Elegy for the Heavens
by Asura
Faded_Seraph@yahoo.com

The second chapter of my self-proclaimed epic (which
only earns that title in my mind by the fact it's going to
reach insane lengths), we'll be starting to further advance
the plot here, though I hope the plot is at least somewhat
evident even in the first chapter. Hotaru/Sailor Saturn is
an interesting character to write dialogue for, I must say.
The time setting makes it particularly interesting to try
and advance her personality, yet keep it true to spirit. As
before, of course, the characters and settings contained
herein belong to Naoko Takeuchi and Toei Animation, with
American dubbing and distribution rights attributed to the
disturbing DiC and Cloverway.

Chapter 2: Suishou Toukyou: Yoroshiku - Jadeite's Dreams
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The traditional tools of forces of darkness had
always been various incarnations of monsters. Called youma,
those twisted creatures were unnatural unions of flesh and
dark energies that exhibited unusual lusts for violence and
destruction. In the early days of the Sailor Senshi's
awakenings they had fought the youma of the Dark Kingdom.
Even the Four Kings, Jadeite, Nephrite, Zoisite, and
Kunzite had lost much of their original bodies to the youma
infections that Queen Beryl had put upon them following
their being drawn to the Dark Kingdom. However, Jadeite,
the only one of the four to survive through the entirety of
the destruction of the Dark Kingdom, found that the youma
portions of his body died with Queen Metallia.

As the enemies of the Senshi came and went, their
foot soldiers, though created and summoned through
different means always fell into the category of youma.
Even the Phage, mockeries of the human form created when
they were deprived of their Star Seeds were youma. In the
end, these monsters almost always found themselves totally
outclassed by the Sailor Senshi, whose powers continued to
increase and become more formidable with time. Only the
ones who controlled the youma became true threats, and
their power faded into obscurity. As with all things,
though, the cycle once more came into play. Youma were
scarce in the solar system, and the few that dared to show
their heads typically met their ends at the hands of the
Inner Senshi.

The tide was set to change in the solar system on one
day, and nothing could ever be the same afterwards. It was
a stroke of luck for Sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars that
Hotaru, Sailor Saturn, had been on Earth, even if the
reasons for her appearance were utterly unknown to them.
With the powers granted them by their position as Sailor
Senshi, they were able to communicate and rapidly converge
on the first strong youma to appear in countless years.

Amidst a jungle of shattered glass, torn clothing,
and fractured jewelry that lay strewn about the street
absent of their former luster, and along with the bodies of
bystanders who had been there for the afternoon shopping
hours, lying beneath the pounding rain from dark gray
clouds that blanketed the sky above, stood the youma.
Distinctive in appearance, possessed of a shapely female
form and pale blue skin that reflected the fading street
lamps' light along its surface like water, the monster was
clad in a black half-dress and top, and appeared to be
unarmed.

Exuding waves of force from its hands, the youma
continued to batter and wreck store fronts, tearing away
chunks of concrete from buildings and leaving rubble strewn
about to mix with the gathering debris, its ability to
destroy seeming inexorable. Paired with the crashing
thunder of the storm above, which threw lances of lightning
amongst its cloudy boughs like javelins of the gods, the
din was deafening, almost precluding the use of the voice.

It was upon that scene that Sailor Mars and Sailor
Mercury arrived, to stand as though stricken by the sight.
It was not easily reparable damage that was being done to
the city. It would take time, effort, and people's sweat to
repair it, wasn't something that they had ever truly
encountered in the past. Yet, being the strong spirits they
were, they did not let it stop them in their attempt to
battle the youma.

"Mars Flame Sniper!" shouted Sailor Mars, bringing
her hands up into the position of archery, a bow of
crackling red flame bursting into existence in her grip. A
companion arrow of flame lanced out from her other hand to
rest against the bow, and she let fly at the youma as it
stood in the street. The entire bow condensed and trailed
along with the arrow in a great spiraling conflagration
that roared down the street. Had one taken time to look at
and observe the attack, the dancing flames might have been
almost hypnotically beautiful.

Unfortunately, the attack's brilliant visual aura
made it easily visible, and the youma threw up a hand to
deflect it, sending the flame into the side of a building,
where it exploded several floors up, violently throwing
chunks of concrete and debris to the ground below, forcing
Mercury and Mars to throw up their arms to shield
themselves. Once the dust cleared, a feat hurried by the
rain which weighed it down in the air, they looked up to
try and spot the youma again.

"What? It's gone!" uttered Mars in a hushed whisper.
She had a strong, compassionate voice of the sort that
suited a leader, but it was laced with a tinge of
apprehension at seeing her attack casually thrown away.

"Let me see if my computer can find it," stated
Mercury as she moved from the center of the street to take
shelter at the side of one of the buildings. As Mars
followed after her, she lifted her hand to the side of her
head, a blue visor materializing over her eyes while a hand
held display and keypad formed in her free hand. Golden
lettering and data displays lit up on her visor, giving it
a soft glow in the pouring rain.

"Any sign of it, Mercury?" asked Mars as she stood
there, huddling slightly in her sailor fuku, which had been
soaked thoroughly by the rain. Her sailor fuku, like that
of all the normal Sailor Senshi, was a white suit with
highlights in the color associated with her planetary home
of old. In her case, the skirt and neck were a strong, bold
red, as was the bow at the back of her skirt. Elaborate
shoulder pads with transparent gossamer protrusions were
among the details, along with her high-heeled red shoes and
her white gloves.

"I can't get a clear reading on it. Wait... There!"
Mercury's voice normally had an intellectual, calm tone,
but it held an air of tenseness to it as the situation wore
on her. Already it was not a typical battle. "I keep
getting momentary traces of her energy, but it fades in and
out amongst the buildings. We're going to have to try and
corner her or surprise her in the alleys somehow."

"All right, then. Let's get going, and stick close
together so it can't catch us separately. Then at least
we'll still outnumber her. Where do we start?" Mars was
certainly ready to go, even though she knew the danger
well. Never in the past had she backed down in a fight,
even one with a clear chance of defeat.

"Over there, where the flower shop used to be..."
Then, before she could finish the first thought, she
exclaimed "Look out, Rei!" A gleam of red appeared on her
visor, and it was that which provided warning enough for
her and Sailor Mars to dive to the sides as a rippling wave
of force slammed into the building where they had just
been, crushing the concrete inwards so that pebbles and
larger chunks of debris mixed with dust rained down after a
moment. Unfortunately, the youma was not limited to
attacking in single bursts. A second blast rippled through
the air towards Sailor Mercury as she coughed, trying to
rid her lungs of dust. She looked up just as the blast
approached, her eyes going wide at the sight of what would
certainly be a painful strike. However, it didn't land.

"Silence Wall!" came the voice of Sailor Saturn, her
purple highlighted sailor fuku still swaying from what must
have been a mad rush to make it to Mercury in time to
protect her. All that filled the fortunate Sailor of
Water's eyes were the purple laced boots of Sailor Saturn
as she stood before her, the some six-foot-long Silence
Glaive held before her, its hooked end leaving a soft
silver gleam in its wake as she spun it to form the
powerful barrier that had redirected the attack. She was
still holding up that barrier, in fact, as the redirected
energy of the youma's attack spilled more shattered
concrete and steel from the building's side above.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The blond King, or former King, found his feet
pounding along the wet, slick sidewalks of downtown Crystal
Tokyo as he ran. Guided by the distant sounds of
destruction, or the last signs of them he'd heard, he
sought out the conflict with a determination that almost
hurt to feel. The youma that the Sailor Senshi fought...
that Sailor Saturn fought, was powerful. He didn't know how
he could tell, but he somehow had felt it within him when
Hotaru told him that she was needed to help the other
Senshi at least a half an hour ago. It had been a restful
day up following the trip to the Shrine, too, but that had
fallen to the siren's call of battle.

He couldn't argue with the logic of her telling him
to stay behind. He felt no longer those incantations and
arcane secrets he had once possessed in the Silver
Millennium, nor did he any longer have the strengths of a
youma to rely upon in battle. He was a man at that point,
with all the strengths and weaknesses of a commoner. Yet,
he couldn't stay behind. He had to go, just in case
something happened. He owed the Sailor Senshi, in a strange
way, and more importantly, he owed Hotaru for releasing him
from his crystalline Hell.

He lurched to a halt as he came to another
intersection, leaning forward with his hands on his knees
as he sought to catch his breath. He had forgotten what
it'd been like to be a normal man, in large part, after
being one of Queen Beryl's servants for so long. Exhaustion
from his long run gripped at him, but he couldn't let
himself fall. After a moment, he pulled himself up and
looked from side to side, trying to listen for any more
sounds. The pounding rain greeted him for several long
moments and he heard nothing more, until finally...

"There!" An echoing boom not far away tore into the
rain, its sound reverberating off the sides of the
buildings in a strange rippling cacophony. Turning, his
sneaker clad feet once more pounded at the sidewalks and
then at the pavement, as he ran down the deserted streets
of Tokyo. He had to make it before something horrible
happened. There was no question, for if he failed to make
it, he would have no reason for being brought back into the
world.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Iyaaa!" The scream of Sailor Mars accompanied the
resonating boom of another force blast as it smashed her
against the side of a building, the wall cracking under the
force of her impact and practically disintegrating.
Fortunately for her, it was not solid concrete that she
struck, though it was not much better to strike glass as
she had, as a briefly glittering rainbow of shards exploded
around her before she found herself lying amongst the
scattered remnants of broken tables and chairs.

The youma had hit her hard, and she could feel it in
her ribs. At least a few had to have been broken, but she
was still alive and conscious, despite the burning pain in
her back, arms, and legs from the harsh bite of broken
glass. Still, she knew she had to move, since the youma
couldn't be just leaving her to lie after it had scored a
solid hit. It would come to finish her. She willed her
limbs to bring her to her feet. She found that she was
unable to even move a few inches. It must have been worse
than she had first believed. The force of the shock had
stunned her body, and she was lying helpless.

She could hear the youma walking, stepping soundly
along the ground and on the broken shards of glass which
crunched underfoot. She couldn't make out its form in the
dark of the battered restaurant, though, even when she
finally managed to lift her head enough to look down her
body and forward. Then, she could see the silhouette of the
youma, walking in time to its footsteps. Death seemed
certain at that moment.

It was Mercury's intervention that saved Mars. A cry
of "Mercury Aqua Rhapsody!" sung out into the quiet shell
of the restaurant as near the blasted window Mars spotted
the battered form of Sailor Mercury. Even hurt, the most
intellectual of the Sailor Senshi held her own beauty, her
blue highlighted sailor fuku rippling in the rising wind
about her as a harp of glittering, pure blue water formed
in her hands to be played. Long tendrils of water lashed
out from the musical instrument towards the youma, the
monster's hand thrown up suddenly to protect its face in
the wake of the onslaught.

While it saved Mars' life, it nearly cost Mercury her
own. A responding blast of force tore through her attack
after meeting some resistance, flinging her back out of the
building, her form bouncing along the street and skidding
to a rest at the base of another building. However, that
was also covering the attempt from Sailor Saturn to strike
the youma, as her Silence Glaive, catching what little
light there was along its wickedly hooked blade for a
moment, arced down towards the monster's head from the
shadows.

Like Mercury's earlier attack, the brave move met
with brief, limited success as the blade dug a deep cut
into the youma's forehead. That elicited the first words
from its mouth; a sharp scream of "Damn you!" as its hand
caught the haft of the weapon before it could cleave her
head in two. The response to the pain was swift and brutal.
The youma pushed away the Silence Glaive before lifting up
its other hand, which it balled into a fist and then
slammed into Sailor Saturn's chest, sending her back into
the shadows and partially through the drywall of the
building.

Dazed, Saturn looked up from the debris amongst which
she lay, watching as the angered youma stalked towards her
with the glimmer of death in its eyes. As her companions
had both felt at different points in the battle, she felt
it dawn upon her that it was quite probably the end of her
life. Her suspicions seemed to be confirmed as the youma
stood above her, towering like some dark elemental of evil,
its hand outstretched towards her. Then, she heard
something. The sound of running feet. She could see the
youma turning its head just as a shadow interposed itself
between them, forcing the youma to take several steps back.

She couldn't see clearly enough to identify the
figure standing over her, which wore a long sleeved blue
shirt and a pair of jeans with white sneakers. She was
unable to see the steel gray eyes focused on the youma from
behind a veil of soaked, hanging hair that was ragged from
running for longer than should have been possible. Nor
could she predict that it was Jadeite, the same blond King
she had freed from imprisonment.

His shoulders heaved with the effort of catching his
breath as he stood in front of the youma, hands clenched
into loose fists at his sides. He knew they needed help,
but being there without real forethought, he didn't know
what to do. He had no powers beyond those of his own two
hands, and so could call upon nothing that he believed
could even hurt the youma. However, he couldn't let it stop
him from trying. He lifted his head up, his eyes gleamed
for a moment as he raised his hand, and dove forward, his
fist launching towards the youma's face.

It had to be the grace of fate that let the blow land
on the youma, or so he thought first when he felt his hand
smash into the hard form of the monster's face. It wasn't
until he heard the soft, feminine growl of the youma that
it set in that his attack had accomplished nothing, just as
he'd feared. Already weakened from his long run and with
his hand hurting from striking the unnaturally hard body of
the youma, he stumbled back a step and fell to his knees.

"I'm surprised that you actually hit me, mysterious
stranger." said the youma calmly with a hint of sarcasm,
taking a moment to pull its hair back into order, the locks
having long since been matted against its face in the rain.
"As is the rule of all things, though, you're going to have
to suffer for that, just like the girl behind you. Actually
hurting me... How crude."

"You seem not to be too considerate of the damage you
cause to everything else. It seems a bit one sided,"
Jadeite spoke heavily, but also with his normal sly noble
tone. "You can go ahead and hurt me, but you aren't going
to get through to the girl." He owed Hotaru. He'd think of
something before he died which could spare her, as well as
the other girls. He didn't want them to die either, yet it
oddly enough seemed almost a secondary concern in his mind,
which focused on the girl with dark hair lying behind him.

"You're all only human. I don't play by the same
rules." The youma's arrogant words were barely recognized
by the blond King as it raised its hand, fingers pointed
towards him. Brilliant, coursing green lightning leapt
forth from the fingertips, immediately burning their way
across both Jadeite and Sailor Saturn, quickly causing
smoke to rise.

Yet, Jadeite did not fall, keeping on his knees
without swaying even a little. He couldn't let it end like
that. To be killed after being freed and to let the one who
had given him that gift die as well was not acceptable, and
in some distant corner of his mind a door opened. A portion
of his spirit long locked away flared to life, if only for
a moment, to provide him with the graces of magic he'd once
called on to protect the Earth. He did not notice that it
coincided with a soft hand wrapping around his ankle
loosely, and even if he had, he would not have likely made
the connection at that moment.

Saturn watched as the one she then knew was Jadeite
slowly rose up from his knees before her amongst the
blazing lightning, his hand raised to make it flow around
them instead of striking them. It was his voice that had
made her recognize him, which she imagined was likely due
to his naturally commanding tone. She found also that it
hurt, though, to hear him as well. There had been
desperation in his tone, the sudden, unexpected emotion
bordering almost on despair.

Once, in the past, Saturn had unconsciously increased
the powers of all three of the Outer Senshi, her spirit's
connection with them granting them great gains in strength.
As it had been then, she was still able to grant power to
another, though she had more a conscious idea of what she
was doing and it was only able to work to temporarily
restore the powers of her intended target. She could feel
it as her hand had grasped just above his foot. Warmth had
spread from him into her own wet arm, and in turn she felt
his body's temperature increase for that moment. Then, the
world went black for her. It was a strain to grant him even
a little power, for it forced her to use her own to unlock
his, and she had little left.

As the lightning peeled away, flowing around Jadeite
and Saturn, he felt the right formulae come to his mind. He
would have to lower his shield, but it didn't matter. It
would work. It had to work. He lowered his hand and winced
as the lightning dove in upon him once more, though it then
seemed to focus upon him and not upon Saturn. The youma
must have been trying to break his shield down, and it
showed in the amount of pain he suddenly felt. However, his
concentration held true. Thunder rumbled loudly as a bolt
struck a nearby building, and then it happened.

Outside the building, a bolt of lightning slammed
into the concrete, instantly evaporating the puddles nearby
with a deafening explosion of thunder. The pure energy
twisted and exploded through the room in a great bolt
directly at the youma, which suddenly found itself alive
with blazing, crackling energy that flung it with
tremendous force to the wall even as it burned the insides
of its monstrous body. The youma was sliding down the
shattered tile wall that formed the back of the restaurant
even as the foundations still quivered from the deafening
shock.

Jadeite's eyes opened, the light almost blinding him
despite the fact he had closed them, knowing what would
happen. He could feel the static in the air, trying to pull
at his soaked hair and make it frizzle out, and the
residual heat lingered. Falling forward to his hands and
knees, he saw that Mars was still breathing. He couldn't be
sure of Mercury, but he suspected that she was going to be
all right, which left him to look to Saturn.

She was completely unconscious, that much was
obvious. With a weak hand, he managed to check her neck for
the pulse of her life's blood, managing a faint smile when
he realized she was alive. Then, he fell forward himself,
passing out from the sheer exhaustion that had overwhelmed
him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pain is a strange thing. No one wants to be in pain,
usually, and yet sometimes they find themselves thankful
for it. For Jadeite, it was one such time. The soreness
that penetrated every fiber of his body heralded the fact
that he was still alive, and not, as he had feared, dead
from the youma's attacks. When he tried to move, his
accepting attitude towards the pain shifted slightly,
though, as the commands he sent to his muscles made them
exploded in fire.

Letting himself simply lay there, he concentrated on
breathing and trying to open his eyes. He had only vague
recollections of what had happened to put him there, and
the only thoughts that really stood out were the final
images of the youma being carried away by lightning and the
fact that Saturn was still alive. The thought of the girl
forced him into action, bringing him up to his knees with
agonizing slowness. He did his best to ignore the pain that
shot through his body with even the subtle motions of
trying to rise, and it finally paid off as he was able to
open his eyes and get up.

The first thing that greeted his vision was white. He
blinked slowly, then shifted back a bit, trying to refocus
his vision to find that he had been staring directly at
Sailor Saturn's stomach when he had risen up, and very
nearly her chest. He shook his head slightly to clear his
mind, and while it succeeded, he immediately regretted it
thanks to the pain it caused.

"Jadeite. You're awake." The purple and white clad
Senshi spoke quietly to him once she noticed he had moved.
"I'm glad." Her purple eyes were half closed, and she
seemed to be in horrible shape, though she didn't seem to
have any truly major injuries. Black smudges and tears
covered her sailor fuku, and she sported several nasty
gashes on her arms and sides from the wall. From the
concern and relief in her eyes, though, he likely didn't
look any better. In fact, he probably looked worse.

"Don't..." Jadeite tried to speak, but ended up
coughing several times instead. It took him a moment to
bring his renegade lungs back under control, and when he
felt they'd settled he tried again. "Don't worry about me,
Hotaru. You need to get home. Your father can probably see
to your injuries." The Professor should at least have been
able to put antiseptic on her more obvious wounds and
provide her first aid.

"You're hurt badly, Jadeite. You need to be taken to
the hospital," responded Saturn, concern in her tired
voice. It was fortunate that he couldn't see himself, but
that didn't spare her the pain of seeing that he had bad
burns all down his arms and legs, and blood in no small
amount around the sides of his face and in his hair. Not
only had he been stricken by the lightning the youma had
used, but he had also suffered from his own calling upon
lightning, which had ripped portions of the structure
apart, and had brought some of the roof raining down. He'd
never even felt several of the tiles strike him, dazed as
he'd been.

"Just flesh wounds," he said, managing a faint grin.
"I'll be fine." He knew better, really. Fortunately, the
paramedics would probably arrive on the scene soon, along
with the police. Then, it occurred to him. Why had no
police showed up to try and intervene? Why had no
paramedics raced to help the injured? He suddenly found
himself very troubled by that revelation. However, the soft
sound of rustling prohibited him from calling it to
Saturn's attention.

"The others!" Saturn whispered suddenly, turning
slowly to look at the shifting form of Sailor Mars. She'd
be able to get up soon, and if she saw Jadeite, there would
be no end to the trouble or questions. She'd have no idea
what to expect from him, and it'd likely lead to conflict.
Turning to look out the vacant space that had once been the
front of the restaurant, she could also see the stirring
form of Sailor Mercury across the street. "You've got to
get away before they see you," she stated quietly, looking
back to Jadeite as the distant sound of police sirens began
to rise.

"You'll all have to get away before the police and
medics arrive... Help me up. Then, you can lay me face down
on the sidewalk. They won't notice me if they can't see me,
particularly with these clothes." He was breathing heavily
again by the time he finished speaking. Still, he had to
get some sort of plan in action before he was discovered.
He knew well the consequences of suddenly meeting two
people he had, in the past, tried to kill.

"Once they're gone, I'll help you back to Father's
place," agreed Saturn as she slipped forward to put an arm
around his back. Slowly they both made it up to their feet,
a feat which caused both of them no small amount of pain.
Then, just barely fast enough, they got outside, where
gently she laid him down on the wet sidewalk. Fortunately,
it was no longer raining, though the dark clouds still
flowed above ominously. "Hang on, Jadeite," she said
quietly, just before she moved away from him and crossed
the street to check on the rising form of Sailor Mercury.

"Hotaru-chan..." Mercury's words greeted Sailor
Saturn as she finally reached her. "Are you all right?
Where's Rei?" Intellectual, but ever concerned for the well
being of her friends, Sailor Mercury worried first about
the others, then about herself. Physically, she had fared
better than anyone else, though it wasn't an outstanding
accomplishment. Blood still slowly seeped from several deep
cuts along her shoulder, and from the way she held her
side, she likely had a horrible bruise beneath her white
and blue fuku. Unfortunately, all that was piled atop the
numerous minor scrapes and cuts she'd also received.

"Rei's still inside the restaurant across the street.
If you can go help her, get her to the hospital, she's hurt
badly. I'll try and get to the Moon to tell the Neo-Queen
what has happened." Saturn silently congratulated herself
on improving the plan to get Jadeite away unnoticed and
also on managing to fulfill her duties to the Shin-Muun
Kingdom as well. It would give Jadeite a chance to meet
with King Endymion, something she knew he wished to do.

"Good idea. I'll see to her." Mercury gave a soft
nod, then began to walk across the street to tend to Mars.
Saturn watched her carefully, and released some pent up
breath when she walked by Jadeite without noticing him.
Quickly, or as quickly as she could, Saturn went over to
him and helped him up.

"Come on, Jadeite. We've got to get out of here."
Acknowledged by a soft nod from the prone King, she helped
him once more to his feet. As swiftly as they could manage,
they turned down a nearby alley and began the long, slow,
and hard trek back to her father's house so they could
collapse and try to recover.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hotaru's father was a man of science, having spent
many years in laboratories and universities. Not only did
he possess knowledge of physics and scientific theory, he
also had experienced some medical training in his life. It
was a very good thing that he possessed medical experience,
as when Hotaru and Jadeite had finally stumbled their way
back to the home almost a week ago they had been barely
coherent. The list of injuries had been rather impressive
in all actuality, consisting of burns, both conventional
and electrical, lacerations, bruises, and even some
fractured bones.

It had only required a little medical treatment from
the Professor in a chronological sense. Once he had managed
to get his daughter and Jadeite bandaged and put to rest in
beds, he knew it wouldn't take long for Hotaru to recover
enough to heal Jadeite. She had grown resilient in the last
few years, though she was still not a very physical person,
and her father's medical treatment, while not at the level
of a hospital, to be sure, was expert, allowing her to
recover almost completely over the course of a week.
Jadeite recovered as quickly, but she insisted on seeing to
him to make sure he was fully able before she finally let
him up from bed and allowed him to move around freely
again.

It had come to be Monday morning, and Jadeite and
Hotaru had eaten their breakfasts not long ago. Normally,
she would have been in school, but her father had informed
them that she would not be present for another week, since
she was still recovering from being hurt the previous week.
He had actually told them that she was suffering a light
case of pneumonia, but she hadn't paid close attention to
that particular detail.

"You have to go to the Moon to speak with the Queen
soon, right?" asked Jadeite as he put away the last of the
dishes from breakfast. He knew that she needed to go, and
it was more a rhetorical question than a genuine inquiry.

"Yes, I do need to go. You want to come with me,
right?" Hotaru was sitting at the table, having washed the
dishes so that Jadeite could put them away. They both had
reasons to go, but they had put it off for a reason that
they couldn't identify. They could have gone before that
day, even while they were still recovering, but they had
not even mentioned it. Events had changed things, though,
and they could feel a strong urgency approaching.

"I still need to see King Endymion. I have much for
which to apologize, and I must find out if I can help in
what's coming." It was obvious to him and to Hotaru, as
well, that there had been a shift in the peaceful paradigm
in which they had been living before. Not simply as the two
of them, either, but the entire Shin-Muun Kingdom had been
experiencing a time of unparalleled peace. "If he is
willing to allow it, then I can reclaim my old title. It
will be hard to convince him, though."

"I'll do my best to get him to believe you. He might
not think that you're trustworthy, but I know that you are.
I believed it before, but there's no doubt in my mind,
now." Hotaru spoke with a surprising passion. She had
wanted to believe she'd been right in reviving him and was
beginning to think she had been, which meant that he was
not the source of the image she had seen in the Scrying
Pool in the Crystal Watcher's Spire.

"Your faith in me is something I almost find hard to
accept," responded Jadeite. "I find it very pleasing,
though. Thank you, Hotaru." He knew well that she did not
mind his company, but actually trusting him was something
that seemed almost out of place, after what he had done
with the trust placed in him long ago. It was a second
chance for him, though, and he was willing to accept it
graciously. "We should go soon, then."

"I'll make arrangements for us to take one of the
shuttles up to the Moon tomorrow afternoon. That way we'll
be able to rest once we get there and go to visit the King
and Queen in the morning, well, assuming that the Queen is
awake, anyway." Neo-Queen Serenity, despite having matured
greatly and becoming the ruler of the Shin-Muun Kingdom,
was still Usagi Tsukino, and she still possessed a tendency
to sleep later than she intended to.

"If I recall, her incarnation in this time was a bit
lacking in the area of grace and eloquence," said Jadeite,
allowing himself a small laugh. "I am sure that she has
inherited her mother's positive traits, though. She is
holding this Kingdom together well, from what I see." There
was little conflict, and even crime was an uncommon thing
in what was a nearly utopian society.

"She learned a lot from the trials she had to face.
All of us did. She also has a lot of support from her close
friends, and especially from the King. Her daughter is also
a good person, and she helps her a lot. She's one of my few
friends, though she's also good at causing headaches."
Hotaru giggled quietly at the thought of Chibi-Usa Tsukino.
She always meant well, but she had inherited some of her
mother's clumsiness, not to mention her attitude. It was
like seeing Usagi as a student in Junior High again. Still,
she found that she was strongly bonded to the youngest
member of the ruling family.

"I do not doubt that she grew considerably. It is
good to know that she is doing as well as she is. At any
rate, I should join your father in the laboratory. I'll let
him know that we're planning to go tomorrow. We should only
be gone until the end of the week, I imagine." Jadeite
found himself smiling when she mentioned Chibi-Usa as her
friend and recognized the strong friendship between the
two. He did find it odd that he hadn't seen her at all in
his time there, but he dismissed the consideration. She
likely had things to do, just as Hotaru did.

"That will fit in with the time I'm out of school, so
it'll work out well. I'll call and have the arrangements
set up for us to travel up there," said Hotaru, rising from
the table and heading for the phone while Jadeite put the
last dish away and began to head towards the laboratory.
"Have a good day at work, Jadeite," she added, smiling and
laughing quietly. After all, work was basically the basement.

"And rest well and recover your strength, Hotaru,"
replied the Blond King as he waved and headed down the
hallway to the laboratory.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day had approached rather rapidly,
particularly when Jadeite and Hotaru realized that they
needed to be packed for the trip since it was to leave at
noon. Jadeite realized, with slightly mixed feelings of
relief and vague disappointment, that he had very little to
actually pack for the trip. Some basic items such as
toothbrush, shaving equipment and toothpaste came to mind,
and he packed those accordingly, along with his very small
selection of clothing. He included his old uniform in his
things as well, planning to wear it when he met the King
the following day.

With his things gathered, Jadeite descended the
stairs to the foyer, where he found Hotaru waiting for him.
She had two light bags opposed to his one, which didn't
surprise him. She possessed considerably more clothing than
he did, naturally, though her own collections paled in
comparison to the selections of outfits many of ages
comparable to hers owned. Taking her bags in an act of
politeness, he stepped outside while she finished saying
goodbye to her father. Soon, she had joined him on the
porch and they began the walk to the street. Once there,
they headed off towards the center of town.

Tokyo Tower had at one time been a simple tourist
attraction and broadcasting antenna for the city, but, with
the passage of time and with the advent of new technologies
it had become the port for the shuttles that traveled
between Earth and the Moon, as well as the colonies on Mars
and Venus. As they came closer to the structure they could
see the occasional sleek, delta-winged craft launch upwards
with amazing speed to break free of the Earth's hold and
head towards its destination.

Thus far, things had gone very well for the two on
their trek towards the station, and finally they reached
the base of the tower. Hotaru spoke with an attendant for a
few moments and they were then led into the concourse. The
station itself occupied an area around the base of the
Tokyo Tower much larger than it had once been, since there
was space needed for the various functions of the
spaceport. For the two, things continued to go smoothly,
but fate intervened.

Rei Hino still watched over the shrine and visited
her grandfather's grave there from time to time. Since he
had grown old, her boyfriend, Kumada Yuuchirou, had taken
to running the shrine. In addition to that duty, he served
as a member of the guards of Crystal Tokyo, a group who
served both as police and defenders against any outside
threats to the city. Despite the condition of peace, they
were trained relatively well, and in fact they were
provided with large amounts of time off to pursue other
activities in addition to their duties.

That particular day happened to be one on which Rei
was preparing to leave after visiting Yuuchirou and the
shrine. Rei did not catch sight of Jadeite from across the
concourse as she entered, though it was not severely
crowded. Her attention was more focused on thoughts of
Yuuchirou and her trip than observing the people of the
spaceport. Most of her bags were already checked and on
board the shuttle, but she kept a bag slung over her
shoulder with her personal belongings in it.

Since Rei had a short time to wait before her shuttle left,
she decided to get a drink from one of the small stores
within the concourse. It was as she was walking over
towards it that she caught sight of Jadeite. Turning a last
glance over the area before he left, Jadeite was
reminiscing on the sudden changes of his life on Earth and
the fact that he was leaving for the Moon for the first
time in countless ages. Then, he turned, his brow furrowing
slightly as he considered the significance of the moment
while he boarded the shuttle.

"Jadeite?" she intoned questioningly to herself, not
believing at first what she had seen. However, it was
confirmed beyond a doubt when he reemerged from the shuttle
to grab one of Hotaru's bags that he'd carelessly left
behind. Had she seen Hotaru, she might not have suspected
quite the scenario she did, but as it was, she saw only
him. Jadeite, one of the Four Kings of the Dark Kingdom,
was boarding a shuttle headed for the Moon.

Rei ran across the concourse, reaching the doors just
as they closed and the shuttle began to lift up onto the
launching rails. Should she get them to abort the launch
and hold the shuttle? She shook her head at the thought,
dismissing it due to the fact it would probably cause a
panic. No, she needed another way to make sure things were
safe. She had no doubt that Jadeite was up to something
bad. It was his nature, as far as she knew.

The solution presented itself in her mind as the
shuttle shot up from the side of the Tokyo Tower, caroming
off into space at tremendous speeds. She ran back and
picked up her bags, then headed out of the main concourse.
She had to slow herself down more than once to contend with
lingering pain in her ribs from the battle last week. She'd
healed well, though, and figured she'd be fine in another
week.

Once outside, she took the small wristwatch
communicator that was common among the Inner Senshi and
flipped it open, pressing a short sequence of keys. After a
few moments of waiting, the face of Minako Aino, of Sailor
Venus, appeared.

"Hey, Rei, what's going on? I'm kind of busy right
now," came the voice of the other Sailor Senshi through the
watch. Minako had a very melodic, pretty voice that she had
used to create a career as a singer. How she hadn't become
popular across the world yet was something Rei couldn't
answer, but at least she was popular on the Moon and in
Crystal Tokyo.

"We've got trouble! Do you remember the guys from the
Dark Kingdom? I just saw one of them boarding a shuttle to
the Moon!" Rei was definitely more anxious than normal, and
her temper was going to cause problems for the well meaning
travelers Hotaru and Jadeite. Her intentions were pure,
though. "It was Jadeite, the first one we met! Blond hair,
and gray eyes. You've got to make sure he doesn't reach the
Palace and hurt anyone."

"Whoa, wait, I thought they were all gone. Where
could he have come from?" responded Minako, her voice much
quieter. She must have been near people. Then, it became
normal again. Either they had left, or she had taken some
sort of cover so she could talk normally. "I mean, it's
been such a long time since we saw them. I thought we beat
them all."

"I don't know how he's here, but it was definitely
him. I'd never mistake his face for anyone else's, and I
wouldn't mistake anyone else's for his. Besides, my
instinct tells me it's him." Rei's instinct, bordering
almost on ESP, was not to be disputed in most situations,
and, in that one, it was very accurate. She not only
recognized it as having been Jadeite, but she could just
tell somehow that it was Jadeite.

"All right. How soon do you think he'll be here? I
can't get out of here without it being suspicious for
another half an hour," responded Minako. She sounded
anxious to, but she also seemed to be cautious of her cover
and current duty as well. She kept her identity a secret so
that her identity as Sailor Venus couldn't be an excuse for
her succeeding in becoming an idol.

"They just left a minute ago. You should have an hour
to meet them."

"Shoot, that's not enough time to let the King and
Queen know, too. I wish she had kept her watch."

"Don't worry, I'll let them know as soon as I can.
I'm going to grab a shuttle up there as soon as possible.
Just try to stop him from doing anything horrible.
Remember, he was one of Queen Beryl's men, and he betrayed
us all once before."

"I know, Rei. I'll stop him."

"Be careful. Try and get him by surprise if you can."
Rei sighed quietly and then prepared to flip off the
communicator. "I'll see you soon."

"Right. No worries, I'll get the job done." Minako
disappeared amidst static, and Rei closed the watch. How
could Jadeite have suddenly come back after so many years?
He'd been gone for ages. Then again, as she considered, she
realized that they never really had seen what had happened
to him. He'd simply stopped showing up, replaced by his
successor, King Nephrite. It was easily possible that he'd
simply been replaced. It didn't make sense, though, since
she knew that the Dark Kingdom had a bad habit of removing
from its ranks those who failed. The matter was much more
confusing than seemed logical.

"Maybe I can get Ami here, too," said Rei to herself.
Ami would certainly have the level head to assess the
situation and, if Jadeite and Hotaru were lucky, it just
might keep Rei from getting things any more complicated or
dangerous. Rei gave a slight nod to herself, and decided to
follow through with her idea. Ami would also be able to
come up with a plan for what to do if Jadeite was planning
a rampage of destruction as she suspected. Regardless of
how he'd come back, he was still a villain in her mind.
What else could he be, after all?