Disclaimer: My sincere gratitude to Takeuchi-sensei who created this wonderful world for us to dream in. respectful bow in the general direction of Japan As we all know, all rights belong to her. I hope you enjoy my portrayal of her creations.
I do not write for reviews, but I sure enjoy compliments, constructive criticism, and grammatical corrections. So if you feel like it, please press that little review button, and let me know what you think. - Raya
The Sleeper
Chapter 14 – Found Again
Mists of Time
Empress Night growled in frustration as the exit from the mists once again disappeared like a mirage. She stopped and glared at the crystal vial of dust which still fluxed and spun uselessly above her right hand. "This is getting us nowhere!" she said angrily. She snapped her hand closed, catching the vial, and squeezed it a moment. Slowly, she made her hand relax.
Queen Yeti, King Arashi, and King Muerte watched warily as their Empress stood and thought. Finally she whispered. "You want illusion? I'll give you illusion." She made an abrupt, angry gesture with her left hand. "Maat!" she said sharply.
A dark, wispy column of fog formed and slowly took the shape of a woman wearing what appeared to be a dress of opaque grey clouds. She bowed her head to her ruler, long black hair hiding her sharp face and pooling at her feet. "You need me, my Empress?" she asked in a wispy, cold voice.
"Guide us through this chaos to my sister," Empress Night demanded imperiously. Maat bowed lower. "As you wish."
Doors of Time, 20th Century
Maat stared at the latest in a long set of apparently unguarded doors. Although her dusky face was smooth and unconcerned, fear was eating away at her heart. Her mistress knew the value of her tools, and therefore did not abuse or harm them needlessly over small failures. But the failures were adding up significantly, and her mistress' frustration was beginning to overcome her control.
Slowly, Maat walked forward, diffusing her body to pass through the cracks between the doors. On the other side, she kept her body vaporous and studied the senshi who waited and watched. It was the same one as always: a woman in her early twenties with long, dark green hair and garnet eyes. She wore the standard sailor fuku uniform of the Senshi of Sol. For some reason, she had chosen black and garnet as her colors. In her arms she cradled a tall staff in the shape of a key, with a garnet crystal at it's crown.
Maat began to weave her magic slowly and cautiously around the alert guardian. The last few times, she had almost been caught. Either she was loosing her touch, or the senshi was becoming more immune to the illusion. The latter made no sense because Maat had been leading her superiors further and further back in time. 'How can she become more immune if she's never been exposed in this time? It should be just the opposite,' Maat wondered quietly to herself.
As her attention wandered, the senshi suddenly stiffened and gazed sharply at the door. Maat froze, both physically and magically. After what felt like an eternity, the senshi slowly relaxed. Maat didn't dare breath a sigh of relief. Instead, she slowly began to weave her magic again, this time giving her full concentration to the job at hand.
An hour and several more close calls later, she finally managed to make the senshi's eyes glaze over. Quickly, she formed an illusion of a boring watch where nothing happened and cast it at the woman. Her expression didn't change.
Very cautiously, Maat began to solidify her body. She breathed a sigh of relief as she was able to stand before the senshi once more without triggering the woman's internal alarms. Maat turned towards the carved doors and slowly opened one. She bowed to her Empress and stepped aside.
Empress Night stepped quickly and impatiently out of the mists and into real time. Maat turned fearful eyes to the senshi, but the guardian didn't react to the abrupt movements. She concentrated on reinforcing the illusion around the senshi while Empress Night held up the crystal vial.
The dust inside the vial fluxed and spun, then abruptly settled down and pointed past the senshi. "At last!" Empress Night exclaimed, and laughed making Maat wince. "It won't be long now," she added a little more quietly. "Come!" With a swirl of her blood red gown, she led her group past the oblivious senshi and out into Tokyo.
After the enemy left, Super Sailor Pluto allowed herself to finally relax. She turned her gaze to the Garnet Orb a moment, then pressed the alert button on her communicator.
West Katase Beach, Kanagawa Prefecture
Ikuko smiled as she watched Usagi and ChibiUsa try to playfully drown each other in the waves. Their squeals of outrage and vows of revenge were beginning to attract a crowd of children eager to join in the battle. 'Soon, they'll be leading armies against each other,' she though with a soft laugh. 'That, or arranging a contest to see who can make the biggest splash.'
A little way down the beach, she saw Ami, Rei, Makoto, and Minako sunbathing. They, too, seemed to be enjoying the mock battle between the two Tsukino teenagers. They also seemed surprisingly unaware of the attention they were drawing in their sexy, enticing swimsuits. Ikuko looked narrowly at the latest bunch of gawkers, and found them unworthy of her daughter's friends.
Her gaze slid to ChibiUsa's friends, and she sighed softly in relief. Pallas was staring intently at a medium-sized sandcastle ignoring everything around her, including her friend's squeals of outrage. She was using a twig to carve the finishing decorative touches to the walls and windows. Celeste was watching the battlers in the water, a small, unfinished sandcastle in front of her, and a smile on her face. The tension and unease which had been haunting them for the last two weeks seemed forgotten in the warm sun. The backpack that ChibiUsa had been clinging to like a security blanket since her arrival lay on the sand next to her pink-headed friend, apparently forgotten.
She looked out to the ocean again, trying to find Bessa and June. Her eyes paused on her "daughters" as ChibiUsa spun around, dragging her arms rapidly through the water and showering all of the nearby children with a huge fountain of water. Usagi smiled and copied her, trying hard to make an even bigger wall of water. The kids cheered and urged them on.
Finally, she spotted Bessa and June out on the waves. The two more athletic girls had discovered the joys of boogie boarding and were engaged in a contest of their own to see who could get the closest to shore on one wave.
With another sigh and smile, she closed her eyes and lifted her face to the warm sun. Moments later, however, she frowned as the heat was blocked. She reluctantly opened her eyes, to find Minako standing beside her. At just that moment, the blonde seemed to realize what she had done.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Tsukino-mama," she said as she moved to the other side. "I didn't mean to block your light. Um, do you know where Shingo-kun got off to? He was going to go watch the volleyball game over at Kugenuma with us, but I can't find him."
Ikuko thought for a moment. "I think he said something about getting a souvenir t-shirt while Kenji-san was getting me a drink," she finally said. "He left quite a while ago, so he should be back at any minute."
Minako's eyes narrowed in worry, and she began to shift her weight from foot to foot. "I hope he hurries," she said. "It's only a preliminary game, but there are some good players today, so there will be a big crowd. If we don't leave soon, we won't get a good spot."
She looked over in surprise as Makoto put a hand on her shoulder and smiled. "Oh, go on," the brunette said teasingly. "We know your dying to get over there and ogle the players." She dodged Minako's playful swipe.
"And maybe get picked as an extra," Rei added with a laugh. "Go. We'll wait for Shingo-kun and Usagi, then catch up with you."
Minako's face lit up. "Really? Oh, well, if you insist..." She froze as she saw Rei's eyes widen, then narrow. Her heart sank as her raven-haired friend spun around and began to look intently up and down the beach. "Rei-chan?"
"Sorry I'm late," Usagi gasped as she ran up dripping from the water.
"Usagi!!!" her mother screeched as cold water dripped on her toasty skin. "Oh! Sorry! Sorry!" Usagi cried, backing up, then reaching for a towel. Her friends' odd behavior finally caught her attention. She paused, pink towel pressed to her left arm. "Guys?" Her tone quietly begged them to tell her nothing was wrong.
Minako took a deep breath, glanced at Ikuko, then looked at Usagi and forced a bright smile. "It's about time you got here. Let's go." She turned, and crashed into Shingo.
With quick reflexes he caught and steadied her. Then, he leaned over an put his hands on his knees. "So... Sorry... I'm.. late..." he panted. "The... line was... horrendous..."
Minako blanched, and turned a desperate look towards Makoto. "That's all right," the brunette said, still keeping an eye on Rei. "We decided not to go after all. Some friends of ours invited us to go out on their yacht instead. We were trying to find you to let you know... Sorry," she said hastily. Ikuko stared at her in shock at the blatant lie.
"Yeah. We're really sorry about this, Shingo-kun," Minako said a little sadly, then grabbed Usagi by the arm. "We'd better hurry, or they'll leave without us. Tell us about the game later, hmm?" she asked over her shoulder as she dragged her friend away. Ikuko and Shingo looked after them with surprised expressions.
They had almost reached Celeste, Lady, and Pallas when a cold laugh stopped them. "At last. I've found you, my sister." They turned and stared wide-eyed at the group of people who appeared out of nowhere. Their business suit attire was extremely out of place on the sun-drenched beach. Even their leader's blood red dress seemed odd with it's floor length skirt and its long sleeves.
Around them, people began to yell in surprise and fear. Lady scooped up the backpack and pulled it close to her chest as she paled in fright. Pallas and Celeste stepped in front of her protectively while the people around them began to run for safety.
The black-haired lady just narrowed her eyes angrily. "Get out of my way," she said icily. "After all that I've been through, I'm in no mood to play." The crystal vial floated in front of her, the dust inside pointing first towards Lady, and then away to the right. Maat's gaze, however, was fixed firmly on the backpack in Lady's arms.