Black Moon - Eclipse of the Sun Part II

Sailor Sun's eyes blinked, unseeing. Images and feelings
washed over and through her psyche, unleashed by the
flickering lights. She just couldn't deal with it. It was
too much too quickly. And so she was just a passenger on
this ride of life.

"Ranma, please wake up!" Sailor Io urged, shaking the
smaller girl.

But Ranma, or Sailor Sun, wasn't there. Her mind was
centuries away, in a far more idyllic time.

-

Gwyn ran home from the village square and into the yard
where she and her family lived. The chickens clucked and ran
frantically away from the exuberant ten year old. "Momma,
poppa! Where are you?" the little red haired girl asked
loudly.

Her mother answered from inside the house, "In here dear.
Lunch is almost ready. So hurry up and ring the bell, and
get your father and brother!"

Gwyn laughed as ran up the short ladder and to the back
porch. Hanging from the porch was a large bell, made of
brightly polished brass. She grabbed the clapper rope, and
swung it vigorously, making a loud ringing sound that could
be heard for quite a distance. Gwyn shaded her eyes and
looked over the fields that they owned, looking for her
father. He was a serious sort, not given to many fancies.
But he loved working with his hands, and his farming. Almost
as much as he did his family.

She spotted him walking in from the farthest fields,
dragging in her older brother, Sean. He was only a year or
so older than her, but he had been helping doing the harder
work of the farm for a long time. Son mirrored father, both
had dark short cropped hair. The sun shown brightly behind
them, soon to be eclipsed by the Earth as the Sun made its
way through the majestic sky.

Soon they were both back and everyone was sitting at the
table. A quick prayer to God, and they commenced eating.
Sean poked Gwyn in the ribs, and asked, "So what have you
been doing today, squirt?"

Gwyn glared back at him, and replied, "I've been helping
mother. She had me go and see if those new crystals from
Jupiter where in today." She switched her seating to look at
her mother. "They should be here tomorrow, Momma. The
traders were held up on the trail by bandits. But they beat
them off I heard. They're up at Imbrium Shallows."

"So, only a day or so away, hmm. That means that I won't be
able to finish the Solaris Tempus before the mid-spring
rites. Ah well, we'll have to wait. It's only three more
months more any ways. It is too bad that the council is too
'traditional' to wait a day or so," Lyorna muttered to
herself.

"Now, now dear. This is much better than the highlands where
you were born. At least they let you continue your studies
without burning you for a witch," their father said gently.

"There's nothing unnatural with geomancy, Geoff. And
besides, I followed the older teachings. But I understand.
When the Court of Earth took you and I in, and offered us a
safe haven where we wouldn't persecuted, it was one of the
happiest days of my life," Lyorna replied.

"Even if they won't let you do very much with it?" Geoff
teased, in a rare moment of mirth.

"You know that the geomancy of the moon is the purview of
the Royalty. It has required some creative thinking on my
part to continue my research out here on the frontier of the
Moon," she replied with a grin. "And Gwyn is becoming quite
adept at helping me. She's quite the little scholar and
might even do better than me at the studies."

"Momma! You're going to embarrass me!" Gwyn said blushing.

"If Gwyn doesn't get in any more fights that is," Sean piped
up.

"W-what are you talking about?" Gwyn replied, her voice
cracking suddenly.

"Ha! I bet you got in another fight today, didn't you?" Sean
crowed loudly. He had thought he saw a bruise on her arm.

"Gwyn! You didn't did you?" Lyorna said, looking at her
youngest.

"No! Well, they started it! I just was defending you mother.
Marco and Dueven where talking dirt about you again, and
saying that you shouldn't be wasting so much money," Gwyn
replied hotly.

"Angwyn, you shouldn't be picking fights with those boys. Or
is there more to this story than what you've said, young
lady?" Her mother's stern glare permitted no argument.

"I, uh, they started to make fun of me, saying I was more of
a boy than a girl." Gwyn was blushing quite a bit by know.

"Oh, Gwyn. You'll be as pretty as the Senshi you know.
Prettier maybe. You just ignore those boys. Pretty soon
they'll be asking you to go with them to the dances," Lyorna
sighed at her daughter's antics. This wasn't the first time.
Or most likely the last time.

"Oh, momma, you know I'm never going to be that pretty. I'm
too tall, and I've got big feet."

"Enough of that, daughter. You still have your farm chores
to do this afternoon. After that you can help me prepare for
the festival by cooking with me." Lyorna glared at Angwyn.

"That is correct. No daughter of mine is going to miss out
on the festival because she has a bad attitude," Geoff said
suddenly.

Gwyn quailed. When her father joined her mother, the
conversation was over. And when he threatened, you did as
you were told, or he would follow through. She knew that he
loved her dearly, but it was a stern sort of love.

-

The next morning, the Weavers came into town carrying their
portion of the feast. The main square was decorated gaily,
with streamers and banners. The statue of Queen Serenity was
polished so that it shone. It wasn't very big (barely larger
than life), but it was raised high on it pedestal. The
crystals that were part of the pedestal sparkled brightly.
As well they should, for they were lifeblood of a small
village out on edge of the airless Moon Kingdom.

Each major holiday, they held a life feast ceremony. Lyorna
always said it was the hardest partying that she had ever
seen. For a full day, the crystals that kept the air in, and
the cold of nothingness out were bathed in the life force
energy of the entire town, and the surrounding farms people.
Not only did they provide air, but also weather, and water.

It was quite tiring, so nobody did much except talk and eat,
and play games that didn't require much movement. Cards and
dice were quite popular, but other games existed too.
Children who weren't old enough were not allowed to join in.
It was feared that it might stunt their growth. Sean still
wasn't quite old enough, but in a few years he would be able
to join in.

The parent sent their children to the edge of the square and
then started making rings around the statue. Slowly,
solemnly the parents started chanting the words of power
that would infuse the statue with the power it needed. Young
children scampered gleefully, playing games of catch and
tag. The slightly older ones talked and played more adult
games. The boy's most popular sport was, of course,
wrestling.

Gwyn sat to one side, ignoring the girls that talked of
nothings, and planned for when they were finally old enough
to be considered adults. She'd heard it often enough, and
really didn't feel like being made fun of for being nearly
as tall as a boy, and not very girlish. So she didn't like
to play with dolls, was that a crime?

She wandered out of the village square, and started to kick
a pebble down the street. In front of the Mayor's house, she
decided to be daring and climb the one tree that none of the
other children dared to. It was a beautiful apple tree that
the whipcord thin mayor guarded from being hurt. And he used
his switch on anyone caught climbing it. With practiced
grace, she was soon in the top branches. "Ha, that'll show
Sean. I'll even get away clean," Gwyn said gleefully to
herself.

She shaded her hands, looking to the road to the south. She
thought that she could see some wagons over the houses. Gwyn
smiled in anticipation. Her mother's last crystals were on
that wagon. She had been working for so long on her ideas,
and she almost had tangible proof. That would show the mayor
and those stuffy town council.

Her attention was drawn abruptly to a rooftop only a dozen
feet away. And the two cloaked up figures standing just
behind the roofs edge, behind a large chimney. They hadn't
been there a moment before.

"They look like they are suitably distracted, your Majesty.
Shall I begin?" a male voice said.

"Yes. This cloying ritual to Serenity grates on my ears.
Begin the attack. Bring me those crystals, so that I have
the power that I need," the regal but high-pitched female
answered.

He didn't answer, but raised his hands and muttering quickly
under his breath, released streams of energy that
disappeared from view. Gwyn heard cries of surprise that
turned to fear. And then the screaming started. Horrible
screaming.

The two figures moved to a different roof, further away.
Angwyn shuddered, and shimmied down the tree, scraping her
knee. She took a few small steps toward the town square,
when she managed to get a glimpse of the devastation being
wreaked upon the hapless towns people. Her face paled as she
saw everyone collapsing, looking drained and tired. A large
fiendish looking creature cackled horribly over the bodies.
She took off running, sobbing as she ran for her life.

The Earth eclipsed the Sun, putting the entire town into
shadow. Soon all was dark. Torches and lamps lay unlit,
their owner's laying just a few feet away, uncaring anymore
about such small things as light and darkness.

-

The village lay quiet and dormant. In the village square,
dark shapes lay on the ground. Eyes stared blankly into the
air and the stars that were starting to shine. A light
suddenly appeared, spreading to cover the area. When it
faded, the only illumination was the Earth, hanging in the
sky to the south.

"It's worse than I thought," the golden haired women in the
white gown said, shifting her gaze across the fallen people.
She gripped her staff tightly, wishing she had some sort of
target to vent her anger on. Several of her soldiers spread
out to secure the area for the Queen and her bodyguards.

"Caravans, and small farms before. Now an entire village.
But still not often. They only attack maybe once a year.
We'll be spreading ourselves very thin to try and stop these
random attacks, your majesty," another figure with whitish
hair said, adjusting her dress, and looking very carefully
for any signs of an ambush. It would eventually come to that
of course. It was all directed at the queen.

"I know Venus. But we must do what we can. No survivors?"
Queen Serenity asked her lead body guard. She gazed down at
the broken statue, shuddering slightly.

Venus glanced at her friend and fellow Senshi, Jupiter.
Jupiter started to chant slowly, and the wind picked up. For
a few tense minutes, nothing happened. Jupiter opened her
mouth to respond directly to Queen Serenity, when a last
gust blew in. Her gaze jerked as if shot. "A survivor?
Finally someone who might know who did this. Follow me your
majesty." And with that she led the queen and her bodyguards
quickly down the road.

At the order of the Queen, the soldiers stayed. They would
start to deal with the bodies.

They quickly left the village proper. Mercury glanced around
nervously. "Are you sure, Jupiter? The air here is already
thin and leaking out into the void." Her nervous movements
swished her long black hair around. Mercury was always a
nervous and fussy individual.

Jupiter nodded, frowning slightly. "I'm fairly positive. But
we ARE having to use magic to sustain ourselves," she said,
looking around carefully. Air spirits were fairly simple.
They could be tricked easily enough.

"Just keep your eyes open," Mars said, flicking her short
brown hair behind her back.

Soon they came to a small farm. It had a small barn off to
the side, and a strange tower like building attached to the
house. The air was almost nonexistent by this time. They
fanned out, looking for the survivor. Chickens lay on the
ground, as did a horse near the barn. Mars headed into the
house, while Jupiter and Venus went into the barn. Mercury
stayed near Serenity, keeping a watchful eye out for
ambushes.

Mars waved to them, drawing Serenity and Mercury. They
entered the house quietly. Mars pointed towards the back of
the small cottage. They saw movement from behind the bed. A
flash of red, quickly hidden.

"It's a young girl." Mars gestured at the hidden figure. She
tried to lure her out to no avail with soothing gestures and
cooing sounds.

Slowly a small tear stained face framed in red hair showed
itself. Very carefully, she backed away clutching at
something. Gwyn looked around frantically for an escape,
until she saw the pretty lady in white.

"The Queen!" Gwyn said in relief, just before fainting. She
collapsed limply.

Mars caught her, and carefully lowered her to the ground.

-

Gwyn woke up to the sight of Queen Serenity sitting regally
on one of the kitchen table chars. "Good, you're awake
finally. What are you called dear?"

"I'm Gwyn, um, Angwyn Weaver." Gwyn just stared at the Queen
and then the other Senshi. She would never be that pretty.
She clutched the small box to her chest.

"Gwyn, did you see who did this?" Queen Serenity asked
intently.

"Not really. They were wearing cloaks. One sounded like a
man, the other was a women though," Gwyn replied. Her eyes
were puffy and red, anger radiating from her quite clearly.

"Did they say any names? Or something about where they are
from?"

"No. Wait, the man called the women 'her majesty'," Gwyn
said excitedly. Her face became an angry mask. "Are you
going to find them and punish them?" Her eyes burned coldly.

Shock covered their faces. A person of royalty? The rumors
that the Court of Earth was behind these attacks no longer
looked quite so insane.

Queen Serenity looked sternly at the young girl. "Yes, we
will. But that is not the concern of young girls. Do you
have any family child?"

Anguish covered the young girls face. "No, they're all gone.
Everyone was at the festival. And because I wasn't with
them, they're all dead. And it's all my fault."

Queen Serenity gathered the small child to her, and held her
tight. "No, dear little one. It wasn't your fault. It was
the bad man's fault. And he'll be brought to justice, never
you fear." She rocked the small girl for a short while. "You
are under my protection now, so he can't hurt you."

"How did the girl survive, you Majesty? The air is all
gone!" Venus said quietly. But not quietly enough to escape
the hearing of Gwyn.

Gwyn pulled back from Queen Serenity, and glared at the
silver haired Senshi. "I used my mothers crystal to weave an
air ward," Gwyn said angrily.

"You did? And where did a little girl like you get a crystal
that could focus energy like that?" Venus replied, staring
coolly at the crying little girl.

"It was one of the last crystals that Momma was needing to
finish her Solaris Tempus. And it's mine now!" the little
girl declared, holding the box with the precious crystals
close.

"Of course, Gwyn. Could you show us this . . . . Solaris
Tempus?" Queen Serenity asked quietly.

"You want to see it? Really? Momma said that you would
someday." And with that, Gwyn trotted over to the other door
of the cottage, and opened it, and led them in to the tower.
The tower was filled with ropes and canvas. In the dark
gloom you couldn't see much.

Gwyn walked up to one of the walls, and touched a small
wire, and focused for just a second. At her touch, small
crystal imbedded in the wall started to glow. Mars stared in
awe at all of the crystals. "There's a small fortune here!"

"No, These are just the culls. Some are burning out all of
the time," Gwyn said loudly behind some of the canvass.

Jupiter looked closely at one of the flickering crystals.
"She's right. These are flawed crystals, hardly worth a
copper penny. I wouldn't have thought that you could get
light from them, much less this amount of light." Could it
be the pattern that they were glued to the wall? Or was it
the inlay of wire?

Gwyn came back around the canvass, and started writing on
the slate board by the door. "All done!" Gwyn then walked
over to some ropes tied to the wall. She struggled for a
moment, and then finally released them, pulling the canvass
roof back.

Gwyn looked back to the slate board. "But where to send it?
It was supposed to go to the statue in the main square."

"Why were you going to send this at the statue, child?"
Jupiter asked quietly.

"It's supposed to charge the crystals there so that we
didn't have to do the ceremonies any more. No more getting
tired on festival days!" Gwyn said proudly.

Jupiter blinked once. She could do that personally, as could
the other Senshi and the Queen of course. But a device?
"Send it there anyways. We'll be able to see what happens."

Gwyn shrugged, and then carefully started the pulleys and
levers that would raise the Solaris Tempus into position. It
telescoped up on what looked to be a mast, rising high above
the tower. More ropes pulled the petals into position. Soon
all five were pulled back, reveling a sparkling array of
crystals sewn to the inside surface of the `flower'
arrangement.

Gwyn carefully adjusted the angle, checking it carefully
against some notes on the slate. Then she sat down and took
an apple out of her pocket and started to eat it.

"That's it?" Mercury asked. "More imperfect crystals?" She
stared at the little girl.

Jupiter stared upwards, trying to fathom the purpose of the
arrangement. She squinted, looking as closely as she could.
"I don't think those crystals are imperfect." She strained
her senses, and suddenly gasped. That couldn't be right.
Where was the power coming from?

Before she could say anything, lights flickered into
existence. First one, and then another. Lines of force grew
between different crystals, and then outward. Soon a perfect
sphere was formed, held carefully by the flower. Lines of
light covered the sphere, reminding the mystically bent
Jupiter of the Geomancy lines Earth.

The sphere suddenly loosed a light towards the village
square. Far off in the village square, the soldiers were
startled, and drew their weapons as a beam of light struck
the fallen statue of Queen Serenity. The air sparkled, and
where the crystals would have been, lights flickered into
existence. Between those lights a convoluted pattern grew.

Back at the farm, Gwyn laughed and then ran outside,
followed more sedately by the Queen and her Senshi. A
shocking sight arose before them. A blue hemisphere was
growing over the village, pushing back the night of the
void. Soon the hemisphere encompassed them, bringing with it
a soft breeze.

"That was amazing!" Mars spoke, looking over the replenished
land.

"Jupiter, exactly what did happen?" Queen Serenity asked.

"Gwyn's mother harnessed the sun to provide the life
necessary to create the air envelope. I guess that you could
make it self-sustaining, eventually. It looked expensive
though. There are hundreds of crystals there. A small
fortune, missed by our enemy," Jupiter said slowly. No one
had ever harnessed the Sun in such a way before.

The Solaris Tempus sparked suddenly, catching fire. In
moments it was consumed. But still the crystals floated
there, gaining power from the Sun. Jupiter realized the only
way to break the crystals loose would be when the sun went
down, and released them from its fiery embrace.

"I think I must declare this a royal secret. If this were to
fall into enemy hands, it could be quite devastating." The
young queen stared at the glowing sphere, trying to gauge
what changes it brought.

"And the girl?" Venus asked suddenly.

"She is under our protection and a ward of the state.
Besides, I think she is the only one who knows how to use
and make this silly contraption," Queen Serenity said,
smiling at the young girl who was watching them. "Come
along, Angwyn Weaver."

-

Sailors Sun's eyes flicked back and forth, following the
lights that only she saw.

"Chizuko, what can we do?" Sailor Io asked the coppery bird
of prey.

"I don't know. How did I get back in the stasis, and what
did the mistress do?" Chizuko asked, hopping from one foot
to another. She preened her feathers.

"She remembered another way to free you, and then was struck
by these lights and collapsed," Sailor Io said, cradling the
red head in her lap.

"Lights? Perhaps she turned on the information recorder!
That uses subliminal lights and messages to give her
complicated mathematics information. She was able to train
herself to remember vast amounts of information that way
very quickly," Chizuko said, twisting her head to look at
the device in question.

"But why doesn't she wake up?" Sailor Io asked.

"I do not know. Usually she came out of the trances very
quickly."

Sailor Sun continued to dream, hearing voices that beckoned
her to return. But the past wouldn't let her go now that it
had its claws in her.

-

Angwyn missed her friends. But they had lives that they
needed to deal with. Senshi Jupiter, or Browein to her
friends, hadn't been able to visit since the birth of her
first daughter and heir. Angwyn didn't begrudge her that,
but did miss one of the few people that treated her as a
friend.

And even though she had an open invite to visit the castle,
Gwyn just didn't feel comfortable in the presence of so much
nobility. So she worked at her own tower a small distance
away from the palace.

The Solaris Tempus did work, but was far too expensive to
put in every small village. So Gwyn continued to improve her
mother's work. She had never forgotten the screams that
heralded the death of her family. Unbeknownst to anyone, she
had embarked on a plan of bloody revenge. But for that plan
to work, she would have to have more power. Power enough to
take on a skilled and foul mage who summoned fiends to do
his bidding. A powerful sorcerer indeed. She would use the
power that her mother had started to tap into, to be HER
revenge.

Gwyn had grown to be a good-looking girl of seventeen (but
never as pretty as the Senshi in her mind!) She wore a gown
that in some way mirrored the gowns of the Senshi, but not
so close to break any laws. It was a tribute to the friends
that had saved her life seven years ago.

Her hands glided along the smooth wood of her latest
creation. Gwyn had decided a long time ago that she just
couldn't do her best work in the shadows of any planets. So
she had set about creating a breathtaking ship, made of
lustrous wood, and white sails. Built not to sail the waters
of Earth, but the sky. Carefully woven into the sails were
the same crystals from the original Solaris Tempus. In honor
of her mother, she had named the new ship, the Solaris. When
the Sun rose, she would be able to rise into the air, and
continue her experiments.

 "Milady? Are you in there, Milady Angwyn?" a bass toned
voice rang out.

Gwyn started, and quickly recovered the ship. "Yes I am! Who
is it?"

"It is Leory, sent by the Queen to invite you to court to
witness the first public appearance of her daughter. She's
saved you a special place," Leory replied jocularly.

"Her Majesty is too kind. I don't deserve such an exalted
place," Gwyn said as she entered the cottage from her tower.

"She gave me strict instructions to see that you are
escorted to the palace promptly."

"Very well, let me clean up, and I'll be with you shortly."
Gwyn fumed for a minute, and was tempted to just leave, but
the queen wouldn't stand for that. Her mother's work was
still a state secret. Only Angwyn, Browein, and the
mysterious Sailor Pluto had any records of it. And the only
reason she was let free to experiment was because she was
loyal to the queen.

Soon they were walking quickly towards the palace that
gleamed in the Earthlight.

-

Gwyn fretted quietly in a corner of the main hall. This was
terribly tedious. Almost all of the nobility had turned out
to pay respect for the newborn princess. Even many from the
hidden Court of Earth. She pondered that concept. Of course
she knew of the hidden magical kingdoms, and the
interrelated nobility that was known as the Court of Earth.
She even knew of the part that was of the mundane nobility
of Earth. It was said that their royalty was descended from
lost Atlantis.

Living as near the palace as she did, she of course knew
almost all of their royalty. The King Endil and Queen
Layenne, with their eldest boy in tow. What was his name?
Endymion, yes that was it. He was sturdy lad of six or so,
and looked quite precious as he tried to look as stern as
his father.

The Queen swept into the room, carrying a small toddler.
"Greeting and salutations, people of magic. I bid to you a
good eve, and good omens. Welcome to our court my beautiful
daughter, who I have named Serenity, as is the custom of my
kingdom."

With that the Queen raised her young girl up so that as many
could see it would. "WELL MET, YOUNG PRINCESS!" thunderous
voices rang out from all, even Gwyn to her own surprise.
Cheering followed.

"Let the feasting begin!"

Gwyn couldn't be certain, but she was struck profoundly by
the little princess. What sort of premonition could be
wrapped around such a small and feeble child? And what would
it have to do with a peasant such as herself?

-

Gwyn was wandering during the party, away into the darkened
halls of the palace. She heard voices from around the
corner, as she sought out a breath of fresh air.

"I don't think it would be wise you majesty. To flat out
refuse the match would be considered a grievous insult," the
ancient Venus said.

"I will not betroth my only child to the Court of Earth. Not
after what they have done, attacking and pillaging as they
want, to take the life and souls of my people for their
evil. I will not have it," Queen Serenity said hotly.

"But Serenity! Prince Endymion had a foretelling of him and
little Serenity. And he wasn't the only one. I too saw them
together. It is their destiny," replied the matriarch of
Venus.

"And I am to let my daughter to be swayed to evil? I will
fight them to the last of my breath, and the last breath of
my soldiers," Serenity responded.

"You know that not all of the Court of Earth is against us!"
Venus said.

"So I am to ignore their attacks on me and my family?"
Serenity said, turning from her trusted advisor. "They
killed my husband. They've threatened all of us, and wish to
destroy us for those creatures of the darkness that they
serve."

"No, but I thought you were better than that, to judge them
all on the actions of a few rebels."

"That is far enough, Sleone. You may be my trusted advisor,
but even you may not speak to me in such a tone." A deep
breath of air is taken in. "You will leave my court, only to
return when you have pondered your errors."

A pause in the conversation stretched out for a painfully
long time. "As you wish, your majesty." Venus bowed deeply,
and then departed. She was gone before she could hear the
soft sobbing of the Queen.

Gwyn turned quietly to leave, troubled and shaken. So that
was why was the Queen so against the match. Angwyn had to
agree with Sleone, it was their destiny. Even Gwyn had felt
it. And destiny was not something to be trifled with. Even
if you had good reasons.

But that still didn't get rid of the terrible feeling of
danger or impending dooms that she felt. It contrasted so
terribly with the sense of joy and peace that she also felt.

Gwyn stopped and paused for a second. Could the queen also
feel this conflicting fate? That could also explain her
behavior.

-

Sailor Sun's eyes twitched for just a second. She could see
Sailor Io's worried face again, hovering over her. Chizuko
waddled into view. Ranma could hear the worried voices, but
it was like from a great distance, or from under water. Or
both? Coppery light sparkled off the bird, sending the
bedazzled mind down another path of memory. A pained whimper
managed to escape the girl's throat before she was sucked
back into the past.

-

Angwyn sat up, blinking to relieve the dryness of her eyes.
She focussed a minute, recalling the masses of mathematical
formulae that she had just finished memorizing. All there,
and ready for use. She sat up from the couch, and looked
around. She walked over to her slate, and with a cloth,
started to erase the formula that was written there. The new
secrets that she was unveiling would be hers alone. With
them locked in her mind, there were no books to be stolen,
and no secrets that could be used against her or her
precious queen.

Gwyn's fingers traced a scar on her neck, from where an
assassin had tried to kill her. It had been months since
then, but still she ached to find the cloaked man who had
tried to kill her and take her secrets. She shook her head,
and walked into the back room of her tower, and tied on a
leather apron over her tunic and pants. A few minutes at the
bellows, and she had the forge up to full intensity.  She
carefully put in more fuel for the fire, and then proceeded
to her work.

Sparks flew from her hammer, spraying across the anvil.
Muttered phrases, almost under her breath continued to flow
from her. Sunlight carefully focussed on the anvil glinted
merrily. She worked ceaselessly for hours, until her voice
was horse, and she could barely raise her arms to beat the
blade into shape.

Carefully she turned the blade over, and with a quick
movement, plunged it into a vat of chilled water. She pulled
it out after a few minutes, and then laid it back on the
anvil. She brought out a special rock, and started to polish
and sharpen it in careful strokes.

-

Gwyn awoke with a start, looking around the forge. The light
had failed, and her back hurt. She tried to think back to
when she had fallen asleep. She couldn't remember. A cold
weight pressed against her leg, reminding her of her labors.
Carefully she raised herself up, holding her new sword. It
had every last bit her secrets, forged from a meteorite that
had been bathed in sunlight for ages, forged on her forge
and imbued with the Sun's power.

She took a few minutes to attach the hilt and cross guard to
the sword, and then walked away from her forge. After
bathing and changing into a more inconspicuous clothing (a
nice, nondescript dress), she walked aboard the Solaris. The
ship had performed admirably three years ago, and she had
used it to good effect. And now she would use it on the
first leg of her path of retribution.

With practiced movements, she was soon airborne, and
floating over the palace. Her little ship raised higher into
the air, soon passing the ships of the line that defended
the Moon Kingdom from attack. One of them broke away for a
minute to follow her, but turned back quickly, satisfied
that she was no threat.

Sails unfurled from the front of the ship, in a petal like
arrangement. Soon the sails picked up the solar winds,
pushing her faster and faster. All the while that same wind
was also absorbed into the crystals on those sails,
protecting her from the airless void, and saving the power
till later. When it would again be needed to rise again into
the sky.

-

A cloaked woman walked quickly through the darkened streets,
lit only by the occasional lantern in front of inns and
other public places. The figure paused, looking at the sign.
Quickly she pushed her way in, blinking back the biting
smoke. Glancing quickly around, she spotted the man she had
come so far to see.

She walked over the fat man sitting in the darkest corner.
"Louie. You have the information that I requested?" Angwyn
asked flatly in French. Her voice carried an unmistakably
foreign accent, but no one here would be able to place it.
Their were not many who traveled from the Moon to Earth
these days.

"Yes, mysterious lady, I do. Though asking about such dark
people is not cheap work," Louie responded likewise. "I
found this necromancer that you were searching for. Would
you believe that he is in the service to the new king? And
here I thought King Hugh was a brighter man than his
predecessor," the Frenchman replied, trying to see as much
as he could of the foreigner.

"Do you know where he is right now?" Angwyn asked, pulling
the cloak around her just a bit more. She felt distinctly
uncomfortable under this man's eyes.

"Not so quickly, girl. There is a matter of payment first,"
Louie said, brushing his black hair back. He had usually
been in a better position by this part of the negotiation.

A small bag flew into his hastily raised hands. "Twenty five
coins, pure gold, just as you asked."

"If you do not mind, my little flower, I'll check it just to
be sure," Louie replied. He quickly checked the bag, and
what was in it. Gold coins, just as promised. He frowned
slightly upon noticing the female face on one side of the
coin, the other pock marked in an odd pattern. That was an
odd thing. Only kings put their print on coins.

"It is satisfactory?" Angwyn asked.

"Oh, yes. Yes!" he replied. He rose to his feet, and
beckoned her to follow. Soon they were back on the streets
of Paris. They walked for a while, avoiding the thugs and
scoundrels that preyed on the weak. Soon they came to a nice
manor, with a high wall.

"Here we are, madam. The residence of Reginald Lafayette,
`advisor' to the king. Though more likely, he is the king's
court wizard. I have heard that he stargazes on the
evenings, in his private garden on the other side of this
very wall," Louie said, bobbing a little bit. He was about
to turn around and leave.

"Not so quick, Louie. You are going to come with me until I
am satisfied that he is the one I want, and not one second
less." She gestured at the wall, indicating that he should
climb.

Louie stared at her for one second in disguised hatred, and
then scrambled over the wall. He was quickly followed by
Angwyn. They both crouched low behind bushes, and scampered
closer to the villa. There sitting in the middle of the
garden sat a blonde haired man with finely chiseled
features, marred only by his hooked nose.

Reginald looked out across his garden, and then spoke. "You
can come out, assassin of the Moon Court. I swear to you
that if you do not struggle, I will not extend you pain,
much." He stood casually, facing the direction of his
attackers.

A cold pit formed in Angwyn's stomach, and then a fire
rekindled itself in her heart. She remembered that voice.
The man who summoned the fiends that slew her family. A red
haze clouded her mind, and she strode out to meet him. Her
new sword appeared in her hand, as her other hand removed
her cloak. "Reginald Lafayette, for murdering my family, you
shall not see another morning's dawn," Angwyn snarled.

Reginald watched as the young women walked out of the
darkened recesses, sword in hand. For just a second he
thought her one of the Senshi that used a sword, and then
realized she was none of them that he knew. He would
recognize someone with that shade of red hair. He scowled,
and then snapped his fingers. He had been so sure that this
was one of Serenity's puppets. "Capture her, so that I may
interrogate her. Thank you Louie. Your payment awaits you at
your home."

Black mist swirled around three statues, leaving them
stained and blotchy. Red eyes glowed as the three ancient
carvings of warriors came to life, striding the ground with
a loud drumming. Angwyn snarled, and raised her sword.
"Searing Plasma Blast!" she cried out, sending a wave of
heat and light to strike the first one from the sword.

It shook, and stumbled, but regained its feet in a moment.
The only damage showing was a gouge in its chest. The
nearest one swung clumsily at Angwyn, who sidestepped it
with a surge of adrenaline and fear. The sword came back in
an inspired sweep, striking deeply into golem's chest. Its
eyes flared for one second, and then went blank as the stone
crumbled to dust.

The third one didn't pause, striking without mercy or
hesitation at her head. Angwyn couldn't block it with her
sword, and wasn't quick enough to duck the incoming blow.
Her free arm came up just in time to save her from being
knocked unconscious, but at the cost of the sickening snap
of her arm.

Angwyn screamed in agony, and struck clumsily with an
overhand strike. The creature raised its hand to ward the
blow. The sword struck and screamed in a torrent of energy.
Moments later the third golem exploded into fragments,
several of which struck her, bruising and cutting her.

The first one stumbled back to its feet. It strode towards
her, eyes gleaming impassively. Angwyn panicked, and struck
out with almost all of her remaining strength, blasting the
last into fragments. She stood for a moment, gasping for her
breath. She hissed in pain.

Reginald clapped briskly. "Bravo and salutations. I thought
I knew everyone who posed a threat to me and mine.
Unfortunately, I can't let you kill me, for I have far too
much to do, and so little time to do it in. And a girl like
you really should be back at her home, raising children. Not
interfering with her betters."

Angwyn quailed and almost collapsed, tears rising in her
eyes. Until she heard his last comment. A crimson rage
filled her, a rage that filled her to overflowing. "I'll
never stop until you are dead, Lafayette. I would rather die
than fail." With her one good arm, she raised her sword
high, releasing a torrent of energy at the startled mage.

He hastily raised a shield, stopping the attack. He grunted
in unexpected effort. Gods and demons, she was strong. She
could give the Senshi of Silence a run for her money with an
attack like that.

He strengthened his shield as best a possible, but it was
quickly becoming undone.

A blinding flash ended her attack on the vile necromancer.
Angwyn stared at him for a second, shocked that he was still
standing. The sword lay quiet in her hand, drained of all
the energy it had absorbed. The mage stood up straight, and
Angwyn reached a galling decision. She turned and ran. She
couldn't fail, she had to destroy him. If that required that
she flee to fight another day, then so be it.

Reginald listened carefully, trying to find his attacker by
sound. Damn spots! But if she thought that blinding him
would stop him from defending himself, she was sorely
mistaken. He heard a noise, and launched his own attack,
missing her by scant feet.

Angwyn ran in terror now. She was powerless, and if caught
her she would fail her mother and father. She dodged to the
side at the last second, and made it to the gate she had
spotted earlier. With a creak, she was out on the streets,
running fast.

"There she is. She's a witch I tell you! I saw her throw
fire, and summoned demons to fight for her," a familiar
voice cried out. Louie pointed her out to the guard, and
then moved to the side.

"Halt in the name of the king!" the lead guard yelled,
hefting his pike.

"Damnation," Angwyn cried out, spun and ran for the edge of
the city.

The guards chased after her. She skidded around a corner,
and yelped as a dagger buried itself in the wall to the side
of her. She started to murmur an enchantment to summon her
ship to her, and started to climb up the city wall. The
guards where but a moment behind her.

"We have her now! She can not escape!" one of the guards
yelled.

"Beware on the wall! We have a witch who is trying to
escape! Stop her, or I'll have your ears, damn you!" the
leader of the guard cried out.

Confused shouts responded, and the clanking of arms. Angwyn
skidded to a halt, aggravating her wounded arm, and almost
causing herself to pass out from the pain. With an obvious
effort, she charged down the other way, towards one of the
towers. She burst into the empty tower, and climbed the
ladder that led to the roof.

Cries from below her told her she had but moments to act.
Her ship was floating closer, at an agonizing pace. Judging
as best she could, she stepped away from the wall, and then
ran and leaped. For just a second, she almost panicked.

And then her foot caught on the railing of her small ship.
With a tumble, she passed out on the deck of the ship.
Having finished being summoned, it ceased its forward
motion, and became one with the breeze blowing it away from
the wall.

The guards yelled, and fired what arrows they could, but
they fell harmlessly or short.

Angwyn awoke to the sun on her face, and a whimper of pain.
Tears welled up from within her. She had failed. Worse, she
had failed and the enemy now knew they were hunted. Next
time they would be better prepared, and they would know how
to handle her.

She started weeping bitter tears. Ten years of planning and
gaining power, all for nothing. She hadn't even hurt the
bastard. He was probably following her right now, to find
out who was with her. All of that power, and she had failed.
She didn't know how to become more powerful. The most
powerful beings she knew were the queen, and perhaps Saturn.

But how was she supposed to gain that much power? They had
the backing of entire planets, and the Queen had the Silver
Crystal, one of the greater artifacts of existence. And
there weren't any  more unclaimed planets.

Angwyn turned over and nearly blinded herself, staring up at
the Sun. Her tears stopped, and a calculating look crept to
her face. Should she? Could she? You didn't need a planet
per se, just a large celestial body. If she could tap into
that power like the Senshi did their planets, she would have
more than enough power to face him again.

Maybe even become, in some way, just like those pretty
protectors who had rescued her so long ago. Angwyn clutched
at the idea desperately, like a lifeline. Maybe, just maybe
she still had hope. She dragged herself back up to the
rudder, and started to turn the little ship around. Soon she
had the little ship headed home.

-

Reginald Lafayette was not a happy man. He lay in his bed
waiting for the answer from his physician. Sunlight streamed
in from outside, though he didn't know it. Those damned
spots still floated in front of his eyes.

"Lord Lafayette, I'm afraid I don't have good news. You
might recover your sight sometime, but when is not a
certainty. If you could just tell me what caused this
ailment, I could help you better. I have many poultices for
poisons, and other cures for other types of blindness," the
physician said. He had been sent down here from the King
Hugh, to find out who dared do this to his advisor. There
were many who plotted against the new king, and all of those
plots must be found out, and peace brought to the realm.

"For the last time, I'm not certain how that witch did it.
It was from a sword that glowed like the Sun," Reginald
replied scathingly.

"I have never heard of a sword that does that, my lord. You
are quite lucky to have survived an encounter with such a
powerful foe," he replied, starting to pack away his tools.

"Then be gone. And send in that excuse of a guard that
failed to bring me that witch," Reginald shouted.

"Of course my lord."

Reginald Lafayette heard the door open and the swish of the
doctor as he closed the door. He jumped in surprise when a
familiar voice spoke up. "Well, it looks as if you will get
to prove your boast, Reginald. You always did say that you
could do the rituals blindfolded. Or should we wait to
summon her that waits?" a high pitched female voice asked
suddenly.

"Queen Beryl? What do I owe the honor of this visit?"
Reginald said, quickly recovering.

"It is only months away, from when we can free her that
waits. Will you still be able to summon her?" Queen Beryl
asked, eyes drifting over the mage.

"Of course I will. I won't back out at this time. I've put
too much effort into this, to back out now. And besides,
there are other ways of seeing. I will not be blinded for
long," Reginald said with a sneer.

"Of course. Till later then," Queen Beryl said, turning and
disappearing into the shadows. A contented smile lay on her
face. It was time to replace her court mage. The power would
be hers, and hers alone. Reginald should never have let her
see him weak. The fool. He might have kept her looks, and
her youth, but he had still failed her.

The pieces were starting to fall into place. She had
confirmed that the Senshi of Silence had been reborn. Soon
the last days of the Moon Kingdom would be upon them.

-

Ranma blinked her eyes. She was back in the present for the
moment.

"Ranma? Can you hear me? Come on, please wake up. Don't do
this to me, I need you," Sailor Io said, rocking still form
of Sailor Sun. She blinked back her tears. Lights flickered
and danced from her tiara.

Sailor Sun whimpered again as the lights played havoc with
her synapses.

"Quick, we need to blindfold her. Each time she sees
something shiny, it sends her back into the trance," Chizuko
said suddenly.

But Sailor Sun was gone already.

-

Angwyn walked through the palace, waiting for her time to
see the queen. She sat down in the antechambers, waiting her
turn. She touched her shoulder pad, where Chizuko usually
sat. Unfortunately, the guards had almost attacked her the
last time, thinking that it was a demon in disguise. They
were apologetic, but would not let the creature come into
the palace again.

She sighed, and looked around at the guards, and those who
were waiting. Mostly the normal courtiers, but there was a
young girl sitting next the tapestry that showed the first
queen, centuries ago. Angwyn smiled at seeing such a young
girl reading a book. Not many would take the time to teach a
girl to read.

She started when she saw the title of the book. A
translation of the Pythagorean theorem and other
mathematical theories? Sudden curiosity rose in her, and she
sat next to the young girl. "Good morning! That seems to be
a bit dry for such a young girl," Angwyn said, startling the
young girl.

"Good morning, Lady. It's not boring, really. It can be
quite fascinating sometimes. I'm just waiting for my
mother," the young girl stammered. She looked like she
wanted to hide the book, and crawl up into a ball.

"Really? You're the little scholar, aren't you? And what is
your name?" Angwyn asked.

"I'm Amillyn, Lady." The young girl pushed back her dark
hair. She didn't seem upset at her reading, unlike some
others.

"I'm not a `lady'. I am just a free woman, who likes to read
sometimes. You can call me Gwyn if you like," Angwyn
responded firmly.

"Oh, of course Gwyn. Do you study math? I don't have a
proper tutor anymore. I have to depend on books to expand my
knowledge," Amillyn replied, hoping for a kindred spirit.

"Math is one of my studies. Among other things of course."

"Could you show me?" Amillyn asked suddenly. She reached
into the small bundle next to her, and pulled out an inkwell
and a piece of paper.

Angwyn closed her eyes for a second. What should she put
down? After a moment's hesitation, she put down one of her
more complicated formulas down, dealing with dispersing
energies in a matrix.

Amillyn looked over the formula, and then laboriously
started to disassemble it, and put it back together
properly.  "Done!" Amillyn said proudly.

Angwyn started, and looked over the work. It was done
differently than the way she had done it. The answer was
slightly different too. "Could you explain how you did that,
Amillyn?" Angwyn asked suddenly.

"Sure! You take these two variables, and simplify." Amillyn
continued to explain the system to her new friend. Soon they
were enmeshed in a complicated discussion of procedures, and
equations. Over an hour later, they were interrupted by a
soft cough.

"Excuse me, but it is time for us to leave Amillyn. Who is
you new friend?" the older women in the distinctive dress of
one of the Senshi asked suddenly.

"Oh, this is Gwyn, she's been working with me on my math."
Amillyn smiled, and looked at her new friend. "You'll write
me? It's so nice to be able to discuss things like this with
someone new and different.

"Gwyn?" Mercury said, searching Angwyn's face carefully.
"You remind me of someone. From a long time ago."

"Your highness is too kind. You were party to the queen when
she rescued me almost twelve years ago. Down in Imbrue
Dells, after the village was attacked and destroyed." Gwyn
looked over the older women for any signs of recognition.
She turned back to Amillyn, who she realized had to be
Mercury's daughter. "Of course I'll write you. You have been
very helpful. You've corrected a lot of little mistakes that
I've made."

"Ah, I thought I remembered you. We'll be back of course. My
daughter has special training to do at the palace. Along
with the other young girls of the inner sphere," Mercury
replied.

Angwyn was surprised. "I thought the new Venus was more
mature? She had her own child didn't she?" Angwyn asked.

Mercury paused for a second, and then sighed. "You will
probably hear about it soon enough. Melida was killed in an
attack last week. We aren't sure if Sleone is going to wake
up. So that leaves it up to her daughter."

"Oh my god. This is a terrible blow. How did it happen?"
Angwyn asked.

"We wish we knew for certain." She turned her attention back
to her daughter. "You will not mention this to the princess.
She would become distraught, and ill."

"Yes, mother."

"Excuse me? Angwyn? The queen will see you now," a page
said, catching her attention.

"Please, take me to her." Angwyn pondered the changes that
were happening. It almost looked as if things were getting
much worse. It might boil down to war yet.

-

Angwyn adjusted the last lens and shutter. She glanced
around the room to see if everything was in place. Sighing,
she put down the tool into the bag, and took it back into
the rest of her private fortress. She glanced around at the
metal walls, and Chizuko sitting on her perch.

"Are you ready, Angwyn?" Chizuko said, looking up from a
book.

"I think so. If not, I'll need you to bring news of my
failure to the queen. I haven't sent her a letter in
months," Angwyn responded. Her reflection caught her eye.
She was trim and young looking woman, but obviously no
longer a teenager. Her hand strayed to her stomach.

"Are you all right? Do you want to talk about him?" Chizuko
asked suddenly.

"No, I don't. He left me, to marry that younger girl."
Angwyn bit back her tears.

"That wasn't the only reason, was it?" Chizuko had been hurt
by her young mistress's pain. Perhaps she was finally ready
to talk about it.

"He, he left me because she gave him a son. When I could
not. John threw me to the side once he had proof that I was
barren. And I know why, now," Angwyn whispered.

Chizuko stepped from one foot to the other. "Why didn't you
tell me sooner? I'm your friend, and companion ever since
that day that you rescued me."

"I didn't want to admit that I had done it to myself,"
Angwyn replied, fighting back tears. "My thirst for
vengeance has ruined any chance I had for happiness. This
will be the last session, binding my soul to the Sun. And
the Sun to my soul for all time."

"You don't have to do this, Angwyn."

"It's all I have left. That and my mother's work. I've
finished writing my works down. Even my history, so that
others may learn from my folly." And with that she went back
into the chamber, and knelt down. "Activate it. Let it be
done, one way or another." She cradled a fist size stone of
yellow rock.

Chizuko nodded sadly. She used her beak to spin the dials,
and move the levers. Energy thrummed, and shutters opened.
And outside an amazing lattice grew. Larger and larger, it
soon encompassed the entire Sun in its weaves. Slowly it
matched the patterns of the volatile leylines of the center
of the solar system. Minutes dragged out, and then finally
it was done.

Angwyn still knelt in the center of the focussing chamber,
her clothing having been consumed in the flare of energy.
She carefully sat there for a second and raised the stone
above her. Wordlessly, she activated the stone. Energy
flowed, and expanded. In moments she was transformed just
like her young friend, Amillyn. She was garbed as they were,
even if she didn't have the right.

Chizuko stared in awe. So much power. She had done it.

Sailor Sun stood for the first time, and then left quickly
after grabbing a cloak. She looked out one of the many
windows, and then disappeared in a flash.

She still had her vengeance to exact on Reginald Lafayette,
and his mysterious queen.

-

Sailor Sun appeared just within the palace grounds, amidst
the frantic preparations of war. Luckily, one of the guards
recognized her before she was attacked. In moments she was
presented to the queen. Angwyn bowed, and then looked
around. One of the moon cats was also present, Luna she
thought.

"Your majesty? What is going on?" Angwyn asked.

"Treachery, most foul. The fleets have been subverted by
Queen Beryl, and her forces. They have already struck out
against my most powerful of allies. Saturn, Neptune and
Uranus have already fallen. And I have no word on Pluto. The
fleet will be returning shortly. Not that they need bother.
Beryl's forces have us almost pushed back to the palace
already." The queen looked haggard, and almost defeated. "I
could seal away those here on the Moon and on the Earth. But
not the fleet also. Not as far the fleet is now."

Angwyn licked her lips, which were suddenly dry. "I may be
able to defeat the fleet, you majesty." The moon cat perked
its ears up at that.

A bit of hope dared show on Serenity's face. "Your
experiments have born fruit?"

Angwyn nodded, and then took in a deep breath. "I have
managed to forge the link in between myself and the Sun,
just as the Senshi and yourself have done with you planets."

 "Your majesty! This is insane. How can you trust her to do
this? If you do not strike down your enemies at the right
time, you will fail. We must try to hold out until the fleet
is closer," Luna said, standing as tall as the black cat
could.

"You must have faith in your loyal vassals, Luna. Faith must
carry us. How long will it take to deal with them, Angwyn?"
Serenity asked, suddenly intent.

"Perhaps an hour, less if I hurry. Your majesty, will you
take my link to the Sun, and guard it? What I will do, I
will not survive. But you deserve no less from me for your
kindness," Angwyn said, and pulled out her soul link. It
glowed brightly, filled with power.

Luna blinked, and averted her eyes. The raw power imbued,
and contained in that crystal was immense. It was just
possible that this girl that she had met only a few times,
might be able to do what she said.

"By you leave." A short bow to her beloved queen, to hide
her tears. And then Angwyn disappeared in a flash of light,
leaving her most precious creation in her liege's hands.

-

Twenty minutes later, a flash of light appeared in front of
the fleet. One hundred vessels strong, imbued with magic to
make the journey between planets. Over half of them were
gone. Destroyed or just missing? It didn't matter anymore.
She would do her best to destroy what was here.

One last flash of light, and she was on the first ship. Her
sword appeared in her hand, and sprang to fiery life. "Solar
Flare!" Sailor Sun cried out, igniting the top deck, and
slaying over a dozen fiendish looking men in one burst of
energy.

Three more ships of the line were destroyed in minutes,
precious minutes. On the fourth ship she encountered a
greater obstacle. A man, dressed in the court garb France.
Still as young as ever, Reginald Lafayette stood in her path
of destruction.

"So we meet again, Angwyn Weaver. Survivor of  the Imbrue
Dells massacre, and puppet of Queen Serenity. It took me
years to discover that it was you that had robbed me of my
sight. So you have joined your queen in her moment of
defeat? How foolish," Reginald said, venom dripping from his
words. His eyes gleamed a bright red, showing his possession
to all who had the Sight.

"Reginald. So you are prepared to finish our little battle
from a decade ago?" Angwyn responded.

"You cost me my sight, and my soul. The only reason I still
exist, is because Queen Beryl wishes it so. She pulls the
strings that bind this evil in place of my soul." He reached
into a pouch, and pulled out a glowing crystal. "Does this
look familiar? Yes, a soul crystal. Only from the most
powerful of the young. This one in fact is of particular
import. It is your brother's."

"What?" Sailor Sun exclaimed. She had an awful premonition.

"Oh yes. And do you know what happens when it is destroyed?
That soul is utterly destroyed. Like so!" His fingers flexed
suddenly, crushing the crystal instantly. "Don't worry,
Angwyn. You'll soon follow your brother into oblivion, I
swear that."

"You bastard." Angwyn stared at the shards that disappeared
into the ether. Her hand tightened on her sword, a golden
aura flared into existence around her. "You'll burn for
that. This is your last day."

Reginald laughed, and then struck with tendrils of
blackness. Sailor Sun parried with a sword made of sunlight,
and power. She wouldn't run out of power this time. She had
solved that problem years ago. Reginald swept an arm across
the men on the deck. Instantly they grew deformed, showing
their demonic nature that was hidden in each of the sailors.
They leaped at the glowing figure in front of them. She
parried and blocked, reaping a whirlwind of death and
destruction. The lessons she had learned from the palace
swords master served her well. In minutes the only thing
left on the deck were Reginald and her.

"Interesting. You've improved, my dear nemesis. But then
again, so have I," Reginald said. And with that he shed the
physical limitations of his form. Swirling darkness flowed
from him for one second, and then reformed into a giant
demon, twelve feet tall. Seemingly more than a shadow, less
than a real man, it stretched it claws, and roared, showing
its maw filled with teeth.

"Searing Plasma Blast!" Sailor Sun cried out, striking
directly out at the demon.

He disappeared like he had never existed. Sailor Sun started
to turn, barely blocking the better part of the blow that
was meant to rip her spine out.

"Pitiful. Soon we will dance on the graves of the Moon
Kingdom, and bring a darkness like no one has seen before. I
will keep you skull as a monument of my victory here." The
demon laughed, and licked her blood off of its claws. "It
truly is the end of the world, just like they prophesied."

They repeated her blasting out at him, and failing to hit.
He would cut her as she blindly tried to defend herself from
his claws. Cuts now covered her legs, and arms. One cut had
almost taken her life, by nearly ripping out her throat.

Sailor Sun panted and groaned. She had to defeat him, so
that she could destroy the fleet. From the glances she been
able to see, they were spreading out. She wouldn't be able
to get them all in the time that the queen needed. Not
conventionally.

Sailor Sun held up her sword, and then started spinning it.
She danced from block to attack, and then to block again.
Each swing of her sword left a trail in the air, and
scorched the thing that was Reginald if he got too close.
She hadn't meant to use this power, and she wasn't sure if
it would work. But there was no other option. She promised
the queen that she would stop the fleet, and she would.

"What are you doing? You don't think this will save you, do
you?" the shadow thing yelled, trying again to claw her, and
failing. "You're just human, you can't win. You will tire,
and then you will die!" It studied the sphere of lines that
was springing into existence around her. It looked familiar,
somehow.

Sailor Sun finished her dance, sword flashing in a sweep.
"Solar Supreme Nova," she whispered.

And then there was light, and heat. Sailor Sun and the demon
didn't have time to scream as they were instantly reduced to
their subatomic components. The farthest ship in the fleet
didn't even time to react as the flare of energy hit them at
light speed.

At the edge of the burst, a space station was rocked, and
damaged. But Chizuko was safe in her stasis field, unaware
of the events that had happened just a short ways away.

-

Queen Serenity sat in her palace hall, waiting for the
destruction of all she held dear. Behind her sat two
cylinders, each with a moon cat in suspended animation. She
had given them their instructions, and prepared them as best
as possible.

All of a sudden, the glowing crystal in front of her
flashed, and went dimmer. With a certainty that she wouldn't
have believed possible, she knew that Angwyn had done what
she had sworn, and died to do it. She held the crystal close
to her for a second. She deserved this, if any non-noble
did.

She chanted the words she knew so well, shaping the thing of
magic in front of her. It changed into a rod, and then
stabilized, flickering faintly.

Serenity flicked it into the subspace holding vault, until
one of the two moon cats would call it forth with the other
seven henshin sticks. Serenity knew that Pluto was still out
there, somewhere. She had been unable to summon her henshin
stick. But Pluto would also be able to access the hidden
vault if she needed to.

She could hear the pounding on the doors. They would soon
fall. A wave of her hand, and the two cats disappeared. One
last mental instruction, explaining to them what had
happened.

And then she cupped her hand, and summoned the Silver
Crystal. It was powered by life, and love. And what she
needed it to do would drain her soul utterly. There was no
hope that she would come back in the next cycle. But her
daughter and her protectors would, if they were all lucky.

The last door broke down, and the horde of warriors roared
their challenge at Queen Serenity. One of them raised a
knife to throw at her when the room exploded into light. The
demon ridden creatures had just a second to scream before
they were thrust into the newly created sub-dimension. The
light expanded outwards, quickly encompassing the Earth and
the Moon. All who were tainted by the dark Queen  Beryl and
her mistress disappeared in the blink of an eye.

And in a little shrine in a small town on the side of a
mountain in the country that would be known as Japan, a
flickering glow appeared, and then was absorbed into the
statue. And would stay hidden for almost a thousand years.

-

Sailor Sun awoke to darkness, and soft murmuring in her
ears. "Do you think that will work?" Akane asked.

"It should allow her to gain control. I've never seen it do
this before. I'm quite worried."

Sailor Sun tensed, expecting to be thrown back into the
past. But the blindfold stopped the torrent of light. By
inches and degrees, she managed to gain control. "Water,"
Ranma croaked.

"Ranma! You're all right. Here, drink this," Akane said,
helping the redhead to drink.

"Ouch. Remind me to not do that again." Sailor Sun shook her
head carefully. Nothing rattled, but she had a doozy of a
headache. She reached up and carefully removed the
blindfold. She blinked her eyes to clear the spots from
them. "Hi, Chizuko. How long was I out, and how is the
station?"

"About an hour. It was a little easier to fix this time,
because I knew what had failed last time. The shields are
repaired, and you can revert if you want to," Chizuko said
calmly.

"What happened Ranma? Those lights hit you, and then you
passed out." Akane bit her lower lip nervously.

"I, uh, think I accidentally put myself into a hypnotic
trance. My past life used that to absorb or recall a lot of
information quickly. I just took a trip down memory lane.
Her memories. Angwyn's," Ranma said, then took a sip of the
water.

"So you remember a lot more?" Akane asked.

"Yeah. Some of it wasn't pleasant. Remembering yourself
dying wasn't fun," Ranma said, shuddering slightly. Ranma
had only ever had that feeling once before, when she had
thought Akane had been killed by Saffron.

No, that wasn't right. It was when she had gone to rescue
Akane from Jadeite's dimension. She hadn't gone back to
Jusenkyo, or Phoenix Mountain. She shook her head again to
clear the cobwebs out. She took off the blind fold, and
looked around, blinking.

"Are you feeling all right, Ranma? We need to get home, and
deal with that mess, and plan on moving out still," Akane
said hesitantly.

"Sure. I'm lots better now. And you're right. We still need
to deal with the parents yet." Ranma stood up, and adjusted
her skirt unconsciously. "Ready, Chizuko?"

"Of course."

And another flare of light and they all disappeared.

-

Minutes later a beam of light struck the Tendo's yard.

They glanced around to see if anyone was there, reverted,
and then walked past the pond and into the house. Everything
glistened like new, droplets still in evidence from the
passing rain.

They spotted Kasumi watching one of her favorite shows.

"We're home!" Akane announced loudly. She glanced around,
trying to spot her father. "Where's dad?"

"Oh he's still lying down. He didn't feel very well when he
and Mr. Saotome came home late this morning," Kasumi said
brightly.  "I'm just about to start dinner."

"Wow, he and pop must have really got liquored up. It's
pretty late in the afternoon," Ranma said. "By the way
Kasumi, this is Chizuko. We kinda rescued her, and so she
decided to stay with us."

Kasumi blinked, and then looked over at Ranma, and the large
hawk perched on her shoulder. "That is quite a magnificent
bird, Ranma. Are you sure someone won't be looking for it?"

"Nah, I'm pretty sure. Have you seen my mother?" Ranma
asked, sitting down in front of the TV.

"She said that she had to run some errands, but she promised
that she would be back shortly." Kasumi walked off to start
preparing dinner.

Akane plunked down next to her husband. They casually
wrapped their arms about each other, and sat enjoying each
other's company. Ranma did switch the station as soon as
possible though. Ugh, soap operas.

Nabiki watched them for a moment, and then stepped back into
the hall slowly. After just a moment to make sure that no
one had noticed her exit, she picked up the phone. "Hello,
Shampoo? Yes, they just got home. No it doesn't look like
they are leaving anytime soon." A pause. "This one's for
free, all right? Just don't mention that I told you.
Thanks." She hung up the phone. Casually she walked
upstairs, and started her homework. It wouldn't do to appear
right when Shampoo walked in.

-

Shampoo leaped from roof to roof, followed by a short figure
wielding a gnarled staff. Long white hair flowed from behind
Cologne as she followed Shampoo in the direction of the
Tendo's. She kept a wary eye out for Mousse as he shadowed
them.

Shampoo landed on the ground in front of the wall of the
yard. Normally, she would just leap over the wall and enter
the house normally. But this time, she felt it necessary to
release a bit of frustration. A loud shuddering boom echoed
through the yard as Shampoo demolished a section of the
wall.

"Nia ho, husband. You come on date with Shampoo, yes?"
Shampoo said loudly, spotting her red hair through the open
porch.

"Jeez, Shampoo. You didn't need to knock down the wall. And
I am NOT your husband!" Ranma yelled back.

"Shampoo have question. Did Ranma really say that he marry
kitchen destroyer? If so, then she is obstacle to be
removed," Shampoo said, disregarding Cologne's advice on how
to approach Ranma.

Akane bounded to her feet. She spun around, and set herself
at the ready. "Yes, Shampoo, he did. He's my husband, and
nothing you can do will change that."

"Shampoo think pervert girl wrong. Shampoo defeat you and
take Ranma home. And nothing A-kan-e can do about it."

"Is that a challenge, Shampoo? If it is, I accept. I'll make
you eat those words." Akane leaped outside, next to the koi
pond.

"Don't take too long, Akane. Kasumi's almost done with
supper," Ranma called out, turning back to the TV.

Cologne stared at Ranma in surprise. What happened to
Ranma's over protectiveness? She called out to Shampoo, "Be
careful, Shampoo. Treat her as if she were the most
dangerous of opponents."

"Yes, great-grandmother." Shampoo adjusted her posture
slightly. She knew that Akane had improved, but she didn't
think it was to that degree.

She was relieved that she had after the first few moments of
the battle. Akane was moving like lightning, her blows
accurate and devastating. Already Shampoo had bruises that
were going to last for days. Akane seemed to shrug off her
worst blows. Shampoo upped the ante, by attacking at her
full speed. Hands flashed to strike vitals and nerves.

What she didn't expect was for Akane's hand to blur even
faster, blocking all of her attacks, and landing her own
blows. Shampoo leaped up to the top of the wall to get some
distance. Akane charged, striking at the wall, yelling out,
"Breaking Point!"

Shampoo had just a moment to react, diving to the side. She
hadn't been quite quick enough, and was pelted by the sharp
pebbles. She landed and then leaped, just missing being
kicked through the wall by Akane's follow up. So that was
why Akane was shrugging off her attacks! She had learned the
Breaking Point!

"Aie! This not good. Stingers of the Bee!" Shampoo called
out and then focussed for a moment, and then flung needles
charged with ki. Each needle exploded when it struck the
ground.

Akane blinked in surprise. She had ducked on instinct alone,
not realizing what Shampoo was doing. She smiled over at the
standing amazon. She cried out, "Roaring Tiger Bullet!" and
unleashed her own ki attack at the surprised amazon.

In the blink of an eye, Shampoo was picking herself up. She
was staggered for a moment. She was not going to lose to
this, this weak and pathetic girl! She had but a moment to
recover for Akane's charge. Hands and feet flashed in a
furious symphony, until finally Shampoo's defenses
collapsed. Blows hammered home in a blur. Shampoo's nose was
crushed, and each of her vital spots on her front was hit.
Akane finished with a wheel kick, knocking out the Chinese
girl.

Cologne gaped at the fight that she had just witnessed.
Akane Tendo, once the weakest of Ranma's suitors had just
soundly defeated Shampoo, one of the most dangerous martial
artists in the area.

In less than five minutes.

And she hardly looked like she had been exercising. Only the
barest sheen of sweat showed on her brow.

"Shampoo!" Mousse yelled out, going to his fallen love.

Nabiki watched from the second floor. The Akane she knew
wouldn't have been able to defeat Shampoo a week ago, much
less Ukyo. Though, actually, Nabiki couldn't remember those
two ever coming to blows before. So she MIGHT have been able
to defeat Ukyo.

But still, this was a drastic change. Ranma must have done
some serious training to get her this good. Or perhaps it
had to do with them wanting to move out to Juuban?

-

Usagi finished knocking the water off of her umbrella, and
putting it in its holder by the front door. "I'm home!"
Usagi called out, slipping out of her shoes. She glanced
around, trying to listen where her father was.

"In here, dear! We're just sitting down to dinner," Usagi's
mom called out. The sounds of dishes clinking merrily
drifted from the kitchen.

"Hi mom. Uh, who's this?" Usagi asked, looking at the
stranger sitting at their table. She had the most outrageous
pink hair, done in a style very similar to her own, though
not quite so long. Close though. She looked to be about the
same age too.

"This is your cousin. Don't you remember her? He name is
Usagi too, but she wants us to call her Usa." She started
setting more bowls out, slapping Shingo's hand when he tried
to reach for some food too quickly.

"Hello, Usagi. How are you doing?" Usa asked, watching her
carefully. She knelt down by her cousin.

"I'm all right, I guess. I guess I'm just being silly, but I
don't remember you very well. You say I'm your cousin?"
Usagi asked. She looked around suddenly, noting the absence
of her father. "Where's father?"

"He had to work late tonight, so he'll be home later."

"Yes. It's been a . . . . long time. What ever happened to
that cat of yours? You know, Luna?" Usa asked.

"Luna? I have, no had a cat named Luna?" Usagi asked. She
closed her eyes, and tried to concentrate on an elusive
memory. "I can't remember. It must have been a long time
ago." Usagi started to have one of her headaches. One of
those headaches that she got when she started to think back
to that dream. The dream she'd had for the last couple of
days.

"Oh, ok. Well, I'm going to be going to school with you
while I'm visiting." Usa beamed, trying to look innocent.

Shingo piped up unexpectedly. "Say, Usa. Why are you
visiting?"

"Uh, my tutor thought it would be a good idea to visit some
relatives." Usa cackled nervously. "You never know when you
can see them again."

-

The next morning dawned beautifully. Ranma and Akane were
walking down the road towards the bus stop and chatting
about the last night.

"Boy, I didn't think your dad was going to blow up like that
about us moving out. How does Kasumi do that thing where she
pops his demon head attack?" Ranma asked. "And boy was
Mousse unhappy about you beating up Shampoo. I didn't think
he'd be stupid enough to attack you though."

"He's just being over protective again. You know that. And
you need to ask Kasumi that, I don't know how she does
that." Akane hummed a few bars of music, enjoying the scents
brought to her by the breeze. She was wearing her new school
uniform. Ranma was wearing his typical Chinese outfit, of
course.

"All we're doing is moving out for a little while. It's not
the end of the world. We'll be back for spring break, and
it's only a bus ride away." Ranma looked speculatively at
the time on the front of a bank. "Man, I really don't want
to ride the bus today."

"Well, I'm not running all the way to Juuban."

"We could take a shortcut. If you know what I mean?" Ranma
suggested casually.

"Hmm. That would give us more time to figure out what is
going on, and try to get more information from the rest of
the group," Akane mused. "Sure, why not?"

"Let's get some privacy first. Up we go!" Ranma said loudly,
jumping to nearest roof. Akane was but a bound behind him.

As soon as they disappeared, Nabiki stepped out of the
shadows behind them. "Damn. Now I'm never going to catch up
to them."

-

"I guess you forgot that little fact, huh Ranma?" Akane
teased, dashing into the classroom before anyone else showed
up.

Ranma followed her in. She harrumphed, and glared at the
raven haired girl. "It's not funny."

"So go and get some hot water. You're not helpless you
know," Akane said, starting pull out her books. She also
pulled out her notebook, and her pen. She started to write
down something in her notepad.

Ranma sat down, and ducked her head. She mumbled, "I'm gonna
wait till class starts."

Akane looked up in surprise. "What?"

Ranma responded louder than she meant to, "I said, 'I'm
going to wait till class starts'."

"Um, this might sound silly, but why?"

"If I'm gonna be living around here, it's no use hiding my
curse. So I might as well tell people about my curse, before
they find out about it and take it wrong," Ranma replied.

"Why? You've always hid your curse as much as possible. This
is quite a change for you," Akane said, searching for some
sort of reason in her eyes.

"We coulda avoided so many problems if I'd just told you
that first time," Ranma said. "How much time did we waste
because of my curse? How much more would the others have
trusted me if I had told them? I'm not gonna mess up again."

"Oh, Ranma." Akane looked at her husband with new respect.
"It's . . . . your choice. That's quite a step for you."

"Thanks, Akane." Ranma sat down in her seat, and took out
her own books, and a pen.

The door swished open, and a short, raven haired girl walked
in and sat down. Akane looked up and smiled. "Good morning,
Ami. How are you doing this morning?"

Ami started, pulling her nose out of her book. Someone was
here in the class before her? She looked back and forth
between the two girls. Recognition dawned on her, as she
remembered Akane from yesterday. She smiled shyly. "Hello
Miss Akane. How are you doing? And who is this young lady?"
Ami asked, bowing slightly.

"I'm doing fine, Ami. This is Ranma," Akane replied smiling.

Ranma stared at Ami. Ami was one of her best friends here in
Juuban. She'd been her tutor, and one of her closest
confidants. It was disconcerting, to say the least, that Ami
couldn't even remember her. Ranma frowned, trying to figure
some way to goad Ami into remembering her and Akane.

Confusion warred with politeness on Ami's face for just a
second. It wouldn't be polite to ask why this girl had the
same name as Akane's husband, and was sitting in his desk.
She was even out of uniform and wearing the same type
clothing. Maybe it was a practical joke? "Hello!" Ami
finally replied.

"'lo Ami. Nice to meet you." Ranma drummed the desk with her
pen, wracking her brain for an idea. Maybe asking her for
help in studying? That might bring back some memories of her
tutoring Ranma. "Um, Ami? Do you think you could help me
with some of my homework? I heard that you were a really
good teacher."

"Why, thank you Ranma. What are you having problems with?"
Ami asked, sitting at her desk.

Ranma blinked, trying to think of something that she needed
help with. Math. She was always having problems with math.
"Some of my math problems are too tough. I kinda get lost
when doing the problem," Ranma said back to her.

Akane snickered. "So are you the 'Eternally Lost Math Boy'?"
Akane asked impishly. "Or is that 'girl' right now?"

"Hey! You take that back!" Ranma cried out, blushing
severely.

"Now, now. Why don't you write down the problem that is
causing you grief, and we'll work it out before class," Ami
said quickly, trying to forestall an argument.

Ranma glared at Akane, receiving a grin and a raspberry in
return. Ranma harrumphed, and started to absently write down
a complicated math formula on a blank sheet of paper. She
glared at Akane while handling the paper to Ami.

Ami blinked. It would probably be better to do this on the
chalkboard. She glanced at her watch. They had time to do
this before class. Barely. Some of these symbols were a
little strange, but she thought she recognized them. Humming
softly, she went and started to transcribe the equation on
the board.

"Uncute!"

"Dummy!"

"Hammer girl!"

"Jerk!"

"Unsexy!"

"Ha! You get to sleep of the floor for that comment!"

"Ack! I didn't really mean that!"

"Are you sorry?"

"I'm sorry!"

"Really sorry?"

"Yes! I'm really, really sorry!"

"You're forgiven, for now," Akane finished smugly.

Ami wasn't sure that she wanted to know. "Excuse me Ranma.
Where did you have a problem?" She held the chalk up, ready
to start solving the problem.

Akane glanced at the board, and jerked her head in surprise.
She looked it over quickly. This was a problem that Ranma
was having difficulty with? Akane barely recognized it as
math.

"Oops," Ranma mumbled to herself. That was one of Angwyn's
final equations from her past life. "Uh, I was having
problems with the third translation. For some reason the
sigma variable in the equation is always coming out wrong. I
can't see how to solve for it, without over complicating the
rest of it."

"Hmm. I see what you mean. It really looks like the equation
is wrong though. Are you sure it isn't missing something?"
Ami asked, chalk scratching up storm.

"Hmm." Ranma closed her eyes, recalling the formula. "Nope
that's definitely it, unless it's flawed."

"Hand me my calculator, please." Ami received the
calculator, and started tapping furiously. Several graphs
appeared on the board, with corresponding notes. Ten minutes
later, and several clarifications later, she had narrowed
down the error in the equation.

Akane just stared in surprise at her husband. Ranma had
always hated math, but here she was discussing in depth
theorems and theories. With Ami no less.

"There. Changing this number to its prime, and marking it so
gives us an accurate measure of what the end result will
actually be." Ami smiled as she finished. She had liked
that. It had challenged her. Several of the symbols were
quite esoteric too. "That was quite entertaining, Angwyn."

Ranma's face lit up. "What did you call me?"

"Uh. Didn't I say Ranma?" Ami said, confused. She wasn't
sure what she had said. But she never messed up names. It
was too impolite.

"No, you called me Angwyn. Don't you remember? Please try!"
Ranma asked. Hope shown in her eyes.

Akane held her breath. Ami closed her eyes, and seemed to be
thinking hard. "I'm sorry. I just can't remember," Ami said
finally. Images flashed before her. Images from the dreams
that had been haunting her for the last few days. Finally
they faded into the background. She felt that she had a
small headache too.

A hubbub grew in volume, as the rest of the class showed up
just before the class bell rang. Usagi introduced a new girl
to the teacher that looked startlingly like her, except for
the pink hair she had. Soon everyone was seated and the
teacher was calling the roll.

"Ranma Saotome!" the teacher called out finally.

"Here!" Ranma called out in her soprano.

The teacher looked owlishly at the red haired girl. "Who are
you, and what are you doing in Ranma's seat? Pranksters are
not appreciated in my class."

Ranma stood and took a deep breath, to the appreciation of
the males in the class. "I am Ranma Saotome. I have a
magical curse that turns me into a girl when I'm splashed
with cold water. If I splash myself with hot water I revert
back to my true form." Ranma took another deep breath,
thinking 'soul of ice, soul of ice'. "Sorry about this."

The class stared at Ranma incredulously.

"Do you expect me to believe this story?" The teacher looked
quite upset, and was frowning. "Fine.  'Ranma Saotome', come
to the front of the class room." She rummaged around in her
carry all, pulling out her thermos for her lunch tea. "Here
is your hot water."

Ranma brightened up. "Thanks." She took the thermos and
opened it. She checked it, and found it was just barely warm
enough. Without further ado, she dumped the thermos on her
head.

The entire class gasped, except for Usagi, Minako and Akane.
Ranma casually closed the thermos and handed it back to the
teacher. "Uh, can I sit down?" he asked the teacher.

"Yes." The teacher reached for her purse, and pulled out a
bottle. She quickly popped some pills, and then took a swig
from her soda. She coughed just a little bit as she massaged
her forehead. "All right class. Please open your book to
page 215."

Ami stared at Ranma with a poll-axed look. She had just seen
something that shook her very outlook of life. Magic could
be real. Maybe there was a reason they had asked her about
her memories! It would explain these weird dreams she had
been having.

-

Rei stared into the fire. She had been having recurring
dreams. Violent dreams that kept intruding on her peaceful
life as a priestess in training. Not only was it upsetting
her peace, but it was giving her headaches. Rei wasn't one
to give up on anything, so she was seeking answers this
morning in her meditation fires before class.

The carved wood of the shrine provided a soothing background
for her meditation. The flames in the fire pit licked at the
air, providing a soft illumination to the room. Slowly, the
fire started to dance in a pattern. Whirling, flickering, an
image appeared deep in the fire.

First was a young girl in a gown, with long hair done up in
elegant streamers and small balls. A glowing ball of light
appeared in her hands, flaring beautifully before
disappearing.

Next, an image of a street ravaged and ruined showed up in
the flames. A monstrous creature that looked vaguely spider-
like was being attacked by three quick moving female
fighters. The image was vague and confusing.

The view shifted suddenly. It showed a cloaked man, sitting
on a throne. He seemed to be petting a glassy figurine of a
white cat. The view closed in on the figure, almost showing
the shadowed face. It seemed to look into her eyes, and then
glanced around. Rei jumped suddenly as the figure spoke to
her, startling her out of her concentration.

"Who are you? Another would be sorcerer? By the look of you,
you are a meddling priestess. Be warned, interfere with me,
and I shall crush you like an insect," the mysterious figure
snarled. His eyes started to glow with a powerful aura. The
inverted symbol of the moon flared into crimson life in the
fires. Suddenly, the fire turned black, and became a pillar,
reaching the roof. It didn't ignite the ceiling, but it was
expanding  quickly.

The door to the room slammed open, and her grandfather slid
in, looking around frantically. "Rei, quickly! We must
banish this manifestation," he shouted, reaching into his
robes for a warded piece of paper. He held it high, and in
the direction of the black fire. He almost managed to look
imposing, even as rotund as he was.

Rei jerked as if shot. "Y-yes. Of course," she replied
shakily. With unsteady hands, she joined her grandfather in
chanting. From within her robes, she presented her own ward.

The pillar convulsed suddenly, as if a strong wind had
suddenly swept into the room. The chanting rose in cadence,
growing quicker and more powerful with each phrase. The
pillar rotated, as if seeking some escape.

The old man took a step forward as he chanted, the fire
recoiling from him. With a final shout and a great effort
the fire went out.

Gasping and wheezing, the old man collapsed. Rei wasn't
feeling much better.

"We will have to exorcise the room later, and purify it too.
We are going to have to go over basic meditation and
protections, Rei," he said sternly. "But later. I think I
need some sake first. I'll call your school, and tell them
that you won't be able to make it today."

Rei nodded mutely. Now she knew that something was behind
her dreams, and it was something truly evil. It was her duty
as a priestess to confront evil spirits, and either bind
them, or banish them. Anger swelled within her.

She closed her eyes a moment, thinking back. Her eyes
snapped open. She knew that street. It was in Juuban, near
the high school. She would be there, and see what she could
do.

-

Ukyo looked up when she heard the door ring. Her face showed
a small bit of surprise. "Nabiki Tendo?"

"Hello, Ukyo. You don't look so good. Can I speak to you and
Konatsu privately?" Nabiki asked, carefully looking around
the store at the few customers.

"Sure. Why not? It'll be a few minutes yet though. Take in
the curtain, would ya? Thanks." Ukyo scrubbed the grill,
making it as clean a possible, and then turned it down. As
the last customer walked out, she locked the door.

"Your open early today. Aren't you supposed to be in
school?" Nabiki asked, settling herself in a comfortable
slouch.

"And I'm sure you came all the way down here out of the
kindness of your heart." Ukyo took a deep breath, and then
called out, "Konatsu! Can you come down here?"

"Of course, Miss Ukyo!" Konatsu said, walking into the room.
As normal, he was dressed in a female kimono, and looking
quite feminine.

"Ok, spill it Nabiki." Ukyo frowned. She wasn't sure she
wanted to hear what Nabiki said.

"That's some negative attitude you've got, for a cute
fianc'ee," Nabiki said with a smirk. "Actually, I need your
help. Yours and Konatsu's, to be precise."

"Why should I help you? You're Akane's sister," Ukyo said
scathingly.

"Because it's Akane that's got me worried. Did you hear that
she defeated Shampoo?" Nabiki said with a frown.

"Damn! Shampoo too? I didn't think she'd have the guts to
even try," Ukyo said, disconcert showing in her voice.
"Shampoo scared Akane. Badly." Almost as bad as she scares
me!

"I timed it actually. Fifty eight seconds. Akane barely
broke a sweat. Mousse lasted about a minute and a half,"
Nabiki replied. "She also isn't acting normally, either. I
mean, she and Ranma are acting affectionate. Almost like a
normal couple. Does this sound like something is wrong?"

"It sounds like a nightmare. Do they really think of
themselves as married?" Ukyo asked.

"Considering they've been keeping me awake for the last two
nights, I'd say yeah."

The sound of metal stretching and bending filled the air.
Ukyo let go of the remains of her cooking spatula, and let
it fall to the grill with a metallic clink. "W-w-WHAT?!?!"
she screeched suddenly. She grabbed Nabiki by her collar and
held her up close. "You don't mean that they . . . . did it,
do you?"

"Yes. Akane, man hater and least likely to admit to wanting
to marrying Ranma. And from the sounds she makes, she really
likes it." Nabiki frowned, and waited for Ukyo to recover
from her shattered heart.

"So, how can I help?" Ukyo said finally. Her voice was cold,
and emotionless. That, that SLUT! That's how she got to him!

"Well, I need to find out why they are moving out, to go to
Juuban High School. Not the reason they're saying, the real
reason. They are both acting really strange and weird. And I
want to know why." Nabiki waited a moment, and then
continued. "And I'm going to need your help to find out,"
Nabiki finished, looking over at Konatsu.

"Me? Miss Nabiki, why me?" Konatsu asked, looking at the
middle Tendo daughter.

"You have ninja training, right? I need someone who can be
sneaky, and follow two overly well-trained martial artists
easily. Without tipping them off." Nabiki drummed her
fingers on the table.

"And what about me?" Ukyo asked, her posture stiff. Her
voice was still very cold.

"You're Konatsu's backup. Hopefully, you're both good enough
to get away if they catch you following them," Nabiki said
finally.

"Good enough."

-

School couldn't end soon enough for some people. Ranma had
done a lot better in math, to his surprise. But that didn't
change that he really didn't like it. Strangely, he found he
didn't hate it as much as he thought he would.

This worried Ranma. It was like Angwyn's life was bleeding
into his life. And that scared him. There were things that
she had done that really unnerved him. The top most was her
trying get pregnant for several years. Ranma knew that it
was possible that his cursed form could get pregnant. After
all, that was what the Musk used the spring for. Wives and
the children they would bear.

Ranma shuddered, and stepped out into the sunlight. At least
today was a short day, and they could go home and get ready
to move.

"Come on guys, let's go to the arcade!" Usagi said suddenly.
She had positively infectious smile plastered to her face.

"Sorry, Usagi. Ranma and I have to go home and pack for our
move. Can we take a rain check?" Akane said as she slung her
backpack.

"Sure, I guess. How about you Makato? Minako? Ami?" Usagi
asked breathlessly.

 "I've got to get home, Usagi. My chores aren't going to get
themselves done," Makato said. "Maybe I'll drop by in a few
hours."

"I've got volleyball practice, but I'll show up afterwards,"
Minako said. She smiled as she replied to her friend.

"I'll be over as soon as I do my homework," Ami said. She
waved to her friends, and then walked off.

Usagi looked around as everyone else left too. "Aww, no one
wants to go with me." Usagi kicked a pebble out of her way,
and then started to walk down the road. She brightened a
little bit when she realized her friends did say they would
try to show up.

"Can I come with you, Usagi? It sounds like fun!" Usa said
suddenly, surprising her 'cousin'.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I kind of spaced out there a second. Sure!
Come one!" Usage said, smiling as she took off down the
road. Usa was trailing behind, amazed at the speed that
Usage could run at.

-

"My baby girl is moving out and leaving the family!" Soun
Tendo wailed.

"Now, father. It's not for forever. And they only going to
live in Juuban. And Akane promised that it was only until
they graduated from high school." Kasumi started to wipe up
the mess that his crying was making.

"And besides, it will give Akane and Ranma a chance to learn
how to hold down a household by themselves, but still be
able to call us for help if they really need it," Nodoka
said to Soun. She smiled and thought to herself, they will
also have the privacy for having children of their own.
Grandchildren!

Genma was avoiding this argument, as only a panda could. He
waved the occasional sign, to try and interject some of his
own comments. Everyone, except Soun was ignoring him as best
as possible.

"I'm home!" Nabiki said, walking in the door.

"Oh, Nabiki, the school called to say that you weren't there
today," Kasumi said cheerfully as she continued to wipe up
the tears.

"Nabiki, why weren't you in school?" Soun thundered
suddenly.

"Calm down, dad. I was just checking out some things. Or
aren't you curious about why Ranma and Akane are suddenly so
close?" Nabiki said casually. "I mean they went from
screaming and yelling to a perfect married couple in one
day. Jeez."

Soun was about to start lamenting about his daughter being a
delinquent, when a sudden a splash and a double screech of
surprise distracted him.

"Ranma, you idiot! Now we're all wet!" screamed Akane.

There was a sudden flash of light from outside.

"Hey! We could've taken the bus you know, you macho chick!"
Ranma screamed right back.

"Ranma! You take that back, you jerk!" Akane yelled.

"Nyah! You couldn't hit me if you tri-ied!" Ranma sing-
songed in her high pitched voice. More splashing was heard.

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah!" Ranma replied. "Oops!" A crashing thud was heard
from outside, and the wall shook slightly.

Kasumi opened the doors that led to the pond, letting Ranma
fall upside down into the house. "Hello, Ranma. How was
school?"

"Fine Kasumi. How are you doing?" Ranma asked. She stood up
and popped her neck.

"Hi, Kasumi. Father. Hello, Nabiki. How is everyone?" Akane
asked, smiling widely. Her skirt was wet up to her waist.

Kasumi covered her mouth, hiding her smile. "We're fine. Did
you want to help make lunch? I was going to make curry."

Chizuko was busy trying to not fall of the wall while not
laughing out loud. She had managed to avoid getting splashed
with a quick beat of her wings.

"Let me change first!" Akane said, dragging Ranma up the
stairs.

Nabiki gaped for just a second more, and then closed her
mouth with a snap.

"Somehow, I think they'll be fine," Nodoka said to Soun.
"The moving van is going to be here in a couple of hours. So
you had better finish packing," Nodoka called after the two,
smiling at the young couple's antics.

"My baby girl is moving out and leaving the family!" Soun
wailed again.

"Oh, father!" Kasumi said, frowning slightly. She cheered
right back up though, thinking of writing a letter to a
certain doctor who had moved to be closer to his mother in
her old age. Akane was almost grown up, and was married
after all.  There was nothing holding Kasumi back from her
life now.

Finally.

-

Ranma closed the door after putting the last box down.
"Jeez, Akane. Got enough stuff?"

"Just because you could fit everything you own in one
backpack, and three boxes doesn't mean I have a lot of
stuff, Ranma!" Akane replied acridly, carrying some more
clothes to their new closet.

"You have six big boxes of clothing. And did we really have
to bring you weights?" Ranma asked.  He juggled them for a
moment, before putting them near the bed.

"I've got to keep my girlish figure, don't I?" Akane
replied, arching an eyebrow.

"Uh, yeah! I'm not gonna argue that one. So what do you want
to do after we get most of this unpacked?" Ranma asked.

"Well, we still need to go shopping for kitchen supplies and
food. We can't afford to eat out that often. I've got my
mother's notebook, and some recipes that Kasumi gave me,"
Akane replied nervously.

"And then maybe we can try talking to the rest of the girls
and try to figure out what the heck happened. Do you agree
Chizuko?" Ranma asked the hawk. He very carefully avoided
mentioning anything about Akane's cooking.

"That sounds wise. I will, of course, not need any food.
Just leave the drapes open, and I'll be fine," Chizuko
replied.

-

A figure struggled weakly in the air of a dark alley. He
jerked and twisted, as if caught in a web that wasn't there.
Streaks of gray lined his hair, contrasting his leather
jacket and ripped jeans. A switchblade was clutched in his
hands.

The reason for his gray became apparent as his struggles
continued. In moments, his hair turned white, and great
amounts of wrinkles appeared. His hands became weak, and
dropped the knife.

With a horrifying rasp, his breath stopped.

Suddenly, a large insectoid figure appeared next to him.
Line of force became visible, showing the strands of a
complicated web.

"Such a long life that you would have had. It feeds me well,
and gives me the power that I need," the thing spoke to
itself. Carefully, it removed the carcass, and carried it
into the sewers.

A macabre sight was open to its view. Only three humans, as
withered as the thing that he carried. But skeletons of many
rats, cats and dogs also filled the gossamer webs.

"Soon, Pluto. Soon I will have the power to revenge my self
on you and your kind. You guardians of time brought genocide
to us, and now. now an enemy of yours has brought us back.
And you do not expect us, because you have killed us all."
It put the latest figure into the webs.

It curled up into a ball, and glowed slightly. "You can't
feel us over the distortion, can you Pluto? You don't know
we are back. And it only takes one of us. For we are one
being, unkillable as long as one lives. And we are hunters,
and take the chronal energies."

The glow stopped, and the spider-like creature carried the
cocoon, and placed it carefully in the center of the web.
"We are bound to do the bidding of our summoner. Until he is
dead of course. And then we can plan our revenge, even if it
takes a thousand years."

"Soon, Pluto. Soon."

-

Sailor Pluto concentrated, sitting in the air, out of time.
Carefully, she opened her eyes. Her eyes were filled with
worry. The time stream was usually placid and simple to
read. And at other times, it was a swirling eddy, hard to
read, but manageable.

And then there were times like now. Besides her own careful
manipulations, three or four other disturbances muddied her
sight. One was the overpowering entity that had reverted the
senshi back to their hidden forms, and caused their memories
to be changed. Its power rivaled that of the Silver Crystal.

Another was familiar, but obviously not of her time. Could
it be a future self? Could things be that desperate? It was
subtle, but not undetectable.

And lastly, something from ancient times. How ancient was
hidden from her. But powerful. Perhaps a time hag? They were
powerful, but tended to be overconfident. But they could
hide easily from even the most prying of eyes. And if they
detected her in a moment of weakness, they could undo her.

Indecision showed itself on Setsuna's face. She was blinded
by being to close to the disturbance. What was she supposed
to do?

She would trust in the new Sailors Io and Sun. This was
probably the reason that they had joined in the destiny of
the future moon court.

She was just lucky that she had been in the time stream,
making sure that the events that were needed to make Ranma
join actually happened. Otherwise, she was just as
vulnerable to something like this.

Besides, someone had to make sure that that martial artist
was cursed.

-

Usa focussed on the game in front of her, trying her best to
win. Who would have thought that Usagi was so good at
something like this? Her character fell to the side,
defeated by the hoards of the alien war master.

"Don't worry, Usa! You're getting the hang of it!" Usagi
said cheerfully, continuing to blast away with abandon.

"I think I'll let Minako play for a while." Usa stepped
back, and let one of the other girls start to play.

Minako inserted her own coin, and started to play. She
grinned, and laughed as Makato and Ami cheered them on.

Usa shivered again. A cold chill crept up her back. Looking
carefully around, she spotted a young man staring into the
arcade from across the street. He stared at her for a
moment, and then started to walk away. It was definitely
coming from him, she was sure.

She casually walked out the door, and then down the sidewalk
in the direction that the leather clad man went.

Usagi's character finally died, much to her distress. She
vacated a spot for Makato (Ami never played as much as the
others), and looked around for her cousin. She still had
some questions about her cousin. She looked around, trying
to spot her. "Hey, guys? I'm going to go and find Usa, all
right? I'll be right back!" Usagi said as she stepped
outside.

Ami nodded and waved, acknowledging that she was leaving.

Usagi glanced either direction, pausing to see if she could
see the pink haired girl. "Hmm. Where did she go?" Usagi
said to herself.

Home, of course! She must be hungry.

-

Usa followed carefully, her every sense heightened to the
highest degree. She turned the corner into an alley,
expecting to see the figure. Well, she did, but not on the
top of the roof, leaping away. She ran, summoning a crystal
brooch into her hand. A corona of light exploded around her.

In moments, she was clothed in a sailor suit, and leaping to
the roof herself. She followed the figure for a while, until
he disappeared around a corner. She crept up to it, and then
looked for where he was headed. Where did he go?

"So, who do we have here?" a voice said from behind her.

Usa ducked and then leaped while blocking any attacks,
landing facing the mysterious figure.

"You must be one of these `Sailor Scouts'. Odd, you don't
fit the description of any of them. Who are you?" he asked
harshly. His eyes glowed a dim red, almost invisible in the
daylight.

"I am Sailor Moon, and for making the Sailor Senshi forget
who they truly are, I shall punish you!" Usa said proudly.

"Where is Sailor Pluto? I must have her. I must bring her to
the master," the figure cried out.

"I d-don't know. And I wouldn't let you have her any ways!
It is the job of the Sailor Senshi to defend everyone from
evil," Sailor Moon said, voice choking slightly. This thing
wanted Sailor Pluto? A minion? Not the true enemy then.

"I think you are lying, little girl. I shall help your
memory, with a few pointed reminders," he said shortly,
pulling out a switch blade.

"Your knife doesn't scare me! Moon Tiara Action!" the pink
haired Neo-Sailor Moon cried out as she threw her tiara.

The figure seemed to flicker, awakening an odd tingling in
Usa. The tiara passed right through him, and snapped back to
her hand. Uh, oh.

"Is that your best? Far too easy," the man snickered. He
charged forward in the blink of an eye. The blade glowed
with an incandescent aura.

Pain blossomed as the Neo-Sailor Moon flew through the air,
striking the unyielding surface of a wall. She gasped in
pain, and the wound slowly oozed blood. It wasn't a deep
wound, but it stung quite a bit.

With a quick motion, she leaped into one of the alleys,
dodging his next attack. She threw her tiara again, and
managed to hit him, but it seemed like he healed it up
instantly. She had just grabbed her tiara, when he appeared
next to her again. He snagged her, and with inhuman
strength, threw her through the wood fence at the end of the
alley, and into the street. Her flight was stopped abruptly
by her impact into the windshield of a car.

Neo-Sailor Moon gasped for breath. How could this thing be
that fast?


"Io Lumina Power. Make Up!"

"Sun Lumina Power. Make Up!"

Usa looked over in surprise. Who were they?

 "More senshi? It doesn't matter, two or a dozen, I shall
defeat you all!" the man said, shedding his human disguise.
The H'rogth stood to its full gigantic size, dwarfing the
females. It charged the newcomers, expecting them to either
leap away, or try to blast it with their attacks.  "Bring me
Sailor Pluto!"

He was not expecting them to rush him, and unleash their own
vicious martial attacks. A few blows pummeled home, before
he could change the flow of time. Even then, he was still
hit occasionally. It was uncanny how fast they moved. It
would require a great deal of energy to avoid all of their
strikes. Unnecessary too.

A large hawk cried out, winging high over head. Chizuko
watched the battle with concern.

They weren't hurting him enough. His own blows were striking
them, and soon he lured them into the alley, even the faux
Sailor Moon. The only real attacks that he truly avoided,
were the magical blasts. He led them on a chase for a few
more blocks, and then led them into his snares. Suddenly,
they were all caught, ensnared in his webs. Shock showed on
their faces.

"And now it ends. Where is Sailor Pluto?" the H'rogth asked
again. It walked over on six of its legs, preparing for the
feast it was about to have.

-

Rei sat on a bench, near a bus stop, waiting. This was the
location from her dream. It was idyllic and pleasant.
Nothing showed that a fight had ever happened. And so she
had waited most of the afternoon.

Could she have been mistaken? She was so positive that she
needed to be here, to be involved. Something about the fight
tugged at her soul. She looked up from her book suddenly.

Something was going to happen, she could feel it. Screams
from just down the road were her only warning. A gigantic
figure, vaguely humanoid, but mostly arachnid. It was a
horror, fighting three sailor suited warriors at once. Cars
were crushed, and the storefronts around them were trashed
with casual ease.

Rei gaped in astonishment. Her vision hadn't given her the
sense of destruction and mayhem. She started to struggle
against the crowd, trying to follow the battle. She chased
them down an alley, and around a corner.

"And now it ends. Where is Sailor Pluto?" the H'rogth asked
again. It walked over on six of its legs, preparing for the
feast it was about to have.

Rei had a good view, being behind the creature. Her fingers
reflexively clutched, and her wrist twisted. A simple
action, done hundreds of times, instinctive and sure.

"We don't know, you stupid cockroach!" the red haired girl
said. She struggled to release herself, glowing brightly.

Rei's head throbbed painfully. She grasped her temple,
holding the odd rod to her head. Memories collided in her
mind. She could sense that something was affecting her,
trying to change her. Make her something she wasn't. Forcing
her to do as it wanted, not as she willed. Trying to leave
her alone, always alone.

"Let us go!" the dark haired girl yelled.

Rei's vision blurred, the pain was so great. She wasn't go
to fail, she wasn't going to do what someone else wanted.
She collapsed to her knees, eyes squeezed shut in pain. She
wasn't going to be left, abandoned.

 "Fools. If you give me Sailor Pluto, your suffering will be
short."

"Mars Lumina Power. Make Up!" Rei screamed suddenly, arm
raised high. Bright light flashed, and enveloped her. The
sound of crystal cracking was heard in the distance.

-

The cracking sound traveled wide, startling three girls in
an arcade. Sudden memories came to them.

The sound traveled further, finding two older girls at their
home, taking care of a much younger girl that they
considered their daughter. All three of them jerked to their
feet, suddenly worried.

It rung loudly to a young man in a college class, startling
him straight in his seat. Sudden danger to his loved one
forced him to feet instantly. A rose appeared in his hand.

And one young girl, searching for her cousin, remembered.
"LUNA!" she called out, running down the street frantically.
She headed to the heart of the city.

And in a dark room with a throne, a black crystal showed its
flaw. Stressed horribly by energies that shouldn't be able
to be released, cracks grew across it. Two hands grasped it,
and the cracks started to heal, as beads of sweat grew on
Wiseman's face.

-

"Sailor Mars!" Sailor Sun cried out in relief.

"As I said before, two or a dozen, it makes no difference!
You shall all fall before me!" the creature screamed,
leaping at the latest threat.

Mars leaped, and focussed. A gout of flame formed in her
hands. "Burning Mandalla!" she screamed out as  she flung it
at the demon before her. She was shocked when it
disappeared, only to reappear to her side. She barely dodged
its attack, by leaping up into the air. Her blast merely
nicked the web that held the trio prisoner.

It laughed horribly, until it was struck from behind. It
shrieked and turned around to see the pink haired senshi
control the flight of her tiara. It snapped to her free hand
after weaving an erratic flight path, severing the web that
held them.

Sailors Sun and Io cracked their knuckles as they landed.
"Let's try that again. Don't you say?" Sailor Sun grinned
evilly.

With a roar, the H'rogth charged forward. He expended more
energy to alter time around it, going even faster still. To
even the trained eye, he was a blur. To the untrained or
unaided eye, he was invisible.

All four of the Senshi were being pummeled mercilessly.
Sailor Sun slipped on a piece of garbage, and was flung back
into the street, bouncing off of two cars. "Ouch. That thing
hits harder than Ryoga."

"Sailor Sun!" Ami cried out. Minako and Makato stood next to
her. Their hands clenched into fists, and summoned their
henshin sticks.

Sailor Sun looked up in relief.

Three cries, and three transformations later, they were
ready. Sailor Sun smirked. Just what they needed. Now to set
a trap.

-

Usagi dashed down the road. She remembered. Everything.
Sailors Mercury and Mars had detected something evil
appearing down town just after getting back from Solitude.
Deciding to find out who there new enemy was, the Inner
Senshi had sent in the moon cats to scout it out. It was a
good plan, made up by Ami. They had informed the Outer
Senshi, and told them where Sailor Sun and Io where. They
had agreed to be backup, and wait. Pluto had been missing.

Instead of wasting time fighting a bunch of underlings, find
the main enemy, and bring the fight to them. Less people
hurt, and less chance of getting hurt. It was working too.
Artemis had kept them up to date, and Luna had discovered
where the latest menace was. They were about to move in,
when Artemis had been discovered.

Over their communicators, she had heard a voice from someone
she was sure was dead. Wiseman. She and little Usa had
defeated him with the power of not one Silver Crystal, but
two. They didn't hear much, but Wiseman had been shouting at
the diminutive advisor, calling him a traitor, and a lair.
And then they heard a primordial scream from Artemis.

And then the light had hit. Usagi didn't understand,
couldn't believe that Wiseman had already gained this much
power over them. She couldn't fight it, even with the Silver
Crystal. And then she had forgotten. Everyone had, except
the Saotomes Usagi realized. And her . . . . child from the
future. Her child who was the same age as her right now.

Usagi skidded to a halt, and then dashed into a cathedral,
passing a startled priest. It had been in the basement, she
remembered. She skidded down the stairs, and stepped into
darkness. With her brooch in hand, she transformed into
Sailor Moon. The others would be on their way. But she
wasn't going to wait. Her friends were in danger.

"Wiseman! Release Luna and Artemis!" Sailor Moon yelled out.
Her scepter appeared in her hands.

"Well, well. Pretty Sailor Moon. I'm not sure how you broke
free, and remembered, but it makes little difference. My
Black Crystal will still defeat you easily enough," Wiseman
drawled. His dark eyes burned, red flashing over his
inverted moon symbol. He sat in his throne again, the black
crystal floating above him.

"I defeated you in the past! And I can do it again!" Sailor
Moon said defiantly.

"But I know your weakness, now. How do you think I hid the
power from you, little girl?" Wiseman smiled thinly.

Usagi gulped. Maybe this wasn't such a smart idea. And then
she saw two little statues. One black, one white. Little
cats, frozen in time. "Oh, no. Luna!"

-

The H'rogth was becoming frustrated, and even more upset.
More and more of these putrid girls were showing up every
second. First that girl who had managed to free the trapped
Senshi, and then the other three. They had almost trapped
him, and stopped his existence short.

And now three more. Two older girls, plus one who looked
like she was the youngest of them all. He had learned to be
cautious of them, for they wielded weapons of power. The
halberd was quite a surprise to say the least.

But they still hadn't attacked him where it would really
hurt. They couldn't, after all. They didn't know that he was
a creature of time. And energy attacks were inconveniencing,
but that was all.

"Come on guys, this is getting ridiculous. How the heck can
this thing be taking this much damage!" Sailor Io
complained.

"At least it's sharing the bruises evenly," Sailor Jupiter
said with a smile. She ducked, and let loose with a blast of
lightning.

"STOP!" commanded an imperious female voice.

The fight paused for a second, to take in the last
participant. Sailor Pluto had arrived. "H'rogth, thy kind
where expunged from existence because you worked for the
forces of entropy, hurrying the end of all time. Prepare to
meet the end of thine existence."

"PLUUUTOO!" It paused for a second, shivering visibly.
"`Protector' of time. Hah. More like lap dog of the true
guardians of time. It has been a long time, Pluto. Almost
four thousand years, hasn't it?" the H'rogth said, spitting
vile mucous in its anger. "I shall make your last moment be
an eternity of pain and humiliation."

The other Senshi stared at Pluto in surprise. They had no
idea that she was so old.

Sailor Pluto raised her staff, and prepared to fight the
thing on its level, when the pink haired Sailor Moon charged
the H'rogth from behind.

Usa's hands shook. She didn't want to do this, but she
remembered what she had been told. Her hands reached into
subspace, pulling out a two pieces of a staff. She ran low,
under its eyes, and then leaped up its back. At the top of
her leap, she slammed the two pieces together while jamming
it deep into the H'rogth's back.

"TIME STAFF REFORGE!!" she screamed, mind ablaze with the
convoluted mantras of power. The H'rogth shuddered, and
started to shrink. Purple lightning crackled over its body,
being drawn to the staff like moths to a flame. It started
to let loose a yodeling cry.

Cracks appeared in its shell, glowing brighter by the
second. With a soundless screech, the H'rogth imploded,
leaving the pink haired girl standing in its place, holding
a staff with a key as its adornment.

The group started to relax and talk when a voice brought
them back to their senses.

"Oh, God. No. No please . . . ." Sailor Pluto mumbled
slowly. She was as pale as a ghost. She looked as if the
wind would blow her away any second. She was staring in
morbid fascination at the pink haired girl in front of her.

-

Tuxedo Kamen leaped from roof to roof, desperation growing
in his mind. That silly girl had gone and gotten herself in
trouble again. He stopped across from the cathedral,
preparing to leap down. All of a sudden a brilliant light
sprang into existence around the building.

He shielded his eyes. "Sailor Moon!"

-

Sailor Moon gritted her teeth, and reached deeper into her
soul. The Silver Crystal flashed brilliantly, sending power
in streams at Wiseman

He seemed to hold it off effortlessly. "I didn't waste my
time here, `Sailor Moon'. I've been gathering the energy I
needed, and enhancing the Black Crystal to make it more than
equal to your Silver Crystal. Even with its weakness, it is
a formidable thing," Wiseman said. He hid his concentration
from the inexperienced girl in front of him. It infuriated
Serenity when others ignored her. Or belittled her.

Sailor Moon stumbled, the energy flickering for a second.
Weakness? She regained her resolve sending more energy
towards the man who had hurt her future daughter.

"Oh, you don't know do you? Your Silver Crystal warps
reality, granting the effects that you want. That is its
weakness. Your desires, your wishes." He paused just a
moment, savoring the moment to its fullest. "Especially your
desire to leave this madness behind, to be just a normal
teenage girl. It acts subtly, trying to grant this wish even
now."

Sailor Moon's eyes widened. Something about this sounded,
well, right. Hadn't she wished one time that she could live
as a normal girl? When she was dying, after defeating
Mettalia.

"That is how I survived, you know. You and that pink haired
girl where destroying me. I was being spread out across the
dimensions of space, time and reality. I was striking out
blindly, pitting my power versus two Silver Crystals. But
then I struck a resonance, amplifying one of you unconscious
desires that the Silver Crystal was trying to grant you. It
saved me, even as I was pushed to this time," Wise
soliliqued, dragging out the fight.

"So what? You can't do that again," Sailor Moon yelled back.

"Oh? Really?" Wiseman said blandly. He stood up, and laid
his hands on the Black Crystal. "Then I guess you have
nothing to fear then, do you?"

Sailor Moon gulped, and tried to catch her breath.

"Black Crystal Rebirth Resurrection!" Wiseman yelled out.
And white energy flashed out.

Sailor Moon held out her scepter, defending against the
energy as best as possible. She wasn't sure how long she
would last though. It almost seemed to feed off of her own
power.

-

Neo Sailor Moon glanced up suddenly, looking down the street
suddenly, The staff in her hands disappeared, leaving it
free for her to grasp a brooch. She leaped forward, blocking
a glow that suffused the area suddenly. Beads of sweat
appeared on her forehead.

"What's going on? Who are you?" Sailor Mercury cried out.
Her computer was out, and scanning.

"Someone.  is trying to... alter you. It feels. like they
are. trying to erase me!" Neo Sailor Moon gasped out.

"Alter us? Like change our memories?" Mercury asked. The
pink haired girl could only nod. "Sailor Sun, Io, you
weren't affected because you were in Jadeite's dimension
right?" Sailor Sun nodded, Io agreeing silently. "That's it
then, the attack can't penetrate to other dimensions. So we
should be safe there."

A watch-like device appeared on Sailor Mercury's arm. She
rapid fire tapped some keys. Almost instantly, a portal
appeared. "Everyone through. I'll close it as soon as the
last one is gone!" Sailor Mercury yelled out.

And with that they retreated back into the portal. Neo
Sailor Moon staggered through at the last just after
Mercury, and then the portal closed.

-

Sailor Moon groaned. Where were the others? They should have
been here by now. Her eyes flickered over to Luna, frozen in
white crystal. That distraction cost her, as white energy
enclosed her. She screamed silently, mouth open in a rictus
of pain.

Usagi fell to her knees, gasping for breath. "W-what's
happening?" She shook her head to try and clear out the
cobwebs out of her head.

"Are you all right?" a man asked, kneeling next to her.

Usagi nodded numbly. "Who are you? W-where am I?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. You may call me Jeiko. And as for what you
are doing, I couldn't be certain. My, what a pretty girl you
are. What is your name?" Wiseman asked.

"Usagi. Usagi Tsukino." Usagi tried to smile, but this man
unnerved her.

"Usagi. What a pretty name, for a very pretty lady," Wiseman
said, a wide thin smile on his lips.

Usagi grinned sickly. How come this felt all wrong?

------------------------------------------------------------
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---------
End Part II

Hmm. I think this one's a bit longer than the first part.

Notes: Small children in the middle ages where not
considered truly heirs until they had survived for at least
three years. Chalk it up to the vagaries of a really
horrendous childhood survival rates. The Middle Ages were
not kind to young children. This practice was of course
different from place to place. And when there was no other
choice, they had to hope that the young child would survive
to adulthood. Several thrones had their last heir die in
their childhood. So little Serenity is actually three years
old when she is presented to the court.

King Hugh Capten is a real king who ascended to his throne
after being elected to the throne of France in 987 AD, he
ruled until 996 AD, having brought some modicum of peace to
France after taking the throne from the other contenders.