"Atia!" Trista grabbed her friend's arm the moment the giggling girl left the stage, eyes brimming with tears.

Her twinkling eyes lost their sparkle. "I know. It was a warning. Whether they realized it or not." Her eyes softened. "I'm sorry, Tris. I didn't mean to scare to you."

They regarded each other silently then. Trista finally broke a smile and hugged her. "Come on. There's a lot of those people who want interviews with you."

*

Atia found herself bogged with offers, but she used her infinite patience to calmly turn them all down, as did Trista. She was mentally kicking herself. If she accepted some of the offers being thrown at her, she'd be rich. What she didn't mind doing was radio, television, and newspaper interviews and photos.

When she finally caught up Serena much later that night, the girl was smiling ecstatically and seemed fit to burst. When inquired, she hugged Atia and said simply, "I got a contract."

*

A month later, with many enemy attacks in-between that revealed nothing new, nothing had happened - minus Serena's new dancing career.

One day, Trista came with Atia to Rini's dance class. The class let out, and they stayed after. Rini watched Atia and Trista dance with awe. They were so good. When they had finished, she went to say something, but before she could say anything, Autumn flew into the room from her own class, looking absolutely petrified.

She launched herself on Atia and began shrieking in an incomprehensible language. Atia looked at Trista, who knelt and grabbed Rini, then put the girl with Autumn behind them. Autumn was crying and blubbering on, but Atia made no move to quiet her, only murmured softly. Autumn screamed and fell to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably. Rini sat down beside her and hugged her.

"Pluto Planet Power, Make-Up!!"

"Solar System Power, Make-Up!!"

There were two blinding flashes of light, and two sailor senshi were standing before Rini and a hysterical Autumn. There was a third flash, and a figure of Atia appeared beside Solar. The sailor snapped her fingers, and the hologram fell to the ground without a sound.

The enemy suddenly appeared in the doorway. Pluto stared at Solar with sudden tears in her eyes. "You said you blocked the signals."

"I did."

"Then...how..." Pluto's voice broke.

"It's not her."

The figure at the door sauntered into the room, staring at them innocently. She held her hands out, as though to show she were harmless. "You don't remember me, sister?"

There was a crash, and the window beside the door shattered. The rest of the senshi had arrived - along with three uninvited guests. Solar swore. Pluto couldn't tear her eyes off of the enemy woman, and her hand was covering her mouth as silent tears coursed down her cheeks.

"You went against your word, Pluto!" Luna shouted.

"Now there will be total devastation for sure!" Artemis echoed.

"Shut up, both of you!" Solar shrieked. "It's not her! It's not Lia! She's a fake! Lia is dead!"

"Ah, you don't know that, do you?" the woman crooned, brushing ankle-length orange hair behind her shoulder. "You're underestimating my master's powers. He has the key to bring her back. He has the power to bring her back as a dark form, how she should've been." At Solar's horrified look, the woman giggled. "Would you like to see your sister again, princess? Would you? Well, here she is!"

There was an explosion that sent all the senshi flying. When it died, a new sailor scout stood beside the woman with orange hair - only, now, her hair was blonde. The senshi had wings coming out of her back, much like Eternal Sailor Moon someday would - but these wings were black, as was much of her mid-riff showing fuku. Her head snapped up, and her eyes were glowing red.

"Lia!" Solar's chilling cry echoed around the silence in the building. She walked towards the still sailor. The new one's eyes moved, watching the taller senshi's every move. Her lips pulled back in a sneer, revealing vampire-like teeth, and the woman with hair like flame hissed.

The enemy blonde giggled. "She's happy to see you, too. She wants to bring you with her. She's lonely." Watching Solar, she didn't see Pluto's silent charge. With a muffled yelp of surprise, the Time Key slammed into the blonde's head, and she crumpled to the ground.

The new sailor shrieked like a banshee and jumped backwards, as though released from a spell. Words floated through the air in a voice so cold the senshi were frozen. I've waited over a thousand years for this, sister. The sailor smiled darkly, her lips never once parting to form the words. Where are our cousins, that they may play too?

"They're gone. I thought they were with you." Solar's voice nearly caught.

The glowing red eyes seemed to dim, but then flared back to life. Ah, well. Three's a company, five's a crowd. Let's try something, Solar. The pupil-less red eyes locked onto Solar's. Let's pretend we're on Saturn. Let's pretend we've just become senshi and we're practicing. A glaive rose over the sailor's head, and she brought it through the air to rest it at Solar's chest. And let's pretend we're not friends.

Solar threw herself to the ground just as the glaive shot through the air. The sailor hissed, lunged at her with incredible speed. Eyes wide, Solar rolled away and stood, shaking. "Lia!" The girl lunged at her again. "Lia, stop it!"

"She's not human," Sailor Moon whispered, horrified. "Who is she?"

"Her name is Sailor Saturn." Pluto watched the onslaught helplessly. "She's the queen of Saturn."

"She's dead!" Luna snapped. "If you two hadn't gone against your word-"

"I never gave you my word on anything! She severed the links between them and us so they cannot hear us and we cannot hear them! Sailor Moon, get rid of this enemy...please..." Pluto's voice trailed off, and she turned at a shriek.

Solar staggered away from the other sailor, blood racing from a puncture wound along her waist. The new sailor's voice laughed. You're not fighting me at all. I'll kill you in a heartbeat.

"No!" As the senshi watched, Saturn's arm flew forward and slammed into Solar's shoulder. The other was thrown to the ground. The building shook unnaturally. "Lia?" Saturn knelt next to her sister, glaive poised above her throat. Solar made no effort to move and looked almost happy. "I thought I'd never see you again."

The woman blinked, and for a moment, the red eyes completely vanished. "Don't-" What are you doing?! Sailor Saturn reeled backwards.

"Lia?" Solar flew up, looking startled.

The sailor floundered on the floor. The glowing eyes vanished again. "Solar-" An unearthly scream rant the air, and the glowing resumed.

"Lia, calm down. Look around you. I raised your daughter for you. The prince and princess are safe. Pluto's here with me. Our cousins are not dead, only need to be found. Their daughters are right behind me." Solar fought her voice to calmness.

Saturn was heaving for breath. Her eyes were half-red and half-seeing, and the great black wings were a lighter shade. "Can't...breathe..." she choked out, then faltered back into Sailor Saturn.

"Solar!" Pluto cried. "If you turn her back, she'll die! She's an angel, not a human! Don't you remember the lore?? Angels can't breathe oxygen!"

Kill me again, sister - I dare you.

*

"Mommy, what's going on??" Diana whimpered, watching Saturn stumble to her feet. Blood was racing out of the woman's mouth, and she looked dazed.

"It's hard to explain, Diana," Luna said stiffly.

"Why do I feel like I know that voice? Not Saturn, but, you know, the other one?" Mars pondered. "That woman even looks familiar."

"I know what you mean," Jupiter agreed.

"Because you know her like you know Solar. A shadow on your memories - and nothing more," Artemis replied firmly. "And, at the moment, she's not a woman. She's a demon with an angel trapped inside of her."

"Will Solar have to kill her?" Uranus was oddly quiet.

"I don't know. I don't know if she's strong enough." Luna's tail flicked in agitated apprehension. "Love is her only weakness, and she loves her twin almost more than life itself."

"They're twins?!" Venus gasped. "They don't look a thing alike!"

"Their facial features are similar, if you can get them side by side." Artemis was clearly not happy at having to explain all this.

*

The red eyes of the demon senshi were not glowing as strongly as they had before. Weakened visibly, the woman was having trouble lifting her glaive. Solar took a step towards her, and Saturn snarled, then hissed again, and backed away with some difficulty.

Solar shook her head and held her hands in front of her, palms up. She closed her eyes as her hands began to glow with a pale silver light.

Seeing her opponent distracted, Saturn advanced on her, lifted her glaive. Swung it in an arc right towards Solar's neck.

"Lia! Stop!" Pluto cried, running towards the demon. The demon looked at her.

That fast, a pair of transparent and pale hands sprung out from demon and grabbed the staff part of the glaive, stopping its advance. The demon literally squawked, and a pale figure slid out from it. She was nearly identical to the demon, only even more beautiful and without a taint of darkness about her. There was a glowing band of gold above her head, and her wings were the color of ivory. After a moment's skirmish, the new figure had the glaive away from the demon. The demon shrieked and apparently lost the ability to speak.

"Now I'll get rid of you once and for all." The pale figure stabbed the glaive into the heart of the demon, who was to startled to move. The demon screamed and vanished in a roar of flame. The new woman was blasted back and fell with a yelp into Solar, who hadn't moved. She seemed to dissolve into the sailor, and a ghostly silver glow surrounded her. There was no sign of the glaive.

"Solar?" a faint voice asked, sounding confused. "Um..." Solar's eyes flew open, and she whirled around, as though to face someone. A head, shoulders, and arms of the newest version of Sailor Saturn appeared on Solar's shoulder. "Hi." She smiled and waved.

"AIE!!" Solar stared at her, shocked. "I didn't expect it to work! What happened?!"

"I fell." The mist shrugged and further materialized to show a form woven around Solar. "I missed you." She hugged her.

"I missed you too."

Pluto walked up to them, and Lia beamed in delight, reaching over and hugging her. "Pluto!! Missed you sooo much!"

"And I you." The Guardian chuckled and touched the fog on the shoulder. Surprisingly, her hand held.

"All of three of you, stop playing around!" Artemis shouted, bounding up to them. "Lia, every moment you're here, you're jeopardizing everything! You have to go back."

The angel's eyes narrowed. "I'm glad to see you too, Artemis. Need I remind you that I'm dead? I'm a ghost, dammit, and the prophecy clearly states that I have to be alive for the cataclysm to occur!" Amazingly, crystal tears welled in her eyes.

Artemis was clearly stunned. "How'd you know?"

"I know everything." Lia completely disappeared, then reappeared clinging onto Solar. "I'm always here. I'm always with them. I've never truly left."

"I want to know why we can't be together! For the sake of the prince and princess, I have not gone looking for Ocean and Sky, but by God, I'm this close to doing it!" Solar shouted.

"Oh...my God...the prophecies..." Sailor Moon whispered, looking horrified. "If all five of you come together, a terrible cataclysm will occur."

"You knew?" Luna asked in surprise.

"Not until now. We've been reading proverbs at school. It makes sense now," Mercury admitted.

Solar sighed in frustration. "Artemis, answer my question!"

"All five of you were supposed to have been killed in that Battle. Since you weren't, the rivers of destiny have been altered. They're twisted and intertwined in a way they're not supposed to be. When the five streams that represent all of you come together, they will explode," Artemis said with forced calm.

"Maybe we ought to let them find Ocean and Sky. Then we won't have to worry about this mess," Luna snarled.

"Luna!" Sailor Moon shrieked, whirling on her. "How could you say that?!"

"Very easily." The hate the feline saw towards the three senshi was so obvious.

Lia clung to Solar and looked likely never to let go. Solar grabbed Pluto's arm but showed no indifference to the cats' hate. "You'll get your wish soon enough. When he comes for the final showdown, I'll be the one to stand between him and the others. I'll kill him and he'll kill me in turn. Then you won't have to worry about me."

"You'd never do such a thing. You're a selfish, stuck-up princess! You stood by when your brother and sisters were slaughtered before your eyes just so one of the two of you would could gain the throne!" Artemis shouted.

Flame shot up around Solar for a split second. "You don't understand. Demetrie and Giallia told us not to interfere!" Lia cried, looking totally shaken. "They loved us and didn't want us to get hurt!"

"You'd say that, wouldn't you?" Luna asked her evenly, glaring hatefully. "Just so you could become queen!"

Lia shrieked as though physically struck.

Solar shouted angrily and shot a blast at the two cats, who jumped out of the way and appeared as humans in flashes of light. "Don't you dare insult her! Not after everything she's done!" she shouted, staring at them with more hate than the two combined could muster up. Sensing trouble, Lia jumped onto Pluto and hid behind her.

"Stop fighting! Luna, Artemis, they aren't the enemies!" Sailor Moon pleaded, looking close to tears.

"They may as well be!" Artemis said heatedly.

"If you fight them, if you hurt them, you'll bring Ocean and Sky back!" Neptune yelled, shaking. "I don't know who they are or where they are, but I know they love those three like they love them! If somehow, someway, they feel their pain, they'll come back. And everything will be ruined."

"She's right. Ocean and Sky know our powers and yours. And you know Ocean will kill both of you." Solar stared at them with a hint of triumph in her eyes.

"Please stop fighting," the blonde leader whispered, shaking her head. "You're not supposed to fight."

"They're not supposed to be alive." Artemis threw a ball of energy at Pluto, who skittered to one side.

"Leave her alone!" Artemis suddenly froze, and Solar's attack hit him square on.

"Solar, wait! Don't hurt them! It's a part of his plan, he wants to turn you all against each other!" Lia shook her head, and Pluto touched her shoulder. "Don't give into what he wants! Don't let him win! Please, I know it's hard, but don't fight them."

Solar regarded the moon guardians coldly. "Are you sure?"

"Have I ever lied to you before?"

The woman sighed and was silent for a moment. "I won't fight them. But only because it would be helping him."

"Good." Lia's form was growing fainter and fainter. "I have to go."

"You can't go!" Pluto stared at her in dismay. "Don't leave, Lia."

"I have no choice." She looked tired. "I'm not supposed to be here." She sighed.

"No." Solar stared at her and turned to one side to face them. "No." She ran over to Pluto and her sister, and the silver mist that was Lia wove in-between both of them. "You can't leave."

"But I've never really left you." Lia hugged Pluto, and the Guardian hugged her. She didn't look very thrilled about the thought of her friend leaving. Tears welled in her eyes, then slid down Solar's face. Lia turned to her, hugged her tightly. "Don't cry. Don't be discouraged. He only wants you to get weaker. But you have to get stronger. You have to beat him. Solar, don't let him win."

"It's...hard..."

"I know it is. But Pluto's here and so are the other senshi. They'll help you." She leaned over her sister's shoulder and whispered something.

"But I want you here too! I'm sorry, Lia, I'm sorry!" She was sobbing now and fell to her knees. Lia fell with her. "It's all my fault!"

"Yes, it is," Lia murmured softly, the tone of one who didn't want to injure but had no choice. "But you can make it right again."

"It'll never be right! Everyone's dead because of me! You're dead because of me! The Silver Millennium is gone, Lia, and nothing I will ever be able to do will bring it back!"

"That's true, but it doesn't mean the future is a lost cause as well. They can have an empire better than the Silver Millennium, if you protect them. The little princess, for example."

"Oh my God..." Solar could say nothing more as Lia appeared to fade. The fading glow lost all shape and turned into a mist, floating over to Pluto and wrapping around her, then shot skyward - and was gone. "Lia!!" Pluto visibly paled and sat down, shaking. She appeared to be at a loss for words as she pulled her knees up to her chin and cried.

Diana looked over to a corner and yelped. "Princess Rini! When did you- who-"

The senshi all looked over at a startled Rini and a depressed Autumn. A hologram of Atia suddenly disappeared. "Rini! How..."

Luna and Artemis stared at Autumn with looks of surprised hate. They hadn't noticed her prescience before; they had a feeling Atia had been hiding it. Since the last time they had seen her she was hardly a week old, they most certainly didn't recognize her appearance. "Who are you?" Luna asked, but she had a sinking feeling in her gut.

"There's no hiding anything from you two, is there?" Autumn spat. "You know perfectly well who I am."

And just like that, the senshi understood.