Chapter 21: Supreme Thunder

February 17, 8983 – February 20, 8983

Jupiter led the group into the temple, watching as the vines and plants moved back at her request. The stonework was old, but not as ancient as she had suspected, and the building was equipped with old but functioning light strips around the pillars. Touching a control near the door, the Jovian activated the illumination system, letting her staff vanish as warm yellow light filled the single chamber. "I don't think this is a temple."

"What makes you say that?"

Jupiter pointed to the single raised table in the center of the room, the lightning symbols carved into the stone matching the ones on the walls and pillars. "That is Zeus's symbol, but a typical temple to Zeus would include the main chamber for supplicants with a large statue of the god in the center in addition to a room for the acolytes to pray, ax expansive dining chamber, the head priest's quarters, and chambers for the Seers. This building has just the one room."

"It's a mausoleum."

Jupiter looked at Uranus curiously, emerald eyes meeting emerald across the room. "A tomb? In the middle of nowhere?"

"Those aren't just Zeus's marks," the blonde replied. "That's Hermes's mark, there, beside it. Two people are buried here."

"Oh." Jupiter's eyes widened as she realized the only people who could be buried in a Jovian nature preserve in the middle of nowhere. "Jupiter and Mercury. The ones from . . . from back then."

Uranus nodded and turned to Venus, carefully detaching Rei from her blonde lover's back and setting her on the floor, leaning her against the raised platform. "We need her power to see back to the day they died, like she did on Mars. Then you will know where your planet crystal was hidden."

"How will you wake her up? She's still weak."

"I was thinking our princess might have an idea on that."

Serenity took a step back as all eyes turned toward her, raising her hands defensively. "Haruka, I don't know if my power will work. I've only been able to use it to catalyze someone else's abilities; I don't know how to heal."

Uranus shrugged and pointed at Venus. "Catalyze her power, then. She's the senshi of love, isn't she? Who better to pull her soul mate back to consciousness?"

Serenity walked forward and knelt beside Rei, taking Venus's hand in hers and placing her free hand on Rei's shoulder. Venus wrapped her arm around her mate, resting her forehead on Rei's. "Come back to me," she whispered as her orange-gold power cloaked her, amplified by the pale gold of Serenity's power. Tilting her head, she kissed the redhead, pouring all of her love and power into that simple action. Moments later, she felt the woman beneath her start to respond, Rei's arms slowly rising to encircle the blonde's waist. Serenity and Venus let their powers fade as the Martian's amethyst eyes opened and she smiled up at her lover.

"That was some kiss." Her voice was hoarse and still tinged with pain, but her eyes were clear as she glanced around the circle. "What happened?"

"Do you remember the attack? The reptile thing?"

"Lortest Basiil," Mercury supplied helpfully, unable to resist the urge to correct Venus's vague phrasing.

"I remember. I sensed danger when Michiru crossed the water, and that must have been it. The thing . . . tried to swallow my leg?" Rei glanced down, noting the bandages covering her thigh and calf, finally registering the dull, throbbing pain from her wounds. "I see. I remember reacting . . . summoning my fire, then nothing."

"You burned yourself out. Instinctive reactions might save your life, but when senshi powers are involved, they are inevitably overkill. You've been asleep ever since."

Rei nodded at Mercury's explanation, glancing up at the stone ceiling overhead. "How long was I out?"

"It's nightfall," Jupiter replied. "Haruka and Minako carried you here through the forest and across the plains. I think my planet crystal is here somewhere, but it seems like my previous incarnation decided to bury herself in a tomb similar to the one we found on Deimos. We need you to see if you can look back for me like you did for yourself."

"It's not pleasant, watching your own death," Rei warned, letting the Jovian princes help her to her feet as she summoned her henshin stick. With a flash of fire-red light, she transformed into Sailor Mars, sighing in relief as her senshi healing finally kicked in, though she still couldn't put weight on her right leg without experiencing searing pain. She carefully climbed onto the stone platform and settled into a comfortable sitting position, closing her amethyst eyes. "Michiru, can you show them again?"

"Of course." Mars closed her eyes and summoned her power, reaching for the soul of the senshi buried beneath her while Neptune summoned her mirror and the group gathered around her.

A tall woman with short, dark green hair highlighted in ice blue stood in the center of the small temple, glaring at a statue of Zeus filling the area before her. She held a glowing crystal in her hand, and tears filled her greenish hazel eyes. "Zeus! You will come when I summon you!"

"You shouldn't antagonize the King of the Gods," a gentle voice chided from her side. A much smaller woman grabbed her arm, urging patience with both her actions and her ice blue eyes. Her long blue hair curled down her back, so dark that it appeared black in the dim light. "He won't come if you yell, Mariya."

"He certainly won't come if I don't, Chieko; he never has." Mariya summoned a ball of lightning to her hand and threw it at the statue, shattering it into thousands of tiny pieces, the tall Jovian raising one arm to protect her partner from any flying rubble. Mariya smirked at the destruction she had caused, glancing at her partner. "Now he'll come."

A flash of lightning heralded the arrival of the god, his blue eyes filled with sadness despite the destruction of one of his statues. He shook his head as he surveyed the damage, his curly golden hair bouncing on his shoulders at the movement. "Not that anyone comes here anymore to worship at my temple, but did you have to destroy that statue? It was a pretty decent one."

"Don't insult me by talking about your precious statue, Zeus! You know why I called you. Pluto told us that you gods are locking away the power of our crystals. Do you think the world can survive without strong senshi?"

"Se says that the world cannot survive if you continue to grow stronger from this point. She says that this is necessary. We were trying to figure out how to accomplish this goal, but none of the patron gods could think of anything. Ares and Aphrodite have gone to Mars to visit their senshi and see if they have any ideas."

"They do," Mariya assured her god, glancing away in a vain attempt to keep from crying again. "Reiko knows. She and Minami are going to . . ." She couldn't say it; she barely wanted to think about it. The warrior glanced back up at the god, silently begging him to understand what her fellow senshi were planning without the need for words. Then she fell to her knees, her free hand clutching at her heart as pain stabbed through her, burning along the bond that she shared with her fellow senshi. "She's done it."

Chieko gasped, clenching her fists as pain filled her ice-blue eyes. "Reiko is dead. Minami will follow momentarily."

Zeus stepped forward to help his Avatar, shaking his head in denial as Aphrodite's scream tore through the gods, close on the heels of Ares's desperate fury. The senshi of Mars and Venus were both dead, having taken their own lives after surviving so much war in the Antares system. "Why?"

"Because it's the only way to seal the powers of the planets," Chieko whispered, staring into the sapphire depths of her own crystal. "My crystal has to be buried on Mercury, but I plan to die here. Could you summon Hermes for me?"

Zeus barely formed the thought and his son appeared by his side, bright blue eyes sad as he stared at his senshi. Hermes stepped forward, silently accepting the Mercury Aqua Song Crystal from his senshi, already knowing her plans after sensing his half-brother's rage. "Chieko . . . you're going to leave me?"

"Hermes . . . you will have my daughter to keep you company soon. But when Sailor Pluto ordered our powers sealed, she signed our death warrants. I'm sure she knew what her orders would mean." She smiled and touched Hermes's cheek, smiling at her patron god kindly. "It won't be as messy as Minami and Reiko. I'm no warrior and I don't really need a warrior's death." She closed her eyes as Mariya stood and kissed her cheek, bidding her wife farewell as the Mercurian collapsed. She had used her powers to stop the blood flowing through her veins, granting herself a painless death.

Mariya smiled as she knelt on the ground, Chieko's body safe in her arms as Hermes's first tear solidified into a tiny sapphire stone. "So it's your sorrow that will seal our powers," the Jovian whispered, power dancing around her strong form as she prepared to end her own life. "Reiko guessed that your tears would be required."

"Mariya . . . you don't have to die."

"Chieko knew that you would try to convince me to live, Zeus," the hazel-eyed woman whispered, running her fingers through her wife's hair. "She knows that I have a weak heart despite being a warrior of Jupiter and I might have lost my nerve and she couldn't allow that. She died first because she knows that I can't live without her. So yes, I do have to die." She smiled sadly as her lightning enveloped her form, interrupting the electrical impulses in her body and stopping her heart. She fell to the ground, her limbs tangled with Chieko's, as the King of the Gods leaned down and touched her face lovingly. His tear dropped to the stone floor beside the two bodies, solidifying into a dark green keystone.

Zeus carefully took the quiescent planet crystal from his senshi's hand, touching her body and closing his eyes. He whispered something and watched as the bodies of the two senshi disappeared in a shower of light. Outside the temple, golden trees sprouted from the ground, growing quickly until their branches hung over the stone roof. Wound among them and around the temple, blue vines appeared, blanketing the stone walls in moments. "You transformed them into plants?"

"I transformed them into guardians," Zeus replied, taking the keystone as he placed the planet crystal in the center of the rubble from his statue. "Their souls will be reborn one day, and these trees and vines will recognize Mariya and Chieko in their next life. Only they will be able to return here. We might have to obey Se's laws concerning the Silver Millennium, but I can give my Avatar a chance to find her full power once more." He waved his hands and watched as the rubble rose from the floor, the stones piling around the sleeping crystal and forming a low platform. Zeus's symbol appeared along the outer edge of the stone, Hermes silently adding his own mark before vanishing.

Jupiter gasped and fell to her knees, emerald eyes wide at the memory of lightning slicing through her. Mercury clenched her fists but otherwise controlled her reaction, reaching down to help her partner to her feet. "Do you know how to get your crystal, Mako?"

The Jovian slowly nodded, glancing at her brothers over her shoulder. "Do you guys see why I have chosen to be with Ami? She's not just some fling . . . she's my soul mate."

"I always thought that was some fanciful Venusian concept," Ken'nin admitted, "but after seeing that . . . if Queen Mariya was your past incarnation and Chieko was hers, were Reiko and Minami the past lives of Rei and Minako?"

"Yes," Mars confirmed, slipping to the ground and urging the senshi away from the platform. "Those four, along with Nao and Yuuka, were the last of the strong senshi, and we must have the planet crystals so that we have the power to defeat this new threat."

Uranus glanced at her wife, backing toward the door with the rest of the group as Jupiter faced the stone tomb alone. "I know what we're going to find on Uranus."

"Our souls," Michiru confirmed, silently taking the blonde's gloved hand in her own. "I'm not sure I want to see my death."

"If we don't, then our deaths in this life are guaranteed," Uranus replied.

Jupiter raised her arms, crossing them in front of her chest as she summoned her power once more. With a brief Jovian war cry, she released her lightning, the bolts arcing into the stone tomb in front of her and shattering it, even as Mariya had shattered the statue of Zeus so long ago. Most of the rubble flew away from the group, none of the stray pieces of rock hitting anyone, and Jupiter leaned down to pick up the round crystal left behind after Mariya's death. "The Thunder Cry Crystal."

Eiki glanced around the temple as the senshi moved forward to see the stone, the young prince clearing his throat for attention. "Why did they choose this place?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, it takes a day's trek to get here with good weather, and the storms of Metis are legendary throughout the Jupiter system. Why would they choose a place they couldn't teleport into or out of for a temple, let alone a tomb?"

Mercury nodded her head at Eiki's logic, realizing that there had to be something special about the stone building. "This isn't a normal temple to Zeus, as Makoto pointed out. It's just one room, it never hosted priests or acolytes, and it used to have a statue that Zeus not only listened to but instantly noticed the destruction of. Perhaps . . . maybe this was a place she could come to summon him in peace. It could be a focal point."

"If it's a focal point, then there should be enough power flowing into this room to let a senshi teleport out of here and off this planet. We wouldn't have to spend another day on a trek back to the capital." Jupiter smiled at Venus's words, clearly as eager to be off Metis as the non-Jovians were.

"I suppose the only thing we can do is test it," Uranus replied, watching as the three princes moved to stand beside Serenity, the six senshi forming a circle around the other four. "Where shall we go?"

"I'll lead," Jupiter replied, reaching for Mercury's hand on one side and Venus's on the other. Mars grabbed Venus's other hand while Neptune took hers, Uranus reaching for Mercury's hand to complete the circle. "It's night on Io, so we'll aim for the lower gardens south of the palace. No one is there after dark, so no one will see that our friend the son of Ono Hikari is actually the Princess of Uranus." She closed her eyes and summoned her power, reaching for the essence of Metis and her bond with Jupiter. For just a moment, it seemed that the planet would not let them leave, but an explosion of multi-colored light filled the abandoned temple and the group vanished.

"How was your training session?"

"Illuminating." Makoto sipped her soup as she glanced around the table, wondering why her parents had insisted on a formal dinner while they were in the middle of preparing for the Full Council on Titan, especially when the senshi were all so incredibly tired from their trek through the forests of Metis. She was beginning to wish they had stayed the night and walked back in the morning instead of learning how to teleport through the planetary shield.

Meika grunted in response, accepting that her daughter was not interested in talking about her time in the forest. "Your brothers accompanied you?"

"We were in the forests of Metis, a place even trained Jovian warriors are loathe to visit. My fellow senshi aren't as familiar with forests as my brothers."

"Are you going to be on Titan for the meeting?"

"Of course we will. We're the Sailor Senshi, aren't we?"

"I heard that King Koshu will not be in attendance," Meisha offered casually, brushing his aqua and green hair out of his face.

"Why not?" Michiru asked the question, knowing that her wife needed to know the answer but wouldn't risk drawing attention to herself.

Meisha shrugged, sipping his wine as the servants traded the soup course for the main dish. "He's struggling to control the War Queens. Apparently one of the Lesser War Queens returned home and said that she had seen the Princess and that Haruka did not want Uranus to go to war on her behalf. Koshu denounced the War Queen's words and now they are threatening to depose him. Or behead him. The word is the same in the High Oberonian dialect used for the missive."

Haruka snorted, poking at her food angrily with her fork. "Idiot."

"You would insult your own king so openly?"

Haruka shrugged, realizing that she had said the word out loud. "A Plutonian thought he could rule the wilds of my world without bending to the relentless wind. Now he will be broken by that he sought to crush. In any case, we rarely behead anyone anymore, so I'm sure they only wish to depose him."

"Isn't he your cousin?"

"He married into the Royal Line. That doesn't mean I owe him anything."

Meika watched the blonde Uranian curiously, head tilted as she listened to her speech. "You are very headstrong for a man of your world."

Haruka felt a cold shock of concern fill her form, and she wondered if she was that close to breaking her own cover. She had almost forgotten that Jovians were more likely to have frequent enough dealings with Uranus to understand her people, something she did not have to worry about among the innermost planets. Summoning every ounce of masculine strength she possessed, Haruka glared at the shorter woman. "Perhaps you don't know Uranians as well as you think you do."

Michiru placed a hand on Haruka's arm, sensing her wife's rising anger. "Ruka, why don't we talk about something other than your family?"

Haruka narrowed her emerald eyes at Meika, nodding in satisfaction when the pale-eyed woman looked away. "Fine. Something else."

"I know who you are."

Haruka stopped in the dark hall and turned to face the Jovian queen, Michiru also pausing at Meika's soft words. Makoto and Ami moved to stand on Haruka's other side, the taller warrior gesturing for Ken'nin to lead the High Princess and the other two senshi to their guest rooms while she dealt with their mother. "I know who I am, too," Haruka replied flippantly.

"You're the missing princess."

The blonde stepped back, unable to control her instinctive reaction as Meika nodded sagely. She had followed the group of senshi into the guest wing, leaving her husband to finish the arrangements for their trip to Saturn. "How?"

"You have your mother's opinion of Koshu."

Haruka stepped forward, her eagerness to learn about her mother overriding her concern about having her cover blown. "She married him; why would she choose a man who could never control the Uranian people if she knew she was going to die?"

Meika stepped forward into the light, smiling at the young princess as she gently touched Haruka's cheek. The blonde, having lacked a mother's kind touch for twenty-one years, leaned into the caress, tears springing to her eyes against her will. "You know, Haruka, Kazeko was my friend. She's the one who helped me find my husband among Shousha's extended family, somehow knowing that Meisha would be my perfect match."

"You mean after you and Amami realized you couldn't be together?"

The queen paused in her words, smiling as she continued to stroke Haruka's cheek. "Yes, after that. Kazeko told me that she was going to die and never know her daughter, but she was afraid that the child would never be balanced without her presence. So she asked the rest of us to help her find a husband who would forge a strong child. Setsuna offered one of her young dukes as a suitable mate, a man who would never be able to understand the Uranian concept of sa'usikha. She chose someone to make you strong."

"I would rather have a father who loves me than a forge to strengthen me," Haruka hissed, wrapping her fingers around the hilt of her sword. Her mother's spirit was too weak to manifest, but she could feel Kazeko's apology pulsing through her body. The princess's mother had done what she knew was necessary to ensure the future of the Silver Millennium, but she regretted the pain that she had caused her daughter. "So you know. Are you going to tell anyone?"

"It's not my place to tell your secrets."

Haruka nodded in thanks, reluctantly stepping away from the queen. "It's not my place to tell your secrets, either, Majesty." She glanced over her shoulder and gestured for Makoto to step forward, waving a hand at the Jovian princess. "I think your daughter has something she needs to talk to you about, however." She wrapped her arm around Michiru's waist and pulled her away, leaving Makoto alone with her lover and mother.

"Mother . . . you know that senshi are forbidden to marry one another because of an ancient prophecy that the Silver Millennium would fall when that happened."

"Of course I know. That's why Amami and I had to go our separate ways decades ago."

"The reasons for the marriage ban are not entirely true." Makoto reached into her pouch and withdrew the Thunder Cry Crystal, watching confusion fill her mother's pale eyes. "Up until three thousand years ago, the senshi did marry each other, frequently, taking consorts to father their children and wielding powers the likes of which we haven't known since. But Sailor Pluto feared that they would grow too strong and destroy the kingdom, so she ordered them to seal their crystals, limiting their power and preventing the planets from combining their energies. We don't know what could happen when the planets combine, but we think we can control it, prevent it. The keystones were formed from the tears shed by each patron god on the day that the last wielders of these crystals died." She stared into her crystal, her fingers tightening on the smooth surface. "We saw . . . we saw our deaths in our last lives, and my previous incarnation, Mariya, was married to the owner of Ami's soul, Chieko. I intend to marry her, my soul mate, in this life, regardless of the Ancient Laws, as soon as our planet crystals are active."

Meika stared at her daughter, noting the trepidation in her eyes offset by the strength in her stance. The hand not holding the crystal was twined with Ami's, the silent Mercurian offering her unconditional loving support. She could see it, in their eyes, the bonding of their souls, even as Asakaze had claimed to see the bond between her and Amami so long ago. Her daughter was strong and brave, easily the most powerful Sailor Jupiter in recent history, and she claimed to carry the soul of a renowned queen of Jupiter. "I see it, in your eyes. You have the strength always attributed to Queen Mariya the Great. She was the finest and most well-loved ruler we have ever had, and her untimely and unexplained death almost shattered the treaty that holds the Moons of Jupiter together. If, as you say, you are her . . . you might have the strength to fight the prophecy that your marriage to Ami will surely bring. Are you prepared to do that?"

"Of course I am. With her by my side, I can do anything."

Meika smiled at the words, the acceptance in her eyes dispelling Makoto's tension. "Then I give you my blessing. Have you considered who could be your consorts?"

"My brother Kaichou and your son Eiki have offered, whenever we're ready. With the artificial insemination techniques developed on my world, we can conceive without any worry of infidelity on anyone's part. I imagine that our previous incarnations had to deal with that a lot in order to stay together and conceive their heirs."

Meika nodded at the logic offered by her lover's daughter. "Is it odd to say that I wish I had been born as your child and not the other way around? After you—and Haruka and Michiru, it looks like—are done breaking the Ancient Law, there will be nothing to keep your daughters from claiming their soul mates instead of living a life of stolen moments that are never enough to soothe the ache in their hearts. I envy you."

Makoto slipped her crystal back into its pouch, leaning forward to embrace her mother. "I promise that you will be together with Amami in your next life. I will create a world where you will not have to live apart from her."

"When you say that, I believe that you are strong enough to keep that promise."

Dawn had never brightened her soul, and today it was a particularly grim light. She stared at the rising sun, angry that it could be so bright and cheerful while her world was falling apart. The dark-haired queen let her head fall into her hands as she struggled to control her tears, knowing that the day had come to decide her daughter's fate. The queens and their senshi were going to sentence her daughter to death, and without the protection of a planet, she could never fight them.

"Mommy?"

Yumemi glanced up from her hands, smiling as her daughter slowly walked into her study. Hotaru was small for her age, with huge purple eyes and short, dark purple hair. She was frowning, sensing that her mother was very upset and she feared that she might be the cause of it. "Yes, Hotaru?"

"Did I do something to upset you?"

"No, baby; what makes you think that?"

"You haven't been happy since I got that mark on my forehead. Is it bad?"

Yumemi sighed and pulled her daughter into her arms, kissing her forehead where the mark of Saturn continued to appear periodically. "No, it's not bad, but sometimes that mark is necessary. I'm just hoping that the senshi can prevent . . . whatever is going to happen. I don't want you to be Sailor Saturn."

"I think it would be fun to be a Sailor Senshi and fight evil to protect this solar system and the Princess."

Yumemi smiled at her daughter's innocent words. "I wish it worked like that, but Sailor Saturn isn't like other senshi."

"Why not?"

"Because we don't have a patron god to limit and define our power, so the senshi of this world embodies our god's worst attribute." She ran her fingers through Hotaru's short hair and glanced at the timepiece on the wall. The queens would be arriving soon. "Your father is going to take you shopping today; would you like that?"

"Yes!" Hotaru jumped out of her mother's arms, spinning around in a circle before running for the door. "I'll go get ready!"

Yumemi watched her only child run off, tears threatening to return to her eyes. It had been her duty as the Queen of Saturn to report the glowing mark on her daughter's forehead to Sailor Pluto, but her duty as a mother was to protect her child from death, even at the hands of her fellow senshi. By the end of the day, the senshi would decide what to do about the rise of Saturn, and Yumemi had to be prepared for the worst.

Yumemi took her seat at the large council table, running her fingers over the dark wood before her and the purple symbol of Saturn engraved in the material. It seemed to mock her, remind her of the seriousness of the first Full Council in nearly fifty years. She had chosen to receive her fellow queens as an equal, sitting beside them at the table, rather than making them parade across the purple carpet in her throne room. She didn't feel like looking down on the women who had to decide her daughter's fate.

The huge double doors swung open to the blast of a trumpet, announcing the arrival of the first royal pair. Yumemi glanced up and smiled, her eyes meeting Amami's gentle gaze as the petite woman led her husband into the chamber. Her eyes were never cold or cruel despite their ice blue color, and her dark blue hair hung lower on her back than Yumemi remembered. She had chosen a simple turquoise-colored gown for the meeting, her jewelry minimal and her sapphire-studded crown settled perfectly on her brow. One step behind her, the distance physical as well as symbolic, Kashin was somber despite his bright blue and white suit. His hair was dark for a man of Neptunian birth, the aqua color offset by a heavy black, and his golden eyes had clearly been inherited from his Uranian grandfather. When Amami married Kashin, Yumemi had heard that she had chosen him for the strange strength he hid behind his Neptunian gentleness, despite the fact that he was unrelated to the Neptunian Royal Line.

The Jovian Royals arrived just as Amami took her seat, the king standing behind her. The Council table was arranged with a single throne at the head of the table for the Queen of the Moon, even though she rarely attended Council Meetings, and a single chair on either side for each planet, one side of the table for queens and the other for senshi. There were no extra chairs for the kings of the world, since there were no kings in the original council meetings.

Meika was one of the tallest queens, and only Setsuna and Kazeko had ever been able to look her in the eye. The warrior queen had pulled her forest green hair into a braid, the style echoing the seriousness in her pale green eyes. The emerald-studded crown of Jupiter sat on her brow, and it was the only jewelry she wore, even the keystone gone from her neck now that her daughter was the senshi. She had chosen to wear a dress in the green and rust red colors used in traditional Jovian armor, her husband matching her in a suit of dark green and black. He was also of Neptunian birth, a close relation of Shousha's line, and his aqua and green hair reflected his high breeding. Meisha's eyes were nearly the same shade as Meika's but just a little icier, and his posture was stiff as he took his place behind his wife's chair.

The three queens stood in shock as the next royal entered the room, Shousha standing alone in the doorway. Her silk dress, colored in blue and covered in intricate patterns of the various creatures that filled the Neptunian seas, was easily the most exquisite in the room, and her tri-colored hair curled down her back like waves dancing on the beach. She had always been the most graceful of the queens as the essence of femininity, but for her first visit with her fellow royals in fourteen years she had chosen to go overboard with her image. The crown on her head sparkled with aquamarines, and the smile on her face reflected the joy in her teal eyes. "Shousha, we didn't expect that you would come," Yumemi murmured, letting her surprise show in her stance and voice.

"I wasn't going to come," the older queen admitted, accepting hugs from Amami and Meika before taking her seat. "Then Setsuna showed up in my Royal Vault and ordered me to show up for this meeting. My daughter . . . Michiru is the senshi, now, and I am as eager to see what the mirror shows her as you are."

The Venusian and Martian Royal Families arrived together, having shared the Martian Royal Ship on the trip through the Solar System. Asakaze walked at the head of the group, the training from her days as Sailor Venus still prevalent in her leadership role. She was still as lovely as she had ever been, her golden hair shining in the light as her pink eyes landed on Shousha. She smiled, welcoming the Neptunian back into the group, lifting the hem of her orange and gold dress as she took her seat beside Amami. Her Martian husband had chosen a red and orange suit to complement his strawberry-colored hair, Shinrai's amber eyes scanning the group cautiously as he instinctively searched for any danger. His former monarch, Rikuriko, led her husband to the table, her dark red dress adorned with small black stones, the darkness of her clothes contrasting with the bright red and gold of her braided hair. Like her counterpart from Jupiter, Rikuriko was dressed more for war than a council meeting, as was to be expected from the Queen of Mars. Her husband was a warrior as well, born on Jupiter, and his suit of black with red accents reminded his fellows of his breeding. Akaneiro, named for his striking red eyes, kept his curly indigo hair cut short in a warrior style popular both on Mars and Jupiter.

The royals greeted each other as old friends, small talk turning to conversations about their planets and families, the familiar chatter setting Yumemi at ease. She was happy to see all of her old friends, the women who had befriended her even though she wasn't a senshi like them. She began to relax, listening to stories about the other queen's children, freezing as the door opened once more.

Silence reigned in the conference chamber as the final queen entered, wearing a long, tight black dress covered in tiny gems that sparkled in the light. Her dark green hair reached past her hips, part of it tied into a small bun while the rest flowed unrestrained behind her as she approached the table. She held the ever-present Time Key in one hand and a box of data crystals in the other, her garnet eyes silently greeting each queen in turn. Setsuna reached her seat on the queen side of the table, turning to face her friends as she placed her box on the flat surface before her, partially covering the symbol of Pluto engraved into the wood. "You all seem very surprised to see me."

"The dress is not your usual attire," Asakaze returned, smiling at the older queen. "It makes you look different, more powerful."

Setsuna chuckled as she sat, the sound as unexpected to her fellow queens as the colored gems covering her dress. "It was a present from Aphrodite. She thought I needed some sparkle in my wardrobe."

"Do you often converse with my patron god?"

Setsuna shrugged. "Not really, but she was kind enough to help me trace some of the anomalous readings I have been tracking through the Time Streams so that I would have something to report to you today. Have the senshi not arrived yet?"

Meika chose to allow Setsuna to change the flow of the conversation, shrugging as she glanced at the door. "Rei has been healing in my palace for the past two days, but they said that she would be ready to teleport with them today. I offered to let them ride with us, but Makoto wanted to get in some sparring practice with her brothers instead. I expect them any moment, actually."

"The senshi were visiting you?" Setsuna, who normally kept close tabs on all of the royal families in the system, found herself shocked to have fallen out of the loop. She had been staring into her time streams without sleeping or eating for days, ever since that golden light rebuffed the power of her Garnet Orb and locked the Time Gate.

Meika shrugged and glanced at Rikuriko, Amami, and Asakaze. "They've visited all of us, from what Makoto told me. They wanted to get some fighting practice in various environments throughout the system before this meeting. I think they planned on visiting Uranus and Neptune, as well, but with Rei so badly injured they decided to wait."

"Rei was injured? How?" Rikuriko's voice carried an undertone of concern, but her eyes were calm. She knew that her daughter could take care of herself, but she still wanted to make sure that everything was alright.

"Um, Makoto said her leg was grabbed rather unceremoniously by a young Lortest Basiil, the largest water predator on Metis. Their teeth are serrated and she suffered extensive damage to her skin and the musculature of her thigh as well as some mild heavy metal poisoning from the water itself. Her senshi healing already had her on her feet before we left, though there was still some pain. I'm sure she's alright by now."

"How did she kill it?" As a Jovian, Akaneiro knew the reputation of the large reptilian predators of the harsh rainforests of Metis, and he had only heard a few stories of hunters successfully killing a Basiil without being maimed themselves.

"I'm told she burst into flames and burned it to a crisp," Meika replied. "It sounded like something you did, Rikuriko, during that battle on Pluto years ago, and I admit that I wish I had been able to see it."

Rikuriko snorted and shook her head, remembering the surge of pure fear that had precipitated her own reaction on Pluto so long ago. "She probably burned herself out doing it, too. Instinctive reactions and all that."

Setsuna shook her head and narrowed her eyes, fingers playing absently with the box in front of her. "You say they were on Metis?"

"Yes. The forests of Metis are the roughest and most dangerous the Moons of Jupiter have to offer, and it clearly offered a valuable training experience for all of them."

"They visited Kirash Crater on Deimos to train in the snow. It's certainly one of the most unforgiving and icy places on my world."

Amami shrugged when Setsuna turned to her. "I'm not sure why they picked the Daire Basin; it's just an empty grassland, but I suppose that having a huge, empty place to practice their active powers was helpful. I know that we destroyed quite a few open fields in our days as senshi."

"I don't think they did much training on Venus," Asakaze admitted, remembering some of the reports she had received from the inhabitants of the town above Sunrise Bay the day after the senshi left. One of the most secluded beaches had been turned into a sheet of glass shot through with shafts of pure golden light, a phenomenon her people were already attributing to a visit from the goddess Aphrodite. Lightning had struck the beach in hundreds of other places, leaving strange branching glass sculptures reaching deep into the sand, and a fierce storm had shaken the trees, leaving branches, leaves, and flowers littering the beaches and floating in the water. Some of the trees had even experienced frost damage, of all things, blackened leaves still littering the ground days later. "They went to Sunrise Bay to relax. I'm sure Minako was eager to show off the most beautiful sight on our world, the view from the promontory overlooking the Bay, even as I was eager to show it to all of you just after we completed all of our training on the Moon." Her message was clear to the other Inner Queens: they had chosen the beach for purely romantic reasons. Setsuna never heard the subtext in her words, the kings had no idea that their daughters were running around with senshi lovers, and Shousha believed that her child was safely married and beyond the temptation of a senshi's touch.

"Those locations," Setsuna whispered, reaching for her staff with her free hand; "they seem so familiar. I feel like I should know them, but it's been lifetimes." Just before her fingers touched the Garnet Orb and its power to sharpen her memories, a brilliant flash of multicolored light filled the room, fading to reveal five senshi standing proudly in a circle around the Moon Princess, who was dressed in the traditional simple white dress of the Lunarian Royals, gold filigree cupping her still-growing breasts. Staring at the child she had not seen in fourteen years, Setsuna froze in shock, pulling her hand away from her talisman as she stood, bowing to the High Princess of the Silver Millennium. The other queens and kings mimicked her action, all of them waiting until Serenity took the seat at the head of the table before returning to their own.

The five senshi took their own chairs opposite their mothers, the Uranus seats on both sides of the table conspicuously empty. Setsuna listened to the queens greet the High Princess, glancing along the row of senshi while she waited for the women to quiet down. The senshi were strong, power evident even while they were sitting, their eyes blazing with the links to their planets. She couldn't remember seeing such power in thousands of years, and she had never expected those children who attended Serenity's Presentation to become such strong senshi so incredibly fast. None of them had possessed their henshin sticks for more than a month, yet she could sense that all of them had far surpassed their mothers already. She could see the leadership in Venus's pale blue eyes, the passion in Mars's amethyst, the wisdom in Mercury's sapphire, and the power in Jupiter's emerald. The Inner Senshi were at ease with each other, a solid team, and even Neptune seemed to be included in their group, something that was rare early in the senshi cycle. The senshi of the eighth planet stared off into space, her unfocused gaze pointed toward the symbol of the Uranian queen and the empty chair behind it, as if she was waiting for something.

Setsuna realized that, even if Michiru was not waiting for someone, she herself was. "I wonder where Haruka is."

Setsuna's words silenced the room, the dark queen watching the senshi for any reaction. Venus shrugged, opening her mouth to respond, but Shousha's hissed reply prevented the blonde from speaking. "You wonder where she is when she abandoned her world and spurred them to the point of war?! That irresponsible child doesn't deserve to be a part of this council!"

"Shousha, I told you that there is no reason to hate Haruka. She has never done anything to you." Amami's words were calm and soothing, but her Neptunian counterpart was no more ready to listen now than she had been twenty-one years earlier.

"Of course I have a reason! She took my Kazeko away from me."

"Kazeko was never yours," Sailor Venus replied coldly, her eyes icy as she stared the blue-haired queen down. Her own senshi turned toward her respectfully, waiting for her to continue, while the queens stared at her in shock. Senshi or not, leader or not, how could she dare speak to Shousha in that manner? "You can't claim someone as yours if you never had the courage to hold on to her."

"Kazeko loved me!"

"Kazeko loved her world, and her people, and her princess," Venus rebutted, leaning forward across the table. "She died for them, to give them a strong daughter, a powerful senshi, and a woman who could stand against the darkness. Kazeko knew that she would always be weak despite the planet of her birth, but she could give the next generation a fighting chance by dying. You can tell that she loved us more than she ever loved you because she could never sacrifice the future to be with you."

Silence filled the chamber, Venus never softening her gaze and Shousha unable to look away. Minako was tired of the Neptunian queen's venom, her hatred of the blonde who had become friends with the rest of the senshi. She was tired of Haruka being punished for something she neither wanted and had no control over, and she knew that the Uranian wished her mother had not died as much as Shousha did. Kazeko's death twenty-one years earlier had fractured the senshi, leaving all of them weak or unable to transform, and Minako was determined to keep her own team intact and strong, despite Shousha's hatred for Haruka.

"This isn't what we're here to discuss," Serenity reminded Venus softly from her place at the head of the table. Her smile was gentle as she waved a hand at Setsuna, meeting the dark queen's eyes for just a moment. "I think that Setsuna called us here for something far more important."

The Queen of Pluto nodded as she opened her box of data crystals, pulling a dark green one out as Venus and Shousha looked away from each other at last. There was no gentle way to begin this meeting, and it wouldn't help to put off the inevitable, so Setsuna slipped her data crystal into the reader at the base of her planetary symbol. The Time Knot as she had first observed it appeared above the table, the senshi and queens staring at the tangled mess in confusion. "Not long ago, I discovered a disturbance in the time stream that stretches back almost exactly twenty-one years into the past and ends less than a year from now. What you're looking at is the end of the Silver Millennium."

AN: Well, that was a long one. At chapter 10 I said I thought we might be halfway through. I lied. Whatever, the council meeting has now started. And, yes, I did intentionally send Haruka off to do something and the senshi did intentionally not answer the question or indicate that the know her. You'll find out next chapter. Did you like the part where depose and behead are the same word in Oberonian? As for the merging of Kazeko, I think I will do it when I am finished with this. For everyone who has never read either one before, it will certainly answer a lot of questions that I plan to leave from this fic, and that way I don't have to stress about bridging issues and epilogues that won't explain enough.

petiyaka: I'm glad that you sense the aura of foreboding coloring these chapters. The fun and lighthearted is mostly done and now they have a war to prevent. Haruka and Michiru are in danger but they have no way to know how or why, and the Cupids are the last people anyone expect to turn homicidal. I have a use for Kazan, but he won't be involved in Beryl's plans.

Haruka Tenou: I'm glad you love my fics (have you read World Shaking yet? It's fun H/M fluff) and I haven't decided about the shitennou. Even if I use them, I wouldn't go into depth about their relationships since they aren't really my favorite characters. I actually rank the Black Moon Family above them, sorry. I may put them in, however. I know that I have an anime basis for this story (cause sexy Ogata Megumi voice!) but I prefer the manga shitennou.

Samaka: The jealousy scene was fun. I was thinking about the scene where Michiru got flowers (in S I think) and Haruka said that she didn't want Michiru to receive flowers from strange men. Michiru then mocked her for being jealous, but of course the scene repeats in the famous Stars dressing room scene. I wanted to play with the jealousy a bit and the Martian children are the only ones I could use for it. Would you believe that I wrote the entire Metis part of the chapter just for that single instant when Rei got attacked and Minako had to choose not to rush to her side?

Neptune's Lover: I'm glad I can interrupt your work day with some HaruMichi type fun. Yes, the jealousy scene was fun and popular, and I really wanted to let Haruka beat him up, but she would never do that with so little provocation. She is a senshi and a princess, and she knows better than to use her strength against someone so much weaker, no matter the reason. And I think that Michiru and Haruka get jealous for different reasons: Haruka (in the anime, mostly) thinks that maybe she doesn't deserve Michiru and the other woman might leave her, while Michiru is worried because Haruka is a playboy and has a reputation among the women. They both seem a little insecure about their relationship in S, but of course by the end of Stars neither one of them is worried anymore. Traveling through the galaxy on a quest is always fun, and I promise you that they will all get their stones before Setsuna figures them out, but of course they still have no idea how to activate them.

Meneldur: I was worried, but I'm glad you're back. I hope your new job is at least worth all this security (I could never live without internet). They don't fully trust Tranquility, Se especially, and after Serenity died and Tran went a little insane, she was never comfortable telling him about the prophecies she had seen. The senshi would never think to tell him, since the Cult is most active on the Moon and not one of their worlds. Yes, yes, and yes on the prophecies. I'll give you hints on the fourth, but it doesn't even come true until the next chapter of CSS: The Gathering which I can't post until this is done because it will spoil the ending. The first two lines refer to Serenity's original death: she scattered her essence into the time streams, and only Se's love keeps her anchored to this reality. She won't try to be reborn until Se forsakes their love and loses all hope of her returning. The sword, mirror, and orb line refers to the deaths of Uranus and Neptune in S when Pluto's orb brought them back. The talismans crossed and summoned the Holy Grail, the implement that releases Serenity's soul from the time stream, letting her return to the land of the living. Fanatics scare me, hence the Cult. And casual sex talk is always fun, especially after the day they had in Sunrise Bay. Rei did mean that Minako's hair couldn't get tangled because the blonde was tied up and couldn't move at all, not even her head (keeps the thrashing under control). Glad you like Rei's beach line and the jealousy scene. I also want to see more of Haruka being ready to jump someone, and we will as soon as she "comes out" to the queens and her own world. It'll be fun. I like changing the point of view sometimes and looking in at the senshi, and I like exploring the MakoAmi dynamic, especially in a fic dominated by the two more passionate and flashy pairs. I think I've googled the moons of the planets multiple times per chapter to add some legitimacy to the kingdoms, but of course I pointed out that Metis actually is a shapeless hunk of rock currently, even though I used it as a nature preserve in this fic. The senshi are actually not supposed to be able to combine their powers at all, so when Setsuna finds out that they can, and frequently do on purpose, she is going to be concerned. Also, I never intended to give Serenity any powers in this fic, but like so many things when I'm writing, the scene just happened and I went with it. Also, I know I need a beta reader especially when I rewrote all of those lines 3-6 times and still missed particles! It's okay, I always fix the mistakes when found.