Title: Original "Usagi is Dead" Part 13

Author: Dark Day For Anime (Mark A Page)

Email: darkdayforanime@hotmail.com

IRC: Mappy on DALnet's #AJAS

Fic Rating: R

--------------------------------------------------------------------

UsAgI iS dEaD uSaGi Is DeAd HiP hIp HiP hOoRaY

by DARK DAY FOR ANIME

Diclaimer - Sailormoon is owned by Takeuchi Naoko and Bandai, so

these characters really belong to them, except ones I made up. You

know who they are! They're the ones that run around doing bad

things to the original cast. ^_^ Well, most of them, anyway.

Part Thirteen

God from a Machine

--------------------------------------------------------------------

The sky was the most incredible aquamarine blue. Everything

about this world just said blue blue blue. Naturally, it drove the

woman stark raving bonkers.

Not that she had anything against the colour blue. She was

actually quite fond of it, really. It was just that she would have

liked a little relief from its consistency.

The relief came in the form of an island. There were a lot of

islands on this world.... Twenty thousand in all. But then, none

of them were any bigger than this one. This planet was an ocean

world, and its inhabitants were, quintessentially, aquatic beings.

She didn't have any business with them, though. Well, she did

have with one. But a rather special one, and it annoyed her that

she was sleeping on the job. The woman chuckled at that.

She flew over the island, getting an idea of its terrain. She

cursed the fact that her scarlet hair was so long. All the wind had

to do was blow slightly the wrong way and it was over her face. It

happened just as she flew across the middle of the island. For some

reason, the islands had a tendency, despite their small size, to

create thermal uplifts, and right now, she found her hair going in

every direction.

She was disappointed that she couldn't find what she was

looking for from the air, and decided to try the closer approach.

She decended and landed on the clearest section of the island she

could see, which, naturally, was the beach.

She brushed down her red and black miko gown, thankful for the

thickness and warmth it gave her. Otherwise she would have frozen

to death from the wind, and burnt herself to a crisp from the solar

rays. She turned to the world's sun.... As blue as everything else

around here. Despite the laws of science dictating that a blue star

burnt hottest, this one wasn't hot at all, on a universal level.

There were yellow stars that burnt far hotter than this one.

Pitiful, really. Not a good sign when it came to divining the

system's elemental powers.

She wandered through the exotic undergrowth of the island,

occasionally looking up into the canopy for potential predators. In

her experience, it was best not to chance the possibilities of

running into carnivores on alien planets. Although she was sure

there wasn't any here (she certainly hadn't heard of any dangerous

creatures on the islands of Mherr) she wasn't going to risk the

ridiculously rapid processes of snap evolution.... And there were a

mighty number of dangerous creatures living in the seas that were

just waiting to make the big move onto land.

If only there had been a worthwhile piece of land for any of

these creatures to move on to. Unlike most other worlds that

contained forms of life, the massive oceans of Mherr had seen

evolution ensnared almost completely underwater. It was there that

the planet's first intelligent lifeform evolved... Beings who

appeared to be aquatic mammals, who bred through the partnering of

male and female. Many of the species on the planet were

hermaphrodites, so it was a rarity. Only a million years before,

this species was also entirely hermaphroditic, and there were a

large number of throwbacks amongst their population, not to mention

a cult of hermaphroditism amongst those who weren't.

It had been predicted, by the colonists from the empire who

had settled here, that, in time, the sexual division of male and

female would eventually disappear. So it was decided to eradicate

the hermaphroditic element through interbreeding with the

homeworlders. Just as they did wherever they went. To subdue a

system, one must first assimilate the population.

It had happened on Earth, of course. Back when it was known

as Terra. She couldn't remember when anyone decided on the great

name change. Terra was suitable enough for people then, why change

it?

Anyway, the colonists came, saw and mated with the natives.

From the humble, evolving ape species came a being of greater

intellect and physical refinement. This species was then developed

over several generations, eventually subsumed totally into the

Homeworlders spiritual sphere.

Once this was done, the system was then harnessed for its

elemental powers. An alien biology the system could reject offhand,

but not one that had evolved within the system itself. There were

times when she wondered whether this meant star systems had a kind

of intelligence, a sentience....

Once the system's elemental powers were under the inhabitants'

control, it, too, was subsumed into the whole. And once a system

fell, those around it tended to follow suit. An intergalactic

domino theory.

The vegetation began to thicken, and she could feel the

breezes that blew in from the sea subside. Now her miko gown was

becoming a nuisance.... Snagging on the undergrowth.... It was an

entirely ornamental thing, designed for the ceremonies and special

events that used to occur when the Kingdom was still in existence.

Today, it was nothing more than a symbol for what she had been,

especially amongst the populations of other worlds. Whilst the

Empire itself no longer engendered the subservience and affection it

used to, there was at least an acknowledgement of those who had

served some time in the offices of church and state.

For a few moments, she considered abandoning it, but then the

undergrowth began to clear. A small rise that lead to a deeper

gully came into view, covered over with vast trees. In the centre

of the gully sat what she was looking for.... An altar.

It was not an ordinary altar... This one was still operating.

Its power field could be felt even at this distance, although it was

designed not to be detected any other way than on foot. What the

altar contained was too important for it to be discovered by the

casual bypasser. She should have thought of that when she was

flying over the island. Would have saved time, and she was running

out of it.

At the centre of the altar was a huge ceramic platform, which

rose no more than four feet off the ground, yet easily spanned some

twelve by fifteen feet in its width and length. This dropped down

to a ceramic base that surrounded the platform by two feet. At the

corners of the base sat four fonts on gilded posts. Around the base

of the posts were drains and ducts for water, which appeared to be

flowing from the centre of the fonts, over their sides. Appeared,

because the water was frozen in place.

It was like time had stopped and the flow with it. The woman

approached the altar, her attention taken by the setup's most

important aspect.... The body that lay atop the centre of the main

platform.

It was the naked form of a young woman. She appeared to be

sleeping, although the woman knew better of this. The girl had

exquisite light green-blue hair, running down to her ankles, and

extremely pale skin. Her ears were flourished with fins, and her

hands and feet were webbed, albeit not a great deal. Definitely the

product of much development by the Empire, thought the woman.

There was something across the girl's face.... She couldn't

get a better look, because she felt what appeared to be a barrier at

the edge of the altar. She placed two fingers, up straight, in

front of her mouth, and began to chant.

The barrier, an energy field, flashed as the power of the

chant caused it to falter. Eventually, it shattered like glass,

disappearing into a powder of energy that flew by the woman as she

completed her chant and gestured a symbol of faith.

For a split second, a mark appeared on her forehead, like a

letter M with an arrowed tail. It glowed a scarlet red, then

disappeared. The woman opened her eyes and turned aside as the

fonts burst into life, water flowing freely from some unknown

source.

She stepped up onto the base and then climbed onto the

platform, crawling over to her target. She stopped and stared down

at the girl's still face, kneeling before her.

The object that she had seen were two bands, running across

the girl's face, meeting at the bridge of her nose, where they were

connected by a turquoise shell symbol. She chuckled.... The mark

of a senshi.... An ordinary senshi, but a senshi all the same. She

disliked the senshi.... Well, at least those of her world. They

were unnecessarily machiavellian beings who had seen the dissolution

of the miko caste.... Of course, her bitterness was due mostly to

the fact that she had been one of the serving miko at the time.

After escaping the attempted roundup of the miko by the forces

of the senshi and various courtesans, her name and face had been

scattered throughout the kingdom. Wanted, for crimes against the

state! As if the senshi had a even a fraction of moral

responsibility left within them (not that she really had any, but

that was another matter).

Not a moment's rest did she have from the senshi, whose sole

intention was to be her execution. The manipulative fingers of

Chaos reaching into their minds. The kingdom was to soon die. She,

however, did not.

The benefits of prior-planning, of course. She had set up a

small empire for herself back on Earth, under an assumed name. One

whose power became essential in the final days of the kingdom, and

one that had maintained a semblance of order in the aftermath of the

collapse. A short-lived empire, however, for it collapsed itself

and was swallowed up by others as soon as she chose to leave it.

She had lived several lives since that time, and all

proclaiming the same set of values she had always pushed - next to

none. As the water miko of the second refrain, she represented the

intellectual quotient of those whose concerns were almost entirely

the body. She lived and breathed the powers, controls and structure

of eroticism and emotionality.

Where am I? Who am I? Why am I here? The three intellectual

questions that the three water miko represented. And she had spent

much of her many lives trying to answer that second question. Who

was she? What was she? Whilst the other second refrain miko also

pondered this question, only the water miko could truly find the

answer, because water sat at the end of the refrain's portion of the

miko circle. The answer comes here, so to speak.

She shook herself. Enough of this self-interrogation, she had

a job to do. She placed her left hand over the face of the girl and

began to chant, softly, rising her face into the air in a kind of

divine passion. Energy shot from her hand into the bands that

crossed the girl's face, and the shell glowed.

She stopped chanting suddenly, taking a deep, gasping breath

as she moved back several feet from the girl, breathing heavily.

Using her energy had always been murderous on her body. Not that it

was unpleasant.... The expenditure of her miko powers generated

immense pleasure. It was just that, the novelty tended to wear when

one received too much of a good thing.

She watched as the girl's eyes fluttered open, a silken senshi

uniform appearing over her naked frame.... A kind of gossamyr skirt

and top with suspended stockings and crystalline gloves and shoes.

The woman scratched her nose and wondered who chose the designs for

the uniforms of the senshi.... Slowly, the girl raised herself from

the altar, leaning against one arm and blearily staring at her

surroundings.

"Wh... What? Where am I?" She sat up fully. "Is this...

Is this my homeworld?" She looked up at the blue sun that peered

through the high branches of the tree canopy.

She then noticed the presence kneeling just to her right. She

turned and gasped, placing a hand to her mouth. "Madame Scor... I

mean... Arachne-sama... Is this really my home? Have I returned?"

"Yes, Siren Charybdis, you have returned." Arachne smiled.

----o

IASFU OA FWSS IASFU OA FWSS GOO JUA GOO JIPEST

and again

IASFU OA FWSS IASFU OA FWSS GOO JUA GOO JIPEST

And still the voices I can hear....

----o

Five figures flashed into existence in the front garden of the

Mizuno residence. Despite it being the middle of the night, the

garden was well-lit. This was mostly due to the fact that, above

Tokyo hung a dimensional rift of truly unbelievable proportions.

Certainly not one that the universii on either side had seen before.

Akunatsuka stared up into the sky, his mouth hanging open with

sheer disbelief. The avatar of his transportation, the Asteroid

Senshi known simply as PalaPala, watched him with patent amusement.

"What? Have you never seen dimensional rifts before?"

"Please, PalaPala-san was it?" One of the three Usagi clones,

who had, for some reason, decided to use the name Usako looked at

the light-blue haired girl. "We are most inexperienced in these

matters. I do not think it fair to criticise any of us for our

ignorance."

PalaPala stared at Usako.... An almost perfect copy of Usagi

if one ignored the fact that both her manner and tone were totally

the opposite. The tone of Usako easily suggested that she was not

the sort to easily follow Pala's penchant for cruel humour. Indeed,

the sort to chastise her for her attitude. Pala groaned and put a

hand to her face.

"Its a joke, Joyce. Jeez..."

"Very funny, I'm sure." The second Usagi clone, a redhead

with her hair tied back in a simple ponytail, dressed in the costume

of the early Meiji era, with a cross-scar on her left cheek, said as

she followed Akunatsuka's gaze, albeit with far less disbelief and

wonderment. After all, Usashin, the name she had chosen for

herself, had been cast from the universe on the other side of that

rift in a blast she was amazed anyone survived.

"Where are the others, different woman." The third Usagi

clone, Aosagi, said in an arrogant tone that suggested total

contempt for anyone who wasn't an Usagi. Dressed in a red ninja

costume, covered with a large white coat, with her medium-cut hair

tied back in a headband. She loomed up on Pala dangerously. From

the expression on the girl's face, it didn't seem that the Asteroid

Senshi's powers were of any concern to her, if it came to a fight

between them.

Of course, Pala was never one to put down an incipient fight.

"There are some here already, dickhead. Try looking for yourself."

Aosagi snarled in her face.

"What did you call me, Different Bitch!?!"

"Now now.... We don't want to start a fight. Fighting is

bad." Usako stepped up beside them and placed her hands on their

shoulders. Whilst this annoyed Pala, Aosagi deferred to her and

turned away. Great, thought Pala, someone who won't listen to those

who know what they're doing, but will listen to an airhead. Just

what we need if we're really in a pinch.

Pala was about to round on Usako when she heard another,

equally soft and measured voice coming from behind her.

"Now now, PalaPala. She has the best interests of the group

at heart." Pala turned to see CereCere, JunJun and a somewhat

disbelieving Makoto sitting beside the swimming pool in deckchairs.

"I see you've set yourself up for a grand view of judgement

day." Pala chuckled. Cere lifted a large cocktail that had been

sitting on a small table next to her and gestured grandly.

"The best view in the house." Said the maroon-red haired

girl. Cere had changed from her flower-petal dress to a flower-

petal bikini, and had her hair tied up as she was more accustomed,

in elaborate rings and ribbons that resembled complex spaghetti

architecture. JunJun, likewise, had her hair tied up in a three-

tail pattern with rings running around the front like a semi-crown,

although she had, at the very least, chosen something of greater

practicality than a swimsuit to wear.

Makoto, for her part, had not changed back from Jupiter.

It had taken some time to calm her down after Cere had pulled her

psycho act on her, threatening to kill Rikai and his detectives,

and perhaps even Ami's mother, if they interfered in the "grand

plan" the Asteroid's new boss had set up. In the meantime, they'd

had to hide from the aforementioned detectives when they decided

to make a reappearance after being transported across town, with

their car, by one of Cere's spells.

Much to Cere's annoyance, the detectives had decided to leave

some uniformed officers to guard the scene. She quickly dispensed

with them by sending them on a holiday to Hakodate. Well, it was

the only place she could think of at the time.

Makoto had been sitting, sulking, on the deckchair for some

time, annoyed on occasion by the mindless chatter of her two

companions. When the dimensional rift gave way, allowing hundreds

of thousands of bodies to fall from the sky, the pair had cheered

and danced all over the lawn, and proceeded to tank themselves

with every alcoholic beverage they could find in the Mizuno's

household. Considering the moneyed lifestyle Ami and her mother

had become used to, they were drinking well.

Makoto didn't feel like drinking, or cheering, or doing

anything, basically. So different to last night, where she had

made a pig-arse fool of herself when the senshi gathered to

celebrate what they hoped would be their freedom from the deaths

predicted by Setsuna's visions. But then, a lot had happened in the

intervening 24 hours.

Usagi, whom they had killed, to prevent her doing the same to

them, had come back to life. Somehow. The woman who had explained

this to them was currently floating in the Mizuno's swimming pool,

as water, no less, along with Naru and Ami. She didn't understand

the processes at work, but apparently, in the intoxicated state of

mind Ami had been in after her mother had given her something to

calm her down and let her get some rest, she had taken a swim, or

tried to drown herself, Makoto wasn't sure, and somehow.... Her

body melted into the water. Naturally, because Ami was a senshi

with water-based powers, those powers fused with the element, and

they became one.

Now the woman, Kikotsuka Aoi, who also had been the police

detective who'd headed up the investigation into Usagi's murder, had

proven to have powers of a similar nature, from where, Makoto didn't

know. One moment, the woman appeared to be a scared, ordinary human

being, frightened by Usagi's resurrection after the girl had

destroyed the station, killing many of those Aoi had worked with,

the next they were face to face with a being of immense power and

capacity to both command and confound. Not to mention the capacity

to be extremely blunt, thoughtless and arrogant. But Makoto, who

was used to the fight, had heard that kind of language before. The

words of one who liked to prey on the minds of others... Thems

were fightin' words and Makoto didn't like her very much.

Then, this Aoi woman brings the Asteroid Senshi in to,

virtually, replace the "unreliable" normal senshi, whilst she

follows Ami in fusing herself with the water of the pool in an

attempt to rescue the stupid girl lest her conciousness die within

the water, dragging Naru (accidentally or deliberately, she wasn't

sure) with her.

On top of that, Chibiusa (why was she still Chibiusa when

they'd killed Usagi? Although, clearly, Usagi wasn't quite so dead

now) had turned into a human jellyfish, and was currently lying in

the Mizuno's vegetable crisper in the hope that, if they ever get

back the "essence" that had been removed from her body, they'd have

something fresh to put it in. VesVes's idea, of course.

But then, both Rei and VesVes had gone charging off somewhere

for no readily apparent reason, shortly before both herself and Cere

had their biffo session. She rubbed her chin.... Despite the

girl's appearance, she packed a wallop behind those arms. It all

made her wonder.... About the Asteroid senshi....

Where the hell did they come from? As far as she knew, they

had been sealed up in those crystals after they'd turned against

their former master, only to be released as normal girls after

Zirconia and Nephrenia were defeated (well, Zirconia anyway).

At least, that was what she was sure of.... The universe had

a tendency to laugh at its denizens. In many ways, the senshi were

a form of cosmic joke.

They were meant to defend all that was good, all that was

right, but so often Makoto had felt like cannon fodder for Usagi

when it came to the really big fights. She'd throw herself, and

her life, away, just so Usagi could pull off an eleventh hour hero.

And there was another thing.... Why was it really necessary

for them to pull off these last-minute world saving routines? It

had been that way, what with Beryl and her Generals (even though she

had been dropped into that halfway through), the Black Moon Kingdom,

Pharaoh 90, the Dead Moon Circus, Nephrenia and Galaxia with her

Sailor Animates. Why was it they always seemed to let things run on

for so long without taking these people to task earlier?

She knew why. Real life would constantly get in the way.

They weren't BORN to have real lives... Their lives were patently

unreal, unnatural. At a time when they should have been studying

and going through the usual bullshit of adolescence, they were

running around like a pack or idiots in skimpy clothes, saving the

world. And getting killed, occasionally.

These thoughts ran through her head as the dimensional rift

opened up and flowered into its full glory. And she only gave it

the most cursory of glances. Of course, she thought, why should I

be surprised? We've been lead a merry chase again, and here we are

with the world, maybe even the universe at peril, again, with the

expectation that we're going to use our bodies as human shields for

yet another last-minute hero routine. Only problem was, this time,

there was no Usagi to whap the enemy over the head with a mega

spiral heart attack thingy after transforming into a chick in a

short, skimpy dress with big wings sticking out the back. Not an

Usagi likely to be so congenial, anyway. The sheer absurdity of it

all had struck her. And coming face to face with not one, but

three, Usagis was enough to send her over the edge.

She began to laugh, falling off the deckchair and rolling over

the ground. Well, at least that got the attention of all the

others.

"Told you she was a bit funny in the head." Cere poked her

tongue out at Jun.

"I didn't say she wasn't."

"No, you just didn't want to compare her with us."

"That's another one of the problems with these straight-laced

inner senshi types.... They don't know how to carry themselves with

decorum whilst going through a nervous breakdown." Pala joined her

companions as the three Usagis and Akunatsuka stepped over to

Makoto.

"Are you alright, Mako-chan?" Usako said worriedly, holding

her hands together nervously.

"The girl has taken temporary leave of her senses. She shall

recover in time." Usashin placed a hand on Usako's shoulder.

"You're so sure of everything aren't you?" Aosagi sniffed

with contempt. "As far as I'm concerned, the bitch was one of those

responsible for killing the original Tsukino Usagi. She can lose

her mind and rot in an asylum."

"The powers she contains may be of use to us, especially in

the killing of that beast that is rampaging through the village."

"You call this a village?" Pala blinked at her.

"The place of residence of many people is a village. It is

only within the last few centuries that we have come to understand

a place such as this as a city." Usashin looked up and around, at

the many tall buildings that dotted the skyline. "This is the

product of the efforts of many, not of just one. People have slaved

against time, lack of finance and resources, corruption and

criminality to make this place a worthy one for many, many people to

live, since the days when it was called Edo. All of the world's

great cities have been made with this intention. Not all have

succeeded. Should we stand by and allow this to be destroyed by

something that has but one desire, to kill and destroy?"

Usashin's speech seemed to overcome everyone, even Makoto. It

was as if the tone of her voice contained a power to move peoples'

emotions.... Which unbeknownst to them, it did. Even though only

one Usagi in the Eternal City had manifested the true powers of

Sailormoon, that didn't mean all the others HADN'T shown powers of

some form or another.

Usashin turned to them. "I will die to defend this city and

as many of those who live within it. With all the power I contain.

I don't know about any of you....." She looked at Pala. "You, who

seem overly preoccupied with playing games..." Cere. "You who are

not in control of your emotions..." Jun. "You who should know

better, but act as if you don't." Makoto. "You, who have betrayed

everything you should have represented..." Aosagi. "You, who used

to stand for a noble cause, but were corrupted..." Akunatsuka.

"You who have allowed yourself to become cynical and distrusting...

All of you... What are you going to do? Lie back on these chairs,

drink alcohol and watch the city and all those lives being

destroyed?" Usashin pulled her sword from its sheath. "There is

only one amongst you who have been true to themselves." She turned

to Usako. "Well, what are you going to do?"

"Nobody must die.... Killing is bad. We must CREATE." Usako

clasped her hands together. "I, too, will die to save this city."

"What can SHE do?" Pala sneered. "She spends most of her

time flouncing around, acting like a right proper Princess."

There was a long silence after those words, as their meaning

began to dawn on people. Except for Akunatsuka, who had no idea

what was going on. He spent most of this time boggling over the

fact that he'd come face to face with Sailor Jupiter having a

nervous breakdown.

----o

The street was crowded with hundreds of panicked people. From

all over the city they came, trying to escape the monstrosity that

had appeared above them.

It was a stampede, and riot, in one. The human mind, as

arrogant and as self-satisfied as it can be has the capacity to

completely lose all sense of proportion or reality when coming face

to face with something that is beyond its understanding. The

dimensional rift was just the kind of thing to achieve this on a

grand scale, and despite the attempts by the JSDF to regain some

semblance of social order, even many of those who served with it had

been panicked. Things were starting to look very nasty, indeed.

It was in the midst of this, off to one side of the street,

that three figures appeared in mid-air and landed very heavily on

their butts. Hotaru, now a woman of impressive stature, dressed in

a black minidress that, for some reason, had replaced her usual senshi

fuku, made little noises of pain and felt someone leaning behind her,

making similar noises.

"Are you alright, Neptune? Pluto?"

"I will be if this pain stops shooting up and down my spine."

Hotaru turned to her left and saw Michiru, clenching her teeth, with

her eyes screwed shut and watering.

"I take it you landed on your tailbone, too?"

"No shit, Sherlock." Michiru leaned forward, rubbing her

back. Hotaru let out a deep breath and turned to her left, where

she heard Setsuna moaning.

"And you, Pluto? Are you alright?"

"Why in hell did we land here?" Michiru interrupted another

moan from Setsuna, staring around as people charged in every

direction, mostly towards the next intersection. There were so many

people on foot that cars were finding it next to impossible to move.

Hotaru nodded, following Michiru's gaze up and down the street. If

anyone HAD noticed their unusual arrival and appearance, they

weren't showing it.

"I was right, the dimensional rift DID cause massive panic."

"Gomen.... I didn't think about this at the time." Hotaru

looked sheepish. The dimensional rift was, of course, partly her

fault, after performing her Death Reborn Revolution attack within

the alternate universe above. The reasons for going that far...

Well, they were monumentally complex, and had a great deal to do

with the Eternal City choosing her to eradicate the Destroyers,

huge black marbled dirigibles that floated through the sky, blasting

vast beams of multicoloured energy at the city in an effort,

naturally as their name suggests, to destroy it.

"Don't worry about it now. Its done. What worries me more is

the city itself. Its regenerating pretty quickly, and it doesn't

look like its gonna stop with its own universe." Michiru pointed

upwards. The city had almost completely covered the bare surface of

the world within the alternate universe with its fine lattice of

buildings, streets and other infrastructure, and it was reaching

down through the rift with long tendrils that looked like gigantic

upside-down skyscrapers.

"What is it going to do, try to grow itself on our world?"

Hotaru frowned.

"I get the impression that is precisely its current plan."

Michiru gritted her teeth as Setsuna groaned again. Suddenly, a

thought came to Michiru.... It was Setsuna who had been

transporting them in the first place. She thought she heard a cry

of pain when one of the JSDF soldiers let off a couple of rounds at

the top of the building which had been at the epicentre of the rift.

Michiru turned and saw, to her horror, that Setsuna was clutching

at her belly, blood running freely from two great wounds.

"SETSUNA!!!" Michiru spun around and took Setsuna in her

arms. Hotaru, hearing Michiru's cry, spun and saw Setsuna's state.

"Oh no... No no no no no." Hotaru put her hands to her face,

shaking her head. Michiru tried to get through to Setsuna, tapping

her face with her hand.

"Setsuna, are you still with us? Setsuna?" Setsuna let out

a soft moan. "Oh Kami-sama, what are we gonna do?"

Hotaru shuddered... "I'm going to try my healing powers. It

may not work... I've used up so much of my energy already." Hotaru

lowered her hands and placed them slightly over Setsuna's wounds,

trying to ignore the gruesome, sticky wet sensation of her blood.

Michiru stared at her as if she were mad. "But you haven't

exercised those powers in ages. You don't know what might happen."

"Its worth a try. With wounds like that, I'm DAMNED sure that

Setsuna won't see through the next ten minutes." Hotaru

concentrated, gritting her teeth. Energy seemed to run between

herself and Setsuna, and it horrified Michiru to see just how pale

she was getting.

But it was having desired effect. There was a squelching

sound, and the fragments of shell casing oozed out from the wounds.

Then the wounds themselves started to heal from within, flesh

reforming within her wounded insides, extending outwards. By this

time, however, Hotaru was shaking and sweating profusely. Michiru

considered whether it was worth saving one only to have another die.

Hotaru ended it, falling forward after letting out a short

squeal. "I can't.... Not anymore... Completely drained. Powers

all gone. Have to... regenerate." Hotaru's dress was replaced by

her normal street clothes, which were much the same colour, proof

enough for Michiru that she could no longer hold out.

Michiru looked back at Setsuna, who was still out of it,

mumbling to herself. It seemed her body had gone into shock

regardless of whether Hotaru lessened the load of the injury. The

wounds themselves were nothing more than serious welts now, still

bleeding, but not with the same ferocity they did before.

Hotaru sat up. "How is she?"

"It certainly looks better, although that's a relative term,

I don't think she's likely to be doing any marathons in the next few

weeks."

"I'll be able to deal with that, as soon as my power gets back

up to speed." Hotaru looked around at the panic. "We can't move

her out with things like this, though. We're going to have to use

transportation powers."

"How? Neither of us can use transportation, and the pair of

us don't have enough energy for a teleport."

"Energy transposition. My powers are depleted, but Pluto's

aren't. Her body is incapacitated, but mine isn't."

"Energy transposition? How does one do that?"

"Its easy if you have half of your memories of your past life

unlocked. Its amazing what thinking you're going to die will do to

your state of mind."

"I've died once or twice. They never came back to me."

"You had other things on your mind, baka." Hotaru sniffed.

"And don't think I've forgotten what you did to me when you went

over to Galaxia's side that time...."

"Aww, will you just get over it. Haruka and I told you it was

part of a plan...."

"One that failed."

Michiru huffed sulkily. Hotaru smiled and stood, and chanted

a spell. Within seconds, her clothes changed to a dark green

minidress with a black and scarlet ribbon. Hotaru looked at

herself. "Hmm.... Seems this malaise with my senshi uniform is not

confined to my own."

"Maybe that's how they're supposed to look." Michiru stared

at her. Hotaru shrugged.

"I dunno. It always seemed somewhat strange to me that our

senshi uniforms were seemingly modelled on the sailor fukus of

Japanese schoolgirls."

"Maybe a warped interpretation, through our memories, of what

they're supposed to look like, utilising something we're more used

to seeing and wearing."

"Maybe. Although, one has to admit, the further along the

road we travel in our understanding of our powers, the less they

seem to appear like the traditional fuku."

A tiara appeared on Hotaru's forhead... Far more ornate than

the traditional senshi tiara... This one was emblazoned with

symbols that Michiru hadn't seen before. Hotaru touched the tiara

and nodded. "It seems, even with my level of development now, I

haven't quite reached as far as I expected. I certainly didn't have

a tiara like this."

"Maybe its specific to Pluto?"

"I don't think so, although it does seem an effective avatar

for the enforcement of her time powers."

"Why do you say that?"

"I just slowed everyone down to half speed by accident, just

by thinking about it."

Michiru turned back to the street. She thought things had

sounded somewhat drawled. Everyone was now panicking on valium. It

suited Michiru just fine.

"Hmm? You like it this way?" Hotaru looked at Michiru. She

turned to her and flashed her surprise.

"Uh, sorry. My psychic powers have returned to full capacity.

I'm still trying to shield my thoughts and feelings."

Hotaru shrugged and reached forward. From her hand, a large

staff appeared, eventually tapering off into the double-blade of

her glaive. Then it shimmered, and the end of the glaive was

replaced with the rings of a priest's staff and flourished with what

appeared to be the Garnet Orb.

"Hell, I thought that was trashed."

"About as much as my glaive. As I said, I was keeping it

until I needed it."

"You didn't say that, Setsuna did."

"Then why mention it? Uh... She did?"

"Yeah."

"Oh dear.... I forgot some memories come with the

transposition.... Oh well. Now I have an excuse for being obscure

for a while." Hotaru grinned. She then closed her eyes and began

to chant something as she gripped the Time Key. In an instant, they

disappeared from sight, with only a stray dog as their witness.

----o

It had been a rather interesting experience, at least she

could say that if nothing else. Lying naked in the same bed with

another woman.... Uh, girl.... Whatever the case may be. She

wondered why Tranquility's emotions had taken over.. Taken control

of the situation. Barf. Jokes at a time like this weren't

appropriate. Should she believe Naiad that she loved her more than

Astute? And just what the hell was she wondering this for? Naru

wasn't into girls. She couldn't believe Tranquility was. This

really COULDN'T have been her former life. But then, it did explain

why the memories about the depth of the relationship between both

Naiad and herself had been suppressed. Probably to hide the shock.

It also explained, partly, why she felt such a sense of betrayal

when she caught Naiad and Astute together.

And so she lay back, with a sleeping Naiad next to her,

staring at the ceiling, wondering how to explain all this to Guri-

chan if she ever bumped into him again. At least the darkness of

night helped to suppress her emotions somewhat.

Not entirely, though, she sat up, swinging her legs over the

side of the bed. She could hear sounds from other rooms in the vast

dormitory. Music, televids and the general hooha that would go on

with young ladies in their mid to late teens. She wondered, with

some embarassment, if anyone had heard the pair of them, but decided

things had been noisy enough elsewhere. She stood and stepped into

the neighbouring bathroom.

She closed the door and the light came on automatically. She

was surprised, somewhat, by her appearance. She most certainly

looked like her, this Tranquility. Although, despite the fact that

Naru was at least 2 years older, Tranquility looked far more

developed, more mature.... It made Naru jealous. She shook her

head a moment. Stop thinking inane thoughts, airhead, she muttered

to herself.

She touched the mirror, and found it stirring like water. She

shook her head again.... What was it about water, about the colour

blue, that seemed to motivate Naiad so much?

After being sucked in to the pool, Naru had become caught up

in the memories of the Miko of Water, third refrain. This basically

meant that Naiad's position was similar to that of Pisces on the

western Zodiac wheel. Although such definitions were a modern

astrological translation, and therefore bore no meaning to the

original circle of the Miko caste.

For some reason, Naiad had become caught up in Naru's own

memories of a previous life, as Tranquility, the succeeding second

candidate Queen who ruled the Moon Kingdom before the reign of the

last Queen Serenity. Naiad seemed unaware of what was going on, or

was as unable to control what she was doing as Naru had been over

the last couple of hours. That was definitely a possibility.

There was even a greater possibility.... In her attempt to

understand who it was she had encountered, she'd melded her mind

with Naiad's, a trick Naiad had taught Tranquility (it was the only

way she would have known how to do it.... there was certainly no

such tricks on Tranquility's curriculum in the Academy).

These memories she was encountering... Were supposed to be a

combination of both Naiad's and her own memories, yet she seemed

strangely removed from Naiad's interpretation of events. The whole

purpose had been to reveal what it was that made Naiad tick, yet she

had learnt more in this time about Tranquility than she had about

Naiad. It made her wonder if Naiad was simply leading her on....

To some realisation.... Of what, she didn't know. All she could

work out was that Naiad had an obsession with working through the

minds of others, trying to... Raise their conciousness, of who they

are, or were, and what the purpose is in their existence.

Then there was Ami. Yet another spirit with water-based

powers. They had come in search of Ami, yet her appearances had

been nothing more than spectral.... What the hell was SHE doing?

If they didn't do something soon, there was a possibility that her

conciousness may die within the avatar of the water they had melded

with. And theirs with her, if they didn't get out soon enough.

But then, both Naru and Naiad had been in here for a while,

now, and there didn't seem to be anything happening to suggest that

something bad was about to happen to the both of them.

Thus, the mirror spoke.

Naiad, being punished for her relationship with Astute.

Punished was a light term, really. She was being beaten, tortured.

One from such a lowly position does not fraternise with the

establishment.

Naru sank into the mirror. She stood, being held back by

prefects, crying and screaming at the headmaster and the other heads

of faculties as Naiad was kicked and beaten viciously... Brutally.

"RULE! One from such a lowly position does not fraternise

with the establishment." Barked the Headmaster. "RULE! One does

not attempt to leave the grounds of the Academy until one has

completed the curriculum. RULE! One must obey the codes of

interpersonal conduct between students whilst they are here. Sexual

relationships with others, be they male or female, are NOT allowed."

They stopped. Naru ceased her tantrum enough to realise that

they were in front of an assembly in the main hall. She turned

aside to see Astute, his head hanging sadly. On the other side were

the student body. She searched for Hecate... Setsuna. But she

couldn't find the girl. She turned back to see the Headmaster, now

standing in her face.

"As for you, you are a shame to your position." He slapped

her viciously. Naru let out a short cry. "Just ONE chance. That

is all you get here. Are you so keen to destroy that opportunity?"

He slapped her across the other side of the face.

What the hell happened here, she thought? Why is this

happening?

She saw herself, Naiad and Astute attempting to escape from

the Academy grounds.... Through the west fence. They were being

pursued, by prefects and guard dogs... Well, what could be

described as dogs.

It had been Naiad's idea. She was the one who really wanted

out, and only two knew of her intentions.... Astute and

Tranquility. And they both decided to follow her.

It was a mistake, of course. Nobody was likely to miss three

students the standard of Naiad, Tranquility and Astute. Especially

Astute.... He was the second son of one of the High Lords,

currently the most privileged student at the Academy. Naru wondered

why he had chosen to go with them, to follow Naiad's crazy plan.

But maybe that was the point... All three had, basically, done

whatever they were told to do all through their lives. This was an

opportunity to make a mark for themselves.

Not a very smart one. Astute had been caught only hours after

their attempt. Tranquility, herself, had lost the both of them and

wandered the countryside aimlessly for days before being picked up

by the Headmaster himself.

Most of their punishment had been meted out. Slowly, over the

space of weeks. Then they caught Naiad, and decided that, with her,

they could get away with a beating in front of the Assembly. Her

family would not complain. They were not important enough to matter

to the position concious members of the Academy.

And that made Naru as mad as hell. So when the Headmaster

slapped her for her tantrum during Naiad's punishment session, she

lost it.

And Tranquility came out. The Queen herself. It stunned the

Headmaster, prefects, heads of faculty and students. One moment,

she was Naru, being held by two prefects in an armlock. The next,

she stood before them in the full ceremonial robes of Tranquility,

easily shaking off the grip of the stunned prefects.

"Now you listen to ME!" She barked.

Both Astute and Naiad stared at her in stunned disbelief.

"Naru... Don't..." Naiad croaked, lying on the floor, trying

to lift herself up as blood ran from cuts all over. Tranquility

stared at her with half-amused contempt.

"I'm Tranquility when I'm Naru, but I'm Naru when I'm

Tranquility, is that it?" She chuckled bitterly. "I've had enough

of this. These memories... Their lies and half-truths."

"All this is the truth." Astute stood beside her. "There are

no lies to memory when they are this strong."

"Be SILENT!" Tranquility waved at Astute. He bowed and stood

back. She then turned to the Headmaster. "Slap my face, will you?"

She lifted up the flat of her hand, and belted the Headmaster

heavily across the chops. He fell back, staggering to the floor.

She pushed everyone aside as she strode over to Naiad. The

girl stared up at her, not knowing what to say as Tranquility

reached down for her hand. "Here. We are leaving."

Naiad took her hand. And they left.

The both of them escaped the Academy. Naiad spent several

years alone, on the run, looking to find meaning in her life.

Eventually, during a visit to one of the towns she had lived in,

by the mikotai, her powers were detected by the reigning third

refrain miko of water, and she was taken in as a protege.

Tranquility returned to her ancestral home, and endured the

contempt shown to her by her family, friends and the hierachy.

Despite what she had done, she had passed the examinations for the

Alternative Candidate with flying colours. Higher by ten percent

than anyone else. They had no choice but to give her the position.

And she became Queen, upon the First Candidate's failiure to

live up to her responsibilities. And the first thing she did as

Queen was remove the controlling board of the Academy and replace it

with one she found more.... congenial.

Naru staggered back from the mirror.... Well, that was a

nicely abbreviated lifetime. Pity both their lives had been so

short. Almost as soon as she had become miko, Naiad committed

suicide, and Tranquility followed suit, unable to take the loss of

her old.... ah.... friend.

She heard movement from the bedroom outside the bathroom door.

"Tranquility?" Came Naiad's tired voice. "Where are you?"

"Just in the bathroom, Nai."

"Well don't be too long. The bed is getting cold."

Naru sighed. How was she going to bring this scenario to a

close before these predicted events occured. It seemed that, if

they were to go on this way, the pair of them WOULD die.... They

would both fulfill their destiny to suicide.

And she wanted to end it before she had to... With Naiad,

again, do THAT. Then something occured to her.... She opened the

door and stepped into the bedroom.

"Naiad...." She said softly. The girl had been turned away

from her, and hmmmed in response. Naru paused for a few moments.

"Can you end this, please? I don't want to follow these memories,

anymore...."

Naiad turned and looked at her strangely. "What did you say?"

"Don't try and hide it from me. That vision, just then....

You called me Naru. You knew I was Naru, yet the name Naru was not

bestowed upon me until the birth of my current life...." Naru shook

her head. "You've been leading me on all this time."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Tranquility. Have

you been sleepwalking again?" The tone was so convincing, Naru

almost believed it.

"Enough! You've spent long enough getting me to examine my

inner self. All these worlds and realities you've created for me,

making me believe I was examining you. You've lead me a merry dance

for long enough."

"Alright, what is it this time? Are you still angry about

what went on between Astute and myself?"

Naru gritted her teeth. "Stop it! Stop acting as if you

don't know what I'm talking about."

"I'm sorry, Tranqs. I really have no idea. What realities

are you talking about?"

"I am NOT Tranquility!"

"Eh?" Naiad frowned at her.

"I am not Tranquility, and you know it. You're just hoping

that I may be, because I look like her. You're hoping that, by

dragging me through all this, you'll somehow recreate her. Make me

her. But I am not her. I am Osaka Naru! Do you understand that?"

"Na...ru..." Naiad's face screwed up and twisted. "You are

Osaka... Naru..." For a moment, Naiad seemed confused with the

concept, as if it meant something to her in a distant way. Then her

expression changed again. "I really have no idea what you're

talking about, Tranqs. You sound like you've been having those

strange dreams again...."

Naru could have screamed. "I AM NOT TRANQUILITY!"

"Well, who the hell are you then? Eh?" Naiad gritted her

teeth, getting angry. "Don't shout so loud. People will hear you."

"They don't exist. None of this does."

"It does to her, in a technical manner." It was another

voice. Naru turned to one side and saw Ami standing by the door to

the room.

"A... Ami?" Naru croaked.

"Miste Kiele?" She heard Naiad say from the bed. Ami smiled

and stepped forward.

"Have you seen enough, Naru? Enough to know that everything

you see is a construct?"

"What are you talking about?" Naru demanded

"Miste Kiele. Aren't you supposed to be studying within the

Palace for the position of the Mercury senshi?" Naiad got up from

the bed, dragging some of the bedclothes with her.

"Miste Kiele.... I seem to remember that name. It could be

mine. I think I was Mercury three times during my lives. Whether

or not I was ever her is open to question."

"Ami..." Naru said softly. "Is this... Did you create all

this?" Ami smiled at her, then looked tired.

"I think I did. I'm not sure. Something to do with the

sharing of elemental powers. It makes as much sense to me as it

would to you. I'm not really sure what is going on, I just remember

being fused with both her and you...."

Naiad rubbed her head a moment. "How did you do this? Catch

me unawares like that? I thought I was the only one capable of

doing that."

"I see you're returning to your senses now." Ami smiled at

her. "How does it feel, to be made to examine your inner self,

Naiad?"

Naru turned to Naiad, then back to Ami. "You're trying to

tell me she really didn't know what was going on?"

"Oh, she knew. She realised that she was reliving her former

life. Its just that, like these past few hours with yourself, she

was unable to do anything about it. I had to do that with her.

Unlike you, she would not have tolerated being taken for a ride."

Naru quivered. "But... You? Put me through that? Why?"

"I am a water senshi. I exist to serve the ways of the

element." She chuckled to herself. "If this makes me look like

Naiad, then the perception is true. Miste Kiele was very much like

Naiad Keth Drutein."

Naiad sneered. "So what went wrong with this life, Miste?

Did you play the wallflower out of some great fear of perpetuating

the last one's mistakes?"

"I got a life, that's what happened." Ami shot back. "Unlike

others, who spend all their time puppeteering from limbo."

"You have no right to lecture me on my behaviour. The only

difference between us is that I chose to die. You continued with

your manipulations well past the reign of Tranquility. Both

yourself and Thyde Luciere."

"And I'm supposed to be moved by your decision to suicide? I

died attempting to defend the Kingdom."

"Stop it, both of you!" Naru had had enough of this. "Ami,

what is the purpose of all this? Do all of you who are born to the

element of water behave this way?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"It can't be helped." Naiad responded for Ami. Naru turned

to Naiad.

"Why? What is the point?"

"There is no point." Naru turned back to Ami, who was now

hugging herself. "We're all caught up in the mind. It fascinates

us. Guides us throughout every stage of our being, even in the

moments between our lives."

"Giving us a contempt for those who act without thinking."

Naiad continued.

"Giving us a contempt for the physical." Ami gritted her

teeth. "Oh how I despise the physical world. It was so hard,

having to relate to everyone, and constantly making mistakes. The

great lie of common social behaviour.... Meant only for those

without the capacity to think for themselves. I hated Usagi...

Rei... Minako... None of them displayed the capacity for the kind

of emotional introspection I desired. Maybe Makoto understood."

"Despite everything, the Jupiter senshi is given much of her

powers from the element of the Earth. She has to. As a member of

the inner senshi quartet, she represents Earth, as you do water, as

Rei does fire and as Minako does Air." Naiad sniffed. "I always

found it amusing that the Air senshi were the nominal leaders of

their refrains."

Ami smiled bitterly. "Is that what you believe?"

"I said nominal. That doesn't mean they ever used these

titles."

Ami sighed.

Naru stared at them both. "I don't understand. Why are you

arguing these points at a time like this? Ami, we have to leave

this place, all three of us. We have to unfuse ourselves from the

water lest we die."

Ami shook her head. "I am not leaving."

"Wh... why? Do you want to die?" Naru stared at her in

disbelief.

"I don't care. I don't care if I die, or if you die."

Ami put her hands out, gesturing towards Naru and Naiad.

"I'm not letting either of you go. I want to play with you

for just a little longer." She leered at Naru, who stepped back

towards Naiad.

"Don't be too sure, Miste..." Naiad waved a hand at Ami as

the young senshi shot off what appeared to be a spell. Two energy

beams struck with equal force, blowing the reality away from them,

and they tumbled into a maelstrom. Naru screamed out loud as she

entered the eye of the storm, and everything went dark....

----o

Madame Scorpia was most disappointed. After inviting Usagi

and the Animates to join her for dinner at seven that evening, they

had failed to show by the time it had turned eight thirty. So much

for thinking they were being fashionably late.

She sat at the main table in the Tudor Function room at the

hotel she owned. A large room, decorated in red and gold. Well,

whatever it was named, it was certainly a grand room. So big

that she couldn't see the tables at the other end. And tonight, all

were used by a plethora of guests. A little function in the

name of the local Governor's re-election campaign. Two nights from

now, she'd hold a similar gathering of members from the opposition

party. She liked to have all bases covered.

She'd built up this tiny little empire for herself over a

number of years, having to deal with the local powerbrokers in the

usual fashion.... bribery and corruption, to simply get such an

establishment off the ground.

The rich and powerful would travel from all over the Kingdom

to party at Madame Scorpia's. And very few ever recognised her.

Not the way she looked today. Most remembered her as the laissez-

faire intellectual amongst the mikotai. She had bedded more members

of the establishment than any other woman in a position of power,

and not a single one of them were allowed to think any lower of her

for doing it. Ah the joys of office. Pity those days were over.

Once that damned fool, Naiad Keth Drutein, chose to suicide,

taking the Queen Tranquility with her in the poor girl's grief, the

mikotai was at an end. The replacement Queen, Serenity, was

fervently anti-miko, guided much by the motivations of the senshi

and the High Lords and Ladies of the Palace Court. And with only

11 miko still serving, she chose that time to rout the established

branch of the Church of the Empire.

Madame Scorpia shook her head. It would be the downfall of

the Kingdom, of course. Now the link to the Homeworld was broken.

Galaxia had fallen, taking with her the fragile bonds that tied

together the Empire. Without the miko, the Kingdom would collapse.

Each Kingdom required the services of both the clergy and the

military. Without one, the other would not be able to stand up

against the forces of Chaos that threatened all.

There were rumours of war right at this very moment. Rumours

that would have been proven as fact a LONG time ago had the miko

still been serving. Madame Scorpia could see it happening even as

she set up her "business", and knew that the fate of the Kingdom now

rested in her hands. Pity it took such underhanded methods to

provide the stability the remnants of the Kingdom would require.

But then, moral requirements were never high on her list of

priorities, so she ignored them.

"Mistral...." She snapped her fingers at her personal

servant, who stood a short distance behind her. He stepped forward,

bowing to her.

"Yes Madame?" He looked at her curiously.

"You did give these girls a proper invitation, did you not?"

"I did my best, Madame. I can check to see if they've

accepted. They could have stopped in the lobby. I'm sure the bar

there might have been to their tastes."

She shrugged. "Easy come, easy go, Mistral. There is only

the one of them I am vaguely interested in."

He nodded at her. "Yes ma'am, I understand very much."

"Perhaps inviting them was the wrong thing to do." She smiled

at the Governor, who was seated at the opposite end of her table,

after he proposed a toast to her health. She raised her glass in

acknowledgement as those around her lifted theirs, nodding at her.

As they downed the drinks and demanded more from the waiters,

she moved closer aside Mistral. "I think force might have been a

better instrument to get that girl, don't you?"

Mistral smiled and nodded. "I did check with the owners of

the Bed and Breakfast where the girls are staying. They aren't

expecting to move out for a while yet."

She nodded and took a swig of wine from her glass. "Then I

suggest, Mistral, that these girls are going to make a moonlight

flit from their place of accomadation due to their inability to pay.

You know how girls like they can be when it comes to money."

"Even though they say they are... women of independent means?"

She shrugged. "Independent or not, it can be dangerous for

young women to travel these lands alone."

Mistral bowed to his Mistress and disappeared through the main

doors of the room.

----o

Usagi awoke to find herself lying in the main bed of the room

she and her travelling companions, the Animates, had chosen in the

little Bed and Breakfast at the edge of town. It was dark and she

could hear the televid playing in the background, flashing an

occasional ghostly light across the ceiling. Her eyes fluttered as

she tried to focus on her situation. All she knew was that she was

partly unclothed, and that someone was sitting next to her.

She looked up and let out a small gasp. Next to her sat

Siren. Not just Siren, but Sailor Aluminium Siren, in her gossamyr

senshi uniform. The last time Usagi had seen her dressed this way,

she was attempting to kill everyone on a plane flight in honour of

the Three Lights... The Starlights, as it eventually turned out.

This very fact was enough to make her momentarily recoil.

Siren turned to her with surprise. "Ah, you're awake now. I

suppose that's good." She huffed.

"What happened?" Usagi croaked as she attempted to sit up,

holding her aching head for a few seconds.

"You passed out. Dunno why. Crow said its probably got

something to do with your 'vision thingies'. Well, we stuck you in

bed and called a doctor. He said you'd be alright, so we left you

to sleep things off. That good enough a recap of events?"

"Uhh... Yeah." Usagi managed to sit up and stared at the

strange screen. "Hmm... Looks like a television."

"It is a television. And let me tell you, things in your time

were an improvement on the entertainment they provide now. Aquius

help me if they ever show another advertisement for Crystal

Megastores again. I just can't stand that guy they use..." She

screwed up her nose and put on a voice. "Where d'ya get it?

Crystal Megastores, for the cheapest in bargains!" She put a finger

up to her mouth and made a gagging noise. Usagi giggled.

"The more things change, the more they stay the same."

Siren smiled cynically and looked back at the screen. "You

know, I had to sit here and watch this crap cos of you?"

"Eh? Why?"

"Cos Crow and Nyanko the wanko wouldn't leave you here alone

whilst they went trotting off to that Scorpia's place. So guess who

pulled the short straw?"

"Er, sorry."

"Don't be. I'm glad I didn't have to go there. I hate places

like that. Worked in too many of them to want to go back."

Usagi looked at her for a few moments as Siren's face went

dark. She let out a sigh and looked back at Usagi, the normal

expression of bitterness returning.

"So, these visions. What is it exactly that you see?"

"Uhh... I see the other Earth senshi, being killed, or in a

state of dying, or already dead."

Siren chuckled. "Good. Let them suffer a bit for what

they've done to you."

"How can you say that? You were trying to kill them not so

long ago. They were innocent of anything then."

Siren shook her head. "Oh little Princess, you'll never

understand anything. We have, all of us senshi, miko and royalty,

lived previous lives where we have done things that are both evil

and repugnant. None of us are born innocent. The only innocence

we carry is the removal of the memories of those past lives. Once

they have returned, we return to the normal, sullied selves that we

have always been."

"Yeah, what you said." Usagi wiped her nose. "I take it the

way you treated that Mistral guy was partly to do with memories of

your past lives? The contempt, I mean."

Siren snorted. "Yeah, right. As if we needed the experience

of past lives to divine a sleaze when he makes his presence felt."

Siren screwed up her face. "I hate men, okay. I've always hated

them and will always hate them. Occasionally I fall for one, but in

the main, I desire to return to the natural state of my people,

devoid of this pathetic duality of male and female. It only ever

leads to problems."

Usagi looked at her with wide eyes. "A pathetic duality of

male and female? What were your people?" Usagi was almost afraid

to ask.

"We were hermaphrodites. Both sexes in one. A biological

system that worked fine until the invaders came."

"The invaders?"

"The Empire. The ones who created the Moon Kingdom in your

system. They call themselves the 'Colonists'. They breed with the

most promising form of intelligent life they can find, and make

that race part of their own." Siren smiled as Usagi opened her

mouth in obvious non-comprehension. "In other words, girl, they

turned your monkey species into what you are today by crossbreeding

with you. You are a halfbreed. We are all halfbreeds, even

Galaxia. Now, only a select few remain in the form of the original

invaders."

"And what did they look like?"

"Beautiful in a macabre way. Serpentine, yet mammalian. They

had an exquisitely beautiful appearance. The most beautiful aspects

of our species come from them. And so do the uglier aspects."

All kinds of Gigerian nightmares filled Usagi's head at that

point, and she shivered. "Have you ever seen one for yourself?"

"Have I ever seen one? Dearie, we WERE them at one point, in

several of our early lives. The spirits that make us senshi and

divide us from the little people are those of the original invaders.

Its the ultimate irony, I suppose. I desire to return to the oceans

of what I consider to be 'my' world, and yet I know the spirit that

resides within me can find its true home under the twin suns of the

Empire's homeworld." Siren sighed and shook her head.

A commercial started to play on the televid.

"WHERE D'YA GET IT? AT CRYSTAL MEGASTORES...."

"Barf!" Siren picked up a remote from the bedside table and

switched the vid off. "That's fixed that then." Siren put the

remote back and turned to Usagi. "How are you feeling now?"

"Alright, I guess. My headache has gone."

"Good. Would you like to go for a swim?"

"Eh?"

"This place has an indoor pool, heated even. Freshwater.

They use a kind of magic filter system to stop the bugs breeding in

it." Siren clapped her hands together. "I can show you why I feel

such a desire to return to my homeworld. The waters of that pool

are deep and beautiful. Please join me."

"Okay, I guess."

"Yay." Siren took Usagi by the hand and dragged her from the

bed."

----o

Shadows of the future....

Hotaru stared down at the few items of clothing she had

stripped from her frame. She could remember times when clothes this

size would have swamped her. Now they looked daring. Her body was

big, strong and healthy. Almost as if it were mocking her.

Well, she could get her own back. There were scars on her

body. Ones she wouldn't allow the magical processes of healing to

smooth over. She wanted to remember the pains she had felt since

the cataclysm. There had been so many.

The scars across her wrists. From that guy who attempted to

kill her after he'd.... And tried to make it look like she'd

suicided. If it wasn't for the Youma, she wouldn't be alive today.

She hated the Youma.

There were scars across her back and her belly. Whip marks,

from the time she had been made a prisoner upon her return to this

world. Because it was generally known she was a senshi.... Just

because her powers were weak at that time, they took advantage of

her. When her powers returned, however....

She remembered their faces. Twenty thousand of them, dead, in

an instant, and it was all her fault. She shivered.

The scars on her legs, when she had fought and wiped out that

gang that had taken control of what used to be Washington State and

part of Canada in the Americas. Now it was ruled by a benevolent

dictatorship. And it stayed that way. Nobody wanted a return visit

by the woman named "Black Saturn".

She chuckled. Here she was, as pale as a ghost, and she gets

the name "BLACK Saturn". Surely Dark Saturn wasn't too much of an

intellectual leap for the little worms that populated parts of this

shit-spawned planet?

It was because of the impression that she fraternised with the

energies of Black Magic that she was given this title. None of them

had the capacity to understand the differences between local magic

and the powers of an Empirical Senshi. And she wasn't about to

dissuade them from their delusions. She LIKED being feared. It

filled her with the most incredible sense of power. One that she

felt she could never achieve any other way.

Then the changeroom door slammed open, and Usako charged in.

"Hotaru-chan... Hotaru-chan!"

"Yes, I know. I'll get to the baths in due course." She

turned to Usako, who was half dressed in her blouse and underwear,

shaking her head. "What? What is it?"

"Its the Youma... She's..."

A sensation ran down her spine, and she began to quiver...

----o

Tomoe Souichi was on his knees as the Youma Usagi stepped into

the courtyard in front of the building fortress, dressed in camping

clothes with a full backpack slung over her shoulder. The other

Usagis, in various states of undress, having dashed from the

communal bath, were standing behind him, watching the scene with

fear.

"Is... Is this because of the conversation we had yesterday?"

The Professor's voice quivered as the Youma stopped, looking aside

at him.

"Its partly that." She replied.

It was at this point that Hotaru and Usako chose to make an

appearance. "What the HELL is going on here?" Hotaru shouted as

she charged from the front doors, spotting her father on the ground.

He turned to face her.

Hotaru had managed to get her minidress back on in a matter of

seconds and charged from the changerooms. Usako had never seen

anyone get dressed that quickly before. It was a good thing, too.

The thought of Hotaru running out stark naked would have added a

comical element to something that didn't require it, in Usako's

opinion.

"Ah. Hotaru. I'm glad you could join this little farewell

party." The Youma said, matter of factly.

"Farewell? You mean, you're....?

"Going back. Yes. The time is right."

"But... Why? WHAT ABOUT OUR DEAL?"

Professor Tomoe looked at his daughter for a moment. "What?

What deal?" The Youma chuckled at his question.

"If she promised to stay alive, I wouldn't kill you. That was

our deal."

He turned from Hotaru to the Youma. "Are you trying to tell

me... The only reason you.. With me..?"

"Hmm... You were lonely, and so was I. And I needed a way to

make sure young Hotaru here kept getting the message. Believe me,

Sou-chan, it was fun."

The Youma looked back up at Hotaru. "It's over, Hotaru. You

have found who you were looking for. Now she will protect you

instead of I."

"What do you mean, protect?"

"Look inside yourself, Hotaru. You know you need to be

protected.... Guided. With your mind in the state it is in, you

could die at any given stage. I didn't want that to happen.

Because.... Because, unlike the others, I still care about you.

When I found you at that time, with that man trying to kill you, the

Youma side of me that feels for the underdog came to the fore." She

smiled. "Whilst you cannot forgive me for what I've done... What

I'm about to do, like Usako, I care about you. In the end, I was

never going to kill your father. There was no need. I knew you

would find Usako, and she would take over the job of guiding you."

Tears ran from Hotaru's eyes as a large ring of energy opened

up before the Youma. The Youma smiled. "See this? The Dream

Ambience Virulence. One of the most powerful defence/attack spells

of the water caste. There isn't a single attack I am not capable of

doing. If you really wanted to take me on, you would lose. This

whole world would lose. Do you know what would happen if we were to

both use the Death Reborn Revolution upon each other?" She

chuckled. "Of course, you know what its like to do that and

survive." She shrugged. "Oh well. I'm not one for long goodbyes.

Ja ne." She waved and stepped into the tunnel. "Take good care of

her, Usako. You're going to need all the help you can get with that

one."

Hotaru ran forward. "You can't do this! After all that has

happened, you can't just leave us like this!" Hotaru was grabbed by

her father before she could join the Youma in the tunnel. "Let me

go, damn you! LET ME GO!!!"

"NO!" Professor Tomoe held onto her fast, joined bu Usako and

two of the Usagis. Hotaru stared helplessly as the Youma looked at

her one last time, then disappeared, the tunnel closing over.

Hotaru went limp, and fell to her knees, still held by the

others. "I don't know if I can take this, anymore." She muttered

to herself as they hugged her, tightly.

----o

Minako looked down from the top of the building upon which she

had landed. The fall from the dimensional breach had caused her to

fall unconcious. By the time she came to, she was lying on top of

this building, feeling extremely ill. For some reason, she was

still in the form of Venus.

She stared up at the breach in awe, and at the chaos it had

caused below in disbelief. There were whole segments of the city

on fire. She could hear gunshots as security forces tried to regain

order. It was one hell of a homecoming, of that she was certain.

Just as she gawked over the side of the building, there was a

flash behind her, and she turned as an energy tunnel appeared. With

it came a figure. The figure of Usagi.

As she'd seen so many Usagis over the course of what must have

been a day, she wasn't that surprised. But she soon realised that

this one was different as it stepped from the tunnel, the energy

dissipating and disappearing behind her.

"Aha, how convenient." The Youma unslung the backpack from

her shoulders and dropped it on the ground. "It seems I can get to

work straight away."

"Who.... Who the hell are you?" Minako shouted. "You're not

one of the others...."

"Indeed not." The Youma smiled. "I am the ORIGINAL Tsukino

Usagi, bitch, and I have a few bones to pick with you."

"What.... But you... You CAN'T be."

"Thought you'd killed me, eh?" The Youma lifted up a hand and

a ball of energy appeared. "You should know better than to take

anything on face value, Mina.... CHAN." The Youma spat the last

word like it was poison.

Minako looked around her.... Usagi... On top of a building.

Where she was supposed to die....

A sense of dread filled Minako, like no other she had

experienced in her life.

IASFU OA FWSS IASFU OA FWSS GOO JUA GOO JIPEST

and again

IASFU OA FWSS IASFU OA FWSS GOO JUA GOO JIPEST

END OF PART 13

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Notes

Not much to say about this one. Beginning to hurry a few things

along, like the storyline with Naru, Naiad and Ami.

Next chapter, "Out of the Blue", the Youma Usagi begins her revenge

on the senshi. 'Nuff said.

If it isn't out in the next couple of days, it might be a couple of

weeks before it is, since I'll be heading off on holidays. I hope

this doesn't mean I'll be rushing things. ^_^ I turn out some poor

chapters that way.

Mail all comments, criticisms and outright abuse to

darkdayforanime@hotmail.com

The abuse might be used in the next chapter of Sailor Python, which

I'm still writing. I mean it. I really do. ^_^

DDFA 3rd January 1998 (A bit too late to say Happy New Year)