Of This World and Yesterday
A woman sits alone in a locked room.
She is a mighty enchantress.
And though alone, she is not without company. For there are her familiars
to fetch and carry for her. And a pair of heroes on the wall, chained there for her amusement.
They are Hercules and Samson, caught together in a loop of frozen time,
rattling their clinking bonds as they face a mighty hydra.
They have played out the same silent struggle- straining and grunting defiantly, repetitively-
ever since the enchantress put them there to be 'enhanced,' many days ago.
Now, though, she has little time for such things.
The heroes must wait their turn.
-David Brin, 'Earth'
Chapter 12- Puppet
"Eudial!"
Minako and Makoto were on their feet, exclaiming the same word at once, looks of horror sweeping over their faces in recognition of the woman below. She stood calmly, two large serpents dropping to the ground beside her and writhing, rearing back.
"That's impossible!" Minako was exclaiming, then wheeled, pulling Makoto out of the booth with her. "Mako-chan, let's go!"
"Okay!" came the immediate response, and Makoto spared a glance over her shoulder at Sango, who was on her feet and moving after Kirara. "Sango! We'll meet you in a minute!"
"Right!"
"Mamoru-san!" Minako shouted, waving and catching the young man's attention. Just as he lifted his head to see who was calling for him, there was a shattering sound, and screams from below in the arcade, as an impact blast shuddered its way through the building.
Reaching the steps, Sango grabbed onto the railing, stumbling as the tremor hit, blasting out the shiny windows on the ground floor. As sounds of terrified people began to fill her ears, she opened her eyes again, seeing Miroku crouched halfway up the steps, obviously on his way back when the front of the arcade was hit. "Houshi-sama!"
He looked up, seeing her rising to her feet. Behind him, people were stampeding towards the back of the building, Motoki with the back door open and ushering people outside and behind the arcade. "Sango! Are you alright?"
"Fine. The others are on their way! Kirara went down already!" Sango was moving again, keeping below the railing but moving quickly, waiting for the ground floor to clear of bystanders. Having an audience would not be a good thing. It took only a moment for the two of them to descend, running outside through the shattered front doors, just as Kirara was swallowed up by flames, transforming her into the much larger, fighting youkai she could become.
It was a single woman, two youkai beside her, rapidly filling out and growing larger as she turned to face them. Bright red hair pulled into three parts, hanging around her shoulders, a red and black battle costume clinging to her as she smiled, observing her two friends as they grew up.
"Minako and Mako called her Eudial," Sango told Miroku flatly as they took in the scene. "They seemed surprised to see her now."
"Regardless, we'd better take care of things until they get here." He reached for the rosary on his kazaana, ready to unloop the beads from his hand. "You're unarmed. You'd better get back."
Sango remained silent for a moment, and he glanced quickly at her to see why. He'd expected either an argument or an agreement immediately, depending on how she viewed the situation. Instead, he found her looking at her wrist, or more precisely, a silvery bracelet she wore there, the gemstone glowing faintly with lavender mist, a haze steaming upward in a blurry thread. There was a determined look on her face, and he watched as she concentrated, closing her eyes for a moment and breathing, then grabbing at the light, burying her hand into it and pulling it back, a lavender arch following and solidifying as she drew her free arm upward, the other down and away, the magic swirling around her and reflecting off her in a spiral.
Hiraikotsu was solid in her hands.
That was certainly a new trick, and he wondered how it worked. Something the senshi had cooked up, apparently, but how? "Sango...?"
A roar of warning from Kirara began the battle, as the two serpents reached their full size, the first of them hissing as it reared back, plummetting straight down and towards the two humans and the cat.
"Hiraikotsu!"
Sango was ready, bracing herself and throwing the boomerang upward at the mouth of the thing, striking it in the center of its jaw and shearing off the upper portion of its skull.
A scream of warning was cried from above them, just as the sharp boomerang began to return and Sango prepared herself to catch it on its way back to her. The senshi had arrived, Jupiter and Venus, along with Tuxedo Kamen, leaping down from the second story window. It was Venus screaming the warning, "No! Don't cut its head! Don't cut off its...!"
It was already too late, as the snake proved itself to be a familiar opponent, the same breed of youkai-daimon that Mars and Mercury faced before the Higurashi jinja. Rearing back as the second of the two burst upward towards the senshi, the first's neck began to pulsate, bubbling up as three new heads emerged from the gash through the first, revealing it to be another hydra.
The second snake was opening its mouth, revealing a pair of long, venomous fangs, forcing the senshi and Tuxedo Kamen to break apart, Jupiter and Venus to the left, Tuxedo Kamen to the right. Standing in the middle, Eudial watched as he landed, perfectly in line with Sango and Miroku.
Bunched up like that, she decided it would be best to take them out at once. She lifted her hands before her, a delicate staff in them, the end decorated with a black star, twined in the figure of infinity. "Fire Buster!"
A column of flames shot outward and towards the entrance of Crown Arcade, just as Tuxedo Kamen leapt upward and out of the way. Beyond him, Sango and Miroku were broken apart, just as hiraikotsu returned to Sango's grip.
The taiji-ya grabbed onto Kirara's mane, hauling herself upward as the firecat took to the air, coming around again to get a better, aerial position on the three headed serpent. Trapped on the ground, with various allies leaping through the coils of their enemies, Miroku could not pull open the kazaana, on fear of pulling in a friend as well. He watched, running forward towards the three headed opponent, hoping to come up with something as he arrived. If he could get a clean shot from point blank range, he may be able to suck it into oblivion without pulling in Sango or Mamoru.
No bladed attacks. No bladed weapons.
If new heads replaced ones sliced off, then hiraikotsu was nearly useless, in fact making matters worse. Sango seemed to know that, and she and Kirara had adopted a pattern of twisting through the sniping, bared fangs.
Up. Down. Backward. Land. Up again. Twist.
In the air, Tuxedo Kamen was leaping skyward, two roses held between his gloved fingers. He could not stay in the air as long as Sango could, riding on Kirara, but like any of the senshi, seemed to have the ability to get himself up high enough by simply leaping.
Then, Miroku saw what he was trying to do.
But so did Eudial.
"Fire...."
"Kazaana!"
"...Buster!" Eudial shrieked as she was suddenly whipped from off her feet, the attack she sent sliding off sideways and along the ground as she hit the asphalt with an audible smack. On the ground, she spread out, bracing herself against the pulling winds. Miroku could not watch Tuxedo Kamen finish his plan. Between Sango's weaving and his leaping, the three heads were going in multiple directions at once, each concentrating on not hitting the others and reaching their target. As the center head bobbed its way in towards Kirara, he was above it, and threw two bright red roses at it in perfect succession.
The first pierced through the grey scales.
The second shoved the first in through its skull, impacting into its brain in an instant.
It reeled backward, the other two heads snapping around as the center one flung itself backward, going limp between them as Tuxedo Kamen landed on the coils of the thing's body, taking to the air again before one of the other two could bite him off.
In a last attempt to crush Tuxedo Kamen, it whipped its tail upward and around, missing the smaller target. Instead, from behind, it slammed into Kirara, sending the cat tumbling head over tails midair. The sound of the scales impacting on flesh turned Miroku's head, and he saw Sango flung from Kirara's back.
"Sango!"
The kazaana was sealed, and he ran, watching Kirara right herself and land paws first against the building beside the arcade, twisting around to fling herself after Sango, in attempt to catch her before hitting the ground.
"Fire Buster!"
The lance of flame shot through the air this time, straight towards Kirara, forcing her to veer aside. In that moment, Miroku knew he would not be able to reach Sango before she hit the street. It was a despairing feeling, and the shock of it widened his eyes.
Kirara had avoided the fire sent by Eudial, but it was sweeping straight towards Sango. He watched her as she dissapeared into the flames of the Fire Buster attack, now skimming upward, as hiraikotsu clattered to the ground below.
"Venus Love and Beauty Shock!"
A golden blast of energy rose upward into the air, sailing into the softer underbelly of the single headed snake. It was forced backward, slithering closer towards Eudial at the impact, but the sheer size of it absorbed the attack, as it whipped its tail end around hard, causing both Venus and Jupiter to take to the air. Serpentine reflexes gave it the edge over the two senshi double teaming it, though this time, the two did not have any way to scald or freeze any sliced heads off before they could form. It was a disadvantage the two of them understood.
Keeping its head up and at angles, Venus' lazering Crescent Beam was ineffective, when she tried to slice into its unprotected eyes, to blind it. Then, as it swooped down towards Jupiter, fangs bared, she had tried to send a ball lightning down its throat. It changed its trajectory at the last second, flipping itself aside.
That was what frightened the two senshi the most.
It was learning. Quickly.
They could only see snatches of the battle between Sango, Miroku, and Tuxedo Kamen. As Eudial used her old attack against them and as Kirara and Sango wove their way around the various necks and bared fangs. Miroku distracted Eudial, buying Tuxedo Kamen a moment to put out one of the heads without creating more.
Jupiter aimed again for the thing, shouting up at it for attention. Venus had just taken her turn at it, and they were leaping back and forth to confuse it, keep it guessing, open a chance to take it out. It was scorched from various electrical attacks, the smell of burnt and electrified scales sending up a putrid stench in the air. It took her shouting as bait, and dove downward, golden venom touching the tips of its fangs.
"Sparkling Wide Pressure!"
It swooped its head upward, while flinging its tail end around. There was an instant before Jupiter saw it coming, crouching and leaping upward to literally use the tail end swipe as a springboard to fling herself over, pivoting midair.
From behind, Venus watched Jupiter land on her feet, powering up for another attack. The snake's head had risen upward, but as she watched, she saw the calculation of the movement, the narrow slope it took to the side.
It was a feint, and it was coming back as Jupiter paused to gather herself again.
"Venus Love Me Chain!"
A fine line of golden, energy filled links sliced through the air, this time not to strike, but to grab. Offense was not working, so she tried defense.
Didn't somebody once say, 'The best defense was a good offense?' For once, Venus decided whoever said that was stupid.
She hauled hauled backward on the chain, screaming to Jupiter as she braced herself against the ground and wishing someone else could help her pull. The whip went abruptly taut, tension racing up through her arms as the thing reared backward.
It pulled up short of its target.
"Jupiter! I can't hold this long!" The massive size of the thing worked against her, and Venus already felt like her arms were being pulled out of their sockets as it struggled against her chain.
Sailor Jupiter was ready, the head of the snake pulled backward, but the thing's underside pulled short of an armslength from her. She leapt forward, hands on the scales, and releasing her power on contact.
"Jupiter Oak Evolution!"
A thousand bioelectric leaves slammed repetitively into it, slamming over and over at the touch. Electricity raced up and down the thing's body, up over its head in crackling, static archs, sending it reeling. Already drawn up to use against Jupiter, its tail swung around across the street, smashing through lampposts and sending up showers of sparks.
Straining against the tension from the serpent, Sailor Venus felt the thing snap back in electrical shock. The chain slipped from her fingers as the snake thrashed, eyes rolling up into its head and tail slinging around from the side. Off balance from the sudden absence of the chain, she was smacked aside by the tail coming around, pushing her along before whipping her into the side of one of the buildings. The impact between the brick wall and the tail knocked all the wind out of her lungs and made her gasp in shock.
Distantly, she heard Jupiter's cry of alarm, as the world began to fade to black.
"Sango!"
As the fire died away, there was a dark mass inside. Someone was crouched in the blaze, becoming clearer as the brightness and acrid smell faded away. Ash was beginning to fill the air, evidence of scorched brick buildings around them. Waves of heat were steadily making the street hazy with a liquid look, the blacktop hot underfoot.
The crackling flames gone, the figure moved, lifting a head and drawing back the folds of a black cloak. Underneath, Sango was crouched, turning a look of pure loathing towards the grimacing face of Eudial.
Tuxedo Kamen was very good at catching flying females, having been in battles with the senshi all too often. His ability to attack may not have been as conspicuous as most, but protecting them in a defensive pattern was his way to fight.
Miroku made a mental note to thank Mamoru later, just as he reached them.
"Are you alright?"
"No time for questioning," Tuxedo Kamen told him. Reaching into the folds of his jacket, he drew out two more roses. "Later. We must remove Eudial from the fight."
There were two corresponding sounds of agreement, but before any of the three of them could move, the two remaining heads of the hydra had regrouped, and were once again swinging their way downward and towards them.
"Separate!" Sango shouted, and they each shot into different directions, Tuxedo Kamen straight up and over, flinging his roses at the backs of the hydra's heads, running down along the coils of the back, making his way towards Eudial as he drew out a cane from his jacket pocket.
Sango and Miroku dove different directions, automatically thinking that it would find itself unable to move if one head chased each of them, leaving it stuck.
Kirara was in the air, swooping around over the sidewalk and avoiding a cascade of broken building that fell behind her. Low, she snatched up Sango, and began to head upward again, just as Sango realized that the plan had failed.
Both heads aimed straight for Miroku, now in the street in front of the store beside the arcade. "Houshi-sama!"
"Sango! Get back!"
She was flying straight downward, unarmed, coming in behind the hydra, Kirara with claws extended. At the last second, she veered aside, seeing him reach for the kazaana. As she pulled upward, turning aside, he loosed the rosary.
Already charging downward, the high dark winds pulled the thing along, it only realizing the danger too late, as one head, then another was sucked inside the void.
But something else was moving, thick body scorched and smoking, straight forward and through the assembled group, blindly charging down the street from the side, just as Miroku wrapped the beads back around his palm.
There was a voice screaming a warning, Jupiter's, a crackle of electricity shot out in a last attempt to strike the thing and turn its course.
The snake that Jupiter and Venus were fighting was in pain. Wild, oblivious pain that sent it rolling, striking and slashing at anything in its way, charging blindly forward with red, sightless eyes. It tore forward, and had Tuxedo Kamen not been faced towards it, he would not have seen it coming.
Landing from the back of the vanished three headed hydra, he met Eudial head on. The Witch of fire had blocked his initial strike with her infinity marked staff, and the two of them parried off, fencing back and forth as Miroku finished off the hydra. There was something strange about Eudial, her face contorted as she blocked his strike. He did not know this number of the Witches 5, or how she worked, relying on secondhand information from the other senshi. He lashed out with his cane, hoping to land a blow to stun her if nothing else. Both fought with blunted edges, but fought as though they were swords, slashing and stabbing.
"You're dead," he told her, hoping to elicit a response.
Her scarlet eyes were dead, empty, though her expression seemed lively enough, brows drawn down in concentration. "Bastard...do you really think you can fight with a Witch and live? I, Eudial, at Level 78 Death Busters, shall defeat you!"
It was then that he heard Jupiter's warning, and saw a ball lightning fly over head, flung at random through the air. It gave him a fraction of a second to leap aside, and though Eudial could not see what was happening behind her, she too heard the warning, managing to leap away just as the enraged serpent charged past where she stood.
"Miroku!" Tuxedo Kamen called in warning, the houshi not watching the street, but how he sealed up his kazaana. "Miroku!"
Another voice lifted to join the first one, again swooping downward from the air. "Houshi-sama! Run!"
He turned just in time to see the single headed snake heading straight for him.
He reached again for the kazaana.
"Houshi-sama!"
Something moved across the expanse of street, a blur of aquamarine and white, running into the fray and colliding with Miroku, sending both of them flying into the side of the building, as a blade of blazing golden light covered the arrival of the teal haired senshi.
"Space Sword...Blaster!"
Already running wild through the melee, the golden blade sliced through the neck of the snake, sending it reeling upward. From where he landed, Miroku pushed himself upward to see another, unfamiliar looking senshi kneeling above him, ocean blue eyes focused on the battle before her. This one was dressed in shades of blue, with long, wavy, aqua colored hair falling around her waist.
Beyond her, Miroku saw another senshi appear across the street, emerging from one of the alleyways. Dark blue skirt, yellow bow, short, sandy blonde hair and a very annoyed expression in her eyes. She was holding an intricate sword, still gleaming bright yellow from the attack. A smug expression was settling onto her face, obviously under the impression she had just defeated the youkai she was facing.
The smile faded away rapidly when she saw the thing rear back, neck frothing fleshily as it continued to writhe. Her brows drew down, again ready for battle, hefting the sword up once more for a second round.
"Uranus! Stop!" Jupiter was screaming as she ran forward, an arm out to stop the newcomer from making matters worse. "It replaces with more!"
Sailor Uranus' eyes widened, and she halted her attack as thin lines began to sprout from the hydra's neck. Behind them, there was the sound of high pitched laughter, and both of the newly arrived senshi turned to see Eudial, laughing with a hand to her mouth, enjoying herself throughly at their helplessness.
"Crescent...Beam!"
From beyond the street, behind Eudial and Tuxedo Kamen, from beyond Jupiter, still running, Sailor Venus was on her knees, one hand on the ground for balance as she held up her other hand, aiming straight for the thing's emerging heads across the distance. The reaching stems of neck slowed, the flesh reproducing slowly as the skin began to congeal under the pressure of the Beam. Slowly, the formation of the heads stopped, and the laughter from Eudial died away as it toppled to the ground, cracking the asphalt and sending up chunks of rock around its body.
A moment later, Sailor Venus collapsed.
"Venus!" Tuxedo Kamen was moving, running to check on the fallen Soldier of Love.
Several sets of angry faces turned on the Witch, who was standing amid the litter of the street, a hard expression on her features. She gripped her infinity staff in her hands, preparing herself for the onslaught of attacks that were about to come her way.
"World Shaking!"
"Supreme Thunder!"
Uranus and Jupiter's attacks streaked outward, a globe of yellow, planetary light charged up with a bolt of crackling electricity.
Eudial was in the air, leaping upward and over, while countering the attack with "Fire Buster!"
They negated each other, burning away into the street and leaving char.
Again standing, Miroku watched from the side as his rescuer drew a beautifully carved mirror out of the air, watchfully observing the one who was being called Sailor Uranus. When the orb of light left that senshi's fingers, the woman waited a moment, then held the mirror up, the reflective surface brightening in the shockwave of Uranus' and Jupiter's attacks.
"Submarine Reflection!"
Liquid light emerged from the mirror's surface, headed straight for Eudial, still midair. The Witch was unprepared for one assault so rapidly after the other, and was struck, flung wide as the senshi's attack hit her.
Then something strange happened.
Eudial pulsated once as she landed, looking up as though unharmed, though half of her face was scraped away. Something began to grow there, budding in tiny leaves through an emerging, cruel smile.
"World Shaking!"
Again, a globe of golden light flashed out from Uranus' hand, tearing up the ground before her as Eudial stepped to her feet, her staff lost. The aim was true, tearing into Eudial and vanishing as it passed her by. But the full force of Uranus' attack revealed something else. Eudial began to grow, roots and vines forming out of her shorn arm, and her body began to revert to something inhuman. Jupiter recognized it from when they had first fought her. Her red hair faded into a mass of snakes, her body growing dull and thin and bony, the true image of a daimon. But the blast from the World Shaking should have been more than enough to kill her, on top of the Submarine Reflection.
Sango and Kirara had landed while Uranus and Jupiter had attacked Eudial, Sango taking the moment to snatch up hiraikotsu and arm herself again. The senshi's attacks were harming the Witch, she could see that. But there was something distinctly familiar about the way the Witch named Eudial was reacting to their blasts. The attacks, though injuring, were not causing any true damage. She was just transforming under the beatings.
For their fight so far, they had tried not to cut their opponents, under fear of making things worse. But the familiarity was making her certain.
This was not what they thought it was.
"Kugutsu!" Sango called out, bracing herself for a throw. "Hiraikotsu!"
The boomerang sliced through the air as roots began to emerge from Eudial's body. Sharpened edges of hiraikotsu cut through them neatly, severing them as it struck straight through Eudial's chest.
The mass of dirt and vines that had become Eudial's body shuddered as hiraikotsu impacted, breaking apart and falling to the ground in a heap as Sango ran forward, catching her weapon as it returned. She heard footsteps beyond her, following, then several sounds of feet running to the place where Eudial fell.
With a grimace, Sango kicked aside some of the clumps of dirt, reaching in towards the center of the thing, and a moment later, found what she was looking for.
In its center was a puppet, broken in half by the blade edge of her boomerang. Made of hardened, carved wax, it resembled the woman they had just destroyed, delicately painted with red and black tempra colors. A single black hair was twined around the poppet's chest.
"It's a kugutsu," Sango stated flatly, hard voiced. "More detailed, but unmistakably like Naraku's."
There were people around her now, crowding to see what she was talking about as she headed out of the dirty mess that remained of Eudial. Sailor Jupiter presented herself first, and being a familiar face, she showed her. "Kugustu. Puppet. Someone else was controlling her from another end. This wasn't the person you knew before. It just looked like her. That's new, but then I've never seen a poppet that was made to look like someone specific before."
"Crap..." Jupiter muttered darkly, picking up the broken piece. "The hair is the link between the two?" she surmised as she pulled the strand off.
"Yes..." Sango agreed quietly as she turned to face the two newcomers. Jupiter called one Uranus in the middle of battle, but the other remained nameless, the one who ran out to save Miroku.
"I see we've missed a hell of a lot while we've been gone," Uranus said as she took her turn looking at the waxen doll. "Pluto didn't exactly say much on the phone. I'm Sailor Uranus."
"Sailor Neptune," the other one introduced, bowing her head gracefully for a moment and turning to Miroku questioningly. "Are you all right? I didn't mean to knock you aside so hard."
"I appriciate your attempt to rescue me. My thanks. I'm Miroku, servant of the Buddha and to lovely lady senshi."
Neptune lifted an eyebrow, smiling at him. "Ah, a servant of the Buddha? Are you not supposed to shun the world in exchange for enlightenment?"
"I only wander to gain enlightenment by aiding my fellow man...."
That was interrupted by a snort from Sango, who was also shooting Miroku a dirty look. Uranus as well was looking somewhat annoyed at the monk, her Space Sword still in hand. Sango's reaction caught Uranus' attention, and she glanced at the dark haired girl beside her. "You're pretty good with that boomerang. You are?"
"Sango," she said, "a taiji-ya," she added after a moment, hefting hiraikotsu in explanation. "That thing was a kugutsu, houshi-sama, if you didn't hear it."
"I did. The same as Naraku?"
"Close enough."
"Naraku?" Jupiter asked, looking uneasily from taiji-ya to houshi. Anyone with a name like 'hell' sounded pretty bad to her. "Someone from your time?"
"Time?" Uranus and Neptune both exclaimed, taken aback. Neptune recovered first, managing, "Pluto brought someone from the future? Willingly? What's going on that we've missed?"
"Past," Jupiter told them with a frown, suddenly noticing something as she looked at the circle of people talking. "Where's Tuxedo Kamen?"
That alerted everyone, and they began to look around. There was no sign of the masked man, but Sailor Venus was lying unconscious on the sidewalk, blonde hair pooled around her head.
"Venus!"
Sango and Jupiter ran towards her, Kirara heading after Sango. Uranus, Neptune and Miroku remained where they were, each frowning.
It took Miroku a moment to ask; "Why would he leave the scene of a fight?"
There were grim expressions on Uranus and Neptune's faces. "Where is the Princess?"
"Princess?"
"Princess!" Uranus demanded, looking angry and turning on Miroku. "Sailor Moon! Where is she?"
"The Usagi one? She was going to study with Kagome-sama and the Ami girl at Kagome-sama's home."
Miroku stood his ground when Uranus began to press forward on him, still aware that she was holding her sword in her hands and looking very agitated. "Where does 'Kagome-sama' live? Tell me! Now!"
"I do not see why you insist on growing upset-"
"There's no time for stupid games!" Uranus roared, and a restraining arm came down in front of her, as Neptune barred her path. The teal haired senshi looked every bit as intense as Uranus, but appeared to be better at reining in her temper.
"Where is the place, houshi? Tuxedo Kamen does not leave unexpectedly unless the Princess is in danger. Your friend Kagome may be in danger as well."
Miroku glanced over at the unconscious form of Venus, and of Jupiter and Sango huddled around her. Jupiter was picking her up, carrying her lightly as Sango turned towards Kirara.
"Higurashi Jinja."
Uranus and Neptune barely glanced at each other before they were running back the way they came.
"Sango," Miroku called, "this may not be over yet."
She glanced at him as he approached, gesturing at Kirara. "But we killed the..." she began, then thought about what he said. "Kagome-chan and Inuyasha?"
"Yes. We'd better find our way back to Kagome-sama's home."
"I know how to get there," Jupiter told them, glancing at Kirara. "But I'm not leaving Venus-chan here. The police will be on their way soon, and people will hear the quiet and come to look. We'd better get going. Can she carry us all?"
Kirara growled at the implication she wasn't strong enough, turning to the side and dipping a foreleg to allow Jupiter to set Venus on her neck.
"If Kirara thinks so, then she can," Sango told them as she carefully began to set hiraikotsu back into its 'subspace pocket.' Jupiter was nodding, guessing that Pluto had worked something out for her as it dissapeared. After a moment, Sango slid in behind Venus, Miroku behind her, then Jupiter squishing everyone forward so she didn't fall off the tails. "Is it far?"
"No. Just try to follow Uranus and Neptune."
"All right. Kirara!"
They took to the sky.
~Omake~Omake~Omake~Omake~Omake~Omake~Omake~Omake~Omake~Omake~Omake~Omake
"Yes..." Sango agreed quietly as she turned to face the two newcomers. Jupiter called one Uranus in the middle of battle, but the other remained nameless, the one who ran out to save Miroku.
"I see we've missed a hell of a lot while we've been gone," Uranus said as she took her turn looking at the waxen doll. "Pluto didn't exactly say much on the phone. I'm Sailor Uranus."
"Sailor Neptune," the other one introduced, bowing her head gracefully for a moment and turning to Miroku questioningly. "Are you all right? I didn't mean to knock you aside so hard."
"I appriciate your attempt to rescue me. Arigatou. I'm Miroku, servant of the Buddha and to lovely lady senshi."
"Arigatou, houshi-sama. I'm glad you were all right."
"Thank you. You were worried for my welfare?"
Neptune smiled politely. Saving people was her duty as a senshi, after all. "Yes, of course."
"Then I have a favor to ask you," he began, taking up her hands and looking into her eyes. "Will you bear my child?"
Sailor Uranus and Sango both turned battle-aura-red, flames shooting from their heads in raw fury.
Sailor Neptune, however, began to give this some deal of consideration, thoughtfully tapping her chin with a finger. "Hm, well, I don't know. I'm still in high school, but then I suppose I did help raise Hotaru-chan well. Haruka and I have talked about having a child someday, though if you're insistent about it being now, I suppose I could talk to Haruka about it."
Miroku was a little puzzled over the response. First, she didn't try to beat him down in any way, and second that wasn't exactly an outright 'yes.' So that left him with the inevitable question of: "Who's Haruka?"
"I AM!" Sailor Uranus roared, whipping out her Space Sword and hefting it high over head. "GET AWAY FROM MY MICHIRU!"
Miroku: looking between Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune and realizing something Ohhhhhhhh......
Sailor Uranus: DIE, HOUSHI!!
Miroku: hides behind Sango
Sango: sweatdrops I was wondering if something like this would ever happen after meeting Jakotsu....
Terms of note:
kugutsu- puppet used by Naraku to create a duplicate of himself
Naraku- translates to 'hell'
henshin yo- time to transform
Enjoy the omake? ^.~ Bwahaha, I bet you were all waiting for that...I was trying to think of the funniest senshi for him to ask, and I decided on Neptune. For some reason, I don't think he'd ask Uranus...and the Inners.... Miroku doesn't really hit on taken women (Usagi) and...Rei would flame him, Makoto would either pound him or electrocute him, Minako...I have NO idea what Minako would do...(and that's a scary concept in and of itself....) and Ami would probably blush purple and stutter until Makoto and Rei jumped in to rescue her. Hotaru is a bit too young, and I don't think he'd go after Setsuna either...too aloof. Michiru though seemed perfect, due to Haruka and her fondness for flirting. Bwahaha....
I've got to dedicate this chapter to my friend Mina Maxwell. Look! I CAN write long battle sequences!!!
Just for the record, Sango's comment in the omake about Jakotsu was just for laughs. The Inuyasha storyline takes place pretty much outside of normal timelines, though the Sailormoon line is standing right on the brink of the Stars arc. At the time of writing this, the Shichinin-tai storyline is still ongoing for the Inuyasha group, so let's say the Inuyasha-tachi are from some nebulous non-time before that arc begins.
Also, the kugutsu. Naraku has always sent his to look exactly like him. Fiddling with the original concepts for this fic, I thought an interesting twist would be to make the kugutsu look like someone/thing other than Karasu (as the maker) herself. Having watched the Death Busters while the senshi defeated them, she/I decided to go ahead with making her kugutsu look like a member of the Witches 5. Makes things a little more interesting, and I didn't see why they couldn't look like something/one else.
Which leaves me with sending a thank you to Sango-sama for helping to clarify on Naraku's kugutsu and how they work. ^_^ Arigatou!
As for what's happening with the others...?
Tune in next week for chapter 13, 'Distortions.'
Til next storytime.
~Queen
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Coming up next, in Chapter 13: Distortions-
...the voice on the other end was odd, somewhat tinny, the way a cell phone would sound and the voice echoing, as though in a large room. A puzzled frown began to crease Kagome's face as she mentally raced to identify the voice. The others had suddenly quieted at her serious expression, drawing silent and watchful.
"Yes...this is Kagome."
"Excellent. This is Karasu."
An old enemy reappears- is it real, or just an illusion? Two absent senshi return to find themselves in the middle of an impossible battle...and the answer to the question...which senshi will Miroku ask to bear his child? Another omake with a NEW chapter 12!