Journeys Through the Past
A Sailor Moon fanfic by Sailor Chronos

Chapter Seven: Dark Domain

The evil entity walked toward Chronos and looked her over with an expression of contempt. "So you are the new Senshi," it cackled. "I expected better." A gnarled hand stroked her chin, and it was all she could do to not flinch. "I was young and feisty like you once. But I devoted my life to the Dead Moon in exchange for power."

"And what has that power given you?" Chronos asked in disgust. "Dominion over a bunch of incompetent lackeys? I expected better."

The hand smacked her across the face. "Don't underestimate me, young whippersnapper! I may be old, but with age comes wisdom. Those that do my bidding are merely small players in a greater game." Her captor turned and began to shuffle back into the shadows.

"And by the time everyone figures this out, it will be too late? I've heard that one before. Why don't you just tell us before you kill us... at least I assume I was brought here so you could deal with me personally."

Laughter. "Yes, but I do not intend to kill you. Not yet. Your Senshi friends are becoming an annoyance, but I have other plans for you."

"Such as?" Chronos pressed. If she could get an advantage, no matter how small, all this would be worth it. "Or if you won't tell me that, at least tell me your name. I prefer to know who I'm up against."

The figure paused and looked back, with a gleam in its eyes. "I am called Zirconia." The spotlight that had been shining down was suddenly extinguished, leaving Chronos and Kurisu in darkness once again.

There was a sigh from nearby. "That wasn't very helpful."

"On the contrary, Kurisu-san, it was. I may not be as smart as Sailor Mercury but I can hold my own. We are obviously being held in the enemy's base. Zirconia was telling the truth when she said she wasn't going to kill us; otherwise we would have been dead by now. She needs us... or me at least. If not as bait to trap the other Senshi, then for something else."

"I don't think I want to know what that might be," Kurisu said. "I would rather die than become anyone's pawn."

"I'm afraid that may be a choice we'll need to make. Zirconia could try to bring us over, either by words or by sorcery. Because she told us her name, that shows she expects us to be here for a long time."

"And we have school tomorrow," he joked half-heartedly. After a long pause he continued, "Do you think anyone's listening to us? I still want to know what you wanted to tell me earlier."

"Whether they hear or not, I don't think it would make a difference now." She took a deep breath, focusing her thoughts. A diversion would help a lot right now. "A thousand years ago, there was a beautiful kingdom ruled by Queen Serenity..."

Rei's fist slammed down on the table; the jolt sent two empty cups crashing to the floor. "Stupid, stupid, stupid!" she hollered. "We should have realized that they were after her! Now they've taken away our advantage, and they know it!"

"Calm down, Rei-chan!" Chibiusa admonished. "Throwing a tantrum won't change anything."

"Why shouldn't I?" the raven-haired girl raged. "I felt that something was going to happen! I should have been more careful! Someone should have been watching out for her!"

"We all were careless," Ami admitted wearily. "We're still not up to snuff after our experience with that nightmare trap."

Makoto raised her voice. "This isn't the time for recriminations. We need to rescue Alyssa-san. Ami-chan's computer was able to trace the energy of the enemy's portals, so we can follow that to their base."

"But we don't know what to expect," Minako said. "If we teleport in there blindly, anything could happen."

Usagi nodded and began to pick up the broken pieces. Her mother wouldn't be pleased, but she would worry about that later. "And I'm sure they'll be expecting us."

Rei glared at them but finally sighed and bowed her head. "Maybe Alyssa-san will able to get herself out of there. That'll show them."

"She has always been a very resourceful person," Luna commented. "If anyone can get out of enemy territory, it'll be her."

When Chronos finished the story Kurisu sighed, whether from relief or exasperation she couldn't tell. "I find all this hard to believe, that we come from a planet that no longer exists. But there's something in my mind that's saying, yes it is true. Why can't I remember?"

"For the same reason as all the others: a mental barrier that would only break down upon contact with anyone else from the Imperium. You mentioned your dreams; that's a sign that the barrier is weakening. It's just a matter of time before you remember the rest." Sailor Chronos grunted as she yanked first one hand, then the other, from the manacles.

Then had to quickly replace them when the spotlight came on.

Zirconia stepped into view. "I trust you are comfortable?" she sneered. "There's something I want you to do for me, Sailor Chronos. A small favour, in exchange for which I'll let your friend here go. He's of no use to us."

"I don't do favours for people like you," Chronos said defiantly, although she knew Kurisu might have to bear the consequences.

Zirconia shrugged. "No matter. I thought I would ask nicely, since you have proven yourself to be a worthy opponent for my agents."

She gestured and a large mirror appeared in front of Chronos. "This is a mirror of illusion. It creates a negative reflection of anyone who looks into it."

"Negative..?"

With a snap of Zirconia's fingers, Chronos' reflection stepped out, smiling. It was perfect to every detail... with the exception of a black spot on the forehead, which Chronos recalled that all the Lemures wore. The clone adjusted its hair to cover the mark. "If you'll excuse me, I'm sure my friends are worried about me," it said, and disappeared through a portal.

"Wait!" Chronos yelled, but Zirconia merely turned and walked away. When the light switched off she groaned in resignation and freed her hands again. "Kurisu-san?" she called, but there was no response. "Kurisu-san!"

Her voice echoed across the chamber. She was alone.

Tensions ran high at the Tsukino household. Rei and Makoto were fed up with waiting and wanted to mount a rescue attempt. The others, especially Ami, wanted to see if the enemy would contact them. In the midst of the discussion, Artemis called them all over to the window.

"Look! Isn't that Alyssa-san now?"

They all crowded to the window to look out. Walking slowly on the other side of the street was Alyssa! She was furtively looking around her, appearing to be lost.

There was a scuffle as the girls all tried to get out the door at once, and they ran across the street to surround their friend.

"Lia-chan! We've been so worried!" Chibiusa cried. "How did you get away?"

Alyssa smiled brightly. "Minna! I'm glad to see you're all okay. That was one experience I don't care to repeat, let me tell you!"

Usagi walked up to her. "Why don't you come in and have some tea? You can tell us what happened."

"There isn't much to tell," was the response as they went back into the house. "They had us chained up but made the mistake of leaving us alone. I slipped my restraints and escaped."

"What about your friend Kurisu-san?" Minako asked.

"He's fine, just had a bad scare," Alyssa replied in a neutral tone. "I took him home." She poured herself a cup of tea.

"As long as you both got out of there safely," Artemis said. "Did you see what their base was like?"

She sighed. "Unfortunately not. They kept us in the dark, literally. I couldn't see a thing, except when their leader came to gloat at me."

Ami looked at her watch. "Alyssa-san, didn't you say that you wanted to go to the library for a while this afternoon? You do start school again tomorrow."

Alyssa looked surprised, then cleared her throat. "Of course, Ami-chan, thanks for reminding me. I'll see you all later." She got up and let herself out.

There was an immediate uproar. "What was that all about?" "Why did you tell her that?" "She only just got here!" "She could have had her mind messed with again by the enemy."

Ami held up her hands to forestall any more outbursts. "I said that because of what I noticed. I'm not sure that was really her."

"Huh? Have you gone off the deep end?" asked Minako.

"Listen. First: Alyssa-san is right-handed, yet that person handled the teapot and the doorknob with her left. Second: Alyssa-san always wears a diamond pin on her left lapel, but just now she was wearing it on her right lapel."

"What does that mean?" Usagi asked, drawing a glare from Makoto.

Ami continued, "It means that person may have looked and behaved like Jikanno Alyssa, but those little details were reversed, like a mirror image."

"That doesn't prove anything!" Rei said hotly.

Makoto asked, "Could that have been some sort of clone?"

"I wouldn't put it past the enemy to try something like that," Luna said. "If it's true, I don't think we should let on that we suspect anything. Let them believe that we're fooled, then we watch out for their next move."

In the meantime, Sailor Chronos was stealthily moving through the enemy base, searching for Kurisu. She hadn't believed Zirconia when the sorceress had said that she would release him, and hoped that he was still being held somewhere. The place was dimly lit and deathly quiet; most people would find it frightening. It wasn't called the Dead Moon Circus for nothing.

After a while, she began to wonder why she hadn't met any opposition. Surely someone would have discovered her escape by now. If they were allowing her to escape, then she had to expect a trap, and most likely Kurisu was the bait. No matter. She had been trained to deal with such situations.

She quietly opened a door, to see what looked like a bar on the other side. A long counter was surrounded by short brown stools. Bright neon lights outlined the shape of a tree on one wall. However it was the symbol in the tree that momentarily captured her attention: the same symbol that presaged the appearance of a Lemure.

A whisper came from the other end of the room. "Sailor Chronos! Get out of here, it's a trap!"

"Kurisu-san!" She started forward.

Someone grabbed her from behind, and she turned her head to see the golden-haired lion tamer. "Well, looks like we have a visitor!" he said with a malicious grin. "I don't know how you got out of my irons, but this time we'll make sure you don't go anywhere!" He pushed her into the room. "Hawk Eye! Fish Eye! See what I caught!"

"Not that white-haired pumpkin again?" Hawk Eye asked with interest, appearing out of the shadows. "Fish is off seducing some boy-toy, since he couldn't get anywhere with this one." He shot a disgusted glance over his shoulder at Kurisu. "But I don't have anything to do right now. Let me have some fun with her." He sauntered up to Chronos and held her chin in his hand.

"I'd rather give you a fight," Chronos growled. She kicked her legs and twisted in an attempt to get loose but she was held firmly.

"That can be arranged, Sailor Senshi!" Tiger Eye said. The next moment, Lemures began to appear all around, laughing and tittering. "You are a good fighter, but can you get to your friend before the people of the Dead Moon finish you?" As he laughed, the Lemures, led by Hawk Eye, advanced on her.