THE NIGHTMARE REALM,
CHAPTER 7: "Girl Power"
By Bill K.
His leaps covered yards rather than feet, but still he was too slow. Endymion wished he had his old motorcycle of his youth. Perhaps it wouldn't have been any faster traveling on motorcycle, but it seemed faster. Anything to relieve the apprehension and guilt he felt.
Endymion felt the shock his daughter felt the moment - - something - - struck her. He felt her confusion and fear, the adrenaline rush she felt when, too late, she reacted to the threat. He felt it overcome her. Then he didn't feel anything. His link with her was severed. It didn't mean she was dead - - he would have felt that, felt her mortal spirit pass as he once felt Sailor Moon's spirit pass atop a fragmenting asteroid careening toward Earth. It was a sensation he'd never forget as long as he lived. He hadn't felt that now, so she still lived.
But she was in danger. And despite all his intellectualizations about how she was growing up and she needed to face things on her own without him hovering over her over-protectively, the moment he felt her distress he was off and running to her side. Daddy's little girl wasn't going to suffer so long as Daddy drew breath. And as he leaped across the shadowy forests and grasslands, he prayed that she'd be there when he arrived and that she'd be healthy enough to scold him.
A final leap took him to the steps of a temple. The lettering on the stone roof of the entryway said simply "Echidna" - - no doubt it was her temple. In the distance, the sounds of battle could be heard. Endymion was dimly aware of the presence of Helios nearby, but was preoccupied with other things. Drawing his sword, the king of Crystal Tokyo entered.
Inside all was dark. There were carved statues of various demonic icons. At the back of the room was an altar. Endymion squinted to try to pierce the blackness of the room and find someone alive. He took several steps in. That's when he noticed the glow.
A wall had blocked it. Off in a corner was Sailor Moon. She stood staring down at something, her wand he imagined from the pink glow that lit up the alcove. Her back was stooped forward and her arms were bent, as if she were cradling the wand and its crystal with her body. She seemed unharmed.
"Sailor Moon?" Endymion said, taking a step forward.
It was wrong. He still didn't feel anything from her. Their connection was still broken. She didn't respond to his voice, staying bent over her wand. Cautiously he approached closer.
"Usa?" he said more firmly. "It's your father. What happened?"
His sword was still drawn, should it be needed. He was only dimly aware of it, though. His little girl needed him, but he didn't know how she needed him yet. A hundred different perils ran through his mind in the single second that it took to step closer to her.
Perhaps it was his proximity that triggered it, but Sailor Moon's head suddenly came upright. Still cradling her wand and the pink crystal inside of it, she turned around. Her face was lit by the pink glow of the crystal as she turned and met his gaze.
Endymion froze, horrified. Half of Sailor Moon's face was covered in black shadow, despite the glow of the pink crystal, save for a single white slit representing an eye. The other half was her, yet not her. Her red eye met his, but seemed unable to fully focus. Her mouth turned up in a vacant smile.
"Daddy," she whispered absently. "You're just in time. We're going to remake the world in our own image."
* * * *
From inside her head, Usa saw her father standing in front of her.
"Pop!" she shrieked. "I'm in here! Stop her, please! Don't let her do it!"
At once, a black mist sprang up and began swirling around her body from her feet to her chest. Without warning, the mist coalesced into a huge snake and began constricting Usa's frame. The princess tried to force the snake away, but its grip was too strong. The snake's head came into view and it was Echidna's.
"Why do you shout so?" Echidna asked forlornly, approaching the wriggling Usa even as the snake with her face constricted tighter. "Don't you like me, Princess?"
"Let me go!" Usa roared at her. "Get out of my head!"
"Oh but I so like it in here," Echidna cooed, leaning up against Usa and caressing her cheek. "It's so bright and cheerful! You have such a lovely life, Princess. It's reflected in your frame of mind. I really envy you, Princess."
Usa struggled against the serpent's coils.
"And besides, I must be here in order to control the energies of your pink crystal," Echidna continued. "How else am I to plunge the dream-worlds into the shadows of nightmare? Your father, the king, possesses the energies of the Golden Crystal. Between him and sweet Helios, I would have no hope of success. And that can't be. The dream-worlds must know my pain. They must."
"Echidna, you have to stop this!" pleaded Usa. "You can't spread nightmares everywhere!"
Echidna stared at her, her eyes growing wide and her face twisting in despair.
"But you promised you would help me!" she wailed. "Oh, Princess, how could you betray me like this?"
"I didn't say I'd help you do this!" railed Usa. "Echidna, listen to me! You can't do this! You'll destroy everything!"
"I will?" Echidna asked. She looked confused and stared at Usa as if seeing her for the first time.
"Yes!" Usa said, pressing her slim hope. "Echidna, you'll destroy all the dream-worlds if you plunge them into nightmares! And you'll destroy all of humanity! No one can live without pleasant dreams and if you turn everyone's pleasant dream into a nightmare, you'll destroy them!"
"And how do you know this, Princess?" Echidna asked with a calm manner that was utterly eerie.
"Because Helios said so," Usa maintained firmly.
"Helios," Echidna smiled. It was a warm smile, one born of deep feelings that made Usa slightly uneasy. "He is a dear, sweet man. And do you believe in Helios without question, Princess? Is your faith that strong in him that you take him at his word?"
"Yes," Usa replied firmly, without hesitation.
"I am honored that you place so much faith in me, Maiden," they heard Helios say. The willowy man emerged from someplace behind Usa and circled around so he was in view of them both.
Then he turned, gathered Echidna up in his arms and kissed her deeply and hungrily, to the utter horror of the Princess Usagi.
* * * *
"How's she doing?" Ceres asked. She allowed herself a glance at her sister, then looked back at the creeping black surrounding them. The gloom of the forest seemed to push down on them like a gigantic hand. It seemed ready to crush them at the first wrong move.
"Still out," Juno replied, tending to the unconscious Sailor Saturn in between nervous glances at the dark. She knew it was just her paranoia and bad memories of her recent ordeal, but Juno couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching them. "You OK? You look like you're about ready to jump out of your skin."
"Well why wouldn't I?" huffed Ceres. "This place is CREEPY! I wish Saturn would wake up so we could join King Endymion." At the mention of his name, Ceres smiled wistfully.
"Ceres?" Juno queried.
Ceres looked at her. Juno gave her that look, like she knew every thought Ceres was thinking. Ceres looked away uncomfortably.
"You're not in love with him, are you?" Juno asked.
"HOW DO YOU DO THAT?" Ceres gasped, mortified. "How do you always know everything I'm always thinking?"
"I don't know everything you're thinking," chuckled Juno. "But there are some things you're terrible at hiding and you being infatuated with a guy is one of those things."
Ceres sat down next to Juno, huffing out her disdain.
"Ceres, you can't be serious about this!" Juno continued. "He's the king! And he's married! And he's about a thousand years older than you are!"
"I know," Ceres replied, looking down to conceal her embarrassment. "I know he's out of my reach. But it doesn't change the fact that he's soooo handsome and kind and gallant."
"You're right about that," smirked Juno.
"But there's a dangerous side to him that's just under the surface, you know? It's kind of exciting."
"I noticed."
"Juno?" Ceres said, looking at her sister with mocking surprise. "You, too?"
"Hey, I'd have to be blind or lesbian not to notice," Juno grinned. "But he's not available, so I don't dwell on it."
"I just wish it was that easy," sighed Ceres. "When he saved me from that plant, I didn't want him to ever let go."
"Tell you what," smiled Juno. "Next cute guy I run across, I'll toss him your way. It'll help you forget."
"Just remember what I like."
"I remember: cute and breathing."
Ceres stuck her tongue out at Juno. Further exchange was cut off. Saturn began to stir. The pair concentrated on Saturn, looking for any way they could assist her.
And Saturn rose - - but not in the way they expected. Her body stiff and straight, she rose from level with the ground to a standing position as if carried by a board. As she rose, her hands clasped over her heart.
"Oh my," whispered Ceres. Hackles rose on the girl.
Saturn whirled on the pair. Her eyes were blood red and glowed in the darkness. Her mouth opened, baring huge razor sharp fangs. Her hands curled, the fingers resembling the talons of some great beast. Ceres shrieked in terror. But Juno was closer, so Juno became her immediate prey.
The senshi fell onto her back, pinned by the weight of Saturn and the impact of her lunge. She had her hands up holding Saturn off by her shoulders. Saturn clawed at Juno, her gloves the only thing preventing deep slashes in the green senshi's skin. Her head bent down, animal teeth snapping ravenously just short of Juno's throat. Only Saturn's slight frame prevented Juno from being overwhelmed. But she was strong, stronger than she should be, and it was all Juno could do to hold her at bay.
"Get away from her!" wailed Ceres. She had hold of Saturn's right shoulder and was trying to pull her off of Juno. Her strength proved inadequate to the task. All it did was annoy Saturn. A thrust back with her right arm shoved Ceres aside.
"Ceres, something's happened to her!" bellowed out Juno. "She's too strong! You can't fight her hand to hand!"
"Then I'll get something that is strong enough!" Ceres spat out. "Floral Stimulation!"
She had no idea whether her power over plant life would work in this nightmare land, but she tried just the same. Her mind came in contact with the gnarled trees that surrounded them and she exhorted them to grow and obey her. The trees resisted, but ultimately succumbed to her siren call. Limbs extended, growing foot by foot in seconds. Invigorated with newfound life, the branches reached out at Ceres' command. They became extensions of her own body, supple wooden hands that closed around the vampiric Sailor Saturn's waist and plucked her from Sailor Juno. Saturn struggled in the grip of the tree limb, but Ceres was quicker. Other limbs snaked around Saturn's wrists and arms, ankles and legs, then pulled her until she was drawn spread-eagle ten feet above the ground. Saturn strained against the wooden fetters like a wild animal, to no avail.
"Juno, are you all right?" Ceres gasped, bending down to her sister senshi.
"Yeah," Juno nodded. "Thanks for the save." They both looked up at Saturn. She bared her teeth and hissed at them, her red eyes smoldering with rage.
"What could have happened to her?" Ceres cried. "Don't tell me there are vampires in this awful place, too!"
"Who knows," Juno replied. Then she pointed up at Saturn. "Ceres, look! Her rose is missing! The ones the king gave us!"
"Uh huh. What does it mean?"
"While she was unconscious, a nightmare probably took her over - - like it did me when I lost my face!"
"So how do we cure her?"
"Maybe the king can help her. We have to get her to him, fast!"
Just then, Saturn's body dissolved into mist before their eyes. The mist wafted to the ground, then reformed into Saturn the vampire.
* * * *
"You can't do this!" Makoto pleaded. She followed Queen Serenity as the monarch strode purposefully down the hall of the palace toward the aero-pad. Behind her, Rei and Minako struggled to keep up.
"Watch me," Serenity replied.
"Somebody has to stay behind and take care of Crystal Tokyo!" argued Minako.
"You do it," Serenity replied.
"You'll get lost and end up freezing to death on Andromeda's fifteenth moon!" scowled Rei.
"Don't start with me, Rei!" Serenity growled back.
"Hon', please! Don't go off half-cocked!" Makoto begged her.
"Yeah, scope out the situation first," Minako suggested. "See what's going on. This may be exactly what some bad guy wants you to do."
"Then he won't be disappointed," Serenity replied, maintaining course and speed.
"You can't think that way!" Rei argued. "Serenity, too many people depend on you!"
"Including my daughter!" Serenity retorted. "I won't see her hurt! I love her too much!"
They turned a corner and found Ami and the cats blocking the path to the aero-pad.
"Serenity, we all love her," Ami said evenly. "If this is the crisis you sense, you have to think with your head and not your heart."
"Ami, please move!" Serenity howled.
"Serenity, think for a moment. Is Endymion all right?"
"Yes," Serenity sighed.
"Then he has to be rushing to her aid right now. And Helios is there as well, as are the Asteroid Senshi."
"Ami, please get out of my way!" wailed Serenity. "Don't make me go through you!"
"SERENITY!" roared Luna.
Serenity quaked in place, trying to control her mounting frustration and her almost conditioned response to obey Luna. Finally she turned on the little black cat.
"WHAT, LUNA?"
"You are queen of Crystal Tokyo! Conduct yourself with a little decorum!"
"DON'T YOU PEOPLE UNDERSTAND? MY BABY IS IN TROUBLE!" Serenity felt Makoto's arms fold around her from behind.
"We know, Serenity," Makoto said, holding Serenity with her comforting strength. "I know most of all what you're going through. But you have to get hold of yourself."
"And you have to have a little faith," Rei added gently. "Faith in Endymion and in Helios, and in her."
"We sympathize, Serenity," Luna told her. "But you have responsibilities. You have an entire nation of people who depend upon you. You have an entire world of people who look to you for guidance. And if you rush headlong into an unknown situation and get yourself killed, how many people will suffer for that decision? And remember, you're the only power keeping the Door of Time closed! Diana may be its guardian, but goodness knows she doesn't have the power to repel someone who picks that moment to come through!"
"But Luna," Serenity sobbed, collapsing to her knees. "It's my little Usa! I can't just stand by when she needs me!"
"As your mother did when she watched you go off to face dozens of deadly enemies when you were Sailor Moon?" Luna countered. "Don't you think Ikuko felt just the way you feel now? But she knew the only way she could protect you was to have faith that you'd return safely and cling to it with both hands. Do you think she didn't suffer? I know because I watched her on more than one occasion. And you did come back safely. And who's to say that the one thing that tipped the scales in your favor wasn't her faith and her prayers?"
"And your prayers and wishes might just have a little more impact," added Minako, "given who you are."
Serenity looked down, sobbing pitifully. "I just don't want her to die," she squeaked.
"None of us do," Makoto whispered, hugging her even more tightly. "You watch. Endymion'll bring her back safe."
Her friends all gathered round and hugged Serenity, while Artemis and Luna licked her hands. And through that Serenity found the strength to stay at her post.
* * * *
Endymion didn't waste time with questions. He'd figure out later what happened. The immediate problem was readily apparent.
Sheathing his sword, Endymion raised his arms and pointed his two index fingers directly at Sailor Moon. As he did so, his form took on a brilliant golden glow. His black hair began to blow and his cape swirled out behind him.
"Are you going to kill me, Daddy?" Sailor Moon asked vacantly. "Could you really kill me?"
"I'm not going to kill you, Usa honey," Endymion replied hoarsely. "I'm going to bring you back. I'm going to make you all better."
"I remember when I was a little girl," Sailor Moon said, rocking back and forth and looking up at nothing. "I used to ride on your shoulders. It was so high."
Power began to build in Endymion's hands.
"And I remember the times you punished me. I remember the times you left me all alone in that big palace. And all the times you were mean and cruel to Mama - - back in the twentieth century."
A bolt of brilliant golden light shot from Endymion's fingertips. It flashed forward toward Sailor Moon. But at the last moment, her wand came up and the bolt was caught by the pink crystal - - caught and held.
"And now you think you can kill us?" Sailor Moon asked. Her single visible eye focused on him with paranoid glee. "No, no, no, little king. I am she and she is me and we are one together. I have unlocked her power and she has given my vision wings to fly high into the air. Soon everybody everywhere will know the utter bliss of unremitting agony! Oh, isn't it to die for!"
With a sudden powerful shove, Sailor Moon's crystal drove Endymion's energy back at him. Spinning on her tiptoe, Sailor Moon came to a stop and raised the Crescent Moon Wand above her head. Pink energy fanned out from it in all directions, blanketing the room in pink light.
Continued in Chapter 8
CHAPTER 7: "Girl Power"
By Bill K.
His leaps covered yards rather than feet, but still he was too slow. Endymion wished he had his old motorcycle of his youth. Perhaps it wouldn't have been any faster traveling on motorcycle, but it seemed faster. Anything to relieve the apprehension and guilt he felt.
Endymion felt the shock his daughter felt the moment - - something - - struck her. He felt her confusion and fear, the adrenaline rush she felt when, too late, she reacted to the threat. He felt it overcome her. Then he didn't feel anything. His link with her was severed. It didn't mean she was dead - - he would have felt that, felt her mortal spirit pass as he once felt Sailor Moon's spirit pass atop a fragmenting asteroid careening toward Earth. It was a sensation he'd never forget as long as he lived. He hadn't felt that now, so she still lived.
But she was in danger. And despite all his intellectualizations about how she was growing up and she needed to face things on her own without him hovering over her over-protectively, the moment he felt her distress he was off and running to her side. Daddy's little girl wasn't going to suffer so long as Daddy drew breath. And as he leaped across the shadowy forests and grasslands, he prayed that she'd be there when he arrived and that she'd be healthy enough to scold him.
A final leap took him to the steps of a temple. The lettering on the stone roof of the entryway said simply "Echidna" - - no doubt it was her temple. In the distance, the sounds of battle could be heard. Endymion was dimly aware of the presence of Helios nearby, but was preoccupied with other things. Drawing his sword, the king of Crystal Tokyo entered.
Inside all was dark. There were carved statues of various demonic icons. At the back of the room was an altar. Endymion squinted to try to pierce the blackness of the room and find someone alive. He took several steps in. That's when he noticed the glow.
A wall had blocked it. Off in a corner was Sailor Moon. She stood staring down at something, her wand he imagined from the pink glow that lit up the alcove. Her back was stooped forward and her arms were bent, as if she were cradling the wand and its crystal with her body. She seemed unharmed.
"Sailor Moon?" Endymion said, taking a step forward.
It was wrong. He still didn't feel anything from her. Their connection was still broken. She didn't respond to his voice, staying bent over her wand. Cautiously he approached closer.
"Usa?" he said more firmly. "It's your father. What happened?"
His sword was still drawn, should it be needed. He was only dimly aware of it, though. His little girl needed him, but he didn't know how she needed him yet. A hundred different perils ran through his mind in the single second that it took to step closer to her.
Perhaps it was his proximity that triggered it, but Sailor Moon's head suddenly came upright. Still cradling her wand and the pink crystal inside of it, she turned around. Her face was lit by the pink glow of the crystal as she turned and met his gaze.
Endymion froze, horrified. Half of Sailor Moon's face was covered in black shadow, despite the glow of the pink crystal, save for a single white slit representing an eye. The other half was her, yet not her. Her red eye met his, but seemed unable to fully focus. Her mouth turned up in a vacant smile.
"Daddy," she whispered absently. "You're just in time. We're going to remake the world in our own image."
* * * *
From inside her head, Usa saw her father standing in front of her.
"Pop!" she shrieked. "I'm in here! Stop her, please! Don't let her do it!"
At once, a black mist sprang up and began swirling around her body from her feet to her chest. Without warning, the mist coalesced into a huge snake and began constricting Usa's frame. The princess tried to force the snake away, but its grip was too strong. The snake's head came into view and it was Echidna's.
"Why do you shout so?" Echidna asked forlornly, approaching the wriggling Usa even as the snake with her face constricted tighter. "Don't you like me, Princess?"
"Let me go!" Usa roared at her. "Get out of my head!"
"Oh but I so like it in here," Echidna cooed, leaning up against Usa and caressing her cheek. "It's so bright and cheerful! You have such a lovely life, Princess. It's reflected in your frame of mind. I really envy you, Princess."
Usa struggled against the serpent's coils.
"And besides, I must be here in order to control the energies of your pink crystal," Echidna continued. "How else am I to plunge the dream-worlds into the shadows of nightmare? Your father, the king, possesses the energies of the Golden Crystal. Between him and sweet Helios, I would have no hope of success. And that can't be. The dream-worlds must know my pain. They must."
"Echidna, you have to stop this!" pleaded Usa. "You can't spread nightmares everywhere!"
Echidna stared at her, her eyes growing wide and her face twisting in despair.
"But you promised you would help me!" she wailed. "Oh, Princess, how could you betray me like this?"
"I didn't say I'd help you do this!" railed Usa. "Echidna, listen to me! You can't do this! You'll destroy everything!"
"I will?" Echidna asked. She looked confused and stared at Usa as if seeing her for the first time.
"Yes!" Usa said, pressing her slim hope. "Echidna, you'll destroy all the dream-worlds if you plunge them into nightmares! And you'll destroy all of humanity! No one can live without pleasant dreams and if you turn everyone's pleasant dream into a nightmare, you'll destroy them!"
"And how do you know this, Princess?" Echidna asked with a calm manner that was utterly eerie.
"Because Helios said so," Usa maintained firmly.
"Helios," Echidna smiled. It was a warm smile, one born of deep feelings that made Usa slightly uneasy. "He is a dear, sweet man. And do you believe in Helios without question, Princess? Is your faith that strong in him that you take him at his word?"
"Yes," Usa replied firmly, without hesitation.
"I am honored that you place so much faith in me, Maiden," they heard Helios say. The willowy man emerged from someplace behind Usa and circled around so he was in view of them both.
Then he turned, gathered Echidna up in his arms and kissed her deeply and hungrily, to the utter horror of the Princess Usagi.
* * * *
"How's she doing?" Ceres asked. She allowed herself a glance at her sister, then looked back at the creeping black surrounding them. The gloom of the forest seemed to push down on them like a gigantic hand. It seemed ready to crush them at the first wrong move.
"Still out," Juno replied, tending to the unconscious Sailor Saturn in between nervous glances at the dark. She knew it was just her paranoia and bad memories of her recent ordeal, but Juno couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching them. "You OK? You look like you're about ready to jump out of your skin."
"Well why wouldn't I?" huffed Ceres. "This place is CREEPY! I wish Saturn would wake up so we could join King Endymion." At the mention of his name, Ceres smiled wistfully.
"Ceres?" Juno queried.
Ceres looked at her. Juno gave her that look, like she knew every thought Ceres was thinking. Ceres looked away uncomfortably.
"You're not in love with him, are you?" Juno asked.
"HOW DO YOU DO THAT?" Ceres gasped, mortified. "How do you always know everything I'm always thinking?"
"I don't know everything you're thinking," chuckled Juno. "But there are some things you're terrible at hiding and you being infatuated with a guy is one of those things."
Ceres sat down next to Juno, huffing out her disdain.
"Ceres, you can't be serious about this!" Juno continued. "He's the king! And he's married! And he's about a thousand years older than you are!"
"I know," Ceres replied, looking down to conceal her embarrassment. "I know he's out of my reach. But it doesn't change the fact that he's soooo handsome and kind and gallant."
"You're right about that," smirked Juno.
"But there's a dangerous side to him that's just under the surface, you know? It's kind of exciting."
"I noticed."
"Juno?" Ceres said, looking at her sister with mocking surprise. "You, too?"
"Hey, I'd have to be blind or lesbian not to notice," Juno grinned. "But he's not available, so I don't dwell on it."
"I just wish it was that easy," sighed Ceres. "When he saved me from that plant, I didn't want him to ever let go."
"Tell you what," smiled Juno. "Next cute guy I run across, I'll toss him your way. It'll help you forget."
"Just remember what I like."
"I remember: cute and breathing."
Ceres stuck her tongue out at Juno. Further exchange was cut off. Saturn began to stir. The pair concentrated on Saturn, looking for any way they could assist her.
And Saturn rose - - but not in the way they expected. Her body stiff and straight, she rose from level with the ground to a standing position as if carried by a board. As she rose, her hands clasped over her heart.
"Oh my," whispered Ceres. Hackles rose on the girl.
Saturn whirled on the pair. Her eyes were blood red and glowed in the darkness. Her mouth opened, baring huge razor sharp fangs. Her hands curled, the fingers resembling the talons of some great beast. Ceres shrieked in terror. But Juno was closer, so Juno became her immediate prey.
The senshi fell onto her back, pinned by the weight of Saturn and the impact of her lunge. She had her hands up holding Saturn off by her shoulders. Saturn clawed at Juno, her gloves the only thing preventing deep slashes in the green senshi's skin. Her head bent down, animal teeth snapping ravenously just short of Juno's throat. Only Saturn's slight frame prevented Juno from being overwhelmed. But she was strong, stronger than she should be, and it was all Juno could do to hold her at bay.
"Get away from her!" wailed Ceres. She had hold of Saturn's right shoulder and was trying to pull her off of Juno. Her strength proved inadequate to the task. All it did was annoy Saturn. A thrust back with her right arm shoved Ceres aside.
"Ceres, something's happened to her!" bellowed out Juno. "She's too strong! You can't fight her hand to hand!"
"Then I'll get something that is strong enough!" Ceres spat out. "Floral Stimulation!"
She had no idea whether her power over plant life would work in this nightmare land, but she tried just the same. Her mind came in contact with the gnarled trees that surrounded them and she exhorted them to grow and obey her. The trees resisted, but ultimately succumbed to her siren call. Limbs extended, growing foot by foot in seconds. Invigorated with newfound life, the branches reached out at Ceres' command. They became extensions of her own body, supple wooden hands that closed around the vampiric Sailor Saturn's waist and plucked her from Sailor Juno. Saturn struggled in the grip of the tree limb, but Ceres was quicker. Other limbs snaked around Saturn's wrists and arms, ankles and legs, then pulled her until she was drawn spread-eagle ten feet above the ground. Saturn strained against the wooden fetters like a wild animal, to no avail.
"Juno, are you all right?" Ceres gasped, bending down to her sister senshi.
"Yeah," Juno nodded. "Thanks for the save." They both looked up at Saturn. She bared her teeth and hissed at them, her red eyes smoldering with rage.
"What could have happened to her?" Ceres cried. "Don't tell me there are vampires in this awful place, too!"
"Who knows," Juno replied. Then she pointed up at Saturn. "Ceres, look! Her rose is missing! The ones the king gave us!"
"Uh huh. What does it mean?"
"While she was unconscious, a nightmare probably took her over - - like it did me when I lost my face!"
"So how do we cure her?"
"Maybe the king can help her. We have to get her to him, fast!"
Just then, Saturn's body dissolved into mist before their eyes. The mist wafted to the ground, then reformed into Saturn the vampire.
* * * *
"You can't do this!" Makoto pleaded. She followed Queen Serenity as the monarch strode purposefully down the hall of the palace toward the aero-pad. Behind her, Rei and Minako struggled to keep up.
"Watch me," Serenity replied.
"Somebody has to stay behind and take care of Crystal Tokyo!" argued Minako.
"You do it," Serenity replied.
"You'll get lost and end up freezing to death on Andromeda's fifteenth moon!" scowled Rei.
"Don't start with me, Rei!" Serenity growled back.
"Hon', please! Don't go off half-cocked!" Makoto begged her.
"Yeah, scope out the situation first," Minako suggested. "See what's going on. This may be exactly what some bad guy wants you to do."
"Then he won't be disappointed," Serenity replied, maintaining course and speed.
"You can't think that way!" Rei argued. "Serenity, too many people depend on you!"
"Including my daughter!" Serenity retorted. "I won't see her hurt! I love her too much!"
They turned a corner and found Ami and the cats blocking the path to the aero-pad.
"Serenity, we all love her," Ami said evenly. "If this is the crisis you sense, you have to think with your head and not your heart."
"Ami, please move!" Serenity howled.
"Serenity, think for a moment. Is Endymion all right?"
"Yes," Serenity sighed.
"Then he has to be rushing to her aid right now. And Helios is there as well, as are the Asteroid Senshi."
"Ami, please get out of my way!" wailed Serenity. "Don't make me go through you!"
"SERENITY!" roared Luna.
Serenity quaked in place, trying to control her mounting frustration and her almost conditioned response to obey Luna. Finally she turned on the little black cat.
"WHAT, LUNA?"
"You are queen of Crystal Tokyo! Conduct yourself with a little decorum!"
"DON'T YOU PEOPLE UNDERSTAND? MY BABY IS IN TROUBLE!" Serenity felt Makoto's arms fold around her from behind.
"We know, Serenity," Makoto said, holding Serenity with her comforting strength. "I know most of all what you're going through. But you have to get hold of yourself."
"And you have to have a little faith," Rei added gently. "Faith in Endymion and in Helios, and in her."
"We sympathize, Serenity," Luna told her. "But you have responsibilities. You have an entire nation of people who depend upon you. You have an entire world of people who look to you for guidance. And if you rush headlong into an unknown situation and get yourself killed, how many people will suffer for that decision? And remember, you're the only power keeping the Door of Time closed! Diana may be its guardian, but goodness knows she doesn't have the power to repel someone who picks that moment to come through!"
"But Luna," Serenity sobbed, collapsing to her knees. "It's my little Usa! I can't just stand by when she needs me!"
"As your mother did when she watched you go off to face dozens of deadly enemies when you were Sailor Moon?" Luna countered. "Don't you think Ikuko felt just the way you feel now? But she knew the only way she could protect you was to have faith that you'd return safely and cling to it with both hands. Do you think she didn't suffer? I know because I watched her on more than one occasion. And you did come back safely. And who's to say that the one thing that tipped the scales in your favor wasn't her faith and her prayers?"
"And your prayers and wishes might just have a little more impact," added Minako, "given who you are."
Serenity looked down, sobbing pitifully. "I just don't want her to die," she squeaked.
"None of us do," Makoto whispered, hugging her even more tightly. "You watch. Endymion'll bring her back safe."
Her friends all gathered round and hugged Serenity, while Artemis and Luna licked her hands. And through that Serenity found the strength to stay at her post.
* * * *
Endymion didn't waste time with questions. He'd figure out later what happened. The immediate problem was readily apparent.
Sheathing his sword, Endymion raised his arms and pointed his two index fingers directly at Sailor Moon. As he did so, his form took on a brilliant golden glow. His black hair began to blow and his cape swirled out behind him.
"Are you going to kill me, Daddy?" Sailor Moon asked vacantly. "Could you really kill me?"
"I'm not going to kill you, Usa honey," Endymion replied hoarsely. "I'm going to bring you back. I'm going to make you all better."
"I remember when I was a little girl," Sailor Moon said, rocking back and forth and looking up at nothing. "I used to ride on your shoulders. It was so high."
Power began to build in Endymion's hands.
"And I remember the times you punished me. I remember the times you left me all alone in that big palace. And all the times you were mean and cruel to Mama - - back in the twentieth century."
A bolt of brilliant golden light shot from Endymion's fingertips. It flashed forward toward Sailor Moon. But at the last moment, her wand came up and the bolt was caught by the pink crystal - - caught and held.
"And now you think you can kill us?" Sailor Moon asked. Her single visible eye focused on him with paranoid glee. "No, no, no, little king. I am she and she is me and we are one together. I have unlocked her power and she has given my vision wings to fly high into the air. Soon everybody everywhere will know the utter bliss of unremitting agony! Oh, isn't it to die for!"
With a sudden powerful shove, Sailor Moon's crystal drove Endymion's energy back at him. Spinning on her tiptoe, Sailor Moon came to a stop and raised the Crescent Moon Wand above her head. Pink energy fanned out from it in all directions, blanketing the room in pink light.
Continued in Chapter 8