The word 'Malak' roughly means angel

Chapter 11 - Apatia e Passione (Apathy and Passion)

Chambers

"Rise"

Rei opened her eyes carefully, trying to see the face of the unknown speaker. As the world focused into view she realized she was in the same room that she had fainted in. She wanted to move but her body, slumped against the wall, refused to obey her wishes. She felt heavy as though a great weight had been tied to her. Using her last reserves of strength she looked up. A handsome man with a serene face looked back at her unconcernedly.

"Rise to your feet, Malak" said the young man, his voice soothing with an almost hypnotic timbre to it.

"I can't" replied Rei sullenly. It seemed to her that the man was inferring it was somehow her fault that she was unable to move.

"One who fails without trying is one who does not know true failure"

"Why would I want to know true failure"

"Without failure, there is no success"

"Who are you and where am I?"demanded the almost hysterical girl. She looked around the room for any object she might wield as a weapon or at least an escape route. The room gave her the satisfaction of neither.

"Does it really matter where you are?" asked the man smiling indulgently.

"Yes, you see, there's someone I love." The words were out before Rei could stop them. She bit her lip hard enough to draw blood. 'Maybe they're finally cracking me. I'm starting to give information about the others. I can't let that happen but it's so tempting to tell this man everything. I have the strangest feeling that he will listen to me.'

"Is love so important?"

"Yes. Love is everything."

"Then why are people alone?"

"I don't know. Perhaps they haven't found the person they love."

"Perhaps they never will"

"No! That's not true! Everyone will find the one destined for them. Everyone needs someone to anchor them to this insane place" screamed Rei. A part of her was surprised at her own actions. She would be the first to agree that her temper was nowhere near calm but she never behaved out of control in battle. However, this didn't feel like an enemy interrogation at all.

"What if you find your anchor, only to realize it belongs to another boat?"

"Then you drift away"

"To the land of memories"

"Land of memories?" Rei repeated, dazed and more than a little confused, her curiosity was aroused despite her present situation.

"The place where only happiness exists. A marvelous land that holds wonders beyond which any man has ever imagined. It is a place of forgetting, a place for remembering, a place where no sadness will creep into your soul."

"It must be a wonderful place" she murmured picturing vast hills and long sweeps of fields.

"Do you wish to go there?" asked the young man, a crinkle in his forehead the only thing marring his perfection.

"No. I don't belong there" she answered firmly.

"Where do you belong?"

"By her side" she said knowing instinctively that he would know whom she was referring to and he did.

"She doesn't want you there"

"I know"

"It must be painful, living like this, watching her with someone else"

"Whoever said I was living?" She asked smiling though it never quite reached her eyes. She looked into the eyes of the stranger and said "I'm merely alive."


Present Time
Hikawa Jinja, Tokyo

The room was hot, stuffy and overcrowded. Twelve women, all of different ages, gathered around the sacred flame, all in different stages of shock. Neo Queen Serenity was in Tokyo.

"Mother?" said Chibiusa, still too stunned to utter more than one-word sentences.

"Small Lady" said the Queen nodding, mistaking the girl's question as a curtesy.

Pluto and Venus sat on either side of their Queen, faces grave, eyes resting on the floor as was the age-old tradition of the protectors when accompanying the Queen on a mission. Usagi sat facing her future self unable to believe that she would never have wrinkles - ever. Makoto and Ami were sitting on either side of Usagi unconsciously mimicking the position of their future visitors. Hotatu sat beside Small Lady, in more shock than the girl beside her. Haruka and Michiru looked with barely veiled suspicion at the three women across from them. Setsuna and Minako sat behind Usagi, both trying to come up with a reason for this uncalled for visit. All assembled had an uncanny feeling that the meeting had something to do with the definite absence of a representative of Mars be it past, present or future.

"You are all wondering why we are here" stated the Queen.

"I have a remarkable way of understating things" commented Usagi, reverting to a familiar attitude because she was still unable to process all that was happening. That morning she had discovered that the best night of lovemaking of her life was given to her by Mars, not Rei. As if that wasn't enough to disturb her mindset for a while she had inadvertently discovered that Mars had a penchant for pulling practical jokes. She had explained to Usagi that the picture had been a joke for the Neo Queen on the day she completed her first millennia as a ruler of Crystal Tokyo. She had disappeared before Usagi could muster enough thought to question her about Rei's whereabouts.

"And perhaps you are also wondering where Rei and Mars are."said the Queen, pointedly ignoring her past self.

"Yes, we are wondering!" said Usagi exasperated.

"Mars is in our custody by order of Her Highness Neo Queen Serenity who resides over The Royal Court of Crystal Tokyo." said Venus formally, raising her eyes to look at Usagi.

"She will be detained on charges of treason for assassination attempts on the royal family. She has agreed to co-operate with us. We are here to arrest Hino Rei, her past self, who is suspected to be an accomplice in this crime" clarified Pluto. The room was silent for a few moments before Ami spoke up.

"What proof do you have of these allegations that you are making against Rei?"asked the blue haired girl coolly. She could see that Makoto was losing her restraint and it would not go over well if any one of them disrespected the Queen in any way. Attempting to kill the woman might be seen as disrespectful.

"We have reason to believe that Mars is not quite...herself. She was here on a mission to kill the heir to the throne. We do not have time to explain. You must hand over Hino Rei immediately," said Venus.

"We wouldn't even if we knew where she was" replied Makoto scathingly. She'd had enough of these people. What gave them the right to barge into their lives and demand to take over them!

"You mean she's disappeared!" Stated Venus, her eyes widening as she realized what this probably meant. "Serenity" she began but was stopped by a raised palm.

"This is the worst case scenario. If they have her then there is no way we can get her out. If they use her there is no way we can kill her even if we wanted to. If they don't use her I'll go crazy wondering what they did to her." The queen closed her eyes for a moment. A few minutes later a figure entered the room cautiously.

"Mars!"exclaimed the senshi in unison.

"I'm here to undo the past - again" she said, her eyes twinkling. It wasn't everyday that two of her favourite people in the world were present in the same room. It would be kind of hard to have Sailor Moon and Queen Serenity together all the time, not to mention terribly inconvenient to one century or the other. "Despite what those two think" she jerked her thumb towards the general direction of Pluto and Venus. "Hino Rei must not be allowed to stay with the enemy any longer than she already has."

'Would somebody mind explaining what the hell is going on here!"cried out Makoto.

"Around this period in the time stream something drastic will happen to the person you know as Rei. It is a time for change in her life. If she remains with Medea and Sierra any longer she will join what will later be known as the ku klux klan of the twenty first century. In short she will join a vigilante group known as 'The Angel Corps' and infiltrate Crystal Tokyo where she will remain undercover as a senshi for over a hundred years. However, life as the Queen's protector will give her a change of heart. She will betray her group and join the senshi."explained Mars, toying with a pillow cover that had somehow ended up on the floor close to her feet.

"The Angel Corps" repeated Ami, testing the words. "Wait a minute! You can't possibly mean-"

"Yes. She, I, will be given power that is greater than that of the senshi. The power that rightfully belongs to no being in the universe and it will eventually drive me mad."

"This power. You have it right now?"asked Haruka cautiously, gripping her henshin pen under the table a little harder.

"Relax, drop the henshin pen, if I wanted to kill you I would do it with more elegance" said Mars, risking a look at Serenity who seemed lost in her own world. "Yes, I do have it now. I might not remain myself for much longer but for now I'm in control." Her eyes darkened as her gaze fell on Usagi. The other girl shivered at the sudden chill that ran through her body.

"Are there any more questions?"asked Pluto looking around the room. "Or shall we begin to outline a plan of action?"

"What is 'The Angel Corps'" asked Chibiusa suddenly, realizing that she had never studied it at school and yet Ami somehow knew about it.

"Chibiusa-chan, its a very old organization" said Ami. "It is rumoured to have existed long before the Silver Millenium. Mercury said something about it in my dream the other night" she said blushing. As the time of Crystal Tokyo drew closer all the senshi would be visited by their other side. Ami was the first one to experience these dreams and for now she was the only one.
"It's main goal is unknown but they have been involved in every war fought in the history of the Moon Kingdom. They train special units with the sole purpose of killing the heir to the throne. They never attack in large groups and therefore have not been a great threat to the kindom, until now that is."

"Now we're at war with them. What we thought was a secluded attack by two Epousers turned out to be a calculated move by the Corps. While our main army was deflecting their attacks the Corps attempted to kill King Endymion. He escaped with minor injuries" said Mars. It was obvious she didn't want him to escape at all. "I was here on a reconnaisance mission before the three stooges here decided I must have turned traitor."

"There is still no proof of where your loyalties lie" said the Queen quietly.

"Your daughter is alive. I'd say that was proof enough" sais Mars, her legendary anger flaring for a moment but reverting back to a steady chill almost instantaneously. "Stop trying to get a rise out of me Usa. It won't work anymore"

"I think I liked you better when you broke every mirror at my chambers in a fit"

"No, you just liked the melodrama"

"Perhaps what I liked was the passion"