Chapter Thirty-One
Silky Pink Hair
***
"Two hours?" Zoisite ran after King Endymion as the man walked through the palace to his office. "Two hours, are you crazy? There's no way we'll evacuate a six-story palace, five government buildings, and an eleven- building archive with over a million people staffing altogether in two hours. Where will they all go?"
"Home," said Endymion. "And we'll find a place. Selenity, Chibi-usa and I can go to one of your houses. It should be safe there; the houses aren't too close to the palace, and I doubt the Andromedans will search the houses."
"How are you going to do it?"
"I'm going to connect to each of the places and make a public general announcement. Then I'm going to flood them with officers expediting the mission. We've got enough public officers in here to do that." Endymion began to draft a memorandum. "Speaking of which, Mitsuru and Ami, I want you both to assign officials to the flushing of the government buildings and three of the archive buildings. Mako and Ieyasu will get the rest of the archives, and Aiyana and I will take care of the palace. Then we'll get to...hmm...the Amesuino house is close to the hospital. She's got about ten bedrooms in that thing, too, don't you, Mitsuru?"
"Something like that," Zoisite said.
"Hai. We'll go there. They won't go too close to the hospital, like Aiyana said, so maybe that will be the safest. Let's see...there's seven in the Kogusunasu house, five in the Hayashino, five in the Amesuino, and four in the Koikokoro...that makes twenty-one all together. And add in my three...I mean, my *four*...that's twenty-five all together. Plus Mikomi- chan...my granddaughter. Kami-sama, I'm a grandfather." Endymion rolled his eyes. "I think we can survive, all of us at your house, right?
"Poor Mikomi-chan," Sailormercury said, suddenly thoughtful. "She probably misses her mother so much. Masaya has to bottle-feed her, and while I'm sure he holds her close, bottle-feeding doesn't hold the comfort breast- feeding does."
"Twenty-six people, all at one house? " Nephrite raised an eyebrow. "Rei doesn't live that far from the hospital, and she's got ten bedrooms too. Chill out, Mamoru-sama. We can separate for a little while."
Endymion smiled. "I know," he said. "Maybe I just feel safer with us all together, though. And we can't travel a whole lot. I'm not sure these Andromedans know what we look like, but they might be able to detect something with all their science and technology."
The four nodded.
"So let's get moving."
***
"Aiyana, let's go." Endymion smiled at Aiyana and held the comparatively small bag he'd packed to go to the Amesuino household. "It's time to leave."
"I can't go," Aiyana said. "Not yet. There's something in the palace that I have to find first. It's important if you ever want to get them out of here."
Endymion raised an eyebrow quizzically.
"Hotaru hid her transformation wand inside the palace in the room she was staying in before she moved," Aiyana explained. "Do you know where it was?"
"Of course," said Endymion. "It's on the third floor, in the north wing, not too far from our bedroom. It was decorated in all lavender, the way she wanted it, and it hasn't been changed since then. Usa's taken a liking to it and wanted us to keep it the same." Endymion smiled. "They were about the same age until Hotaru aged to fight with us. They were best friends."
Aiyana nodded. "Thanks for the directions. I'll be out of here as soon as I find that wand."
Endymion sighed unhappily. "Be careful," he said. "If you feel them coming, or it takes longer than ten minutes, just get out. You can always get it later."
"No, I can't. How are you supposed to get the Andromedans out of the palace without the Sailor Senshi?" Aiyana asked.
"Hotaru is Sailorsaturn, not you," said King Endymion.
Aiyana shook her head, but didn't say anything. The king's eyes widened.
"A rebirth," he said, understanding. "The timeline was upset."
Neo-Queen Selenity chose that moment to walk in. "Are you ready to leave, Endymion?" she asked. Then her eyes fell on Aiyana.
The two stared at each other for a long while. Then, Queen Selenity said, "Are you the one who warned us about the approaching enemy?"
"Hai, your majesty," Aiyana said respectfully.
Neo-Queen Selenity slowly bowed to Aiyana. "Thank you," she said. Then she turned to Endymion, giving the man a quizzical look. He was watching the exchange with growing happiness that his wife and his daughter had a mutual respect.
"Selenity," he said, "I have something to tell you on the way to Ami's house."
***
Aiyana stood at the doorway of the lavender room. This was definitely Hotaru's old room, and it was beautiful. Purple was her favorite color, as was her mother's, obviously. The room was decorated with many lamps, giving a soft, mystifying glow to the room.
Aiyana smiled, and her hand involuntarily went to the small amethyst pendant around her neck. She often fiddled with it when she felt disturbed, but right now, she was fiddling because she felt content, staring upon the room her mother had once stayed in when she was young, alone, and pregnant. She wondered if Mikomi would ever have that feeling, looking in on the hospital room where Aiyana had spent six months of her life.
"No standing around," she said. "I have to get out of here, and quickly."
She stepped forwards and looked for the large black bureau that her mother had described. It was pushed against the wall, next to the bed. Aiyana crouched in front of it and, setting her sword down besides her, counted five drawers from the top of the middle drawer bank and one drawer to the left. She then took out the two adjacent drawers and reached back into the hollow space.
Sure enough, there was a cut in the bottom of the bureau, deep enough to put a small jewelry box inside. Aiyana felt the wooden box with her fingers and pulled it up out of the hollow and through the place where the drawers had been.
The box was beautiful as well, antique. It was painted black with figures in kimono of different shades of pink and purple walking to and fro on it. Aiyana smiled as she opened the box. It had a lot of things in it, things Hotaru had told her were now hers.
Aiyana sifted through them with her fingers. A pretty necklace with a coral pink rose pendant at the end...it would go nicely with that pink sundress that Ami had bought her the day she went shopping. There were a few assorted rings, some nicer than others. She had several expensive jeweled headbands and barettes, and there were a few more necklaces. Very beautiful jewelry.
As an afterthought, Aiyana reached into the jewelry box and pulled out a pair of hair combs. *No time for vanity!* her mind screamed, but she couldn't help but clip them in her hair and look in the mirror above the bureau. She had on a short blue skirt with a small amount of violet in it, matched with a black mock-turtleneck top, and the clips had sapphire stones in them, nicely matching the royal blue of the skirt and bringing out the blue in her eyes. She smiled at her reflection.
Sitting back down in front of the jewelry box, Aiyana reached back inside and picked out a small rod with a small sheet of white paper wrapped around it. She unwrapped the rod. There was a small purple crystal on the top with a golden sign carved in the top, and she realized it was the alchemial sign for Saturn. Underneath it was a small purple watch with a golden wristband, also designed with the sign of Saturn.
The transformation pen and wrist communicator.
Aiyana smiled briefly and then lifted the jewelry box, placing it back in it's place in the hollow of the bureau. She would be back for it as soon as she could take it, but she didn't know whether she would be able to run if she had to with it in her hands.
Quickly Aiyana rose and started outside the room, clutching the wand close and strapping the slim watch to her arm. She ran down the hall, rounded the way, and flew down the staircase. But her eyes happened to catch the activity in the main hall right in front of the doors to the palace, and she quickly caught the banister and pulled herself back up the staircase, praying she hadn't been seen.
The Andromedan force had already arrived.
She dared not peer down around the banister again, but she could hear the conversation of the officers.
"Funny how the palace was just left empty when we arrived," she heard a voice say, and froze upon recognition. That was Second Delta Tenkami! He was probably acting as First Delta right now, being the most familiar with the palace and the Earth's terrain. "I wonder where the crowd went?"
"They probably scattered after the king and queen were killed," said another voice, and Aiyana recognized that as Delta Reizei. He was a particularly purer Centurian, the only mostly Centurian Delta. He had a reptlian tongue to go along with his Centurian look, and his words were a little slurred. "After all, that is what Delta Khalidah was sent here to do, isn't it?"
"I'm surprised she went through with it," Aiyana heard Delta Tenkami say. "She was always a little squeamish when it came to the necessary things."
Aiyana felt her fist clenching.
She heard Delta Tenkami laugh. It was a short chuckle, one she heard him give often when playing with the other men, and it had never failed to alight butterflies in her stomach. Now, it made a shiver run up her spine.
"Let's see," she heard Delta Tenkami say. "This place is absolutely beautiful. My, my. It's all made of crystal, every last piece of it. Shigenoi, Ashikaga, you see if you can find the quarters for everyone. I want the king and queen's bedroom myself, if you please." She could almost hear him grinning widely, and she knew that goofy grin of triumph was on his face. "The rest of you...hmm. Find the mainframe computers and..."
Suddenly he paused. "What is that smell?"
"What smell?"
"Smells...like..." He sniffed again. "Roses."
*Oh, great.* Aiyana had completely forgotten that the elixir had worn off and her smell was back. It was something that Delta Tenkami had always liked about her. She knew that because of the way he always talked about it, whether he was annoyed by it when he was angry or complimenting it during one of his rare nice streaks. She moved slowly, trying to climb back up the stairs. Perhaps there was another way out.
"The way these people are?" Delta Shigenoi scoffed. "They probably perfumed their palace to make it all the more beautiful.
"No...that's a much more personal fragrance." He knew. Aiyana cursed under her breath and quickened her pace up the palace stairwell. She reached the top and turned left down the hallway, running up the other one to get to the third floor. She could use the bedroom window and some sheets like she had seen rebellious girls do in the few movies she had seen in her life.
She threw open the door to a large pink bedroom on the third floor. Immediately, there was an indignant shriek, and Aiyana found herself face to face with a person that could only be her younger half-sister, Princess Lady Selenity. She looked so strikingly like Neo-Queen Selenity that it was impossible to mistake her for anyone else. Her silky pink hair was tied into two long ponytails that flowed underneath two cone-shaped projections of hair, and she had large crimson eyes that indicated her younger age.
"Oh my goodness, what are you doing here? Get out of here! Wait a minute. Are you that assassin? Get out of here! Don't hurt me, please!"
Aiyana dashed forwards, wrestled the girl down, and placed a hand over her mouth. "Shut up, shut up," she said. "I'm really sorry to do this this way, Princess Lady Selenity-sama. But listen to me. I am not going to kill you and you have to be quiet, you hear? Or I will!" She brandished her sword menacingly.
Lady Selenity's eyes widened, and she tried to scream again.
"*Please* shut up," she said. She left Lady Selenity on the floor, went to the door, and closed and locked it. Then she ran back to Lady Selenity before she could open her mouth. "There are people downstairs who want to take over your planet. They are in the process of taking your palace. Unless you want us both to get killed, I suggest you shut your mouth."
"Why should I believe you? Why should I want you to live? You tried to kill my parents!"
"That was quite a while ago. I haven't tried again since then."
"Who's to say you won't?"
"If I would, I wouldn't be hiding right now, I'd be dragging you to the people downstairs," she said. "Why didn't you leave with your parents?"
"They left already?" Lady Selenity said. "Oh, no! Great. I got all dressed for nothing." She gestured to the ensemble she wore, a cute yellow sundress with matching sandals. She looked back at Aiyana. "Izumi-chan was right. You are very pretty, for an assassin."
"Thank you," Aiyana said automatically. "Listen, lower your voice. They're going to hear you."
"Hear me? Who?"
"Don't you know why your parents were taking you to the Amesuinos?"
"No. They just said it was really important."
"The people from my planet are trying to take over your world," Aiyana answered. "You have to go to Ami's to be safe from them. Otherwise they might kill you! We have to get out of your room. Does your window open?"
"Of course it does."
"Help me tie your sheets together, then." There was a short ping at the window.
"Stay down."
"Why should I believe you?" Lady Selenity pouted, crossing her arms. "How do I know you're not lying to lure me out anyway?"
"Two reasons. One, if I wanted to take you downstairs to those people, all I would have had to do was heft you over my shoulder and drag you out screaming. You can't match me in fighting, and I'd knock you out in five minutes. Two, if I wanted to kill you, I would have done it already."
Lady Selenity clamped her mouth shut.
"I'm trying to help you," Aiyana continued, and strolled to the window. Beneath it was a frantic King Endymion. She opened the window.
"What the hell are you still doing in the palace? Is Usa in there?" he said.
"The Andromedans came a little earlier than expected, and yes, the princess is in here," she said. "Sullen and pouty, but still here."
"Usa!" Endymion called.
Lady Selenity ran to the window. "Daddy!" she said. "Daddy, she's in my room!"
"I know," said Endymion. "It's okay. You can trust her." He did not go on to explain how she could trust her, and Aiyana believed it was wisest to let Lady Selenity believe she was Endymion's only daughter for now. "Please, trust her and listen to her, Usa. She knows more about these people than any of us do, and she is not going to hurt you."
Usa shot a glance at Aiyana, then looked back at their father. "Daddy, what should we do?"
"King Endymion, go away," said Aiyana. "You're being too loud, you're going to attract attention. Usa and I will be out in a minute. Get to the Amesuinos' house; the Andromedans are here! It's too dangerous for you to be, too! I'll keep Usa safe, don't worry."
King Endymion nodded. "I trust you, Aiyana," he said, softly, but Aiyana heard him. He ran away presumably to where there were more of the warriors of old hiding out.
"Princess Lady Selenity-sama," said Aiyana, knowing that Usa was reveling in being addressed like a princess, "do you have a transformation wand of some sort to turn you into Sailormoon?"
"I'm not Sailormoon yet," said Usa unhappily. "I still have training to go through. But I don't transform with a wand, I transform with the ginzuishou. That's what Mother used when she was younger. Why did you ask me that?"
"Where's the ginzuishou?"
"Either Mama took it with her, or she left it in the palace in the special crystal room," Usa answered. "She doesn't like to handle it too much. It leaves a protective ward around Crystal Tokyo, and any movement of it will weaken the ward for a period of time."
*She probably left it,* Aiyana thought. *If there's any time Crystal Tokyo needs protection, it's now.* "Just asking," she said. "You may need it, but we can't get it now. Maybe later. Right now, we have to get out of here. Tie some of your sheets together so they'll be long enough to extend almost to the ground, and we can climb out of the window."
Usa nodded and went to her bed. "Here," she said. "You take two, I'll take two. We'll tie two together, then we'll tie our strands together."
"How many sheets do you *have* on that bed?" Aiyana asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Hey," Usa said, grinning, "a princess has got to sleep in comfort."
Aiyana rolled her eyes and tied them together, then tied Usa's end to the bed. She through the other end out of the window. The sheets extended right over the top of the first-story window."
"No time to tie more," said Aiyana. "We have to jump from the end. You go first."
"Okay," said Usa. She grabbed onto the end of the sheets and began to step out of the window.
Suddenly, there was a loud bang behind the two girls. Both of them jumped, and Usa was so startled she fell backwards, out of the window. She frantically grabbed for the sheet, but she could grab it. She was falling, falling towards the ground below her, three stories down.
The Andromedans had opened the door to Usa's room, and they were coming in. Delta Hojo was coming towards Aiyana to capture her, Delta Reizei flanking him. And standing in the doorway, smiling triumphantly, was Delta Tenkami himself.
"I've finally got you, you slippery little eel."
Silky Pink Hair
***
"Two hours?" Zoisite ran after King Endymion as the man walked through the palace to his office. "Two hours, are you crazy? There's no way we'll evacuate a six-story palace, five government buildings, and an eleven- building archive with over a million people staffing altogether in two hours. Where will they all go?"
"Home," said Endymion. "And we'll find a place. Selenity, Chibi-usa and I can go to one of your houses. It should be safe there; the houses aren't too close to the palace, and I doubt the Andromedans will search the houses."
"How are you going to do it?"
"I'm going to connect to each of the places and make a public general announcement. Then I'm going to flood them with officers expediting the mission. We've got enough public officers in here to do that." Endymion began to draft a memorandum. "Speaking of which, Mitsuru and Ami, I want you both to assign officials to the flushing of the government buildings and three of the archive buildings. Mako and Ieyasu will get the rest of the archives, and Aiyana and I will take care of the palace. Then we'll get to...hmm...the Amesuino house is close to the hospital. She's got about ten bedrooms in that thing, too, don't you, Mitsuru?"
"Something like that," Zoisite said.
"Hai. We'll go there. They won't go too close to the hospital, like Aiyana said, so maybe that will be the safest. Let's see...there's seven in the Kogusunasu house, five in the Hayashino, five in the Amesuino, and four in the Koikokoro...that makes twenty-one all together. And add in my three...I mean, my *four*...that's twenty-five all together. Plus Mikomi- chan...my granddaughter. Kami-sama, I'm a grandfather." Endymion rolled his eyes. "I think we can survive, all of us at your house, right?
"Poor Mikomi-chan," Sailormercury said, suddenly thoughtful. "She probably misses her mother so much. Masaya has to bottle-feed her, and while I'm sure he holds her close, bottle-feeding doesn't hold the comfort breast- feeding does."
"Twenty-six people, all at one house? " Nephrite raised an eyebrow. "Rei doesn't live that far from the hospital, and she's got ten bedrooms too. Chill out, Mamoru-sama. We can separate for a little while."
Endymion smiled. "I know," he said. "Maybe I just feel safer with us all together, though. And we can't travel a whole lot. I'm not sure these Andromedans know what we look like, but they might be able to detect something with all their science and technology."
The four nodded.
"So let's get moving."
***
"Aiyana, let's go." Endymion smiled at Aiyana and held the comparatively small bag he'd packed to go to the Amesuino household. "It's time to leave."
"I can't go," Aiyana said. "Not yet. There's something in the palace that I have to find first. It's important if you ever want to get them out of here."
Endymion raised an eyebrow quizzically.
"Hotaru hid her transformation wand inside the palace in the room she was staying in before she moved," Aiyana explained. "Do you know where it was?"
"Of course," said Endymion. "It's on the third floor, in the north wing, not too far from our bedroom. It was decorated in all lavender, the way she wanted it, and it hasn't been changed since then. Usa's taken a liking to it and wanted us to keep it the same." Endymion smiled. "They were about the same age until Hotaru aged to fight with us. They were best friends."
Aiyana nodded. "Thanks for the directions. I'll be out of here as soon as I find that wand."
Endymion sighed unhappily. "Be careful," he said. "If you feel them coming, or it takes longer than ten minutes, just get out. You can always get it later."
"No, I can't. How are you supposed to get the Andromedans out of the palace without the Sailor Senshi?" Aiyana asked.
"Hotaru is Sailorsaturn, not you," said King Endymion.
Aiyana shook her head, but didn't say anything. The king's eyes widened.
"A rebirth," he said, understanding. "The timeline was upset."
Neo-Queen Selenity chose that moment to walk in. "Are you ready to leave, Endymion?" she asked. Then her eyes fell on Aiyana.
The two stared at each other for a long while. Then, Queen Selenity said, "Are you the one who warned us about the approaching enemy?"
"Hai, your majesty," Aiyana said respectfully.
Neo-Queen Selenity slowly bowed to Aiyana. "Thank you," she said. Then she turned to Endymion, giving the man a quizzical look. He was watching the exchange with growing happiness that his wife and his daughter had a mutual respect.
"Selenity," he said, "I have something to tell you on the way to Ami's house."
***
Aiyana stood at the doorway of the lavender room. This was definitely Hotaru's old room, and it was beautiful. Purple was her favorite color, as was her mother's, obviously. The room was decorated with many lamps, giving a soft, mystifying glow to the room.
Aiyana smiled, and her hand involuntarily went to the small amethyst pendant around her neck. She often fiddled with it when she felt disturbed, but right now, she was fiddling because she felt content, staring upon the room her mother had once stayed in when she was young, alone, and pregnant. She wondered if Mikomi would ever have that feeling, looking in on the hospital room where Aiyana had spent six months of her life.
"No standing around," she said. "I have to get out of here, and quickly."
She stepped forwards and looked for the large black bureau that her mother had described. It was pushed against the wall, next to the bed. Aiyana crouched in front of it and, setting her sword down besides her, counted five drawers from the top of the middle drawer bank and one drawer to the left. She then took out the two adjacent drawers and reached back into the hollow space.
Sure enough, there was a cut in the bottom of the bureau, deep enough to put a small jewelry box inside. Aiyana felt the wooden box with her fingers and pulled it up out of the hollow and through the place where the drawers had been.
The box was beautiful as well, antique. It was painted black with figures in kimono of different shades of pink and purple walking to and fro on it. Aiyana smiled as she opened the box. It had a lot of things in it, things Hotaru had told her were now hers.
Aiyana sifted through them with her fingers. A pretty necklace with a coral pink rose pendant at the end...it would go nicely with that pink sundress that Ami had bought her the day she went shopping. There were a few assorted rings, some nicer than others. She had several expensive jeweled headbands and barettes, and there were a few more necklaces. Very beautiful jewelry.
As an afterthought, Aiyana reached into the jewelry box and pulled out a pair of hair combs. *No time for vanity!* her mind screamed, but she couldn't help but clip them in her hair and look in the mirror above the bureau. She had on a short blue skirt with a small amount of violet in it, matched with a black mock-turtleneck top, and the clips had sapphire stones in them, nicely matching the royal blue of the skirt and bringing out the blue in her eyes. She smiled at her reflection.
Sitting back down in front of the jewelry box, Aiyana reached back inside and picked out a small rod with a small sheet of white paper wrapped around it. She unwrapped the rod. There was a small purple crystal on the top with a golden sign carved in the top, and she realized it was the alchemial sign for Saturn. Underneath it was a small purple watch with a golden wristband, also designed with the sign of Saturn.
The transformation pen and wrist communicator.
Aiyana smiled briefly and then lifted the jewelry box, placing it back in it's place in the hollow of the bureau. She would be back for it as soon as she could take it, but she didn't know whether she would be able to run if she had to with it in her hands.
Quickly Aiyana rose and started outside the room, clutching the wand close and strapping the slim watch to her arm. She ran down the hall, rounded the way, and flew down the staircase. But her eyes happened to catch the activity in the main hall right in front of the doors to the palace, and she quickly caught the banister and pulled herself back up the staircase, praying she hadn't been seen.
The Andromedan force had already arrived.
She dared not peer down around the banister again, but she could hear the conversation of the officers.
"Funny how the palace was just left empty when we arrived," she heard a voice say, and froze upon recognition. That was Second Delta Tenkami! He was probably acting as First Delta right now, being the most familiar with the palace and the Earth's terrain. "I wonder where the crowd went?"
"They probably scattered after the king and queen were killed," said another voice, and Aiyana recognized that as Delta Reizei. He was a particularly purer Centurian, the only mostly Centurian Delta. He had a reptlian tongue to go along with his Centurian look, and his words were a little slurred. "After all, that is what Delta Khalidah was sent here to do, isn't it?"
"I'm surprised she went through with it," Aiyana heard Delta Tenkami say. "She was always a little squeamish when it came to the necessary things."
Aiyana felt her fist clenching.
She heard Delta Tenkami laugh. It was a short chuckle, one she heard him give often when playing with the other men, and it had never failed to alight butterflies in her stomach. Now, it made a shiver run up her spine.
"Let's see," she heard Delta Tenkami say. "This place is absolutely beautiful. My, my. It's all made of crystal, every last piece of it. Shigenoi, Ashikaga, you see if you can find the quarters for everyone. I want the king and queen's bedroom myself, if you please." She could almost hear him grinning widely, and she knew that goofy grin of triumph was on his face. "The rest of you...hmm. Find the mainframe computers and..."
Suddenly he paused. "What is that smell?"
"What smell?"
"Smells...like..." He sniffed again. "Roses."
*Oh, great.* Aiyana had completely forgotten that the elixir had worn off and her smell was back. It was something that Delta Tenkami had always liked about her. She knew that because of the way he always talked about it, whether he was annoyed by it when he was angry or complimenting it during one of his rare nice streaks. She moved slowly, trying to climb back up the stairs. Perhaps there was another way out.
"The way these people are?" Delta Shigenoi scoffed. "They probably perfumed their palace to make it all the more beautiful.
"No...that's a much more personal fragrance." He knew. Aiyana cursed under her breath and quickened her pace up the palace stairwell. She reached the top and turned left down the hallway, running up the other one to get to the third floor. She could use the bedroom window and some sheets like she had seen rebellious girls do in the few movies she had seen in her life.
She threw open the door to a large pink bedroom on the third floor. Immediately, there was an indignant shriek, and Aiyana found herself face to face with a person that could only be her younger half-sister, Princess Lady Selenity. She looked so strikingly like Neo-Queen Selenity that it was impossible to mistake her for anyone else. Her silky pink hair was tied into two long ponytails that flowed underneath two cone-shaped projections of hair, and she had large crimson eyes that indicated her younger age.
"Oh my goodness, what are you doing here? Get out of here! Wait a minute. Are you that assassin? Get out of here! Don't hurt me, please!"
Aiyana dashed forwards, wrestled the girl down, and placed a hand over her mouth. "Shut up, shut up," she said. "I'm really sorry to do this this way, Princess Lady Selenity-sama. But listen to me. I am not going to kill you and you have to be quiet, you hear? Or I will!" She brandished her sword menacingly.
Lady Selenity's eyes widened, and she tried to scream again.
"*Please* shut up," she said. She left Lady Selenity on the floor, went to the door, and closed and locked it. Then she ran back to Lady Selenity before she could open her mouth. "There are people downstairs who want to take over your planet. They are in the process of taking your palace. Unless you want us both to get killed, I suggest you shut your mouth."
"Why should I believe you? Why should I want you to live? You tried to kill my parents!"
"That was quite a while ago. I haven't tried again since then."
"Who's to say you won't?"
"If I would, I wouldn't be hiding right now, I'd be dragging you to the people downstairs," she said. "Why didn't you leave with your parents?"
"They left already?" Lady Selenity said. "Oh, no! Great. I got all dressed for nothing." She gestured to the ensemble she wore, a cute yellow sundress with matching sandals. She looked back at Aiyana. "Izumi-chan was right. You are very pretty, for an assassin."
"Thank you," Aiyana said automatically. "Listen, lower your voice. They're going to hear you."
"Hear me? Who?"
"Don't you know why your parents were taking you to the Amesuinos?"
"No. They just said it was really important."
"The people from my planet are trying to take over your world," Aiyana answered. "You have to go to Ami's to be safe from them. Otherwise they might kill you! We have to get out of your room. Does your window open?"
"Of course it does."
"Help me tie your sheets together, then." There was a short ping at the window.
"Stay down."
"Why should I believe you?" Lady Selenity pouted, crossing her arms. "How do I know you're not lying to lure me out anyway?"
"Two reasons. One, if I wanted to take you downstairs to those people, all I would have had to do was heft you over my shoulder and drag you out screaming. You can't match me in fighting, and I'd knock you out in five minutes. Two, if I wanted to kill you, I would have done it already."
Lady Selenity clamped her mouth shut.
"I'm trying to help you," Aiyana continued, and strolled to the window. Beneath it was a frantic King Endymion. She opened the window.
"What the hell are you still doing in the palace? Is Usa in there?" he said.
"The Andromedans came a little earlier than expected, and yes, the princess is in here," she said. "Sullen and pouty, but still here."
"Usa!" Endymion called.
Lady Selenity ran to the window. "Daddy!" she said. "Daddy, she's in my room!"
"I know," said Endymion. "It's okay. You can trust her." He did not go on to explain how she could trust her, and Aiyana believed it was wisest to let Lady Selenity believe she was Endymion's only daughter for now. "Please, trust her and listen to her, Usa. She knows more about these people than any of us do, and she is not going to hurt you."
Usa shot a glance at Aiyana, then looked back at their father. "Daddy, what should we do?"
"King Endymion, go away," said Aiyana. "You're being too loud, you're going to attract attention. Usa and I will be out in a minute. Get to the Amesuinos' house; the Andromedans are here! It's too dangerous for you to be, too! I'll keep Usa safe, don't worry."
King Endymion nodded. "I trust you, Aiyana," he said, softly, but Aiyana heard him. He ran away presumably to where there were more of the warriors of old hiding out.
"Princess Lady Selenity-sama," said Aiyana, knowing that Usa was reveling in being addressed like a princess, "do you have a transformation wand of some sort to turn you into Sailormoon?"
"I'm not Sailormoon yet," said Usa unhappily. "I still have training to go through. But I don't transform with a wand, I transform with the ginzuishou. That's what Mother used when she was younger. Why did you ask me that?"
"Where's the ginzuishou?"
"Either Mama took it with her, or she left it in the palace in the special crystal room," Usa answered. "She doesn't like to handle it too much. It leaves a protective ward around Crystal Tokyo, and any movement of it will weaken the ward for a period of time."
*She probably left it,* Aiyana thought. *If there's any time Crystal Tokyo needs protection, it's now.* "Just asking," she said. "You may need it, but we can't get it now. Maybe later. Right now, we have to get out of here. Tie some of your sheets together so they'll be long enough to extend almost to the ground, and we can climb out of the window."
Usa nodded and went to her bed. "Here," she said. "You take two, I'll take two. We'll tie two together, then we'll tie our strands together."
"How many sheets do you *have* on that bed?" Aiyana asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Hey," Usa said, grinning, "a princess has got to sleep in comfort."
Aiyana rolled her eyes and tied them together, then tied Usa's end to the bed. She through the other end out of the window. The sheets extended right over the top of the first-story window."
"No time to tie more," said Aiyana. "We have to jump from the end. You go first."
"Okay," said Usa. She grabbed onto the end of the sheets and began to step out of the window.
Suddenly, there was a loud bang behind the two girls. Both of them jumped, and Usa was so startled she fell backwards, out of the window. She frantically grabbed for the sheet, but she could grab it. She was falling, falling towards the ground below her, three stories down.
The Andromedans had opened the door to Usa's room, and they were coming in. Delta Hojo was coming towards Aiyana to capture her, Delta Reizei flanking him. And standing in the doorway, smiling triumphantly, was Delta Tenkami himself.
"I've finally got you, you slippery little eel."