Shades of Gray
A Sailor Moon Fanfic
By: Aaron Nowack

Chapter 4: The Search Begins

"Every journey begins with a single step."

- saying




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.


Malvaar silently knelt before the dark throne. Pale light shone down on him, while leaving the rest of the chamber in shadow. He ignored the whispers already rising from the crowds of youma that stood around the throne room. Fools, all of them. Malvaar was not Ixitar, and would not share Ixitar's fate. Still silent, the Overlord presented a massive ball of energy to Jadeite.

Jadeite smiled, relaxing on his throne as he eyed the glowing white ball. His eyes glinted, an odd amusement present in them. "The... profits of your attack, I assume?"

Malvaar nodded. "Of course, my lord."

Jadeite accepted the energy, the odd gleam in his eye even more noticeable. "So, tell me, Malvaar... why did you retreat? I seem to recall that you were to destroy the Senshi?"

Malvaar had known that question would come. He would have had to be stupid not to expect it. "I did not promise it would take only one strike, my lord. In this mission, my goal was to gain energy for further strikes with minimal losses. I left once that objective had been achieved." Not to mention he wasn't interested in turning into a pile of ash.

"Coward." The voice echoed through the room, but it was not Jadeite who said it. Malvaar looked about for the source, finally spotting Hensur, the Overlord of the Shorn Wastes. The Overlord stood boldly in front of a small crowd. Malvaar noted a horrified looking Nyxan - one of the Overlords his master had thoroughly briefed him on before sending him on this mission - in that group.

The minotaur turned back to Jadeite. "My lord, do I have permission to challenge this wretch who questions my honor?"

Jadeite shifted his weight on his stark throne. "But of course."

Malvaar stood and turned to face the audience. "Come forth, drone! Come forward and face your doom!"

Nervously, Hensur stepped forward. The dim light cast eerie shadows over his odd mixture of reptilian and insectile features. Slowly, he raised his hands in a defensive posture.

Malvaar wasted no time as he leapt forward. With great speed, he dodged a bolt of dark energy. He ignored the pained screams of a youma in the audience that had not thought to raise protective shields, and grabbed his opponent in one massive hand.

The minotaur took Hensur's arm in his other hand, and with hardly any effort dislocated the limb. Hensur was desperately trying to get off a quick incantation, but could hardly breathe, much less speak. With a snort of disgust, Malvaar hurled the other youma against a pillar.

The loud crack of bones breaking resounded throughout the cavernous chamber. Hensur lay slumped against the pillar for a moment, before struggling to rise. Malvaar merely watched, flexing his powerful muscles.

Finally, Hensur stood. Weakly, he raised his good arm, firing off a feeble energy bolt, hardly worthy of the name. His opponent didn't even grunt when the attack hit him. Malvaar stepped forward once more, picking up Hensur and shoving him against the black pillar.

The minotaur's face turned to his lord. "Permission to slay this pitiful excuse for an Overlord, my lord Jadeite?"

An amused smile on his face, Jadeite nodded. "Granted."

Malvaar brought his gaze back to his opponent. Concentrating for a moment, he began to push Hensur harder against the pillar. As he did so, the dark obsidian seemed to liquefy. Hensur began to scream as he was engulfed by the pillar.

A moment later, it was over. The pillar was one again hard and flawless. There was no sign that Hensur now was entombed within. Malvaar stepped back, examining the cold, smooth surface before giving a grunt of satisfaction. The Overlords around him stepped back, eyeing Hensur's new... habitation.

The Overlord turned, and walked until he stood before the throne once more. "If it is acceptable, I will begin preparations for a second strike at once."

Jadeite nodded once before vanishing in a whirl of flames. Malvaar soon followed suit. Moments later, the throne room began to empty

In a corner of the room, Nyxan and Ishamanar met. "That was... interesting," stated Ishamanar. "Did you encourage Hensur?" He was unable to restrain a glance towards the dark pillar, seemingly no different from any of the others that filled the throne room, that was the fallen Overlord's tomb.

Nyxan calmly replied, "Hardly. I was hoping to send him against Malvaar, but only once I'd had a chance to strengthen the fool. We might have to act against the... ambassador directly."

"I agree. Come, we have a great deal to discuss."



Fuarku Ikawa stared at his computer. He was seated in his room, which was a perfect example of barely restrained chaos. Piles of books, clean and dirty laundry, and other possessions were scattered about, seemingly at random. Ikawa's expression vacillated between shock, amusement, and fierce joy for several minutes. Finally, it seemed to settle on amusement, and Ikawa let loose a soft chuckle.

The young man stood and swept through his one room apartment, gathering up a number of textbooks and assorted school supplies with speed that belied the apparent disorder of the room. It was a good thing his study group was meeting where it was. He had a second appointment there now. But if he didn't hurry, he was going to be late for the first.

Ikawa raced out of the room, inadvertently leaving the computer on. On the screen was displayed a single message.

"I'LL BE MEETING YOU AT THE PARK TODAY.

-HERMES"

A moment later, the screen saver kicked in.



"No... look, Motoki. You have to split the vector like this," Shoju explained.

Motoki nodded. "I think I see." The study group was spending the morning in the park, cramming for an upcoming physics test. Ikawa and Tamori was not yet present, but the other three members were. It was a sunny day, and the park seemed bright and full of life. At least except for the section that was blocked off by police lines. The section where, not long before, a battle had been fought.

Mamoru was thumbing through his notes, trying to absorb the formulas through some sort of osmosis. He did his best to ignore Shoju's attempts to aid the struggling Motoki through the basic principles. "Oh well," Mamoru thought. "At least I don't really have to worry about my future too much, if I'm going to be King of the world. And then I can outlaw physics tests... if Usagi doesn't do it first." Mamoru smiled ruefully. Though he loved her the way she was, he hoped Usagi would mature at least a little bit before she became Queen.

Mamoru lost his train of thought as the two missing members of the group arrived. Ikawa cheerfully waved to the group in greeting. Moments later, the two were seated, and the group got down to the real studying.

A few hours later, Shoju slammed his books shut. "I think we're about as ready as we're going to be for this test," he stated as the others followed suit.

"I guess," Motoki said, glancing at his watch. "I've got to head over to the Crown anyway."

"Wasn't one of the Senshi spotted there yesterday?" Shoju asked.

Motoki nodded. "Yeah, Sailor Venus and that Ares fellow. Unazuki said she saw them on the way home. I wonder why they were together, though? I thought Ares and the Senshi were fighting?" He didn't notice the uncomfortable looks on Ikawa, Mamoru, and Tamori's faces.

Ikawa's expression was easy to explain. The conversation was taking a turn that he didn't want to have to deal with. Mamoru's expression was present because he was reminded of how useless he had been at the park. Usagi could have died, and he had been able to do nothing!

Tamori's reasons were more complicated. Strange, foreign emotions churned inside him as he heard about the Senshi and Ares. Love, hatred, anger, and confusion swirled about in his head. "What's wrong with me?" he thought. "Why do I feel this way?"



Elsewhere in the park, Urawa Meno sat toying with a small, blue supercomputer. Of course, it appeared to be a PDA of some sort. Everyone knew that supercomputers were gigantic, even in these days of rapidly advancing technology. Though, in fact, this particular supercomputer bore only the faintest of resemblances to the more well known kind. The other person sitting at the bench stared uncomfortably at the sigil engraved in gold on the back of the device.

He had come into Juuban, using money he had borrowed from his parents to pay for the train ride. He hadn't even called any of the other people he knew in Juuban, not even... her.

"Are you sure about this, Meno?" he finally asked.

Meno looked up. "Yes, Ryo. I am," he said. "Have you... seen anything more?"

Yes. "Not really." Ryo grimaced. He couldn't tell his brother what he'd seen, and why it worried him. If he did, Ami would be in terrible danger. And if he warned her, his brother would die. "Precognition isn't worth it," he thought, silently cursing fate. It was bad enough to have to live with the knowledge of what he really was, knowledge his six... siblings - the word was right, though he had no blood relation to them - were able to live without. His cursed gift had seen to it that he did not have that option.

Even now, he could feel his true nature boiling in the dark recesses of his inner self. The urge to take out his frustration in mindless violence, the hunger for the life energy of the puny mortals that surrounded him - they both were nearly irresistible. He could resist, though; he could fight his nature, but he knew he would never be free. Never be worthy of... anything.

He wondered whether others of the Seven felt that way. Maybe not. After all, none of them had merged with their true form as he had. Sure, it had meant that he could control his urges somewhat, that he could fight Zoicite. But it had meant he had accepted his nature, however reluctantly. He had become one with the monster. Yes, it had allowed him to protect Ami, no, Sailor Mercury, but it had also surely weakened Serenity's bindings as well.

"Is something wrong?" Meno asking, sensing the mood of his younger sibling's thoughts, if not their content. For an instant, Ryo wished he could bring himself to release all his control, to reveal himself to his brother, and to be cut down like the abomination he was. Yet, he could not.

"I wish... I wish you wouldn't do this," he finally said. More than that, he wished that his second vision - the one showing the disasters to come - had come before he had told his brother what he had seen of the Awakening of Hermes.

"It's too late to turn back now. This is my duty," Meno replied. He looked up to the sky and continued, "The time is getting close, isn't it?"



Jadeite stared silently at the tome in front of him. It was titled "The Wisdom of the Stars", one of the many Nephrite had written over the many years of their imprisonment. And if it was correct, in a matter of weeks there would be a dimensional conjunction! For one night, energy costs to breach the dimensional barrier would be negligible.

He could send hundreds, no, thousands of youma across! Sure, they would be forcibly returned to the Dark Kingdom when the conjunction ended, but one night would be more than enough to destroy the Senshi. Saturn was the only Senshi who could destroy that many youma quickly enough, and she was long dead! With this victory, he would gain more than enough prestige to bring the whole Dark Kingdom under his rule. It was a very good thing he had retrieved those... daimon eggs. They would be quite useful, when the time came. A smile on his face, Jadeite considered the possibilities.

Not very far away, two Overlords spoke. "Malvaar is a... words simply fail me!" exclaimed Pesilitar. Hensur had been his ally, and he had desired Ixitar's territories, which had been granted to the minotaur.

His companion, Overlord Nyxan, nodded and lay one taloned, ebony hand on Hensur's pus green shoulder. "I know how you can get back at him, my friend."

"How?" the eager youma asked, all ears.

"If you stage an attack now, while Malvaar wastes time plotting, and bring Jadeite back more energy than that insufferable wretch did, you will steal our Lord's favor from him," Nyxan answered, inwardly smirking.

"Yes... and I will see to it some of the take goes to you if you will grant me some energy to launch to attack, Nyxan," Pesilitar said, smiling, as he began to plot.

In another portion of Jadeite's palace, Asphara was speaking with Malvaar. "I think Pesilitar may be planning to upstage you," she told the minotaur.

"Why do you tell me this? Your consort is no friend of Lord Kizzar," Malvaar said.

Asphara smiled. "Perhaps my will is not the same as my consort's. Or perhaps he seeks to make an overture of peace to your master. If the Mountains do join Jadeite, they will be a force to be reckoned with in this court."

"I do not trust you."

"Do you have to?"

The minotaur grunted in thought, as in the shadows Ishamanar began to chant a spell in a low voice.

Malvaar's eyes were suddenly consumed with fierce rage. "I believe you may be right. If Pesilitar moves, he will die."



At the Hikawa Shrine, the Senshi were about to begin a meeting. Setsuna looked sadly at the other seven as she teleported in, shocking her sisters.

"Where have you been?" demanded Michiru. "We really need answers! And your absence nearly killed the Princess!"

"At the Gates of Time," Setsuna answered calmly. "It was best that I not be present at that last battle. Unless you would have rather faced three Champions than one?"

"What?" Rei exclaimed. "There's only one Champion!"

Pluto grimly smiled. "Three Champions have already awoken, and a fourth has nearly done so."

All the Senshi paled at that. Makoto asked, "Which ones?"

"I cannot say," the Senshi of Time replied.

Ami looked up from her computer. "Who are the Champions, Setsuna?" She had deduced that Setsuna knew something about them.

Setsuna shook her head. "I cannot say."

Rei looked as though she was about to explode. "Why the hell not?"

Setsuna almost glared at Rei. "Because that is how it must be."

Rei growled, and somewhat surprisingly she was joined by Haruka.

Usagi spoke up. "Calm down everybody!" she stated in a voice of command. Slowly, tempers began to settle.

Ami glanced up again. "Can you say anything?" she asked.

"No more than I have said," replied Setsuna. "You must solve these problems yourself."

"Do we know anything about that 'new enemy' Michiru sensed earlier?" Minako asked.

"I know I don't," Michiru replied.

Pluto frowned. "I believe I can say... that what Michiru was sensing was likely the Dark Kingdom's new leader. Whoever he is, he's being very cautious. He never comes to Earth without more warding spells than the entire Moon Palace used to have."

Ami's computer beeped. "I'm picking up... another disturbance at the park," she said after a moment.

"Then, let's get moving!" Haruka said, standing.

Within moments, the Senshi had transformed and left. The two moon cats, who had been almost silent the whole meeting, stared after them.

"They don't really need us anymore, do they?" Luna asked, and Artemis did not reply.



At the park, Meno stood. "It's time. I suggest you leave, brother."

Ryo lowered his head. This was the day, this was the hour. Everything, as always, proceeded as he foresaw. He silently cursed before beginning to speak one more time. "I'm going to ask you one last time to not do this." He already knew the words would do no good - for he had seen his brother's answer weeks ago.

Meno stared at his brother. Why was he so insistent? "I will do this. I must do this. Tell me why you fear it so."

Ryo grimaced. What would happen if he did would be even worse then what would happen if he did nothing. "I can't," he harshly whispered.

"Very well then, brother." Meno stepped back. "Goodbye."

Ryo closed his eyes, once more damning his gift. "Goodbye, brother." The young precognitive then stood and fled the park.

Meno sadly shook his head, then raised one hand. Slowly, a sword formed inside of it. This was it. No turning back now. "Mercury Sword Power!" Light blue plate armor formed around him, though like the other Champions, no helm obscured his face. Displayed proudly in white on the breastplate was the symbol of Mercury.

Moments later, Hermes raced towards the center of the park. He quickly spotted the two figures he was looking for.

"So he said he'd meet us here?" Unazuki asked Ikawa.

"Right," Ikawa answered.

Hermes grinned. "I'm here, Azala."

Unazuki smiled back at the Champion of Mercury. "Janus?"

"Right on. Now transform, you two. Youma are coming." Hermes glanced towards the area of the park that was still torn up form yesterday's fight.

Feral grins appeared on the other two's faces. Unazuki raised her hand, calling forth a thin longsword, while Ikawa summoned his massive broadsword.

"Mars Sword Power!" Ares's red armor formed around him.

"Venus Sword Power!" Aphrodite's armor was colored orange, with Venus's symbol displayed in gold.

Three Champions turned as one to meet the youma that appeared in the center of the park. There were over twenty of them, green and bloated, with open sores. The stench of plague and corruption hovered around them, making even the Champions' hardened stomachs weak. And in the center of the formation was one even grosser and more disgusting.

"I am Pesilitar, and I have come to destroy you all!" cried the Overlord.

As one, the Champions fell into ready stances. "Come, then. Let us see who will destroy who." Ares called out. Moments later, the battle was joined. Ares easily sliced one youma in two with his flaming blade. Hermes dodged one clawed hand, stabbing its owner in its corpulent gut. Ice formed around the fatal wound as he withdrew his weapon. Aphrodite's sword, glowing a fierce light, danced in her hands, and after the first two fell, no youma dared approach her.

"Shabon Spray!" Champions and youma alike swore as gray fog filled the area. Only the Senshi could see in the mist.

"World Shaking!

"Deep Submerge!"

"Dead Scream."

"Burning Mandala!"

"Sparkling Wide Pressure!"

"Crescent Beam!"

The barrage of attacks sped towards their targets. While the Inner Senshi blasted three youma, the other three attacks were aimed at the Champions. When the fog cleared, the Champions were thrown to ground, struggling to rise. Praising his good luck, Pesilitar sent half his forces to deal with them, while leading the other half toward the Senshi.

Aphrodite slashed out at the first youma to reach her, removing its legs. It promptly dissolved, giving her time to rise.

Hermes also rose, raising his sword. "Ice Storm!" Shards of razor sharp ice pelted the youma, slaying two more.

This gave Ares time to stand as well. "Flame Strike!" Another youma fell. Only six youma remained to face the Champions, and they were soon heavily engaged in a swirling melee.

A second barrage of attacks raced from the Senshi towards the advancing youma, but the youma were prepared, and avoided most of the attacks. Even worse, another two dozen appeared behind the largest, as Pesilitar dug deep into his energy reserves to press his rapidly evaporating advantage.

"Moon Spiral Heart Attack!" Six youma were vaporized by Sailor Moon's blast, but that was not nearly enough.

The youma reached the Senshi, and soon were smashing their way through the defensive line. Pesilitar laughed triumphantly as Venus was hurled to the ground by one youma and did not rise. The laugh deepened as Mercury and Jupiter joined her. Pressed and outnumbered by the youma, the Senshi were unable to prepare any of their attacks.

On the other side of the battlefield, Aphrodite gracefully beheaded the last attacking youma with one smooth slash. The three Champions raced towards the melee, but stopped when more youma appeared in front of them. Five massive minotaurs now dominated the center of the battleground.

Malvaar had arrived, and he was furious. He gestured towards the Champions, sending two of his servants to deal with them before bellowing, "Pesilitar! What is the meaning of this?"

Pesilitar's answer was to gather his minions around him, granting the Senshi some much needed breathing room. Malvaar grinned. "So be it." With a roar, Malvaar and his remaining two servants raced towards their opponents.

Behind them, the Champions engaged the other minotaurs. One massive fist sent Aphrodite flying. With a scream of rage, Ares pounced on the fist's owner, driving his flaming blade in between the youma's ribs. But the minotaur was not dead yet, as it demonstrated by pounding on the Champion of Mars with force capable of shattering every bone in an ordinary human's body. Hermes was desperately dodging the other youma's blows, occasionally getting a strike in with his ice-cold weapon.

Meanwhile, Malvaar and his escort were ripping through the remnants of Pesilitar's entourage with astounding ease. Within moments, Malvaar had reached Pesilitar himself, and delivered a punch that forced the Overlord back several feet.

Pesilitar grimaced. "Pestilence Breath!" he called, expelling a cloud of stinking green gas. Coughing, Malvaar stumbled through the vapors, delivering another powerful blow. This time, Pesilitar was broken in two, and his remaining minions vanished.

Malvaar glanced at the hard pressed Champions and exhausted Senshi and smiled. "Our victory is at hand! For the Dark Kingdom and Lord Jadeite!" cried the minotaur lord, as he and his minions began or redoubled their attacks.



Back in the Dark Kingdom, Jadeite watched the battle with rapidly growing anger. The battle had been nearly won before Malvaar had arrived, and thrown it all away. There was still a chance for victory, but Jadeite was certain that chance was slim. Malvaar would have to pay for this mistake. Jadeite calmed himself. A small payment, though. The minotaur was too useful, and had too many allies, to slay out of hand.

Not far away, two conspirators knew for a fact that Malvaar was doomed. Ishamanar caressed the dark tome he had recovered from Beryl's library. The Metallian Codex. The collection of prophecy and spells that had been ancient when the Silver Millennium fell had been banned on every world, and even Beryl had forbidden her servants from perusing the contents of the sole extant copy. For good reason.

"It seems as though the rage spell worked perfectly," Nyxan commented.

"Aye, and listen to this," replied the second conspirator. Ishamanar thumbed the Codex open to a well worn page and began to read out loud. "In the days after Time turns back on itself, all will seem lost. Fear not, for after the ninety Pharaohs fall, one of Fire will emerge from Ice to lead you. And your enemies shall fight among themselves, and they shall be driven before your armies. The bull will triumph over plague, but will fall to the hidden hand. The sky will be as flame, and the dead will walk. And when all this has come to pass as it has been foreseen, I, Metallia, will reign forever."

"A prophecy?" Nyxan asked.

"Indeed. You know I have studied this tome's secrets more than you."

"Yes."

"Even I could not find this until Jadeite returned. But, now... look!"

Nyxan glanced at the page... he remembered this one, from his own studies. Pure nonsense - collections of words and characters that made no coherent whole. Yet... now the page held simple lines of plain text, in the elegant hand of the book's unknown author.

Nyxan smiled. "Then, we will succeed where Beryl failed. Our Great Leader will be free."

Ishamanar returned Nyxan's grin. "In any case, Asphara has successfully crossed over under cover of this disturbance."

"Perfect," Nyxan commented as they returned to watching the battle.



Two minotaurs raced towards the Senshi, while Malvaar hung back to keep an eye on the two separate fights. Sailor Uranus was quick to loose a World Shaking at one of the oncoming youma, but the minotaur ignored the blast, flooring Uranus with one powerful blow. Neptune raced to aid her lover while Sailor Moon began her attack.

On the other side of the battlefield, Aphrodite was struggling to rise. The minotaur Ares was engaging finally tired of beating on the hapless Champion, and hurled him at her. The two Champions collided, and both fell to the ground. Nearby, Hermes dodged another powerful blow, then extended his free hand. "Deep Freeze!"

A burst of supercold water flung from Hermes's hand, hitting the minotaur in its chest. Ice rapidly spread over the youma's massive bulk, and in moments it was frozen. One swift sword blow easily shattered the minotaur into a thousand fragments, which swiftly dissolved.

Meanwhile, a minotaur smashed Sailor Moon into the ground before she could finish her attack. Sailor Mars was throwing Fire Souls about, but was doing little damage. Pluto backed up before loosing a Dead Scream at the youma threatening Sailor Moon. The energy blast forced the minotaur to stumble backwards, nearly falling over. As it did so, Venus rose and hurled a Love-Me Chain at the monster. The chain entangled itself around the youma's legs, tripping it. Jupiter also managed to stand, and slew the trapped youma with a Sparkling Wide Pressure.

Ares and Aphrodite stood, and Ares leapt back at the minotaur, launching a Flame Strike. The bolt of white flame flung the youma back towards its master, and within moments it had turned to dust. The combined efforts of the Senshi swiftly vanquished the last of Malvaar's minions, and with a roar of pain it dissolved.

Malvaar glanced around cautiously. He had no more servants, and was vastly outnumbered. However, his opponents all looked about ready to collapse, while he was unwounded. He felt as though a fire was inside him, giving him the urge to fight, to rend, to destroy. With a battle roar in his throat, he began to charge towards the Senshi.

Suddenly, a rose thudded into the ground in front of the minotaur lord. Malvaar looked up to a nearby tree, where Tuxedo Kamen stood upon a branch, another rose already in hand. Malvaar slowly began to back away, his rage temporarily drained by the sudden shock.

For once, Tuxedo Kamen's speech was neither lyrical or inspiring. "I'd suggest you go back to the Dark Kingdom, or you're going to get a rose down your throat."

With a growl, Malvaar took his advice.



Malvaar was surprised when he appeared in Jadeite's throne room rather than his private quarters, as he had intended. His destination must have been diverted. This was bad. This was very bad. No, this was an utter disaster.

Jadeite lounged back in his throne. "Do you have any explanation for this... fiasco, Malvaar?

Yes, this was a disaster. Fear momentarily burned through the cloud of rage that muddled Malvaar's thoughts. "N... no, my lord."

Jadeite sighed. "I didn't think so. Therefore, I find you guilty of incompetence, cowardice, and treachery. I sentence you to..."

"NO!!!!!!" roared Malvaar, seeing red. He charged forward and hurled one sound barrier shattering punch at Jadeite. The shocked crowd of youma flinched, expecting to be showered with Jadeite bits.

Instead, they were even more shocked as Jadeite easily caught the punch. For a moment, they stared at the tableau of Jadeite holding back the straining minotaur's arm.

Then, Jadeite spoke, his face and voice cold. "That was not very smart. You realize that you leave me no choice now?" Malvaar began to try to pull his arm away, to no avail. Still emotionless, Jadeite continued, "Incinerate."

Almost instantaneously, the minotaur's arm began to smolder. Wrenching his limb free, Malvaar fell back as the flames began to spread. It took him a long time to die.

When the bold minotaur lord was finally nothing more than a rapidly disappearing pile of ash, Jadeite spoke once more. "I have had enough of this rash of incompetence. I doubt any of you have any real strength, but I hope I am wrong. The first Overlord to demonstrate his worthiness will become my first General." Without another word, the dark lord teleported away in a burst of flame.

It took only a moment for the plotting to begin.



Back on Earth, three Champions lined up to face seven Senshi and Tuxedo Kamen. For a long moment, nothing was said. Except for Tuxedo Kamen, all the combatants looked equally weary and beaten. Fukus were torn, armor was dented, and weapons were stained with blood and ichor, as were the clothing of the warriors. The park had been utterly destroyed by the two massive battles that had been fought there.

The moment of silence stretched on into several minutes, neither side wishing to begin the fighting. To those standing on the battlefield, hours seemed to pass.

Finally, Sailor Moon spoke. "Why not join us?" She paused. "The youma-"

Ares's face hardened, and he interrupted her. "You know why, Serenity. There is too much blood between us to pretend otherwise. The oaths we swore bind us still."

"Until all are one," whispered Aphrodite, though the wind picked up the phrase and carried it to the Senshi's ears.

"There are some deeds that cannot go unavenged," said Hermes.

With that, the three Champions walked away, leaving the Senshi behind. As soon as they were out of sight, Pluto vanished without a word.



In Ikawa's apartment, a joyous meeting was taking place. "I can't believe that you're Hermes, Meno!" the host said. "When... how did you find out?"

Meno smiled. "I Awakened yesterday at the park. This was the best time to make myself known."

Ikawa frowned. "How did you know who I was?"

"A vision," Meno replied, a brief grimace appearing on his face.

"A vision?" Unazuki asked.

"I'd... rather not talk about that just yet," replied Meno.

"Anyway, we need to come up with a plan for finding and Awakening the rest of us," Ikawa stated as he pulled a soda out of the fridge.

Unazuki nodded. "Until we're at full strength, we're at a disadvantage."

Meno pulled his computer out of subspace. "I've already got a program looking for the others. Chronus seems to be almost awake, but it will take a few days to figure out the source of his energy signature."

"How are we going to Awaken him? It's not like Saturn's going to be around to provide the stimulus," Ares commented.

"He's so close to Awakening that seeing one of us transforming might push him over the edge. I'm working on a way to Awaken the others without the Senshi's presence, though," replied Meno. "Really, any adequate source of the right energy ought to do it.

"Enough of the strategizing, people," Unazuki said. "Let's celebrate!"

Meno laughed. "Once a Venusian, always a Venusian."



A much more somber meeting was occurring at the Hikawa Shrine. Luna and Artemis had only had to take one look at the arriving Senshi to realize that this had not been an easy fight.

"I just wish we knew what all this was about," Makoto was saying.

"I know," Minako griped. "And why is the Dark Kingdom attacking again?"

"And who's leading them?" Ami asked.

Haruka brooded in a corner, and spoke quietly to Michiru. "Somehow, I bet Pluto knows. But she's playing us for fools, just like she did to us last time. She knew where the Talismans were all along. We could have won that fight long before we did." Michiru lay her hand on Haruka's, and she slowly calmed herself.

Ami frowned, perhaps having overheard Haruka's comment. "In any case, I've been noticing some oddities. My computer's been picking up some energy fluctuation's matching Sailor Saturn's signature. It might be another Champion."

"Or has something happened to Hotaru?" asked Luna, looking towards the Outer Senshi.

"You could say that," Michiru replied. "She's been... growing. I think she might be returning to her old age - it's hard to say. She looks and acts like she was six or seven now. Or at least she did this morning. It could have changed again. It's really freaking out Professor Tomoe's new lab assistant."

The Senshi had a large number of questions, but very few answers. It was going to be a long, hard road to gain those answers.



Author's Random Revised Rambling

1) All sorts of C&C are always welcome.

2) Thanks to Michael Chase for his comments on the original and revised versions of this chapter.

3) This was the last chapter to be released without prereading. Revisions should be less far-reaching from this point on, and mainly fixes of typos and rewordings for clarity after a few more chapters. Well, unless I find more stuff I don't like.

4) The major changes in this chapter are focused on the Dark Kingdom side of things and the interaction between Meno and Ryo. I think this chapter has improved quite a bit - it's almost worthy of being read. ;)

Released: December 04, 2000

Revised: August 25, 2003

Final: December 30, 2003