Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Crossover Fan Fiction ❯ Reflections of Ruin ❯ The Council of Serenity ( Chapter 15 )

The vast, all-encompassing light was long in fading, yet fade it did. Usagi opened her eyes, and her heart leapt within her breast: there, shining like a jewel upon the shores of Mare Serenitatis, was the city of Eternity. It was night, and the Earth was rising behind the city, bathing it all in gentle, glorious, blue earthlight. The city's great crystal towers soared high into the Lunar sky, flying buttresses meeting towering spires and vast floating bridges in that distinctly Roman meets Greek meets Lunarian architectural style that tugged at Usagi's memories. There, off in the distance, the palace stood large, its grounds running from the rear of the city all the way up to the very shores of the sea of Serenity.

 

Usagi felt as though she had come home.

 

“Princess Serenity,” came an awe-filled voice from off to her right. She turned. Luna and Artemis, unnoticed until now, stood staring. Staring at her, staring at the city, staring in general. It was Luna who had spoken. The reaction was not confined to the Mau: the whole group of refugees stared about in abject wonder, Ikuko not the least.

 

“Minna,” Usagi said, and as she spoke, the refugees from Minato fell to their knees and bowed down before her: five hundred men, women, and children, all prostrating themselves before Usagi Tsukino. Within seconds, the only ones still standing were Ikuko, the Mau, Mamoru, Chibi-Usa, and the Guardian Senshi.

 

Usagi's voice failed her. One part of her knew that this was the respect due her station, but the greater part of her didn't want people bowing to her like this. She shook her head. “Everyone, stop it,” she managed at last. “Stand up. You don't have to bow to me.”

 

Nobody moved.

 

Before them, Usagi stood revealed at last, the crescent moon emblazoned upon her forehead for all to see, a sense of power and of royal presence radiating from her body. She had never felt so uncomfortable in her life.

 

And then, making it even worse, one by one, her Senshi each dropped to one knee before her.

 

A woman strode forth from the open city gates. She was tall, with pale, youthful skin, green eyes, white hair, and a crescent moon upon her forehead.

 

Usagi turned to face the woman, and though she could no longer see them, she still felt the weight of those people prostrating themselves behind her.

 

“Sailor Senshi,” the woman said, her right hand straying towards the sword that was sheathed in an ornate scabbard at her side. and there was anger in her voice. “How dare you return here? The Queen will not be forgiving of your trespass...” she trailed off, her eyes widening as they took in the sight of the Princess Serenity before the gates of Eternity. “Princess!” She stared, opening and closing her mouth several times before settling into a kind of stunned silence.

 

Silence hung there for almost ten seconds before it was finally broken by Ikuko's shocked voice. “Usagi-chan, where are we?” she asked faintly.

 

Shingo and Kenji looked up in surprise.

 

Usagi glanced towards her mother and smiled. “The one place you'll all be safe while we fight the enemy on Earth: the Silver Millennium.” She redirected her gaze to the woman that had emerged from the city. That must be Ersa, she realized. She wanted to greet the woman and get to know her. She wanted to talk casually with this sister she had never known. She wanted to say that everyone had to stop kneeling, to stop treating her like she was the Emperor. She even considered tripping over her own dress, just to dispel the sense of dignity and importance that had settled over her. Instead, she strode forward and said, “I have come to see the Queen.”

 

Ersa stared at her for just a moment longer before coming to attention. She nodded to the guards at the gate, who immediately dispatched a messenger to the palace. “Come,” she said.

 

Usagi took her place at Ersa's side. Mamoru and Chibi-Usa joined them a moment later, with the Senshi close behind, then Ikuko, and then the whole company rose to their feet, falling in line behind them. So began what may be the strangest procession Eternity had ever seen: Princess Serenity and her Senshi, accompanied by Ersa of the house of Serenity, leading a procession of bedraggled refugees to the royal palace.

 

All around them, the citizens of Eternity stopped and stared, the vast crowds parting before the procession, kneeling down and falling silent until the whole group had passed.

 

The Lunar Palace rose up before them, and Usagi took Mamoru's hand.

 

She was home.

 

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Reflections of Ruin

by P.H. Wise

A Ranma/Sailor Moon/Cthulhu Mythos Crossover Fukufic

 

Chapter 15 - The Council of Serenity

 

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma. I don't own Sailor Moon. Please don't sue me. I'm not doing this for profit.

 

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It had taken some doing to get the old disused throne room ready to receive the Princess and her Court, but with no small amount of magical assistance, the servants had accomplished it. Selene now sat a bit uncomfortably upon the throne she had not used in nearly six thousand years, clad in full formal garb for the first time in nearly as long, not counting that incident with Sailor Saturn. When she had heard that Princess Serenity had arrived at the gates of the city, her heart had skipped a beat. Now, a full thirty of her daughters were in attendance, as well as various other lords and ladies of the Lunar Court.

 

It was into this scene that the Princess arrived with all her Guardian Senshi in tow. With her also were three that Selene did not immediately recognize: a little girl with red eyes and pink hair, a handsome, scholarly sort of man, and a somewhat frazzled looking woman in her late thirties. The man she supposed might well be Endymion, but she had no idea about the girl or the woman.

 

“The Princess Serenity and her court,” the herald announced as the group entered the throne room. All the nobles looked up. “Venus, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Prince Endymion, the lady Usagi Small Lady Serenity Tsukino, and Ikuko Tsukino.”

 

Selene blinked in surprise. Ikuko Tsukino. This was Usagi's mother in her new life, then. And the girl was a ... relative? No. She used the name of Serenity. She looked very closely at the girl, and for a moment she saw a crescent moon there on her forehead. A daughter, then. Warmth filled her at the thought of it. She was a grandmother. Not that she hadn't been a grandmother before: with fifty some daughters that was more or less inevitable, but if this was the Princess's firstborn, that made her not just a granddaughter but an heir.

 

Selene rose to her feet, and the whole court did the same. “I greet you, daughter,” she said. “Princess Serenity, heir to the Silver Millennium.”

 

The whole court let out a breath that they hadn't realized they'd been holding.

 

The Princess curtseyed in the manner of the Lunar court, and it was somewhat clumsily done, as if she had never attempted the movement before. “I greet you, mother,” she replied. “Queen Serenity, ruler of the Silver Millennium.”

 

She remembered the forms, then. Good. It was delivered somewhat awkwardly, but at least it was done. Selene allowed herself to relax slightly. She smiled, and strode down the walkway and hugged her daughter fiercely, who immediately returned the embrace. The whole court began to applaud. Selene felt her heart well up within her: she had waited for this moment for ten thousand years. At last, it was here. “I've missed you,” she murmured into her daughter's hair, and tears glistened unshed in her eyes. “Welcome home.”

 

At last, and reluctantly, she let her daughter go, and the applause faded. “Let me look at you,” she said, and studied the Princess in earnest. “You must have found the Sacred Cup,” she said.

 

Usagi nodded, holding up her open palm. Light gathered there, and from that light the Holy Grail shimmered into being.

 

Selene took the cup in hand and held it up. “Contained within is your birthright, Princess Serenity: the last part of your power which could not transmigrate into your new life. Here it waits.” She opened it and held it up for Usagi to see.

 

Usagi blinked. “It's empty,” she said.

 

Selene nodded. “For now,” she said. “But the time will come when you must drink it to the lees.” She stepped back and held up the sacred cup. “The Queen is dead,” she announced.

 

“Long live the Queen,” the court replied with one voice.

 

She handed the cup back to Usagi, and it glowed faintly before vanishing in a burst of light that quickly sank back into Usagi's hand. “Welcome to the Silver Millennium, Neo-Queen Serenity,” Selene said.

 

Usagi's eyes widened in shock.

 

As the entire court bowed low before her daughter, Selene smiled proudly.

 

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“Let me go, already!” Saturn yelled for the twentieth time. She kicked and squirmed in Uranus's arms, struggling to find purchase enough to free herself. Far off in the distance, the faint pink shimmer of the shield around Mugen Gakuen could just barely be discerned. All around, the Minato Ward lay in ruins.

 

It was worse now than it had been. More empty. More awful. A few hours earlier, it had been a ruin, but it had still been alive at least. People had still called it home. Now, the ruins of homes and businesses lined the streets still stained with the strange, unmelting ice-patterns of dread Ithaqua. Empty. Silent.

 

Minato had become a ghost town.

 

As Saturn looked across the ruins, she fell silent. This had been her new home, once. She had promised her mother she'd attend school and work hard, that she'd do well. That she'd succeed. There would be none of that now.

 

“You can put me down now,” Saturn said, no longer so much angry as irritated. “I can walk.”

 

Uranus ignored her. Both her and Neptune ran on in total silence, empty ruined storefronts eventually giving way to empty ruined homes. Smoke choked the sky, and numerous fires blazed out of control in the distance.

 

They rounded a corner, and there in the distance, at the back of the T of a three way intersection, sat a two story house alone, the houses around it all smashed to their foundations, itself totally undamaged. The electricity was down everywhere in Minato, but lights shone out from the house's windows all the same. Only when they caught sight of the house did Uranus and Neptune slow to a walk.

 

Uranus gently lowered Saturn to the ground. “Come on, ojou. Once we're inside, it will be safe.”

 

Saturn very nearly collapsed from sheer exhaustion then and there. OK, so maybe she wasn't quite so well able to walk as she'd thought. Uranus reached out to steady her, but Saturn stopped her with a glare of death. “I'm fine,” she insisted, “And I ain't a princess.” Forcing her tired limbs into obedience, she walked determinedly towards the distant house. She wasn't sure why these two were helping her instead of trying to kill her, but she wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

 

Neptune shook her head incredulously, and Uranus shrugged.

 

Together, the three Outer Senshi walked into the home of Setsuna Meioh.

 

--------------

 

“Neo-Queen Serenity,” Usagi whispered, and shook her head incredulously. They had relocated to a warm, comfortable parlour. A well worn pool-table stood unused for the moment on a raised wooden part of the room. Three steps led down from it to the main area of the parlour where she and her friends had been led by a servant after the reception in the throne room. The Senshi were lounging about, talking amiably. Ikuko sat on the couch, staring about as if she weren't quite sure that her surroundings would not bite her.

 

Mamoru smiled. “I suppose that makes me King Endymion,” he said.

 

“Not unless you've married her without the rest of us knowing, Mamoru-kun,” Jupiter said wryly. Unfortunately, the fact that she had spoken brought Ikuko's attention to her, and furthermore brought the woman out of her stunned daze.

 

“So how long have you known my daughter was a reincarnated alien princess, Kino-san?” Ikuko asked.

 

Jupiter blinked. “Ano, Tsukino-san, that is...” she began, trying to buy time to formulate her explanation.

 

“Well?”

 

Jupiter's eyes narrowed suddenly. “How did you know I was Makoto Kino?” she asked.

 

Ikuko, to her credit, did not roll her eyes. “My daughter spends all her time with a group of four friends: one girl with long dark hair, one with short blue hair, one with long brown hair in a ponytail, and one with long blonde hair and a distinctive ribbon. Now I learn that she is Sailor Moon, who also has four friends: one girl with long dark hair, one with short blue hair, one with long brown hair in a ponytail, and one with long blonde hair and a distinctive ribbon. Kino-san, do you think I'm a fool? Once I knew my daughter was Sailor Moon, the rest was obvious.”

 

Jupiter unconsciously reached back and tugged on her ponytail. OK, maybe Usagi's mom had a point.

 

For her part, Usagi was happy to let her mother talk with the Senshi if it meant that she wouldn't get yelled at herself. “Yeah,” she said. Marriage. She and Mamoru would be married, one day. She wished she had something better, something more important to say than `yeah,' but that was all that would come out.

 

“Did you ever think we'd see all this again?” Mamoru asked. “The Moon, Eternity, the Queen, her court.”

 

Usagi shook her head. “It's like a dream,” she said. She met Mamoru's gaze. “Do you think that if we go to Earth, we'll find the old King Endymion?”

 

Mamoru looked uncomfortable at that thought. “Maybe. But after what Beryl did to him, if my father were still alive...” he shook his head. “Maybe it's better if he's not.”

 

Usagi looked around. “None of this is real, though, is it?” she asked, looking uncommonly thoughtful. “It's a dream.”

 

“It's real,” Selene said.

 

Everyone looked up. Selene had only just stepped through a side door. Gone was the formal dress of the Silver Millennium, and in its place were very casual, very modern clothes. “The Dreamlands may normally accessible only to strong Dreamers, but that does not make it any less real. The dreams of every sentient species throughout time and space uphold it, and the Great Ones govern it. At least, in these lands we do. Other solar systems will have their own Great Ones.”

 

“Great Ones?” Mercury asked.

 

“Zo-Kalar, Tamash, Oukranos, Nath-Horthath, Lobon, myself, a few others. The weak gods of Earth.”

 

“Weak gods of Earth?” Mercury again.

 

Selene nodded and looked troubled. “Yes,” she said unhappily. “But that can wait for another time.” She looked at Usagi and sat down in a nearby chair, gesturing Usagi and Mamoru to do the same. “I have to admit, when your Senshi blasted their way out of here, I was not expecting to see them return so soon, and certainly not with you at their head.”

 

Mamoru took a seat, and Usagi did likewise, releasing her transformation as she did so. Her dress faded away leaving her regular clothing behind, yet her appearance did not change: the crescent moon remained.

 

“Why did you try to kill Sailor Saturn?” Usagi asked.

 

“I didn't,” Selene replied. “Though I do think you are taking a great risk in letting her live. She could destroy the Earth in an instant.”

 

Usagi shook her head. “Ranma-chan would never do that.”

 

“Maybe, but the point stands. Regardless, Sailor Saturn passed my test, as did your Senshi. If Saturn hadn't passed, this city would not still be here. It was a risk, but your safety is more important to me than the safety of this city.”

 

“You put your daughter before your citizens?” Mamoru asked.

 

“Yes,” Selene replied. “Though that wasn't my only concern. There is also the safety of every human in the waking world.” She looked to Ikuko. “So, you're my daughter's mother in her new life,” she said, a slight hint of challenge in her tone.

 

Ikuko met Selene's gaze levelly. “That's right,” she said.

 

Usagi looked from Ikuko to Selene and back. Having them both in the same room like this was... surreal. Mama and Mother, here, together, holding a conversation.

 

“I suppose you've done an acceptable job,” Selene said, eyeing the other woman critically.

 

“Acceptable job?” Ikuko asked, clearly offended. “Acceptable job! Don't take that tone with me, young lady. I might not be one of the `Great Ones,' but I'm not just some incubator for your reincarnated daughter. I loved her, raised her, cared for her needs and brought her up to be the young woman she is today. Usagi's just as much mine as she ever was yours.”

 

“Mama,” Usagi said, staring at Ikuko with eyes wide.

 

Tension hung heavily in the air between them for a long moment, and then Selene laughed. A moment later, Ikuko did too.

 

“Fair enough,” Selene said as her laughter subsided. “It's nice to meet you, Ikuko Tsukino. Call me Selene.”

 

Ikuko smiled.

 

“Now,” Selene said, “Pandia, Tell me of your daughter.”

 

Usagi blinked. “Pandia?” she asked.

 

Selene glanced at the Senshi, who were grinning conspiratorially. “Usagi, then,” she said, letting the issue of Princess Serenity's private name drop for the moment. She gestured to Chibi-Usa.

 

“Yes, Usagi,” Ikuko said, her voice dangerously calm, “Tell us all about your daughter.”

 

Usagi blanched. That was a dangerous, dangerous tone. “Um, that is...” She trailed off, looking from the very unforgiving face of Ikuko to the interested and somewhat amused face of Selene and back. “It's not what you think!” she said, panic rising within her.

 

“What is it then, U-sa-gi,” Ikuko said, putting equal emphasis on each syllable of her name.

 

Chibi-Usa watched the proceedings with a wide grin on her face, delighted to see Usagi made to squirm so.

 

“Um...”

 

Ikuko raised an eyebrow. “I'm waiting.”

 

Mamoru laughed, and then shut up immediately when Ikuko leveled a glare of death at him. “Er...”

 

“I suppose you're the father, then?”

 

“I will be,” Mamoru said faintly.

 

“WHAT WAS THAT!?”

 

“MOOOOOM! Don't yell at Mamo-chan!” Usagi wailed. “She's my daughter from the future and the future me sent her back in time to get away from the Black Moon Clan!” It all came out in a rush. The Senshi laughed, and both Selene and Ikuko blinked.

 

“Mamoru is your daughter?” Ikuko asked.

 

Mamoru and Usagi both cringed. “No!”

 

“Try again, slower this time,” Selene said.

 

Mamoru spoke up. “Chibi-Usa is our daughter from the future,” he said. “Sailor Pluto sent her back in time from the 30th Century during a time of trouble. In that time, the Earth will come under attack by a group called the Black Moon Clan, who pursued Chibi-Usa back to the twentieth century where they were defeated by Sailor Moon and the others.”

 

Selene blinked. None of the Senshi had mentioned this the last time they had been here. “Sailor Pluto allowed her to travel back in time?” she asked.

 

Mamoru nodded.

 

“Strange. Very strange.” She looked at Chibi-Usa. “Well, let's have a look at you then, Usagi Small Lady Serenity Tsukino.”

 

Ikuko looked to Usagi. “Your life is always like this?” she asked.

 

Usagi nodded. “Hai,” she said, tapping her two index fingers together nervously.

 

“Nice to meet you, Selene-sama,” Chibi-Usa said brightly.

 

Selene and Ikuko both looked very closely at Chibi-Usa, studying her up and down.

 

“If you're Usagi's daughter from the future, why do I remember you being Usagi's cousin?” Ikuko asked.

 

“Ano...” Chibi-Usa began, looking nervous. “I, um,” she tried to look as innocent as possible.

 

“Just tell her, Chibi-Usa-chan,” Usagi snapped.

 

“I, um... I might have hypnotized you with my Luna ball,” Chibi-Usa said, looking thoroughly chastened.

 

“You did what?” Ikuko asked, her eyes narrowing.

 

“I didn't want to!” Chibi-Usa wailed. “I'm sorry! It was the only way to find a safe place from the Black Moon clan! Please don't be mad at me!”

 

Ikuko stared at the pink-haired girl, speechless.

 

Chibi-Usa began to cry, and Usagi immediately stood up, crossed the parlour, sat down next to her and wrapped her up in a comforting embrace.

 

A few moments passed, punctuated only by the sound of the Guardian Senshi's conversations.

 

“Selene-mama,” Usagi said seriously, “I brought a bunch of refugees from Minato here. The whole Ward's in ruins, and I need them to be taken care of until it's safe to come back.”

 

“I had wondered about them. I'll look after them, but I want something in return.”

 

Usagi looked at Selene questioningly.

 

Selene shook her head. “Nothing too hard. I may be one of the Great Ones, but you're Queen Serenity now and that puts you beyond any of us. By right of succession, all of this belongs to you now. I need your blessing to continue as ruler here.”

 

Usagi nodded. “Oh. Um... ok. That's fine.” At Selene's expectant look, she looked at Mamoru, then at her Senshi, and then at Selene, trying to think of what to say. “Uh... I give you my blessing?”

 

Selene smiled. “So it shall be,” she said, and though the tone was gentle, there was a sense of finality in the air as she spoke the words.

 

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It is said that sometimes the smallest, most seemingly insignificant actions can change the world. A butterfly flaps its wings in central park, and in China there is rain instead of sunshine. A pebble slips from its place on the mountain and begins an avalanche. Now, Sailor Saturn was hardly a pebble, and if she was a butterfly, she was a butterfly the size of Texas, but the principle is the same. Well, mostly the same. Anyways, the point is that actions can change the world, and the actions of the mighty not least of all. And within this two story house, the only building yet standing - the only building totally undamaged - in an otherwise completely decimated area of Minato, four of the mightiest beings in the solar system had gathered.

 

Saturn entered the house as confidently as she was able. Which is to say she wasn't quite hectoring as she walked through the door. Thanks to the combination of her own natural accelerated healing and the boost that was brought about by her transformation, her bruises were already fading.

 

The sun setting, and its light through the haze of distant fires bathed the whole world in a terrible red light. Inside the house, however, kerosene lamps glowed warmly. The entryway opened out into a comfortable area with hard wood floors, a room designed around the time when architects were first making the attempt to remove the parlour from the home and replace it with the living room; although it was comfortably furnished, and looked lived in, there was yet the faintest aura of burial and mourning about the place: an undertone of sadness to the warmth of the room. There, rising from her seat in the great big `dad' chair, was Sailor Pluto.

 

Saturn stared for a long moment.

 

Uranus and Neptune each walked past her and made their way into the living room.

 

“Come in, Saturn,” Pluto said. “Sit. We have much to discuss.”

 

“I, uh... right,” Saturn said intelligently. She walked into the room and dropped unceremoniously into a chair. A moment later, Uranus and Neptune took their seats on the sofa, Neptune practically sitting in Uranus's lap.

 

Uranus smiled fondly and laced her arms around Neptune, her hands meeting at the other woman's navel.

 

Pluto gave them a look. Neptune rolled her eyes, and then scooted over enough that they were only thigh-to-thigh. Uranus looked disappointed.

 

“Uranus. Neptune. Saturn,” with each name, Pluto looked at the Senshi in question. “Our enemies are not few in number. For ten thousand years, I have maintained my post at the Gates of Time,” Pluto said. “For ten thousand years, the enemy has had opportunity to creep back into the world while you and the other Senshi waited to be reborn. They are solidly entrenched, and if this world is to have any future at all, we must remove them.”

 

Uranus and Neptune nodded. Saturn didn't react.

 

“There are at present two major groups at work: the Death Busters are one of these, and they are our immediate concern. If their plans are brought to fruition, it means the end of the world. The other is more dangerous but less immediately so.”

 

She looked at the three Senshi.

 

“If we are to succeed, we, the Soldiers of the Outer Solar System, must work together as the team we were meant to be.”

 

Uranus and Neptune both shot a considering look Saturn's way, and she returned the favor. She was pretty sure she could take both of them if it came down to it, but doing it without killing them would be more difficult. That was the annoying thing.

 

“This is our target. As long as she lives, this world is in danger. Her name... is Mistress 9.” Pluto produced a photograph and handed it first to the Outer Duo, who looked at it before passing it to Saturn.

 

It was Akane.

 

Saturn felt as though the bottom had dropped out from her world. She was sinking. The whole world was sinking, but she wasn't surprised. She had known from the moment she'd arrived in that damn spiral room that something was very wrong with Akane. The way Akane had acted. The way her flesh had writhed beneath her touch. The way she'd acted like Y'go... like that thing. And the entire student body, dead. Ryouga having gotten that funky power up. And yet... and yet... and yet... it was Akane. It was AKANE. Was she willing to pay this price? THIS price? She shook her head fiercely. “No.”

 

“You saw her, Saturn,” Uranus said. “You saw what she did. There were seven hundred and twenty students at that school. How many of us do you think are still alive?”

 

Saturn's thoughts whirled about. She couldn't deny the truth of it, but...

 

“She killed them. All those children.”

 

Saturn clenched her fists as Uranus went on, each accusation completely true, and each one failing to overcome one simple fact: “It's AKANE, damnit!”

 

Neptune and Uranus exchanged a startled glance.

 

“Ranma?” Neptune asked, completely shocked.

 

Saturn met Neptune's gaze and nodded. “Yeah. It's me,” she said. Her uniform vanished, leaving the pigtailed girl in its wake. She glared defiantly at the three Senshi. “Ya got a problem with that?”

 

Neptune shook her head. She too dropped her transformation. A moment later, Uranus and Pluto did the same.

 

“Haruka? Michiru?” Ranma asked. It was half-hearted. She didn't have it within her to care.

 

“I'm sorry,” Michiru said. “I'm so sorry.” Her expression hardened. “But if it's a choice between killing and watching the world burn, can you really choose her?”

 

“Would you choose her?” Setsuna asked, gesturing towards Haruka. “Or you her?” she gestured at Michiru.

 

Both Haruka and Michiru's faces tightened at that.

 

“Look,” Ranma said. “Akane ain't like that. I mean, sure she's an unsexy macho chick, and she's kinda clumsy, and her cookin' is more like toxic waste, but she doesn't have it in her to murder hundreds of teenagers. Uh, unless they're perverts.” She thought about it. “Nah, probably not even then.

 

“You saw them dead, Ranma,” Michiru said.

 

“I didn't say they weren't dead, just that Akane couldn't have done it. What if she's, uh, possessed or somethin'? That's happened before.”

 

“She most likely is,” Setsuna said. “Mistress 9 is not human. Akane Tendo was.”

 

“Then, if we can get this `Mistress 9' thing outta her, we won't have ta kill Akane, right?”

 

Haruka and Michiru looked to Setsuna.

 

After a long moment, Setsuna nodded reluctantly. “It's possible. It won't be easy, but it could be done.”

 

“Anything,” Ranma said. “I can't lose her. Not when I gave up...” she trailed off. There were tears unshed in her eyes. “I gave up everything for her. I won't lose her now.”

 

“So be it,” Setsuna said. “In that case, this is going to be that much harder.” Uranus looked as though she was about to open her mouth to object, but Setsuna cut her off with a warning look.

 

Michiru looked at Ranma for a long moment. “Maybe we made a mistake,” she said.

 

“Huh?”

 

Haruka gave Michiru a look. “She means about you. When we first met you as Sailor Saturn, we were ready to kill you.”

 

“Oh, that?” Ranma gestured with her hand, looking vaguely uncomfortable. “Forget about it. If I didn't have friends tryin' ta kill me, it wouldn't a been Tuesday.”

 

“It was Wednesday,” Michiru commented.

 

“Whatever. Point is, it's no big deal.”

 

Haruka looked away, her expression troubled.

 

Silence. “It's a big deal to us, Ranma-san,” Michiru said at last, her voice quiet.

 

Ranma looked at the two Senshi, surprised. “I, uh...”

 

Haruka nodded her agreement. “We...” she looked as though she was struggling with something that left a bad taste in her mouth. “We apologize. Both of us.”

 

An apology. A sincere apology. She hadn't had one of those since... she wasn't sure. It had been a long time, anyways. A ghost of a smile graced Ranma's lips. “Yeah?” she asked.

 

“Yeah,” Haruka said.

 

And that was enough.

 

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Long after the Terra had set and all the city of Eternity was fast asleep, a hybrid winged thing descended from on high, the frosts of space still glistening on its membranous wings. Its form defied description, bringing to mind simultaneous images of a crow, a mole, a buzzard, an ant, and a decomposed human being, and on its back was a rider dressed all in yellow. It settled there before the city gates, sending the guards into a momentary panic before they realized that this was not an attack.

 

The rider dismounted, patted the hybrid beast on what passed for its face, and turned towards the guards who even now approached with shock lances at the ready.

 

“Who comes before the gates of Eternity?” one of the guards called in challenge.

 

The rider stepped forward into the light. He was a tall, slender figure, though his bulk was partially obscured by his rich yellow robes. His face was covered by an eerie pallid mask, stupendous in its malign suggestiveness. “I bring a message to the ruler of this land,” he said.

 

The guard raised an eyebrow. “And you are you that we should take messages to our Queen at your behest?”

 

The man in the pallid mask took several steps forward and stopped just beyond the thrusting range of the shock-lances. He held forth a letter, sealed with a strange, intricate circular symbol.

 

The guard approached the man, took the letter from his hand, and looked down at the seal. Immediately, his eyes widened, and he backed away from the man. “You are not welcome here,” he snapped. “This land is under Serenity's protection: her power is proof against your sigil.”

 

“Indeed,” the man in the pallid mask replied. “Give her the message.”

 

The guard shuddered visibly, tucked the letter beneath his arm, turned, and walked towards the palace.

 

So it was that he missed the horror that nearly unmanned the other guards at the gate: the man in the pallid mask smiled, the mask's awful features twisting visibly into a nightmarish parody of human warmth.

 

He wore no mask.

 

Their screams were quickly drowned out by the sound of the gate rumbling shut.

 

Satisfied with his work, the yellow-clad man mounted the hybrid thing which had brought him here. It flopped, hopped, and then lifted off into the night, carrying him off into the black.

 

Below, the city's alarms rang out in the night, long and clear.

 

--------------

 

The room was dark, and it was hard to see very far. A faint cold breeze drifted in through the open window, and the only light was the starlight that shone through the same. Usagi Tsukino tossed and turned in her sleep, moaning aloud as if in great distress.

 

Three dark shapes crept across the floor of her room, one holding a strange device that echoed wetly. Determined to carry out their nefarious plan, they converged on the helpless sleeping girl.

 

Usagi struck out at something in her sleep, seized her blanket, and began to gnaw on it. “Mmmm,” she said faintly. “Chocolate city...”

 

The three dark shapes sweatdropped. Still, they were undeterred. Two of them hopped up onto the edge of the bed while the third - the one with the wetly echoing device - moved right next to Usagi's sleeping form. “Do you think we'll have to use this?” the largest of the three figures - a woman - asked.

 

“I hope not,” one of the smaller figures - this one also female - asked. “Let's see, though.”

 

“Wake up, Usagi,” the largest of the figures said. She stepped into the starlight: it was Rei. She reached out and shook the sleeping Neo-Queen. “Hey, wake up.”

 

The two shapes on the bed - Luna and Artemis - added their voices to the attempt. “Usagi-chan, it's time to get up.”

 

Nothing.

 

Rei looked a bit irritated. “Usagi,” she said a bit louder, now shaking the sleeping girl a bit more roughly, “Wake up.”

 

Usagi rolled over and continued snoring.

 

Rei rolled her eyes, hefted her bucket full of water, and dumped it on Usagi's head.

 

“AIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!” Usagi shrieked, coming instantly into full wakefulness as she leaped out of bed and landed ungracefully on her butt.

 

Luna, Artemis sat on the edge of her bed, looking at her disapprovingly. Rei held an empty bucket, and looked not less disapproving. “About time, dumpling-head,” Rei snapped.

 

“Minna, hidoi!” she said, shivering and glaring at the three of them, but mostly at Rei. “Why did you do that?” She was angry, and it showed.

 

“You wouldn't wake up, Princess,” Luna said apologetically. The smile she was trying very hard not to show made her sincerity somewhat doubtful.

 

Artemis nodded. “Something's happened. Selene-sama sent us to summon you to council.”

 

Usagi blinked, her anger fading. “Oh,” she said. She stood up.

 

Rei's expression softened. “I'm sorry, Usagi-chan. I wish we could let you sleep, but the Queen said it was important.” She looked at the two moon cats. “I have to go get ready. Make sure she looks presentable, you two.” With that, she turned and walked out of the room.

 

Usagi turned to Luna and Artemis. “Rei-chan is so mean!” she said, and crossed her arms.

 

Luna smiled about as well as a cat could smile. “Come on, Usagi-chan,” she said. “It's time to get dressed. We've picked out a dress for you already.” She gestured with her left paw towards the dress that lay gently folded over a chair.

 

Usagi blinked. It looked like her `moon princess' dress, but it was sleeveless, and it had a long, butterfly-shaped bow on the back. If she wore that, it would look like she had wings made of silk. She blinked.

 

“Do you like it?” Artemis asked.

 

“It's beautiful!” Usagi said, her tone breathless. She was holding up the dress before either of the cats could blink, inspecting it with the eye of an enthusiastic teenaged girl.

 

“Right. If you'll just put it on, the enchantments bound into the fabric will take care of the rest,” Artemis said.

 

Usagi gave the white cat a level look, and didn't move an inch.

 

“What?” he asked.

 

“Artemis, you're really clueless sometimes,” Luna said, shaking her head.

 

A moment later, Artemis, being held by the scruff of his neck, was dropped unceremoniously outside the door.

 

“And don't come back in until I'm done!” Usagi called.

 

Ten minutes later, Usagi Tsukino emerged from the room looking like the queen she was. Regal. Dignified. Important. Tugging on her dress where it hugged her hips uncomfortably, and then promptly falling flat on her face.

 

Artemis looked at her, nonplused.

 

“Not a word,” Usagi hissed.

 

Some things never changed.

 

It was about five minutes afterwards that Usagi, led by Luna and Artemis, found her way to Serenity's council chamber. She took a deep breath as she readied herself to walk through the door, banishing the last bit of sleepiness from her thoughts. Or at least trying to.

 

One of the guards opened the door, and Usagi walked in, with Luna and Artemis close behind.

 

--------------

 

“I have called this council because of the message we received in the night,” Selene said, looking out across the table at the others seated there. Guards stood at attention at the doors.

 

Around the table, Usagi, Mamoru, Chibi-Usa, Luna, Artemis, Rei, Ami, Minako, and Makoto sat in various states of fading tiredness.

 

“I will not do injury to your ears by reading it aloud. Suffice it to say, the power of the Dark Moon recognizes the threat that is growing in the Waking World. A group called the Death Busters is in the process of summoning their master, a great evil called Pharaoh 90, from their lair at a place in Tokyo called Mugen Gakuen. If Pharaoh 90 is allowed to reach the earth, it will subject every creature upon it to a fate far worse than death. The Dark Moon has therefore proposed an alliance. With the two halves of the moon united, the message says, we can prevent Pharaoh 90 from infesting the earth.” She looked at each person seated at the table in turn. “And it need not stop there, of course. We could become great friends, the Senshi and the servants of Nyarlathotep. The two halves of the moon can form a great alliance: with this sort of power, you can accomplish every goal you've ever dreamed of. You can build your much fabled Crystal Tokyo, and all the world would lie at your feet, the Silver Moon and the Dark Moon as one. So reads the message.”

 

Stunned silence hung in the chamber for nearly a minute after Selene concluded her statement.

 

At last, it was Selene who broke the silence. “They are right about one thing: Pharaoh 90 must be stopped. It is time for us all to decide who we are, what we will fight for, and what price we are willing to pay for our victory.”

 

That broke open the floodgates. Everyone began speaking at once in a mad rush of chaotic noise. Everyone except for Usagi.

 

Selene sat back and watched, waiting. This went on for a good two minutes, and still nothing.

 

Usagi looked up, and found that her mother's gaze was fixed on her. She swallowed heavily. She picked two snatches of conversation out of the din.

 

“We can't!” Minako insisted. “It doesn't matter how much easier it would make it, we can't...”

 

“It would only be until the Death Busters have been defeated,” Ami pointed out reasonably. “Sometimes, it's acceptable to choose the lesser of two evils.”

 

“You...”

 

Selene was still staring at her. Usagi shook her head. She couldn't. She couldn't. And yet... she had to. With infinite reluctance, she looked out across the table and spoke. It was but one word, but it cut through the din like a knife. “Silence.”

 

Immediately, all eyes were on Usagi. She squirmed uncomfortably in the center of attention.

 

“Selene-mama is right. It's time to decide who we are, what we will fight for, and what price we are willing to pay for our victory.” They were all listening now. Good. She took a deep breath. “So here's what we're going to do...”

 

-------------

 

The night was cold and still beneath the light pollution of the Neriman skyline. The moon shone brightly above, but it seemed less a comfort this night than most. In the Tendo home, Genma set his pack down in the guest room next to Nodoka's and shook his head. The journey had been long and difficult, but the path of a true martial artist is fraught with peril. They had made it, and that was all that mattered.

 

Downstairs, he could hear the sound of the evening news. It was mostly bad news.

 

“...People in coastal areas are reporting increased sightings of what can only be described as `monsters,'” came one report. “...inland, though whether these are related to the coastal sightings is currently unknown...” went another. It was all like that. Trouble was stirring all over the world. People were seeing monsters in places as far flung as New England, California, Alaska, China, South Africa, England, Jordan, Iraq, Norway, everywhere, really. Nothing was confirmed yet, but the sheer number of sightings was causing concern. It had been like that for a few days now, according to Nabiki.

 

Something was wrong. He could feel it in his bones. An old, primitive feeling: the mouse beneath the hawk, the deer before the mountain lion.

 

Something was wrong.

 

He rose to his feet and walked down the stairs.

 

Nabiki sat on the sofa next to Nodoka, the two of them watching television. Soun was out on the deck, looking out at the koi pond.

 

Kasumi was busily preparing dinner, and the delightful smell of her cooking filled the home.

 

Something was wrong.

 

“Dinner is ready!” Kasumi called out cheerfully.

 

Nabiki looked towards the kitchen. “What are we having tonight, sis?” she asked.

 

Genma didn't pay any attention to Kasumi's response.

 

Something was terribly, terribly wrong.

 

He walked out onto the deck and looked down at his old friend. “Thinking deep thoughts, Tendo?” he asked fondly.

 

Soun didn't answer.

 

Each step towards the man filled Genma with an unnatural dread.

 

“Tendo?” Genma asked again, reaching out towards his friend.

 

Soun fell over backwards. His face was missing. His FACE was missing, and something like maggots crawled over the ruin that was left.

 

Genma backpedaled into the house. “Nabiki! Nodoka! Kasumi! We're getting out of here right now,” he said, harnessing that primal terror for something useful. Get to safety first, then he could indulge in being afraid.

 

Nodoka rose to her feet. “What's the matter, anata?”

 

Nabiki lounged back on the couch, quickly filling up the space that Nodoka had just evacuated. “Is there something...” she began. She trailed off as the front door splintered and shattered.

 

Genma looked up, and the vast grayish white bulk of a moon-beast loomed large against the night beyond. Before he even realized what he was doing, Genma had fallen into the combat stance of the Yama Sen Ken.

 

“KIJIN RAISHU DAN!” he called, sending a vacuum blade through the monster's gut.

 

It collapsed, bleeding black ichor all over the floor. It had never made a sound.

 

Screams filled the house.

 

“Nodoka, get the girls out of here!” Genma bellowed.

 

Nabiki scrambled to her feet. “What the hell?” Her eyes fell on Soun's body. “Daddy...?” she whispered. She staggered backwards, nausea warring with horror within her. She struggled to repress a raw, primal scream.

 

A silent grayish-white shape lunged in from the deck where Soun had been sitting.

 

There was no time to think. Genma would not let Nabiki or Kasumi die tonight. He flung himself between Nabiki and the creature. It seized him with both arms, and the mass of pink tentacles on the end of its snout burrowed painfully into his flesh. “Run!” he yelled. His battle aura sprang into being, and the whole house was filled with the light of his ki. “RUN!”

 

Even as two more beasts burst into the home, the girls ran, and Nodoka ran with them.

 

-------------

 

Setsuna rose to her feet. It was now nearly midnight: they had been talking for many hours, but it looked now as though their course was set at last. “Are we agreed?” she asked.

 

Ranma, Haruka, and Michiru each nodded.

 

“Good.”

 

Ranma rose to her feet. Although the time spent here had allowed her to recover physically, she felt emotionally drained.

 

“Sailor Saturn,” Setsuna began.

 

Ranma looked up.

 

“You are not to destroy the world unless there is no other choice.”

 

Ranma's eyes widened. THAT was like cold water to the face. “Why do people keep tellin' me that like I need reminding? I got no intention of destroyin' the world. I have to save Akane.”

 

Setsuna looked sad. “Don't rule out the possibility, Saturn. If it comes to it, it may be a mercy.”

 

Ranma shook her head. “Whatever.” She pulled a long piece of string out of her pocket and then willed her uniform into being around her. “You coming?” she asked.

 

The three remaining outer Senshi brandished their henshin rods.

“URANUS PLANET POWER!”
“NEPTUNE PLANET POWER!”
“PLUTO PLANET POWER!”
“MAKE UP!”

 

In a swirl of magic and light, the three women became three goddesses. Then, as the light of the transformation faded into the warm, flickering light of the oil lamps, Pluto nodded. “We're going.” She gestured, and the lights went out in the house.

 

Saturn headed towards the front door. “Right.”

 

Pluto shook her head. “This way.” She walked to the back door, opened it, and went outside.

 

Saturn flushed red, turned, and followed Pluto and the others. Even as she stepped out into the yard, her eyes widened.

 

“Woah.”

 

There, parked in the back yard, was a helicopter.

 

-------------

 

The procession that left the city of Eternity was considerably smaller than the one that had entered it: here walked Usagi and her Senshi, with Tuxedo Kamen at her side. It was night: three nights since the council meeting, for time flows more quickly in the Dreamlands, and there were few on the streets to see them leave.

 

He was waiting for them just outside the gates. The man in the pallid mask, with his unearthly steed tethered close at hand. As the Senshi approached, he looked up.

 

“Have you a reply to my lord?” he asked.

 

Usagi stepped forward. “We do.” Clad as she was in the same casual skirt and blouse ensemble she had arrived in, she was not an imposing figure, though the crescent moon yet gleamed upon her forehead.

 

The man in the pallid mask said nothing, waiting for her reply.

 

“My answer is no.”

 

“No?” the man in the pallid mask asked dangerously.

 

“There will be no alliance between the light and the dark; we won't sell our souls for an easier way. Now,” she produced the Ginzuishou, and it glimmered dangerously. “Get away from here and never come back.”

 

The man in the pallid mask nodded sedately. “Then you have chosen to die like the dogs you are,” he said in the same sort of tone one might use to discuss the weather. He turned and untethered his mount. Even as he swung his right leg over the animal's ungainly hip, he spoke over his shoulder in the same sedate tone, “Goodbye, moonbitch. We will not meet again.” With that, his flopping mount leapt into the sky and flew off towards the horizon.

 

The Senshi did not relax their guard until he had passed beyond their sight. Then, and only then, did Mars smile at her Queen. “Said all your goodbyes?” she asked.

 

Usagi nodded. Chibi-Usa hadn't liked the idea of staying here one bit, but she'd been convinced to, in the end. Well, either that or she was hiding just out of sight. She glanced at a nearby shadow suspiciously. No, Chibi-Usa was definitely still in the palace. “I'm ready.”

 

The Ginzuishou pulsed, and in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, the world around the group changed. All at once they stood in the courtyard of the Hikawa Shrine.

 

Usagi walked to the top of the long stairway that led down to the city, and looked out across the starlit landscape. “Let's go, minna,” she said. “It's time to end this war.”

 

END CHAPTER 15