Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ The Fragility of Time ❯ "The Path of Sorrows" ( Chapter 15 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

The Fraglity of Time
Chapter 15: "The Path of Sorrows"
Author: etj4Eagle
Email: etj4Eagle@yahoo.com
http://www.geocities.com/etj4eagle
Lasted Edited: 9/9/00

Disclaimer: A reminder I own none of the characters of this story,
all rights are owned by others.
If you distribute the story, do only
so freely and inform me of where you post it.

_______________________________________

Keffer awoke to a furry object pressed against his face. Only partially
awake and confused he fumbled around to turn on some light. When light
finally did pierce the darkness he felt foolish discovering the object in
question to only be the kitten from last night. Picking it up and petting it
he said, "Hope you slept well. We should see about finding your owner
today, too bad you don't have any tag on that collar." Putting Diana down
on the bed he got up and dressed. "Come lets see if we can find you
something to eat."

Diana liked that option and jumped up onto his head to ride to breakfast.
Her leap and landing startled Keffer causing him to wobble for a moment.

"Ah, so you like to ride around on the head. Never heard of a cat
that liked doing that before, but hey you are less likely to wander off and
get hurt that way." With that he opened the door and headed to breakfast.

"Hey, Keffer nice hat." Greeted one of the other airmen as he entered the
mess line. "Did not know that you were a cat person, though how did you
get it to ride your head like that?"

"I found this little fellow last night, she kind of flew into my head. I could
not find any tags on her, so I brought her back here for now. As for it
riding my head, well that must be the doing of its master." Replied Keffer

Diana herself sat wide-eyed on his head looking all around the place.
While she was use to crowds, it was always in the company of one of her
parents or small lady, never by herself. She trusted this Keffer person to
look out for her, but still she felt lost with all the airmen around. Plus she
did not like the loud noise of the jets rumbling as they took off and landed.

Arriving at the table Keffer put down his tray. After placing a bowl from
his tray to the side he carefully picked the kitten off from his head and
placed her down next to that dish, which contained cream. At first
conversation at the table proceeded along the common mundane topics,
but it was not long till they began to breach yesterday's events. "Have you
guys heard the news?" asked Ivoniva.

Receiving a series of "No's" she continued "Well those Sailor Senshi that
they took to the military hospital yesterday vanished in the middle of the
night. The guards claim that they just disappeared in a flash of light that
arced up through the ceiling. Furthermore I have heard that two of them
should for all intensive purposes be dead, for all the blood they lost. But
following their surgery they appeared to be in perfectly healthy
conditions."

A series of choking sounds drew their attention towards Diana. she wondered. Keffer looked worriedly at
the kitten, but then had to chuckle as the cat showed signs of a blush from
the mess it had made. "Guess your
news startled this little fellow" he said while cleaning up the cream she
had spilled onto the table and herself.

As he finished drying her off he noticed that she was trembling a bit. At
first he thought that she might have taken some of the cream the wrong
way, but she seemed otherwise fine. Then remembering what caused her
to choke in the first place he realized that for some reason the kitten was
scared. "Don't worry little one, from what I here the Sailor Senshi are fine.
That little vanishing stunt they pulled obviously proves that they are
perfectly fine." he said attempting to reassure her while also petting her.
The gentle words seemed to do the trick and her trembling stopped.
Placing her back on his head he grabbed his dishes to bus and left to begin
his morning.

* * * * * * * *
Michiru's house

Some of the Sailor Senshi were in near prefect condition, however, others
were still in pretty bad shape. Usagi and ChibiUsa did not have any
physical wounds left from the battle; the minor wounds Usagi had gotten
from Kunzite's attack (an attack that had seriously injured Mercury and
Venus) were fully healed. However, the two of them were suffering from
deep mental anguish as a result of what happened. Sleep had only come
for them and Mamoru after Pluto gave each of them a tea made from an
ancient herb to drink.

The effects had worn out in the early dawn hours for both Usagi and
ChibiUsa, with the two awakening within moments of each other.
Deciding not to bother the others they had slipped out into the yard and
onto the roof to watch the gradually brightening night sky in anticipation
of sunrise. They sat up there with ChibiUsa in Usagi's lap for many hours
just watching the sky.

Shortly after the sun began to rise, Mamoru awoke. Following his
connection to Usagi he found her and the child sitting on the roof and he
moved to join them, placing an arm around Usagi's shoulder he pulled her
slightly so that she adjusted to lean against his chest. No words were
exchanged initially.

The sounds of the neighbors awakening to the new day brought Usagi out
of the trance like state she had been in. Turning to look Mamoru in the
eyes she spoke "Mamo-chan I would like you to meet our daughter
ChibiUsa-chan." She said while indicating the now alert child in her lap.

Mamoru looked at the child for a moment before speaking, taking a
moment to really see how she looked like her mother. He also for the first
time noticed certain features of hers that she had to have inherited from
himself. Opening his arms, she crawled into them and he pulled her up
into a hug. "So you are my daughter. You look a lot like your mother. You
must make her proud."

"Thank you" ChibiUsa replied before snuggling deeper into his embrace.

As the hour approached seven the Guardians awoke and began looking for
their princess. After turning the house inside out and searching the yard,
Rei finally found them snuggled together on the roof. "Hey odango-atama,
why don't you try leaving a note next time you pull a little vanishing stunt
like that" complained Rei who had been going out of her mind looking for
Usagi.

"You know you could have just tried the communicator." Usagi replied

"I did, but you left it by the bed." Rei returned. What followed was a nice
little tongue fight between the two, which was only finally broken up by
Haruka who had been sent by Makoto to fetch them for breakfast.

For once the two Usagis entered slowly for a meal, neither having quite
regained their appetite after yesterday's events. Spying Ami and Mina
Usagi smiled a bit before quickly heading over to check on how they were
doing. "Ami-chan, Mina-chan how are you two this morning. Do you need
anything?"

"We are fine Usagi." Reassured Minako

"The cuts are nearly healed, though our stitches will need to be in for a
few more days." Answered Ami, and then turning to Minako she
continued, "Minako-chan that means no volleyball or anything else that
may cause stretching till I remove those stitches. Understand?"

Minako under the gaze of the not-to-be-crossed-doctor gave her assent,
and Artemis added his "Don't worry Ami-chan I will keep an eye on her."
which earned him a glare from Minako.

Makoto's loud clearing her throat reminded them all why they were in the
dinning room in the first place. Making a hasty retreat to their seats they
all sat down and began to eat.

* * * * * * * *
Juuban Junior High: A few minutes before the first bell

Haruna-senshi looked up from her desk as she heard a familiar high-
pitched voice coming down the hall. Looking at the room clock she was
startled to realize that Usagi was early. While she was now usually on
time; she, however, was never this early. Before she could give the
thought much contemplation Usagi, Ami, Makoto, and ChibiUsa entered
the room.

Her eyes were immediately drawn to the small child, who accompanied
Usagi. She quickly noticed how the two of them were walking, with Usagi
protectively holding the child's hand. She thought realizing that ChibiUsa had to
have been in another monster attack.

Getting up she walked over to greet the child. Kneeling down slightly she
addressed ChibiUsa "Konnichiwa ChibiUsa-chan, will you be joining us
again today?"

"If that is no problem with you Haruna-senshi" replied Usagi while the
ChibiUsa gave a pleading tentative nod while moving back slightly into
Usagi's skirt.

"It is no problem, Usagi-chan. Here lets bring a desk next to yours and get
some books to help boost ChibiUsa up. Now ChibiUsa, you make sure
your cousin stays awake during class ok?" With ChibiUsa's more eager
nod she went about getting a place set up for the child.

Soon after ChibiUsa was settled, Naru entered the room and spying Usagi
moved right on over to her. The two girls embraced while Naru babbled
on about how happy she was to see that ChibiUsa was okay. Looking at
Ami sitting at her desk she lowered her voice before asking "I thought you
said that Ami was hurt badly during the battle? She looks fine."

"She was, but we can take a lot of punishment, plus we heal a lot faster.
However, she does have stitches." Replied Usagi

Bending over a bit Naru addressed ChibiUsa. "I am so glad that you are
not hurt. Hotaru was so relieved to hear that you were fine. I have a
feeling that she would really like it if you paid her a visit soon. By the way
that is a great friend that you have in Hotaru." To Usagi's questioning eye
she elaborated. "We got to know each other really well while we were
waiting to here word from you, and then I joined her father for some tea."
With the ringing of the final bell the two broke apart and sat down, getting
ready for class.

* * * * * * * *
Elsewhere in the city

A man lazily awoke to the new morning. He normally awoke late, as there
was no reason to awake any earlier in the day, for he had not held a job for
many years. He had no need for one, as his line of work provided him with
a sufficiently steady income. He did not desire much, for most of the
senses that dealt with desire had been fried after a particularly bad trip.
Now all he desired was heroin, however having picked up the habit of
picking wallets and occasional muggings he had no need for any other
source of income.

Rested and with his morning dose of heroin entering his blood stream he
pulled out what he had acquired the previous evening. The night's work
consisted of two wallets and a very ornate box. He was sure that even if
the box was empty that the box itself would be worth a fair bit of change.

Opening the box he looked inside and then removed its contents. It
contained a half dozen oddly shaped rocks that felt almost alive in his
hand. The feeling was eerie enough that he dropped the first one when he
had picked up. "Dang I doubt I will be able to get much for these rocks, at
least the box should be worth something." A glimmer off the smallest of
the items caught his attention and he brought it to his eye to examine,
hoping that maybe the exterior was just a coating hiding a real treasure.

Unfortunately he never got the item up to his eyes for as it passed by the
base of his neck it pulsed and before he knew it, it was latched to his body.
With terror he tried to rip the device off of his neck, however it had
fastened itself too securely. He did not struggle for long, as it did not take
the device long to override his brain's control of the body's muscles. As
he slumped to the ground the other devices began to hum to life as the
tendrils of energy from the control nexus joined with them. Reenergized
the parts of millennia old armor and weapon system began to reattach
themselves to a host. Awakening the thing that once was a common thief
uttered one word "Protect."

* * * * * * * *
Juuban Junior High School

The morning passed painfully slow for ChibiUsa. Unfortunately the only
way ChibiUsa would have enjoyed the morning was if she could have
stayed home in her mother's embrace for the entire day. But, Usagi had
school, and considering everything this was the best that could be done.
She was able to sit right next to her mother, and Usagi whenever she could
she had a hand down in ChibiUsa lap for her to hold onto.

ChibiUsa had planned on throwing quite a large tantrum if Usagi had sent
her off to her own school. She was too scared after yesterday's events to
let her mother out of sight for even a moment. Being here with Usagi
helped to reassure her, but she was still afraid. She tried to tell herself that
things would be okay here at the school, but whenever she heard a loud or
strange noise she had to struggle to avoid jumping with fright. While she
had with her a couple of schoolbooks to read, she made little progress
preoccupied as she was.

Usagi herself was having only a little better luck with her lessons, as she
could feel ChibiUsa's fear radiate like a hot fire through her. Like Mamo-
chan had done for her a couple of times, she tried to send some of her own
energy into ChibiUsa to strengthen and reassure the child. She just wanted
the day to end so that she could focus all her attention on ChibiUsa and
gain strength from Mamo-chan's embrace.

Usagi's inattentiveness of course did not go unnoticed by Haruna-sensei,
but like the last time she understood somewhat what Usagi was going
through. Ami being slightly distracted had surprised
her, until she realized that Ami's distraction was a result of her constantly
looking at Usagi. This was different than the periodic curious glances that
the others students sent Usagi. No Ami and also Makoto would look to
Usagi with a low level version of the same love that was present in
Usagi's eyes towards that child. Realizing the source of Ami's distraction
she had to hide a chuckle as she remembered that both Ami and Makoto
were involved the last time something like this happened.

Haruna-sensei wanted answers, but also knew that now was not the time.
Her training required that she confront Usagi now, but she knew in her
heart that this was not a case of abuse. However, it still was a strain for her
to give her lessons while seeing the fear and insecurity that was constantly
on the face of that child. All she wanted to do was dismiss class and have
a talk with Usagi and ChibiUsa. And, so she too let a sigh of relief when
the bell marked the time for lunch.

With the ringing of the bell, the door to the classroom flew open. Moving
quickly through the now open door and into the classroom was a dark
haired student wearing a grayish school uniform.

"Usagi-chan" cried the new arrival as she made her way quickly across the
room to embrace the blond who was only just getting up from her desk.

Usagi managed to squeak out a "Rei-chan what are you doing here?"
before she was wrapped up in a crushing hug by Rei. Ignoring the question
and the questioning stares from everyone else in the room, Rei started
pulling her out to the courtyard for lunch while ChibiUsa trailed holding
onto Usagi's other hand. Ami and Makoto followed close behind their two
princesses, making sure no one got to close to either of the two on the way
out.

"I was definitely right about the others, though I am still missing
something." Mumbled Naru as she watched as her best friend was taken
out to lunch under the guard of the three other girls. Usagi had just
unknowingly confirmed that Ami was Mercury as she suspected, as last
night Usagi only referred to the Senshi by their planet names, not by their
civilian names. And the behavior of Makoto and Rei were confirming her
hypothesis that the other three that made up the group besides Ami and
Usagi were also Senshi.

Haruna came up behind Naru and placing a hand on the girl's shoulder
said, "There definitely is something special about Tsukino Usagi. Her
heart and love is so pure. I wish I could alleviate that pain she is feeling
now. Naru do you know what the situation with her cousin is?"

Naru's thoughts were not on the present, but instead on Usagi. She now
knew quite a bit of the puzzle pieces, but was sure that she was missing
something. Something that would explain the nearly fanatic way the others
tried to protect Usagi at times, it had to be more than that her simply being
their leader, but she could not figure out why. And then of course there
was the issue of ChibiUsa, how that mother daughter relation could be was
beyond her. She was going to have to have a little heart to heart with
Usagi at some point, but that did not stop her mind from trying to figure
everything out first, like just now deciding that Rei and Makoto were Mars
and Jupiter.

She never really registered Haruna's presence, nor her question.
Consequently she did not realize that in answering the questions that now
ran through her mind that she was speaking out loud, answering a question
that someone had just asked. "The Dark Kingdom took Usagi's daughter,
ChibiUsa, and tried to use her as bait for Sailor Moon who is Usagi. She
did safely rescue her daughter, but from what she told me the battle was
not pretty with the others almost getting cut down and the enemy torturing
ChibiUsa before her eyes. I can't imagine what she is going through. I
know that she is always worrying about the others being hurt, but now her
own flesh and blood daughte." Naru trailed off at the end realizing that
she was speaking out loud.

For Haruna like everyone else who had seen how Usagi protectively
watched out for ChibiUsa, this was a surprise but at the same time she
realized that it perfectly explained everything and had to be the truth.
"Don't worry about telling me Naru. I was going to have to confront Usagi
about what happened. Now at least I know that this is not some kind of
abuse in the home. And I think I may be able to help Usagi some, but you
should head out to enjoy your lunch."

"Hai." Responded Naru as she gathered her stuff and headed out the door.

Haruna herself sat down at her desk to eat lunch, thinking about how
everything now made sense.

* * * * * * * *
Outside

As they arrived at the tree for lunch, Usagi contemplated chewing Rei out
for coming here to watch her during lunch. However, as she looked around
at all three of the girls she realized, for the first time, how much they
really cared about her. Usagi thought about how much she loved ChibiUsa
and how she would do anything to protect her daughter and looking into
the eyes of the other Senshi she realized that they all felt the exact same
way about her. Much as she needed ChibiUsa here with her for her own
healing, they needed to be within eyesight of her. And, Mars needed
confirmation with her own eyes that Usagi was okay so much that she
came all the way here from her own school.

So instead Usagi chose to ask Rei a different question "Rei how did you
get here so fast, you did go to school today?"

"Of course odango-atama, I just took the roof top express as soon as
classes let out for lunch."

Usagi mumbled an "I guess that makes sense." And returned to eating her
lunch. However she had not gotten far when a black object dropped out of
the tree to join her. "Luna!" exclaimed Usagi as she realized what the
object was. "I guess you have been keeping an eye on me as well?"

A sheepish nod of the cat caused Usagi to let out a sigh, but other than that
she gave no more reactions to everyone keeping an eye on her. Instead she
began to happily munch on her lunch. And then remembering something,
"By the way Naru somehow found out."

"Nani!!!" exclaimed the other girls. Then Ami continued with "Guess that
makes sense. Naru is Usagi's best friend and she should have been able to
notice the changes in our princess since ChibiUsa arrived." Ami's
eyebrows lifted a bit as she noticed Rei scowling a bit when she
mentioned that Naru was Usagi's best friend.



* * * * * * * *

Having finished her ice cream, Usagi dazed lightly with ChibiUsa leaning
back into her. A shadow blocking the sun caused her to open her eyes and
look up. Giving a slight "yelp" and jump she discovered the shadow to
belong to a man that was standing in front of the bench. "Konichiwa" she
managed to get out as her heart beat returned to normal.

"Konichiwa, just wanted to say that you have a beautiful daughter Miss
Moon. I am sure that you are proud of her. Ja" he said and then moved off.
To answer her confusion over his shoulder he added "Princess I am an
intelligence officer, it is my job to notice and figure these things out."

Deciding to give up on figuring out how he found out her identity she
called out "I am and thank you" to the departing man and let a smile of
pride plaster itself on her face.

Hearing Usagi's reply Clark added, "You might want to take a look at that
tree behind you, I am sure that you will find it very interesting."

"Huh?" But following his suggestion, Usagi got up and walked over to the
tree. "Looks normal to me, just an oak. Seems healthy enough, strong
branches with a bird's nest in one and a Sailor Senshi in the other. Now
what was so special about this tree? Wait a moment, a Sailor Senshi?"

Looking back up confirmed that indeed Sailor Mars was up in the tree.
Usagi made eye contact with her guardian and began tapping her foot.
Mars quickly got the message and after ensuring no one was watching
jumped down and reverted to her civilian form. "And what do you think
you were doing up in that tree, Rei?" asked Usagi.

Rei thought about making a sharp retort, but could find none and instead
just looked down at the ground. Hence she missed Usagi moving up
beside her and throwing an arm around the Senshi of Fire. "Come you can
keep a better eye on me and ChibiUsa if you sit on the bench here with
us."

A very surprised Rei walked next to Usagi back to the bench where
ChibiUsa had been thoroughly enjoying the show, especially how long it
took her mother to notice Sailor Mars. Rei had expected Usagi to yell at
her, but instead got an arm wrapped around her. Not that she minded this
approach, especially as she now could sit down next to the one whom she
loved more than anything.

Rei and Usagi spent the next hour chatting, while ChibiUsa continued to
lie in her mother's embrace. Being in her mother's embrace and not
having to worry about anything allowed her to really begin relaxing and
healing from yesterday. And, as ChibiUsa's body became less tense, Usagi
herself began to relax some as well.

Mamoru thinking that his Usako and daughter might be in the park had
headed there after classes let out. Once in he easily found the two of them
by following the strong love they were radiating towards each other.
Walking up he noticed his love engrossed in a conversation with Rei and
so decided to surprise her. ChibiUsa saw him arrive, but just smiled when
he put his finger to his mouth telling her to be quiet. Stopping behind
Usagi he snaked out a pair of strong arms around Usagi's torso and lifted
her up into the air.

"Wha. Ahh" sputtered Usagi as her world suddenly started flying
around. When the world settled itself back down she found herself looking
into the face of Mamoru, but only for a moment. As his face quickly came
towards hers and she closed her eyes as they kissed. Usagi felt herself melt
into Mamoru's embrace and was fully content to spend eternity like this.

However, before it had gone on too long (not long enough in her mind) an
annoyed presence caused the two of them to break off. Mamoru looked
down and saw ChibiUsa who was now standing next to the two of them
with an impatient look on her face. Seeing that she now had his attention
she cried "Daddy" and threw herself into his arms.

Mamoru caught the child and relished in the warm feeling that holding her
brought. With slight difficulty he moved around and sat down on the
bench and Usagi joined him. "So how were you two's day?" he asked.

"Long" was the only response that Usagi gave. ChibiUsa nodded her
agreement before adjusting her position in Mamoru's lap.

* * * * * * * *
A warehouse

"Rubeus I need you to deliver these items to our customer." Stated a man

Rubeus gave the man a questioning look, as he had not done simple
courier assignments for many months.

"These particular items are very hard to come by and we can take no risk
that they fall into the hands of the police or have to be ditched. I know that
if I give them to you, they will be delivered."

"Understood sir. I take it that these are those items that professor Tomoe
requested." Rubeus replied.

"Hai, and with that the man unlocked a trunk. Opening the lid confirmed
again that these were not ordinary black market items, as inside there was
a second trunk. However, this one had elaborate electronic locks and was
made of a heavy reinforced metal. The outer trunk was of course only a
disguise to avoid raising suspicions. With the correct codes entered the
inner trunk opened to reveal a couple of small packages. The first a
cylindrical container marked as radioactive and containing tritium. The
second, third, and fourth were boxes also marked as radioactive and
containing plutonium, obviously split up to avoid any chance of forming a
critical mass. The final item was a water bottle filled with water, however
this was pure heavy water, not the normal tap water.

Rubeus took each of the packages and put them into carrying pockets in
the cloak he wore. Then surprising the man and the guards he pulled out
his weapon and placed it down on the table. Bringing his hands up he
untied the bandana he wore revealing the black crescent moon. The final
actions caused the guards to tense believing that they might have an
infiltrator in their mist.

Rubeus gave a laugh and then put their fears to rest, "Don't worry I am
still loyal to this organization and I will make this delivery. We have very
similar goals. However, you don't know the full background of your
client, and so I need to be prepared. Ja." Finishing his little speech he
teleported out of the building.

"Kami-sama" replied the other man, "he is one of them, those people who
have been on the news lately." But, then he began to smile as he realized
what this meant. This fellow was obviously willing to work with them for
the time being, and that meant they really had a super weapon. This might
get him a nice reward for informing the upper echelons. Closing up the
trunk, he singled to the guards and they left the warehouse.

* * * * * * * *
Mugen High School

A red haired man materialized about ten meters off the ground in front of
the school building. Taking a moment he retrieved the black crystal shards
and placed them ready against his wrists, knowing that he probably would
only have a few moments of surprise to take control of the demons. Ready
he began walking forward into the school.

Entering the building he turned down a hall looking for the lab
administrative offices. With the advanced laboratory work that Mugen
carried out, there were separate offices for the standard school
administration and for its research department. Going down a flight of
stairs to the first basement level he arrived at the lab administration office.
Pulling out a business card he checked a name and then headed to the desk
labeled Eudial.

Eudial felt a shiver pass through her body, expecting one of the Witches 5
to be here she looked up. She was therefore taken back a bit when she saw
not one of the annoying new grad students, but a gentleman. However the
look in his eyes and the mark on his head seemed to suggest that
gentleman might not be the most appropriate term for him.

"Mr. Black what can I do for you?"

"I have the items that you needed for the experiments. My associates are a
bit shall we say worried about making sure that these items make it into
the professor's hands safely. So you must excuse my bold request to not
give them to you, but to give them to him myself." Rubeus said humbly.

"Of course, the professor's lab is in room B3-31. Just give me a moment
to let you know that you are coming."

After a quick call down to the lab, Rubeus left the room heading in the
direction that Eudial had indicated would bring him to a staircase that
would give him access to the third basement level.

* * * * * * * *
The lab

Professor Tomoe felt bad about it, especially considering the accident,
however he did not have much choice. He needed to setup a few reactions
to run before he left this afternoon, otherwise the past month's work
would be lost, and he would have to start making the daimon eggs from
scratch again. So once again Hotaru sat in his lab watching him work. He
had promised her that he would take her to the park this afternoon, no
matter what.

He still did not know what he had done to deserve a wonderful child like
her. He knew that she did not deserve him; she deserved better, a father
who would be there for her. No, all he had done for his daughter was to
cause her hardships; her illness was a result of that. But, he was making
amends for that mistake. He had sold his soul in exchange for her life. He
knew what he was doing was probably wrong, but any ability to judge
morality on matters had vanished when that thing possessed him.

To others he still was the same man, mostly. However, his actions were
now just motions. The feelings that drove them gone, it was more as if his
memories had been used to create a program that ran his body. The only
thing that remained unchanged was his love for his daughter. When he
was with her he was almost whole again. He only hoped that one day she
would be able to forgive him for what he had done so that she could live.

Coming over by his daughter he noticed that she was staring off absently
into space. "What is the matter Hotaru?" he asked

The girl turned to regard her papa, "It's ChibiUsa. I know she is okay, but
feel so bad for what happened to her." She broke off not really knowing
how to finish.

"It is okay Hotaru, I know what you are feeling. Why don't we stop by her
house while we are out? And you can pick her up a little get well present,
ok?"

"Hai papa, you're the best" she said while giving him a hug.

As the two were breaking away from the embrace a knock came at the
door. After Professor Tomoe gave his acknowledgement the door open to
reveal a man dressed in a cloak with fire red hair and a dark crescent moon
on his forehead. Tomoe began to open his mouth to great the newcomer,
but then the daimon in his body took over, for it had noticed the strong
magic emanating from this fellow. Beside Tomoe, Hotaru straightened as
well letting out a hiss. However, hers was not a case of her daimon
reacting, but her subconscious instinctively knowing that this man meant
harm to ChibiUsa and her princess.

Rubeus had been expecting Tomoe's reaction and moved quickly. With a
flick of each wrist, a shard of the dark crystal appeared in each hand. A
quick teleportation spell sent him behind his targets. Then with quick
movements he jabbed a crystal into both Tomoe's and Hotaru's backs.
Only after they fell to the ground and the crystal shard had fully entered
each of their bodies did he let himself relax.

Five minutes later Professor Tomoe awoke. Shaking his head he got to his
knees, as he looked at Rubeus a black invented crescent moon was briefly
visible on his forehead, indicating that the shard had neutralized the
daimon. With unsure movements he hobbled over to where Hotaru lay.
Picking up her body he felt for a pulse, finding one he let out a sigh. Then
turning to Rubeus he addressed him. "What did you do to her?" he
demanded, not worried about himself, but only his daughter.

"Don't worry she will be fine. I apologize for the attack, but it was the
only way to neutralize the demons that had taken up residence in each of
your bodies."

"You have destroyed my curse?" Tomoe asked hopefully.

"Unfortunately they are still there and alive, just imprisoned in crystal
shards. However, your life is now yours again."

"How can I ever thank you?" asked a very grateful Tomoe

"There is a way, and if we are successful then you will be freed of those
demons forever. My name is Rubeus and as you probably have noticed I
am a magic user. Recently something happened to time itself and as a
result almost killed my master. He managed to escape the effect, but he
needs your help to return back to reality. The machine that you are
building with some slight modifications can allow him to return. Would
you be willing to help him?"

"Anything for the one who has saved my daughter from that demon, and
especially since your master will be able to free her completely from my
mistake."

"I will be by tomorrow with the modifications that you need to make. Oh
before I forget here are the items you requested." After putting down the
containers Rubeus teleported out of the room.

Shortly after Rubeus left, Hotaru opened her eyes. Hearing her groaning
Tomoe immediately went to her side and cradled her body. "Don't worry
Hotaru, you will be ok. Everything will be ok now" he spoke with joy
flowing from his heart.

Hotaru thought
sadly. However she
was pleasantly surprised when her father told her to gather her stuff so that
they could go to the park. Walking out into the sunshine with her father
she took a deep breath, feeling reinvigorated.

* * * * * * * *
The park

"I guess we should start heading on home, I have homework to do." Stated
Usagi to ChibiUsa. "Mamo-chan would you walk back with us, I am sure
that my parents would love the opportunity to meet all of who you are."

"I would love to" Mamoru replied. Giving Usagi a kiss the two of them
stood up and each grabbing one of ChibiUsa's hands began to walk out of
the park, with the three Senshi moving to follow them in the distance.

"ChibiUsa-chan" came a high-pitched cry. Turning around the three saw
Hotaru jogging over to where they were walking with ChibiUsa. A bit
behind Hotaru, walking at a more sedate pace was her father.

"Hotaru!" ChibiUsa cried back, and when her parents dropped their holds
on her hands, she ran over to meet her best friend.

With ChibiUsa having departed Mamoru moved next to Usagi and
wrapped an arm around her frame. "Well I guess I could put off doing my
homework a little longer." Stated Usagi not disappointed one bit.

As the two girls began running around professor Tomoe came up next to
Usagi and Mamoru. "You must be Usagi-san, I want to give my
condolences for what happened yesterday to ChibiUsa. I am glad that she
seems to be all right."

"Thank you, Tomoe-san" replied Usagi. The three of them then sat down
to watch the two children enjoy their time in the park. Though after a few
minutes the girls came back and pulled the three parents off the bench to
join in the fun. Professor Tomoe was thoroughly enjoying himself, glad
that Hotaru was finally healthy again.

* * * * * * * *

A thing best described as half machine-half man walked down the streets
of Tokyo. Over the course of the past day it had killed a couple dozens
bystanders to "protect." After each strike it vanished for a period of time,
usually burning a hole into the sewers to escape. Though, it had nothing to
worry about from the police, or even the military. The attacks were quick,
sudden, and with minimal extraneous damage and so word about this
killing machine was slow in spreading. But the time between each attack
was decreasing till now it only numbered in minutes.

Coming to the surface once again it scanned the area looking for the next
target: the next set of individuals that did not match the descriptions of a
pure member of its race. To the detriment of the alien civilization that
created it those parameters were created by propagandists and not by
scientists. Those parameters prevented any member of its race from being
"pure" and after taking care of the invaders it and its brother units turned
on their own people and exterminated them. Eventually its host body grew
old and withered away, and the machine fell into disuse, till it was picked
up and eventually brought here. Now with a new host body it could once
again go about protecting the "pure" from all the "non-pure".

Sensing high levels of energy it turned its attention to the park. In the park
some place were two objects that its sensor equipment was currently
classifying as level 7 threats. They posed the highest threat, and hence
needed to be eliminated first. Entering the park its scanners detected
additional energy sources corresponding to lower but still dangerous level
4 threats. Surprisingly no one seemed to take notice of it as it walked
through the park, and so soon it had the two level 7 threats in range. With
both of them close together it smiled, raised its arm and began charging its
weapon.

"Supreme Thunder!"

"Fire Soul!"

"Shabon Spray!"

Suddenly its vision was clouded by the appearance of a thick fog bank,
and then it was blasted from one side by electricity and the other by fire.
The Senshi chanting their spells alerted the targets to its presence and they
immediately moved to escape under the cover of Mercury's spell. Getting
behind a bush the two Usagis henshin into Sailor Moon and ChibiMoon,
while Mamoru became Tuxedo-kamen. Professor Tomoe ran with Hotaru
to escape in a different direction.

Jumping back into the clearing Sailor Moon began her speech, "How dare
you disturb the peace of this park. In the name of the moon I will punish
you." However, immediately following her speech, she had to dive to the
ground to avoid a blast of plasma that came her way.

A rose came flying down striking the creature in its arm. Standing up on a
tree limb Tuxedo-kamen began his speech "It is ill manners to go about
cutting off." Tuxedo-kamen did not even get time to finish his speech
before he was forced to throw out an array of roses to block an incoming
ball of plasma. The intersection of the roses with the plasma caused a
detonation, the blast unfortunately rammed into Tuxedo-kamen as he was
jumping to the ground throwing him like a rag doll against a tree.

"Tuxedo-kamen!" cried Sailor Moon as she saw her beloved thrown into
the tree and ran towards him. The other Senshi, including Venus who had
just arrived, attempted to contain the creature. Unfortunately each of their
blasts seemed to have little effect, however the blast damage from the ones
it was sending was banging up the Senshi pretty badly. The creature was
now fully online, no longer requiring downtime between attacks, instead it
could now engage in a head to head battle.

Moving off to the sidelines Mercury pulled down her visor and began
analyzing the creature.

Sailor Moon having assured itself that Tuxedo-kamen was okay for the
moment stood up and faced the creature. "I don't know what you are, but
you are going down!" Then pulling out her scepter she began her attack. A
cry came from Mercury not to use that attack just as the energy began to
leave the scepters tip. Racing the energy sped to strike the creature.

The energy played out across its body and it let out a scream of pain. But,
all too soon the scream died as its machinery began absorbing the energy.
Then turning to face Sailor Moon it fired a ball of plasma three times the
size of the last one. Sailor Moon remained rooted to the ground disbelief
on her face. Realizing that she could not dodge it in time she instead threw
herself over the downed body of Tuxedo-kamen.

"No, Sailor Moon" cried Mars as she saw the ball of plasma race towards
her best friend. Running over she tried to do something, but only
succeeded in getting herself caught in the blast radius when the plasma
ball detonated upon hitting Sailor Moon. Mars cried out in pain as she was
flung through the air and into the street. Sailor Moon was only able to
scream for a few moments before her body collapsed on top of her love.

Mercury wiped a tear from her eye. She knew that for Sailor Moon to have
a chance at survival they had to defeat this creature now. "Minna, don't
attack it. Our attacks our only making it stronger." She called out.

"Then what are we to do?" asked Venus

"I don't know." Replied Mercury.

"How about this" yelled Jupiter as she ran towards it and released a flying
kick. The kick knocked it back a moment, but that was all it did. For after
recovering its balance it just flung Jupiter across the field like an insect.
Then it turned its attention back to scanning the region. It had detected two
level 7 threats; while it had neutralized one of them for the moment it still
had one more to take of before turning its attention to these level 4 threats.

"Sir, 7th division infantry here to provide assistance" came a call from
behind Mercury.

Looking behind her Mercury saw a squad of infantry from the Japanese
Defense force. Looking over them she noticed that they appeared to be
armed with heavier weaponry than normal. "Mind if I borrow one of your grenades, I have an idea."

The squad leader gave his assent and handed the Sailor Senshi one of his
grenades. Taking it she ran towards the creature and leaping into the air
threw the weapon at her target. Keeping her vision on the creature the
entire time she observed the effect of the blast on it. Upon landing Mercury
called forth her fog again for a moment to allow her to escape its return
fire, however after the initial blast it did not pursue the matter.

After deciding that it was no longer retaliating against her, Mercury
moved back next to the infantry squad. "Our attacks have been near
useless against this creature. But, it looks like your weaponry while less
powerful will actually be able to damage it. Spread out, we will try to
distract it by directing our attacks at the ground by its feet."

"Hai." called the squad leader as he motioned his men to fan out and open
fire.

Explosion racked the ground around the creature and bullets and rocket-
propelled explosives began to rain against its skin. It knew that soon it
would have to deal with this new threat, however it could still look for that
other class 7 threat for the moment. Jumping through a wall of bushes and
moving quickly it soon came upon its target. There huddled on the ground
was a man, but that did not concern it, what did was the young girl who
was next to it. Her energy potential arced off the scale, but at the moment
it appeared that there should be no trouble in eliminating the threat.
Raising its arm it said, "Protect" and opened fire.

Hotaru and her father looked up upon hearing the word "Protect" and saw
the creature standing in front of them with its arm raised and pointed
towards them. Frozen with fear they watched a blue ball of energy collect
in the barrel and then come racing towards them.

The plasma ball never reached them. When it was halfway a pink blur
intercepted it crying "Hotaru."

ChibiMoon had realized early on that there was nothing that she could do
to help in the battle. Her attack was nothing more than a distraction really,
and after seeing how little damage Mars and Jupiter did to the creature she
had realized that all she would accomplish by attacking it would be to
draw its fire to herself. Something she knew that would cause Usagi to
ground her for a very long time. So she had instead told her mother that
she would make sure that Hotaru and her father escaped safely.

She had been tailing them up in the trees and was glad to see that they
were heading out of the park. Unfortunately while Hotaru had been doing
better with respect to her illness, she still was sickly and the running for
her life in addition to all the running she had been doing with ChibiUsa
earlier caused her to collapse out of breath. ChibiMoon stayed up in the
tree watching, silently hoping that Sailor Moon would quickly moon dust
the demon. Hence she saw the creature break into the clearing and take
aim at her best friend. With the simple thought of protecting Hotaru she
launched herself out of the tree and into the path of the blast.

Thankfully the creature upon getting a good reading of Hotaru had
decided to conserve energy for use against the other threats by using a less
powerful blast than the power signature would normally call for, otherwise
her continued survival would have been in question. As it was the pain
arced through her body for all of about two seconds before she went into
shock and passed out. Surprisingly she suffered very little damage as at
the last minute her shadow crystal activated absorbing some of the energy
and her link to Usagi allowed her mother absorb most of the energy that
had impacted her body. Even still a badly bruised and burned unconscious
body slammed into the ground.

The pain of the impact traveled across the link to Usagi, awakening her.
Standing up she felt the blast wash over her body as the Ginzuishou
activated. Staggering she began walking towards where she knew
ChibiUsa lay. As she walked her pose straightened, the pain from her own
injuries vanishing under the shared pain of her daughter. Her eyes began
to harden.

Arriving at the scene a bizarre sight met her eyes. Removed in the distance
were ChibiMoon, Hotaru, and her father. In the center of clearing stood
the creature, which was being battered from all sides by weapons fire. The
Sailor Senshi themselves would occasionally leap into the fray to engage it
in hand to hand combat or fire an attack at its feet. The tactics seemed to
be working, as it was noticeably weaker than before, however the Senshi
were starting to tire. Once they tired too much so they were no longer
distracting it, it would be able to take out the infantry.

Rage still ran through Usagi's blood, over her daughter's pain that she was
sharing. Pulling off her tiara she willed it into an energy disk. Then with a
leap she was off, running into the battlefield. Approaching the creating,
the weapons fire died off, to avoid hitting her, she however did not notice
this so consumed she was by her desire to take down this monster.

Then seeing the one unarmored spot she ran towards it, jumping into the
air she kicked it across the side of the head. A roll in the air and she landed
on the ground, with a quick spin she was ready for its expected move.

The kick had only served to anger the creature, and it now had its weapon
leveled at Sailor Moon. "Pro.. Ahhhhhh" Just as the monster began to
open its mouth to utter the word "protect" with its attack, Sailor Moon
jumped towards it and released her tiara. Her arc carried her over its head
and upon landing she quickly leapt again to find shelter in a tree from any
retaliatory attack.

Sailor Mercury from where she stood with the 1st lieutenant in charge of
this infantry force watched as Sailor Moon approached the creature. Sailor Moon's kick took her by surprise, as she expected
Sailor Moon to throw the tiara first, but as Sailor Moon landed facing the
creature she realized what the plan was.

The creature stumbled back, having been badly injured by the attack.
Knowing that it was in trouble it blindly lashed out with a series of plasma
blasts. However, they did not help it to subdue its attackers, as the army
men were low to the ground while all of its attacks flew widely up in the
air. Instead it began to get hammered hard once again. The creature
prepared to run, however, that effort quickly came to nil.

An orange ball of energy rushed along the ground with a wall of earth
pushed along in front of it. From the other side of the creature a blue ball
of the sea flew at high speeds toward it as well. Only seconds after it
registered the new attacks they slammed into it. With a choked cry it fell
to the ground, most of its armor destroyed.

Now for the first time the Sailor Senshi could see the man that it had once
been. The creature attempted to get up, however, it no longer had the
strength and instead collapsed back to the ground. "Now Sailor Moon"
called Uranus.

"Hai." She began to pull out her scepter again, but then noticed for herself
that it was nothing more than a possessed man. Having made up her
mind she summoned the wand and then passing her hand past her locket
retrieved the Ginzuishou and placed it in the wand. As the crystal
activated she began to carve out the energy circle for the spell.

The JDF upon seeing Sailor Moon approach the downed enemy creature
had ceased their fire, knowing instinctively that she was about to end the
battle. With awe they watched her carve out the circle of golden moon
energy and then watched as that energy traveled from her to the creature.
The armor began to dissolve before their eyes till all was left were the
original organic technology components. And then those last remaining
vestiges of the fierce fighting machine turned into moon dust, leaving
behind a badly bruised and slightly brunt body.

The man who had moments before been the machine struggled to keep his
eyes open and not succumb to the darkness of unconsciousness that was
pulling at him. Turning his head slightly he looked through his blurred
vision at the one who had freed him of the curse. What he saw was a being
of immense beauty and infinite pureness outlined in a glowing aura.
"Kami-sama," he whispered out. A smile crossed his lips as he let himself
be swallowed up by the darkness, now at peace with his soul and not
afraid of the future.

Having finished her task Sailor Moon turned to go take care of her
daughter. Who as she approached was being held by the recently
recovered Tuxedo-kamen. ChibiMoon stirred as Usagi approached and
opened her eyes. "Sorry momma" she spoke silently, all that she was
capable of saying at the moment. Usagi brushed back some of ChibiUsa's
hair with her gloved hand before speaking, love in her eyes. "It is okay, I
am very proud of what you did." And then placed a kiss on ChibiMoon's
head before taking her daughter from Tuxedo-kamen so that they could
leave.

They had only taken a few steps when Uranus and Neptune appeared in
front of them and bowed low to the ground. "Princess please forgive us for
being so late. We tried to get here as fast as possible after we heard about
the attack." Usagi could see the shame and guilt in their faces.

"Don't worry, there is nothing to apologize about, you got here as fast as
you could. Though what have I told you about kneeling. I will have to
have Luna and Ami-chan see about getting you hooked into our
communicator system." Reassured Usagi. "Now Uranus is your car
nearby?"

"Yes it is princess."

"Could you then give us a lift to my house?"

"Of course princess, come it is this way." The four with one more being
carried began walking out of the park. After deciding they were far
enough away from the action they returned to their civilian forms before
finishing the walk to the car.

* * * * * * * *

As Sailor Moon left to go check on her daughter, Mercury moved to check
on what had been their toughest opponent. A scan revealed that the man
was no longer "infected/possessed" by what ever had turned it into that
killing machine. She also happily noted that he was still alive and would
probably survive.

"What is the verdict sir?" asked the lieutenant who had followed her into
the battlefield.

"He seems to be free of what ever had been controlling him. He will live,
though you should get your medics over here, he is pretty badly beaten up
as you can imagine. For his sake I hope that he has no memories of what
happened while he was possessed. I think you and your men can handle
the situation now." With that Mercury stood and singled to the others,
after which they all left the park.

The lieutenant signaled to his men and they advanced on the man. "That is
what gave us so much trouble?" asked one of the men in disbelief.

"Apparently so, though I imagine that what ever Sailor Moon did besides
freeing him from what had been controlling him probably also destroyed
all that advanced tech." Picking up some of the sand he continued "And I
imagine this sand is what remains of that tech."

* * * * * * * *

A car pulled up in front of the Tsukino household. "Thanks for the lift
Haruka-san, why don't you two come on in for a moment, I am sure that
my parents would love to meet you. Though you will have to excuse my
bratty brother." A couple of coughs from Mamoru caused her to blush
slightly over that last comment.

Ikuko had noticed the yellow sports car pull up in front of the house, and
had easily recognized Usagi in the car. She had begun wondering when
Usagi was going to get home, as it was starting to approach seven. She was
slightly surprised to see Usagi carrying ChibiUsa up to the house and
wondered if that meant something had happened.

As Usagi came in the door she went and placed ChibiUsa down on the
couch first. After making sure that the sleeping ChibiUsa looked
comfortable she headed back to make the introductions. Kenji upon
hearing the commotion and the door opening had come on down.

"Mom, Dad this is Haruka-san, Sailor Uranus, and this here is Michiru-
san, Sailor Neptune. Michiru-san, Haruka-san this is my dad and mom."

"It is nice to meet the Tehran parents of our princess." replied Michiru
while she and Haruka bowed low.

"And likewise it is nice to meet two more of my daughters friends. I thank
you two for looking after her last night." Kenji replied.

"Honey, why don't you, your father and the guests go sit down while I go
make some tea for every one?" suggested Ikuko.

"Sure mom," then turning to the others "Minna go on in, I will be in a in a
moment, I want to get some salve for ChibiUsa's wounds first."

"Was she hurt?" her father asked, concern in his voice.

"Yeah, but she seems okay now. I just want to put something on her
injuries."

Haruka and Michiru had not planned on staying for dinner, they were not
yet fully comfortable around their princess and had actually only planned
to drop her off at the house, not even come in. But there was one universal
truth with Usagi, it was impossible to refuse her offers. Consequently they
found themselves staying for dinner and then into the evening.

As they had been finishing their tea, ChibiUsa stirred and awoke. She
proceeded to crawl into Usagi's lap, still stiff and sore somewhat. The
mood lightened substantially after dinner as the two newest Senshi were
introduced to who ChibiUsa really was. Haruka was left speechless,
providing great amusement to Michiru. And allowing Michiru to reproach
her for leaving her mouth hanging open.

But finally they managed to give their thanks and leave the Tsukino home.
As the hour was getting late, Usagi and ChibiUsa headed up to bed. The
two worked on homework for a bit before getting ready for bed. After
laying ChibiUsa down in the bed and getting herself changed Usagi
opened her window she called over to the neighbor's roof to invite Mars
inside for the night.

Luna had laid herself down on the bed and was curious as to why Usagi
was by the window instead of turning off the lights so that she could sleep.
But, her answer was not long in coming when Mars jumped in through the
window and then reverted back to Rei. "Rei?" asked Luna.

"Hai it's me," Rei replied.

Usagi came back a moment later with some spare bedding and nightgown
for Rei. "You do know Rei, I understand. You don't have to be so covert
in your watching of me. Before I did not want to you all to follow me
around, but now I know different. I won't stop you.

"Thank you" replied a happy Rei as she embraced Usagi.

* * * * * * * *
Zama Military Base

Keffer settled himself down into his bed with the kitten curled up at the
end of the bed. He had visited the various animal wardens and some of the
shelters in the city today, but no one had reported a kitten matching this
one's description as missing. Since he had grown found of the little one,
he decided to take care of her himself until her owner came forward.

Stretching Keffer had finally begun to fall asleep when alarms around the
base began blasting. "What is going on?" He mumbled as he got back up
from the bed. Quickly throwing on his flight suit and grapping his notepad
he ran towards the briefing room, a curious and slightly afraid Diana
watched him leave.

Arriving in the briefing room her surveyed the room. Most of the other
occupants were in a similar shape as he was. A low murmur filled the
room as the pilots tried to figure out the cause of the alarm. On the way
over he had caught site of the gunships being pulled out of their hangers
and prepped for launch, giving him a sinking feeling as to why they had
been awoken.

With the arrival of the briefing officer a sudden hush came across the
room. "Gentlemen I am sorry for having to awake you, but we have a
situation. The enemy has changed its tactics and is currently conducting
multiple attacks in the city. This tactic change may well be a prelude to an
invasion of the home islands. We will be launching Cobra Gunships to
engage each of the three targets. Troop transports will follow behind
bringing in ground support. We don't have time for a more detailed
briefing. You are dismissed. Good hunting."

With their dismissal the room became noisy again, as the pilots talked to
each other about the situation while making their way out. Clearing the
bottleneck at the door to the room they each began jogging toward their
copters. In the distance they could see ground troops heading towards the
transports.

At midnight the first of many waves of copters began lifting off from
Zama. Similar actions were happening at other Japanese bases in the area,
and this time ground attack fighters were also being launched. Under the
glow of a full moon fighters and attack helicopters raced towards Tokyo.

Back in the room Diana watched from the window as the copter began to
lift off. The fear that had been present earlier in the day had returned in
full force.

-End Chapter 15

Author's Notes:
-Yep another long chapter did not quite realize how long this one
would be when I started writing it. For those of you who were
probably wondering when I was going to move past that formation
of the Ginzuishou, don't worry the pace will begin picking up now.

-I have to give thanks to Comet Moon for suggesting elements of
the battle scene in this episode and making sure that I covered
everything with bringing the full Sailor Team together (well minus
Saturn).

-For those curious about the items Rubeus delivered they are all
used in nuclear weapons research. Tritium is an isotope of
hydrogen with two neutrons and is radioactive. Heavy water is
water that uses deuterium instead of standard hydrogen. Deuterium
is the other isotope of hydrogen with one neutron, and unlike
tritium is stable. Plutonium can be used to make atomic bombs,
and is also a man made element (there is no naturally occurring
plutonium, it is manufactured from uranium).