Many and humble thanks go out to Donnar-I for her skills as a beta-
reader and for taking time out of her incredibly busy day to look
this chapter over for me. She has a keen eye and an even keener wit!
Be nice to your editors, people. They're the ones who keep you from
making a total fool yourself in public.

Oh my public gratitude goes to Aniah, who pointed out that it's
spelled "Jakozuishou", not "Jakozusho", as I referred to it in
chapter one. She was right and I was wrong!

Standard Disclaimer – I don't own Sailor Moon or Star Wars, nor any
of the attendant characters to which valid copyright laws apply.
They are used here with out any expectations of reward beyond a few
e-mails. The Sons of the Golden Kingdom are the creation of my
warped and twisted little mind, though.

Please write to me at Mearari@aol.com and let me know if you're
reading my work. The only "payment" any fanfics author ever gets is
in mail. As Yoda might say, "Write to her, you should! Grateful she
will be!"


************************

"The Quest"

By Meara

Chapter Two

"Without a deep and true love, you cannot over come the obstacles
that you face." Neo-King Endymion, episode 83

************************

She was alone; utterly, totally and agonizingly alone. Confused and
lost, Usagi sat on the bench located in a quiet corner of the Juban
park. Her legs were tucked up under the long, white gown she wore.
The dress had seen better days and it was torn in places, testament
to the struggles she'd been through to get to here.

She was shivering as the autumn night came on, the shock at the
traumatic way her rapport with Mamoru was severed and the cold wind
taking its toll on her. The full moon caught and held her attention.
The soft silver light was the only thing that seemed to help make the
pain, the agony of being alone, bearable. Lost in her own little
world, all Usagi could do was wrap her arms around herself and
continue gazing at the moon in an attempt to find some kind of comfort.

With the falling of night, the foot traffic in this corner of Juban
Park dwindled away quickly. Save for the occasional jogger, there
seemed to be no one to disturb her melancholy. So Usagi sat under
the light of the full moon attempting every now and then to figure out
where she was and more importantly, who she was. There were so many
voices in her head and they all called her by different names. The
voices only served to remind her that she was alone, so Usagi kept
trying to shut them out. Curled up on the bench she looked lost and
vulnerable, like a little girl who didn't know the way home.

And in a city the size of Tokyo, there are those who prey on lost
children.

***************************************


The nights sleep had been a restless one for Mamoru. He'd been
haunted by the image of Usagi calling for him. The trauma of the
ruptured rapport had almost killed him, Mamoru knew. If not for the
timely intervention of Helios, he could very well have died. Setsuna,
he knew, was doing her best to find Usagi and he had to be patient.
Mamoru's mind was too eager to conjure up the worst case scenario and
that only made the waiting all the harder. With discipline he turned his attention to Goruden Kobushi.

The handsome young man with the golden eyes was proudly recounting
the storied history of his people. It was still hard for Mamoru to
get his mind around the idea that these so-called "Sons of the Golden
Kingdom", had spent a thousand years waiting for him to be reborn.
Their misguided idea that the Moon Kingdom was the font of all known
evil was only slightly harder to stomach than the fact that Endymion
had been all but deified by the Sons. They were going to be very
disappointed to find out that he was as imperfectly human as the next
man.

"The sacred texts were passed down from father to son in an unbroken
line for a thousand years. We'd always thought that we'd kept our
knowledge of the past perfect and unchanged. But," Goruden glanced
at Helios, "it seems we got a few things wrong. Our stories say that
Beryl was chosen by the angel Metallia to lead a crusade against the
evil of the Moon Kingdom."

Helios sighed and put a hand to his forehead. "That's not quite the
way it happened." The young guardian could hear Haruka behind him,
snorting derisively.

"Metallia, now there was real evil. Your 'angel' was a demon whose
major joy was snuffing out anything that lived. As for Beryl,"
Haruka put in sarcastically. "Her main motivation was to get her
claws into Endymion's mind and her hands on his princely body."

"And power," Michiru added, watching Mamoru blush at the comment.
"She also wanted to rule the world. You know, I've noticed that all
of these insane megalomaniacs want to start at the top. They might
have more success if they started smaller, say ruling Luxemburg first,
then working their way up to taking over the world."

The two Outers Senshi were enjoying this way too much, Mamoru
decided. "Tell me more about this 'Circle of The Chosen', Kobushi."

Happy to move on, Goruden smiled at his Prince. "The legends say that
some of us are descended from the Princes of the Golden Kingdom.
Those of us within the Circle of The Chosen are all channelers to one
degree or another. When the Golden Crystal reappeared, one of us was
supposed to be able to use the power and restore the Kingdom." He
glanced at Helios who sighed yet again. "I guess that's not right,
either, is it?"

"Yes and no," Helios was looking at Goruden, an embarrassed smile
creeping across his face. "Endymion was the only child of the King
and Queen. The King did, however, have a cousin who was…" he paused
trying to find a way to say it diplomatically. "…A very loving man."

Nearly exploding with laughter, Haruka let only a short, cynical bark
of it out. "This is too good. The Sons really are a bunch of
bastards."

A stern look from Mamoru made Haruka rein in her amusement. "Would
you mind telling me about the stories of why you had to leave Elysion
again? I want to go over a few points of it with you," Mamoru said.

Poor Goruden looked astonished and embarrassed by turns. All his life
he'd waited and prayed to be able to find, then serve Endymion, the
True Prince of Earth. He'd found the man, but now Kobushi felt like
a fool as one by one, the stories the Sons held as truth were pulled
apart. "Of course, but why bother? It's becoming painfully apparent
that our grand and glorious history is nothing more than a collection
of distortions and myths."

"Most of the stories the Sons hold dear are true – to a point."
Mamoru replied reasonably. "It's the little facts that have been
lost or changed that make all the difference. We need to find a way
to let the Sons know that. Unless those misguided ideas are corrected,
they'll never be able to live along side the reborn citizens of the
Moon Kingdom."

Helios nodded in agreement. "Fear and envy, that's what really
started the war between the Earth and the Moon. That blind hatred
led to the downfall of two kingdoms. Unless that can be corrected,
the war from our past will continue in the future."

"The sins of the father…" Michiru quoted softly

"Exactly." The Earth beneath Mamoru's feet hummed, but not
unpleasantly. He could sense the energies of the Timegate being used.
He hoped that it meant that Setsuna was making progress. "We have to
make sure that the errors of the past don't have the chance to destroy
the future.

***************************************

A single feather, so dazzlingly white it was almost silver, was in
his hand. Demando considered it carefully, letting a finger run up
and down the shaft, enjoying the feel of the soft, downy tufts. The
thought of the woman it had come from made the White Prince smile.
The memory of that woman, shining with a power that called to him,
burned as brightly as the stone between her hands had. Demando had
his suspicions about who she might be, based on the stories that he'd
heard over and over since he was an infant. If he was right, then
the Angel in the light held a power that might even rival that of the Jakozuishou. The thought of what he could do with that kind of power
was quite pleasing.

Demando was aware of the two men who fidgeted nervously before him.
With Crimson Rubeus standing in back of them, and the White Prince
before them, the two had plenty to be worried about. Demando let
them kneel there for a long moment before deigning to speak. He
needed information and the White Prince had found that fear was an
excellent tool in cases like these.

"I require answers." Demando didn't bother to look at the two men.
He continued to idly play with the feather. "We can do this the easy
way or the hard way. The easy way is that you tell me exactly what I
wish to know now. The hard way is that I let Rubeus have you for a
while first. You'll still tell me what I wish to know, but it could
be days before you're recovered enough to speak and, frankly, I don't
want to wait that long. So what will it be?"

Dirk licked his very dry lips and glanced over his shoulder at Rubeus.
The feral smile on the lips of Crimson Rubeus plainly said that he was
hoping that Dirk would pick the hard way. "It's always been my policy
to try to be helpful whenever possible, your Highness." Especially,
Dirk thought, when you're facing the possibility of torture by nasty
boyos like that guy with the red hair.

"The woman who was traveling with you, who is she?" the purple eyes
were hard as amethysts.

"Woman?" Dirk stuttered the reply. "What woman?"

Shaking his head, Demando gave an inarticulate sigh. He toyed idly
with the feather in his hand, gesturing with it as he spoke. "The one
with the golden hair and crescent moon on her forehead, of course.
Don't try to deny that you know her. I've seen her."

Rory was still suffering the after effects of the power overload. He
seemed a little drunk and definitely not aware of just how precarious
their situation was. He smiled up at the White Prince.

"Oh, you must mean the sleeping Princess. Well, what do you know? I
did wake her." Rory stopped and gave a sound of annoyance. "And I
never got to ask her to grant my wish. The stories all say that if
you woke the Princess then she'd grant you one wish. This doesn't
seem fair at all. We went to all that trouble and I never even got
my wish."

The color had drained from Dirk's lean face. He used his elbow to hit
his brother in the ribs. "His Highness doesn't want to hear about
that fairy-tale, you idiot," he hissed.

Leaning back on his ornate throne, the White Prince raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, but on the contrary, I would very much like to hear the story.
Now, tell me all about this sleeping Princess."

***************************************

It was a sight to inspire awe and fear. Setsuna held her Gate open,
the winds of time caressing her lithe body. The rainbow light from
the portal haloed her, making Pluto look so much more than human as
she sifted through what had been and what might be. The energy trail
left by the Ginzuishou was distinct, but hard to follow the further it
went. The task, under the best of circumstances, would have been
difficult.

"Have you found her yet?"

And Luna was not making it any easier, Setsuna decided. "No," Pluto
replied, trying to concentrate on the job at hand. She didn't bother
to open her eyes, just kept trying to follow the trail the Ginzuishou
had left.

"Well, when do you think you will find Usagi?" Luna replied in a
tone that suggested she was being very reasonable.

"Luna…" Artemis began, mortified that she was asking that question
for the fifth time in less than an hour. "Pluto is doing the best
she can."

The black cat shot her snowy partner a withering look that clearly
told him to butt out. "And there's something I've been meaning to
ask you. When Earth went into suspension, why did you bother to
sleep with us? Couldn't you have just gone to the future and been
here waiting for Uranus and Neptune?"

There was a tug at her through the tides of time that was the fourth
dimension. The harmonic resonance signature was very familiar to
Setsuna. "No. There are too many possible futures to even try to
attempt that. If you'll remember correctly, it was only when Small
Lady was there to guide you that you were able to go to Crystal Tokyo.
Our future is her present. Besides, since the Timegate is bonded to
me, the best way to keep it safe was for me to go into suspension.
If I'm not there to activate it, it can't be misused now can it?"

"I guess not…" Luna still sounded unconvinced. Perhaps this was why
time travel was forbidden. Trying to make sense of it all made Luna
feel as if her head could explode. "Why do I still have the feeling
that there are things you're not telling us?"

It was the Ginzuishou, all right, Setsuna decided. Her head tilted
at an odd angle while she tested the psychic "feel" of the energy.
Something was…different…about the trail it left. "Is this how you
get Usagi to do what you want, nag at her?"

Ebony ears flattened against the feline head. "I do not nag!" Luna
sounded outraged. "I'm just persistent."

The energy scattered in an odd direction, doubling back on itself.
Pluto almost concluded that this was just another echo from a
possible timeline, when at last the sweet, silver song that was the
power of the Ginzuishou moved in a straight and true line – to the
past. Although this was what she'd been working so hard towards,
Setsuna sighed. A raised hand brought her staff to her and let it
float for an instant before grasping it firmly. The garnet orb in
the crown of the staff glowed brightly when Pluto accessed her
talisman.

"It's Usagi," Setsuna said with a nod at the orb. She glanced
briefly at Luna. "You do, of course, realize that my finding Usagi
right after you asked about her is just a coincidence?"

There was a smug smile on the cat's face. "Of course," she replied,
not managing to keep the satisfaction out of her voice. Her tail
flagged straight over her back as Luna moved off. No matter what
Setsuna said, the cat was quite sure that her "persistence" had
gotten her what she wanted once more.

"I'll just let Mamoru and the others know."

***************************************

Although she was shivering in the cool night air, Usagi's mind was
divorced enough from her body that she couldn't feel it very much.
She sat, as in a dream, and simply let the world pass her by. The
moon was full and heavy above the Tokyo skyline. Usagi found that as
long as she continued to stare at it, nothing else seemed to matter.
She let herself be wrapped inside the comfort of the pale moonlight,
basking in the soft, silver glow. Here she was able to hide from
the physical pain her body was in and, more importantly, from the
crushing loneliness.

The cold suddenly returned in force, piercing her skin with icy
needles. She whimpered slightly, confused and frightened by the
unexpected sensations. Usagi blinked, trying to force her mind to
make sense of what was happening to her. It took several long
moments, but at last she realized that the moonlight was being
blocked by two men.

"Hello, pretty lady," one of them said. He gave Usagi a malicious
smile and reached out for her. "Are you all alone?"

***************************************

"Saffir-chan, you are a genius," Demando smiled broadly at the
open portal.

"That may be true enough," Saffir pushed a strand of raven hair from
in front of his eyes. "But I had very little to do with this."

"Don't sell yourself short, little brother. You managed to not only
get the machine up and running, but you've found my Angel." Demando's
mind was all ready running at full speed, making plans.

An unhappy snort came from Saffir. "All I did was replace a couple
of fried components. That woman, the one who nearly blew you, me and
the workshop to bits is there all right," he gestured to the park on
the other side of the doorway, "but I didn't have to go looking for
her location. This machine has somehow locked onto the energy she
produces. I'm not sure we could go anywhere else but where she is."

The smile on the face of the White Prince became sly, "Yes, but once
I control that power, we can go anywhere we choose to. Come on," he
started to move for the glowing portal.

"Wait a minute!" Saffir grabbed Demando by the arm. "How do we know
it's safe? I've never tried to move anything living through this
thing. You should let me run a few tests before you try going
through it."

Demando glanced around, his gaze coming to rest on a cage that
contained several, small rodents. He reached out and with a quick
flip opened the door and grabbed one the squealing creatures. Before
Saffir had time to do little more than wonder what his brother was
doing, the White Prince casually tossed the lab rat through the
glowing doorway. Within seconds it appeared on the other side,
falling to the wet grass with an outraged squeak.

"It works just fine. Now come on," Demando walked into the glowing
doorway.

"Demando, wait!" Saffir was both frantic and angry at the same time.
Demando was much too impetuous for his own good. "Veniti, Aquatiki,"
he called out.

Two droids, creatures that like the proto-gate were a mixture of
magic and mechanics, appeared at his summons. "Yes, Lord Saffir?"

"Follow," Saffir grabbed the small control box and clipped it onto
his belt and he, too, disappeared into the portal. There was the
strange sensation of falling for a moment before Saffir was spilled
out of the portal and onto the ground. The two droids were right
behind him, but Saffir barely noticed them. On his hands and knees,
he could only stare in wonder at the green grass beneath him. He
took a single, deep breath, savoring the lush, earthy scent all
around him.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Demando asked, a few feet away from his brother.
The White Prince was running his hands gently over the bark of a
large tree. The canopy of the old maple had finished its autumnal
change and a few of the flame colored leaves fell from it. Demando
caught one in his hand, smiling with child-like wonder.

Demando sighed and looked around the park, "So, this is earth. Could
this be Crystal Tokyo? It's not at all as Mother used to describe it.
Where's the shining palace, the floating gardens, the happy sheep-like population?"

"This is Earth. That much I'm very sure of, but this could be another
city. Saffir had a single blade of grass between his fingers and he
studied it carefully. "This is incredible. It's so alive here, so
vibrant." He looked around him, almost in shock at the baffling array
of sights and scents. "I never dreamed that it could be like this."

After a life time of living on the sparse and barren moon of Nemesis,
the simple beauty of Juban Park was overwhelming. "We'll live here
again, Saffir, I promise. Our parents were driven into exile from
this beautiful planet but we will take it back. The key to that is
learning the secrets of this travel device. Once we've done that I
can lead the Black Moon Clan on its great quest. I will take the
birthright that Endymion stole from me and do to him what he did to
us." Demando looked once more at the pastoral beauty of the garden.
"I'll take everything he has and leave him with nothing."

***************************************

The portal to the Timegate had been summoned, but the great double
doors were closed. Pluto stood in front of them, her staff in hand.
For over a thousand years Setsuna had kept the Timegate a closely
guarded secret. Now she was preparing to lead a band of four people
through it. The idea of having so many random elements mucking around
in the past didn't sit all that well with her.

If one lesson had come out of their struggle with Kunshin Tetsu, it
was that no one, not even Setsuna, really knew what all the
ramifications of introducing new temporal elements into the time-
stream could mean. It might be that the future could be changed by
the smallest action. It might also be that nothing could change the
future short of killing one of the major players.

"Time travel is like 'the Force' from Star Wars," Setsuna started out,
trying to simplify the possible problems. "It's big, powerful and has
the potential to change the course of destiny. Best of all, no one
really understands all of it. This is why adventures in the past have
always been frowned upon."

Haruka smiled. "Adventure, excitement; a Jedi craves these things
not," she said in her best Yoda voice.

Pluto raised an eyebrow at Uranus while she continued. "We want to
find Usagi and get her back here with as little disruption as
possible."

"Do you know where, or rather, when Usagi is?" Mamoru asked, eyeing
the Gate. Waiting was something he had never done particularly well.

Pluto nodded slowly. She had the unhappy feeling that she was about
to make Mamoru's day even worse. "Yes. Usagi seems to be back in
the days when the Black Moon Family was active in the past."

"Oh dear," Luna sighed.

"Demando," Mamoru said softly. Usagi was in the past, most likely
hurt, and so were the forces of the man who had kidnapped and then
tried to force himself on her. He wondered how much worse things
could possibly get.

Even though the portal had not been fully opened, Artemis could
sense it's power and he looked at it while he spoke. "If the way
Mamoru reacted to the shattered rapport is any indication, then Usagi
could be anything from comatose to combative. When you do locate her,
it's extremely important that you do nothing to startle or frighten
her."

"Most of the time, using the power you all hold as Senshi requires concentration, but Usagi's power derives from the Ginzuishou," Luna's
tail was twitching back and forth in nervous agitation.

Mamoru saw where this was going. "The Silver Crystal reacts as much
to what's in Usako's heart as what's in her mind."

Artemis nodded, letting his tail run down Luna's back in a gesture
of comfort. "Exactly. If Usagi feels threatened, then it's possible
that she'll lash out with the Ginzuishou. So try to find her quietly
and for the love of Selene, try to avoid a confrontation with the
Black Moon Clan that could provoke Usagi into action."

"The one word I want all of you to remember," she favored Haruka with
a direct look, "is 'subtle'. While Tuxedo Kamen looks almost the same
as he did back then…"

"The Outer Senshi haven't arrived in Tokyo yet," Neptune finished.
"If we have to fight them won't these creatures realize that we're
not the same Sailor Soldiers they've faced before?"

"That's the whole idea of 'subtle'. We don't henshin unless there
are no other options." Pluto said.

Luna stepped up beside Pluto. "Prince Demando and his associates
were clever enough, but the droids collectively tended to be dumber
than a sack of door knobs. It's more than likely that they wouldn't
be able to tell one Senshi from another, anyway."

"It's not them we have to worry about," Mamoru said. "The only real
problem will be if we encounter Prince Demando. He's a formidable
opponent," And Mamoru though to himself, he's obsessed with getting
his hands on Usako. Mamoru's fist clenched and unclenched at his
side. Compulsive, driven foes, he had learned, were the most
unpredictable and the most dangerous.

Giving a nod, Pluto raised her staff and the great double doors
began to open. "Let's not borrow trouble, ne? With any luck Usagi
is somewhere nice, quiet and very far away from the eyes of the Black
Moon."

***************************************

Usagi could only stare, utterly bewildered, at the man who hauled her
roughly to her feet. He had a hand locked tightly over her wrist and
the pain it caused cut through the haze she was in. Usagi looked down
at her wrist, then up at the man who held her. He grabbed her other
arm.

"Look, pearls; she's wearing real pearls," he said, ripping the
bracelet off Usagi.

The hand clamped on her arm hurt, the pain increasing sharply as he
twisted it, pulling Usagi closer to him. Usagi whimpered in pain and
growing fear. The man only laughed. "You shouldn't be out all alone
at this time of night. Don't you know what can happen to pretty,
little things like you?

"She's got more of them in her hair!" the other man said. "Get
them."

The man holding her reached for the pearls in her golden hair, but
Usagi shook her head back and forth, not wanting him to touch her.
"N…no…" she moaned, beginning to struggle harder. "No!"

A hand was clamped over her mouth, "Shut up! Just shut up and you
won't get hurt!"

The hand clamped onto her throat, trying to force Usagi to keep her
head still. The feeling of it, cold and hard, made her struggle all
the more. Images and jumbled memories exploded in her mind. She
remembered the sensation of a cold hand locked on her throat while
her life energy was ripped from her. And the pain… She could
suddenly remember the terrible, searing pain that went with the cold
hand. Usagi stiffened, her eyes going wide with a fear that made her
blood run cold. The words tore from her in an anguished scream.

"LET ME GO!"

Light, so blindingly pure that for a moment it washed out everyone
and everything else in the immediate area burst from Usagi. The man
who held her and his partner in crime were caught up in it. The two
were lifted into the air by the mystic wildfire and tossed around
like leaves in a gale. They were punted roughly away, landing in the
small ornamental pond with a splash that sent water in all directions.
Sodden and bedecked in the lilies that grew there, the two floundered
their way to the shore and ran as if they were being pursued by the
devil himself.

At the very edges of the eldritch inferno, Demando stood. He could
feel the part of him that was linked to the Black Poison Crystal
awaken as a small part of the Ginzuishou's power touched him. The
dark energies absorbed the bright power, consuming and channeling it
into itself.

"Magnificent," he murmured, enjoying the display of raw power that
Usagi was putting on.

Usagi was keening out her anguish and pain. The terrible ache of loss
cutting her anew, she went to her knees. The light that haloed Usagi
crested and pulled back into her body. For an instant there was the
ghostly suggestion of great wings of silver fire that cupped her body,
as if to shield her from the cruelty of the cold and lonely world
around her. The light dwindled away as did Usagi's screams of fear
and pain. She wrapped her arms around herself with a whimper, lost
once more in her own world of misery.

The White Prince took a step to go to her, when he felt Saffir's arm
on his. "I'm not so sure this is a good idea," the blue eyes were
locked on the shivering form of the woman in the white dress.
"Something's wrong with that woman. Look at her eyes. It's like
she's sleep walking or," he added with growing apprehension, "as if
she's been through a war."

A confident smile came to Demando's lips. The pleasure from
absorbing the silver crystal's power still echoing inside him. "If
she's been in some kind of struggle, then she'll welcome my help, ne?"
He pushed away both his brother's concerns and his restraining arm.
Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."

Saffir knew the look on Demando's face. That supreme confidence was
going to get him seriously hurt some day. "Be careful! And for
crystal's sake, don't frighten her," he hissed a last warning.

Taking measured steps, Demando moved into Usagi's line of sight. He
could see that her dress was torn in places, her whole body posture
that of someone who'd been through a terrible ordeal. Almost against
his will, Demando felt a surge of compassion for her. Who could
treat such a beautiful woman so badly as to leave her like this? She
was crying now, trembling with cold and shock. Getting within a few
feet of her, Demando went to one knee,

"Hello, Angel," he said softly to catch her attention. He slowly
reached up and removed his cape. "You look cold. Here," he said,
slipping it around her shoulder, "let me help you."

Whether it was the sound of his voice or the feeling of the
unexpectedly soft and warm fabric against her skin, Usagi looked up.
She blinked owlishly, tears still running down her face. There seemed
to be a flicker of recognition in the crystal blue eyes for an instant
before she withdrew back into herself and away from the pain memory
brought.

"Alone, alone, alone" Usagi whimpered, drawing the edges of the cape
closed around herself. "Hurts so bad…"

"It's all right. I'll make sure they can't hurt you anymore," the
White Prince stood up and held out a hand to Usagi. She looked at it
and then up at Demando. "Come with me, Angel. Let me take you some
place where you can rest, ne?"

***************************************

True to her word, Setsuna opened the portal in the corner of Juban
park that was least likely to attract any attention. The light from
the Gate died quickly away, leaving the four people to assess where
they were. In the distance were the sounds of traffic and the
occasional siren.

"Tokyo. God, but I've missed this city," Haruka took a deep breath,
smiling broadly. "There was no other place on Earth quite like it."

"I'll second that," Michiru watched as two figures ran at full speed
by them. The men were soaking wet and strewn with aquatic vegetation,
their shoes making a damp squish as they passed.

"This is a big park," Mamoru said. There was the oddest feeling in
the back of his mind. He pushed it aside, thinking it was nothing more
than his own nervousness. "Why don't we split up into two teams?
Setsuna, you're with me."

"That makes sense," the woman with the long, green hair agreed. She
looked at Michiru and Haruka. "Remember what I said about being subtle.
Try to keep a low profile and let us know right away if you find Usagi."

She hadn't even finished the sentence, when Mamoru suddenly took a deep,
gasping breath. He staggered, his hands going to his head in pain.
Above the tree line in back of the four, silver light reached for the
night sky, in a brief, but memorable display.

Haruka looked up at the column of silver fire in the night sky. "I
think I found Usagi."

"Usako," Mamoru moaned. Her fear and pain hit him like a sledge
hammer and he began to transform before the light died away. "She's
in trouble!" Instinct took over and Tuxedo Kamen bounded off into
the darkness of the park.

"Mamoru-san, wait!" Setsuna called out after him.

Michiru had her henshin wand in hand. "So much for the subtle
approach."

Uranus also had her wand out and Setsuna reluctantly called up her
own. She could feel her back teeth grinding together in frustration
and allowed herself a moment to wallow in it before transforming.
The words weren't what she usually said just before Sailor Pluto
arrived, but they summed up her feelings quite well for all their
brevity.

"Oh, pooh…"

***************************************

Usagi looked up at the hand that was offered to her and then up at
the handsome man with the silver hair. Her eyes were looking at the
black crescent moon on his brow. Usagi blinked, confused but drawn
to the sigil.

"Black Moon?" she mumbled.

"So, you know the name we go by now?" Demando gave a low laugh.
"That's fair enough, I suppose, since I think I know who you really
are. Don't worry, Serenity, everything is going to be all right once
you come with me."

Saffir was standing only yards away and he gasped when he heard
Demando speak the name. "Serenity?" His clever mind turned over
rapidly, taking in the woman's golden hair and, as Usagi lifted her
eyes to look at the White Prince, Saffir saw the crescent moon that
adorned her forehead. "Wait a minute. You think that this woman is…"

Demando gave a curt wave at Saffir to silence him. He continued to
speak in a gentle, soothing voice. "You don't have to be afraid or
alone anymore. I'm not going to hurt you," Demando sighed unhappily
at the fear he saw in her eyes. Come with me Angel, I'll take care
of you," he held out his hand once more.

The moment of lucidity faded quickly and Usagi once again retreated
into herself. She gave a single low moan, "Alone…" and rocked back
and forth like a child.

Demando gave a sigh, trying to catch her interest once more. After
a moment, he shook his head and reached for the woman in the white
gown. Just before the White Prince touched Usagi, a blur of motion
crossed his field of vision. Something sharp sliced into the back
of his hand and he pulled it back with a hiss of surprise and pain.
There, impaled into the ground by a long stem was a single, white
rose.

"Demando, we have company," Saffir said in a voice that reflected the
unpleasant surprise he was feeling.

Standing at the place where the trees melted away into the meadow was
Tuxedo Kamen, another rose in his hand, ready to thrown. "Get away
from her," Mamoru growled. "Get away from her, now."

Not a man to be easily intimidated, the White Prince snorted at
Mamoru with disdain. "I give orders. I don't take them and certainly
not from you. Veniti, Aquatiki, remove this fool from my sight."

The two droids appeared out of thin air and leapt to do as they were
bid. Hands morphed into claws as they launched themselves at Mamoru
with a shriek. They never got within ten feet of him.

"World Shaking!"

"Deep Submerge!"

"Dead Scream!"

The three attacks merged into a single force. It plowed into the
twin constructs, reducing them to dust in a burst of light. Even
before that dust was carried away on the night breeze, the three
Outer Senshi lined up on either side of Tuxedo Kamen.

"Invited by the new age," Uranus began, "I am Sailor…"

"Senshi!" Pluto hurriedly shouted. "We are Sailor Senshi and a
force," she leaned on the word in an effort to get Uranus to remember
her time-is-like-Star-Wars speech, "to be reckoned with."

Demando let a surge of energy from the Black Poison Crystal run along
his body in his own display of power. "As impressed as you are with
yourselves, I seriously doubt if any of you could pose a real threat
to me."

Unable to resist the urge, Haruka grinned wolfishly. "I find your
lack of faith disturbing."

"We have to retreat," Saffir's soft voice came to the ears of the
White Prince. "There are four of them and two of us. If those are
Senshi, if the stories we've heard are true, we're not prepared right
now to deal with the kind of power they can unleash. We have to
retreat." He could see Demando chafing at the truth of his words.
"There will be other days and other battles."

Unable to deny the wisdom in Saffir's words, the White Prince
couldn't go without a final gesture. Keeping his gaze on Mamoru,
Demando let a hand reach out of stroke Usagi's cheek. "Keep the
cloak for now, Angel. I'll get it from you another time."

The two princes stared at each other for a long and very uncomfortable
moment. Finally, turning his back on Mamoru in a gesture of contempt,
Demando started to walk away. Saffir joined him and the two melted
into the night.

Mamoru resisted the urge to run for Usagi, remembering Luna's warning
about startling her. He slowly walked towards where Usagi was
kneeling on the ground and removing the white domino mask, went down
on one knee. Rocking back and forth, Usagi clutched at the cape,
keeping it tightly pulled around her body as if it could shelter her
from the pain that was eating her alive.

Gently, slowly, Mamoru's hand cupped Usagi's cheek. The touch let
some of what she was feeling flood into him and Mamoru gasped. Usagi
was broken inside. The rapport shared to heal the planet, once a
source of strength and joy, was now a bottomless canyon of jagged
crystal that cut at her each time she tried to climb out of it.

"Oh no, Usako," he whispered. She was retreating further and further
into herself with each passing minute. The desperate, instinctive
need to run from what was hurt her was pushing Usagi into a catatonic
state. "Don't do this. Come back to me, please come back to me."

A thought opened his link to the Golden Crystal and Mamoru leaned
forward, gently letting it flow into her while he murmured her name
over and over. The magic that lived in Usagi reacted to the warm,
sweet power of Earth. A subtle glow encased the two, small golden and
silver stars appeared first where Mamoru touched Usagi, then spreading
to cover them in a shimmering veil.

"Mamo-chan?" she whispered weakly. The cape, clutched so tightly, now
slipped from her grasp, falling to the ground.

He held her tightly, "I'm here now, Usako. I'm here and everything's
going to be all right."

"Mamo-chan!" She sobbed his name in a whisper. Usagi fell against
Mamoru, the pain at last fading away in his embrace. Crystal blue eyes
closed in relief, the joy of being whole once more filling her.

The light that suffused the two pulsed brighter as they melted into each
other's arms. The three Outer Senshi watched in awe as the wave of magic engulfed them for an instant. It crested, bursting apart into a joyous
fall of mystic stardust.

"It's so beautiful," Michiru whispered, reaching for her Lifemate's
hand.

Beside them, Pluto's eyes went wide as the light faded enough for
Mamoru and Usagi to be visible again. "Look!"

Mamoru was still dressed in the tuxedo, but it was no longer black.
A cloak the soft lavender of the sky just before sunrise flared in the
mystic winds that surrounded the two. Usagi's dress was still white,
but the ornate decorations that had adorned her arms were gone. A
flowing array of silk on her back gave the subtle impression of wings.

"Well I'll be damned," Uranus had a large smile on her face. She went
to one knee, Michiru and Setsuna following suit. Her talisman, the
Space Sword came to her hand and she raised it in salute, the dancing
magics causing rainbows to come from the blade. "All hail Serenity
and Endymion – King and Queen of Earth!"

The magic of the moment was not lost on any of those who watched; not
the three Outer Senshi or the two who hid in the shadows. Although
they were well away, sheltering in the place where the trees met the
long, sloping lawns of the park, Demando and Saffir were able to see
all that occurred.

"Crystal," Saffir swore, glancing at his brother. "That's Endymion!
You were right; that woman is Serenity. How did you know?"

Arms folded across his chest, Demando's gaze was riveted on the King
of Earth. "Considering who I am, how could I not? I always knew
that destiny had something special planned for me, Saffir. Our
Clan's dream, our great quest will be accomplished through me," he
raised a hand clenching it into a fist. "We will reclaim the Earth
for our people. We will take back what is ours by right and nothing
will stop us."

Demando let some of the hatred he felt power the ebony energies that
sang inside him, ""I will have everything that Endymion possesses;
his throne, his world, his very life." The White Prince's gaze was
drawn to Usagi.

"Everything."

***************************************

In three weeks – Ami is dazed, lost and wandering around Tokyo during
the time that the Dark Kingdom was active – not a good combination!
It seems that Naru isn't the only Youma magnet in the city. Saffir is on
the verge of a discovery that will forever change the Black Moon Clan.
All this and you get to find out why time travel is like "Star Trek"!