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.  You
know who they are!  They're the ones that run around doing bad 
things to the original cast.  ^_^  Well, most of them, anyway.



Part Thirteen
God from a Machine


	The sky was the most incredible aquamarine blue.  Everything
about this world just said blue blue blue.  Naturally, it drove the
woman stark raving bonkers.

	Not that she had anything against the colour blue.  She was
actually quite fond of it, really.  It was just that she would have
liked a little relief from its consistency.

	The relief came in the form of an island.  There were a lot of
islands on this world....  Twenty thousand in all.  But then, none
of them were any bigger than this one.  This planet was an ocean
world, and its inhabitants were, quintessentially, aquatic beings.

	She didn't have any business with them, though.  Well, she did
have with one.  But a rather special one, and it annoyed her that
she was sleeping on the job.  The woman chuckled at that.

	She flew over the island, getting an idea of its terrain.  She
cursed the fact that her scarlet hair was so long.  All the wind had
to do was blow slightly the wrong way and it was over her face.  It
happened just as she flew across the middle of the island.  For some
reason, the islands had a tendency, despite their small size, to
create thermal uplifts, and right now, she found her hair going in
every direction.

	She was disappointed that she couldn't find what she was 
looking for from the air, and decided to try the closer approach.
She decended and landed on the clearest section of the island she
could see, which, naturally, was the beach.

	She brushed down her red and black miko gown, thankful for the
thickness and warmth it gave her.  Otherwise she would have frozen
to death from the wind, and burnt herself to a crisp from the solar
rays.  She turned to the world's sun....  As blue as everything else
around here.  Despite the laws of science dictating that a blue star
burnt hottest, this one wasn't hot at all, on a universal level.  
There were yellow stars that burnt far hotter than this one. 
Pitiful, really.  Not a good sign when it came to divining the 
system's elemental powers.

	She wandered through the exotic undergrowth of the island, 
occasionally looking up into the canopy for potential predators.  In
her experience, it was best not to chance the possibilities of 
running into carnivores on alien planets.  Although she was sure 
there wasn't any here (she certainly hadn't heard of any dangerous
creatures on the islands of Mherr) she wasn't going to risk the
ridiculously rapid processes of snap evolution....  And there were a
mighty number of dangerous creatures living in the seas that were
just waiting to make the big move onto land.

	If only there had been a worthwhile piece of land for any of
these creatures to move on to.  Unlike most other worlds that 
contained forms of life, the massive oceans of Mherr had seen 
evolution ensnared almost completely underwater.  It was there that
the planet's first intelligent lifeform evolved...  Beings who 
appeared to be aquatic mammals, who bred through the partnering of
male and female.  Many of the species on the planet were 
hermaphrodites, so it was a rarity.  Only a million years before, 
this species was also entirely hermaphroditic, and there were a
large number of throwbacks amongst their population, not to mention
a cult of hermaphroditism amongst those who weren't.

	It had been predicted, by the colonists from the empire who
had settled here, that, in time, the sexual division of male and
female would eventually disappear.  So it was decided to eradicate
the hermaphroditic element through interbreeding with the 
homeworlders.  Just as they did wherever they went.  To subdue a
system, one must first assimilate the population.

	It had happened on Earth, of course.  Back when it was known 
as Terra.  She couldn't remember when anyone decided on the great 
name change.  Terra was suitable enough for people then, why change 
it?

	Anyway, the colonists came, saw and mated with the natives.  
>From the humble, evolving ape species came a being of greater 
intellect and physical refinement.  This species was then developed 
over several generations, eventually subsumed totally into the 
Homeworlders spiritual sphere.

	Once this was done, the system was then harnessed for its
elemental powers.  An alien biology the system could reject offhand, 
but not one that had evolved within the system itself.  There were 
times when she wondered whether this meant star systems had a kind 
of intelligence, a sentience....


	Once the system's elemental powers were under the inhabitants'
control, it, too, was subsumed into the whole.  And once a system
fell, those around it tended to follow suit.  An intergalactic 
domino theory.


	The vegetation began to thicken, and she could feel the 
breezes that blew in from the sea subside.  Now her miko gown was
becoming a nuisance....  Snagging on the undergrowth....  It was an
entirely ornamental thing, designed for the ceremonies and special
events that used to occur when the Kingdom was still in existence.
Today, it was nothing more than a symbol for what she had been, 
especially amongst the populations of other worlds.  Whilst the
Empire itself no longer engendered the subservience and affection it
used to, there was at least an acknowledgement of those who had
served some time in the offices of church and state.

	For a few moments, she considered abandoning it, but then the
undergrowth began to clear.  A small rise that lead to a deeper 
gully came into view, covered over with vast trees.  In the centre 
of the gully sat what she was looking for....  An altar.

	It was not an ordinary altar...  This one was still operating.
Its power field could be felt even at this distance, although it was
designed not to be detected any other way than on foot.  What the 
altar contained was too important for it to be discovered by the
casual bypasser.  She should have thought of that when she was 
flying over the island.  Would have saved time, and she was running
out of it.

	At the centre of the altar was a huge ceramic platform, which
rose no more than four feet off the ground, yet easily spanned some
twelve by fifteen feet in its width and length.  This dropped down
to a ceramic base that surrounded the platform by two feet.  At the
corners of the base sat four fonts on gilded posts.  Around the base
of the posts were drains and ducts for water, which appeared to be
flowing from the centre of the fonts, over their sides.  Appeared,
because the water was frozen in place.

	It was like time had stopped and the flow with it.  The woman
approached the altar, her attention taken by the setup's most 
important aspect....  The body that lay atop the centre of the main
platform.

	It was the naked form of a young woman.  She appeared to be
sleeping, although the woman knew better of this.  The girl had
exquisite light green-blue hair, running down to her ankles, and
extremely pale skin.  Her ears were flourished with fins, and her
hands and feet were webbed, albeit not a great deal.  Definitely the
product of much development by the Empire, thought the woman.

	There was something across the girl's face....  She couldn't
get a better look, because she felt what appeared to be a barrier at
the edge of the altar.  She placed two fingers, up straight, in
front of her mouth, and began to chant.

	The barrier, an energy field, flashed as the power of the 
chant caused it to falter.  Eventually, it shattered like glass,
disappearing into a powder of energy that flew by the woman as she
completed her chant and gestured a symbol of faith.

	For a split second, a mark appeared on her forehead, like a
letter M with an arrowed tail.  It glowed a scarlet red, then 
disappeared.  The woman opened her eyes and turned aside as the 
fonts burst into life, water flowing freely from some unknown 
source.

	She stepped up onto the base and then climbed onto the
platform, crawling over to her target.  She stopped and stared down 
at the girl's still face, kneeling before her.

	The object that she had seen were two bands, running across 
the girl's face, meeting at the bridge of her nose, where they were
connected by a turquoise shell symbol.  She chuckled....  The mark
of a senshi....  An ordinary senshi, but a senshi all the same.  She
disliked the senshi....  Well, at least those of her world.  They
were unnecessarily machiavellian beings who had seen the dissolution
of the miko caste....  Of course, her bitterness was due mostly to
the fact that she had been one of the serving miko at the time.

	After escaping the attempted roundup of the miko by the forces
of the senshi and various courtesans, her name and face had been
scattered throughout the kingdom.  Wanted, for crimes against the 
state!  As if the senshi had a even a fraction of moral 
responsibility left within them (not that she really had any, but 
that was another matter).  

	Not a moment's rest did she have from the senshi, whose sole 
intention was to be her execution.  The manipulative fingers of 
Chaos reaching into their minds.  The kingdom was to soon die.  She, 
however, did not.

	The benefits of prior-planning, of course.  She had set up a
small empire for herself back on Earth, under an assumed name.  One
whose power became essential in the final days of the kingdom, and
one that had maintained a semblance of order in the aftermath of the
collapse.  A short-lived empire, however, for it collapsed itself 
and was swallowed up by others as soon as she chose to leave it.

	She had lived several lives since that time, and all 
proclaiming the same set of values she had always pushed - next to 
none.  As the water miko of the second refrain, she represented the 
intellectual quotient of those whose concerns were almost entirely 
the body.  She lived and breathed the powers, controls and structure 
of eroticism and emotionality.

	Where am I?  Who am I?  Why am I here?  The three intellectual
questions that the three water miko represented.  And she had spent
much of her many lives trying to answer that second question.  Who
was she?  What was she?  Whilst the other second refrain miko also
pondered this question, only the water miko could truly find the
answer, because water sat at the end of the refrain's portion of the
miko circle.  The answer comes here, so to speak.

	She shook herself.  Enough of this self-interrogation, she had
a job to do.  She placed her left hand over the face of the girl and
began to chant, softly, rising her face into the air in a kind of
divine passion.  Energy shot from her hand into the bands that 
crossed the girl's face, and the shell glowed.

	She stopped chanting suddenly, taking a deep, gasping breath
as she moved back several feet from the girl, breathing heavily.
Using her energy had always been murderous on her body.  Not that it 
was unpleasant....  The expenditure of her miko powers generated 
immense pleasure.  It was just that, the novelty tended to wear when 
one received too much of a good thing.

	She watched as the girl's eyes fluttered open, a silken senshi
uniform appearing over her naked frame....  A kind of gossamyr skirt 
and top with suspended stockings and crystalline gloves and shoes.  
The woman scratched her nose and wondered who chose the designs for 
the uniforms of the senshi....  Slowly, the girl raised herself from 
the altar, leaning against one arm and blearily staring at her 
surroundings.

	"Wh...  What?  Where am I?"  She sat up fully.  "Is this...
Is this my homeworld?"  She looked up at the blue sun that peered
through the high branches of the tree canopy.

	She then noticed the presence kneeling just to her right.  She
turned and gasped, placing a hand to her mouth.  "Madame Scor...  I
mean...  Arachne-sama...  Is this really my home?  Have I returned?"

	"Yes, Siren Charybdis, you have returned."  Arachne smiled.



	IASFU OA FWSS IASFU OA FWSS GOO JUA GOO JIPEST
	and again
	IASFU OA FWSS IASFU OA FWSS GOO JUA GOO JIPEST
	And still the voices I can hear....



	Five figures flashed into existence in the front garden of the 
Mizuno residence.  Despite it being the middle of the night, the 
garden was well-lit.  This was mostly due to the fact that, above 
Tokyo hung a dimensional rift of truly unbelievable proportions.  
Certainly not one that the universii on either side had seen before.

	Akunatsuka stared up into the sky, his mouth hanging open with
sheer disbelief.  The avatar of his transportation, the Asteroid
Senshi known simply as PalaPala, watched him with patent amusement.

	"What?  Have you never seen dimensional rifts before?"
	"Please, PalaPala-san was it?"  One of the three Usagi clones,
who had, for some reason, decided to use the name Usako looked at
the light-blue haired girl.  "We are most inexperienced in these
matters.  I do not think it fair to criticise any of us for our 
ignorance."

	PalaPala stared at Usako....  An almost perfect copy of Usagi 
if one ignored the fact that both her manner and tone were totally
the opposite.  The tone of Usako easily suggested that she was not
the sort to easily follow Pala's penchant for cruel humour.  Indeed,
the sort to chastise her for her attitude.  Pala groaned and put a
hand to her face.

	"Its a joke, Joyce.  Jeez..."
	"Very funny, I'm sure."  The second Usagi clone, a redhead
with her hair tied back in a simple ponytail, dressed in the costume
of the early Meiji era, with a cross-scar on her left cheek, said as
she followed Akunatsuka's gaze, albeit with far less disbelief and
wonderment.  After all, Usashin, the name she had chosen for 
herself, had been cast from the universe on the other side of that
rift in a blast she was amazed anyone survived.

	"Where are the others, different woman."  The third Usagi 
clone, Aosagi, said in an arrogant tone that suggested total 
contempt for anyone who wasn't an Usagi.  Dressed in a red ninja
costume, covered with a large white coat, with her medium-cut hair
tied back in a headband.  She loomed up on Pala dangerously.  From
the expression on the girl's face, it didn't seem that the Asteroid
Senshi's powers were of any concern to her, if it came to a fight 
between them.

	Of course, Pala was never one to put down an incipient fight.
"There are some here already, dickhead.  Try looking for yourself."  
Aosagi snarled in her face.
	"What did you call me, Different Bitch!?!"

	"Now now....  We don't want to start a fight.  Fighting is 
bad."  Usako stepped up beside them and placed her hands on their
shoulders.  Whilst this annoyed Pala, Aosagi deferred to her and
turned away.  Great, thought Pala, someone who won't listen to those
who know what they're doing, but will listen to an airhead.  Just
what we need if we're really in a pinch.

	Pala was about to round on Usako when she heard another, 
equally soft and measured voice coming from behind her.

	"Now now, PalaPala.  She has the best interests of the group
at heart."  Pala turned to see CereCere, JunJun and a somewhat 
disbelieving Makoto sitting beside the swimming pool in deckchairs.

	"I see you've set yourself up for a grand view of judgement 
day."  Pala chuckled.  Cere lifted a large cocktail that had been
sitting on a small table next to her and gestured grandly.
	"The best view in the house."  Said the maroon-red haired
girl.  Cere had changed from her flower-petal dress to a flower-
petal bikini, and had her hair tied up as she was more accustomed,
in elaborate rings and ribbons that resembled complex spaghetti 
architecture.  JunJun, likewise, had her hair tied up in a three-
tail pattern with rings running around the front like a semi-crown,
although she had, at the very least, chosen something of greater
practicality than a swimsuit to wear.

	Makoto, for her part, had not changed back from Jupiter.  
It had taken some time to calm her down after Cere had pulled her
psycho act on her, threatening to kill Rikai and his detectives,
and perhaps even Ami's mother, if they interfered in the "grand
plan" the Asteroid's new boss had set up.  In the meantime, they'd
had to hide from the aforementioned detectives when they decided
to make a reappearance after being transported across town, with
their car, by one of Cere's spells.

	Much to Cere's annoyance, the detectives had decided to leave
some uniformed officers to guard the scene.  She quickly dispensed
with them by sending them on a holiday to Hakodate.  Well, it was
the only place she could think of at the time.

	Makoto had been sitting, sulking, on the deckchair for some
time, annoyed on occasion by the mindless chatter of her two 
companions.  When the dimensional rift gave way, allowing hundreds
of thousands of bodies to fall from the sky, the pair had cheered
and danced all over the lawn, and proceeded to tank themselves
with every alcoholic beverage they could find in the Mizuno's
household.  Considering the moneyed lifestyle Ami and her mother
had become used to, they were drinking well.

	Makoto didn't feel like drinking, or cheering, or doing 
anything, basically.  So different to last night, where she had
made a pig-arse fool of herself when the senshi gathered to 
celebrate what they hoped would be their freedom from the deaths 
predicted by Setsuna's visions.  But then, a lot had happened in the 
intervening 24 hours.

	Usagi, whom they had killed, to prevent her doing the same to
them, had come back to life.  Somehow.  The woman who had explained
this to them was currently floating in the Mizuno's swimming pool,
as water, no less, along with Naru and Ami.  She didn't understand 
the processes at work, but apparently, in the intoxicated state of 
mind Ami had been in after her mother had given her something to 
calm her down and let her get some rest, she had taken a swim, or 
tried to drown herself, Makoto wasn't sure, and somehow....  Her 
body melted into the water.  Naturally, because Ami was a senshi 
with water-based powers, those powers fused with the element, and 
they became one.

	Now the woman, Kikotsuka Aoi, who also had been the police
detective who'd headed up the investigation into Usagi's murder, had
proven to have powers of a similar nature, from where, Makoto didn't
know.  One moment, the woman appeared to be a scared, ordinary human
being, frightened by Usagi's resurrection after the girl had 
destroyed the station, killing many of those Aoi had worked with,
the next they were face to face with a being of immense power and
capacity to both command and confound.  Not to mention the capacity
to be extremely blunt, thoughtless and arrogant.  But Makoto, who
was used to the fight, had heard that kind of language before.  The
words of one who liked to prey on the minds of others...  Thems
were fightin' words and Makoto didn't like her very much.

	Then, this Aoi woman brings the Asteroid Senshi in to, 
virtually, replace the "unreliable" normal senshi, whilst she 
follows Ami in fusing herself with the water of the pool in an 
attempt to rescue the stupid girl lest her conciousness die within
the water, dragging Naru (accidentally or deliberately, she wasn't
sure) with her.

	On top of that, Chibiusa (why was she still Chibiusa when 
they'd killed Usagi?  Although, clearly, Usagi wasn't quite so dead
now) had turned into a human jellyfish, and was currently lying in
the Mizuno's vegetable crisper in the hope that, if they ever get
back the "essence" that had been removed from her body, they'd have
something fresh to put it in.  VesVes's idea, of course.

	But then, both Rei and VesVes had gone charging off somewhere
for no readily apparent reason, shortly before both herself and Cere
had their biffo session.  She rubbed her chin....  Despite the 
girl's appearance, she packed a wallop behind those arms.  It all
made her wonder....  About the Asteroid senshi....

	Where the hell did they come from?  As far as she knew, they
had been sealed up in those crystals after they'd turned against 
their former master, only to be released as normal girls after 
Zirconia and Nephrenia were defeated (well, Zirconia anyway).

	At least, that was what she was sure of....  The universe had
a tendency to laugh at its denizens.  In many ways, the senshi were
a form of cosmic joke.

	They were meant to defend all that was good, all that was 
right, but so often Makoto had felt like cannon fodder for Usagi
when it came to the really big fights.  She'd throw herself, and
her life, away, just so Usagi could pull off an eleventh hour hero.

	And there was another thing....  Why was it really necessary
for them to pull off these last-minute world saving routines?  It
had been that way, what with Beryl and her Generals (even though she 
had been dropped into that halfway through), the Black Moon Kingdom,
Pharaoh 90, the Dead Moon Circus, Nephrenia and Galaxia with her
Sailor Animates.  Why was it they always seemed to let things run on
for so long without taking these people to task earlier?

	She knew why.  Real life would constantly get in the way.
They weren't BORN to have real lives...  Their lives were patently
unreal, unnatural.  At a time when they should have been studying
and going through the usual bullshit of adolescence, they were
running around like a pack or idiots in skimpy clothes, saving the
world.  And getting killed, occasionally.

	These thoughts ran through her head as the dimensional rift
opened up and flowered into its full glory.  And she only gave it
the most cursory of glances.  Of course, she thought, why should I
be surprised?  We've been lead a merry chase again, and here we are
with the world, maybe even the universe at peril, again, with the
expectation that we're going to use our bodies as human shields for
yet another last-minute hero routine.  Only problem was, this time,
there was no Usagi to whap the enemy over the head with a mega 
spiral heart attack thingy after transforming into a chick in a
short, skimpy dress with big wings sticking out the back.  Not an 
Usagi likely to be so congenial, anyway.  The sheer absurdity of it 
all had struck her.  And coming face to face with not one, but 
three, Usagis was enough to send her over the edge.

	She began to laugh, falling off the deckchair and rolling over
the ground.  Well, at least that got the attention of all the 
others.

	"Told you she was a bit funny in the head."  Cere poked her 
tongue out at Jun.
	"I didn't say she wasn't."
	"No, you just didn't want to compare her with us."
	"That's another one of the problems with these straight-laced
inner senshi types....  They don't know how to carry themselves with
decorum whilst going through a nervous breakdown."  Pala joined her
companions as the three Usagis and Akunatsuka stepped over to 
Makoto.

	"Are you alright, Mako-chan?"  Usako said worriedly, holding
her hands together nervously.
	"The girl has taken temporary leave of her senses.  She shall
recover in time."  Usashin placed a hand on Usako's shoulder.
	"You're so sure of everything aren't you?"  Aosagi sniffed
with contempt.  "As far as I'm concerned, the bitch was one of those
responsible for killing the original Tsukino Usagi.  She can lose
her mind and rot in an asylum."
	"The powers she contains may be of use to us, especially in
the killing of that beast that is rampaging through the village."

	"You call this a village?"  Pala blinked at her.
	"The place of residence of many people is a village.  It is
only within the last few centuries that we have come to understand
a place such as this as a city."  Usashin looked up and around, at
the many tall buildings that dotted the skyline.  "This is the
product of the efforts of many, not of just one.  People have slaved
against time, lack of finance and resources, corruption and 
criminality to make this place a worthy one for many, many people to
live, since the days when it was called Edo.  All of the world's
great cities have been made with this intention.  Not all have
succeeded.  Should we stand by and allow this to be destroyed by
something that has but one desire, to kill and destroy?"

	Usashin's speech seemed to overcome everyone, even Makoto.  It
was as if the tone of her voice contained a power to move peoples'
emotions....  Which unbeknownst to them, it did.  Even though only
one Usagi in the Eternal City had manifested the true powers of
Sailormoon, that didn't mean all the others HADN'T shown powers of
some form or another.

	Usashin turned to them.  "I will die to defend this city and
as many of those who live within it.  With all the power I contain.
I don't know about any of you....."  She looked at Pala.  "You, who
seem overly preoccupied with playing games..."  Cere.  "You who are
not in control of your emotions..."  Jun.  "You who should know 
better, but act as if you don't."  Makoto.  "You, who have betrayed
everything you should have represented..."  Aosagi.  "You, who used
to stand for a noble cause, but were corrupted..."  Akunatsuka.  
"You who have allowed yourself to become cynical and distrusting...
All of you...  What are you going to do?  Lie back on these chairs,
drink alcohol and watch the city and all those lives being 
destroyed?"  Usashin pulled her sword from its sheath.  "There is
only one amongst you who have been true to themselves."  She turned
to Usako.  "Well, what are you going to do?"

	"Nobody must die....  Killing is bad.  We must CREATE."  Usako
clasped her hands together.  "I, too, will die to save this city."

	"What can SHE do?"  Pala sneered.  "She spends most of her 
time flouncing around, acting like a right proper Princess."

	There was a long silence after those words, as their meaning
began to dawn on people.  Except for Akunatsuka, who had no idea
what was going on.  He spent most of this time boggling over the
fact that he'd come face to face with Sailor Jupiter having a 
nervous breakdown.



	The street was crowded with hundreds of panicked people.  From
all over the city they came, trying to escape the monstrosity that
had appeared above them.

	It was a stampede, and riot, in one.  The human mind, as 
arrogant and as self-satisfied as it can be has the capacity to
completely lose all sense of proportion or reality when coming face
to face with something that is beyond its understanding.  The 
dimensional rift was just the kind of thing to achieve this on a 
grand scale, and despite the attempts by the JSDF to regain some
semblance of social order, even many of those who served with it had
been panicked.  Things were starting to look very nasty, indeed.


	It was in the midst of this, off to one side of the street,
that three figures appeared in mid-air and landed very heavily on
their butts.  Hotaru, now a woman of impressive stature, dressed in 
a black minidress that, for some reason, had replaced her usual senshi 
fuku, made little noises of pain and felt someone leaning behind her, 
making similar noises.

	"Are you alright, Neptune?  Pluto?"
	"I will be if this pain stops shooting up and down my spine."
Hotaru turned to her left and saw Michiru, clenching her teeth, with
her eyes screwed shut and watering.
	"I take it you landed on your tailbone, too?"
	"No shit, Sherlock."  Michiru leaned forward, rubbing her 
back.  Hotaru let out a deep breath and turned to her left, where
she heard Setsuna moaning.
	"And you, Pluto?  Are you alright?"
	"Why in hell did we land here?"  Michiru interrupted another
moan from Setsuna, staring around as people charged in every 
direction, mostly towards the next intersection.  There were so many
people on foot that cars were finding it next to impossible to move.
Hotaru nodded, following Michiru's gaze up and down the street.  If
anyone HAD noticed their unusual arrival and appearance, they 
weren't showing it.
	"I was right, the dimensional rift DID cause massive panic."
	"Gomen....  I didn't think about this at the time."  Hotaru
looked sheepish.  The dimensional rift was, of course, partly her
fault, after performing her Death Reborn Revolution attack within
the alternate universe above.  The reasons for going that far...
Well, they were monumentally complex, and had a great deal to do
with the Eternal City choosing her to eradicate the Destroyers,
huge black marbled dirigibles that floated through the sky, blasting
vast beams of multicoloured energy at the city in an effort, 
naturally as their name suggests, to destroy it.

	"Don't worry about it now.  Its done.  What worries me more is
the city itself.  Its regenerating pretty quickly, and it doesn't
look like its gonna stop with its own universe."  Michiru pointed
upwards.  The city had almost completely covered the bare surface of
the world within the alternate universe with its fine lattice of 
buildings, streets and other infrastructure, and it was reaching
down through the rift with long tendrils that looked like gigantic
upside-down skyscrapers.

	"What is it going to do, try to grow itself on our world?"  
Hotaru frowned.
	"I get the impression that is precisely its current plan."  
Michiru gritted her teeth as Setsuna groaned again.  Suddenly, a
thought came to Michiru....  It was Setsuna who had been 
transporting them in the first place.  She thought she heard a cry
of pain when one of the JSDF soldiers let off a couple of rounds at
the top of the building which had been at the epicentre of the rift.
Michiru turned and saw, to her horror, that Setsuna was clutching
at her belly, blood running freely from two great wounds.

	"SETSUNA!!!"  Michiru spun around and took Setsuna in her 
arms.  Hotaru, hearing Michiru's cry, spun and saw Setsuna's state.
	"Oh no...  No no no no no."  Hotaru put her hands to her face,
shaking her head.  Michiru tried to get through to Setsuna, tapping
her face with her hand.
	"Setsuna, are you still with us?  Setsuna?"  Setsuna let out
a soft moan.  "Oh Kami-sama, what are we gonna do?"
	Hotaru shuddered...  "I'm going to try my healing powers.  It
may not work...  I've used up so much of my energy already."  Hotaru
lowered her hands and placed them slightly over Setsuna's wounds, 
trying to ignore the gruesome, sticky wet sensation of her blood.

	Michiru stared at her as if she were mad.  "But you haven't
exercised those powers in ages.  You don't know what might happen."
	"Its worth a try.  With wounds like that, I'm DAMNED sure that
Setsuna won't see through the next ten minutes."  Hotaru 
concentrated, gritting her teeth.  Energy seemed to run between 
herself and Setsuna, and it horrified Michiru to see just how pale
she was getting.

	But it was having desired effect.  There was a squelching 
sound, and the fragments of shell casing oozed out from the wounds.  
Then the wounds themselves started to heal from within, flesh 
reforming within her wounded insides, extending outwards.  By this
time, however, Hotaru was shaking and sweating profusely.  Michiru
considered whether it was worth saving one only to have another die.

	Hotaru ended it, falling forward after letting out a short 
squeal.  "I can't....  Not anymore...  Completely drained.  Powers
all gone.  Have to... regenerate."  Hotaru's dress was replaced by
her normal street clothes, which were much the same colour, proof
enough for Michiru that she could no longer hold out.

	Michiru looked back at Setsuna, who was still out of it, 
mumbling to herself.  It seemed her body had gone into shock 
regardless of whether Hotaru lessened the load of the injury.  The
wounds themselves were nothing more than serious welts now, still 
bleeding, but not with the same ferocity they did before.

	Hotaru sat up.  "How is she?"
	"It certainly looks better, although that's a relative term,
I don't think she's likely to be doing any marathons in the next few 
weeks."
	"I'll be able to deal with that, as soon as my power gets back
up to speed."  Hotaru looked around at the panic.  "We can't move 
her out with things like this, though.  We're going to have to use 
transportation powers."
	"How?  Neither of us can use transportation, and the pair of 
us don't have enough energy for a teleport."
	"Energy transposition.  My powers are depleted, but Pluto's 
aren't.  Her body is incapacitated, but mine isn't."
	"Energy transposition?  How does one do that?"
	"Its easy if you have half of your memories of your past life
unlocked.  Its amazing what thinking you're going to die will do to
your state of mind."
	"I've died once or twice.  They never came back to me."
	"You had other things on your mind, baka."  Hotaru sniffed.  
"And don't think I've forgotten what you did to me when you went 
over to Galaxia's side that time...."
	"Aww, will you just get over it.  Haruka and I told you it was
part of a plan...."
	"One that failed."
	Michiru huffed sulkily.  Hotaru smiled and stood, and chanted
a spell.  Within seconds, her clothes changed to a dark green 
minidress with a black and scarlet ribbon.  Hotaru looked at
herself.  "Hmm....  Seems this malaise with my senshi uniform is not
confined to my own."
	"Maybe that's how they're supposed to look."  Michiru stared
at her.  Hotaru shrugged.
	"I dunno.  It always seemed somewhat strange to me that our
senshi uniforms were seemingly modelled on the sailor fukus of 
Japanese schoolgirls."
	"Maybe a warped interpretation, through our memories, of what
they're supposed to look like, utilising something we're more used
to seeing and wearing."
	"Maybe.  Although, one has to admit, the further along the
road we travel in our understanding of our powers, the less they 
seem to appear like the traditional fuku."

	A tiara appeared on Hotaru's forhead...  Far more ornate than
the traditional senshi tiara...  This one was emblazoned with 
symbols that Michiru hadn't seen before.  Hotaru touched the tiara
and nodded.  "It seems, even with my level of development now, I
haven't quite reached as far as I expected.  I certainly didn't have
a tiara like this."
	"Maybe its specific to Pluto?"
	"I don't think so, although it does seem an effective avatar
for the enforcement of her time powers."
	"Why do you say that?"
	"I just slowed everyone down to half speed by accident, just 
by thinking about it."

	Michiru turned back to the street.  She thought things had
sounded somewhat drawled.  Everyone was now panicking on valium.  It
suited Michiru just fine.
	"Hmm?  You like it this way?"  Hotaru looked at Michiru.  She
turned to her and flashed her surprise.
	"Uh, sorry.  My psychic powers have returned to full capacity.
I'm still trying to shield my thoughts and feelings."

	Hotaru shrugged and reached forward.  From her hand, a large
staff appeared, eventually tapering off into the double-blade of
her glaive.  Then it shimmered, and the end of the glaive was 
replaced with the rings of a priest's staff and flourished with what
appeared to be the Garnet Orb.

	"Hell, I thought that was trashed."
	"About as much as my glaive.  As I said, I was keeping it 
until I needed it."
	"You didn't say that, Setsuna did."
	"Then why mention it?  Uh...  She did?"
	"Yeah."
	"Oh dear....  I forgot some memories come with the 
transposition....  Oh well.  Now I have an excuse for being obscure 
for a while."  Hotaru grinned.  She then closed her eyes and began
to chant something as she gripped the Time Key.  In an instant, they
disappeared from sight, with only a stray dog as their witness.



	It had been a rather interesting experience, at least she 
could say that if nothing else.  Lying naked in the same bed with
another woman....  Uh, girl....  Whatever the case may be.  She
wondered why Tranquility's emotions had taken over..  Taken control
of the situation.  Barf.  Jokes at a time like this weren't 
appropriate.  Should she believe Naiad that she loved her more than
Astute?  And just what the hell was she wondering this for?  Naru
wasn't into girls.  She couldn't believe Tranquility was.  This
really COULDN'T have been her former life.  But then, it did explain
why the memories about the depth of the relationship between both
Naiad and herself had been suppressed.  Probably to hide the shock.
It also explained, partly, why she felt such a sense of betrayal
when she caught Naiad and Astute together.

	And so she lay back, with a sleeping Naiad next to her, 
staring at the ceiling, wondering how to explain all this to Guri-
chan if she ever bumped into him again.  At least the darkness of
night helped to suppress her emotions somewhat.

	Not entirely, though, she sat up, swinging her legs over the
side of the bed.  She could hear sounds from other rooms in the vast
dormitory.  Music, televids and the general hooha that would go on
with young ladies in their mid to late teens.  She wondered, with
some embarassment, if anyone had heard the pair of them, but decided
things had been noisy enough elsewhere.  She stood and stepped into
the neighbouring bathroom.

	She closed the door and the light came on automatically.  She
was surprised, somewhat, by her appearance.  She most certainly 
looked like her, this Tranquility.  Although, despite the fact that
Naru was at least 2 years older, Tranquility looked far more 
developed, more mature....  It made Naru jealous.  She shook her
head a moment.  Stop thinking inane thoughts, airhead, she muttered
to herself.

	She touched the mirror, and found it stirring like water.  She
shook her head again....  What was it about water, about the colour 
blue, that seemed to motivate Naiad so much?

	After being sucked in to the pool, Naru had become caught up
in the memories of the Miko of Water, third refrain.  This basically
meant that Naiad's position was similar to that of Pisces on the
western Zodiac wheel.  Although such definitions were a modern 
astrological translation, and therefore bore no meaning to the 
original circle of the Miko caste.

	For some reason, Naiad had become caught up in Naru's own 
memories of a previous life, as Tranquility, the succeeding second
candidate Queen who ruled the Moon Kingdom before the reign of the
last Queen Serenity.  Naiad seemed unaware of what was going on, or
was as unable to control what she was doing as Naru had been over
the last couple of hours.  That was definitely a possibility.

	There was even a greater possibility....  In her attempt to
understand who it was she had encountered, she'd melded her mind 
with Naiad's, a trick Naiad had taught Tranquility (it was the only 
way she would have known how to do it.... there was certainly no 
such tricks on Tranquility's curriculum in the Academy).

	These memories she was encountering...  Were supposed to be a
combination of both Naiad's and her own memories, yet she seemed
strangely removed from Naiad's interpretation of events.  The whole
purpose had been to reveal what it was that made Naiad tick, yet she
had learnt more in this time about Tranquility than she had about
Naiad.  It made her wonder if Naiad was simply leading her on....
To some realisation....  Of what, she didn't know.  All she could
work out was that Naiad had an obsession with working through the
minds of others, trying to...  Raise their conciousness, of who they
are, or were, and what the purpose is in their existence.

	Then there was Ami.  Yet another spirit with water-based 
powers.  They had come in search of Ami, yet her appearances had 
been nothing more than spectral....  What the hell was SHE doing?
If they didn't do something soon, there was a possibility that her
conciousness may die within the avatar of the water they had melded
with.  And theirs with her, if they didn't get out soon enough.

	But then, both Naru and Naiad had been in here for a while, 
now, and there didn't seem to be anything happening to suggest that
something bad was about to happen to the both of them.

	Thus, the mirror spoke.

	Naiad, being punished for her relationship with Astute.  
Punished was a light term, really.  She was being beaten, tortured.  
One from such a lowly position does not fraternise with the 
establishment.

	Naru sank into the mirror.  She stood, being held back by 
prefects, crying and screaming at the headmaster and the other heads
of faculties as Naiad was kicked and beaten viciously...  Brutally.

	"RULE!  One from such a lowly position does not fraternise 
with the establishment."  Barked the Headmaster.  "RULE!  One does
not attempt to leave the grounds of the Academy until one has 
completed the curriculum.  RULE!  One must obey the codes of 
interpersonal conduct between students whilst they are here.  Sexual
relationships with others, be they male or female, are NOT allowed."

	They stopped.  Naru ceased her tantrum enough to realise that
they were in front of an assembly in the main hall.  She turned 
aside to see Astute, his head hanging sadly.  On the other side were
the student body.  She searched for Hecate...  Setsuna.  But she
couldn't find the girl.  She turned back to see the Headmaster, now
standing in her face.

	"As for you, you are a shame to your position."  He slapped
her viciously.  Naru let out a short cry.  "Just ONE chance.  That
is all you get here.  Are you so keen to destroy that opportunity?"
He slapped her across the other side of the face.

	What the hell happened here, she thought?  Why is this 
happening?

	She saw herself, Naiad and Astute attempting to escape from
the Academy grounds....  Through the west fence.  They were being
pursued, by prefects and guard dogs...  Well, what could be 
described as dogs.

	It had been Naiad's idea.  She was the one who really wanted
out, and only two knew of her intentions....  Astute and 
Tranquility.  And they both decided to follow her.

	It was a mistake, of course.  Nobody was likely to miss three
students the standard of Naiad, Tranquility and Astute.  Especially
Astute....  He was the second son of one of the High Lords, 
currently the most privileged student at the Academy.  Naru wondered
why he had chosen to go with them, to follow Naiad's crazy plan.
But maybe that was the point...  All three had, basically, done
whatever they were told to do all through their lives.  This was an
opportunity to make a mark for themselves.

	Not a very smart one.  Astute had been caught only hours after
their attempt.  Tranquility, herself, had lost the both of them and 
wandered the countryside aimlessly for days before being picked up
by the Headmaster himself.

	Most of their punishment had been meted out.  Slowly, over the
space of weeks.  Then they caught Naiad, and decided that, with her,
they could get away with a beating in front of the Assembly.  Her 
family would not complain.  They were not important enough to matter
to the position concious members of the Academy.

	And that made Naru as mad as hell.  So when the Headmaster 
slapped her for her tantrum during Naiad's punishment session, she
lost it.

	And Tranquility came out.  The Queen herself.  It stunned the
Headmaster, prefects, heads of faculty and students.  One moment,
she was Naru, being held by two prefects in an armlock.  The next,
she stood before them in the full ceremonial robes of Tranquility,
easily shaking off the grip of the stunned prefects.

	"Now you listen to ME!"  She barked.


	Both Astute and Naiad stared at her in stunned disbelief.
	"Naru...  Don't..."  Naiad croaked, lying on the floor, trying
to lift herself up as blood ran from cuts all over.  Tranquility
stared at her with half-amused contempt.
	"I'm Tranquility when I'm Naru, but I'm Naru when I'm 
Tranquility, is that it?"  She chuckled bitterly.  "I've had enough
of this.  These memories...  Their lies and half-truths."
	"All this is the truth."  Astute stood beside her.  "There are
no lies to memory when they are this strong."
	"Be SILENT!"  Tranquility waved at Astute.  He bowed and stood
back.  She then turned to the Headmaster.  "Slap my face, will you?"
She lifted up the flat of her hand, and belted the Headmaster 
heavily across the chops.  He fell back, staggering to the floor.

	She pushed everyone aside as she strode over to Naiad.  The 
girl stared up at her, not knowing what to say as Tranquility 
reached down for her hand.  "Here.  We are leaving."

	Naiad took her hand.  And they left.

	The both of them escaped the Academy.  Naiad spent several
years alone, on the run, looking to find meaning in her life.  
Eventually, during a visit to one of the towns she had lived in,
by the mikotai, her powers were detected by the reigning third 
refrain miko of water, and she was taken in as a protege.

	Tranquility returned to her ancestral home, and endured the
contempt shown to her by her family, friends and the hierachy.  
Despite what she had done, she had passed the examinations for the
Alternative Candidate with flying colours.  Higher by ten percent
than anyone else.  They had no choice but to give her the position.

	And she became Queen, upon the First Candidate's failiure to
live up to her responsibilities.  And the first thing she did as
Queen was remove the controlling board of the Academy and replace it
with one she found more.... congenial.


	Naru staggered back from the mirror....  Well, that was a 
nicely abbreviated lifetime.  Pity both their lives had been so 
short.  Almost as soon as she had become miko, Naiad committed
suicide, and Tranquility followed suit, unable to take the loss of
her old.... ah.... friend.

	She heard movement from the bedroom outside the bathroom door.
"Tranquility?"  Came Naiad's tired voice.  "Where are you?"
	"Just in the bathroom, Nai."
	"Well don't be too long.  The bed is getting cold."

	Naru sighed.  How was she going to bring this scenario to a
close before these predicted events occured.  It seemed that, if
they were to go on this way, the pair of them WOULD die....  They 
would both fulfill their destiny to suicide.

	And she wanted to end it before she had to...  With Naiad,
again, do THAT.  Then something occured to her....  She opened the 
door and stepped into the bedroom.

	"Naiad...."  She said softly.  The girl had been turned away 
from her, and hmmmed in response.  Naru paused for a few moments.
"Can you end this, please?  I don't want to follow these memories,
anymore...."

	Naiad turned and looked at her strangely.  "What did you say?"

	"Don't try and hide it from me.  That vision, just then....  
You called me Naru.  You knew I was Naru, yet the name Naru was not
bestowed upon me until the birth of my current life...."  Naru shook
her head.  "You've been leading me on all this time."

	"I have no idea what you're talking about, Tranquility.  Have
you been sleepwalking again?"  The tone was so convincing, Naru 
almost believed it.
	"Enough!  You've spent long enough getting me to examine my
inner self.  All these worlds and realities you've created for me,
making me believe I was examining you.  You've lead me a merry dance 
for long enough."
	"Alright, what is it this time?  Are you still angry about
what went on between Astute and myself?"

	Naru gritted her teeth.  "Stop it!  Stop acting as if you
don't know what I'm talking about."
	"I'm sorry, Tranqs.  I really have no idea.  What realities
are you talking about?"
	"I am NOT Tranquility!"
	"Eh?"  Naiad frowned at her.
	"I am not Tranquility, and you know it.  You're just hoping
that I may be, because I look like her.  You're hoping that, by
dragging me through all this, you'll somehow recreate her.  Make me
her.  But I am not her.  I am Osaka Naru!  Do you understand that?"

	"Na...ru..."  Naiad's face screwed up and twisted.  "You are
Osaka... Naru..."  For a moment, Naiad seemed confused with the
concept, as if it meant something to her in a distant way.  Then her
expression changed again.  "I really have no idea what you're 
talking about, Tranqs.  You sound like you've been having those 
strange dreams again...."

	Naru could have screamed.  "I AM NOT TRANQUILITY!"
	"Well, who the hell are you then?  Eh?"  Naiad gritted her
teeth, getting angry.  "Don't shout so loud.  People will hear you."
	"They don't exist.  None of this does."

	"It does to her, in a technical manner."  It was another 
voice.  Naru turned to one side and saw Ami standing by the door to 
the room.

	"A...  Ami?"  Naru croaked.
	"Miste Kiele?"  She heard Naiad say from the bed.  Ami smiled
and stepped forward.
	"Have you seen enough, Naru?  Enough to know that everything
you see is a construct?"
	"What are you talking about?"  Naru demanded
	"Miste Kiele.  Aren't you supposed to be studying within the
Palace for the position of the Mercury senshi?"  Naiad got up from
the bed, dragging some of the bedclothes with her.

	"Miste Kiele....  I seem to remember that name.  It could be
mine.  I think I was Mercury three times during my lives.  Whether
or not I was ever her is open to question."

	"Ami..."  Naru said softly.  "Is this...  Did you create all
this?"  Ami smiled at her, then looked tired.

	"I think I did.  I'm not sure.  Something to do with the 
sharing of elemental powers.  It makes as much sense to me as it
would to you.  I'm not really sure what is going on, I just remember
being fused with both her and you...."

	Naiad rubbed her head a moment.  "How did you do this?  Catch
me unawares like that?  I thought I was the only one capable of
doing that."
	"I see you're returning to your senses now."  Ami smiled at
her.  "How does it feel, to be made to examine your inner self, 
Naiad?"

	Naru turned to Naiad, then back to Ami.  "You're trying to
tell me she really didn't know what was going on?"
	"Oh, she knew.  She realised that she was reliving her former
life.  Its just that, like these past few hours with yourself, she
was unable to do anything about it.  I had to do that with her.
Unlike you, she would not have tolerated being taken for a ride."

	Naru quivered.  "But...  You?  Put me through that?  Why?"
	"I am a water senshi.  I exist to serve the ways of the 
element."  She chuckled to herself.  "If this makes me look like 
Naiad, then the perception is true.  Miste Kiele was very much like
Naiad Keth Drutein."

	Naiad sneered.  "So what went wrong with this life, Miste?  
Did you play the wallflower out of some great fear of perpetuating 
the last one's mistakes?"
	"I got a life, that's what happened."  Ami shot back.  "Unlike 
others, who spend all their time puppeteering from limbo."

	"You have no right to lecture me on my behaviour.  The only
difference between us is that I chose to die.  You continued with
your manipulations well past the reign of Tranquility.  Both 
yourself and Thyde Luciere."

	"And I'm supposed to be moved by your decision to suicide?  I
died attempting to defend the Kingdom."

	"Stop it, both of you!"  Naru had had enough of this.  "Ami,
what is the purpose of all this?  Do all of you who are born to the
element of water behave this way?"

	"Yes."
	"Why?"
	"It can't be helped."  Naiad responded for Ami.  Naru turned
to Naiad.
	"Why?  What is the point?"
	"There is no point."  Naru turned back to Ami, who was now 
hugging herself.  "We're all caught up in the mind.  It fascinates
us.  Guides us throughout every stage of our being, even in the
moments between our lives."
	"Giving us a contempt for those who act without thinking."  
Naiad continued.
	"Giving us a contempt for the physical."  Ami gritted her
teeth.  "Oh how I despise the physical world.  It was so hard, 
having to relate to everyone, and constantly making mistakes.  The
great lie of common social behaviour....  Meant only for those
without the capacity to think for themselves.  I hated Usagi...  
Rei...  Minako...  None of them displayed the capacity for the kind
of emotional introspection I desired.  Maybe Makoto understood."
	"Despite everything, the Jupiter senshi is given much of her
powers from the element of the Earth.  She has to.  As a member of
the inner senshi quartet, she represents Earth, as you do water, as
Rei does fire and as Minako does Air."  Naiad sniffed.  "I always
found it amusing that the Air senshi were the nominal leaders of
their refrains."

	Ami smiled bitterly.  "Is that what you believe?"
	"I said nominal.  That doesn't mean they ever used these 
titles."
	Ami sighed.

	Naru stared at them both.  "I don't understand.  Why are you
arguing these points at a time like this?  Ami, we have to leave
this place, all three of us.  We have to unfuse ourselves from the
water lest we die."

	Ami shook her head.  "I am not leaving."
	"Wh... why?  Do you want to die?"  Naru stared at her in 
disbelief.
	"I don't care.  I don't care if I die, or if you die."

	Ami put her hands out, gesturing towards Naru and Naiad.

	"I'm not letting either of you go.  I want to play with you
for just a little longer."  She leered at Naru, who stepped back
towards Naiad.
	"Don't be too sure, Miste..."  Naiad waved a hand at Ami as
the young senshi shot off what appeared to be a spell.  Two energy 
beams struck with equal force, blowing the reality away from them, 
and they tumbled into a maelstrom.  Naru screamed out loud as she 
entered the eye of the storm, and everything went dark....



	Madame Scorpia was most disappointed.  After inviting Usagi 
and the Animates to join her for dinner at seven that evening, they 
had failed to show by the time it had turned eight thirty.  So much 
for thinking they were being fashionably late.

	She sat at the main table in the Tudor Function room at the
hotel she owned.  A large room, decorated in red and gold.  Well, 
whatever it was named, it was certainly a grand room.  So big 
that she couldn't see the tables at the other end.  And tonight, all 
were used by a plethora of guests.  A little function in the 
name of the local Governor's re-election campaign.  Two nights from 
now, she'd hold a similar gathering of members from the opposition 
party.  She liked to have all bases covered.

	She'd built up this tiny little empire for herself over a 
number of years, having to deal with the local powerbrokers in the 
usual fashion.... bribery and corruption, to simply get such an 
establishment off the ground.

	The rich and powerful would travel from all over the Kingdom
to party at Madame Scorpia's.  And very few ever recognised her.  
Not the way she looked today.  Most remembered her as the laissez-
faire intellectual amongst the mikotai.  She had bedded more members 
of the establishment than any other woman in a position of power, 
and not a single one of them were allowed to think any lower of her 
for doing it.  Ah the joys of office.  Pity those days were over.

	Once that damned fool, Naiad Keth Drutein, chose to suicide,
taking the Queen Tranquility with her in the poor girl's grief, the
mikotai was at an end.  The replacement Queen, Serenity, was 
fervently anti-miko, guided much by the motivations of the senshi
and the High Lords and Ladies of the Palace Court.  And with only
11 miko still serving, she chose that time to rout the established
branch of the Church of the Empire.

	Madame Scorpia shook her head.  It would be the downfall of 
the Kingdom, of course.  Now the link to the Homeworld was broken.  
Galaxia had fallen, taking with her the fragile bonds that tied
together the Empire.  Without the miko, the Kingdom would collapse.
Each Kingdom required the services of both the clergy and the 
military.  Without one, the other would not be able to stand up
against the forces of Chaos that threatened all.

	There were rumours of war right at this very moment.  Rumours
that would have been proven as fact a LONG time ago had the miko
still been serving.  Madame Scorpia could see it happening even as 
she set up her "business", and knew that the fate of the Kingdom now
rested in her hands.  Pity it took such underhanded methods to
provide the stability the remnants of the Kingdom would require.
But then, moral requirements were never high on her list of 
priorities, so she ignored them.

	"Mistral...."  She snapped her fingers at her personal 
servant, who stood a short distance behind her.  He stepped forward,
bowing to her.
	"Yes Madame?"  He looked at her curiously.
	"You did give these girls a proper invitation, did you not?"
	"I did my best, Madame.  I can check to see if they've 
accepted.  They could have stopped in the lobby.  I'm sure the bar
there might have been to their tastes."
	She shrugged.  "Easy come, easy go, Mistral.  There is only
the one of them I am vaguely interested in."
	He nodded at her.  "Yes ma'am, I understand very much."
	"Perhaps inviting them was the wrong thing to do."  She smiled
at the Governor, who was seated at the opposite end of her table, 
after he proposed a toast to her health.  She raised her glass in
acknowledgement as those around her lifted theirs, nodding at her.

	As they downed the drinks and demanded more from the waiters,
she moved closer aside Mistral.  "I think force might have been a
better instrument to get that girl, don't you?"
	Mistral smiled and nodded.  "I did check with the owners of
the Bed and Breakfast where the girls are staying.  They aren't
expecting to move out for a while yet."
	She nodded and took a swig of wine from her glass.  "Then I
suggest, Mistral, that these girls are going to make a moonlight
flit from their place of accomadation due to their inability to pay.
You know how girls like they can be when it comes to money."
	"Even though they say they are... women of independent means?"

	She shrugged.  "Independent or not, it can be dangerous for
young women to travel these lands alone."

	Mistral bowed to his Mistress and disappeared through the main
doors of the room.



	Usagi awoke to find herself lying in the main bed of the room
she and her travelling companions, the Animates, had chosen in the
little Bed and Breakfast at the edge of town.  It was dark and she
could hear the televid playing in the background, flashing an
occasional ghostly light across the ceiling.  Her eyes fluttered as
she tried to focus on her situation.  All she knew was that she was
partly unclothed, and that someone was sitting next to her.

	She looked up and let out a small gasp.  Next to her sat 
Siren.  Not just Siren, but Sailor Aluminium Siren, in her gossamyr
senshi uniform.  The last time Usagi had seen her dressed this way,
she was attempting to kill everyone on a plane flight in honour of
the Three Lights...  The Starlights, as it eventually turned out.
This very fact was enough to make her momentarily recoil.

	Siren turned to her with surprise.  "Ah, you're awake now.  I
suppose that's good."  She huffed.
	"What happened?"  Usagi croaked as she attempted to sit up,
holding her aching head for a few seconds.
	"You passed out.  Dunno why.  Crow said its probably got 
something to do with your 'vision thingies'.  Well, we stuck you in
bed and called a doctor.  He said you'd be alright, so we left you
to sleep things off.  That good enough a recap of events?"
	"Uhh...  Yeah."  Usagi managed to sit up and stared at the
strange screen.  "Hmm...  Looks like a television."
	"It is a television.  And let me tell you, things in your time
were an improvement on the entertainment they provide now.  Aquius
help me if they ever show another advertisement for Crystal 
Megastores again.  I just can't stand that guy they use..."  She
screwed up her nose and put on a voice.  "Where d'ya get it?  
Crystal Megastores, for the cheapest in bargains!"  She put a finger
up to her mouth and made a gagging noise.  Usagi giggled.
	"The more things change, the more they stay the same."

	Siren smiled cynically and looked back at the screen.  "You
know, I had to sit here and watch this crap cos of you?"
	"Eh?  Why?"
	"Cos Crow and Nyanko the wanko wouldn't leave you here alone
whilst they went trotting off to that Scorpia's place.  So guess who
pulled the short straw?"
	"Er, sorry."
	"Don't be.  I'm glad I didn't have to go there.  I hate places
like that.  Worked in too many of them to want to go back."

	Usagi looked at her for a few moments as Siren's face went 
dark.  She let out a sigh and looked back at Usagi, the normal 
expression of bitterness returning.

	"So, these visions.  What is it exactly that you see?"
	"Uhh...  I see the other Earth senshi, being killed, or in a
state of dying, or already dead."
	Siren chuckled.  "Good.  Let them suffer a bit for what 
they've done to you."
	"How can you say that?  You were trying to kill them not so 
long ago.  They were innocent of anything then."

	Siren shook her head.  "Oh little Princess, you'll never 
understand anything.  We have, all of us senshi, miko and royalty, 
lived previous lives where we have done things that are both evil
and repugnant.  None of us are born innocent.  The only innocence
we carry is the removal of the memories of those past lives.  Once
they have returned, we return to the normal, sullied selves that we
have always been."

	"Yeah, what you said."  Usagi wiped her nose.  "I take it the
way you treated that Mistral guy was partly to do with memories of
your past lives?  The contempt, I mean."
	Siren snorted.  "Yeah, right.  As if we needed the experience
of past lives to divine a sleaze when he makes his presence felt."
Siren screwed up her face.  "I hate men, okay.  I've always hated
them and will always hate them.  Occasionally I fall for one, but in
the main, I desire to return to the natural state of my people, 
devoid of this pathetic duality of male and female.  It only ever
leads to problems."

	Usagi looked at her with wide eyes.  "A pathetic duality of
male and female?  What were your people?"  Usagi was almost afraid
to ask.
	"We were hermaphrodites.  Both sexes in one.  A biological
system that worked fine until the invaders came."
	"The invaders?"
	"The Empire.  The ones who created the Moon Kingdom in your
system.  They call themselves the 'Colonists'.  They breed with the
most promising form of intelligent life they can find, and make
that race part of their own."  Siren smiled as Usagi opened her
mouth in obvious non-comprehension.  "In other words, girl, they
turned your monkey species into what you are today by crossbreeding
with you.  You are a halfbreed.  We are all halfbreeds, even 
Galaxia.  Now, only a select few remain in the form of the original
invaders."
	"And what did they look like?"
	"Beautiful in a macabre way.  Serpentine, yet mammalian.  They
had an exquisitely beautiful appearance.  The most beautiful aspects
of our species come from them.  And so do the uglier aspects."

	All kinds of Gigerian nightmares filled Usagi's head at that
point, and she shivered.  "Have you ever seen one for yourself?"
	"Have I ever seen one?  Dearie, we WERE them at one point, in
several of our early lives.  The spirits that make us senshi and
divide us from the little people are those of the original invaders.
Its the ultimate irony, I suppose.  I desire to return to the oceans
of what I consider to be 'my' world, and yet I know the spirit that
resides within me can find its true home under the twin suns of the
Empire's homeworld."  Siren sighed and shook her head.

	A commercial started to play on the televid.

	"WHERE D'YA GET IT?  AT CRYSTAL MEGASTORES...."

	"Barf!"  Siren picked up a remote from the bedside table and
switched the vid off.  "That's fixed that then."  Siren put the
remote back and turned to Usagi.  "How are you feeling now?"
	"Alright, I guess.  My headache has gone."
	"Good.  Would you like to go for a swim?"
	"Eh?"
	"This place has an indoor pool, heated even.  Freshwater.  
They use a kind of magic filter system to stop the bugs breeding in
it."  Siren clapped her hands together.  "I can show you why I feel
such a desire to return to my homeworld.  The waters of that pool
are deep and beautiful.  Please join me."
	"Okay, I guess."
	"Yay."  Siren took Usagi by the hand and dragged her from the
bed."



	Shadows of the future....

	Hotaru stared down at the few items of clothing she had 
stripped from her frame.  She could remember times when clothes this
size would have swamped her.  Now they looked daring.  Her body was
big, strong and healthy.  Almost as if it were mocking her.

	Well, she could get her own back.  There were scars on her 
body.  Ones she wouldn't allow the magical processes of healing to
smooth over.  She wanted to remember the pains she had felt since
the cataclysm.  There had been so many.

	The scars across her wrists.  From that guy who attempted to
kill her after he'd....  And tried to make it look like she'd 
suicided.  If it wasn't for the Youma, she wouldn't be alive today.
She hated the Youma.

	There were scars across her back and her belly.  Whip marks,
from the time she had been made a prisoner upon her return to this
world.  Because it was generally known she was a senshi....  Just
because her powers were weak at that time, they took advantage of
her.  When her powers returned, however....

	She remembered their faces.  Twenty thousand of them, dead, in
an instant, and it was all her fault.  She shivered.

	The scars on her legs, when she had fought and wiped out that
gang that had taken control of what used to be Washington State and
part of Canada in the Americas.  Now it was ruled by a benevolent
dictatorship.  And it stayed that way.  Nobody wanted a return visit
by the woman named "Black Saturn".

	She chuckled.  Here she was, as pale as a ghost, and she gets
the name "BLACK Saturn".  Surely Dark Saturn wasn't too much of an
intellectual leap for the little worms that populated parts of this
shit-spawned planet?

	It was because of the impression that she fraternised with the
energies of Black Magic that she was given this title.  None of them
had the capacity to understand the differences between local magic
and the powers of an Empirical Senshi.  And she wasn't about to
dissuade them from their delusions.  She LIKED being feared.  It
filled her with the most incredible sense of power.  One that she
felt she could never achieve any other way.

	Then the changeroom door slammed open, and Usako charged in.

	"Hotaru-chan...  Hotaru-chan!"
	"Yes, I know.  I'll get to the baths in due course."  She
turned to Usako, who was half dressed in her blouse and underwear,
shaking her head.  "What?  What is it?"
	"Its the Youma...  She's..."

	A sensation ran down her spine, and she began to quiver...



	Tomoe Souichi was on his knees as the Youma Usagi stepped into 
the courtyard in front of the building fortress, dressed in camping
clothes with a full backpack slung over her shoulder.  The other
Usagis, in various states of undress, having dashed from the 
communal bath, were standing behind him, watching the scene with 
fear.

	"Is...  Is this because of the conversation we had yesterday?"
The Professor's voice quivered as the Youma stopped, looking aside
at him.

	"Its partly that."  She replied.

	It was at this point that Hotaru and Usako chose to make an
appearance.  "What the HELL is going on here?"  Hotaru shouted as
she charged from the front doors, spotting her father on the ground.
He turned to face her.

	Hotaru had managed to get her minidress back on in a matter of
seconds and charged from the changerooms.  Usako had never seen 
anyone get dressed that quickly before.  It was a good thing, too.
The thought of Hotaru running out stark naked would have added a
comical element to something that didn't require it, in Usako's
opinion.

	"Ah.  Hotaru.  I'm glad you could join this little farewell
party."  The Youma said, matter of factly.
	"Farewell?  You mean, you're....?
	"Going back.  Yes.  The time is right."
	"But...  Why?  WHAT ABOUT OUR DEAL?"

	Professor Tomoe looked at his daughter for a moment.  "What?
What deal?"  The Youma chuckled at his question.
	"If she promised to stay alive, I wouldn't kill you.  That was
our deal."
	He turned from Hotaru to the Youma.  "Are you trying to tell
me...  The only reason you..  With me..?"
	"Hmm...  You were lonely, and so was I.  And I needed a way to
make sure young Hotaru here kept getting the message.  Believe me,
Sou-chan, it was fun."

	The Youma looked back up at Hotaru.  "It's over, Hotaru.  You
have found who you were looking for.  Now she will protect you 
instead of I."
	"What do you mean, protect?"
	"Look inside yourself, Hotaru.  You know you need to be 
protected....  Guided.  With your mind in the state it is in, you 
could die at any given stage.  I didn't want that to happen.  
Because....  Because, unlike the others, I still care about you.  
When I found you at that time, with that man trying to kill you, the
Youma side of me that feels for the underdog came to the fore."  She
smiled.  "Whilst you cannot forgive me for what I've done...  What 
I'm about to do, like Usako, I care about you.  In the end, I was
never going to kill your father.  There was no need.  I knew you
would find Usako, and she would take over the job of guiding you."

	Tears ran from Hotaru's eyes as a large ring of energy opened
up before the Youma.  The Youma smiled.  "See this?  The Dream 
Ambience Virulence.  One of the most powerful defence/attack spells
of the water caste.  There isn't a single attack I am not capable of
doing.  If you really wanted to take me on, you would lose.  This
whole world would lose.  Do you know what would happen if we were to
both use the Death Reborn Revolution upon each other?"  She 
chuckled.  "Of course, you know what its like to do that and 
survive."  She shrugged.  "Oh well.  I'm not one for long goodbyes.
Ja ne."  She waved and stepped into the tunnel.  "Take good care of
her, Usako.  You're going to need all the help you can get with that
one."

	Hotaru ran forward.  "You can't do this!  After all that has
happened, you can't just leave us like this!"  Hotaru was grabbed by
her father before she could join the Youma in the tunnel.  "Let me
go, damn you!  LET ME GO!!!"
	"NO!"  Professor Tomoe held onto her fast, joined bu Usako and
two of the Usagis.  Hotaru stared helplessly as the Youma looked at
her one last time, then disappeared, the tunnel closing over.

	Hotaru went limp, and fell to her knees, still held by the
others.  "I don't know if I can take this, anymore."  She muttered
to herself as they hugged her, tightly.



	Minako looked down from the top of the building upon which she
had landed.  The fall from the dimensional breach had caused her to
fall unconcious.  By the time she came to, she was lying on top of
this building, feeling extremely ill.  For some reason, she was 
still in the form of Venus.

	She stared up at the breach in awe, and at the chaos it had
caused below in disbelief.  There were whole segments of the city
on fire.  She could hear gunshots as security forces tried to regain
order.  It was one hell of a homecoming, of that she was certain.

	Just as she gawked over the side of the building, there was a
flash behind her, and she turned as an energy tunnel appeared.  With
it came a figure.  The figure of Usagi.

	As she'd seen so many Usagis over the course of what must have
been a day, she wasn't that surprised.  But she soon realised that
this one was different as it stepped from the tunnel, the energy
dissipating and disappearing behind her.

	"Aha, how convenient."  The Youma unslung the backpack from
her shoulders and dropped it on the ground.  "It seems I can get to
work straight away."

	"Who....  Who the hell are you?"  Minako shouted.  "You're not
one of the others...."
	"Indeed not."  The Youma smiled.  "I am the ORIGINAL Tsukino
Usagi, bitch, and I have a few bones to pick with you."

	"What....  But you...  You CAN'T be."

	"Thought you'd killed me, eh?"  The Youma lifted up a hand and
a ball of energy appeared.  "You should know better than to take 
anything on face value, Mina.... CHAN."  The Youma spat the last 
word like it was poison.

	Minako looked around her....  Usagi...  On top of a building.
Where she was supposed to die....

	A sense of dread filled Minako, like no other she had 
experienced in her life.



	IASFU OA FWSS IASFU OA FWSS GOO JUA GOO JIPEST
	and again
	IASFU OA FWSS IASFU OA FWSS GOO JUA GOO JIPEST


END OF PART 13


Notes

Not much to say about this one.  Beginning to hurry a few things
along, like the storyline with Naru, Naiad and Ami.

Next chapter, "Out of the Blue", the Youma Usagi begins her revenge
on the senshi.  'Nuff said.

If it isn't out in the next couple of days, it might be a couple of
weeks before it is, since I'll be heading off on holidays.  I hope
this doesn't mean I'll be rushing things.  ^_^  I turn out some poor
chapters that way.

Mail all comments, criticisms and outright abuse to
ayanami@merlin.net.au
The abuse might be used in the next chapter of Sailor Python, which
I'm still writing.  I mean it.  I really do.  ^_^

DDFA  3rd January 1998 (A bit too late to say Happy New Year)