THE PRICE OF FREEDOM,
Part Three: "The Rescue Mission"
By Bill K.
"But Michiru-mama is in trouble!" cried Hotaru to anyone who'd listen. "That means Haruka-papa is probably in trouble, too! We have to help them!"
King Endymion, Queen Serenity and the original senshi looked at her sympathetically. But she already knew she was arguing to no avail.
"We understand the need for swift action, Hotaru," Ami told her. "We're working as fast as we can. But we must pinpoint where they are first before we can help them."
"I know where they are!" Hotaru protested. "Ravenheim!"
"Is it a city, Hotaru?" Endymion asked. "Is it a state, a country, a planet? If so, where is this planet?" Hotaru looked at him helplessly. "You don't know, do you. That's why we have to find it first."
"I don't know the technical space coordinates or anything scientific, but I can lead us there! I can!"
"Assuming that's true, what are we going to find there?" Minako asked her point blank.
Hotaru looked down in frustration. She felt Makoto's hand on her shoulder.
"We know you want to help them," Makoto told her in a soothing voice. "So do we. But we're not going to be any help to them if we go charging in and wind up in the same predicament they're in. You just have to bear with us until we know where we're going and what we're facing."
Hotaru's face scrunched up with distress. She tore away and bolted from the room.
"Poor Hotaru," Serenity whispered. "If there's any way we can speed this up . . .?"
"I feel for Hotaru as much as you do, Serenity," Ami said.
"It's not just Hotaru," Serenity sniffed. "I want to help them, too - - now!"
Hotaru lay across her bed, crying. The specter of arriving too late and seeing her adoptive parents dead haunted the girl's brain. But what could she do alone?
"The Princess Usagi desires entry," announced the computerized door sensor.
"Let her in," Hotaru squeaked.
Usa entered, flanked by the Amazons. Their sad sympathy was touching, though it didn't dry Hotaru's tears.
"We heard," Usa told her. "They are doing everything they can."
Hotaru just cried harder.
"Miss Hotaru ma'am," Palla-Palla ventured, on the verge of tears herself, "please don't cry. Palla-Palla promises she'll do anything she can to help you find your Mommy and Daddy."
"Thanks," Hotaru whispered. "I'm just so scared it'll be too late. None of you felt her call the way I did. She was so desperate! It might already be too late!"
"Then how about we go look for them?"
Hotaru looked up into Usa's face. She saw the princess was dead serious. It made her that much more grateful that Usa was her best friend.
"The king and queen aren't going to like that," Jun-Jun reminded them. Usa shot her a withering glare. "But that's never stopped you before. So how do we get there?"
"Sailor teleport?" Usa guessed.
"Do we have enough power to travel that far on Sailor teleport?" Cere-Cere asked. "Do we even know where we're going?"
"I'll get us there," Hotaru proclaimed and no one doubted her. "Thank you everyone."
"Um," came a meek voice from the back. Everyone turned to Ves-Ves. "If you'd prefer I didn't go along, I, um, understand."
"Sure you can come along," Usa smiled encouragingly. "If whoever this enemy is got the better of Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune, we'll probably need all the power we can get. Besides, you can just pretend the enemy is me."
Ves-Ves looked down, ashamed.
"Please come, Ves-Ves," Palla-Palla pleaded, grasping her hands. "Palla-Palla is going to need you to protect her and help her if she runs into big words."
Tears began to flood the silent girl's eyelids. Unable to speak, Ves-Ves nodded her head, her towering hairstyle shaking to-and-fro. The others saw Palla-Palla beam happily and immediately felt better about their mission.
"All right, let's head down to the gym and transform," Usa told them. "We'll do less damage if we teleport from in there." The five girls nodded resolutely and followed their princess out the door.
A swirl of wind kicked up amid the brush and dirt of a little used wasteland, the whirlwind given form by the foggy conditions on the ground. When it reached an apex of ten feet off the ground, the whirlwind died away, revealing six young girls in sailor fukus. The girls released their grips on each other's hands and looked around.
The landscape was draped in fog. Beneath the fog, the land was harsh. To one side lay a mountainous region with stairways carved into the rock. The stairs connected the mouths of burrows, the side of the mountain a warren of caves containing living beings. To the other side lay four huge metallic pillars. The columns were twenty feet around and stretched up to the sky well beyond what the fog allowed them to see. There was evidence on the nearest column of a door or hatch at ground level. There seemed to be no animal life and any plant life that still existed was stunted and hugged the ground.
"What an utterly miserable place," Cere-Cere mused with distaste. "Why can't we ever get any missions to the beach?"
"How did we do that?" Juno marveled. She turned to Sailor Moon. "Did you manage that? I didn't think any of us were capable of power like that."
Sailor Moon didn't answer - - but she did look at Sailor Saturn curiously. Saturn, embarrassed, avoided her gaze. She began to survey the terrain - - then sank to her knees.
"Saturn!" Sailor Moon gasped, catching the girl as she knelt so she didn't fall onto her back. "You're using too much energy."
"I'll be all right," Saturn sighed, trying to shake the dizziness.
"Saturn did that?" Juno whispered.
"You need to rest," Sailor Moon persisted.
"We need to find Michiru-mama as soon as we can," she mumbled. Ignoring Sailor Moon's curious stare, Saturn reached out with her mind, trying to get some indication of where Michiru Kaioh was. "I think she's over there," the girl said, pointing toward the mountain range.
Ignoring Sailor Moon's baleful stare, Saturn got to unsteady feet and headed out. Falling in behind Saturn, Sailor Moon and the Asteroid Senshi started for the mountain range. They weren't fifty feet, though, when a storm of dust and wind sprang up in front of them. The girls fell back into defensive stances while Sailor Moon summoned the Crescent Moon Wand. A brilliant light was glowing in the midst of the whirlwind and a sixth sense told them whatever was making this was incredibly powerful. The storm seemed to loom over them for a moment, then suddenly died away. The girls were amazed at what they saw.
"What am I going to do with you?" asked a very annoyed Queen Serenity, her arms folded over her chest. Sailor Mercury and Jupiter were on her left, while Sailor Mars and Venus were on her right.
"Oh, man!" groaned Sailor Moon. The Asteroids quickly looked down, except for Pallas. She smiled at the queen, genuinely happy to see her.
"What have I told you about rushing into a situation you don't know anything about?" the queen fumed.
"Please, Your Majesty!" Saturn began.
"And what have I told you about calling me 'Your Majesty'?" Serenity fussed petulantly.
"Please, Queen Serenity, don't blame Sailor Moon or the others," Saturn pleaded. "They were just helping me. It's my fault. I-I couldn't wait! Michiru-mama needs me!"
"And we didn't have time to run it through committee," added Sailor Moon.
"That's enough, young lady," growled Serenity. "Saturn, I do sympathize. We were coming for her."
"It's just if something jumps out at us now, we'll have to wing it," Venus scowled.
"And there's no way of knowing how our incursion on this planet is going to affect the native inhabitants," Mercury explained.
"Well, we're here," Serenity interjected. "I imagine our best course is to find Michiru as quickly and as quietly as possible and get out as soon as possible." She looked to her senshi for their opinion and they all nodded in agreement. Mercury immediately summoned her visor.
"I'm scanning the area," Mercury said. "There are multiple life readings in the caves in that mountain range. Humanoid, but no life forms analogous with Earth. I'm also reading multiple life form activity underground beneath the mountain - - perhaps a mine of some sort."
"Your," Saturn began and noticed Serenity wince, "um, Queen Serenity, I can feel she's near. I think I can lead us to her."
Serenity went blank for a moment. "I feel her, too. All right, Saturn, let's follow you."
"Keep your eyes open," Jupiter warned the Asteroid Senshi as they all followed Saturn. "We don't know what we're dealing with here, so avoiding detection and confrontation is the plan."
As they walked, the girls seemed to unconsciously seek out their favorite elder. While Saturn and Mercury worked in concert at the point, Ceres gravitated toward Mars and Juno edged over to Jupiter. Sailor Moon and the queen suspended hostilities and concentrated on the success of the plan. Pallas sought out Vesta, sticking close to the crimson senshi. Vesta, though, seemed to make an overt effort to keep the entire pack between her and Venus. Venus noticed, but suppressed it for the mission.
"Where's Pop?" Sailor Moon asked as they walked.
"One of us had to stay in Crystal Tokyo," Serenity answered. She spent several tense moments looking for words before finally speaking. "Dear, I wasn't criticizing you for caring. I understand you wanted to help your friend. I think it reflects very well on you and what kind of person you're becoming."
"But I should have waited for you," Sailor Moon finished the thought impatiently.
"It's just that you're so reckless sometimes."
"Mom, I see a problem and I solve it. That's what Sailor Moon is supposed to do."
"Sailor Moon is also responsible for the lives of her senshi, who are her guardians and charged with her safety at the expense of their lives if necessary," Serenity said. "Recklessness puts them in danger because it increases the odds that one or more of them might have to make that sacrifice." She turned to her daughter and gave her a serious, solemn look. "Watching your friends die is not pleasant, honey. Believe me. And knowing you could have prevented it by being a little more careful is an even less pleasant feeling."
Sailor Moon's mouth thinned to a line, but she didn't respond. She knew the legendary history of the previous Sailor Moon only too well.
As they approached the mountain range the group noted through the shroud of the fog some activity nearby. Giving it a wide berth, they nevertheless tried to observe the natives to gauge them and any threat they might pose - - or any level of threat they might pose to the natives.
The closest visible person to them was human-looking, a woman. As proximity dissipated the fog cover, they could see she was dressed in tatters and chains, with manacles around her wrists and ankles and her throat encased in a close-fitting metallic collar. All five bands were interconnected by heavy metal links designed to hamper but not immobilize. Hygiene was clearly not a priority with the woman, evident from her stringy green hair and dull, rough skin. Her eyes were hollow, her expression vacant and her posture broken. She just stood there as they passed, oblivious to everything.
"That . . . poor woman," Serenity softly gasped as the others looked on in curious horror.
"What's with the chains?" Sailor Moon whispered.
"Perhaps we've stumbled into a penal camp," Mercury offered. She scanned the area with her visor while everyone else sensed Saturn tense at the very thought of Michiru possibly imprisoned here.
Just then another woman stalked up to the one in chains. She wore a black uniform with a high collar and thick black boots, and carried several fearsome items on a wide black belt around her waist. Her black hair was severely pulled back from a hawkish face that could be pretty if she wasn't glowering at the chained woman. When she got close to the fettered wretch, the woman in chains cringed and shrank away from her.
"No loitering!" the uniformed woman bellowed.
She pulled a blunted rod about a foot and a half-long from her belt and jabbed the woman with it. Upon contact with the skin, the rod emitted an electrical charge. The chained woman collapsed in a heap and quivered helplessly as her attacker stood over her.
"Get up!" demanded the woman while the prisoner continued to spasm. "Get up, you lazy green-hair or you'll get another one!"
"What's her problem?" gasped Ceres.
Mars and Mercury turned to Serenity, anticipating she would intervene and desiring to keep their incursion undiscovered. They were already too late. Serenity was already crossing toward the uniformed woman.
"Get up, slacker!" the woman roared, brandishing the rod as if she meant to strike again. "You green-hairs are all . . .!"
A delicate hand folded over the gloved hand holding the rod. The woman in uniform turned angrily and found herself face to face with Serenity.
"Please," Serenity said, gentle in her reproach. "She's a living being. There's no need for such cruelty."
The woman's response was a vicious blow that knocked Serenity to the ground. Sailor Moon and the Asteroid Senshi gasped in shock.
"Supreme Thunder!" Jupiter roared and the air suddenly smelled of ozone. There was a momentary flash of light and the tingle of electricity in the air. Suddenly the uniformed woman crumpled.
Mars was the first to Serenity's side. She helped her queen to sit up as the others crowded around.
"Serenity?" Mars asked.
"I'm not permanently damaged," Serenity replied. "She just surprised me." Serenity pulled away and moved over to the woman in chains. She helped the still dazed woman to sit up. "Are you hurt anywhere?"
At last the woman realized where she was. At once she panicked and tried to crawl away from Serenity.
"Please, I don't want to hurt you!" Serenity cried.
Grasping the woman's shoulders, Serenity held on as the woman struggled and thrashed in an effort to escape. As she held her, Serenity's aura began to overwhelm the woman. Her struggles ceased and she began to calm. However she wouldn't look at Serenity.
"Why was that woman punishing you?" Serenity asked. The woman just shook her head without speaking, keeping her gaze averted. "Why are you chained?" Again no answer save to shake her head.
"What's wrong with her?" Sailor Pallas asked.
"If I had to guess, I'd say she's suffering from deep psychological trauma," Mercury told them, studying the woman intently, "possibly induced by prolonged cruelty or maltreatment - - perhaps even torture." She pointed to the ancient scars on the girl's arms.
"Oh my!" Serenity gasped, genuinely upset. Her eyes began to tear. "Perhaps I can help," she said to the woman, "if you'll let me."
Serenity took on a silvery glow as her hands reached for the woman's temples. The chained woman tried to shy away, but her struggles ceased when Serenity's fingers began to massage her temples. Serenity closed her eyes and the shimmering glow enveloped the woman as well. Her brow knit, but Serenity's manner remained peaceful as she allowed her head to ease back. The captive woman's manner mimicked Serenity's. Her breathing eased and her fists relaxed into open hands. A light began to appear in her hollow eyes as hope became born again in her soul. The woman's mouth pulled into a small, timid smile.
"Beautiful," she whispered.
As she went limp, Serenity supported her. After a few moments, the woman sat up on her own. Perplexed as to what just happened, she turned to Serenity. Her expression was of utter confusion, but it was confusion tinged with gratitude.
"Thank you, Mistress," she said. "Why?"
"Because you were suffering," Serenity replied as if the answer should have been obvious. "And I'm nobody's mistress. Please call me Serenity."
As this happened, Sailor Moon was off to the side, beaming proudly. Mars noticed and smiled knowingly to herself.
"What's your name?" Serenity asked gently.
"Veda, Mistress," the woman responded.
"Ah ah," Serenity said, wagging a finger at her.
"F-Forgive me!" Veda responded hurriedly. Her head bowed as she searched her memory. "S-Serenity. I am Veda - - Serenity."
"Let me get those chains off of you," Serenity said, reaching for the manacles. Veda shrank away again and violently shook her head.
"No! Do not touch the chains! I do not wish to die!" Veda shouted. Serenity pulled back and the woman calmed. Almost embarrassed by her display of fear, she cast her eyes down and said, "Veda must wear them."
"Why are you in chains?" Mercury asked her.
Veda darkened. "It is - - required."
"By who?" Serenity asked.
"By the Imperial Guard," Veda replied. When they didn't seem to understand, she nodded to the unconscious woman in the black uniform.
"Are you a prisoner here?" Jupiter asked. "Did you commit a crime or something?"
Intimidated by Jupiter's size and manner, Veda shrank back. Only when she felt the comfort of Serenity's hand did she relax.
"My only crime is not working hard enough," she said. Again they didn't seem to understand, so she continued. "I am a slave. All of my kind are slaves. All slaves must be chained. The queen requires it. To remove the chains is to bring death. To remove the collar is to bring death." They didn't seem to be able to believe her. Veda found this strange. "All slaves on Ravenheim must wear chains. It is the law."
"How long have you been a slave?" Mars asked, aghast at the thought.
Veda looked down. "My chains are all I have ever known. I have worn these chains for all of my sixteen summers."
"She's only sixteen?" Ceres whispered to Juno in amazement. Each girl had thought Veda to be much older.
The elder senshi were about to question her more, but suddenly Sailor Moon broke in.
"Is there a stranger here?" the girl with the pink hair asked her. "She has green hair like you, but she's not from here. Do you remember ever seeing someone like that?"
Sailor Moon's urgency intimidated the girl. Her eyes averted, reflexively fearing retribution if she didn't cooperate, Veda searched her memory. But she didn't get a chance to answer. Venus silently signaled the others and the elder senshi stood up and formed a protective wall in front of Serenity. The younger senshi looked and saw a squadron of women in black uniforms approaching them. With precision steps the squadron fanned out and encircled the group. Once they ringed the senshi, one of the Imperial Guards stepped forward.
"For striking an Imperial Guard," the squadron leader announced, "you are all under arrest in the name of the Queen! Surrender immediately!"
The guards drew menacing-looking weapons from their belts to back up their demand.
Continued in Chapter 4
Part Three: "The Rescue Mission"
By Bill K.
"But Michiru-mama is in trouble!" cried Hotaru to anyone who'd listen. "That means Haruka-papa is probably in trouble, too! We have to help them!"
King Endymion, Queen Serenity and the original senshi looked at her sympathetically. But she already knew she was arguing to no avail.
"We understand the need for swift action, Hotaru," Ami told her. "We're working as fast as we can. But we must pinpoint where they are first before we can help them."
"I know where they are!" Hotaru protested. "Ravenheim!"
"Is it a city, Hotaru?" Endymion asked. "Is it a state, a country, a planet? If so, where is this planet?" Hotaru looked at him helplessly. "You don't know, do you. That's why we have to find it first."
"I don't know the technical space coordinates or anything scientific, but I can lead us there! I can!"
"Assuming that's true, what are we going to find there?" Minako asked her point blank.
Hotaru looked down in frustration. She felt Makoto's hand on her shoulder.
"We know you want to help them," Makoto told her in a soothing voice. "So do we. But we're not going to be any help to them if we go charging in and wind up in the same predicament they're in. You just have to bear with us until we know where we're going and what we're facing."
Hotaru's face scrunched up with distress. She tore away and bolted from the room.
"Poor Hotaru," Serenity whispered. "If there's any way we can speed this up . . .?"
"I feel for Hotaru as much as you do, Serenity," Ami said.
"It's not just Hotaru," Serenity sniffed. "I want to help them, too - - now!"
Hotaru lay across her bed, crying. The specter of arriving too late and seeing her adoptive parents dead haunted the girl's brain. But what could she do alone?
"The Princess Usagi desires entry," announced the computerized door sensor.
"Let her in," Hotaru squeaked.
Usa entered, flanked by the Amazons. Their sad sympathy was touching, though it didn't dry Hotaru's tears.
"We heard," Usa told her. "They are doing everything they can."
Hotaru just cried harder.
"Miss Hotaru ma'am," Palla-Palla ventured, on the verge of tears herself, "please don't cry. Palla-Palla promises she'll do anything she can to help you find your Mommy and Daddy."
"Thanks," Hotaru whispered. "I'm just so scared it'll be too late. None of you felt her call the way I did. She was so desperate! It might already be too late!"
"Then how about we go look for them?"
Hotaru looked up into Usa's face. She saw the princess was dead serious. It made her that much more grateful that Usa was her best friend.
"The king and queen aren't going to like that," Jun-Jun reminded them. Usa shot her a withering glare. "But that's never stopped you before. So how do we get there?"
"Sailor teleport?" Usa guessed.
"Do we have enough power to travel that far on Sailor teleport?" Cere-Cere asked. "Do we even know where we're going?"
"I'll get us there," Hotaru proclaimed and no one doubted her. "Thank you everyone."
"Um," came a meek voice from the back. Everyone turned to Ves-Ves. "If you'd prefer I didn't go along, I, um, understand."
"Sure you can come along," Usa smiled encouragingly. "If whoever this enemy is got the better of Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune, we'll probably need all the power we can get. Besides, you can just pretend the enemy is me."
Ves-Ves looked down, ashamed.
"Please come, Ves-Ves," Palla-Palla pleaded, grasping her hands. "Palla-Palla is going to need you to protect her and help her if she runs into big words."
Tears began to flood the silent girl's eyelids. Unable to speak, Ves-Ves nodded her head, her towering hairstyle shaking to-and-fro. The others saw Palla-Palla beam happily and immediately felt better about their mission.
"All right, let's head down to the gym and transform," Usa told them. "We'll do less damage if we teleport from in there." The five girls nodded resolutely and followed their princess out the door.
A swirl of wind kicked up amid the brush and dirt of a little used wasteland, the whirlwind given form by the foggy conditions on the ground. When it reached an apex of ten feet off the ground, the whirlwind died away, revealing six young girls in sailor fukus. The girls released their grips on each other's hands and looked around.
The landscape was draped in fog. Beneath the fog, the land was harsh. To one side lay a mountainous region with stairways carved into the rock. The stairs connected the mouths of burrows, the side of the mountain a warren of caves containing living beings. To the other side lay four huge metallic pillars. The columns were twenty feet around and stretched up to the sky well beyond what the fog allowed them to see. There was evidence on the nearest column of a door or hatch at ground level. There seemed to be no animal life and any plant life that still existed was stunted and hugged the ground.
"What an utterly miserable place," Cere-Cere mused with distaste. "Why can't we ever get any missions to the beach?"
"How did we do that?" Juno marveled. She turned to Sailor Moon. "Did you manage that? I didn't think any of us were capable of power like that."
Sailor Moon didn't answer - - but she did look at Sailor Saturn curiously. Saturn, embarrassed, avoided her gaze. She began to survey the terrain - - then sank to her knees.
"Saturn!" Sailor Moon gasped, catching the girl as she knelt so she didn't fall onto her back. "You're using too much energy."
"I'll be all right," Saturn sighed, trying to shake the dizziness.
"Saturn did that?" Juno whispered.
"You need to rest," Sailor Moon persisted.
"We need to find Michiru-mama as soon as we can," she mumbled. Ignoring Sailor Moon's curious stare, Saturn reached out with her mind, trying to get some indication of where Michiru Kaioh was. "I think she's over there," the girl said, pointing toward the mountain range.
Ignoring Sailor Moon's baleful stare, Saturn got to unsteady feet and headed out. Falling in behind Saturn, Sailor Moon and the Asteroid Senshi started for the mountain range. They weren't fifty feet, though, when a storm of dust and wind sprang up in front of them. The girls fell back into defensive stances while Sailor Moon summoned the Crescent Moon Wand. A brilliant light was glowing in the midst of the whirlwind and a sixth sense told them whatever was making this was incredibly powerful. The storm seemed to loom over them for a moment, then suddenly died away. The girls were amazed at what they saw.
"What am I going to do with you?" asked a very annoyed Queen Serenity, her arms folded over her chest. Sailor Mercury and Jupiter were on her left, while Sailor Mars and Venus were on her right.
"Oh, man!" groaned Sailor Moon. The Asteroids quickly looked down, except for Pallas. She smiled at the queen, genuinely happy to see her.
"What have I told you about rushing into a situation you don't know anything about?" the queen fumed.
"Please, Your Majesty!" Saturn began.
"And what have I told you about calling me 'Your Majesty'?" Serenity fussed petulantly.
"Please, Queen Serenity, don't blame Sailor Moon or the others," Saturn pleaded. "They were just helping me. It's my fault. I-I couldn't wait! Michiru-mama needs me!"
"And we didn't have time to run it through committee," added Sailor Moon.
"That's enough, young lady," growled Serenity. "Saturn, I do sympathize. We were coming for her."
"It's just if something jumps out at us now, we'll have to wing it," Venus scowled.
"And there's no way of knowing how our incursion on this planet is going to affect the native inhabitants," Mercury explained.
"Well, we're here," Serenity interjected. "I imagine our best course is to find Michiru as quickly and as quietly as possible and get out as soon as possible." She looked to her senshi for their opinion and they all nodded in agreement. Mercury immediately summoned her visor.
"I'm scanning the area," Mercury said. "There are multiple life readings in the caves in that mountain range. Humanoid, but no life forms analogous with Earth. I'm also reading multiple life form activity underground beneath the mountain - - perhaps a mine of some sort."
"Your," Saturn began and noticed Serenity wince, "um, Queen Serenity, I can feel she's near. I think I can lead us to her."
Serenity went blank for a moment. "I feel her, too. All right, Saturn, let's follow you."
"Keep your eyes open," Jupiter warned the Asteroid Senshi as they all followed Saturn. "We don't know what we're dealing with here, so avoiding detection and confrontation is the plan."
As they walked, the girls seemed to unconsciously seek out their favorite elder. While Saturn and Mercury worked in concert at the point, Ceres gravitated toward Mars and Juno edged over to Jupiter. Sailor Moon and the queen suspended hostilities and concentrated on the success of the plan. Pallas sought out Vesta, sticking close to the crimson senshi. Vesta, though, seemed to make an overt effort to keep the entire pack between her and Venus. Venus noticed, but suppressed it for the mission.
"Where's Pop?" Sailor Moon asked as they walked.
"One of us had to stay in Crystal Tokyo," Serenity answered. She spent several tense moments looking for words before finally speaking. "Dear, I wasn't criticizing you for caring. I understand you wanted to help your friend. I think it reflects very well on you and what kind of person you're becoming."
"But I should have waited for you," Sailor Moon finished the thought impatiently.
"It's just that you're so reckless sometimes."
"Mom, I see a problem and I solve it. That's what Sailor Moon is supposed to do."
"Sailor Moon is also responsible for the lives of her senshi, who are her guardians and charged with her safety at the expense of their lives if necessary," Serenity said. "Recklessness puts them in danger because it increases the odds that one or more of them might have to make that sacrifice." She turned to her daughter and gave her a serious, solemn look. "Watching your friends die is not pleasant, honey. Believe me. And knowing you could have prevented it by being a little more careful is an even less pleasant feeling."
Sailor Moon's mouth thinned to a line, but she didn't respond. She knew the legendary history of the previous Sailor Moon only too well.
As they approached the mountain range the group noted through the shroud of the fog some activity nearby. Giving it a wide berth, they nevertheless tried to observe the natives to gauge them and any threat they might pose - - or any level of threat they might pose to the natives.
The closest visible person to them was human-looking, a woman. As proximity dissipated the fog cover, they could see she was dressed in tatters and chains, with manacles around her wrists and ankles and her throat encased in a close-fitting metallic collar. All five bands were interconnected by heavy metal links designed to hamper but not immobilize. Hygiene was clearly not a priority with the woman, evident from her stringy green hair and dull, rough skin. Her eyes were hollow, her expression vacant and her posture broken. She just stood there as they passed, oblivious to everything.
"That . . . poor woman," Serenity softly gasped as the others looked on in curious horror.
"What's with the chains?" Sailor Moon whispered.
"Perhaps we've stumbled into a penal camp," Mercury offered. She scanned the area with her visor while everyone else sensed Saturn tense at the very thought of Michiru possibly imprisoned here.
Just then another woman stalked up to the one in chains. She wore a black uniform with a high collar and thick black boots, and carried several fearsome items on a wide black belt around her waist. Her black hair was severely pulled back from a hawkish face that could be pretty if she wasn't glowering at the chained woman. When she got close to the fettered wretch, the woman in chains cringed and shrank away from her.
"No loitering!" the uniformed woman bellowed.
She pulled a blunted rod about a foot and a half-long from her belt and jabbed the woman with it. Upon contact with the skin, the rod emitted an electrical charge. The chained woman collapsed in a heap and quivered helplessly as her attacker stood over her.
"Get up!" demanded the woman while the prisoner continued to spasm. "Get up, you lazy green-hair or you'll get another one!"
"What's her problem?" gasped Ceres.
Mars and Mercury turned to Serenity, anticipating she would intervene and desiring to keep their incursion undiscovered. They were already too late. Serenity was already crossing toward the uniformed woman.
"Get up, slacker!" the woman roared, brandishing the rod as if she meant to strike again. "You green-hairs are all . . .!"
A delicate hand folded over the gloved hand holding the rod. The woman in uniform turned angrily and found herself face to face with Serenity.
"Please," Serenity said, gentle in her reproach. "She's a living being. There's no need for such cruelty."
The woman's response was a vicious blow that knocked Serenity to the ground. Sailor Moon and the Asteroid Senshi gasped in shock.
"Supreme Thunder!" Jupiter roared and the air suddenly smelled of ozone. There was a momentary flash of light and the tingle of electricity in the air. Suddenly the uniformed woman crumpled.
Mars was the first to Serenity's side. She helped her queen to sit up as the others crowded around.
"Serenity?" Mars asked.
"I'm not permanently damaged," Serenity replied. "She just surprised me." Serenity pulled away and moved over to the woman in chains. She helped the still dazed woman to sit up. "Are you hurt anywhere?"
At last the woman realized where she was. At once she panicked and tried to crawl away from Serenity.
"Please, I don't want to hurt you!" Serenity cried.
Grasping the woman's shoulders, Serenity held on as the woman struggled and thrashed in an effort to escape. As she held her, Serenity's aura began to overwhelm the woman. Her struggles ceased and she began to calm. However she wouldn't look at Serenity.
"Why was that woman punishing you?" Serenity asked. The woman just shook her head without speaking, keeping her gaze averted. "Why are you chained?" Again no answer save to shake her head.
"What's wrong with her?" Sailor Pallas asked.
"If I had to guess, I'd say she's suffering from deep psychological trauma," Mercury told them, studying the woman intently, "possibly induced by prolonged cruelty or maltreatment - - perhaps even torture." She pointed to the ancient scars on the girl's arms.
"Oh my!" Serenity gasped, genuinely upset. Her eyes began to tear. "Perhaps I can help," she said to the woman, "if you'll let me."
Serenity took on a silvery glow as her hands reached for the woman's temples. The chained woman tried to shy away, but her struggles ceased when Serenity's fingers began to massage her temples. Serenity closed her eyes and the shimmering glow enveloped the woman as well. Her brow knit, but Serenity's manner remained peaceful as she allowed her head to ease back. The captive woman's manner mimicked Serenity's. Her breathing eased and her fists relaxed into open hands. A light began to appear in her hollow eyes as hope became born again in her soul. The woman's mouth pulled into a small, timid smile.
"Beautiful," she whispered.
As she went limp, Serenity supported her. After a few moments, the woman sat up on her own. Perplexed as to what just happened, she turned to Serenity. Her expression was of utter confusion, but it was confusion tinged with gratitude.
"Thank you, Mistress," she said. "Why?"
"Because you were suffering," Serenity replied as if the answer should have been obvious. "And I'm nobody's mistress. Please call me Serenity."
As this happened, Sailor Moon was off to the side, beaming proudly. Mars noticed and smiled knowingly to herself.
"What's your name?" Serenity asked gently.
"Veda, Mistress," the woman responded.
"Ah ah," Serenity said, wagging a finger at her.
"F-Forgive me!" Veda responded hurriedly. Her head bowed as she searched her memory. "S-Serenity. I am Veda - - Serenity."
"Let me get those chains off of you," Serenity said, reaching for the manacles. Veda shrank away again and violently shook her head.
"No! Do not touch the chains! I do not wish to die!" Veda shouted. Serenity pulled back and the woman calmed. Almost embarrassed by her display of fear, she cast her eyes down and said, "Veda must wear them."
"Why are you in chains?" Mercury asked her.
Veda darkened. "It is - - required."
"By who?" Serenity asked.
"By the Imperial Guard," Veda replied. When they didn't seem to understand, she nodded to the unconscious woman in the black uniform.
"Are you a prisoner here?" Jupiter asked. "Did you commit a crime or something?"
Intimidated by Jupiter's size and manner, Veda shrank back. Only when she felt the comfort of Serenity's hand did she relax.
"My only crime is not working hard enough," she said. Again they didn't seem to understand, so she continued. "I am a slave. All of my kind are slaves. All slaves must be chained. The queen requires it. To remove the chains is to bring death. To remove the collar is to bring death." They didn't seem to be able to believe her. Veda found this strange. "All slaves on Ravenheim must wear chains. It is the law."
"How long have you been a slave?" Mars asked, aghast at the thought.
Veda looked down. "My chains are all I have ever known. I have worn these chains for all of my sixteen summers."
"She's only sixteen?" Ceres whispered to Juno in amazement. Each girl had thought Veda to be much older.
The elder senshi were about to question her more, but suddenly Sailor Moon broke in.
"Is there a stranger here?" the girl with the pink hair asked her. "She has green hair like you, but she's not from here. Do you remember ever seeing someone like that?"
Sailor Moon's urgency intimidated the girl. Her eyes averted, reflexively fearing retribution if she didn't cooperate, Veda searched her memory. But she didn't get a chance to answer. Venus silently signaled the others and the elder senshi stood up and formed a protective wall in front of Serenity. The younger senshi looked and saw a squadron of women in black uniforms approaching them. With precision steps the squadron fanned out and encircled the group. Once they ringed the senshi, one of the Imperial Guards stepped forward.
"For striking an Imperial Guard," the squadron leader announced, "you are all under arrest in the name of the Queen! Surrender immediately!"
The guards drew menacing-looking weapons from their belts to back up their demand.
Continued in Chapter 4