Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction ❯ The Whys of What Ifs ❯ Ch.2 Rude Reaffirmations - The Fear of God ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: See chapter 1.

The Whys of What Ifs

Chapter 2: Rude Reaffirmations - The Fear of God

The sun's rays crept their path along a line of houses in the suburbs of Tokyo, bringing a sense of peaceful awaking as they passed on their route.

Until three minutes and sixteen seconds after they reached the house of the four Outer Senshi, that is.

The sun's rays shone through a window on the second floor of the house into a bedroom where Hotaru slept. The rays crept along the side of her bed without change until they reached the raven-haired beauty's face. As they crept along the side of her face, her eyes snapped open, flashing amethyst in the morning light. Her eyes had an aspect of both fear and determination.

Three minutes later…

"OWWW! GODDAMNIT!!!" with that battlecry, Haruka rolled out of bed, and onto the floor with a dull THUD, recovered and glared balefully at her partner and her adopted daughter. Michiru simply matched her, stare for glare, a small smile quirking itself on her face.

The Senshi of Wind shook her head, regretting the outburst for two reasons. One, none of her housemates took her seriously when she was grumpy, and two, it had aggravated an acute hangover that was currently threatening to bludgeon her brains into pieces of mush.

Haruka shook her head again, trying to clear it. Oh, bad idea. The sudden movement brought on a sudden worsening of her headache. She curled up, hands held to ears, eyes closed. Oh, blessed sleep, my only friend against this youma bouncing around inside my head. Oh, blessed relief.

Of course, in this situation, that was impossible.

Hotaru scrunched her face up in annoyance as Haruka tried to go back to sleep, breathed in, and let loose: "Haruka-papa!!! We didn't wake you up so that you could go back to sleep! COME ON!! It's important Senshi business!"

Haruka whimpered slightly at the noise, curling even more tightly into herself, mumbling, "Leave me alone."

Michiru leaned over and whispered to Hotaru, "Let's let her recover for a few minutes. She's probably got one nuclear headache and yelling at her isn't going to make it better. She needs a little quiet to rest until her Senshi healing powers finish their job. Besides, even if we wanted to call a meeting right now, we couldn't gather all of the Senshi until a little after noon. We have to wait for Usagi to wake up, after all." She finished with a trace of a smile.

Hotaru tilted her chin slightly, thinking. It was true: of the two days of the year that Usagi would get up early, Christmas and her birthday, this was neither and the earliest she could be expected up was eleven thirty. The idea of directly calling Usagi and waking her up briefly flitted through Hotaru's mind and was rejected. Usagi had long ago proven that one of the living could sleep like the dead and since Mamoru left for work at five o'clock and didn't get a lunch break until noon, calling him to get her up was useless. Hotaru sighed. Hotaru loved their leader as much as any of the other Senshi, but for once, she would love it if Usagi would actually get up on time! Hotaru sighed again, and then smirked. Even if Usagi did get up early, she would likely fall asleep during the meeting and miss the entire thing. Better to let her sleep and wait. After all, it wasn't as if the new enemy was going to attack the world before Usagi woke up this morning.

Hotaru nodded slightly and looked up at Michiru, "Alright, I guess we can let her sleep awhile. I'll go fix breakfast in the meantime.'

Michiru smiled at her adopted daughter, "Thanks. I'd appreciate it."

"Oh, it's no problem," replied Hotaru as she left the room.

As soon as the Senshi of Silence left the room, Michiru's grin turned grim. A new enemy that the Senshi would have to fight. One that was even stronger than Galaxia. Even the mere memory of the corrupted Senshi was enough to send shivers down Michiru's spine. They had died last time against Galaxia, and even then, they had barely stopped her. What would they do against an even stronger enemy? To that question, Michiru did not know the answer.

Michiru looked from her now dozing partner to the window. Peace had lasted for five years. What would the world do now that that peace was going to be broken, perhaps forever?

Outside, the world went on its peaceful yet bustling way, ignorant of the danger that it was soon to be facing.

* * * * * * * * *

Noon came and went, and the Senshi gathered at Rei's temple. The sakura blossoms fell about them, adding an element of peace to a place that was for rest and spiritual revitalization. However the air around the temple was tinged with an element of both sadness and tension.

The sadness arose from the passing of Rei's grandfather. After lingering for a long time, his body wasted by sickness, he had left the mortal coil and his final words a simple admission of how proud he was of Rei. His death had hit her pretty hard. With all of her power as the Guardian of Fire, she could do nothing to help her grandfather. Both the stress of trying to keep the place up and just trying to keep it together had really gotten to Rei.

Rei hated to think it, but a summons to a Senshi meeting by the Senshi of Death and Destruction on an urgent matter struck her as more than slightly ominous at a time like this. Maybe it was just the blues getting to her, she thought. More than thinking, she wished, she hoped, that this was all it was.

Rei checked her watch. 1:47. As soon as she got here, Usagi was definitely going to learn how hotheaded the Senshi of Fire could be… Well, speak of the devil.

Usagi, also known as Sailor Moon, leader of the Sailor Senshi, Soldier of the Moon, Guardian of Light, and Princess Serenity, Princess of the Moon Kingdom, Holder of Silver Imperium Crystal, and eventually to be known as Neo Queen Serenity, ruler of Crystal Tokyo and the universe as a whole, raced at a breakneck pace up the stairs of the temple, literally dragging Mamoru behind. If she ever got off her butt and arrived on time for anything in her life, she might actually live up to those titles, Rei noted cynically.

As their leader and her husband paused to catch their breath, Rei began Part 1 of their usual dialogue.

"Finally decide to show up, Odango Atama?" Rei asked sarcastically, but without bite, expecting the usual shrill reply of "REI!!!! Get off my case!! I saw this totally cute blouse in the store window that I just had to have!" Something or another of that type always happened to Usagi, making her late for every, single Senshi meeting. Either that or she klutzed out in the middle of the street and had been bawling there for the better part of two hours. Not likely, but knowing Usagi, not impossible either, Rei thought with an slight, fond, inward smile.

"Sorry everyone, we were a little … uh… busy." Usagi finished lamely, flushing bright red and seeming to find something very interesting about her shoes. Mamoru seemed to be trying to play a similar game, except he looked at everything but the Senshi's eyes.

OK… that wasn't part of the regular dialogue, Rei thought, her eyes widening slightly in surprise at her friend's statement.

Now that Rei noticed it, both Usagi and Mamoru looked… disheveled. Usagi's brilliant gold hair was still up in the it's usual style with it's two ponytails trailing behind her to her ankles, with it's excess tied up on her head, which made it look like she had put two odangos on her head and had earned her the nickname of Odango Atama, but one of the ribbons holding her odangos in place was off-center. Mamoru's usually immaculate black hair was tousled and looked as though the best it had treated to this afternoon was a finger brushing. Not that Mamoru used much more than that, but it still failed to cover the excuse. Both of their clothes looked rumpled, as though they had been tossed off and later had been hurriedly replaced. Usagi wasn't know for being as snappy a dresser as Mamoru was, but she always made sure that she looked good before she left the house. Each piece of evidence piled on top of another, pointing its way to an answer that should have been obvious before Usagi opened her mouth.

The Senshi of Fire opened her mouth to speak, but before she could form the words to her speech - most likely on how Usagi should set her priorities and how bad an influence she was on Mamoru -, she was interrupted by Setsuna.

"Since we are all now here, I suggest that we now start this meeting." The Senshi of Time suggested, scanning the area, looking at all of them with her mysterious, timeless garnet eyes.

Everyone immediately sobered and took their seats. Usagi may have been their leader, but when the Guardian of Time made a suggestion, they took it as an order.

As the meeting started with Hotaru's recollection of her dream - vision, prophecy, warning; whatever you wanted to call it - the group listened with intensity. The Senshis' minds clearly remembered the threat of Galaxia. The mere mention of an enemy stronger than her made the Senshi cautious, looking for any hint of anything that might help against this new enemy from Hotaru's description.

Hotaru began with the description of the three men who were the same, the Triad of the One Winged Angel, as Phobideum had told her. As soon as the word Phobideum left Hotaru's mouth, Setsuna's eyes widened, her face looking shocked, as though she had just been struck by Hotaru's words. The other Senshi did not notice this until Setsuna interrupted Hotaru in a shaky voice.

"What did you say the name of that voice was?"

Hotaru blinked, surprised. Setsuna did recognize that name. But why was her voice shaking? The Senshi of Time looked like she never had before. She looked anxious. She looked afraid. Setsuna had faced Galaxia without flinching. How could a simple name reduce her to this?

"Phobideum. Why? Does it mean anything?" Hotaru answered as innocently as she could, her mind tugging at her, telling her that the name hid far more than the surface showed.

Setsuna's face fell to her chest, her eyes shadowed. Her waves of lustrous, emerald hair fell about her face, covering most of it, but failing to hide the look of sorrow and concern that now marred her lovely face. This worried the group almost beyond measure. Setsuna had faced and meet death twice without blinking. A disturbing thought entered the Senshis' minds. Both times that Setsuna had died, she had both known that the Senshi were going to win and had known that she would be reincarnated. Could the involvement of this Phobideum mean the enemy that they were facing was unbeatable by them? From what Phobideum had told Hotaru, she hoped what he had told her false, but feared it true. Even more now, Hotaru feared it true. But what else could worry the Keeper of Time?

Setsuna stayed where she was a moment longer before she raised her head and faced the group once more. "Finish your story and I will speak. Until then I must think." With this, the Time Senshi's face again lowered, shading her eyes once more.

The group looked worried, but a nod from Usagi, Hotaru continued her story, recounting Phobideum's tale of the fall of the One Winged Angel, his advice on the Triad, and his warning to Sailor Mars.

As Hotaru finished her recollection, Setsuna looked up. "You asked me if I knew the name. I do. Let me say that in order for Phobideum to get involved, the evil force involved would have to be strong enough to make the gods themselves stand up and pay notice and from your tale I must say that is true. For he is a guardian, even as I am, but his duties charge him with a responsibility that weighs more on him then even my duties have ever weighed on me and a duty that I can barely comprehend."

The Senshi looked at her in shock and horror. The evil they were facing was one that even the gods feared? And Phobideum's duties were more important than Setsuna's? Those ideas were nearly incomprehensible to the Senshi, but what the Time Senshi said next frightened them even more.

"I have only seen him once, at a distance, and what I have heard of him from the Time Archives is barely adequate, even when combined with my personal experience. As far as I can discern, Phobideum is the most trusted and gifted of the gods' warriors. I assume he is only sent to deal with threats that could not be stopped otherwise. There is also the matter of the meaning of his name."

"What does his name mean?" Hotaru asked, her throat tight. She knew that there was something else to his name, but with what Setsuna had just told them, Hotaru didn't know if she could handle it.

"I know that the name Phobideum is a corruption of a Latin phrase. The question is whether the corruption is of phobiae deo or of phobiae dei."

"What's the difference?" Minako asked, worried and confused.

"It is one of possession alone." Setsuna answered, "When used as phobiae deo, it means 'The Fear of God'. When used as phobiae dei, it means 'The Gods' Fear'. The thing is I don't know which one frightens me more."

"What do mean?" asked Ami, ever the astute one.

Setsuna sighed, and then shrugged, ignoring the question in favor of continuing on her own tangent and said, "Since the Archives and what I know from drawn conclusions is not enough, I shall tell you what I know of him from my personal experience. Phobideum had been called to deal with a menace that threatened the fabric of Time. This threat had been sent to the Time Gate so that it could travel back in time and destroy the universe before it started. All I know of the rest of that incident is that Phobideum trapped and destroyed it on Pluto and by the time I returned, Pluto had been reduced to a cold, lifeless ball of space rubble and Phobideum had disappeared."

Before the Senshi could get over their shock enough to ask a question, Setsuna gestured and her henshin stick appeared from her subspace pocket and into her hand. She held it up to the air, saying, "Pluto Crystal Power, Make-Up!" With a flash of light, Setsuna was transformed into Sailor Pluto. Before anything else could be done, Pluto turned to Usagi, bowed, and said, "I have a few things to attend to, but as soon they are done, you can count on my help whenever you need it." And so with that, Pluto raised the Time Staff and disappeared.

No one had anything much to say and everyone had much to think on after this, so the meeting was adjourned. As the group left, Rei retreated to her room to think.

After hearing what Setsuna said, she trusted the words of this Phobideum guy even less. How could she trust the words of a man who had sterilized an entire world, even if was to stop an immensely evil force? Unbidden, the memory of how Saturn had sterilized every planet except for Earth in order to contain Beryl long enough for the Silver Imperium Crystal to trap the Negaverse came to mind.

Rei thought on this for a long time. She would never blame Hotaru for what had happened. Hotaru had done what was necessary to stop the Negaverse long enough for the Sailor Senshi to reincarnate and gain what was needed to defeat Queen Beryl. Perhaps she had judged Phobideum harshly, but she would be damned before would stand by and do nothing when a vision of the evil could help them stop it.

With that though in mind, Rei donned her priestess robes and left her room.

* * * * * * * * *

Hotaru woke, a feeling of dread feeling her belly like lead. She quickly learned there was a reason for it.

Minako, who had dropped by Rei's temple to discuss the events of the previous day, had found her unconscious and bleeding near a smashed door in the Sacred Flame enclosure. She had apparently ignored the warning Phobideum had given her and so when she tried to look at the evil with the Sacred Flame, she had been knocked back into a door, smashing it and knocking herself unconscious in the process. Hotaru couldn't help but think that Phobideum had been right: this new evil was far stronger in fire than the Senshi of Fire herself. Hotaru couldn't find it within herself to be happy over that fact.

Hotaru thought the enemy would appear soon and, as if in response to her thoughts, an ominous occurrence happened.

On this cloudless morning, lightning flashed and thunder rolled.