun," she said, "thank you."
***
"Mother?"
"Sanae, you're home," a horse yet happy voice came from the bed.
The small girl went to her mother's side and took the pale hand. "Yes, we're all fine. Just cuts and bruises but we're here, safe and sound."
Sanae smiled as she felt the old hand reach for the side of her face. "You look well."
"I look horrible."
Yuri smiled at her eldest daughter. "Thank you, though. I'm so glad you're okay. I had a horrible dream."
"It's ok," she continued, "Like I said all cuts and bruises we're all home. They're looking through what we brought back now. You'll see we'll stop these youja from whatever they're planning and then we can focus on curing you."
"What did you see?"
Sanae gave her mother an odd face and was glad the older woman was blind. Her mother very rarely wanted to know what they did or what they saw because it always saddens her.
"A machine… it was huge and it looks like they tried it out. It could be a weapon or who knows…but we caught it in time I hope so we can stop them."
"Take me to see the Samurai Troopers."
"What?"
Sanae looked at her mother in astonishment. "But you're too weak! I wont move you!"
"Sanae I need to talk to them. This is important. I feel something coming, something that will snuff out the last bit of hope we have in this world. We can't loose that, we just can't afford to. It's all we have left."
***
Tenku no Touma studied each slide as it flashed across the vid screen. The place was heavily guarded yes, but that wasn't what was worrying him. It was the machine itself. He had never seen anything like it.
Diao Chan was right when the machine needed a high impact cooling system but that was only because of the high production of heat it created during its use. According to her readings the machine must have had been previously used before they discovered it. The temperature had increased almost double and then the cooling units kicked in, which was the only reason why the Mouri girl was able to find the vent.
He flipped through the images repeatedly. He was missing something but he didn't know what. He could find the power source and production but none of that information was giving him viable answers as to what the machine's main purpose was when it was operating.
Growling, he ran his metal hand through his white streaked indigo hair.
"Problems?" Kristina, his wife, asked as she came into the lab carrying a small tray of rations for him. "You're probably starving to death and that's why you can't think."
"No," he answered, "I'm not hungry."
"What are you looking at?"
He sighed. "Pictures and vid data that Diao Chan and the twin's got. It's some machine they've created."
"What's it for?" She placed a hand on his shoulder lightly.
"I'm not sure myself. There's rumors buzzing around but I can't find any evidence to support any of them."
"Perhaps Jin Haun or one of our children could help. Hestia, well she's down the hall and Janus is always willing to help. Aerith is busy though."
"I don't think so." He shook his head and said, "I've been over everything."
"It'll come to you," she said and kissed his forehead. "I have to head back to the infirmary now. We've had another break out of chicken pox you believe that?"
An ironic smiled crossed his face. "You'd think that after everything they'd destroyed they could of at least of taken the common cold and some other annoying aliments too."
"We're not so lucky ne?" She smiled then look at one of the many slides on the screen. "Who knows what they are trying to destroy next."
"I'm not sure. No one really ever knows until…" It's too late, he thought with a sigh. A twang of pain and hurt from what had happen to them in the past hit him momentarily.
"You'll figure it out," Kristina said. Her dark hair was short and cropped, which fell over her face. "I have to go now. I need to get the water purifiers turned on in the southern tunnel…See you later tonight. It's your night off rotation no?"
"Hai, but I won't promise anything right now till I can figure this out…and if I do…"
"All right then. I hope to see you later at least."
With that she left with a small and sad countenance about her.
He sighed and went back to the task at hand. He flipped through the slides one by one and inspected them, making sure he could identify every detail.
A few hours crept by and his eyes became strained and tired. This was happening way too often these days. At times like these he actually felt old, tired, and at a point of wanting to rest.
Looking at his watch he frowned. "Damn lithium batteries, should have used the newer batteries."
He tossed it onto his worktable, a table his children had lovingly named "The Table of Old Unfixable Stuff." The name stuck and circulated throughout the small communities. People would bring him simple things from the past to either fix or just to get rid of.
Peering at one of the vid cells, he let his brows furrowed. Diao Chan had insisted that it had only been a few hours since they left, yet everyone here was also insistent that they had been gone longer. He stared harder at the machine and after a few seconds, he gave into his pride and slipped on a pair of glasses.
14:00 was what the machine read.
He sat back and thought for a moment. He remembered the news about finding all three of them around 18:00. That would have only been 4-hours, around what Diao Chan said. But he knew himself that they had disappeared for longer than that.
Looking closer he inspected and magnified the left portion of the machine's chrono. After a few hours he was piecing together that small section of the machine. Soon he was able to see a date and time, and it matched to this year and yesterday's date. He saw another raw set of numbers on the panel and began to work on that.
"Father?" a voice came from behind him. "Father, sister wants you to help her on the upper ridge of pod 5. The cooling units have been on the fritz again."
"I'll be right there," Tenku mumbled behind his hand. "I'm working on something."
"Umm, all right."
"One moment, Janus."
Touma sat straighter in his chair. "Do me a favor and get as many of your uncles together and have them come here."
"But father..."
"Now!"
***
"Are you sure about this?" Rekka gave his old friend a raised eyebrow.
"Hai, I'm sure."
"A time machine?" Korin shook his head in disbelief. "You're insane."
"I want to talk to Diao Chan and the other two about this. I think this explains why their passage of time was different for us."
"How so?" Kongo spoke up, wondering how his daughter had been affected.
"The machine puts out a wave strong enough to slow time for the people around it but not enough of one to affect people as far out as us. What we thought was almost two days was brief moments for those three."
"If you're right," Anubisu snarled, "We have a bigger problem on our hands."
"Hai, much bigger one."
"The children said that they were sure someone just used it," said Suiko as he read over Tenku's report. He looked up at his friend and asked, "What time… period did they go to?"
Tenku sighed and turned away. "I wasn't able to figure out the exact date, just the month and year. The time and day were too excluded."
"So when was it?"
"March… 2000."
"March 11, 2001 to be exact."
Everyone in the room looked up at the new voice.
"Yuri!" Suiko said, running over to the old fragile woman. "What are you doing out of bed?!"
"Father," Sanae began, "please she said it was important."
"How do you know?" Korin gave the woman a skeptical eye. Meanwhile Suiko gathered his wife into his arms and carried her to the nearest chair.
"I know," Yuri said in a small voice as she was gently placed down onto the cushion of the chair, "because I saw it. I dreamt it."
"Yuri…" Shin's voice trailed off in worry.
"We need more to go on than just that," Anubisu growled.
Korin and the others exchanged looks and silent conversations. The old woman was known in the past for insights, but lately it had been said that the poison eating away at her body started to make her disillusioned.
"I'm sure."
"Yuri, you don't understand."
"I do! Please believe me."
Rekka shook his head. "Why then? Why not two years before then or even ten? What's so important about that date?"
"Because that was the last time they had a record of anything on any of us," Yuri replied.
Suiko brushed his hand over hers. "What do you mean?"
Sanae spoke up proudly, sharing her knowledge of the apocalypse to the others. "Mom means that all of our records were burned right after the war started, so no one could be tracked by them. The computers didn't work anyway since they were of man-made power and not self-contained power like today's so those were useless also. But that year was the same year that a lot of us kids were born."
Tenku frowned at the reasoning. "How would they know exactly how old any of you were?"
"Because Daio Chan was exactly 10-years, one day, and one hour, old when her mother…" Kongo's voice died quickly. "Neo-Chaos would know because she and her two minions... They share the memories of the previous wearers of the claws." His voice was low and angry and he did not look at any of his comrades.
"They are there," Sanae insisted.
"It doesn't matter," Anubisu growled impatiently. "What can we do about it?"
"You need to send someone through!" Yuri retorted, her blind, empty eyes suddenly filled with fire. "The youja can't begin the invasion so early! The children haven't been born yet!"
"Yuri," Shin hushed, "calm down. You know you just get worse when you get riled."
"Shin, please. I don't have long, I know it, but the children… Shin you have to make sure the children survive."
Sanae joined her father in trying to calm down the ecstatic woman. She said to her, "We will mother. You'll see."
"It's clear we need to have a meeting," Rajura declared softly from his seat, "with all the children. We need to find that machine and either claim it for ourselves or destroy it."
"But if we have to send someone through we can't destroy it," Kongo objected, rising from his seat slightly. "They won't be able to get back."
"It doesn't matter, Kongo," Anubisu replied. "If they are already trying to change our past the lives we live, now won't matter. Whoever goes must realize that there's a risk of them not returning." The blue haired man looked around the room. "This would be that person's chance to stop Neo- Chaos in the past."
"You can't do that!" Kongo snapped from his chair. "You can't stop it."
"If that person kills the old Chaos first before the enemy does, Neo- Chaos will never have been created."
"But that means..." Sanae spoke up and gazed around the room, at the men who stood in it. "This will mean Diao Chan, Rei Tsun, Jin Huang, and Li- hua…"
***
Each child stood around the room quietly. No, they were not children but more likely young adults. Rekka sighed as he rose from his seat.
"We have called you all here because before us we have a large step to take," he announced. "We have a larger, more dangerous mission to face together."
He met each of their eyes, unaware of the fear or yellow in any of them, only determination and strength.
"The information that Daio Chan has recovered along with Shinji and Sanae showed us that the youja did build a machine. A time machine."
He sighed and waited for the murmuring and surprised whispers to die down before he continued. "From what we can tell they have sent someone back already. We found an approximate time and date. We think they are planning to start the invasion earlier in the past which would make the future most of us know now only a dream. Most of you wouldn't be born and most of us perhaps would not of survived."
He swept the room quickly one last time. "None… of us adults can go back. We're too old, I'm afraid. One of you must go and must stop Neo-Chaos."
"And kill it before it even becomes an ideal," Anubisu said dryly, ignoring the look Kongo was giving him.
Rekka cleared his throat before going on. "The person that goes... We cannot vouch for their return. To get this person to the past using the youja machine will be dangerous. This will require a special team to infiltrate and make sure that person gets through. If at that time we can secure the machine, we will. However, if this is not possible, the machine will be destroyed, cutting that person off from ever coming back."
"We could not come to an agreement as to which person will go," said Korin as he took over the instructional speech. "For most… obvious reasons."
The silvery blonde haired sensei gave a small glance towards his youngest and sighed. "So," he concluded, "we hope that one of you would volunteer for it."
"Sensei."
A proud boy of raven hair stood up. "I think any of us would take the task. We are all willing to risk our lives to save the ones we love."
"Sit," Rekka spoke out, motioning his hand with the action of sitting. He wasn't happy over the fact that his middle child was so eager to sacrifice himself. Of course it was a Sanada trait. "We know you all have courage and persistence to do this."
"Then I'll go," Diao Chan said as she stepped forward. "I volunteer for the mission."
Kongo cried out, "Diao Chan you will not do such a thing!"
The dark haired girl tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear and said, "Dad, I'm 19-years old now. I'm a grown woman and as the eldest of the 'new generation', I feel it's my responsibility to do what I can. I understand and have seen for myself the effects of chaos. I love this world and I'm willing to sacrifice anybody and anything for it... I would easily sacrifice myself, no questions asked."
"I-I can't believe I'm hearing this from you!" Kongo as he finally rose from his seat and made his way over to his daughter, forgetting his place as a warrior and taking on the role of fatherhood. "I've lost your mother and it's already too much!"
Diao Chan shook her head and gazed at her father sadly. "Sorry, but don't you think the others feel the same way? Rekka, Tenku, Korin, and Suiko... They dread the thought of losing their children but if we don't do something now, nobody will have a future to look forward to. Dad... Don't be so selfish."
The last words were a blow to Kongo's heart. Diao Chan's cutting words, even the Samurai Troopers, shocked everyone. Taking a step forward away from Kongo, Diao Chan cracked her knuckles and asked, "So when do I leave?"
Coming Home…
The silent steps through the tunnels made her back arch and her trigger finger itch. Diao Chan had made it more than half way to the main core of the hideout and yet she saw no one. This wasn't right. There should be guards, soldiers, or even Neo-Chaos herself!
She made herself come to a frightful calm as she tried to suppress the anger she felt. She was worried about the two people she left behind. She stopped in midst ride and stretched her neck. She spun around and in a blink of an eye, she was crouched by the nearest wall. Her gun was aimed on the shadow in the upper crevice of the tunnel.
"There you are!"
Diao Chan blinked.
"Jeez! Do you know what we've been through trying to find you!" Aikyo came out of the dark.
Diao Chan's hand didn't relax, as her gun was still honed on to her cousin—maybe it wasn't her cousin. Maybe that's why the tunnels were unprotected. When they were gone, the youja had attacked and killed them all. If that were the case, she'd kill them all before she allowed herself to die.
"Diao Chan…" Tanria slowly emerged, her eyes frowning, "Hey, it's us. Where's the duo?"
"Who are you?" Paranoia streaked Diao Chan's voice and her gun unwavered from the two girls.
"Diao Chan, calm down. It's us."
"How do I know that? Why aren't there any guards? Why wasn't anyone at the green post?!"
"Diao Chan! Everyone's been ordered out to look for you!"
"Me?"
"And the twins! You've all been gone for almost two days!"
Diao Chan's mind raced to register the information. Two days? No. Five maybe eight hours, but not two days.
"That's impossible."
"No it's not. We were sent to look for you after none of you showed up for guard duties and not to mention rations."
"No, you're lying." Diao Chan began to feel angry and more confused.
Aikyo looked at Tanria, her brow crossed in worry. "What's wrong with her?"
"Diao Chan, what can we do to prove that it's… us?"
The daughter of Kongo craned her neck, her unbelieving eyes looking over the two girls.
"When… I was 5-years old, you dared your brother to do something that I hit you for and made you swear never to tell anyone."
Aikyo gave Diao Chan a confused look, which turned thoughtful. Diao Chan knew this would be hard; five was a long, long time for any of them. A bright smile suddenly crossed the oldest Mouri child's lips.
"I dared Shinji to kiss you!" Aikyo giggled, "He was only 3 at the time."
Diao Chan smiled.
****
Shinji and Diao Chan were being escorted quickly to the meeting room since their injuries were less sever and the Sensei's wanted news now. A few other of their cousins followed silently. Half of them were mad for not being asked to go and the other half were mad because they had to go.
In both Shinji and Diao Chan's minds, they wondered who would be the worst one to face: Korin would most likely give them a cold expression of deep disapproval but no more. Rekka and Tenku would give similar looks and added beratement. But… Suiko and Kongo, their fathers—they would be the worse. Rajura-san would be there along with Anubisu-san but they would say very little as always. Of course Rajura-san had never been the same since he had gone blind and was now using one of Tenku's invention's to distinguish heat patterns at least and for the benefit of all had been restricted to last line defense.
Diao Chan gripped the small camera tightly, giving her a renewed sense of self-justice. What they did was right and the pictures would prove it.
The door gave way to a simple snapping hiss and they entered. The cool steel interior shined dully with the low artificial lighting. The seven men sat around the table silent.
"Everyone leave except for Diao Chan and Shinji," Rekka said from his chair at the head of the table.
There were a few hesitations but the rest complied and left without a grumble or a whisper.
Shinji cleared his throat and began to talk. "We…"
"I don't think you're in a position to speak," Suiko looked up from his hands at his son. "What you three did was irresponsible, threatening, and a danger."
"Suiko if you'd only listen to what we found!" Diao Chan growled out.
"I would be quiet young lady," Kong informed his daughter from his own seat, though he did not look at her. Diao Chan could read the facial expression on her father's face. She felt suddenly hurt because of that expression.
"No dammit! You will listen to me!"
Her fist came down at the end of the table, cracking the surface but not enough to break it. "You don't know what we saw or what we found! You're too damn busy thinking that we're children but we're not! What we did may have been dangerous but it was no less dangerous than what each of you have been through!"
"She's right," Shinji stepped in and stood closer beside her. "Besides I first mentioned the idea to Diao Chan. The reason Tan died was for this information. At least listen to us."
Diao Chan could feel Shinji trying to will tranquillity and reason into her mind but she would have none of it. She was tired, wet, bloody, upset, scared, and down right pissed. She knew she could work through tired, wet, and bloody and she would never admit to being scared. Yet she wouldn't hide her anger for the stupid way they were being treated.
"You've been gone for almost two days," Korin spoke first and evenly. "I hope what you say you have was worth the concern you put most of us through."
"It is," Diao Chan snapped and slapped her camera on top of the table. "I took pictures. It's a machine of some kind and they used it and it was guarded heavily and one of Neo-chaos's flunkies was there also."
The ending remark made all the men give either a raised eyebrow, chin, or stare.
"I'll look at the pictures," Tenku said standing up from the table and retrieving the camera.
Rekka rose from his seat and fixed his blue eyes at the two teenagers. "Till he can pick through what you took pictures of," he began, "I want each of you to tell us why you went where you went, where you went, what you saw, and what happened." Rekka paused before adding, "Step-by- step."
***
Drained and exhausted, Diao Chan collapsed on her bed. The last 4- hour interrogation was pointless and boring as hell. The last 2-hours she felt like she was repeating herself over and over again and at the same time defending what she did. The thing that bothered her the most was everyone's intent on convincing them that they had been gone for almost two days. She looked at her chronometer. It had stopped.
With an impatient growl she tore the thing off and threw it onto her small nightstand. As her eyes closed she realized she was sleeping on new bedding material. The bed was softer and she always insisted on being the last to accept any trivial things. Well that is only after everyone else had been treated to first.
"Diao Chan?"
She heard a small voice call out. She blinked and sat up in her bed. She gazed at the silhouette in the doorway.
"Rei Tsun." She frowned. "What is it?"
The younger boy slowly came into the room. "Did I disturb you?"
"Hmm, make it quick and you won't be."
He smiled and went over to her with something behind his back, "Well… tomorrow is your birthday…"
It is? She thought for a moment before looking back up at her brother. "Yeah, guess it is."
"I figured you may want a gift after having such a hard time. Besides everyone says that you took on Neo-Chaos yourself and came back! I'm so proud to say you're my sister!"
"Rei…" Daio shook her head. "I didn't take Neo-Chaos on by myself." She knew the words would do very little. Small hope and rumors ran through the colonies faster than the poison in the ground. And all three of her little siblings never listened much to her if someone was spreading a rumor about how great someone was.
In an odd sense, she thought, it's like they're trying to find heroes. She sighed. Some hero I am.
"Anyway," he said with a smile, "here." From his hands came forth a small box. She took it slowly and admired it.
"Where did…did you find the paper at?" she asked, amazed at the shiny appearance of the covering. She hadn't seen anything like it since she was very young. Shinning boxes under a large green tree. She suddenly felt sad inward...
"Momma! Can I open a present?" a child cried in shadows from red and green lights.
"Midori, Christmas is only two days away!"
"Aww, Momma!"
"Love, it's only two days. Let her open one."
"Please!"
"Oh fine, but only one!"
"Yay!"
"She reminds me so much of you, my houseki." A large hand surrounded the woman's waist and pulled her near. He smiled at her as he felt the small kick from her belly.
"It's a Usagi (Sailormoon) doll!" the child cried.
"You like it?"
"Oh it's the best, Momma! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" The small girl ran to the larger woman and buried her face into the long brown hair.
"You're welcome my little rock."
"Sis? Hey sis?"
Daio Chan looked up and brushed a stray tear away as she begun to open the box, "I'm going as fast as I can."
Rei Tsun scratched his head and sat down on the ground. "What's the hurry?" he inquired.
"Nothing. Just have to go see Rekka and the others soon so..." Her sentence trailed off as she found herself staring at an old ragged doll with dirty blonde hair, painted blue eyes, and wearing a sailor fuku. It was her Sailormoon doll from so long ago! It was amazing how 500-years did little to damage this precious childhood toy in which she thought was lost so long ago.
"Rei," she whispered as the tears fell down her cheeks, "how in the world...?"
The boy simply beamed. "Happy Birthday, Diao Chan."
The now 19-year old girl made her way over to her little brother and embraced him, careful not to crush him with her super strength. She then kissed his forehead and smiled happily at her doll. Memories of her mother and her father, before she became a big sister, appeared in brief, happy images.
"Thank you, Rei Tsun," she said, "thank you."
***
"Mother?"
"Sanae, you're home," a horse yet happy voice came from the bed.
The small girl went to her mother's side and took the pale hand. "Yes, we're all fine. Just cuts and bruises but we're here, safe and sound."
Sanae smiled as she felt the old hand reach for the side of her face. "You look well."
"I look horrible."
Yuri smiled at her eldest daughter. "Thank you, though. I'm so glad you're okay. I had a horrible dream."
"It's ok," she continued, "Like I said all cuts and bruises we're all home. They're looking through what we brought back now. You'll see we'll stop these youja from whatever they're planning and then we can focus on curing you."
"What did you see?"
Sanae gave her mother an odd face and was glad the older woman was blind. Her mother very rarely wanted to know what they did or what they saw because it always saddens her.
"A machine… it was huge and it looks like they tried it out. It could be a weapon or who knows…but we caught it in time I hope so we can stop them."
"Take me to see the Samurai Troopers."
"What?"
Sanae looked at her mother in astonishment. "But you're too weak! I wont move you!"
"Sanae I need to talk to them. This is important. I feel something coming, something that will snuff out the last bit of hope we have in this world. We can't loose that, we just can't afford to. It's all we have left."
***
Tenku no Touma studied each slide as it flashed across the vid screen. The place was heavily guarded yes, but that wasn't what was worrying him. It was the machine itself. He had never seen anything like it.
Diao Chan was right when the machine needed a high impact cooling system but that was only because of the high production of heat it created during its use. According to her readings the machine must have had been previously used before they discovered it. The temperature had increased almost double and then the cooling units kicked in, which was the only reason why the Mouri girl was able to find the vent.
He flipped through the images repeatedly. He was missing something but he didn't know what. He could find the power source and production but none of that information was giving him viable answers as to what the machine's main purpose was when it was operating.
Growling, he ran his metal hand through his white streaked indigo hair.
"Problems?" Kristina, his wife, asked as she came into the lab carrying a small tray of rations for him. "You're probably starving to death and that's why you can't think."
"No," he answered, "I'm not hungry."
"What are you looking at?"
He sighed. "Pictures and vid data that Diao Chan and the twin's got. It's some machine they've created."
"What's it for?" She placed a hand on his shoulder lightly.
"I'm not sure myself. There's rumors buzzing around but I can't find any evidence to support any of them."
"Perhaps Jin Haun or one of our children could help. Hestia, well she's down the hall and Janus is always willing to help. Aerith is busy though."
"I don't think so." He shook his head and said, "I've been over everything."
"It'll come to you," she said and kissed his forehead. "I have to head back to the infirmary now. We've had another break out of chicken pox you believe that?"
An ironic smiled crossed his face. "You'd think that after everything they'd destroyed they could of at least of taken the common cold and some other annoying aliments too."
"We're not so lucky ne?" She smiled then look at one of the many slides on the screen. "Who knows what they are trying to destroy next."
"I'm not sure. No one really ever knows until…" It's too late, he thought with a sigh. A twang of pain and hurt from what had happen to them in the past hit him momentarily.
"You'll figure it out," Kristina said. Her dark hair was short and cropped, which fell over her face. "I have to go now. I need to get the water purifiers turned on in the southern tunnel…See you later tonight. It's your night off rotation no?"
"Hai, but I won't promise anything right now till I can figure this out…and if I do…"
"All right then. I hope to see you later at least."
With that she left with a small and sad countenance about her.
He sighed and went back to the task at hand. He flipped through the slides one by one and inspected them, making sure he could identify every detail.
A few hours crept by and his eyes became strained and tired. This was happening way too often these days. At times like these he actually felt old, tired, and at a point of wanting to rest.
Looking at his watch he frowned. "Damn lithium batteries, should have used the newer batteries."
He tossed it onto his worktable, a table his children had lovingly named "The Table of Old Unfixable Stuff." The name stuck and circulated throughout the small communities. People would bring him simple things from the past to either fix or just to get rid of.
Peering at one of the vid cells, he let his brows furrowed. Diao Chan had insisted that it had only been a few hours since they left, yet everyone here was also insistent that they had been gone longer. He stared harder at the machine and after a few seconds, he gave into his pride and slipped on a pair of glasses.
14:00 was what the machine read.
He sat back and thought for a moment. He remembered the news about finding all three of them around 18:00. That would have only been 4-hours, around what Diao Chan said. But he knew himself that they had disappeared for longer than that.
Looking closer he inspected and magnified the left portion of the machine's chrono. After a few hours he was piecing together that small section of the machine. Soon he was able to see a date and time, and it matched to this year and yesterday's date. He saw another raw set of numbers on the panel and began to work on that.
"Father?" a voice came from behind him. "Father, sister wants you to help her on the upper ridge of pod 5. The cooling units have been on the fritz again."
"I'll be right there," Tenku mumbled behind his hand. "I'm working on something."
"Umm, all right."
"One moment, Janus."
Touma sat straighter in his chair. "Do me a favor and get as many of your uncles together and have them come here."
"But father..."
"Now!"
***
"Are you sure about this?" Rekka gave his old friend a raised eyebrow.
"Hai, I'm sure."
"A time machine?" Korin shook his head in disbelief. "You're insane."
"I want to talk to Diao Chan and the other two about this. I think this explains why their passage of time was different for us."
"How so?" Kongo spoke up, wondering how his daughter had been affected.
"The machine puts out a wave strong enough to slow time for the people around it but not enough of one to affect people as far out as us. What we thought was almost two days was brief moments for those three."
"If you're right," Anubisu snarled, "We have a bigger problem on our hands."
"Hai, much bigger one."
"The children said that they were sure someone just used it," said Suiko as he read over Tenku's report. He looked up at his friend and asked, "What time… period did they go to?"
Tenku sighed and turned away. "I wasn't able to figure out the exact date, just the month and year. The time and day were too excluded."
"So when was it?"
"March… 2000."
"March 11, 2001 to be exact."
Everyone in the room looked up at the new voice.
"Yuri!" Suiko said, running over to the old fragile woman. "What are you doing out of bed?!"
"Father," Sanae began, "please she said it was important."
"How do you know?" Korin gave the woman a skeptical eye. Meanwhile Suiko gathered his wife into his arms and carried her to the nearest chair.
"I know," Yuri said in a small voice as she was gently placed down onto the cushion of the chair, "because I saw it. I dreamt it."
"Yuri…" Shin's voice trailed off in worry.
"We need more to go on than just that," Anubisu growled.
Korin and the others exchanged looks and silent conversations. The old woman was known in the past for insights, but lately it had been said that the poison eating away at her body started to make her disillusioned.
"I'm sure."
"Yuri, you don't understand."
"I do! Please believe me."
Rekka shook his head. "Why then? Why not two years before then or even ten? What's so important about that date?"
"Because that was the last time they had a record of anything on any of us," Yuri replied.
Suiko brushed his hand over hers. "What do you mean?"
Sanae spoke up proudly, sharing her knowledge of the apocalypse to the others. "Mom means that all of our records were burned right after the war started, so no one could be tracked by them. The computers didn't work anyway since they were of man-made power and not self-contained power like today's so those were useless also. But that year was the same year that a lot of us kids were born."
Tenku frowned at the reasoning. "How would they know exactly how old any of you were?"
"Because Daio Chan was exactly 10-years, one day, and one hour, old when her mother…" Kongo's voice died quickly. "Neo-Chaos would know because she and her two minions... They share the memories of the previous wearers of the claws." His voice was low and angry and he did not look at any of his comrades.
"They are there," Sanae insisted.
"It doesn't matter," Anubisu growled impatiently. "What can we do about it?"
"You need to send someone through!" Yuri retorted, her blind, empty eyes suddenly filled with fire. "The youja can't begin the invasion so early! The children haven't been born yet!"
"Yuri," Shin hushed, "calm down. You know you just get worse when you get riled."
"Shin, please. I don't have long, I know it, but the children… Shin you have to make sure the children survive."
Sanae joined her father in trying to calm down the ecstatic woman. She said to her, "We will mother. You'll see."
"It's clear we need to have a meeting," Rajura declared softly from his seat, "with all the children. We need to find that machine and either claim it for ourselves or destroy it."
"But if we have to send someone through we can't destroy it," Kongo objected, rising from his seat slightly. "They won't be able to get back."
"It doesn't matter, Kongo," Anubisu replied. "If they are already trying to change our past the lives we live, now won't matter. Whoever goes must realize that there's a risk of them not returning." The blue haired man looked around the room. "This would be that person's chance to stop Neo- Chaos in the past."
"You can't do that!" Kongo snapped from his chair. "You can't stop it."
"If that person kills the old Chaos first before the enemy does, Neo- Chaos will never have been created."
"But that means..." Sanae spoke up and gazed around the room, at the men who stood in it. "This will mean Diao Chan, Rei Tsun, Jin Huang, and Li- hua…"
***
Each child stood around the room quietly. No, they were not children but more likely young adults. Rekka sighed as he rose from his seat.
"We have called you all here because before us we have a large step to take," he announced. "We have a larger, more dangerous mission to face together."
He met each of their eyes, unaware of the fear or yellow in any of them, only determination and strength.
"The information that Daio Chan has recovered along with Shinji and Sanae showed us that the youja did build a machine. A time machine."
He sighed and waited for the murmuring and surprised whispers to die down before he continued. "From what we can tell they have sent someone back already. We found an approximate time and date. We think they are planning to start the invasion earlier in the past which would make the future most of us know now only a dream. Most of you wouldn't be born and most of us perhaps would not of survived."
He swept the room quickly one last time. "None… of us adults can go back. We're too old, I'm afraid. One of you must go and must stop Neo-Chaos."
"And kill it before it even becomes an ideal," Anubisu said dryly, ignoring the look Kongo was giving him.
Rekka cleared his throat before going on. "The person that goes... We cannot vouch for their return. To get this person to the past using the youja machine will be dangerous. This will require a special team to infiltrate and make sure that person gets through. If at that time we can secure the machine, we will. However, if this is not possible, the machine will be destroyed, cutting that person off from ever coming back."
"We could not come to an agreement as to which person will go," said Korin as he took over the instructional speech. "For most… obvious reasons."
The silvery blonde haired sensei gave a small glance towards his youngest and sighed. "So," he concluded, "we hope that one of you would volunteer for it."
"Sensei."
A proud boy of raven hair stood up. "I think any of us would take the task. We are all willing to risk our lives to save the ones we love."
"Sit," Rekka spoke out, motioning his hand with the action of sitting. He wasn't happy over the fact that his middle child was so eager to sacrifice himself. Of course it was a Sanada trait. "We know you all have courage and persistence to do this."
"Then I'll go," Diao Chan said as she stepped forward. "I volunteer for the mission."
Kongo cried out, "Diao Chan you will not do such a thing!"
The dark haired girl tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear and said, "Dad, I'm 19-years old now. I'm a grown woman and as the eldest of the 'new generation', I feel it's my responsibility to do what I can. I understand and have seen for myself the effects of chaos. I love this world and I'm willing to sacrifice anybody and anything for it... I would easily sacrifice myself, no questions asked."
"I-I can't believe I'm hearing this from you!" Kongo as he finally rose from his seat and made his way over to his daughter, forgetting his place as a warrior and taking on the role of fatherhood. "I've lost your mother and it's already too much!"
Diao Chan shook her head and gazed at her father sadly. "Sorry, but don't you think the others feel the same way? Rekka, Tenku, Korin, and Suiko... They dread the thought of losing their children but if we don't do something now, nobody will have a future to look forward to. Dad... Don't be so selfish."
The last words were a blow to Kongo's heart. Diao Chan's cutting words, even the Samurai Troopers, shocked everyone. Taking a step forward away from Kongo, Diao Chan cracked her knuckles and asked, "So when do I leave?"