Continuing on from before, so that I can finally finish posting this story as quickly as possible, the Scouts are still in Cuzco with the Incan Monitors and others. Things will continue to worsen for both the Monitors and the Scouts in this timeline, but there will be no fighting in this chapter. Although it will at least be hinted at, for sure.
The present Scouts will meet with the Emperor, Empress, and two others, and discuss events likely still in the future in this chapter, and how they and others might best deal with them. And talk about the Negaverse, as well, at the very least, with those from the Incan Empire.
Well, that's enough to talk about here, I think. Best we get right back to the story now, so that we can finally knock back this chapter and all the other chapters for this story, and not take too much more time in doing so here, for sure. And most definitely not another decade or more of time to finally do so, either!
Until later, then, here we go! TUS out.
Main Ballroom In The Imperial Palace
Cuzco, Peru, Earth
February 16, 987
When Serena and her sisters arrived in the necessary ballroom on the Imperial Palace's grounds, Serenity said, "Hello, girls," in the necessary manners to each of her daughters. Then she introduced them all to the necessary other people in that same ballroom as briefly as possible, for the obvious reasons. Mainly for reasons of mutual security for all the necessary people who were anywhere in the Peruvian Empire that the Zone of Darkness hadn't yet reached easily enough, of course.
Soon after Serenity did that, Emperor Isumelico asked Serena, "Moon Princess Serena, what do you really think about our current situation here? Your mother and your friends seem to think that the situation's very quickly worsening for us here in the Peruvian Empire. And do you really think that it may actually be doing so?" Of course, Serenity translated what Emperor Isumelico had just asked Serena, or said to Serena, for her normally deaf daughter Bethany, for all the obvious reasons.
Serena thought for a few moments, then said, while her mother would continue to translate whatever she and others were saying for Bethany's benefit, of course, "Emperor Isumelico, I don't know what my mother and my friends have told you to date about it. But if at least a few of your Monitors are right, then I fear that both our societies could be in great, if not grave, danger before too much longer, if they aren't already. Based on what I know that we know about the Negaverse and its various inhabitants to date, there are evidently numerous very evil beings in that Negaverse. As evidenced by our previous fighting with them some length of time ago. I'd suggest that you and your people might want to consider trying to hide yourselves, if possible, if you and your people aren't of a mind to try to evacuate yourselves from here before they come against you all. For they'll most certainly come after you all, if they can find you. And if possible, they may not leave any of your people or you alive, if they somehow find any or all of your people at all. They won't give anyone who might oppose them any mercy in battle at all, if they can possibly avoid it. For we've seen them go after unarmed people before and take them down completely. Those of your people who don't show themselves to be on the Negaverse's side of their attempt to gain complete control of God's own Universe for Satan will likely find themselves in a whole lot of danger, if not worse. The Negaverse won't help those that don't help them, I believe. And even if any of your people help them somehow, your people could still wind up with a whole lot of trouble from the Negaverse, eventually, if not right away, after they'd help them out."
"So you're saying the Negaverse and its likely countless inhabitants will most likely exploit any of our people they can get their hands on, even if they decide to help our enemies?"
"Yes, Empress Prakelena. I am saying that right here and right now. After they feel that they can't use your people anymore for anything else, at least for the most part, if not entirely, they might just discard them in whatever way they might choose to do so. And they might do the same thing with any other being currently under their control at such times. So even if any of your people decide to help our enemies, they might still wind up dead at the hands of those beings that used them for their own evil purposes. Or at least I think that might prove to be the case for any or all of your people, whoever those people might possibly be in each of their lives, Empress Prakelena."
"We should either then try to hide ourselves, or then try to evacuate from here, if they're too strong for us, Moon Princess Serena?"
"Yes, Empress Prakelena. That's exactly what I'm saying to every single one of your people here in this room. Either you fight, or you fly, if possible. If you can't do either, then you'd all better hope that you can hide well enough from them, so that they don't kill you all eventually anywhere here on Earth. Most especially in your Empire, of course. For if they find any or all of your people, those people could possibly find themselves in very great, if not mortal, danger from any number of Negaversers from anywhere else in the known Universe."
"Our people don't usually run from our enemies, Moon Princess Serena."
"That may be so, Crown Prince Ritolepano. But I think that in this case, at least, you and your people may have to try to do that, in order to try to make sure that at least some, if not all, of your people somehow survive long enough. Supposing, of course, that we can't all somehow manage to evict the Negaversers now on Earth from it, and do it easily enough to help us all out to a sufficient enough degree." Serena took a sip of water from a nearby glass, after she filled it up with some water from a pitcher on one of the tables in the main ballroom, before she set that glass down next to the pitcher she'd just poured some water from moments earlier.
She soon continued to speak, when her mother nodded that she should continue to do so. She said, as she took a nearby torch off the nearest wall of the ballroom, and the pitcher of water she'd gotten some water to drink from, "Imagine your people as a flame, if you will. Like this torch, for example. And imagine our various enemies as water, if you will."
She carried the torch as close as she could to the center of the ballroom currently in question, as others in the same room cleared a way for her to walk in it, if there'd not been one moments before. She inserted the non-lit end of the torch into a holder, and said, "I've put my torch here in a holder, for those of you that can't see the flame, like my sister Destiny, of course. I have a pitcher of water in my right hand. The torch is to my left, and my left hand is wrapped around its stem as much as it can be at the current time. I'll now pour this water that still remains here in this pitcher on top of the flame from this torch of mine, so that those of us who can see me do so can see what'll happen when I do that."
Serena began pouring the water on top of the torch in question currently. As she did so, she said, "For those of you that can't see what I'm doing right now, I'm pouring the water on top of the torch in question, and it's beginning to douse the torch's flame. Some water's evaporating, of course. But not most of it. Even a little bit of water can extinguish a considerable amount of flame. Just like this water's putting out the torch's flame, so will the Negaverse eventually do, if we can't keep them from gaining a strong enough foothold on Earth, I think. Any nations that are in their way will likely suffer the same fate, if possible. Whether they're nations here on Earth, or nations elsewhere in the known God-created Universe, I believe." As the flame began to rapidly die out, Serena said, "If we can't stop them, it'll be like we were all just mere wisps of smoke, with no real substance to ourselves, if we were ever existent at all in that very same Universe. It might be just like we never even existed in it, if they'd somehow ever have their way with the whole God-created Universe. If we don't do what we can to oppose them, or to try to help our respective peoples out to the best of our respective abilities, then it might be just like I've said here, as it relates to each and every single one of us, and to them, of course. Now I don't know much about you Peruvians. But if I were you, I'd try to see what I could do to make sure that at least some of your people, if not all of them, somehow manage to survive long enough here in your world, if not in your own nation, whatever it might possibly be, of course, if possible." The torch's flame went entirely out, after Serena dumped the last of the water in the pitcher she was holding over the torch in its current holder.
"Princess Raye, do you agree with Moon Princess Serena here?"
"For once, at least, I do agree with her whenever she's talking about the Negaverse, Crown Princess Voriskana. If the Negaversers ever meet up with your people here, if they've not already done so elsewhere in your nation, they'll most likely wipe them all out eventually, if possible. Even if any of your people ever help them, they still might do that. They'll certainly do what they can to wipe out those who openly oppose them, no matter who they are. They're very cruel and very savage beings, from what we know of them so far in our lives, based on our one previous battle with them on another inhabited world in the known Universe. We were, I think, very fortunate indeed to be able to survive our first encounter with them at that time. Or at least those of us who were on the world we've just told you about at some length, if we weren't all anywhere there, at that very time."
Then everyone now in the main ballroom conversed with each other for at least a little while longer, until Emperor Isumelico decided he needed to consult with a number of his closest advisors for at least an hour, if not longer, about the current situation relating to his Empire and the Negaversers now obviously invading it. So he had everyone else except those advisors leave the main ballroom, at least until further notice, of course. Which meant that Serenity left the ballroom with her Scouts and her cats, and all the Monitors who were now present there with her group did so too.
Mara and her fellow Monitors went with Queen Serenity and her group for a time after they all left the Imperial Palace's main ballroom together. As they did so, another Monitor asked Queen Serenity, "Is it really as bad as it seems that it might be, Queen Serenity?"
"I believe so, Monitor Ocabirama, if not worse. That is if enough of our recent dreams and visions relating close enough to the Negaverse are accurate enough in their respective natures. I have this hunch that your people will quite possibly be in grave danger, if we can't kick them off Earth easily enough for a time, Ocabirama. And if we can't, then it could be that they'll use this world as much as possible to wreak havoc on the various inhabited worlds of our own Moon Kingdom, by using it as a base of operations in this solar system of ours somehow."
"And if they do, how might you have to try to make sure that the Negaverse doesn't totally wipe out the survivors of your Moon Kingdom after they begin leaving the Moon? Supposing, of course, that you have to sacrifice your Kingdom and yourself to save as many of your Kingdom's inhabitants at such a time, Queen Serenity."
"After they begin leaving the Moon, I'll most likely be able to do nothing more to try to help them, at least for about a millennium. For I most likely will be asleep by then, if I don't fall asleep at that very same time. I won't be able to help them. So if any Negaversers somehow still remain untrapped and alive, in or near the Moon, then several of them could still be lost because of our enemies. For all the obvious reasons, I hope that I can save a whole lot of our Kingdom's inhabitants at that time. But I realize that I may not actually be able to save them all somehow, Ocabirama, of course. Like if they're out of range of my Imperium Silver Crystal, for example."
"Would you mind it if we were somehow on the Moon if and when they come to the Moon?" asked Mara.
"I'd like that, if possible. But you must realize that it may not be possible for you Monitors to be on the Moon when they come to it to try to wipe us all on it, if they possibly can do so, Mara."
"Well, Queen Serenity, if they wipe out many of our people here, we may have to hope that we can find a safe enough place where they can't get to us all easily enough."
"If you're thinking that place might be the Moon, for a very long time, Mara, I think you'll be sadly mistaken. However, if possible, I don't think any of us would really mind having any or all of you visit us at least once, if not more, on any of the inhabited worlds of our Moon Kingdom, and most especially on the Moon. At least we might all be able to spend some time getting to know each other, at least a little bit, before they come to the Moon to wreak great havoc on it, if it's ever somehow possible for you all to do that at least once, if not more, in each of your respective lives here in God's very own Universe."
"That may be true, but I don't want them to wipe us all out here or anywhere in this solar system or Universe. I also wish that they'd stay back in their own Negaverse forever, if they can't be totally exterminated somehow by people like us, Queen Serenity."
"They're going to come after us, Mara, whether we like it or not. And it seems that they've chosen your nation for their first potential foothold on Earth. From which they then might try to take over the rest of Earth, if it's at all possible for them to do so somehow, and then come after our very own Moon Kingdom in this solar system. I suspect very strongly that by the time they come after us all on the Moon, they'll have gotten rid of all known sentient, if not also all non-sentient, life on the other inhabited worlds of our own Moon Kingdom. I don't think that they'll be able to take over all of Earth. But they might be able to take over at least a great deal of it for a time."
"Do you mean like the Babylonian Empire or Assyrian Empire, if not both Empires, took over Sylvia's nation in an alternate reality, or an alternate timeline, as the case might actually be, at least 1,000 to 1,500 years ago?"
"How do you know this, Yazmis?" asked Sylvia.
"Do any of you know of two Scouts named Bellasina and Clarissa?"
"As a matter of fact, we do. But that still doesn't explain how you know of them, Yazmis."
"They appeared to an earlier Emperor of our own nation sometime around 106 BC, after they came here through mirrors for a time."
"What does that have to do with your nation or Sylvia's?" asked Destiny, moments later.
Yazmis said, "When they appeared to that earlier Emperor of our nation, he was still the Crown Prince Felipe. They told him of various alternate timelines that they'd learned about. And they predicted that if our nation was not prepared to a sufficient enough degree from an invasion from elsewhere in the known Universe, our nation might possibly be attacked, if not destroyed, by the Negaverse. They also told him about at least one alternate timeline that had Sylvia's nation being conquered by at least one other empire from elsewhere on Earth. And in that timeline, or those timelines, Sylvia's nation is no longer an independent nation, at least as of the current time, I think. We've been able to track the histories of at least one timeline or one alternate reality ever since Sailors Bellasina and Clarissa appeared at least once around the future Emperor Felipe II, by using certain crystals which are currently held by the Emperor, the Empress, and both of Mara's parents. When the Emperor and the Empress both die or fall asleep, I believe Mara will be the Crown Princess, if not the new Empress, of our nation. And she should gain access to those crystals then, if I'm not too mistaken about that."
"Are those crystals actually the original Juniper and Hummingbird Crystals, Yazmis?"
"No, Amy, they aren't. Sailors Bellasina and Clarissa had earlier received exact copies of the original Juniper and Hummingbird Crystals from someone else entirely. And the crystals that they received then are now in the possession of descendants of the former Sirashiki Tosukiata and the Princess Catrimusa Corumitelo, if I'm not too mistaken about that at all," answered Yazmis, several seconds later.
"Then what are they, Yazmis?" asked Alexis.
"They're either Time Crystals or Mirror Crystals, if not both, I believe, Alexis. Though, of course, I could be wrong about them, Alexis."
"And what are they for, then?"
"Well, Alexis, I believe that they can be used as gateways to other timelines and realities, if at all possible, by those who have access to them. That's supposing, of course, their holders know how to use them in such a manner that'd possibly allow them to do that somehow."
Michelle asked, "Could such crystals not provide portals to other timelines or other realities, Yazmis?"
"I suppose so. Why, Michelle?"
"I'm curious because I've heard that some mirrors may not be enterable in the necessary manner, at least once before in my life."
"So you're thinking, Michelle, that some of those Crystals may provide non-enterable mirrors somehow?"
"Well, yes, I suppose you could possibly say that, Yazmis."
"Could those with legitimate access to them somehow actually use them to help out your people to at least some degree, quite possibly?"
"Why do you ask, Michelle?" asked Zardiz.
"Because if they were able to do that, I wonder if it'd be possible to save more of your people from any potential harm caused by our common Negaverse enemies."
Zardiz thought for a moment, then said, "That might be a good idea, Michelle. But it may be hard to do."
"Well, if they're too strong for us here in your nation, we have to do whatever we can to help all our people out as much as possible. Even if it may not be something that we might really like to do in each of our lives, Zardiz, of course."
Ginkya commented, "Let's suppose that your idea is feasible enough, somehow, Michelle. I have a question for you, then."
"I'm listening, Ginkya."
Ginkya asked, "If we do this, do you really think that we'd quite possibly ever be able to bring our people back to this very timeline and very reality, eventually?"
"It's hard to say, Ginkya. It might be possible to do that someday, or it might not. Only time will tell if that'll ever be possible. I don't think that it'll be possible, though, for at least a while. That's if it's ever possible, either in the next few centuries, or in the next few millennia, of course. Sure, it might somehow be possible for our people to return here to this time period and this reality, someday. But I doubt that it's going to happen for at least the next hundred or so years, if not longer than that, if it's ever going to be possible at all, in God's very own Universe."
Ocabirama asked, "Have any of you ever traveled through time, at least to date, in your lives?"
Serenity said, "No, Ocabirama, none of us have. Nor have we wound up in alternate timelines and realities before. That doesn't mean that at least some of us won't someday do so, of course. It just means that we've not yet done so. If you know of Bellasina and Clarissa, you undoubtedly know about a former Queen of our Moon Kingdom named Abigail I, and who ruled about the same time as your Emperor Felipe II. She ruled our Moon Kingdom from 122 BC to 86 BC. And she'd eventually initiated Sirashiki and Catrimusa as Sailor Scouts shortly after they found the Juniper and Hummingbird Crystals Yazmis and Amy mentioned just a little while ago here."
"I do believe that we know of her as well. Was the Imperium Silver Crystal around at that time?" asked Mara.
"As a matter of fact, it was, Mara. Your cousin Yazmis stated that Bellasina and Clarissa had received exact copies of the Juniper and Hummingbird Crystals. That's known to be a fact by us, though not a very well-known fact among most of our people. And the only way that those crystals could likely have been copied so exactly, like they quite evidently were copied then, would have to be through use of the Imperium Silver Crystal, if I'm not mistaken about that too much in my life. And as far as I currently know in my life, only those people who legally hold the Imperium Silver Crystal, at any time, can use it to copy other crystals. That's unless they give legal access to it to anyone else for legitimate enough reasons. Of course, I could be wrong about that. But I really don't think that I am, Mara. And I think that every single time one uses the Imperium Silver Crystal to copy another crystal, it somehow may, quite possibly, reduce permanently, the strength of it when that person uses it in battle or in their various training sessions as a Scout. Or at least during the mortal life of the appropriate enough person who's then supposed to have primary access to it. That too, of course, may not actually be the case. But I actually do still realize that it very well could be the case if I'd ever use it in the necessary manner to copy at least one crystal, if not more than one. And I don't really like the thought of that actually being the case. Especially because we'll undoubtedly have to face the Negaverse at least once more in battle, if not more than once, Mara."
"Raye, what do you think about our current situation here?" asked Mara, moments later.
"I don't like it, Mara. I'd rather live the rest of my life without having to fight against any other evil beings at least once more. But I may not be able to do that, and I don't really think the rest of us will ever be able to do that at least once either. Not Mina, not Lita, not Sylvia, not Destiny, and not anyone else here in our group of Scouts, Mara. Not even Susan or Hannah, I'm reasonably sure. I have this very disturbing feeling that several of us will be quite in the thick of things in the very near future. At least in terms of having to battle against any number of beings from that Negaverse, if not other baddies as well that we might ever face in any or all of our respective lives here in God's very own Universe."
Just then, everyone arrived outside Amy and Raye's chambers, and Amy and Raye soon entered them together. That was as soon as they could do so. After Raye and Amy entered their chambers, everyone else soon returned to their own chambers in the Imperial Palace. Even Queen Serenity and Hannah. After all the Scouts and both cats were then in their respective chambers, the eight Monitors that'd been with them some length of time before then went to Mara's chambers within a very short period of time.
This story's next chapter is soon to follow. For there's still quite a bit of this story yet to post. And quite a few more dangerous events will be happening very soon for many people, including the Scouts, for sure, folks. But there will also be good things happening for a number of people very soon, as well, to help counter all the bad things coming down the pike for this story's related timeline, et cetera.
Until the next chapter, then, I'll close this. TUS out.