Nemesite Invasion Forces Tactical Command Headquarters
A Renovated Loft in the Rive Gauche Neighborhood,
Free City of Paris, Crystal Era
Citrine sat on the radiator, his knees pulled up by his chest.
The heels of his boots were hooked into the grillwork and he felt
the burgeoning warmth of the primitive heating system drying him
out. His head rested on the rain-splattered window and he enjoyed
the sensation of coolness from the pane contrasting to the warmth
beneath him. In his opinion, the accursŠd planet's weather was
totally evil.
He felt presences approaching with his empathic powers and
glanced at the door before it opened and admitted the Zircon
twins, Hyacinth and Jacinth. One of them had carrot-red hair and
the other brown with a blond lock at the forehead. They were both
approximately 5'9" and 135 pounds in weight. Their hair was worn
long, down to the shoulders, but not much beyond it, and both had
almost the same androgynous features. Though they were fraternal
twins, not identical, the resemblance was startling. In point of
fact, it was almost impossible to tell which was the brother and
which the sister, something they liked. While Peridot had the
power to bend minds and Citrine to read emotions, the only
psychic ability the twins had was their own telepathic union.
They often finished each others' sentences, and commonly spoke in
unison to stress a word or make a point.
Citrine found them disturbing because he usually only picked up
one emotional pattern from the two of them. To him, it implied
they were one mind split between two bodies. Certainly, the raw
power at their disposal was frightening enough; it was believed
that their combined power was equivalent to all four of Earth's
sailor senshi united; perhaps equal to Serenity herself. The
problem was that their vast power was hard for even them to
control; they were an explosive, not a scalpel. It had been
amusing when all four of them selected Earther names to use as a
cover; after several moments of deliberation Jacinth had selected
the masculine name 'Jason,' while Hyacinth the feminine
'Cynthia.' Of course, reflected Citrine, they might have picked
opposite-gender names just to be contrary.
"How is the," began one, "plan proceeding?" finished the other.
"And where is," "Peridot?"
Citrine looked away from the window at the duo, swung his boots
off the radiator, sat for just a moment more, then stood up
frowning. He had quite *enjoyed* sitting there feeling
simultaneously rakish and pensive and now this odd duo had
interrupted him. "Our Fearless Leader is still out. I suspect her
delay may have something to do with a woman we recently
encountered who may be an Earther agent of some kind." Citrine
paused and added after a moment, "Our success at subverting
soldiers has doubtless been noticed by now. The woman is probably
not a common agent, though we don't believe she was one of the
sailor senshi." The twins nodded in unison at Citrine's comments.
"The latest batches were just foot soldiers, but the officers
she's converted previously have been reporting a steady stream of
tactical information to you; what progress do you have to
report?"
Without so much as exchanging a glance, the Zircons proceeded to
report how they'd set the Nemesite ground forces to sweeping
through Central Europe like a brush fire. Still, they were
nowhere near the region once known as the country France, which
was fine by them. As it stood, their command center was *behind*
enemy lines, where it never would be discovered. With their
personal abilities, they could command the troops from there
almost as well as if they were on the frontlines with them. Even
split up, the twins thought alike. Even if all communication had
been severed between them, if each were given half of the army to
lead, they'd manage to pincer their opponent between them with
perfect coordination. Unfortunately their talent was limited to
two-dimensional tactics, leaving them thoroughly unsuited to
fleet command. Hence, their relegation to backup status.
Peridot was actually their overall Field Commander. Her perceived
madness gave her a dangerous and unpredictable edge, though
recently she had spent a great deal of her time brainwashing
Earther forces into serving them. As second in command, Citrine's
talents made him their espionage specialist, which meant that the
assassin-droids reported to *him,* and the twins believed his
empathic powers were responsible for keeping Peri coherent for so
long now. In truth, Peri saw no further need to handicap herself
with a rabid madwoman act and had discarded it, yet they could
not see the truth before them.
Citrine strode forward into the room and poured himself a glass
of wine. He hesitated before drinking from the glass; he
couldn't help but be reminded of Dimando and his prediliction for
lounging on his throne with a wineglass in his hands.
Personally, he thought the stuff was fairly ghastly but it was
about the only beverage the locals had. Citrine shook his head
and turned to the twins, wine still untasted. "I've received a
communiqu‚ from the Oligarchy," he said. The twins stiffened at
mention of Nemesis' interim ruling council, composed of nobles
from the Great Houses.
"Serenity and her court teleported to the homeworld," he began.
Both twins gasped. "Apparently her ambassadors, Mars and Venus,
encountered some sort of trap inside Wiseman's castle. Mars
summoned assistance, and Serenity went and rescued Venus, and
left Mercury in her place. Droid Quietus was sent to assassinate
Mars but it was stopped..." he broke off with a scowl; the twins
leaned forward, curiousity written across both faces. "By Prince
Topaz." Their faces whitened. With rage, shock AND resentment,
Citrine noted. 'Ah,' he thought, smiling inside, 'the poor fools
who have to guess what facial expressions *really* mean!'
"He is no prince, just a bastard!" denounced the redhead,
Jacinth. The male half, Citrine believed. Hyacinth nodded in
fervent agreement. "He may be the old King's son but he will
never sit on the Amethyst Throne!" she hissed. "He and his,"
Jacinth began, "peace faction," snarled Hyacinth, "are traitors!"
they both finished.
Citrine sipped his wine, thoughtfully. "He and Mars unexpectedly
boarded his cruiser and set course for Earth. Loyalist reserve
forces pursued them and forced them into a misjump, thanks to
adjustments made by some allied mechanics." He grinned wickedly.
"However the Oligarchy cannot fathom the reasoning behind this
sudden move on his part, except as a defection attempt. But I
think not."
The twins exchanged a puzzled glance. Citrine turned to look out
the darkened window. He sipped the wine again. He found the
natural pause in conversation useful for keeping the Zircons a
bit off balance, waiting. "I'm sending a droid or two to Crystal
Tokyo to assassinate some cabinet members, and perhaps Serenity,"
he said in a conversational tone.
"That's idiocy!" protested Jacinth. Citrine smiled broadly and
whirled around.
"Really? The woman's just teleported lightyears; she had to take
their shuttle back because she didn't have the strength left to
teleport. If she was ever at a weak moment since coming out of
the crystal shell her bodyguards put around her, it's now.
Further, Mars and Mercury are offworld, and I think we can safely
assume that Venus is gravely injured. That leaves only Jupiter,
possibly Endymion, to do anything to protect her."
The twins exchanged a surprised glance. They were wonderful with
battlefield tactics, but intrigue? They had no mind for it--which
was why they were ultimately followers, not leaders. Like he and
Peri, they had grown up in the poisonous atmosphere of the Royal
Court. But where he and Peri had learned intrigue to varying
degrees as a self-defense, the twins had counted on each other's
support to protect themselves.
"Gather a small hand-picked strike force, about twelve of your
elite shock troops. We will teleport them and the droids to a
point near enough to Crystal Tokyo to allow them to stage the
attack within the next thirty-six hours. Now go, ready them," he
commanded flatly.
Jacinth and Hyacinth nodded as one, and saluted, right fists to
their hearts. They were suitably impressed with Citrine's own
tactical ability. For now.
In flickers of crystalline energy streaked orange, yellow, and
brown, they vanished. "Droid Thanatos, attend me!" barked
Citrine. There was a swirl of dark fog and a skeletel humanoid
figure wearing a hooded robe and bearing a huge scythe appeared.
"Droid Thanatos, ready yourself. I have a mission for you."
[Roll Opening Credits -- see Episode 2]
Crystal Tokyo
City Streets Near the Palace
Evening was falling on Crystal Tokyo, and the capital city of
Earth was coming alive as a shimmering fairyland of lights. Most
of the damage from the Black Moon invasion fleet had been wiped
away by Neo-Queen Serenity's power. What hadn't was being
efficiently fixed the old fashioned way. The people had emerged
from the civil defense shelters to find their city only slightly
the worse for wear, and they were celebrating. Matsuri--
neighborhood festivals--were beginning to fill the streets of a
number of districts. There was a rumor that the mysterious High
Priestess of Crystal Tokyo was walking among them tonight,
spreading blessings of health and fortune as she had for many
days since the attack.
Other parts of the world were locked in desperate struggles with
"stragglers" from the Black Moon forces and neighbors they'd
never quite stopped hating, but in Neo-Queen Serenity's Crystal
Tokyo, all was paradise on Earth.
In the Ichiban district, the native populace was not celebrating
tonight. They had already had their matsuri. Tonight, many of the
residents had gone to other neighborhoods to particpate in their
festivals. The streets were not empty though. Among the
pedestrians was a tall, gaunt man, accompanied by a few more
normal looking men, who might have been taken for his friends.
They'd been walking for well over an hour and were still quite a
way from the center of the city and their target: the Royal
Palace. Their plan called for them to board a bus once they'd
walked through this particular district and ride downtown. Then
the droid would enter the palace and try to take out Serenity;
failing that (which was likely) he'd be going after any other
governmental personnel, perhaps some of her cabinet ministers.
Lord Citrine had been most explicit to them. They were to take
out as many targets of opportunity as possible. This was a test,
and even as elite shock troops, they were expendable. They had
been born, raised, and trained for this day, and they would lay
down their lives without hesitation. Their DNA had even been
altered so that they would pass for Earth humans, should
Serenity's palace have biological scanners in it.
Or so they believed; actually, a week before they'd been UN
peacekeepers stationed in Europe. Peridot picked them up at a
Parisian nightclub while they were on weekend leave; now they
didn't have those memories to bother them anymore.
Meanwhile, in a city park inside the Juban district...
High in the air above a small pond, there was a blast of pink.
The fabric of spacetime turned back in upon itself and then
unfolded, ejecting a woman with long white hair in two ponytails.
She was flung out of the warp and crashed onto the dock with
enough force to crack a few boards. She was already unconsious. A
moment later, if there had been any witnesses, they would have
marveled to see ribbons of pink light twining around her body
briefly before vanishing. For a split second she was naked; then
she was lying there wearing a long white dress in an evening gown
style. If anyone saw her lying there, they would have immediately
thought that she resembled Neo-Queen Serenity in terms of
appearance, dress, and mannerisms. And they would have been
right.
Some time passed, and eventually the woman regained
consciousness. Raising her head off the wooden dock planks, the
first thing that greeted her gaze was the shimmering skyline of
Crystal Tokyo, just above the trees. She drew a long, slow
breath. Earth's gravity was still taxing on her, but she had
grown much stronger since gaining her powers as a senshi.
Just then a couple out for a stroll in the park noticed her. They
immediately started running toward her, the brunette woman with a
look of genuine concern, the extremely tall & well built man with
a less altruistic expression.
He reached the fallen woman's side as she lifted herself up and
gaped at her cleavage. Instantly, a large wooden hammer cracked
into him. He mumbled "mokkori..."as he froze and fell over the
dock.
"Please, ignore my husband!" the woman said in an embarassed
voice.
"KAORI!!!" the man half-yelled, half spluttered as he surfaced,
flailing indignantly. The woman chuckled as she helped the
stranger to her feet. As she got a good look at her, she was
somewhat taken aback. The woman looked AMAZINGLY similar to Neo-
Queen Serenity, right down to the crescent moon mark on her
forehead. She frowned as she wondered what was going on, and who
this woman was. A costume for a festival seemed likely or,
perhaps, yes! That was it! She smiled broadly.
"You're an actress aren't you?" she asked. "You're playing Neo-
Queen Serenity in a movie or play, right? Oh no! Are we on-
camera? Have we interrupted a shoot?" she looked around
furtively.
Her husband had hauled himself out of the water by now. He took
off his white coat and wrung it out, revealing that he was
massively built (and not just by Japanese standards) as well as
armed with a large gun.
"'Neo-Queen *Serenity*?'" the woman asked in a somewhat musical
voice. "Serenity II?"
Kaori blinked. "Well, I don't know, the Neo-Queen has always
called herself that. I don't think anyone ever asked if there was
ANOTHER Queen Serenity." She looked down. The woman was wearing
an ornate gold brooch with a lunar emblem on it, surmounted by
four crescents, one at each quarter point, each one bearing a
precious gem: ruby, sapphire, emerald, and topaz. The gems
seemed to be lighting up. Kaori blinked.
"Why is your brooch flashing?"
"It is the translator acting, teaching me your language," she
replied. "Thank you for coming to my side. I had fallen and been
rendered unconscious. Can you please direct me to this Neo-Queen
Serenity of whom you spoke?"
"Ryo?" Kaori asked hesitantly. Her husband stepped up. Oddly,
he'd dropped into his best manners; she could tell by the look on
his face before he even spoke a word. The only woman she EVER
remembered him treating this seriously right off the bat was Rosa
Martinez. He had to have sensed *something* very special about
this woman. Really special. He'd even met Sailor Jupiter once and
immediately hit on her; not seriously of course, they were
happily married. In fact, just thinking about how happy she was
with Ryo made her blush. Still, if he would hit on one of the
Sailor Senshi but not THIS woman. . . !
Ryo bowed--Bowed!--to the woman and gestured toward the towers at
the center of the city. Night had fallen and they were ablaze
with light now. "The Neo-Queen resides in the palace in the
center of Crystal Tokyo," he said. "We would be happy to escort
you there if you will forgive our modest vehicle."
"You are very kind, and generous, to a stranger," the woman said,
bowing very politely to them. "I would be honored to accept your
assistance."
"Um, I'm Saeba Kaori," Kaori introduced herself, "and this is my
husband Ryo."
"I'm very pleased to meet you, Saeba Kaori-san, Saeba Ryo-sama,"
she said. Ryo blinked at the high honorific she dropped on him
without a second thought. "I am Serenity. " Their faces went
somewhat blank. "The first one," she appended helpfully.
"Oh." Kaori said. She and Ryo exchanged a glance. Her husband
shrugged. "We're pleased to meet you Serenity-sama," she said,
somewhat hesitantly.
Serenity blushed slightly at the reply. "I'm not a queen, only a
princess," she said brightly. "Your '-san' honorific is more than
sufficient; of course you may use '-hime' if you prefer. "
"Oh." Ryo said. He and Kaori exchanged a glance. They proceeded
to lead Princess Serenity to Kaori's silver '98 VW Bug.
Planet Nemesis, Crystal Era
Predecessor Ruins Under the Royal Citadel
Sailor Mercury slid around a highly ornate column, one of a bank
of such filling a narrow room. Lightning arced from the top of it
to the pillars on either side, somewhat like a series of Tesla
coils, all flowing in a circuit. There were several such "banks"
in this room with narrow pathways between them, but this one was
against the wall, almost touching it--but not quite. If she had
been any less slender, she wouldn't have fit. In fact, the
pillars were so closely spaced that they almost touched, and were
thus a perfect screen to hide behind. She was sure that the
Nemesite guards were now looking for her specifcially and she
didn't want to engage in a confrontation--not yet anyway. This
place was too fascinating. And at last she knew the answer to
the big mystery about the Nemesite technology: they'd found it.
She had ducked behind the back row of columns when she heard some
guard voices approaching from a side-corridor. She stood there
silently for several minutes and waited until she could tell by
the the guards' conversation that they had entered the room and
then withdrawn after a cursory examination. She carefully slid
behind the bank of columns, down to the other end and out into
the room. The coast was clear and Sailor Mercury darted down the
hallway which continued on from the room, her visor engaged to
provide her with enhanced vision in the dim lighting. As she
ran, she remembered chasing her husband around the couch in their
apartment just a few weeks before and smiled.
It was reasonable for the senshi to have been exhausted by
powering the shield over Crystal Tokyo for several days. But it
was also true that the years had worn on them all to some extent.
The overexertion was only the straw that broke the camel's back,
as the saying went. Except that Ami, happily married to a man
who'd been right under her nose almost all her life, had found a
renewed zeal for living. The strength of that zest for life, the
power of that love, had renewed her and her powers. She prayed to
whoever watched over sailor senshi that the others found their
own renewal as well. And perhaps Venus, considering her stunning
defeat of Chaos' manifested form, already had.
Her train of thoughts broke off as the hallway she was in
suddenly became a bridge over a huge chasm full of machinery. She
ran halfway across before the size of it all really hit her.
Using her palmtop she estimated the shaft went almost five miles
deep. The power readings were frighteningly large. "Shades of
Votoms and Babylon 5," she muttered to herself and proceeded on.
If she was right, there was technology down here that was
responsible for life support on the planet, food sources, and the
secrets of the crystal starships as well.
The palmtop indicated a flow of energy and resources commensurate
with life support equipment and she followed those readings,
taking a path deeper still.
Crystal Tokyo
City Streets Near the Palace
Kaori pulled the car into a parking space next to the park facing
the side of the palace and shut the motor off. She smiled at
Ryo, slightly nervously and he leaned over and kissed her cheek.
They both got out of the car and Ryo started to help Princess
Serenity out.
"Ryo," asked Kaori. "Look, there's Shinjo Anna. And that man
she's trailing behind, isn't that Finance Minister Umino?"
Ryo had just offered Princess Serenity his hand; he turned his
head and glanced at the side exit of the palace. "Yes, that's
him, though you know he's really the co-head of the Intelligence
Division, " he offhanded added. He narrowed his eyes; there were
several men moving towards the young secret service agent and
her charge and Ryo thought they looked suspicious. "Stay here you
two!" he hissed and quickly strode around the car. "ANNA-CHAN!"
he cried out in his most boyish voice, a look of nearly complete
idiocy on his face. "I hardly see you since you started working
at the Palace Gift Shop!" he bellowed as he started half-running,
half-skipping towards Anna, arms wide.
Anna and Minister Umino both were taken aback. Part of it had to
do with Ryo's shouting, and part of it had to do with the four
men who were suddenly very very close to the minister. The
Nemesites stopped abruptly, their subtle movements suddenly very
noticeable. Anna started to turn back to face her charge; she
was reaching for her gun.
Ryo already, somehow, had his *drawn*, DESPITE the fact that
scant seconds before he'd been waving both hands in the air over
his head like a cheerleader. A helix of dark smoke was swirling
around Droid Thanatos and in just moments his human appearance
was discarded in favor of his "Grim Reaper" form. His brainwashed
lackeys began to draw their own weapons: Nemesite energy pistols.
Ryo's first shot took the pistol out of the hands of the shock
trooper in the lead; Anna's first shot grazed the second
trooper's shoulder and spun him around.
"Minister Umino get DOWN!" she yelled as she tackled Umino Gurio
and knocked him clear of a bolt of fire from the third trooper's
blaster. Ryo unloaded a half-dozen shots directly at the droid
but with impossible speed it began twirling its scythe and
created a barrier to five of them. The sixth bullet entered its
skeletal shoulder and exited again with no apparent effect. Ryo's
eyes widened in shock and then he was suddenly in hand to hand
combat with a Nemesite assassin droid. He delivered a few blows
that would have been telling on a human opponent when suddenly a
streamer flew at him from where its left hand should have been.
It was something like a giant bandage tape, and it struck his
ankle and wrapped around it as he was leaping over a scythe
swing. Ryo crashed to the ground and started to roll but as soon
as he did so the streamer whirled around him tying him up
tightly, everywhere but the face. He looked like a badly-wrapped
mummy. The droid dispassionately raised his scythe over his
head, ignoing the twinkling lights across the street. More
gunfire rang out, striking the haft of his weapon in several
paces and forcing him to adjust his grip on it. He raised it high
above his head for another blow when a shadow moved over him and
a commanding voice rang out across the street plaza.
"STOP! I command this!" The droid looked up to see a figure land
atop the small car directly opposite him. She cast a long shadow
that reached all the way to him--a most distinct shadow thanks to
her hair style.
A shimmering disc of light came flying at him. The droid once
again began to twirl his scythe to block the attack, but *this*
projectile broke the scythe head off the handle and sent it
flying.
Guards were running out of the palace; a few pedestrians further
down the streets were panicking from the gun and blaster fire.
Just then, Minister Umino raised his head and got a woozy look at
the figure who'd just spoken. His heart skipped a beat in shock
and he exclaimed loudly enough for everyone on the street to
hear, "SAILOR MOON! She's come back!!!"
The droid's eyes lit up red within its skeletal face -- a face
marked only by a ruby set in it's forehead and marked in turn by
the Black Moon symbol. It discarded the hooded cloak, revealing a
bandage-wrapped humanoid figure underneath. It ran forward with
blinding speed and thrust out its arms. Five bandage-like
streamers went flying straight at Sailor Moon and she leapt high
into the air to dodge them, landing in the middle of the street
to the side as the droid rushed past her.
She made a reaching gesture with her right hand and there was
suddenly a small but ornate scepter in her hand. The tip of her
scepter began to shine brightly and she flourished it in the air.
The light--and even the image--of the moon seemed to surround
her. "Moon Princess . . . ILLUMINATION!" she called out and
pointed it directly at her target. A stream of moonlight, filled
with glittering stardust and spinning crescent-shaped particles
of light streamed forth, engulfing her target.
The droid stopped in its tracks, paralyzed. Sailor Moon gritted
her teeth and glared at the droid as more and more light blasted
at it. The bandages around it began to dissolve, yet the
creature seemed to be trying to break free from the light that
pinned it.
"VENUS LOVE AND BEAUTY SHOCK!!" cried a voice from the air above
them and a golden heart, scintillating with power came streaking
down and struck the assassin droid, blasting it severely. Above
them, swinging out of a high-up window on her Love Me Chain, was
Sailor Venus.
"ILLUMINATION!" Sailor Moon ground out and a final pulse of
energy swelled forth, striking the droid. The gem in its forehead
glittered and then shattered, and a moment later the entire
contstruct became some glassine substance and then distintigrated
into glittering dust.
Sailor Venus had her chain lower her a bit more then she dropped
the rest of the way, the rush of air lifting her already short
skirt. Somehow, when she landed, Ryo was right beneath and behind
her on the ground (still cocooned in mummy bandages) and peeking
up her skirt.
"EEEEK! HENTAI" she screamed, and summoned the Venus Staff into
her hand. As the weapon was metamorphic, it promptly reshaped
into a more appropriate form: a giant mallet. "Love and beauty
SMACK!" She yelled angrily as she clubbed the peeping private
detective with her weapon.
"Minako," said Sailor Moon hesitantly, but warmly. Sailor Venus
turned to look at who spoke and was suddenly leaning on the
hammer with a sheepish expression instead of beating Ryo with it.
She smiled, a wide grin, and flashed the V-for-me-or-victory
sign.
"Heheh. Princess Serenity. Fancy meeting you here." Sailor Moon
just smiled in reply.
"Lovely..." moaned Ryo as an irritated Kaori began to lean over
him, with a scary look in her eye.
The Site of the Failed Covington Expedition, Greece, Crystal Era
Ares' Prison: The Ruins of the Memorial to Gabrielle of Potedaia
Tomoe Souichi faded into consciousness for just a moment. His
vision was blurry but he could make out dark hair framing a face,
then he felt strong hands. "Hotaru," he gasped and then fell into
darkness again.
Some amount of time later he felt himself awaken gently. He was
lying on cold, flat ground without a blanket. To his left a fire
crackled, giving off enough heat to survive by, but on his right
the night air was quite chilly. He heard footsteps, strong and
measured in their pace, approach. One of the blankets from the
supplies that had remained packed on the jeep was draped over
him. He turned, and immediately noticed the leather boots
standing by his head. They weren't, as best he could see,
Hotaru's boots, but he wasn't sure. He looked up. "Hota . . . who
are you?" he asked.
"My name is Xena. Rest quietly, you took--"
"Xena?" he exclaimed, interrupting her. "Xena the former warlord,
from the scrolls? Were you in there along with that 'Ares'
character??"
Xena paused, and looked down at the old man. She found it amazing
that someone who'd essentially had a building dropped on him
immediately got so excited at the mention of her name. She
wondered if he was a Bard perhaps; that would explain it. . .
"No," she said slowly and consideringly in response to his
question. "But Ares is freed, correct? I felt it and came to help
seal him again. If possible." Tomoe sat up, winced in pain from
the sudden movement and Xena immediately knelt at his side and
pulled the blanket up to his shoulders. "You took some serious
blows; you need to keep warm so shock doesn't set in. This
blanket isn't very thick, but it will have to do."
Tomoe blinked, paused, stopped to feel the blanket and
scrutinized it intently. He frowned. "Without my glasses I can't
see this too clearly, but it should be one of our thermal
blankets--" he broke off as he remembered Xena's temporal origin;
of course she wouldn't know about synthetic fibers!
It was then that Xena's temporal origin really sank in.
"Do you know when you are??" he spluttered. "How on Earth did you
get here?? Or get to 'now' I should say!"
Xena pursed her lips and considered a moment before answering.
"Sailor Pluto." A low whistle escaped him as he leaned back.
"Ah, the mysterious guardian of time; she helped raise my
daughter Hotaru-Hotaru? HOTARU! Where's my daughter?? Is she
still down there??" he suddenly struggled to get back up but Xena
held him down.
"Don't MOVE! You have been seriously injured, you need to lie
still! I didn't find your daughter when I dug into the collapsed
chamber but I will go down and look."
"You've got to find her! She's probably hurt!" Tomoe begged. "I'm
mostly all right, let me come, I'll do anything! Hold a lantern,
whatever. . . !"
Xena considered for a moment. She was unsure if the region was
safe, though if any sort of bandits came to the fire she could be
up here in seconds -- that is, if the old man was awake and could
yell . . . plus he was upset and probably keeping him close at
hand to 'help' would make him feel better. Also, she had a number
of questions for him, chief among them how Ares got loose.
However, a woman pinned under rubble was a higher priority.
She nodded her assent. "Very well, though you really should stay
by the fire," she temporized as Tomoe shook his head. She nodded
and then gently picked the old man up and carried him back to the
ruins. Tomoe realized they were in a small valley behind the
tomb/shrine, and Xena must have walked around it to get to their
former campsite for the blanket.
She carried him to the top of a small hole in the ground against
the hillside, with stairs leading down. "Hotaru!!" yelled Tomoe
as Xena sat him down and arranged his blanket. There was no
response.
Xena returned to the campfire and brought back a half-burning
stick to use as a torch, and handed it to him. She picked up one
of the excavation shovels from the Tomoe's camp around front and
started down the narrow stairs.
"Xena, how did you seal Ares in there?" Professor Tomoe asked her
suddenly.
She paused and half-turned to face him. "I thought you said you
read the scrolls that recounted my story."
"I only glanced at one of the first ones."
"You know of Pluto, and the sailor senshi?"
"Yes, I do. For a time I was posessed by a . . . a dark and evil
force. An alien being I made a pact with to save my daughter's
life. Sailor Moon, Sailor Uranus, and Sailor Neptune fought it
and freed me and my daughter. Then . . . Sailor Moon and Hotaru
confronted the evil and destroyed it."
"Your daughter fought along with Sailor Moon? In *place* of
Uranus and Neptune?" She narrowed her eyes as suspicions flowed
and walked back up the stairs to glare at the scholar. "What were
you and your daughter doing here? You meddled with something and
released Ares didn't you?"
Tomoe hung his head in shame. "It wasn't Hotaru's fault! I should
have read all the scrolls but something seemed to draw her in! I
believe Ares was mentally influencing her, as soon as she picked
up the chakram half--"
"My chakram! No one normal would have been able to break the seal
and free him. You said Pluto took an interest in her, so who is
she? And why were you here?" she asked forcefully. Tomoe didn't
answer immediately, he seemed to be thinking, and half mumbling
'not her fault' as he did so. "Answer me!" she demanded. "I don't
have time to play these games! Ares may have killed the other
senshi and--"
"OTHER senshi?" Xena glared; she didn't like it when she (oh so
rarely) let something slip.
"I am a senshi. As is your daughter, correct?" Professor Tomoe
glumly nodded.
"She was. She and the Outer Senshi were stripped of their powers
after a fight with a Chaos-posessed Sailor Galaxia."
"Galaxia? Chaos?" Xena stumbled over the unfamiliar names as
realization dawned. "Outer... GODS! Your daughter was Sailor
Saturn wasn't she??"
"Yes."
"Somehow she lost her powers and was drawn here, to the last
resonance of the Saturn power on Earth. That's why. . . " Xena
trailed off in thought as Tomoe made his own connections.
"Galaxia broke the Silence Glaive, then she and the other Outer
Senshi lost their powers-the others were drawing strength from
her at the time and apparently they lost their powers as some
form of 'backlash.' Earth was recently attacked by forces from
planet Nemesis. Hotaru felt helpless, and completely useless. But
then, she started to sense an echo and was drawn here. And that's
what happens at the end of the scrolls, you became Sailor Saturn
and sealed Ares!"
Xena's attention was drawn back to him. "Oh, that, yes,
basically" she answered him in an amazingly nonchalant tone of
voice. (The same voice she used when people walked up to her and
said, "Xena, you're gravely wounded!" "Oh, right. I'll have to
get that taken care of before I bleed to death.") She turned
around and thoughtfully headed back down into the ruins. "Where
was she in relation to you when the ceiling fell?" she called
back to Professor Tomoe. He answered her question and described
what they had seen and heard.
Some time later, Xena re-emerged from the hole holding her
restored chakram. She checked it in the torchlight and it
appeared whole, so she hung it on her belt hook. "I'm sorry,
there's no sign of her. Perhaps she recovered and went for help
to dig you out. A large chunk of the ceiling was atop you. If
some smaller rubble hadn't surrounded your body and acted like
supports, you would have been quite literally flattened."
Tomoe's face crumbled. Xena pursed her lips and looked away. She
was unsure of this man. She was an excellent judge of character
but she couldn't quite make up her mind about him. Part of him
seemed sincere and considering the chain of events he described,
it might not really be his fault. Yet, if he had come at this
ignorantly and arrogantly it was a different story.
"I see," he said. He sat there silently for a few minutes. "You
should go to Crystal Tokyo and inform Neo-Queen Serenity what has
happened. Who she's going to fight. That has to take precedence
or the loss of life could be staggering. His power . . . tell her
his power at least rivals Master Pharoah Ninety. She'll
understand the threat level."
"How can I do this? Where is Crystal Tokyo?"
"It's in Japan."
"I've never been to the Nipponese islands. I can't teleport out
of the form of Sailor Saturn anyway."
"So, transform and-"
"I can't," Xena stated coldly. "When I arrived I was Saturn. The
Saturn force as it exists in this era tried to focus itself
through me. I *cannot* handle having double the power of Saturn
in me, even if my body could handle the strain I could never keep
it in check. I barely dropped out of my transformation in time as
it was. Your daughter's power has not been destroyed, merely
driven out of her. " Xena paused to consider. What had been
bothering her about the man finally struck her: he was self-
hating. Probably the result of his time serving the 'dark force'
he'd mentioned. An almost predatory grin came to her lips. Well,
if there was one thing she was good at as a counselor, it was
getting over a dark past. And then it struck her. The man hadn't
said it but he had implied that his daughter had been sucked into
serving darkness as well. She shuddered at the thought of the
Saturn power serving evil. But if the daughter followed her
father's example, and if she felt she was unworthy of the power .
. . she remembered his description of the moments just before
Ares announced himself. Yes, that must be it. Hotaru rejected the
Saturn power subconsiously. That created the power void. In
order to be able to restore the balance and become Sailor Saturn
again she was going to have to help this girl face her inner
demons. She frowned. This was not going to be easy.
"We have to find your daughter," Xena said. "She's the key to
everything. We can't stop Ares without her." Tomoe nodded.
On Sancta Island, Ares caught the very end of the exchange as he
gazed into a roaring fire in the middle of the room and scryed
upon them.
"So Xena, not only do you live, you have a plan to stop me. Well,
let's just see about stopping that plan before it starts by
removing the key element. Peridot --"
"Yes, M'lord Ares?" purred Peridot as she walked up to him and
pressed against his side, wrapping her arms around his chest and
resting her head on his shoulder. "This woman is my archenemy.
She's travelled through time to stop me. Alone, she's no threat;
but if she finds that man's daughter they might be able to stop
me. POSSIBLY. Therefore, you will have your people begin
searching for the daughter.
In the flames, Xena had started looking around as if she heard
something. Tomoe was waving his arms and shouting something, but
mostly he looked confused. Xena looked straight out of the
scrying fire and violet light flashed from her eyes. The image
vanished.
"Damn her," said Ares. "She sensed my scrying. But too late. We
have her secret and I know what the girl looks like." He gestured
and a three dimensional image of Hotaru appeared. "This girl.
She is the key. Find her." Peri smiled.
"Of course my lord Ares, it shall be as you desire."
Peri thought to herself, "He is so good looking! I hope he sleeps
with me soon!" as Ares smiled. She turned away and departed the
throne room of the Halls of War, thinking to herself, very
quietly and behind mental shields created in part with her powers
of telepathic coercion, "What a vain and self-important man this
so-called 'god' is! We will find this girl for him, use his power
to conquer Earth, and then deal with him using her. The fool. He
gave me the perfect weapon to use against him."
Back in the main room, Ares seemed to be staring intently into
the flames but he was actually listening. Listening to a voice
whispering inside his mind.
End of Episode Four
[End Credits Roll - See Episode 3]
Next time, on Mythic Sailor Moon:
Echoes From the Past! The Mythical Warriors Return!
Image: On a blasted hillside, Callisto, clad in her black leather
armor, turns to face the screen, fire gathering to her hands
and a snarl coming to her face.
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