Jupiter braced herself, ready to fight or talk. Another senshi? Hadn't encountering four more just a short time ago been enough? And if her henshin was any clue, along with the earrings, then…
"Greetings, Jupiter. I am Sailor Nemesis, Senshi of Memory and former guardian of the Gray Crystal." Nemesis's smile grew wider, and then, suddenly, she attacked.
"Poison Crystal Shards!" Jupiter threw up her arms as a volley of black crystals shaped like the senshi's earrings flew at her. They cut at her arms as she tried to dodge, and she automatically retaliated.
"Sparkling Wide Pressure!" Nemesis screamed as the attack hit her arm, but she recovered quickly and laughed.
"Do you really think I would be beaten by lightning? My Lord's temper is not so even as that! Lightning is the last ability you should ever use against his followers!"
Jupiter jolted. Her dream—there had been lightning, and eyes like her own… Nemesis did not intend to give her any time to ponder. She opened her mouth to attack again when a voice came from behind them.
"Jupiter! Where are you?" Finally the other senshi had arrived. Keeping her eyes on Nemesis, Jupiter shouted, "Here! There's-" But she was caught off guard as another one of Nemesis's attacks came at her. Rolling to escape it, she looked up as the others came into view. Sailor Moon gasped, and whispered, "Another senshi?"
Nemesis smiled coldly at their confusion, and spoke, mockingly polite. "Yes. I just introduced myself to Jupiter. Nemesis, senshi of, at your service, princess." Then her eyes narrowed.
"Poison Crystal Shards!" she screamed, aiming the attack directly at Sailor Moon. Mars reacted before the rest of them. She pushed Sailor Moon out of the way and threw herself to the ground, then threw her own attack at Nemesis.
"Burning Mandala!" Nemesis jumped nimbly aside, and laughed.
"Your aim has gotten worse, Mars." Then a flash of molten gold streaked at her, and she only barely managed to avoid it. At the other end of the chain was Venus.
"Unfortunately, one senshi was never a match for five." She turned toward Jupiter.
"I'll see you again, when I've more allies or you less. After all, we still need to collect Soldiers Aphrodite and Hera to complete our number. Until then, Jupiter." And Nemesis vanished.
Makoto didn't make it to her apartment that night; they all make their way back to Rei's temple for an impromptu sleepover. After setting up a sleeping bags for them, and numerous calls home to assure their parents it was a study sleepover (which, as Usagi said, was partly true), they took out the school books in case of interruption, and started trying to figure out their new enemy.
Ami was able to give them some info on the references to Aphrodite and Hera, anyway.
"Aphrodite is the Greek counterpart to Venus, Roman goddess of love, and Hera is the Greek counterpart of Juno, Roman goddess of marriage and queen of the gods. Other than that, I'm lost." Ami frowned, and Makoto had to hide a smile. Ami did not like not knowing things.
"But Nemesis said Soldier- wouldn't that seem like a guy's title?" asked Minako. Ami nodded, but said, "However, with the exception of you, Venus, all of our senshi names refer to gods. Mercury is the Roman name for Hermes, a messenger god. However, that's unimportant at the moment. What gets me is Aphrodite. It's counterpart, like I mentioned, is Venus."
That reminder got silence. Then Rei had an idea of her own.
"Maybe there are soldiers that are counterparts to the senshi? Soldier Aphrodite, Sailor Venus, Soldier Hera- wait. There isn't a Sailor Juno, and it's not a planet."
Sailor Juno. A sudden picture appeared in front of Makoto's eyes, and she saw long blonde hair, tied in a braid, and heard laughter, childlike and carefree. Then the image turned dark, and she saw a snatched glimpse of an explosion, pieces flying everywhere.
The blast seemed to knock her back into the real world. She gasped and lurched forward from her sitting position, pain lancing through her head. The other senshi crowded around her, asking what was wrong.
And she had to tell them. There was no way these visions were coincidence now.
Far removed from the senshi's discussion, Nemesis reappeared at a black palace. She walked down the path to the gate, and nodded to the emotionless gate guardian. The girl was creepy, her blank eyes staring nowhere, but she was a reminder to all at the palace what they were fighting for.
Nemesis stepped through the gate and eyed the scorched gardens, or what had been gardens. Burn marks were everywhere. Her master had used his powers to destroy them after—after—
Was she so afraid of a mere soldier that she did not even dare think of a thing he had forbidden to be spoken aloud?
Nemesis sighed and rubbed her temples as she navigated the twisting hallways leading to the throne room. When she reached it however, she stopped, hearing voices. However, it was doubtful anything secretive was going on, and one of the voices, she was sure, belonged to Sailor Ganymede. And Nemesis wasn't fond enough of the simpering satellite senshi to give her any privacy.
Stepping inside, she revised her opinion of Ganymede upward a bit. Because, standing bewildered in the throne room, was Soldier Aphrodite. Or, rather, his reincarnation, who had no clue what was going on. Yet.
From the throne, she felt the gaze of her lord on her. She immediately dropped to one knee, acknowledging him, but chafing inside. It seemed she was afraid of a mere soldier, after all. Rising, she ignored Ganymede and Aphrodite, looking up at the throne.
"Ah, Nemesis. Was your introduction successful?" He had probably been watching, what with his scrying abilities, but she knew better than to point that out.
"Yes. They know they have an enemy. And Jupiter's progress is excellent. Of course, she has many triggers that are easily pulled as long as she stays in the vicinity of the Silver Senshi. The others have not begun, but I think Jupiter will tell them, soon. And then…" Nemesis let it hang unspoken. The brooding soldier at the throne nodded and smiled, albeit coldly. Then he gestured to the still-confused boy.
"Nemesis, I believe Aphrodite's memory needs to be… stimulated." Nemesis grinned. She didn't get to use this power often enough.
Standing in front of him, she placed a hand on his forehead and ignored his questions. Closing her eyes, she sifted through his memories. He was quite the charmer, but not really malicious, as he had been before. Searching deeper, beyond this life, she found the memories she needed to awaken. Memories of when he had been Soldier Aphrodite, a breaker of hearts and one of her lord's allies. A slippery one—and easily distracted by a pretty face—but what did one expect of a soldier whose powers came from the physical side of love?
"Memory Awaken!" Her power flowed through her fingers, tingeing him with darkness. An interesting side affect, but not entirely unexpected. Even her purest powers of memory had been tainted by what had become of her planet.
She felt the deep memories from two lifetimes ago rise to the surface of his mind, and felt that life, centuries long, destroy the personality the scant years of memory his life on earth had created. Nemesis backed up a step, removing her hand, and watched as chaos flickered in his blue eyes. Then he readjusted his stance, from the gangly, nervous teenager he had been into the soldier and prince he was again.
Ganymede had left, and that exercise had taken far more power that Nemesis had thought it would. Calling back a complete life, especially the life before last, was far more difficult than the glimpses she had been feeding Jupiter. After the lord dismissed her, she made her way back to her quarters and collapsed. On her bed, not bothering to detransform or brush her hair. Loose to her mid-back and wavy, with two thin, even longer braids in front of her ears that hung to her knees, it was a brown bush when she didn't comb it. However, she'd deal with it tomorrow. For now, she had sleep to catch.
The senshi sat in silence when Makoto had finished, telling the strange feelings and flashes of pictures she had had all day, since the first dream. None of it made sense at all to her, but maybe the others knew something Makoto didn't.
It was Luna who broke the quiet, however.
"None of this sounds familiar. But there were lives before the Silver Millennium where things were different. Maybe your visions are from one of those?" Then Artemis left Minako's lap.
"In ordinary cases, your memories don't stretch out that far. But there have been senshi since the beginning of time, reincarnated each time a bit differently so that someday mankind can achieve purity and happiness through them and the Silver Imperium crystal. It's why everyone will stop aging in Crystal Tokyo." Luna interrupted him.
"Unfortunately, we cats are from the Silver Millennium timeline. This is the first time we've been reborn, and even that wasn't reincarnation, strictly speaking. So we have no knowledge of any lifetimes before that."
Makoto bit her lip, worried. Advice from Luna and Artemis had saved them before—but this time, even the cats were flying blind.
It was added to the list of numerous things Makoto hadn't liked about her day. However, when the senshi decided to call it quits and go to sleep, Makoto pushed it out of her mind. Thinking of happier things, (like Motoki) she forced herself to sleep.
But dreamlessness was beyond her.
AN: Another chapter, almost as confusing as the last. Don't worry, it'll be clear soon enough. Remember, leave a review! And I hope everyone's having a happy holiday season.