Four Years Earlier
During the battle between Dr. Tomoe, his daemons, against Sailor Moon, her daughter and the senshi , events were about to take a dramatic shift that would change everything.
Janus, a rogue mage aboard his orbital attack platform in geo-synchronous orbit over Tokyo, watched the images coming from the surface with great interest.
Surprised and delighted when Saturn destroyed Pharaoh 90, he whooped with triumph, bringing a grin and a slap on the shoulder from his Shadow General.
"Congratulations, my Lord. You did it and we are ready!"
At that exact moment, Janus had directed his temporal wand towards the spinning portal and drawn Mistress 9's Affinity essence through the luminous vortex in the form of a narrow beam of violet light into the instrument he had stolen from the Chamber of Chronos.
Janus's motivations for his actions were the direct result of consulting a rare and little known text on a world called Modena, the three Books of Sule, and the highest magic in the galaxy. He had been part of a team sent to study and protect the ancient codices before his falling out with the Celestial Senshi and the Lords of the scimitar. Janus was extremely bitter, blaming them for his fiancé's death after an attack by the Alliance on their home world. Intellectually, he understood this was both unfair and illogical, but didn't care. He felt he had to lay the blame on somebody. After accepting this final assignment, he now possessed the power and knowledge to defeat the Alliance after returning to Chronos with what he needed, and his days as a Stellar mercenary began.
During his brief time on this dark and mysterious world, he had read of a prophecy and it spoke of a temporal mage who would play an important role in the affairs of the gods. This hadn't initially piqued his interest, but when he came across an obscure passage reading, ‘… and he fused the Affinity Essence of a powerful scourge, a maiden of the Great Silence, after capturing it by means of the Modenan Wand and fused it with his dead princess…' he had forgotten all else. In that moment, he had conceived his audacious plans. The reference to the fact the Garnet Staff was created on Modena by Chronos himself also alerted him to the fact that he, Lord Janus, temporal mage and a Shitennou General was the subject of the text and part of the process. He was a pawn, an instrument of the Oberisku no Shoujo. Janus hadn't read any further and left the chamber for the last time, his resolve unshakable.
He waited. Then after acquiring an enemy attack platform, refitting it to his personal specifications and selecting a crew of disgruntled soldiers and shadow warriors, he and his sisters then set out on their quest.
"No, Sailor Moon… I'm afraid your little friend, Hotaru is about to take a trip back with her father along the corridors of time," he declared, sending them both eighteen years into the past. "As for you, Sailor Dark Moon, you shall vanish and your reentry into the reconstituted present shall see you estranged from your mother from birth, so your mother and your new friends will have to get to know you all over again. Right now, you are much too powerful to take on as far as my plans are concerned. Girl, you'd just get in the way. So, forgive me."
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Janus stood over his beloved, who lay on the white metallic table before him as the soft mother-of-pearl light bathed the girl dressed in a short black funerary shift. He smiled down at the frozen form of the beautiful Senshi Princess of Chronos, her thick raven-black hair cascading over her fragile form, spilling over the edge of the table, almost touching the floor.
At that precise moment, Mistress 9's life force had entered the dead girl. The pulsating symbol of Sailor Praxis then began to glow upon her brow.
The woman's luminous green eyes flickered open. She took in her surroundings. She remembered with a start, those last moments of her former existence. She sat up, gripping the sides of the table until her knuckles turned white -- amazed by the assortment of fragrant blooms set about the massive chamber.
"What is the meaning of this, and who are you?" she demanded, looking at Janus, who just smiled at her. She tried to use her long hair as a weapon without success. "What have you done to me?"
The wide-eyed girl swung her bare legs off the table and jumped to her feet. The cold stone sending icy shivers through the unfamiliar physical form she now occupied. Trembling before him, she shook her head in anger and confusion. Her vulnerability frightened her.
Eyes wide as saucers the girl began to sob like a child. Unfamiliar emotions overwhelming her as an innocent girl's eyes looked back at her from the flawless crystal mirror.
"I am flesh and blood and it belongs to me."
Amydarainia's strong persona had already begun to transform her. She found herself warming to this powerful man and couldn't explain it. She loved the way he moved and the way his beautiful long violet cloak whirled about his tall, lean physique -- his short indigo hair, neatly trimmed beard and handsome features set off by brilliant violet eyes melted her uncertainty. His rich baritone voice too had a devastating effect on her. She could do nothing about it.
She was not used to this. She looked at him with radiant green eyes as the tides of unfamiliar memory and emotion washed over her. Tears of frustration began to slide down her cheeks.
Janus again threw her off guard. Stepping forward, gathering her in his strong embrace he easily lifted her off the floor, her delicate bare feet leaving the cold stone. He kissed her with a passion that would have blotted out the brightest star. She didn't struggle, or object when Janus untied her silk shift, slipping a large hand inside. She stared into his eyes, searching for reassurance as he caressed her warm breast. He kissed her hair, lips and delicate throat, sending unaccustomed tremors of excitement over her body.
She should have been furious. But she wasn't, no, not at all. She wanted more.
"Now for the business side of our relationship…" Taking her hand, he led her to a comfortable sofa, handing her a glass of the finest red wine. After she had emptied its contents, he hit a series of keys on a console and the image of a young girl appeared on the screen. "She's the daughter of Prince Diamond, former ruler of the Dark Moon, Nemesis and her mother is none other than Sailor Moon." She stared at the young Senshi, recognizing the familiar Odango. But the girl's hair was raven-black. She blinked as Janus began again, "Sailor Moon was seduced by the prince while in a temporal bubble. Wiseman cast a spell over Diamond, forcing him to confuse and deflower the princess. The illusions convinced Moon he was Prince Endymion and she fell pregnant to him. Apparently, the Ginzuishou removed all trace of the birth. The child, Miranda, was spirited away."
"Moon has no idea?" she said in a whisper, still growing accustomed to her new vocal chords.
Janus smiled, "No way. Diamond knew it was too late for himself and his family, but not for the child. Diamond's courtiers were determined Wiseman wouldn't take the baby girl. The plan was, dare I say, brilliantly conceived. Miranda is four years of age, but physically she is equal to a human adolescent girl of sixteen. The princess sent to a world called Orpheus by Neo-Queen Serenity of the thirtieth century. I wish to use Princess Miranda as a bargaining chip in order to possess Pluto's Garnet Rod. But enough of business for the present; you're truly enchanting and quite lovely; this is a new beginning for us both. You need a new name. I think Amydarainia suits you perfectly."
She smiled and nodded, brushing her hands through her hair. She then accepted the proffered glass from a shy servant girl hovering nearby, sipped the wine and asked, "How did she die?"
"Her parents were killed in an Alliance attack on our home world. These beings are far more powerful than Pharaoh 90, who neglected to inform you he was part of this alliance. He would have eventually destroyed you, too," Janus explained, and this surprised her. "My plans are set. You will battle Princess Pluto. After she is defeated, I want the garnet rod."
"I have no powers. I cannot fight her like this," she whispered in a wistful tone, running delicate hands over her petite body.
Janus put his arms around her, kissing her with a gentleness that surprised even him. "My darling, you already possess the power of a Senshi. My sisters shall train you," Janus smiled, enjoying the warmth of her body against his.
He picked her feather-light form up in one quick movement, and carried her to his bedchamber.
Later, they emerged from the crystal bath and shared a light meal. She stepped naked before the crystal mirror, dressing slowly, liking the feel of her new clothes upon her skin and smiled with satisfaction. The image looking back at her would take a little getting used to. But for the first time in her life, she was actually happy.
She shook her profusion of long black hair that fell to mid-thigh and pirouetted before him.
"You like?"
"You bet I do, my love."
The fire of love made her dizzy. Their intimacy had brought them far closer. All this despite the short time they'd been together. But what of time, especially when she was in love with the master of time himself.
"I have a new life complete with impressions and memories, to think I was prepared to go through eternity without love as the Sovereign of Silence!" Amydarainia shivered at the thought.
"I want you to make ready for our visitor, my love. Princess Pluto will soon be with us," he said, sweeping her up in his arms once more, kissing her before heading for his fighter.
