A/N Hiya guys! Forgive me for keeping this short, but I've got a cold right now and I'm not exactly at the top of my game. This chapter may also be a tiny bit shorter than normal, but I know you've been waiting and I wanted to get it out for you. I'm also very fuzzy headed from medication, so I apologize if the editing is really off. If it's too bad I'll go back later and fix it. I still want to give out my hugs though. I promise I won't pass on my germs…LOL! BIG HUGS TO:
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The Galactic Trinity
Chapter 22
The Festival of the Dead
Katie murmured sleepily as she felt a pair of warm lips press a kiss to her forehead. Then the mattress beneath her shifted as the weight that had been lying next to her moved away. She heard a soft rustle and blinked her heavy eyelids open.
"Are you leaving?" she whispered softly.
DJ looked up from where he had just pulled his jeans on. He knelt down next to the bed and brushed some hair back from her still flushed cheek. "Yeah," he answered in a soft, husky voice. "I figured I better get back to my bed before someone realizes I'm gone. Not to mention the fact that Alex would probably short circuit if he came in and found me here."
Katie nodded, turning her face until she could kiss the palm of his hand. "I'll miss you."
He chuckled lightly. "I'll just be right next door. And you'll see me again in a few hours."
She sighed and closed her eyes, but her lips pouted. "I'll still miss you."
He grinned and picked up the silky sleep shirt that he had carefully removed from her body earlier. "Come here," he said as he pulled her into a sitting position. He put her arms through the sleeves and began buttoning up the front.
At one time Katie would have pushed him away and snapped that she was a big girl and was capable of dressing herself. But now she reveled in the feeling of having someone looking after her. It made her feel special, cherished, and loved.
He laid her back against the pillows and pulled the covers up over her. "There! Now you won't give your poor brother a heart attack when he comes in. I'm sure the last thing he wants to see is his sister passed out naked across the bed."
"It would probably blind him for life," she choked out in agreement as she muffled a giggle in the blanket.
He stood and shrugged into his shirt, buttoning it quickly. Then he turned to sit on the edge of the bed. He leaned down and kissed her swollen pink lips gently and then pulled away. "Get some sleep, baby. We have a busy day ahead of us."
She whimpered softly at the loss of contact, but nodded, rolling onto her side and curling up into her favorite sleeping position. Her eyes were already flickering shut. "Mmm…'kay. Love you."
He couldn't resist kissing her cheek one last time. "I love you too." Then knowing he needed to get going before someone discovered him there, he picked up his shoes and quietly left the room.
Once in the hall he saw that the door to Andrew and Jess's room was closed tightly and he heard a low, muffled snore from behind it. There was a light shining under the door to Jess's studio, but he could hear her humming; which meant she probably had her earbuds in and listening to music as she worked on something to battle insomnia.
He sighed a relieved breath and quickly made his way out of the hall and across the living room. Once he was safely on the balcony he put his shoes on.
He knew that he was too keyed up to sleep just yet, so instead of jumping over to the neighboring apartment, he leapt up to the roof. Maybe a few minutes of fresh air would help him wind down.
As he stood on the edge of the roof, breathing in the balmy, early spring air, he felt a blazing hot, solar aura approaching. A minute later Alex landed lightly on the roof not too far away from him.
"What's up? Couldn't sleep?" the brunette greeted him jovially.
DJ shook his head. "Just catching some air."
His best friend stepped up next to him, and he heard him draw in a deep breath. A second later he felt a spark of irritation sizzle through the air. He turned to find dark blue eyes pinned accusingly on him.
"What?" he exclaimed in surprise.
Alex ran a hand through his hair. "Oh man! Now I know what some of Emma's comments from earlier meant and why she was snickering all evening. You smell like strawberries!"
It took DJ a couple of seconds to comprehend what Alex was trying to imply, and then he had to fight back a goofy grin. Yeah, he probably did have the scent of Katie's shampoo all over him. He had luxuriated in the smell as he had buried his face in her hair to muffle the moans that he couldn't hold back earlier. And he could still feel Katie's face pressed to his neck as she tried to contain her own sounds of passion. Her gasps and almost incoherent whispered pleas and words of love whispered through his head.
But the dark haired prince wasn't going to let himself be bullied about this. He wrinkled his nose and retorted back, "So what? You smell like apples, so you don't have any room to talk."
Alex had the grace to flush and look away. Then he shook his head and turned back to his friend. "Look, it's none of my business what goes on between you and Kat. That's between you guys and I don't want to know about it. But she is my twin sister, and her happiness means a lot to me. So just promise me that you're not ever going to hurt her again."
DJ clasped him on the shoulder. "I promise. Her happiness means everything to me, and I want her to stay happy. She's had enough darkness and depression to deal with."
Alex blinked, and then laughed. "Dude! We totally just had an Oprah moment."
DJ groaned and shoved him away. "Argh! I always knew that there wasn't something right about you. I think your brain is warped."
Alex waved a hand. "Nah, it's just twisted a little, and there's nothing wrong with that. But seriously, man, take care of my sister. I depend on you to be the one that's there for her when I can't be."
"You planning on going somewhere?" DJ asked, quirking a brow at him. A tiny shiver ran through him as he remembered the story that Katie had told them about the alternate timeline where Alex had died and both of their future selves had gone off the deep end. He couldn't imagine going through life without his best bud and partner in crime.
Alex smirked. "Hell no! But you're crazier than hell if you think I'm going to hang around the bedroom with you two. I'd like to keep my eyesight, thank you very much!"
DJ laughed and punched playfully at him. Then he sighed. "I guess we better try to get some sleep. It's going to be a hell of a day."
Alex grimaced. "You're probably right. I know we can trust Talon. We've known him our whole lives. I just hate having to work with that prick Jack!"
"Yeah, me too," DJ agreed. "But Kat believes him for some reason, and I'd rather give her a hand with this rather than chance her sneaking off and doing something crazy."
"And she would too," Alex snorted and then yawned. "I think I'm going to hit the sheets for a while."
"Sounds like a plan to me," DJ agreed now that he was beginning to feel tired.
The two boys dropped from the roof to their respective balconies.
"Hey, DJ," Alex called in a loud whisper. "I don't really smell like apples, do I?"
DJ smirked. "Let's just say that it would definitely be in the best interest of your life to shower before you go near Kunzite. It's a pretty unique scent and that man is liable to go loco on you if he smells it."
"Shit!" the brunette grumbled and then smirked himself. "You better make sure to take your own advice. If my dad thinks that there's even a hint of something serious going on between you and Kat…well, I don't even know if my mom will be able to hold him back."
With those parting words Alex let himself into the apartment. It was dark, but he knew his way around. He made his way across the living room and into the hallway in just a few seconds. He slipped inside the room that he was sharing with his sister and closed the door silently behind him.
The blanket covered lump on the bed shifted. "Lex, is that you?"
"It's me, Kat. Go back to sleep," he told her gently.
The covers moved and her tousled blonde head appeared over the edge of the blanket. Her eyes were hazy with sleep but her smile was genuine as she looked toward him. "I'm glad you're home safe and sound. I always worry when you go out alone."
He chuckled and approached the side of the bed where he reached out and patted her head softly. "Yeah, I'm all in one piece. There's nothing for you to worry about. Now get some shut eye."
He watched as she nodded slowly and closed her eyes. He stood there for a moment looking at her. The moonlight that came in through the partially opened curtains gave her the appearance of being fragile and delicate, but he knew that underneath that deceptive appearance beat the heart of a fierce fighter.
But no matter how tough he knew his sister could be, he still couldn't help but think about how he wished she didn't have to be involved in this fight. But she was in this just as deep as he was, maybe even deeper because of all the pain that she'd had to deal with. It wasn't fair that she'd had to go through all of the mental and physical anguish that she had in the several months.
Hell! As much as he didn't want to admit it, even Emma was involved in this fiasco to a point. If he had his way he would take both Katie and Emma and lock them up somewhere far away from the fighting. But he knew that was never going to happen.
Tired, and feeling a little discouraged, he shuffled over to the futon and kicked off his shoes before falling on it fully clothed. And despite all of the thoughts running through his mind, he was out like a light in just a few minutes.
Mount Olympus
Sailor Pluto knelt on the hard marble floor with her head bent down as waited to receive an answer to her request.
Zeus sat on his throne; his light, almost colorless eyes narrowed on the woman before him as he pondered her words. "So, young Setsuna, you want me to grant amnesty to Chronos from a law that has stood for centuries so that he can meddle in the lives of humans. I put that law into place to protect the humans from the rather…intense side effects that our presence and our power had on the mortal world."
Pluto's head snapped up. "Please! I'm begging you to consider my request. Besides, I'm not asking that he be allowed to go to Earth or even come into contact with any humans. But him lending me a hand on the time plane should not be out of the question. He is the god of time, is he not? Therefore shouldn't he have the right to help see it returned to its proper state?"
"Setsuna…" Hera muttered in a warning tone as she laid a hand on her husband's arm. She wasn't sure how he would react to such outspokenness.
Most people avoided doing or saying in front of the king of the gods that might anger him because he had such a volatile nature that they never knew how he would take it.
Zeus shrugged off his wife's hand and sat forward to prop his elbows on his knees as he glared at Pluto. "Are you questioning my authority? If I am not mistaken it was supposed to be your job to protect the gates of time and ensure that the timeline proceeded the way it was supposed to. You knew that Discord would find his way there, and yet you took no precautions to defend your post. In fact, you almost lay down in front of him like a sacrificial lamb."
She jumped to her feet and threw her hands up in frustration. "So I screwed up, okay! I admit it. If the alternate timeline had appeared before Discord had made his move and I had known about the repercussions it would have on this timeline I would have never let him get that far. But in the timeline I saw it showed that I was supposed to let him overpower me, so that's what I did. If you want to blame somebody for this debacle you should point the finger at Apollo. I haven't been able to pinpoint it exactly, but I'm pretty sure that little stunt he pulled on Alex with the rage spell had a lot to do with throwing everything off kilter. Discord never would have been able to do half the damage that he did if Katie hadn't joined him in an attempt to save her brother's life. And let's not even mention the fact that Selene, Apollo, and Gaia have bent your rule about no contact with the human world since they have to communicate some with the Trinity bearers if we want Discord finally taken out for good."
She stopped for breath, panting slightly as she kept her garnet eyes fixed on the god before her. The silence between them seemed to stretch on for an eternity.
Finally, Zeus spoke. "What exactly are you proposing to do?"
Relieved that he was at least willing to listen to her, she quickly lined out the plan that she and Talon had concocted to trick Discord into believing that DJ, Katie, and Alex were dead.
"So you see," she said after she concluded the explanation. "For this plan to be believable and to lure Discord into a false sense of security an illusion will have to be placed over the timeline to make him think that the future has changed. He'll never believe that the children are dead if he looks into the future and sees them there. I would do this myself if I could, but I'm afraid it exceeds the limit of my power. Even though I hold the garnet orb in my possession, I am only a quarter goddess. I need Chronos's power in order to pull this off."
Zeus lapsed into silence again as he as he thought over all that she'd said. Then suddenly a big grin appeared on his face. "Now I see why you irritate Hades so much. He has always claimed that you were argumentative, and now I see that he was correct. But you have brought up many good points. Very well, Chronos has my permission to assist you in this matter,"
Pluto blinked hard in surprise. She hadn't expected such a quick capitulation. "Are you serious?"
He burst into booming laughter. "I am quite serious. After the entertaining show your three little friends gave me the other night when they sent Discord running away like a dog with his tail between his legs I've found myself intrigued by the whole scenario. So if it helps keep them alive so that they will have a chance to face that useless waste of space, I'm willing to bend the rules this one time. I look forward to seeing what they do next. Their drama is better than eavesdropping on human television."
"I…I don't know what to say," the usually confident time guardian stammered.
Zeus chuckled and stood from his throne. He descended the few steps down from the dais to stand before her. "Why don't you just say thank you and leave it at that."
"Thank you," she replied quickly.
He gave her a grin and a wink. "Oh! And let's keep this little arrangement just between us, okay. If word got out that I allowed Chronos to do this I would be hit with petitions from all of the others. I already have to deal Ares' drunken ass at least twice a week begging me to let him have just one day of fun. All of the wars and civil unrest on Earth have been fueling his bloodlust. If he found out about this I would probably get no rest from him for the next millennium."
"My lips are sealed," she promised him.
"Very good," Zeus said with finality. "Now if you ladies will excuse me, I have to go have a heart to heart with Demeter. It seems that Persephone snuck away a couple of weeks ago to visit Hades against her mother's wishes and now the accursed woman is refusing to allow spring to come to a few regions. I need to go and set her straight so those poor people can thaw out."
"Nicely executed, Setsuna," Hera complimented Pluto as she came to stand beside her and watched as her husband walked away. "Not many people have the guts to stand up to him the way you just did."
Pluto shook her head. "It wasn't guts, it was loyalty. I've sworn to my queen to take whatever steps I have to take in order to help protect the life of her son, daughter, and the children of her reincarnated daughter. I also pledged a vow to her queen mother centuries ago when I first accepted my role as Sailor Pluto to help ensure that the royal lunarian bloodline continued on. And I take my vows very seriously."
Hera was the antithesis to her husband in looks. While he was extraordinarily tall with his pale hair and eyes and bronzed skin, she was of average height with dark chocolate colored hair and eyes with skin so fair that it almost appeared to be translucent.
She turned those dark eyes on Pluto now. "Your loyalty to your liege is commendable. That is not a trait that one sees as often as we used to. Sadly it seems that loyalty, chivalry, and nobility are slowly dying out."
Pluto smiled softly. "I believe they'll make a comeback. If time is willing we'll see a resurgence of some of the old ways."
Hera arched a brow. "You're speaking of Crystal Tokyo?"
The scout of time nodded. "If all goes as it should, then the time is approaching for Earth to have a makeover. My princess and her prince will rise to take their rightful places in this universe and the Earth will flourish."
The queen of the gods giggled. "How lyrically you speak sometimes. Are you sure you wouldn't be interested in retiring your position of being the time guardian and a sailor scout and coming to live here? You would cause quite a sensation in the court and we have several handsome, unattached demigods that would all be vying for a chance to sweep you off your feet."
Pluto smiled, although it was a little sad. "Thank you for the offer, but I'm afraid I must decline. My place is with my queen and guarding time." Then her eyes misted over and she whispered, "Besides, I believe that everyone has one true, great love. And I was fortunate enough to experience mine."
"You have loved and lost," Hera observed wisely.
Pluto nodded slowly. "It was when I was still a very young woman. I had already become Sailor Pluto, but I had not become guardian of the time gate yet. I split my time between the moon and my home on Pluto. While I was at home for a visit my twin brother, Nathaniel, introduced me to a friend of his."
Her breath hitched in her throat as the memories of coffee colored hair and a laughing face with bright green eyes flowed through her mind. "His name was Tristan and his parents were members of my parent's court. There was an instant connection between us and before I knew what was happening we fell in love. We had two glorious years together and were talking seriously about marriage when he suddenly became ill with a rare virus after a visit to the outer rim of the solar system. I was on the moon when I received word that he was sick and I hurried back to Pluto to be with him. The best healers from Mercury had been called in to attend him, but his life slipped away the day after I arrived at his side."
Tears shimmered in Hera's eyes. "That explains so much to me. I have often wondered why a woman as young as you were would agree to devote her life to guarding the time gate. And it also tells me why you adopted the name Trista when you needed a civilian identity after the reincarnation of your princess."
Pluto shrugged. "I had to find new commitments in my life after losing him, so I threw myself into my duties as a sailor scout. And when grandfather approached me about taking over as time guardian I jumped at the chance. It gave my life purpose again."
Hera patted her arm gently. "I understand. You are a very strong woman, Setsuna, stronger than I am anyway. I don't know what I would do if Zeus was ever taken from me. And now you better go tell your grandfather your good news so you can get back to work protecting those that you care about."
Pluto gave the queen a tremulous smile as she dabbed at the few tears in the corners of her eyes and left the chamber to go find Chronos.
Hera watched her leave with sympathetic eyes and whispered. "What a shame for one so young to have to endure such heartbreak. Such is the way of the universe I suppose. But don't give up on the possibility of ever finding love again, Setsuna. As Aphrodite is so fond of reminding all of us, love is a very mystical and overpowering thing. You may be able to see the future of those around you, but your own remains a mystery. I will always keep up hope that there is more in store for you than a long, lonely existence."
Tokyo – Present Day
"Nebula, calm down," Luna pleaded as she watched her sister stalk back and forth across the length of Andrew's desk in his office above the arcade. At one time it had been his apartment, but it had been remodeled along with the rest of the arcade and with all of the walls taken down it was now one large space.
"Calm down! Calm down!" the rust colored feline shrieked. "Do you honestly think I could calm down after what I have just heard?"
She stopped her pacing to glare at Jess, who was perched on the edge of the desk next to Andrew, who was sitting back in his cushioned chair. "I can't say I'm all that surprised that you would agree to this, Jessica! I have always said that you were the most headstrong, rebellious person that has ever graced the face of this planet. Do you never stop to think things through properly? I know you have some brains inside that head of yours, and I had hoped that as you got older that you would learn to use them. But I can see know that you are exactly the same as you were when I met you at thirteen, stubborn and hotheaded!"
Jess merely smirked at her. "Did you really expect me to change that much, Bula?"
Nebula rolled her amber eyes before fixing them furiously on Serena, who was sitting in one of the chairs in front of the desk with Luna on her lap. "But you, Serenity! I expected a lot more common sense out of you. What do you think your sainted mother would say if she were here right now? I'll tell you what she would say; she would say that you are delusional! I thought you wanting to marry Endymion was the craziest thing to ever come out of your head, but this takes the cake!"
"Hey!" Serena snapped, sitting up straight and hitting the cat with a glare of her own. "I may be guilty of doing some impulsive things in both of my lives, but I can assure you that my mind is in perfect working order. And as for what you think my mother would say, I think that she would support me on this. Things are getting way too intense, and desperate times call for desperate measures."
Nebula's gaze swung back and forth between the two women. "Even at the risk of your own children's lives? I can see you putting your own lives on the line if you're that insistent on doing something, but to use the children…I thought better of both of you. Do neither one of you have a shred of maternal instinct in your bodies?"
Gasps came from Andrew, Serena, and from Darien, who had been sitting quietly next to Serena this entire time, but Jess's infamous temper shot right up through the stratosphere. She stood and whirled around to slam her hands down on the desk so hard that the solid wood piece of furniture trembled. Her eyes flashed bright blue for the briefest of moments before the light bulb in the desk lamp exploded in a shower of sparks. Andrew reached for her, but was knocked back in his seat by a surge of energy coming off of her.
Nebula cringed away from both the fiery sparks that threatened to singe her fur and the livid woman that was staring at her with eyes that shown coldly from underneath the emblem of a silver crescent moon and a golden rose that had flared to life on her forehead.
But instead of screaming, Jess's voice maintained a tight control as she hissed. "Let's get one thing straight, kitty. I never asked to be a sailor scout. I resented the fact that it was pushed on me from the very first day that you showed up and opened your mouth. I hated your preaching and your rules. I hated every ache and pain I felt in my body after every training session you made me suffer through. But over time I got over the resentment and started listening to what you had to say. And somewhere along the line I found the sense of duty that you were trying to instill in me. Now obviously somewhere in the future that gets passed on to my kids, so who am I to stand in their way when they are trying to fulfill a duty that life has put before them. I may not like it, but I understand where they are coming from and I will support them in this. And as far as my maternal instinct goes, believe me, it definitely exists. Defensive mother bears don't have a damn thing on me when it comes to wanting to keep my kids safe. I would rather take a bullet to the heart than see either one of them hurt. I may not have given birth to them yet, but they are my children and I love them. So don't accuse me of casually risking their lives, because I'm not!"
Her voice finally broke on the last few words and tears began streaming from her eyes. She turned away and stomped toward the far end of the long room where she leaned her shoulder against the window frame as she stared out at the late morning city.
Nebula stayed transfixed for a moment before shaking her head and looking at Serena. "You feel the same way that she does?"
Serena nodded. "I do. I'm sure the kids never asked to be put in this type of a position, but unfortunately this is the hand that fate has dealt them. I have to say I'm proud of them for stepping up and being mature about all of this. Most high school kids would run if they found this much responsibility dumped on them."
"You didn't run," Luna reminded her gently as she stretched up and bumped Serena's chin with her head. "You have stood strong and faced every obstacle that life has thrown at you."
"I wanted to run sometimes," Serena replied with a giggle. "I could probably use all of the fingers and toes of everybody in this room to count the number of times that I wanted to run away from it all and never look back and probably still not have enough to cover all of them."
"But the point is that you didn't run," Darien said as he reached for her hand. "Sure you may have been scared, but you fought back your fear as hard as you fought the enemies and you won every time. Not to mention the fact that you scared the hell out of me on a few occasions."
Nebula sighed deeply. "Is there no way that we can talk the kids out of this? They're just not ready to face Discord yet. They're getting there, but they need just a little more time to get a handle on how to direct their powers. Serenity, Jonathan, and Edward worked for a solid two years before they went to face Discord, and they worked almost nonstop. In fact, I remember hearing Queen Althea joke about how she thought it was a miracle that she had ever gotten pregnant with Endymion since she rarely ever saw her husband."
"Well that just shows you that they knew how to make the most out of the time they had together," Jess quipped as she walked back over toward them. Her insignia was gone from her forehead and her eyes were dry, though still slightly reddened. She eyed the cat warily for a moment before plucking her up off the desk. "Come on! I think you and I are way overdue for a little chat."
Nebula yowled and stared pleadingly at her sister as Jess carried her away. But Luna just rolled her cinnamon eyes. "You brought it on yourself, Bula. I've been known to say some harsh things before, but that was way harsher than anything that I could have come up with. And you're always going on about Jess and her temper, so you should have thought about that before you said something so stupid."
"You don't think Jess will hurt her do you?" Serena murmured. "I mean, I don't think she would. But she was really upset and people do crazy things when they lose their tempers."
Andrew kicked back in his chair and propped his feet up on the desk. "Nah! They'll be fine. Those two have some sort of strange love/hate thing going on. It's almost like a parent/child relationship. Nebula is the domineering, overbearing mother and Jess is the rebellious, out of control teenage daughter. I've seen them go through this a lot of times in the almost two years that Jess and I have been together. They get mad at each other, words are said, and then the next thing you know they are the best of buddies. I quit trying to keep up with their mood swings a long time ago."
True to his word, Jess reappeared less than ten minutes later with Nebula sitting contentedly on her shoulder as they discussed various tactics that could be used against Discord.
"I think it would be best if the kids just pop in and unleash everything they can at Discord at once," Nebula was saying. "It will be a bit draining on them, but it's a surefire way to send Discord running from the time gate like a scared little girl. It will also buy us some more time since I'm sure he will hide away and try to regroup himself before he makes any other moves."
Jess nodded eagerly. "That's what we were thinking as well. If we blindside him and hit him hard and fast we can have the whole thing over with in just a few minutes."
"Where are the kids at? I need to talk to them," Nebula asked.
Jess grinned. "They're at the training clearing finalizing their plans with Talon."
Nebula bristled a little at the sorcerer's name, but kept her composure. "Then I'm going to go speak to them before they put this crazy plan into action." She jumped from Jess's shoulder and scurried out a partially open window to the fire escape.
Andrew chuckled. "Did you get her whipped into shape?"
Jess snorted. "Oh please! Like I would let that mangy fleabag order me around. She might like to think that she's the boss of me, but I quit taking orders from her years ago. I just let her know real quick that the kids were old enough to make their own decisions and that if this was what they wanted to do then I would stand by them. She gave in pretty quickly after that."
"And I'm sure no begging and pleading from you was involved in your little conversation," Andrew snickered evilly.
"As if!" Jess huffed as she stuck her tiny, slightly upturned nose up in the air imperiously. "I would prostrate myself in front of Discord himself before I begged that rabid feline for anything."
Serena laughed and then glanced at her watch with a sigh. "Two hours until the show begins. What are we going to do until then?"
Darien squeezed her fingers. "There's nothing we can do until then except wait."
One of the best things about being in Tokyo during the springtime was all of the festivals that took place. For about three weeks every year there was a festival going on in some part of the city every day.
Juuban had a reputation for always hosting one of the best festivals. It lasted for three days and took over not only the park, but also several surrounding blocks. Many streets were closed to motor traffic to make way for all of the attendees, food vendors, merchants, and game booths. There was also plenty of music, dancing, and live shows.
The festival planners always tried to schedule the event at the time when the sakura trees would be in bloom. Some years they got it wrong when it had been an unusually long winter, but this year they had struck gold. Pink blooms were everywhere and provided the perfect idyllic backdrop on this warm spring day as hundreds, if not thousands of people, milled around looking at crafts or playing games while munching on candy apples, funnel cakes, and all sorts of other goodies.
But there was one person in the midst of the crowd that was oblivious to all of the revelry. A tall young man with a black ponytail slipped through the crowds of people feeling like a hunter in search of his prey. And in reality that was what he was. The festivalgoers all around him were so caught up in the fun and excitement that none of them paid attention to his stealthy ways or the deadly serious look on his face.
He was on a mission, one that could mean life or death. He didn't care about his own life. What mattered to him was the tear filled green eyes that had taken up a permanent residency in his mind. He would do this for her.
He was becoming frustrated when he was unable to locate the ones he was looking for when suddenly there was a break in the crowd and he saw them, two boys and a girl. One of the boys had hair as black as a crow while the other was light golden brown. The girl wore her fair, silvery gold locks tied back with a silver ribbon and was laughing as she watched the boys competing in a shooting contest.
The hunter sat back and observed them for a while. He needed for them to separate so that he could get them alone and to a remote area away from prying eyes. Then he would kill them.
He didn't want to kill them. He wasn't a murderer. But to save the woman that he loved he was willing to become one.
After about ten minutes of watching he caught his first break. The black haired boy set down the pellet gun he held and turned to leave as he said something to the other two. They acted as if they were going to join him, but he waved a hand at them in a gesture that told them to stay and have fun. And then he walked away alone.
The stalker followed with his heart pounding in his chest. He pushed his way through the crowd, even rudely shoving people out of his way as he tried to keep the black haired boy in sight. They left the park and crossed the street to the outer fringes of the festival. Then the boy cut down an alley as a short cut to get to the next street without having to go around the block.
The would be attacker followed him in, and once they were a sufficient distance away from the busy street and alone, he pulled an ornate dagger from his pocket. He may not possess superpowers, but he knew how to handle a weapon. He took careful aim at his would be victim's back and drew his hand back before letting the dagger fly.
His aim was true. There were no sounds other than the muted thud of the blade as it buried itself high in the left hand side of the boy's back and a slight gasp from the victim before he fell to the ground and remained motionless.
The killer rushed to the victim's side and pulled the dagger out. He wiped the blood off the blade with the dead boy's black shirt before dragging him behind a dumpster where the body wouldn't be seen.
He leaned against a brick wall to catch his breath, severely shaken by what he had just done. Nausea churned in his stomach and he had to swallow hard to fight down the bile rising in his throat. He couldn't afford to lose his focus now; he still had two more people to take care of. Technically he could stop now since his master had only requested that one of the three be eliminated, but he wasn't going to take any chances. The evil entity he served wanted them all dead, so he hoped that killing all three would ensure the safe release of his love.
With a shaking hand he stuck the dagger back into his pocket and hurried back the way he came. He panicked for a moment when he reached the spot where he had left the other two and didn't see them anywhere. Then the sun glinted off of something light and he spun to see the girl standing in line at an ice cream vendor not too far away. He knew the other boy wouldn't stray far from her side, and sure enough he spotted him only two booths away looking at some items on display there.
The assassin noted with grim satisfaction that the booth was backed up to a heavy clump of tall bushes. It could prove to be the perfect place for an ambush. He snuck around in a wide circle and crawled his way through the foliage until he was right behind the booth. Peeking through a gap in the leaves he could see his target less than ten feet away. All he needed was for him to move a few steps closer and he would be in striking range.
Almost as if the victim heard him, he took several steps to the right, still perusing the merchandise, and unknowingly putting himself an arm length away from death.
The killer didn't stop to think about his actions. He just reached out from his hiding spot and grabbed the boy by the arm. He gave him a quick, hard jerk that sent him falling into the thick leaves and branches to land on the ground on his back. The killer was on him before a sound could leave his mouth and he buried the blade in the victim's chest, striking the heart with same swift accuracy he had used on his first victim. The light of life faded from the blue eyes.
The murderer barely had time to catch his breath when he heard the girl's voice very close to him. He peeked out through the leaves and saw her standing just on the other side of the natural wall.
He was ready to get this over and done with and he figured that this was as good of a shot as any, so he reached out, clamping a hand over her mouth because he knew that she wouldn't be as quiet as the boys had, and hauled her into the bushes.
His hand muffled her scream and she struggled against him as he pressed his front against her back. He knew he had to act swiftly before she really began to fight him, so he drew the blade of the dagger across her throat.
A horrible, wet gurgling sound came from her as she began to sag in his grasp. And in what was only a few seconds, but felt like hours, it was over. He dropped her limp body next to that of her brother, being careful to keep his gaze adverted from her. The last thing he wanted to see were her dead hazel eyes staring at him blankly.
Weak, sweating, and shaking, he summoned a portal and stumbled through it, trying to escape the mental images of what he had just done. He felt disgusted and dirty, but he hoped and prayed that his actions would pay off.
Mount Olympus
Deep down, in Chronos's subterranean chamber, five people stood in front of the massive time mirror watching the events.
Sailor Pluto flinched as she saw Jack fling the blade into the back of the duplicate DJ. Even though she knew it was all a ruse, she could still hear a voice screeching in the back of her head that sounded a lot like Neo Queen Serenity's. She shrugged it off and watched with a grim smile as a blonde haired boy that was really DJ in disguise disappeared from a nearby roof where he had witnessed his clone's death.
She turned to her grandfather and gave him a tight nod. He gave her a conspiratorial wink as his hands began to glow subtly and tendrils of power began to flow from them into the mirror where it began to infect the timeline with illusions.
Gaia shuddered. "Look at that little parasite hiding the body behind a dumpster like a common everyday thug."
Apollo chuckled. "Makes you miss the old days when we could just curse or kill any humans that we didn't like, doesn't it?"
"Sometimes," the earth goddess replied with a toss of her head. "People certainly acted better back then for fear of incurring our wrath."
"Oh please," Selene scoffed. "Like the two of you ever had anyone killed. We usually left that up to Hades, Ares, and their little cronies."
Apollo shrugged. "The point is that we could have if we wanted to. And don't pretend to be so sweet and innocent, your moon-ness. I've heard some of the stories about the trouble you, Eris, and Aphrodite caused back in the day. I heard that no man was safe from you three witches when you banded together."
Selene waved a slender hand. "Stories tend to become exaggerated over time. Ooo…it looks like your boy is up next, Mr. Sunshine."
Pluto rolled her eyes and leaned close to Chronos to whisper to him, "Now I see why Zeus is in such a bad mood most of the time. This is more like a preschool than the home of the gods."
Chronos chuckled lightly. "Tell me about it. Why do you think I stay down here most of the time? It's the only way I can keep my sanity."
"Ha ha!" Gaia drawled dryly since she was the closest to them and had overheard what they had said. "Not everybody is as fond of being as reclusive as you are Chronos, except for perhaps Hades. And the only reason why he's like that is because he spends half of the year screwing his wife and the other half moping about her not being around. You two close yourselves up down underground for centuries on end. I think you guys should get a life."
Chronos rolled his garnet eyes. "I'll think about it." Then he increased the power flowing into the mirror as he saw the fake Alex die in the reflection.
Apollo shifted his weight nervously and even looked a little concerned as he looked at what appeared to be his prodigy lying dead. "So do you think this will work?" he asked Pluto.
She shrugged as she saw the real Alex, disguised as a boy with red hair, vanish from the branches of a tree. "All we can do is hope. The kids want to get into the time plane to try and save Sasha and I need Discord out of there before he causes more trouble than he already has. This was the best plan we could come up with."
"They're not ready to face him, though," Selene said in her bell-like voice and then muttered, "Oh, you monster!" as she watched Jack slice open the throat of the Katie clone.
"I know they're not ready to battle him to the finish yet, but I think they can handle this much," Pluto answered as she watched the disguised girl with chocolate colored hair disappear from her hiding spot behind a bush. "They have made a lot a progress in a short amount of time. I believe that they are powerful enough to scare the crap out of Discord and send him running, at least for now. I'm confident that by the time he gets around to making his final move that they'll be ready for him."
"Here's hoping," Chronos said as one last large burst of power left his hands and entered the mirror. "Well if that bastard looks into the timeline now he should be very pleased. The illusion will stay in place until you regain your position at the time gate and activate the garnet orb, Junebug."
Pluto stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. "Thank you, grandfather. Now I better go and meet with the others so we can finalize our next move."
He gave her a brief, one-armed hug. "Good luck."
"Yeah, and don't go getting our little guys killed. We have plans for them," Apollo called after her as she left the chamber.
Pluto closed the door behind her, shutting out the sound of Gaia and Selene scolding the sun god for his insensitive way of putting things, and leaned up against it with a huge sigh. Now it was time to get ready for phase two.
The Time Gate
Discord threw back his head and let out a booming evil laugh as he saw Jack kill the prince of Crystal Tokyo and he felt that shining, golden aura disappear. Finally! One of those little bastards had been taken out of the picture.
He quickly turned from the small pool that he used to spy on his enemies to look into the river of time to check the immediate future and smiled broadly at what he saw.
Sailor Pluto appeared in the throne room of the Crystal Palace with the body of the dead prince and laid it before the king and queen. "I'm sorry, your majesties. I have failed. I thought I could keep him safe, but Discord got to him."
"DJ!" Neo Queen Serenity screamed, jumping up from her throne and running to her dead son where she threw herself on top of him to sob into his chest. "My baby! My poor little baby!"
Discord felt another surge in the timeline and swung back to the pool to see that shockingly Jack had also managed to take down the son of Melody's reincarnation as well. His smile only widened when the moon brat was dead at his hands only a minute later.
The time stream began swirling and flashing rapidly as events began realigning themselves due to this unexpected turn of events. There were too many changes for him to keep up, but he focused on the ones that caught his eye.
Jess pulled a sapphire ring from her finger and held it out to Andrew with tears running down her face. "Here, take it."
He shook his head. "Why are you doing this?"
"You know why!" she snapped back. "I can't marry you. Why should I marry you now? You want children, and I refuse to have any with you. Why should I go through bearing your children when I know what their fate will be? I will not become a mother knowing that I will have to bury them someday. I can't take that!"
Andrew crossed his arms and stared at her coldly. "So you would rather them not ever exist at all?"
"Yes!" she shrieked. "It's better this way."
He turned his back on her. "I feel like I don't even know you."
Her eyes hardened. "Maybe you never did. Goodbye, Andrew."
She sat the ring on a table and walked to the door where she picked up a bag and walked out.
Another one grabbed his attention.
Neo Queen Serenity sat in a rocking chair, carefully cradling a pink haired infant to her chest. The door flew open with a bang, making her jump and the baby cry out at the sound.
King Endymion stalked in, looking furious as he clenched a paper in his hand. He pinned his wife with a chilling blue glare and hissed, "You spineless little coward! How could you?"
Serenity stood and lay the baby down in a nearby crib before turning to face him. "How could I what?"
He was on her in an instant, shoving her against the wall as he waved the paper in her face. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. That trip you took to Los Angeles to take Rini to visit Jess was all a cover up for what you were really up to. You secretly went to a doctor there and had a hysterectomy!"
She shoved him back hard. "So what if I did? It's my body and I will do what I want with it. And how dare you go through my personal papers!"
He raked a hand through his hair. "I only looked because I was worried about you. But I never expected this! You killed our son's chance at life!"
Serenity straightened to her full height. "No. I saved him from a short, pain filled existence. Neither his soul mate nor his best friend will exist, so it's probably better this way. So enjoy your daughter, Endymion, she's the only child we're ever going to have."
Then she swept from the room, leaving the speechless king behind.
Discord cackled gleefully and rubbed his hands together, ecstatic at what he saw. So the Trinity bearers would never be born at all. That was even better than what he had hoped for. He looked forward farther in time. Crystal Tokyo still existed, but it would be easy to take without the threat of those little brats. The city was no longer the shining place it had once been. Instead it seemed dull with a dark, melancholy feel that hung over it as heavy as the gray clouds in the sky.
A quick peek showed him nothing but sadness and despair. It seemed that he wouldn't even have to worry about the possibility of being sealed away this time either. Endymion sat in his office nursing a glass of whiskey as he stared into the fireplace with bloodshot eyes. Serenity was passed out across a bed in a wrinkled gown with a half empty bottle of vodka and sleeping pills scattered on the bedside table. The young, pink haired princess was sneaking out her window, dressed trashily in a tube top and black leather miniskirt. And the solarian was knelt by a grave in the courtyard that bore the name "Jessica Elaine Alexander". Under that it said simply "Melody Rose".
There was a muted flash of light as a portal opened and Jack stumbled out of it, looking disoriented and confused.
Discord was by him a heartbeat later and pounding him on the back. "Well done, my boy! Well done! I always knew you had it in you! I sent you to take out one, and you delivered the deaths of all three to me. I couldn't be prouder."
"I'm so glad you approve," Jack muttered sarcastically. "I did what you asked, now it's time for you to live up to your end of the deal and let me and Sasha go."
"Now, now, let's not jump the gun," Discord said jovially and gestured to the girl still tied up next to the time gate. "See, your ladylove is just fine. I believe we have time for a short chat first."
"I have nothing more to say to you!" Jack spat furiously. "You told me that if I killed at least one of the Trinity holders that you would let us go. I did better than that and killed all three. So now I want you to let us go like you promised."
Discord stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Now why would I want to do that? You've proven to be very useful to me. Besides, you really don't want to return to Crystal Tokyo. Your actions today have had some very…interesting effects on the timeline. I seriously doubt that you would be welcome there anymore, if anybody there even remembered you in the first place. It's not exactly the utopia that you recall."
"I don't care," Jack snarled. "We had a deal. I take care of your little problem and Sasha and I are free to go. That's what you said."
Red eyes narrowed on him. "Well perhaps I've changed my mind."
"You bastard!" Jack yelled, throwing a punch at him.
Before he could blink he found himself tied up with the same ropes of energy that held Sasha and thrown to the ground beside her.
Discord sneered down at him. "You just sit there for a while until I have time to figure out what to do with you. Right now I have more important things to deal with. I must make my plans for striking Crystal Tokyo, and I'm fairly certain that my enemies from the past will not let the deaths of their children go unchallenged, so I should prepare for a possible confrontation with them as well." He spun away with a swish of his cloak.
Jack sighed. This was no more than he had expected from Discord. He had known all along that the evil entity had no intentions of letting them walk away. All he could hope for now was that help arrived before he and Sasha were both killed.
He sat up and reached for his girlfriend, who had been quiet through his discussion with Discord, and frowned when she scuttled away from him before he could touch her. "Sasha, what's wrong?"
She stared at him with a mixture of fear and revulsion as she whispered, "You killed them!"
It took him a few seconds to process her words and realize what she meant. He had not confided in her about the plan before for fear that Discord would use his powers to break into her mind and find out what they were plotting.
But he couldn't bear to have her thinking badly of him, so he pulled her protesting form to him until he could loop his bound arms around her and hold her close. Then he leaned down to say softly in her ear, "They're not dead. It was all a trick to fool Discord."
She stopped struggling and looked up at him hopefully. "They're still alive."
He nodded. "Yeah. You didn't really think that I would kill them, did you? I know I've been accused of being a bastard from time to time, but I'm not a murderer. Although I do kind of feel like one at the moment."
"But how…" Sasha began and then shook her head. "I don't understand. Discord believes that you killed them. You should have heard the way he started carrying on when he saw them die. What happened?"
Jack kissed the top of her head and mumbled. "I knew he wouldn't let us go, even if I killed Katie, Alex, and DJ, so I enlisted Sailor Pluto's help. She tracked down that guy that used to work for Discord, Talon, and they came up with an idea." Then he laid the plan out for her.
Her eyes were shining with tears when he was done. "So you didn't really kill anyone?"
He shook his head. "No. It was all an illusion to trick Discord. Now all we can do is sit tight and hope that the rest of the plan works out."
Sasha looped her bound arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. "I love you. I knew deep down that there was no way that you would do anything so horrible."
He settled back against the pillar their restraints were tied to and held her against his chest. "Now we just have to pray that the cavalry comes charging in before he remembers that we're here."
Tokyo -Present Day
As DJ rematerialized in the clearing he felt the magical disguise that Talon had placed on him disappear. Barely a second later he was hit by a flying body as his sister barreled into him locked her arms around his waist as she buried her face in his chest.
"You're okay!" Rini cried, her voice muffled in his shirt.
Rather than being annoyed, DJ returned her hug and quipped, "Aww, Bubblegum Brains, I didn't know you cared so much."
She reared back and began punching him in the shoulder. "Of course I care you stupid jerk! How many brothers do you think I have? Not to mention the fact that mom and dad would go into cardiac arrest if something happened to you, and I do not want to be around for that."
"Ow!" he yowled, pulling back from her. "Chill out a little, sis! Geez! I think I'd rather face Discord than put up with you like this."
Serena laughed as she nudged Rini aside. "Okay, out of the way! Future mother butting in here!" Then DJ found himself pulled into another tight embrace.
"Everything okay?" Darien asked as he joined them and clasped his future son's shoulder.
"Yeah," DJ replied. "It all went smoothly. Jack caught my double in an alley and knifed him in the back. I guess right about now he's heading back to ambush Katie and Alex's clones. It was kind of scary to see though. I never thought the bastard had so much talent with a weapon. But he knew what he was doing."
Serena released him and stepped back. "Well, he was raised by Discord, so it's only natural to expect him to know his way around weapons."
DJ snorted. "He did a good job of hiding it before. I used to hang out with him quite a bit, but I never suspected him of being able to hold his own. It's kind of creepy."
"He just better remember the ones that are taking all the risks to help him," Jess growled from where she was pacing. "If that boy makes one wrong move I'll be on him so fast that he won't even know I'm there until it's too late."
Andrew grabbed her arm to stop her frantic movements. " Would you calm down. You're starting to make me nervous. I'm sure the kids will be fine. Right Talon?"
The sorcerer nodded from where he sat on the ground next to Anya while they both glowed with magical power as they manipulated the clones' movements, but he didn't open his eyes since he was able to see through the eyes of the decoys. "As a matter of fact, Alex should be joining us at any moment."
The words had barely left his mouth when a red-orange flash heralded Alex's arrival. His disguise faded, leaving him looking troubled.
"Damn," he muttered. "I know Jack said that he had taken some martial arts, but he never said that he could move like a ninja. That was freaky."
"Oh, thank god!" Jess sighed and pulled him into a hug.
"And here comes our last little contestant," Talon said as silver flashed and Katie appeared. She looked a little shell-shocked and had her hand pressed to her throat.
DJ was the first one to her and caught her up tightly against him. "Are you okay?"
She pressed her face to his shoulder and nodded. "Yeah, just a little weirded out. It's not everyday I get to see myself die."
"Well congratulations," Talon said as he stood and carefully helped Anya up. "As of now you three are dead in Discord's eyes and completely off his radar. As long as none of you step foot outside this barrier it should stay that way. And if Pluto managed to work out everything on her end he should be feeling pretty full of himself right about now."
"Of course I worked everything out," Sailor Pluto snapped as she appeared in her usual burst of smoke and pink light. "Believe me, Discord is probably doing back flips right now with all of the images that Chronos has been feeding into the time stream."
"Exactly what is he making him see?" Serena wondered curiously.
"It's of no concern," Pluto said hastily. "Let's just say that they're not very pleasant when you look at it from our side and leave it at that. None of it would ever come true anyway. You are all too strong to give into such darkness. But since Discord likes to think that he is so superior and humans are so weak Chronos and I thought it was best to cater to his idea of perfection."
Jess rolled her dark blue eyes. "Ooo, how ominous! What did you do, kill everybody off?"
Pluto smiled grimly. "Not everyone. But I refuse to say anymore on the subject. Like I said before, it's of no concern. What does concern me now is trying to figure out what our next move should be."
She held her staff before her and stared intently into her garnet orb. A small frown marred her features as she muttered, "I hate not being able to see clearly. I can't wait to get that conniving cobra out of my realm so I can see again. This is so frustrating!"
Serena placed a comforting hand on her arm. "Just calm down, Trista. It will come to you. You've never let us down before, and I doubt that you're going to start now. And we're going to do everything we can to get the time gate back for you."
Pluto gave her an indulgent smile. "Still the cheerful optimist I see. Is there nothing that will ever bring you down?" Then she returned to her scrutiny of the orb.
Haziness swirled in it for several moments before it cleared enough to show her a vision. She saw the time gate. She could see Discord huddled with all of his hellish creatures as he tried to come up with a plan of when and how to launch his next move. And she also saw Jack and Sasha tied up to a pillar situated next to the time gate.
"I mustn't rush into to this," Discord was mumbling to himself. "I have all the time in he world to work with now. Crystal Tokyo is weak and if I time it just right that stupid queen, king, and all of their little friends will be eliminated before they can even figure out what is happening. I must plan this carefully. I will watch them for a day or so and catch them off guard at their lowest moment. I also need to watch for any retaliation from the past. They could prove to be dangerous despite the deaths of the Trinity bearers. But they will be riddled with sorrow and that could prove advantageous to me. Hmm…so much to think about."
Pluto pulled out of the vision. "We have time. He's not planning any sudden moves just yet, but he is aware of the possibility that we may try to move in on him so we'll have to proceed with caution. He did exactly as I suspected he would and has taken Jack prisoner as well. He and Sasha are unharmed, but they are tied up right by the time gate."
"So we need to make plans," Darien said solemnly. "It's time to call everyone in. Should we hold the meeting here so that Discord doesn't catch wind of it?"
Pluto shook her head. "That is not necessary. With the cover that Chronos is providing Discord will not see what is actually happening if he looks toward this time."
"And what are we supposed to do while everyone else is plotting and planning?" Alex grumbled.
Pluto pinned them with serious eyes. "You three are going to sit tight and do nothing."
"That's not fair!" Alex, Katie, and DJ exclaimed together.
But the time guardian stood firm. "Nevertheless, that is what you will do. Try to rest and reserve as much energy as you can. You're going to need it."
Jadeite tossed back the last of his drink and growled, "I don't see what all of the debating is about. I say we go in blazing hot and roast the hell out of him!"
Nephrite rolled his eyes. "Oh sure! That's always your solution to everything, isn't it? You'd rather shoot first and ask questions later."
"We will have to exercise some caution," Amy spoke up in a slightly louder voice than usual to be heard over the arguing men. "Fighting in the time plane will be different than fighting here because the atmosphere is different. Do you girls remember what it was like when we went through there that time on our way to Crystal Tokyo and ran into that droid?"
Raye nodded. "You mean that freak show that was able to reverse time around herself and sent our attacks right back at us?"
Lita cracked her knuckles. "She got hers in the end when we took her out with the sailor planet attack."
Amy waved a hand. "Yes, yes, that's the one, but I'm not really talking about the droid itself. I noticed a difference in our attacks while we were there. I never stopped to take a reading at the time, I guess I should have, but due to the heavier pressure there it seemed like our attacks moved marginally slower than they normally do."
"How much slower do you estimate?" Zoicite asked her.
She shrugged. "It's hard to say with accurate readings, but if I had to guess I would say a second, maybe two."
Kunzite hissed. "That may not seem like much, but it could make a lot of difference. It's ingrained in all of our minds exactly how long it takes us to charge and release an attack and how quickly it should impact an enemy. A second or two could be a large window."
Darien set his glass on the table. "But if the higher atmospheric pressure affects us, we have to assume that it will affect Discord and his buddies as well. If that's true at least it evens the score a little bit."
Amy shook her head. "I don't know. I'll have to talk to Trista some more when she gets back."
"That stupid cow!" Mina raged as she stomped into the dining room of the penthouse where everyone was gathered around the table. "Where the hell does she get off acting all high and mighty with me?"
"Mina," Serena said in a pleading tone as she followed her in. "I'm sure Amara didn't really mean anything by it. You know how she gets when she gets upset."
"I don't care!" Mina snorted as she threw herself into a chair next to Kunzite. "She was acting like a total bitch! I don't care if technically the outer scouts don't fall under my command, she didn't have to be so snappy."
"I take it that little conversation didn't go so well," Darien directed his comment to Serena.
She sat down with a huff and crossed her arms. "You can say that again. To say that Amara was pissed would be an understatement. I stressed the importance of how we needed to leave some people here in case Discord tries something sneaky and launches an attack here while we're inside the time plane. I asked that she, Michelle, and Hotaru remain behind with Skye, Jayden, and Hannah, and you would have thought I'd asked her to cut off her right arm. Then she really lost it when she found out that we were taking Rini and Emma with us and wanted to know why a couple of kids got to go and not her. So then I explained to her how Rini knows the time plane almost as well as Pluto and has a time key and how Emma was our link to DJ and the others because of her bond with Alex." She ignored the growl from Kunzite. "But she was being unreasonable so I had to do something that I swore that I would never do. I pulled rank on her."
Lita let out a low, surprised whistle. "You go girl!"
"I didn't want to," Serena protested. "But she was being so adamant about going that I had to. Now I feel horrible. I always swore that I would never use my position to force any of my friends to do something that they didn't want to do."
"Then she lit into me for supporting the idea and a few personal insults were thrown back and forth," Mina grumbled. "She just better be glad that Michelle hauled her out of here as quickly as she did because I was about two seconds away from transforming and challenging her."
Serena sighed. "I wish we were in the phase of the new moon. I could use some of mother's words of wisdom about this. She was always able to keep Haruka in line, so I'm sure she would have some good advice on dealing with Amara. The last thing I want to do is drive a wedge between the inner and outer scouts after we've worked so hard to bring everyone together as a team."
Darien wrapped a supporting arm around her. "You know how hotheaded she can be. She'll get over it and everything will be fine. You'll see."
"Damn, Serena! What did you do, piss in Amara's corn flakes or something?" Jess asked as she walked in with Andrew and Rini trailing behind her. "I said hi to her when I saw her getting into her car downstairs and she turned around and growled at me. Then she said, 'I hope you don't get blown up because of your idiotic mother' and peeled off like she was racing in the Grand Prix."
Serena moaned and laid her head on her folded arms on the table. "Oh, that's just great!"
Darien rubbed her back soothingly as he asked, "Did you guys get the kids settled in?"
Andrew nodded. "They've got all the comforts of home, almost. They've got food, drinks, pillows, blankets, and a portable DVD player along with a stack of movies. They should be fairly comfortable staying in the clearing overnight. We told them to get some rest and that we would come talk to them once we had something concrete hashed out."
Serena raised her head from the table. "And how did the other kids take the news that we want them to stay here? Did they get as mad as Amara?"
Rini shook her head. "Nah, they're okay with it. Jayden and Hannah didn't give us any trouble, and Skye grumbled about it for a few minutes, but she got over it. The three of them headed upstairs as soon as we got here."
Kunzite's head snapped up. "The three of them? Where is Emma?"
Jess grinned mischievously. "She's decided to stay with Alex, Katie, and DJ for the night. Her exact words were, and I quote, "If my dad doesn't like it then he can feel free to come and try to drag me out of here. But I hope he's ready for a fight if he tries that, because that's exactly what he's going to get. Nobody is going to make me leave until I'm damn good and ready!" But I'm merely a messenger."
"Oh she did, did she?" Kunzite growled and half rose from his seat. "We'll just see about that. If she thinks I'm going to sit by while she shacks up in the woods overnight then she's got another thing coming!"
"Kunzite, sit down," Mina said in a surprisingly calm and quiet voice. "There's nothing that we can really do. She's not a child, she is a young woman, and I think we should respect her decisions."
Kunzite sank back into his chair, looking a little bewildered. "But…but…"
"No buts!" Mina snapped, a little sharper than before. "She is in love. And if she wants to spend the night before what could prove to be a dangerous battle with the one that she loves then I will not interfere; and neither will you!"
The platinum haired general sat back and crossed his arms petulantly, but he let the matter drop.
Jess shared a conspiratorial smile with Mina, almost as if they knew that one day they would be mutual in-laws, as she sat down in one of the empty chairs and asked cheerfully, "So what's the plan so far?"
That snapped everyone's attention away from the drama of teenage love and back to the matter at hand.
Emma came awake slowly, blinking her eyes in the darkness as she tried to remember where she was. She felt arms around her and raised her head from the shoulder it was laying on to see the shadowy outline of Alex's features in the dark. She smiled gently at the sight, remembering now that she had camped out with him in the clearing, wanting to be with him before they marched into the time plane to face Discord. She had expected the past form of her father to come tearing after her, but obviously Mina must have been able to calm him down. She had been counting on that.
Her mouth felt a little dry, so she carefully untangled herself from her fiancé's, she giggled internally at that thought, arms and got up to raid the stash of food and drinks that had been left for them. As she twisted the top off a bottle of apple juice her eyes strayed over to where DJ and Katie were bunked. She could make out DJ's shape, but surprisingly saw no sign of Katie.
She spun around, her eyes searching for the girl and wondering where she could be. Certainly she wouldn't have wandered outside the barrier after all the trouble they had gone through to remove them from Discord's sight, would she?
She was debating whether or not to wake up Alex and DJ when movement in the middle of the clearing caught her eye. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Katie sitting on the grass in a pool of silver moonlight.
She wandered toward her, making sure to make a little noise so that she wouldn't startle her friend, and sat down beside her. "Couldn't sleep?"
Katie looked up from the notebook she was scribbling in with a grin. "More like I slept too much. I spent most of yesterday afternoon dozing on and off and now I've slept most of the night too. I was feeling jittery, so I thought I'd see if I couldn't maybe get some inspiration."
Emma took a swig of her juice. "Did you come up with anything productive?"
Katie shook her head. "Not really, mostly just random thoughts. They may turn into something later. I was just enjoying the tranquility of the moment."
Emma shoved her shoulder against her friend's. "Oh, I'm sorry. Am I ruining your mood?"
Katie pushed back with a laugh. "No, you ditz! You know I don't mind the company."
Emma giggled for a moment and then sobered. "You know, Katie. I know we've never really talked about it, but I can't tell you how glad I am that you're back to being yourself again. You had everyone so worried for months. I thought poor Alex was going to go crazy there for a while. He mourned you like you were dead. I lost count of the nights that he cried on my shoulder, saying that you were never going to be the same. He blamed himself for it too. The night of the party he sensed that something was wrong, but we had swiped a bottle of champagne and had snuck off together. He wrote the feeling off as him just being paranoid. I felt guilty about it later too for not insisting that he go and check on you. Things may have turned out differently if I had."
"Oh no!" Katie exclaimed softly. "I don't want either one of you to feel guilty about what happened to me. Honestly, I've come to think of it as being a learning experience. Me being kidnapped was supposed to happen for a reason. Sure it changed me, and not for the better there for a while, but it's actually helped me in a way. I've grown stronger and gained the confidence in myself that I lacked before. Believe it or not, I used to feel horribly jealous of everybody else when we were younger. When we would all train it seemed like all of you were able to call upon your powers so easily while it was a constant struggle for me. I used to think that there was something wrong with me; that maybe I just wasn't meant to be a sailor scout after all. But now I realize that I was the only one holding myself back."
Emma flipped her long golden hair over her shoulder with a mischievous grin on her face. "Well I prefer to look at it from a more romantic point of view. If you hadn't been through what you've been through and needed DJ's moral support, the two of you would probably still be fighting all the time and driving everyone insane. I didn't think you guys would ever open your eyes to the obvious and admit that you were head over heels for each other."
Katie smiled dreamily. "Oh, I already knew that I was in love with him. I just had to wait for him to stop being such an arrogant jackass and admit that he loved me too." She fingered the silver charm bracelet on her wrist. "Took him long enough, didn't it? I had only been doodling his name with little hearts around it since I was twelve. It was really weird. One day we got into a fight and I ran home crying. While I was lying there on my bed it just hit me out of the blue that I loved him. It freaked me out pretty bad."
Emma smirked superiorly. "That's the way it usually goes. I remember that I was crushing pretty hard on Kyrian, or was it Julian, I guess it doesn't matter. I'd never thought of Alex as anything other than a friend until that point. But then one day he came walking in for lessons with Amy, just like any other normal day, and suddenly my heart felt like it was going to leap from my chest. Then he looked at me and I knew he felt the same way. The rest is history."
"Yeah, history," Katie sighed and set her notebook aside so she could lean back and tilt her face up toward the moon. The soft light had a calming effect on her.
"Are you nervous about the fight?" Emma asked after several moments of silence.
Katie nodded slowly. "I'm terrified, but I know we have to face him. If we don't try to defeat him he will destroy our world. And I want to live. I want to play and write music, get married, and maybe have kids of my own someday. The only way to do that is to get rid of him. So I'll just have to swallow my fear and hope that I have what it takes to get rid of that bastard once and for all. I'm also praying hard that nobody gets hurt in the process. We have a lot of lives wrapped up in this mess."
"Yeah, we do," Emma whispered and turned her head to look toward where she could vaguely see Alex laying where she had left him. "But I believe in you three. You'll beat him. I know you will. And then we can all get on with our lives."
Elysian – The Future
Emma wiped tears from her eyes as she watched the touching scene through Helios's viewing portal. "Oh my! Who would have ever thought that we could be so deep, huh?"
Katie laughed, although she had a few tears sparkling in her eyes as well. "Yeah, especially you Miss Airhead! I never pegged you as being so serious."
"Hmph!" Emma sniffed daintily. "Just for that I'm taking the last éclair! I was going to let you have it, but after that comment I've changed my mind."
"Hey! I was going to split that with you!" Katie protested as she watched her friend snatch up the last chocolate covered pastry from the plate on the table before them.
"Too bad!" Emma scoffed. "You don't need it anyway. I know we said you needed to put on a few pounds, but you're starting to resemble the Pillsbury Dough Boy."
"Look who's talking, Little Miss Aphrodite Complex! I haven't seen you do anything except stuff your face ever since we got here." Katie fired back. "DJ was wondering who ate the last chocolate chip muffin that he was saving in the kitchen. He accused me of it, but I knew it had to be you."
"Maybe it was, and maybe it wasn't," Emma quipped. "I'll never tell. But I do know that I am claiming this sweet little treat for myself." She opened her mouth like she was about to sink her teeth into it.
Katie let out a growl that had sent guardians and sentinels fleeing from her presence in the past. "You take a bite out of that éclair, Barbie, and you and I are going to have words."
"Eeekk!" Emma screeched and jumped up to run out of the room. Katie gave chase.
Emma was fast, but Katie was faster. As Emma flew down the long stairway, Katie vaulted the railing and dropped from the third floor to the wide entry hall below. She met the pastry thief at the bottom with a feral grin. "Are you going somewhere?"
A short squeal ripped out of Emma's throat when she realized she had nowhere to go. She could run back up the stairs again, and even if she managed to outrun Katie, which was almost an impossibility, she would just corner her in a room upstairs.
So she gave in gracefully. "Nice Kitty Kat! See look, Emma has a nice treat for you." She held out the éclair.
"That's what I thought!" Katie said smugly.
"What is going on here?" Helios demanded as he appeared between them in a flash of light. "Do the two of you have no sense of propriety? You two are grown women, and yet here you are tearing around and screaming like you are children instead of women in their middle thirties."
They both hung their heads, trying to appear contrite. "Sorry, Helios."
"The devil you are!" he fumed. "If it wasn't for the fact that I promised Sailor Pluto that I wouldn't, I would call your mothers here to take care of you. Maybe that's what you need since you want to act so childish."
Katie tossed her head back. "Look! I said I was sorry, what else do you want?" Then she realized that Emma was no longer behind Helios where she had been. She whirled around just in time to see the ends of golden hair slipping out the front door.
"Oh great!" she cried. "Thanks a lot, Helios! You just let her get away with the last éclair!" She tore off after her.
Helios threw his hands up in the air. "I give up! I'm too old for this!" And he teleported to Crystal Tokyo to seek the soothing presence of his wife.
Katie chased Emma as she ran swiftly across the wide spread of emerald grass that was the palace's front lawn. She was slowly gaining on her when reached a small pond where two men were standing.
"Save me!" Emma screamed and ducked behind Alex.
Katie ground to a halt and eyed the blonde peeking from behind her brother furiously. "Cough it up, Drama Queen."
Emma stuck her tongue out. "No way! You called me an airhead."
"Well you called me fat, and I was still willing to share it with you," Katie fired back. "Don't make me have to take it from you!"
"Whoa! Whoa!" Alex said, playing the peacekeeper as always. "What's got you two so worked up?"
Emma pouted prettily. "We were just enjoying some girl time and having a snack while watching the past. We had just witnessed a heartfelt moment between our past selves when she insulted my intelligence."
Katie snorted. "I didn't insult your intelligence. I called you an airhead. There's a big difference! And then you had the nerve to say that I've put on too much weight!"
"Not hardly!" DJ retorted. "You've put on a few pounds and you look much healthier for it, but you're nowhere near fat."
"Ha!" Take that!" Katie crowed.
DJ leaned down to whisper in her ear, "If you're still hungry I have something you might like hidden in our bedroom. Rini managed to sneak me some of Lita's triple chocolate chunk cookies."
Her hazel eyes sparkled. "Really? I might be interested in that."
He turned and presented his back to her before gesturing for her to jump on.
She climbed onto his back, piggyback style and called to Emma, "Keep the éclair. I found something better." Then she wrapped her arms around DJ's neck and whispered, "Why do I feel like you have an ulterior motive in this?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. I guess you'll just have to wait and see."
Her hold on his neck turned into a hug. "Have I told you lately how much I love you?"
He turned his head to look at her, his sky blue eyes dancing mischievously. "You have. But it's been a couple of hours, so feel free to repeat it if you like."
She kissed his cheek. "I love you, my dearest prince."
He chuckled. "I love you too, my fairy princess."
"Ugh! Look at them," Alex groaned as he watched his best friend walk away with his sister on his back. "They are so disgustingly lovey dovey."
Emma giggled. "They probably say the same thing about us."
He grinned wryly. "Yeah, they probably do. So, are you really planning on eating that éclair all by yourself?"
She gave him a seductive smile. "Oh, I might be convinced to share if someone is persuasive enough."
His arms snaked around her waist as he tipped her back and ravaged her mouth thoroughly with his. When he pulled back a minute later her cheeks were flushed and her breathing uneven.
"Was that persuasive enough for you?" he snickered.
She stared at him with dazed gray eyes. "Kiss me like that again and you can have the whole thing."
He lowered his lips to hers. "Your wish is my command."
A/N So there you have it! Sorry again that this one was a little shorter than normal. I had another scene or two originally at the end of this chapter, but I've moved them to the beginning of the next chapter because it just seemed to flow better. Or maybe it's just the drugs talking. Darn this cold! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this. I really enjoyed writing the scene where we got a little more insight into Pluto. Both the anime and the manga were so vague on her that I love trying to give her a bit of a back-story. I want her to appear more human and less robotic, and since I'm usually abusive to my poor characters I came up with her tragic love story. Okay, so DJ, Katie, and Alex are off Discord's radar and he thinks that the future is severely fractured. Coming up next is the battle at the time gate. Our little Trinity holders are going to get a chance to really show what power they have now. Will it be enough to send Discord running? I guess we'll have to wait and see. Please remember to drop me those reviews. You guys know I live for them. Lots of love and hugs!
~Sere~