Setsuna immediately knew when Ranma opened the front door that he was the prince. Now Setsuna had never seen a photo of Ranma before, but she could instantly tell that he was the young man she was looking. The reason why Setsuna could make this call and know that Ranma wasn't a guest was because of his face. Ranma looked so much like Saphir that there was no mistaking his identity. At long last the prince had been found.

Just as Setsuna was about to give herself a mental cheer for finding Ranma she suddenly noticed Usa sitting down in the living room. Even though Setsuna would never admit it, the fact that one of the Scouts managed to find Ranma first was a serious blow to her ego. The ageless Guardian of Time knew that Usa was looking for Ranma as well, but she had figured that she would find the prince well before the princess did. After all, she had the Time Gate, Charon Castle's supercomputer, and centuries of experience whereas Usa only had a handheld sensor and dumb luck.

However, it wasn't the Serenity family's insane oddball luck or the fact that she had to eat humble pie that rendered Setsuna speechless. It was the fact that Usa was currently a 17ish pink bombshell instead of a cute little girl that was completely throwing Setsuna for a loop. They say that children grow up fast, but this was nuts. Setsuna knew that Usa couldn't that old since the timelines were locked together and she sputtered out, "C-chibusa! How by the Goddess are you that old?"

Usa scratched the back of her head as Ranma and Setsuna looked at her. Setsuna's shock and disbelief was plainly visible while Ranma simply looked confused. In a slightly embarrassed tone the future princess said, "Uh Setsuna? You remember that time when Wiseman kidnapped me and transformed me into Black Lady? Funny thing about that is that mother couldn't undo Wiseman's spell. I'm still me it's just that I'm no longer in my child body. 'Chibiusa' and 'Small Lady' only exist because their presence is more comforting among the masses then my true form would be. It's all smoke and mirrors to keep the masses content."

At this point Ranma raised his hand and said, "Will someone please fill me in on the details? Usually I wouldn't butt my nose into your business since I don't like people butting into my business. However, I do prefer to know about anything in my house that's over 2 on the weirdness meter. Now since you two obviously know each other, why don't you come in miss so that we can talk about this like adults?"

There was a faint hint of a blush on Setsuna's face as she walked inside. Usually she was so calm and collective, but twice today something had happened that completely broke her calm. If things kept up like this then she'd loose her reputation as the Ice Queen. Once Setsuna was inside she politely bowed her head and said, "My name is Setsuna Meiou."

Ranma nodded his head and said, "Nice to meet you Setsuna. Now would someone please explain who 'Wiseman' is and why Usa has to worry about keeping the masses happy?" In the back of his mind Ranma was trying to figure out what was going on. The only thing that Ranma could be sure of was that things were about to get even crazier then they had been.

Usa knew that it was time to tell Ranma everything so she calmly said in the authorities tone that all Serenities seemed to be able to use, "My name is Princess Serenity Usagi Tsukino, grand duchess of India, countess of Arabia, the princess of Crystal Tokyo, and heir to the Crystal Crown. I am from the 30th century. In my time the Earth is united under my mother Neo-Queen Serenity's rule."

So Usa was a magical princess from the future? Well that was certainly an interesting twist. Personally Ranma was surprised that he hadn't encountered a magical princess before considering all of the mystical princes he had met. A moment later Ranma remembered a little fact from his conversations with Sapphire. If Usa was from the future then it was very likely that she was a contemporary of Saphir. Ranma then decided to try and get some more information and said, "Okay. Why are you here in the past Usa? Don't get me wrong because I'm thrilled to have met you, but traveling through time isn't exactly something anyone would really want to mess with."

At this point Setsuna decided to add her own two cents. "Usa didn't exactly travel through time Ranma. At least, she didn't travel through time in the sense that you're probably thinking off. You see, Usa's time and the present are locked together. For every second that goes by now an equal amount of time passes in Crystal Tokyo. The two timelines are completely separate in terms of causality so its more like Usa traveled to a different country then she traveled through time. Don't try to think too much about it since it will only cause you to get a headache."

Ranma scratched his head and said, "You've completely lost me. However, you still haven't answered my question. Why is Usa hanging out in this time?"

Before Setsuna could respond Usa replied, "I'm in this time for to reasons. The first reason is to insure that my mother's counterpart is able to protect the world. No one knows what having the two timelines linked together will do if one timeline suffers a catastrophe. The second reason why I'm in this time is to find you Ranma. You see, you're the heir to the Nemesian throne."

If Ranma had been drinking anything at all then he would have done a spit-take when he heard that news. As it was, Ranma merely stumbled a bit and then said, "How can I be the heir to a magical kingdom 1,000 years in the future?"

Setsuna then calmly said, "Ranma, Nodoka Saotome is not your mother. At least, she is not your biological mother. The brother of the previous Prince of Nemesis, whose name is Saphir, traveled back in time and with Nodoka's permission he implanted you into her womb. Your biological mother was a member of the Nemesian Court who most likely would have aborted you if Saphir hadn't used his magic to remove your embryo from her womb. Almost four months ago your father and your uncle died because of the machinations of a creature by the name of Wiseman. Luckily for everyone in the 30th century your uncle was able to take Wiseman with him to the grave."

Ranma wanted to immediately deny that what Setsuna and Usa were saying was true. It wasn't because Ranma thought they were being crazy; Ranma just didn't want to be a prince. Part of this was because Ranma wanted to live a semi-normal life and being a magical prince in the future wasn't normal even by his standards. The other reason was simply that Ranma was afraid. He had read enough history to know how many times a foolish leader had seriously messed up resulting in a great deal of pain for the leader's subjects. That was one responsibility that Ranma didn't want.

However, even as much as Ranma wanted to deny it, he knew that Setsuna and Usa were telling the truth. There was something in their eyes and their voice as they spoke that told Ranma that they weren't trying to sell him a bridge. Also, Ranma started to remember Sapphire's small oddities when the echo was teaching him. Whenever Sapphire taught Ranma he would throw in a bit of information here and there on Nemesis. These were facts that weren't useful for a simple magician, but would be invaluable for someone who might become a ruler of Nemesis.

At that moment Ranma realized what Sapphire was doing with him. The echo wasn't just trying to help him gain control of his magic. It was also trying to groom him for the throne at the same time! How many lessons had been trying to do both at the same time? The ability to rationally figure out how to analyze a magical item could basically be applied to figuring out what a courtier or an ambassador was trying to do as well. All of those ethics lectures on how to responsibly use magic were just as applicable to political power as they were to magical power.

If it wasn't for Ranma's numerous encounters with the bizarre then he probably would have fainted as his mind found even more clues in his life to back up the ladies' claim. Thanks to that partial immunity to weirdness Ranma only wobbled a little bit as he slowly walked over to his chair and sat down. Once Ranma was sitting down he said, "What's going to happen now that you've found me?"

Even though Usa was a little surprised that Ranma had accepted what they had told him so quickly, she wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. In a very friendly manner Usa said, "We have two options available Ranma. The first option is you visit Nemesis on your free time and the rest of the time you stay here for now until you finish your education. If you choose this option then one or two of the top magistrates in the Nemesian government will be granted limited access to the Time Gates so that he or she can come to this time and tutor you in your future responsibilities. The other option is that you go to Nemesis and spend most of your time in the 30th century. Considering how unsure we are about the effects the timelines have on each other and the fact that you have a legal identity in this time there may be times when the Black Prince will be helpful."

Ranma closed his eyes and thought very hard about his options trying to go over every angle that he could. For several minutes he sat completely still in his seat trying to figure out what he should do. In the end Ranma sighed and said, "Let me pack a few things. Once I've packed we can travel to the future."

Neo-Queen Serenity gracefully waited in the reception hall of Charon Castle and glance over to her only company in the imposing room. Chancellor Seto was an extremely imposing young man. He was tall and rather wiry, but his angular face and piercing blue eyes helped enhance the imposing aura he seemed to radiate. The Neo-Queen knew that the truly freighting thing about Chancellor wasn't his looks, but his keen intellect and his utter ruthlessness. About the only thing that Serenity could truly find acceptable about Seto was the fact that he was absolutely loyal to the Black Moon Clan and would do anything in his power to protect the Clan. That was a trait that Serenity respected even if the person in question seemed to be constantly assessing if she was or wasn't a threat.

Chancellor Seto currently had his trademark scowl on his face with his rod of station in his hand as he waited for his lord to appear. The scowl on Seto's face was directed only towards himself. In Seto's mind the near extinction of the Clan was his fault because he hadn't caught on to what Wiseman was doing and stopped the creature. Praise the ancestors that Saphir had been so crafty that the Clan survived. Seto promised he would do everything in his power to help his prince. It was the only way he could hope to redeem himself for that horrible mistake.

Both leaders immediately turned their attention to one of the doors that suddenly opened and then they watched as the two heirs walked through the door. Even though they were shocked at Usa's current condition, neither leader commented on it. As Usa walked towards her mother Ranma looked around and locked eyes with Seto. Ranma then said in a friendly manner, "I take it that you're representative from Nemesis?"

Seto gave only the faintest hint of a nod as he said, "Yes Prince Ranma. I am Chancellor Seto. If you wish would you please follow me? Our transport is waiting outside."

Ranma politely said, "Just a minute Seto." He then turned to Neo-Queen Serenity and said, "I've heard about the difficulties between our two peoples. Hopefully we can work things so that our peoples are less hostile to each other." After receiving a pleasant nod from the Neo-Queen Ranma said, "Well then Seto lets head home." Now the idea of Nemesis being home was strange to Ranma, but he to create the sense that he was comfortable with the idea.

Once Ranma and Seto were in the transport Ranma said, "Let me be honest with you Seto. I'm going to need your help and advice in dealing with the government for a while. Now I don't want you to just run the government without me; I just want you to tutor me in what I'm supposed to do. Keep me from insulting the wrong person or stepping on anyone's toes."

Even though Seto's face was still set in its usual frown he was smiling on the inside. The Chancellor had been expecting that he'd have to tutor Ranma a bit and was pleased that the Prince had arrived at the same conclusion. At the very least it was a sign that Ranma could be a halfway decent prince. For the rest of the two hour flight over to Nemesis Seto gave Ranma a crash course in the politics of Nemesis. Unlike Crystal Tokyo which was an absolute monarchy, Nemesis was a constitutional monarchy where the powers of the Prince and the Nemesian Senate were clearly defined by law. This was actually one of the major causes of the Foundation War.

When the transport arrived at Nemesis it flew to the capital city of Yamoto and landed on one of the private landing platforms at the palace. Seto led Ranma out of the transport and Ranma quickly noticed the small gathering by the landing platform. Ranma glanced over at Seto who quickly got the message and said, "These are heads of your cabinet Excellency. From left to right we have the Secretary of the Military Heero Yuy, Secretary of Science and Magic Teletha Tessarosa, Secretary of Finance Tamahome Yuki, Secretary of Foreign Matters Releena Yuy, and the Secretary of Intelligence Ishizu Ishtar."

For a second, Ranma was surprised to only have five cabinet members. Then he remembered that as a rule Nemesians abhorred bureaucracy. Apparently it had something to do with the complete collapse of the Western countries due to excessive bureaucracy. Ranma's surprise was quickly replaced by a small grin and he said, "It is a pleasure to meet all of you. Hopefully you all will be able to find the patience to help me learns the ins and outs around here so that the people of Nemesis have a fair and just government."

At the other end of the Solar System in the Crystal Palace Neo-Queen Serenity, Neo-King Endymion, and Usa were sitting around in one of the private living rooms. Serenity looked at Usa and calmly said, "So how are things going in the 20th century dear?"

Usa smiled and said, "Aside from having to be a little kid things were great. No offense mother, but your analogue isn't the greatest. She means well and has a big heart, but there are times where I swear a manikin has more sense then she does." This caused Serenity to blush and Endymion to chuckle a little bit. Continuing on Usa said, "Besides Ranma I also made a friend by the name of Hotaru. She's a nice girl and I hope I can visit the 20th century again to talk to her. As to Scout business, there's good news and there's bad news. Good news is that the Haruka and Michiru are working with the Inners. Bad news is that the Death Busters are starting to use common sense and are learning from their mistakes."

Endymion folded his hands together and said, "This could be a serious problem. If the Death Busters adapt quickly enough they could defeat the Scouts of the 20th century. Perhaps a more active presence in the 20th century is needed. However, that decision can wait for now."

Serenity immediately jumped in and said, "That's right. We'll worry about the Death Busters during work time tomorrow. Let's talk about something a little more relevant. What sort of man is Ranma? How will he affect Crystal Tokyo's relationship with Nemesis?"

After thinking for a second Usa said, "I think that having Ranma as the head of Nemesis will be good for Crystal Tokyo. While Ranma will probably make Nemesis a lot stronger then it was under Demand, we really shouldn't worry. From what I've seen Ranma will do whatever he can to improve the lives of his people and he won't really be interested in waging a war with us. That's not to say we won't have problems with Nemesis, but things won't get as bad as they were during the Wiseman War. At the worst we should be able to institute a tournament to decide things."

The Neo-King and Neo-Queen looked at each other for a moment and nodded their heads. Endymion then said, "Well I guess that's about a good as we could hope for or expect. Usa, your mother and I will talk about whether it's appropriate now for us to reveal your condition. While it's likely that we will be able to reveal your growth, please stay in the private quarters when you're in that form for now."

Usa caught her father's subtle hint and she quickly said her goodbyes before leaving the room. Once she was out of the room the princess started to head for her bedroom. However, before Usa could get to her bedroom she was intercepted by one of the maids who said, "Princess. Lady Minako wishes to speak to you in her quarters."

The maid was not at all surprised when Usa let out a small groan and said, "Okay I'll be there shortly. Don't bother to inform Aunty Mina since she's probably not expecting you to tell her. Have a nice day." Usa love all of the Scouts as her aunts, but they could all be exasperating at times. Personally Usa blamed the Scouts' incredibly long lives for those quirks that they had developed. Minako's quirk was just a little…imposing.

After walking across the palace wing Usa arrived at the door to Minako's quarters and pressed the doorbell. Minako quickly called out from behind the door, "Come in Usa come in." Usa gulped a little and then opened the door so she could quickly walk inside. Once the princess was inside she looked around to find where exactly Minako was at. Much to Usa's annoyance, Minako was lying nude on a giant clamshell like couch. After looking at her aunt for a second Usa grumbled out, "I know you're the warrior of love Aunty Mina. But seriously, do you have to act like Aphrodite?"

Minako just smirked and said, "Try dieing and being resurrected a few times princess. It makes those annoying things like modesty and morality that you're so hung up on seem less important then they used to be. As long as I present the calm commanding face as Sailor Venus no one really cares who or how many guys I have in my bed. Besides, the news reporters would starve if I didn't do something scandalous at least one a week. Everyone else here in the palace is too prudish to supply the gossip page."

Usa just shook her head and said, "Enough of the chitchat Aunty Mina. Why did you call me here? You don't usually invite someone to your quarters unless you have something important that needs to be discussed privately or you want a bed warmer. Since you don't play for the other team I have to assume that there's something important you wanted to discuss with me."

Instead of answering Usa's question Minako sipped a martini and said in a slightly playful manner, "Actually I have 'played for the other team' a few times on some of my wilder parties. However, I don't think Serenity would be happy with me if I were to bed you just yet so you're off the hook for now." Minako then became a lot more serious and said, "Usa I want to start teaching you seduction tactics."

Before Usa could shout out her absolute disgust at the idea Minako sent a commanding glare at the princess. That glare stopped Usa in her tracks and prevented her from uttering a sound. Minako then stood up and said, "Now's not the time to get all high and mighty with me dear niece. Let me tell you something that your mother and father have probably neglected to tell you: our infrastructure is almost completely destroyed. Even with the Ginzushou it will take years to repair the damage Nemesis did to us during the Wiseman War."

"I won't give you the full details now, but the bottom line is that Crystal Tokyo is defenseless. If we were to go to war with Nemesis now we will loose. Even our best projections have us lasting a year at best before we only have unconditional surrender as our only option. Nemesis stopped the war only because the Black Moon Clan was nearly destroyed. If this new Prince Ranma decides to continue the war then Nemesis will be above our skies in force by the end of the day."

"The only way Crystal Tokyo can survive is for Prince Ranma to not attack us until we at least get back on our feet in a few years. Your parents will try to appease the Prince into leaving us alone. However, it only takes a few disgruntled politicians in the Nemesian Senate to try and convince the Prince to attack us. What we need is someone in the prince's bed whispering in his ear that attacking is a bad idea."

Minako paused for a moment before she continued on, "Out of everyone in Crystal Tokyo Princess, you've got the best shot at being the woman in the Prince's bed whispering those words. None of us have any connection with Ranma whatsoever and he'll probably be on guard with us. You, you on the other hand have his friendship and that with the proper coaching can be ignited into a burning passion. I've already talked with the other Scouts and the advisers about this idea. Even though some of them have their reservations, they agree that this is the best plan we have for Crystal Tokyo's survival."

Inside of Usa her emotions warred with each other over what Minako was suggesting. While Usa was willing to admit to herself that she found Ranma to be rather attractive, she didn't like the idea of pulling a Cleopatra. On the other hand, Usa had never known Minako to lie about the state of the kingdom and if things were as bad as she claimed then things really were that bad. Usa eventually decided to accept Minako's lessons after Minako promised that she wouldn't bring in 'helpers' for the lessons. However, even though Usa agreed to the lessons, she never said that she would put them into use.

Back in the 20th century an emergency meeting was being held at Rei's shrine. As soon as all of the Scouts and Mamoru got to the shrine Usagi frantically said, "Chibiusa's missing everyone! She didn't show up for dinner, didn't leave a note, or call." Naturally everyone started to worry about what could have happened to Chibiusa. The pink haired girl had even grown on Haruka and Michiru.

Just as the volume level reached its peek, Setsuna popped into the room and whistled. Everyone else stopped talking in mid sentence and turned to look at their mysterious companion. Setsuna then sat down and calmly said, "I take it by the noise level that you've discovered that Chibiusa is gone."

Usagi immediately interrupted the oldest Scout and said, "Where is she? Has she been captured? Is she alright?" Even though Usagi often complained about 'The Spore' being around she really cared for the girl.

Setsuna sighed and replied, "Don't worry Chibiusa is perfectly fine. As I was trying to say, Chibiusa isn't in this time period anymore. She was called back to Crystal Tokyo for a while because of something that has come up. The new Prince of Nemesis has been found." After everyone had blurted out their surprise Setsuna continued on. "It turned out that Saphir had a son that no one was aware of because he hid the young man in this time period. By the way you've all met him."

Ami was the first to get what Setsuna was hinting at and said, "The Black Prince. It all makes sense now. Those droids weren't similar to the Black Moon Clan's droids because of them learning about the droids from someone in the past. They were so similar because a member of the Clan was making them."

Haruka jumped in and added her two cents. "Why did you tell us not to attack the Black Prince? If he's from the Black Moon Clan then couldn't he be preparing to attack us?"

Setsuna shook her head and calmly said, "We don't have to worry about an attack from Nemesis. The new Prince doesn't seem to be interested in fighting right now. Even if he does attack Crystal Tokyo we don't have to worry about being attack. Only Crystal Tokyo has the ability to travel through time and this new prince is two honorable to attack us. After all, we're not a part of Crystal Tokyo so attacking us would the same as attacking two different countries."

There was a moment of silence as everyone processed what Setsuna told them. Mamoru broke the silence by saying, "So the bad news is we've lost two helpers in our fight against the Death Busters. I guess that means the good news is the fact that we don't have another enemy to fight. Good thing that New Moon is in three days."

Usagi blinked her eyes and asked as she snuggled next to Mamoru, "Why is it a good thing that the New Moon is in three days Mamochan?"

Mamoru looked down at Usagi and said, "It's simple Usako. Recently I've learned of a magical ritual that will allow me to regain my memories." Mamoru's voice then got somber as he continued on. "I have the power to beat any Scout except for you one on one. However, because of my fragmentary memory I can't use most of my power. As long as my memories are gone I'll always be an annoyance to our enemies. This ritual will allow me to really help you out. The only catch with the ritual is that it can only be preformed on the first day of the New Moon. I don't want to see you in danger if there's anything I can do to help protect you."

This earned Mamoru a kiss from Usagi and a round of sighs from most of the Scouts. Haruka was the only person at the meeting who wasn't in a content mood and muttered under her breath about Mamoru finally being useful. Naturally Michiru responded by elbowing Haruka in the ribs. Even if Michiru was a lesbian she still enjoyed a good traditional romance story. Besides, it was rude of Haruka to insult the Prince of Earth even if he wasn't their princess's love.

Setsuna stood up, looked at Mamoru, and politely said, "I wish you luck Mamoru. Having Endymion at Sailor Moon's side rather then Tuxedo Mask be a real big help. My counterpart in Crystal Tokyo has promised to reveal the location of the talismans by the end of the week. She also mentioned that we might get some reinforcements from Crystal Tokyo as well, but that we shouldn't count on it. Princess, remember to have Luna make your parents think that Chibiusa had gone back home for now. We don't want any loose ends causing extra problems."

With that said Setsuna calmly walked out the door. Now that the emergency was over the meeting pretty much ended, but no one else left just then. For the next half hour or so everyone hung out and then people slowly started to leave one by one.