Hino Rei and Aino Minako were running for their lives.
Black bolts wildly shot past them and struck the castle
hallway and its furnishings; whatever was struck by the
bolts rippled and vanished, apparently oblitterated. A
sculpture; a painting; a bench; banners; a potted plant; a
strange suit that appeared to be armor for an insectoid life
form. All gone.
"SENSHI," rasped a dry, sepulchral voice from behind them.
"SUCCUMB," it commanded.
They ran for their lives and did not look over their
shoulders. Chaos Incarnate was chasing them, and death might
not be all it had in mind. And it had all seemed so harmless
when it began . . .
On Board the Shuttlecraft "Yamato,"
Approaching Planet Nemesis, Earth's "Crystal Era"
The flight from Earth to Planet Nemesis, the "Black Moon,"
had taken Rei and Minako almost 48 hours. The intergalactic
travel had been accomplished using the most recent version
of the Hawkings-May "jump drive," the prototype of which had
allowed the founders of Nemesis to escape Earth during the
founding of Neo-Queen Serenity's reign. Theoretically the
travel could have proceeded more quickly, but as this was
the first time a ship from Crystal Tokyo had made this
journey they had to ensure their astrogational bearings were
absolutely perfect.
"I can't believe we're finally here," Minako enthused. "Can
you? It seems like I've been waiting all my life to get
here!"
Rei blinked at surprise at her travelling companion.
"Minako, really, it's only been two days! Or are you talking
about getting here, to baka planet Nemesis?" She was sitting
in the co-pilot's seat of the shuttle, and the infamous
"Black Moon" was below them on the viewscreen.
Minako rolled her eyes at Rei. "I'm not talking about the
trip, or even being here, but being ... NOW, I guess."
Rei inclined her head inquisitively. "I'm not sure I follow
you."
"When we were really young, and Chibi-Usa came back from the
future the first time, we got a glimpse of what our future
would be. All my life, I've felt like it was anti-climactic,
we knew the future . . . but now, we've lived through the
events of Dimando's people's attack, we know the other side
of our story, and we've finished it. We're done with living
for "The Future." The present is ours again, to live in and
do as we will. No more timeline to safeguard, we can get
back to LIVING!" she exclaimed.
Rei thought about it. "Well, I guess I understand where
you're coming from. Me, I always felt like I was living in
the moment, ne? I mean, sure, we knew the future but to me
the road there was an interesting one. I knew what the route
was and where it went--but I didn't know the scenery we'd
see along the way.
Minako nodded seriously. "Well, Time and Life wait for a
slow man."
"That's, 'Time and tide wait for no man!'" announced an
indignant voice from the baggage compartment above Rei.
"Artemis!" yelled Minako. "What are you doing up there?!?!"
She stood up and opened the storage compartment.
The white tomcat grinned at her sheepishly. "I just wanted a
little time away from Luna. Since she gave birth to Diana,
she's just been 'in a mood' all the time and I thought a
weekend away would do us both some good. Besides, I've never
been here."
Rei giggled. "I bet you're going to get it from her when you
get back."
"Probably." He jumped down into Minako's outstretched arms.
"Besides, if it's a trap, you'll need my advice."
"There are probably not enough people left on this poor
excuse for a planet to throw a surprise birthday party, much
less a trap," Rei said, nodding at the viewscreen.
"There had better not be," Artemis replied stiffly. "You're
both still drained of energy from sourcing the barrier over
the palace. You know the Queen would have sent Mako-chan if
she had been able to hold her transformation for more than
two minutes. You both still need a week in bed resting,
preferably six months at the beach on a tropical island!"
Minako grinned. "Oooh, are you volunteering to be a Cabana
Cat?" Artemis facefaulted. Minako returned to reading the
sensor displays and helping Rei with the piloting.
Below them the planet was a barren, burnt thing; to the
unaided eye it didn't even seem to have a properly spherical
shape, somehow. Minako frowned. "That, that does look
nasty," she said in a more serious tone. "Is that what they
call a burnoff or dead world in sci-fi?"
"Yuuuup," Artemis commented. Rei said nothing but started
running pre-landing checks.
The landing was uneventful, and "Mars-sama" and " Venus-
sama" were received by representatives of the remaining
government structure. The Nemesites were surprised that the
first request the senshi had was to be shown any work areas
Wiseman had acess to, but their request was immediately
complied with. A tall, well-built blond man was assigned to
them as a guide and pilot, and they were soon flown by
hovercar hundreds of miles away from Octylinth, the capital
city of the planet.
"So, this castle is where Wiseman was based, hunh?" asked
Minako to their native guide. The man nodded. He bore an
uncomfortably close resemblance to Dimando and Sapphir, but
thankfully did not have a black moon crescent marked on his
forehead. He had not introduced himself and she was still
trying to figure out if he was being rude or humble.
Apparently, some elements of Japanese culture as well as
language existed among the Nemesites, but in an adapted
form. Then again, they were using their senshi titles, not
their personal names.
"Exactly. He always had something of a reputation as a
sorcerer, but when your government contacted us and informed
us that he had killed Lord Sapphir and Prince Dimando . . .
there had been rumors linking him to the Death Phantom cult
. . ."
"They were true in a big way," Minako said, scowling. "It
was *his* cult."
"It couldn't have been, not originally," protested their
guide. "I checked the colonization and census records, he
was a real man, once at least. He was an explorer, a scout
for the early colonists. It was his job to look for a better
site than this world, or to find, well, potential allies for
a fight against Earth."
Minako whispered to Rei. "Do you think he found the Zero
Star in Saggitarius?"
The priestess nodded hesitantly, distracted by her
perceptions. "He was consumed by the evil power he
summoned," she murmured. Rei stood entranced, not really
looking at the castle, just drinking in its evil essence,
tasting it for potency. "Yes, there is still some power
here," she whispered. Their guide blanched at her softly
spoken words.
Rei snapped out of her trance. "Venus, let's investigate
this thing. If there's any kind of potential threat here, we
should know about it." Minako nodded in agreement. They
approached the castle and found that the doors opened at
their touch.
They entered, and began searching the castle, drawn by Rei's
psychic senses. Worried they would not be able to maintain
their transformed states, they continued to walk around in
civilian guise, but with their henshin wands in their hands.
Artemis was draped over Minako's shoulder, but he had little
to say. They finally came to a large, cathedral-like chamber
with a boulder-sized dark crystal sitting in the center of
the room on a ring-shaped base. Colored lines were connected
to the ring from control panels that stood nearby, with
lights winking and flashing. A computer readout had a steady
display of data scrolling across its screen. Rei flung out
her arm to stop Minako from setting foot in the room and the
two of them stood there, looking around from the doorway.
A shadow rose up from behind the crystal; it was dark, with
two burning red spots where eyes should have been, contained
and defined only by a tattered, black hooded cloak. It
pointed one arm at them, with only a glimmer of darkly
prismatic lights to suggest an arm and a hand's shape.
"SENSHI," it breathed, it's voice sounding more like a
roaring of wind among ruins then a spoken human voice.
"Who, what are . . . " began Rei, then realization dawned.
"CHAOS!" she yelled. "RUN!"
Minako's eyes widened in panic and the two of them turned
and fled down the hallway, the first blast of entropy nearly
taking them both down as they flipped around a corner. And
so the chase was on . . .
"SPLIT UP!" yelled Rei as she took the corner at a flat-out
run. "One of us has got to let the Queen know!"
Minako let out a quick "Yeah!" in agreement, but saved her
breath for running as the two of them approached a juncture
in the hallway. Rei took the left split; but she spun around
and skidded to a stop. "Baka!!" she yelped, making a very
rude gesture above her head. If Minako's memory served her
right, Rei's hallway reconnected to the main hall near the
front door. Rei had the best shot at escaping--this gamble
was worth the risk. She just hoped she could get clear of
the thing chasing them. She then spun to the side and dashed
down the second hallway, which she almost immediately
noticed ended in some kind of large display hall.
"Minako!" yelled Artemis, "look, a little side hallway!" the
cat pointed out with one paw.
She headed the direction he pointed before she looked and
found herself running down a hallway so narrow the walls
almost touched her shoulders. "Minako! Look! There's a small
window at the end!" exclaimed Artemis.
"I see it! I'm risking the fall so hang on!" she yelled.
She glanced back down the narrow hallway and saw the cowled
figure of Chaos oozing up it with the speed of a shadow
moving against the wall, its hint of a crystalline body a
mass of darkness lit by glittering stars. She didn't have
time to transform and jump out. She turned back and Artemis
leapt forward, followed by her immediately after. She heard
laughter and felt a blast strike her in the back. It felt
hot and cold at the same time, and she cringed in fear of
being disintegrated, but she'd already jumped for the
window. She felt her body lightening, felt herself
shrinking,but she was through the window. At the last moment
she realized that it didn't look out onto the grounds below.
It opened on the Abyss. Minako grabbed Artemis to her and
they fell into turbulent darkness.
Prologue -- Part Two
"Lost and Forgotten in Time"
She fell into a strange darkness, like the place she was
aware the longer sailor teleports went through. She felt a
dizzy, spinning sensation as she and Artemis were hurled
through the infinite space. It was a sensation she had felt
long before, when Kunzite had blasted the senshi into "the
dimension of random time." Then the princess' crescent moon
wand had guided them to the ruins of the Silver Millenium
and the guardian spirit of Queen Serenity; now, she had
nothing to save her from being lost in time. Strange stars,
like rippling quicksilver spheres, flew by. Each was a
moment in time she passed by, never to touch any of them
again. The stars were many and she fell into a shower of
them flowing upward, and she realized that if the moments of
her life were flowing past her, she must be falling
backwards in time.
She didn't scream. There was no point in it, and there was
no point in putting on a show. She held Artemis closely to
her. They were together alone again, as it had been in the
beginning, as she thought they always would be. Even Luna
couldn't quite understand the bond they shared; her own link
to Usagi was more motherly. Although some times Artemis had
advised and guarded her like a father, he was more like her
beloved foster brother.
They fell endlessly, and then they fell into a pool of
silver and there was light and the ground rushing at them
and Minako couldn't move her body was cold so cold and tired
and the ground was there and there was a big stone and...
PAIN.
Artemis came to consciousness at the sound of voices
speaking an unfamiliar language. He was in a great deal of
pain, but he thought he'd make it. Though a cat is a weak,
vulnerable creature, his magical nature made him a bit
sturdier. He dimly came to realize that he was clinging to a
tree branch. The fall had been something else.
He tried to get his bearings and looked around. He didn't
have the strength to pull himself onto the limb fully, but
the drop didn't look too bad and there was a bush below him
so he let go and fell.
It knocked the wind out of him, and he slipped partly back
into unconsciousness.
He heard voices speaking a strange language and groggily
realized people had found them. In fact, villagers were
gathered around the form of Aino Minako where she lay on the
ground, her head resting against a large white stone the
size and shape of a pillow. Artemis wasn't able to see if or
how badly she was injured but Minako didn't look ...
look ... Minako looked like she was about thirteen years
old. Artemis passed out.
"Girl! Are you alive?" asked a woman. She hesitantly touched
Minako on the arm and warily peered at the side of the
girl's head.
"Ummhh..." Minako groaned.
"We should get her back to the village. She must have
climbed a tree to escape bandits or something, and
then fallen out!" said one of the other people.
The woman nodded. "Or slavers. You two," she said gesturing
at two youths, "you should be able to carry a young girl
like this without any problems." She looked kindly on
Minako. "Why she's almost the same age as my daughter Lili!"
she said.
Minako moaned again.
"Girl, do you have a name?" asked the woman. Minako half-
opened her eyes. She heard voices babbling in a strange
language. It wasn't Japanese, any Chinese she'd heard, or
English.
She grew afraid.
The woman could see that in her eyes. She laid a hand on her
arm, reassuringly. "I'm Deaniya," she said. "What's your
name?" Minako still looked blankly at her. The woman
repeated her name and touched her heart. She turned to one
of the others. "She may have lost speech from that head
wound," she said. "She may be a half-wit now."
The woman repeated her attempt to tell Minako her name.
Finally, comprehension dawned on the young girl. She weakly
put her hand to her own breast. She barely managed to babble
out something totally incomprehensible. Nearby, Artemis
regained partial conscousness but was unable to move or
speak. He also didn't realize that Minako had sustained a
head injury. The villagers' tones were of concern though, so
assuming that Minako would be allright until he could get
back with her, he allowed himself to slip into blissful
unconsciousness again.
Sometime later, Artemis felt a light touch on his body. He
awoke to see a band of strange-looking women decorated
wildly with feathers and masks and carrying spears bent over
him.
"What's this mark on his forehead?" asked a young girl who
the party was escorting. By blood right, this girl was the
Princess of the Amazons. Her older step-sister put her hand
on her shoulder. "It's dead. Leave it."
"But, Velasca! Look! The Goddesses' mark is on her head...!"
"His head," corrected Velasca, who'd checked.
"I think he's alive, look, his eyes are opening! Surely,
this cat is sacred to Artemis!" she said.
The aforementioned cat couldn't believe that after a rapid
flurry of complete gibberish, this girl knew his name!
Minako must have sent them to get him. "Hai! Boku wa
Artemissu!" he said as he jumped to his feet.
"AIEIEIEEEEEEE!!!" screamed the Amazons as they leapt back
and pointed their spears at the cat.
The young princess held her ground and whirled to point at
the feline. "He speaks! Name of our Goddess, he speaks her
name!!!" she exclaimed. "Amazons!" she said in her young but
commanding voice. "This is Artemis' sacred cat! We must
gather him up, care for his injuries, and then take him to
the Temple of Artemis!"
"Your will, my princess," said one of the scouts, a curly-
haired blond named Ephiny. Velasca frowned. She didn't like
it when her authority was questioned. True, she was the
queen's adopted daughter, but she was older, a better
huntress...
The women picked up Artemis and put him in a cage hastily
improvised out of two wicker baskets that had held trade
goods. By the time the groggy cat realized the error he'd
made, it was too late, and the band was on it's way to
Hellespont.
Days passed. Minako came out of her coma but found that she
had forgotten her name. She was alone and frightened, and
unable to speak a word of the language. The kind woman who'd
had her brought out of the forest and into the village
comforted the frightened child and cared for her, and was
relieved to see that though Minako could not speak the Greek
language, she was obviously a bright girl with a cheerful
disposition. And, the woman thought, she made a good sister
to her daughter. Yes, indeed. She would have two daughters.
She would name her new daugher using a name from the
wandering people who had passed through a few years before,
'Gabrielle.' In a little while, no one would ever remember
that this young woman wasn't her flesh and blood.
And a few years later when the girl had grown up and set off
to see the world, no one did.
Growing up, Gabrielle was always a little on the odd side.
But then, she'd gotten such a late start at the language it
almost made sense that she'd want to learn to read too. And
her mind . . . when first they took her into the village,
she was content to work alongside the other girls and play
games but before the first year was out, her inquisitiveness
had asserted itself. She wanted to know everything and she
always pestered the bards who passed through for all the
songs they could give her. She loved to dance, and sometimes
she sang to herself. When she got a little older, she loved
to tell those stories to others.
There was a time for romance in her life. She met a handsome
boy, Perdicus, but something, some lost forgotten memory
perhaps, kept her from wanting to marry him.
One day, when she was just in her twenties, she and a bunch
of the other village girls were captured by slavers.
The bunch of them were backed into a group as the maruders
herded them on. Something started to wake up in her, feebly.
She tried to fight back, but the reflexes . . . weren't
there. She managed to look really defiant though.
Just then, when pretty much all hope was lost, a piercing
battle cry split the air, and a raven-haired woman warrior--
clad only in her underwear--came flipping out of the trees
and barefooted and barehanded thrashed the entire band of
slavers.
Her name was Xena: Warrior Princess.
And Gabrielle knew that to follow her destiny meant to
travel after Xena.
Author's notes:
This story begins in the Sailor Moon continuity of the
original Japanse animation's first three seasons; after that
it sort of blends the manga and anime continuity together,
incorporating some manga details that were skipped. I did
this because I felt the anime was overly adapted, to the
point of damaging the story, just to promote first Chibi-Usa
and then the Sailor Starlights. Tapping into some of the
manga backstory enhances the setting.
Likewise, the main part of this story is set after the
second season of Xena and takes place before the third
season starts. Additional character background material was
revealed in season three and I did take that into account as
it became available, but for the most part this story turns
in a completely different direction than Xena actually took.
Chaos' dialog style is inspired by the MOTD from Chris
Davies' "Infinite Future" story, chapter 2. (tips hat)
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