Chapter Nineteen: Broken Things

The central chamber was huge, lit only by a flickering column of plasma descending from the ceiling to a large black crystal around which countless small glowing orbs circled. Standing before the crystal was a slim figure bearing a long staff topped with a strange blade that looked vaguely like a can opener. Her face was shadowed but the heavy collar around her neck glittered in the uncertain light.

"Is that a… Senshi?" Ai asked uncertainly.

"Waitaminute." Usagi exclaimed. "I know you. You're that girl who healed Zhu-chan! Why are you here?"

The silent figure made no response other than to lift her weapon into a ready stance.

Ayeka drew in her breath sharply. "Nobody move!"

They froze as Ai turned to her. "What's wrong?"

"That weapon. It's pure Death. Anyone who touches it is gonna die!"

Ai looked at it more closely and caught what Ayeka's vampiric eyes had noticed, the faint aura of blackness that surrounded it.

"She's right. I can see it too. That thing will suck the life right out of you." She hefted her scythe. "Ayeka and I are the only ones who are already dead. We'll have to tank her."

She reached up and grabbed her hair and wrenched. With an audible pop, her head came free, and she handed it to Kyoko. "Hold this, Honey. I can't die unless she gets my head, keep it safe.

Kyoko nodded and carefully cradled Ai's head against her breasts, looking worried. Ai patted her flaming curls. "Don't worry dear heart. I know you'll keep me safe."

Ayeka readied her sword and motioned for Ai to take the left side while she headed, right. Ai's head closed its eyes as her body stepped forward.

Ayeka's sword blocked the first strike as she grunted from the effort. Ai swept her scythe low, but the silent girl dropped the butt of her weapon to block. She was fast and strong, but it seemed to Ai she was clumsy as well. She didn't move like a trained martial artist, more like she was desperately using her speed to counter.

The girl stumbled when a shot from Megumi's ice pistols struck her foot, but managed to recover just in time to intercept Ayeka's thrust. The utter emotionlessness of her face was disturbing. As they danced around each other, Ai noticed that the collar around her throat had tiny runes that pulsed in time with her attacks.

Then Kaede's lasers flashed in the girl's eye and Akane's ribbons slammed into her chest, hurling the girl backwards to collide with the crystal. For the first time the girl made a noise, a scream of agony as black lightning arced between her and the crystal. Almost without her controlling it, Ai's scythe slashed through her arm, and her weapon fell to the side.

Then Ai felt herself wrenched around as her scythe moved on its own. The normally hidden angel wing snapped out and together with the bat wing, it closed around the weapon. She tried to resist — tried to stop — but the scythe yanked her into a spin, hurling her forward like a puppet. With a sickening jolt, the girl's own blade punched through her and drove deep into the black crystal.

Ai cried out and dropped the scythe.

"I–I didn't mean—"

The girl's eyes rose to meet hers and this time they showed an emotion. Not of horror, but of relief. She reached up to the haft of her weapon and felt along it with both hands till she could reach no further.

Then, she smiled and pulled the weapon deeper.

With a scream of tortured glass, the crystal shattered.

With an eerie howl, thousands of points of light exploded upwards from the broken crystal. The girl slumped to the floor, her face looking peaceful. Blood pooled on the floor under her and began dripping into the exposed machinery that had supported the crystal. With a muffled explosion, it caught on fire.

As if it was a signal, other explosions could be heard all around them. Ranma yelled "We gotta get out of here!"

Reluctantly, Ai grabbed her scythe and sprinted after Ayeka and the others. If she could have left it behind, she would have — but the bond was eternal. She knew it would cling to her until the day it judged her unworthy and summoned a challenger to claim it.

As she turned to run, a flicker of motion caught her eye: the cloaked figure at the top of the shaft, bowing low in silent apology.

Then she had to pay attention to her feet as the explosions rocked the hallway.


As the light faded, Ukyo found herself armed with twin Guan Do. Energy crackled between them as she heard ((Guardian System Complete)) in the back of her mind.

Heian grinned savagely as she attacked — but despite the blinding speed of her blades, Ukyo realized she was only ever striking at her weapons, not her.

((Why are you doing this, Heian?)) Ukyo thought at her as she ducked under a sweeping cut that looked like it had been intended to behead her if it hadn't been carefully aimed to miss. ((Where's Zhu Shu?))

((She's fine. Her body is behind the throne, and her mind is safe with Sarhia.))

Ukyo's eyes flicked to what appeared to be a round trapdoor behind the throne. A sharp sting flared across Ukyo's cheek as Heian's blade kissed her skin.

((Ow!))

((Got to make it look real, don't I?))

((Still sadistic, I see.))

((Think about how much you'll get to enjoy killing me!))

((I'm not going there.))

((Oh, my sweet Ukyo, I'll eagerly await the moment you penetrate me.))

Ukyo somersaulted over a legsweep.

((Dammit Heian. I don't want to kill you, even if it's just you in a constructs body!))

((Aw, Sweetie, I'll let you do anything you like to me. Doesn't that tempt you?))

((No. Now stop being Yandere for five minutes and tell me what the plan is.))

((But you know what the plan is, freeing Zhu Shu.))

Ukyo felt a blade kiss her throat. It was so gentle that it almost felt like a caress as it just barely scratched her skin. She jerked back, reminded of just how precisely Zhu Shu's dark twin could control her swords.

((Now, Sarhia arranged a little advantage for you now that you have the Wrath. Think about collapsing that long haft.))

Ukyo did so, and suddenly the Guan Do's shrunk down to just the curving blades like executioner swords. She blinked in surprise before desperately blocking Heian's lightning thrust.

((Sarhia programmed an update.))

((They're like the monkey king's staff.)) Ukyo grinned.

Their sparring kicked up a notch, Heian's blades blurring as Ukyo strove to keep up.

((Now maneuver me directly between you and Xi'an Chi.))

((I'm not killing you, Heian,))

((You don't have to kill me, just wound me and drive me back into him. With the true Wrath in your possession. Your armor should be able to deal with his magic now. And as a warrior, you've always surpassed him. Just drive him into enough desperation that he goes for the Shikon. She can't remove it herself.))

((And if I can?))

((Then I get to play, and you can watch the show.))

((What?))

((All of this has been to try and summon me. I think he deserves to succeed, no?))

The grin she gave Ukyo was pure unfiltered evil.


It took several more seconds to get into position as they sparred, and then at Heian's prompting, she drove her swords into Heian's shoulders and extended the shafts.

She flew across the room, her purple eyes shifting to black. Her body crashed into Xi'an Chi.

"You useless toy!" He screamed as he picked her unresisting form by the throat and squeezed.

Shadow struggled briefly before going limp. Xi-an Chi tossed her away and she bounced on the floor before coming to a stop in a heap.

"So, you seriously think you can defeat me, girl?"

"Yeah, I do. I failed last time, but I'm not that person anymore."

"No… You're so much less."

"You sure that's not fear talking, Xi'an Chi? Last time I came within an inch of killing you."

"I'm going to enjoy turning you into a statue, girl."

"Not as much as I'm going to enjoy turning you into a corpse."

They charge each other, her sword clashing against his staff.

The battle was furious, Ukyo's speed helping her avoid his magical blasts. The dopples in the throne room all ran to cower in the bridge, hiding behind consoles as they watched fearfully.

The throne shattered in a spray of stone shards. Another blast brought part of the roof down. Ukyo used her new range to snipe at him constantly while dodging his attacks. In short order, the throne room was in ruins.

Then Shadow shakily stood, her eye glowing purple again. Xi'an Chi saw her and growled.

"So, you think to turn on me too? Enough of this farce!"

The trap door behind the ruins of the throne opened and Zhu Shu rose into view.

She was naked, her head slumped forwards as she hung like she had been crucified, the machinery holding her glowing with a sinister light. But as she rose into view an explosion could be heard deep below.

Xi'an Chi plunged his hand into Zhu-Shu's naked chest and ripped out the Shikon Jewel with a growl. The moment he did, Shadow collapsed. As she did, Ukyo saw the tiniest of smirks form on Zhu-Shu's face.

Xi'an Chi held up his prize triumphantly. "You are too late, Ukyo! With this, I shall become a god!"

The Shikon jewel in his hand shimmered with an aura of black so dark it glowed, the spikes of the Chaos Crystal it had merged with glittering evilly. He laughed as he placed it against his chest and absorbed it, his one eye glaring at her gloatingly.

Ukyo sighed as her Guan Do returned to their normal form and vanished. "You? A god?" She shook her head. "I think someone just might have something to say about that."

She slumped tiredly to the ground as Xi'an Chi did a double take.

"Are you giving up so quickly?"

Ukyo laughed tiredly. "Giving up? No, Xi'an Chi. This is the part where I've already won, and all that's left is watching the ending movie."

A soft chiming sound from behind him made him whirl. He looked to the base of the pedestal, where the small noise had come from, to see the set of ornately interlinked earrings that had fallen there.

Slowly, his eye rose to meet a pair of glowing purple eyes.

"Hello, 'brother'." Heian's voice was soft, but it echoed through the chamber. "It has been a long time hasn't it?"

He took a step back. "Lin-Tzu?"

"No. I am her dark side, Heian, the one you desired so badly to summon. You forced Song Zhu-Shu to recover her memories of Lin-Tzu. Imagine her surprise to find me among them."

"Darkness…" Xi'an Chi said softly.

"Yes. I am the madness you created inside of Lin-Tzu, the one you unleashed when you murdered her loves. And I've come for you, as you called. Unlike Song Zhu-Shu, I remember all of my life as Lin-Tzu. And of you." She smiled, a hard smile that chilled the room. "It's funny, really. So many memories of you. All of them involve you taking something from me. You were my elder brother. You were supposed to take care of me, protect me, even cherish me, but you just couldn't, could you? I was supposed to be your greatest treasure, but you treated me as nothing more than a toy you could abuse for pleasure. How many times did you rape me, brother? How many times have you betrayed my trust? I adored you, and forgave you time and again, even concealed what you had done to me from father, but you just grew worse and worse. You just took and took and took. Until Lin-Tzu could bear no more, and I was born."

He snarled. "I took? Don't make me laugh! You are the one who took everything from me! I was the Crown Prince! I was supposed to be Emperor! The Empire of the Dragon should have been mine!"

Heian's eyes bored into him. "We TOOK nothing, 'onii-chan'. Lin-Tzu never wanted the throne. We still don't. We loathed the crown, but we were forced to bear it, to fulfill the duty you ignored in your pettiness and greed! You broke our father's heart, just as you tore mine apart! He doted on you while I was NOTHING to him! He spent every day with you while I was raised by servants! All I ever was to him was a way for YOU to continue the Imperial bloodline! You destroyed YOURSELF! All because you refused to care for anyone but yourself! Every test our father gave you, you failed! Your greed overwhelmed you, and you drove every place you were sent to govern to the brink of ruin! Having to disinherit you and exile you crushed him and being forced to name ME as his heir sickened him. Had the High King not taken me as his ward, Father likely would have had me assassinated in an effort to restore your position. He spent years trying to get the high king to reverse your exile, and then you killed him with your stupid rebellion and forced me onto the throne! And STILL, for a thousand years you have done nothing but take and take, driving all you touch to misery in your mad quest for more and more!"

"And I will have it all! With the power I have taken from you I shall become the god of this universe!"

Heian looked down as she chuckled. "Onii-chan, you are still such a fool. The only thing you have taken from me are the shackles that kept me bound." The eyes that rose to stare at him in pity were no longer purple, but black as midnight. "Enough, Xi'an Chi. I am tired of letting you take things from me, and from the world. Last time, you succeeded in taking from me all I had loved. I will not allow you to do so again."

He sneered as he lifted his staff. "And what do you think you can do with no heart and no power? I was going to let you suffer there as I took over this world, but I think the time has come for you to die!"

The scream of the bolt of power that leapt from the end of the staff was met with the sound of tortured metal as Heian's arm ripped through the restraints and lazily intercepted the blast. The red chevrons on her face glowed softly around her midnight eyes. "No power, onii-chan? No heart?" She shook her head slowly. "We have to curse Naraku for showing us the truth. Humans need hearts. And we? We are not human, and never have been." More metal howled as she shrugged out of the machine to step before him. The smile she gave him showed her fangs. "I am the Dark Daughter of the Dragon, Xi'an Chi, and that is something you cannot take from me. You might have succeeded with Zhu-Shu, but I am far stronger than she."

The air filled with the sound of crystal chimes as darkness exploded from within her, and hurled Xi'an Chi to the ground. The charcoal grey scales that covered her body darkened to a bottomless black so pure that light seemed to simply pour into it.

"Can you finally see me, Xi'an Chi? Can you finally comprehend what you created? With your spite and malice, you crafted your own doom. Without pity, without remorse, without compassion, and above all, without mercy. Summoning me was your most foolish mistake."

The dragons on the Talon and Fang flared as they rose from Shadow's lifeless grasp to orbit Heian, obscuring her momentarily before fading to reveal that she had clothed herself. A fine filigree of platinum formed a set of flared pauldrons on her shoulders, trailing thin chains attached to small chimes that hung down her back to the ground, while a delicate mesh of platinum links, so fine as to appear almost like gauze, dropped down from the inner points in front to wrap around Heian's breasts, then draped behind her under her wings into a v point. Additional filigree wrapped around her hips, the same fine mesh forming a heavy skirt that dipped below her tail and stretched behind her in a train, a separate loincloth suspended from a dragon's head covering her front. Long angel sleeves of the same metal mesh covered her arms, clasped to her upper arms by platinum bands of filigree adorned with smaller dragon heads like that which supported her loincloth and which matched the ones on her filigree armbands and the shinguards that attached to her delicate sandals. Like her dance silks, the metal mesh was both completely transparent from some angles and completely opaque from others. On her head was a filigree diadem, a dragon's head on her forehead attached to the finely worked platinum that vanished into her ebony hair before reappearing as it embraced her horns, small chimes hanging from their length. Her swords hovered behind her, the ribbons having been transformed into ones made of the same platinum mesh, and together they formed a slowly rotating Yin Yang symbol the width of her wings.

Xi'an Chi sneered as he resumed his feet. "You think wearing your Regalia will impress me? Your friends may have destroyed the Black Crystal, but I have both the Shikon and the souls of thousands at my command!"

Heian shook her head. "You have nothing, Xi'an Chi. You cannot defeat me with stolen power." She sighed. "For all you have done, for all the suffering you have caused, you deserve nothing but the death you have so freely given to others, but that part of me that is Lin-Tzu and Zhu-Shu demands I give you one last chance, my 'brother'. If you would live, submit. Renounce Chaos, and spend your life making amends for your crimes. We will spare you if you do."

He spat. "Renounce Chaos? Submit? Are you mad?" He threw back his head and laughed. "All I will give you is death!" He threw his arms wide as black lightning surrounded him. "Behold your doom, wench, yours and your entire world's!"

Black crystal speared outwards from his cloaked form as shadows wrapped around him. His body merged into the darkness as his hands turned into skeletal claws. In seconds only his mask remained visible in the shadows under his cloak. Spikes of crystal wrapped around where his shoulders had been, and a burning spark of light glared from the empty sockets of his mask, but nothing of his physical body remained. Mad laughter came from the darkness.

"Do you see, sister? You cannot kill that which is already dead! Your darling Orihime cost me a physical shell a thousand years ago, but Chaos would not let me die! I am the Death Phantom, and I will consume you and all who live! Everything on this earth and in the Heavens will be mine!

His staff flared as a spearpoint of black crystal formed on its end, shadows swirling around it as he drove it towards Heian's breast. She sighed as she closed her eyes.

Ukyo cried out as the spear plunged through the ebon girl's chest and Xi'an chi laughed. Then Heian opened her eyes again as she shook her head. "Zhu-Shu couldn't kill herself, Xi'an Chi. How do you expect to kill us? We weren't being kept alive by the Shikon jewel. We simply couldn't remove it ourselves." Her hand raised to grasp the spear and it dissolved into dust. "And now, it is time for you to return what you have stolen."

Xi'an Chi tried to retreat, but Heian's hand moved too fast, grasping his mask firmly. He howled as he tried to jerk his face away from her hand as it started to glow softly.

"This is the only part of you that still truly exists, this pitiful mask that you use to hide the emptiness within." She shook her head again sadly. "What a truly pathetic creature you have become, brother. You don't even have a soul to call your own anymore. And no matter how many you steal, they will never belong to you. And none of these souls were meant to die today. Can you not feel their anger and despair? They will never serve you."

Xi'an Chi's skeletal hands wrapped around her throat. "I will swallow your soul and with the Dragon's Blood, I will make them serve me!"

Heian sighed again. "Our soul will never be yours Xi'an Chi. It has already been claimed by others." She lifted her eyes to look into the empty sockets of the mask. "And now, it is time to finish this. Ashura's Call."

She tilted her head back and screamed as she started to emit a darker blackness. Motes of light from every direction appeared and shot into her, thousands of them emerging from Xi'an Chi's shadowy form. A shockwave raced from her and knocked Ukyo backwards as a gale force wind began blowing from the dragon-girl. Lightning began arcing from her as more and more of the motes of light entered her, and Ukyo realized that they were all the souls that Xi'an Chi had collected with his monstrous machine. Deep below her, she felt a rumbling that felt like explosions, growing stronger and stronger. The pedestal Zhu-Shu had been confined in shattered as a fireball shot upwards and blew away the throne room's ceiling, hundreds more of the glowing motes emerging to shoot into the screaming girl.

And as she cried out, Xi'an Chi's shadowy form became tattered, shredding in the wind until only his mask and the corrupted Shikon jewel remained, while Heian's ebony skin grew lighter and lighter, until it became a pale alabaster, and her purple hair turned to pure platinum. Then lightning began to arc from the mask to the jewel, and the black crystal jutting out of the jewel crumbled, leaving behind the glowing pearl. But the lightning didn't stop, and the Shikon began to glow brighter and brighter until cracks began to show on its surface, and then in a flare of brilliance, it shattered and vanished in a massive explosion of the glowing balls. Untold numbers of them streaked from their confinement in the jewel, shattering the mask in Zhu-Shu's hand. As the last of them entered her, she collapsed to her knees.

The sounds of her sobbing were loud in the sudden silence that emerged as the wind died. Ukyo couldn't look at her, she was still glowing like the sun, swirls of plasma sweeping around her.

"I can hear you all. I can feel your pain. And I share your sorrow. I am sorry. You have all suffered because of me. I cannot ever repay you for the pain and anguish you have endured because of me. But it is finished. You are free. Now go. Return to where you belong and suffer no more. Let me be at peace! Let me make amends for all those whose lives I ended in madness and despair!"

Zhu-Shu's body flung backwards as a fountain of souls erupted from within her, and another shock wave knocked Ukyo flat as the throne room around them shattered and the entire palace above them disintegrated. She threw up her shields before she realized the flood was avoiding her, streaming by on all sides but leaving a bubble around her. She looked around, as the stream split into two, part of it heading to where Tokyo lay above her, and the rest streaming around the Tian-Long to vanish into the portal. Then she heard Zhu-Shu collapsing and turned to her again, only to stop as she saw a strange man kneeling next to her. She blinked as her eyes met his single blue eye, and time came to a stop.


Time stood frozen as Zhu-Shu lay on the dais, her head resting on her arms. The air around her rang with the song of crystal, echoing to infinity. She sighed when she heard the soft tinkling of her earrings in the endless moment. She felt a light against her eyes, and a presence kneeling next to her, but she refused to open her eyes and look at him . She knew who it was, and why he was here, but she still had no desire to acknowledge it. She felt so tired, the crystal chiming in her head having muted to almost nothing. It seemed Heian had used up most of the power still within her, but apparently not enough. And that was why he was here, with her earrings in his hand.

"Can you seal them permanently?" she asked wistfully, knowing the answer.

"You know that is impossible, my child. It is only your will that keeps the seals bound at all. The earrings are merely a symbol."

"I do not want this power. I was happy as just a girl. I never asked for this."

Gentle fingers brushed her ears as the cool metal found her piercings. "And that is why such power is safe in your care, child." A strong hand patted her softly on the head. "Be at peace, Zhu-Shu. For a time, at least, you shall be free to be a mere girl again. This trial draws to a close, and your loved ones await."

She nodded. "I hurt them, didn't I? With my foolishness and despair."

"Sometimes, pain is a blessing in disguise. The trials you all faced changed a fate believed unchangeable. The Phoenix no longer belongs only to the Moon, The forgotten one has been remembered, and the darkness illuminated. Even the sister long believed lost has been restored. The threads of fate have shifted. There is much you are unaware of yet that will bring you great joy."

"And yet, I am the Dragon's Daughter. My simple life won't last, will it?"

"Not yet, no. But that is for the future, child. Now is a time of rest, and joy. Treasure the happiness in this moment, Zhu-Shu, and take comfort in knowing the trials are nearly done."

She nodded. "And what of Heian?" she asked.

"She will always live within you, child. We all have both light and darkness in our souls, and must make the choice of which path we will tread. She may have been worse than you hoped, but neither was she as bad as you feared. She is part of you, and you alone can decide her fate. I believe she sincerely desires to be whole, but whether you will find the strength to face her truth I cannot say. Her crimes were paid for with her life, long long ago. Whether you lock her away again or accede to her desire to be acknowledged is your choice."

"And what of Mu-Er. I never intended to kill her."

"Mu-Er was never alive to begin with. She is merely an empty shell. Her body still functions as it always has, but she never possessed a soul or will. She is merely a puppet with her strings cut. If you do nothing, any spiritual being could possess her and use her however they wish."

She sighed as she nodded. "I still feel guilty for what was done to her." She sighed. "Faint as it was, she still yearned to live."

"As Heian yearns to be acknowledged."

Zhu-Shu sighed again. "Can you not merely tell me what I should do? I do not want to make such a decision."

"That is something I understand all too well, Little Mouse. The weight of responsibility is a heavy burden to bear."

"D- do you approve of what I have done with all the lost souls?"

"Do you need my approval, Little Mouse? You have acted as you felt you should."

"I- I was responsible for all of it. I caused all their pain. I had to do something to try and make up for it. But was it not a forbidden act?"

"I will not judge you, Zhu-Shu. That is not why I have come. I do not know what the repercussions of your actions will be, but I accept them. Be at peace."

"But-"

A finger was placed against her lips. "I will not judge you. Nor can I do what you wish and make you other than what you are, Child of the Dragon. Like all sentient beings, you must decide who you are on your own."

"I just want to be Zhu-Shu."

She heard a soft chuckle. "And you are not? Are you truly certain of that, my child? Even now?"

She sighed. "I don't know."

"In time, child." He stood and turned to go, then paused. "By the way, Little Mouse, you need not fear to look at me. I am your soon to be brother after all."

Zhu-Shu shook her head. "I know, All-Father. But I fear that if I do, I will have no choice but to admit I am a goddess, and that is something I wish to remain in denial of for now. Coming to terms with being a dragon has been nearly more than I can bear. Please, don't make me accept divinity just yet."

He laughed heartily. "Very well. I am sure my little sister will cure you of that soon enough."

Then he was gone, leaving the remark hanging as time resumed.


Ukyo blinked. Then blinked again. The man with the eyepatch was gone, but she had the feeling she had been a witness to something incredible which she just couldn't remember. She shook her head and lifted her hand to rub her temples, wondering if it had only been a delusion.

She heard a small groan come from Shadw and looked over to see the black dragon girl trying to sit up before a shadow fell over her and more important things drew her focus. She looked up to smile into Zhu-Shu's golden eyes.

"Don't ever run away like that again, please? I can't be your guardian if you run from me."

Zhu-Shu gave her a sad smile. "I am sorry, Uc-chan. I promise. This was all my fault. None of this would have happened if I had just not jumped to conclusions and had enough faith in you all to simply wake you and find out the truth."

Ukyo sighed. "Zhu-chan, dear... My armor is translating but I still can't understand a word of Mandarin."

That actually brought a real smile, if a small one. "Does Uc-chan prefer Zhu-Shu's bad grammar?" she said in Japanese.

"You don't really need to speak brokenly anymore, do you?"

Zhu-Shu shook her head. "No. But I think the reasons why I don't are more uncomfortable than just keeping up appearances."

Ukyo hugged her. "I think I understand," she said as she stroked her platinum hair. "I think everyone will have enough to get used to with your new hair color without you suddenly being fluent in Japanese again. Besides, I think it's cute. Your accent is just so adorable."

"Uc-chan once thought was frustrating."

"Yeah, well… I lied. I was a stubborn idiot."

"You always were, you musclehead."

Uyko looked over in shock at Shadow and blinked to see her skin had changed back to normal and her hair was now purple. An impish grin was plastered on her face.

"H-H-Heian?"

"Yeah. I'm shocked too." She looked at Zhu-Shu with a crooked smile. "Is this your answer? Kicking me out of our head?""

"I didn't kick you out. Mu-Er needed someone to give her a will. And I figured you would be easier to talk to in person."

"You're actually letting me out?"

"I didn't even know I was keeping you imprisoned. I-I'm sorry."

Heian blinked at her in astonishment. "You're still terrified of me, but you gave me a BODY?"

"I'll never stop being terrified of you if I refuse to interact with you. Besides, I know you love our soulmates as much as I do. I can't keep hoarding them away from you."

The palace shook around them and Ukyo suddenly found herself in the middle of the pack of Dopples who had manned the bridge. "Say wha-"

The dopples were cowering as they looked around in fear. Heian reached over to one and petted her head. "It's okay, little one. It's just the consequences of sending the souls of Blackmoon back to their own universe. We made sure you won't be caught in the paradox."

"Paradox?"

((Ukyo! Can you hear me? The Tian-Long's shields just collapsed!))

((Yes, Blossom. Xi'an Chi is dead. Zhu-Shu's safe here with me.))

A dragon's roar announced the Mu-San's arrival just outside the ruins of the bridge. She brought her head down and opened her mouth to reveal a boarding ramp. ((Get aboard quickly! The Tian-Long has lost power! It won't be long before it starts to fall!))

((But what about the Dopples))

((Jo-chan is going to assimilate the Tian-Long, but she can't do that so long as Zhu-Shu is still aboard!))

Heian wearily got to her feet and helped Zhu-Shu stand. "Come on, Coward, time to face the music."

"They're going to be mad at me."

"Yeah, they might. We did put them through hell."

Ukyo shook her head. "We're just happy she's safe."

Heian shrugged. "Hopefully, but what happens next might just be a bit much."

"Next?"

"A miracle."

Ukyo turned to the new voice to see an old lady materializing behind Zhu-Shu. But she was surprised to recognize her.

"Sailor Pluto?"

"Hello Dragon's Guardian. It has been millennia since I last saw you."

"I thought you died in the Crystal Palace."

"No, merely tossed out into the chaos of the time storm." She turned towards Zhu-Shu. "And greetings to you as well, my Little Mouse with the Eyes of a Dragon. I have answered to your need for the third and final time."

Zhu-Shu nodded sadly.

"Do not mourn for me, Child of the Dragon. The paradox is merely ending. I never existed to begin with. I am merely a shadow out of time. My phantasmal existence has served its purpose. I existed to undo that which should never have come to pass. This was my destiny. I have nothing but thanks for having been given a meaning. Now go, rejoin your loved ones and leave me to my fate."

She reached out to the jewel adorning her staff and detached it. "With this, I repay the debt I incurred by delivering you to Naraku." The jewel drifted over to Zhu-Shu. "He stole your heart, in exchange, I give you mine."

The Jewel vanished as Zhu-Shu's hand went to her chest and her eyes widened.

"Farewell, My little Mouse with the Eyes of a Dragon. My onus to Legend is now repaid. Go, I still have much to do to correct this error in time."

Zhu-Shu nodded and turned to enter the ship as Heian and Uyko herded the Dopple's after her.


As the ship lifted away, Setsuna turned to the ghostly figure that formed beside her. "Are you ready Hotaru?"

The ghost raised her hand to feel at the no longer existing collar she had worn for so long. She raised her head to smile shyly at the taller girl and nodded before turning into a ball of light and shooting away to join the last few stragglers entering the portal. Setsuna looked down towards Tokyo and the Mu-San as the dragon ship opened her mouth and inhaled. Setsuna remained hovering in mid air as the Tian-Long turned to mist around her and was swallowed by the small ship.

As the Mu-San flew down towards the building where the HQ still was. Setsuna turned her face towards the still raging portal and raised her staff as she started to glow brighter and brighter.


Dawn came to Tokyo after a night of fire and flames as a star appeared to form in the sky. It grew brighter and brighter until it washed away all sight and vision. And then as it faded the city woke to a new morning, blinking in disbelief.

Tokyo Tower gleamed in the morning sun and the shattered buildings stood as they had always done, though a few of them had JSDF aircraft incongruously parked on them. All across the city, startled JSDF troops and their Youkai allies looked at themselves to feel for wounds that were no longer there.

Citizens all over the city began realizing they weren't dead.

They recalled everything that had occurred, but the entire city looked no different than it had the previous day. All signs of the invasion had vanished. At least all signs of Blackmoon that is. The JSDF forces remained as mute evidence the invasion had occurred, but everything else was gone. Humans and Youkai all over the city looked at each other in puzzlement as they remembered the horrors of the previous night but no-one could explain what had just occurred.

Then they heard a noise up in the sky and looked to see the silver form of the Mu-San clearing her throat.

"My apologies to everyone for addressing you so informally," Jormungandr said through Mu's mouth. "But to avoid a panic, let me try to explain what just occurred as best I can. No, you did not dream what happened. Blackmoon has been defeated and the time portal has been closed, but this has created a time paradox. Blackmoon was returned to a time before they committed their invasion. This has created this paradox where they both did invade, and could not invade. You retain the memories of their invasion, but the world itself does not. The efforts of the Sailor Senshi and the Monster Squad have prevented Blackmoon from invading our world. There may be some small aftereffects felt by those of you with strong spiritual powers and some youkai, but please be assured that they should be harmless. However, the world outside of Japan has now never been affected by the Blackmoon invasion, so they may think the nation of Japan has suffered a mass delusion. Regardless, the threat of Blackmoon is no more. We wish you as pleasant a day as you may find possible."

Then the Mu-San faded from view, as a million voices all over the city erupted with questions.