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, except ones I made up, in
which case, if I see anyone using them, I'll murder ya!  ^_^

Part Nine
Transcendental Methodology


	IASFU OA FWSS IASFU OA FWSS GOO JUA GOO JIPEST


	She skipped across the grass field with patent joy.  There 
were very few moments like this in her existence, free of the 
constraints of the physical world, the objectional avatars of the 
soul, those bodies.  Their foul and foetid presences no longer a 
part of the world in which she lived.  And she enjoyed it fully.

	She hummed a tune.  For some reason, the lyrics escaped her.
Something about visions, dancing in her mind.  It appealed to her, 
the song.  Its notes emanated the blue glow she so desired.

	Naiad had always had a synesthesic quality about her.  One of
the reasons, she believed, so few people understood her.  She was a
Water Miko, as changeable and as malleable, yet as impossible to 
grasp, as the element itself.  And with that came a total cross-
matching of her senses.  The capacity to taste colours, see sounds, 
hear light....  If people truly understood the sensory kaleidescope 
and overload she was enduring, then perhaps the strangeness of her 
being might not be so threatening.

	Maybe.

	Of course, Naiad had spent much of her existence helping to
build her reputation as someone for whom it was wise NOT to know.
It meant that she could be left alone to her own devices.  To
contemplate the greater issues, of philosophy, of the nature of her
existence.  Because she was the last of the Mikotai's circle, she
carried within her a little piece of the previous eleven, mixed in
with something uniquely her own.  It left her with a unique 
perspective of that aspect of life that everyone feared....  Being
the last of the Mikotai, she represented the final moments of life,
and the understanding and acceptance of mortality that people during
these moments come to see, even if not entirely wish for.  Death.
The end of the cycle.  Before the rebirth upon the cycle's renewal.

	In her mind, she had found the need, the desire, to force
people into this realisation....  To find the answers to all of the
questions they ask about themselves.  To round off their lives in a
state of total completion.  Everyone must know the TRUTH.

	For she knew the truth without the necessity of a lifetime.
And it left her feeling robbed of something people spent their lives
searching for.  And so she spent much of her existence, both with
body and without, trying to discover why she had to endure this
torment by hurrying others along in their realisation.  It may have
been an intrinsic dichotomy that someone who knew it all should not
know why they did.  The subject passed through her mind more than
often, and was washed away with the tides of the present.


	It was only after several years of being the Miko that she had
first encountered the annoyance of The Monster.  It wanted her to
become part of it and wouldn't let her go.  She used magic on it,
and damaged it, injured it.  But it wouldn't give up.  It wouldn't
leave her alone.  And she liked being alone.

	And so she began to torment it back, driving it near insane.
The benefit of her powers being so strongly mind-based.  She enjoyed
its fury, its pleading, its despair and its rage.  It could do
nothing to her back that it hadn't already tried.  Then she gave it
the final slap in the face by slaughtering her body.  From there on
it had no avatar to lock onto.  She was free.  But she knew that,
one day, it may try again, on someone else....


	It wasn't until it was too late that she saw the memory wave.
She attempted to make a backflip but found that, without her
figurative feet being on the figurative ground, she had no force
upon which to apply.  She flew into the memory wave and disappeared.
To reappear....


	Jadeite's apartment had been turned into something of a
discussion room for the three seated outer senshi.  At least, that
was what it seemed to be to Setsuna.

	"Are you trying to tell us we aren't human?"  Haruka blurted
out.  "I mean, I know we aren't human in comparison to a 'normal'
person, but I find the concept that our souls are intrinsically
foreign to this world, this system, a bit hard to take."
	Setsuna nodded patiently.  "Yes, well, that was the point of
it all, really.  To become a part of this world, this system, we had
to cross-breed ourselves with the native population.  That was the
way by which we were capable of harnessing the elemental energies
that this system had to offer.  Before that, we were relying on the
residual powers of our homeworld, susceptible to attack from 
virtually any power competent enough.  We were a race of colonists,
determined to spread out the colonial empire.  The problem was, with
this system, we got more than we bargained for."

	"A wild system, fighting tooth and nail to prevent our mastery
of it."  Michiru nodded.  Setsuna smiled.  There were times when
Michiru seemed to be regaining full control of her powers of mind.  
If only she would do something about her 'shoot first, ask questions 
later' personality she and Haruka seemed to use altogether too 
often.

	"Indeed, that would seem to be the case.  It was only with the
continuing link to the homeworld that we were able to contain the
forces of which this system contained....  When that link was
broken, we were lost.  It lead to the downfall of the Kingdom, the
rise of Beryl...  The system's ultimate revenge against us."
	"But why would it turn against us so?"  Haruka scratched her
head.
	"Because we're like parasites, sucking up its energies for our
own purposes.  In other more forgiving systems, we were able to use
the powers without having them blow up in our faces.  Here, at any
given moment, the elements which control our powers could swallow us
up."

	Haruka and Michiru pondered over this for a few moments.  
Setsuna stood and stepped over to the window.  It was dark 
outside now.  She wondered, knowing what she knew was going 
to happen, whether the city would see another day.  "Whatever the 
casemay be, the enemy we face now is a more nebulous one than the 
Youma Usagi."

	"This 'Eternal City' you mentioned?"  Michiru asked softly.
	"Indeed."  Setsuna paused for several moments.  "I think my
sister was the first to encounter it.  No, that's not technically
correct....  The Eternal City was a by-product of the creation of
the Kingdom....  One and a half million years ago."
	Both Haruka and Michiru spluttered in disbelief.

	"But I thought the Kingdom was no more than a thousand, or
maybe even two-thousand, years old upon its collapse."  Haruka
exclaimed.
	"What is the difference between a thousand years and a million
years to a race of people for whom time is of no consequence?  The
only moments that seem to pass with any surety are the formation
years of each individual.  Once the process of aging has ceased,
then the concept of time as an existent has no meaning.  We were
born, we lived, and we died in perpetual youth, our souls being
reborn into another generation.  It is unknown for many where their
souls truly originated, or how many lives they have lived since that
time.  In my case, I can remember at least fifteen individual lives,
including the one that saw out the fall of the Kingdom and the
subsequent history of this planet.  But that, in no way, means I
have lived only fifteen lives.  Memories of each life are, but
rarely, complete."

	"I believe, if my dreams are anything to go by, that I have
lived through but eight....  Either my soul is young, by this scale,
or I'm an infrequent visitor to the land of the living."  Michiru
shrugged.  "And anyway, that doesn't explain the Eternal City.  What
were the forces that brought it into existence?"
	"The formation of the Kingdom in the first place.  The fusing
of our powers of elemental mastery with the elemental forces of this
system.  Each fusion creates elemental and magical garbage, most of
which dissipates with time.  But this being no ordinary system, a
portion of this garbage formed an Escher-like dimension that 
literally folds over upon itself, completely devoid of a termination
or horizon.  Within this dimension, there were amino acids which the
garbage energies sparked into life.  This life evolved into various
species, finally culminating in the domination of the dimension by
just two....  The Eternal City and The Destroyers, both of whom are 
at war with each other."

	"Why?  Why are they fighting with each other?"  Haruka bit her
lower lip, finally able to grasp something that Setsuna was telling
her.  She didn't understand all this psychobabble inter-dimensional
talk.  But conflict, and war, now that was something she understood
VERY well.

	"Its a kind of philosophical war, a battle between the will of
the individual, and the will of the collective.  The Destroyers
represent individual entities and The Eternal City is a collective
conciousness."
	"So why did the city form in the first place.  I mean, it is
kind of unusual that a lifeform should choose to take the appearance
of a city as its physical body."
	"Remember what we were trying to create when we were fusing
ourselves with the elemental energies...  A Kingdom.  Complete with
things like the Palace, the Academy, the offices of the Bureaucracy,
the Seminary and the temples of worship, houses, public amenities,
the full gamut of infrastructure that came with our presence.  It
was the will to create these things that gave birth to the mind, the
conciousness, of the Eternal City.  To it, the construction of a
city utilising its own body was the ultimate sacrifice.  Now it
demands a populace by which it can properly defend itself from the
attacks of the Destroyers."
	"And so it will start picking us off, one by one, to populate
its body...."  Michiru rubbed her chin.
	"Us to begin with, yes....  It requires beings of great power
initially, to help make the dimension safe for those more vulnerable
from attacks by the Destroyers.  But, eventually, it will plunder
this world, and perhaps others, in its obssessive desire to fill
itself up....  To ensure that its sacrifice was not in vain."

	Haruka and Michiru stood, glancing over at the comatose body
of Usagi, still sitting in the lounge chair.

	"So what does this have to do with us being influenced into
killing Usagi?  For all intents and purposes, she's the most 
powerful of us all.  She should have been the City's first target."
Michiru seemed to be in the mood to ask all the right questions.

	"Indeed, she was.  But she was killed, wasn't she?  And that
means the City will have to pick on someone less stable, but almost
as powerful."  Setsuna glanced aside at them.  "When I first 
encountered my sister, I suspected that that person may be me.
There was a moment there where it seemed the City was coming for me,
but it gave up...."  She chuckled.  "It found someone more 
interesting to play with.  Exceptionally powerful.  And very, very,
very unstable, it shall find to its chagrin."

	Haruka and Michiru looked at each other for a moment.  Haruka
shrugged and Michiru turned back to Setsuna.

	"Its Hotaru, isn't it?"

	Setsuna said nothing.  That was enough of an answer for 
Michiru.  Haruka rubbed her eyes with one hand.  All this was making
her headache worse.

	"It will try to unlock the powers that exist deep within the
soul of Saturn, and pay the price of its mistake with its utter
annhialation."
	"That is what my sister is hoping.  That's why she had us kill
Usagi in the first place.  That's why she had Jadeite create the
Youma Usagi, as well.  If Saturn fails, the Youma Usagi most 
certainly shall not."

	"You mean....  It was your sister that made us kill Usagi in
the first place?"  Haruka stared at Setsuna.
	"By implanting those visions of death in mu mind, that I
spread to you like she knew I would."
	"Whose side is she on?  Is she trying to destroy us or the
Eternal City?  If the Youma succeeds in destroying the City, she'll
come after US.  End of Crystal Tokyo, seeya next time, boyo."  
Haruka shook her head disbelievingly.  "What's she going to do then,
eh?"
	"Probably kill it herself.  You seem to forget, in her current
non-corporeal state, virtually anyone can be her body.  Even us.  
Try the thought of combining her powers with one of ours."

	Haruka tried her best not to.

	"And anyway, who said she even cared about sides.  She's on
her own side.  She's never had anyone she could call a friend.  
Well...  Maybe one."
	"Who?"  Michiru raised an eyebrow.
	"Someone who had been a succesful Alternative Candidate.  You
know....  In the position Naru finds herself at the moment.  They
apparently met when they were in prepatory school, and continued
this friendship into the Kingdom's Elemental Academy.  Her name was
Tranquility Khurishnaan...."


	Naru stared at the inhuman hand that was now hers.  She
quivered as if she were going to scream.
	"Hoi....  Het a hold of yourself."  Hands placed on her
shoulders from behind.  She turned to see a Miko, Nereid, standing 
on the step behind her, staring at her in concern.

	"My hand..."  She croaked.
	"What is it?  What do you see?"  She turned back to the woman
who looked like Naiad, standing before her.  The woman seemed 
fascinated with her plight.  She frowned, then looked back at the
hand.  It was a human once more.
	"I'm sure....  I..."  She shook her head and felt dizzy.

	"It must be an after-effect of the process."  Narcissa, the 
Fire Miko of the Second Refrain commented.  The woman with long 
golden hair and similar robes turned to her fellow Fire Miko, Ares.  
"It has happened before."

	Ares nodded.  "With Queen Procellarius...."  the conversation
seemed to end there.  Naru wasn't quite sure why.  Whatever happened
to this Queen Procellarius was obviously not a hot topic of
conversation for the Mikotai.

	"It changes nothing."  Yet another of the Miko, Scylla, piped
up.  Scylla's robes glittered in the blue light of this world's sun
with an attractive silver, which dazzled Naru for a few moments.
"My Queen....  Your choice of one amongst us that you may wish to
handle the service of your coronation...  Would your choice be a
Miko of Water?"

	"I'm not sure."  Naru had the distinct impression that, no
matter who she chose, someone would be insulted.  "I was confused,
my reaction was to go to someone I recognised easily."  Scylla
looked disappointed.  "I shall give it a thought."  Naru did her
best to smile.

	"Hah!  A Queen who prefers the element of water.  It has been
a while since there was one of those, eh, Scylla?"  Ares snorted
derisively.  Scylla turned to her with a half-smile on her face.
	"What are you afraid of, Ares?  Losing the influence over the
throne that you Fire Miko used to hold?"
	"What's wrong, Scylla?  Feeling the bitterness of all those
years your element has been ignored?  I don't see either of your
compatriots defending you."  Diana looked from Naiad to Arachne.
Arachne gave her the finger.  It was best NOT to read anything into
Naiad's expression.

	"Oh stop it.  This pathetic, childish bickering will not get
us anywhere."  Naru shook her head.  "I shall make my choice all in
good time, and when it is made there will be NO argument about who
has been sleighted, very well?"

	There was a soft chorus of "Yes my Queen".  Naru smiled and
shook her head sadly.
	"All these arguments are pointless.  It is only the 
coronation.  Only the opening stanza of my reign.  Whomsoever I may
choose, it does not mean I favour anyone."  She paused for dramatic
effect.  There were times when her limited training in amateur
theatrics came in handy.  "Now, the Chancellor is awaiting news of
my emergence, let us enlighten him with my presence, shall we?"  She
didn't know HOW she knew that.  All she knew was that she knew.
Like a memory imposed upon her mind, not her own and yet her own.

	The Mikotai nodded their approval, and the group left the
garden of the dome, making their way towards an awaiting transport.
In the distance, looming over the horizon, was a massive palacial
structure.  Lights glimmered from it like tiny eyes, staring
unblinkingly down at them.  Its massive architecture was hidden in
the shadows of the blackened sky....  Naru stepped up onto the
platform entrance of the transport as guards, manning the entrance,
bowed to her.  she turned to gaze at the blue star, now low on the
horizon.  Ares and Arachne joined her.
	"The star of night is about to fall."  Ares murmured, slowly
turning to the opposite horizon.  "Soon the star of day shall arise.
Then this land will bloom into its full beauty."

	Naru turned to follow Ares directions.  A golden glow, 
glimmering brighter than any pre-dawn sunlight she had ever seen
before, was filling up the horizon sky, growing larger with every
visible moment.  It filled Naru with a warmth she had not felt
before, or at least, not for a very long time.

	"It is good to be back on the Homeworld once more."


	"Where are you going?"
	"Leave me alone."
	"Why?  I'm not annoying you, am I?"
	"Your very presence is annoying."
	"Thats not very nice."
	"It wasn't meant to be."
	"And here I was, trying to be nice to you."
	"I doubt it."
	"Why?"
	"Because that would have required a major lifestyle change."
	"Gee....  You're funny.  I think I like you."
	"Pity the feeling isn't mutual."

	Rei had found her way to Setsuna's private apartment.  The
older senshi had only moved in within the last couple of months,
and it was most certainly impressive, set above her fashion design
studio.  She had stormed through the dark streets with the scarlet-
haired Fury following her, badgering her with inanities, after she
had stormed from Ami's house.  The sensation of being totally
helpless in that situation....  The need to find someone who may
be more capable of helping them...  To retrieve Ami from the
watery grave into which she had cast herself...  And Naru, and
that bizarre Kikotsuka woman...  Even if it WAS someone as strange
as Setsuna...

	In truth, Rei didn't know why she was standing outside
Setsuna's apartment.  She just needed to do something, anything, to
help Ami.  That damned fool of a girl.

	She leaned against the wall beside the stairway that lead to
the front entrance and sighed.  A light rain began to fall as she
slid down the wall, eventually sitting.  Her tormentor stood
opposite her, staring, hands behind her back.

	"VesVes..."  She muttered.
	"Hmm?"  The girl replied.
	"Your boss...  Aoi...  Whatsername?"
	"Naiad-sama."
	"Yes, Naiad.  Is she really capable of retrieving Ami from
the pool?"
	"If anyone can do it, she can.  Her connection to the element
of water is greater than Mizuno-san."

	There was an irony....  Mizu...no  Ami's name dripped the
element by which she lived.  And yet....  This girl was telling her
that Ami was not quite as adept at controlling her elemental powers 
as others.  Rei lifted her head up to meet the increasing rain.

	"You were right, you know.  It was going to rain."
	"Good thing we got the shell in a safe place, then."
	"I hope Ami's mother isn't intending to use any of the
vegetable to make dinner tonight.  It'll be hard to explain the
Chibiusa jelly mould in the vegetable crisper"
	"And here I was, thinking you had no sense of humour."  VesVes
chuckled to herself.  "Well, now we're here, should we knock on the
door.  I'm a tad averse to standing in the rain.  You never know
what's falling from the sky in Tokyo."
	"No point."
	"Why not?"
	"The lights are out.  She's not in.  Neither the apartment,
nor the studio."
	"So what are we going to do?  Go back?"
	"Not me.  I'm gonna stay here until she shows up."

	VesVes shrugged.  "Have it your own way."  She walked up the
steps to the front door, and casually blew it open with a minor
spell.  She turned back to Rei, who stared at her with an open 
mouth.  "I'm going to stay where its dry.  A girl's gotta look after
herself, you know."  VesVes then promptly disappeared inside.

	Rei sighed, and found herself becoming increasingly unhappy
with the fact that she was getting soaked.  Slowly, she stood and
started her way up the steps.

	"Reeeeiiiii....."  The voice was familiar.  She paused, a
tingling sensation running down her spine.  She turned around,
looking towards the street.  Down the street.  Where a figure was
standing, silhouetted under a streetlight.

	Usagi.

	She found herself up against the wall very quickly, blinking
to make sure she was seeing what she was seeing.  It was too late,
the figure was gone.

	Gone.  Gone where?  Was that really her?  She'd been told that
Usagi was alive again.  Maybe that was her....  Chasing her....
Taunting her with her presence.  Or perhaps it was....  Rei couldn't
be sure anymore.  She ran down the steps, almost slipping at one
stage, then down into the street.  She had to find Usagi....  Had to
make sure it was her.

	VesVes realised, too late, that Rei wasn't following her in
through the open doorway.  She had an inkling that something was
wrong as she was raiding Setsuna's fridge.  With a cutlet hanging
from her mouth, she stepped back through the doorway to see Rei
charging down the street like a woman possessed.  She spat it from
her mouth.

	"REI!  WAIT!"  She jumped from the top of the stairs, landing
perfectly on the ground, then ran into the street.  But Rei was
gone, nowehere to be seen or heard.  VesVes let out a cry of
frustration, stamping her feet on the ground.  "Mooooouu!  Rei no
BAKA!"


	It had taken all of Makoto's best efforts to convince Ami's
mother of the truth, about Ami being Mercury, that all her friends
were the other sailorsenshi, that Ami had merely melded with the
water in the pool and that someone had followed her in an effort to
retrieve her.

	The woman's mind was frustratingly cold and logical.  All the
events that had lead to her fainting had merely been one illogical
thing after another that her analytical mind couldn't deal with.

	Now she was firing questions at Makoto and CereCere.  Well, at
Makoto, really.  CereCere was the very model of calm and calculated
obscurity and psychosis.  It made for a rather frustrated mother.

	"Will you just answer the question?  Where did my Ami-chan get
these powers?"
	"You ask that as if she'd bought them at the local discount
store, and they've just bitten you on the foot."  CereCere chuckled.
	"Who is this girl?"  Ami's mother pointed at CereCere, the
question most definitely aimed at Makoto.

	Makoto was standing, leaning against the far wall of the 
Mizuno's loungeroom, looking across at Ami's mother, who was sitting 
on the edge of a loungechair.  CereCere was standing in the doorway,
her hands crossed demurely.  A perfect three-point pincer movement,
thought Makoto.
	"Well?  Who is she?"  Ami's mother repeated as Makoto sighed,
trying to think of an answer.
	"She's a sailorsenshi....  I think.  She wasn't the last time
I met her."
	"I was so....  Just not applying my powers for the benefit of
mankind, thats all."  CereCere smiled sweetly.  Makoto shook her
head.
	"No, you weren't, were you?"
	"Indeed.  But I'm over that stage now.  I just had to work out
some of my agression and frustrations.  At least, that is what my
doctor says."
	"That still doesn't answer my question as to who she is."  
Ami's mother had just about had enough of the inane rambling of the
redhead.
	"Well, how would you have her answer it?  In her normal voice,
or a funny little high-pitched whine?"
	"CereCere, that is ENOUGH.  She's worried about her daughter."
	"If she had been so worried about her daughter, why did she
GIVE HER THE DRUGS THAT PUT HER IN THE STATE OF MIND THAT MADE HER
DO WHAT SHE DID?!?!?!!!"  CereCere levelled this very loud question
straight at Ami's mother.  The woman leaned back in the chair,
surprised at the sudden loud ferocity of CereCere's voice.  Even
Makoto was stunned.  She'd watched CereCere's expression change as
the words flew from her mouth...  The almost unbelievable demure
serenity replaced by wide-eyed insanity.  The change was so sudden
and dramatic that she found the next few words hard to get out.

	"Th... there's no reason t..t..to be so nasty about it..."
	"Oh isn't there?"  CereCere's head turned slowly to Makoto,
the expression unchanged.  "Then let me tell you something.  In
approximately two minutes, there will be police walking through the
front door of this house, because Ami gave away just about
everything you did to Usagi to her mother.  This wonderful woman
has helped to make things just that little bit more complex for
the plans of my boss.  And it will be exceptionally difficult to
explain to them what the hell is going on when she emerges from
the pool with Naru and Ami.  Do you know what I'll now have to do
to those nice police people to keep them out of the way?"

	"Are you trying to tell me that you girls really DID kill
Tsukino-san?"  Ami's mother stared at Makoto in disbelief.  "But
that...  That's... horrible... evil..."  She turned back to
CereCere as Makoto stood away from the wall, staring intently at
the Asteroid Senshi.  "What are you going to do with the police?
What the hell CAN you do?"

	Ami's mother watched with frightened fascination as the two
girls stared each other out.
	"You wouldn't dare..."  Makoto said through clenched teeth.
	"Dare what?  Kill them?"  CereCere sneered.
	"You would, wouldn't you?"  Makoto took a step forward.
	"Who are you to be lecturing?  Aren't you someone who 
conspired to murder a one-time friend?"  CereCere lifted up a hand,
gesturing with two fingers for Makoto to 'come on then'.  "They are
just your normal, average humans.  In the ultimate scheme of things,
they don't matter very much.  If what Naiad-sama says is going to
happen happens, then there won't be anyone left to mourn them."

	Makoto turned aside to Ami's mother.  "Mizuno-san, get out of
here.  Warn the police that it could be very dangerous for them to
come in here."
	"What?  What are you two going to do?"
	CereCere turned to Ami's mother and raised a hand.  "You are
going NOWHERE."  Makoto leapt at CereCere and plowed into her, just
as a beam of energy flew from the girl's hand, missing its target.
Ami's mother let out a scream as the wall behind her collapsed.

	"MIZUNO-SAN!  GET OUT OF HERE NOW!!!!"  Ami's mother stared
out at the garden where the loungeroom wall used to be.  She didn't
need any convincing as Makoto and CereCere wrestled on the floor.
She scarpered through the new exit and dashed across the lawn to the
front gate where there was a vehicle pulling up in the street.

	"LET ME GO, YOU FOOL!"
	"I WON'T LET YOU KILL ANYONE!"
	"DAMN YOU!  I DON'T WANT TO KILL YOU, TOO, BUT I WILL IF YOU
CONTINUE!"  Makoto gripped her hands around CereCere's throat.
	"Just you TRY, you crazy BITCH!"  Makoto stared madly into
CereCere's eyes as the redhead drooled from the side of her mouth.
	"Look....  It was... just a... joke... okay?  I didn't really
mean... it..."  CereCere's face was turning as red as her hair as
she struggles against Makoto's grip.  The other girl relaxed
slightly.
	"After what you just fired off?  I don't believe you."
	"Yeah..."  CereCere smiled as she knocked Makoto's hands 
aside.  "I was lying."  CereCere pulled back her fist and gave
Makoto a full sock across the face.  The force of the blow was
greater than anything Makoto had felt before, and it was only the
fact that she had mumbled her transformation spiel in the moments
before the punch collected that she was saved from having her neck
broken.  Her body was thrown clean through the far wall of the
loungeroom, through the bathroom and into the back yard, where she
landed on the lawn, flat on her back.  She didn't move from there.

	CereCere stood, rubbing her neck with one hand and wiping
drool from her face with the other.  "Jeez, these inner circle
bitches are so gullible."  She turned her head, stretching her neck
to regain movement.

	"Alright, that's enough, whoever you are, don't move."  The
voice came from the hole in the wall behind her.  CereCere let out
a loud sigh and put a hand to her forehead.
	"I'm sorry, officer Rikai, I'm afraid everything is a tad too
complex here at the moment to have you involved."  CereCere turned
to see Ami's mother, holding on to the arm of a female Detective
Inspector, standing next to DCI Rikai and two other officers.  The
two had handguns trained on her.

	"We've seen what you can do.  Don't think of trying that 
against us, or we most certainly will kill you."  Rikai put up a
hand, gesturing to the armed officers.  CereCere shrugged.
	"I'm sorry, Mizuno-san.  I'm afraid you'll have to go with
them.  It'll mean you'll be safe, for the time-being."

	CereCere lifted her hand slightly, and all five disappeared
in a flash.  Slowly, she turned and made her way through the hole
in the opposite wall, avoiding water that was pouring from the
bathroom taps, and out into the backyard where Makoto was lying.

	"I see you've transformed.  Do you really need to transform
to make use of your powers?  I just can't believe you're so weak."

	"CereCere, that is enough."  The voice came from her left.
She turned to see JunJun and PalaPala standing at the corner of the
house.  PalaPala seemed confused as to her surroundings, whilst 
JunJun appeared most displeased, arms crossed.
	"Ah, you're back, I see."
	"Yes, and just in time to give you a bit of attitude 
readjustment.  You really didn't have to be so overdramatic.  A
simple 'we don't need the police involved, I'm going to send them
away' would have sufficed."
	"Ah, but that would have lead to further stupid questions,
such as 'what do you mean, send them away'?  I just couldn't have
been bothered answering them."
	"Because you let your 'other' personality take control, didn't
you?"  JunJun tapped her foot.  "You've been through enough therapy
for this.  You may be the nominal leader of the Asteroid Senshi, but
we may have to review the situation if this happens again."
	"What am I doing here?  I'm supposed to be back at Jadeite's
apartment."  PalaPala muttered absently.  JunJun clenched her teeth.
	"Because I intercepted your transport, stupid.  You weren't
required there anymore."
	"Yeah, but I left Usagi's body with those 'Outer' bitches."
	"So what?"
	"Setsuna revived her again, but she wasn't there, so to 
speak.  Like, the boss was using the body for a while."
	"Yeah, well, the boss probably has her locked away in some
dumb-ass limbo realm.  There are a zillion of them out there."

	Makoto chose this moment to sit up, looking dazed.  "Oooh, 
what hit me?"
	"I did."  CereCere said cheerfully.
	"Just you wait until the world stops spinning.  I'm gonna 
spread you like a paste across the lawn."  Makoto shook her head to
try to clear it.

	JunJun sighed, putting a hand to her forehead.  This was most
definitely going to be a difficult situation to rectify.


	The transport itself was plush.  Fur-cushioned seating,
looking out through a huge window that rose over their heads into
a central spine.  Naru, when she had entered the transport, 
automatically chose a seat close to a window near the back.  It was
only when Ares nudged her that she realised she was being stared at.
Of course, she thought to herself, the Queen is expected to sit at
the front.  She muttered apologies and moved to her reserved seat.

	The Miko arranged themselves around the transport in various
states of decorum and lounging, and the Guards returned to the front
of the dome from which she had emerged.  Their duty, she supposed.
The doors of the transport closed automatically, and it floated
away from the site.

	It had taken several hours to reach the castle.  The golden
sun of day slowly making its appearance as the shadows of the palace
disappeared.  The light of two suns shining from different sides
soon making the gargantuan monolith of a building a more welcoming
sight.

	It soon became clear that the palace was, itself, surrounded
by a series of large buildings, residences and temples.  A veritable
city with a monumental centrepiece.

	"Look at that.  Do the homeworlders really require a capital
of such grandiose magnitude?"  Toros, who was sitting nearby Naru,
muttered.
	"Feeling capital envy, are we Toros?"  Arachne, who was 
opposite Toros, smiled.  The dark-haired Earth Miko sniffed at her
Water counterpart.
	"Do you know how many people, how many worlds, how much 
wealth, was plundered to make this dream of theirs come true?"

	Plundered?  Thought Naru.  She sat up with interest.

	"Oh, Toros, you old conservative, you.  Haven't you ever heard
the old adage 'finders keepers'?"
	"That adage doesn't entirely apply in this case.  Especially
considering how much force was used to achieve the capital and
resources to finance the construction."
	"Oh, you just take that position cos its trendy in this day
and age."  Arachne sniggered.  "Its such a typical outworlder 
attitude."
	"You're an outworlder, too."  Psyche leaned over the back of
her chair, looking over Arachne's shoulder.  "Isn't the Kingdom
nothing more than a supply-post for all this?"
	Arachne smiled and leaned back, her long, wavy scarlet-maroon
hair falling over the back of the seat.  "Indeed it is.  And the
smart ones are learning how to make a small fortune from that sad
truth."

	Naru looked at Arachne for a moment.  Neither Psyche nor Toros
seemed willing to question her on this point, and the conversation
ended there.  Far too soon for Naru's liking.  If this was, indeed,
some form of interactive memory of the Silver Millenium, then she
had been quite unprepared for its scale and decadence.  She was,
unfortunately, scared of asking one too many questions that may seem
out of place for someone of the time, especially someone who was
supposed to be a Queen.

	The transport entered the city through a subterranean passage,
obviously designed to accomadate such vehicles, even though there
was just enough room for the one vehicle.  For a few moments, Naru
pondered the fact that there seemed to be no driver, or even visible
controls.  She thought the better of asking anyone about it.

	Eventually the transport stopped at what appeared to be a
subway station, albeit more like a subway station one was likely
to find in a large, ancient, monolithic palace.  The platform was,
however, empty.  Naru turned to look at Toros and Ares, who were
just to her right, standing up.  Not knowing the protocol of these
situations, she waited until everyone else was standing before she
did so.

	"Typical."  Ares muttered.  "They didn't send anyone to meet
us.  Not even the senshi."  The Mikos chuckled to themselves, like
it was some private joke they were sharing.  Naru put a hand over
her mouth, as if stifling a smile.  She didn't know what to do or
say in this situation.  Ares raised an eyebrow in her direction.
"You find the fact that your own senshi have failed to meet you
here so amusing?"

	"Uh..."  Naru stammered....  Answer...  I need an answer.
"As you well know, I have not been... on best terms with the senshi.
Especially Kithris and Vidimare."  Where did those names come from?
She wondered.
	Toros nodded sagely.  "Those two allow their emotions get to
them.  An unfortunate by-product of being the senshi of Mars and
Jupiter."
	"Hmph.  All senshi are the same.  Pathetic girls obsessed
with their so-called powers, not really understanding where those
powers came from, or why they have them.  So typical of the
militaristic, ordered and controlled system that produced them."
Ares spat with contempt.  Naru stared her in the eye.

	"Yes yes yes, we all know of your experiences with the senshi,
Ares.  There is no need to impress upon me the historical enmity
between the two systems.  I know it well."  I wish I did, thought
Naru.  And in a blink of an eye, she did.  Just like that, the entire 
history of the senshi and miko castes entered her brain.  Well, that 
was kinda weird, she thought.  Maybe if I wished for a double 
cheeseburger with cola and a side of fries, they'll pop up in my 
hands.

	Before she attempted to give herself a meal (she was feeling
hungry, which lead to questions on how one felt hungry when one was
nothing more than a conciousness experiencing extremely strange
fantasies whilst floating in a pool of water) Ares bowed to her,
apologising for her out of place words.

	"I'm sorry, my Queen.  I know you do have friends amongst the
senshi.  I didn't mean it to be offensive."
	"That is alright, Ares.  You are all my friends until I find
reason to feel otherwise.  Shall we alight or are we going to stand
in this sauna for much longer?"

	The mikos nodded and began to file from the transport, onto
the platform.  Six had left the transport when Naru was waved 
through.  As regally as was possible, she padded over to the doorway
and stepped from the exit.  The air within the 'station' felt cool
and smelt sweet.  After a few moments taking in her surroundings,
she stepped forward as the six remaining mikos followed her out

	The station, like much of the architechture, was a uniform
sand yellow.  The materials used to construct the walls, ceilings
and floors were obviously from the same, or similar, sources.

	She brought her mind back to business in question.  "Now, I
require an audience with the Chancellor.  As per protocol, I require
one of you to come with me."  A thought entered her mind.  "One who
has the capability of mind-reading, I would suggest."

	"Why, my Queen?"  Was the general response from the mikos.
She nodded for a few moments, then continued.
	"I wish to know his.... partiality, on the method of my
succession.  There are always those who are less than enthusiastic
in their relationships with Royalty who have found their place
through the removal of the First Candidate."

	"But wouldn't he have his psychic defenses up at all times?
In his position, he wouldn't want just anyone prying into his mind."
Scylla rubbed her chin, looking across at Arachne.  "Even though I
may be a water Miko, and therefore powerful when it comes to psychic
abilities, I'm sure I'd have more than a hard enough time breaking
through those defences.  The session would be over before I'd be
able to gleam any information from him.  I'm sure Arachne would
feel the same."
	"Ah yes, but you are First and Second Refrain Water Mikos."
Naru liked the idea of having ideas just pop into her head from
nowhere.  In a very short space of time, memories and thoughts had
flowed into her head.  She had to struggle to remember that she was
actually Osaka Naru, not this Queen Tranquility person.  Unless, of
course, this Queen WAS her past life.

	The Mikos stared at her, only slowly beginning to understand
what she meant.  Naiad, who had been standing at the back of the
group, farthest from Naru, began to cringe as faces turned towards
her.
	"Naiad."  Naru smiled.
	"Yes, my Queen."
	"You will come with me, won't you?"
	"Do I have a choice, my Queen?"
	"No.  Of all assembled, you are the master at cracking psychic
defences.  That is your greatest skill.  I wish to see it in 
action."
	"Whoo...  Naiad's going to have to work for her dinner today."
Scylla commented.  The other Mikos laughed at this.  It was obvious
to Naru that Naiad was a great shirker of responsibility.


	Minako, Usagi and the two cats arrived at the top of the
building as quickly as the stairs would let them.  They were close
to exhausted by the time they got there, though.

	As were the Usagi ninjas who had kidnapped Hotaru.  They
emerged from one of the air-conditioning vents, leaping out 
dramatically, Hotaru seemingly unconcious in the arms of one.  The 
Usagis promptly collapsed all over the cement, totally devoid of 
landing skill or decorum, and the one holding Hotaru dropped her.

	"Yep, they're Usagis, alright."  Said Minako's Usagi 
companion.  Minako, puffing mightily, had to agree.

	Staring around to make sure not too many people saw their
ineptitude, the five ninja Usagis rapidly stood and started
assuming cool-looking, threatening poses.

	"We are the Usagi Liberation Front..."  Said the middle-most 
one.  "In the name of our stupidity, we shall punish you, non-Usagi 
heathen."  They pointed at Minako, who had, by this time, 
facefaulted into near oblivion.

	"Mina-chan, Hotaru is free.  Change into Venus and kick these
stupid Usagi clones from the top of the building."  Luna barked at
Minako, who nodded.  In the blink of an eye, standing before them
was Sailorvenus.  To say the effect on the Usagis was nothing short
of miraculous.

	"Sailor...Venus...?  The REAL one?"  The Usagi ninjas chimed
in unison.
	"Yes, and you just tried to kidnap the REAL Sailorsaturn.  Try
to imagine how she's gonna feel when SHE wakes up."  Minako barked
smugly.

	The five gulped visibly and stared at Hotaru's still body.  A
strange sense of power seemed to overcome Minako.  It was so EASY to
keep these imbeciles in line.  If only the original Usagi had been
this easy to slap into line.

	"Saturn?  Tomoe-san is Saturn?"  Minako turned to her Usagi
compnaion, who, like the others, was staring at Hotaru, shaking her
head in disbelief.  "Saturn is in the city....  We're all doomed."
	"Get a hold of yourself."
	"Its the end for us if she becomes Saturn.  The end for us 
all."  The girl seemed genuinely frightened, as did the ninjas, who
were shying away from the girl they had gone to so much trouble only
minutes before to kidnap.  What the hell was going on here?

	Then a figure in red leapt from the top of the stairwell exit,
grabbing Hotaru and jumping onto the edge of the building.  The
figure turned and looked back at Minako, her mouth covered in a
shroud.  It was obviously another Usagi, but the look in her eyes
were different from those in black.

	"My subordinates may be frightened by your presence and words
of Saturn, but I am not.  I am the leader of the Usagi Liberation
Front, and I am, by no means, the kind of bumbling fool one would
normally associate with her.  I shall take your friend, Sailorvenus.
If you are half the warrior I think you to be, you shall meet me at
the factory in three hours, or she shall die."

	And with that, the Usagi ninja leader threw up her hand.
Before Minako could do anything, the top of the roof was clouded in
mist, and both the ninjas and Hotaru were gone.

	As the mist dissipated, Minako cursed and turned to her
companion, still shaken by the news that Hotaru was Saturn.
	"Look, you, get a hold of yourself."  The Usagi looked at her
and nodded.  "Now, you're going to have to guide me to this 
'factory'."
	"The Usagi Production Factory...  Run by our Mamo-chan."
	"Mamo-chan....  I take it he's a reproduction, too?"  The 
Usagi had told her earlier that this Mamoru had been in the City for
five years.  Although Minako had no idea whether time passed as a
constant within this dimension, that would mean that he had been in
this world for longer than Usagi had known him.  The original, late
Usagi, that was.
	"No, this one is the original.  He was very confused when he
got here."

	"The ORIGINAL???"  Chorused one sailorsenshi and two cats.


	Naru walked silently through the dark and empty corridors of
the palace.  The thoughts and memories of this life that seemed to
be imposing themselves upon her mind becoming easier to ignore as
her will took control.

	She would occasionally turn aside at Naiad.  The young woman
seemed to seep into her surroundings...  Enjoying them fully.  Her
expression was bright, if not cheerful.  She wondered what could 
have created such a being....  So devoid of emotional response on 
things that would knock everyone else about, yet would go to pieces
over things that barely registered concern in others.

	Occasionally, she would find herself admiring the way Naiad
was adorned....  The beautiful flowing blue robes of her position
mixed in with the blue of her long hair complimented each other
well.  She had to admit, Naiad most certainly LOOKED impressive.  If
only looks could have been matched with the element of personality.


	Both Naiad and herself had left the other mikos at the 
entrance station.  One of the Palace courtesans had eventually come 
to meet them and apologised for the tardiness of the group's 
reception, and said that a banquet was to be held in the honour of 
the new Queen as soon as her meeting with the Chancellor had been 
completed.  It annoyed Naru that she would not be given time to 
prepare for this reception.

	The courtesan guided the other mikos back to their quarters,
leaving both herself and Naiad to walk alone amongst the halls of
the Palace Bureaucracy.  Hardly an auspicious start for the reign of
a Queen.  But then, in the ultimate scheme of things, she 
represented nothing more than the Governor of a fringe colony.  A
powerful one, but a fringe one all the same.

	"Naiad...."  Naru almost whispered her name, breaking the
young woman's reverie.  She looked aside at Naru without really
turning her head.  "I'm sorry if I embarrassed you back there."
	"That's alright.  Its just that...  You know..."
	"Hmm?"
	"After what happened...  Earlier, at the Academy, when we
were together....  It would be bad for both of us if anyone
thought you were favouring me for some reason."

	Naru tried desperately to access that portion of her memory,
but for some reason, it was barred to her.  It held a lot of
emotion, but that was all she could tell.

	"That's alright, Nai-chan.  You shouldn't worry so much about
what others think."
	"Nai-chan?  What does that mean?"
	Oops, Naru thought.  They obviously don't use that honorific
in this time.  "Uhh, its a term of affection, from my homeland."
	"Ah, I see."  Naiad shrugged.  "Its not like you to be so
unconcerned about what others think."
	"Nor is it like you to be so cautious."
	"Touche'"  Naiad smiled.  A friendly smile.  Whatever had gone
on between Naiad and this Tranquility person, be it her own past
life or not, there was definitely a connection between the two.  Not
just acquaintances, something more, something deeper.  She 
desperately tried to find that memory....  Something else was 
needed.  An avatar...  This body had power, or at least was supposed
to have power.

	"There is a questioning expression on your face, Tranquility.
There is something you want to know, and you want to know it from 
me."  Naiad had stopped, placing a hand on Naru's arm to halt her.
	"Uh, what makes you say that?"
	"I can read all expressions.  No amount of training will hide
a person's thoughts from me."
	"On top of which, you have mastery over the manipulation of
minds."  Naiad seemed slightly taken aback by Naru's comment.
"You were trying to read my mind, and you can see how confused and
clouded it is."
	"Maybe the process has left you slightly disoriented..."
	"No...  You wouldn't pry into my mind for such simplistic
reasons.  You needed to know if any of the old Tranquility remains
within me after the process."

	Naiad let go and looked aside for a moment, like a child who
had been caught out.  Naru smiled.  "Don't feel so bad, Nai-ch...
Naiad.  I know you like the back of my hand."  I wish I did, Naru
thought.  There are times when her reputation scares the bejeezus 
and begorrah outta me.
	"I'm sorry."  The words had to be forced from Naiad's mouth,
like she was not used to saying them.  As far as Naru was concerned,
that was likely to be the case.  Certainly, if the current entity
who called herself Naiad was anything to go by, she probably hadn't
uttered those words since.
	"That's okay, Naiad."  Naru put both her hands on Naiad's
shoulders.  "Look, we both reached the very pinnacle of where we
wanted to go, be the methods good or bad.  All that matters to me is
if you are happy with the decision you made, to join the clergy."

	Naru and Naiad stared at each other for several moments.  Naru
smiled.  "Well...  Are you?"
	"Yes."
	"See?  Its far better to be a Water Miko than a Water Senshi,
I'm sure."
	"It has its interesting moments."  Naiad smiled back.

	And Naru used Naiad's opening up as an opportunity to pry into
her mind.  Everything went blurry, and reformed....


	The road had taken Usagi and the Animates through what had to
have been some of the most spectacularly boring scenery in 
existence.  By the time they had noticed the first few farms and
houses they were passing by, they had reached the outskirts on the
small, but sizeable, town, such had been the state of psychotic
tedium they had fallen into.

	Naturally, it was Mouse who made the first remark as her four
companions woke from their slumbering and sky-contemplating with
bleary, disbelieving looks on their faces.

	"Nice town, eh?  Classier than I thought a fringe town would
be."  The others had to agree.  In a strange kind of way, despite
the middle-Asian setting, the town reminded Usagi of the wild west.
There were carriages everywhere on the roughly-covered main street.
They rode past residences, shops, a bank, a school, and several
hotels as well as a great many people.

	"Where did all this suddenly pop up from?"  Crow scratched
her head.  "The last I knew, we were in the middle of nowhere."
	Mouse, who had been at the reigns all the way, sniffed with
disinterest.  "If you had to watch the road like I did, you'd soon
find out that things started getting busy some fifty miles back."

	They soon approached the middle of the town.  The 
Administration Hall sat on one side, surrounded by arcades and
other shops, with a vast hotel complex on the opposite side.  At
the front of the hotel sat a huge group of carriages, all the same
scarlet-maroon colour, and bearing the same insignia, looking like
a letter M with an arrowed tail.

	"Whoo, she's sparkles, that place."  Nyanko smiled.  "I like
this town already."
	"We can't stay in the middle of town, you realise that?"
Siren did her best to disillusion the starry-eyed Nyanko.
	"Why's that?"  Nyanko looked daggers at Siren.
	"Try looking around you.  Everyone's staring at Usagi."

	They did, and indeed, everyone was giving Usagi strange looks.
It was the most uncomfortable sensation that Usagi had ever felt.

	"I think a nice fringe residence during our stay here would
be worth investigating, don't you?"  Crow turned to Usagi, who
nodded dumbly.  Crow turned to Mouse.  "Well, you saw the girl,
lets find a Bed and Breakfast out of the way, okay?"
	"Yes boss, no boss, three effin' bags full, boss."  Mouse
sniffed again and tapped the reigns on the back of the horse, which
quickened its pace.


	From a window, high in the hotel, a scarlet-maroon haired 
woman in a tight-fitting red minidress stared down at the fivesome 
in the open cart, her eyes focusing in on Usagi.  That couldn't be 
who she thought it was....

	"Mistral, come here...."  She turned to her companion, a man
dressed in a quaint, 19th century English business suit, who was
sitting at the main table within her private room, filling out forms
with a quill pen.  He looked up at her, placing the quill aside and
standing.
	"What is it, my Lady Scorpia?"
	"In the street below....  Sitting in that old cart there..."
	
	Mistral stepped up to the window and followed his mistress's
direction.  He opened his eyes wide when he spotted Usagi.

	"Oh my goodness...  It is the Princess Serenity."  He turned
to Scorpia, his mouth hanging open.
	"Riding in an old cart with four tramps like those for her
travelling companions?"  Scorpia raised an eyebrow.  "Unless, of
course...."  Scorpia put a hand to her chin.  "They could be...."
	"An investigative team, from the Palace, lead by the 
Princess?"  Mistral frowned and Scorpia bit her lip.
	"I don't think so.  They'd never send in someone as 
recognisable as the Princess to do such a menial task."  Scorpia
turned and took a few steps into her room, thinking.  She then
turned to Mistral, smiling.  "Mistral, you shall find our who these
girls are, then invite them to dine with me tonight."

	Mistral smiled and nodded.  "If the girl turns out to be the
Princess, you will, naturally, give her the welcome to which she is
accustomed?"
	"Oh, of course, Mistral.  I shall not let the.... misunderstandings 
of the past place a barrier to our relationship."
	"And if she turns out to not be her?"
	"I am not an uncivilised person, Mistral.  I'm quite sure I
can find a place for her in my affections....  And a use for her
friends."  Scorpia smiled as Mistral bowed and walked from the room,
through a large set of double doors.  She stepped back to the window
as they closed behind her.

	She watched as the wagon disappeared up the street, memories
of past betrayals lingering on her mind.


	Naru felt herself land softly on the ground.  She felt a 
little disoriented and stared around at her surroundings.  She was
on a concrete garden path, surrounded by plant life of extraordianry
foliage and colour.  The sky was a rich azure blue and the sun was
shining, albeit weakly.  Whatever time of the year this was, it
appeared to be close to winter.  That may come to explain the 
colours of the foliage, she thought.

	She then looked down at what she was wearing, a found herself
in a black sailorfuku, with white bow and silver trimmings.  The 
dress itself ran down almost to her ankles, and she wore very simple
slip-on white shoes.  Under her arm, tied with secure string, were
schoolbooks and a pencil.

	"Something wrong, Tranqs?"  Naru turned to the voice, which
came from behind her.  She thought she'd recognised it, despite its
youth....  Her eyes opened wide.

	There stood Naiad.

	In the school uniform.

	And she couldn't have been any older than fifteen.


	IASFU OA FWSS IASFU OA FWSS GOO JUA GOO JIPEST


END OF PART 9
	

Notes

And now, the $64 000 question....  Can you guess what song Naiad is
humming to herself at the beginning of this chapter from the rather
obscure clues?  The track is at least 16 years old now, by a fairly
well-known band (and being all of 28 years, is one of my old 
favourites).  I use a different song by this band almost as BGM to
each chapter.

After recovering from my wisdom tooth operation (they were 
surgically removed under general anaesthetic) I thought it was about
time to get to writing another chapter.  And once more, I've gone
off on a strange tangent.  But hey, they're my tangents, and I am
the writer ^_^.

In the next chapter, Naru psychoanalyses Naiad from their days in
school together until their final meeting shortly before the Miko's
suicide....  Chapter 10 of "Usagi is Dead" - School of Hard Knocks.
Coming soon.

Please mail all comments, criticisms and general rants to
ayanami@merlin.net.au

I may even find the time between my various typings to reply.  You
never know your luck in a big planet.  ^_^

DDFA