A/N: Standard disclaimers apply.
That aside... Thank-you for the comments! They make me happy! :).
It should be noted at this point that I am working on an original story and sorting out a few ideas with this fic. Please be kind. Comments and questions are welcome; the latter helps me to keep this story on-track.
Enjoy!
/
Hotaru found Setsuna-mama in her office with it's three desks arrayed in a U shape. She was still going over the data Castle Charon had passed on from Castle Ajax.
Setsuna sat back, eyes scrunching closed as she pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Yes, Hotaru?"
"It's about my visions..."
Setsuna lifted her tired eyes to look at her daughter for a moment, then said, "Show me what you're seeing."
Without a word Hotaru padded silently to the shelf where a shallow, wooden chest sat. She picked it up as Setsuna immediately started stacking the array of papers on her desk as quickly as she could manage.
Oh, that's where my tablet went.
Hotaru waited patiently as Setsuna managed to clear one of her three desks, then set the chest down. Flipping the latches open and lifting the lid revealed marbles and pebbles in sacks and colored sands in jars.
For this endeavour she left the pebbles and marbles where they were and pulled out the sands. She opened each jar and set them in a line. Calling on her considerable power and delicately reaching out with it she lifted the granules from their containers.
The figure that Hotaru wove told Setsuna one undeniable fact; the reason for the existance of the Gates of Time and Space was being fulfilled.
Finally... She thought emphatically.
Relief washed through her with the thought. The purpose of the Gates of Time and Space would be fulfilled and there would be an era of peace that would be lasting.
Finally.
/
Incandescence twitched in her sleep. She had never been one to thrash around, no matter how terrible what she was seeing was. When she woke it was with a jolt.
Opening her eyes like she hadn't just relived running for the evac ships as the Beast Planet bore down on them Incandescence sat up slowly. She was unsurprised to find Lesma and Lasma sleeping next to her; they were sensitive to when she was having nightmares. She almost let them continue sleeping, but guilt drove her to wake them up.
Incandescence had been afraid; she hadn't wanted to loose their only safety net. 'What if...' Her fears had kept whispering to her. But it wasn't right and it wasn't fair in the least.
Incandescence woke them as quietly as she could.
Groggily Lasma rubbed her eyes with one hand as Lesma scowled up at her.
"What is it?" Lasma asked quietly.
"I-" Incandescence began only for her throat to close on her.
Propping herself up on one elbow Lesma yawned, then asked, "This is about Meca isn't it?"
Incandescence nodded.
"What do you want to do?" She asked.
With a trembling jaw she answered, "His family..."
"And how would we go about doing that exactly?"
"The Prince said that if we ever need anything..." Lasma put in.
Incandescence nodded her agreement, throat still closed with fear. If she followed through with this, then their bridges were burned. There would be no going back. No escape route, no out if things went bad.
But to use someone like that... It wasn't right and she knew it.
Lesma rolled onto her back with a groan.
"Inferno!" She muttered, "You want me to contact him, for you don't you?"
"Yes."
It was the only answer that Incandescence could get out.
Lesma gave a put out sigh and stated the obvious.
"You know that he's going to get the wrong idea right...?"
"You don't know that." Lasma countered.
"He's a boy." Lesma stated flatly as though that was all the explanation needed.
"He's a person." Lasma insisted.
"Yes." Lesma agreed, "And a boy. Trust me; romance is all they ever really think about. Why did you think all the girl characters in the HoloVids are someone's romantic interest? I wouldn't be surprised if it was a bunch of gossiping guys who spread those rumors about Graveheart and Queen Jade."
"You have to admit, it would make for a romantic story." Lasma pointed out wistfully, "The Queen and the Exile."
Incandescence and Lesma both gave her a disgusted look. Lesma added a matching noise just to get her point across. Both agreed that Lasma had been either watching, or reading too many romance-heavy stories.
Incandescence turned her attention back to Lesma.
"Please." She pleaded, "We may not have had good famlies, but... What if he did?"
"What if he didn't?" Lasma asked, to the pair's surprise.
She was usually the optimistic one, so it gave them pause and they really thought about it.
"His condition." Incandescence finally said and they all knew then that -- whatever his circumstances -- he needed to be among his own people.
The peple of Rock, at least, might be able to help him.
"Alright..." Lesma sighed, "I'll see about contacting the Prince. Now go back to sleep. I'm tired."
The other two rolled their eyes.
/
It was seven in the morning and Usagi and Mamoru were making the tortious climb up to the shrine. After that there would be the flagstone approach to the shrine building... Which would have yet more steps leading up to it.
"Why do I always forget how many stairs there are!?" Usagi demanded of no one in particular.
Mamoru sighed and said, "Well, you don't really like remembering in the first place."
"Yeah, that's probably it..." She agreed, head hanging.
When they finally reached the top of the stairs she pumped a fist into the air and cried, "Yes! Finally!"
She took a moment to catch her breath before running up the flagstone path to the shrine proper.
"Oh may God, Rei-chan! Those stairs!" Usagi said when she joined the others, Mamoru trailing behind her.
"Tell me something I don't know," The woman in question retorted, "I have to get up and down those things every day!"
"No wonder you have great legs." Usagi responded, then added empathically as placed a hand on Rei's shoulder, "You have my sympathies."
"Thank-you."
"Moving on from mutually shared pain!" Minako interrupted loudly, "Hey Artemis why the heck did you call us here so early in the morning?"
"It's not that early." Makoto interrupted, "And anyway, where is Ami-chan?"
Everybody looked around.
"She and Luna will be coming with Haruka and the others." Artemis told them from his spot at the top of the steps leading into the shrine building.
It was Usagi who explained.
"She decided to tell her mother that she's Sailor Mercury... Which is one of the things that we need to discuss once the others get here."
Ignoring Usagi's last statement they all bombarded her with questions. Mamoru tried to help his wife get the other three to settle down, but wasn't having any luck; once they got going they were forces of nature. Artemis decided that some backup was necessary and leapt from his perch, changing form before landing neatly. It had the desired effect of making everyone stop and stare.
"Oi." He said, "Wait until everyone is here. It's only fair."
Deciding that he wasn't wrong and that the others needed distracting Makoto asked, "Who's eaten; show of hands."
Two hands went up.
Makoto turned to Rei and asked -- to a pair of blonds' delight -- if she could use Rei's kitchen.
"Sure..." Rei replied dryly, "If you can tolerate that lecherous old man."
She was refering to her grandfather.
Makoto accurately surmised that the old man was in the house.
/
Graveheart, with nothing to do, had been more-or-less forced to take some time off. He was currently sitting on a bench under a window on Planet Rock, watching things below. A slate hung from his hand, it's contents forgotten. When Jade spotted him she decided to take the opportunity to get him alone for some personal time and to finally tell him about his father and Yare.
"Graveheart!" Jade called, startling him out of his thoughts and pulling his attention around to the short woman.
"Yes, Jade?" He responded, eyebrow raised.
"We need to talk." She said simply, then rolled her eyes when she saw the shift on his face, "It's nothing bad. Just personal."
Both eyebrows went up.
"Not that personal." She elaborated.
"Jade, what is going on?"
"Your an idiot."
He was confused.
"When was the last time that talked to your father?"
"Is that what this is about?" He asked.
"Yes."
"Jade," He said, sitting back down, "What am I supposed to say? 'Hi Dad! How have you been. Sorry both of my brothers died on my watch.'?"
"Graveheart-"
"No. Jade... I can't. Please don't ask me to."
She gave him a frustrated glare and debated how to handle this. Normally she would have just taken him to task for his self-destructive behavior (this wasn't the first time that survivors guilt led him to try and demolition everthing he had built)... But her Minister of Resources -- Adamanta -- was trying to get her attention. Knowing full well that Graveheart wasn't going to budge just yet, Jade decided she'd wear him down with his own conscience for a bit, then come back and try again.
"...He's on the Battle Moons." She finally said.
There. That should nag at him.
/
Luna stood in Human form and surveyed those present. All the Inner Guardians -- including Demos and Phobos -- all four Outers, Mrs Mizuno, Mamoru, Ittou, Motoki and Artemis. Seventeen people, including herself.
When did their group get so big?
"Alright then..." Luna began, "Now that everyone is here -- lets begin with introductions since not everyone present knows each other."
Introductions began and what should have only taken a few minutes began to stretch out to something considerably longer as questions were asked and answered.
Luna kept her peace on the matter; this was, she knew, necessary to foster trust.
/
Lampray swayed on to the platform where Void stood, waiting. Below them was The Beast. Floating next to Void was a figure sitting cross-legged in a dark robe. In their lap, held by curls of petrified wood was a swirling orb. Rotting hands, encased in power, were resting on either side of that orb.
"Who is this?" She asked Void suspiciously.
Characteristically, Void did not answer. Instead, with an uncontested gesture from Void, the orb left the robbed figure and flew over to Lampray, ubruptly stopping in front of her.
"What is-?" She started in her accented voice, then stopped and rolled her glowing eyes, "Earth again? When will any of you give up on that planet?"
"You don't know what it there." The robbed figure countered in a deep, distorted and rough voice.
"The Legendary Silver Crystal." Lapray stated very flately.
"Then why are you questioning our efforts?" They asked.
"Because anybody who goes after that thing gets their heads handed to them. Invariably. It is a waste of energy if there is no chance of victory."
Void turned their undevided attention to her and pointed to the orb.
"Alright. Fine. Earth it is." She capitulated, then added more aggressively, "But if I die I am blaming both of you and coming back for revenge in my next life."
Void nodded and robbed figure said, "As you wish."
/
Haruka was not happy about the arrangment of who was going on the delegation. It left the Princess too vulnerable. It wasn't any disrespect to those staying behind it was just that... Usagi attracted so much danger to her that it took two Mauans, four Guardians with unusually diversified powers and a Planetary Knight in the form of the Prince to keep her safe.
And she still wound up saving everyone in the eleventh hour despite that.
Over and over again.
Well... Actually... Maybe it isn't the Princess that I should be worried about...
With that thought in mind Haruka spoke up.
"Are we sure that this is a good idea?" Haruka asked, "Who's going to protect them? Especially Ittou. I understand that he's the reincarnation of the Prince's brother and has responsibilties to the Earth, but he doesn't have any powers."
"Whether or not he has any powers doesn't matter," Setsuna said, "He is going to be needed in the long run and it's better if he starts now. The future has changed." That shocked a few people present.
I could have sworn that I told them already... Setsuna thought.
In truth she had, in fact, told some of them. Unfortunately, between her research and their lives she hadn't gotten the chance to tell the rest of them.
"The Royal family is going to be bigger and the Queen is going to be more involved in things. This came as a result," Here Setsuna turned her attention to Usagi, "Of your decision, Princess, to be more aware of world politics." Setsuna turned her attention back to Haruka, "The future that is coming is brighter than the one before... But everyone needs to be ready for it."
Haruka processed that for a moment, then nodded and said, "Alright."
"Besides," Michiru added, "There will be three Guardians there with them. Speaking of," She turned her attention to Usagi, "Why Ami-chan, Mako-chan and Rei-chan?"
"Ami-chan is really good at computers and engineering and I thought that might be useful, especially since they'll probably be on Planet Ice from what Ajax and Charon told us. Rei-chan's psychic abilities will probably be more useful there and Mako-chan is pretty balanced in her abilities."
"Waitaminute!" Minako interrupted, "One; who are you and what did you do with Usagi-chan? And two; I'm the leader of the Inner Guardians! I should be the one scoping this out!"
"No." Hotaru interrupted from her seat on the steps leading into the shrine building (and ignoring Minako's question), "You won't be able to help on this one. For one thing, you're too conspicuous and will stand out too much. Besides, their powers are going to have a growth spurt soon. When it happens they will feel the call of their people. I can already feel it pulling at them. It will be less painful this way."
"Whoaw, wait, what? Growth spurt? Again? Already?" Haruka asked, turning her attention to Hotaru.
"They're reaching their full maturity." Hotaru answered.
"That's a good thing, isn't it?" Mrs Mizuno finally spoke up.
It had been a lot to absorb and she had simply been trying to keep up with conversation. Luna had been doing her best to explain things to her on the fly. This part of the discussion, though, actually sounded like something she could participate in.
"Not necessarily." Michiru answered.
Luna continued.
"When a Guardian's powers reach full maturity they can no longer be Guardians. Their duties change and they're called back to their people, to serve them. It's why each of them has such a large castle. They were always supposed to be managing a lot of people, eventually."
Artemis elaborated.
"Those Castles are actually better described as massive space habitates. It was in anticipation of the Silver Millennium's growing population. Each one was supposed to become it's own independent state... And the Guardians were all supposed to become their leaders."
"So why is that a problem?" Mrs Mizuno asked.
"It's a problem because it leaves the Princess vulnerable." Venus said, cutting off Haruka before the other Guardian's worry could come out as her temper.
Michiru put a placating hand on her lover's arm and Haruka subsided before picking up where Minako had left off.
"The Inner Guardians were meant to protect her until she could protect herself... But she still needs a team to do what she does. No one can stand alone. We learned that from her."
"No one can stay the same forever, either." Usagi finally spoke up, "And even if we could find a way to stop someone from changing and growing... Do we really have the right to do that? Or to demand that they never change for the convenience of one person?"
Haruka sighed and smiled along with the others.
"No, I suppose not." They said, then added more seriously, "But aren't you going to end up doing that to Small Lady just before she starts puberty? I mean, she's going to be just hip-height on you when it kicks in."
The face spasms were worth a picture, but it was over too fast.
"Actually," Setsuna interrupted, cleared her throat and continued, "That was me. She was starting puberty way too early and I was hoping that they would figure out a solution... But her mixed physiology and the fact that she was the only one like her made that impossible. I did manage to keep her adolescence to a slowed pace so that she would have a little more time to grow..."
She trailed off as Usagi grabbed one of her hands and -- a bit teary-eyed -- said, "Thank-you... I thought that she was just really small for her age..."
"This is too many shocks first thing in the morning." Makoto sighed.
"Oh, now you think it's first thing in the morning." Minako commented wryly.
"Cut me some slack, will you?!" Makoto retorted.
"Be nice." Ami said, "It's difficult for her to think first thing in the morning."
"It's difficult for her to think even when she's fully awake," Rei interjected.
Usagi couldn't criticise, but Mamoru could and did. Ittou thought for a moment, then recalled outloud some of the things that had resulted from her total lack of thinking things through. Mrs Mizuno struggled not to laugh. Up above it all Demos and Phobos worried about the fate of the world being in any of these girls' hands. They were not nearly as competent as they were in their previous lives. With their people returning the twins couldn't see this going very well in the long run. They just hoped that they were wrong and that Setsuna was right.
"Hey Luna..." Artemis said to his partner quietly as the conversation -- such as it was -- about Minako's intelligence continued and Demos and Phobos fretted about the future, "Do you ever think that Ami is secretly the most ruthless out of them...?"
"A lot of the mythology -- distorted as it is -- about Princess Mercury certainly indicates as much." Luna responded quietly enough that only Artemis heard her.
"Think it's carrying over?" He asked dryly.
"...Yeah..." Luna answered, continuing to listen to the on-going exchange and -- in particular -- Ami's barbed words, "...Definitely."
"OH MY GOD!" Minako finally exploded, "I said I was sorry!"
That piqued everyone's interest.
"Eh?" Usagi asked, "About what?"
It was Makoto who answered.
"Oh, you know... That date Minako accidentally crashed. Spectacularly. Interrogating that poor guy and everything. Ami hasn't heard from him since."
"Date?!" The Outers chorused, shocked.
They hadn't heard about this! Usagi explained, still annoyed and maybe a bit angry at Minako's well-intentioned actions.
"There was a boy that Ami-chan really liked. He was teaching her musical theory- oh, right. You might not know about that. Ami-chan decided to learn how to play the harp."
"Ahhh..." Haruka said, smiling, "She was pretty good back in the day."
That surprised the Inner Guardians and Mamoru.
"Hm." Ittou put in, "I wasn't sure if I was remembering that right, or not..."
"Oh definitely." Haruka confirmed.
"So far your memories seem to be unusually accurate." Mamoru told him.
"But..." Ittou said, brows furrowed in confusion, "How would you know how accurate my memories are?"
"Well, you didn't normalize them to your present day circumstances." Michiru explained.
"Hey, waitaminute!" Minako interrupted, "Neither did we!"
"Actually," Setsuna corrected, "Yes you did. All of you remember having your current appearance back then. You do look very similar to your past selves, but you have a few crucial things wrong."
"Is that why are appearances have changed recently?" Minako asked, suddenly serious.
"That's only part of it." Michiru answered.
"They have been developing some medical abnormalities as of late." Mamoru said thoughtfully.
"Hey, could you not put it that way." Minako snapped, irritated, "It's only abnormal for Humans!" She noticed then that Makoto was not saying a word and added, "Mako-chan, why are you so quiet all of a sudden?"
"Oh, I was just noticing that the conversation somehow got deflected away from your colossal screw-up."
"Yeah, what was the rest of it?" Hotaru pipped up, making Minako freeze as she realised that the oldest(?) of the Guardians was not letting the matter drop.
Mamoru picked up where his wife left off.
"Rei-san got them reservations to a high-end restaurant, so she and Ami-san have been tag-teaming Mina-san all week. Honestly, she has it coming."
Usagi's brow started twitching as she remembered the aftermath of that.
"Ami-chan came to our door in tears. Ittou-kun brought her. He said that he heard her yelling at Mina-chan while he was heading home and decided to try and intervene before things got any worse."
"Took an hour to get her to tell us what had happened." Mamoru added, shooting Minako an icy look.
Artemis gave a melodramatic sigh.
"Minako I would normally say that we'd be having a discussion about this later, but I think that I'll leave you to the mercy -- or lack thereof -- of your friends. In any case I did call this meeting for a reason. There's a scouting party from out of the system that's being organized."
Setsuna picked up the explanation.
"Their planned landing target is Castle Charon. We're going to have to step up our time-table."
Generally speaking, Minako had some hairbrained ideas where anything civilian was concerned, but this was Guardian business. She had a half-decent one for solving this problem. As such -- and as the actual leader of the Inner Guardians -- she started giving orders. Secertly, she hoped that this might redeem her a little bit with the others (nevermind that they haven't asked her why she had done it -- she had good reason, even if her exacution had been sloppy!).
"Rei-chan, I'm sorry, but call your Dad." She said firmly, "I don't care how you do it -- tie him up and drag him here if you need to -- but get him here. I know how to get who we want onto that delegation."
The Inners were a little worried.
Minako ignored them and turned to Luna, knowing that she was in for a long argument with both Mauans about the next part.
/
A/N: Well, this chapter was longer than the last two. As previously stated, comments and questions are welcome!
Stay safe.