Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ Pretty Soldiers ❯ Act 28 - mugen cinc : Les Trois Belles Fleurs ( Chapter 28 )

       "A beautiful night, ruined!" Michiru declared angrily, ducking behind the curtain quickly. She was going to kill Bidou-san, the moment she escaped to her dressing room.
       The damned witch had done exactly as she'd suspected, taking over the intercom system and appearing on stage in her gaudy, silly black and blue outfit, wielding no staff, but still dangerous. She'd ignored Michiru entirely as she announced to the crowd that they were the selected harvest for the next stage of indoctrination. As mostly parents of the intelligent students of Infinity, they were perfect; their souls would nourish the coming of their Master. Her hands lifted high as the audience, though many were struck dumb with fear, began to stampede towards the doors, pounding them with their fists. No such luck there; Michiru had no doubt every single Infinity student working the booths was long infested with the school's peculiar brand of dogmatic disease.
       Not wasting a minute, the aqua-haired beauty had made her move towards the curtain, and now stripped off her heels to make the dash. But she'd underestimated Bidou-san - or Viluy, as she'd called herself - and was thrown back against the wall by one of the trombone players, and the lone sax player. Her violin, thank the kami, fell safely into a pile of discarded velvet, which had been used that very night to trim the orchestra boxes. "Yare yare, Kaiou-san, were you thinking of leaving so soon?" Viluy's voice purred from across the stage, and the ice-haired girl stepped into view. "Perhaps you haven't seen the perfection that the lessons of Mugen Gakuen have given you."
       "You mean the brainwashing you've attempted to give us?" Michiru laughed, her breath catching in her throat as one of the boys twisted her arm to shut her up. "Iie, witch."
       "Interesting." Viluy walked closer, hands on her hips, like some sultry siren stepping from an old black and white American film. Only this one was dressed far more scandalously then they, with her outfit resembling a lace-trimmed swimming suit more than a dress. "You resist our doctrine. Any imperfect soul that resists us is useless as a vessel, but you can just as easily be nourishment for our Master the same as the others." Her hands lifted, and her skin began to sickeningly crawl over her palms, twitching as though bugs squirmed beneath the flesh. "Sayonara, Kaiou-san."
       Michiru twisted, suddenly frantic as she realized she was trapped, unable to become Sailor Neptune and free herself; and Viluy merely grinned, showing teeth as perfect as a predator's as she reached out.

      Ami's head rung like the klaxon of church bells as she struggled up. She must have been quite the sight, crumpled on the floor as she was; no doubt her dress was stained terribly, if not ruined. Her mother would have a fit, though that was hardly a concern at the moment.
       She looked around the room, wondering what was taking the others so long to return, prepared to fight Bidou-san - wherever she had gone - who was obviously the next of the Witches 5 to try and succeed where the others failed. Appearing so suddenly, it was been properly planned; the doors were barricaded tight against escape, and even now she could see those who had not been infected still trying to break through. Everyone else…shivering, she recalled the tiny little creatures, like mechanical mites, pour from Bidou-san's outstretched palms in increasing volume, swarming to attack.
        Rei had pulled forth one of her temple's painted paper wards, chanting rapidly until the words blurred, became so much music and repetition, snapping the ward around in front of them in a perfect circle. Still, they all screamed and flinched automatically as the tiny creatures slammed into the air inches from their faces, unable to come any closer. So close up, the blue-haired genius had recognized them to be not living at all, but entirely mechanical, with the tiniest flickering lights.
       After the swarm vanished into the bodies of their victims, with Bidou-san strangely engaged behind the curtains and unable to send forth more mites, Minako announced, "We've got to transform and stop this madness! No matter if anyone sees us."
       "But that won't do any good; look, look at the people!" Makoto had gasped, pointing a trembling finger towards a woman stumbling across their line of sight. Her body was half-eaten away, glowing blue as a star; but that colour was fading as they watched, along with her flesh.
       "Begone!" A ward shot past them, slapping to the woman's forehead securely, and she shook like an epileptic. In a visible cloud, the mites disengaged from her body, falling to the floor useless; but she was next to fall, obviously long dead. "That was her soul; those creatures, whatever they are, they were eating her soul!" the dark-haired shrine girl whispered, sounding incredibly pissed. And as she was their authority on all matters spiritual, they didn't even bother to argue with her.
       Minako waved her hand back at Rei, asking, "Can you do that for everyone? Using your wards to knock those things dead before they eat everyone's souls?"
       "Hai; but I can't guarantee their health afterwards. The loss of even a fraction of their souls could have terrible repercussions."
       "We'll worry about that later! Now, we have to get out of sight; up to the balcony boxes would work perfectly." The long-haired blonde pointed up towards the elegantly decorated balconies, which they could reach with a bit of effort by climbing the heavy draperies that lined the walls. And there was no question that they would have make it; they had to. Though it seemed somewhat silly to be concerned over secret identities when most of the room was either close to death or escaping it, the possibility of Bidou-san seeing them transform was harrowing.
       "Now!" She shot up, running down the length of the seats, trusting everyone to follow her. Mamoru, carrying Chibi-Usa on his back, led his princess by the hand, as she picked up her skirts high. Makoto, Ami, and Rei followed closely, the last holding a ward, which multiplied as she chanted beneath her breath. She spun around sharply, releasing them as a cloud of paper and ink, not in the least concerned with aim; they landed true, attaching themselves to each victim.
       By that time, Minako had hustled their prince and princess and their daughter up into the first box, literally hoisting Usagi high enough to be hauled up. Makoto was strong enough to climb herself. Ami, however, stopped in her run, allowing Rei to pass her up and climb up into the box; she was unable to leave these people. So many wounded and dying, just like the boy she couldn't save; without even warning the others, she ran back to the closest, checking her pulse.
       "Ami…? Ami! What are you doing!?" Minako called, waiting for the last of their team to make it to safety. She hadn't even considered climbing up until Ami had done so; a leader would make sure of everyone's lives. "Get over here!"
       "I can't just leave these people here! I could save some of them!" Ami whispered, tilting the girl's head so she wouldn't choke on her tongue; her injuries were serious, but not entirely life threatening. So intent on her job, she barely noticed when Minako began to pull her arm, attempting to haul her away. Then, she looked around, to see twin twilight staring at her in confusion and anger, and argued, "Iie, Minako! Leave me! You'll transform and fight the enemy; I'm needed out here!"
       They stared at one another for a long minute. Then, surprisingly, Minako released her arm, and turned away, running and leaping onto the curtain, crawling up like a monkey into the box. Trusting Ami not to be hurt in the few seconds it would take them to transform, while she saved lives in her own way. And it made sense, she firmly agreed; she was most likely the only person in the room who could medically attend to the victims. Even those seconds could be a life lost.
       With the girl breathing properly, she had stood to move onto the next victim. And she was surprised beyond measure to find a hand grip her ankle and yank; she barely had the time to bring her hands into position to cushion her fall. Looking back, she saw the vacant, shadowed glare of the girl as she clawed at Ami's legs, snarling with menace. And, belatedly, she realized that no ward dangled from her forehead; she had been trampled and kicked, not infested. Rei had either improperly prayed, or the girl was an Infinity student, the enemy awakening evil inside of her body after the wards had been released.
       Ami twisted, kicking and slapping at her hands, biting her lip as her fingernails drew blood. This was what she got for being a concerned medical student, being hurt by the patient instead of attending! "Let go!"
       "For the Master," the girl intoned, her voice several shades deeper than she logically should have been. It sounded like the bass had been turned all the way up. "Your soul, for the Master!"
       "Iie! Let me go!" Ami flinched as her kick connected with the girl's skull, producing a rather hollow, ripe melon sound; the girl dropped like a rock, and Ami was left to shake her hand off, and look around, wondering where everyone had gone. Trying not to think about what she'd just done.
       The floor began to shake.
       Disbelieving, Ami stared up at the balcony, watching as tendrils of living green snaked their way out and down, trailing to the floor. Several stalks grew tall, lifting the bodies of her allies high within the alcove, entangled tight by small vines and leaves. And an Infinity student stepped out from behind them, carrying a potted plant that was no doubt the root of the growth. "Ara ara," she laughed, stroking the greenery, "someone got away. Viluy will be so upset to find that her plan didn't work."
       Her hair was as green as the plant itself, tied up into two loose buns on either side of her head, matching the colour of her eyes. But as Ami watched, her burgundy uniform dissolved into a black, clinging dress, its hem jagged as a Halloween witch's, her arms and legs twined with black pearl strands. And then, she realized as well that the girl was looking directly at her.
       Everyone was fighting unconsciousness, smeared with green sap from trying to fight the vines, and Ami was alone. She backed away on her hands like a crab, rolling to her feet just as a thick stalk slapped at the carpet where she'd been. "Come, come! Allowing your soul to be freed from your heavy, useless body is a joy! To service the Master and allow for his renewal and life on Earth, that would be your purpose!" the girl crooned, hopping up to sit, legs dangling scandalously over the edge of the balcony.
       "My soul is perfect where it is!" Ami rebutted, dodging a vine. "To be helpful and considerate to everyone, that would be my purpose! Not as food for your Master!" She felt a chill run through her body as the girl suddenly tilted her head, eyes narrowing to slits. Unaware of the fact that her quick swish of fingers visualized the colour of the blue-haired genius's soul, a corona and cascade not unlike the aurora itself.
       "Ah, but I see a soul brilliant with the power of planets! Unlike the lower level witches Eudial and Mimete, I feel your power like a star. A sailor soldier!" The girl gestured back with a flourish, including everyone. "All of you, and as well, the light close to the source of our crystal! The witch Tellu will succeed in this task, and give the Master your life!"
       Ami heard a shuffling sound, like a hundred feet dragging across carpet, and she slowly turned to her right to see that it was in fact about twenty, perhaps the entire orchestra. Vacant, shadow faced, the students of Infinity came closer, hands outstretched to capture the blue-haired genius. "Shimatta," she swore faintly, for once deeming it preferable to screaming.

      Behind the curtain, Michiru struggled and swore herself - though not out loud, she was a bit more proper than that - as Viluy came near enough to touch. It was enough to sicken her, the sight of Viluy's hands writhing with its promised death, a few of the mites peeking out their heads. "Kaiou-san, you should be glad to release your burden! Along with the others who have sworn to the cause of our Master-"
       "-those you've brainwashed and forced into an earlier death!"
       "-your talented soul will be sublime. That was always the reason of education, to refine the souls of such worthy students, to make them top level. Unworthy souls are for the daimon." Viluy's smile grew strangely dreamy, as the aqua-haired beauty ceased her struggling to stare up at her captors. "Once they've been properly perfected in this world, the daimon will feast. Until then, all is for the Master."
       "Kami-sama; those students…there was no saving them?" Michiru felt dizzy, hearing a hollow ringing noise in her ears; hadn't she read somewhere that it usually signaled a fainting spell? "Their souls…"
       "Not all of them. Merely those whose souls were given up to the Master, they remain nearly perfect, suitable instruments in our mission and experiments." The ice-haired girl gestured towards the two holding Michiru with merely a slide of her eyes, their own vague, unfocused stares roiling subtly with the power of her influence. They were puppets on strings, forced to dance until they died. For the love of the kami, was the entire school damned?
       Rage coloured her world.
       Turning slowly around towards Viluy, Michiru focused on the rounding of her former classmate's chin, imagining her foot smashing straight through. Though as a sailor soldier she was supremely gifted, she was nothing more than human as she remained now, and she had taken several self-defense classes to fortify her body. It had also helped to channel her helpless anger at her looming task, knowing she could likely die in the attempt to defeat the enemy. How appropriate a test of her skills.
       Dropping her body weight suddenly, the boys found themselves holding her entire upright; and while she was slender and supple, she was no featherweight. They nearly dumped her on the floor in their surprise, and Viluy reared back slightly, just as startled, positioning herself exactly as Michiru had estimated.
       Taking advantage of the opening, she wrenched herself forward and heard her dress rip as one of the boys tried to catch her, instead snagging a handful of fabric. She launched a high kick perfectly into Viluy's chin, wincing slightly as her thigh muscle protested the stretch - learning the kick, and being properly relaxed to carry it through were two different things entirely - and immediately ducked as the boys dove again to restrain her. It was an interesting fact that Viluy apparently could not control her soulless slaves when she distracted; after their sloppy move, they stood there as if they had nothing better to do, teetering ever so slightly on the balls of their feet.
       Fine by her. She swept her violin up, kicked off her heels, and imagined herself as the wind as she ran, heading for the empty dressing rooms. Almost immediately she heard Viluy scream, "Capture her!" and the sound of heavy shoes pounding the boards. Michiru cursed, realizing she could have thrown her heels at them to slow them down.
       As she came to the left-hand turn, she could see a shadow growing large, a hand raised above its head. Throwing herself down into a slide, she twisted to hit the wall with her back and shoulders as Uranus spun around over her to let loose with a snarl of "World Shaking!" without a single motion wasted. Neither boy had a chance, but neither was the tall sandy-blonde anxious to kill them; as Michiru watched, they both flew backward far enough to land in the pile of discarded velvet that had recently saved her violin. It was quite the distance, but both of them wriggled feebly, obviously alive.
        "Nice shot," a familiar voice remarked behind her, and Michiru was visibly surprised to see the American standing there. "You've got an excellent eye for distance." She smiled charmingly down at the violinist, extending a hand to help her up.
       Uranus shoved them both back into the protection of the hallway as Viluy's mites slammed into the wall in a cloud of writhing bodies. A spate of fire enveloped them, turning them into wispy ash before they had a chance to home in on the flesh they'd been seeking. "Michiru, who is that woman?" Uranus queried, turning away from the sight of the fire towards her lover, who was, along with the tall red-head, seemingly unperturbed about being pushed around.
       "Bidou Yui," she'd answered flatly, opening the first door she found and carefully setting her violin on a padded chair. "Another of the Witches 5, she calls herself Viluy. She explained to me that the students they've been using as their servants are bereft of their souls, already given to their Master. And from what I understand, the daimon we've fought are not only imperfect, but also soul eaters in their perfect form."
       "You mean, all of those students we've saved are lost?" Uranus sounded openly horrified, not an easy trick to accomplish. Most of her emotion in regard to the Death Busters and their work was anger.
       "Iie; the souls were removed from their bodies, I assume, to make room for the daimon to gestate and grow. But those souls, many of them, were given to their Master, and are entirely lost; those soulless students are their servants. Many more can be saved."
       "Or not," Alex interjected, peering around the corner to see where Viluy'd gotten off to. "I don't know how much information you're privy to, but Sailor Moon encountered another daimon on a city bus last week. Not only did it entirely evolve from the student, but she was positive it was actively seeking out victims." She turned away from her task to stare at them both with cold lapis, letting them both absorb the meaning of her words. "Whatever the risk, these crazy fuckers have to be stopped. With or without your help, Uranus." Nodding her head towards the aqua-haired beauty, she added without preamble, "Neptune."
       Michiru stared straight back at her as she lifted her hand, her reply unwavering.

      Ami was alone, unarmed, and strangely not terrified as her possible death came closer and closer. She crouched on the carpet, her brain running its cogs to expiration as she tried to come up with a strategy that was plausible to save the day, and though simply transforming into Mercury was tempting, she wanted to try and keep the element of surprise. The girl may have marked her as a sailor soldier, but not a specific soldier, and for the love of the kami, what exactly could she accomplish on her own? Spread a thick fog and run for cover? Perhaps freeze them; she knew she had gained such a power after their newest transformation, the simplest application of cold to the sparse condensation she'd wielded before.
       There was also the plant to consider, and her friends, who stared at her in visible despair, struggling to loosen their bonds. But she could see them drooping, growing ever more weak; no doubt the plant itself was some demonic mutation, sucking their energy or their souls dry.
        Scooting back further, her hand smacked into something coarse and lumpy, rattling faintly. She looked down to find a ridiculous purse, one of those silly fashionable designs the very rich and rather insane spent their money on; it resembled the inside of a trash can, with wadded and shellacked clumps of paper, foam packing peanuts, and splashes of thick red paint. A few items had fallen in the initial drop - lipstick, a lighter shaped like Buddha, a compact, a full assortment of condoms, and a bottle of cloying artificial perfume. She grabbed the lighter and perfume, pulling off the cap.
       Much to her surprise, the Buddha spat fire from his mouth instead of the usual hole at the top.
       The plant was amazingly flammable, though it could have been due to the alcohol content in the perfume. As she used her makeshift torch to alight the green vine attempting to snag her again, it burst into flame instantly and shot back up towards the root. All of its tendrils and branches withdrew, attempting to escape the heat, dropping Ami's allies down into the balcony's pit. The green-haired witch shrieked her outrage as she flung the pot aside, allowing it to disintegrate rapidly into ash between the flight and floor. "You…you…! How dare you!"
       "Excuse me." A finger tapped the witch's shoulder, and she turned, fury still etched on her face.
       Ami was caught between gaping and cheering as Rei clocked Tellu in the chin with a powerful right hook, sending her backwards over the railing. The orchestra, all of whom had wobbled between seeming indecision and single-minded devotion once Ami had torched the plant, stopped completely once Tellu hit the floor. "You for ruined my birthday dress," Rei announced as she rubbed her knuckles, "and it happened to be my favourite."
       "You hit her because of your dress?" Makoto laughed cheerily beside her.
       "Iie; I hit her because she deserved it. The dress is simply extra."
       Tellu lifted her head and snarled, glancing sharply in the direction of the still orchestra. "Kill her," she directed, pointing towards Ami. "I'll have her soul before it exits the corpse!"
       "Ami-chan!" Chibi-Usa cried from the balcony, rather uselessly. Without thinking of the transformation, she withdrew the string of black beads from around her neck, tossing them up. "Luna-P! I want a slingshot!" Incredibly, the beads changed, elongating into the familiar forked weapon. She wasted no time in shooting stones at Tellu's head.
       It was an absurd showdown, but it took the green-haired witch's attentions away from the orchestra mob, and without her they stopped. Ami breathed a sigh of relief and clambered to her feet, still holding her own makeshift weapon ready. Past them, she could see the survivors huddled by the locked doors, having realized they were trapped and most likely doomed. If she transformed into Mercury, identity be damned, she could kick open the doors, or freeze and shatter them.
       Of course, what she didn't expect - no one did - was the sudden flutter of the heavy velvet curtains on stage, whipping as though a minor tsunami had landed. The remnants of the gale blew out the tiny flame on Ami's lighter, diverted one of Chibi-Usa's shots, and Tellu laughed in triumph as she summoned her staff. "Pitiful children," she sighed, angling the staff and flicking her fingertips against its symbols.
       Ami dove back into the cover of the seats just as a blast of magic ripped through the spot where, a second earlier, her head had been. She heard her dress rip further as she slid on her knees, and summoned her own magic hastily as she yelled, "Mercury Planet Power, Make Up!" to transform, identity be damned. No one would see her, crouched on the ground, and Tellu had already revealed her as a soldier anyway.
       The green-haired witch was laughing, and she heard another spate of magic; her friends cried out in surprise and pain, and she could imagine easily where that particular attack had gone. Clenching her fists, she slowly stood up; she knew exactly what words to share with the powerful witch.
       "Shine…"
       Tellu spun her staff around widdershins, twisting to aim at Mercury; above her, the balcony was shredded, Usagi and Chibi-Usa lost in the bodies who had stepped forward to protect them. Mamoru in particular sported a long gash across his forehead.
       "…Aqua…"
       "Mandragora!"
       Wood snapped as the balcony's supports finally gave out under the stress, and it was a long fall to the floor. No one had transformed, though she could see them trying desperately to do so before they hit, to change into their powerful forms and land safely.
       "…Illusion!"
       "Buster!"
       Magic erupted, blinding the two in their standoff, and not all of it was theirs.
       The sailor soldiers slowly stood up, Tuxedo Kamen gallantly holding the hand of his princess, to stare at the ice-encrusted statue of Tellu, frozen in the act of releasing her attack. And it had gone off, all right; Mercury straightened her head up with a little jerk, glancing over her shoulder to see half of the curtain ripped away, several meters behind her. "Sugo-oi, Mercury!" Chibi-Moon said in awe.
       "That was impressive, Mercury; you bluffed her like some American cowboy in the movies!" Jupiter idled over to tap a knuckle against the ice, several centimeters thick.
       Venus came close, to clasp the hand of the blue-haired genius; when Mercury finally blinked, looking at her, she smiled, flashing her the victory sign. "I knew you had an amazing plan up your skirt to defeat the enemy!"
       "That's 'sleeve,' Venus," Tuxedo Kamen muttered, touching his fingers to his wound. Though the transformation had healed it some, it had been deep, and caused by magic; it bled still, a sluggish paste against his skin.
       He'd forgotten entirely about his audience, and when he opened his eyes again, he was startled to find them staring at him. "What's wrong?"
       "Ma-Tuxedo Kamen-sama, you're injured!" Sailor Moon pointed at his forehead, as if he couldn't find it himself.
       Chibi-Moon blinked, frowning up at her parents. "But the transformation magic should have healed such a wound! Mamo-chan!" she cried, grabbing his arm for emphasis. Though her time as a soldier had been brief, she had already learned the basic ritual of the magic they used; anything not healed by it was, to her mind, undoubtedly serious.
       "Mercury, is Tuxedo Kamen-sama going to be alright?" the odango-haired blonde queried, over her daughter's whimpering. Though he seemed steady on his feet, she couldn't shake off her concern either.
       Mercury shook her head again, as if she'd gone back into a daze, and answered, "He should be." Tilting her gaze in appraisal of the wound, she spread her hands in forgiveness. "Perhaps it simply is conflicting magic; there's no reason such a cut should heal, perhaps on its own."
       The long-haired blonde held up a hand, a sign that all of them recognized, and their loose, happy conversation ceased entirely. After all, they were still in danger from the enemy; Tellu was merely frozen, not dead, and the unnatural wind was not something they wanted to inherit. Rotating on a heel, Venus dropped her arm as she realized that the victims were no longer clawing at the doors; they all looked to have collapsed, perhaps from exhaustion. "Mercury, investigate the healthy. Mars, stay with her, in case someone is used by the witch."
       Both soldiers nodded, circling around Venus to jog towards the fallen people. She quirked a smile, losing it just as quickly as she turned around again to survey the stage. "There's been no more wind since that first time," she remarked, twilight intent on the ripped length of curtain. "Was it perhaps only Tellu?"
       "But wind…" The odango-haired blonde knew how that felt, and, catching the eyes of her fellow allies, knew that they did, as well. "The wind, coupled with the trembling of the earth…"
       "Uranus," Jupiter said flatly. "Those two, surely."
       Just then, the wind roared again, more powerful than the last time, muffled behind wood and insulation. Tuxedo Kamen drew both his girls into the safety of his cape as Jupiter and Venus shifted just as quickly to protect all three of them. Whistling violently, the wind ripped out a section of the back wall of the stage, infinitely louder as it carried chunks of plaster and other constructed pieces far into the middle tier of seats. Out of the hole leapt Michiru first, her lovely dress ripped high up on either thigh to allow her freedom of movement, her forearms dotted with blood. Behind her was Alex, and lastly, hands raised in defense, Uranus.
       The glitter of nanotechnology behind the tall sandy-blonde had Alex lifting a hand as well, and Viluy's attack slammed into an invisible wall, sending them back to their maker. Viluy howled her anger, and all anyone heard was a chant of gibberish before magic blasted all three. Alex screamed, a hand to her head, and was lifted airborne along with Uranus and Michiru, though they only flew as far as the plush front row. "Sensei!" Venus cried.
       "Alex-chan!" Sailor Moon echoed, gripping her prince's sleeve in anguish. Blonde hair whipped across her line of sight as the orange-clad soldier twisted to aim, power called to her hand. She smiled grimly as she shouted, "Crescent Super Beam!"
       Viluy howled as the golden energy ripped across her cheek and left ear, barely missing her eye and defeating Venus' true intention; not that an exploding head was a pretty sight, and she was almost glad to not witness it. The witch had simply turned too fast, even though her attention had been focused solely on the trio still sprawled in the front seats. "You golden-haired bitch! How dare you destroy such a lovely face!"
       The floor trembled, and this time, the ice-haired witch was quick to dodge as a golden sphere ripped through the space where she'd been standing. More of the back wall was destroyed, expensive instruments exploding and tumbling in the split-second vortex. "Chikusho…and here, I thought Bidou-san had hated sweating and exertion," Uranus remarked as she straightened, pulling Michiru up to stand.
       "Well, perhaps a witch is more accustomed to such physical labor," the aqua-haired beauty mused in return, flashing a taunting smile towards Viluy. "And as a sailor soldier, I'll more than match it; Neptune Planet Power, Make Up!"
       Summoning her delayed transformation was heady and quick, as well a collective shock; the violin genius, Kaiou Michiru, as Sailor Neptune? The other soldiers were wide-eyed with astonishment, watching as the power receded to show her, clad in a sea green sailor suit, with Sailor Uranus ready at her side. "Uso…Kaiou Michiru is Sailor Neptune?" Tuxedo Kamen murmured, remembering those shared moments in the bus, the electric touch; had it always been anticipation of a soldier's power?
       "But if Kaiou Michiru-san is Neptune, then, of course…Ten'ou Haruka-san! Sailor Uranus!" Venus gasped, lifting her hand to her lips as though she'd uttered a sacred oath. "Kami-sama…."
       "Two such popular students, sailor soldiers? Shall I call you burrowing worms in the ripe flesh of the fruit, and dispose of you to prevent further infestation?" Viluy mocked, raising her arms to call forth the shimmering gold of her staff. "Ten'ou Haruka, Kaiou Michiru. How terrible that your fate will be to die, your souls as mere nourishment; ah, but all of you carry the power of planets!"
       "But why? Why the souls of your students, innocents? What is the ultimate purpose of the Death Busters in gaining these bodies?" Mars shouted from the far back, standing protectively, as was Mercury, in front of the fallen victims who had finally given up in their escape. Most of them had fainted, a few of them were praying, and absolutely none of them dared to even look up at their defenders, nor their executioners. At her words, they also began to quake.
       The tall red-head, curiously still in civilian attire, added, "And why those creatures, those daimon? None of those students were atavistic, merely hosts, weren't they? Completely unaware until we separated them."
       Viluy sneered, gripping her staff at fore and aft, holding it out straight in front of her. "The truth is wasted on the dead. Does it matter why our students, why those innocents? All of you are inferior beings! All of you have no clue of the coming era! We will use everyone as we see fit, and in the Master's eyes, we will be as master and lord ourselves!"
       She was laughing, her infinity sigil glowing bright, as everyone prepared to attack before Viluy could finish her incantation, when the plush chair slammed into the front of her legs. Her mouth froze on quite possibly the last word, and she fell forwards over the cushion to slam her chin on the stage. "What? It's better than blowing the entire building up, isn't it?" Alex snorted, as Uranus and Neptune stared rather angrily at her.
       "Oh, yes, completely better than simply destroying a dangerous enemy," Uranus growled.
       Groaning, the ice-haired witch lifted her head, gazing past them and towards the frozen Tellu. She hadn't counted on the botanical student to even show up at the concert, though it did make a certain sense; with so few of the Witches 5 left, and the title of Magus still hovering over their heads, it paid to take every opportunity. Viluy despised the green-haired witch - not that it mattered much, they all hated each other rather equally, being an opportunistic, Darwinian group of girls - but she could, as much as she hated it, use the help.
       "And I suppose the other innocent people that could be crushed in the ensuing insurance nightmare are of little consequence too?"
       And ice was a simple enough element to overcome. Gritting her teeth and gripping her staff tighter, she crawled up onto her knees, anticipating the soldiers' reaction. Not surprisingly, the tall sandy-blonde, angry at being circumvented the first time, and the tall brunette, who was quickest, released their attacks at Viluy. Even with the pain of her shins, she managed to pirouette around the nearly debilitating power that flowed through the air, shouting her quick spell and melting Tellu's prison.
       But she hadn't counted on the sailor soldiers being smart enough to anticipate her as well.
       Even as she crowed in victory, Tellu blinking in confusion but free, she spied a flash of aquatic blue out of the corner of her eye. She turned to catch the vicious kick of Neptune across her face, equally scarring the right to match her left, and reeled back. A fist sank into her kidneys, and as her arms came up, her staff was snatched away. The tall red-head rolled out of range as Sailor Moon, holding the heart moon rod, said, "Moon Spiral Heart Attack!"
       "See? Now wasn't that better than destroying the walls around our ears?" Alex remarked, holding the staff over her shoulder despite its rapid disintegration. Even as she finished speaking, it was nearly dust in her hand with Viluy's death, the witch a similar cloud of smoke and particles in the air.
       Tellu, still disoriented, but smart enough to flee in the face of adversity, did exactly that. It also severed the strings of command she'd kept on the students, and though her frozen condition had stilled them, her departure had them now circling in confusion, whimpering. "We need to open the doors, Mars, Jupiter, Venus," Mercury commented softly.
       "Hai; those students need to be freed, before the authorities come," Uranus agreed, taking Neptune by the shoulder as the aqua-haired beauty came to her side. "This is your department, sailor soldiers. Our mission is merely to prevent and destroy."
       "But as sailor soldiers, your mission is also to help and defend!" Chibi Moon stepped clear of her father's protective hand, her own hands clenched into fists. "Even in the future, the sailor soldiers fight for justice, not merely vengeance; why are you so cold to us?"
       "And truly, Kaiou Michiru-san, is this the path you desire? To be alone in your battles? All of us, together, can defeat the Death Busters; yours no longer has to be the path of solitude," Tuxedo Kamen said. "Trust in us, in Sailor Moon."
       Alex shook her head atop the stage. "As I've told you, Uranus, you've barely learned your potential as a soldier. I can train you, as I trained the four guardian soldiers in the Silver Millennium, to be strong. Don't turn away from us. Even if not as partners, but as friends, perhaps. You can't always be the mysterious ones."
        "And neither can we hesitate," Neptune said simply. "Ours is a burden we can never dare to share with you, innocent soldiers. We failed in preventing the enemy from infiltrating the system; and so we shall carry out our solemn duty in reparation." Nodding in unison with her partner, they turned and walked away and up the side aisle, exiting the room proper without even saying good-bye.
       "How terrible it must be for them," Sailor Moon whispered. "Ten'ou-san…Kaiou-san…why will you not accept our help?"

       And again, the music was silent in her ears, and Setsuna realized she'd been staring at her textbook without actually reading a word for the better part of an hour. It was a basic physics text, child's play in regards to her studies and upcoming paper, and she could have truthfully written it in her sleep. But her professor wanted quotes, hard proof that they had indeed read the pertinent hypothesis and formulated their own, and so she'd settled onto her futon to take down her notes. Then, she'd heard that music again, the very music that had woken her in the first place, keeping her aware and awake as though ice water had been dashed into her face.
       Not that it was the first time she'd heard the beautiful melody, but it was usually so soft and subtle and easily ignored; not the stuporous music that was depriving her of sleep as of the stroke of midnight. And she needed her rest, because she'd already been staying up far too late at the college to help the American professor, poor man couldn't read hardly a word of Japanese. But he was fluent enough in speech, which is why he'd gotten the transfer in the first place. His research into anti-gravity and its spontaneous appearances across the world - though he had laughably confided that America was full of spontaneous humans and not so much gravity - had him recognizing a considerable disturbance within Tokyo itself.
       Setsuna had to admit that it was strange; why would the Delta, so freshly rescued from the bay, suddenly become so spatially abnormal? For the past week now she had monitored the space within the Delta, helping him calculate its possible effects and cause. Nothing they came up with made sense. Everything literally defied science. And it was only growing worse, its frequency steadily alarming her, quickening her own pulse to what she felt had to be some sort of climax; but of what? She felt as though she had to…
        …prevent it?
       But that was absurd.
       Without bothering to look, she reached across to the small bamboo chest that served as her bedside desk, taking down a small statue her mother had sent her from somewhere in Europe; a somber, cloaked Death, holding forth a small working clock. Her mother had written that she'd thought of her when she spied it in the window. And it was an exquisite piece, though wholly foreign and rather silly to a woman raised on the concepts of ancestral worship and the natural order; a man in a robe, taking away the dead! How very European indeed.
       It was a joke to her, Setsuna's mother, that she collected such images of reapers and old men. "Honestly, Setsu-chan," she'd said once, on a rare occasion when she'd been home, "The name isn't meant to be literal. You're too unhappy with life!"
       And what did her mother understand of the state of her happiness, she would've liked to know. She was the very antithesis of obaa-san's belief of happy homemaker and housewife, and was frequently gone on some 'wild runaway trip into the hands of the demons,' more at ease with strangers than family. At sixteen, she left school, after only two months of the tenth grade she'd studied so hard to enter against her mother's wishes, and hitchhiked to Tokyo from Izumo, still wearing her uniform. Meeting Setsuna's father, a struggling businessman almost fifteen years her senior, she had moved into his apartment and promptly got pregnant.
       Sometimes, Setsuna wondered if her birth certificate was correct as to her parentage, as she knew her mother was far too anxious to remain even the remotest bit loyal. But, in a moment of common sense, she married Meiou An'an, and so Meiou Setsuna was legally born into a cramped, ridiculously small box that remained her home for ten years. It took her mother perhaps two to realize she hated it, and begin her lone wandering again, not even bothering to seek a divorce first.
       But her life was otherwise pleasant, with her father working hard to provide for them both, helping her with her studies, and praising her constantly. She spent summers in Izumo, taking the cheap seats in the train both ways, learning proper etiquette and manners and the correct way to put on a kimono from her obaa-san. Coming home, she became used to the presence of a new woman in the apartment as her father moved on with his life, and the packages from foreign locations in the mail as irregular as a dying man's pulse. Letters, snatches of personality from her mother. Return addresses that were constantly being rerouted.
       When her mother sent her a postcard on the mixed mythology of the Roman and Greek pantheons, Setsuna's imagination was aroused. She went immediately to the bookstore to find a book explaining them.
       Her own name was a passing reference to the god of the underworld, Hades, or Pluto, for whom the planet was named; writing it out, she added the last character and read it aloud: Meiousei. Dark King Star. Pluto. Fascinated, she read everything she could about the realm of the dead as the ancient cultures had imagined it, amazed to find the references as well to Chronos and Saturn. But it was all merely interesting, as anything imaginary would be, not quite the childish obsession her mother would make it out to be.
       And yet…at times, she was sure she'd spoken those names before, even though she'd never once, even after poring over so many books, recited them to herself. She wasn't even sure she could pronounce them properly, for the Japanese approximation of the names couldn't account for single consonants. But the sensation was so real.
       Her mother, coming home for Setsuna's birthday one year, gave her the gift of a leather bound notebook, with its cover a replication of a painting of Father Time. And after that, any object of the bearded old man, or of the scythe-wielding figure of robed Death, that struck her fancy was sent home; over the years, Setsuna had acquired quite a collection. She even had a ridiculous plastic lamp from America made to resemble a Tiffany, with a terrible grinning skull that lit up by the touch of her fingers.
       But why her mother assumed that she had an obsession with death was beyond her reasoning, when it was the sight of the clock and its dwindling minutes that she loved. In a way, such machines were immortal; they were always sixty minutes to every hour, sixty seconds to a minute, and as the hand turned, it both lost and gathered those allotments of time. Digital clocks were even more amazing, because you couldn't see the time as it came, it was always a vague surprise to know a minute had passed. Chronos, god of time.
       So she collected her images, studied dutifully, and rather upset both her obaa-san and her mother when she decided to continue on to high school. Only her father and his girlfriend, a mainstay in Setsuna's life for almost two years by that point, stood by her decision. And why shouldn't she continue her education, for the love of the kami? What else could she do in life with only nine years of school?
       Her obaa-san denounced her decision, disliking public education and what she saw as a waste of Setsuna's prime youth. She could so very easily become a refined lady and a fine wife for a man, a respectable life of honest labor in the home and financial control. Obaa-san herself had barely the minimum education, and had married extremely young, hardly ever leaving the house for lack of desire; too much washing, cooking, cleaning to be done. Why couldn't her daughter and granddaughter realize what potential they were giving up? Educated women worked too hard for too little benefit, in her opinion, with no time for raising children properly or managing the house.
       Her mother was upset primarily because it tied Setsuna into a routine, and kept her from what she considered freedom. She had expressed the wish that her daughter would finally join her on her wandering trips, even though she never really bothered to even visit her. What was an education when you could stroll through the great museums of the world? Did it mattered if one knew their times tables whilst hiking up to the summit of a mountain? No, she was not at all pleased that her own child would want such drudgery. After all, hadn't she chosen that path herself, only to promptly find happiness in another?
       Setsuna had essentially shrugged and prepared for the exams, her father's girlfriend helping her study - she was an accomplished architect, and natural tutor. Even as she had taught her to memorize her kanji, she was planning the first of a trio of condominium towers to be built in the reclamation project. "Setsuna," she'd remarked once, nibbling at her pencil, "What shall I name these towers? No one appreciates art in this city, not in their staid buildings. I need something unique."
       "After the planets."
       The girlfriend had laughed. "Oh? And which three?"
       "The sea, the sky, the darkness…the three kings."
       Passing her exams and entering the prestigious high school she'd dreamed of, Setsuna was a quiet student, intelligent in a sea of intelligence, and cheerful enough to have several friends. Though they were more casual acquaintances than close friends, not people she spent any meaningful amount of time outside of school with. No, those hours were spent on homework and casual reading, preparing a quick dinner for the three of them when her father was working late, or his girlfriend.
       Science in particular held her passion, with its attempt to explain the world and everything in it, providing hard-core evidence instead of romantic, religious slop. Though she often went with her father to light incense at the family's ancestral shrine during O-bon, as his parents were long dead and the home sold, it was more a ceremonial event than honest celebration. She had no belief in the spirits of their ancestors coming back to visit, or their need to welcome them with their sticks of incense. The multiplication of cells, creating large and varied organisms, the rotation of the planet sustaining an electromagnetic field which in turn protected them from solar radiation and excessive heat, combinations of elements and isotopes and chemicals to create such interesting man-made devices…that was her religion.
       Her decision to try for acceptance at the private and exclusive KO University, made whilst she was still a tenth grade student, was again regarded with disdain by obaa-san and her mother. Again she ignored them. She felt as though she could make it, she could have the answers to so many questions; the possibilities were endless in such an environment.
       Then, as she reached the cusp of her twelfth year, the examinations looming large over her head, she began to feel as though her time was running out. And it was utterly ludicrous to feel that she had to work faster, overcoming some destined shortage of time. She was not even in the prime of her life yet, she had decades in front of her, and no need for concern. But she simply could not shake it.
       Lying in bed at night, she often half-dozed instead of honest sleeping, seeing the most lurid fantastic visions; colours blurring together as though the paint had been dashed with water, the sensation of someone holding her hand. People crying, and the sense of time non-existent. Many mornings she opened her eyes to find herself curled into a fetal ball on her futon, the sheets twisted around her feet. Drenched in sweat, her fingers digging into the mattress. And she never remembered these dreams!
       Motionless at her window, she had watched the world go mad, knowing somehow that it was connected to her dreams, to the strong impression that she could, if she wanted, attempt to stop it. Stop… But stop what? Even the hurried explanations afterward, that it had been unprecedented storm activity, ocean swells, temperature; no, nothing known by science until then could have coldly and precisely told her what had happened. Looting and riots were not caused by temperature. And the weather had been so mild up until then, illogically so, only to suddenly and rapidly drop into inhumane conditions. Somehow, she could have intervened. That had been her strongest impression.
       And that was when she could swear she heard someone tell her, clearly, "…and when we become involved in human affairs, we do more damage than good, because the human animal is precisely that. Temperamental and thoughtlessly passionate, they cause the illness. They prevent the cure. And you can never ignore the rules that bind us."
       Who had told her that? She had a sense of blonde hair brushing her face.
       No consequence at all, her mysteries. Life returned to normal, at least for a month. And then the dreams came back worse, beating her psyche with their impressions, questioning her own existence in the wee hours of the morning. Why was she sleeping? She had no need to sleep, nor gasp for water, she was defined by the very fact that time did not define her at all. How very strange that she was dressed in these mundane clothes, defenseless. But perhaps it was all a clever plan to separate the three…
       She forcibly pushed it all to the back of her mind. Her exams went brilliantly, and she had entered the university as an eager freshman. Because of her father and his girlfriend, she received a penthouse in the Meiou complex, her large living room window facing the mysterious Mugen Gakuen. Behind it, she could see Ten'nou complex, and to the left, Kaiou. A triangle, with the school at its heart. And she was taking the bus thirty minutes away every morning for classes with an excellent educational system in her own back yard.
       But when she began to help the professor with his studies, recognizing that abnormality right where she lived, it forced her to remember that sense of the clock ticking, winding to zero. Losing minutes, when it had always gained them in turn. She was Meiou Setsuna, freshman and solitary student, but for how long? How long until…

       Kaoli didn't know how long she could stand this.
       She glared at Professor Tomoe across a sea of beakers and test tubes, listening to him cheerfully record the life span of a young puppy that had rather violently died during his experiment. Why he insisted on using animals was beyond her, as they could have simply found some runaway or drunken sot off the streets for a proper test of the daimon. The creatures would not manifest in dogs, they blew them up rather spectacularly in her opinion, but he seemed to find some worth in creating a mess.
       Earlier that day, she had 'fed' their Master through the link all of their accumulated souls, hardly concerned with the fact that every single student she'd taken them from was now no better than dead without them. Once the daimon were properly incubated and grown, they would devour the souls of their victims and survive in such a manner, infesting hosts with eggs that would grow to maturity and feast. And while baby daimon needed the host to have their soul, to slowly gorge upon it and gain strength, their current daimon were too weak and confused to grow within a host properly. The soul had to be entirely removed for the daimon's own soul to take up residence.
       It was a painful process, and Kaoli's nerves were growing shot every day she had to bind a student, enspell them to forget, and deliver them both to Tomoe and back to the school. She was a witch, a Magus, and not a damned courier service. But the professor was positive they were achieving glory; the news reports about the daimon attack on the bus confirmed his hypothesis that the daimon were fully manifesting. It was a sign of fortune that their only obstacle was to nurture them into the last stage, to fully feed upon the souls of their victims and so survive.
       Too bad the Master didn't see it as entirely fortunate, due to the failure of the Witches 5 to capture even a single sailor soldier. [Still the light so close to the light of our crystal remains out of your grasp. Magus, you continue to fail me, and lose our valuable utilized souls!]
       She'd like to see him try to do it. Those damn soldiers were harder to kill than cockroaches, and she had no doubt even they would survive a nuclear holocaust all the same. Eudial had failed miserably, Mimete wasn't even worth discussing, and now Viluy had been destroyed, Tellu barely escaping with her life. The green-haired witch refused to even talk to her, locking herself up in the greenhouse to most likely plot her revenge, and the kami and their shades knew how far that'd get her. Probably just as far as the previous three.
       Tomoe was muttering now, shaking a test tube and holding it up to the light to examine its contents. Though he took his job seriously, creating the proper daimon was taking time away from his true passion, the very mad plan he had been initiating all those years ago that had caught the Master's attention. And he was beginning to grumble about it in an annoying, jaw-grinding sense. Kaoli hated listening to him whine. Who cared about his dreams of creating a superhuman? Soon, the Master would make this their new world, and humans would no longer properly exist.
       "Kaoli, have you captured any sailor soldiers yet?" Tomoe asked suddenly, though he was still investigating his tubes and wasn't even looking her way.
       "Iie. The power Sailor Moon wields, with its light so close to that of the Taioron Crystal, has been destroying our failed daimon and the witches so very easily." She watched him pick up another tube, shaking it vigorously. "But I will obtain those souls, somehow."
       He shrugged, tipping the tube over into a cloth handkerchief; this he used to clean his eyepiece, not the strangest thing she'd seen him do, but enough to lift an eyebrow. "The sailor soldiers…excellent specimens. To find the source of their strength would be a perfect experiment, in fact I've devised a hypothesis that they could be close to the superhuman I've envisioned."
       Kaoli leaned on the edge of the table, no doubt flashing him her ample cleavage through the folds of her lab coat, a sight wasted on the scientist, and snorted. "They gain their strength from magic, Professor. Superhuman perhaps, only by enhancement. But then that's your mad plan, isn't it? To create such a person through augmentation and unnatural means."
       She was goading him, and she knew it, and she was bored enough to continue. "Perhaps your continuation of the superhuman is false. After all, for such tests, you've chosen a subject we can hardly afford to sacrifice-"
       The breaking of glass was such a dull sound, being so small; a test tube, cracking within the scientist's furious grip. Within seconds, the bright shine of blood appeared between his fingers, a few droplets sliding from his palms and onto the tip of his shoe. A careless gesture dropped the shards and a large piece to the floor, and he nonchalantly looked up at Kaoli. "You question my devotion to the Master? The one who gave me a second chance at my prize? Even now, I feel the potential in myself to become that superhuman, but who better to become that person than…"
       He trailed off, an unusual frown twisting his mouth. His good eye became glassy, unfocused, and Kaoli recognized his warring emotions; after all, it happened so very rarely. Professor Tomoe had never been a very emotional person, even before the utilization, more interested in the effects of science and experiment than family or personal life. It had been the driving force behind the last experiment that had nearly decimated his entire family, killing his wife, putting his child on the brink of his death, and himself into physical therapy. But of course, it had also been the catalyst for his ultimate experiment, when opportunity had given him a willing, weak body to use.
       The sight of any true emotion on him was always something of a treat to watch, and so she waited. It never took very long at all; he was never a man used to such a war, and often quickly squashed anything he considered he didn't need. And, as usual, within a quick minute or so, his face assumed that placid, Mona Lisa smile. "Really, Kaolinite. Perhaps this is jealousy talking, that your partnership to the Master will be worthless with our last perfect utilization? After all, the last of the Nine is perhaps perfect to what we all require."
       "How dare you! How dare you throw such ideas in my face!" Kaoli bared her teeth in a strangely feral gesture, her lovely features turning all somewhat grotesque. "The last of the Nine is merely the last gesture before the Master can arrive. You, with your silly reality of science could never comprehend the power of such a simple event; magic is beyond your reach, even with utilization intact!"
       Staring at one another across the table, Kaoli finally made a disparaging sound and turned away. She wouldn't make any headway; the man was stubborn, and not simply because he thought he was right, but because he didn't honestly care one way or another. Already he was looking back around at his incubator, completely ignoring his assistant for the intricacies of his evolving projects. Inside of it was an oversized egg, shaped like a ridged seed or a peeled oblong melon with segments; cracking it open revealed the daimon's infant yolk. This was what they poured into the victim's ear, the oxygen turning liquid to gas or what they approximated as gas.
       Throwing up her hands, the red-head stomped out of the laboratory, her skin rejoicing as it left the icy air, so frigid as to discourage any spoiling or growth. In contrast, the room temperature of the rest of the house was almost tropical, and she immediately opened up her lab coat entirely to slip it off and hang it on a peg. Smoothing down the front of her vest, she strode off towards the kitchen and a snack, something sugary to soothe her nerves as she plotted. She had far too much to accomplish and no little time to do it in.
       It being an hour after school, she was only a little surprised to find Tellu standing at the window, tending to an English ivy sitting on the sill. Of course, in her Mugen uniform, she was in her identity still as Teruno Ruru, a student of botany and the Phys. Ed instructor. She smiled covertly back at the red-head over her shoulder, her fingers twined with the vines that reached greedily. "Konnichi wa, Magus Kaolinite," she greeted, a nail tickling the underside of a leaf. At her side on the countertop was a half-eaten sweet bean paste bun, still bearing teeth marks.
       A week ago, she had barely escaped the death magic of the sailor soldiers that had killed the witch Viluy. This was actually the first time Kaoli had seen her outside of the school's greenhouse or laboratory, concocting a true scheme of her own to destroy them. She was angry that none of them had managed to capture the soldiers' souls, or the light so close to the source of their life, and with the position of Magus so close to their grasp!
       Kaoli was rather doubtful as to the power of the remaining Witches 5. But she was clever enough to hold her tongue, allowing them to die stupidly, watching from afar the soldiers' tricks. Even though the Master was upset at the loss of their souls, it gave her valuable information as to how to beat them. And then, the light of the planets, and the source of light within the soldier of the Moon; perhaps their capture would lure out of hiding the three who bore the light of reckoning.
       Even now, she could sense those certain lights, growing stronger or perhaps closer. But of the fourth, that point to which they would draw and create the ultimate power of reckoning that could stop the Master and his plans, she felt only the tiniest inkling. She had decided that they must have been components in a spell themselves, a magic spell that could be used to call forth the power of reckoning. But they undoubtedly had to do it a certain way, at a certain moment, and if so, all she had to do was destroy the three. Let the witches commit suicide in battle. The soldiers could do nothing against the Master once the three lights were destroyed.
       "Konnichi wa, Tellu. Have you decided on a plan to destroy the bodies of the sailor soldiers? This is a large task, now that you are one of the remaining Witches 5. Already they've killed your three companions." Kaoli opened the small fridge, removing a bottle of fruit juice and twisting the lid with two fingers. Studying her slick red nails afterward cursorily - they were her one real vanity, perfect and the colour of fresh blood - she pulled a glass from the cupboard and poured. "To reach the position of Magus is a lofty prize, but I wonder; are you up to the challenge, witch Tellu?"
       Gathering the ivy into her arms, Tellu laughed. "Why, Magus Kaolinite, I'm surprised at you! Already, my plan is bearing fruit. Soon, the sailor soldiers will walk right into my hands, ripe for the harvest of souls. My problem is deciding on how to properly present the light so close to the Taioron Crystal to you and the Master." She stroked the green vines as they lifted, shaking gently beneath her hand, warming up to her magic. Picking up her bun, she took another large bite of it and chewed with relish.
       "How very thoughtful of you, Tellu." Kaoli swallowed her juice, regarding the smeared glass before she refilled it nearly to the brim.
       But she heard something curious then, and she turned to look towards the door. Someone talking, though there was no one else in the house but them, Tomoe, and the girl, Hotaru - could it be her? Impossible, for then the person laughed! Hotaru never laughed, hardly ever even smiled, always in pain and furious towards Kaoli's face. "Masaka," Kaoli murmured, eyes shifting rapidly to settle finally on the shiny metal fixtures of the stove.
       As Tellu watched her curiously, she strode over quickly and touched two fingers to the largest plate, whispering beneath her breath to bring up a slightly murky vision. Hotaru. Incredibly, Hotaru, talking on the phone with a smile, a phonebook open on the small table next to her. And though the sight of her using the phone was not a surprise - after all, the raven-haired girl often had to call in take-out orders - her cheery face and gentle demeanor was. Kaoli again cursed the need for an imperfect medium, instead of her scrying pool; this method had no clear picture, nor sound to give her a clue as to the other person's identity.
       "Is the girl making friends now? How unusual," Tellu remarked, her power sufficient enough to allow her to see what Kaoli could see, though it was even more fractured to her sight. "Is it possible for her to find friendship outside of this house, with the Master's plans so close to culmination?"
       "Dangerous," was Kaoli's terse answer. "But who could it possibly be? Not a student shows a happy face to her at school, knowing instinctively…"
       "Perhaps someone else?" The green-haired witch shrugged, unconcerned; overall, the plan of the Master no longer involved her, she would simply reap its benefits. That is, if she survived her counterstrike against the sailor soldiers, and attained the position of Magus.
       Hotaru set the phone back in its cradle, disappearing down the hall and into her room. Kaoli vanquished the image, frowning, thoughtful. "Making friends, at such a time…"

       Chibi-Usa sat in the front window seat, watching the door. Behind her sat Usagi and the others, Alex lazy on the couch, a quiet day for studying being used to its fullest. With Usagi's parents out of town visiting Kenji papa's sister, taking Shingo with them, they had asked the tall red-head - whom they recognized as trustworthy on sight, instinctively knowing her character as they had known Moriya's, though she was in fact a stranger - to check in on their daughter. After all, the odango-haired blonde was in the ninth grade, and with her poor grades and looming high school exams, she couldn't risk taking even a few days vacation from school. Chibi-Usa had simply asked to stay behind.
       So they gathered at her cozy house for the time being, studying diligently for one of the most difficult tests of their lives. Mamoru himself was staying late after classes now, preparing for his entrance into college; he would come over later. "Ami-cha-an, what's the solution to this problem?" Minako whined, tapping her pencil against her notebook. "It doesn't make sense!"
       "Minako, are you even recognizing the problem as an equation?"
       "My recognition doesn't mean anything against its rudeness."
       The dark-haired shrine girl rolled her eyes, finger set at the point where she'd left off in her book. "Minako, how you can attain a status of high school student will be remarkable. Haven't you the slightest discipline?"
       Minako stuck out her tongue, switching immediately to a doe-eyed whimper as she enticed the blue-haired genius to help her. Ami sighed, adjusting her reading glasses, and leaned over to point out, step by step, the intricacies of the problem. Next to her, Usagi was gamely plowing through her own math problems, and looking to be having just as many difficulties; Makoto as well looked confused, chin in hand and pencil having long ceased writing. With Rei in a private Catholic school that gave her no real worries of having to pass painful tests to attain high school, and Ami driven to be acquire and retain knowledge from a young age, they were the only two out of the five unconcerned. The two blondes, and the tall brunette, however, were undisciplined, and easily lazy; they were chewing their fingernails nightly.
       Of course, that could have as much to do with the tests as the enemy that loomed as well as a shadow over their lives. Surviving the enemy would come long before any test, and if they failed, then no one would have to worry about a thing ever again. The dead had no cares, or so Luna had sternly warned them.
       And it seemed almost ironic that they were studying to take their minds off of one more problem; the mysterious soldiers, no longer mysterious. Sailor Uranus, and Sailor Neptune, now known to them fully as Ten'ou Haruka and Kaiou Michiru. They had not seen either of them in the week that passed, even though Michiru, in hindsight, had seemed to actively seek Mamoru out, and Haruka coming up to Usagi. Alex told them all that Uranus had shared with her, which was essentially the same as what the two soldiers had told them all, en masse; that it was their sole mission. They didn't want any of them to interfere.
       "I don't know what could happen then, if the new Pluto comes to us in this time," the tall red-head had explained, reaching to scratch Diana's head. "Because, obviously, Neo Queen Serenity had faith in Pluto taking her place at the gate soon, or else she wouldn't have let this little kitten come back with Chibi-Usa."
        "Mama only said that the gate would find its owner again," Chibi-Usa said. "Puu…but not my Puu."
       "But what could happen, Alex, if Pluto came here?" Artemis queried.
       "The three soldiers of the outer reaches of the system? If Pluto came here, we could have another soldier denying our help."
       Yes, they needed something to take their minds off of the problem. And they had been given a reprieve; no daimon had been sighted attacking innocent victims, not even a hint of warning. Of course, those very soldiers could be taking care of the disaster.
       Pencils scratching, the girls finally settled into silence as they worked on their papers, the tall red-head dozing, acting as a pillow in turn for the three cats curled on her stomach and hips. Chibi-Usa, at the window, looked up at the clock on the wall, nibbling at her lip. It had been an hour since the phone call, the minutes rapidly falling away. Ever since Pluto had died, she had been acutely aware of the flow of time, as if she felt the need to watch it in her friend's stead.
       A somber figure appeared at the entrance to the yard proper, and the pink-haired child smiled wide, hopping out of the window seat. The three felines each opened an eye to watch her, as did Alex; she didn't appear to notice as she disappeared into the front hallway, opening the door just before Hotaru could knock. "Hotaru-chan! You came!"
       "Of course, Chibi-Usa-chan," the raven-haired girl said, smiling softly. She wore a brimmed hat of a soft dove colour, shading her face from the afternoon sun, and another long-sleeved black dress and matching stocking. "May I come in?"
       "Hai, hai-"
       "Imouto, who is it?" Both girls looked up at the tall red-head as she leaned out of the doorway to the living room, staring curiously at Hotaru. A cluster of whiskers was just visible around the lip of the wall at her feet.
       Chibi-Usa set her face in a stern frown, shoulders stiff, as she said, "This is Tomoe Hotaru-chan, my new friend." As if daring any contradiction, she slowly looked away to face Hotaru, trading the frown for a bright smile, adding, "Hotaru-chan, this is LeBeau Alex-san."
       Alex smiled wryly as she stepped out of the doorway, bending down lightly take Hotaru's hand, touching her lips to the back as a gentleman might. "Bonjour, Tomoe-san. I'm sure any friend of Chibi-Usa's will be highly regarded in this house."
       Hotaru's mouth opened wide. At an utter loss for words, she stared at her hand as Alex stood up, unable to accept that someone - a stranger! - had touched her with no complications or hatred. Even now, the tall red-head seemed entirely calm to have her standing there, while Chibi-Usa beamed her pleasure. "I…arigatou gozaimasu, LeBeau-san," she finally stammered, clasping her hands together and bowing hastily.
       "Just 'Alex,' please, if you can manage it. If not, 'LeBeau' is fine, but no honorific; you kids make me feel old doing that." She winked, wandering back into the living room, and Hotaru slowly stared around at the pink-haired child, beginning to blink.
       "She's an American," Chibi-Usa explained, beginning to giggle.
       "I can tell. Are…all Americans like her?" Hotaru asked slowly, glancing down again at her hand. And she had not been repelled by her cold skin, either…
       Chibi-Usa shrugged, motioning for the raven-haired girl to slide off her shoes and follow her. "I don't know, Alex-chan is the only American I've met. But she's very kind and nice." She took Hotaru's hand and led her into the living room quickly, shoulders set straight again as she anticipated the stubborn nature of her friends.
       But obviously, Alex had already told them; they looked up at her with varying degrees of surprise, nothing as shocking as she had expected. Behind her, Hotaru went slightly stiff, no doubt shy in the presence of strangers, but Chibi-Usa wanted to make sure everyone understood exactly her relationship. "Ami, Rei, Makoto, Minako…this is Tomoe Hotaru-chan, my friend."
       "Hajimemashite, Tomoe-san," Ami murmured.
       "Konnichi wa, Hotaru," Minako said, playing with her pencil.
       Rei nodded her head cursorily, book still raised. "Tomoe Hotaru-san."
       Makoto smiled sadly at Hotaru, feeling just a bit sorry for her, in her situation. Even if she were a possible enemy. "Hajimemashite, Hotaru-chan."
       Usagi, having already met Hotaru, waved her hand in greeting, but seemed more absorbed in watching the reactions of her friends; no doubt, all of them felt hesitant in regarding her as safe, but could hardly dismiss her out of hand as the enemy. Her father's possible evil ways did not automatically damn her as well, not with Chibi-Usa beaming so happily at her side. Even the cats were staring at her in a calculated manner, as if trying to accept her position.
       "H-hajimemashite, Ami-san, Rei-san, Makoto-san-"
       "Mako-chan is fine!"
       "-Mako-chan, Minako-san," Hotaru returned, bowing.
       Chibi-Usa breathed an internal sigh of relief, releasing her friend's hand. "Alex-chan, Usagi, is it all right if I go to the movies with Hotaru-chan? I promise to be back in time for dinner!"
       The odango-haired blonde paused, crystal blue eyes lifting to lock up with lapis blue. Alex raised one shoulder in a small shrug, glancing back at Chibi-Usa, then at Hotaru. "I don't see a problem, do you, Usagi?"
        "Well, Chibi-Usa, can you do such a thing alone?" Rather tactfully phrased, all things considered; asking the pink-haired child if she could remember how to use the money she was being given for allowance was a bit too obvious. The yen note was something Chibi-Usa had never dealt with in the future, as most purchasing was done with barter, and she had not been involved in those deals either. Last time she had bought an ice cream cone, she had given the guy almost 100 yen too much. And going to the movies was expensive.
       "Mochiron! You should have faith in me, Usagi; I'm not so much the child as you can be, sometimes," Chibi-Usa retorted, folding her arms.
       There was a swallowed laugh at the table, and Usagi frowned, biting back her own snappish remark. She couldn't exactly reprimand her for being disobedient towards her own mother in front of Hotaru, and it was a wasted effort anyway; neither of them felt like mother and daughter, or acted it. "Do you have enough?"
       "No one has enough to watch a movie in this ridiculous capitalist utopia," Alex remarked from the couch, sitting back up and reaching into her back pocket. She withdrew a small sheaf of yen, holding them out for Chibi-Usa to take, over Usagi's stammered protests. "A ¥5,000 note should give you ¥1,400 in change for buying two tickets at the Movie Amuse East/West," she said in an undertone, pointing out the proper bill to give the attendant, and what she would get back.
       Chibi-Usa nodded solemnly, folding the money and placing it into the pocket of her shirt. She was getting better at handling cash, but she still admitted to her mistakes, and was glad Alex trusted her enough to not screw it up. Much better than baka Usagi, no better than a spoiled child, unwilling to help. "Arigatou, Alex-chan! I promise, I'll be back by dinnertime, eight o'clock, ne?"
       "Hai; by then, perhaps I'll be released by the slave driver and allowed to cook," the tall brunette replied, only partially joking; Ami was damned scary when she got worked up in her role as tutor. Give her a whip, and she would be unstoppable.
       Hotaru giggled despite herself, covering her mouth. Everyone here seemed so cheerful, while she lived at home with a heavy silence most often as her father was occupied and Kaoli-kun was simply unacceptable. She found herself beginning to smile just a bit wider as Chibi-Usa took her hand, leading her to the door to put on their outside shoes. "It was a pleasure meeting all of you."
       "Surely you're coming back for dinner!" Minako rolled onto her stomach, resting on her elbows. "Mako-chan is a superb cook, you couldn't possibly miss the best meal of your life!"
       "I…but my father might wonder…I couldn't…" What was she saying? Of course she probably could, her father wouldn't notice if she disappeared for a week. And when had she ever before been invited not only to a person's house, but to dinner? Was she simply insane to pass up such an opportunity? "…yes. Yes, I'll come back. If I'm allowed."
       "Of course you are, I always cook enough food for everyone!" Makoto assured her.
       Usagi smiled, playing with her pencil. "Hai, hai, Mako-chan is a wonderful cook, and cares about everyone."
       Wow. They actually wanted her to return and share their food. Hotaru didn't know whether to laugh or cry or both. She simply nodded, hurrying to follow Chibi-Usa and put her shoes on, the door soon closing after both of them. Everyone watched through the front window as they vanished around the fence.
       Rei closed her eyes, exhaling sharply. "Is this wise? For the daughter of the potential enemy to be alone with Chibi-Usa?"
       "Perhaps she isn't an enemy at all, however. And Chibi-Usa seems happy to have a friend. To tell her she can't see Hotaru…" Usagi trailed off, fidgeting. She had already tried to describe the situation to her, after the fight on the bus. The pink-haired child had stormed away, disappearing into the city for hours; coming home finally, late, she had told Usagi flatly that Hotaru was a good person, even if her father was evil. Didn't anyone understand? Hotaru in such a situation needed friendship and consolation; especially if they were to destroy her father and leave her alone in the world.
       Minako frowned, staring up at the ceiling. "Rei, could you sense anything about Hotaru? Surely if she had an evil presence, you could feel it and tell us."
       "I don't know what I felt," Rei admitted quietly. "I sense an aura around her that feels almost familiar, and yet, it eludes me. And there seems to be a piece of her missing…a hole in that aura that is being steadily devoured."
       "Then perhaps she's a victim of her father's plans?" Makoto clenched her fist atop the table, as if ready to leap up and defend the pale girl. The girls traded varying looks of worry and anger, then looked around to the four on the couch. "Could it be possible? Is she only a victim, and we've worried that she's in fact an enemy?"
       The white cat scratched at his ear, wincing as he caught a small bump. Shaking his head vigorously, he sighed. "Who can say? She could be entirely innocent, and yet she could also be an enemy. But surely, knowing such tantalizing energy, she would have attacked Chibi-Usa before this."
       The black cat snorted, giving Artemis a sly look. "Is that your analysis? The enemy can also be sly, biding their time."
       The lavender cat, regarding both her parents curiously, said, "But does the enemy know who she is?"
       "Does the enemy realize who any of the girls truly are? Possibly. Viluy saw Michiru transform, and of course, she's rather inseparable from Haruka, but she's also dead. The other witch, what did you say her name was? Tellu? She was doing her best to act like a slab of carbonite, so who knows if she was conscious enough to recognize them." Alex rested her arms on the back of the couch, tapping a foot on the carpet. "And Tellu knew you all were sailor soldiers, but not your names. That doesn't mean they're smart enough or have the manpower to go door to door to figure them out."
       "Which means we could still have the advantage?" Makoto ventured.
       Alex shrugged. "Possibly. Maybe Hotaru's innocent. Maybe she's an enemy in disguise. I can't read her mind any easier than the lot of you, so all we've got is best guess scenario."
       The dark-haired shrine girl closed her book, folded her fingers and resting her chin. "So again, we're at an impasse. And the enemy still exists, waiting."
        Minako smiled oddly, sliding her legs out from beneath the table to stand, and dusting at the wrinkles in her skirt. "The enemy will always be waiting, Rei-chan. All we can ever do is make sure they never make their final move."
       "Like chess," Ami remarked quietly. "The opening gambit, sacrificing their pawns to capture a king and queen. Only those two final pieces matter. All else in between is useful only to be discarded."
       "I always hated chess."

       Teruno Ruru strode calmly down Juuban's streets, head held high. It was near the end of the day, the sky darkening to rich, lovely purple and pink and orange; once, she had loved such time, the air nearly magical. Once, before she had accepted her new role, allowing her body to become merely a utilized, perfect vessel, no longer weak. Though once in a while the lingering memories of that past life came back - her parents, before she had killed them carelessly as one would discard of a feeble pet - she cared only for the coming world, and her place within. The plan to create that world didn't matter, only the end result.
       And that she attained the rank of Magus.
       She smiled then, extending a hand forward, fingers unrolling; from her palm rose a small vine, twisting up a few inches into the air. A dark emerald green, its one leaf was the shape of a multi point star, with sharp tips that were no doubt thorns. It bent, swiveling like an antenna down one of Juuban's main roads, giving her a new direction. "Ah, that they are so careless," she sighed, changing her path. "It seems as though the soldiers are nothing less than children."
       It was such an obvious trail, one that had taken her half of a week to realize. Her plants were unique, their sap mixed with her blood from which she fed them at birth. After a certain age she stopped such nursing, raising them to her specifications, but it was her blood that made them malleable, and answerable to her. The magic that gave her power gave them life.
       When she had call forth her power, only one contaminated body existed, which hardly surprised her; those children had been hurt by her attack, but only the man had been cut deeply enough to infect. She dimly recognized seeing Sailor Moon act simpering towards him, his forehead slashed crudely. An easy bait to capture, merely a man in a silly tuxedo. If it had been a sailor soldier, she might have had a slightly more difficult time.
       As the tendril quivered straight, she halted, looking up at the apartment building she stood in front of. Not even a doorman to block her entrance; how quaint a lifestyle the man must have. She closed her fingers, walking inside as though she belonged there, utterly casual despite her growing disgust. The carpet was tolerable but worn, the foyer cookie-cutter and hardly unique. Ignoring the mail lockers, she walked directly to the elevator and pushed the up button.
       No one disturbed her trip as she went up, her hand held out, fingers spread. She watched the numbers go by slowly, leisurely, the sight of herself in the cheap metal walls one of anticipation. And she had a lot of time; for such a tall building, the elevator went intolerably slow, though whisper quiet, which she couldn't fault it for. She was simply not a patient person, and was toying with the idea of enspelling it to go faster when the vine jerked again.
       Stopping it a number above, she exited the elevator and took the stairs to the correct floor, casually kicking over a plastic potted fern as she went. She hated fake greenery. Kicking over another on the floor, she followed her vine down the hallway, watching the nameplates as she walked past. All mediocre people, one or two foreign names, and the sounds of TVs and radios and screaming children. Hideous. If this man had any children of any sort, she would enjoy feeding them to her plants slowly. She despised the little brats.
        "Hmmm. 'Chiba Mamoru,'" she singsonged, tapping a finger against the brass. Ignoring the buzzer and speaker, she tested the knob; finding it locked, she allowed her vine to slither into the keyhole, growing rapidly in size to break the entire thing. Left a nice hole in the wood for her to hook her hand into and push open.
       Inside was cheery light and neatness. Except for the man fallen on the floor, that is, half-curled as if to ward off stomach cramps. His skin had taken on a faintly green tinge, and he barely managed a moan as she nudged him with her shoe. Interesting; she hadn't expected her magic to intrude on his system so slowly. He should have been sprouting leaves by now, a man plant. She crouched down to touch the suppurating slash on his forehead, fingers wet with his blood and her plant's sap. "Ara ara," she laughed, "you've had quite a few people dabble with your soul, haven't you? So much evil magic, it's left an amazing imprint."
       Too bad it only served to put him that much easier into her control, but not hasten the process of vegetation. Whatever magic he had, if not the exact power of a sailor soldier, was still intense, keeping the magic of her blood from infecting him thoroughly. "Chiba Mamoru, harken to me. By blood, I bind you; with spirit, weak, I call you. Rise up, Chiba Mamoru, and harken to me, I am the witch Tellu!" She lifted her hands above her head, watching him jerk up onto his feet like a zombie on strings. "The witch Tellu commands you!"
       "Tel-lu," he whispered; though his muscles were not easily controlled by his commands, she gave him a measure of freedom to allow him to speak. "Tel-lu. Witch."
       She could see fear in his eyes, and she laughed. "Kakkoi Chiba Mamoru; mine to command. Yes, you will make excellent bait, and a perfect soul to feed to the Master." Placing a hand against his chest, she nudged him towards the door.

       "….I don't know, Chibi-Usa-chan, I don't think it would be so difficult to recognize possession," Hotaru argued as they left the theatre, still holding their half-eaten bag of dried plums. "After all, Stu was a gentle man, in contrast to his figment. If such a person here was possessed and acted so contrary, wouldn't he be found out?"
       "Maybe. I don't know, it's such an unusual movie! But then, I haven't seen very many movies until I came back to the 21s-to Tokyo, that is," Chibi-Usa hastily amended, taking a plum and chewing on it to stop her blabbering. Hotaru eyed her curiously, but said nothing, taking a plum herself. She felt comfortable enough to discuss movies and interests, but of personal lives…where could they even begin?
       They stopped at the crosswalk, crowded as usual for a Tokyo night, but for once Hotaru felt relatively easy. It seemed so much different when she was with a friend, tolerable for others to glance at her and look away as though she were normal. She felt herself smile, eating another plum. "I liked seeing a movie with you, Chibi-Usa-chan," she sighed, looking down at her friend. "Maybe we can go again sometime."
       "Hai! There's another foreign movie coming next week, a new movie from American with that man Alex-chan loves so much. It's a movie about pirates!"
       "Pirates?" Hotaru giggled at the notion, envisioning the cartoon she'd seen on TV with a boy who fancied himself a pirate; entirely silly and outlandish. "Do they capture fair maidens and plunder ships for gold and jewels?"
       "Maybe! And to live the rest of their lives with wealth and comfort."
       They both laughed, holding hands as they raced across the street at the light, dodging the pedestrians going both ways. Leaping up onto the sidewalk, they slumped against the light post to catch their breath; Chibi-Usa was realizing that her soldier's identity was in far better shape than she was, relaxed in the 21st century. Hotaru was always tired, her body unable to keep up with steady exertion, and so she simply waited for her system to adjust.
       Again the light changed, and as the crowd of people thinned, Chibi-Usa happened to look back across the street to see… "Mamo-chan?"
       "Ne, Chibi-Usa-chan?" Hotaru gasped faintly, still a bit hard of breath.
       The pink-haired child pointed towards the familiar figure of her future father, his dull stare never once turning towards her; and he was excellent at spotting her, even in a crowd. He often joked that she was colour-coded for quick reference. And the way he walked, so slow and unsure, with a girl at his side dressed in…dressed in…yes, burgundy, she realized with a sinking heart, and green plaid. The green-hair cinched it; her Mamo-chan was in the hands of the enemy.
       She stood up, raising a fist. "I have to-"
       "Chibi-Usa-chan, what's wrong?"
       "A-ano…" Literally jerking back into place, she looked back at Hotaru. This was not an excellent position for her to be in, at all. She had to transform and rescue Mamo-chan, and she couldn't just tell her new friend to get lost, not when they were supposed to go back to her house for dinner. "I…have to…ah…" Her head swiveled back and forth, watching the dark-haired prince disappear down a side street, and staring helplessly at Hotaru.
       They were both startled dumb when a car suddenly squealed into a park next to the curb, a little Toyota with more than a few dings in its paint job. A manicured hand reached across to throw the passenger door open, and Kaoli's face, shadowed, peered up at them. "Hotaru, it's time to come home. You're late for your weekly check-up."
       Hotaru stared dully at Kaoli, obviously thinking hard. There was no vicious rebuttal, as Chibi-Usa had seen during their first meeting, but also no acceptance; finally, Hotaru said faintly, "Perhaps you're right. But I don't recall any check-up this week…"
       "Hotaru, your father scheduled it. Please. You know you can hardly skip such things," Kaoli said angrily, reaching suddenly to grab her wrist. "Now stop being stubborn!"
       Chibi-Usa managed a choked noise of anger and outrage before Hotaru was jerked again, and she folded her legs just in time to duck into the seat before she hit the door. "Gomen nasai, Chibi-Usa-chan," she apologized faintly, the car rolling away before she finished. She closed the door just as Kaoli hit the gas and tore into traffic, speeding away.
       "What an awful woman...! Hotaru-chan…" The pink-haired child clenched her small fist again, turning away resolutely. Now she could only pray that woman was involved, if only to free Hotaru-chan from that horrible environment. And why had she acted so cruelly?
       The light changed above her, and she raced back to the other side, ignoring the sharp pain growing by her ribs. She clutched at the watch on her wrist, pushing the button she'd been told to use during 'radio silence,' sending merely a distress signal to the others that didn't require vocal messages. Even in such a crowd, she couldn't use her communicator in that way, though they would surely ignore her. She pushed it a third time, and ran around the corner she'd seen him vanish at, finding it relatively empty.
       "Moon Prism Power, Make Up!" she half-whispered, feeling the most extraordinary change as she continued to run, the magic speeding her steps, taking away her side-ache. How far could they have gone, at the pace he had been walking?
       The street led up to the local small shops that, during the daytime, was crowded with walking families and mothers getting the groceries or sweets for her children. Now it was empty, and faintly ominous, with all its windows dark and lifeless. At the far end she spotted two figures, moving so slowly.
       Tellu tilted her head at the sensation of approaching magic, pausing in dropping what appeared to be seeds along their path. Now that she was attuned to the power of the sailor soldiers, she could feel one close to them, and she smiled. A weak little power, insignificant next to the light of that one, Sailor Moon, but tasting just the same; perhaps, they were sisters, or some type of family. How lovely that she was making it easy on the witch.
       Chibi-Moon yelled, "Halt! Release Mamo-chan, now!"
       "No, I don't think so," Tellu sighed, calling forth her staff and circling her finger along the infinity symbol.
       Vines burst from the concrete, massive plants ripping the stone and mortar apart for their roots to greedily seek dirt, wrapping limbs around the small pink-suited sailor soldier. She screamed in surprise and fear, twisted frantically in the air. "Do you like it? It's my very special breed," the green-haired witch remarked casually, stroking the trunk of the nearest plant. "Just like my other darlings, they'll drain your soul into their limbs, collecting it all within their seeds for harvest. But these particular plants are also hungry, and they'll devour your body rapidly."
       She smiled up at Chibi-Moon, kicking her legs at a looming vine, through she was hardly any safer being tightly bound by another one. "Silly child, you've really bitten off more than you can chew. It appears that my plan has worked!"
       "Crescent Beam!"
       "Mars Snake Fire!"
       The firm support beneath Chibi-Moon vanished with a surprisingly human shriek, and she was left peddling air. She cried out in terror as she dropped, only to find herself caught up quickly in a warm pair of arms. The world spun; right side up, the Crystal Guardian landed, setting the pink-haired child onto her feet. "Are you all right, Chibi-Moon?"
       "H-hai," she whispered, though she felt a bit shaky. The tall red-head nodded, setting a hand atop her head.
       "Bon. I seem to be making with the last-second rescues lately," she remarked with a sigh, looking over to where Tellu was screaming over the blackened stump of one of her plants. Another bore a singed hole through its middle, which slowly grew bigger, eating its way through the green. "Where's Hotaru?"
        "Kaoli-kun…the lady who was at the art gallery…she came and took her home. And I saw Mamo-chan walking with that strange girl, so I followed them."
       "So I see." The ground shook as more plants grew up, tall and strong. One toppled right over, arcing with electricity from Jupiter's attack and the power lines it took with it. Another reached out its vines for them, discouraged by a spate of flames shaped like a flock of birds that attacked it. "Next time, wait for us to arrive before trying to fight the bad guy."
       Mamoru, still a sickly green but still annoyingly healthy by Tellu's standards, moved at her order to charge Sailor Moon, fingers hooked into claws. She cried out his name, scrambling away from his hands; Venus moved to intercept, but it was Jupiter who caught his arm, executing a smooth flip to throw him onto his stomach. Muttering an apology, she twisted his hand back to pull him up to get her forearm around and against his neck, choking him into submission as Conrad had shown her. "Gomen, gomen, Mamoru-san," she said again, tightening her grip. "But it's better you sit this one out."
       "Jupiter, look out!" Mercury yelled, too late; Tellu, furious, blasted the tall brunette full on from behind with her staff, sending her tumbling violently forward to crash onto the concrete. The dark-haired prince stood again at the witch's command, though he seemed even shakier now, his throat reddened.
       Venus charged, releasing her chain quickly to try and capture Tellu, missing as the witch teleported just as swiftly out of the way. Again Mamoru charged clumsily, trying to grab at the odango-haired blonde, who stood safely behind Mars and Venus; Mercury had run over to Jupiter, who lay still on the concrete. She glanced up once to see Venus sweep Mamoru's feet out from underneath, using her soldier's strength to catch him before he landed hard, and neatly cracked him upside the head with the flat of her hand. "Be careful, Venus!" Sailor Moon whimpered, reaching for her prince.
       "We've got no time to be careful, Sailor Moon, not with the enemy using him so terribly! This way, he'll be safe from her influence." The long-haired blonde flinched slightly as Mars released another attack right across her shoulder; a vine screamed in agony.
       The Crystal Guardian was still yards away, keeping Chibi-Moon behind her as she fought off the plants. Tenacious bastards, they kept growing new wherever she burned them to the ground; several had tried wrapping them in their smaller vines, bouncing off what shield she could muster under the circumstances. She was powerful enough to lift a small car with some pain, but while the plants were small, they hit hard and continuously. "I can only do this for so long, Chibi-Moon," she grunted, sending another vine off into a death spasm as it burned. "Not without something handy to throw."
       "Then give up, and allow me to relieve you of the brilliant light of your soul!" They looked up to see Tellu above on a particularly tall plant, hand raised to halt the other growth. "All of you have the light of planets, but in particular, there is that light so close to the source of my Master's life. Sailor Moon, tell me what creates that power within you!"
       "No business of yours, witch! It's only a power that will vanquish you from this earth!" Venus snapped, lifting her hand to aim.
       "Hardly. Such a feeble body can't even fight without proper protection, nor even face the visage of her…hmm…lover, is it?…when he's obviously a pawn of the enemy putting her into danger." Tellu traced the star on her staff, spinning it quickly down.
       Chibi-Moon screamed as she was pushed away, watching helplessly as the tall red-head bent double, mimicked by Venus and Mars as they were hit by Tellu's magic, throwing them up and backwards. The Crystal Guardian went through a window of a candy shop, Venus slammed into the trunk of a plant, and Mars collided with a mailbox. Sailor Moon had been pushed out of the way, same as her daughter, and she screamed the names of her fellow soldiers as they fell to the ground. "How hideously boring. You defeat Eudial, Mimete, and even Viluy, and yet…you remain so damned weak. So burdened by human emotion."
       She turned away for a brief moment, closing her eyes. Summoning the control of her scattered plants, sold as personal gifts, taken to be enclosed in greenhouses for cultivation, hanging in shops; sighing, she shivered as they all rose to her call. The other witches had never had such a truly expansive vision, not as she had foreseen it. How easy it had been to scatter her tools and her magic for this moment of harvest.
       "Rise to your purpose, my darlings! Show these pitiful soldiers who will remain powerful long after they are dead, sacrifices to the Master; lay waste to Tokyo! Destroy the humans!"

       Curious; there was a particular noise in the office she had never heard before. Normally all sorts of machines were at work, like the coffee maker, or the computer, the printer. But nothing that rattled in this unusual manner, drawing at her nerves as she attempted to draw up the graph of their newest results.
       Setsuna hit the save, and pushed her chair back - or more accurately, the professor's chair - to look around the darkened room. So late at night, she had almost the entire wing to herself, save for perhaps a janitor or two. What was making that ludicrous noise? "Such an unusual sound," she muttered, pushing the power button on the printer to make sure it was off, doing the same to the coffee maker. She even checked the answering machine - empty - and his little cheap radio.
       Then out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement. Near the partially open window, where the professor hung his potted plants, half of them nearly brown from his lack of constant watering. One of them was shivering, rattling its pot against another, plastic against plastic, and she shook her head with a depreciating laugh. "Baka, it's only the wind. Perhaps you are a bit too mired in morbid fantasy, Setsuna," she chided herself, reaching up to steady the pot as she closed the window.
       And something snaked around her wrist, light but incredibly taunt, and she was so surprised she couldn't even scream. The plant, the plant, was growing remarkably, bursting free of the plastic container, the small vine around her wrist thickening and tight. Before her astonished eyes she could see what seemed to be fog drawn from her skin, the colour of magenta; she felt weak, and fell onto her knees.
       Incredibly, she heard someone say, "What are you doing? This isn't how it ends!" It sounded remarkably like her own voice, though not exactly; younger, her voice at the onset of puberty perhaps.
       "I wish I could tell you your mission has ended," someone else said, a lovely voice that brought tears to her eyes. "But it can't end here. Not like this. And I won't trust another to take your place."
       Take her place? What place? She was Meiou Setsuna, a student of physics. Anyone could take her position easily, she was hardly irreplaceable.
        …no; she wasn't Meiou Setsuna. She was the soldier of legend, lonely in her position as guardian. Again she was given a chance, blessed by her sacrifice to be born properly in time, ignorant and careless. Was it now time to give up that mundane existence?
       "It hurts, the pain, I never imagined dying would hurt so much, and I…I…"
       "This is not an end, merely a transition. And when the time comes, you'll have lived a happy life, and everyone will be with you. Pluto!"
       Pluto.
       Her forehead burned.
       Everything tumbled into place, and she screamed, feeling the power of her planet in her veins again, constrained by time and within time and beckoning to the two who were also here. Sympathetic lights, who recognized her and sang with amazement at the completion of their eons-old song.
        ….the planet of Uranus…
        ….the planet of Neptune…
        ….the planet of Pluto.
       "Yes, I see you both! For the first time, we've come together in this life!"

       Sailor Moon drooped as Tellu lifted her to eye level, her arms so tightly bound she felt her hands tingling, going numb. The witch used the tip of her staff to lift the odango-haired blonde's head, clucking her tongue. "Truly, you make this so easy on me, it almost seems a shame to simply rip out your planet's light and discard you, especially when you refuse to tell me what manner of light you have!"
       "…a power of hope…" Crystal blue burned fiercely, though the body was weak. "Nothing you do can destroy it…"
       "Please." Tellu sighed, letting Sailor Moon's head drop. "I don't want to destroy it, you stupid girl. My Master desires it. And once he has it, I'll be Magus, perfect, watching the changing of this world."
       She flinched as Chibi-Moon smacked her in the head with a stone. Another blast of magic flung the pink-haired girl off her feet, the slingshot bouncing once, twice, and back into a singed Luna-P. "Is it really so difficult to tell me? Surely it has a name. After all, you'll die perhaps quicker this way. You've lost already, your soldiers are too weak to save you."
       Carelessly she gestured around to encompass the scenario below them, the fallen soldiers weak and defeated. After she'd blasted the strongest, only Mercury and Chibi-Moon had been left to defend their princess, with the blue-haired genius leaping to take the brunt of a spell meant for Sailor Moon. She stood still in her flinch, encased in vines that effectively anchored her to the concrete like a living plant, no doubt screaming inside of her prison. And Chibi-Moon, well…with no power of attack, what could she do?
       "There's always…always soldiers to defeat you…witch…" The odango-haired blonde lolled, her eyes fluttering shut. Fighting Tellu's plants had gained her more of a beating than either had intended, her heart moon rod slapped from her hand too quickly for her to use it. Her tiara was still embedded in the thick flesh of the trunk, glittering and useless. And she could feel her soul being drained away, a curiously lightheaded sensation.
       "Yare yare, so stubborn. And here I thought perhaps I was doing you a favour, killing you first; you needn't watch your friends suffer. Isn't that what humans desire, lack of suffering?" Tellu tapped her lower lip with her finger, thinking. "Perhaps I'll then kill the little girl that annoys me so, and force you to watch. You'll tell me what I desire then, ne?"
       There was a twinkling of light then that caught her attention, and she turned away, carelessly ignoring the soldiers fallen below, useless until harvest. Perhaps it was merely Magus Kaolinite, coming to congratulate her? So when she felt the impact of power hit her torso, throwing her across empty air, she was surprised to say the least. Levitating down, she screamed, "Who! Show yourselves!"
        Another blast, this one burning her back, and she screamed again in pain, losing her staff. Turning once more, she stumbled onto her ass as an unfamiliar soldier walked up, clad in a black suit, and holding a lavender staff. Long hair the colour of aged emeralds framed a face of tanned skin and magenta eyes, which looked upon her coldly as they appraised her burnt body. And as the witch stared, two more walked up to stand at point behind her, the familiar soldiers of Neptune and Uranus, the three points of a triangle.
       "The soldier of the sea, Sailor Neptune." The aqua-clad sailor soldier raised a hand, gather power the colour of ocean water.
       "The soldier of the heavens, Sailor Uranus." Tellu turned to see the navy-clad sailor soldier lift her hand as well, though her power was the colour of golden sunlight.
       "The soldier of change, Sailor Pluto." The very last lowered her staff, a shape the witch recognized suddenly as a skeleton key. Her power gathered within the globe set in its handle, magenta and ominous as long-fallen blood.
       "Iie…not this destiny, that I've fought so hard to resist…!" She rose on her knees, disoriented, unable to cast a proper spell without her staff to guide it. "Onegai…onegai! Magus Kaolinite, save me from these three hideous harbingers!"
       And there was only the light that obliterated everything, and the witch Tellu's screams died as she died.
       Kaolinite, watching darkly in her scrying pool, said, "The three lights of foreboding that were revealed to me by the Master. Ah, Tellu, you proved yourself worthy near the end, after all." She smiled without humour, stirring the water with her fingertip, and the image rippled and lengthened, replicating as the water lapped at the sides of its containment. The three turned into six, then twelve, then so many they resembled one huge new creature, created out of the unique; yes, it would be like that. And Kaolinite would be ready.