Shades of Gray
A Sailor Moon Fanfic
By: Aaron Nowack
Chapter 1: Shadows of the Past
"It is well that war is so terrible, or we should get too fond of it."
- Robert E. Lee
Disclaimer: Sailor Moon is owned by Naoko Takeuchi, whose creative talents far exceed my most humble own. Distribution and other rights to Sailor Moon belong to lots of different companies that I do not own. I make or imply no claim to ownership of Sailor Moon or its characters. However, the text of this fanfic is mine, and should not be used without permission. Thank you.
Tsukino Usagi was window shopping, a perfectly ordinary activity for a teenaged girl who had just gotten out of detention. However, most window shopping teenaged girls had not fought against an alien menace bent on either destroying or conquering the world only three days before. Usagi had never quite figured out which of these two was the goal of the Death Busters, as this particular menace was known. Thankfully, the question would remain hypothetical, as Sailor Saturn had defeated Master Pharaoh 90, and his servants had been slain or redeemed.
Another thing set Tsukino Usagi apart from the other girls engaged in the pursuit of clothing, candy, jewelry, or whatever other purchases they wished to make. These other shoppers were not about to be late to a meeting to discuss the aftermath of the aforementioned alien invasion. When Usagi became aware of this particular fact, she immediately set off at a breakneck speed towards the site of that meeting, the Hikawa Shrine.
As usual, Usagi did not pay attention to little things like obstacles in her path. One of these obstacles happened to be a twenty year old human male named Fuarku Ikawa. Had she been looking, Usagi might notice some vague resemblance between Ikawa and another who had often been placed in a similar situation, one Chiba Mamoru. She might be surprised to learn that Ikawa and Mamoru had both went to the same university, and in fact knew each other fairly well. Unlike Mamoru, however, Ikawa managed to notice the blond bullet headed towards him, and dodged out of the way in time.
Usagi also failed to notice Ikawa turning towards the fast disappearing girl and yelling out, "Watch where you're going, you crazy girl!" She also failed to hear the mutter uttered by Ikawa afterward, which went something like this: "That girl sure did look familiar, though. Wonder where I saw her before."
Fuarku Ikawa, despite his acquaintance with Mamoru, had never before met, or even seen, Tsukino Usagi.
An eternity passed. Or could it be only a week?
CRACK
A second eternity passed. Or it might have been a month.
CRACK
Countless aeons, or perhaps mere days came and left.
CRACK
A barest instant, or maybe a time so long as to dwarf human conception of time and...
SHATTER
A figure dressed in a tattered gray uniform pulled himself from the shattered remnants of his tomb, and looked around the infinite abyss where he found himself. He knew that his mistress must be dead, or he would still be within the crystal. An evil grin appeared on his face as he considered the possibilities. Whatever had slain his queen would have had to go through his brothers first, which meant that there would be no serious opponents to contest his claim to the throne.
"Free. Free at last. And woe to those who caused me to be locked away."
And in a whirl of flames, the figure vanished.
At the Hikawa Shrine, nearly perfect silence reigned. "Nearly" perfect, as the slow but steady sound of fingers tapping on a table interrupted the silence. The owner of these appendages was a tall, blond woman who dearly wished to be anywhere but here. She wouldn't be here at all, except for a green-haired woman who was also present at this gathering. Haruka, as the blonde was called, would have refused Usagi's invitation to this meeting, but Setsuna, the green-haired woman, had told her and her other companion, Michiru, in no uncertain terms that it was necessary for them to come, and so come they did.
Her finger-tapping provoked a response from one of her fellow attendees, one Hino Rei, who happened to be the host of this gathering.
"Haruka, please stop that."
The tapping continued for a few more moments, then ceased. However, perfect silence was not to be, as Michiru began to speak.
"Can we please get started? I don't know about the rest of you, but I have better things to do with my time then sit around waiting for Usagi."
The Inner Senshi considered this for a moment. Then one Mizuno Ami spoke. "All right. Maybe if we don't wait for her, she'll learn to be on time."
Rei sadly shook her head. "Not likely. But then, she wouldn't pay attention if she was here, anyway, so let's start. I take it their haven't been any disturbances since that last daimon that showed up after Chibi-Usa left?" That daimon had been unexpected, and might have avenged its masters, if not for the timely arrival of Sailors Uranus and Neptune at the scene.
No one responded to the question, except for the Outer Senshi, who briefly shook their heads no.
Rei continued, "OK then. We've been seeking out and neutralizing the remaining daimon pods, but what have you three been up to?"
It was Michiru who replied. "Mostly, we've been keeping an eye on baby Hotaru. So far, she seems to be an ordinary healthy baby girl." A brief smile appeared on Setsuna's face, unnoticed by the others.
"Where are you staying, in case we need to get in touch with you?" Ami asked.
This time it was Setsuna who replied. "At Professor Tomoe's house, of course. Where better to watch Saturn and help Tomoe recover from his possession? Oh yes. I would suggest you move your... collection from the basement of your mother's hospital to the Professor's house. It will be much safer there."
Ami's eyes widened, and she was about to ask how Setsuna knew of the treasure trove of Death Buster technology she had scrounged up from the scenes of battles and the wreckage of Mugen High, of which the most valuable was the single daimon egg the Senshi had discovered before it could either bond with something or lose its power. However, the entrance of a seemingly supersonic moon princess into the room interrupted her before she could begin to speak.
"I'm sorry I'm late did I miss anything," Usagi spat out in one breath as she hurriedly seated herself.
Rei sighed. "No, not really."
"Good. Oh, are those cupcakes?" Usagi asked as she reached out for the food.
"Now that we are all here, I must tell you the reason for this meeting." The voice was Setsuna's, and silence quickly settled over the room after a brief outburst. Most of them had been expecting something like this, for they knew, even from their brief experience with her, that Setsuna would not show up for a routine meeting.
"We have a new enemy." Everyone paled at that thought.
"But it's only been a few days since they last one, and their haven't been any monster attacks or anything. There must be some mistake," Usagi pleaded.
"There is no mistake," Setsuna answered.
Ami pulled out her computer. "Who is the enemy?" she asked, preparing to search for any information that might be available. Setsuna frowned, the most emotion any of the Senshi had seen on her except when she was talking with Chibiusa. "I cannot tell you."
Ami looked up from her computer. "Why?"
"I cannot say," Setsuna said smoothly.
Haruka stood up. "Can you say anything?" she asked, only to continue without waiting for an answer. "Come on," she said to Michiru, "we have work to do." Michiru nodded and the two left the shrine.
An instant later Setsuna followed.
Once the throne room had been dark and imposing. Now, it merely looked dusty and unkempt. The black throne stood unoccupied, as none dared claim it. Where once a mighty army had gathered, now only a few diehards continued to meet, bickering over who would claim the throne that only one had ever sat on.
Or only one, until today. A column of fire washed over the throne, forming the image of a man. Mutters echoed through the nearly empty hall, only increasing when flames died down to reveal a familiar man wearing a familiar uniform. A uniform not seen in almost two years. The man looked around the hall.
"Silence!" The mutterings ceased. The man glanced around once more.
"Pathetic. You have wasted years bickering over who would take a throne none of you are worthy of. Have you done anything to achieve vengeance? Have you?"
The question was met with silence.
"I see not. In any case, that particular bone of contention is no more, for _I_ claim this throne. I claim it, by my right as sole remaining General of the Dark Kingdom. I Jadeite, Guardian of Fire, claim this throne! Do any of you fools dare contest my claim?"
The gathered youma looked at each other in silence, until one, an Overlord, stepped forward. The Overlord was vaguely and disturbingly insectile, and unlike the common youma, was masculine in form. Translucent wings with an oil-like sheen unfolded from behind its back as its compound eyes stared at the general.
"I contest your claim, General Jadeite. I contest your claim by my right as Overlord of the Plague Reach. I, Bezel, contest your claim to the throne." The youma's buzzing voice showed no fear as it spoke the ritual words.
Jadeite rose, and descended to the floor. "Very well, then. I choose here and now for our contest."
With a hiss, Bezel extended one claw. "Pestilence Touch," it called out, and a sickly green beam of energy leapt from its raised arm.
Jadeite calmly raised one hand. "Soul Flame." A firebolt left his hand, obliterating Bezel's attack, and continuing onward to slightly singe its carapace.
A frustrated sound escaped the Overlord's mandibles as it stumbled back. Then in its sibilant voice, it called out "Mosquito Swarm." A cloud of stinging insects engulfed Jadeite, and the gathered youma held their breath.
Jadeite's still calm voice was heard. "Fire Shield." Flames engulfed the insects, and the general strode out unharmed. "Enough of this farce," Jadeite said, and pointed at Bezel. "Incinerate." His voice was still emotionless.
First nothing seemed to happen, and Bezel began to laugh. But then, the insectile youma began to smoke. Slowly, white-hot fires began to consume the Overlord, and the laugh turned into a high pitched scream, which quickly died out. The flaming corpse toppled over, and soon was nothing more than a pile of cooling ash.
Jadeite strode back towards the throne, hiding the wave of weakness that passed through him after the drain of the last spell. "Are there any further challengers?" When he saw that there were none, he sat once more upon Beryl's throne. No, not Beryl's throne. His throne.
"Well, that was rude." Minako's comment broke the uneasy quiet that had fallen over the shrine at the abrupt departure of the Outer Senshi.
Rei stared at the still open door. "You didn't really expect them to stay for long, did you?"
Ami coughed politely. "Can we please continue with the meeting? If we do have a new enemy, we'll need to be ready." The other Senshi nodded their agreement, and Ami continued. "Now, I've finished my investigations into Usagi's 'Super' transformation."
"Cool. Have you figured out how I can do it again?" Usagi had proven unable to do so since the battle with Pharaoh 90.
"Unfortunately, no. There is no reference to anything like it in my computer, which most likely means there were no 'Super' transformations in the Silver Millennium. My best hypothesis is that what we were calling your 'Super' transformation was only the Holy Grail's way of adapting you to use its power, and that without the Grail, you will be unable transform into 'Super Sailor Moon' again."
"But... what about at the end of the... I mean, I did transform without the Grail to fight Pharaoh 90," Usagi stammered.
Ami shook her head. "I believe what happened there was that we were able to activate the residual energy left behind by the Grail. I doubt it would work again, and frankly, I feel no great desire to replicate the conditions under which we were able to do it the first time."
Everyone shuddered at that. It wasn't quite as disturbing as the time they had, well, died, but it was the next-worse thing. Being trapped in a vortex of dark energy that also happened to be the leading edge of the Silence was not fun.
Jadeite surveyed his new subjects. They were few in number, disorganized, and poorly trained. They bore little resemblance to the hordes that had served Beryl, and even smaller resemblance to the disciplined, highly trained army he had led ten thousand years ago to assault the Moon Palace. But, it was a start.
And so he could start on his plans for vengeance. It would be years, probably, before they came to fruition, but Beryl's fall had taught him the value of patience. He had waited millennia for his victory, and what was a few more years? Nothing really.
He looked around once more. "Have any of you examined the dimensional barrier recently?" There was no response. "I didn't think so. If you had, you would have noticed how much it has decayed. We should able to send over more powerful youma then ever before. Indeed, I believe the barrier is weak enough to send over an Overlord and a few servants."
An excited mutter began to spread through the crowd. One youma stepped forward. "I will go, Lord Jadeite." The youma was Sithar, the Overlord of Tempest Island, and a former ally of Nephrite. Jadeite smiled at the reptilian fiend, and nodded his acquiescence.
"Gather your servants then, Sithar." Four snake youma appeared around the Overlord.
"I am ready, Lord Jadeite." In a burst of flames, Sithar and his servants vanished.
Jadeite smiled. Sithar could have been a threat, but now he would be eliminated. And none could cast any blame on him, for the Overlord had volunteered himself, and probably as an attempt to make himself the true power in the Dark Kingdom. Perfect. Jadeite stood up and strode out of the throne room without a further word. It was time to begin.
One Overlord turned to another and whispered. "He should not have the throne."
"True, but Bezel and Sithar were fools. That is not the way to take down Jadeite."
"Aye. He's too strong to take in combat, and not likely to put any of us in a position where we can put ourselves in the shadows behind his throne, as Sithar tried." Both of the Overlords had already given up Sithar for dead.
"We must bide our time, and wait for him to make a mistake."
"I agree."
"So, you're sure that there's no way for me to go Super again?
Ami sighed. "As sure as I can be, Usagi. I've done readings on you again and again, and I have found no signs of either Grail energy or the power signature of your Super form."
Back at the Hikawa Shrine, the Senshi had been trying without success to convince Usagi of that. No doubt, another round of questions would have begun, but something began to emit a beeping noise. Out of instinct, everyone checked their communicators before they realized the sound was coming from the Mercury Computer.
Ami quickly began to type away. "Um... my computer is picking up five, no six... no _five_ youma energy signals at the Osa-P shopping center."
Makoto grinned. "All right, a fight! And I thought things might get boring around here."
Rei held up a hand. "Wait a second. Ami, did you say youma energy signatures?"
Ami nodded. "Yes."
Rei frowned. "As in, not daimons, not droids, not cardians, but honest-to-God, Dark Kingdom vintage youma?"
Ami nodded her head again. "That's right."'
Rei's frown deepened. "Why would they be showing up again? Could they be the new enemy?"
Minako stood. "We can't worry about that now. We've got a job to do."
Everyone rose at that. "Right."
Sailor Neptune froze.
"Neptune, what is it?" That was Uranus, as she and Pluto stopped. They had been out on patrol, looking for any sign of their new enemy, though Neptune was unsure why Pluto had chosen to come along.
"I... the seas are turbulent. Something evil has come." Neptune closed her eyes, trying to get a better reading. "It... it doesn't feel familiar."
Pluto brightened at that. Perhaps this threat could be dealt with quickly. "Where?"
Neptune slowly turned around. "To... to the south."
Uranus began to run in that direction. "Let's go."
The other two followed her to the south, coincidentally, or perhaps not, the direction to the ruins of Mugen High.
The Osa-P shopping center was to the north.
"Hold it right there!"
The five youma turned to face the voice. Four were the typical humanoid, vaguely feminine monstrosities. The other was larger, masculine, and sported a tail. All had red eyes, were covered in green scales, and had clawed hands and feet.
The Sailor Senshi leapt down from the low wall on which they had been standing and Sailor Moon began her speech. "Attacking innocents and destroying shopping centers is unforgivable. In the name of the Moon, we will punish you!"
The larger youma opened its fanged mouth. "We'll see about that, you little brats. Youma, attack!" The smaller youma leapt towards the Senshi.
Sailor Jupiter stepped forward. "Not so fast. SPARKLING WIDE PRESSURE!!" The ball lightning hit one of the charging youma, and it dissolved to dust. "Not so tough after all, huh?"
The other Senshi were quick to follow suit. The Venus Love-Me Chain threw two youma into a wall, destroying them. A Shine Aqua Illusion finished off the last of the lesser youma.
Sailor Moon pulled out the Spiral Moon Rod. "Now, time to finish you off, youma!"
"I'm now mere youma, girl. I am Sithar, the Overlord of Tempest Island. You will find me to be much tougher prey then my servants." Sithar performed a quick tail swipe, which knocked the Spiral Moon Rod from Sailor Moon's hand.
"Hey, that's not fair!" cried Moon as she dodged a clawed hand.
Venus leapt forward. "Crescent Beam!" She only had time to fire a weak beam, not enough to really hurt the Overlord, but enough to distract him from Sailor Moon.
Sithar turned towards the Senshi of Love, and swiped her with one claw. Venus stumbled back, bloody scratches showing on her arm. However, to do this Sithar had turned his back on Moon and Jupiter.
"Moon Tiara- Action!"
"Sparkling Wide Pressure!"
Sithar's tail bounced Jupiter's attack back towards its originator, who was thrown backward by the blast. However, Sailor Moon's attack cut into the youma's back, leaving a long wound that bled green ichor.
Mercury had pulled out her visor, and was observing the youma. "Our attacks aren't doing enough damage, we have to try and hit him all at once!"
"Right!" called Venus and Moon, who had retreated a bit and were now standing together. Mars was tending to the fallen Jupiter.
Sithar laughed. "You think I'm going to let you do that! Fangs of the Serpent... STRIKE!" Ghostly fangs appeared out of nowhere and struck the two Senshi, throwing them back against a wall.
Desperately, Mercury fired a Shine Aqua Illusion at Sithar, but he strode through unharmed.
"Foolish girl, water is my element, and cannot harm me! Now, I will finish you off." The Overlord strode towards the Senshi of Ice.
"If that's true, then maybe fire will take you down." Mars rose from her position next to Jupiter. The youma whirled around, but not quickly enough. "Burning Mandala!"
The Outers continued to race towards the evil they had felt. Suddenly, Neptune stopped once more. "Wait, the evil force is moving... it's headed east."
Uranus and Pluto nodded, and headed off in the new direction.
Jadeite smiled as he approached the museum. His plan was working perfectly. His cloaking magic hid him from Mercury's accursed computer, and Sithar was distracting the Senshi, keeping them from running into him by chance.
Already, he had accomplished his first goal. Six whole daimon pods rested in a subspace pocket. As soon as he had learned of the Death Busters from one of his more trusted old servants, he had known that he could use some of the eggs. They were drained of energy, which was probably why the Senshi hadn't found them already, but it should be a simple matter to reenergize them once he was back in the Dark Kingdom. Now, on to the second part of his mission.
He courteously nodded to museum caretaker as he entered into the museum, and the caretaker smiled at him. Good. His glamour was keeping the caretaker from noticing anything unusual about him. He turned towards the human. "Where is the gem exhibit, sir?"
"Up the stairs and to the left."
Jadeite thanked the man and headed on his way. It took him only a minute to find what he was looking for: a beautiful red diamond that seemed to glow with a light of its own. He had discovered this shortly before his untimely defeat, but had been unable to secure it quickly enough. So much might have gone differently had he been able to. A small magic deactivated the cameras and alarms, and he shattered the glass case. He ignored the pain and reached out to take the gem.
"This is it," he whispered, "the Flame Diamond." He could already feel its power fill him, raising it to unheard of heights.
With a smile on his face, he teleported back to his private chambers in the Dark Kingdom.
Neptune stopped for a third time. "The evil is gone."
"Damn." Uranus stopped her run, and Pluto followed suit.
Pluto frowned. "We weren't fast enough. We're going to have to do better next time."
"Right... I should be able to home in better on that energy source next time."
"Good." Pluto was about to continue when Uranus spotted a familiar figure.
"Hey, Tuxedo Kamen! Where are you going?"
The object of her attention sped past them. "I don't know, but Sailor Moon's in danger."
Without a word, the Outer Senshi raced after him.
Like most people at the shopping center, Fuarku Ikawa had done two things when the youma had shown up. The first, and most important, was to get out of the immediate area. The second was to find a spot where he could get a good view of the coming fight. Both purposes were served admirably by a stone wall that sported a small hole that allowed a view of the battlefield.
Ikawa silently cheered as he watched the Sailor Senshi dispatch the minor youma with consummate ease, though he did wish they had picked a different wall to throw youma at than the one he was hiding behind. Something inside of him seemed to stir as he watched the fight, and against his better judgment he stayed even after the close call.
His eye remained glued to the hole as Sithar began to demolish the Senshi almost as easily his servants were defeated. Ikawa winced as the Overlord prepared to disembowel the apparently helpless Sailor Mercury. Then came two words that would change the young man's life forever.
"Burning Mandala!"
Time seemed to stretch out as images poured into Ikawa's head. A battle, peace, death, being born again, living, fighting, dying, rebirth, living again, and dying again, another life, and another death, an endless cycle of rebirth... Ikawa nearly cried out from the pain as the foreign images invaded his thoughts.
A brightly glowing crystal, surrounded by five other stones. An evil queen, falling as her subjects turned against her. The foundation stones of a new palace being laid on the ruins of the old, as the Earth floated in the sky above. The same palace, now finished. A smiling woman with a crescent moon on her forehead. A red desert, cities that looked like nothing on Earth, ships that sailed between the planets. A dark castle on a planet from which the sun was seen as merely a speck of light, hardly visible. Love. Hate. War. Peace. A hundred thousand other things, too much for any human brain to hold, images slipping away even as he struggled to grasp at them.
Who was he? He thought he was Ikawa, but a thousand other names clamored for attention, and one other, both a title and a name, called to him with a voice that drowned them all out. No, he was not any one of these names. He was all of them, and they were him.
The second-long eternity came to an end. Arcs of fire bit into Sithar, who struggled to remain upright against the attack, as Ikawa stumbled to his feet. The Fire Senshi and the youma exchanged brief words, as the other Senshi recovered from Sithar's attacks.
Unthinkingly, Ikawa raised one hand into the air. A bar of flame appeared, which slowly settled into the shape of a Western broadsword, and then died down, revealing just such a sword. The blade felt far too light and far too natural in Ikawa's hand, but he continued calling out words that seemed to come from the bottom of his soul.
"MARS SWORD POWER!"
Sailor Mars smiled as the youma Overlord fell back before her attack. "So, it appears you do have a weakness."
Sithar straightened up once more. "Hah! You're barely strong enough to hurt me, much less kill me." Nonetheless, large patches of scorched scales now covered the youma.
Mars raised her hands in preparation for another attack. "We'll see about that, creep."
Meanwhile, Mercury had retreated and was assisting Sailors Moon and Venus to their feet. When she had stood, Sailor Moon glanced around quickly locating the Spiral Moon Rod. As well, Jupiter was rising once more, battered though she was from the blast she had taken.
As she wasn't yet ready for another Burning Mandala, Mars threw a quick Fire Soul at Sithar, which was augmented with a faltering Crescent Beam from Venus. The two attacks slammed into the weakened monster, who stumbled back from the force, which only a few seconds ago would have been insignificant to him. With a grimace, he prepared to teleport away before the Senshi could finish him off. Sailor Moon had recovered her weapon, and was preparing to launch an attack at Sithar. Both were surprised at what happened next.
An unfamiliar voice called out "Flame Strike!" and a burst of white flame swept over the youma, burning a hole straight through him. With a pained shriek, the youma crumbled into the familiar dust, which swiftly vanished.
When the afterimages had faded from the Senshi's eyes, they saw the source of the attack. A young man stood atop a stone wall, casually holding a broadsword in one hand. He was covered from neck to foot in blood-red plate armor, and the symbol of Mars was displayed in bold black strokes on his breastplate. His cold blue eyes surveyed the battlefield as he began to speak. "Well, well... if it isn't the famed Sailor Senshi."
Sailor Moon was the first to recover her wits. "Who... who are you?"
The man's gaze lingered on Sailor Mars for a moment before he turned his stare on the Senshi's leader. "Don't you recognize me, 'Sailor Moon'?" The intonation he put on the last was strange and mocking. "I am Ares, Champion of Mars... Serenity." A smile that didn't touch his emotionless eyes appeared on Ares's face.
He never finished the motion, however, as a rose thudded into the stone between his feet. Ares looked up at the roof of an adjacent building where Tuxedo Mask and the Outer Senshi were perched. "Ah, Endymion. I should have expected you to be around too." He turned back to the Senshi beneath him. "It looks as though the cavalry has arrived. We'll have to continue this conversation later, Serenity." Ares leapt down behind the stone wall, and a moment later Fuarku Ikawa went about his business.
No one noticed that Sailor Pluto was now gripping her Time Staff so hard that her knuckles were white.
Later that afternoon, the Senshi reconvened their meeting at the Hikawa Shrine, save for Pluto, who had vanished after the fight. Both groups had informed the other of what had occurred to them. Though "normally" the topic of conversation might have been the new enemy or why the Dark Kingdom was showing its face again, these topics were eclipsed by the many questions about Ares. Most, importantly, was he friend or foe?
Haruka snorted. "I think that's obvious. He was about to attack you!"
"But he destroyed the youma!" Minako protested.
"That doesn't mean anything," Michiru said, "The enemy of our enemy might not always be our friend."
Haruka frowned. "He might be part of the new enemy and they don't want anyone to interfere with their plans."
Ami spoke up. "I wasn't able to get good readings on him, but I don't think there was any sort of dark energy on him. In fact, his signature is closer to our own than to any enemy we've faced."
"Well, he did say he was Rei's champion. I think that's so romantic!" The speaker was, of course, Usagi.
Rei lightly bopped her princess on the head. "I think he meant the planet, not the Senshi, meatball head."
The rest of the group tried to ignore the ensuing fight. "I don't remember anything about an Ares in the Silver Millennium, and neither does Artemis," said Luna.
"I'll get my computer running a search program to try and find information, but it will take a day or so to finish," Ami said as she set the search parameters.
Michiru was the next with a plan. "If I remember correctly from... my past life, my mirror has some sort of divination power. I'll see what I can do."
Haruka nodded. "And if Pluto shows her face again, I'll be sure to grill her."
A somewhat calmed down Rei continued, "And I'll try a fire reading. So let's meet again tomorrow, all right?" Everyone agreed, and the meeting broke up.
Rei walked up to the window, and stared at the sky for a moment. Then, she felt Ami's presence behind her.
"I figure this is worth a try, since you seem to represent the same planet as him. Did you... feel anything about Ares?"
Rei was silent for a moment. "I don't know... I don't think so. Maybe." She sighed. "That's not very helpful, is it?"
"No." Ami glanced out the window. "But I believe we'll find out whether he's an enemy soon enough."
Author's Random Revised Ramblings
1) Ah, chapter 1. How different the plot was when I wrote you, let me count the ways. Well, now it should be more in line with later chapters.
2) I'm trying to avoid removing some of the distinctive style and... idiosyncrasies of these early, pre-prereading, much less dark chapters, while at the same time fixing various errors and tightening up both the plot and the writing. Let me know how well I'm succeeding.
3) In fact, let me know what you thought, whatever it might be, and whether or not you've read this fic before.
4) The daimon attack mentioned is, in fact, the one featured in the last episode of S. However, rather than Chibi-Usa saving the day, it is Sailor Uranus and Neptune. Chibi-Usa does not, as of yet, return from the future.
This is the official divergence point for this fic.
5) For the purposes of this fic, I decreed that Endymion's Guardians had elemental powers. They were:
Jadeite- Fire
Nephrite- Water
Zoicite- Air
Kunzite- Earth
6) In the original author's notes to this chapter, I noted that Jadeite and the Dark Kingdom wouldn't really play much role in the plot, and were mainly a source of "monsters of the week". Readers of the original version, feel free to roll on the floor laughing.
7) Thanks still go to Chris Mattern for correcting the chapter quote, which was misattributed in the first posting.
8) Thanks go to Michael Chase for his comments on this revision.
Released: October 30, 2000
Revised: August 11, 2003
Final: December 30, 2003
