Chapter One: Out of the Blue

Urd's apartment wasn't empty when they arrived. She stared in surprise at the person waiting for her on the couch.

"Lind?" She blinked at the presence of Asgard's Commander of Valkyries. "What are you doing here?"

The Valkyrie rose. "Waiting for you, obviously. I'm here to escort you to someone who's requested a meeting."

"Huh?" Urd tried desperately to think of who she had pissed off enough to have them send the Valkyries after her. "I don't think I've done anything to deserve being arrested."

"You're not under arrest. I'm here to escort you because you don't have the necessary security clearances. Kami-sama has granted her request to be allowed to speak with you, but I'm to escort you through security."

Urd blinked again. "Um… just who wants to see me?"

Lind smiled in grim amusement. "The Mother of Demons."

Mara gulped "But– but she's dead!"

Lind shook her head. "No, merely imprisoned for the last two thousand years." The Valkyrie stood. "However, Goddess Mara, that is a secret that you are expected to keep. You have been included in this invitation as well, but if I receive so much as a hint that this information has been leaked to Nifelheim, I will ensure your probation as a goddess will end with your joining her as a permanent guest. Do I make myself clear?"

Mara sighed. "I'm not a demoness anymore, Valkyrie Lind. Hild wants me dead, remember?"

Lind gave her a cold stare. "I am ordered by Kami-sama to accept your defection as valid, Mara. It will require more than just your word to earn my trust." She gestured towards the door. "If we may proceed?"

Urd took Mara's hand. "I'm sorry beloved. I know you're not a demoness anymore. We'll show all of Asgard the truth someday."

Mara shrugged. "I should be used to it. We demons treat the Fallen the same way. I guess I had just hoped that there would be less pettiness in Heaven."

"Pettiness has nothing to do with it, Goddess Mara." Lind said over her shoulder. "My department has simply not yet finished vetting you. Until you have been fully processed and we are sure that Hild has not left any nasty little surprises in your code, I will withhold judgment. We are uncertain how Legend was able to rewrite your kernel and recompile your base harmonics. Your harmonic signature is equal parts demonic and angelic and nearly incomprehensible to analysis. As such, we cannot be certain whether you are still subject to observation or control regardless of your intentions. My concern is Asgard's security. There is no place in Asgard more secure than the Mother's chambers."

"You could be nicer, Lind," Urd groused.

"I am a soldier, Urd. Polite pleasantries and false fronts are not in my nature."

Urd sighed.

More Valkyries awaited at the carriage outside, opening the doors to allow the goddess's entrance. Urd and Mara sat together on one side while Lind took the seat facing them. There were no windows. As the carriage started moving, Urd turned to Mara. "I've never heard of the Mother of Demons, but I'm guessing from your reaction you have."

Mara nodded. "Before Hild, Nifelheim had a different Daimakaichou. Her true name is lost, but she was once one of the 13 Great Lords of Chaos. I don't know what that means, but legends say she gave birth to the first demons, and set them to destroy mankind." Mara shrugged. "She's supposed to have also been slain by Kami-sama in the Jotun Wars before the founding of Asgard. Hild does not like for anyone to talk about her, and has forbidden anyone to access the historical records. All records prior to the Silencing are sealed."

Urd nodded. "Yeah, Kami-sama has restricted access to them too, at least records of the Early Kingdom." She looked over at Lind. "I'm guessing the Valkyries know a bit more about it than the rest of us."

"We do not question Kami-sama's wisdom, Urd," Lind replied. "And yes, we do have access to information on the Jotun Wars that is not generally available. The Mother is imprisoned not so much to keep her bound as to protect her."

Urd raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"Hild is aware of her continued existence. The Mother betrayed Chaos and sided with Kami-sama during the wars, and her assistance was instrumental in ensuring Asgard's victory over the Chaos Lords. Hild is not the only great power who would like to see her existence ended and take her power for their own."

The carriage came to a halt and the door opened, revealing a featureless room. As Urd emerged and looked around, she couldn't even see the door through which the carriage had entered. There was no sign of the other Valkyries either. Lind walked over to a spot on the floor and placed the butt of her halberd on a small sigil. Patterns of light expanded across the floor and formed a vast mystical seal. Additional seals formed on the walls and ceiling and began rotating in different directions. Like the dials of a giant combination lock they turned until a series of interlocking symbols flared into life and a shimmering gate opened in midair. Lind motioned to the gate as a walkway rose from the floor.

"She is waiting. It is perfectly safe. I will await here."

Urd raised an eyebrow. "That's it? I'm just supposed to walk in and meet her? You aren't going to keep an eye on us?"

Lind shrugged. "I stand no chance of defeating her if she intended you harm, nor would I even if I took in an entire Host. Her control over her own personal reality is absolute. But you have nothing to fear from her. As I stated, she is in protective custody, and her powers are bound not merely by Kami-sama's will, but by her own free choice."

Urd eyed the portal nervously. "You aren't helping me feel any safer, Lind." She looked over at Mara. "You up for this?"

Mara took her hand. "Surely she can't be any worse than facing Legend."

Urd nodded. "I certainly hope so." She gripped Mara's hand tightly as she took a deep breath and they began walking up the ramp.


A short walk down the rainbow colored tunnel let them out into a large and ancient arena of stone. Fine white sand covered the floor, and scattered pieces of rock lay here and there. Urd and Mara looked around, noting the vast cavern seemed empty of life, the rows of seats empty, and the sole feature of note a giant statue of black stone. It was female, with six arms, each bearing a massive blade. Ribbons of stone formed a mandala around it, and its sole adornment was a necklace of human skulls. Urd swallowed hard. "That's Kali-ma."

"Merely one of the many names I was once known by," a voice said cheerfully, drawing their attention from the statue to the nude white haired girl at its feet. "In fact, if you look at myths and legends that remained following the Silencing, you'll find a lot of names for me, the 'dark evil goddess of the night' who exists to destroy mankind. It's a sad legacy to be responsible for."

Urd blinked. "You're the Mother of Demons?"

The girl shrugged. "When I was a Lord of Chaos, I despised mankind. I sought vengeance for all the pain and suffering I had endured at the hands of the human race, and when Chaos made me a 'god' I reveled in shedding human blood. I delighted in creating new species of youkai to torment and kill them. I scoured the dimensions to find the most vicious and bloodthirsty beings to experiment on and make even more vicious. I'm the source of nearly half the species of youkai that survive to this day." She shimmered slightly, and shifted her shoulders as two additional sets of arms joined the first. "Being an 'Aberration' myself, I was somewhat prejudiced in favor of non-humans. My specialty is harmonic programming." One of her left hands gestured at Mara. "I'm the specialist Lind is having analyze Mara here, though I haven't told her it's unnecessary. I may be Odin's top secret super hacker, but Legend's skills are far beyond mine, and there is no chance he made an error. I'm mainly trying to comprehend his coding and learn from it.

Urd swallowed hard. "I see. I–if I may ask, is that why you wanted to see me?"

The girl waved her hands and the stones scattered around the arena floor rearranged themselves into a table and chairs, a tea set appearing as she walked forward and lifted the kettle to pour. "In part. Please, come sit. You have some time to kill until Gate can re-establish connections to Earth, and I am lonely. I rarely can entertain guests."

"How do you know this?"

The white haired girl laughed. "Even imprisoned as I am, I keep aware of the world. I'm the sysop of the sole remaining fragment of the Midgard Worldnet, and have been kept abreast of affairs through Jormungandr's connection to Yggdrasil." She finished pouring the tea and sat at the head of the table, elegantly grabbing a biscuit and buttering it while simultaneously stirring her tea.

Urd nervously set down, Mara joining her at the far end of the table. "But the Midgard Worldnet was destroyed in the Silencing. I'd know if any connections were still…" She trailed off. "Phoenixmoon, right?" she said disgustedly.

"Of course. Your older self set many things in motion that had to be hidden. Not least of which was my defection."

"Huh?"

"I was a servant of Chaos, Urd. I had nearly unlimited power. Surely you must realize I had little reason to betray her."

"But my older self convinced you to change sides?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"She gave me a reason to hope."

"Huh?"

"You have been tasked with granting the wish of Shan-Pu, have you not?"

Urd blinked. "Uh, well, yeah. But what does–"

"That means you are aware of the Dragon's Child, no?"

"Zhu-Shu? Well yes, but–"

"And you do know that one of my many names is Shiva, the Dancer at World's End, right?"

The amused grin the girl was giving her was annoying. Urd racked her brain trying to figure out what – then it clicked.

"You taught her Shiva's Dance, didn't you?"

"Well, one of my shadows did. But yes, my true name is Sarhia the Dancer." She wiggled several arms in a graceful pattern. "I was created for no other purpose."

"Okay, so what does–"

"She's saying Zhu-Shu is that reason for hope, Urd honey," Mara interjected. "Right?"

Sarhia nodded. "Zhu-Shu, Ukyo, Konatsu, Ying-Ying, Rei. The shattered pieces of my soul scattered through time. The loves I was doomed to never know, separated from them as I was by a gulf of eons. Your older self showed me the most forlorn of all hopes – that I might one day be freed from my bondage to the Great Divider and be reunited with the time lost pieces of my heart."

Urd swallowed hard. "I see."

"Somehow I doubt you truly do, Urd dear. But that's still not the reason I asked to see you."

Urd shook her head in confusion. "Huh?"

Sarhia laughed. "My apologies. I spend so much time alone I sometimes forget I am not speaking to one of my shadows. I have asked you here to deliver a warning of what might be, because the future that was to occur no longer will. A wild card has been played that has shifted the probabilities beyond our predictions." She waved one of her right hands as what appeared to be a monitor appeared at her fingertips. "Three hundred years ago an anomaly occurred that was not supposed to occur. The Midgard Worldnet was reactivated by a user request possessing clearance Legend Alpha Prime. "

Urd blinked. "That's Legend's personal code."

"Yes, but the request was not from Legend. It was from his Guardian. The logs show that Orihime sent a request via Midgard to the Valkyrie Arsenal. Due to a variation in Orihime's spirit code, and Midgard's need to come out of standby mode, it accessed Yggdrasil and verified that the request was legitimate. The records were corrected to the current Guardian's matrix and the request granted, with some modifications."

Urd raised an eyebrow. "Current Guardian?"

"Ukyo Kuonji." Sarhia smiled. "My beloved Orihime's reincarnation. Long before Zhu-Shu met me, Orihime came to me here in this sanctuary to ask me to teach her Shiva's Dance. Ukyo is slowly regaining the knowledge and skills she once had in her former life, and Orihime was the greatest of all my students. The request made to the Arsenal was for her armor. The modification was a standing order from you to upgrade that armor to the current Valkyrie combat specifications."

Urd started. "A mortal has a functional suit of Valkyrie armor?"

"Not quite. The Guardian's armor is based on the Valkyrie Heavy Combat armor." A holographic image formed in the middle of the table of Ukyo in her armor, with schematics overlaid. "The power systems and weaponry modes are quite a bit more powerful than the standard model. They have to be to handle the kind of power an unsealed first class goddess can channel. Ukyo can't use the armor at that level yet, but she's successful integrated with it. At present, she's nowhere near even a third class Valkyrie's abilities, but once she's recovered all her former skills, even Lind might not be able to match her. "

"Okaaay. That's pretty scary."

Sarhia laughed. "Oh don't worry about her, Urd. I know Orihime all too well. Her getting her armor is not a problem. The anomoly is that she wasn't supposed to get it three hundred years ago. Only Rei was supposed to follow Zhu-Shu, Tao-Ching, Tatewaki and Nabiki into the past. Your older self had arranged for Rei to receive the Phoenix Wand that had been crafted for her wedding to Lin-Tzu, which was prevented by the war and the Silencing. Ukyo going into the past has resulted in some rather dramatic changes to what was anticipated to occur."

"Such as?"

"Well. For one thing, despite receiving the Phoenix Wand, we expected Rei to keep vacillating about her love for Zhu-Shu. In all of the previous scenarios, she has never had the courage to commit herself whole-heartedly to her love for Zhu-Shu. Her doubts and fears have always made her hesitate, and, well, it's usually been a disaster. She was the newest of Lin-Tzu's lovers, and while she is remembering some of the details of her last life, those memories have usually not been sufficient to overcome her doubts. The best outcomes usually resulted when we kept her focused on her role as a Senshi, and a protector of Zhu-Shu before being a lover. Obviously that still didn't result in success, or we wouldn't have been forced to keep resetting."

"Resetting? Um… exactly how many times did my former self meddle with history?"

"Don't ask. You really don't want to know, and I can't honestly tell you, because even I don't know. A few hundred thousand times since she enlisted my aid, and countless times prior to that."

Urd swallowed. "I see."

"Anyways, we've always had slightly better results keeping her focused on being a Senshi. However, since Mara's defection resulted in Hild releasing Clove from death, something happened to Ukyo. As far as Phoenixmoon and I can tell, Clove weakened Ukyo's self erected barriers to admitting her bisexuality, which has always been one of the biggest headaches we've had to overcome. Orihime was just as stubborn despite the fact that she'd had only female lovers during her masquerade as a male. She'd convinced herself she was just waiting for the 'right man' to come along, and not that she was just as attracted to women as men. Clove apparently broke down those mental defenses in preparation of using Ukyo like she is Konatsu, but decided it was too risky with Ke-Lun and Lo-Shen around. When she ended up going back in time with the rest, she was doubting her own beliefs in her heterosexuality, and Rei apparently sensed that, and, well, being a priestess as well as Zhu-Shu's lover, tried to counsel her, only to end up seducing her instead."

Mara laughed. "That little minx! She did the same thing to Zhu-Shu!"

"Yes… well… that also acted as a catalyst to Ukyo's latent memories of Orihime. Which in turn led to Ukyo accepting her role as the Dragon's Guardian, and the premature activation of her armor, in addition to the fusing of that armor with a new weapon in place of its original offensive system. Uyko was not supposed to recover the armor until she was in the presence of the Dragon's Wrath, but now she has a weapon forged for her by the student of the Wrath's maker, Totosai the Smith. He was present when his master forged the Dragon's Wrath and the Guardian's armor, and remembered Ukyo from her previous life. He used the same gold dragon scales that were forged into the Wrath to make the Wrathseeker and that allowed her to summon the armor with the Wrathseeker as a fully compatible offensive system. Again, that's not really a problem, but it's another factor in the butterfly effect going on. "

"So what is the problem?"

"Well, Zhu-Shu's party was supposed to return to the present shortly after the other Senshi defeated Rubeus, in conjunction with the timewave that just passed. As Rubeus's mission was to capture Zhu-Shu, his failure would have resulted in Xi'an Chi sending a second agent, and the eventual chasing of that agent back through time to the future by the Senshi, including a powered up Rei and Akane, Shan-Pu, and Ranma, all who would have forced Xi'an Chi back to the present. Zhu-Shu, who would have still been unconscious as her body adjusted itself to the Shikon Jewel, and who would unfortunately still be vulnerable to manipulation because of it, would have been temporarily possessed by one of Xi'an Chi's shadows, and used as a focus to allow Xi'an Chi to open a time portal through which he would attempt to summon his armies of youkai from the future. This would however have been stopped by the Senshi, where together with Tatewaki, Ukyo and Tao-Ching, they would have recovered the Dragon's Wrath and trapped Xi'an Chi in temporal limbo, ending him as a threat permanently."

"Okay. Which you said still didn't solve the problem of Chaos destroying the universe and killing Legend."

"No, because eventually Galaxia, Chaos's true chosen, will arrive at Earth, and use the Shikon jewel to corrupt Zhu-Shu and turn her into Chaos's avatar. Zhu-Shu's depression and self doubt are going to be magnified due to the replacement of her heart with the Shikon jewel, and leave her vulnerable to Chaos. We've never yet found a way to recover her heart from Naraku before he is killed, and every scenario where we don't send her back in time has resulted in her capture by Rubeus, and her death at Xi'an Chi's hands. Nor have we found a way to remove the Shikon Jewel and it's corrupting influence."

"But this time is different?"

Sarhia's mouth twisted. "Yes. Because of Ukyo's recovery of her armor in the past, and its connections to Yggdrasil's teleportal systems, it caused a malfunction when they were returning from the past through the wormhole. It reacted with the teleport of the Senshi back from Rubeus's ship, and the temporal portal Emeraude created to come back and kill Rubeus. The wormhole wasn't calibrated to transport an Omega class youki reactor in active mode in addition to the Dragon's Child. The power feedback into the teleportal control systems overloaded it and caused a reality warp in which all three portals overlapped because they were so close together in time-space and because the active gate created by Clove provided a natural anchor. In order to stabilize the wormholes, and prevent a catastrophic feedback that would have destroyed Tokyo, Kami-sama had to shunt everyone into the wormhole leading to the future." She sighed heavily. "And that is not good at all, because in all previous scenarios in which Zhu-Shu has gone to the future she's died. This time, she's gone to the future after she's lost her heart and had it replaced with the Shikon Jewel."

Urd noticed that despite Sarhia's apparent calmness, one of her sets of hands was being wrung worriedly. "I take it this was something no-one has tried before?"

Sarhia shook her head. "No. I'm afraid your former self considered it an absolute worst case scenario." She shrugged. "However, no previous scenario also included Ukyo having already acquired the armor, nor did any include the party that traveled to the past, or Clove and Konatsu. Additionally, no previous scenario has ever included Ying-Ying. Nor has she ever realized her abilities as a Guardian Spirit prior to the defeat of Xi'an Chi. That makes this occurrence an entirely unique scenario, no variation of which has previously been attempted."

Urd nodded. "I see." She smiled. "So basically you are saying that we're flying blind, humm?" she asked, an almost kittenish purr in her voice.

Sarhia gave her a raised eyebrow. "Yes, basically."

Urd grinned. "Thank Kami-sama. It's about fucking time."

"What?"

Urd leaned back in her chair and put her hands behind her head as she grinned. "I've been jumping through hoops for my 'past self' for months, Mother dear. I can't even tell you how irritating it's been. The 'scenarios' are done now, right? No more manipulating this or that to make some particular event happen the 'right way' anymore. There's no more 'do overs', no 'saved games', no 'cheat sheet'. It's just full speed ahead and damn the torpedos now." She lunged forwards to lean over the table and look Sarhia in the eyes. "It means I'm no longer playing her little games, RIGHT?!" she asked with a feral grin.

Sarhia blinked. "Well, I suppose you could put it that way."

Urd exploded into a half dozen chibis all over the table, dancing in happiness and cheering.

Sarhia gave her a sour face as she propped her head on one hand. "I don't see why you're so happy about it."

Chibi Urd number 1 stopped dancing to look up at her and put her hands on her hips. "I don't see why you aren't happy about it! All my other self's 'scenarios' failed! This is the best thing that could have possibly happened. It means we're finally making progress instead of replaying the same old game."

Sarhia looked thoughtful. "I see. It's still worrisome though." She watched as Chibi Urd number 6 tangoed with Chibi Mara number 1 past her tea cup, a miniature rose held in Chibi Mara's teeth. She glanced briefly at full sized Mara, who was avoiding her gaze while trying to look innocent, then turned her attention back to Chibi Urd number 1. "I mean, every time Zhu-Shu has gone to the future she's been taken by Chaos and become the Black Dragon. That might not mean much to you, but she's my soulmate, and the last thing I want to do is let Chaos anywhere near her. You do not have the slightest clue what sort of horror that will be for her." She shuddered. "I'm a greater deity, and I still barely managed to escape from her."

"So? She's got all her friends and lovers with her this time. It's not the same scenario anymore." Chibi Urd number 1 crossed her arms. "Look, you say you're one of Zhu-Shu's soulmates, right?"

Sarhia nodded.

"Then have a little faith in your loved ones. If I've learned one thing from watching Zhu-Shu's little harem-ettes, it's that they will make miracles happen for that girl."


Ukyo opened her eyes to stare at a sky filled with smoky looking clouds. She blinked. The last thing she could remember was entering the portal. Now she was laying here, on what felt like rocks.

"Where the hell are we?" she asked no-one in particular, but her armor answered anyway, the HUD showing that she was at the co-ordinates which should have been the Tendo Dojo. It also reported the presence of life signs nearby, but told her that they were the only signs of life for miles.

She blinked. In addition to the group she had been traveling with, the armor was also showing icons for Ranma, Akane, Shan-Pu, all of the Senshi, two unidentified organisms, and a small girl named Chibi-Usa. She sat up quickly and looked around.

The sensors were telling the truth. They were all there, the two "unidentifieds" proving to be a pink haired girl and a white haired girl, both of whom had their backs to her. As she looked at them her armor seemed to be running scans, but was reporting it couldn't access "Midguard Worldnet" for positive ID.

Then the HUD popped up with a message "organic memory match found" and the names Ying-Ying and Ye-Ying replaced the "unidentified."

Her heart thudded in her chest. It– it can't be!

Then the pink haired girl raised her hand and rubbed at her eyes as she rolled over and yawned. Languid blue eyes opened to blink at her and the girl smiled.

"Ohayo, Orihime-chan," she said in a sleepy voice.

"Ying-Ying?"

The pink haired girl blinked, then sat up. "Ukyo? But you were in the past!" She looked around. "What the hell, where are we?"

Usagi's voice came from the side. "Noisy Ying-chan. Just five more minutes."

Then Ying-Ying's eyes fell on the black figure lying next to Ukyo. "ZHU-SHU!"

Ukyo blinked as the girl was suddenly right next to her, kneeling over the dragon girl. She hadn't even moved. Worried blue eyes looked up at her after she had placed a hand over Zhu-Shu's forehead. "Is she okay? What happened to all of you? Why is she like this?"

Noises came from all around as the commotion started to wake the sleepers. Ukyo found herself frozen for a second as she looked into the other girl's eyes. "Ying-Ying? But – I thought you were dead!"

The pink haired girl nodded. "Yes. We'll discuss that later! What is wrong with Zhu-chan!"

Ukyo shook her head. "We don't know for sure. She's exhausted, and there's other stuff. I don't know why she's like this. We just had a massive all out fight against a really nasty youkai named Naraku. My armor says she's perfectly healthy, just unconscious and her energy levels are low."

Ying-Ying let out a relieved sigh. "Thank all the gods."

"Ying-Ying?" came Rei's surprised voice. The pink haired girl looked over.

"Rei-chan!" She took in the phoenix dress the dark haired girl was wearing and grinned. "Wow, that looks even better in reality than it did in Orihime's sketches!"

Rei put her hand on her forehead as her mandala halo flared. "Okay, I'm not dead."

Akane laughed from behind her. "No. We're all alive. Well, except for Ying-Ying, but she doesn't count."

Then Rei got tackled by Konatsu. "Rei-chan! My Firebird! You're here!"

The scantily clad miko blinked in astonishment as she found herself suddenly in a kiss that resonated through her every bit as much as one of Zhu-Shu's Chi kisses, the flood of excitement and love pouring through the butterfly in the back of her mind making her melt.

As it ended, she breathed heavily and looked up into Konatsu's deep brown eyes. "Wow. I don't know who you are, but I think I love you."

Ying-Ying giggled. "Rei, let me introduce you to Konatsu, once upon a time also known as Ye-Ying, the Nightingale of the Court of the Dragon."

"That would explain why I had an orgasm when the two of them kissed." Ukyo said shakily, her hand pressed against her chest. "Wow."

Then Konatsu bowled her over. "Your turn!"

Ranma looked down at the pair, Ukyo's hands slowly coming together on Konatsu's back as she surrendered to the relentless kiss, and chuckled. "You know, I figured something like this might happen when she finally got to see Rei and Uc-chan. But I almost feel like a hentai being here."

"Nyah. Maybe Ranma do Shan-Pu later," her cat-girl fiancee purred.

"Rei!" Usagi's voice screamed. Rei whirled from watching Ukyo and Konatsu to see the blonde and she let out a squeal as she started running towards her…

Let's just say it got too chaotic to keep track of from there, hummm?


"Okay, so while we were fulfilling the wish and fighting Naraku in the past, you all were fighting Blackmoon in the present," Tao-Ching said about an hour later. "And from the sound of it, I'm going to hazard a wild guess and say that maybe you girls were using the gate back to the Earth at the exact same time our portal from the past was open, and somehow or other all of us ended up here." He looked around the rocky wasteland around them. "Where ever 'here' is."

Ukyo nodded, "My armor keeps telling me 'here' is the Tendo dojo. Except that there's no dojo. My sensors report no life signs but us for a several mile radius.

"I sense a very strong source of magical energy several miles in that direction," Clove said, pointing with her chin as Konatsu's arms were busy being wrapped around Ukyo and Rei possessively.

"Which would be central Tokyo if we really are in Nerima." Tao-Ching noted.

"I think we are." Ying-Ying said from where she was sitting with Zhu-Shu's head on her lap. "Look around. It's been mostly buried, but I think we're sitting in the Koi pond, and that's the house's foundation over there. I don't know what happened, but this worlds energy has been twisted and devastated, as if an enormous magical war had been fought."

"It's going to be bad to be exposed like this when night comes." Tao-Ching said. "And we got no food or water. Left it all on the horses. Our best chance is to head in the direction of that power source. If there's energy, hopefully that's a sign of civilization."

"I can go scout." Ukyo said. "My armors repaired itself."

"We don't know what might be out there. Be very careful and come back if you even get a hint of something dangerous." He looked at the others. "Okay, Tatewaki and I will be point. Ranma, Akane and Shan-Pu, you'll be our back up. Kagura, you take Kanna, Chibi-Usa and Zhu-Shu on your feather, and the Senshi and 'Clovatsu' will guard you. Nabi-chan will shield us if anything attacks. Rei, you got aerial cover, try to keep the brightness to a minimum."

Rei laughed. "I'll do my best," she said as she fluttered her burning wings.

"Alright, any questions?"

"Clovatsu?" Clove asked icily.

"Think of a better name for the pair of you." Tao-Ching smirked. "Okay, now let's move out.


Ukyo was back in less than fifteen minutes. "There's a small city about five miles away over there, with a giant crystal tower in the center. It's inhabited, but I didn't get close. Looked like it had some pretty hefty AA defenses set up. Hard to see through all this mist, but you'll probably be able to see it soon. It's lit up like a christmas tree."

"How long to get there, you think?" Ranma asked.

"Maybe an hour or two. There's what looks to be a road about a quarter mile ahead. That will make travel easier."

Tao-Ching stroked the stubble on his chin and frowned. "I don't like that it's a fortified position, but we're kind of desperate here."

Ukyo shrugged. "We've got enough firepower here to take out the entire Self Defense Force if need be."

"True enough."

Twenty minutes later, they got their first sight of the city.

And Chibi-Usa started crying, throwing herself off the feather into Usagi's arms and burying her head in her shoulder.

"Wha–" Usagi cried, startled. "What are you doing, brat!"

Tear filled red eyes looked up at her. "You have the save Mommy!" She pointed to the tower. "Mommy's in there and she won't wake up! P-p-p-please! You have to save her!"

Usagi blinked as they all looked at the massive tower of crystal jutting up from the center of the city. The city itself was a fantasy of crystal as well, it's sheer walls glowing from the lights of city within, their translucency revealing shadowy hints of the buildings behind them. It was beautiful beyond description, as glorious as a flower...

... and a stark contrast to the blasted lands around them. As were what appeared to be a hastily built and makeshift series of anti-aircraft defenses surrounding the incredible vision.

Usagi patted Chibi-Usa on the head and hugged her. "There, there, little brat. We'll save your mommy. I promise."

"You-you will?"

"Hey, I'm Sailor Moon, right?"

Chibi-Usa nodded, sniffling as she dove into Usagi's shoulder again and sobbed.

"So, this is where Chibi-Usa is from, huh?" Ranma asked.

Usagi shrugged. "I guess so. Kasumi onee-san said she was my kid from the future, so I guess I must be in that tower over there."

She patted Chibi-Usa's head again before noticing that there was absolute dead silence around her. She looked up to see that everyone was staring at her, mouths agape.

"W–what did you just say?" Akane finally managed to ask.

Usagi blushed and scratched her head nervously. "Um, yeah. Well, the brat's my daughter, kinda." She giggled weakly. "It's kinda embarrassing, you know?" She cringed. "Why are you all staring at me?"

Makoto buried her face in her hand. "Princess, don't you think you could have mentioned this earlier?"

Mina clucked. "That's not the real question Mako-chan. The real question is who's her father, no?"

Usagi turned beet red. "It's Mamoru, you meanie! Who else would it be?!"

"Actually," Tao-Ching interrupted. "The real question is what we should do about the troops rushing to surround us."

The senshi looked up to see a column of hovering vehicles breaking into two groups as they rapidly encircled them. Tao-Ching held up a hand to the group as they took stances. "Wait. Let's see if they are hostile before we provoke them."

Ukyo nodded with the rest as she dropped back from point to join Rei hovering over the feather, Wrathseeker appearing in her hand. Tao-Ching stepped in front of the group as the only vehicle that had remained on the road approached. It pulled to a stop and a voice called out, "Identify yourselves!"

"My name is Tao-Ching Hibiki. My companions and I are lost and seeking shelter, and one of our members is injured. We intend no harm and have children with us."

"A likely story, youkai. You are quite brazen to approach Crystal Tokyo unconcealed. Surrender your weapons or be destroyed."

"You stop threatening my friends!" Chibi-Usa yelled, suddenly appearing in front of Tao-Ching. "I brought them to save mommy!"

The canopy of the vehicle in front of them popped open to reveal a small grey kitten standing on the dashboard in front of the soldier driving.

"Princess?" the kitten asked in shock. "We thought Blackmoon had captured you!"

"Diana!"


"Is the military escort actually needed?" Tao-Ching asked as they entered the city.

"It's for your protection, Sir." the officer in charge of the three man attachment sitting in the back of the truck with them said in reply. "While you may be friends of the Princess, the appearance of youkai within Crystal Tokyo will likely cause some outrage among the few citizens left until word can get around that you are not associated with Blackmoon. Once you are within the Palace grounds, you should be safe. We're just here to give the appearence that you are under guard."

"I see." Tao-Ching made a sour face, "Which basically means we are under guard."

"So why are youkai so feared here?" Rei asked curiously. "What became of the Great Accord?"

"Great Accord? I am afraid I have no knowledge of that, Miss. I'm just a simple soldier. Most of the records before the Youkai Extermination were lost."

Rei paled. "Y-y-youkai Extermination?"

"Yes ma'am. My Grandfather fought with the Iscariot's 34th division. He helped Queen Serenity liberate Japan from the forces of the Konjou's demon army. He loved to talk about being present when Queen Serenity took down Bunny Queen Nabiki as Sailor Moon. He was one of the soldiers who took part in the storming of Furinkan."

The soldier stopped talking as he realized the entire group was staring at him in shock. "Huh?"

"B-b-b-bunny Queen N-n-nabiki?" Nabiki stuttered.

"No way, why would I wanna fight Nabiki?" Usagi asked. "She my sensei's sister!"

"That cat girl Cooan said something about you, Ai and Kodachi being some sort of youkai crusaders in her history." Akane said to Nabiki.

"Well, yeah, I plan to go to lawschool and become a lawyer to fight for youkai civil rights, but 'Bunny Queen Nabiki?' Geez, how humiliating." Nabiki groused, her rabbit ears drooping.

The soldiers around them were as white as ghosts. Their leader was pointing at Nabiki with a shaking hand. "Y-y-y-y-y-y-ou're B-b-b-b-b-b-b-bunny Qu-qu-qu-"

"Nabiki Hibiki, yes."

"You're not a Hibiki yet, sis." Akane chided.

"Stop quibbling the details."

He turned to Tao-Ching "Then y-y-y-y-our h-h-h-h-her d-d-d-demon c-c-c-c-cat?"

"Smilodon, actually."

The officer turned and stared fixedly at the road behind them, his face white.

The rest of the ride to the palace grounds was silent, broken only by the occasional hard swallowing noise.

The soldiers let them enter the Palace grounds alone, appearing to be very glad their escort duties were done. Chibi-Usa ran ahead of them behind the kitten Diana towards the figure with short blue hair standing on the steps waiting for them.

"Ami-oba!" She cried as she ran towards her, arms wide.

"Careful, small lady! I'm a hologram. You can't actually hug me!"

"I'm so happy to see you. Look! I brought people to save Mommy! I found Sailor Moon and all her friends!"

Holo Ami smiled at all of them. "I'm so very glad to meet you. It's so wonderful to see all of you. Thank you for coming to help Princess Usagi, but– " She blushed prettily as she gave them a sheepish grin. "This is so embarrassing though. Other than the Senshi… um… I– I can't seem to recall who any of you are..."