Of This World And Yesterday

Back when humans roamed in small bands,
when the forest seemed endless and night all-powerful,
the common belief was that other creatures were thinkers too,
whose spirits could be bribed with song and dance.
But eventually, the scary woods were pushed back a little.
Mud-brick temples glistened, and bibles began saying,
"No, the world was made for man to use."
Soulless, animals were for his disposal.
-Earth, David Brin

Chapter 21- Nest

It was a dark pillar in the center of the ruin, a single spire that jutted out higher than the rest, flattened off on top enough for a person to stand if they could reach it. Most of the rubble around Mugen Academy had been cleared away, but the actual space that the building once took up was cluttered with debris.

The day had dawned in pale shades, clouds hovering in the distance, not quite threatening, though existing on a knife's edge of perception. Four figures stood before the mess of Mugen Academy, a line that stood just before the cement and fence blockade, gaudy neon yellow construction tape warning people to keep out. Haruka and Michiru had made the morning rounds, collecting Miroku from Mamoru's apartment before he headed to the day's classes. The five of them, Kirara again stashed in Sango's purse, had headed for the remains of the multi-story school, parking the car on the street and walking around, doing their best to be unobtrusive in their investigations.

"The negative aura is almost nonexistent," Miroku commented quietly, glancing around him. There were a few people on the street, but apparently the varied attacks around Tokyo were finally settling into people's heads, and they were staying inside more. Around the epicenter of the old battle, there was a very faint negative aura, though overlapping it and washing it away was another one, warm and bright, like a star, shining. "It feels more positive than anything else."

"That would be the Princess's influence," Michiru told him quietly, holding her mirror low and reflecting it upward into the sunlight. She was still pale, though being Michiru, she had composed herself so that any tiredness from the previous day appeared gone, dressing herself in a rose patterned sundress and tying her hair back with a bright ribbon. "She stood on top of that pillar in the center, and brought rebirth to the people and buildings that had been destroyed in Pharaoh 90's range."

"We should head out again," Haruka decided, turning away from the wall and sticking her hands into her pockets. "I'd say the wind is blowing from that way." She gestured with her chin further up the street. "There's just rubble here now."

"Perhaps it would be wise for me to retrieve my shakujyou from your car," Miroku commented, glancing towards where Haruka had suggested. The day was slightly windy, though without much bluster, and it carried with it a prickling sense, setting his nerves gratingly on edge. He agreed with Haruka's assessment, and wanted to have a weapon in hand this time, odd looking on the street or not. Besides, the aura was close, and the few people were scurrying about, ignoring the quartet on the sidewalk. "It will only take a moment."

Haruka shrugged, turning aside and pulling her keys out of her pocket. They had parallel parked just down the street on the curb. "Come on then, houshi."

Kirara mewed quietly, and Sango laid a hand on her head to soothe her. The purse was cramped, and Kirara had been riding in it every time they went out, despite occasional turns at fighting. She glanced at Michiru, who had returned her gaze to the ruins of Mugen for a moment. In the grey morning, she looked pale, alabaster skin washed out slightly, though she insisted she was well that morning. Her profile held a slight tension, barely visible around the corners of her eyes.

"How are you feeling, Michiru-san?" Sango asked quietly as she checked on Miroku and Haruka's progress, moving quickly along the sidewalk.
"Better," she replied evenly, then glanced at Sango with a faint smile playing on her lips. "Walk with me a moment?" Michiru suggested, then, seeing Sango's darting glance backward, she added, amused, "They'll catch up." Before Sango could reply, the aqua haired woman turned and began to walk, folding her arms for a moment, then dropping them, clasping her hands together as Sango hurried up, letting the two fall into an even step.

A few cars rushed by, sending a stray newspaper floating up out of the sewer drain and onto the concrete before them, skittering past on a gust of wind. Cars drew to a halt beside them as the light turned red, and the cars headed in the opposite way began to cross the intersection as Sango and Michiru reached the corner.

"Would you die to protect someone you love?"

The question came abruptly, and Sango was slightly startled, not sure where this was coming from, much less going. "Of course," came the answer, seeming fairly obvious. Michiru still had a distant expression, blue eyes unfocused and faraway, not seeing the cars that flew past them.

"Mm," she sighed, tilting her head to the side thoughtfully and then turning towards Sango. "Haruka and I work as partners. It has been that way since the beginning, when there was only us, fighting alone. We had each other, though no one else. Not until we began to trust in the Princess. Still, we work as partners, even though we are not alone anymore. Haruka can be hasty sometimes, and she loses her head." A fond, slightly exasperated smile touched Michiru's features for a moment, then she shook her head, a tendril of hair falling over her shoulder. "So I stay beside her, to keep her in line, and to help her." Michiru let out a tiny laugh, and shrugged as though used to any of Haruka's eccentricities. "Don't worry about me, okay? I'm going today to help protect people I care about. That is what's important."

Something in Michiru's speech unsettled Sango, making her shift uneasily from foot to foot. These senshi could be very odd sometimes, switching from seriousness to laughter within a heartbeat. At the same time, it wasn't so unfamiliar...they also, though differently, fought. Women, fighting. Fighting together as a unit, a team against various kinds of enemies, youkai, youma...she had heard the others mention other names, things Sango didn't recognize. Droids? Lemures? Still, it was a familiar and yet unfamiliar thought. Most fighters were men in her era, and though many said she was a good taiji-ya, occasionally she felt being a fighter was a black mark on her somehow. These women, though...they fought elegantly, proudly, as though there was nothing more natural in the world than to fight and to be feminine at once. And they cared for their companions so much...of course she would protect the people she loved. Neptune had led the way into Viluy's attack yesterday, taking the Mosaic Buster before Uranus. She would do the same, were the situation different. Sango had lost too many people already.

"Oy," Haruka greeted as she and Miroku returned, the houshi now with his shakujyou in hand, the rings sounding lightly as they chimed against each other. "What are you two chattering about?"

Michiru arched an eyebrow as Haruka leaned in a bit, teasing slightly. "You, of course," she replied tartly, dryly adding, "Nothing else in the world more fascinating."

Haruka just laughed, and Miroku looked on, puzzled at the joke he wasn't quite getting. Sango was suddenly watching the sidewalk, lips drawn thin in a considering expression. What had they been talking about? Walking up, he had seen Michiru speaking most of the time, while Sango's expression had slowly closed off on itself. "Sango?"

There was a worried tone to his voice, and she perked up her head at her name. "Eh? Oh, I'm fine, houshi-sama. Just thinking."

"We'll find the place today," he began, but was cut off by Haruka and Michiru starting across the street as the Walk sign began to flash, and the two began calling for Sango and Miroku to hurry before it changed again.

They stopped before a tall building, not quite a skyscraper, though fending for itself well enough amid the towering structures that fenced its sides. Sleek and impressive in its subtlety, it conformed to the appearance of any moderately tall building anywhere. Nice, blocky, new, stylish and somehow forgettable, without artwork or originality to distinguish it. An eye could slide across the buildings' surface and then away, a thing seen and then forgotten in the same moment.

"Here."

A hand reached out and pulled open the glass door, reflections flicking rapidly across the tinted surface as they slowly filed in, fanning out slightly as the lobby sprawled out before them. No people walked across the polished marble floor, no one sat behind the receptionist's desk that was tucked away into the far corner, an empty pot for a nonexistent plant resting beside it.

Sango set down her purse, and Kirara stepped primly out, lifting her head and peering around with wide crimson eyes. The vacant lobby was dim, none of the lights overhead turned on, to chase away the shadows. Tall, shaded windows let in faded columns of light across the floor, tricking the mind into thinking the day was at its end, rather than reaching its midpoint.

"Time to henshin," Haruka said flatly, looking across the stretch of floor to three elevators on the far side of the room. She glanced at Michiru, who was slowly lifting her hand to the air. A moment later, two voices were raised together.

"Uranus Crystal Power!"

"Neptune Crystal Power!"

"Make-up!"

For a moment, the dimness was washed away as golden and maritime lights chased away the darkness, leaving two Sailor Senshi in their wake.
Sailor Uranus smirked, glancing around at the corners of the lobby and cracking her knuckles. "Oy! Karasu! If you're watching us someplace, we're coming! Better run and hide."

"This room is empty," Miroku said, stating the obvious to lead into the question, "how do we go into the other rooms? Those doors over there," he gestured at the elevators, "have no knobs."

"Elevators," Neptune told him. "They're called elevators. Same as last time..." she mused, her words almost inaudible, murmured as she began to walk towards them, frowning delicately and then pressing the button on the panel beside the door. Once, at Mugen Academy, Neptune, Uranus, Pluto and Sailor Moon had stepped into an elevator, descending far down into the depths of the school, falling until they reached the bottom level and the hideaway of the Death Busters. "I wonder if a raven builds her nest high like a bird, or low like a daimon?"

The arrow lit, and with a slight pinging sound, the doors slid open.

"Low," Sango said. "Because it would be the opposite of what a usual youkai would do. Karasu hasn't acted much like a usual raven youkai. She'd expect us to go up first."

Uranus and Neptune stepped inside the elevator, tentatively followed by Sango, Miroku and a small Kirara, who was sniffing the air and swiveling her ears to pick up any sound. "There isn't much space in here," Miroku commented as each of them took separate corners of the cube. "If there's an attack from above or below, we'll be easy targets."

"No other way up or down. And last time, getting separated from the Inners was bad," Uranus shrugged, hitting the lowest number on the inside panel of buttons, labeled SL-30. "Sub-level 30 sounds about as low as it goes. Hope neither of you or your kitty cat is claustrophobic."

The doors slid to a close, and the elevator plummeted through the shaft.

Sailor Uranus had her Space Sword readied, standing in front of the doors as they slid open at the lowest level. The light outside was dim, and there was an emptiness in the air, a void that was cold and dry, hollow, smelling of chemicals and solvents. Feeble lemony light cast an odd luminescence on the edges of polished tables and metallic tools, gleaming in acidic shades in the darkness. No sound, no breath stirred, though faintly there was the sound of trickling water.

"Empty," Neptune told her from behind, her Talisman also in hand. "Nothing is reflected."

Miroku edged his way forward, following Uranus as she stepped through the threshold of the elevator shaft. He placed the tip of his shakujyou against the hard ground, the chimes ringing clearly in the vast. "The aura still feels strong...but gone. Recently."

Slowly, Uranus lowered her guard a fraction, eyes sweeping around the empty laboratory. Sailor Neptune and Sango followed them a moment later, Sango leaving her purse behind in the elevator's corner as the opal bracelet on her left wrist glowed faintly, the weapon hidden by the charm on it ready should she need it. Satisfied it was empty, each began to spread out, looking around cautiously to see what was left of the place.

"What are some of these things?" Sango asked, stepping gingerly around an overturned tray of glass, then gasping and grabbing up Kirara as the inquisitive firecat attempted to investigate the sharp shards. "She left in a hurry."

There was a pounding noise as Uranus beat a fist against a table. Wasting time last night recovering had probably given her the time she needed. Still, Uranus wasn't going to just abandon Michiru when she was injured. And the Princess was right. They worked best when all together. This was a reconnaissance mission, not a full out war. Had they actually found anything, they would have had to call for back up. More likely, had they truly expected to find her, they would have waited until after school as well, to come in force and weed her out at once. To know they had missed her was still irritating. "She can't have gotten far. See what you can find here. Stay away from anything too weird. Mugen had all kinds of weird experiments down in the basement. Whatever this bitch has is probably just as bad."

Carefully, Miroku waded his way into the rows of tables, looking across the empty spaces, swept free of dust. "What kind of experiments?"

"You don't want to know," Uranus muttered darkly, though added, "Mercury said Viluy- the real Viluy- showed her a Tau System. A model of one. Thing probably was acting as a portal for Pharaoh 90 when he came through. If you see anything that looks like a galaxy, don't touch it."

"Houshi-sama? Come look at this..." Sango called over her shoulder, half turning around to catch his attention. She had found a corner of the lab, a small alcove with an empty table in its shadows, the center of it darkened as though something had once rested there, the energy of it seeping into the tabletop and staining it. Stepping closer, Miroku could also sense why Sango suddenly looked a bit ill. There was an aura there that was different from the rest of the laboratory, deeper and more subtle. It did not overwhelm in waves, but rather pressed heavily against the back of his mind, pushing and prodding in jabs that made him back away, hastily waving his shakujyou at the space as he covered his nose, as though to ward off a bad smell.

"It's different from the rest of the youki here. Manipulative. Are you feeling all right, Sango?"

She nodded mutely, squeezing her eyes shut for a moment. "It makes my head hurt," she mumbled, stepping away to distance herself from the alcove. "I'm fine. Something was there."

"That's what worries me. She took it with her, wherever she went."

"Ugh..." Sango muttered, backing away and holding Kirara a bit more tightly as Miroku grabbed her arm, steering her back towards the lab tables. "I'm fine...really. Just..." she shook her head again to clear it, running a hand through her hair. "Why would she? That's no youkai power...."

"Uranus! Sango-san! Miroku-san!" Neptune's clear voice rang out in interruption, a touch of worry tingeing the usually placid tone. "I've found something."

A moment later, they were peering over Neptune's shoulder as she knelt at the ground beside a neatly organized desk. Fragments of wax littered the floor, bits and pieces of dolls at her feet. Neptune held one up. "A good likeness of your head, Uranus," she announced as she held up a fractured head and neck of a shattered figurine. "Poppets of some kind."

"The kugutsu," Miroku surmised, glancing again at Sango before releasing her arm to bend down himself, running a hand over the broken limbs and torsos of the dolls. He picked out one that had long black hair, the face stamped into facelessness. "Once either you or Rei, Sango," he guessed as he dropped it back into the pile. "She destroyed them. Why?"

"Because she doesn't need them anymore." Uranus's voice was tight, hard. "It'll go down today. Whatever she's been scheming up. If she's left her nest, she's up to something that doesn't need any more planning."

"Then we'd better hurry," Neptune decided as she stood, brushing off her knees from the cold floor. "I hear water. Farther in."

They walked past empty storage cabinets, the doors swinging open revealing barren shelves. At the room's center lay a pool, round and with clear, reflective water filling it. On the upraised lip of the water, a tiny, unbroken poppet lay out, a piece of crisp white paper folded beneath it.

"It's Pluto," Uranus grunted as she picked up the disfigured wax doll. Black ribbon had been tied around it so tightly that the delicate limbs of the artwork were smashed inward, the replica Timestaff crushed against Pluto's heart, stabbing into it. Energy crackled against Uranus' hand, resisting her touch as she began to unwind the ribbon, trying hard not to break anything on the doll itself. "Just leaving this here...she's making fun of us...shit!" She almost dropped the poppet as a larger spark of energy shot off the ribbon around Pluto's neck.

"This is how she bound your friend Setsuna," Miroku told her, carefully removing the poppet from Uranus' hands. "Just tearing the spell off may do more harm than good."

"So what, we leave her that way?"

Miroku turned the doll over in his hands thoughtfully, shaking his head. "We'll keep it for now. Maybe I can figure out how to unwind it without damaging the person it's supposed to reflect. Your miko senshi may also have some ideas."

"Welcome to my home."

Those words caught Uranus and Miroku's attention, and they stopped to listen as Neptune read the paper in her hands, unfolded. Black letters had been printed neatly onto the page in calm, dark strokes of clear handwriting.

"Welcome to my home.
I hope you find something of value in your search, however it is unlikely that I have forgotten anything too important. I do hope to see you all someday. I've admired your work at Mugen, Tenoh Haruka and Kaioh Michiru...."

Neptune hesitated, arching her eyebrows as she glanced over the top of the paper at Sailor Uranus. "She's been watching us for some time. And..." Neptune chuckled, "she appears to enjoy classical music.

"And Michiru, your concert at the Memorial Dome was ever so much better than Mimete's. I loved your last album."

"That one did turn out rather well, until the interruption," Neptune commented as Uranus rolled her eyes.

"Your friend Setsuna was quite difficult to bind. Enjoy puzzling over how to remove the spell. Again, I must apologize for the wellhouse. Time travel could have been useful to me someday. I doubt your friend will be able to wake up in time to reestablish the warp before...well. You'll see later.
I've enjoyed watching you senshi down the years. The appearance of the Shikon no Tama was quite the opportunity. I look forward to having it in hand."

"Confident, isn't she?" Sango grumbled, folding her arms and holding Kirara tighter as she leaned back a bit from where Neptune knelt on the floor, reading. "Almost as bad as Sesshoumaru or something."

"A bit more humorous," Miroku added dryly, attempting to follow where Neptune read. "She shows some personality other than vanity." Sango just snorted and then they paused to listen again.

"I do hope to meet the halfling again. Our last encounter left me somewhat irritated with him. Perhaps we can amend our differences."

"'Amend our differences?' What, does she think Inuyasha will side with her?" Sango managed, incredulous. "What in the world...."
Neptune continued to read:

"Please, feel free to make yourself at home at my old nest. I'm afraid that your closeness to my home of the last several years has been enough to tell me it's time to move on. I've always wanted a larger place. Though I advise against touching the water in my pool. It's not for drinking.

Yours,
-Karasu, Magus

"That...that...." Uranus spluttered, "arrogant...pompous...."

Neptune folded up the paper and then crushed it in her hand. Then she echoed Sango's earlier comment. "She is rather confident, isn't she?"
"Neptune," Sango interjected before Uranus could begin to talk again. "You're a water element. The pool...what do you see?"

The two senshi turned and followed Sango and Miroku's gazes, seeing the surface of the water, it's stillness making it into a perfect round mirror. Their faces reflected back at them for a moment, shadowy and clouded, overlaid by other, shifting images of locations, faces, floating idly across the surface, swirling and fading away to be replaced with other images, faded. A shrine, a ruin. A school, people walking through the hallways, then shifting like the fragments of a dream into another building, the uniforms of the students different, merging and changing, indistinguishable from one another.

"A scrying pool..." Neptune breathed, reaching out delicate fingers and letting them hover just above the surface. "How she's watched us."

"We'd better go," Uranus decided as the focus of the water shifted again, twirling. "Check on everyone, get some warnings out to them in case there's another school attack. I don't have any intention of making myself at home in this dump. Let's go."

So. The chase is on.
In the Sailormoon anime, Mugen Academy is pretty much reduced to a water-filled crater. In the manga, Usagi goes Princess and fixes pretty much everything in sight, as well as the people, standing on what appears to be a crystalline pillar. (Happy ending required!) I know this chapter was a bit short, but next chapter will be longer, and things are going to be happening very quickly from here on out. Next chapter is all for Inuyasha and Kagome. ^.~
Til next storytime.
~Queen

Coming up next, in Chapter 22: Echo-

Yuka and Eri were openmouthed, while Ayumi was simply staring, a hand over her mouth at the approaching 'prep school student,' obviously a year or two older than they. Long, slightly unruly black hair and a confident, easy stride gave them a bit of pause. There was something in his way of carrying himself that made them wary.
Kagome didn't know if she should bless him or 'osuwari' him.