Chapter Nine

"Damn it, it's not working. Why isn't it working?" In the High Temple, Fighter paced like a caged tiger, watching Princess Kakyuu and the team of scientists working on the Sacred Crystal.

"It's not working because the Crystal is broken," Healer drawled, the taut stance of her body belying her casual tone.

Fighter cursed again. "We're nearly out of time."

Paladin, the solider in charge of leading the planet's evacuation reentered the temple just then, prompting Fighter to approach her and ask in a low voice, "how is the evacuation going?"

"We've gotten away as many as we can," Paladin said. They both knew just how small that number was, but they'd done the best they could with their limited fleet and no set destination planet for those who were fleeing. "The last ship is about to leave."

"Hold it until the Princess is on board."

Approaching the Princess, Fighter touched her gently on the shoulder. "Princess Kakyuu, it's time to go. Our planet isn't going to make it."

Kakyuu shook her head, her eyes burning with stubborn determination. "My place is here, working on the Crystal. But I want all of you to go." Her gaze took in the remaining sailor soldiers and the team of scientists working alongside. "The survivors of Kinmoku will need to be protected."

The depth of Fighter's frustration was matched only by her fear. Not fear for herself, but for her Princess. She didn't want Kakyuu's end to be here on her crumbling planet, enduring a lonely death surrounded by the bodies of her soldiers.

"Please Princess," she begged. "You must go. As long as you survive, there might be a way to resurrect our planet one day."

"And there might be a way now. I'm not leaving."

Fighter felt Healer and Maker moving to stand on either side of her.

"Then we're not leaving either," said Healer.

Nodding in agreement, Star Maker added, "our place is by your side, always."

The earth trembled beneath them, and Paladin held two fingers to her ear as she received a message on her com unit. "The ship can't delay any longer. It must leave now."

"Right." If she'd had more time, Fighter might have seriously considered bodily manhandling Kakyuu onto that ship, but she knew full well her Princess's powers were more formidable than her own and that she had little chance of subduing her under the circumstances.

But that didn't mean there weren't still other lives she could save. She swept her eyes over the remaining scientists and sailor soldiers, leaving out only Healer and Maker. "The last ship is leaving! I want everyone here aboard. Now!"

No one moved. A few of the scientists had already gone back to work on the Crystal again, along with Princess Kakyuu.

Hands forming into fists, Fighter raised her voice angrily. "You think you fools can do anything here? There's no point staying to protect those of us with a death sentence. It's the living who will need your help. Now get out of here, all of you. That's an order!"

With the help of Healer and Maker, she began shoving people towards the outside of the temple, sweat dripping down her face. There was a heaviness in the air that seemed to make it difficult to breathe, an ominous stillness that boded of terrible things to come.

Rushing into the open, Fighter saw the last few soldiers aboard. Paladin was last of all, her tortured expression saying fleeing from danger like this went against every senshi instinct she possessed. Fighter gave her a grin and a jaunty salute as the hatch closed and the ship safely departed. Probably if she'd been Star Maker she would have thought of some profound parting statement to make, but as it was, it was enough for her to know some remnant of her people would survive.

Re-entering the Temple, she swore. Maker and Healer were still fruitlessly trying to pry a number of scientists away from the Crystal.

"Forget about that," she said shortly. "It's too late now. The ship's gone."

Smoothing her hair, the lead scientist said, "we're not soldiers, anyway. You can't order us around. Now." She directed her next comment at the few scientists still left, along with Princess Kakyuu. "Let's keep trying."

That feeling in the air was getting worse. Fighter, Healer and Maker ranged themselves around the room without discussion, all knowing they would hold off the inevitable for as long as possible.

It wasn't the first apocalypse Fighter had faced on this planet, but there was one crucial difference this time that fortified her warrior's heart and made it beat loudly, almost joyfully, in her chest. She wasn't going to run. She was going to meet death head on and burn as brightly as she could until her star went out.

Maker noticed Fighter and Healer's eyes meet for a moment, saying a silent goodbye. It might have made her feel lonely if not for the fact that Fighter caught her eye just afterwards and threw her an exaggerated kiss that held real warmth behind it. Rolling her eyes, Maker went back to waiting. There was nothing else to do.

Everyone staggered as a massive tremor hit and the stink of sulfur tainted their lungs. That sense of failure and doom Maker had first felt back in Tokyo, that had never quite left her since, reared its ugly head again as she acknowledged her own impending death.

The end was about to begin.

At first, Maker thought she was imagining it; a memory seeping up from her unconscious, the need for suppression finally gone as the world teetered on the brink of destruction. The scent of mystery that stirred her blood, the warmth that made her skin tingle.

But it wasn't just a memory. There was a crimson light growing in the centre of the temple, and with a crack like thunder Pluto appeared, holding a glowing Crystal in her hand. She glanced about quickly, as if to check she was in the right place, then hurried over to Princess Kakyuu and handed her the Crystal.

"Quickly," she said.

Kakyuu cast the broken Crystal aside, which Pluto promptly smashed with the Garnet Rod.

Fighter took a menacing step forward, incensed questions already forming on her lips.

"The two Crystals are from different times," Pluto said calmly. "They can't co-exist. Now Princess, please hurry. This planet is almost out of time."

Looking like she barely dared to draw breath, Kakyuu placed the fully functional Crystal on the empty pedestal. For a few moments nothing changed, and Star Maker feared they might already be too late, but then the planet seemed to release a great sigh and the tension in the air evaporated as twin beams of light shot out of the Healing Crystal and the Sacred Crystal together. Strands of rose and mauve energy spiraled round one another, forming a ring all around the circular inner walls of the temple. Sweet, gentle harmonies began to hover just on the edges of hearing, filling Star Maker's heart with sorrow and joy that was almost overwhelming.

What she was witnessing now no one alive on this planet had ever seen. This was how the two Crystals were supposed to work together, sustaining each other in a circle of power that could never be broken. It was exactly like the descriptions Star Maker had read.

Pluto had just saved their world.

"Sailor Pluto…" For once, the normally composed Princess of Kinmoku lost her poise and nearly collapsed into Pluto's arms, shoulders shaking, tears streaming down her face, as she murmured over and over again, "thank you, thank you."

Not saying anything, Pluto patted the Princess awkwardly on the back and gave her over into Fighter's willing care as soon as possible.

She seemed completely oblivious of the dirty look Fighter gave her as she made her way over to Star Maker with purposeful intent. "Could we talk for a moment? Privately?"

What could Maker do but nod, and tilt her head towards the plateau outside?

The High Temple was built on a mountain overlooking Kinmoku's largest city, and far below, Star Maker could see that those who hadn't made it off the planet were beginning to cautiously emerge from their houses, wondering at the sudden stillness.

A cool, fresh breeze was blowing, clearing the air and plucking the petals of sweet olives from the trees. They crushed them underfoot as they walked, and the scent of the blossoms rose to envelop them, as heady as the elixir of a dream.

"Why did you come back, Setsuna?" Star Maker whispered, noticing the way Pluto's eyes devoured the sight of her hungrily.

Pluto's eyes…Star Maker had never seen them like this before, so distant and lonely. She wondered how many years of solitude Pluto had endured to look like that, and then tried to harden her heart remembering that it was a fate Pluto had inflicted upon herself.

She tried to flinch away as Pluto reached out to touch her, but Pluto's fingers unerringly followed, gently smoothing her cheek. "I was wrong, Taiki. So very wrong. I'm sorry." A gentle kiss followed, tasting of solitude and sadness. "I love you. I should have told you that night."

"Setsuna – I don't understand. How did you find the Crystal? How did you get here?"

"I don't have the time to explain."

"You don't have the time?"

"No." Pluto shook her head. "My time on this plane on existence has almost run out, because of what I did. Your world wasn't supposed to be saved, but I don't regret it, Taiki. Not for a moment."

Star Maker covered Pluto's hand with her own, the warmth of possibility flowing into her and making her skin glow China Pink with power, her fingers at last no longer cramped and empty.

"This can't be goodbye already," she begged with quiet desperation.

Pluto laughed through the tears glimmering in her eyes. "Every time we find each other, we lose one another again just as quickly, it seems."

There was some significance to Pluto's tone that Taiki didn't understand, but there wasn't time to ask. There wasn't time for anything except a brief embrace, and then Pluto disappeared from her arms, her body returning to the glittering stardust from which they'd all been formed and then even that faded to nothing in the sunlight, and Pluto was gone once more from the world.

With her head still buried stubbornly under the covers, Haruka reached out with a searching hand and nearly swept the ringing phone from the nightstand, only just managing to catch the handset as it fell.

"Yes, hello?"

She made only a minimal effort to sound civil. Anyone who called this early on a Sunday shouldn't get the idea it was a reasonable thing to make a habit of.

"Haruka," said Rei's voice, tightened by an edge of worry, "I need to talk to Michiru."

"She's asleep. Can't you call back later?"

"It's nearly nine-thirty!"

"But it's Sunday," Haruka insisted, while from beside her Michiru stirred and said regretfully,

"I was asleep, Haruka. Who is it?"

"Rei."

Michiru held out a hand for the phone with a look of resignation. Haruka relinquished it, but not before stealing a quick kiss, ignoring the muffled screech coming from the earpiece that sounded something like,

"oh my god, stop that, I can hear what you're doing; seriously what is wrong with you—"

"Good morning Rei," Michiru said smoothly, once she'd pried the phone from Haruka's grip. "What can I do for you?"

She settled back, listening intently, and with a sigh Haruka got out of bed and pulled on a robe, giving Michiru's shoulder a last lingering touch before she went downstairs.

The overcast day had a curious quality, like it wasn't quite there. Haruka frowned as she made coffee for herself and tea for Michiru, trying to pin down the source of the feeling, but it danced teasingly beyond her grasp. All she came up with was that it was February 29, the day that only existed once every four years, but she'd never experienced one that roused this disquiet, like being trapped in an innocent-seeming dream that was yet full of the threat of monsters.

Her coffee was half drunk by the time Michiru came down. Haruka slid the pot of tea towards her, checking first to make sure it was still hot.

"If we're being pestered this early in the morning, I take it we're not going to have a nice quiet Sunday?"

With a smile of thanks for the tea, Michiru poured herself a cup, took a sip and said, "Rei thinks something very bad is going to happen today. But my Mirror is showing almost nothing. All I saw was a glimmer of those caves."

"The caves? We've checked them a thousand times. They're clear."

"I know, Haruka."

"Could something be interfering with your Mirror?"

"I don't know." Michiru hesitated. "This day…Doesn't feel quite real."

"No, it doesn't," Haruka agreed. "It feels weird."

"Perhaps something is interfering with us, distorting reality…"

"Well, if the caves are the only lead we have to go on, I guess we'd better check them out again."

"Mmm," said Michiru, sounding distracted.

"Michiru?"

Michiru refocused her gaze on Haruka's face. "I just hope this isn't anything to do with Setsuna leaving. She was so sure nothing would happen, yet you and I have both been feeling something bad coming. And Taiki told me yesterday she doesn't feel like her team is going to find the Crystal. That's why she's been avoiding Seiya and Yaten. She doesn't want her hopelessness to infect them."

"What was it you said to Setsuna? That her leaving was going to have bad consequences for both our worlds?"

"I don't know why I said that, but…This day, Haruka. I don't like it."

"Let's just get to work and try and get it over with then, shall we?"

Unhappily, Michiru nodded her agreement.

Once they'd scoured a good part of the sea-caves and found nothing, Uranus ventured a question that had little to do with their current mission, but which had been niggling at her since the day before.

"Neptune, did you ever get the impression that Se—I mean, Fighter and Healer might be, er, romantically involved?"

She felt Neptune glance at her in surprise. "No, I didn't. What makes you think—?"

"When I saw them yesterday…" Uranus shrugged helplessly. "I can't really explain it. It wasn't anything obvious. They just leaned their bodies towards each other unconsciously, like…They wanted to be near one another."

Neptune hummed thoughtfully. "Well, it wouldn't be the first time two senshi have fallen in love, would it?"

"Really, Neptune. I hope you are not comparing our situation to theirs!"

Laughter lurked in Neptune's voice. "I might have been talking about Pluto and Maker. Or…"

Her words died as something shimmered in the large cave they'd just entered. Uranus recognised it as part of the network she'd cleared out with Fighter's help when Neptune was away, and her eyes widened in disbelief as all of the eggs she'd previously destroyed flickered back into existence and began to mature with frightening speed.

A distant roar assured her that it wasn't just the eggs that were returning.

"Neptune," she said urgently, "we need to get out of here."

"We can't fight them?"

"We can, but not like this. We'll be overwhelmed."

Both their communicators started beeping madly, and almost in the same instant a monster arm smashed its way through one of the eggs.

Uranus cut the thing down with her Sword before it had even fully emerged, but many more of the eggs were starting to tremble.

In the few moments it took Uranus to deal with the monster, Neptune quickly answered her communicator. "We're a little busy now. We'll get back to you. Neptune out."

Uranus's blood was pounding with adrenaline as she looked at her partner with the light of battle in her eyes. "Well Neptune, are you ready to run?"

The smile Neptune gave her was soft and wild all at once. "With you, always."

As they fled, blasting their way through whatever stood in their path, Neptune got out, a hint of smug satisfaction in her tone, "well, at least we know one thing."

"What's that?"

"My Mirror was right about the caves."

As soon as Pluto was back at the Doors, she knew something was wrong. Prior to her intervention on Kinmoku, there'd been no indication that changing the fate of that one distant planet would alter anything in other parts of the timestream. The only alteration she'd foreseen was herself being forbidden from entering the world, and it wasn't as if that was much of a change from the position she was already in.

But now, somewhere, a world was spinning in turmoil, and Pluto knew exactly which one it was.

"No!" she cried, opening the Doors with a wave of her Rod. Instinctively she tried to step through, forgetting the very deal she'd just struck, and the Doors blasted her back and sent her flying. She landed hard and pulled herself half upright with her staff, panting and staring in wide-eyed horror at what was happening on Earth.

Saving Kinmoku had created a rift; torn a hole right through the fabric of Earth's reality. Perhaps it was some kind of mystic trade off. Kinmoku's fate was meant to be set and Pluto had colluded in changing it, and now, this was the price. And Pluto had expected, had known, there would be a price, but this. This was a price she couldn't afford.

She was paying for Kinmoku with the future she'd spent thousands of years safeguarding, and the lives of all her friends. There were two Earths now, and one would keep turning; the one filled with bustling people and mundane things in which those magical beings known as senshi had never been. For all of them had fallen through the crack, and as they fell, other things had been dislodged also.

Endless armies of monsters brought back to life, clawing their way out of oblivion thanks to that one tiny shift. This, Pluto realised with a sick twist in her gut, was the source of that faint disturbance she'd sensed so many weeks ago, the night after she'd first had Taiki in her bed. The monsters would keep coming and coming. No matter how hard her friends fought they could never hope to subdue them all, and they'd be overwhelmed in the end, every single one.

Pluto's lips set in a thin line of determination. Climbing to her feet, she touched her Rod to the world she could see shimmering on the other side of the Doors, pouring every ounce of strength she possessed into breaking through the barrier.

Each muscle screamed in agony as she pushed and pushed against the limits of her destiny. Her uniform darkened with sweat. Her hair hung in damp lank tendrils about her face. Perhaps, just for a moment, a tiny gap appeared, but the breach was nowhere near large enough for her to pass through.

Utterly drained, she sank to her knees, gasping for breath, her hands still clenched around the Garnet Rod. Then she gritted her teeth, got up, and tried again.

Seiya had declared that today was to be a day of mandatory fun. Fun, for her, might have meant going to the amusement park, playing football, or singing drunken karaoke with Minako in a bar somewhere, but since it was Taiki she was thinking of, Seiya instead selected the Museum of Contemporary Art and did her best not to let the other two see how horribly bored she was as they ambled through room after room of paintings.

Just how Yaten and Taiki had managed to learn so much about the art of Earth Seiya had no idea, but they seemed to feel compelled to stop before almost every work and discuss its merits for several minutes at least. Mentally, Seiya began to calculate how long it would be before she could reasonably suggest they have lunch. The answer was too many paintings.

Yaten announced she was going to the bathroom as they arrived at a canvas filled with jagged colour.

Doing her best to step into the breach, Seiya offered to Taiki, "wow, that's…Striking."

Taiki frowned. "Do you think so? I'd say the technique is poorly executed and the emotion is lacking in depth…"

When Taiki didn't add anything else, Seiya glanced at her to see if she was waiting for her to offer further opinions, and saw that her gaze had been arrested by a small alcove separated from the main gallery by heavy dark curtains drawn half shut.

"That alcove." There was a wistful expression on Taiki's face. "I wonder what's inside."

Like someone half in a dream she wandered towards it, ignoring Seiya's attempts to discreetly herd her in another direction. While Seiya had no idea what was behind the curtain, she could already feel the power emanating from it.

"Taiki," she insisted, "Why don't we go and check out…Uh, water closets throughout art history? Today's the last day! Wouldn't want to miss that!"

"Do you even know what a water closet is, Seiya?" Taiki said vaguely as she neatly shook herself out of Seiya's grip and disappeared behind the curtain.

With a curse, Seiya followed her.

The small space she found herself in was almost dark except for a spotlight positioned above the only painting in the room. Great double doors reared out of a thick swirling mist, and there was a figure, barely able to be seen, little more than a shape in the mist with her hair blowing behind her and sadness etched into a few lines of profile.

It was titled Loneliness, and of course it was Michiru's work. Seiya had only a hazy idea of the history of the Outer Soldiers, most of which she'd learned from Usagi, but she thought the date on the painting preceded Michiru's meeting with Setsuna in this world. Maybe even her meeting with Haruka. Maybe even her Awakening.

Trust Michiru to have the arrogance to stamp her tortured dreams all over Tokyo.

"Setsuna," whispered Taiki, longing in her voice and pain gleaming in her eyes, far more pain than Seiya ever wanted to see.

"Right, that's it." Seiya gritted her teeth in annoyance and grabbed Taiki's arm again. "This whole venture was a bad idea. We're finding Yaten and getting out of here."

Something erupted into the atmosphere that Seiya could only describe as the feeling of falling into a deep, swirling vortex. The painting was shimmering like a sheet of water, and Seiya could almost swear that she saw the half-glimpsed figure moving.

"Something's gone wrong," Taiki said. Her fingertips glowed pink with power as she reached out to touch the painting. "Setsuna…"

To Seiya's horror, Taiki's fingers disappeared, followed by the rest of her as she deliberately stepped right into the painting.

"Taiki, what the hell are you doing? Get back here!"

But though Seiya tried, the painting would not open for her, and she only battered her fists against paint and canvas.

And whatever that feeling was in the air, it was getting infinitely worse. The curtains were suddenly thrown back as Yaten entered the alcove, a look of incredulity on her face as she took in what Seiya was doing.

"Seiya? Why are you beating up that painting? Where's Taiki?"

Giving the heavy, ornate frame a frustrated kick and chipping off some of the gilt, Seiya snarled, "I'm beating up the stupid painting because it took Taiki! It's Michiru's work, and it's a painting of Setsuna, and it came to life, and—Those fucking Outer Soldiers! They're ruining my life!"

Walking over to Seiya and the painting, Yaten placed a dainty hand against the canvas. "I can't feel anything. What do you mean it took her?"

"I mean, when there was that big wave of…Something…The painting shimmered and came to life and Taiki stepped right into it. Deliberately. And I tried to follow, but…"

"You couldn't get through."

Dejectedly, Seiya shook her head.

"Whatever happened…It's over now. I don't think we're going to get Taiki back that way. Not right now, anyway. And I think we should get out of here, Seiya."

"Why?"

"When that wave of energy hit, people started disappearing. I don't know what's going on, but it can't be anything good."

Seiya stared a little longer at the painting, worry gnawing at her like a hungry predator. "What if Taiki needs us? What if she tries to get back and we're not here?"

"She knows how to take care of herself. Right now, we should find a safe location. Or at least a defensible one."

Though reluctant, Seiya had to admit Yaten was right, and she followed Yaten away from the alcove with a last, long backwards glance. The art museum appeared to be completely deserted, and outside it wasn't any better. Stopped cars stood empty all up and down the roads; nothing moved along the pavements; shops and stalls were like deserted theatre sets, waiting for actors to bring them back to life. The city appeared to have been emptied of all life except for the two them.

"What's going on?" Seiya wondered, trepidation creeping into her voice.

"Seiya." Yaten grabbed her arm. "We need to transform, now. Something really bad is coming."

"I knew it." Seiya sighed. "This is what happens when I do cultural things. It brings on the end of the world."

Yaten rolled her eyes at Seiya's histrionics, and took out her brooch.