AN: Woooooah. Boy, y'all did not like that cliffhanger. (I loved that Cliffhanger. That is, by far my favorite cliffhanger in this story.) I bet you're happy to see 17 now, what with the Outer Senshi in a pickle and a war about to burst through Hogwarts gates.
As for the end? We're almost there…
Huge thank you to Deannalauren, RainonSaturn, and Pump-Ink for the beta work and HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Slices who has been following this wild ride since the very beginning. This is for you, Dude.
Disclaimer: See Chapter One
Last timeyear on Sailor Moon H: Having learned of an attack planned on Hogwarts and that Malfoy and Nott have finished the Vanishing Cabinet ahead of schedule, Harry the Inner Senshi and their friends raced to the Room of Hidden Things - only to find the Cabinet missing! Meanwhile, The Outer Senshi, Sirius and Remus have the information they need to take back Slytherin's locket from Voldemort and hopefully find one of Lestrange's feared horcruxes as well. Will the Cabinet be found? Will Voldemort attack Hogwarts? Will the locket - and the Zoisite Knight - finally be revealed. Keep reading to find out ;
Mahoutokoro's Riddle
Severus Snape had not returned from his mission until Tuesday. He'd apparated into Hogsmeade late in the morning, magically exhausted. He'd gone straight to the Hogs Head and floo'd directly to Setsuna Meioh's office – startling her third year class.
As soon as Setsuna had a chance to speak with him the Order launched into action.
"It's the old Gaunt Tower," Severus had reported to her, immediately pointing the spot out on a map. "Been unused since the 18th century. The Dark Lord was not made aware of it until he had access to old Ministry records. It'll look like ruins of a lighthouse as you approach. It's on a slope prone to avalanches. There are charms around the property against flying. The easiest path across the slope is marked by a white stone at the property edge. It needs pure blood…"
The white rock stood out under the limited light from the waxing crescent moon as the Order's team approached late that night. They were down one today: Rigel Fawcett had begged off, claiming a migraine.
Thankfully they had Sirius. He whipped out his knife and nicked his palm, pressing it to the salt-covered stone.
The rocks ahead of them rumbled, shifting into a smooth, winding path, leading up to the ruins. It was very narrow, barely wide enough for a single foot.
"Similar spells to those on the cave… and the cabin," Remus murmured. "If we veer off the path I believe the rocks will swallow us."
"Then let's not do that," said Sirius.
Haruka looked around. "It's very open. They'll see a lumos a mile off."
"Hang on, I've been practicing something." Sirius pressed his wand to the back of his head. "Noctis Oculos."
He repeated the spell on the senshi. Haruka grinned as the previously shadowed night took on a green tint, all the details of each rock along the sloping ground were now clearly defined.
"I'll stick with Lupus Oculos," Remus grinned, taking the lead down the narrow pathway.
The five of them walked single file – Setsuna at the tail end with her garnet rod. Michiru and Haruka had a talisman in one hand and a wand in the other.
As they approached, they passed a wall of shimmering air. Remus sneezed as he passed through.
On the other side, the ruins of the lighthouse looked much, much different.
Where before there had been a crumbling, blackened stone husk with its roof caved in, now there stood a regal watch tower: covered in lichen and black moss. The roof was a sharp conical point with black metal sculptures – serpents – leering down at the perimeter.
"How much are we betting those come alive?" Haruka murmured.
"10 galleons says they report intruders via parseltongue," Sirius whispered back.
"They're not alive," Michiru whispered.
"She's right, they don't have any rune work on them," Remus said.
"Perhaps they mean to add that protection later," Setsuna murmured. "After Severus' ward has had time to set." She thought back on Severus intel:
"The spell I used called for 17 ward stones soaked in a cloaking potion. They're all around the base of the tower. I selected it on purpose – it requires the item being guarded to be inside, but no new protections can be added for a full day. So before they finish their protections, you have one very good shot to make this work."
Setsuna reached into her cloak as they neared the base of the tower, pulling out a potion vial.
"This will neutralize the barrier over one stone...Is the ground stable around the walls?"
"Yes," Michiru answered.
Setsuna nodded, walking to the left. To the others, Severus' ward stones (black and small as pebbles) were hard to spot. But to Setsuna, it was quite easy to identify the new, foreign stones haphazardly tucked into the crevasses between the tower's age-old, granites. Setsuna walked part way around the tower and then beckoned the group of them to her. They all crowded around the specific ward stone Severus had said would allow them through.
Setsuna carefully uncorked the potion vial as they gathered around it, and tipped it onto the small pebble.
It flashed, and turned green.
Setsuna put her hand to the stone wall. "Wands ready."
They all raised theirs, each putting a hand on her shoulders.
Setsuna closed her eyes, and the garnet rod flashed. Her magic transported all of them through the wall without so much as a pop .
"I was permitted inside to check that my ward would hold on the windows… the stairs are all the wrong ways around… And they've prepared for your spatial powers this time."
Once they were inside the tower walls, Setsuna could immediately feel the magic Severus had referred to. She gritted her teeth, taking in the spatial chaos around them.
In the center of the floor was a bright, silver chandelier standing upside down on its slim chain, as if hanging upwards. The flames wicking from the candles were pointing towards the floor. And the wax was dripping sideways.
"We're on the ceiling?" Haruka murmured as they all looked at the staircase and the landing looming overhead.
"They've distorted space," Setsuna said. "It's confused…" She closed her eyes, concentrating hard. But a moment later she shook her head. "There's too many spells distorting this place," she said. "The locket is here, but its location cannot be ascertained." She scowled. "Or a path to it." She considered the Garnet Rod. "I could attempt to reverse these."
"And then the magic may alert them that you're here," Michiru murmured.
Setsuna nodded. She looked around. "Look at the stairs…"
The set closest to them were upside down. They connected the first and second landing, At the second landing were two staircases, each leading to opposite third floor entrances. One set was right side up, the other sideways, climbing up opposite sides of the tower. The confusing mess continued, from what they could see, a full five or six floors up. As the five of them looked on, the stairs, five levels worth of them, groaned as they rotated.
Remus noticed something else. "What's the trick here?" he wondered. "All that effort for the rest of the stairs… but there's no way up to the first landing."
"Who needs tricks," Sirius snorted. "Voldemort flies now, remember?"
"Well there's anti-flight charms around all of this," Remus observed. "We'll have to climb."
"He's right," Setsuna murmured. "But there should be…" Her eyes flicked to the floor "Slytherin…"
They all looked: There, lit by the chandelier was an upside down mural of Salazar.
"However you got into the cabin in the summer," Severus had hinted. "You'll need to do the same here."
Michiru smirked. "Allow me." She strode across the ceiling, transforming along the way into the long, blue serpent. She slithered up to the mural; its deep, green eyes tracked her movements. Michiru coiled up by the mural's chest and hissed at it. Slytherin's green eyes flashed. Overhead the staircases groaned, turning until all were facing the right way up.
The first floor landing overhead glowed. A green carpet rolled down, forming the shape of stairs that would start them on their way up.
"Very inviting," Sirius noted as Setsuna led the way over to the carpet stairway.
"Stay to the left, towards the middle of the tower," Severus had advised. "Only one person can be on the stairs at a time."
They traversed the stairways up through the tower exactly as they had planned: With Padfoot and Setsuna climbing the stairs first and Remus going next. Haruka went last with Michiru, in her snake form, coiled around her neck, poised to strike at anything that might attack them.
They regrouped on the first landing without incident, and scanned the next level for any new spells or trick steps. Then they carried on up to the second landing.
"Remember Snape's warning," Remus said as he climbed up towards the third landing. "The center of gravity flips on the next staircase. We'll be upside down."
"As long we can walk upside down," Sirius called down to him. "Cause paws and sticking charms don't…"
"MUDBLOODS!" a ghastly voice echoed through the tower as the doors on all the landings rattled. "MUDBLOODS IN MY HOUSE!" The shriek that followed it shattered several windows; the glass tumbled towards them.
"Protego," Remus, Haruka, Sirius, and Setsuna all cast the shields at once, glass glanced off of them and chimed as it rained down on the ceiling below.
Through the shields, they didn't immediately see the source of the voice – not until the translucent figure had shot out of one of the walls, soaring right towards the man in the middle of the stairs.
"REMUS!" Sirius shouted.
Haruka cast " waddiwasi " from the landing below Remus, but not before the old, Gaunt ghost had passed right through him. He dropped in a dead faint, body rolling towards the right side of the stairs. The whole stairway groaned and began to tilt.
Sirius transformed into Padfoot as he leapt onto the stairs, charging down to Remus and dragging him back to the left side, and then up to the landing as the staircase teetered.
When they were clear of it, Haruka carefully tested her foot on the stairs. They creaked and stayed still. She jogged up to the third landing.
"Reneverate," Setsuna said when all of them had passed the stairs.
Remus gasped awake. "Bloody hell," he sputtered, accepting Padfoot and Haruka's help getting back to his feet.
"Snape failed to mention that," Haruka grumbled as they regrouped on the third floor.
"We should be fine," Remus said, shaking his head and dusting off his robes. "There's no detection magic I know of that can manipulate ghosts into an alert system." He glared as the keyhole Haruka'd sent the ghost into rattled. "We'll have to keep an eye on her though."
They all turned to the next stairs. This would be trickier.
Setsuna stepped onto them first, and scowled at the feeling of gravity abruptly flipping, her hair and robes falling up while her feet remained routed to the stairs. "I don't like this," she said as she traversed her way up… or rather, down.
Padfoot adjusted far more quickly, bounding to the fourth landing ahead of her. He transformed back into Sirius, who fumbled to keep his robes from slipping over his head. "Feels fine," he said, looking around.
Setsuna just shook her head. It's as if I'm cross-eyed , she thought, looking up. There was just the fifth landing above them, and one final set of stairs. She looked at Remus once he, Haruka and Michiru had reached the landing. "Severus didn't travel any farther up than this," she says. "Someone who can see rune work ought to be in the lead."
"I will," Remus said, scanning all around before stepping on the next set of stairs.
Up ahead, Setsuna could sense something dark – too dark to be well masked even by the mess of spells on the space around them. But the horcruxes responsible for that energy weren't visible. There was only one remaining landing between them and the ceiling… and a half- crumbled staircase connecting those. There were two doors on the final landing, but it did not feel as if the horcruxes was hidden behind either. In fact, the energy seemed to linger above that final crumbling set of stairs.
Interesting , Setsuna thought and closed her eyes as Remus and Padfoot ascended the steps. The final landing and the half of a staircase above felt… strange. She stared at it. There was something there, some expanded space, which the stairs appeared to cut through. The dark energy from the horcruxes made that space clear even with all the spells muddling her spatial powers.
"There's a hidden room up there," Setsuna said to Haruka and Michiru as Remus and Sirius reached the final landing. "Where those broken stairs appear to be."
"And no door into it," Haruka murmured.
She nodded, beginning her climb. "Remus," she called ahead. "Are there any runes on the floor there?"
Remus scanned the stone work on the landing, running his shoes across the dusty stones. The white dust, he realized, coated everything in the tower. "I wonder..." He pointed his wand. " Scourgify "
In an instant the dust was swept away from the stones, all but one: it remained the same pale color as the dust had been. It sat right in front of the final broken staircase. Remus bent to examine it.
"There may be runes below this," he said once Setsuna had reached the landing. "I think… if you step on it..." he gestured towards broken stairs. "There ought to be a door here."
"Anything the mirror can tell us?" Setsuna asked.
The snake slithered from around Haruka's neck. She dropped to the floor and transformed as she fell. Michiru scowled as the gravity spell messed up her hair. She pulled the aqua mirror from her robes.
"The horcruxes are right there," she said, pointing where Remus and Setsuna had guessed. "But the door is only going to let one person in."
"Of course it is," Sirius muttered.
"So then which pair of us goes?" Haruka asked, looking between the two Animagi.
All of them traded glances.
"I know the most about them," Remus whispered. "And the most about dark magic."
"Remus and I should go," Michiru said. "Between the two of us we'll be most able to anticipate any surprises."
Sirius made a face. "Much as I don't like that plan."
"It's a good idea," Haruka grumbled.
"Right," Michiru handed Remus the mirror. "May I?"
"Of course," He raised his eyebrows as she took his hand and transformed, slithering up his arm and coiling around his neck. "Several pranks against Narcissa and her jewelry are suddenly coming back to bite me," Remus said as he lifted the mirror so that Michiru could see it.
"Prioritize the locket if you can," Setsuna cautioned. Remus and the snake both nodded, and Remus approached the pale stone in front of the stairs. He stepped onto it.
The first of the wood stairs groaned and shot upwards, becoming a door: dark wood with a silver handle.
"If anything happens…" Remus murmured.
"We'll transform and find a way to get to you," Haruka promised.
With a final nod and glance at Sirius, Remus turned to the door, he fished a handkerchief from his pocket in order to safely grasp the silver handle. It turned without trouble.
The door swung open onto a grey room.
" Homenum Revelio ." Remus cast as he and Michiru crossed the threshold.
The door vanished as soon as his foot left the pale stone.
The three of them left on the landing kept their wands and weapons raised. Haruka and Sirius scanned all around the room while Setsuna stood, eyes closed, in the middle of the platform, concentrating on the blurry future and the distortions in space.
And communicating with Michiru.
"They see both of them," Setsuna told the others. "The locket and a dagger." Setsuna frowned. "Something's coming through the wall." She told Sirius and Haruka. "Feels like that ghost."
"I don't see anything." Haruka warned.
"Watch the middle of the tower," Setsuna advised. The last thing they needed was that ghoul making someone fall.
Setsuna , Michiru's thoughts came through clear to her, distracting her attention. I don't know what to make of this.
What is it?
Within the room, Michiru was still coiled around Remus neck, shrewd eyes glancing between her mirror, and the horcruxes. There was Voldemort's locket and a dagger, Lestranges, with the black family's motto across the length of the blade. They were resting on two pedestals. What had perplexed her: neither was protected by any ward or force-field.
"They may not have put any in place yet," Remus was muttering. "While they're waiting for Severus ward to stabilize…" He glanced at Michiru's mirror. To him, it only looked like a swirling mess of colored lights. "There may be some runes under the horcruxes," Remus said. "Both of them are certainly dark enough to hide the magical traces of rune work…" He bent down beside the pedestal with the locket, pointing his wand at it and muttering a spell.
Crack! Smoke flew into his face and Remus fell backwards. He sneezed and scowled. "Bollocks," he muttered. "That was a bit foolish of me."
The snake around his neck shifted and suddenly her narrow, dark blue head was facing him, the teal colored serpent's eyes stared at him, sending a shiver down his spine. Allow me.
He blinked. "By all means," he said as she moved from around his neck and down his arm.
The snake on his arm stared into her mirror for a moment and looked back at him. You were correct, she said. If we take one, we won't be able to take the other without setting off some magic .
"Then let's get the locket," he said. Turning to that horcrux. He looked at the snake, who was back to staring into her mirror. "That was Legilimency, if I'm not mistaken," he said as he plucked the locket from its spot on the pedestal. "It was decidedly not pleasant."
The snake looked at him again. He swore she was smirking. Apologies.
He approached the other pedestal. No force field went up around it. "Technically we could take it," he proposed. "If we knew what trap would spring up..." He looked back at the other pedestal as the snake bent to examine her mirror. There was some rune work now visible on the stone, but none that he had ever studied. He scrutinized the lines on the unfamiliar characters. They could perhaps draw it for the others outside. Or leave a false locket here and return later with a solution...
The snake flicked his wrist with her tail and he turned back to face her. The dagger is strange, she told him. She tapped her tail against the mirror. Suddenly, Remus could see an image in it: the black gem on the dagger's pommel, surrounded by a strange aura. He looked at the real thing. The gem itself looked fairly unassuming, so dark he had passed it off as obsidian. A pretty stone but a brittle one, hardly good for magic. "I'll take a look." He bent close to the horcrux, to the gem, wrinkling his nose. The wolf in him liked this horcrux even less than the others. Curious. "The gem is… separate from the horcrux… different magical signature. Similar magic I think, but.." he surmised, perplexed. "Darker..." He felt the snake shifting on his other forearm, but did not let his focus stray. " Priori Incantatem, " he tried, hoping to at least see what charms were on the gem. His eyebrows shot up as his magic was sucked into the black gem, vanishing inside. "What the…"
He heard a hiss, and felt the weight on his arm slip away. He jumped as the snake abruptly shifted back to Michiru - as the gem absorbed her power as it had his spell. She landed on her feet, one hand grabbing his robes and the other pressed to her chest a she grimaced.
"Michiru!" Remus steadied her as magic activated all around the room. Only one person at a time… The walls had started glowing and the stone floor beneath their feet was rattling.
"Leave the knife!" Michiru said, drawing her wand.
Remus hand went to the pocket in his robes where the locket was stowed. They both dashed across the shaking floor towards the door.
They did not see the swirl of ash rise out of the dagger's strange pommel, It knocked the dagger onto the floor, activating the trap.
The moment the dagger slipped from the pedestal, the exit onto the landing changed. Gaunt tower vanished as Remus jerked the door open. The door opened, yielding to a black void, a drop into a dark unknown. Remus and Michiru ran right into it.
Setsuna felt the moment the door changed. " Wait!" She shouted, and raised the Garnet Rod. "That door's just become a –" portal. It was too late. Whatever black expanse the door had just become, Remus and Michiru had fallen through the other side.
The rings she and Haruka wore chilled to a freezing temperature.
"Michiru!" Haruka whispered, storming right up to the black void that had appeared in the doorway until her nose was a hair's breadth from it. "What happened!" she demanded.
"We have to follow them!" Sirius said.
"Wait," Setsuna repeated, stepping up to the portal. "Just a –"
A red light swamped her vision. Her body stiffened. Stupefy...
"Setsuna!'
She fell forwards, towards the black void as the floor beneath them buckled and rushed upwards, tumbling all of them through the portal, outside the tower, and down into the dark.
~SMH~
In the north, at Hogwarts, the night was also taking an unexpected turn as the students who'd followed Harry Potter to the Room of Hidden Things burst back onto the seventh floor with their grave revelation.
"The Cabinet's gone."
The words were no sooner out of Hermione's mouth then the gathered students in the seventh floor corridor, who'd gotten wind that something was afoot, began clamoring with questions. Ami, Hotaru, and Makoto were demanding to know what had happened. Some who had followed them from the dorms, like Hannah Abbott and Lavender Brown wanted to know what cabinet they were all up in arms about. The chaos was further heightened by the whispering paintings murmuring-gossiping-lecturing-shouting.
When Lavender asked if it was true "You-Know-Who's going to attack Hogwarts!" One of the younger students promptly fainted.
"What are you all doing!" Mcgonagall's voice rang clearly across the 7th floor corridor as she hustled over to them. The crowd of students who'd packed in around the Room of Requirement parted to make room for her.
"Professor!" Harry stepped up. "We need Dumbledore."
"I'm afraid Dumbledore's not here, Mr. Potter."
The students gasped.
"What do you mean he's not here?" Ron demanded.
"He received an urgent message, from the Ministry, asking for his help."
"We need to get him back here!" Harry said. "I had a dream Professor. Voldemort's going to attack the school!"
Mcgonagall paled. "Are you sure, no of course you're sure." She looked up at the ceiling. "Rach-air-muin," she muttered. "Right. Everyone who isn't a prefect back to your dorms ." The younger students scattered, but most of the older ones, even when Mcgonagall glared, remained.
"Professor," Colin Creevey stepped up. "If Hogwarts is in danger we want to help." He looked at the students who'd burst out of the room of requirement. "What's this cabinet thing?"
Mcgonagall held off her lecture for the moment. She wanted to know as well.
"It's a vanishing cabinet!" Hermione said. "It's been charmed to act as a door into the Castle. We didn't know it was finished yet. We came here to guard it, but it's gone missing."
"And whose idea was it to let that detail go unreported?" Mcgonagall demanded and then scowled. "Actually, I know exactly who." Albus and Setsuna… She'd have words with the both of them when they made it back in one piece, the prophecy-loving fools. She tapped her wand against her hand, the end of it sparking red. "Prefects, I need you to alert your Heads of Houses. Weasley, Granger, you're to get Professor Snape – yes – Snape." She snapped when Ron tried to protest. She glared at him and his mouth slammed shut. "Once you do, move on to the other professors, send them to me in the Great Hall. And meet me there once you have accounted for them all." Then she turned to regard all the students who hadn't followed her order. She faced half her own house crowded into the corridor, and a good number of students from the others. Her hand clenched her wand. "Understand: this is no ridiculous prank you are pulling with your friends. We have every reason to believe Death Eaters are coming here tonight. You can all help most by going back to your dorms. Lock them, ward them, barricade the entrances if no one can manage wards. Cover and ward all the windows. Do not cause a panic, Am I clear?"
"Crystal," Lavender Brown squeaked.
"Good – go."
Most of them went this time, with just a smattering left. Lovegood. Longbottom. The Weasleys, Granger, and Potter of course. And all Setsuna's transfer students remained too, even the first years. Mcgonagall drew in a centering breath. "This cabinet," she said.
"We'll find it," Usagi said, nodding to the others.
"He moved it in a hurry," Ami pointed out. "He likely hasn't moved it far."
Mcgonagall nodded. "I want to know as soon as you do." She looked at Harry, standing defiantly at the front. His father's looks certainly, but his mother's steel will through and through. She sighed. "Potter… be careful."
Harry looked startled; a blush garnished his cheeks. For a moment he felt guilty knowing Mcgonagall would worry about him. "I-I will," he stammered.
Mcgonagall nodded. "That goes for all of you." Then she turned to the painting nearest them. "Wake the others, all of them. I want eyes open all over the castle. I am to be told the minute you see anyone who shouldn't be here."
"Yes Ma'am." The painting of the lord bowed and dashed off.
Mcgonagall nodded to them all once more before turning and running towards the stairs.
"Right," Harry said. "We need the map."
"Let's go," Mina said.
The senshi, the three first years, Neville, Luna, and Ginny stopped outside of Gryffindor Tower as Harry dashed inside. He returned a minute later, his hair was even more messy when he bolted through the portrait hole, the map in one hand, and a black sock in the other. He thrust the map at Ami and began tugging the sock bundle apart.
"Here," Harry said, revealing the tiny bottle of Felix Felicis. "Everyone drink some."
"There's not enough," Rei whispered.
Usagi nodded. "We'll be fine."
"Sure?" Hermione frowned.
"Yes." Mina grinned and winked. "We make our own luck."
"Good, take it. I don't need it," Harry said, pressing the vial into Hermione's hand. "Let me know as soon as you find it."
"You're not coming with us?" Hermione demanded.
"No," he sighed and racked his hands through his black hair, making it stick up even more. "I… Voldemort is coming." Harry whispered. "And… and there's still memories Dumbledore needs to show me… I need to see them first. I… I need to be prepared."
"I'm coming," Ginny said. Gryffindor's sword shinged as she drew it from its scabbard. "Someone needs to watch your back."
"She's right, mate," Ron said, downing the Felix Felicis. He passed it on to Luna. "Find us when you're done."
Harry nodded, feet already moving. He turned and ran for the stairs, Ginny just behind him.
The rest of them gathered closer together as Ami and Ron unfolded the Marauder's Map.
"All the passages I know from Hogwarts a History are clearly marked." Ami murmured as she surveyed it. "None are close to here."
"None of the Marauders' either" Ron noted. "Bloody Hell, how did they sneak it past us?"
"There's unused classrooms all along here," Ami noted. "The Alchemy labs would be heavily warded. They might try there."
"Dungeons and cellars have a lot of hidey holes too," Ron began to mark them. "We need to canvas the castle…"
"Floor by floor," Ami continued. "Teams to sweep from the north, south, east, west. We can use the D.A. coins to communicate. Or Patronii for those who can."
"It'll be along one of these routes," Ron said, outlining several on the map.
"Yes, with access to the open corridors and main stairs," Ami explained. She turned to Hotaru. "I think you should stay with the Diadem," she said softly. "Just in case."
Hotaru held the glaive close and nodded. "Right," she whispered.
"The rest of us," Ami continued. "Will start here and here…" she pointed on the map.
"We'll check the Slytherin dungeon," Akira piped up. "Chibiusa's there."
"Good - and you're not to join us," Mina ordered, directing her eyes especially at Sora. "Get to Hotaru if it's safe and help her guard the Diadem."
"Mhmm!" Usagi nodded sagely, the other senshi backing her up.
Whether the united front or the gravity of the situation, something worked. None of their time-travelers protested.
"Most of the D.A. prefects are on the lower floors," Ron said. "Hermione and I can meet them, have them start searching from the ground up."
"I'll tell them now," Hermione said, taking out her D.A. coin to charm a new message onto it. "And I've been practicing that patronus trick."
Ron nodded. "We… we should be somewhere central," he realized.
"Easy to reach, easy to get to others if they need help." Mina nodded. "The general always stands back to direct the battle."
"General" Ron muttered, ears turning red.
"Get used to it quick," Mina advised. "We don't have a lot of time."
"Let's go!" Usagi said.
The senshi split off - the first years towards the Slytherin dungeons and the sixth years towards the upper floors. Ron kept staring at the map, frowning.
"What about Luna and I?" Neville prompted him, peering at the Marauders Map himself. "We could help Usagi or..."
"Hang on," Ron muttered. He scanned over the map and frowned. "Actually… oh, bloody hell."
"What?" Hermione and Neville asked.
"Harry's already, no wait I think I can do it." He frowned and nodded. "Yeah… Yeah."
" Ron! " Hermione said crossly. "Use words!"
"We um. I've just thought of a place to check." He looked at Neville and Luna. "Erm - There's somewhere we need to be. So, Hermione and I can't wake Snape."
"There is." Luna nodded. "Well, I've always liked a good walk in the dungeons."
"Snape?" Neville frowned. "Wait - you mean I have to!"
"No time, mate!" Ron said, folding the map and bolting. He grabbed Hermione's hand, pulling her along. "Good luck!"
" Ronald! "
Hermione's arguments echoed up the staircases as Neville stood frozen outside Gryffindor common room, gaping. Luna looked at him and shook her head. She took his hand, tugging him forward. "I'm sure the Wrumplecorns will help us wake him."
"Wake Snape," Neville squeaked.
"Yes - don't worry, Neville. We'll be lucky."
"To be alive… probably." he muttered, gulping as he followed her towards the dungeons.
~SMH~
"Dung-pops."
"Lemon Drops."
"Chocolate Frogs."
The last attempt was the ticket. The gargoyle that guarded the Headmasters stairs shifted away, and Harry and Ginny dashed up the staircase into the Headmasters office.
The Pensieve sat, as if waiting for them, right on the center of the desk. Fawkes blinked open one eye as the entered, ruffled his feathers, and settled back to sleep.
Harry moved immediately for the glass cabinet. He pushed aside a snitch, book, and lighter to reach the tray of Pensieve memories, dragging them out and setting them on the desk. He scanned for the ones he hadn't seen yet, and found the first. APWBD - 1957. He hastened to empty the silver thread of memory into the Pensieve bowl.
"Careful," Ginny whispered. "Don't get trapped in someone else's thoughts."
"Don't worry," Harry said. He met her concerned brown eyes. "It isn't like the diary." He checked the other vials, two others he had not seen, and then leaned over the Pensieve, falling forwards into its opaque depths.
Ginny took a deep breath and raised her sword. "Okay." she swiped her thumb over the pommel. " Jadeite Power " bright red fire roared up around her, receding and leaving the Gryffindor's knight behind. Jadeite smiled as their full power prickled beneath their skin, ready to become hexes or lances of flame at a moments notice. They turned and raised their sword, facing the door.
They can just try getting past me , Jadeite thought. The hint of Felix Felicis combined with their magic made them bounce on their toes.
~SMH~
Across the castle, without liquid luck to brighten her mood, Sailor Saturn faced the diadem, inert on Setsuna's desk, with far more trepidation. She took a deep breath, fingers tightening on the Silence Glaive.
I can kill him . She willed herself. If there were no other way to keep him from Voldemort's clutches. I can if I have to .
But her eyes lingered on the Nephrite stone, gleaming in its corrupted talisman. It was so unfair: two souls bound to one body, and cursing each other to darkness or death.
There has to be another way . She looked out the window into the black, highland night.
Trust yourself , Mama-Suna had told her.
How can I, Hotaru thought now. I don't know what to do ?
Nightmares awoke within her, of Mistress 9's long fingers swinging her glaive without heed or conscience… no one there to stop her. Saturn swallowed the lump in her throat. This is not like that . She told herself. But it felt just as needless.
It had not come to killing yet, she reminded herself. It only might, and far sooner than she was ready for.
She focused on the night again, on the pitch black line of trees that marked the way south.
What was she supposed to do?
Mama… she prayed, Please come back soon.
~ SMH ~
Setsuna gasped, sitting up as she came awake with a start, head throbbing. She strained to sense their place in space, the dimensions of the dark room entrapping them, and came up blank. Her feeling of alarm spiked to high alert.
"Fuego " she heard Remus whisper. A low green flame appeared to her left, hovering over his hand. He flicked his wrist and the single flame shot upwards and split - into six will-o-wisps that cast a dim green glow over their surroundings. They illuminated the smooth rock walls of a cave. Setsuna saw Michiru collapsed beside him and Haruka stirring, sprawled out on her side a few paces away. Sirius lay unconscious an half in shadow still further away. Setsuna stumbled to her feet and walked over to them.
The air smelled… like salt , Setsuna thought as she peered around. Like there's a sea close by … Packed dirt filled in the spaces between the rocks, leaving only a few crevasses. She saw something scurry through one across the room. She frowned. She could not see anything past the reaches of Remus' green flames. Why can't I sense this space?
"Ugh," Michiru groaned, and Setsuna helped to steady her as she pushed herself upright. They hauled Haruka up together.
"Where are we?" Haruka asked, rolling a bruised shoulder
"I don't know," Setsuna whispered, straining to see the edges of the room in the weak, flickering green light from Remus' flame. Somewhere close by, she heard Sirius stirring. She looked at the ground beneath them: cold, packed dirt. She pressed her palm to it. "Perhaps not in England. I think." She winced, rubbing her forehead. "My power's weakened here."
"Mine too," Michiru whispered. "I don't… I don't think I can transform."
Haruka got up and raised one hand. She tried to transform and scowled. "What the…?"
"Could it be those things?" Remus asked. He pointed up.
All three senshi looked up as well.
The ceiling was peppered with dark stalagmites: many small, but others growing longer as they watched. They had smooth planes and sharp edges and appeared completely black. While the rock around them was tinted green from the flames, it seemed as if they sucked in all the light. Haruka stood up, raising her hand to touch one.
"Stop!"
Haruka froze at the order and looked down "Setsuna?" she and Michiru asked.
Setsuna had gone pale, her eyes riveted on the stalagmites, which, Haruka realized, were not rock, but pitch black crystal.
"D-Don't touch them. I've seen these before," Setsuna said.
"Have you really …"
They all jumped; just-awakened Sirius rolled to his knees with a shout.
One of the black crystals over-head glowed white. Ash swirled out of its facets, coalescing into a familiar form.
The Wizard in White smirked down at them, hovering over the floor. "So you have seen my future, Time Guardian," he chuckled. "That interests me."
"Who are you?" Haruka growled, brandishing her fists.
He chuckled again. "I care not for my mortal name," he said. "I cast that aside when they cast me aside, locked away with all the other geniuses who upset their sheep-like society." He seemed to hesitate, and then hovered closer to Setsuna. He grinned. "Perhaps, Dr. Meioh, you could tell who I am to become?" He drew back his hood.
Setsuna recalled his face at once, from 5 centuries in the future. The man, the only human ever exiled from Crystal Tokyo, was as unremarkably human as he had been then: cracked lips, high cheekbones, brown eyes that seemed almost playful.
Haruka and Michiru grasped for her hands, Haruka putting herself slightly in front of Setsuna. She glanced back at her concerned. Her hands were trembling.
"Well, Dr. Meioh," the Wizard in White asked. She stared at his forehead, and the downturned black crescent tattooed onto it. "What will they call me?"
Her throat closed up.
Death Phantom…
~SMH~
The hunt and the race to prepare for a coming battle spread throughout Hogwarts castle: orders and rumors moved from painting to painting along with their occupants as quickly as they moved from student to student. By the time Harry, his friends, and the senshi had dispersed to hunt the cabinet, with Felix Felicis to aid them, Gryffindor's common room was already fast-transforming into a battlement. The portrait hole was barricaded, the windows shielded, younger students clamored at the windows of their dorms wands ready to cast what ever charms they could do best towards any intruders outside. The older students, if they weren't sneaking out on brooms to patrol the skies paced the common room like cornered wolves, arguing over the wisdom of waiting for the battle to reach them.
Similar scenes, most with less bravado than in Gryffindor tower, played out in Ravenclaw tower and later on in the Hufflepuff cellar. Prefects outside hurried through waking the professors - starting with the heads of houses and then going door by door, floor by floor to wake the rest of the professors as directed.
In Slytherin, most students by contrast remained undisturbed in their beds. Though some, who had an inkling of what was a foot, or a ear to the death eater cause congregated by the tall windows in the common room that looked out at the lake. It was a sort of court it seemed to Chibiusa, as she snuck past them. All of them were death eaters children or those that wanted to be, gathered round Draco Malfoy on couches and chairs like nobles attempting to win the favor of their prince, or perhaps assess the power of his position.
The Prince, for his part, did not look like one whose year of planning was about to come to spectacular fruition. Malfoy sat stiff backed in the armchair farthest from the rest, eyes to the deep blue waters of the lake, appearing aloof and disinterested in the quiet chatter around him. Though his twitching leg and the way he fidgeted with his wand spoke clearly of unease.
He was quite a puzzle, thought Chibiusa, one she had not quite figured out.
That could come later. They had a battle to prepare for. She slipped across the common room silently in her slippers and cracked open the door just enough to slip into the hall.
"There you are!" Sora whispered as she emerged into the dungeon corridor. Even her whisper echoed along the stone walls.
"Let's go," Megumi murmured. "A few of them heard the door open."
They moved quickly through the dungeon passing Snape's door and turning down the main potions corridor.
"Where're the others?" Chibiusa asked.
"Looking for the cabinet," Akira said.
"What ?"
"It was moved," Megumi said. "We're going up to…"
"Wait! "
They stopped short at Sora's voice behind them. She reached out for Chibiusa's arm. "I don't hear your footsteps!"
They all looked down. "Lumos" Akira whispered.
When light illuminated them, the quartet collectively gasped. Chibiusa's legs and even her arms were beginning to phase in and out. One look at the hand Sora had put to her arm showed the same translucency spreading fast up her arms.
Megumi reached out, putting a hand on each of their shoulders. The copper color of her power spread from her hands and into Sora and Chibiusa, coating them. Megumi closed her eyes, concentrating, until gradually Sora and Chibiusa both returned to normal.
"It's never taken that long," Akira whispered. "Not since…"
Not since the first warning signs had echoed back to them in the future. Not since they had come to the past to watch over the timeline.
Megumi gulped, looking at Chibiusa. "I don't understand why you're fading," she said. "The King and Queen are both safe."
"It could be the Change-maker," Akira whispered. "If he's in danger so's her future... and this time's past."
"He might be confronting the outer senshi!" Sora realized. "Megumi, that's got to mean he's far enough along with his plan. He's too careful."
"No - we-we don't know if he's at the proper point yet!" Megumi said. "We don't know if he's made the dark crystals. If we intervene too early it will be just as bad as if he dies."
"But if we don't," Sora argued, "and he's gotten too powerful for Uranus and Neptune, then I'm gonna-"
"I know , " Megumi snapped. She bit her lip. "I… I can't see." she rubbed her hand over her forehead. "I don't know what to do anymore than Pluto." She sniffed.
Around her the other first years traded glances. Then Chibiusa walked up to Megumi and put her hands on her shoulders. She jumped at the touch.
"Megumi," Chibiusa said. "You watched him before he could block your sight. You studied time and how it's supposed to go. You studied him. You know him - even better than me."
"But everything's so different than how it is supposed to be. I can't be sure it's the right time."
"Yes you can!" Chibiusa said. "You know how he acts. You know how he thinks. Momma knows that. They all know that. They sent you because they believe in you."
"We believe in you," Akira added.
Sora and Akira huddled close to them, each putting a hand on Megumi's back.
"You don't have to be sure. Just think, and guess." Sora grinned. "The rest of us get by just fine."
Megumi looked around at them and let her gaze linger on Chibiusa. "Okay." she nodded. "Right." she closed her eyes. "Lestrange had been helping him," She said. "And we know he helped her make her own horcruxes. And the outer senshi have gone after it and the locket." She took a deep breath. "And Voldemort is staging an attack tonight. Then that means… he'd want to be sure all of us were distracted. So they may have - must have - been able to set a trap."
"Right," Chibiusa whispered. "And it takes a lot to trap Pu and the others."
"The best way to do that… is if he's made the crystals, or has nearly made them. He's got to be close."
"Close enough that we can send him to the future when he's supposed to be this powerful?" Sora asked.
"Yes." Megumi opened her eyes. "Yes I think… no I'm sure." she nodded. "I'm sure."
The others nodded, smiling.
"Then let's go." Chibiusa said. "You know where he'd take them."
"Yes - or I have a good guess."
"Better guess than mine," Sora said.
"Come on," Megumi waved them towards the exit to the dungeon. "We need to get off the grounds. We'll take the doors."
~SMH~
Under the near-black of the overcast night sky the four small black cloaks of the first year senshi drew little notice as they ran to the border of the grounds. As soon as they passed the stone marker, Chibiusa raised her locket. "Pink Moon Crystal Power!"
Hidden from the castle by a hill and many thick trees, surges of pink, light blue, magenta, and copper power momentarily lit up the night sky.
Sailor Chibi Moon blinked open her eyes as the surge of transformation power faded, surveying her team. Two of her three friends were in front of her. Sailor Aker, taller in her senshi form, rocked forwards on the toes of her pearl-colored boots, and summoned her conch shell to hold to her ear. Even in the dark the pearl gem in her tiara gleamed ever-bright. To her left, Sailor Pele surveyed the grounds and tucked her wand behind her ear, held in place by her thick, maroon locks. Her hair looked darker contrasted against her magenta skirt and collar and burnt orange bows.
Chibiusa heard a rustle behind her and turned. Their time-guardian raised her copper staff and then hit it softly against the ground. The green orb atop it flashed. The wind around them picked up as the doors materialized, rustling her green skirt and the tails of her orange bows.
"We're clear," Aker said, lowering her conch shell.
"Only Luna and Neville saw us leave," Pele added, eyes closed, fiddling with one of the three yellow flower blossoms that were woven into her hair. "But that works out - Luna looks like she's headed to help Hotaru now that we're gone."
"Perfect," their time senshi said, back still to them as she pushed open her time doors.
"Will we stay solid now, G?" Aker asked.
That's right , Chibiusa remembered as their time guardian turned around, revealing the green mask over her eyes. She goes by Sailor G in the past. I'd better try not to slip .
"You should," G put her hand to the time doors.
The copper facade of them looked new today: the aged whirls and circles of aged blue-green, which normally matched their senshi's skirt and collar, were thinner. Perhaps in the past these doors had weathered less time than usual.
"We must remember not to use his name," G said. "He won't call himself by it for years yet." She turned her gaze on Chibi Moon, eyes more piercing because of the mask. "Your power combined with Sailor Moon's defeated him in the future. Combined with our powers, we should be able to find wherever he's trapped the outer senshi and contain him."
"He won't be on Nemesis will he?" Chibi Moon asked.
"He's on Earth," G assured her. "He knows no other world in this time." She stepped through the time doors, waving for them to follow. "Let's go."
"Right." The four future senshi dashed through the copper doors, which closed silently behind them. In their haste, the doors whined loudly as they vanished into space.
~SMH~
The faintest sounds were startlingly loud in the underground space. There was the plink-plink of condensation falling as droplets off the dark crystal stalagmites, falling into a puddle that burnt the skin if, as Haruka learned, you were unfortunate enough to touch it. It accompanied the harmony of slow meditative breathing from four people trying to keep calm, to think of a way out. The tense symphony was completed by the soft panting breaths and pat-pat of Padfoot as he paced the length of the room and the soft hiss of Remus will-o-wisps as one-by-one their magic was snuffed out by the looming dark crystals.
The wizards already looked affected by the crystals. Padfoot's pacing was becoming slower and his panting heavier. Remus eyes were drooping and his breathing was getting labored, and even with the dim green lighting it was clear he was getting paler and clammier. The senshi could feel their magic draining too. Enough that they couldn't transform, enough that wandless magic proved feeble and pointless. But not enough, not from such small crystals, that they felt the same physical effects.
At least, Michiru thought, we don't feel them yet.
"How long did the others survive in the future when they got held hostage with these things?" Haruka whispered from a ways away. Michiru focused in on her, sitting stiffly against the cave wall.
"Weeks – barely" Setsuna murmured back, her voice sounded deeper in their prison. Michiru listened to her answer alongside the tap-tap of her heels across the floor and the whisper of her hands mapping the stone walls - searching for any chink or weakness they could exploit, or any hint of a way out. "Those crystals were exponentially more powerful. Nemesis made them that way. And they had the poor atmosphere against them."
"The air down here might not be much better for long."
"Maybe. But our magic will last us longer." Setsuna went quiet a moment. "Rei lasted three weeks, and stayed mostly conscious for 1… with just these, on Earth, we could last much longer. Our powers would generate our own oxygen."
Padfoot barked. Michiru opened her eyes and saw him sway as he turned human again, and plopped down next to Remus. "How comforting for us." He shook Remus. "Oi. Stay Awake."
"I am." Remus whispered with his eyes closed. "I'm conserving oxygen." He quieted again.
Sirius head nodded and jerked back up. "Bollocks." he muttered. He rubbed a hand over his face to try to stay awake. "Git really asked us to join him."
Remus let out a quiet chuckle.
Michiru closed her eyes, refocusing on meditating.
"So months?" Haruka asked Setsuna.
"Try years."
The thought, for Michiru, was not a comforting one. Enough magic to keep them alive. Not enough to use. Not on their own. Not without help. We need our wands , she thought. More than that, they needed to find the way out. They needed someone to know where to find them.
She breathed slowly, deeply, retreating behind her occlumency shields, which she had been steadily reinforcing over the last indeterminate amount of time since the wizard – Death Phantom – had left. Michiru drew on everything Morgana Avery had taught her, burying the most precious thoughts, feelings, memories, deep in depths of her mental space. Even her welcome, familiar link to Setsuna's mind could not penetrate her shields.
She heard Setsuna sigh, and the rustle of Haruka rising to her feet and padding over to the time guardian. "Hey," she whispered. "The others will find us."
"But they don't know the wizard is Death Phantom," she whispered. "He needs to be alive in the future. The Dark Crystals aren't even supposed to exist for another 500 years." She hummed. "Megumi and the others call him the Changemaker. I wonder if they know who he is."
"If they don't already, they'll learn. And they'll find a way to get the timeline right."
"She's as blinded by that damn potion as me, I don't see how."
Michiru heard a startled sound of someone waking up. "How're what?" Sirius asked. "Sorry – dozed off a second."
Overhead, another will-o-wisp hissed as it snuffed out. That left just two.
"They'll figure it out." Haruka insisted. "We have to believe they will."
"I do…"
Michiru opened up her connection to Setsuna, passing along her own reassurance, but kept her own mind firmly sealed behind her occlumency shields.
Because she was sure the others would find them. And would figure it out. And would save the future.
But not in time. They still needed a way out.
So she meditated, drawing up all her strength from this life and her last one. While she did, she dusted off scraps of memory long buried in the darker recesses of her mind: pain, isolation, grief, and death; want, frustration, and rage. Usually distracting, inaccurate, best ignored, now the memories just might be useful.
Which was another reason she kept her mind firmly walled off…
Setsuna and Haruka were not going to like this plan.
The quiet was pierced by a squeak and the scratch-scratch of small claws scuttling across the stone.
"Wormtail!"
"No," Setsuna assured their friends. "Just normal rats," She sighed. "Of course they don't mind those things."
"You're sure they're ordinary," Haruka murmured.
"I can assure you…" They all tensed at the sound of Death Phantom's voice overhead. "They are quite ordinary."
Michiru opened her eyes as he materialized above them, circling and smirking. All of the others joined Haruka as they stood to face him. "The vermin are not what interests me." Death Phantom turned to Remus and Sirius and bowed. "What have you decided?"
Sirius and Remus looked at each other gravely and nodded. "We have considered your offer," Sirius began.
"And are very grateful," Remus added, "for the… clarity you've given us."
Death Phantom smiled.
"Truly," Sirius said. "It opened our eyes."
"And you've decided," Death Phantom asked.
"We have decided," Remus looked at Sirius and smirked
"That you can take your Ancient Power Restoration..."
"And shove it up your arse," they finished in unison.
Haruka snorted.
Death Phantom did not look so pleased. "That is a poor decision," he said. His crystal ball glowed as he advanced towards them. Sirius backed into the wall as Haruka and Setsuna slid in front of them.
Michiru stood. "I have a question," she announced. Her voice echoed off the surrounding walls.
The others were shocked into such silence that they could hear the swish of Death Phantom's cloak as he whirled around.
"I wonder," Michiru continued. "If it's only foolish wizards you will welcome at your side." She smirked. "That is not a winning coalition."
He narrowed his dark eyes and flew up close to her, circling. "They are fools… for following the Moon," he said. "Says one of its greatest soldiers."
She met his eyes when he circled back around. "The Moon Kingdom, is no friend of mine."
His eyes flashed. So did the crystal ball. "Prove it."
She flinched as his Legilimens lanced through the first layer of her occlumency shields as though the great planet that guarded her mind were little more than a paper fortress…
~SMH~
Death Phantom surveyed the mind-scape around him. "Impressive…" He took a moment to appreciate the vast, complex expanse of stars and planets that made up the peculiar senshi's mind. "Who taught you?" If she were true in her offer, she would have nothing to hide.
Indeed, the mirror he stood on lit up beneath his feet. Death Phantom cocked his head to the side as he took in the scene forming behind its glass face. It showed him an occlumency lesson. The teacher, that pureblood girl whom one of Riddle's followers was insistent had been love-potioned into being the Weasleys' shop girl. He raised his eyebrows at the strength of her Legilimency. Perhaps Lord Avery was fooling himself. He scrutinized the scene the mirror showed him. "Such rigorous practice," he murmured. And seemingly done far away from the White Moon's eyes. Even her teammates were not at the lesson. "Why?"
The mirror shimmered, displaying a new vision: The White Moon's leader glaring up from within its glass with the same fury he had seen directed at him in Hogsmeade just weeks ago.
A very convenient way to organize one's thoughts … he considered. And he narrowed his eyes. More than likely to show me exactly what I want to see . He would not be tricked. Death Phantom directed a full forced glare and all of his magic on the mirror glass.
A crack fissured out from the edge.
"Legilimens!" he hissed.
The mirror shattered silently in the mind-scape, into a chaos of jagged pieces; some were as large as his thumb, others small, iridescent dust. It all rose upwards around him in the imagined vacuum of space, revealing the planet below… Neptune. The storm over its pole was spinning wildly out of control.
Death Phantom smirked, and turned his gaze back on the mirror shards. He might only have a limited time before his invasion was too much for her pathetic mind. He took in the clear disarray of shards, memories, pleased. With their careful organization destroyed, these pieces would surely reveal the truth to him. "Why join me?" he demanded.
His eyes fell on a glass shard on his left, spinning slowly near his nose. As he looked a scene unfolded on the broken glass, and un-tethered snatches of speech rushed to his ears, freed from the mirror's protection:
"God damn Bun-head!" The blond, Sailor Uranus, slammed her hand into the steering wheel of a muggle car. "She's always getting in the way."
Interesting… Death Phantom's eyes flicked around, taking in more memories as they spun, defenseless, around him:
Sailor Neptune sitting on the steps of a battlement, one perched atop the pole of a dark, icy moon. The mirror in her hands showed the smiling, laughing faces of the White Moon's ancient Queen and princess, and then the faces of the other senshi: relaxed amongst fields of flowers. A sense of envy and loneliness bled out of the memory.
"You're duty as an outer guardian is vital to our peace," a cool beautiful voice for a cool, beautiful Queen.
Death Phantom fought his urge to sneer. He had to focus.
The Moon Queen's eyes were grave as they looked down at a young Neptune. "You must keep watch on the stars beyond us, defeat evil before it can breach our planets…"
Another memory caught his eyes:
Neptune kneeling on an ice-encrusted observation deck; he could feel the chill from the memory vividly as he watched. The lone senshi's eyes were trained towards her star, and towards a large blue-green ice-giant far to the left of her orbit. She raised a communicator to her face and spoke into it. "Uranus isn't responding."
"Then you must remain at your post," the Moon Queen's voice ordered. "The path this enemy was traveling intersects your sector."
"But-"
"Uranus efforts to divert them back towards you will be useless of you allow them past your guard. Hold position."
Anger, guilt, and aching longing spread from the shard of memory as Neptune clenched her fist around the communicator. "Yes, My Queen."
What about your current life ? Death Phantom mused as he moved through the spinning shards. A new one gleamed and caught his gaze:
Neptune in her civilian form, in muggle school clothes, running through the doors of a garage. There on the concrete was a younger, un-transformed Uranus, reaching for a henshin wand. Panic surged out of the memory as the younger Neptune shouted: "DON'T!"
The command made Death Phantom raise his eyebrows and he lifted a hand to cup the shard. He saw Neptune stride towards Uranus, uncaring of the alien assailant nearby.
"Don't touch it!" Neptune ordered as Uranus hesitated over the henshin wand.
Death Phantom touched the shard with his pale fingers. What had she been thinking. It came to him through the memory:
She ought to be free…
Thoroughly intrigued, he moved on. He could feel the mind-scape around him weakening. But just to be sure… he looked to another shard, barely the size of a droplet of ink. In the scene within it, Neptune stood shoulder to shoulder with Sailor Pluto, overlooking a battle, out of sight of Sailor Moon:
"Eternal?" Neptune mused. "Does that mean some incarnation of a time guardian has always existed?"
"No," Pluto said coolly. "It means I have always existed, as I always will." She drew her garnet rod closer as she straightened. "I am bound to guard the realm of time for as long as time exists."
A wave of shock and sadness filled Neptune's mind. In the memory she said: "that's awful."
"That is my duty." Pluto shrugged. "There is no one else to do it."
Death Phantom's growing smile betrayed his delight as he considered the memories. Such difficult emotions to hold against her sovereign… He wanted to try another shard. There was one glowing to the right of the last…
The outer senshi lounging in the living room of a house. They all turned towards a sudden, purple light that flashed from Neptune's mirror and from under a door-frame.
"No…" Neptune whispered. "She's too young,"
"It is the reason she has grown so fast," Pluto explained. "Evil doesn't wait for us to catch up."
Just then the door swung open, the purple light spread into the living room, surrounding a girl, Sailor Saturn, nearly the age she seemed to be now. Curiously, the memory flickered in what Death Phantom recognized from many legilimencies was a connected scene. It looked, from Neptune's clothes, to be the same night, as she filled the bath for the same girl, not even school aged.
The memory returned to the moment Saturn entered the living room, her senshi symbol on her forehead. "The Princess needs our help."
The emotions there: anguish, rage and bitterness, all made Death Phantom grin. This exploration of her candor was proving quite a bit more entertaining than he'd thought. He looked around within the cloud of mirror shards, demanding: show me that princess of the White Moon who causes you to suffer so.
A shard began to glow above him and he moved to it, catching it as, in the rapidly failing mind-scape, the remaining shards tumbled down towards the turbulent visage of the planet Neptune. The last shard dug into his palm as it showed him one final scene:
Neptune and Uranus, beaten and bruised, helping each other stand amid glass and concrete ruins of what he knew to be the Mugen Delta.
Curious. He had watched that battle keenly. He had assumed none of the senshi had lingered there after.
Sailor Moon appeared amid the rubble, still glowing with the light of her awesome power. Uranus and Neptune, clearly just defeated, knelt down in fealty before her.
Death Phantom wanted to reach for the emotions of that scene, further marvel at this defector from the White Moon, but he was abruptly thrown back as the mind-scape around him collapsed.
Death Phantom opened his eyes to see the turncoat senshi faint, her mind exhausted. He smiled at her as her body fell back onto the stone floor.
"MICHIRU"
He ignored the pleas from her lover behind them. Uranus and Pluto, clearly, were still loyal to their Queen. Perhaps Neptune might yet convince them to join the right side.
For now, he had a new ally. One who clearly cared enough about her comrades to betray the Moon Queen. Such loyalty was quite useful, he mused. Foolish, but useful. He debated as he hovered over her passed-out body. He was due to assist his British allies... But first he ought to reward Neptune. The senshi's prison was no place to discuss joining his side. And if they were separated, Neptune's comrades would also be useful leverage.
"Well met, My Dear," he murmured. He looked up at the ceiling, and the dark crystals he had so recently created, and focused his will on them. The closest crystal chimed and glowed, a small piece broke off the end. He waved his hands over his crystal ball, securing the crystal in the setting of a gold earring. "I think you've earned a chance to prove yourself."
Marvelously, the crystal on the ceiling regenerated quickly to its previous size. He smirked as he heard Sailor Pluto gasp. No primitive horcruxes anymore. No, no, his study of the Silver Crystal's power and Bella's help with his experiments had proven more than fruitful.
"Your Moon Queen will not be so invincible now," he said to Uranus and Pluto as he levitated Neptune's body off the floor. "Your friend here has realized that, and chosen wisely… The silver crystal is no longer alone in its ability to generate its own power."
~I Solemnly Swear I Am Up To No Good~
