Time & Unforeseen Circumstance
A Sailor Moon fanfiction by BenRG
Legal Disclaimer
Naoko Takeuchi created all the characters and the story of Sailor Moon. TOEI Animation produced the original animé 'Pretty Girl Soldier Sailormoon', while DiC Entertainment produced the English Language adaptation of the animé.
This is a non-profit work for free distribution through the Worldwide Web. The author intends no breach of any copyright or trademark property.
Author's Notes
This is in response to a thought that I had one night: Exactly how alike is the current generation of Senshi to their equivalents in the Silver Millennium? Would they get along with each other if they met? On the other hand, would they be either too similar or too different for them to tolerate their other selves? I decided to find out by putting the Inner Senshi into a position where they had no choice but to seek out the help of their previous selves.
I know that the underlying idea is similar to that used in another fan story called The Heart Remembers by Meshala. I'm not stealing your story, because you will soon see that the detail of the story is quite different.
Okay, I offer some apologies in advance. I am sorry if the conversations between the two versions of the characters get a bit confusing sometimes. I have tried to make it as clear as possible who is speaking or doing something. Secondly, I have to apologise for the very technical nature of the discussion between the two versions of Sailor Mercury. I really think that Amy talks like that, and a conversation between two of them would obviously get very technical.
Continuity: The Inner Senshi are all 18; Tuxedo Mask is 23; Rini and Heather are both 12. Queen Serenity is about 500 years old; The Silver Senshi are all between 20 and 25; Princess Serenity is 20; Prince Endymion is 25; Sailor Pluto is a walking time paradox and you can't pin an age on her.
Events take place (in our time) two years after the defeat of Chaos and the healing of Sailor Galaxia.
Events take place (in the Silver Millennium) a year before Beryl conquers Earth and attacks the Moon.
Censor: PG
Chapter 2 – The More Things Change…
The Guest Wing
The Silver Palace, Mare Serenitas, The Moon
Circa 8000 BC
Raye Hino was more than willing to admit that at the best of times she could be catty and highly-strung. However, after the roasting she had received from her past incarnation, she was on a razor's edge. Right now, she was wandering around the Silver Palace, dressed in a simple red jerkin with black leggings that, as Naru had promised, combined both comfort and ease of movement.
She couldn't get Senshi Mars' accusation out of her head, no matter how hard she tried. You see, she did blame herself. She ought to have insisted that at least two of the Senshi stay with Rini and Heather while the rest of the Senshi (along with Tuxedo Mask) raced to face the storm of youma that Harbinger had unleashed in Juubian Municipal Park. Serena's insistence that no one could have predicted that the Negaforce-twisted husk of General Jadeite would strike at the princess from the future only made Raye's guilt worse. She was one of Serena's closest advisors, damn it! Second in command of the Inner Senshi behind Mina, as well as the clearest thinker of the group (in her own view)! She ought to have been more aware of the potential threat…
Raye pulled herself to a halt. As her guilt and self-reproach grew, her pace had picked up until she was virtually running down the hallways. She had stopped when she noticed several passers-by staring at what looked like the Princess of Mars racing past them, her face twisted with anger and fear. She looked around and managed a nervous half-smile as she rubbed the back of her neck. "Okay people," she said with a nervous chuckle, "nothing to see here! I'm just… er… out jogging!" Raye received quite a few sceptical looks, but the staring servant, nobles and visitors quickly dispersed. I'm going to hear about this from Serena, Raye predicted darkly to herself
Suddenly, Raye sensed a half-familiar presence nearby and she whirled to face the person standing in the shadow of a nearby column. "Something bothering you, Pyro?" asked the tall blond man with the arrogant smile. Raye stepped back, instinctive fear filling her heart. She flexed her hand and felt her Crystal Henshin Wand materialise. She took on an aggressive-defensive posture and prepared to toast this horror once and for all…
"I don't know how you survived the Princess' wrath, Evil One," she snapped, "or how you followed us, but it is over now." She raised her wand. "Mars Crystal …" Then she paused. Something was wrong here… or rather it was right. There was none of the poisonous aura of evil that she associated with this man.
The man jumped back the minute Raye began her incantation. "R… Rei? What's wrong love?" Jadeite asked, his face reflecting genuine concern.
Raye shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts of her confusion. "Stay back," she said. "I'm not what I seem."
"Not…?" Jadeite was confused now, but that only reflected the confusion in the heart of the woman who he thought was his fiery Martian fiancée. She looked at the man's royal blue uniform with the red trim and realised that this was not the Jadeite she knew, nor was it Harbinger, the twisted nightmare that was all that remained of him after four years encased in a dark crystal. It was Colonel Jadeite of the United Kingdom of Earth's defence forces, 'Jed' to his friends. The man who her past self loved with her usual all-consuming passion. "Rei," he tried again.
"No, I'm not," Raye finally said, managing to focus her mind. "I'm the future Sailor Mars, remember?"
Jadeite flushed with embarrassment as Raye self-consciously dismissed her Henshin Wand. "Gods! Sorry about that, Lady Raye," he said. "You really are the spitting image of the Princess." Jadeite paused and then laughed ruefully. "Don't tell Rei about this, or she will give me such a burn that I won't be able to sit down for a week." Raye laughed and gave her promise. Jadeite gave Raye a measuring look before continuing. "What were you talking about earlier?" he suddenly asked. "Why were you getting ready to fight me?"
Raye immediately felt vulnerable. She couldn't possibly tell Jadeite the truth: That in less than a year's time, he would be a mind-controlled slave of Beryl and the Negaverse. She floundered for a moment before finally settling on a response. It wasn't the best possible one, but it was the only one that she could think of that would answer Jadeite's question without answering it. "I'm sorry, Colonel," she said, "but I'm not permitted to tell you that. I could say, of course, but Pluto would have to kill us both if I did."
Jadeite smirked at that. He knew Senshi Pluto's reputation for tenaciously guarding the 'proper' timeline. Obviously he would have to find out why the future version of his love saw him as a foe… when it happened. That wouldn't stop him from trying to trick her into revealing all, of course. "You look at a loose end," Jadeite said. "I was just going to join Rei in the gymnasium for some exercises. Would you care to join us?"
Raye cocked her head to think for a moment. "Yeah, sure," she said with a tense smile. After everything that she had gone through over the past few days, it would be good to take out her frustrations on a practice dummy.
***
"So… you are me?" Minako, crown princess of Venus asked as she looked at her doppelganger.
"Sort of, I think," Mina Love replied. "I don't understand all of it." Mina paused before laughing. "Scratch that, I don't understand any of it. Pluto said the magic phrase 'space-time continuum' and that is the last I remember." Both blonde women laughed at that. Yes, for the simpler warriors in this or any other time period, Sailor Pluto's explanations were less than useless.
The two Venusian princesses were sitting in the deserted palace ballroom eating some apples that Mina had swiped from the palace kitchens. Mina had been uncertain if the fruit was edible, as they had silver skins. However, she had run into her past self and the equally bubbly heir to the Throne of Aphrodite had assured her that they were perfectly safe. All fruit grown on the Moon had silver skins for some reason.
"So… What is your time like?" Minako asked after the two young women had sat admiring the crescent Earth through the crystal roof of the ballroom.
Mina nearly jumped out of her skin at her past self's words. She had been looking around her, remembering her recurring nightmare… memory, really… of the awful battle here that claimed her life. How odd to recall that, here and now, that battle would not take place for another Earth year. "Well, it is a lot different from this time," Mina said at last, "but some things are the same. Serena and Darien tend to get lost in each other's eyes a lot, Amy never stops reading textbooks that make my eyes cross over just thinking about what they're about, Raye never stops shouting at Serena and Lita tends to hit of people a lot." Mina was glad for the opportunity to gossip. It got her mind of her worry for poor little Rini. The girl might be a fungus and a spore sometimes, but she was a kawaii kid really, and if she were permanently maimed or killed, a little bit of Serena would die. Mina would hate that to happen to her big-hearted friend. She immediately launched into a detailed description of a typical Senshi Meeting at the Hikawa Shrine.
Minako was quickly doubled over with laughter. "Oh man! It sounds like they get worse as the centuries go by! Please give me hope. At least tell me that Rei stops beating up on Jadeite and publicly admits that she likes him.... Aphrodite's Embrace! What have I said wrong?" Minako was shocked at the way her future self's face had gone icy white when she mentioned Rei's on-off lover and fiancé.
They must not know, Mina heard Pluto's words again and wondered if it was a memory or whether the graceful but distant Senshi of Time was actually speaking to her telepathically. "Please don't ask, Mina-chan," she said quietly. "You don't want to know."
That made Minako go pale too. That sounded like very, very bad news to her. However, her future self was right. Knowing too much about what the future held was inherently dangerous, or at least that is what Queen Setsuna was always telling them. "O… okay," she said quietly, her mood dampened by this moment. She fretted for a moment before continuing. "So… how is the Goddess of Love bit going?"
Mina's eyes lit up when she heard that. It was clear that she had this much in common with her past self: Both adored match-making. "Well, having three very single friends makes it a never-ending duty," she said, leaning forwards confidentially. "It is making them understand when a guy is perfect for them that is the big strain."
Minako giggled in reply. "Yeah, I remember when Makoto met Nephrite. She nearly ruined the moment by saying that he reminded her of her first boyfriend! Well, you know how proud Nephy can be! He nearly stormed off in a huff. I had to seal the door with my powers to force them to keep talking!"
Mina was laughing her head off. "She… she still says that today! In my time, I mean! 'He looks like my old Sempai!'" Mina didn't see her past self's smile twitch when she heard that. "Oddly enough, it is Serena and Darien who are the worst to handle! Those two have had a relationship that has lasted who knows how many lifetimes, and yet they are always fretting that they aren't 'good enough'!"
"Sounds like them," Minako agreed. "Endymion puts up a proud front, but with a father as tough-willed as ol' Ajax, it is no surprise that he has come out a bit uncertain when it comes to what others think of him."
The two continued to gossip about the subtleties of the personalities of their friends for some time. Minako explained to her future self that all Venusians were empaths, capable of detecting and interpreting others' emotions. This was a revelation to Mina, who at last knew why she was always able to tell if someone really liked someone else.
Finally, the conversation turned to their personal lives. "So, what about you?" Minako asked, winking flirtatiously. "What's your score so far?" As a general rule, all unmarried Venusians were highly promiscuous. Their nature made it nearly impossible for them to maintain a monogamous relationship except in the case of a soul bond with a specific partner.
Mina picked up the implication immediately. "I… I haven't felt that way about a guy yet," she admitted, refusing to meet her past self's eyes as she blushed prettily. "There is one guy who I feel special about, but we haven't gone that far yet…"
Minako frowned, but wasn't too surprised. I could tell that her blood is diluted with Terran, she thought, and here is the proof. But how did this happen? However, the Princess of Venus latched onto something else. "Not even with Kunzite?" she asked mournfully. Minako had not chosen her life-mate yet, but she wanted to believe that the white-haired Terran was the one. The skilled empath picked up on the strange response that her future self had to that name immediately. The emotion was not pleasant. It was… angry and adversarial. She had no good memories associated with the man.
There was a long pause while Mina looked down, bitterly accusing herself for not shielding her heart from her past self's skilled inspection. Finally Minako spoke. "They are all dead aren't they?" she asked. "Jadeite, Zoicite, Nephrite and… and Kunzite are all dead." Minako's voice caught on that last name. "That is why there is such a core of sadness in End… Darien, even when he is with the Princess."
Mina looked up and caught her past self's eyes. "Please don't ask, Your Highness," she said at last. "It is better that you don't know one way or the other." Minako nodded, her face reflecting her feelings of surprise. "I must have your oath," Mina added, her usually good-natured face suddenly deadly serious. Her blue eyes were glowing as she summoned her power to support her plea. "Your oath as the Commander of the Inner Senshi and as a Princess of the Blood. Swear that you will not make any enquiries or even search my friends' feelings for clues. You cannot… you must not know."
"Golden Goddess! Okay, I swear!" Minako said in a surprised and intimidated tone of voice, raising her right hand in affirmation.
Mina drew in a deep breath and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, she had returned to normal. She grinned at her past self. "Let's just say that all of our friends have someone special… even though in Raye's case he is a source of continual aggravation. All thanks to yours truly."
"That's good to know," Minako replied. However, as long as she would live, she would never lose the sense of dread that this short interview had caused her.
***
Lita Wood was doing the one thing that she always did when her frustrations had reached boiling point. She was cooking. Although all of her friends appreciated her culinary skills, few of them realised that she used them to prevent herself from punching holes in walls. Although it was difficult adapting to 10,000-year-old cooking tools, she found a mouth-watering layer cake quickly taking shape before her.
Focusing on this helped her not focus on Jadeite. Seeing him and the other Generals associating so freely with the people of the court of the Silver Millennium gave her a headache. She had to physically restrain her urge to fry all four of them with a Lightning Destruction attack. To think of the pain that Jadeite had caused, and to see him so… innocent and trusted in this time made her blood boil.
Lita's greatest disappointment regarding Jadeite was that she had not had the chance to kill him herself. By the time she arrived, Serena was already dissolving Jadeite into his component atoms with the Silver Imperium Crystal, her usually kindly face twisted with a fury that would terrify the devil himself. Lita could feel her hands closing into fists. She physically controlled herself to maintain her deft strokes with the icing gun.
However, her mind turned relentlessly to the time, just an hour ago, when she had seen Nephrite kissing her past self in the corridor. She had just fled blindly, ultimately finding herself in the palace kitchens. She felt… unclean for having seen it. Okay, at the end Nephrite was a good guy, but that didn't take away the fact that he had killed scores, maybe hundreds of people in his career wearing Beryl's colours. Including Princess Makoto herself.
"Hi, I see that you like cooking," said her voice. Lita nearly jumped out of her skin and span to face Princess Makoto of the Jovian Empire, Duchess of Ganymede and heir to the Imperial Throne. The woman who was a near-perfect copy of Lita was standing there in a graceful green dress, cocking her head at her future self in innocent interest. "Why did you learn how to? Much call for it in your time?"
"Well, sure," Lita said. "I've got to eat sometime!" Baka! Lita kicked herself mentally. She had effectively just told her past self that she was not a noble with servants in the future. "I mean," she hurriedly amended, "we don't want to bother the cooks every time we want to have a picnic do we?" Lita sweatdropped, rubbing the back of her neck as she laughed nervously.
Makoto smiled in a regal way. "Don't worry," she said. "I figured that you all lived incognito lives in the future. Your clothes when you de-transformed are those of working folk on Endymion's world. I guess that the Queen sent us into hiding on Earth to protect the Princess from Beryl?"
Lita decided it would be a bad idea to confirm or deny this. "Well, that solves a lot of problems," she said. "In answer to your first question, yes I am a very good cook. I love doing something peaceful and constructive as opposed to frying youma by the dozen with a Supreme Thunder attack or two." Both the Amazonian warrior princesses laughed at that easy comment. "And it is always a good idea to have a cake or two on standby to satisfy the Princess' sweet tooth… Mina's too."
Makoto grinned. "You have become the regular morale officer," she said. "When did I get so good at team psychology?"
"I just like people to be happy," she said, and applied a dollop of icing to the tip of her past self's nose.
Makoto nearly went cross-eyed trying to see what she had done. She scowled at her past self before she started laughing again. "I'm obviously going to spend too much time around Serenity and Minako over the next few years," she sighed before switching to a dangerous tone of voice to continue. "I ought to demand that you join me in the Honour Circle for this act of disrespect!"
"Hey, anytime you feel ready, 'Lightning Lass'," Lita said with a carnivorous grin, making a curling ribbon of electricity appear over the palm of her raised left hand.
"Cool trick," Makoto said approvingly. She was glad that her future self hadn't got soft for all her domestic skills. The Jovians were a race of warriors who had little use for such skills. Until the birth of the Silver Alliance, the Empire was notorious as a nation of pirates and plunderers. Even now, 10,000 years later, Jovian society looked down upon women who had too much in the way of deportment and home-making skills. Knowing that her future self could cook so well had worried Makoto, but no more. "So, how are mom and dad doing in your far future? Still chafing at the Queen's refusal to invade Earth to find Beryl?" To Makoto's utter surprise, her future self suddenly burst into tears.
***
"Okay, accuracy test," Jadeite said to the two versions of Sailor Mars standing either side of him. "The targets are set at 50 metres. Both of you give me your best shot!"
"Fire Soul!" The past version of Sailor Mars threw a fireball at her designated target.
"Mars Flame… Sniper!" Princess Rei's mouth dropped open when her future self summoned the legendary Crimson Longbow out of her subspace pocket and fired a blazing arrow at the practice target. The focussed bolt of infrared radiation punched right through the bulls-eye of the steel target and blew a three-foot-wide crater in the earth bank behind the target buttes.
"Where in the name of the Red God did you find that?" Rei asked, a desperate edge to her voice as she gazed at the talisman of Sailor Mars' power in her future self's hands.
Raye blushed, suddenly remembering that the Crimson Longbow had been lost for almost 20,000 years when she suddenly acquired it while fighting the denizens of the Dead Moon Circus. I'm letting slip bits of future history all over, she thought unhappily. However, she would be damned if she would deliberately under-perform for any reason. After thinking desperately for a few seconds, Raye came up with a reply that she hoped would mollify her past self. "We've all received our talismans by my time," she said. "You will understand if I don't tell you the details."
Jadeite nodded his understanding. Rei, on the other hand, seemed a little disappointed that her future self had not pointed her in the right direction. Her eyes were shining with a slightly unhealthy light. "I can't wait," she said. "I really would love to have an ability that could cut through the ranks of my enemies the way the legends say the Crimson Longbow can!"
Raye looked at her past self thoughtfully. "Take it from a professional: Being in fight after fight is not fun," she said quietly. "I would be a happier woman if I never had to fight again."
Rei looked at Raye as if the younger woman had grown a second head and announced that she was a denizen of the Dark Kingdom. "Oh come on!" she protested. "You can't mean that! You are dozens of times stronger and have been present for some great battles! You should be proud!"
"I have fought in lots of large battles," Raye replied, emphasising that she didn't think that any battle was 'great'. "However, the cost, to myself and my friends, is too high." Unconsciously, she turned slightly, looking at the palace wing where Amy and the past Senshi Mercury were trying to save Rini. "This was bound to happen eventually," she continued quietly. "I guess that this is a just punishment for my forgetting what I should really care about."
"She will live," Rei said firmly. "Ami is the best healer that I've ever met. If anyone can help the little princess, it is her."
Raye nodded slightly. "I really have never been comfortable in the role as a fighter," she said. Her past self shot her another strange look. Raye smiled and looked over to her. No harm mentioning it, she decided. "I am a novice priestess of the Sacred Fire," she explained. "It is a peaceful role, and one that I prefer."
"Maybe that is why you weren't able to protect the little princess," Rei suggested with a little scorn in her tone. She was proud of being one of the Royal Senshi, and the thought of becoming a priest almost made her laugh.
"Or maybe it was my warrior instincts that made me forget that I was a protector first and foremost," Raye spat in reply. Rei's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Okay, peace you two," Jadeite said, stepping in between the two versions of Sailor Mars, his hands raised in a calming gesture. "As you are both the same person, you can't kill one another." Rei visibly forced herself to relax. Jadeite turned to Raye and put a hand on her shoulder. "Maybe you should rest," he said. "I know how I would feel if Endymion was hurt, so I know that you feel bad…" To his surprise, he saw that Raye was looking at his hand as if it were a poisonous animal of some kind.
"Please don't touch me," Raye said in a firm, dangerous tone. "Do not presume that because you have a relationship with my past self it gives you licence to violate the sanctity of my body, Colonel."
Jadeite frowned slightly and backed off, more concerned than anything else. "Very well, I will respect that," he said.
"What is wrong with you?" Rei said. "He is my… our soul-mate!"
"Not anymore," Raye said without hesitation. There was no harm in letting them know that. She could see that Jadeite had guessed this already.
"Your loss," Rei said in a smug tone, before pulling her fiancé's face down for a kiss. Raye turned and walked off back towards the palace, before she did something really stupid. Somehow, this was something like seeing your own reflection, with all the bad qualities showing up in stark clarity.
***
"Are you feeling better now, kid?" Makoto asked Lita in a clumsy attempt at comfort. Her future self had just cried herself out on her shoulder and she still wasn't sure why. "What happened to our parents?" she asked. "Are they dead?" The look of tragedy on her future self's face was all the confirmation that she needed. "Gods…" Makoto closed her eyes for a moment. How odd, she thought, I'm in mourning for someone who is still alive.
"Please don't tell Serena that I broke down like this," Lita said hurriedly. "She would be furious if she knew that I had let slip a bit of future history." Fortunately, she added silently, I managed to prevent Makoto from realising that my dead parents are not her dead parents. I don't think the timeline could handle that!
"Of course," Makoto said. "We Sailor Jupiters must stick together you know!" Lita laughed slightly as Makoto released her from her hug and patted her on the shoulder in a reassuring way. The two young women spent a few moments trying to collect their thoughts. "Um… Can I try that cake?" Makoto asked at last. "It looks too good to resist!"
Lita grinned, glad to get her mind off of death and time paradoxes. "Sure," she said. "I didn't make this thing for the exercise, you know!"
Nephrite walked into the kitchen a few moments later to find two Jovian Princesses pigging out on an iced layer cake. The only way he could tell his princess was the fact that her hair was a lighter shade, almost pink, while the future version had fawn brown hair and was wearing distinctive rose-shaped earrings. "So this is where you ran off to!" he announced in a superior tone of voice. "You abandoned me for a night of gastronomic pleasure!"
"No, I just wanted to try her… my… cake," Makoto said.
The spray of cake crumbs when Makoto spoke made Lita wince. Blasphemy! her mind wailed at the tragic loss.
Nephrite laughed and walked in. "Whatever," he said. "Er… can I…?" Lita gestured her consent. She had a bad moment when he picked up the knife to cut himself a slice, but that passed quickly enough. However, the flashback of the other Nephrite driving his sword through her heart on that last awful day still flashed on Lita's retinas for a few seconds before she could focus again on the here-and-now.
Nephrite's eyes went up in appreciation at the taste of Lita's cake. "Wonderful!" he said. "If this is the quality of Jovian cooking, I am going to have to attend more of the banquets at the embassy, love!"
Makoto waved her hand in disagreement. "Oh no, Nephy, this is something that she has… I will pick up on Earth in a few years' time," she announced easily. Nephrite's eyebrows went up. "Yeah, you heard me right, it looks like that we are going to spend a lot more time together in the near future."
Nephrite grinned and turned to a fretting Lita. "In that case I must thank you on two counts, Lady Lita," he said. "For a fine treat and for the knowledge that my love and I will be together more often in the future!" Nephrite took Lita's hand and kissed it in a courtly way.
"Hey, hands off!" Makoto snapped, punching her lover lightly on the shoulder. "What about me?"
"She is you," Nephrite reminded her. "So I'm not cheating on you, just giving you a little love in the future!"
"Yeah, but you are cuckolding the you in the future," Makoto replied with devastating logic. "He has first claim on Lita here!"
Lita's eyebrows shot up in disbelief at this conversation. She could see that Nephrite was having a difficult time following that line of reasoning. "Yes," he said at last. He turned back to Lita, laughter in his eyes. "You will convince me to forgive me?" he asked. Lita laughed and nodded. She would if she could. This time travel thing was confusing, but not as it could be… unfortunately for Nephrite.
"Yeah, he would understand, I guess," Lita said uncertainly. She shook her head, suddenly massively uncomfortable with the whole situation. "Look, I've got to go." With that, she turned and fled.
"What's eating her?" Nephrite asked, and then laughed gently as he realised that this was a pun, of sorts.
Makoto didn't join in with the laughter. There had been something in the eyes of her future self, something bad that appeared as soon as she and Nephrite had started talking about his future self. She didn't react right to Nephrite's flirting and she didn't seem comfortable around him. This was a mystery, and Makoto didn't like mysteries.
***
Amy Anderson looked around the healer's examination chamber in some amazement as her past self directed several orderlies to settle Rini's comatose form on the main examination bed. Immediately, a holographic schematic of the little girl's body appeared over the bed, along with several displays that showed the girl's vital signs.
Amy frowned as she considered the displays. Although some used scales and measurement units that she was only familiar with through working with the computer in Central Control, she was able to interpret them fairly accurately. She drew on her high school-level medical knowledge as well as the extras she had taught herself through extra credit study and her desire to be more able to help her sister Senshi. From that she could tell that Rini was deeply comatose and that her body's reserves of strength were failing rapidly. Already, the girl's liver and kidneys were close to catastrophic malfunctions.
"All right, get her on external bio support," Princess Ami, this era's Senshi Mercury, instructed her orderlies. She looked up at the schematic and frowned. "That thing is more akin to a parasite than a poison. It is growing across the little princess' organs and taking the nutrients that they need to continue to function. We will have to start feeding her high-density nutrients intravenously." The orderlies scattered to start the treatments that the Princess of Mercury had commanded. The older woman turned to her future incarnation. "Amy, could you download your scans into my system, please?"
Amy nodded, pulling out her TACS handset and selecting the required function. A half-second later the results of Amy's scans appeared on the hologram along with a yellow asterisk that marked the point where Harbinger's spear had penetrated the girl's body.
"Okay, let's start brainstorming," Ami told her future self. "We already know that the Silver Imperium Crystal, the most powerful healing magic in creation, doesn't stop this canker. So, based on that and the data we have collected what are we dealing with?" Amy frowned and considered the question.
It only took the two super-brains a few minutes to solve this first problem. "It isn't a magical weapon at all," Ami concluded.
Amy nodded. "It is a parasitic life-form," she agreed. "Something native to the Negaverse, probably. I've never seen these readings before. Could it be a silicon-based life-form?"
Ami shook her had. "I don't know," she said. "In 10,000 years, the Silver Alliance hasn't encountered one silicon-based life-form. A few of our top scholars suggest that they don't exist, despite their theoretical plausibility."
"That may be true of our universe," Amy replied in her precise fashion. "However, we must not forget that the Negaverse is a separate space-time continuum to ours. We must expect that the laws of nature, including those governing biology, must differ from those in our own continuum." Amy cocked her head and glared angrily at the red stain spreading relentlessly through the schematic of poor Rini's body. "What is it feeding on?" she asked. Ami looked at her in puzzlement. "Silicon- and carbon-based biologies are not chemically compatible," she explained. "The Nightshade Crystal ought not to have a food source to allow it to grow in this manner within Rini's body."
Ami frowned. "Yes, we must treat this like any other medical pathogen. We already know the vector: The weapon used by your enemy. Now we must understand what the creature wants and how it works. When we understand its' biology, we can better understand how to first limit its' spread, and then how to remove the infection entirely."
Amy considered the schematic as her past self used a free-floating LCD control to order several high-resolution scans, both physical and magical. "Until we are able to provide a holistic cure we should consider cruder methods to limit the growth of the organism within Rini's body," Amy said. "I recommend surgical intervention to remove the lighter outer reaches of the growth."
There was a long silence in the examination chamber. "I am sorry, what are you suggesting?" Ami's voice was polite as always, but Amy could sense a hostile undertone to her question. Amy was puzzled, but she explained what she was proposing in more detail. Her past self was horrified. "You want me to cut the little princess open like a food animal?" the woman asked in a horrified tone of voice. "No! Absolutely not! That is a barbaric practice that we of the Silver Alliance outlawed millennia ago!"
"It is a basic, if radical, aspect of medicine!" Amy argued. "How else would you remove a malignant growth or a malfunctioning organ?"
"We use magical means to repair damage or extract a malignancy, if we are not able to destroy it in situ through other magical means," Ami told her future self. "The crude methods that you are espousing are, thankfully, something from the history books."
Amy bristled slightly. She didn't like the way that her past self was talking to her. Okay, so Amy wasn't a licensed doctor yet, and she only had a fraction of her past self's knowledge, but she didn't like the incredibly smug way that Ami viewed the achievements of her art. No physician knew all the answers. Thinking that you did was dangerous. Furthermore, you must never, ever rule out any therapeutic method that may benefit your patient. Ami's objections bordered on being a religious prejudice!
"Now, if you are ready," Ami was saying, either unaware or simply uncaring for her future self's simmering anger, "we are ready to proceed to the next phase. I am going to use a basic teleportation spell to remove a fragment of the pathogen from the patient's body. We will then use that sample to determine its' nutritional requirements and its' environmental needs. Either of these may suggest a means to destroy the entire infection."
There was a long pause and Amy found that she was fighting the urge to fidget. "What is wrong?" she asked at last.
Ami looked at her future self, uncertainty filling her expression. "I asked for a magical molecular-resolution scan," she said, "it is the primary requirement for a therapeutic teleport spell. However, the scanning device is not working properly."
While Ami turned to check the magical sensing device that had just slid over Rini's body like a CAT scanner, Amy decided to make an examination of her own. She pulled out her Crystal Henshin Wand and transformed into Super Sailor Mercury, then she called her Caduceus Wand from her subspace pocket. "Mercury Soul Light," she said quietly as she held the wand over Rini. She watched as the spell revealed Rini's aura. To her surprise, there was a dark area over the spreading infection. Wait a minute, even if the Nightshade Crystal was completely magically inert, it couldn't hide Rini's aura. Okay, step back. If I can't sense her aura in that area, that must be because the Nightshade Crystal's aura is more powerful. Then why can't I sense it instead? Oh dear…! Amy looked over at her past incarnation/colleague worriedly. "The damninable thing has a powerful natural magical shielding!" she announced. "I doubt that any conventional magical means will be of any use against it. That might prevent your teleport spell from working properly!"
Ami looked shocked, but recovered quickly. "That is unexpected, but perhaps it ought not to have been," she said quietly. "It would explain why the Silver Crystal is only partially effective against it." There was a long pause before Ami was able to meet her future self's worried gaze. "Tell me, Sailor Mercury. Have you any experience with surgical interventions?" Amy's eyes widened in shock. "This new datum implies that we may be forced to physically extract the sample," Ami continued, "something that no healer since legendary times has attempted on a live patient."
Amy was horrified. She had learnt of surgical methods, of course. She had read all the textbooks, including the exhaustive Grey's Anatomy, the definitive guide to the construction of the human body. However, she was a total novice to surgery and would never even dream of cutting Rini open without a skilled surgeon as back up. "I… No. No I have no experience."
Ami looked at her future self in horror. "Then we are both about to get that experience," she said quietly, trying to stay calm. "I will need all the knowledge that you have of the methodology involved in this treatment method. Firstly, how do we maintain antisepsis during the time the body cavity is open to the air?"
Some time later, a trembling Amy Anderson and Ami, Princess of Mercury, were standing in a small clean room, removing their blood-splattered scrubs. In the adjoining room an ad-hoc operating theatre, one of Ami's novice healers was finishing the task of regenerating the flesh of Rini's chest and abdomen. "That was… a nightmare," Ami said. "Such things are not meant to see the light of day."
Amy shook her head. "It is a regrettable necessity in my time," she said. "It is to your credit that you were able to adapt and accept that this was a necessity. My greatest regret is that we achieved so little."
Ami had closed her eyes and Amy wondered briefly if her past self had fainted or something. Then the older woman opened her eyes and looked at her. "That is not an accurate understanding of the results of our… examination," Ami said at last. "We know far more about our foe now than we did before. Perhaps we know enough to begin a course of treatment."
Amy nodded, not in agreement but in a desperate desire to continue to feel hope.
***
Queen Serenity looked around the table in the conference room worriedly. While the two incarnations of Prince Endymion were their usual somewhat insular selves, she was very concerned at the way the two eras' Senshi were interacting, or rather not interacting. Venus was lost in thought. Mars couldn't keep a sneer of scorn off of her face every time she looked at her future self. Jupiter looked very worried. Similarly, Raye, Mina and Lita were standing in a huddle, clearly not even attempting to interact with their past selves.
Serenity sighed. Perhaps she should have expected this. They were two groups of the same people from very different times. It was inevitable that they would not be entirely at ease with each other. However, the barely controlled hostility between Mars and her future self was a real cause for concern.
At that moment, Endymion and Darien looked up and both looked rather surprised. Serenity and Serena walked in hand-in-hand. Sometime since she left her assigned quarters, Serena had changed into a dress more suited to the heir of the Moon Kingdom. By chance, or more likely by the two girls' design, it was almost identical to the gown that Serenity was wearing. The only way to tell the two apart was Serena's hair, which was a darker shade of blonde, and her Eternal Brooch of the bodice of the gown. The two princesses were hand-in-hand and were giggling girlishly about something.
"Serenity?" Endymion asked.
"Usako?" Darien asked, sounding even more dazed than his past self did.
The two princesses broke apart and glided over to their respective prince and gave him a peck on the cheek. Queen Serenity looked at the two versions of the Prince of the Earth and managed to hide an impish smile. Darien and Endymion both looked like they were getting a headache.
She sobered as she remembered why they were here. "Everyone, thank you for coming so promptly," she said in her clear, calm voice. "Sailor Mercury and Senshi Mercury have completed their initial work on my granddaughter and they wish to inform us all of the results." The queen caught the way that Serena grabbed Darien's hand for reassurance. She wasn't at all surprised to see Serenity reach for Endymion in the same way.
The two Sailors Mercury entered the room. Princess Ami had a LCD display pad, while Amy was sorting through several pads that contained various texts on the theoretical nature of silicon-based life. With her usual respect, Amy let her older past self give their report. "We have completed our initial examination of Princess Rini," she announced. "Firstly, we can confirm that the Nightshade Crystal is not a poison or a curse. It is a silicon-based organism, apparently native to the Negaverse. It is a parasitic creature that is slowly consuming the princess' body as it grows."
"Then remove it," Princess Serenity grated. "You can do that, can't you Ami-chan?"
Ami looked at her princess sadly. "No," she said. There was a scattering of gasps around the table. The queen saw Serena slowly collapse forwards, her eyes pressed shut, her expression one of utter agony. Darien placed a gentle hand on her back and whispered reassuring words into her ear.
"The creature generates a high-power magical shield that prevents us from removing the growth through normal means," Ami continued. "At the suggestion of my colleague," she nodded at Amy, "we then attempted a direct physical intervention. However, we found that the parasite had bonded itself on a molecular level to the princess' vital organs. It is impossible to physically remove it without instantly causing fatal damage to those organs."
"So you are saying that it is hopeless?" Raye asked, springing to her feet. "You are just going to give up and let Rini die?"
"Of course not," Ami replied, somehow managing to pour infinite scorn into her level, expressionless tone of voice. "By continually using high-power curative spells and nutrient supplements, we have been able to completely halt the growth of the infestation and stabilise the patient's condition. However, we are unable to safely remove the infestation. Until we do the patient's quality of life is somewhat… questionable. It is not even certain that she will recover from her coma."
"Is there any hope?" Darien asked, his voice harsh.
"Possibly," Amy said. "However, we are going to need more information. As my colleague said, the Nightshade Crystal is a living creature. As such, it requires nutrients and certain environmental conditions to survive. When we have determined what those requirements are, we will use them as weapons against it, either starving it to death, or creating an environment in Rini's body that will kill the creature and leave her unharmed." Amy caught Darien's eye. "We won't let her die, Darien. I swear it."
"Can you do this, Senshi Mercury?" Queen Serenity asked.
"Possibly," was as far as Ami would commit herself. "However, we will require data and resources that we currently do not have to hand."
"Then get them," the queen commanded in an uncharacteristically harsh tone. "Go anywhere, within the Alliance or without. Co-opt any experts you require. Just… just save my granddaughter."
"It will be as you command, my Queen," Ami said, bowing deeply. Despite her agreement, she was at a loss as to what they should do.
To be continued…