UsAgI iS dEaD uSaGi Is DeAd HiP hIp HiP hOoRaY
by DARK DAY FOR ANIME

Diclaimer - Sailormoon is owned by Takeuchi Naoko and Bandai, so
these characters really belong to them.  I'm only using them to
achieve my dreams of fame and fortune (I wish).  If those who have
greater rights to these characters wish to throw the book at me
for being such a nasty person, then they may have to consider
whether what they are doing is truly worth the expense, because I
really couldn't supply them the financial recompense they would
normally expect.

Part Eight
A Swim in the Ocean of the Mind


APB - NAME: TSUKINO USAGI.  FEMALE, AGED 17 YEARS.  DESCR: BLOND
HAIR, BLUE EYES, FAIR COMPLEXION.  HAIR USUALLY WORN IN ODANGO-STYLE 
PONYTAILS.  HEIGHT: APPROX 5'4'' - 5'5''  WANTED IN CONNECTION WITH 
TERRORIST ATTACK ON BURUTO DISTRICT POLICE BRANCH.  CONSIDERED 
DANGEROUS.  LAST SEEN LEAVING THE GANTO GENERAL PUBLIC HOSPITAL AT 
APPROX 2.15PM, WEARING YELLOW DRESS, BLACK DENIM JACKET AND WIDE-
BRIMMED HAT....


	Usagi cursed as she crawled from out of the laundrette's
rather large pile of clothing.  Damn the senshi to hell, she
thought.  She should have known better than to underestimate them.
In all the time she had fought alongside them, she had failed to
learn the biggest lesson of all....

	Victory can come to anyone, especially if its achieved through
blind luck.  Certainly, she never expected to see an attack the
likes of the Dream Ambience Virulence in this day and age.  She knew
how to counter it, of course, its just that its usage was so
surprising.

	She found herself standing in a large storeroom.  She didn't
know where, or, quite possibly, when she was.  One guaranteed thing 
about the Dream Ambience Virulence....  It was dead set random in 
its navigation.  No trying to follow a trail back...  One had to
make one's own way back to the place of origin.  And whoever had
used the Dream Ambience Virulence had certainly learnt the art of
the Intellectual Bristol....  The capacity to disorient the victim
upon their arrival.

	All she knew was that the storeroom was full of an awful lot 
of clothes.  If this truly was a laundrette, in terms that she 
understood, then it was virtually an industry all by itself.

	The storeroom was lit only by pale sunlight which passed
through the opening of a huge exhaust fan in the ceiling, and the
walls were covered in a fine layer of moisture and mold.  The air
was heavy with the smell of wet and damp clothing, and humidity.  A 
kind of tropical humidity that wasn't simply a product of being in 
close proximity to wet clothes.  Wherever this was, she decided, it 
was probably not her native Japan.

	Maybe.

	There were doors at both ends of the storeroom, one that
looked like it lead to further internal segments of the building,
the other a set of double doors probably used to carry the clothes
in and out.  For a moment, she wondered which way was the better to
go to find her bearings.

	She chose the inner door.  A decision forced upon her by noise
that came from outside the double doors.  Someone speaking a foreign
language.  She had trouble defining what the language actually was.
One moment, it sounded like Cantonese, the next it had elements of
common Arabic.  There was even a smattering of German and strains of
American-accented English.  Whatever the case may be, she didn't
feel like coming into contact with any of the locals just at the
moment....  It might be difficult explaining what she was doing here
in the first place.

	This was what she was thinking as she opened the inner door to 
come face to face with a woman dressed in a Red Cross uniform.  The 
woman stared at her and Usagi stared back.

	Then the woman screamed, Usagi coming close to wetting herself
at the reaction.  "Uuhhh...  gomen.  Is there an exit to this
place?"  That didn't seem to settle the woman, who was backing against 
the opposite wall in the corridor beyond the doorway.  Then there was 
a crashing sound and Usagi spun, seeing the double doors forced open 
by UN soldiers.  With guns even.  All pointing at her.

	"Oh crap."  Was all she could say.


	"Amiiiii!"  Doctor Mizuno leaned over the edge of the pool
water, her eyes stinging at the sudden exodus of chlorine.  For a 
few moments, she thought she was going to pass out, but was grabbed 
from behind by someone and dragged back.  She coughed, trying to get 
fresh air into her lungs, and looked up at a woman aged in her mid 
to late twenties.

	"What happened?"  She recognised the voice and turned to her
left.  Osaka Naru was standing there, holding one arm.  Behind her
stood Kino Makoto.
	"Ami...  She..."
	"Whats happened to Ami?"  She turned to her right.  Hino Rei
had hold of her other arm, the pink-haired girl standing next to 
her.  Why were they here?
	"She....  In the pool...  She's melted into the pool...."
	"WHAT?"  Rei was dumbstruck.
	"How?  What happened?"  Naru tugged on her arm.
	"She'd come home in a state, so I gave her something to help
her relax and get some sleep, and put her to bed.  I heard a splash,
and came out here, and saw her floating on the top....  Then she...
She just melted away..."
	"Shimatta!"  The woman who was standing behind her was pulling
off her coat.
	"Kikotsuka-san!"  Rei stood.  "What are you going to do?"
	"She's melded with her element.  The drug administered to her
has placed her in a semi-concious state.  By immersing herself in
her element, she's allowed her powers to fuse with it, and thus
melted into it as if it were her body."
	"You mean that water is now Ami?"
	"Technically speaking, yes."
	"W... waitaminute here!"  Doctor Mizuno stared at everyone
around her.  "What are you all talking about?  What powers?  What is
going on here?"
	"You mean Ami has never contrived to tell you?  What a shame.
Allow me to enlighten you.  Your daughter is Sailormercury.  She has
the power of water and steam and has been hiding this fact from you
for quite some time.  Approximately three to four years, in fact,
give or take some lost time due to various magical interferences on
the part of others.  Are you satisfied now?  Good."
	Everyone stared at Aoi as she dashed up to the side of the
pool.  The chlorine gas had dissipated, thanks to a slight breeze,
and Aoi found only a slight discomfort.

	"You didn't have to be that blunt about it, did you?"  Naru 
dashed forward, grabbing Aoi by the shoulder as the woman leaned 
over, staring into the water.
	"How did YOU find out then?"  Aoi fired back.  Naru looked 
speechless.
	"I told her."  Rei stood behind them.  "The question is, 
what are you going to do with this information?"
	"Should I do something with it?  Arrest you?  Have you put to
death?"  Aoi shrugged.  "Or leave it be.  Right now, I couldn't give
a stuff."
	"My daughter is Sailormercury?"  Doctor Mizuno rubbed her
forehead.
	"And you know I'm Sailormars."  Rei said blandly.
	"I've always known that.  Far longer than you could ever
understand"

	There was a small explosion, and smoke rose from a nearby
shed.  They all looked up.  "Well, there goes the water chlorination
system."  Aoi shook her head.  "Surprised it took the girl so long
to scrag the thing."

	"That doesn't change anything."  Rei was flustered.
	"What do you mean, you've known who we were for a long time?"  
Makoto stepped forward.  Aoi gritted her teeth.
	"I don't have time for explanations, SAILORJUPITER, lets just
say we've met before in a past life and leave it at that, okay?  
Good!"
	"My daughter is Sailormercury...."
	"Will someone shut that hysterical woman up!?!"  Aoi reached a
hand down to the water.  "AMI?  AMI, CAN YOU HEAR ME?"  Aoi waited,
as if expecting a reply.  She shook her head, getting none.  "Damn,
this isn't going to work.  I'm going to have to meld with her."
	"What do you mean, meld?"  A thought came to Rei's head.  
"Don't tell me you have some kind of senshi power, too?"
	"I'm not a senshi.  I leave that title to the lesser lights
such as yourself."  Aoi stood.  "And is the term 'meld' ambiguous or
something?  Jeez, what do they teach kids in school these days?"

	Suddenly, there was a cry from behind them.  They all turned
to see Doctor Mizuno backing away from Chibiusa, who was shivering
uncontrollably, glowing with a pale light.
	"What...  What's happening... to me?"  Chibiusa stared at
herself in fear.  Slowly, her body turned transluscent, and fell to
the ground like an empty shell.

	"Chibiusa!"  Rei, Makoto and Naru all cried out in unison.
Aoi spat with contempt.
	"DAMN!  She's been drained of her essence."  Aoi snapped her
fingers.  "CereCere, VesVes!"  Two figures appeared in mid-air.  A
red-haired girl wearing a pink dress with floral motif, and a
scarlet-haired girl wearing red and black lycra sports gear.  The
both wore their hair down, but Rei and Makoto clearly recognised
them.

	"YOU!"  Rei spat out, as the two girls landed on the ground,
next to Doctor Mizuno.
	"Us."  CereCere smirked.  She caught Ami's mother as the woman
fainted, cradling her tenderly.  "It would appear she has had
something of an information overload."
	"You two, take charge of the situation here.  CereCere, you
handle Doctor Mizuno and the other girls.  VesVes, take Chibiusa's
shell and place it somewhere where it won't degenerate.  We'll need
an avatar if we are to retrieve her essence."
	"Yes, ma'am."  They both said.  CereCere pointed to Makoto.
"Help me with the good Doctor, will you?  I can't carry her on my
own."
	Without thinking, Makoto found herself helping her one-time
enemy with Ami's mother.  Rei watched in disbelief.  "You're
actually bothering to help these people, Mako-chan?"
	VesVes stared at Rei darkly.  "As if your actions have been
the paragon of virtue.  Regardless of what has gone on between us,
you have no choice but to work with us now."  VesVes stepped over
to Chibiusa's shell and looked around, then pointed back to Rei.
"Find me a sheet of something.  Large enough and strong enough to
slip underneath her, so we can carry her without having bits fall
off."
	Rei snarled and looked around.  "And where do I start 
looking?"  VesVes sneered with contempt.
	"Somewhere.  Anywhere.  Just do it before it starts raining
again, cos its gonna pretty soon, and once it does, she'll start to
melt away."

	Whilst this was going on, Naru watched as Aoi began to chant
something by the poolside, her eyes closed and hands clasped, with
three fingers pointing upwards.  Curiosity got the better of her
and she reached out for Aoi's arm.
	"What are you....  Aaahhhh...."
	Aoi pitched forward into the water, taking Naru with her.  
VesVes turned, her face turning pale.  "Oh GOD, no!"  She ran to
the side of the pool as the water started to settle.  Rei was beside
her.
	"What happened?  Where are they?"
	"Our boss has melded with Mizuno-san in the pool."
	"What about Naru-chan?"
	VesVes looked up at her.  "She was holding on to her when they
fell in.  Its most probable that Osaka-san has melded with her too."
	
	Rei stared into the pool in shock.  A pool that, for all
intents and purposes, looked empty.


	It had taken almost no time for Setsuna to resurrect the body
of Usagi by creating a small pocket of reverse time, taking it back
to the point where she had been beaten and killed.

	"Ooh, that tickles."  Said Naiad, obviously amused at her
sister's efforts.  The strange one that inhabited Usagi's corpse
felt the body's systems come back...  The heart started to beat once
more, and the chest rose and fell with a few tentative gulps of air.
For Naiad, the effect was most exhilirating.

	Haruka, Michiru and PalaPala then watched in morbid 
fascination as Setsuna fell back, dropping her staff and holding her 
arms in pain.  Naiad stared at her for several moments as the woman 
turned transluscent.

	"What's happening to her?"  Haruka croaked in shock.
	"She's dying."  Naiad-Usagi replied flatly.  "But not for 
long."  She smiled sweetly at the other three and placed a finger on
top of Setsuna's shell.  "Hmm, I could get to like this body and
its powers."  She smirked as an arc of energy shot between her
finger and the shell.

	The jelly mould in a senshi fuku suddenly turned into a 
healthy looking young woman in a senshi fuku, bounding around the 
hall of Queen Beryl's castle in pain, watched by the five others, 
two in perplexion, the other three in mild amusement.

	"What's she trying to do?  A raindance?"  PalaPala chuckled,
shutting up when Haruka shot her a reproachful glance.

	Eventually, Setsuna stopped and glared at her sister in
Usagi's body.  "You're as bad as the original.  Only in your case,
I'm putting money on that it was deliberate."
	"Hehehe, gomen na saiiiii."  Naiad-Usagi said, and promptly
collapsed.  Michiru managed to catch her before her head hit the
floor.
	"Feeling a bit tired there?"  Jadeite said from a distance, a
soft smile on his face.  The others ignored his question as Setsuna
stepped up to Naiad-Usagi's side.
	"What's wrong?  Is the latent power of the body too much for
you to take?"
	"Oh, hardly.  I'm just spreading myself too thin.  I'm afraid
you'll have to look after this comatose piece of meat for a while
whilst I attend to other business."  And with that, Usagi's eyes
glazed over.  Setsuna was about to grab the girl's collar and slap 
her, but seeing that nobody was home, she sighed and gave up the 
thought of remonstration.

	"Setsuna...."  Haruka stammered.  "Was that really your
sister?"  Setsuna looked up at Haruka and huffed with amusement.
	"Only in the quietest moments.  Otherwise I'll abdicate all
responsibility."
	"Doesn't she have a body of her own?"  Michiru raised an
eyebrow.  "She reminds me of you.  Its a scary thought that there is
someone running about with your personality and personal habits,
taking over other peoples' bodies."
	Setsuna sighed, seemingly taking Michiru's words as a
compliment.  "She's been dead since the Silver Millenium.  I really
don't know why she or any of the other Mikos haven't been 
resurrected yet."  Setsuna rubbed her chin.  "Come to think of it, 
she said she had been reborn....  At least, had found a suitable 
host body for her subconciousness."

	"Miko?"  Setsuna turned to Jadeite, whose face had paled
significantly.  A wicked smile came to Setsuna's face.  "Whats wrong
Jadeite?  You look like you've seen a ghost."
	"Naiad Keth Drutein...."  Jadeite put a hand to his forehead,
looking distinctly queasy.  "The final Miko of the Third Refrain..."

	"What's he talking about?"  Haruka asked, inquisitively.

	PalaPala answered the question this time.  "The Third Refrain.  
There were twelve Mikos in the Kingdom, each split up into three 
Refrains of four.  The first represented the positive, the spirit.  
The second represented the neutral, the body.  And then there was 
the third, which represented...."

	"The negative, the mind."  Michiru lifted Usagi's body in her
arms as she stood.  "And, naturally, all four members of each
Refrain represented an element within the positive-neutral-negative
framework.  Fire, Earth, Air and Water."  Michiru turned to Setsuna.  
"Your sister, being the last of the Third Refrain was the Miko of 
Water, with an accent on the mind and its internal, intrinsically 
negative aspects."
	Setsuna smiled as both she and Haruka got to their feet.  "You
catch on fairly quickly."  Michiru shrugged, not easy to do when
carrying a sleeping body.
	"My element is water.  I have an insight into these kind of 
things.  I'm afraid Haruka here, being a senshi of air, tends to be 
fairly flighty when it comes to such thought processes."
	"Is that an insult?"  Haruka looked at her dubiously.

	"Anyways..."  PalaPala shrugged as the two outer senshi
glared at each other.  "What we are looking at is a classic Zodiacal 
pattern."
	"Indeed, I'd say the western Zodiac itself was based on the
Miko caste."  Setsuna replied, following PalaPala's line.  "You seem
to know a lot about this....  Sailorpallas, isn't it?"  Haruka and
Michiru stared at the light-blue haired girl.  PalaPala shrugged and
smiled.
	"Hmm, thats what some may refer to me as.  I prefer PalaPala,
though."  Haruka turned to Setsuna.
	"She's a senshi?"
	"One of the four Asteroid Senshi, if my memory serves me 
correctly."  Setsuna and PalaPala smiled at each other.  "I take it
you've met my sister before?"
	"Yes.  We've been working for her for quite a while."
	"And do you trust her?"
	"No.  Does it matter?"
	"Not entirely.  Unless, of course, you're willing to trust the
Water Miko of the Third Refrain.  Not many people did."

	"So that would make your sister Sailor... Pisces, then?"  
Michiru seemed to throw in from out of the blue.
	Setsuna snorted.  "I wouldn't say that in her presence.  The
thought of being classed alongside a senshi with a sailor title
would put the wind right up her."  Setsuna shook her head.  "The
Mikos always considered themselves a step above we senshi.  Its one
of the things that drives the wonderful relationship we both have."
	"Looks more like a common-or-garden dysfunctional family setup
to me."  Haruka shrugged.

	"Naiad Keth Drutein!  I should have realised from the START!"
All four turned to face Jadeite, who had a strangely smiling
expression on his face.  "She's been calling to me all this time and
I was just too stupid to see it!  DAMN HER!"  Jadeite looked up at
Setsuna.  "I'm so sorry I have to leave this party.  There is
someone I must see.  Tata."  Jadeite flashed out of existence.

	Michiru and Haruka stared at where he stood, their faces masks
of tragedy.  "Now how are we gonna get back?"  Haruka asked in a
whiny little voice that annoyed Setsuna.
	"I'll transport you back."  She shook her head.  "Don't tell
me you didn't know I could do that?"
	Both shook their heads.
	"Oh dear.  I really must relay more about myself to others.
Not."  Setsuna stuck her tongue out at them.


	Hotaru and Minako sat opposite the Usagi who had been first in
the queue.  The Usagi, dressed in a simple pink skirt and blouse,
looked around the office appreciatively.
	"Nice office.  Better than my apartment."
	"This office is better than your apartment?"  The pair 
chorused.  Usagi nodded.
	"Hn.  Real dingy place.  Mold on the ceiling and walls.  Wood
floorboards that are close to rotting.  Very few windows, light
fittings don't work, so its pretty bloody dark.  Only the water and
gas rseem to work properly.  I suppose I should be thankful for 
small mercies."  Usagi smiled.  Both Hotaru and Minako felt horrible 
that she was here to be killed by them.

	"So..."  She continued.  "How do we do this?"
	"Umm..."  Minako quickly thought on her feet.  "First, we have
to be sure that you want to go through with this.  I mean, once its
done, its done.  There's no turning back."
	"Ah yes, I've thought it over for some weeks now, and I'm most 
certain that I want to die."
	"What brought this sudden need on?"  Hotaru put a hand to her
chin.  The Usagi's face dropped and she stared at the floor.
	"I was supposed to become Serenity.  The REAL Serenity, but I
failed.  Right from the outset it was obvious.  I couldn't so much
as transform, or even use my powers of influence."  She shook her
head.  "Its kinda sad, really.  Suddenly you're born, just like 
that, and then you're told that you're a failiure and that you can
go rot in the midst of this damned city...."  She seemed at the
point of tears, but her expression changed to that of a sad smile.
"Oh well, at least it'll all be over soon."

	"So, umm...  How do you want to die?"  Hotaru couldn't think
of anything better to ask, and Minako stared at her painfully.
	"Ah, yes, I have your catalogue here."  She pulled a tatty
coloured booklet from her skirt pocket and began to thumb through
it.  "I'd looked through it quite a number of times, but none of the
'special' methods seemed to appeal to me, so I thought I'd choose a
traditional one.  The gunshot to the head.  If that's alright by
you?"

	No, that's not alright, was their unspoken thought.


	"Hhkk...."  The 4-P Usagi model caught her throat for a 
moment.  She had just successfully taken out some mannequin enemies
with the Moon Tiara.  Mamoru and the Usagi Executive applauded
appreciatively at this.
	"She's finally broken the barrier.  The Moon Tiara."  Said one
of the Usagi execs.
	"Nobody has been able to do that before."  Said another.
	Mamoru stared in pride at this latest piece of work.  He had
to keep reminding himself that it wasn't the same Usagi he knew and
loved.  The one from HIS world.  This was nothing but a copy.

	"Mamo-chan?"  The 4-P stared at Mamoru for a second.  "What's
going on?  Are you the REAL Mamo-chan?"  Mamoru and the Usagi execs
stopped their applauding and stared at her.  She leapt from her 
raised dais and grabbed Mamoru.  "Please, tell me you're the REAL 
Mamo-chan...."

	"What's gone wrong?"  The chief Usagi exec stepped up beside
Mamoru.  The 4-P stared at her in shock, then at all the other 
Usagis behind her.
	"Who...  Who are all these people, Mamo-chan?  What are they
all doing here.  I thought she was dead...."  The 4-P stared into
Mamoru's eyes.  Then she noticed something, she was taller than she
last remembered herself being.  She looked down at her clothes.

	"Yaaahhhhh!  I'm Sailormoon.  Super Sailormoon, even.  this is
horrible.  How did this happen?"
	"There must be something wrong with her...."  The chief exec
looked at Mamoru, shaking her head.  "Psychologically, anyway.  That
at least is fixable."
	"Mamo-chan....  What's happening to me....  I felt sick and
suddenly I'm here.  Please tell me, otosan..."

	"Otosan?"  The chief exec and her kin all turned from the 4-P
to Mamoru and back.  Mamoru's mouth began forming words, in shock
and surprise.

	"Papa, I'm scared."  The 4-P began to cry great torrents of
tears.  Mamoru reached forward and took her into his arms, much to
the surprise of the jealous executives.

	"I'm sorry, Chibiusa.  Everything will be alright now.  It'll
be alright, Papa promises you."


	Usagi sat in the cart as it ran along the track for quite some 
distance.  The valley of T'fureis was now disappearing behind the
mountains which lined it.  Her four newly-found companions were also
sitting quietly after listening to the story of how she came to be
here.

	"So, you were backstabbed by your own."  Siren rubbed a hand
over her mouth.  "Sounds like the kind of thing people used to do
on my homeworld."
	"Shutup, Siren."  Nyanko, who was leaning against one of the
backpacks, looked up at Usagi.  "And you didn't even get a chance to
explain to Mercury that you weren't going to hurt her?"
	"She wasn't in the frame of mind to listen.  She just went
straight for the kill."  Usagi shivered and curled up even further.
"The look in her eyes.  One moment she looked insane, totally intent
on killing me, almost finding a kind of perverse pleasure in the 
act.  The next, she was confused and sad, not knowing why she was
doing what she was doing."
	"Almost sounds as if she were possessed."  Crow, who was
sitting opposite Usagi, mumbled whilst looking away.  Usagi looked
over at her.
	"I'd say that would be an apt description.  She most certainly
wasn't of her right mind."
	Siren shrugged.  "Well, now you're dead.  Join the club."
	Crow shot Siren a reproachful glance, but the other girl 
wasn't so easily cowed.  "Well we're all dead.  Well aren't we?
Whats the big fuss?  Galaxia snuffed me after this bitch here goaded
her."  She pointed to Nyanko.
	"Don't you start now."  Crow sighed and turned to Usagi.  "So, 
if we're all dead, what does that make this place?  Heaven?  Some 
kind of afterlife existence?"
	"Not my kind of afterlife existence."  Mouse muttered from the
front of the cart, holding the reigns.
	"Nobody said the afterlife was going to be fun in the sun, did
they?"  Crow snapped.  Mouse shrugged.
	"No rest for the wicked, then, eh?"

	Usagi looked ahead.  "Any idea where we're going?"
	"Forward.  Its about the best estimation I can give you under
current circumstances."  Mouse looked back.  "There are large
mountains visible off in that direction.  I don't fancy my luck at
traversing them in this thing."  Mouse pointed east south east of
their current locale, and Usagi could see some snow-capped peaks in
the distance that had been hidden from her view in the base of the
valley.
	"Yeah, looks pretty rugged out there."  She turned to Crow.
"So, how did you guys end up here?"
	Crow shrugged.  "We just seemed to find each other in this
port city.  Bisshin, I think its name was.  Some distance off in
that direction."  She pointed south-west.
	"We should have stayed there."  Siren muttered.
	"What, with the slave-traders there?  Four girls like us, sans
the powers we used to have, wouldn't have stood a chance."
	"Slave traders?"  Usagi's ears popped up.  "I thought this was
supposed to be a recreation of the Silver Millenium."
	"Yeah, whatever that is."  Crow shrugged.
	"Don't look at me.  I'm only visiting this place."  Nyanko
raised an eyebrow.  Usagi sighed.
	"The Silver Millenium....  The period in my planet's history
when the Senshi reigned over the planet, and, indeed, the entire
solar system."
	"So what went wrong?"
	"Bitchy little infighting is what went wrong."  Siren 
chuckled.  "Oh yes, this is VERY much like my homeworld."

	"That's not the point.  During this time such things as the
slave trade shouldn't have existed."
	"Neither should things like the 'Rights of Succession'.  And
yet they did.  If this is a truly faithful recreation of this
'Silver Millenium', then you're getting the warts and all picture."
Siren lounged against her backpack.  Suddenly, she sat up.  "Hey,
I've just thought of something...."
	"What?"  Crow muttered.  The others just stared at her.
	"If this truly is a recreation of this 'Silver Millenium',
then wouldn't Queen Serenity and her daughter be around?"
	"Yeah.  So what?"  Crow couldn't see the point that Siren was
getting to.  Usagi, however, could.
	"Everyone here would surely know what they look like...."  Her
eyes opened wide.
	"Indeed.  And everyone would know that they look like YOU."

	Mouse stopped the cart and turned with everyone else at Usagi.
"Oh crap!"  Crow muttered.  "The first populated village we come
upon, everyone's going to look at you and freak out."
	"Either that or they'll lay out the red carpet."  Siren's eyes
glittered.  "Ah, I can see it now...  All that FOOD."
	"Thats not the point, Siren."  Crow sighed.  "They'd first
want to know why she's travelling on a junkheap like this with the
four of us.  I'm quite sure stories about us have spread this far
already."
	"What stories?"  Usagi looked puzzled.
	"Well, we didn't make the best of visitors to the port city of
Bisshin.  In fact, we upset the applecart there quite nicely,
thankyou very much."
	"It wasn't my fault.  We had that mail-order racket going
quite nicely, thankyou very much."  Siren whined.
	"Mail order racket?"  Usagi croaked.  "I really don't want to
know."  She sniffed and leaned back against the side of the cart.
Mouse chuckled and flicked the reigns, getting the horse to move
once more.
	"So, what are we going to do when we get to that next town?"
Usagi muttered.  Crow smiled.
	"Well, you could always become one of US."
	"What do you mean, one of you?
	Crow chuckled.  "From now on, your name is Gold Usagi.  Got 
it?  We're the Animates.  Iron Mouse, Lead Crow, Aluminium Siren, 
Tin Nyanko and Gold Usagi."
	"Why does she get an upper-class metal?"  Siren whined.
	"Got a better idea?"  Crow glowered at her.
	"What about Plutonium Usagi.  That fits her persona far better."  
Siren smirked.  "I know I'd keep as far from her as possible."
	"Baka."  Crow bopped Siren one over the head, who giggled.
Usagi smiled, then nodded.
	"Very well.  I'm Gold Usagi, then."



	For a few brief moments, Naru found herself floating in blue
nothingness, still hanging onto Aoi's shoulder.  In that blue,
however, Aoi's appearance had seemed to change....  Her visage going
from that of the plain brown-haired, light eyed young woman into
something rather more impressive.  Her hair and eyes glowed with the
blueness that surrounded them, and her face appeared remarkably
similar to someone she knew....

	Suddenly, Naru hit the ground.  She let out a squeal of
surprise as she felt its force punch her square in the trunk.  She
lay there for several moments, trying to catch her breath, when she
heard a voice from above her.

	"What the hell are YOU doing here?"

	Naru looked up to see the face of Setsuna staring back at her.
Only it wasn't Setsuna behind that face.  Certainly, the eyes and
the hair colour defied that description.  The woman standing before
her, dressed in a far more ornate fuku, carrying a trident staff,
was a very different beast altogether.

	"Kikotsuka-san?"
	"Yes?"  She paused for a moment, looking frustrated.  "I mean, 
what the hell did you follow me for?"
	"Umm...  I grabbed your arm...  And I..."
	"...Fell into the pool with me."  The woman shook her head
pitifully.  "Am I to be surrounded by cretins throughout my 
existence?"  She turned around and stared at her surroundings.
"Well, the only way I can rid myself of you now is if I were to
physically drag you from the water, and since we don't have the
time for that, you'll just have to accompany me.  Get to your feet."

	Naru did so, grouchingly.  "There's no need to be so rude 
about it."  The woman snorted contemptuously.
	"So sorry.  Don't think I'm doing it for you, personally.  I
treat everyone this way."
	"Nice to know I haven't been singled out for special 
treatment."  Naru looked around at her surroundings, following her
companion's example.  They were standing in a small field of finely
cut lawn, the occasional ruin of a marble and iron rotunda dotting
the emptiness.  "So what name should I refer to you by?  A Sailor
title?"
	The woman gritted her teeth and made a gagging noise.  "Uh-uh,
sorry, wrong answer.  If you want, you can call me Aoi, although I
prefer my original name."
	"Which is?"
	"Naiad."
	"Naiad?  What kind of name is that?"
	"What kind of name is Naru?"
	"Touche'"
	"We go this way."  Naiad pointed her trident.  "And quickly.
If we don't reach Ami in time, her conciousness may dissipate."
	"You mean she'll die?"
	"Hmm....  Maybe.  Other than that, she may simply revert to
spiritual energy, the force by which we master our roles as miko
and senshi."
	"Miko?  You mean you're a shrine maiden?"
	Naiad started making that gagging sound again.  Naru sighed.
"Sorry, Priestess.  I meant Priestess.  Don't get yourself all
worked up, okay?"
	"Its a good thing you're speaking with a Third Refrain Miko.
I'm quite sure Ares would have flamed you by now."
	"Who's that when they're around?"
	"The Fire Miko of the First Refrain.  They're such airheads,
those Firsties, but funny guys to be around."  Naiad started a light 
jog.  "Onward we go, into the Valley of Death.  If you don't hurry, 
you'll miss the show."

	Naru followed her, and was surprised to find how easy it was
to run.  She felt no exhaustion, no shortness of breath....  Nothing
that she normally associated with running.  Still, she had trouble
keeping up with Naiad.  "Slow down!  Please!"
	"I haven't got the time to waste on you.  If you get lost,
then that's your fault.  Anyways, you're not as useful to me as Ami
is, so I won't be shedding tears if you end up getting dissipated
instead of her."  Naiad ran into a forest of ruined columns, and it
was here that Naru lost sight of her.  Naru paused by a column and 
scanned the area.  There was no sign that she had even been there.  
Naru began to panic.

	"Naiad-sama!  Please...  Don't leave me here.  Naiad-sama!"

	There was no reply.


	Jadeite stood in the crowd that surrounded the police line,
staring in disbelief at the ruins of the Buruto Police Station.

	Privately, he cursed himself.  If that bitch was anywhere, the
ruins of the police station she once worked at was not going to be
the place.  He had to hand it to his Youma-Usagi creation, though, 
she really knew how to put on a show.

	He thought to himself for a few moments before he turned away.
Why hadn't he been able to spot the spirit behind the eyes of the
policewoman?  Perhaps he, too, had been under the witch's spell.
That was more likely to be the case.  The Mikos of the kingdom had
been a very influential cult, allowed to flourish because of the
successive Queens' fascination with the religion.  Whilst there were
many unbelievers, like himself, there was no doubting the power and
influence the Mikotai held.

	Even worse was the fact that each and every one of them was a
distinct individual, as eccentric as the next.  Trying, in some
manner, to learn how to relate to them, when you don't know whether
what you do or say around them may offend, was a chore.  And there
was never a more difficult, taciturn, erratic and (many only
whispered it) insane Miko than Naiad Keth Drutein.  The woman was
mad, bad and dangerous to know.  She used her powers of influnece in
a stealth manner, feeding into others' minds for various purposes,
be they her religious duties as a Miko, or for her personal 
amusement.  In Naiad's case, it had been extremely difficult to
define which was which.

	There were even those who said that her eventual suicide was
nothing more than an effort to free herself of her body, and that it
was she, in the form of her spirit, who influenced Beryl into
bringing about the destruction of the Kingdom.  It amused him,
sometimes, to think that Metallia may have only ever been a front
for the Miko witch.

	He pushed his way back through the crowd.  She had to have
gone somewhere....  He thought hard....  The shrine grounds where
Mars lived?  That was certainly a possibility.  Who knew how many
puppets she was controlling.

	He bit his lower lip and closed his eyes as he stopped by the
edge of the neighbouring street.  Mars....  She was not the woman he 
once remembered.  There were times when he wished he could have 
turned her over, to join the forces of Beryl....  Of all the senshi, 
she was the most susceptible....  But it was too late to wish for 
that now.

	And the thought that the witch might be using her as well....
Maybe that was why she had changed so much.  The witch most
certainly had some scheme up her sleeve.  To do what, he didn't
know, although it was likely that Setsuna was seeing through the
scheme.  Even so, Setsuna was not to be trusted, either.  The pair
of them were puppet masters.  It all depended on whether they were
working together, or at cross-purposes.

	He crossed the street, feeling a chill run through him, as if
he was being watched.  He turned as he reached the other side, but
there were so many people there that it was impossible to pin down
the person in question.  A hint of paranoia entered his mind.  It
might even be another pair of the witch's eyes.  Anyone, with her in
such a non-corporeal state, could exist as her eyes.  Even himself.
He shook his head and continued on.  If it was her, or someone else,
then the best thing to do would be to draw them away from a large
crowd like this and take them on singularly.

	From out of the crowd, an Usagi, hair worn down, dressed in a 
pink skirt and blouse, followed him.


	Usagi had thrown up her hands in surrender as soon as she saw
the guns.  Whatever power it was she had, she didn't know if she
had the speed to get out the name of an attack before they immolated
her.  And anyway, she hated guns.

	"I GIVE UP!"  She shouted as loudly as she could.  The first
bullet went through her chest, blowing blood across the hysterical
woman behind her.  She stared down at the bullet wound in disbelief.
"Umm, did I say something wrong?"  

	Before long, she was being pounded by bullets, her body 
virtually pinned to the far wall of the storeroom by the force of 
the volley.

	They stopped, eventually, as Usagi's body slid down the wall.
The woman with the Red Cross uniform took flight, shouting something
about there being a monster in the storeroom, in French-accented
English.

	Ow, Usagi thought.  That wasn't very nice.  And here I was
being the submissive one.  Oh well, so much for that ruse, time to
play the rampant aggressor.

	"Alright...."  She croaked.  "If thats the way you want to
play it, I'll join your little game."  She stood up, her body
jerking like a puppet.  "I'd just got meself a nice new body, and
you had to go and ruin it.  Shame on you."  The soldiers backed
away as she advanced on them.  "Oh no, its not THAT easy to get
away from me.  Come on, try and shoot me again.  It'll work about
as well as the last time."

	Usagi held up a hand and placed a field around the doorway.
The first two of the dozen or so soldiers to reach it screeched in 
agony as their bodies cooked upon contact.  Their counterparts 
turning and staring at them with stunned disbelief as the sizzling 
corpses fell to the floor.  "Ah, guess that ain't the way out.  Care 
to try another exit?"  Usagi gestured to the inner doorway, 
mockingly.  The first soldier to make a dash for it exploded on the 
spot.

	"Ouchie.  That'll hurt in the morning."  Usagi giggled cutely
as flesh, bones and organs were pasted like a pate' on the walls.
She avoided the mess entirely through the use of a simple 
forcefield.  No point getting her already ruined school uniform any
dirtier with someone else's mess.  She crossed her arms and stared
at the remaining soldiers, some of whom had dropped their guns and
were scrabbling against the wall, cowering in fear.

	"Is that it?  Is that all you've got?"  Usagi looked 
disappointed.  She snapped her fingers and watched as the soldiers
fell to the ground, their bodies expanding from within.  They
clutched at themeselves in a comically pathetic attempt at holding
themselves together.  Then they started to split.  

	They too, exploded.  They oozed across the floor, their 
constituent materials being reduced to a oozing red soup that Usagi
disdainfully turned from.

	She looked at the inner door.  "Time to see where I am and 
what's going on."  She strolled, almost skipping, into the corridor 
beyond.


	"Hoo, what a large fridge...."  VesVes said as she and Rei
placed Chibiusa's shell in the vegetable crisper.  "Didn't know
they made them this big."
	"Nor were they quite meant to store people's bodies."  Rei
replied, cynically.
	"This isn't a body.  Its a shell."
	"Same difference."
	"Oh, bullshit.  Have you ever seen a body that looks like
a lump of jelly?"

	Rei had to admit, she had a point there.  She had managed to
loacte a segment of sheet metal from one of the two garden sheds
that sat alongside the surprisingly large house.  They then 
carefully slipped the metal underneath the shell and carted it
inside.  Rei found the way the shell quivered to be quite 
nauseating.

	"Not recently, no."  She replied, dumbly.
	"Shutup, then."  Rei huffed and stepped back as VesVes closed
the doors of the huge walk-in fridge.  "They must be rich to afford
something of this size."

	"So what do we do now?"  Rei crossed her arms, staring at 
VesVes intently.  The other girl shrugged.
	"Well, we've got that in a safe place for the time being."  
She pointed to the fridge.  "And Cere and that Makowhatsit chick
are looking after the old woman.  I guess that means we can wait."

	"What is Aoi...  Your boss, going to do in the pool?"
	"Try and coax that dumb ass Mercury from the water.  Can't
believe she did something like that.  Still, she was under the 
influence of narcotics, so I guess she's not entirely to blame."

	Rei sneered.  "Alright then, mind telling me why you're still
alive?  I thought we'd rid ourselves of you."
	"Ah, sealed us away.  There's a big difference there."
	"And Aoi...  Your boss, released you?"
	"Indeed she did.  What happened to that Nephrenia woman, 
anyway?  I haven't seen her round lately."
	"We dealt with her."
	"Ah, like you deal with everyone, eh?  Shoot first, ask 
questions later."
	"No, not quite like that."
	"What?  You mean you showed her some compassion?"

	Rei was about to attempt a damn good thrashing on VesVes when
CereCere entered the kitchen.  "It would appear the good doctor has
recovered sufficiently.  Your friend, Makoto, is explaining, as best
as she can, all the information that is known to us."  Her voice was
frustratingly soft.

	"Oh, thats just great."  Rei threw her hands in the air.
"Would one of you mind telling me what the hell is going on?"  She
looked from VesVes to CereCere and back.
	"Should we?"  CereCere asked in her maddening whisper.
	"Nahhh."  VesVes replied.  Rei could have screamed.

	"I can't just stand here, not doing anything.  I want to know
what the hell is happening.  Who is your boss, anyway?  Better
still, what the hell is she?  A senshi?"

	"She is immeasurably more powerful than a mere senshi."  
CereCere said softly.  She crossed her hands in front of her, for
all the world looking like an innocent wallflower.  For some reason,
this only proceeded to piss Rei off more.

	"What do you MEAN, more powerful than a senshi?  We're the
inner circle of the Kingdom, as we understand it."

	"So are we, and not as you would understand it, since that was
never our role.  We are the Asteroid Senshi.  We are the radical
element within the inner ranks.  Such things as duty and blind
loyalty are anathema to us."  VesVes put her hands on her hips.
	"We are the dark operatives within the core of the senshi,
ready to supplant the outer senshi should they fail, or be turned 
from the Queen or Queen elect against their will."  CereCere 
continued with typical serenity.

	Rei scratched her head.  "YOU are senshi?  Like us, I mean?"

	CereCere smiled.  "Indeed we are.  But no, not like you."

	Rei sneered.  "Rather elitist, aren't you?"

	"We ARE an elite.  You may have beaten us when we were under
the control of the circus, but believe me, you have not seen the
full extent of our power and abilities."  VesVes said flatly.  Rei
looked from one to the next and shook her head.

	"I cannot believe you are senshi, and I cannot believe that
what you are doing.... whatever you are doing.... is for some 
positive benefit.  I'm going to find Setsuna.  Don't try and stop me."

	"We won't.  We don't care if you get yourself killed."  VesVes
shrugged.  "Its the biggest mistake your kind makes in this 
situation.  Your minds have been warped by another force, and 
instead of sticking together, you're all running off half-cocked to
an early demise."
	"What do you mean, our minds have been warped by another 
force?"  The pair rolled their eyes.

	"She does ask a lot of questions, does she not?"  CereCere 
blinked as she turned to VesVes.  her compnaion smiled.
	"Thats because she's more stupid than the others.  Wants to
know everything right now, cutting to the quick.  Sooner or later
she is going to discover there are no absolutes in this existence."
	"She may well be dead before that time comes."
	"Its a possibility."

	Rei just shook her head, disbelieving the calmness of the 
discussion.  The impassivity....  Almost as if she wasn't there to
hear what they were saying.

	"That's it.  I'm going to Setsuna's.  You two are completely
round the twist, you know that?"  Rei threw a hand in the air and
turned from them, walking from the kitchen towards the front hall of
the house, ignoring CereCere's parting comment.

	"Sometimes those who are mad can see through the bullshit that
the sane use to cloud their judgement."

	As they listened to the front door slam, CereCere turned to
VesVes.  "Do you think it might be wise to follow her?"

	"It may be."  VesVes shrugged.  "It is almost guarenteed,
the members of the inner circle are going to be trouble magnets."

	"Then abide by your instincts."  CereCere turned back to the
lounge doorway and disappeared.  VesVes closed her eyes and took a
deep breath.


	"Naiad-sama!  Where are you?"  Naru fell to her knees beside
yet another column.  It was harder to get around them now, there 
were just so many.  She also noticed that it was getting darker.  
She looked up, trying to define where the light was coming from.  
Above her, the sky was black, with only the horizon glowing an 
attractive pink-mauve.  That which she could see over the columns, 
of course.

	She stuggled on, the forest of columns got thicker as she
began to clamber around and through the gaps that became rarer and
rarer.  A nagging thought entered her mind that she may not be able
to find her way back if she did reach a point where she couldn't go
on.

	She suppressed the thought, or at least tried to.  Visions of
nightmares she'd had about becoming trapped in small, confined
spaces with no visible means of escape came to mind.  It was
possibly the worst thing she could have thought of, because they
came true.

	One moment she was squeezing her way through a hole between
two partially collapsed comlumns.  The next, she was lying face
forward in a small space between a concrete floor and a concrete
ceiling.  She lifted up her head and looked about.  The gap just
seemed to go on forever.  She struggled to turn herself around.
There didn't seem any end to it that way either.  She began to
panic.

	"Naiad-sama!  Tasukete!  TASUKETE!"  Tears ran from her eyes
as she tried to drag herself along in one direction.  For some
reason, the gap between the top and the bottom seemed to be getting 
smaller.  Her efforts to move getting harder and harder.  Her 
breathing became erratic as she felt her entire body react with
sheer, blind panic.

	"TASUKETE!!!!  OH KAMI-SAMA!!!!  NAIAD-SAMA!!!!  NAIAD-SAMA!!!
HEEEEELLLLLP!!!  HEEEELLLLLLLLLP!"  She pulled her body one way and
the next, trying desperately to pull herself away from the 
decreasing space, but it didn't help.  She passed out.


	The Usagi sat on top of the trolley bed, laying out what few
valuables she'd collected in her short time.  As they watched her
doing this, Minako and Hotaru had tossed a coin to see which one
was going to do the deed of killing her.

	Hotaru lost.

	"You know, I find this utterly distasteful and repugnant.  Why
the hell are we going along with this, anyway?"  Hotaru slipped on
some rubber gloves that Luna and Artemis had found during their
search of the body room whilst their human companions were 
interviewing the Usagi.

	"Because I want to see where this leads."  Minako whispered,
putting up a hand in an effort to stop the Usagi hearing their
conversation.  Hotaru snorted and picked up the high-calibre pistol
that was stored in one of the lockers within the body room.

	"Have YOU ever used one of these before?"
	"Umm...  Well, not a real one.  I've used one as a threat,
back when I was overseas, but I've never actually fired one."
	"Exactly.  Neither have I.  What if it isn't loaded.  I dunno
how to load this thing.  And what if it backfires and blows my hand
off or something like that."
	"Well, in those circumstances, you pray, okay?"
	
	"I'm ready."  The Usagi st up staright on the edge of the
trolley and looked at them expectantly.  Hotaru looked at the pistol
for a couple of moments, then closed her eyes and whispered
something Minako couldn't hear.  Minako turned and saw Luna and
Artemis watching them from the doorway to the office.  Realising
they had been spotted, they dashed back in.  Minako shook her head
and wandered towards the doorway, just as Hotaru stepped up to 
Usagi.

	"Forgive me for this."  Hotaru pointed the pistol at the head
of the Usagi.  She smiled and turned aside.

	Several moments passed as Hotaru felt her finger squeeze on
the trigger....

	"HOI!  HOI!  Have you heard?"  Hotaru almost sent the shot off
in surprise as a group of two or three Usagis enetered the room.
Both she and her client turned to see Minako leaning against a tray
in shock at their sudden appearance.

	"Uh...  What is it?"  Minako croaked.
	"The Factory....  Its produced a successful Usagi!"  Said the
first of the three.
	"What?"  Said Minako.
	"Eh?"  Said Hotaru.
	"About bloody time."  Said the Usagi client.

	"They say she's going to go on display.  We're heading up to
the Factory to have a look.  You guys wanna come along?"

	Hotaru turned to the client.  "Well, do you want to live long
enough to see her, this 'successful' Usagi?"  The pair stared at
each other for a few moments, and something seemed to pass between
them.
	"This is not your thing, is it?"  The Usagi said.  Hotaru
nodded, mutely.  The Usagi smiled and started gathering up her few
belongings from the trolley, repocketing them.  She then stood from
the trolley and walked away, towards the trio of her clones.

	Minako shrugged at Hotaru and followed the Usagis from the
room as Hotaru sighed, placing the pistol on the trolley.  For a few
moments, she sighed and tore the gloves from her hands.  A strangely
familiar headache coming to her.  Regardless of her newfound adult
state, some of the health aspects she had been fighting with all her
life hadn't changed.  The stress of having to, willingly, kill
someone, be they real or imagined, had brought this on.

	She shook her head to clear it, and was about to follow the
others from the room, when she was grabbed from behind....


	"MINAK...hcch...."  Minako, Luna, Artemis and the Usagi client
had not left the office when they heard Hotaru's stifled cry.  All
four ran back into the body room to find it completely empty.

	"Hotaru...."  Minako desperately looked around.  It was the
Usagi who spotted the loose ceiling tile.
	"Wasn't she standing there, underneath that."  She pointed
out.  Minako shrugged and ran to look up at it.  The Usagi followed
her and pulled her back from underneath the gap as the tile quickly
slid aside and a dark-suited figure reached down, grabbing for
Minako but failing....

	The figure was that of another Usagi.  Minako could see that
by the hairstyle.  She was, however, masked and dressed like a 
stereotyped ninja.  For a few moments, the pair stared at each 
other.  Then the dark-suited figure disappeared back into the 
ceiling.

	Minako had managed to loosen herself from the grip of Usagi,
trying to give chase.  She clambered up onto the trolley and was
starting to heave herself up into the hole but found Usagi's arms 
wrapped around her legs.

	"What are you doing?  They've taken Hotaru...."
	"They'll have found an exit on the roof.  We can catch up with
them there."
	"What do you mean, on the roof?  How would you know this?"
	"They're like me.  At least, they think similarly to me.  If I
were them, I would WANT you to chase me up through the ceiling
cavity.  It would mean I'd have a better chance to nab you unawares
like they'd nabbed Hotaru."
	Minako crawled down as Usagi gestured back towards the office 
door.  "We better hurry, though.  They have a head start, but its 
difficult for people as devoid of physical stamina and grace as we 
Usagis to crawl through something like that with any great speed."

	"How do you know it is plural, as in 'they', rather than the
single individual we saw."  Minako said as the pair of them ran to
the door of the office.
	"They're Usagi extremists.  They don't like it when different
people like you arrive in the city.  And they never attack alone."

	"Different people?"
	"Yes, people like you and Hotaru.  And, of course, our Mamo-
chan.  Although the extremists leave him alone.  We all love our
Mamo-chan."
	"Mamo-chan?  You mean Chiba Mamoru?"
	"Yes.  There is only one of him."
	"But he was back in OUR world when we arrived here.  At least,
he was this time yesterday."

	Usagi stared at her.  "Thats impossible."
	"Why."
	"Because Mamo-chan has been in this world for the last five 
years."


	Setsuna, Haruka and Michiru came to a soft landing in the 
middle of the loungeroom of Jadeite's apartment.  Michiru was
still holding Usagi's comatose body.

	After a quick scan of the apartment.  They came to the
conclusion that neither Jadeite nor the Youma-Usagi were about.
Michiru sat Usagi in a chair and the three of them plonked 
themselves in a cross-legged position in the middle of the carpet.

	"Where's PalaPala?"  Michiru asked, eventually.  "I thought
she'd transported with us."

	"Where indeed."  Setsuna raised an eyebrow.  "Its always been
a case of Deux Ex Machina when Asteroid Senshi are involved."

	Haruka and Michiru spent several minutes trying to work out
what Setsuna meant, eventually coming to the conclusion they were
never meant to understand.

	"So, where exactly did your sister send that Youma Usagi 
thing?"  Haruka rubbed her eyes, still feeling ill after the
beating she received.
	"I'm not sure."  Setsuna sighed.  "I'm afraid its likely that
Naiad sent her on a random course to who-knows-where, and when.
That's the great thing about the Dream Ambience Virulence, you never
quite know how its going to work out."

	"So what do you think is Jadeite's handle in all this?"  
Michiru raised an eyebrow.  Setsuna smiled.
	"I think he's just begun to realise how much of a puppet he
has been to her.  Its extremely likely that she engineered his
involvement in the first place."
	"What?  To create the Youma-Usagi?"
	"Regardless of what the Gray Queen may do to innocents, having 
a version of Usagi whose powers are a combination of two great and 
opposing forces, and who has nothing to hold her back in using them,
can be a great asset when it comes to fighting a greater foe."

	"As in who?"  Haruka and Michiru stared at her.

	"Well, it goes back to the formation of the Kingdom, when our
ancestors first cross-bred with humans to create what we are 
today...."


	When Naru woke, she found herself in an empty white room.  No
doors or windows.  Just four walls and a lightbulb.  The light was
on, but occasionally flashed, threatening to plunge her into
darkness.  She sat up from the floor and stared around her.  There
didn't seem to be anyway she could have got in here.  She knocked
on the floor.  Solid concrete.

	She stood and walked to one of the walls, touching it softly.
For a moment it seemed to yield to her pressure.  Then she applied
greater pressure, and it solidified.  She desperately pressed, hit
and shouldered the wall, to no avail.

	She stood in the middle of the room.  There was no way in and
no way out.  She was trapped in here, perhaps forever.  And if the
light went out she would be plunged into eternal darkness.

	Once more, it was a stupid thing for her to think.

	The light went out.  She couldn't see a thing.  She screamed
at the top of her lungs and ran, headlong into one of the walls.
She fell to the floor, slightly dazed, but got back to her feet
quickly.  She stared around, trying desperately to see something,
anything.

	To her surprise, she did.  There seemed to be a soft glow
emanating from the walls....  No, coming through the walls.
Whatever these walls were made from, it wasn't solid.  Then a
thought entered her mind....  All these things had no more substance
than a mere concept.  A little logic applied to the situation
should easily break through the apparent reality.  She reached
forward to one of the walls with both her hands and pressed gently.

	The wall gave way, tearing like fabric....  No, it was more
than that.  The wall tore like flesh...  Soft, pink flesh.  Naru did
her best to keep that thought from her mind lest it create something
even worse.

	She stepped from what appeared to be a cube made of a fleshy
substance into a huge white dome that glowed with a soft blue light.
The light shone in through portals, hollowed out around the sides of 
the dome's organic, bone-like structure.

	Naru rubbed her eyes and stared with disbelief.  There were
odd motifs that ran all along the spinal sections of the dome.
Strange figures she had never seen before, but for some reason felt
familiar.  The figures were not human....  No way were they human,
and yet this feeling of familarity seemed to be strong....  She had
met these beings before.  Where?  Where?

	She shook her head and stepped away from the fleshy cube, only
then realising that she was wearing a long, regal gown.  Serenity's
gown.  The fabric was soft and light, more than anything she had
experienced before.  A strange sensation ran down her spine.  This
whole situation felt like kind of birth.  Her birth, into a new
life.

	She strode forward as a segment of the dome in front of her
opened up.  Beyond lay....  Blueness.  That was all she could see.
A warm yet cold blueness.  Like the hottest flame.  Like the coldest
ice.  Blue....  It was everything, all at once.

	She could see figures standing out in the hot-cold mist, 
waiting for her to emerge.  Purposefully, she strode towards the 
exit.

	As she stepped outside the dome she felt a breeze against her
face.  She looked up into the sky as if the light raining down on
her was the first she had ever experienced.

	"ALL BOW TO QUEEN TRANQUILITY."  Siad an authoritive voice.
Naru looked down to see twelve figures, all women dressed in 
ceremonial costume, bowing to her.  The closest, a redheaded 
firebrand with light brown skin and deep black eyes, stared up at
her with a frenetic devotion.

	"Your majesty...  Your emergence from the coccoon has sealed
your worthiness to become Queen.  You are no longer merely a Queen
in name, the replacement for the former candidate, but a Queen in
nature.  We, the Mikotai, recognise you as our truthful ruler."

	Naru stared from one Miko to the next, confused and dazed as
she felt her hand being taken by the readhead and guided from the
mouth of the dome carefully.  She took in her surroundings.  In the
sky was a giant blue orb...  A blue star, casting an unearthly glow
onto a field that could, otherwise, have been on Earth.  The sky
was, however, black.  None of the wan blue gentleness of Earth's
sky.

	She turned and looked behind her.  From here, she could now
see the dome.  Looking for all the world like a beehive, it sat
alone on the edge of a dark forest.  Slowly, the opening from which
she had emerged closed and sealed.

	She watched it seal with a strange finality, then turned to
face the other members of the Mikotai.  And the first face she saw
was one she recognised....

	"It is time for you to choose which amongst us you wish to
perform your inauguration."  The redhead announced proudly, and was
surprised when Naru spoke.
	"Naiad...."  Naru stepped forward to the blue-haired woman
with the trident staff.  "Naiad-sama...  What is going on?"

	The blue-haired woman stood in the middle of the group, as
surprised as the rest by Naru's sudden break with protocol.  She
eventually came to her senses enough to speak.

	"Is it that our Queen chooses the Water Miko of the Third
Refrain to perform the inauguration?"  Naiad stared blankly at
Naru, who stared back with an equivalent expression.


	Naru felt a strange sinking feeling overcoming her.  She
looked from one Miko to the next, and all of their faces were
recognisable.  Toros, Circe, Scylla, Atlas, Narcissa, Nereid, Diana, 
Pan, Arachne, Psyche and Ares.  The Mikos of the First, Second and
Third Refrains, all together in the one place at the one time.  And
deep inside she knew that this moment was an incipient memory.

	She turned back to Naiad, who awaited her answer.  She raised
a hand to take Naiad by the arm.

	And only then realised that hers was not a human hand.

END OF PART 8


	This chapter has had everything going against it being
written.  1. Writers block.  I knew what I wanted to do, and yet
didn't quite know how to do it.  2. Too many plot threads vying
for attention.  With so many characters going in so many different
directions, you have to expect one to lose the plot sooner or
later.  3. Real Life.  Whilst writing this chapter I underwent an
operation to remove (surgically) my well-imbedded wisdom teeth.
My frame of mind before, during and after lead to this chapter
being written the way it has.  And as with chapter 7, I'm not
happy with it.  In my mind, its lacks the spontaneity of the
early chapters.  But then, this IS chapter 8, and we're well
into the meat of the story now.  All I can hope is that people
vaguely follow what is going on, because this chapter lets out a
hell of a lot in terms of the plot in a VERY roundabout way.  Its
a wonder what one will think off when slowly recovering from an
anaesthetic....

	Of course, you may think this chapter is legendary.  I
certainly hope so.  I'd hate to think I've gone through as much
torment as I have this past week without something rubbing off.

	You get your opportunity to tell me by posting your comments,
criticisms and other scurrilous rantings to ayanami@merlin.net.au

	Remember, flattery will get you everywhere.  And comments
telling me I'm not doing enough with certain characters could see
them dead, half-dead or just about to die ^_^

	In the next chapter, the spirit of the REAL Usagi, and her
newfound friends, the Sailor Animates, stop at a village frequented
by other nefarious travelling lowlifes, including a Madam who wields
an unusual amount of power.
	Hotaru is tortured by the Usagi extremists, but is it a plot
by the city to force the darker side of Saturn to emerge?  And for
what reason?
	The Youma Usagi finds her way back to the ruined shrine, and
a fateful confrontation with Rei, Jadeite, VesVes and....  herself.
	And Naru discovers a few things about the heritage of the
Silver Millenium she'd never thought possible.  Will both she and 
Naiad be able to convince Ami to return from the water?

	I can't guarentee to answer all of these questions, but I'll
try.

DDFA