Crystal Senshi

by A. Lee

HIATUS This is a sequel to Cosmic Surprise. In Crystal Tokyo, the Scouts have quit because they aren't needed , but a new evil force has come, and somebody has to help Sailor Cosmos ... but who?

1. Chapter 1A

Author's Notes: I am revising this. Later chapters will most likely remain the same, but this first chapter (the longest and most clichéd one) is one that will definitely be turned around. Thank you for your time. (P.S. The first several scenes take place at various chronological times, and are not necessarily in sequential order.) Also, I alternate between the Japanese and English names. It's like this. Their official names are Japanese, but they are called by their English names, although words of affection, "Setsuna-chan," "Mamo-chan," "Usako," etc, are in Japanese. The children have no official Japanese names that will be disclosed.

Hino Rei, priestess of the Hikawa Shrine, was sleeping in for one of the few times in her life, when the shrill sound of her telephone disturbed her from her pleasant dream. She yawned slightly as she groggily rose from the bed, making her way over her husband's just-awakening body.

"Who is it, my Rei of sunshine?" Chad asked, using his nickname for her. Of course, she only allowed him to call her so when in private. In public, he called her Raye, just like everyone else. "And why are they calling so **** early?"

"How am I supposed to know, Chad? I haven't picked up the phone yet," she shouted back at him from across the room, as she made her way to the telephone amid clothes strewn over the floor. Finally, she arrived at the phone, and she picked it up, pausing to yawn first. "Hello. You have called the Hikawa Shrine. This is the Priestess Rei speaking."

"Would that be Hino Rei?" an unfamiliar voice asked.

"Yes, speaking," Raye responded.

"I am with the Crystal Palace staff, and you are cordially invited to tea at the Crystal Palace tomorrow at noon. If that time is not available for you, I'm sure I can reschedule your appointment," the brisk voice said over the phone.

Raye's insides froze for a split second before she re-processed the words, and spoke automatically, "Let me check." She covered the phone with one hand and turned to face Chad. "Are we booked tomorrow?" she asked, silently praying for a yes.

"No, of course not," Chad said. "Tomorrow is a Sunday, and we're closed. You know that."

"No," she told the phone reluctantly. "I will be happy to attend tea tomorrow."

"Oh, and I almost forgot to tell you. Your daughter is invited as well," the voice said.

"My daughter?" Raye asked, startled.

"Yes," the voice replied. "Your eldest daughter, if you have more than one. Anyways, thank you for your time and good-bye." And then there was a click. Raye took that click to fully register the extent of what the desk clerk had said.

"So who was it?" Chad asked. He raised his hand and beckoned for her to head back to bed.

"Just a friend," Raye said, taking a deep breath. "I'm taking Fiona to her house tomorrow for tea. Is that okay with you?"

"Okay," Chad mumbled. "Are you coming back to sleep?"

Raye shot a reluctant look at the clock in their room, and sighed. "No, Chad," she said regretfully. "It's time for me to open up the shrine and tend the Sacred Fire. You should be up, too," she added sternly.

"Five more minutes," Chad pleaded.

Raye's only response was to throw a rag at his head.

***

Hotaru Tomoe picked up the phone as it rang, wondering who would call at seven o'clock in the morning. "It better not be some stupid salesperson," she muttered to herself, "or I'll give them what for."

"Is this Tomoe Hotaru speaking?" the voice of a too-bored desk clerk asked.

"Yes," Hotaru said. "Who is this?"

"I am a representative of the Crystal Palace, and I am calling to ask if you and your daughter are free tomorrow at noon for tea at the Crystal Palace." The voice was brisk, obviously used to such requests everyday.

"Why?" Hotaru asked, the word out of her mouth before she could prevent it.

The voice paused, before audibly shrugging. "Some sort of reunion, I think," it said, before snapping what sounded like gum.

Heather, meanwhile, had automatically glanced at the calendar. "I think I'm free," she said, "as is my daughter ... which one, by the way? My adopted one or my birth daughter?"

There was another pause, and a rustling, before the voice replied, "Whichever one is elder, I'd assume," she said.

"All right then," Heather said. A click indicated the end of the phone call. Heather put down the phone with mixed feelings. Did this have anything to do with the past? Before the freeze? Or perhaps it had to do with the Scouts resuming their duties. Maybe it had to do with unfinished business with the Black Moon. Or perhaps it was just a reunion. Either way, there was nothing she could do about it now. She sighed before crawling back into bed.

"Who was it?" Sammy Tsukino inquired.

"Your sister invited me to tea with Haley," Heather invented. That was half-true.

"This early in the morning? Is she even awake?" Sam asked in disbelief.

"It was her secretary, not her," Heather half-explained, before yawning and falling back to sleep.

***

Ami Mizuno got home from the long, late work shift, and checked the recordings. There was only one. Frowning, she tried to think who it might be.

"You are invited to a tea party at the Crystal Palace tomorrow at noon along with your daughter (oldest daughter if you have more than one). If you are not available at this time, please call this number, and we will find a more convenient time."

Amy froze when she heard the message. What would Serena want with her now, now that she had a normal life, now that she need not worry about making excuses anymore? Brushing off her worries, Amy gently opened Phyllis's door, and looked upon her fourteen-year old daughter's face once more before going to bed, dismissing her fears.

She climbed into an empty bed, frowning. She'd have to take off work, for she worked Sundays as well as every day of the week. She had found that she inclined towards workaholic that way. She felt guilty about not spending enough time with her daughter, though, and made sure to take every other Sunday off, as well as an entire month each summer. Sometimes, though, she just couldn't bear staring into her daughter's eyes...

***

Makoto Kino got home from another long day at Kino's Café, and stretched as she entered the door. She checked the answering machine. Hmm. Two recordings.

"You and your daughter are cordially invited to a tea party at the Crystal Palace tomorrow at noon. Please call the Crystal Palace if there is an inconvenience, and we shall do our best to reschedule."

She barely had time to recover from the shock, as she had not had any contact with the Crystal Palace since the day the Sailor Scouts made a mutual decision to retire until evil once again found its way back into their world.

"Lita, did you get an invitation to a tea party too?"

The second message was obviously from Amy. This meant that it wasn't just a personal meeting between Serena and her. It most likely meant a meeting between all of the Scouts, which pointed towards another threat and a return to Scout duty. But there was also the fact that her daughter was invited.

Definitely a conundrum to ponder, she decided.

***

Setsuna Meioh automatically picked up the phone as soon as she heard the tinkling sound that signaled a call. "Hello?" she mumbled into the videophone, knowing that she looked like a mess.

"Is this Meioh Setsuna speaking?" a rather blonde operator with gum in her mouth asked rather irritably.

Trista blinked. "Yes."

"If you are not booked tomorrow, the Crystal Palace invites you to have tea with the Neo-Queen at noon with your daughter"

Trista blinked. "Let me check." She disappeared out of range of the videophone and breathed silently to herself. It was only for tea. It wasn't anything dreadfully important. After all, if Serena was going to ask her to guard the Gates of Time again (versus having her future self do it ... the future self that would die), her daughter would not be invited, would she? Shaking herself, she walked back in front of the videophone, knowing full well the entire time that she never booked customers on Sundays. "I am free," she said calmly.

"Wonderful," the blonde popped her gum loudly and smiled brightly. "Toodles, then."

As Trista turned off the phone, she suddenly frowned, happening upon a peculiarity in the invitation. "Tea isn't at noon."

***

Minako Aino picked up the latest virtu-phone on the market, and smiled brightly at the projected hologram of a brunette with the rainbow-colored Crystal Palace uniform. "Oh. My. Gawd. Are you *the* Minako Aino?"

Mina smiled resignedly, used to the reaction. "Yes, that would be me. Is there some thing you wanted, Miss ...?"

"Oh," the girl said excitedly, "I had to *beg* my friend for this chance to bask in your *utter* and *exalted* glory. But," she paused to glance at a slip of paper, "I'm also supposed to tell you that you're invited for tea at noon at the Crystal Palace tomorrow, with your daughter. D'you think you can make it?"

Mina's smile faltered. "I'll have to see," she said finally. "Most likely."

"Yay," the girl said, not batting an eyelash as she marked what looked suspiciously like a checkmark on the self-same slip of paper she had been reading earlier, before beginning to babble on about the latest movie Mina was starring in.

Mina pasted a gentle smile on her face, as she tuned out the girl, and did not let her pensive mood show on her face. After all, it would not do to disappoint one of her fans, would it?

***

Haruka Ten'ou and Michiru Kaioh, the internationally famous musicians, walked into their grand mansion with an acquired grace. Alex was dressed in a very nice, sky-blue tuxedo, and Michelle in an aqua-colored, sparkly and skintight dress, as both had recently returned from another late-night concert.

"Mom. Mom," two very composed teenagers greeted their parents at the exact same time. They were the same height, and had similar features, although one had silvery-blonde hair, and the other blue-green hair, one with dark blue eyes, and the other with forest green eyes, one with shorter hair, and one with longer hair.

"Hope. Faith," Michelle greeted softly. "Have there been any messages for us?" she asked, as she placed her violin case on the table gently.

"One," the blonde replied promptly.

"From the Crystal Palace," the other began.

"Asking if we are available tomorrow," the blonde continued.

"And if we would like to attend tea," the other went on.

"At noon," the blonde finished.

Alex, who had been pouring herself a cup of now-cold coffee, choked on apparently nothing, and spilled some of the coffee on the floor. Swearing, she reached to get a rag, ignoring Michelle's reproving glance for her language.

"We?" Michelle asked mildly.

"You two, of course," the one with rather colorful hair said.

"And us, too," the blonde said. "And since we are free tomorrow ..." she trailed off.

The other finished. "We already accepted," she finished brightly.

Alex and Michelle exchanged mutual wary glances.

*** [Now ends the scrambled scenes. From here on out, unless indicated otherwise, scenes will be in sequential order.]

A crystal room sparkling with rainbows, as large as some houses, had a single round table in the middle of it. Around that rather large round table was seated those who once were the former Sailor Scouts (although this fact was known to few), and their daughters beside them. At one side, four rather elaborate seats had been set aside. They were, of course, for Neo-Queen Serenity, Neo-Princess Serenity, and the recently recovered Neo- Princesses Selene and Gaea. (The story of Selene and Gaea is a long one, and will be set aside for later.) Either way, all seated around the round table were waiting for the hostesses.

Finally, a rather elaborate fanfare began. Halfway through, however, a rather irritated voice interrupted, saying, "I thought Grace was going to get rid of all this stupid pomp and circumstance every time I walk into a room. How many times do I have to repeat myself? NO MORE FANFARES!!!"

"Sorry, Your Highness," several voices apologized simultaneously.

The scolding voice sighed. "It's all right. Just ... just don't do it again. The fanfare gives me headaches each time I hear it."

There were more mumbles of apology before shuffled footsteps indicated the departure of the fanfare-ers.

And through the majestic doors of this crystal room entered a majestic queen.

Neo-Queen Serenity was clad in her usual regal attire, silver-blonde hair put up in familiar buns, a diamond-encrusted tiara on her head, soft white fluffiness at her back indicating wings, and her usual formal silver-white dress. A silvery crystal brooch was pinned onto her dress, which was the exact same style it had been ten thousand years ago.

Behind her trailed three, currently-bickering girls of the age fifteen. The former Scouts all recognized Rini from experiences both past and present. Rini's sugary pink hair was once again bound up in buns that resembled rabbit-ears more than meatball-buns. She was wearing the pristine white dress she was required to wear to formal occasions, but something yellow peeked out from atop the rather low bodice of the dress, revealing that she had on a form-fitting tanktop underneath, no doubt because she was planning to shed her dress for some typical teenage activity as soon as she could.

Selene and Gaea were more of a mystery. Serena had had triplets, but Selene and Gaea had been kidnapped before the day was out. Serena and Darien, as well as all of the Scouts, had searched this galaxy as well as the next for their children, but at last gave up when there was no trace whatsoever, assuming that the two girls had been killed (as had been proclaimed in the note left for Their Royal Highnesses to read). They had then had to deal with the Nemesis/Demando/Wiseman ordeal, complete with comatose Neo-Queen, and senshi from the past traversing the streets of an almost-barren Crystal Tokyo. As soon as that matter was resolved, the hunt of the missing royal children was taken up again, but this time, each senshi personally took time off and searched.

Two years after the Dark Time (as the Nemesis-ordeal was referred to), a slender woman clad in black, and wearing a black mask, led two young girls into the Crystal Palace, undetected by sensors, magical or otherwise. She deposited them, and informed the staff (in terse words) that these were the Royal Highnesses, and that the kidnappers were dead. And then she had disappeared. At that point, the Neo-Queen had taken matters into her own hands, and contacted the Superheroes' Council before finally receiving an answer satisfactory to her (that she had to take an oath not to reveal, of course). The kidnappers and their motives were unknown to this very day, and none but the Neo-Queen knows what actually happened.

As it is, not long after the recovery of the missing royal princesses, the Scouts retired to civilian life until evil struck again, unfortunately leaving the Neo-Queen with all of the responsibility of diplomacy, etc. She had, of course, given them her blessing, along with her reassurance that yes, she ~would~ tell them if evil threatened them again, and no, she ~wouldn't~ forget them, and no, she wouldn't even ~consider~ going and fighting an enemy alone.

They had parted for quite a number of years now. Enough years for the Scouts to spend quality time with their still-clueless families. And now, it was a reunion again.

Neo-Queen Serenity inclined her head, and Neo-Princesses Serenity, Selene, and Gaea stepped up.

"Welcome to the Crystal Palace," Neo-Princess Serenity began.

Neo-Princesses Selene, clad in a silver dress, blonde hair done up in odangoes, spoke next. "We are please that you could make it."

Neo-Princess Gaea spoke last, dark black hair bound back in a bun, deep blue eyes focused on a point somewhere above the former Scouts' heads. "Please step into the next room," she said, beckoning to the children.

Uncertainly, Mina's daughter was the first to stand up, closely followed by Alex and Michelle's twins, Amy's daughter, Raye's daughter, and Trista's daughter. Lita's daughter and Heather's daughter only stood up after much prodding.

They trooped in something resembling a line and left the room, even as Neo- Queen Serenity beckoned for the remaining servants to close the doors and leave.

"Now," she said, turning back to her friends. "Down to business."

***

Christa Meioh was very mature for her age, for a number of reasons. The subtlest reasons were, most likely, ones that she didn't know, involving her mother's previous job as Gatekeeper of Time. The more obvious reasons were the fact that her father had abandoned her mother when she was five, and she had had to grow up fatherless, daughter of a single mom. Her mother had even legally changed her last name so that her father would no longer have any claim to the daughter he had abandoned for his secretary. As a result, she had grown up quite the independent child, especially since her mother was a businesswoman and was often busy with work. Growing up in such an environment had probably given Christa Meioh more maturity than was typical for such a teenager.

Christa was now eyeing the Royal triplets with something bordering on curiosity. Everyone knew that young Neo-Princess Serenity went backwards in time often, and this, added to the Thousand-Year-Freeze (during which the frozen Neo-Queen had been pregnant), had created a bit of a time warp in which young Rini stayed at a certain age. Her sisters, on the other hand, had not traveled through time, and had thus grown up with something resembling normality, but no-one knew where exactly they had been except the queen. Many theories held that their captors had held them captive in a different time. Either way, if time had gone on as it should have, Selene and Gaea would be twenty-two, and Rini still with the look of a fifteen-year-old. Rini's body mechanism was speeding up, however. So Rini looked like a sixteen-year-old, and Selene and Gaea looked eighteen. To sum it all up, their histories combined with their appearances certainly surprised one at first sight.

Christa seated herself instantly in a squashy chintz armchair* and watched as the other children carefully seated themselves in similar furniture. She didn't recognize any of them.

"I suppose you're wondering why you're here," Neo-Princess Serenity, the obvious leader of the Royal Triplets, spoke.

"Well, obviously," a blonde said, leaning back comfortably into her chair. "I don't know about you guys, but my Mum just dragged me out here with no explanation at all. I, for one, am not used to being kept in the dark." Her tone was just short of insolent, just short of snobby. As it was, Christa made a note to keep an eye on the blonde.

The Neo-Princess didn't miss a beat. "You were invited because your mothers were the former Sailor Scouts and protectors of the land."

At this, there was a commotion. Christa, being her usual observant self, just settled back to watch it all. This piece of information was something she had known from a young age, her mother having thought that she was mature enough to handle such information. Her mother had also explained (quite carefully) that the position as Gatekeeper of Time was a very important one, and it was very likely that when the future version of Sailor Pluto would die (in the past, during the Deathbusters Incident) she, Christa Meioh, would be called upon to guard the Gates of Time. This was, of course, a very serious responsibility, and one needed much preparation to do it.

There were two other figures staying conspicuously silent. One had raven- black hair. The other had light blue hair with vague lavender streaks. These two either already knew this information, or were very good at controlling their commotions.

As for the rest of the room, the general consensus was skepticism, with a little doubt and disbelief thrown in. One girl with short black hair was obviously pensive, seeming as if she was contemplating something, while the girl with blonde hair clearly thought they were joking.

Neo-Princess Serenity held up her hand, and silence fell in the room immediately. This time, it was Neo-Princess Selene who stepped forward, towering over Serenity slightly. "I would like to take a slight poll," she said, "to determine what our next move should be. Would those who knew this information beforehand please come over here."

Christa sighed, even as the blue-haired girl and the black-haired girl obeyed. "Could I not stay here?" she asked, the only sentence she had spoken so far. "I have ... problems with my legs, and thus I cannot stay standing for a long period of time."

"Of course," Neo-Princess Gaea inclined her head. "We are pleased you could make it all, considering that one of the Crystal Palace's deficiencies is that it isn't wheelchair accessible."

Christa hid her surprise at their having known of her condition, but responded with a polite, "How could I miss a chance to visit the magnificent Crystal Palace? My cane," she waved the until-then-rather- unobtrusive brown stick in the air, "shall suffice."

Neo-Princess Gaea nodded. "Pardon me," she said apologetically, "but I seem to have forgotten your name."

Christa hid a smile. It was likely that her mother had notified the Palace of her "condition" ahead of time, but it was unlikely that her mother had bothered to tell them her name. "My full name is Christine Meioh," she said. "But everyone calls me Christa."

"Christa," Neo-Princess Selene nodded. "And you two?" she asked, inclining her head towards the two who had moved to stand beside her.

The blue-haired one spoke first. "My name is Phyllis Urawa."

"Mercury," Christa murmured to herself in an inaudible voice.

"And I," the black-haired one said, "am Meara."

From her looks, Christa decided, she was most likely the daughter of Mars.

Neo-Princess Serenity nodded, before turning to the rest. "All right. If you half-believe me, but need evidence, please step forward."

This time, a set of twins and a brunette stepped forward.

"Names?" questioned Serenity.

The brunette spoke first. "Liana."

Of the twins, the one with short, silvery-blonde hair spoke first. "Hope."

Then, the other twin with long, turquoise hair gave her name. "Faith."

"Would that be Liana Shinozaki?" Selene questioned.

Liana nodded briefly.

Selene closed her eyes. "Your mother, Kino Makoto, more commonly known as Lita, was Sailor Jupiter. I don't know what kind of proof you wanted. Pictures? Confessions?"

Liana shook her head mutely, before closing her eyes, obviously contemplated the piece of information the Neo-Princess had just presented her. Finally, she spoke. "Are you ... sure?"

"Quite," Gaea said. "She was there when we were ... er, what was the word again?" she asked, turning to Selene.

"You mean, reinstated?" Selene said.

"Yes, that," Gaea nodded.

Liana looked at her doubtfully. "I'll have to ask my mother later," she said.

"That's another thing," Serenity said. "Whatever is spoken in this room cannot be repeated."

There was another commotion at this statement. Christa sighed, and leaned back into her comfortable armchair, feeling the beginnings of a headache already.

***

Hope watched on with a rather detached elegance even as the three Neo- Princesses moved to confirm to the others, one by one, that their mothers were, indeed, the Sailor Scouts. She and Faith appeared to have been forgotten. Speaking of which, Faith, although keeping a calm demeanor, seemed barely able to restrain the urge to fidget. Even though Faith hated almost all athletics except for two (namely hockey and cheerleading ... an odd combination, to be sure), she seemed to have a restless ball of energy inside her that always disappeared right when she was supposed to run the mile, or some other such physical activity.

"Do you think we need convincing?" Faith asked conversationally.

"Not much," Hope said. "Now that you mention it, there aren't that many girls with short sandy hair and wavy aquamarine hair hanging about, and certainly not hanging about together."

The room was chaos, the center of calm mainly focusing on those who had already known their parents' secrets, and Hope and Faith. Sighing, Hope and Faith (with one mind) moved towards the loveseat sofa (a rather squashed one, but with a rather homey feel to it) that was perhaps the only piece of furniture in the room with a sense of style. (Brought up by Michelle, both Hope and Faith were trained to recognize true fashion, and what was stylish and what was not. In fact, such a fashion sense had been instilled into them that both had to resort to sharing clothes - they were the same height and structure, after all- because there were few clothes that satisfied their Michelle-inspired need for the right clothes.)

They were intercepted by a calm Neo-Princess Selene. Unruffled, she bestowed a smile upon them, and asked in a complacent voice, "And did you two need proof of your parents' Scout-hood?"

Of course, to Hope, it sounded rather condescending. She bristled, and she felt her twin do the same beside her. She put on her most sophisticated smile, the one that had a tinge of arrogance in it. "I don't believe so. We are already rather convinced as it is."

She smiled smugly as she watched Selene attempt to puzzle out her cryptic, confusing, and seemingly jumbled words. But of course, Selene didn't seem to want to push the subject. "Of course," she said as graciously as she could, before gliding on.

Moments later, as they settled onto the tan leather loveseat, Faith remarked, "I wonder if princesses learn how to glide like that specially."

"I wonder if princesses learn how to act so complacently specially," Hope returned.

"I wonder if princesses learn how to act so condescendingly specially," Faith continued.

"You mean you wonder if princesses learn how to act so stuck-up specially," Hope said.

"Yes, that too," Faith said.

Hope sighed as she leaned back with an acquired grace. Although she excelled in most sports, Michelle had one day decided in a burst of spontaneity that she needed to learn ballet. When she had demanded why Faith hadn't had to take something as demeaning as ballet, Michelle had pointed out that Faith took cheerleading, which was, in essence, gymnastics, as well as hockey, which was, in essence, figure-skating. Although Hope was sure there was a fallacy in that logic somewhere, she couldn't find it (perhaps because she knew that Faith had been required to take gymnastics before she could into cheerleading, and figure-skating before she was allowed to join the local hockey team), and so she ended up with a grace she still wasn't quite sure of. She still took ballet, of course, but she refused to take any other extensions of dance classes. Although she could dance ballet well, it didn't mean she liked it. Just like the fact that Faith could do figure-skating moves without batting an eyelash, but she hated figure skating (mostly in principle than for any material reason) so much that she actually twisted her ankle on purpose so she didn't have to go to figure-skating lessons anymore. Either way, Hope took this isolated time to observe the people in the room.

Neo-Princess Serenity was a sight to behold. She bounced around the room as if she were on a sugar-high (which she most likely was, if the rumors about her extensive sweet-tooth, as well as that of the Neo-Queen's were true), and was incredibly friendly to everyone. She was likable, even if her hyperness was a slight bit off-putting.

Neo-Princess Selene glided across the room from person to person, smiling that perfect hostess's smile, with a touch more arrogance than needed. However, whenever she lingered long enough, the person she spoke with would calm down (which was very useful, as some people seemed close to hysterics at this overabundance of knowledge).

Neo-Princess Gaea seemed very down-to-earth, speaking matter-of-factly, with a generally frank voice. She seemed very trustworthy, if the type to scorn your self-pitying than speak wise words of compassion. She had a very logical mind, and patiently presented everything in what she thought was the most advantageous way. She also showed signs of being very mulish.

Of the other ordinary girls, the one named Christa Meioh (the one with the leg problems) seemed the classiest, closely followed by the blonde. Both exuded a sense of self-importance, a sense of self-confidence that gave them a special shine. Christa was currently sitting in her squashy chintz armchair like she was a queen and it her throne, presiding over her subjects, which were made up of Phyllis and Liana, both of whom crowded around her almost subconsciously. The blonde, on the other head, was currently butting heads with Neo-Princess Selene, with the other girls in the room, both girls with the traditional black hair, backing her up. Neo- Princess Gaea was currently conversing with Christa, while Neo-Princess Serenity, who had previously been backing up Neo-Princess Selene, was now heading towards their comfy loveseat.

"Do you find yourselves comfortable?" she recited, as if by rote, before smiling brightly, and adding, "It's so fun, isn't it? And it's going to be even more fun when- ah, but I'm not supposed to say yet."

Her couple of words were spoken in a brief lull in the conversation, and within seconds, all attention was focused upon her. Christa fired question after question at the pink-haired princess, while the blonde marched up to the princess and began waving her hands wildly in the air.

Faith, who seemed to be losing patience, put her hands in her mouth and whistled a particularly shrill whistle. It was quite effective, as silence settled immediately. "I think," she began evenly, "that we could find out more information if we all kept silent and waited for the Neo-Princesses to explain themselves." She inclined her head towards the next room, where their mothers most assuredly sat. "They will, I am sure, also explain why our mothers and ourselves were called here, why we are being told this, and what this is all about." She fixed a steely gaze on Neo-Princess Selene. "Am I correct?"

"You are as correct as you can be with the information you currently hold," Neo-Princess Selene in what was a polite, yet distant tone. Hope could feel Faith's hackles rise, and rushed in to cut her twin off before she did anything rash.

"Then please tell us the information we do not hold," Hope said firmly.

"And get on with it," the blonde snapped irritably. She and Hope shared conspiratorial smiles as they both seemed to wish to get more information as soon as possible.

"If you would all sit down," Gaea suggested.

The blonde sat herself down on the nearest bean-bag couch, her black-haired clinger-on settling herself on a woven mat on the floor, and the three Neo- Princesses sat on the floor without ceremony.

Neo-Princess Serenity, most obviously the leader, began speaking. "I suppose I should begin, with all stories, at the beginning..."

***

"I have something very important to tell you," Neo-Queen Serenity said gravely. "Whatever is said in this room must not be repeated unless under dire circumstances. Understood?"

There were nods all around the table.

"Now that all of the polite talk has been taken care of, I suppose I should get down to business," Neo-Queen Serenity said. "You are probably wondering why you are here, as even if there was a security threat, none of you, except Setsuna-chan, of course, could take up your Scout duties again."

There were again nods and murmurs of curiosity.

"Well, there is a security threat, and I do need your help, although not as Scouts. Not even you, Trista."

"Are you sure?" Trista asked. "If the threat is severe, I can easily resume my duties as Guardian of Time now rather than in the future, which would allow Sailor Cosmos free reign to face the enemy, whoever he or she is." (This was in reference to the fact that Sailor Cosmos was to constantly shadow the Gates of Time, waiting for the unexpected day when the future Sailor Pluto would travel to the past without notice and start the chain of events leading to her death.)

"No," the Neo-Queen shook her head. "I have a few other candidates in mind for the job. But I will need your help. Even if you are no longer Scouts, I can still employ your skills."

"We are at your command," Mina answered readily.

The Neo-Queen smiled. "You don't know how much I've wished I had you guys by my side, for moral support, if nothing else."

"We will always be at your service, princess," Raye said faintly.

"It's Neo-Queen now, not princess," Alex reminded with a half-smile on her face.

The Neo-Queen smiled at her friends for a brief moment before turning the subject to grave matters at hand. "I'll need of all your help," she said. "Amy, would you consent to being my Technology and Strategies Advisor, as well as the millions of other things you used to help me with?"

"Of course, Your Highness," Amy said, nodding her head.

"Please," the Neo-Queen said in a pained voice. "Call me Serena. I get enough of the Highness-Shmighness stuff from all of the ambassadors of Planet Whatchamacallit."

"Serena," Amy echoed, remembering old times when all of them sat at similar tables at Raye's shrine, carelessly joking around with each other because they were (temporarily, at least) not being attacked.

"And Raye, would you ..."

***

"A long time ago," Neo-Princess Serenity began, "there was the Silver Alliance, a powerful alliance amongst the greatest kings and queens of the Silver Millennium. Prophets claimed that the prosperity would last unto the Golden Millennium, which would be a time so fruitful that none would go hungry.

"Just goes to show how false prophets of those times were. As everyone knows, Beryl attacked, Princess Serenity died and was reincarnated, and she and her husband Endymion and fellow princesses of the other planets proceeded to save the world several times before establishing the Silver Millennium.

"There are several details that are left out, mainly because they aren't believed to be of importance, but they are to us. For example, there is the fact that Prince Endymion had a sister back in the Silver Millennium. Her name was Terra, and she died on Earth during Beryl's First Uprising. Thus, she was not reincarnated. Princess Serenity also had a sister by the name of Serendipity. Serendipity, was of course, an adopted child, and had no magical powers to speak of. She died on the moon during Beryl's attack, and because of her lack of magical powers, was not able to be reincarnated.

"Princess Serenity had four tutors who were known throughout the Silver Millennium as the Immortal Scouts, because they were of the few Sailor Scouts who can never die. They were there at the beginning of time, and they will be here until the end of time, when the prophesied (again, you know how much I don't trust prophecies) Sailor Cosmos comes. It is interesting to note at this point that the Sailor Cosmos who aided the Sailor Scouts is not actually the prophesied Sailor Cosmos. That Mysterious Scout merely chose the name Cosmos for herself before she remembered that the name was already taken. So we shall refer to her as Sailor Mystery instead.

"Anyways, the Immortal Scouts were not killed by Beryl, but she did manage to capture them beforehand, and trap them deep within the moon. Upon her death, the magical seal on their prison was broken, and they were left to dig out of their underground prison by themselves. Needless to say, it took them quite a while because a millennium without practicing your powers leaves you quite rusty. By the time they regained their powers, er ... I'm not sure if I have authorization to tell you that part yet. If I do, I'll tell you later. As of now, I'll continue after Crystal Tokyo was instated.

"There was peace, and the Sailor Scouts retired, after a long bout of insanity, involving kidnapped princesses, visits to the past, and visitors to the present, attacks from Nemesis, and so on. After the Sailor Scouts retired, there was a long period of peace. As of one month and three days ago, the peace was broken.

"I'm sure you know of the Amazoness Scouts, Sailors Juno, Vesta, Pallas, and Ceres." There were nods. "The Asteroid Senshi disappeared one month and three days ago. Left behind was a note stating simply that Crystal Tokyo was officially under attack. Lacking the protection that Crystal Tokyo needs to be invulnerable to enemies, Sailor Cosmos was called away from the Time Gate," although she looked decidedly evasive at this part, "to guard Crystal Tokyo until temporary Guardians could be found. My mother spent some time arranging the defenses of Crystal Tokyo so such Guardians would be found, and an equally long amount of time locating her retired Scouts so as to summon their progeny to do this task."

Sophie Lisbon was paying very close attention to this related history, when she noticed Haley (the rather shy and petite girl with short black hair and the most disarming green eyes) summoning up her courage to voice something. "But I am not of my mother's bloodline," she finally said, the words coming out rushed and squishing together, making it hard to decipher what she was saying. "I'm adopted."

"This we know," Neo-Princess Selene said rather airily, making Sophie want to slap the princess. Royalty indeed. Her mother was Aino Minako, famous movie star, and she certainly never put on airs.

Neo-Princess Gaea, who was definitely more down-to-earth and easy to joke with, stepped in before her sister could ruffle any more feathers. "Your mother's blood is not needed," she assured Haley. "Merely your mother's love for you will infuse you with enough magic to be allowed to defend Crystal Tokyo."

To her surprise, Sophie noticed (out of the corner of her eye, trained to exploit her peripheral vision by her very-conscientious mother) the blue- haired nerd with wire-rimmed spectacles (how tacky) stiffen. She almost suppressed her shudder of malicious glee. She didn't like gossiping or being vicious, but she enjoyed collecting information of all times. This nerd obviously didn't think her mother loved her very much.

"And if some of our . less privileged members are not as certain of our mother's instinctual love for her firstborn?" Sophie drawled out, enjoying the blue-haired nerd's flinch. Showing weakness was unacceptable; Aino Minako had always taught her. The whole world had masks on, and letting your mask slip an inch was letting an enemy gain an inch. Although such principles were slightly martial at times, they certainly did help her when it came to her social life. She was never bullied, that was for sure.

"I'm sure all of your mothers love you very much," Neo-Princess Gaea said smoothly. "But the maternal love is undeniable in all circumstances, and that is not the question at hand."

"The question at hand," Neo-Princess Serenity said more gravely than her cheerful face suggested she could look, "is whether or not you accept being Guardians pro tempore of Crystal Tokyo."

"We have a choice in the matter?" a very interesting-looking blue-green- haired girl said. Sophie made a note to keep an eye on her.

"You always have choices in Crystal Tokyo," Neo-Princess Selene said, and Sophie felt her back arch in challenge even though the haughty royal's words held no challenge. "We believe that even if you choose to guard Crystal Tokyo, we should have enough Guardians pro tem and back-up Guardians pro tem to hold out until Sailor Cosmos can mount a successful expedition to rescue the Asteroid Senshi. However, such an expedition will not necessarily work, and Sailor Cosmos-Mystery is almost inexpendable for various reasons."

"Inexependable is not a word," Sophie made sure to point out. She felt rather smug as an irritable look briefly crossed Princess Selene's face before the look smoothed out vaguely.

Neo-Princess Serenity finished up. "So now, you have a choice whether or not to become a Guardian pro tempore, or a Crystal Senshi. You will specialize in various elements, and will have to take extra classes comprised of developing your powers, controlling your powers, and mythology. Any questions?"

"Two," the silvery-blonde murmured, her twin beside her.

"We are not to tell our parents of this?" her twin expressed disbelief at such a thing being possible.

"And what do your earlier comments about Terra and Serendipity and prophets and Mystery-Cosmos have to do with what we are discussing now?" the silvery- blonde asked the second question.

Sophie noticed in a corner of her mind that Hope and Faith, as they appeared to be called, seemed very much attuned to each other, as twins generally were, but appeared to have a greater division between them than link. There was something about that division she could not understand, although she itched to do so. Once again, however, her attention was diverted to the Neo-Princesses.

"That will, of course, be explained if you agree to be guardians pro tem," Neo-Princess Selene said smoothly.

Sophie tried to do her best to ignore the Neo-Princess's haughty attitude. To her surprise, it was Meara who offered a compromise.

"Sure you don't expect us to come with a decision so quickly, with such a disastrous dilemma sprung upon us," Meara said matching Selene haughtiness for haughtiness.

Selene almost sputtered, but Gaea directed her sister's somewhat arrogant attitude in another direction as she answered for her. "Of course not."

Before Gaea could say another word, however, Phyllis-the blue-haired nerd- took up Meara's torch. "Then I'd say a week certainly isn't unreasonable. Thank you. I, for one, will be sure to get back to you on that as soon as I have made my decision." She and the tall and gangly brunette beside her stood up in one smooth moment and helped the invalid Christine (Christa-a mite too placid and condescending for Sophie's taste) out of the door before another word could be said.

Taking her cure, Sophie herself stood up and stretched. A jerk of her head indicated that Meara and Haley were to follow her, and she allowed herself to nod at the twins (with no similar gesture of respect for the royals) and left the room. She certainly had much to discuss with her mother tonight, royal restrictions or not.

***

Selene entered her royal apartments with a sigh. She closed the door gently and undid her silvery-blonde buns, letting her hair spill over her like a silver mantle. Gently massaging her forehead, she slipped out of her tightly-corseted and highly old-fashioned royal dress, out of her tiny and feet-pinching dainty slippers, washed off the slight makeup that made her appear pale and ethereal, and put on her loose and quite comfortable robe. After public appearances, she was prone to lounging around in her apartment, sipping martinis. After all, she was temporally twenty-two, mentally twenty, and physically eighteen, which entitled her to diluted alcoholic drinks under her mother's supervision and anything except perhaps vodka (which she detested) when out clubbing.

She savored the alcoholic beverage as she sipped on it, and sighed. The children (for that was who they were) who were to become Crystal Senshi along with she and her sisters varied in age, but none were as old as she and her sisters. Rini looked younger and could probably manage to get along with one or two of them, but the simple fact was that Rini, Gaea and she were temporally twenty-two, while the oldest of the candidates was seventeen and a half. The age difference was vast among adolescents.

She hated public appearances. As the traditional heiress to the moon- throne and the woman who would have to colonize the now-barren and rocky moon, Selene had begun her training at a young age. Only Gaea, Rini, and her mother knew where she and Gaea had been during the years in which they had disappeared. She herself (along with Gaea) preferred not to think about it much, but they had visited, among other places, the ancient Silver Millennial Lunarian Kingdom. She had seen many customs worth preserving among these ancient peoples, but others she did not approve of as much. A very serious child from the start, she had begun researching the Silver Millennium as soon as she had been returned to Crystal Tokyo she had researched this ancient kingdom. She had duplicated many of their customs, from the tightly-corseted dresses to the toe-pinching slippers to the use of makeup instead of glamours and the objective and detached façade Queens were requested to don. These customs came from a time when the queens could accidentally destroy planets with the magic she wielded if she could not learn to control her emotions. These customs came from a time when the tight corsets held hidden pockets perfect for placing the knife or shukusen (a favored bladed fan of the Yamani of another world) in case of assassination attempts. These customs came from a time when the toe- pinching shoes and their continual pain reminded Queens that letting herself relax meant letting her shields down, which could mean an accidental death if not careful. These customs came from a time when the makeup had certain healing effects and restorative herbs to soothe a queen in case of intense emotion.

Her mother, Neo-Queen Serenity, had been one of the Gifted, one who did not need to worry about her control, as her magic was so great it took care of the control on its own. Her daughters, on the other hand, would not inherit the full of their power until they came of age (which, as a Lunarian, took at least a millennium) or until she died, whichever came first. Until then, Selene was forced to resort to ancient Lunarian methods. She was not sure how exactly Rini and Gaea kept their emotions in check (probably something to do with sugar-highs and ancient Terran methods, respectively) but she did not know that they seemed to offend less people than she did. As it was, she was perhaps the most likely out of her sisters to be able to accustom herself to such a lifestyle. Rini was a friendly and caring person at heart, and though she would know that it was the only way to keep from hurting others, she could not help herself from such interaction. She also had the makings of powers like their mother. By the time she came of age (physically, mentally, emotionally, and temporally), she would most likely have as much power as their mother now did. Gaea and she did not have such powers, but both had a bond with the Earth and Moon respectively so deep that their hearts pulsed in beat with their planet's. Earth was a very warm and giving planet, hospitable to many life-forms. Gaea reflected this, and would thus be unable to distance herself. The moon, on the other hand, was barren and rocky, a lone orb in the dark night sky. Solitude was a way of life on the moon, and so Selene forced herself to adapt.

So she had perfected being a princess. She had perfected her posture, her manner of walking and talking, her sweet (if somewhat condescending) smile, and her aloofness. The only people she could let these shields down around were her family, all being powerful enough to withstand any emotion barrage of magic she might unleash. So her family was the only one she could talk to, could reveal her true self to.

She had become the perfect Moon Princess. But at what price? She did not ask herself this, avoiding the subject like the plague. She knew that her mother did not believe this was the best way, but that her mother knew this was her choice. The temptation of letting her shields down was great, so she did not remind herself of what she had lost, remembering instead what she had gained.

There was a gentle knock on her door, she sighed, and stretched rather lazily, before sending a thought to her two sisters. Come in. This telepathy between triplets, at least Royal Lunarian Triplets (which was, apparently, something that had not happened before) was a very useful thing.

The door opened, and Rini and Gaea entered. At first, there was a rather comforting silence as Gaea seated herself on a convenient sofa-chair and Rini lay down gently on the bed. She herself remained in her chair by the dresser, staring into the mirror with rather desolate eyes. They waited for her to speak first. All of the temporal travels and time warps, according to Pluto (it didn't matter of which one you were speaking) would end in approximately three years, when their bodies and their minds would catch up with real-time. It would be unnerving being friends with children who were so much younger. No matter how old they were supposed to be emotionally, it did not change the fact that they had a maturity uncommon to most girls their age.

"I don't think they liked me very much," Selene finally allowed herself to say. She firmly kept control of her mind-link with her sisters, refusing to let them know of the emotional dilemma she faced. That is, if they hadn't figured it out by themselves already.

"Christa seemed to enjoy your calming presence," Rini offered.

"Christa is destined to be Pluto. She understands solitude in a way that no one else does," Gaea remarked.

"Sophie, for one, seemed to hate me. As if we didn't know which ones knew and which ones did not know of their heritage," Selene said scornfully. She did not allow her voice to tremble with the pain she felt at being despised so.

"Mother says that when we come of age officially, we will have grown into our powers, and shall no longer have need for barriers," Rini offered.

"Easy for you to say," Gaea said bitterly, surprisingly both of them. "You were born shielded."

Selene silently voiced agreement, but did not let her pink-haired sister know. Rini had always felt slightly excluded because she had not been through what the other two triplets had, but she managed to hide it well. Instead, Selene played the peacemaker. "We were all born with different talents."

And it was true. Although Rini was perhaps the one with the most powerful supernatural powers, Gaea could communicate through the mind-link better, as well as connect with her planet better. Selene could find her center of energy quicker and draw on its power faster.

There was another silence, in which the princesses mostly relaxed and allowed the others to view her emotions and/or thoughts and/or feelings of the day that they wished. It wasn't a mental conversation as much as a communal sharing of thoughts, with no line of conversation, just mentally reviewing over what the others thought. (Imagine it not as Instant- Messaging, but rather E-mailing.)

"And what do you think?" Gaea's mellifluous voice asked.

"Of what?" Rini asked idly.

"Of the girls," Gaea said placidly.

The term "girls" was correct. Although each was powerful and a valuable resource, the eldest was barely eighteen, the youngest a mere (tall) twelve. The wide range in ages and tastes was bound to cause some discord, but if the personalities could be woven together to form a brilliant team, much was possible. So far, however, it appeared that there was much discord between them. And that was definitely an understatement.

Selene chose her moment to speak first. "Sophie is an arrogant adolescent who has been trained overmuch and been told overmuch by her unthinking mother. I suspect that if Venus had been a bit laxer in her 'instruction', Sophie may not have been quite as . vicious."

"I think she's quite a character," was Gaea's contribution.

"'Course you do," Rini snorted. "She likes you. She thinks I'm a silly child who's less mature than she and definitely lacking in the contemplative department."

"And," Gaea continued, "the girls she has chosen to shelter are certainly interesting. The children of Mars and Saturn, one traditionally outspoken and stubborn, the other traditionally quiet and pensive."

There was no comment as a rapid exchange (more like a melding of minds and instant acknowledgement of each other's thoughts on the matter) took place.

"The twins," Gaea suggested.

"I've been meaning to ask-how did Uranus and Neptune manage that?" Rini wondered.

"What?" Gaea asked.

"Managed to have kids," Rini said. "I mean . they're both girls."

"And?" Selene asked slyly.

Rini refused to be flustered. "Two females having children of their own is anatomically impossible."

"Not with all these magi-technological devices floating around," Selene pointed out. "Although there aren't enough specialists in both magic and science to create much-Mercury would have done wonders in technomagic if she had thought about it instead of going on with becoming a doctor-there are enough black-market schemes that succeed to help single women to bear children."

Of course, the conversation took place under the assumption that the single woman did not use mundane devices such as adoption or test-tube babies, or other such rather unworthy-of-debate schemes. When they truly wished to debate something, they allowed themselves to live in idealized worlds. As Selene and Rini continued their avid discussion, Gaea rose and got herself a martini, getting one for Selene and Rini as well when they broke their conversation in mid-sentence to request one and then continued mid-sentence as if there had been no interruption to begin with.

There was a silence, as the debate rested, and Selene smiled. She was lucky she had understanding sisters who knew better than to bring up painful subjects during the one time in which she allowed herself to smile a genuine smile. The serenity finally calmed down her roiling emotions and she smiled.

***

Liana Shinozaki was a very tall girl. She had always been very tall, courtesy of her mother's tall genes. It was disconcerting when she towered over everybody in her grade, as well as a number of teachers, but for the first time, she found that height could be an advantage. It had started, of course, with the basketball team, of which she was star. It now proved to be "ruddy brilliant" after her startling experience with the Crystal Palace. She knew that she was the youngest one there at twelve, perhaps the youngest by three or four years. Her height, however, made up for it. At least, no-one else gave any indication that they knew how young she was. It was quite useful.

For one thing, no one appeared to act condescending of her age, as it was doubtful anyone really knew about it, except perhaps the Royal Triplets, as was their media-inspired nickname. As it was, she appeared to be the only one who had not known and had only suspected her mother secret identity. Or perhaps, that the secret identity of the mysterious and strong Sailor Jupiter was her mother.

Of course, the only ones to publicly acknowledge that they knew of their mothers' doings when younger were three in number. She had put herself forward as one who needed little persuasion, but in fact had had no idea at the time that her mother had been an elusive Sailor Scout. Sophie-the blonde-had claimed that she was ignorant of her mother's identity, but that was debatable. The short black-haired girl who almost clung to Sophie in a desperate effort to avoid the limelight had not said much, but had not seemed much startled by the news, either. Of course, she constantly had that doe-eyed, frightened expression on her face, so it was hard for one to tell whether she was surprised or not.

As for the peculiar twins. Well, they seemed like ones who didn't know about their mother's identity because they never bothered to care before. Now that it occurred to them, however, they didn't see anything so astonishing in it.

Luckily, years of serving as a waitress in a restaurant-the strangest people marched in sometimes-and of dealing with her mother's boyfriends-her mother seemed to have an affinity for ones that would surprise her daughter the most-had taught her how to deal with surprises. She was lucky. Upon closer examination, the room seemed full of the type of girls who were used to the tension and hostility popular girls seemed to deal with. They formed "parties" almost immediately, standing on either side of an invisible rift. They all had the look of one trained to keep rein on one's emotions, of girls told at youth to never show weakness.

She had no idea what kind of childhood they had had, but she certainly had never been brought up in such a manner. Her mother had always been an open and honest woman, sometimes honest to the point of absurdity. She could never imagine that her mother had kept such a secret from her. And yet, she could see the resemblance between her mother and Jupiter. They had the same hair, the same eyes, and the same height. The fact that her mother had kept a rather large secret from her was undeniable. The fact that she was upset was also undeniable. The fact that she had to somehow attempt to hide this from her mother as well as hide her new-found knowledge and anger at her mother's lie . well, that was the immediate problem. She would worry about the other issues later on.

"What did Neo-Queen Serenity wish to talk to you about?" she inquired politely.

"Well, I used to know the Queen when she was an ordinary girl," her mother reminisced. "I was one of her good friends back then. She missed us and wished to speak with us again, as well as asked a couple of us to do a couple of odd jobs for her."

"Rumor has it that the Sailor Scouts were her friends and were her friends even in civilian form." Of course, there was no such rumor. There were rumors abound of how the Sailor Scouts might be manifestations of gods and goddesses, or appeared only when needed, or had lived in some obscure and shielded planet of the Earth. The theories of the olden days of ordinary girls transforming into magical superheroines with the flick of a hand were long gone.

"Really?" her mother said noncommittally. "That's exciting. Imagine that one of my closest friends might have been a Sailor Scout. How invigorating."

Liana almost seethed inside. Her mother, who always harped on and on about honesty, was lying to her. Hypocrite. Instead, she put a bland smile reminiscent of the one Christa had kept on almost the entire time. "Yes. Interesting, ne?"

Liana kept on her newly-dubbed Christa-smile for the rest of the way home, keeping polite conversation like a pro. As soon as she returned to the familiar establishment she called her room (which seemed neat, incase her mother should walk by with the door open, but had mold in the most disturbing places), she shut the door and buried her face in her pillow. Soon, she heard the sound of her mother's car driving away, as she went to open up the restaurant. Liana was, of course, expected to help around at the restaurant, but could choose not to do so on Sundays if she so wished, which she usually did.

As soon as she was sure that her mother could no longer hear her, she let out a cry that was anger, frustration, irritation, disillusionment, and grief mixed in together. When she finally calmed enough so that she no longer felt an urge to throw something, she sat upright. She knew what she was going to do. She would join the Crystal Senshi, of course. In her mind, it was impossible to consider not joining. She did not know why she chose this, but it felt as if this were what she was born to do.

And perhaps, it was also a form of rebellion, throwing herself into danger despite her mother's continually worried and often overprotective precautions. But foremost, it was the niggling feeling she had that doing this was right. She took a deep breath, and did as she had been told to do. She took out a piece of paper, wrote her agreement on it, signed it, and lit it with a match, watching it burn to ashes before her eyes. She highly doubted that the ritual did anything besides helping her acknowledge the full import of her decision, but she did feel a tingle run down her spine as she scattered the ashes outside of her open window.

But she could not help having a sense of foreboding.

***

Gaea looked up at the sky, seriously contemplating the fluffy clouds adorning the sky. Suddenly she sneezed. Several almost-invisible flecks of ash flew past, and she smiled. Someone had responded to the summons. Drawing upon her power of the Earth, and shuddering as the ancient magick coursed through her veins and threaten to burst out, she identified the writer of the agreement as Jupiter. She sent a thought-wave to Rini, telling her to go over to Liana's ASAP, for the next part of the ritual ceremony. At least Liana had done what she was told to in her agreement to become a Crystal Soldier.

There was serenity about her as she released Earth's energy and with it, her struggle for control. Unlike Selene, she was close to her satellite planet (although that may have been an oxymoron), and thus, she could release her power, and with it, her strain whenever the burden became too much to bear. After holding in larger amounts of power than she was used to, for training with her father, she was relieved to be able to let it go. She pitied Selene, who had to maintain her emotions constantly. That was Selene had few friends and many miffed enemies. Rini, however, never seemed to tire. Neither she nor Selene knew who exactly Rini spent her lessons with, and how she controlled her power, and neither asked. Some things were too private. Their magic was one of them.

She stood up and stretched. Now that she had completed her break, she was to go practice sparring with her sisters under the tutelage of Sailor Dragon (although strictly speaking, she was neither a Sailor Senshi nor a representative of the Dragons). Once Liana was formally inducted as a Crystal Senshi, she would also have to join in the training and the sparring.

She reached the arena without losing breath, and moved to do the stretches that would keep her from tearing a muscle. Rini and Selene entered moments later, silent in their preparation for a brutal session, especially since they had not had time to train the day before in their preparation for the arrival of the Scouts today. Now that the excitement was over, they would be expected to work doubly hard.

She finished stretching first. First would come physical sparring, then mental, then magical, and lastly combined. Although generally speaking, she did well on the physical side, she was less successful at magical sparring and hopeless at mental sparring. As a result, she was almost always ruthlessly slaughtered on the combined sparring field. Her powers and magical attacks were improving with time, of course, especially since she was more attuned with Earth than the others (although she didn't have as much power to begin with), having lived on it her entire life. Her mental abilities were still abysmal.

First, she warmed up fighting against the standard practice drones that were disgustingly easy to triumph against. At this point, her sister Selene was ready to spar, and they began to do so in deadly earnest. As soon as Rini, too, finished her stretching, she joined the fight, and it became a three-way fistfight of a most interesting sort. Rini, the shortest, had spent more time acquiring the forms of lacier, an ancient fighting form of the Solarians (who were all short in stature) which favored the petite and depended on speed and stamina. Selene, on the other hand, preferred the more graceful crane of the Lunarians, as were most of her forms. As she swayed with energy, her movements fluidly avoided hit after hit, skillfully blocked what she could not avoid, and struck accurately. Of course she, Gaea, won as usual, having chosen to employ the violent and unpredictable strase this time, as it was one she wished to try out.

There was a brief break after the physical sparring session, in which Dragon critiqued their performance. Gaea was dismayed to learn that her strase demonstration had not even neared the expertise of the Carthenians who had invented and mastered it. She remembered to tuck in her legs quicker in her tumble-jump leading into a lightning-quick scythe-kick. She remembered the distinctive efficiency with which the Carthenians used their slender limbs, and admitted that she had bungled some of the more graceful moves in her haste. As a result, perhaps the only reason she had won with such a wide margin was the new and unfamiliarity of the style. After that devastating critique, she stood back as first Rini and then Selene were scolded for their lack of anticipation and total bewilderment when encountering a new style. Rini in particular was scolded for once again merging too much into lacier. She had botched several prime moves in which she could have inserted moves from other martial styles that would have been effective in that position. Instead, she had kept on fighting using the lacier, greatly limiting her chances. Selene was scolded for beautifying her moves once again. The silver-haired sister had a tendency to undermine her own moves by moving the position of one of her limbs so she looked more graceful, but was as a result struck down more often.

Then, Gaea went off to the side, and planted both feet in the garden by the sparring area. Slowly, she began to commune with the Earth, and felt a joy enter through her. As her blissfulness neared its completion, she prepared to dig her hands deep within the magical veins of Earth, to tap into the power that was her birthright. It took her several tries, as usual, to find a vein big enough to accommodate her and not too big so as to overwhelm her. As soon as she found herself ready, she walked back inside.

Selene and Rini had not needed measures so complicated. Gaea needed to connect with the Earth to access her power. Rini and Selene, both bearers of the power of the moon, needed merely to draw upon the strength within them. Rini, of course, also had vestiges of Terran magic within her, and also of a magic uniquely her own, which was what made her power nearly equal (or at least, in the future, it would be nearly equal) to that of her mother's. Still, Rini preferred her Lunarian magic, as it was the most powerful, and the least difficult to access.

As the three princesses stepped into the arena, each had a rather otherworldly look about them. As of so far, they had not progressed into transformation of senshi form (because everyone knew that the safest way to go about magical training was to train first as civilians and then as senshi-the senshi of the Time Before Crystal Tokyo had not had the leisure to do this, as they had been throw into fight after fight against evil. As it was, only luck, skill, and the abnormally large amount of power each possessed had protected them from accidentally harming everyone within a three-mile radius every time they trained), but Dragon had promised them that they would do so that soon, when the Crystal Senshi joined.

The fight began when Rini threw the first blast of power. As the Royal Triplets had no senshi forms, their attacks were crude and unrefined, unfocussed, but powerful. Rini was the most powerful, and usually made the first move as she was the one with the greatest chance of winning. Instead of the blasts that were the only methods of attack (not defense) Gaea could summon, Rini sent forth a pink laser that split its pathway and attacked both Selene and Gaea at the same time. Gaea hastily erected a blue-and- green shield, drawing on the Earth's power and foundation as she did so, before spinning a globe-blast of green-and-brown power and dashing it at Selene. Selene, who had not been expecting an attack from her blind side, had only constructed a barrier powerful enough to block Rini's beam. To her advantage however, her wards warned her of the approach of Gaea's globe, and she was barely able to duck and block in time, leaving her in a weakened state. Rini, who had already dispatched a pink blast in Gaea's direction (which she effectively countered), cast another blast in Selene's direction with lightning-quick speed. Selene was prepared, this time, and countered the blast, calculating her counterblow so that it deflected off into Gaea's direction, even while Rini launched yet another pink blast in the Earth Princess's direction. The pink and the silver disconcerted Gaea as they closed on her, and she barely had enough time to throw up a barrier strong enough to block them both. The barrier was strong enough, but took too much strength out of her. In her weakened state, she did not hold on much longer, and Rini triumphed over both Selene and Gaea in a matter of minutes. These magical attacks were always distinguishable only by colors, and by strategy, nothing more than crude channeling of our energy. Their planetary powers, strengths and weaknesses and so on would come when they were in their senshi forms . but only then, unfortunately.

The battle ended, and Gaea paused to catch her breath. She and Selene had not fared as well as they usually did. Sometimes, she and Selene allied themselves against Rini and so defeated her, but such instances were rare because the purpose of the sparring was not to triumph, but to battle individually against multiple people. Usually, she lasted longer than she this round, and she was disappointed with herself. After the customary critique from Dragon, Gaea prepared for the mental battle, which she usually did abysmally in. Not that Rini was any better. Only Selene was any good at the psychic arts, as they jokingly referred to them as, and she knew that if put up against a trained Mars, Mercury, or Saturn, she wouldn't win with such a wide margin, if at all.

***

Haley Tsukino paid the taxi driver and stopped to truly let her gaze fall upon the magnificent Crystal Palace, an architectural miracle whose creation would not have been possible without the creativity and innovations of all of the senshi, the best of the architects and designers, and a touch of magic to bring it all together. Her dark black hair, which fell to her shoulders, was blown about by the wind, and she hurriedly ducked inside the massive door (which was, as usual, open). The guards seemed to recognize her, or perhaps did not regularly bar visitors from entering. Either way, she soon found herself in the giant lobby of the Crystal Palace. A quick once-over of the room revealed an almost impossible-to-see Princess Selene, standing turned in the doorway. Although she had found Princess Selene a bit stuffy, a familiar face was comforting in such an intimidating, yet beautiful room. She walked over briskly. It was when she neared the princess that she noticed whom Princess Selene was facing.

In the next room, Sophie stood, and while both the Princess and Sophie looked composed, not a single hair out of place or a traitorous expression on their face, Haley knew at once that the two were fighting. Perhaps that was not the best word for it. Verbally sparring was a better description.

Interrupting their verbal duel, Haley called out, "Sophie!" in a rather valley-girl way. She rushed over and half-hugged the girl, the two doing an imitation of the French bises. This had all been carefully choreographed beforehand, of course. Haley had really seen no harm in it, although she didn't see any particular advantage in it either. One glance at Selene's face told her what satisfaction Sophie had received from it. Selene, who had heretofore remained expressionless, had allowed a fleeting, wistful look flit across her face so quickly that it would have been unnoticed had Haley not been searching for it. Her mother was equally expressionless, and as a child she had trained herself to catch those small expressions, to have a warning as to whether she was in trouble or not.

"Who else is here?" she asked immediately, demanding information. Her eyes darted around the room. "It seems empty," she raised an eyebrow. "And I know I was rushing to be here on time."

Sophie chuckled. "I know you know. You're the last one here. I, for example, arrived fifteen minutes ago. Neo-Princesses Gaea and Serenity already led the rest out to the Inner Gardens. Neo-Princess Selene . volunteered to wait for you, so I decided to wait with her."

Haley interpreted this as an "I just wanted to needle the spoiled brat." Sophie was a surprisingly easy person to read, no matter how much she attempted to be cold and distant. She had too cheery a nature to successfully mask her emotions. Or perhaps Haley was just used to interpreting more shuttered expressions and complex, tightly-hidden emotions. "I'm sorry I'm late," she apologized to a point somewhere between Sophie and Neo-Princess Selene. "I . had problems." She did not think it necessary to mention that her younger sister (true birth sister of her mother and father) had been jealous that she, the adopted one, had received the chance to visit the Crystal Palace on a regular basis, and had, as a result, hidden her shoes (every single one of them!). No threats on her parents' part had been able to coax their location, and she had been forced to search the house for them, finally finding her least favorite pair under a creaky floorboard in the basement.

Accepting her explanation without a bat of any eyelash, Sophie shrugged in that smooth, careless way she exhibited so freely.

"This way," Neo-Princess Selene said smoothly, taking control of the situation. The tension that had filled her during her dispute with Sophie, whatever it had been about, melted away easily, and she was once more the perfect princess. She led the way through a complex series of halls that Haley tried and failed to commit to memory. Finally, they arrived in a beautiful, weather-controlled garden where the other girls were.

"Sorry I'm late," Haley said brightly, but slightly insincerely. After all, she wasn't really late.

"Haley," Meara greeted calmly. She, like the rest of girls, held a cool demeanor. It seemed that all of their Scouts had taught their children to hide their emotions. It would be an interesting face-off, Haley decided, to see who could control their emotions the most.

"Meara," Haley greeted, putting genuine warmth in her tone as she lightly embraced the girl. She and Meara had kept in touch somewhat, debating over the pros and cons of the situation, during their week of decision.

Meara's countenance lightened as she smiled a genuine smile in return.

"And now," Gaea said gravely, "you must tell us your decisions."

To be continued .

*I've been reading too much HP.

Explanation: My first chapter was way too long to revise all at once, so the original chapter one is still up for those who wish to read it. This is the Revised Chapter 1A.