The Last Tale, Second Magik: DarkWorld
Rated R


     Sacrifice (n): 2.a) the act of giving up, destroying,
       permitting injury to, or forgoing something valued
       for the sake of something having a more pressing
       claim.

                    -Webster's New World Dictionary, 2nd Ed.


     Just as every life possesses an instance that can be brought
to life in words, the event becomes a chapter in a book, a story
for others to gaze upon and be swallowed whole within the realm.
     A realm beyond the waking hours, forged from the magik of a
thousand dreamers and their dreams. And with it, a sanctuary not
so far from us where the last earth magiks reside. Within every
soul lies a story to tell, each event a tale to give unto others.
     These tales, both surreal and sensual, are but a few of many
chapters in a world given breath by a creator. Her name is Naoko
Takeuchi. The people and their lives are of her heart and soul.
They belong in her embrace. But the entity of darkness, and the
young woman it stole so long ago, belong to another, and they are
of my skin and soul. I embrace this darkness and this sadness as
my own children.
     I ask that none may steal any of them away from their
creators. The world of the Moon Princess and her royal court
belong to Naoko Takeuchi. Their hearts and souls belong to her;
they are a part of her stories. But the Dreamworld and its
Scourge are a part of my own story. Milady Naoko's princesses
belong in their castles beyond the moon, and those of the ancient
magiks belong in their eternal battle against each other. 
     One of honour does not become a petty thief; I ask for your
requests if you wish for my raven angels and shadowdemons to
wander other worlds and other stories.

          -His lordship Chaos  (hislordshipchaos@hotmail.com)
               http://neoharuka.interspeed.net/tales-dw.html



     "You who suffer because you love, love still more.
      To die of love is to live by it."

                         -Victor Hugo, "Les Miserables"


     "Do you love?"      -Stephen King, "Skeleton Crew"



     Destiny.
     It is what binds us together and tears us apart. It builds
us up and breaks us down, turns friends into enemies and the
skeptics into believers. It is what gives us life and takes life
away. It is inspiration and forgetfulness at once. Destiny cares
not for time in minutes, hours or days. Not even years or
centuries or millennia can hold out against it. History becomes
the potential future under its guidance. 
     This is the magik that weaves our lives into a majestic
tapestry, some fated to meet at an intersection and then journey
down separate roads. It captures our souls, giving us an angel's
wings or a demon's shadows. 
     Call it what you will: token, karma, kismet. Call it the
figment of a romantic's imagination. But regardless to its
titles, destiny works across lives, in the deepest realms of the
human heart. Some might call it fate. 
     I call it a soul.
     We are what we do, what we chose. In one sense we forge our
own destiny, in another we are destined regardless to have path
forged for us. Our soul is of magik, just as destiny is of magik.
And our magik is only as strong as our soul.
     The only question is: do you believe in magik?
     Do you believe...?


                        -THE LAST TALE-     
                    Second Magik: DarkWorld


     Perhaps it was a distant memory relived in the blink of an
eye. Or perhaps it was just a dream that would be danced in only
once. It was of a realm he had wandered, a kingdom he had once
seen. Yet the chances of his own self really being there were next
to nothing. Long ago this place had been wiped clean from the face
of the Dreamworld.
     But these empty and narrow cobblestone streets and long,
congested mazes of residences were ones he was familiar with. The
forgetfulness covering these memories was gone with death of the
DreamMaster. 
     He stood at the edge of that curving bridge over the canal of
clearest waters, the stars twinkling just beneath its surface.
Everything was perfect right down to the last detail in the
deserted city: every bridge and cobblestone, every shimmer of light
and sparkle of her eyes.
     The blue-white glow of the enchanted lanterns lining the
streets casted majestic colours on her crystal blue dress as she
stood across from him on the bridge. The tresses of her long,
dirty-blonde hair cascaded down around her face, ends caught in the
wind.
     Such beautiful blue eyes.
     There was no confusion this time as he dreamed. The Arashi was
already unsheathed and in his grip, sparks of magik coursing along
the smooth blade.
     She was smiling as she approached. Such radiance he saw in her
eyes, so much life. "Karasu-chan," she whispered, her voice carried
to him on the air of mystic midnight winds. She held out her arms,
opened her heart up to him. Her hair smelled of a field of cherry
blossom trees, in an orchard where they had first kissed.
     He never moved, never flinched. With cold, callous eyes he
remained still and distant, and she hesitated.
     "Daijobu?" she asked. Oh, how hauntingly real her voice was,
so smooth and innocent in itself.
     There were no shades over his eyes, and so they stared into
hers with a glare fit to kill. "You're not real," he stated.
"You're nothing but a lie, a torment of my memories. You were made
to make me suffer."
     She backed away, hurt by his harsh words. Her fingers gently
touched her lips, and for a moment he almost believed it was her
face he was gazing at.
     "Karasu-chan," she whispered, the tears starting to fall.
"Why?"
     He opened his palm. There laid a crystal illusion that allowed
her to see the girl staring back. "You stole Yui-chan from me. For
all I know, she's been dead for centuries. First her...and now
Helios."
     The end came.
     His hand mercilessly closed around the orb, the sphere
shattering in his fist, blood and shimmering water running between
his fingers. And as the echoes of the shards striking cobblestone
moved along the city, she exploded into a fury of cherry blossoms,
slowly dissolving into a maelstrom of delicate petals. Her eyes
were black and lifeless, staring at him with renewed hatred. They
were the last of her to disappear in the fury of blossoms. 
     "I don't care how I do it," he snarled as the gales rose up.
"I don't care what I have to sacrifice. You son of a bitch, I just
want you destroyed forever! Do you hear me?!"
     Dark clouds swallowed up the stars, bolts of scarlet
lightening lashing out and striking the city. And then he saw them:
a legion of shadows, wraiths emerging from the shadows possessed.
He could see their eyes glaring at him in hatred, his own stare
matching their own. And a legion of grinning, pale skulls suddenly
surrounded him, eyes of raging fire watching him from all
directions.
     He lifted the Arashi into the air and summoned magik.
     The dream ended.


     Once it was a beautiful place.
     Once.
     Now it was without day or night, sun or moon or stars. A
lifeless void where a thriving kingdom of the Dreamworld had
existed not hours ago. The soil was black, rich and dark. Where
rows of beautiful cherry blossom trees had once been lined from one
horizon to the next, there was only black stone and dark mist
licking at the knees.
     Only the light of an eerie, deep blue aura seemed to puncture
the darkness, and this aura was more chilling than any other light.
It pulsated and accented shadows and nightmares that had no names.
The Shadowqueen named all her beasts and minions; what existed here
was an evil without possession, title or a face.
     And then light came to the realm, not of the realm itself, but
of the outside breaking in. It was the light and breath of a
dragon. This single glow of fire and smoke found a second burning
flame, then third, and then many more. The pride of winged beasts
descended to the desolate ground. One swooped down to assume the
lead, a great creature of ruby scales and blazing eyes, its Emperor
riding atop its back. With grim, sapphire blue eyes he watched the
shadows grow beneath him. Dragons unleashed streams of raging fire,
the amber hues flickering off the stones and mists.
     "Nightmares that have no name," he whispered. 
     Before his ride had reached the ground, he dropped down,
alighting the stone, his large raven wings folding in behind his
back. Strands of moss green hair were brushed aside as he stood.
     Winged sentries took their positions and flight paths around
the realm, calling out to each other as their breath ignited air.
Yet there was no echo in their roars, no smell of their fires, no
wind from their wings.
     All was deathly quiet.
     "Shimatta," he whispered.
     New auras filtered into the mist, the thick grey fog billowing
out in waves and ripples. Flickers of a long, earthen brown braid
appeared dancing around the skins of slain dream demons. In the
escort of four ghostly knights with dark robes and sealed magik
behind expressionless masks, the masquerade wraith was summoned.
     "Meikyu," he said.
     The masquerade wraith nodded to his presence. The Tsunami
scythe was in Meikyu's hands, its blade rippling like disturbed
aquamarine waves in a pool.
     Darkness rippled on the edges of dragon firelight. The shrine
protege pushed through, stumbling and tripping from the shadows.
The young man froze upon given the gift of sight once more, and ran
a hand through a mane of brown hair.
     "What...what happened here?" the shrine protege whispered in
stunned horror.
     "DarkWorld," Meikyu stated solemnly, pushing back the folds of
a shimmering cloak. "A realm without dreams or nightmares,
subjected to only darkness. Everything came to an end here."
     The shrine protege glanced around the field of darkness,
looking as if ready to throw up. "Dreamers?" 
     Meikyu nodded. "Hai."
     "Angels?"
     "And nightmares as well. Nothing was left behind, yet at the
same time what you are witnessing here is nothing. It is a realm of
dreamless sleep that can only be called oblivion."
     There was something soft beneath his boots. He knelt down,
venturing a hand below the cover of mists. Fingers closed around
blossoms, once pink--now stained with mud, and something else that
could only be described as darkness.
     "Kaika," he said quietly, gripping the petals in his hands.
"This used to be her domain."
     Numbness.
     That was the only way he knew how to explain what he felt: a
numb, agonizing terror that let every last nerve ending in his
entire body crackle on edge with each beat of his heart.
     "The Scourge needs to find its link to the Earthworld," Meikyu
said, jamming the end of the scythe into the ground. "Until it
finds someone to become the Sandman, it is confined to the
Dreamworld." Turning to him, Meikyu added, "We still have a chance
to protect Tokyo."
     "Scourge?" the shrine protege asked.
     "Then we strike here in the Dreamworld," he said, fists
clenching into tight balls. The dragons behind him prowling the
darkness growled in approval.
     "Impossible," the masquerade wraith countered. "The Scourge
knows that in destroying Kaika's domain, it made everyone within
the Dreamworld aware of its existence. It'll stay quiet until it is
able to capture the one it chooses to become Sandman."
     "What is going on here?" the shrine protege exclaimed angrily.
"Dammit, tell me!"
     "What you see before you, Yuichiro, is the devastation caused
by an evil that once plagued our world," came the voice of a young
woman.
     He glanced over his shoulder as the Darkqueen and her Mystwolf
consort appeared, she in elegant robes of silver and blue, Okami in
the guise of a silver wolf. An escort of myst billowed out,
colliding with the fog already present in the DarkWorld. Yet mist
and myst did not mix together to form one; each was of a different
magik, and thus there appeared the crackling sparks of one against
the other.
     He stiffened as he began to see dozens of glowing wolfen eyes
staring out from the darkness. He could hear their pants and growls
but not their forms. Eyes in the dark watching them all. Hard to
believe that only months ago, the entire breed was nearly wiped
out.
     "Hotaru-sama," Meikyu said, bowing. "I was hoping you might
appear."
     "When it concerns the Scourge, then it concerns us all," Okami
replied, shaking out a mane of shining, silver hair in becoming
human. "It broke free of the seal the DreamMaster, the Shadowqueen
and the Wanderer placed upon it. This is its first act of revenge."
     "How could this happen?" Yuichiro said. "If it broke free of
a seal, then how could it go unnoticed until it created this...this
place?"
     Okami glanced around the devastated plains. "You do not know
the essence of the Scourge. It came to us as a ghost, almost
unnoticed. And I think that it will remain that way until it begins
its conquest anew. Only three souls could have known of what was to
come: Helios, the Empress, and Karasu."
     "If they were the three seals, then why didn't they tell us
about its release?" Yuichiro demanded. "Why didn't they warn Kaika
of this? I can't believe our friends told us nothing!"
     "That was their choice," he answered grimly. "The Empress I
can understand in being silent, but Karasu and even Helios...."
     His voice trailed off, the scarlet cloak upon his back
catching a cold wind and blowing sideways. To think that some of
their most trusted friends and valued warriors would have kept
silent about such a monstrosity's release. There had to be a
reason, yet for all the reasons he could list in his mind, none
seemed to take logical hold.
     "Yare yare," came a sweet, demure chuckle. "It's a wonder you
raven angels have managed to cling to the Dreamworld for so long,
what with the way you're acting here."
     It was a sweet voice that seemed to whisper temptation into
his ears; he knew it to be the same for all present, but he saw the
magik working in those whispers.
     His eyes narrowed in recognition of that woman's voice, a
master once served and rejected and fought against. "I was
wondering when you might show up," he said disdainfully, not even
bothering to look back. "Here to critique a rival's handiwork,
Empress?"
     She sauntered into the DarkWorld. Long wavy hair of dark gold
stretched out far beyond the woman's waist, a streak of blue
running through some of the front bangs. A tall, exquisite figure,
full red lips, soft pale skin, and eyes that held a haunting shine
of black pearl. She was the Shadowqueen.     
     "The Scourge appeared long after any of your beloveds were
born to your royal planetary lineage and then sent to the future,"
she stated. "And do recall, it has attacked my kingdoms in the past
as well as your own. It is the true nemesis of the Dreamworld."
     "So what does that make you?" he asked coldly, visibly
skeptical. The enmity held towards his former queen was not going
unnoticed or unchecked.
     "Kishi, watch it," the masquerade wraith cautioned. "Now is
not the time for this."
     The Empress smiled. "I felt rather insulted when Karasu once
paralleled me to the earthen Chaos entity. You see, I am here to
merely conquer the Dreamworld and rule it. But as for the Scourge,
it exists for the sole purpose of obliterating every last living
magik in our realm." 
     Long rectangular earrings that were perhaps ivory dangled from
the Shadowqueen's ears, crimson runes written down upon each one.
Around her neck was a lace choker, dangling from it a crescent moon
forged of jadestone.
     The Queen looked so beautiful.
     She sauntered leisurely past him. "What good is it if I have
no place to conquer? That is why I helped Helios to seal off the
Scourge in the past."
     Her hand trailed across his collar, fingers running down his
shoulders and arms. As if the reason for her presence was not for
the DarkWorld but for him. All simple seduction by her part.
     "What do you want?" he demanded, keeping his tone even but
dark and menacing none the less. "Your siren magik holds no hope on
someone who knows its secrets, Empress."
     She chuckled demurely, her revealing gown sparkling as a
starry night with each movement. "The Mystwolf council are the ones
who decides who goes and who stays within the Dreamworld," she
said. "Helios has been granted leave of this realm before for a
certain period of time--though partly because of his Earth origins.
I ask for the same."
     "The Mystwolves can do that?" the shrine protege whispered to
the masquerade wraith.
     Okami grinned, hearing the whispers. "We are not the
firstbornes of the Dreamworld for nothing, you know."
     "I would be against granting that," Meikyu stated. 
     "As am I," he added, coldly pushing her hands from his arm.
"To state my reasons would be to state the obvious."
     The Shadowqueen smiled, cast a glance at the Darkqueen, and
sauntered away. "I believe the decision is Hotaru-sama's to make,"
she stated. "Your opinions are irrelevant to her decision."
     "Cocky, isn't she?" Okami purred.
     The Darkqueen nodded. "Hai, though she has reason to be." To
the Empress of Night, the Darkqueen said, "I deny your request. As
much as we may depend on your magik to fight, I refuse to put the
Earth at risk by giving you free access to it. I would not put it
past you to plant something that would awaken to do your bidding
five hundred years from now."
     The Shadowqueen smiled. "Fair is fair, and your suspicions are
indeed warranted. But without my magik on Earth, I am useless to
you."
     "What do you propose?" Meikyu asked, shifting stances. The
shimmering blade of the scythe rippled.
     She smiled. "Let me send my serpynt to your realm as an
envoy."
     "Your serpynt?" he exclaimed incredulously. "That's like
sending a vulture in to do a viper's job."
     She ran her hands through her long tresses of hair, fingers
drowning amidst rivers of deep gold. With an outstretched hand she
beckoned for her minion, her envoy between worlds. And there to
appear was a lesser dragon the colour of beach sands, now given
spikes and horns and a kindred spirit of darkness.
     "Ara ara, Kishi, such vivid pictures you can conjure."
     The masquerade wraith grimaced. "Shimatta."
     His fury rose, eyes widening at her. "I have nothing to say to
you!" he hissed angrily. "You took him from me!" 
     She chuckled, and the laughter was sweet, demure, asking
nothing but seductive loyalty. "One betrayal can only give birth to
another, Kishi. But if it makes you feel any better, I have grown
fond of my Suna-chan, my little pet."
     The shadows of a hundred angry dragons rose from behind their
Emperor, demanding retribution. He was on the verge of attacking,
and they were ready to follow with so much as a mere expression in
the eyes. Yet the dragons kept their control as the growls of
hidden Mystwolves grew louder.     
     Meikyu put a firm and restraining hand on his shoulder. The
masquerade wraith spoke but one word, yet in its singularity it was
more than enough: 
     "Don't."
     "I will grant the serpynt access," the Darkqueen said.
     He turned, eyes wide in surprise. "Masaka! Hotaru-sama, what
are you doing?"     
     "However," the Darkqueen added. "I will bind his
transformation abilities. He will keep only this lesser form."
     The Shadowqueen bowed. "As you wish, Hotaru-sama. Thank you
for your generousity." She looked down at the serpynt perched upon
her shoulder. "Watch them closely for me, my Suna-chan."
With a brief, tantalizing kiss from its Empress, the serpynt spread
its ragged wings and flew, landing onto a rock jutting out from the
fog. 
     He could feel something tear within his chest, a sickening rip
that left him hollow inside. This had once been his pet, perhaps
even his best friend among the dragon kind. And now this serpynt
here before him was glaring with eyes telling him that the Empress'
command was the only thing keeping it from tearing him to shreds. 
     All for the odango-haired blonde's sake.
     His eyes darted to the departing form of the Empress.
     "Leaving so soon?" Meikyu inquired.
     She tilted back her head, the corner of her black pearl eyes
catching them all. "What else have we to discuss? But I do feel
obligated to ask you this in parting: why has Karasu not shown up
to marvel at the devastation? Helios' absence I can understand, but
surely the Wanderer knew about the Scourge's release before anyone
else."
     "She has a point," the shrine protege spoke up, still looking
sick and pale. "Where is Karasu?"
     The Empress smiled to herself. "Ask yourself that question in
a few seconds hence, my angels. The answer shall find you instead."
     She vanished, her sweet laughter echoing behind her.
     The serpynt growled, keeping its distance from them all. He
knelt down until his chest was covered in the rolling mists. A part
of him could see the lesser dragon in this serpynt beast. Yet there
was something in the eyes, a cold malevolence replacing the playful
innocence. In a twisted way, his Suna-chan had grown up.
     And this was the new creation.
     He tried stretching out his hand in the distant hope that his
dragon might return, but with a shrill and aggressive hiss the
serpynt snapped its jaws at him. He was its enemy.
     "Suna-chan," he whispered, driving back the bitter tears.
"Damn you, Empress."
     "What did she mean by that riddle?" the shrine protege asked
the masquerade wraith. "'The answer would find us'?"
     Meikyu brandished the scythe, walking around the desolate
kingdom. "It's her way of being creative, Yuichiro. She likes to
tantalize us in everything she does."
     Okami stiffened, sensing the impending storm. "Hotaru-sama."
     The Darkqueen nodded, cat eyes flashing in the dragon fire.
"Hai. Another DarkWorld is upon us."
     The shockwave struck moments later.


     With the arrival of the long-haired blonde, their group had
gathered--save one. She sat on the wood-planked floor of the room,
knees tucked up against her breasts. Long ponytails of golden
blonde hair were draped and brushing against each of her cheeks.
Her dark-haired prince had decided to journey to the Sanctuary, she
to go to her friends. And so they had parted ways.
     "Mamo-chan, be careful," she whispered, crystal blue eyes
darting up to the open fusama. Outside, the night was dark yet
warm; summer was upon them all. 
     "I think it was rather cruel of us being so rudely awakened,"
the long-haired blonde sighed. "After all, the cats play best when
sleeping dogs lie on their sides."
     "That's 'when the cat's away the mice will play' and 'let
sleeping dogs lie'," the dark-haired shrine girl corrected, eyes
rolling. "Baka."
     She sighed, letting her chin rest on her knees. That chilling
wind which had nearly swept her away in Illusion's maelstrom kept
returning to her memory. Each time, there were flashes of shadows
and a company of wraiths that seemed to be lurking amidst the
electric magik and wavering visions.
     "Where's Mako-chan?" blue-haired genius asked.
     She shook her head. "I don't know. She didn't answer the phone
when I called. She doesn't answer the communicator either."
     "For all we know," the dark-haired shrine girl said. "Mako-
chan's at the Sanctuary with Sora. Maybe she can come back and tell
us what's happening."
     She looked to the blue-haired genius. "Ami-chan, do you know
what's going on?"
     The blue-haired genius' eyes shifted, looking uneasily at the
floor. "Iie. All I know is that the shockwave devastated Meikyu's
floating palace, and it scared him enough to send me away from the
Dreamworld. I...I'm frightened by this."
     Not as much by the strange events, but by the near frantic
reactions of the guardian angels. By all accounts, they had acted
as if a war was on the horizon line.
     Her eyes widened. "Masaka," she whispered.
     "Yuichiro didn't seem to know what it was," the dark-haired
shrine girl admitted to the others. 
     "Perhaps because he's not a guardian angel, he doesn't know
all the magik inside the Dreamworld," the blue-haired genius
offered.
     "But after that, I met with Karasu," the shrine girl
countered. "And he said there was something evil inside the
Dreamworld. For that reason he pushed me out." The dark-haired
shrine girl slammed a fist against the floor. "Baka! We could have
stayed and help them! Why did they have to hide us like this?"
     Her eyes shifted to the floor. "Because they love us," she
whispered, as much to herself as to anyone else who might have
heard her. They did, and were silent with her words.
     "Well, we could at least jump over to see how they're doing,"
the long-haired blonde offered.    
     "We're too awake to go back to sleep," the blue-haired genius
replied. "and if we try to forcefully cross over, we'll become lost
souls like Karasu-san."
     She listened to the winds outside, shrilling whispers flowing
on other side of the open wall panel. The winds took form and
voice, and suddenly she could hear something else. Something new.
     Screams.
     The cries of hundreds of souls in anguish washed over her
mind, as if she was listening to their last sounds of sorrow and
fear before they were wiped out forever. She found herself
clutching the folds of her pleated skirt in unknown terror.
     What were these screams?
     "Karasu," she whispered.
     "Karasu said this wasn't our war," the dark-haired shrine girl
said. 
     "Maybe he's right," the blue-haired genius said. "Maybe this
time, our duty as Sailor Senshi cannot apply to a world not our
own."
     "But it is still a part of us!" she spoke up, the passion in
her voice surprising even her. "The Dreamworld is a place where we
found our destinies. Everyone on Earth is trying to find peace
there...and I won't let anyone try to destroy it!"
     She could feel herself on the verge of tears, yet she couldn't
understand why. The overwhelming cries from the damned souls was
haunting her heart, giving foreshadow to what was to come.
Something terrible was on the verge of swallowing them all up.
     They came.
     Whispers in the wind.
     "Usagi...."
     She lifted her head, staring out into the night beyond the
walls of the room. "Someone's calling to me," she said quietly,
distantly, enticed by the whispers.
     "Usagi...."
     The long-haired blonde and the blue-haired genius raced out in
front of her, their own guards raised as they scanned the temple
grounds.
     The dark-haired shrine girl whirled. "Something's here in the
temple." Wards appeared in the girl's hand. "Usagi, no! Get back!"
     She recoiled as the pale lights around the temple revealed a
new force blocking the way out. "N-na ni?!" she exclaimed.
     They stood as a legion against whatever magik might try to
break through. An army of doppelgangers, men in suits and shades
swarming the temple grounds.
     "Youma?" the long-haired blonde exclaimed. "What is it with
tonight?"
     The suited men closed around the building, row upon row intent
on making sure none of them escaped. A number drew long katana
swords, the metal of the blades catching the pale moonlight.
     She felt her heart pounding inside her chest; this threat was
unlike any other she had ever encountered. They all seemed human--
and yet not there was nothing human in the way they moved, in their
very aura, that gave rise to something darkly wrong. As if they
were never meant to exist, but were here regardless.
     "Shimatta," the dark-haired shrine girl swore.
     The long-haired blonde glared at the suited men. "We should
transform."
     "Hai," the blue-haired genius agreed.
     Yet there was no time to move, no time to act or react as the
first wave of demons charged, blades flashing in the midnight air.
Later on, when she had a chance to collect her thoughts, she
distinctly remembered tripping backwards onto her knees and
screaming in terror as they swarmed around her. The next memory was
of the intense light exploding in from her right, viciously
swallowing and carrying the youma away like a flood. 
     "RUMBLE QUAKE!"
     "TIDAL STORM!"
     The first rows of suited men were smashed aside, battered and
crushed by two rampant magiks that reduced the demons into puddles
of murky liquid.
     "Sugoi!" the long-haired blond exclaimed. "What was that?"
     And there atop the Torii were the summoners of the magik.
     "Haruka-san!" the blue-haired genius called out. "Michiru-
san!"
     The tall, sandy blonde and the aqua-haired woman, clad in
their sailor fukus, leaped from the Torii and landed next to her.
"We were in the neighbourhood and thought you young ladies could
use a little help," the aqua-green haired woman said. A glance went
out to the youma. "It appears they've been expanding their search,
ne, Haruka?"
     The tall, sandy-blonde nodded, helping her up. "I'd blame
Chaos, but he's not here at the moment."
     "Wait!" she interjected. "What's happening?"
     "No time to ask questions," the dark-haired shrine girl
countered, brandishing a volley of glowing wards. "Rin pyou tou sha
kai jin retsu sai zen. Akuryou taisan!!" 
     The wards rippled and stood rigidly straight, crackling with
summoned magik. The dark-haired shrine girl launched the wards,
each one instinctively searching out its own youma and burning
against their foreheads.
     Numerous ranks fell, collapsing into pools of thick, waxy
water. Yet the legion never seemed to end. More appeared from the
shadows, gathering ranks to replace the ones lost. The suited men
smiled and clustered. These youma were different; these ones were
adapting once more.
     The tall, sandy-blonde straightened up. "Uh-oh."
     Suits merges, the entire cluster becoming a large pool of
silver liquid. The pool churned and then began to take form.
Details emerged as the form took shape.
     The shape of a large, writhing dragon.
     The beast flipped around, its tail swinging straight for him. 
She barely managed to leap aside before the dragon's tail cleaved
the cobblestone path in two, stone fragments spewed into the air.
The long-haired blonde shrieked and dove for the pathway, forced to
once again leap aside as the dragon tried to crush them.
     A bellow echoed across the sleeping streets of the city.
     "You're really starting to piss me off!" the tall, sandy
blonde exclaimed angrily. The Space Sword appeared, caught in the
sandy-blonde's firm grip.
     The dragon opened its vicious jaws and roared, lunging for
her. The ground was broken apart as its head smashed into the
pathway, and she found herself being pushed aside by the dark-
haired shrine girl.
     "Rei-chan!" she cried out.
     The head recoiled on impact with the ground, thrashing about.
The dark-haired shrine girl was knocked aside, tumbling across
broken cobblestone. There the girl struggled to feebly push off the
ground, the effort in vain.
     And from atop the crimson Torii, someone leisurely seated upon
the Shinto shrine's gateway chuckled. Long hair of silver caught
the glimmers of moonlight.
     "I say, Rampage," Lord Chaos remarked, straining to get a
better look with his binoculars. "Do you think we have a good
vantage point to view the fight?"
     A creature in behind him growled a response.
     Suddenly the youma-beast was right in front of them, its
massive jaws opening up to display rows of shining, jagged teeth
dripping with glistening saliva. The creature's bellow sent forth
a blast of hot air that fiercely blew against the Elven lord's
clothing.
     Chaos never even lowered his binoculars.
     "Yes, I'd say that's a very good view," he remarked.
     A startled cry echoed across the Shinto grounds. The odango-
haired blonde whirled, her eyes widening as the long-haired blonde
was snatched up in the rippling coils of a serpent's tail. With
narrowed eyes, it savoured the chance to crush the long-haired
blonde tighter and tighter still. The girl let out a gasp and a
cry, eyes wide in terror.
     "Minako-chan!" she screamed.
     Perhaps it was her voice that caused the beast to turn. Or
perhaps it was suddenly aware of her own powerful magik. Yet
regardless of what it was, it was enough to have the youma-beast
take notice. The dragon's eyes widened upon seeing her, and it
bellowed. Trees shook and the ground trembled. The long-haired
blonde fell to the cobblestone as the coils rippled and writhed to
propel the dragon forward.
     "Shimatta!" the tall, sandy blonde exclaimed, lunging for the
creature. The Space Sword neatly sliced the dragon's head from its
body, the dragon's howling mouth still snarling as it struck a tree
and exploded into thousands of droplets. The decapitated body
reared back, the severed neck rippling like water waves. The entire
body curled into itself and began to reform, once again becoming
the legion of suited men. 
     The suited men looked to Haruka, and then to her. But the
tall, sandy blonde was already charging, viciously swinging the
sword and cutting through their ranks until the woman's fuku was
soaking wet. Even more suited men seemed to be appearing.   
     "There's still more!" the blue-haired genius said in
disbelief, unleashing another attack of water and ice.
     The dark-haired shrine girl grimaced, standing up and
clutching a bloodied arm. "What kind of youma are these things?"
     An army of doppelgangers grew around them, each face the same,
each evil a copy unto itself. The suited men stood there, one hand
in their jacket pockets and the other leisurely gripping a long
katana sword.
     The long-haired blonde coughed as she helped her friend up.
"Daijobu, Minako-chan?" she asked.
     A nod. 
     A row of youma stepped forward, the blades shimmering in the
pale moonlight. Savage grins and darkened shades were in every
direction. Escape would come through victory or death. And the
suited men seemed to not care of death. Death was a cycle of life
they knew to never end. One fell to become another or perhaps two
others. There was no end, and thus no fear. Only dark hearts and
soulless monsters.
     "Kuso," the tall, sandy blonde muttered. "Not again."
     Laughter rumbled across the Shinto temple, harsh and echoing.
It was a single chorus yet a hundred voices taunting them. Each
roll brought with it hatred, a desire to bring about eternal
moonless night.
     Youma's laughter. 
     And the laughter became screams. Screams of the damned blew in
with the winds that carried this laughter. Horror and pain all at
once, evil finding evil from one terror to another. She closed her
eyes, trying to block out the screams. Her long, shining blonde
hair streamed around her face, now glistening in sweat and tears.
     "Iie!" she cried out. "IIE!!"
     "Usagi-chan!" the long-haired blonde exclaimed, at her side.
     She fell to her knees, hands over her ears yet unable to stop
the relentless screams and laughter. Tears streaked down her face,
cold and shimmering with their own pain.
     "Usagi-chan!" the dark-haired shrine girl cried out.
     The tall, sandy blonde glared back at the suited men.
"Michiru, we have to do something."
     "I'm open to any suggestions," the aqua-haired woman replied.
     The screams still pounded against the odango-haired blonde's
skull, throbbing and haunting ghosts crying for release. "Please,"
she whispered hoarsely. "Please stop...."
     And then came the applause; loud, deliberately slow clapping.
It echoed above the laughter of the suited men, echoed across the
empty streets. Palm striking palm, unhurried and with a dark
sarcasm that could be heard in each clap.
     Screams were cut off, silenced by a subtle knife. The suited
men froze, heads in disharmony, turning and searching. And slowly
her mind cleared, though the tears still stained her face.
     "Daijobu, Usagi-chan?" the dark-haired shrine girl asked.
     She nodded, the applause healing her mind. Her crystal blue
eyes searched the temple grounds. Only one of powerful magik could
have interceded. And atop the Torii she found him.
     It was the Elven Lord of Chaos, seated leisurely upon the
scarlet gateway as if watching a sporting game. Nothing had really
changed in his appearance: the same Chinese-styled clothes were
still his, though his long silver hair had been tied back in a
ponytail.
     "Brilliant," he said. "Absolutely spectacular. So tell me, my
fine group of youma, what you intend to do about...her?"
     And beside him appeared a long, slender face. It was like a
dragon's jaws, long and sloped--yet in every way it appeared
skeletal, the colours a bleached white. Starting at the middle of
the beast's skull was a row of curving spines that followed the
curvature of the skull until the skull itself disappeared. For in
truth, all they could see was the head of the beast, its neck and
body gone, yet possibly there somewhere, hidden in the midnight
air. Small rows of jagged teeth poked out from its upper jaw, and
frighteningly large, golden yellow eyes stared at them from black
sockets.
     "What is that?" the dark-haired shrine girl whispered.
     The beast shifted, revealing that there was more of the
visible body than just the head: three enormous and vicious claws
moved about, a set for each of what might have been its limbs. One
set of claws rested upon Chaos' shoulder, the other clenching the
top the Torii.
     The dark laughter of lord Chaos rolled across the temple
grounds, the suited men suddenly shifting their full attention to
him. One order was to kill, and though it was a powerful order,
there was an even stronger one to seek out the Elven lord.
     "Masaka," the tall, sandy-blonde said. "Is that his little
pet?"
     The aqua-haired one smiled enigmatically. "You were expecting
a cute little puppy, Haruka?"
     With a gleefully malevolent smile Chaos said, "Gentlemen, meet
Rampage." And with that he made a gesture to the beast; the
enormous demon-beast growled. Lord Chaos then gestured to the
suited men. 
     "Rampage, eat gentlemen."
     Rampage's jaws opened to reveal rows of jagged teeth, its
skull and claws suddenly tripling in size. Suddenly the creature
leaped onto the ground, head bouncing around in the air as if
attached to a neck or body. There was a definite sense of inertia
its head jerked down upon striking the ground. The claws sank into
the cobblestone, leaving enormous holes punctured in the rocks.
Even Haruka started to back away as Rampage began to advance, a
crazed look in the beast's eyes.
     Dark delight filled Chaos' eyes. "Bon appetite, Rampage," he
chuckled, disappearing only to reappear next to her and the tall,
sandy blonde.
     The demon-beast that was Rampage pounced upon the suited men,
tearing apart the humanoid creatures and spilling floods of the
watery liquid across the temple grounds. Trees and buildings were
splattered and stained. The suited men retaliated with blades, but
a blade that could only pass through air was useless.
     Rampage appeared to have no body save for the claws and head,
and for each vain blow upon it, the demon-beast made sure to rip
apart the youma responsible. And if not rip apart, then at the very
least rip off a limb or a head.
     "Sugoi," the long-haired blonde whispered.
     "Yes! Why havoc!" Chaos proclaimed, throwing up his arms and
cackling.
     "Isn't he still trapped in a Pandora Box?" the blue-haired
genius asked.
     Chaos scowled. "Damn, that's right. And he would have loved
this melee too."    
     With a loud, triumphal bellow, the demon-beast drove back the
attacking youma. Rampage smashed through the Torii, knocking the
frame apart in spilling suited men all over the street. That didn't
even slow the beast down; Rampage continued to devour and shred not
only the demons, but also cars, telephone poles, mailboxes,
guardrails or anything else that had the unfortunate luck of being
there right at that moment.
     "Chaos, she's tearing apart the entire street," the aqua-
haired woman said.
     He shrugged his shoulders. "What do you expect, Michiru? She's
been sealed in a rather small box for a few thousand years. How
irate would you feel?" His smile turned vicious. "Besides, they got
youma spit all over my shirt courtesy of that dragon beast. This is
just my way of saying 'thanks'."
     The tall, sandy blonde sighed. "And you wonder why they locked
you up in a Pandora box in the first place."
     "She thinks like me," Chaos remarked aside to the aqua-haired
woman. "I'm not sure whether to be flattered or frightened."
     Suited men became shadows, the last traces of them fading into
the darkness of alleys and surrounding trees. All were lost as
Rampage so willingly tried to find more. The beast howled to the
heavens, furious that its prey was disappearing.
     "Rampage, that's enough!" the Elven lord finally called out.
"Heel!"
     The demon beast turned and happily trotted over to its master.
In flickers of streetlight and moonlight, faint ripples of what
might been Rampage's true body appeared in a pale glow. Yet they
seemed as illusionary as the beast itself.
     "Hai, Rampage-chan," Chaos purred to his little pet. "How does
it feel to finally get out from that nasty Pandora Box and
stretch?"
     The dragon-like skull smiled as vibrant eyes in lifeless
sockets watched them all. It growled fond approval, nuzzling its
master's side. A set of claws came to rest upon Chaos' shoulder.
     "Well," the Elven lord remarked sourly. "It would appear
Helios' wild card was just discovered. The Scourge now seems to
want you too, Sailor Senshi."
     "Is that a bad thing?" she asked innocently enough.
     Chaos' eyes rolled. "Yes, Usagi, I think this would nicely fit
into such a particular category."
     She blushed slightly. "Oh. Gomen nasai!"
     Chaos gave an exasperated glance in the dark-haired shrine
girl's direction. "The future queen of your Crystal Tokyo, ne?"
     The dark-haired shrine girl sighed wearily. "H-Hai...."
     Her laughter faded away to silence as she stared at the temple
grounds. Everything was undisturbed once more--and yet everything
stained by the watery youma was sparkling. For a brief instant, the
faint echoes of the screams of the damned haunted her mind.
     They were crying out but a single word to her.
     "DarkWorld," she whispered. 
     She clutched a hand at her breast, suddenly chilled by the
midnight winds. That ripple in the Dreamworld was a part of this.
The guardian angels and their DreamMaster were too. Something was
coming from beyond the horizon of darkness.
     What she felt was fear for the future.
     "Mamo-chan...."


     There was silence.
     Nothing echoed in the crystal splendour that was the Citadel.
Its master was gone, its magik stolen forever by a remorseless
beast. There was a twinkling song of the crystals, faint and
soothing to the ones who were quiet enough and willing to listen.
This was not such a time.
     Crystal blue eyes stared out at the Sea of Silver Orchids,
watching the waves in the distance become crashing furies of water
at the cliffsides far below where he stood. White froth against
deep blue darkness. All so spectacular a dance.
     And yet tonight it soothed him not.
     He played with the wine, rich and red, watched it swirl around
the glass as he rocked it back and forth in his hand. The shades
were gone from his face, his tie missing and his jacket discarded.
His white dress shirt billowed in the winds, rippling in a dance of
its own.
     The wine seemed so much more bold tonight even though he
hadn't touched it yet. There was no one to talk to, and even if
there was, he wouldn't have said much if anything. Consumed by the
haunting ghosts of a past that refused to leave him, he left his
thoughts alone.
     Distanced, from himself, from everyone, from his pains.
     Eyes glanced to his far left as he felt ripples of magik move
through the Citadel's upper room. Without looking back he already
knew who had joined him.
     "Let us celebrate, Setsuna," he proclaimed, dark and grim
tones edged into each word. He held out his glass cup to the time
guardress. "To the end of the world as we know it."
     He gulped down the wine, gave a few seconds to allow for the
kick to his system. Seconds later he threw the empty goblet at the
floor, glass shattering. The shards glowed with the lights of the
surrounding crystals.
     "Drowning yourself with the bitterness inside will only hurt
you more, Karasu," she stated, still clutching her key-shaped
staff.
     "Yeah, but I can at least try," he retorted, leaning back
against the edge of the opened chambers. "Two new DarkWorlds
tonight are inside the Dreamworld. Thousands of dreamers won't be
waking up."
     This was a different world from the one his father had
described. ShadowWorld and DarkWorld; each title belonged to a
different realm. A world of beautiful shadows against a world of
infernal oblivion. He had heard tale of Morpheus' domain, and it
sounded so beautiful to behold, much like a Dreamworld. But it was
only a tale--and the DarkWorlds he was beholding now were
frighteningly all too real.
     "You look miserable," she said, both observing how he looked
and voicing her concern for him.
     "I used to think hell was just a place," he answered. "Now I
think it's really a state of mind. He was right there in front of
me, Setsuna. He was right there and I couldn't do a damned thing to
save him. Just like Yui."     
     He looked down, stared and studied his hand. Slowly he made a
fist, held it, then relaxed, watching his fingers curl and tense.
"It's happening all over again."
     First Yui, now Helios. 
     Both had been claimed by that faceless, lightless entity they
only knew as the Scourge. And that same damned entity was going out
of its way to make him feel their agony, feel his own agony.
     "Chikusho," he said finally, his entire body tensing and
desiring some means of releasing the pressure he could feel
building up inside. 
     "Hate next to love is the most powerful emotion," she said.
"Are you willing to let it dominate your soul?"
     He stiffened, bristling at her words. His mind was moving too
fast for him to fully come to terms with all he was feeling. "What
the hell is that supposed to mean?"
     Her long dark hair flowed like smooth field grasses or ripples
of water, her gaze stern and unwavering. "You can't bring them
back, Karasu. You have to let them go before this guilt and rage
you're holding consumes you."
     He turned sharply, eyes blazing. "Urusai!" he snapped. 
     She never flinched or moved to defend herself, the slap from
his hand striking her across the cheek. Yet it was in that moment
after, as her head slowly turned back to him, and he saw her
magenta eyes, which made the difference.
     The anger died in that moment.
     Neither shame nor guilt filled his heart. It seemed to him
that every last emotion was being drained from his body; exhaustion
was beginning to set in. Now he just felt emptier than before.
     "Gomen nasai, Setsuna," he said, unable to look directly at
her anymore. "There was no excuse for that. I...I just wasn't--"
     "Wasn't thinking?" she finished, as if asking a question.
"Those emotions you hold so dear to your claim of being human
rather than a ghost have the power to do that, Karasu. The Scourge
is a living, hating beast. It may be more than a mere spectre could
ever become, yet a part of it is human. If it hates, then it feels.
And if it feels, it indeed has a soul no matter how black its
shadows might be."
     "You sound like Helios," he said.
     She gave him a curious glance. 
     "Those words, and your choosing of them. He sounded exactly
like you right before the Scourge claimed him. Are you getting
ready to die, Setsuna?"
     If she was indeed ready to die, her calm demeanour about the
whole idea unnerved him. "Death next to life is a trivial thing,"
she stated. "We all have experienced death in one form or another--
even you, Karasu. Perhaps everyone does die, but then for what
reason are you willing die?  For vengeance against the Scourge? For
your hatred?" 
     "You speak of them as if they aren't noble causes," he
responded coldly. "What if I told you that life itself tastes
bitter to me now, almost as much as death? The Scourge seeks for me
to taste death, and if I can have the pleasure of dragging it down
to the depths of hell itself, then I'll gladly drink its cup dry."
     The ocean returned to his focus, his gaze watching the
shimmering ripples of silver atop deep blue. Everything, including
himself, seemed to be slowly unravelling and falling apart. Now he
found it hard to find something to still believe in.
     "In death there is still the hope for life."
     A pause. "Resurrection?" he asked finally.
     She shook head. "Iie. Not a resurrection, but a rebirth."
     He stiffened at those words, stray thoughts of a tale once
told to him by the dark-haired shrine girl returning to his mind.
Of a future like the distant past. A place destined to become a
sanctuary to all who sought to find peace.
     "Crystal...Tokyo?" he whispered.
     He turned around, his eyes softening as he looked at her. No
words were spoken as he drew up in front of her, letting his
forehead gently rest against hers. A hand went to her cheek as he
closed his eyes. "I envy you, Setsuna," he whispered. "Why you
remain with me in my wanderings, I don't understand."
     She smiled, resting her palm against the hand on her cheek.
"We all have our reasons to carry on, Karasu. I have already found
mine."
     "Hai hai," he answered, nodding in response. He gently pulled
away from her, glancing up at the starry heavens. "Perhaps it is a
beautiful night after all."
     It didn't surprise him when, in turning back to face her, he
discovered she had vanished once more. In fact it would have
surprised him more had she remained. He stood there for a while
longer, watching the frothing waters and pounding surf far below.
And then he turned and left the Tsukino maiden in the solace of the
Citadel. 
     For now it was time to sleep...and perchance to dream.
 

     Such a strange gathering, he thought. A strange one indeed.
Everything seemed to be happening in a surreal order of pure chaos,
everyone calm yet desperate at the same time. The events themselves
were playing out as if aligning to some woven tapestry of life and
at the very heart of magik itself.
     Destiny was here. He could almost touch it.
     "Daijobu, Sora," she said, resting a hand on his shoulder.
"It'll be alright."
     He looked up from his anxious pacing, and found himself
smiling despite the weariness. "Hai, Mako-chan," he answered,
clasping her hand in his. Whenever he looked into her eyes, he
could feel his heart lifting on its own angel's wings.
     The dark-haired prince looked at him expectantly, perhaps in
the hopes of hearing him speak something of assurance. But the
truth was he had only a handful of answers and doubts about the
future. All he could offer was a chance to beat the odds.
     They both turned as myst started to smoke out from behind a
pillar in the Gallery, the myst an escort and entrance proclamation
as the guardian angels emerged from the Dreamworld. He raced up to
the masquerade wraith.
     "What happened?" he demanded.
     The wraith paused as they were shoulder to shoulder.  "There
can be no doubt," Meikyu said, still looking forward. "It has
returned once more, breaking the seal. That ripple we felt was
another DarkWorld."
     "Whose domain?" he asked quietly. The ripple had shaken up the
Sanctuary once more, and all he could do was ask in hesitant fear
as to who had found their kingdom destroyed now.
     "Sumire's," the raven knight answered grimly. Kishi took a
deep breath. "I don't know how to react...The last time this
happened, I was still a Shadowdemon who didn't care if a kingdom
was destroyed so long as I wasn't in it at the time."
     "The Scourge isn't from the Empress' magik?" the tall brunette
asked.
     He shook his head, taking her hand in his and leading them out
from the Gallery into another atrium. The other guardians acted
almost like an escort. "When a Shadowdemon captures a dream
kingdom, the dreamers caught inside are plunged into a nightmare.
Sometimes it ruins countries with famine, poverty, hatred and war.
Other times it causes dreamers to lose control of their minds, and
they become criminals or else go mad."
     They stopped beneath a skylight where the twinkling heavens
and a crescent moon glowed overhead. The lights in this chamber
were dimmer, allowing for the magnificence of the starlight sky to
shine down.
     The guardians took seats on some of the benches or places they
felt most comfortable being at. The shrine protege sat at the edge
of a fountain, the masquerade wraith reclining atop a cherub's face
at the pinnacle of an archway. The raven knight opted to stand, and
he with the tall brunette sat down on a bench beneath two lone palm
trees.
     He glanced down one of the adjacent corridors. "The griffins
have found the others. They've come at last."
     "All of them?" the raven knight asked.
     He nodded. "The Sailor Senshi as well."
     The raven knight glanced sadly over at the Empress' serpynt,
who was curling itself up on the floor yet intently listening and
watching them all.
     Walking down the halls appeared the Sailor Senshi, in the lead
the Elven lord of Chaos. Beside Chaos, a monstrous beast's head
lumbered along.
     "Gomen ne," Chaos apologized, pushing off the ground and
floating comfortably into the air. "We were sadly delayed thanks to
some rather thoughtless youma."
     The shrine protege straightened up. "What?"
     "Ah, daijobu," Chaos said, waving it aside. "My little
Rampage-chan nicely took care of them for us."
     Abruptly the demon-beast started making loud choking noises,
lifting its head and barking as if to unclog its throat.
     "Is it alright?" the tall, sandy-blonde asked.
     "Probably ate someone that didn't agree with her," Chaos
replied simply. "She'll be fine." 
     Suddenly a loud belch rumbled through the corridor. 
     Chaos grinned. "See? What did I tell you?"
     The masquerade wraith sighed. "Yare yare."


     She felt a little warmer as the glow of the Sanctuary enfolded
her in arms of familiar serenity. Her dark haired prince was there
to greet her, sweep her up in his arms and kiss her.
     "I'm so glad you're safe, Usa-ko," the dark-haired prince
whispered.
     She smiled and nodded, and spoke his name to let the warmth
she felt now flow through them both. "Mamo-chan."
     They all took seats around the atrium; numerous other benches
were there at their disposal. The tall, sandy-blonde and the aqua-
haired woman took one for themselves, while the dark-haired shrine
girl sat next to the shrine protege. The long-haired blonde joined
the raven knight, and the masquerade wraith leaped off the archway
to be with the blue-haired genius.
     Her eyes found another in their presence. "Suna-chan!" she
exclaimed happily, racing towards the serpynt.
     "Usagi, no!" Kishi exclaimed, sprinting forward and catching
her wrist just a heartbeat before the lesser serpynt lashed out and
tried to bite off her fingers.
     The serpynt hissed, coiling back around itself and glaring at
her with murderous eyes. She could see the malice in its gaze, so
familiar yet now so foreign. She had seen its eyes like this once
before, and they were still unchanged.
     "He's...he's still under her powers," Kishi said.
     "Suna-chan," she whispered, her eyes trembling. The memories
of those moments past returned, and now she regretted what she had
done. The sorrow in the raven knight's voice made it all the more
painful.
     "Let the serpynt be," Chaos said. "We have business to take
care of."
     "He was my friend," Kishi said, glaring at Chaos.
     "He'll be just another pleasant memory like the rest of us if
you don't get your mind on more important matters," Chaos replied
icily.
     Sora came between the two, calming them down. "Please, we need
to discuss this through. I fear we won't have much time before the
Scourge attacks once more."
     Scourge....
     She lifted her blue eyes to those around her: angels,
soldiers, lovers. All had gathered here for what seemed like a
final battle. There was something in the air that held with it the
faint scent of fate and destiny.
     "Well, we know it's definitely not necromancer magik," Meikyu
said. "The Scourge doesn't seem to be using that as its source
power."
     "Necromancer magik?" the tall brunette inquired.
     "Demon sorcery," Sora answered. "Karasu told me about it once;
Morpheus thought Queen Beryl to be a demon sorceress. Metalia was
more than likely the demon she served."
     "Hold on," the dark-haired shrine girl cut in. "What's this
Scourge you're talking about? All I know is that something
unnatural came after us tonight, and it's somehow connected with
that shockwave in the Dreamworld." 
     The raven angels fell deathly silent.
     She turned to her dark-haired prince "Ne, Mamo-chan, where's
Karasu?"  
     Her prince could only shake his head in uncertainty. "I don't
know, Usagi. We've tried every means of contacting him, but there's
just silence."
     "We called it the Scourge," Meikyu finally spoke up. "Its
origin is a mystery to all of us who were there in the battle. This
thing feeds on magik; any source it can find it consumes. The
Scourge came once before, just under one thousand years ago it
appeared here on Earth...and nearly destroyed us all. Karasu wasn't
even a century into being a lost soul when it struck, first
devouring the Dreamworld realms and then wiping out the human
dreamers. Here the history books called it the Black Plague,
attributed to poor living conditions and sanitation. But its origin
was so much more than they could even suspect...."
     "As far as we know, the Scourge is trapped inside the
Dreamworld. It needs a host to cross over into Earth, a soul it has
called the Sandman." The raven knight had spoken this, solemnly in
clenching the long-haired blonde's hand.
     "Did the Sandman get into Earth before?" the blue-haired
genius asked.
     "Almost," came Okami's voice. 
     Everyone turned as the Darkqueen and Okami stepped into the
atrium. "Where were you?" Chaos asked.
     "A second DarkWorld appeared," the Darkqueen replied.
"Performing a requiem for the death of one such fallen kingdom is
our duty as Mystwolves."
     She exchanged a brief smile with the Darkqueen. Their time
together had always been brief and far between, yet when it
mattered most, they had been together for each other. But now
Hotaru had new secrets to hide. The little harbinger of Saturn's
magik was growing up.
     "The Mystwolves managed to block the Scourge's passage," Okami
explained. "thus relegating it to the Dreamworld. Much like how we
allow a handful of raven angels to cross over, and ensure that the
Shadowqueen remains here. Hotaru-sama, now our Queen, decides who
comes and who goes, and we Mystwolves enforce it with our magik."
     "Sugoi," the long-haired blonde said.
     Okami gave an enigmatic smile. "However, it does have lesser
demons it can send over to do it's dirtywork. Should we assume
that's what came after you tonight?"
     Chaos abruptly frowned. "Shimatta. So that's who you were."
     "What is it?" the dark-haired shrine girl asked, glancing over
at the Elven lord.
     Chaos stared up at the heavens, hands laced behind his head as
he floated in the air. "I'm not sure. I've been thinking about the
past, letting it all run through my mind time and time again. When
I was asleep inside the Pandora Box, something woke me up."
     "But that was when Chibiusa opened the box," the blue-haired
genius said.
     The Elven lord scowled. "That's what's been bothering me.
Something else stirred me from my sleep right before she opened the
box. I heard whispers telling me to prepare for release. And then
those same whispers opened my box when Vritra was unleashed."
     "Chibiusa-chan said she heard somebody whispering to her to
find the box and open it!" she exclaimed, suddenly aware of the
developing conspiracy. She felt something twisting up her stomach,
making her not sick but frightened.
     Those distant screams again....
     "Usa-ko," her dark-haired prince said, startled by her
outburst.
     Chaos nodded. "I never found out what it was, but I was too
thrilled with my freedom at the time to care. Now I fear that it is
here in Tokyo." Chaos straightened out, slowly descending to the
floor. "Usagi, you should not have feared what the Pandora Box
could release. You should have feared what had the greater power to
release me."
     "And the Scourge really seems determined to get its claws on
you, Chaos," Meikyu stated. "If the Scourge is after you, then it
makes sense that it was the source of those whispers you're
describing."
     "Now who did I manage to piss off enough in my other life?"
Chaos replied, leaning against a pillar. "There's no one I know of
who holds enough magik to cross between realms at will. Hell, I
didn't know anything about the Dreamworld until Helios sealed me
off in the Pandora Box."
     "It's all a part of what the Scourge is," Sora said. "Within
all who cross into the Dreamworld lies an Imagika, a symbolic
essence of our powers. If the Scourge or its host, the Sandman,
captures one of our Imagika, then it steals our magik. We fade to
nothing, what might be our very soul now in its possession."
     "Starseeds," the blue-haired genius spoke up. "You're talking
about our Starseeds."
     Kishi nodded. "But as ones who come from the Dreamworld, who
crossed over, we don't possess an Imagika. No raven angel ever has-
-at least as far as I know. That could give us an advantage."
     She was slowly growing numb to their words, though she knew
that what each one was saying was of grave importance to both their
worlds. Those screams were beginning to haunt her waking thoughts
and memories.
     A strange image was starting to take hold inside her mind. She
could see him, the Wanderer, her older brother. He stood across a
bridge in a beautiful ancient city.
     "We should begin an evacuation of the Dreamworld immediately,"
Meikyu was saying. "The more people we send out now, the less
innocents will suffer in the next onslaught."
     "We can't undertake that by ourselves," the raven knight
countered. "We need Helios' magik at the very least. Not to
mention, the Shadowqueen won't simply sit back and not use the
confusion to her own means."
     She buried her head into her lap. A blue-white glow of the
enchanted lanterns lining the streets cast majestic colours on a
girl's crystal blue dress as they stood upon separate ends of the
bridge. Tresses of the girl's long, dirty-blonde hair cascaded
down, ends caught in the wind.
     Such beautiful blue eyes.
     "Yare yare," the Elven lord sighed. "I can't believe I'm
hearing this from some of the most legendary raven angels of the
Dreamworld." 
     Kishi stood, clenched fists abruptly bursting with Dragyn's
Fyre flame. "You have something to say, Chaos?"
     Such beautiful blue eyes....
     "Yui-chan," the Wanderer whispered.
     Chaos cracked a sardonic smile. "Call it whatever you want, my
friends. Call it the beginning, the end, the beginning of the end.
Call it whatever you will, but know this: its magik runs deeper
than any of us know. That entity of Galaxia you once called Chaos
was nothing compared to this. This is no mere evil. This is the
Scourge. And while it's out there lurking, we're in here making
more noise than progress." 
     She lifted her head, the dream playing itself out in her mind.
Yet she was still listening to the words spoken by Chaos. 
     He was reaching out to the girl, the one he called Yui.
     A storm....
     The very streets around Karasu and Yui erupted as steam vented
forth and the buildings shook themselves apart. A vortex spun
itself from the very air they breathed, shadows taking form and
standing on the water's edge to witness the nightmare.
     "You sound rather passionate about this battle," the aqua-
haired woman said. 
     The Elven lord uneasily looked away. "I've been trapped in a
damned box for the past few millennium. I'm not about to screw up
my newfound freedom by doing something stupid, Michiru."
     "Oniisan." she whispered, reaching out her hand to the vision
before her.
     "Usagi-chan?" It was a distant voice, and she was unaware of
who had called out her name. Yet all that mattered was the
destruction before her. The force without a face, with just a name
given to it by someone else.
     Karasu whirled, and she realized that their eyes were locked.
He could only stare at her in horror for what she was sharing with
him.
     A chorus of voices echoed inside her mind, drifting with the
winds. "Serenity...princess of the White Moon...Serenity...." And
suddenly there they were, a ghostly horde of shadows surrounding
her at every side, their shadows glaring at her.
     "Usagi, run! It knows where you are!"
     Those voices: "Usagi...."
     She screamed, throwing herself back into the dark-haired
prince's arms. She was sobbing, the intense emotions coming faster
than she could have ever hoped to handle them.
     "Usagi-chan!" a chorus of concerned voices rose up.
     Something stirred within the boundaries of the Sanctuary
realm. A new magik yet ancient at the same time, unfamiliar to the
place yet familiar to those inside. One by one the raven angels
lifted their heads, and turned as a chilling wind made its fateful
path down the corridors of the Sanctuary. Enchanted lanterns
flickered, their lights dimming while some were blotted out
completely. The very magik within the Sanctuary was suddenly on
edge. Sora glanced down another corridor as the frantic whinny of
a unicorn was heard.
     "This aura," the dark-haired shrine girl whispered, suddenly
chilled. "I can feel it coming."
     Chaos growled, eyes darting from one part of the Sanctuary to
the next. "What the hell is that?"
     Mist billowed out from the distant darkness, knee-high clouds
rolling the floors and licking at them all. Eerie shades of grey
danced all around them, sweeping past where they stood or sat, the
tide washing beneath the next set of archways.
     "It's here," she whispered. "It's here...."
     The corridor before them all was robbed of the light and
plunged into darkness. Shadows reigned until an aura slowly took
life and shape. A host of spectres awaited, watching.
     "Is that the Scourge?" the tall, sandy-blonde said, taking a
defensive stance.
     "This is a new form," Meikyu answered, drawing the Tsunami
Scythe. "But its magik is unmistakable. It's left the Dreamworld
and come for us."
     "Wait just a damn minute!" Chaos exclaimed. "I thought you
said the Scourge couldn't attack Earth unless if found its
Sandman!"
     "Hai," Sora answered. "And the Sanctuary is right in between
both realms. The Scourge is still magik, and thus it can enter if
it knows the right way to open the lock." The raven angel's eyes
closed, searched, and then opened once again. "The stone griffins
are no more. There is nothing else that can stop it from attacking
the Sanctuary."
     The Elven lord growled. "Shit. Now you tell me."
     Everyone was on their feet, magiks summoned and crackling all
around them. The raven angels instinctively cut ahead, their own
weapons brandished as the grey clouds licked and swirled around the
chambers.
     The slender skull of the demon-beast appeared alongside the
Elven lord, snarling as its rows of jagged teeth were opened. "Iie,
Rampage," Chaos countered. "This isn't a battle for you."
     Rampage growled a definitely negative response. Chaos grabbed
the end of the demon-beast's snout, forcing them to stare hard into
each other's eyes. "I mean it," he stated. "You have to protect
Usagi now. You understand me, Rampage? Don't let what might happen
to us happen to her."
     The shadows came.
     Enchanted lanterns suddenly exploded, flashes of whitish-blue
light erupting from every corner as a rainfall of sparks spilled
down upon them. Darkness advanced, slowly, relentlessly. It knew
they had gathered here. It knew the magiks of those standing
against it.
     She glanced back as she heard a shrilling hiss from the
serpynt, her long blonde hair fluttering around her face. "Suna-
chan!" she exclaimed.
     The creature's eyes narrowed, as if sneering at her. Wings
flapping, it soared into the sky and then swooped into another
corridor, billows of grey mist tumbling aside as the dragon-beast
kept close to the ground.
     "Shimatta!" the raven knight shouted, giving chase. There was
a torn glance from the fleeing serpynt to the long-haired blonde.
And against his better judgement, or perhaps against his heart's
desire, Kishi chose to follow after the serpynt.
     "It didn't disappear into the Dreamworld," the shrine protege
remarked, uncertain of what to make of it.
     "Suna must be here for something else then," the aqua-haired
woman said, eyes focused on the more serious threat at hand than a
rogue lesser serpynt. "Sorata, you're more familiar with this place
than I am. Any ideas?"
     Sora shook his head. "Iie. There are countless artefacts here
that the Shadowqueen could want. Unfortunately we have not the time
to consider which one that might be."
     Everything was falling apart.
     Lights were flickering all over, giving way to a surreal slow-
motion lightshow. Muscles were tensed, nerves on edge, magik
glowing from each of their bodies in manifestation. There in the
darkest of darkness a multitude of eyes watched them, eerie hues
silent and piercing in the shadows.
     The masquerade wraith stepped alongside the raven angel.
"Sora, leave now. Take whatever magik with you. The Scourge will
tear this place apart and consume everything within these walls
unless you ensure their safety."
     Sora paused, glancing back at the others. "But--"
     "But what?" Chaos snapped. "Let us deal with this damned
thing."
     Yuichiro nodded. "Get the others out, and leave the rest to
us." 
     Narrowed eyes of the Elven lord turned to the raven angel.
"We've got your back, Sorata. And I expect to see Fuu-chan when
this is all over."
     Sora nodded, unfolding wings of the raven lifting him up.
     The aqua-haired woman glanced at the tall brunette. "Let
Makoto go with you; I for one am not about to let her fight when
she has a child inside her."
     For a moment, the tall brunette stared defiantly at the
others. And then consented with the request, knowing how right they
were. Their unborn daughter should not be placed in such a risk.
The DreamSeer took Makoto in his arms and both were carried out of
the chambers. 
     The Elven lord of Chaos glanced over at the masquerade wraith.
"We're not going to win this, are we?"
     "There's always time to pray for a miracle," Meikyu evenly
replied. 
     They were sided with the shrine protege and the dark-haired
prince. Four warriors in the front lines. And not two steps away
were the soldiers, five where nine once fought together. And at the
very end was the princess they were sworn to protect, the Mystwolf
consort and the Darkqueen on either side of her.
     The tall, sandy-blonde turned to Okami. "Take the princess and
get out of the Sanctuary."
     "Uranus!" she protested, stepping forward. Yet she was held
back by the Mystwolves. "What about you?!"
     "This is our duty," the aqua-haired woman stated. "This is why
we were born: to protect you."     
     She screamed out their names as she was pulled back. "IIE!!"
she cried out. "Don't leave me!!"
     Suddenly the shadows retreated, pulling back with voracious
speed as light flooded into the chambers. A cool gale tugged at all
their garments as the mist rolled back upon itself, as if someone
was rewinding time. All signs of the Scourge having breached the
Sanctuary shrank into the furthest point of the corridor, where it
remained. 
     Waiting.
     With a loud crackle of magik, the masquerade wraith's scythe
blade was unsheathed. Glowing white light enveloped the shrine
protege's clenched fists. The dark-haired prince gripped his cane,
which extended into a thin but effective staff. 
     Chaos' eyes narrowed. "Here they come."
     The shadows charged.
     In a terrifying display of darkness, the Scourge swept through
the corridor like a hellish tidal wave, spilling out into the
atrium where they all stood. Winds blasted past them all, tempests
like screams clawing at their very souls. Everyone started to back
away as the onslaught smothered everything between them and the
tidal wave, the distance between closing in rapidly.
     And then they appeared: forms pulling away from the black
tide, dripping with every essence of what was the Scourge, taking
shape and substance and life being breathed into soulless vessels.
The suited men were riding the crest. The shadows made one final
dive, crashing into the floor as a new surge of mist exploded in
its place that flooded the atrium with a layer of fog. The living
shadow had settled, and darkness around the entire Sanctuary was
moving instead. Lanterns shattered, exploded, flickered. Suited men
arose, ranks upon ranks swelling with identical faces and suits,
slick hair and sneering lips.
     "What the hell is this?!" the Elven lord exclaimed.
     "I'd have to say it's the first wave," the aqua-haired woman
remarked, turning to the tall, sandy blonde. "Care to make the
first strike, Haruka?"
     The tall, sandy blonde grinned viciously. "Better make it
count then. RUMBLEQUAKE!"
     "TIDALSTORM!"
     Two deadly attacks threw back the mists, spewing forth
fearsome auras before plunging into the heart of the suited men.
Yet for each one fallen, two more arose. The onslaught was
relentless, the soulless creatures never changing their
expressions. Lifeless did they die, and thus lifeless they were
reborn from the murky waters that gave birth to them. Yet there was
life and soul behind these puppets, and it kept to the shadows.
     Rampage snarled and tore through as many youma as it could,
cutting a path towards the nearest doorway. For but a few moments
there was a chance to run, yet the path was quickly choked by the
rising form of suits and shades.
     "Usagi!" the dark-haired shrine girl exclaimed, seizing her by
the arm. "What are you still doing here?!"
     A stray bolt of neon-green magik shot past her chest, punching
through the face of a charging youma. 
     "There's too many of them!" the Elven lord exclaimed, stalking
past her. "I'm hoping there's a way to seal this chamber off from
the rest of the Sanctuary."
     "Doesn't seem to matter too much to them," the shrine protege
stated, ducking the droplets in reducing more youma to puddles.
"They're not even bothering with the doors."
     "It has no reason to be concerned," the blue-haired genius
added, unleashing a magik that encased countless demons in ice.
"Everything the Scourge wants is right in this room."
     "Is the Scourge still here?" the long-haired blonde said.
     "No idea!" the masquerade wraith shouted, hacking apart
anything that wore a suit. Limbs and heads and severed torsos
tumbled all around Meikyu, his black suit now splattered with the
strange watery liquid the youma seemed to be made from.
     She seemed lost as she was almost pushed from one guardian to
the next, stumbling across the atrium as Senshi and raven angel
appeared to cut down the nearest youma that went after her. The
chambers were alive with magik, auras and attacks being thrown in
every direction. It was dizzying her; the sheer magnitude of the
battle and then the visions.
     "Karasu...." she whispered.
     She abruptly froze, her long ponytails blowing in behind her
as the newfound winds resurged. There, never moving and never
having moved at all from the deepest and furthest corner visible,
the entourage of spectres patiently waited. Eyes watching her,
watching them all.
     "Iie," she said in a hushed tone. "They're still here,
waiting, watching. They wish to see the power of our magik outside
of our dreams."
     "'They'?" the long-haired blonde asked.
     "It must be testing our defenses," the dark-haired shrine girl
said, launching a new barrage of wards that reduced another group
of suited men to splashing pools of liquid with paper talismans.
     "And probably getting a damn good laugh while they're at it,"
the tall, sandy-blonde added, unleashing another attack that sent
youma scattering in every direction.
     She cried out as she was pushed to the floor, caught in the
throngs the frenzied youma. "Iie!" she screamed, fighting against
them. "Let me go!"
     And then her dark-haired prince was by her side, a cloak
sweeping her up as the ranks of suited men splashed down upon her.
"Daijobu, Usa-ko," the dark-hared prince whispered. The prince
produced a small cane that suddenly grew into a towering staff,
which was wielded with deadly accuracy that threw youma in every
direction.
     "Seal off the chambers!" Meikyu shouted. "We need to buy Sora
more time!"
     The Darkqueen nodded, lifting the Silence Glaive.
     "Dammit, we have no time!" Chaos snapped, tearing apart more
suited men. "This thing's playing with us!"
     The ghosts were visibly excited upon seeing the Elven lord,
eyes narrowing and whispers on the winds drifting past her ears.
     The tall, sandy blonde grimaced. "This can't be good. Okami,
take the princess and get her out of the Sanctuary. Don't make me
repeat myself any longer."
     "It's easier said than done," Okami replied, dripping wet from
shredded youma. The two glanced back at the waves between them and
the doorway, and grimaced.
     "I can't just leave you behind!" she protested.
     The Darkqueen disagreed. "From the start it was our destiny to
protect you, Usagi. I am fighting for the Dreamworld as well as
your safety. The Scourge will have to get past all my Mystwolves
before it can reach either you or that realm." 
     "If this is after you, Chaos," she protested. "then leave for
Earth. The Scourge can't touch you there; only it's minions can
go."
     "But we're all here too," the blue-haired genius countered,
condemning more demons to a cold freeze. "If Chaos leaves, then the
Scourge will just come after all of us. There's no guarantee that
the Sanctuary will be left alone if Chaos goes."
     "Damned either way," Meikyu muttered.
     Chaos stepped past her, steadily walking towards the dark
entity that was the Scourge. Elven magik crackled form his palms
and snaked across the walls. "Take care of Chibiusa-chan for me,
will you?"
     "Chaos," she whispered. Already she was being pulled away from
the battle by her dark-haired prince, the others cutting a path to
the doorway.
     Chaos grinned wickedly. "Bottom line, I'm dying to disturb the
peace and this thing's looking to end it altogether. Now what's the
fun in that, I ask you?" He whirled, unleashing a new blast of
magik that tore holes through the clusters of suited men. 
     Suddenly she was swept up in his arms, his lips paying tribute
to hers with a passionate kiss before he pushed her away towards
the doors. She touched her lips, the tears starting down her cheeks
as she felt her chest being turned upside-down.
     "Usagi-chan," the Elven Lord said. "When I once played a game
with you, I hurt you. I saw the pain in your eyes, and I vowed to
never again let those eyes see such pain. Don't let me see it now.
Don't look back."
     It startled her to discover her own body taking a step back of
its own trembling will. Crystal blue eyes pleaded with him, begged
him not to do this.
     "Chaos...."
     Slowly the Lord of Chaos, last of the Elven Playkings, turned
to face the churning pit of darkness before him. It had torn apart
kingdoms in the Dreamworld. It had attacked his friends here on
Earth. And now it wanted him to become its Sandman. The whispers.
Why it worked so hard to have him released in the first place. This
entity they called the Scourge had been biding its time for who
knew how long, waiting for his magik. 
     Meikyu looked back, and saw the Elven lord walking towards an
entity he should have been running from. "Chaos, what are you
doing?!"
     The long-haired blonde whirled. "Masaka!"
     Palms came together as if to pray, even more electrical energy
gathering in Chaos' hands. "Allow me to give you all a head start."
     Suddenly an explosive power erupted from his body, the
chambers shuddering violently as the floor rippled like a miniature
tsunami. Solid ground became like a rug being pulled out from under
her feet, throwing her and everyone else out the doors. Any youma
that tried to attack were pulverized.
     The doors behind them were slammed shut not of their own
accord, but from his will; the last glimpse she had was of the
Elven lord of Chaos standing to face the consuming darkness that
was the Scourge. Locked from the inside, those chamber doors would
only reopen if one of two things happened. He was expecting the
first, hoping for the latter.
     Chaos' eyes narrowed as he heard the final magik from the
other side invoked that would seal his fate. "Silence Wall!" the
Darkqueen shouted. 
Elven magik ricocheted across the atrium, winds blowing at Chaos'
silver hair. His eyes flickered in a new light, jade green turning
a brilliant white. His lips curled up, a once playful smile turning
vicious and sadistic.
     "Everybody have fun."
     The walls of the atrium suddenly crackled with Mystwolf power.
The faint howls of a mournful demon-beast, once of his own Court,
reached his ears. He stared at the shadows. 
     "Ara ara," he remarked. "Now it would appear to be just you
and just me here."
     A reply came, a chorus of whispers reaching his ears.
"Elvenchild...."
     Chaos chuckled darkly. "Forgive me if I decline your offer to
become this Sandman guy. It'll be rather hard to do once I make
sure all that's left of you are stains on the wall."
     He snarled, the last breath of magik being sucked into his
palms The Elven lord Chaos charged, Elven magik exploding from his
palms as he lunged for the host of wraiths watching him with silent
patience.
     "SHIN'NE!!!"
     The darkness met his magik, and swallowed him whole.


     "When do we fight?"
     His eyes remained closed, his lips sealed in giving a response
to the question asked of him. He continued to perch quiet and still
upon one of the streetlights, the glow of an advertizer's
pixelboard casting hues of green and blue upon his black coat.
     Nothing seemed to be of interest to him in the Earthworld. Not
the sounds nor the lights nor the people walking beneath where he
was crouched. He was oblivious to them all, his eyes and senses
closed to what this realm had to offer.
     Instead, he dreamed.
     He dreamed as we might walk through life.
     And then his eyes slowly began to open, blurred and clouded
over in a blindness that cared not for what mere eyes could see.
The Raithe knew the ancient magiks; they carried him further than
anything in this modern world could ever dare to go.
     He looked over his shoulder, rising to his feet. The
precarious balance upon the thin rounded shaft of the streetlight
was never lost. His attention shifted to the figure leaning within
a windowsill of the building right behind the streetlamp. The
window was closed, the ledge giving but little space to stand.
     Yet the ScytheMaster found a place.
     "Raithe," Thanatos' words spoke from behind a grinning and
lifeless bone mask. "When will it begin?"
     He pivoted in his stance, turned to face a fellow Ancient and
now apprentice to his magik. "It has already begun."
     Again he was asked, "When do we fight?"
     "We do not," he answered solemnly.
     Thanatos straightened up, the surprise visible even while
hidden in behind the skull. "Na ni?"
     He smiled quietly, the edges of his lips tugged upwards ever
so slightly. The evening winds were playing with his hair, letting
the bangs dance across his face. So much was happening, and it was
all unfolding so very fast.
     "You once said you know little about me," the Raithe said
finally. "I, on the other hand, know much about myself, and more
about these realms than even you are aware of. There are events
that must come to pass if the future is to be as I once dreamt it
to be. And for that to happen, I cannot fight."
     Thanatos was fuming. "And...you would simply stand by and let
the Scourge wipe out everything?"
     "Who says it will?" he countered. "You chose of your own will
to leave the Ancients and stand by my side, Thanatos. Remember
that; I am not forcing you to remain."
     Blurry grey eyes looked up to the heavens, to the moon so
beautifully high overhead. And then something started to take hold.
The shimmering glow of the moon was swallowed up, a pale white
radiance engulfed piece by piece by an unseen darkness. The winds
grew colder, and for all the lights Tokyo had to offer, the world
grew much darker. 
     The moon was passing through Earth's shadow. The sun was on
the other side of the planet.
     A lunar eclipse.
     "Masaka...." the ScytheMaster whispered.
     The expression upon the Raithe's face never changed. He had
dreamed it all. Even though he was blind, he had already seen the
eclipse seizing hold upon this city. For so long he had remained
cloaked in the shadows, working subtle magik to bring to reality a
dream that had become his passion.
     The dream was coming to pass.
     But for it to become a reality, his magik had to be silent. He
had orchestrated fate for so long. Now it was time to let fate
decide for itself an outcome. A time to make or break destiny.
     The Raithe's eyes slowly closed once more as Tokyo dwelled in
darkness. "Gomen nasai," he said quietly. "Forgive me for what I am
about to let happen to all of you...."


     They stood before the Sanctuary.
     Two souls time had forgotten in its relentless march across
the millennia stood side by side as they stared at the broken
remains of two once beautiful stone griffins.
     She tilted her head ever so slightly in his direction as he
slowly emerged from the parting mysts that bound this place
somewhere between the Earthworld and Dreamworld. Her tresses of
long, dark hair blew past her face, the surprisingly cool winds
causing the ends of her pleated skirt to ripple at their whims.
     "Karasu," she said. 
     He nodded, slowly taking the shades away from his face to
stare up at the glowing white palace sprawled out before them, with
its spires, towers and seemingly endless chambers. Before this
night, it always shimmered of gold and brilliant white rays of the
sun reflecting off of beach sands. How long had it been since he
had seen beach sands in the moonlight? Would he ever see them
again?
     "I cannot get in," she stated, her tanned skin appearing even
darker as the Sanctuary sank into twilight. "The griffins have
fallen, and I'm certain the others are somewhere inside."
     He stepped forward, kneeling down and running his fingers over
the polished stone that had once been the ever-watching eye of a
griffin. Now just a battered and crumbling fragment doomed to
become dust, he could almost see the final tear squeezed from the
lifeless stone by the soul hidden inside.
     He froze, crystal blue eyes widening as a hideous cascade of
images smashed into his mind. He could see wraiths watching,
shadows of the darkness once fought. Pain. The agony as the griffin
witnessed the death of its counterpart, its mate, only to then join
it in a peace beyond this realm.
     No matter how hard he tried, he could not wipe the look of
tearful pain from his face as he stood, his fist clenching and
relaxing involuntarily. "It's sealed them off from both worlds," he
said. "First Chaos to create the seal, and then one by one it shall
claim them all."
     She stiffened, the magik of her garnet orb starting to
manifest. "Can we break through?"
     He shook his head. "Iie."
     She bit her lip. "There is one chance," she said finally,
raising her staff into the air. If she used it then she would break
a sacred law and exile herself back to the gates of time. Perhaps
even be killed as a result. She could be of no aide to her friends
if she forged ahead...and let time stop completely.
     He put a hand in front of her. "There's a much simpler way to
do this."
     She was confused at first as he simply walked towards the
cracked archways. His steps were slow and deliberate, making a
careful path across the debris of the griffins. Finally he stopped
before the enormous arches. A glistening wall of midnight was there
where a grand hall would have been visible. He waited for her to
draw beside him.
     "There's no guarantee either of us will make it out alive," he
said, turning to her. His eyes were grim, crystal blue flickering
with the distant sadness of a brooding storm. "And I cannot
guarantee the safety of the others, Setsuna. All I ask is that you
find as many as you can and get them out."
     "I know what the Scourge did to you so many years ago,
Karasu," she replied. "Please, don't go in here with the intention
of not coming out. For Usagi's sake at the very least, keep your
hopes and dreams of a future you may yet be a part of."
     He said nothing to answer her, but studied to ground for a few
moments of solitary thoughts. And then, fatefully, he raised his
hand and touched the outstretched palm against the darkness. A
ripple surged across the Scourge's barrier. And then a doorway
opened, remaining intact long enough for them both to step inside
before it closed to seal them inside the Sanctuary along with the
others.


     The scythe's blade was gone for now, though he doubted it
would remain sheathed for much longer. There was an eerie silence,
a dead calm before the explosive storm. It was felt with each wind
that swept the chambers, every creature that wandered these halls,
every lantern that burned with enchanted light.
     "Ami-chan?" he asked, brushing aside some stray bangs of her
blue hair. Despite the worry in her eyes, he smiled to reassure
her, his maiden of the waters.
     She shook her head, looking around at the many balconies that
seemed to stretch up to the sky, where at the ceiling was an
enormous glass dome that had once shone down moonlight and stars.
Once. Now all they could see was the night in its purest form.
Darkness reigned over them all, and none could get out.
      "Iie," she said. "There's no door open to us that the Scourge
would not wish for us to take."
     He grimaced. 
     Indeed, if any single door opened up, he harboured deep
suspicions as to what would let a gateway swing for them. Yet right
now everything seemed to stack up in a labyrinthine twist, with
them stuck inside, and a very ominous cat looking over them all
from outside the maze. They had separated in the hopes of finding
a way out. It was dangerous enough to split up like this, yet even
more dangerous to remain together in a large group with the Scourge
prowling the Sanctuary.
     There wasn't even a guarantee that the Elven Lord had escaped
when they sealed Chaos inside with the Scourge. There had been a
loud shout from the Elven's lips from beyond the doors, an
explosion of magik...and then utter silence. Nothing since that
time.
     He whirled as something echoed inside their gallery. She too
was on her feet, a visor over her eyes and a compact computer in
her hands. Fingers moved at a dizzying pace; as adept as he was at
wielding his scythe, he had never been able to master that strange
sort of device she was using. Computers were so...foreign to him.
     Abruptly a small wyvern dropped in from above, hooting
curiously at them as it cocked its head to one side. He laughed in
both relief and disbelief. "Fuu-chan!" he exclaimed. "Don't sneak
up on me like that again, please!"
     She scratched the base of the wyvern's head, eliciting a
contented growl from the gentle creature. "Meikyu," she asked.
"When was the first time you saw me?"
     He was surprised by her question, so unlike her to ask it
given the situation they found themselves in. Yet he understood the
comfort that could be taken from it in the face of...of the end. He
drew up behind her, arms wrapping around her waist. 
     "It was a long time before you ever realized you were walking
through my eternal masquerade, Ami-chan," he answered. "And then
there you were, the crowds parting to reveal a beautiful young
woman without a mask to call her own. Night after night you
returned but never danced. Your ocean blue eyes were searching for
someone."
     She smiled, tilting back her head. He had leaned over, his
long hair draped down one side of his face. With gentle fingers she
pushed back the hair and raised herself onto her tiptoes to kiss.
They remained that way, together and intertwined, lost in the taste
of each other's lips, until the night fell.
     The lanterns abruptly went dead. No explosive bursts of light
or colour change. They all went dead, every last light snuffed out
and extinguished. All light and life inside that gallery
disappeared. With a sharp hissing, a fraction of the chamber
returned to light, his scythe's blade now casting a haunting glow
across her face. The wyvern was snarling, madly flapping its wings
and shrieking towards the end of the gallery, where walls became
archways and an entrance into another part of the Sanctuary.
     A tiny, dancing light sprang to life far back there in the
distance. It was yellow and orange and red, colours swirling around
each other in a maddened frenzy. Candlelight; so close to the
ground that he could see its reflection in the polished tile.
Another candle joined in the dance, and another, and yet another
still. All too quickly an entourage of candlelight surrounded them,
the flames set on every possible level, even up to the highest
reaches of the gallery. Yet a wide and straight path was left open
to them, the thickest groups of candles lining the edges.
     Two jade green eyes slowly opened, glowing like the eyes of a
cat, cutting through both shadows and dancing flames to reach them.
A new row of candles came to life, these ones fitting to the shape
of the archway these eyes were standing beneath. Light came,
ominous and foreboding.
     Jade was gone.
     In its place was something blacker than black, yet shining
with all the lights this gallery now displayed. The figure stood
with those eyes once jade, as unchanged in appearance as when they
had seen the very same form behind closing doors.
     He could hear her gasp alongside him, his own stifled gasp
complimenting her own. "Chaos...." he whispered, his grip on the
scythe almost lost completely.
     The wyvern snarled, arching its back and craning its slender
neck to open up rows of savage teeth and a rolling pink tongue.
Once the playmate of this form before them, it too sensed something
different. Something not of Chaos.
     The figure smiled, lips raised in a savage gesture. "We are no
longer the Elven lord called Chaos. We are now one. We have
become...Sandman." The voice was smooth and polished, without
malice yet without any other emotion. As if the Elven lord's soul
had been sucked out. And that one voice echoed as many, a chorus
behind his words.
     The Sandman advanced, leisurely steps carrying the figure
towards them at an unhurried pace. Like enjoying walk through the
park.
     "Chikusho," he swore, stepping in between her and the Sandman.
     The Sandman's Elven clothes rippled apart, growing black and
changing form to suit the new being inside of them. Silken robes
and vests adorned the figure now, elegant yet possessing that edge
of evil in both the eyes and the garments. The ponytail of hair was
broken apart, long strands of silver flowing around the Sandman's
face in a wind that belonged only to the Sandman.
     With a loud shriek the wyvern charged, tearing through the air
and intent on tearing through the Sandman. He saw the bravery of
the creature, and its foolishness. "Fuu-chan, no!" he exclaimed,
taking a step in the hopes to intervene.
     The step that might have come next was never followed through.
With but a gesture, the Sandman watched as the wyvern was suddenly
dashed to pieces in its flight, golden glitter drifting to the
ground and falling upon the Sandman's robes. All that remained was
a glowing gemstone that hovered in the air.
     "FUU!!" he shouted.
     "Fuu-chan...." she whispered, unable to believe it.
     Yet the wyvern was lost to them.
     "You cannot stop us," the Sandman said, stepping through the
golden haze and grabbing hold of the crystal. "Don't even try. It
only brings you more pain before the inevitable comes."
     He growled, raising his scythe. The cloak of Shadowdemons
loosened itself from his shoulders and fell, the folds of sparkling
night fluttering in the air. "Bastard," he growled.
     "That won't stop us from fighting for what we believe in," she
said.
     "And what is it you believe in?" the Sandman asked. "Dreams?
A fragile and delicate thing that can be shattered upon a mere
whim? Dreams mean nothing, child. We are proof of that."
     He scowled. "What are you?"
     "A remnant," the Sandman answered, arms opening as if to
present the new figure of the Scourge to them. "We are the
forgotten dreamers."
     Out from the corner of his vision, he could see the blue-
haired genius summoning her magik. His grip around the shaft of the
scythe tensed. It was her move, and he would compliment as only he
could do.
     "Shining Aqua Illusion!"
     The Sandman moved with unnatural speed, head twisting about to
witness the flurry of ice and water upon it. Yet with a burst of
spark in its eyes of darkness, the aqua magik broke apart and
crashed at the Sandman's feet in a viscous puddle. The crackling
blade of the Tsunami Scythe was raked down upon the Sandman, the
furious magik trying to cleave the Elven's form in two. Yet the
blade passed through with just a ripple in the Sandman's form, as
if the Sandman was like liquid or glass.     
     He recoiled as the Sandman whirled, striking him on the side
of the face with enough force to send him tumbling back in the air.
He crashed down upon the tiles, candles and flames scattering in
his wake. The scythe was lost, the blade retracting as the weapon
clattered to the floor. Earthen brown hair was against his forehead
in a mix of blood and sweat, his vision clouded by it all.
     Yet his two eyes of creamy jade saw it all happen. The Sandman
was still, an outstretched hand extended to her. And then the power
of the Scourge exploded from the Sandman's palm.
     "AMI!!" he screamed.
     It might as well have been his heart ripping in two as he saw
it happen. In the flickering shadows of the candlelight, he
witnessed it all in a horrific speed where time slowed to a crawl
and silence became the eternal king.
     Her form was so slender and small, yet not without its own
vibrancy that had first captivated his eyes behind the mask of
living oceans. And it was her silhouette now that convulsed,
snapping back in shock and pain as something shot through her. The
sounds of it puncturing her chest only to punch through her back
echoed with a sickening ring in his ears. He could see bits of her
fuku lost from her body, torn apart.
     The scythe he had been reaching for was no longer there in his
mind. The only thing that mattered now to be in his hands was her.
With a frantic scream he was there to catch her as she first
hovered in the air, a cry upon her unmoving lips before she fell
backwards. She was limp in his grasp, her body growing colder.
     "Damn you," he whispered bitterly, pressing her tightly
against his chest. She gasped, her chest heaving. He could see in
the fiery flickers of candlelight the torn part of her uniform. But
the skin was intact, smooth and without a wound. His face contorted
into a new expression of pain as he realized what had happened.
     He lowered her head to the floor, rose and turned to the
Sandman. "Dammit, what are you waiting for?" he demanded angrily.
"Finish me too, then!"
     The Sandman regarded him with indifference.
     Rage in his eyes, he drew back a clenched fist and let it
loose. "Finish me!!!" he screamed.
     Abruptly his fist met with solid air, a clear barrier that
rippled like water. His arm was quivering from the force he so
desperately wanted to drive through and reach the Sandman's face.
     "There is nothing else for us here," the Sandman stated. "We
will not bother with you when you are sharing in her fate."
     She was disappearing, slowly yet fading from his world. And so
too was he. He collapsed to his knees, unable to fight back the
tears as he stared up at a face he once knew. Once, perhaps. He was
vaguely aware of the Sandman's footsteps leaving them both. Then
nothing, his own breathing even turning to quiet silence. 
     One by one the candles started to go out, an unseen and unfelt
wind taking each one in their turn. The shadows were returning to
overtake the fiery glows cast upon the gallery. Without her
Imagika, her Starseed, she was dying. And somehow, he was dying
with her. Not just a part of his soul, but all of it.
     "Daijo...bu," she whispered, reaching up to clasp hands with
him, their fingers lacing together. "Meikyu...I--"
     He shook his head, a finger pressed gently against her lips.
"Shhh," he interjected. Already she was but a ghost of herself,
sparkles of starlight stretching across the contours of her body.
Her grip was slowly being lost in his, his own fingers starting to
fold in around her hands. Yet he could see his own form becoming
nothing.
     He leaned down and for the last time their lips met. Her eyes
were closed, trembling with saddened tears. They would have opened
if his own tears had struck her cheek and not fallen through to the
floor.
     "I love you," he whispered.
     And then she was gone.
     Moments later he joined her.


     Her chambers were strangely silent on this forever night. With
two new DarkWorlds claiming domains of the raven angels, her own
minions were in an uproar amongst their own ranks. Some feared they
would be next. Others were fighting over who should lead a new
attack with the guardian angels preoccupied. Yet none sought her
out, their Empress.
     It was just as well. She wanted it to be this way: quiet
solitude, to enjoy the lull while it existed. A ripple from her own
magik spread across her palace caused her to open her eyes. She
smiled as the lesser serpynt appeared.
     "Arigato, Suna-chan."
     The serpynt hovered over her lap, wings flapping to deliver a
cool breeze that flowed against her hair. In its claws was a small
chest, beautifully adorned in gold and gemstones. The gift was
gently placed in her lap before the serpynt alighted the arm of her
throne, and perched there.
     She ran her fingers over the smooth surface of the Pandora
Box, making certain not to touch its sapphire lock. Inside was a
Stormsoul, a Vampyre whose name she knew. And if she knew it's
name, she could command it. 
     For her listening ears had picked up so many different
fragments of a future that might be, of a city destined to become
legend. Let the Scourge and Senshi do battle. Let those on the
Earth fight and perhaps even sleep, and she with them. 
     But when the time would come to awaken, then the Vampyre
locked within would become her royal ambassador to Crystal Tokyo.
One day into the future, Vritra would become the Death Phantom. But
that day would have to wait until the outcome of this war was
decided, and she awakened from her quiet sleep.
     "Empress!" 
     Another smile tugged at the edges of her lips, for she knew
whose rage was within that shout. He stood before her, at the base
of the stairs leading up to her throne. His garments of black and
crimson had not changed since she had last seen him. Ever closer
did he come, stalking towards her as he ascended the stairs.
     "Ara ara," she remarked with dark delight. "If it isn't my
turncoat Shadowdemon. Welcome back to your homeworld, Kishi."
     He stood there, robes torn in random places; he had barely
managed to leave the Sanctuary after the serpynt before the Sandman
sealed everyone else inside. His beloved was there, and now he was
alone facing a whole other evil.
     "What are you doing with Vritra's box?" he demanded, now
standing directly before her. "I could tell you wanted Suna-chan to
get into Earth from the start. And you were willing to sacrifice
the Sanctuary for that?"
     "You forget my nature," she answered.
     "I know it all too well." A saddened glance from saddened
sapphire eyes turned to the serpynt. The creature in turn glared
and snarled.
     "My dear Ki-chan," she chuckled, stroking the skull of her
pet. The beast purred in a low, guttural growl. "Patience is but a
virtue I have all the time in the world for. Who do you think
summoned the magik to curse the mirror that Nehelenia found? How is
it that she was able to learn of Helios and the Golden Crystal's
existence?"
     His clenched fists erupted into blue flames.
     "I have saved your world twice already," she stated, her voice
growing abruptly cold. "Once from the new Darkqueen, and once more
from that Elven Playking. It's rather disappointing that you
haven't come here to thank me."
     "You did those out of necessity for yourself," he snapped,
unleashing a volley of Dragyn's Fyre. She never flinched as the
chambers were lit up in blue hues, his magik burrowing into the
wall behind her throne. "Hotaru had the powers to destroy the
entire Dreamworld, and if Helios died then the Dreamworld would
have perished with him. So spare me your speeches on sacrifice,
Highness."
     She began to laugh once more, though not of scorn or malice.
It was a chiding laughter borne of a mother trying to understand
the actions of her child. The Pandora Box flickered and vanished
from her hands, and she slowly rose from her throne.
     "Tell me, my beautiful betrayer, do you know of the Imagika?"
     He kept silent, eyes speaking more than what needed to be
said, speaking harsher than his voice could ever make out.
     She smiled coyly at his silence. "If a Sailor Senshi loses her
Imagika, then without its magik she ceases to exist. In a sense,
she dies. Yet you guardian angels who have crossed over exist so
long as your soulmates exist. No angel nor demon holds an Imagika.
The Imagikas of the angels become their kingdoms, and I hold in my
possession the Imagikas of my Shadowdemons."
     She regarded him for a moment with amused interest. "But you,
Kishi; you managed to somehow steal your Imagika from me and use it
to keep that jungle realm alive as a Dreamworld kingdom. I thought
it had just disappeared, and thus why I believed you were dead."
     "I was dead," he replied coldly. "My life as a demon ended
that night...and you damn well know it."
     The Shadowqueen smiled. "Yet in order for you to cross over
and exist in Earth's boundaries, your link with the Dreamworld
kingdom is severed, and instead your souls are bound to your
beloved's Imagika. That is why the kingdoms of angels who have
crossed over are inaccessible to my demons, and perhaps even the
Scourge itself. You become immortal in a sense."
     "We can still be killed regardless."
     The Empress nodded. "Hai, my Kishi. I heard her cry lifted to
the heavens when she held Sora's lifeless body there on the rain-
soaked streets of Tokyo. Every last creature in the Dreamworld
heard it and wept."
     He slowly shook his head, refusing to believe what he was
already tempted not to listen to. "You don't cry unless it is for
another soul you seek to steal for yourself, Empress. I used to be
in your ranks, and I used to serve your whims."
     "You serve the whims of whomever commands your magik," she
countered evenly. "Once before you served me, and then you served
Helios even though no one dared to come near to your jungle forest
kingdom. But now, at whose whims do you attend to?"
     He stiffened, bristling at her questions. Yet he bit his
tongue, knowing that there was a reason for her playful approach.
Had she wanted him back, the fantasy would have been there awaiting
his arrival. No, she had felt him enter her domain and simply let
him approach the Atmosfear, her inner sanctum.
     She sauntered around him, relaxed yet not without a concern
echoed in her voice. "Okami and the Mystwolves never told you of
this. Perhaps they never thought the day would come, that you would
live out your lives before it returned as it has now. You see,
Helios holds an Imagika. The Darkqueen and the Mystwolves all hold
Imagikas. Even Karasu, our resident wanderer, holds an Imagika."
     "What about you?" he inquired.
     She nodded. "Hai, yet the Mystwolves in their greater numbers
bind me here. Only those with Imagikas can cross over, but with the
Mystwolf magik, there are soldiers who patrol its borders. But
really, should you be this concerned over me?" She leaned forward,
her breasts against his back and her lips next to his ear. "The
Mystwolves held the power to let you cross by binding your soul to
her Imagika. If your beloved Minako-chan's Imagika is stolen, then
she dies and you will cease to exist. The Scourge won't have to
concern itself with you; you'll already be dead."
     Her hands were moving along his shoulders, tracing his sides.
It was still a game to her, a fantasy to indulge herself in. How
many times beneath his other skin had he played along, became the
beloved she so desired at that moment?
     "It is a negotiation that must be made because you are allowed
to cross over from the Dreamworld to the Earthworld, my Kishi. You
are bound to your lover's Imagika. But you can be killed before she
dies, make no mistake. Gentle Sora proved that once. Yet you cannot
stop what shall happen if Minako is claimed by the Scourge."
     "You want something from me," he growled. "I know that
expression all too well, Empress. What is it?"
     She let her fingers slide beneath his chin, run down his
cheeks. Piercing eyes of shining black pearl looking into his own,
pleading with him to stop and consider of his Empress what she so
desired for him. "It will take her Imagika, her Starseed," she
whispered, a breath away from his face, his lips. "And you will
fade alongside her. You would die without even being able to fight.
What good is a guardian who cannot protect even himself?"
     He closed his eyes, chanting his beloved's name over and over
in his mind. That long blonde hair. Those vibrant blue eyes. The
caring soul which had saved his own soul twice. His eyes slowly
opened as he felt a tingling along his lips, the magik of the
Empress charging his body and sending every nerve on edge as she
kissed him.
     "Join me," she implored. "Become one of my finest commanders
once more, and your Minako-chan will be safe forever. My magik
shall protect her."
     Her hand stroked his brow. He seized it and pushed away. "But
whose beloved would she be?" he countered harshly. "Mine, or
yours?"
     Her demure smile fell, a frightening vengeful edge replaced in
those eyes of shining black pearl. "So be it," she said, stepping
away from him.
     He stifled a gasp as he felt something plunge itself into his
chest. He doubled over, clutching at his body as another agonizing
stab was sent down his back. Her magik was against him, as her will
was. Legs and arms were on fire, his chest exploding in torment. It
was choking the life out of him, his own screams of pain sucked out
from his throat.
     "Even though your Imagika belongs to her," the Empress said,
walking around his huddled form. "I can still destroy you myself.
Raven angels and Shadowdemons, like the rogue cross you are, can
die. You are not immortal, Kishi."
     He was slipping into an eternal dream. All he could see was
her tear-streaked face calling out his name, long tresses of blonde
hair around her body. That was the last time he would ever see her.
His eyes slowly closed, and he faded forever amidst one last
sparkle of starlight. The tears of his pain fell down his cheek,
staining his black uniform, the colour washing over his garments to
make them a deep watery blue.
     "Minako-chan," he whispered. 
     Sayonara....


     She recoiled, jumping up from the bench as if witnessing a
nightmare. Her body shivered, broke out in clammy sweat, eyes wide
and heart hammering beneath her ribcage. Her heart was pounding
violently inside, and nothing could calm it down.
     "Minako?" the shrine protege asked, turning around in alarm.
"Daijobu?"
     "I...I don't know," she whispered, clutching her breast. It
felt as if half her body and soul had been torn from her, that it
was gone now to leave her frightened and alone.
     But then she felt the warmth begin to take hold.
     "Iie," she said quietly. "I've gained something."
     Kishi....


     They were alone together. And he could only guess as to what
was happening with the Scourge. Even he, the DreamSeer of this
sacred place, could no longer sense the auras of magik within these
walls. The Scourge was stealing everything from them.
     Nightbirds were calling out in the darkness.
     He cast a longing glance back at the tall brunette, his
princess and bride-to-be. Their child would find her way into the
world, and she would be a beautiful daughter. He had to fight, to
press on. Once before, death had failed to stop him. The Scourge
couldn't be allowed to try for a second time.
     She truly was a princess, his beloved, and if only this had
not been such a night without a moon, he would have wanted to be so
close to her. There had been nights without words spoken as they
laid there in each other's arms, sometimes in the afterglow of
making love and sometimes in silence from the start. He could sense
her thoughts and feelings, and the growing mind of their little
girl.
     "Mako-chan," he whispered, closing his eyes. There was once a
time he had been so afraid to speak that name. Yet she was the one
who had pulled him back when he pushed away. 
     As he watched her, she looked like an angel sent to earth. The
unicorn was before her, impatiently stomping at the grasses. Sweet
midnight dew was the fragrance there in the field where the steed
ran wild. Only once in his memories, in the memories of Morpheus
who had come before him, had a soul ever managed to let it ride
them.
     He smiled as he saw her long chestnut brown hair flutter
around her face as she tried to steady the agitated steed. So
vibrant in her dedication and defiance, yet at the same time she
was beginning to show the signs of her pregnancy. He moved forward
to intervene but there was no need.
     "It won't listen to me," she said, stepping back finally in
defeat. "Doesn't it understand the danger?"
     "All too well," he answered, stepping forward and gently
resting his fingers on the steed's nose. "A unicorn is not a
Silvermane, but while it senses the darkness closing in around it,
a unicorn refuses to find any means of escape save the one it makes
for itself." 
     Escape.
     The Scourge had found its way through every last binding magik
of the Sanctuary, locking them inside. He could rescue nothing
without it relenting. And yet for all he could help, there was one
he knew he could not: himself.
     He couldn't find the words to tell her of what bound him here.
He had made a promise, carved in the memories of the Imagika he had
accepted to live again. Emerald eyes stared at her, wishing for
another way. She could make it out, but he would be unable to join
her. It startled him to feel the tears falling his cheek, and
suddenly overcome he gathered her up in his arms, holding her
tightly there.
     "Sora," she said, confused by his emotions.
     The beating of her heart was pressed against his chest. "No
matter what happens, I shall always be with you," he whispered. Her
fingers touched his, lacing together. He could feel the engagement
ring.
     They looked at each other in one instant, and he found himself
lost in her eyes, trapped within the emerald forests he knew he
would never escape from; one that he never wished to escape from.
Her face drew closer, and in that moment in time where their eyes
locked, the world seemed at one with itself in the night's mist. He
brushed her cheek and gently pressed his lips against hers. 
     It came for them.
     A cold wind started to blow, causing him to pull away from
their embrace. The fields were swallowed up in darkness, a churning
armada of stormclouds swarming overhead. The unicorn reared up and
galloped away at a frantic pace. And the rains began to fall, not
slow but hard and cold.  
     In the fields suddenly stood a figure, a silhouette that drew
light unto itself to reveal an Elven face without an Elven soul.
Lifeless black eyes filled with a flickering darkness opened up.
The Sandman looked from one to the other. 
     "The time has come, DreamSeer."
     There was no battle. Perhaps it was just as well that there
wasn't. An open palm was lifted in the rains and blak magik was
unleashed. He saw it move towards him with speed possessed of a
running demon. Yet he was not without his own powers, and summoned
his own breed of magiks to protect them both.
     Magik crashed against magik, rupturing the very ground beneath
them as the Sandman's summoning grinded into a glowing barrier. The
field rippled as the dark power fought to push through, mow down
and conquer. His cloak was pushed back as the gales from the attack
forced their way through the shield.
     "Mako-chan, run!" he shouted over the raging of the magiks.
     Shadows revealed faces upon faces in the Sandman's eyes. Each
one different. Each one a strange resemblance to the other. All
consumed, all lost in a new birth of forgetfulness. 
     Suddenly the Sandman's power splintered, the central magik
erupting into newfound factions that streaked across his barrier,
shattering it. Two splinters slammed into the ground before him,
sending up a wave of water and mud as he was blown backwards. His
form tumbled across the murky waters, even more splinters of magik
burrowing into the ground with deadly force.
     She was there in front of him suddenly, a fuku flowing around
her form as now it was she who protected him. He lifted his head,
only to see her own lightening attack dashed to shards by the
Sandman's onslaught. There was no splinter magik that forced her to
the ground. When her attack was cut short, a second one moved in.
     And then she was taken from him.
     Eyes of gentle emerald forests that mirrored hers widened in
horror as the volley punctured her body, his bride convulsing. The
rains that struck him seemed to be colder even though they grew
distant in his mind. A shimmering crystal fatefully made its way
into the Sandman's palm.
     "Mako-chan!" he screamed. "MAKO-CHAN!!"
     Two wings of whitest snow unfolded from her back, angelic and
enormous as they reached out to their fullest extent. They faded,
lost within their own storm of rain-soaked feathers. The wet
grasses took the worst of her fall, and he was by her side in a
heartbeat.
     He watched her vanish in his arms.
     Unwilling to leave her here yet unable to follow after her.
Bound by an Imagika not of his own, a vow made to the Master of the
Scythe, he could only hold her tightly until there was nothing left
but memories.
     "Sorata," her voice whispered, a hand reaching up to touch his
face, his lips. Her eyes, though growing dim, were so beautiful. So
beautiful. Those emerald eyes slowly closed and slept.
     "Iie," he cried out to the blackened heavens. "IIE!!"  
     So consumed by his grief and rage that there was no time to
sense the end. His chest spasmed, jaw clenching. Eyes of emerald
forests widened as he tightly held onto her wavering hand. And then
he fell, his body draping over hers as if to still protect her and
their unborn child even in death.
     The Sandman watched in silence with both their Imagikas as the
lovers became as one, wings of raven's feathers unfurling from him
and reaching out to cover them both. Soft down was scattered across
the air, flurries drifting in every direction.
     The raven angel gently brushed away the bangs of hair from her
face. He leaned over one last time and gently pressed his lips
against hers. 
     And then darkness.


     In silence and darkness came her voice. A low chant borne of
her blood, her own gift apart from the magik bestowed upon her from
another life once lived. The dim glow of the lanternlights around
gave little comfort as she and the others tried to find a way out,
a way home.
     "Rin pyou tou sha kai jin retsu sai zen." 
     Violet eyes opened up with sudden fierceness. The ward clasped
in her hand stiffened, a ripple of magik running up the paper
before it tore itself from her grip and soared through the empty
corridor. It was going back the way they had come and already knew
to be without escape.
     She grimaced. Another ward was pulled out, the kanji upon it
glowing as the chant was repeated once more and her gift summoned
to bring life to protect them all.
     "Rin pyou tou sha kai jin retsu sai zen." 
     This time the ward flew in another direction, yet without
avail for it marked a solid stone wall. There would be no path that
way unless they broke it apart stone by stone. Useless.     
     "I can't sense anything," she murmured. "Everything is black,
as if it's not there anymore. I...I'm blind."
     For so long it had been a part of her, invaluable and rarely
ever taken for granted. If more than anything she could always feel
it there, a shadow upon her back. Her schoolmates had always talked
behind her back, always wary whenever she approached. The odango-
haired blonde had been the first true friend she ever had--despite
their constant bickering. And now this gift which had been a part
of her for so long was stolen, much like everything else the
Scourge was claiming for itself.
     It was in final frustration that she unleashed a volley of her
own pyre magik. The intersection of archways were scorched, bathing
their three forms in an eerie crimson glow that flickered before
dying out completely. She turned around, her long raven dark hair
flowing around her body.
     "It's playing with us," he stated. "Just like Chaos said. It
knows we can't leave the Sanctuary unless it wants us to."
     She shook her head. "What are the chance of that happening?"
     "Come on, Rei-chan!" the long-haired blonde piped up, seated
upon a bench in awaiting for some direction to go. "Every time a
silver cloud passes by, you know it'll rain five-hundred yen
pieces!"
     She laughed in disbelief, yet it was still laughter that made
her brooding thoughts become just a little lighter, just a little
more bearable. "That's 'every cloud has a silver lining', Minako-
chan."
     Even he chuckled, shaking his head and setting out with new
resolve to find a place to go. He was so much unlike the young man
she once recalled finding on the front steps of the temple. Gone
was the wayward appearance, the scruff and wild hair replaced with
something that made him look all the more the gentleman who now
walked with her through their dreams. 
     She drew up behind him, clasping hands. In behind were rows of
windows that would have looked out to the fields where the unicorn
roamed, yet all she could see now through the glass was a black
storm in full fury. A strange contrast against the rows of vibrant
roses that rustled in the drafts blowing through this gallery.
     They had come to an intersection, where four archways
converged from four different directions. And with the way the
Sanctuary seemed to be sprawled out in a tangled maze of chambers
and galleries, there was no way of telling which path chosen might
lead them back to the beginning again.
     "Yuichiro?" she asked.
     He shrugged. "I trust my own intuition about as much as you've
decided to trust your own. The Scourge is here somewhere yet
everywhere at once." He leaned closer, kissing her forehead.
"Daijobu, Rei-chan. I'm sure we'll find a way out of this. Everyone
else too. We'll get through this somehow."
     She nodded, resting her head against his chest. Out of the
edge of her vision she saw her friend's expression. The long-haired
blonde was looking away, and while a smile was upon the girl's face
she knew in those blue eyes that the smile was only hiding a
sadness.
     "Gomen, Minako-chan," she apologized, realizing that the long-
haired blonde was alone while she was with her lover. "I...I
forgot."
     With trembling, melancholic, eyes the long-haired blonde shook
her head. "Daijobu, Rei-chan. I'm sure Ki-chan's safe. This just
makes it all the more romantic when he comes back for me, and I get
to race into his arms."
     She smiled and nodded. "Hai."
     A gentle nudge in her side caused her to glance away. He was
motioning to the central archway. "I think we might reach a new
area if we head right," he stated. "Somewhere around here is the
Pandora gallery; the Gallery itself wasn't too far from there."
     The heart of the Sanctuary might be the best place to look for
a way out, or wait for the others to come back. She nodded, turning
to call to the long-haired blonde. "Minako--"
     The long-haired blonde suddenly recoiled, jumping up from the
bench as if witnessing a nightmare. The girl's body shivered, broke
out in clammy sweat, eyes wide and heart hammering.
     "Minako?" he asked, turning around in alarm. "Daijobu?"
     "I...I don't know," the long-haired blonde whispered. 
     She felt her own heart stirred, and even without being able to
sense, she knew that something terrible had happened The long-
haired blonde looked as if body and soul had been torn from the
young woman, that they were gone now and leaving behind frightened
and lonely child.
     But then the girl's brilliant blue eyes softened. "Iie," the
long-haired blonde said quietly. "I've gained something."
     He glanced at her with a look of confusion, but she shook her
head. He let it go, as she wished for him to do so. The long-haired
blonde smiled, reaching up to take hold of her hands. She sat down
next to her friend, and they cradled each other.
     He let them be, walking back to the roses. Kneeling down he
carefully plucked one from the soil. Tangled thorns and flawless
petals were in his grasp as he watched the colours of the
blossoming flower change from red to deep gold. He had only seen 
such changing roses in the Dreamworld; to think they had once
existed on Earth as well.
     Candlelight flickered.
     He found himself backing away from the small gardens as the
soil pulsated, the flowers breaking out from their quiet bed.
Something ripped apart the scarlet roses, the petals turning a deep
and rich black before scattering across the gallery. They swirled
about in winds possessed, coiling and snaking their way through the
air...and finally around the outstretched arm of the Sandman. The
Sandman turned and stared at them with black, lifeless eyes.
     "Shimatta!" he hissed.
     She was on her feet before the next beat of her heart could be
finished. The long-haired blonde was up as well, taking position a
few steps away.
     "Rei-chan," a voice perhaps once of an Elven Playking said.
"We have been waiting for you. For your companion to join us all."
     She stepped back. A whisper escape her lips: "Na ni?" 
     It spoke of a companion, words twisted by a voice savouring
vengeance. Yet the shrine protege had never encountered the Scourge
until now, his powers coming only inside the Dreamworld when she--
     Violet eyes widened. 
     "Karasu," she whispered. 
     It wanted Karasu. And even more it knew she held a bond with
the Wanderer.
     He was suddenly between her and the Sandman, his cloak
fluttering behind him as the winds of magik were summoned, the glow
of its power within his clenched fists and reflecting off his
armour. 
     "I will never let you take her!" he shouted. "I will never let
you take any of them!"
     Two fists slammed into the ground, fierce tempests of white
light erupting and screaming towards the Sandman. Yet the barrier
the Sandman generated only dispelled the attack. He swore under his
breath, and charged while unleashing yet another blast.
     "Shin'ne!"
     The Sandman grinned with a predator's vicious lips.
     Unseen magik struck the shrine protege. He toppled over,
tripping to his side as his pauldron was cracked in half, a wave of
crimson blood erupting from the wound. 
     "Yuichiro!" she cried out, drawing back a hand as a bow of
fire erupted within her grasp. A pronged arrow was lined up in her
sight, ready to pierce through the heart of the Sandman, if not the
head.
     The Sandman towered over his quivering form as he fought to
rise with only one good arm. "Make no mistake: what we do can
either be quick and painless, or slow and agonizing."
     Violet eyes narrowed. "Mars Flame--!"
     "Venus Love-Me Chain!"
     The shrine protege saw the flash of light and vaulted
backwards, diving out of the path of the long-haired blonde's
attack. The whip of heart-shaped links streaked through the air,
entangling the Sandman in the coils that wrapped tightly and bound
even tighter. Yet with but a terrifying flicker in the eyes of the
Sandman, the bonds were snapped apart, broken hearts falling to the
floor and discarded.
     With an almost sadistic glance down at the broken hearts, the
Sandman raised a foot and stamped down, grinding the links of the
chain into the stone. The long-haired blonde stepped back, unsure
of what to do next.
     She knew. "SNIPER!!"
     A flash of dancing fiery hues accompanied the pronged arrow as
it was unleashed, moving faster than any other attack she had ever
used in her life. The Sandman whirled and then drew back as the
arrow punched through a hastily-erected barrier. Seconds later, the
Sandman was lost within a firestorm that exploded within the
barrier, enraged flames crashing against the rippling air as waves
pound against the rocky shores.
     For a moment a smile touched her face. 
     "Rei-chan!" the long-haired blonde cheered her on. "Sugoi! You
did it!"
     And then it burst from the heart of the flames: a black streak
that moved with tempest speed towards the long-haired blonde. The
smile on her face left as she saw the glow draw closer to the long-
haired blonde faster than the young woman could ever possibly hope
to react.
     "Minako!" the shrine protege shouted, racing towards the long-
haired blonde.
     Blood trailed down his arm, droplets falling from his
outstretched fingertips. He caught the long-haired blonde up in his
arms, spinning them both around and biting his tongue as his arm
screamed out in silent agony. Now it was his back facing the attack
instead of the young woman's chest. 
     Yet his sacrifice became a fate shared between them as one.
The shadow broke through each one in succession, the shrine protege
lifting his head to cry out in a stifled gasp and the long-haired
blonde's head snapping back in shock.
     She screamed out his name as she watched them both fall, each
to their own side as they collapsed to the tiled floor. And the two
began to fade, their Imagikas now possessed in the hands of the
Sandman.
     "Yuichiro," she cried.
     But she couldn't get close to him, to be with him in that
final moment. His lips were weakly smiling at her in comfort as he
laid there on his back, head tilted in her direction. His eyes
slowly closed, fighting to gaze upon her face for as long as he
possibly could. The battle was lost, and he disappeared from her
sight, from her soul.
     The tears were leaving her eyes and forging a path down her
cheeks as she dropped to her knees. Both of them gone, one a lover
and the other a loving friend. Both stolen from her by this...this
Sandman.
The flames were still swarming around the Sandman's form, raging
out of control. The rippling air that held it back from blowing
across the entire gallery in a hellborne gale suddenly left, the
flames fanning themselves. Forged into a new shape, the flames
opened out in circular formation, like the petals of a blooming
flower. And there at its centre was the Sandman.
     The once proud and playful Elven lord growled, the Sandman
reaching up and touching the thick river of blood that was now
covering its temple and running down its cheek and neck. The
liquid, still fresh and so red, was not of the Scourge.
     If the Sandman could bleed, then it could be wounded.
     And if wounded, then it could be killed. 
     She took faint comfort in that as the Sandman stalked towards
her, a jaguar of black robes and blacker eyes. The Sandman's shadow
blocked the harsh light of blazing fires from her eyes.
     The hand that had touched blood reached down and caressed the
side of her face. Her tear-stained eyes looked up at the Sandman.
It had taken her friends, and now her beloved. Even if there was a
chance to kill it, her life would be claimed in the process. Yet it
was a small price to pay. She made a small prayer in her mind for
the odango-haired blonde, that their princess was safe and secure
from the horrors she was witnessing.
     Magik gathered around her, pooling together in an ominous form
that kept itself in hiding. A backdraft of magik waiting to be
unleashed. The Sandman's fingers moved beneath her chin, tilting
her head up to meet its gaze.
     "So beautiful, just like Yui-chan," the Sandman whispered,
lost in distant thoughts. "We would give anything to make your face
a part of us."
     It moved to withdraw, but she grabbed hold of the Sandman's
wrist, grasping it tightly between her fingers. Violet eyes full of
hurt and sadness, demanding retribution, gazed long and hard at
those two black eyes.
     She began the final magik.
     "FIRE--!!"
     Suddenly a tremendous shockwave sent the Sanctuary convulsing
and reeling upon its mystical foundations. The floor rocked
violently, spilling both her and the Sandman onto the tiles.
Something from the distant corridors was shooting towards them,
cascading gales of what looked like wind became frothing waves of
water; a destructive entourage for the single soul in the
epicentre, his magik the driving force behind this tsunami.
     It was the Wanderer.
     "KON CHIKUSHO!!" he howled, raking down the Arashi. 
     The entire chamber was lit up in a wild fury of brilliant blue
and white lights that streaked towards the Sandman in a frenzied
eruption. The gallery exploded, breaking apart as stone and garden
were lost within the furious magiks that waged war inside the
Sanctuary. Flowers were burning, their fragrace mixing with the
thick smoke to create a surreal scent of death and life at the same
time.
     She winced, an arm in front of her face as the blinding light
overtook her vision. He was here, and yet already too late. His
arms caught her up and carried her off as yet another fireball sent
the gallery reeling from smoke and a destructive burst of magik.
His touch was gentle as he set her down upon the floor.
     "Rei-chan," he said, staring into her eyes before catching her
up in his arms and embracing her tightly. More than anything,
right, now it was relief that he had intervened. Before she could
even return the slightest emotion, he had released her and turned
on the Sandman.
     He found himself unable to say anything to it, his own
volatile emotions already seeping into his magik and causing it to
run wilder than ever before. There was no way of realizing how
powerful his rage had been until the tsunami of winds had destroyed
most of this gallery. 
     The Sandman's head lifted up, unscathed from the flames and
debris. Eyes raised to meet his own crystal blue ones, and narrowed
in dark delight.
     "We have been waiting for you, Karasu."
     He was attacked, suddenly and without warning. Even his
heightened senses showed no signs of stirred magik or raised aura.
He found himself forced to his knees as something stabbed into
every last inch of his body. With frantic urgency he tightened his
grip on the Arashi, pushing himself to his feet with the blade
becoming his crutch.
     "Damn you...!" he snarled.
     Already forgotten by the Sandman, she aimed with her magik and
prayed that it might strike true once more. "Mars Flame Sniper!"
     The Sandman's head jerked around, eyes narrowing an arrow-like
fireball screamed towards its host. The pyre magik came to a halt
mere inches from the Sandman's face, eyes of darkness now aglow
with the reflection of the fiery power. 
     "We won't be hurt like that again, Rei-chan."
     The Sandman's fingers reached to the wound on its head,
fingers running through the blood. This blood was then sent to
reach out and touch the tip of her arrow. There was no other
gesture as the flames redirected themselves and lunged for the
Wanderer.
     With a loud shout he sprang from the ground and leaped through
the heart of the inferno, his body exploding into deep blue
droplets of water that passed through the flames without hesitation
to merge back into his form again. The Arashi cut through the
barrier, but was met with the cold steel of the Sandman's own
blade.
     The Sandman grinned savagely as they pushed against the
other's swords. "So passionate, Wanderer," the Sandman whispered.
"We are most impressed by your newfound anger. Was it Helios? Or
was it the memories of Yui-chan?"
     His blonde hair was wildly dancing about as two magiks
collided once more, his own rage fuelling his fires. He shouted
unintelligibly, pushing harder against the Sandman. And suddenly
received slack as the Sandman vanished. He toppled forward,
crashing onto the floor.
     She tried to cry out as hands seized her body and hoisted her
into the air, feet dangling off the floor. Violet eyes watched
fearfully as the Wanderer spun around, shouting out her name in
desperation.
     "Karasu," she managed to choke out.
     The Sandman's eyes closed, and then she felt something cold
shoot through her heart. Her body spasmed, jerking violently and
she gasped. The hands released her and she fell. The world slowly
spun in her mind, colours blurred together while the sensation was
vividly clear. 
     Her Starseed was gone.
     And soon, so would she.
     "Rei-chan!"
     The Sandman watched him with cold black eyes as it retreated,
and left him there to mourn. The Wanderer was forgotten, but would
never forget. He slid across the floor on his knees for the last
few steps, pulling her off the floor and into his arms.
     "Karasu," she whispered, gazing into his own eyes.
     He held her tighter than ever before, tighter than he could
ever remember inside the Dreamworld. He buried his face into her
long dark hair, breathing in her scent. It was this scent he had
awoken to that first eternal night they had met, and it was this
scent that had haunted his wanderings ever since.
     She lifted her arms and embraced him. 
     "I love you, Rei-chan," he whispered. "I always will."
     She nodded, fingers pressing softly against his lips. "Hai."
     And then she was gone.
     His eyes slowly opened as his arms abruptly closed in around
his chest, her form gone. Those arms didn't open up, but went to
his sides as he held himself there, bent over and weeping. He never
rose from that place, the tears falling to the floor as the fires
slowly consumed everything around him.


     The tyger cub was in her arms, mewing frightened sounds for
its mother. She gently rocked the cub in her arms, singing a quiet
lullaby that held a strange wonder with it, of a song sung to her
as a child in a palace from a far away time and place. Smoky grey
eyes took their time in closing, soothed by her voice. The ball of
black fur and jagged white stripes buried itself in her embrace
before sleeping. She felt certain that its mother was out searching
for the cub, no doubt as lost as they were.
     "Karasu," she whispered, caught within a dreamy blanket of
thoughts and memories. Once more her gaze was lost within the
fountains where Milady Selena had slept. It seemed like so long ago
when she had been told the tale of her mother and father, and how
they had at last been able to be together after so many years of
separation.
     "Daijobu, Usa-ko."
     She looked up at her dark-haired prince. He smiled and nodded,
arms wrapping around her shoulders to embrace her yet not suffocate
the tyger at the same time. There she felt at peace being in his
arms, a comfort that felt so old yet so familiar. How many times
had they held each other like this in that other life?
     The low heavy footsteps of a demon-beast unseen yet seen to be
believed lumbered past them as Rampage stood guard within the
Gallery's borders.
     It was so warm in his arms, a warmth she wanted to bury her
face into. So much was happening all at once, none of it wanting to
heal but to hurt. Where was he, her brother? Why had he not come?
     Her eyes lifted up to the archways surrounding the Gallery.
The two young women were also here, adamant when they all split up
and went their separate ways to find a door out that they remain
with her, their princess, until they made it back to Earth.
     "Michiru?" the tall sandy-blonde asked, leaning against a
pillar, arms crossed over chest.
     Knelt down at the base of the stairs along peaceful waters,
the aqua-haired woman shook her head, looking down at the small
Aqua Mirror. "Iie. I can't see anything with this blanket of magik
over the Sanctuary. I can't even tell if you or I am here either."
     "That does hold comfort," the tall sandy blonde replied.
     A smile. "Oh? How is that?"
     The tall sandy blonde crept up behind the aqua-haired woman,
the two of them so close together in both bodies and thoughts.
"Perhaps this is all just a dream, and will be forgotten when we
wake up."
     "Ara, and then what?"
     "It depends on how lively you feel in the morning." The tall
sandy-blonde cracked a wicked grin.
     The way they flirted was so much a part of them; not without
its edge, yet seemingly flawless and perfect unto who they were.
She could not imagine them any other way, nor in seeing one without
the other. They had been among the first to discover the
Dreamworld, months or perhaps even years before the tall brunette
had ever seen the face of the raven angel.
     He kissed her on the cheek, her skin tingling at the touch of
his gentle lips. "Usa-ko," his voice whispered to her. "Do you
remember that ring I gave you so long ago, the one you've worn even
until today?"
     She nodded, looking down at her hand. Because of who she was
as a soldier, the magik she was using, the ring was unable to be a
part of her. Yet it was still a part of her heart and soul for he
was a part of it. To be engaged, to one day become a bride and then
mother and Queen. That ring with its glowing heart was a symbol of
their forever destiny, a future they would share together.
     It would be a beautiful city one day.
     One day.
     A smile touched her face, wiping away the tears that were
starting to gather and playfully let her face shine. She stared
back down at her reflection once more. And froze.
     It was her staring down into the waters. It was her face, her
crystal blue eyes and shining blonde hair the waters were seeing.
Yet waters had been possessed, the reflection belonging to the
Elven lord of Chaos. Back to her, the Elven lord's head slowly
began to turn around to gaze upon her face.
     The whispers came.
     "Usagi Tsukino...Princess of the White Moon...."
     She clutched the tyger cub tighter in her arms, backing away
from the water's edge. Her dark-haired prince stiffened, sensing
the newfound fear. Cloak billowing out behind him, he snatched her
away, putting distance between her and the pool with but a step
that became a soar.
     "If only you could see what we have seen, Usagi-chan...."
     The waters began to froth, churning and bubbling. Explosions
of colours picked up within the heart of the water, blue becoming
hot red and deep green. And then black, an inky darkness leisurely
making its way from one edge of the enormous pool to the next. The
frothing continued, spreading out with the darkness until the
entire pool was a churning fury of black waters. The statues of the
dolphins and dragyns began to sink, consumed, their stone faces
almost crying out to be spared from this fate.
     "Mamo-chan," she whispered.
     He held onto her tighter, and she could feel his body tensing
in grim anticipation. There was and only could be a single force
capable of such poisoning of serene beauty. And it was coming for
them.
     "Masaka," the tall sandy blonde hissed, cautiously stepping
forward towards the pool of fallen tides. "What the hell is that?"
     "Haruka," the aqua-haired woman snapped. The tall sandy blonde
nodded, retreating to a safe distance. A deep growl echoed from the
backs of the Gallery, the demon-beast snarling in agitation as it
watched the bubbling waters.
     The churning subsided, the pool growing still if not deathly
silent. Black liquid drifted leisurely with the same fluid motion
of water, yet having become something else completely different. No
longer serene but savage. Something pushed through from beneath the
surface: small, thin objects emerging at their own pace. She
realized they were fingers, splayed as if expecting to touch and
grab hold of something in the air. The residue was like oil in the
skin, but before it could stain it was pulled away, washed off and
collecting itself on the emerging arm. The liquid was forming a
robe.
     Slowly the figure was brought up from the fallen tides. Hands
then arms then face and chest and legs. It was surfacing as a
statue might be pulled up from horizontal to vertical stance. No
physical effort was made; the magik was all that was required.
Fallen tides slipped away from where there was skin to be revealed,
gathering with the rest into the robes. They rippled as final
adjustments were made to the flowing garments that adorned the
figure's body. Long silver hair shimmered in the pale lanternlight.
The form was unmistakable, the aura the same yet different. It was
the Elven lord once awakened from the Pandora Box, now sent to
sleep within another prison.
     "Chaos!" she screamed.
     Slowly the Elven Lord turned around to face her. It was the
same face, the same expression. But the eyes...the eyes of Chaos
were black and lifeless, flickering with a dark evil she had never
before witnessed. It belonged to a force lurking around every
corner, within every dream, deep within every heart. She saw the
host of wraiths once more, their glowing eyes burning across the
midnight domain to stare intently at her.
     "Welcome, Usagi-chan," the Sandman said. "We invite you to
bear witness to our nightmares."
     Rampage lost all self-control. Upon seeing its master, its
friend lost like this in a black nightmare, Rampage hurled itself
in a raging frenzy towards the Sandman. And moments before the
beast would have struck, it was crushed as the Imagika that was
essence ripped out from the snarling skull and snapping jaws.
Fierce claws dug themselves into the ground in a hideous spasm,
breaking apart and becoming like dust. 
     She watched the life in those hollow black sockets fade, the
eyes of Rampage retreating within to the shadows of its bone-like
head. The skull became lifeless and crashed to the floor with a
resounding thud. It bounced into the air one time, and then
exploded into a powder that blew itself to the ends of the chamber.
     "Rampage!" she cried out.
     "Shimatta," the tall, sandy-blonde muttered. "To think the
Sandman holds this much power."
     The dark-haired prince pulled her back, away from the Sandman
as the two other Senshi moved in to intervene. He was fiercely
protective of her now, unable to let her go yet unable to fight if
she remained.
     "You'll have to come through us first," the tall, sandy-blonde
said, drawing a majestic sword forged from a pure heart.
     The Sandman sneered. "So many of you have already fallen, one
even slipping through Karasu's fingers as we have claimed their
souls, their Imagikas. What makes you so certain...Tenou Haruka?"
     The tall sandy-blonde stiffened, fingers tightening around the
Space Sword. 
     "Mamoru," the aqua-haired woman said, glancing back at her.
"You should leave with the princess now. We'll delay him as long as
we can."
     She saw the blood running down the Sandman's face, dark and
rich and almost human in appearance. As if deep within there was a
soul to this creature before them, this host of the Scourge.
     "We are not going anywhere," the Sandman stated, turning to
her.
     She felt her chest tighten up as the magik of Scourge gathered
within the Sandman's palm. Her dark-haired prince drew his cane,
bracing himself.
     The Sandman lifted a hand into the air, the blak magik
erupting from the open palm. "Join us, Serenity. Join us."
     "Dead Scream."
     Suddenly a blazing orb of magik tore through the floor,
running right past her as it carved a gouge in the stone towards
the Sandman. She closed her eyes from the blast as the attack
passed her by, the dark-haired prince shielding her with his cloak
from the shrapnel and debris being thrown into the air.
     The magik of the Sandman that was to be used on them was
instead used to dispel this fierce attack. The Sandman slowly
looked to another set of archways, eyes narrowing. "So here's where
you have been hiding, guardress of time."
     The time guardress emerged from beneath the arches, gripping
the key-shaped staff. The woman's fuku rustled as another draft
swept the Gallery, magenta eyes narrowing at the Sandman.
     "Sailor Pluto!" she exclaimed. 
     The tall sandy blonde muttered, "Cutting your entrance a
little close, ne?"
     "Time is not quite a luxury even I can afford right now," the
time guardress replied quickly, turning back to face her. "Usagi,
Mamoru; go now. Let us handle this."
     "But--!" she protested.
     "Just go!" the aqua-haired woman cut in. "Usagi, we know and
remember what it means to be a soldier. Even at the cost of our
lives, we are here to protect you until our last breaths."
     "Michiru," she whispered with trembling eyes.
     Her dark-haired prince started to back away, seizing her by
the arm and pulling her along with him. "Come on, Usagi. They've
made their choice, and so must we."
     "We are not about to let you leave," the Sandman cut in,
stretching out an arm.
     The dark-haired prince's eyes widened. "Get down!" he
exclaimed, pushing her away and lobbing a barrage of roses at the
Sandman. 
     Lifeless black eyes narrowed. "Baka."
     The dark-haired prince screamed as the dark power shredded the
petals of the roses and then overtook him. Her prince convulsed,
thrown backwards into a pillar with a harsh impact as he was
engulfed in a shaft of churning violet light. And then he vanished,
left in his place a shining golden crystal. 
     His Starseed.
     She felt her heartbeat pound within her chest, each sound a
dizzying echo as she watched her prince stolen before her very
eyes. Her throat went dry, hands curling into tight fists, her
entire body shaking as if chilled to the bone.
     "MAMO-CHAN!!!"
     The Outer Senshi could only stare in horror, unable to do
anything to save him, unable now to comfort her. Yet there was
still one thing they could do, the only thing left for them to do.
     "Chikusho!" the tall sandy-blonde exclaimed, lunging for the
Sandman. The blade of the Space Sword shimmered, catching a glint
in the Sandman's eyes. With but a single hand, the Sandman caught
the blade, no blood escaping what should have been a gaping wound
in the palm.
     "You still insist on fighting us when your cause is hopeless,"
the Sandman sighed, pushing the tall, sandy-blonde away. Black eyes
fixated on her, yet she was too lost in her own sorrow to notice.
     Trembling crystal blue eyes, clouded with tears, reflected the
shining light of her dark-haired prince's Imagika. "Mamo-chan," she
whispered, cupping her palms around the crystal. "Iie. Iie...don't
leave me, Mamo-chan. Don't leave me!"
     Suddenly the Imagika was plucked from her grasp, the crystal
soaring across the Gallery into the waiting hand of the Sandman.
"He belongs to us now," the Sandman stated, moving towards her.
     "Princess!" the aqua-haired woman exclaimed, prepared to
intervene.  
     The Sandman glanced back at the Outer Senshi, eyes flashing
with a deep violet light. A tempest slammed into each woman,
sending them tumbling across the floor. The time guardress rolled
aside at the last moment before being caught up in the bubbling
fountain of darkness.
     Slowly she lifted her head as the Sandman approached. "Why?"
she whispered hoarsely. "Why are you doing this to us? Why did you
have to take Mamo-chan away from me?"
     She felt as if half her very soul was gone, a gaping chasm
left in its place. And if it had to be given a name, it would have
been anguish. She was quivering, tears streaming down her cheeks as
she gazed up at a friend she had once known.
     The Sandman never flinched as his claws tore through flesh and
cheek, blood draining out in a river down the Sandman's face. In
that blur of motion, the chosen one of the Scourge was injured and
not by full magik. Though there was magik in those claws he was
still 
     "I remember you," the Sandman stated, wiping a palm down the
torn cheek. Blood disappeared with a touch, the wound cleansed and
sealed with the dark magik behind the face of the Elven lord of
Chaos.
Crouched low before her, snarling with bared fangs and glowing
slitted cat's eyes, Okami faced against the Sandman. "Gomen nasai,
Usagi," his voiced growled. "When we realized that it was coming
here, we came as fast as we could."
     "But already too late," the Darkqueen said, standing by his
side. In the Darkqueen's hands was the Silence Glaive, the smooth
blade shimmering in the reflections of the lanternlight.
     He grinned wickedly, licking his lips to glance at his lover
and Queen. "That's no need to give up now, is it, Hotaru-sama?"
     The Darkqueen nodded. "Hai."
     The Sandman regarded the two of them with mild curiosity. "A
new Darkqueen has been chosen, and you are her consort, Okami? My,
how we see things have changed. And yet everything in life stays
the same."
     "And how so?" the aqua-haired woman inquired darkly, rising
from the floor and ready to renew the battle.
     The Sandman's hands opened up. "It ends."
     Magik borne of the darkest shadows erupted from the floor,
shattering tile in a frenzied charge towards them. The beautiful
frame of the Gallery was broken apart in the onslaught. She felt
the terror inside her heart as the floodwaters of destruction drew
nearer.
     "Silence Wall!"
     Glaive thrust at the crashing magik, the Darkqueen roused to
life a barrier that smashed headlong into the Sandman's powers.
Neither one would give way, both magiks finally dying down to leave
a gaping chasm in their places.
     "Such beautiful magik in your dreams, Darkqueen," the Sandman
said, moving adeptly through the debris field. "We would be
honoured for you to join us."
     "What honour do you have?" Okami growled.
     "We have taken our time, exacted our vengeance with every last
detail," the Sandman said. "You all shall bear witness. Our time is
coming soon, and soon you all shall see."
     Dark magik moved, punching out from the ground beneath the
feet of the tall sandy-blonde, the aqua-haired woman and the time
guardress. And there, battered and hung as if crucified, were the
Outer Senshi. The three were suspended amidst a tangled skein of
chains wrapping around their bodies and each other, metal links
snaking up into the depths of shadows unknown.
     "Haruka!" she cried. "Michiru! Setsuna!"
     He snarled, whirling at the Sandman. "You bastard!" he swore.
     The Darkqueen remained still, gaze unwavering, glaive
unbending to the whims of the Sandman even though friends were now
being hung on a cross of chains. 
     "Well then, Darkqueen," the Sandman asked. "What shall you
choose? Fight us and lose them, or surrender and lose yourself?"
     She pushed away the Darkqueen, tearful eyes begging with the
Sandman for release. "Take me!" she pleaded. "Please, take me
instead. Let them go, and whatever you want you can take through
me."
     "Usagi!" the tall sandy blonde shouted.
     The aqua-haired woman's eyes were wide in disbelief. "Baka."
     "Beautiful Usagi-chan," the Sandman said, turning to gaze up
at the Senshi. "Your dreams are more than anything we have ever
seen, so beautiful. But you...you we shall save until the end. For
he still lives, and by your blood he is a part of you. No, we shall
take their Imagikas first."
     A hand stretched out, fingers opening as within the Sandman's
palm the magik visibly gathered for a release and theft.
     "Iie!" she screamed. "IIE!!"
     "Silence Glaive Surprise!"
     The world around her was rocked by a hellish explosion, a dead
silence before the storm broke and tore the Gallery apart. Blinding
light surrounded her, and she cried out in uncertain fear. The
light faded to reveal the devastated remains of what might have
once been the Gallery, the pool no more than a crater, archways cut
down to mere rubble. And there in the epicentre was the Darkqueen,
dislodging the glaive's blade from the floor.
     She blinked, looking up into the cat-like eyes of the
Mystwolf. He stared back, arms around her in shielding her from the
blast. "Got to be more careful, Usagi-chan," he remarked. His lips
curled up in a smile to reveal his fangs. One of his fingers
reached up a wiped a tear from her cheek. "How many times do we
have to tell you to leave, stubborn princess?"
     The Sandman was recovering from the vicious attack, the chains
holding the Outer Senshi broken and dissolving into the shadows
they had been born from. The tall sandy blonde was the first to
rise, coughing and gasping for air. The aqua-haired woman and the
time guardress were close behind.
     "We see," the Sandman's voice stated. "You have made your
choice then, Hotaru-sama."
     The Darkqueen whirled as the ground beneath broke apart, the
chains wrapping tightly around and hoisting the young girl up into
the air. The Silence Glaive was thrown aside, falling to the
fragmented tiles. Now it was the Darkqueen's turn to be crucified
in chain, hung there to await the Sandman's cold touch.
     She raced frantically towards the Darkqueen, calling out the
girl's name. "Hotaru-chan!" she screamed. "Hotaru-chan, no!" 
     A harsh grip on her shoulder pulled her back and into the arms
of the tall, sandy-blonde. "Let me go!" she sobbed, beating her
fists against the woman's chest in utter defeat. "Let me--!"
     "We have to leave now while we still can."
     The voice of the time guardress was but a distant one, and she
could barely register being practically dragged out from the
Gallery by the tall sandy-blonde.
     No, this was happening all over again, like a nightmare that
refused to die. She was watching all her friends stolen away,
leaving her cold and alone. So few of them were left now. Even her
dark-haired prince was gone. She couldn't bear to watch the one
with the royal mark of Saturn fall like the others. Burying her
head into the breasts of the tall, sandy-blonde she cried, tears
falling like rain down her cheek. 


     His eyes widened, his heart suddenly silent within his chest.
Time was no matter. Death was no matter. Only she was what his eyes
could see, what his mind could think of. And there she was, his
Darkqueen wrapped in a tangled web of chains.
     "Hotaru-sama!"
     He lunged for her, leaping into the air with unnatural height
that could only mark him as Mystwolf, A savage garden of chains
appeared, cracking against him and wrenching him back to the ground
with a callous throw. He fell and tumbled across the harsh stone
fragments, rising up again, despite the blood, as he heard her
startled cry.
     The young harbinger's chest convulsed as the Imagika was torn
out, the chains disappearing one by one to release her limp body.
She fell gracefully and was caught in the strong arms of her
consort.
     "Damn you, Hotaru-sama," he said, cradling her head in his
arms. "It was my duty to protect you."
     "It was my choice," she whispered. "To protect you, Okami, my
love. Why did you interfere?"
     He shook his head, a trail of blood dripping down his face.
"All because of you, my Queen. I died once before to protect you,
my Hotaru, and yet I still came back to fight once more. Who's to
say this would have been any different?"
     Her hands reached back to grip his hair, pulling him forward
into a passionate kiss. Her lips were taut against his, her hot
breath rolling across his senses. Oh how he adored her scent. He
smiled, the faint taste of blood on his tongue. How long had it
been since he had savoured that taste from his own bloodmagik?
     The Darkqueen of the Mystwolves, the one who had avenged their
deaths when a Shadowdemon stole the face of Mistress 9, closed her
deep violet eyes and slept, her form vanishing in his arms.
     He was unwilling to let it happen. To let it end there.
"HOTARU-SAMA!" he howled.
     A mournful chorus of Mystwolf howlsongs echoed across the
Sanctuary, haunting cries lifted to the starry heavens blotted out
by the Scourge's darkness. Ghostly images of angered wolfen
flickered all around. He lifted his head, widened eyes and narrowed
slits only revealing a fraction of the Mystwolf fury that was
starting to manifest as crackles of magik began to make their way
across the walls and pillars. Winds blew themselves into gales and
tempests. Sweeping spectres of growling wolves appeared and
disappeared, slowly encircling the Sandman.
     He was alone now. All he could do for her, his Darkqueen, now
was let her sleep a dreamless sleep. But what he could do to those
responsible was a whole other matter. 
     The voice of the time guardress echoed across the remnant of
the Gallery, shouting for him to move. "Okami! You'll die if you
stay here!"
     He had sworn to his Darkqueen that he would protect her with
his own life and he had failed, just as he had failed to protect
the lives of her fellow Senshi.    
     "We're already dead," he said quietly. He faced the Sandman,
picking up her fallen Silence Glaive.
     The Sandman's eerie gaze was unwavering in studying his every
last movement. Okami smiled savagely, licking his lips. It was a
strange feeling; accepting the inevitable. But not altogether
something new. Perhaps he would see her in whatever laid beyond
this world. Another dream? Another moonlit night to run from the
myst and howl at the crescent orb hanging in the sky?
     He never even flinched as he felt the dull impact into his
chest, the Imagika he knew to be there now stolen and placed next
to hers in that bastard Sandman's collection. The fact that it was
gone made no difference.
     "Her bloodmagik became mine once," he purred. "I may not be
the rightful one to wield this weapon, but I can harness its powers
to become my own. With it, I possess the key that can summon its
magik."
     His fading hands gripped the shaft of the Silence Glaive, the
weapon starting to glow with a frightening aura. His hands started
to burn, palms smoking and turning red as he fought with a magik
that was almost too wild for him to control.
     And the final incantation began:
     "Death."


     She lifted her head as she heard the Mystwolf utter that
single word, only the first of three. Crystal blue eyes widened in
horror. There were but three words a harbinger such as the one
bearing the royal mark of Saturn needed to speak to bring about a
magik more devastating than anything else imaginable. Yet Hotaru
was gone, and instead the Mystwolf was speaking those words.
     "Okami, no!" she cried out. "You'll destroy the entire
Sanctuary!"
     He glanced back at her, one yellow eye now a hazy crimson as
the blood flowed down into it. They both narrowed, intent on what
would follow next.
     "Reborn."
     Something pulled her back again, wrestling with her. It was
the tall sandy blonde. "We can't stop him, Usagi." Horrified, she
watched until the last possible moment as the others frantically
pulled her into another corridor.
     "Mamo-chan," she cried. "Minna...." 
     His tongue ran along blood-soaked lips. "Revolution."
     And in that split second of dead silence, she saw Okami lift
back his head and close his eyes. He brought down the glaive, the
blade striking the floor. The magik exploded, and the Sanctuary was
shattered by the monstrous explosion of white light.
     The entire foundation shook violently as the flaming blade
exploded into a searing fiery light. Cracked tiled floor below him
shattered, hot sulphurous steam rising up as flames burst to the
surface. He was almost beyond a ghost now as the wall of flames
erupted around him, engulfing his body.
     The crack in the earth erupted even more, and a wall of fire
exploded from its depths. The entire Sanctuary became a raging
inferno as the magik emerged, radiating out on both sides of the
split. The firestorm reached the height of the Gallery, and then
ruptured the Sanctuary. The entire structure was consumed, each
section of the once beautiful palace shattering apart like glass.
The inferno stretched up into the skies, bent on destroying all in
its path. It flew across the galleries, destroying everything it
touched. Grasses burned, archways crumbled apart and the remnants
of magik were incinerated where they stood, rooted in shock and
terror. 
     The entire realm between worlds buckled, falling apart on
itself, lost within a blinding spectacle of fire and light. The
realm imploded, everything being sucked into the core with the
firestorm. Silence reigned for an instant as all the fierce magic
died down. And then it detonated, the devastation radiating into
the farthest reaches of its borders. 
     Nothing was spared. 
     Everything was destroyed, exiled into oblivion. Only he
remained, his body and soul still with his weapon as he plunged it
deeper into the heart of the Sanctuary.
     Any remaining strength within body and soul left him in that
moment, and he surrendered to the tears he shed with each kindred
who died for a common cause, to the blood he spilled in the heat of
battle that proved him useless, to the sadness of knowing what he
had done.
     He surrendered to the flames, and vanished.
     And she, destined princess of the White Moon, saw the magik
that had the potential to end a world. And in it, her world was
lost within the explosive force that overtook them all moments
before she was violently torn from the apocalypse by the arms of
the tall sandy-blonde.
     Annihilation incarnate reigned.
     Her world went into darkness, and there she dwelled.